Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Trainman.
Don’t know your train number (PNR status)? Worried when the train is arriving? Want to know the live running status but unable to follow? Want to know whether the seats are available or not in the train? Want to know how much it will cost you to go?
No more worries, please! You don’t need to run to those brokers anymore! Become tension-free because Trainman is here to solve all of your existing problems related to the railways and offer you relief. It is a site where PNR status, seat availability, fare enquiry is possible by sitting at the comfort of your homes. Read the Trainman success story below to know more!
Trainman is a one-stop-shop for checking PNR statuses of various required trains. It’s used to check the predictions after the train tickets are booked on IRCTC. Searching for various stations in one train’s route is also done here. The time the concerned trains stop at each station is mentioned within the app properly. It’s the most preferable railway site for train’s information.
Trainman – Founders And Team
Mohammad Amir and Vineet Chirania are the founders of Trainman.
Mohammad Amir is a graduate from IIT Roorkee who graduated in the year 2010. From class 6 he has been staying away from his home so he used to travel a lot by trains.
Vineet Chirania is also graduated from IIT Roorkee. He is from Gurgaon, Haryana, India. He is a techie-turned-entrepreneur and has got 9 years of experience in this technology and internet industry field. He has got deep knowledge and a special interest in the Indian Railways.
Vineet Chirania, CEO, Trainman
Trainman – Startup Story
All have heard the name of IRCTC very well. Here online booking for the railways is done but they don’t provide you with all the information required for every passenger to know. Trainman helps you out here. Now it’s a compulsory app on every individuals mobile phone – the ones who travel by train a lot.
The company is very alert of itself and concerned with what it’s doing. It provides data to its users for the prediction that is taking place every day, so that it’s users can stay updated with the correct information and follow the changes happening. It provides trendy evidence to its users which is updated on a regular basis so that the users always remain updated rather than lagging behind with months-old information. It’s done so that nobody misses anything and can take proper decisions.
Trainman – Revenue Model
The Trainman Revenue is derived from advertisements. It also has tied up with various relevant businesses like Cleartrip which is used for flight and hotel bookings. They also tied with Jugnoo which is used for auto booking. All these help the company to generate more and share more revenues. This way they can stay bootstrapped and run profitably. The app is available in 7 Indian languages so that everyone can have proper access to it. The annual revenue of Trainman $3 million.
Trainman is bootstrapped and plans to stay so for as long as possible so tthey have raised $0 in the field of funding.
Trainman – Logo
Trainman Logo
Trainman – Competitors
The top competitors of Trainman include WAmazing, PKFARE, GrupoCDV and AirTickets.
Here all the companies mentioned above are private except one.
Air Tickets is a Subsidiary. They are the oldest ones among all competitors who came in 1949.
WAmazing is a technical travel and leisure platform. It came into existence in the year 2016.
PKFARE deals with travel and leisure. Its founding date is 2014.
Grupo CDV also deals with travel and leisure. We know them since 2015. The subsidiary ones also work for the same.
All have got various locations with a very small number of employees. PKFARE has got the highest among all competitors. The second highest is Grupo CDV.
The Trainman company is acquiring growth. It has tied up with Jugnoo – an auto-rickshaw aggregator. It will enable travellers to book three-wheelers from their respective railway stations. It will be operational in only a few cities. Recently, now it’s available in 35 cities of India. They are a Chandigarh based company. Trainman wants to expand its business this way by associating itself with various companies to acquire more growth.
Trainman – Future Goals
Currently, the company is having 5 lakh daily active users. It aims to have more and is also heading towards something technical that would bring prosperity to them and its users would enjoy as well.
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
What is Trainman?
Trainman is a one-stop-shop for checking PNR statuses of various required trains and isused to check the predictions after the train tickets are booked on IRCTC. Searching for various stations in one train’s route is done here. The time the concerned trains stop at each station is mentioned within the app properly too.
What is the Trainman funding till date?
Trainman is a bootstrapped company.
Can you check the seat availability Trainman app?
Yes, you can check the seat availabilty on the Trainman app.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
Angel Broking is a company that shares the concept of demand and supply. The prices always suffer from a rise and fall. It’s the law of nature that if a company is expected to post good results, it will be reflected in a corresponding rise in it’s share price, owing to buying by the investors informed.
Technically, all the companies have got it’s own psychology to work. There are theories, there are circumstances but these all help in predicting better share price movements. Read the Angel Broking success story below.
Angel Broking is an Indian stock brokerage firm which was established in 1987 by Dinesh Thakkar. The company has got 8000+ sub – brokers and franchisee outlets in more than 850+ cities of India. Their services include stock – broking, commodity trading, advisory service, IPO, portfolio management services, mutual funds, health insurance, and life insurance.
The tagline of the company is “SERVICE TRULY PERSONALIZED.”
Portfolio management is a different aspect here so let me tell you it started in the year 2006 as another arm of the company. Areas related to investment broking publishes research reports which is the central aspect of the company.
Angel Broking – History
The company was established in the year 1987 as an Indian Stock Broking firm. It’s a member of the Bombay Stock Exchange, National Stock Exchange, National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange of India Limited. It’s a depository participant with Central Depository Services Limited. Once again, let me tell you the company holds services like commodity trading, online stock broking, loans and health insurances.
Dinesh Thakkar, is the founder of Angel Broking. He is the chairman and managing director of the company. The CEO of the company is Vinay Agarwal. The company got the CEO Award for the Best Trading Platform of the year 2018 in India.
Dinesh Thakkar, Founder, Angel Broking
Angel Broking – Business Model
The company gives you a number of enjoyable benefits if you appear to be a sub-broker. It’s a complete process. The business model of the company shares the topics-currency trading, derivatives, equity, life insurance and mutual funds as mentioned above. ‘Investment’ the word has got trust issues in today’s world. In this company, in order to invest one needs to go through sub-brokers authorized by the stock exchanges. The company provides it’s investors a support in exchange for brokerage so that both of them doesn’t suffers from any of the trust issues appearing worldwide. Here, higher brokerage is equal to higher commissions.
Angel Broking – Revenue Model
80% of the company’s revenue has been clocking from the digitized platform. From which 55% is added to mobile alone and the rest 25% is from the web. The company has made the transformation digitized so it’s a major surge by now because before the revenue used to be meager than now.
It’s a digital based broker service which consists of a network of more than 10,000+ sub – brokers which was recorded on June 30 , 2018. Mobile app was also established and it has got 850,000 downloads. There are 110 branches in India and in the year 2018 it managed to earn a profit of INR 113.02 billion in client assets an 1.11+ million active broking accounts.
Customer pays brokerage when buying or selling stocks through the company. The brokerage charges for equity, commodities and currency are all almost equal. It’s flat INR 20 per executed order and for the equity delivery it’s absolutely free. Annual maintenance charges is 300 per person for any scheme investor. The transaction fee is changed this year.
Here, in this company, customer acquisition has been made more and more accessible with various sorts of excellent facilities. Especially it’s a sub – broker platform. It helps the customers with significant leverage and advanced technologies. REMINDER – There’s no limit to growth. With holding the hands of this company you can speed your own path of achieving your career as a sub – broker. Social media helps a lot nowadays for customer acquisition. The internet has transformed the way for the sub – brokers doing their business here.
Angel Broking – Challenges Faced
Success never comes in a straight leading path. You always face hurdles, challenges in order to acquire your goal. From the last few years the company has witnessed an euphoric growth rate in the startup industry. Despite adequate funding and an unprecedented growth of 135% in just 2 years, the startup industry is grappling with inefficiencies in multiple fields. However, in India the transformation process is going on slowly towards cashless economies. The outlook for the future is most probably robust. Presently, PayTM, FreeCharge are helping a lot. Regular sandboxes has been established. Research about a product is always very compulsory before bringing it to the market. There are various rules and regulations to overcome the challenges on board. The best solution is always a promising mentorship. In the future, technology is expected to intensify further to overcome the challenging issues appearing.
Angel Broking – Growth Calculator
Whenever you are investing, it’s a natural urge that occurs to everyone’s mind that what are the returns and how am I going to get benefited by ? It’s like a tradition which is being followed over the years. Henceforth, the company uses CAGR to calculate the rate of growth annually in order to know how much beneficial it’s becoming day by day to the investors. So, it’s always wise to use an online CAGR calculator. The investor should know how compounding works. Although the CAGR calculator always helps you to find things out but it’s a 2 – way process.
The top 3 competitors of the company are Sharekhan, Motilal Oswal and Karvy.
Sharekhan is one of the top competitors of Angel Broking. It is a private company which was founded in the year 2000 in Mumbai. It has got more number of employees than Angel Broking.
Motilal Oswal is also one of the biggest rival of the company Angel Broking. It was found in the year 1987 in Mumbai. This company raises more revenue than Angel Broking.
Karvy is one among the top competitors. It was founded in the year 1979 in Hyderabad. Karvy has got more 15,000 employees than Angel Broking.
Angel Broking – Future Goals
The company has released a new brokerage plan for the sub – brokers. Angel iTrade Prime plan, where 0 brokerage is availed on delivery trades along with a flat rate of INR 20 per order for intraday, F&O, currency and commodity trading. Market research is very important for such sorts of brokerage companies. Before selecting a digitized platform research is necessary where you can compare between various brokerage plans. It’s done for a worry – free future. Currently, Angel Broking is the largest company in India in this aspect and it aspires to hold it’s first position forever. The company also launched a campaign, ‘AAGE BADHNE KA SMART SAUDA’ which showcases a smart plan for their future in India.
Angel Broking – FAQ’s
Is Angel Broking is safe?
Yes, Angel Broking is a safe stock broker for trading and investment. Angel Broking is one of the largest stock brokers. They are in the business since 1987.
Is Angel Broking good for beginners?
Unfettered access to extensive and detailed fundamental and technical research reports is one of the reasons why Angel Broking is the best stock broker for beginners in India.
Is Angel Broking good for trading?
Yes, Angel Broking is a safe stock broker for trading and investment. Angel Broking is one of the largest stock brokers. They are in the business since 1987. They are a member of BSE, NSE and MCX.
Which is Better Angel Broking vs Zerodha?
Angel Broking’s trading account opening fees (INR 600) and Demat AMC (INR 450) are higher than Zerodha that charges INR 200 for account opening and INR 300 for Demat AMC. Zerodha offers automated trading whereas Angel Broking doesn’t. Zerodha has much better self-serving and education awareness platforms than Angel Broking.
How does Angel Broking make money?
If you want to make money every day, you should indulge in intraday trading. In intraday trading, you buy and sell stocks within a day. Stocks are purchased not as a form of investment, but as a way of making a profit by harnessing the fluctuations of the stock prices.
Is there any withdrawal charges in Angel Broking?
No, there is no charge on withdrawing money from your trading account by Angel Broking. You can withdraw the balance amount in your account partially or fully at any time without any cost.
Is Angel Broking legal in India?
Yes, Angel Broking is a SEBI registered stock broker. The company’s SEBI Regn. No. is INZ000161534. In addition to SEBI, Angel Broking is also registered with CDSL, NSE, BSE, MCX, and NCDEX.
Angel Broking – Conclusion
Angel Broking Limited is one of the largest independent full-service retail broking houses in India committed in providing accurate and widespread data for every online share trader. Angel Broking is considered as a home to the independent database on the web covering the Indian online brokerage industry. Our experience of over two decades has helped us to integrate our knowledge and expertise in the broking industry with the technology we provide to our retail clients through various platforms.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verifiedinformation ondifferent startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
AirOk is an IIT Madras incubated startup incorporated on April 23, 2015. AirOk was launched with a vision to provide a one-stop solution for any air quality related problems. The company designs and develops cost-effective and efficient green technologies for ambient and indoor air quality management in small/medium scale industrial environment, urban built environment and waste management facilities.
Read this article to know more about AirOk Company Profile, its founder, revenue, funding, wiki, competitors, business model, products, and startup challenges.
AirOk Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is focused on addressing the issue of rising levels of air pollution with innovative solutions in air purifiers, filters, face masks, purifying bags etc. The company specializes in providing customized solutions for both residential as well as commercial set ups, including data centers. AirOk is Headquartered in Delhi, India.
Their flagship solution is EGAPA, a patented filter technology that efficiently reduces high levels of CO2, VOCs and other toxic chemicals, thereby providing a comprehensive indoor air quality solution. Besides providing innovative solutions, the company is also focused on unique designs of the products to enhance user experience and align with today’s design sense of homes and offices.
AirOk – Founders & Team
AirOk Founders & Team
V Deekshith Vara Prasad, Yasa Pavan Reddy and V S Krishna are the co-founders of AirOk Tech. Pvt. Ltd. that manufactures smart air purifier and the company is focused on addressing the issue of rising levels of air pollution.
V Deekshith Vara Prasad, Director & CEO
Deekshith is a BTech graduate in Civil Engineering at IIT Madras. Deekshith Vara Prasad has worked on air pollution since he undertook the project at his college. Deekshith worked as a project associate at IIT Madras for about a year after his graduation, during which he worked with different companies like Hyundai to assess indoor air quality. He also worked in various Indo-German projects at IIT Madras.
Yasa Pavan Reddy, Director & CTO
Pavan is a MS graduate of IIT Madras who has done his M.S by research in environmental engineering with his thesis on the application of low-cost sensors for air quality monitoring. He also has experience in various air quality, water quality and waste management projects. Yasa Pavan Reddy has 4 research publications in different international conferences.
V S Krishna, Director & COO
Krishna is a MTech graduate from the Civil Engineering at IIT Madras, V S Krishna has worked on the design of Control technologies for Industrial emissions. He has experience in Product Designing and fluid Modelling with Computational Fluid Dynamics. He has done various projects on Indoor and Ambient Air Quality testing.
AirOk has designed and developed a revolutionary combination of Air purifiers with high efficiency and performance, equipped with unique design and patented filter technology.
EGAPA Microbes Suitable for hospitals and other healthcare units, this does not just trap harmful bacteria, but kills them. Available in an affordable range, it is a good alternative for tier 2 hospitals.
EGAPA Fumes The filter is designed to remove contaminants and other sources of air pollution. It further eliminates the downtime by removing corrosive gases through the process of adsorption and chemisorption.
AirOk Breathe Safe Face mask N 99 + ANBC (Anti Nicotine Bacterial Control) AirOk Breathe safe face masks come with 5-layered fabric, which includes a charcoal layer, protecting from gaseous and other toxic pollutants. This mask not only captures the particulate matter but can also protect from pollutants, including PM 2.5, automobile gases and dust. The fabric of the mask comprises two components – spun bond polypropylene and melt blown polypropylene, thereby providing a non-woven web. Due to smaller fibers and larger surface area taken up by them, it has excellent wicking and barrier properties. So together, they can create a strong product that can also offer a barrier to fluids and particles.
AirOk Natural These are 0dour removal bags for your small indoor spaces, helping you maintain a fresh environment. AirOk Natural odour removal bags go well with your washrooms, car cabins, shoe racks and closets, maintaining an odour-free environment. They are fragrance free, non-toxic and can be used for up to three years.
While undertaking a project at IIT Madras, AirOk founder Deekshith Vara Prasad did a survey on different Indoor air quality solutions. He identified gaps in terms of existing filter technologies (HEPA) and solutions it could not provide in terms of air purification.
When he pursued his tryst for further developing the technology for a comprehensive Indoor air quality solution, he came up with EGAPA (trademark registered to AirOk) filter technology. After seeing the results of the first prototype, he was confident that he had developed something unique, which the market actually requires.
AirOk – Business Model & Revenue Model
The company does direct sales as well as sales through partners and distributors. Ensuring clean air is a service for them. It collaborates with corporate clients as clean air partner for a period of 5 years and provide solution in the form of service. AirOk has done this already with several Fortune500 companies.
One thing that clearly sets them apart from competition is their technical background. Their strength has been technology since inception and they have partnered with their customers more as a clean air consultant rather than sales company.
AirOk – Startup Challenges
AirOk was started with the vision to become a one-stop solution for any air quality related problems. The issue that they have identified is that the incumbent indoor air quality solutions are able to solve the problems just partially, by eliminating few parameters in the indoor air.
The target was to develop a comprehensive indoor air quality solution and they went on to develop unique patented filter technology for the same. During this process, they have faced challenges such as validating the technology by a third-party organization, considering that it is a first of its kind in the league. Finally, they have identified a standard test protocol to validate to the technology that has helped them get into the market.
The company raised 2 million USD from SAR group in 2017 and used the funds in product manufacturing, launching the same in various markets and future product development. Within two years after their first round of investment, they have grown multi-fold and become profitable. They are now planning to go for second round of funding in next 12 months.
AirOk – Competitors
The USP of the company is its patented filter technology EGAPA – Efficient Granular Adsorbent Particulate Arrestor. Indoor Air quality problem can’t be generalized always to PM2.5. EGAPA was developed to solve the specific problems in various indoor spaces. Each Indoor environment requires its own solution after scientifically assessing the air quality and analyzing the data.
Indoor air quality problem can’t be generalized as it’s not uniform at all places. What differentiates AirOk from competition is that they work closely with their clients as clean air consultants, by addressing their specific air quality needs rather than being a knocking salesman.
AirOk – Growth
First 1.5 years of their journey was dedicated to product development and validation, till early 2017. Once the product got third-party validation from NABL accredited lab, they started raising funds for manufacturing and initial market entry. By the end of 2017, they successfully raised 2-million-dollars funding, enabling the company launch its product in July 2018.
During the initial three months after launch, the co-founders personally conducted product demos at various office spaces in Chennai, in a bid to understand the customer needs. Based on the valuable inputs, they entered the Delhi market and there was no looking back after that.
They are near to touching one-million dollar in revenue this financial year (2020) with a 10x growth rate. The best part of their growth is that they have established themselves as a profitable entity despite launching product in a segment that already comprises almost 300 brands in India.
AirOk Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is focused on addressing the issue of rising levels of air pollution with innovative solutions in air purifiers, filters, face masks, purifying bags etc. The company specializes in providing customized solutions for both residential as well as commercial set ups, including data centers.
Who is the Founder of AirOk?
V Deekshith Vara Prasad, Yasa Pavan Reddy and V S Krishna are the co-founders of AirOk Tech. Pvt. Ltd. that manufactures smart air purifier and the company is focused on addressing the issue of rising levels of air pollution.
How does AirOk make money?
The company does direct sales as well as sales through partners and distributors. Ensuring clean air is a service for them. They collaborate with corporate clients as clean air partner for a period of 5 years and provide solution in the form of service.
How much funding has AirOk raised?
The company raised 2 million USD from SAR group in 2017and used the funds in product manufacturing, launching the same in various markets and future product development.
AirOk – Conclusion
AirOk has developed the country’s first novel, indigenous air purifier – Vistar. Powered by an EGAPA (Efficient Granular Adsorbent Particulate Arrester), Vistar can filter a variety of pollutants such as particulate matter, microbes, fungus and gaseous substances. The product’s superior technology has been validated by lab and field tests. The positive results of the lab tests done by Shriram Institute for Industrial Research, Bengaluru and field trials conducted by Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Child Trust Hospital, Chennai are a testimony to the team’s ability to develop first-in-class solutions. AirOk launched Vistar air-purifier which will have a coverage area of 550 square feet.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified and updated information ondifferent organization. The content in this article has been approved by the organization itself.
It will not be wrong to say that technology is ruling our lives. From homes to offices, to factories, we are gradually shifting dependence to various AI based products. Many new AI based products are being developed to take care of different tasks. Silversparro, a startup based in Bangalore is using AI to help you supervise your production units, shop floors and offices to ensure better productivity and less chances of mishap.
Silversparro Technologies has come out with SparroSense, an AI-powered Supervisor for Manufacturing, Heavy Industry, and large facilities. SparroSense is a video analytics platform that analyzes feed from the existing CCTV cameras through real-time analysis. It is useful to detect inefficiencies, raise alerts, monitor productivity to increase capacity utilization directly from increasing revenues. The SparroSense suite is used and recommended by leading Steel, Metal, Auto industries across India and US.
Sparrosense Video Analytics Platform can help clients analyze their CCTV footage for monitoring people. The platform can be integrated with existing CCTV infrastructure. The processing of the videos usually takes place on the edge or the cloud. The business results are delivered on a dashboard through alerts to make sure each solution delivers an impact on the business.
Sparrosense AI Apps are ready to use models for frequently used cases like Face Recognition based attendance, Alerts for missing helmets, Productivity monitoring etc. It also provides a customized solution for monitoring end to end production pipelines.
Silversparro -Technologies Offered
To detail further, Silversparro’s services include –
Sparrosense Logo
Sparrosense Video Analytics Suite:
Sparrosense suite enables quick, easy & comprehensive -AI powered CCTV video analytics for manufacturing, heavy industries and large facilities – powering fully automated ‘people’ and ‘process’ monitoring – unleashing capacity utilization leading to large revenue gains and cost optimizations.
Sparrosense leverages best of cloud & edge technology – powering Apps for SMEs as well as Custom Use Cases for Enterprise. The same suite is also powers video analytics based – sorting, quality check and conveyor belt automation for large manufacturing.
Sparrosense Plug & Play Video Analytics Apps:
Face recognition application
Work productivity measurement
Customer demography assessment
Intrusion detection
Helmet detection
Sparrosense Video Analytics for Enterprise – sample case studies:
Process monitoring at large steel manufacturing and casting plant
Video Analytics market is estimated to be about 14B USD. However, as currently surveillance use cases of Video analytics are considered by most researchers, according to the Silversparro founders, the actual market size is bigger than estimated and has huge scope for further expansion.
We see Video Analytics based solutions as a major tool for driving Industry 4.0. which is poised to reach USD 155.30 Billion By 2024 – quotes Silversparro CEO Abhinav Kumar Gupta
Silversparro aims to be at the forefront of technological transformation. They believe AI-powered vision analytics is going to fundamentally change the world of business. The technology is evolving at such a fast pace that any and every task that involves humans visually monitoring or supervising people or processes will be fully automated or at least enabled by AI.
Silversparro – USP
The nightmare for many manufacturing firms is the fact that they need to depend on floor supervisors to manage their production lines. This sometimes may lead to a delay in further processes.
SparroSense suite takes care of this problem and enables top management team with the direct view of the status of their production lines via Video Analytics. It not only can predict delays but can also recommend steps to prevent such delays. This eventually leads to increased capacity utilization that can speed up higher production along with revenue without making major capital investments.
The unique USP of Sparrosense lies on the fact that it can ensure different solutions to run seamlessly on cloud, edge, and combination of both. The platform can serve clients across different locations with a wide variety of constraints of network bandwidth. The second aspect of unique innovation lies within the inbuilt mechanism to train continuously and deploy models iteratively. The models are extremely efficient and require low processing powers that save businesses from GPU processing cost.
The company started with providing Deep Learning APIs and have become an application provider by providing handholding and long term support to clients for leveraging advantages of AI solutions.
Ravikant Bhargav, Abhinav Kumar Gupta and Ankit Agarwal are the founders of Silversparro.
Most of the fascinating ideas brew during the college years. We all will agree to that. The team of Silversparro is no different. Ravikant Bhargav, Abhinav Kumar Gupta, Ankit Gupta were all hostel mates at IIT Delhi when the idea of a startup hits their mind.
Silversparro Co-founder, Ravikant Bhargav
Ravikant Bhargav was in 5-year integrated B. Tech and M. Tech in Computer Science from IIT Delhi. He joined Make My Trip and worked there for 2 years working on developing and scaling their Hotel’s product. Then he joined Bharti Airtel as part of the Wynk team making it robust to handle the scale of songs as well as the users. Currently, Ravikant is R&D head and leads the core AI development ensuring every client with cutting edge research work and coming out with the best possible ideas. He is also responsible for hiring AI researchers and engineers.
Silversparro Co-founder & CTO, Ankit Agarwal
Ankit Agarwal did BTech. in Electrical from IIT Delhi – joined Skiva technologies working on embedded systems – building smart routers. He was then part of Infollion developing their core product post which he founded Silversparro along with Abhinav. He leads development of products and client solutions at Silversparro. Ankit Agarwal is currently CTO at Silversparro, who works closely with the clients to ensure smooth delivery of business values. He builds on products and ensures their scalability across cloud and edge. Passionate about technology, Ankit is also interestingly seen repairing various Laptops, computers, servers and other hardware in the office.
Abhinav Kumar Gupta passed out of IIT Delhi (Engineering Physics) in 2010. Abhinav entered world of consulting and worked with KPMG for a year helping implementation of various government digital projects. He then spent two years working with BCG consulting for large banks and financial institutions leading transformation of branch banking and digital channels. He also led diagnostic business for Moolchand healthcare before taking the plunge and starting Silversparro. Abhinav Kumar Gupta is the CEO and leads Sales, Marketing and other business aspects at Silversparro. He monitors the clients closely and ensures their businesses hit maximum success.
Silversparro – Name, Tagline & Logo
Sometimes there are interesting stories around coming up with names and we can’t afford to miss it. Silversparro founders have their version of the story to tell.
Silversparro Logo
When we started – we were fascinated by the potential of drones and registered our company. Silversparro made sense as the name of drone company as drones appear like ‘sparrows’ shining like ‘silver’ in the sky”. But we realized that drones are by themselves not sufficient to provide the business advantage. Unless the images and videos which are generated by these drones are analyzed. So, we started learning about computer vision and video analytics and soon pivoted entirely. But all of us liked the name ‘Silversparro’ and we are still continuing with the name – Abhinav quotes.
For every company to get its initial set of customers is a challenging task. Silversparro was no different. Their first client was a company which Abhinav once approached for an interview.
I had an interview with one of the companies sometime back – and during the interview, it came up that they needed an AI computer vision solution to extract information from receipt images. Though I did not join the company, later when we started up – we reached out to the company and offered to build the required computer vision solution from them. This was how we got our first user and how our startup was born – Abhinav quotes
Silversparro acquires most of its users through word of mouth and via a network of investors, colleagues and customers.
Silversparro – Startup Challenges
The AI models that Silversparro creates heavily depend on client’s data for their accuracy – but clients were initially very reluctant to share their data with them. The team worked patiently over the past several years to build close relationships with clients and develop trust. Once, the clients see the value they become comfortable in the partnership.
Another consistent challenge is hiring. AI talent is extremely scarce and extremely expensive – so the company have developed a path to nurture and grow AI talent within the company. They hire really smart engineers and train them through online courses as well as real client problems to develop them as AI engineers and researchers. This approach has really worked for them for their success.
Initially, Silversparro offered its solutions as APIs, which was not much effective in terms of revenue. This lead the company to evolve the model from API to fully formed product which offered full value to the clients. The company also added a services component where it works extremely closely with the clients to help them integrate the solutions and ensure the complete realization of business value.
Silversparro – Business Model & Revenue Model
Sparrosense AI apps are based on the monthly subscription model. The price may vary from 50 USD to 300 USD per camera per month depending upon the use case. The commercial model of the company is a combination of development charges and quarterly subscription to the Sparrosense Edge and Cloud Platform. The overall commercial solutions range from 5000 USD to 25000 USD per month.
Silversparro – Funding & Investors
Silversparro has raised funding worth $365K in two rounds till date.
The team is deeply thankful for the entire startup ecosystem along with special gratitude to Rajesh Sawhney, Anand Chandrasekaran, and Sri Peddu from Power House Ventures. Their combined efforts and suggestions have helped the startup to grow progressively until today.
Rajesh has helped us navigate fund raising and connected us with various investors and customers. Anand has helped us with shaping our product vision. Sri Peddu has always been encouraging especially during low points in our journey.
Silversparro was mentioned amongst top AI startups by Head of Niti Aayog.
Silversparro has been mentioned as the top video analytics companies.
Abhinav represented Silversparro on NDTV panel for ‘The New face of Artificial Intelligence’
Silversparro – Future Plans
For the past 6 months, the company has operationally break even. It has also worked with reputed companies like Viacom18, Aditya Birla Finance Limited, Nephroplus, CrownIt and Policy Bazaar. Silversparro has also recently added clients in core manufacturing – Merino Laminates Industries and PTC Industries Limited and are in pilots with large manufacturing clients in India and the US.
In the long term the company wants to build a comprehensive suite of Video Analytics Products & Services to enable productivity enhancement for every Industry.
Silversparro – FAQ’s
Who are the Founders of Silversparro?
Ravikant Bhargav, Abhinav Kumar Gupta, and Ankit Gupta are the founders of Silversparro.
Who is the CEO of Silversparro?
Abhinav Kumar Gupta is the CEO and leads Sales, Marketing, and other business aspects at Silversparro. He monitors the clients closely and ensures their businesses hit maximum success.
What is Sparrosense AI Supervisor?
Sparrosense AI Supervisor is a new tool for manufacturing facilities to monitor people and processes on their shop floors using the power of video analytics. Sparrosense provides new data & insights to solve delays, drive productivity and optimize various processes.
At what locations is the Sparrosense AI Supervisor available?
Sparrosense AI Supervisor is currently available only in India and the USA.
Will Sparrosense team also provide on-premise server?
Sparrosense does not provide on-premise servers but we would be happy to connect you to third-party hardware providers.
Would I be able to integrate data generated by Sparrosense AI Supervisors back to my Automation or BI systems?
Sparrosense comes with built-in APIs using which you may directly pull data from Sparrosense databases to your existing BI and automation systems.
Silversparro – Conclusion
Sparrosense AI Supervisor monitors people and process using the power of video analytics. Sparrosense AI Supervisor is a new tool for manufacturing facilities to monitor people and processes on their shop floors using the power of video analytics. Sparrosense provides new data & insights to solve delays, drive productivity and optimize various processes.
Provides data for processes which previously went unmonitored and unrecorded in real-time, works 24*7 and fully automatically.
Predicts delays by comparing the process timings against SOPs and prevents them by sending alerts and reminders via WhatsApp to workers & supervisors in real-time.
Enables diagnosis and optimizations of manual processes by easy data analytic tools.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
In the absence of the concept of online marketing, offline marketing has for decades been very important to businesses. Today, owing to its highly targeted nature, and availability of accurate analytics data, online marketing is gaining much popularity. But, that does not undermine the importance of offline ads. In fact, an ideal marketing strategy should be a combination of both online and offline ads. In 2018, Google spent half of its total ad spend on offline advertisements.
However, despite being so vital, the offline ad space Industry is still unorganized, broken and lack transparency and has zero analytics. ADmyBRAND, a Bangalore based startup is disrupting the offline ad industry by letting you invent, plan, book, execute, manage and analyze your offline ads, online.
ADmyBRAND is a one-stop portal for buying and selling offline ad spaces. It is an analytics-driven ad exchange that lets you book ad on outdoor media, hoardings, mobile, radio, TV and newspaper. ADmyBRAND makes offline advertising hassle-free by letting you
Discover information on ad spaces online.
Book best ad spaces in real time along with standardized experience of campaign execution.
Measure the ROI of campaigns with the number of views/impressions, facilitating targeting and place “call to action” in offline ads.
The objective of creating ADmyBRAND is to organize and standardize the offline ad space industry bridging the gap between offline and online ad bookings. It strives to provide its users the same user experience and analytics for offline ads which they get for Facebook/google ads.
Our aim is to become a virtual assistant of every marketer. How startups like redbus, uber have helped make transportation (mobility) Industry online, we want to repeat it with advertisement Industry.
According to a report by GroupM, ad spends in India is expected to grow higher in 2019, as compared to the 13% growth recorded in 2014-2018. The report also says that offline media will continue to grow in India and contribute about 80% of the total ad spends.
Global Advertising Industry ScenarioIndian Advertising Industry Scenario
ADmyBRAND Founder/CEO
Sudhanshu Goyal is the founder and CEO of ADmyBRAND.
Sudhanshu Goyal – Founder, ADmyBrand
Sudhanshu is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta. He is a serial entrepreneur who besides ADmyBRAND also founded several startups like Chikoop.com, Plazmatio.com Machaoo.com and Chikoopay.com. He also worked as the CEO of Kotted, a building materials and building solution provider from 2010-2014 and with reputed brands like Adani Group and Zee Media.
How was ADmyBRAND Started
The idea started to form in Sudhanshu’s mind while he was studying. As a student of IIM Calcutta, Sudhanshu got an opportunity to interact with different brand managers of HUL. There he got an opportunity to learn about the challenges of offline marketing. Meanwhile, Sudhanshu also completed an internship with Zee News, where he had practical experience with the challenges associated with offline advertising.
Sudhanshu realized that there is a huge scope of innovation in offline marketing. He perceived that immense value can be created by solving problems of the offline ad industry and facilitating online booking and management of offline ads. Owing to the high ticket size of transactions and marketing being a must activity for almost all brands, there is immense scope of making profit in the offline ad industry. Inspired by the idea, Sudhanshu started experimenting in this domain.
In 2015, Sudhanshu even started a mobile advertising platform, Chikoop, which somehow didn’t work. Though after this failure Sudhanshu took up a job in Adani Group but he kept researching on new ways to make a difference in the offline advertisement segment. He met many alumni in marketing domain to research this space and for validating his idea with respect to various stakeholders of the Industry. He also continued working on the ADmyBRAND portal. Finally, in early 2017, Sudhanshu quit his job and started ADmyBRAND India, registering Sorcerer Technologies.
ADmyBRAND – Name and Logo
The name ADmyBRAND was selected because it matches with the services provided by the company and also because the domain name was available.
Six Phases of Marketing Ad Campaign Managed by AdmyBrand
Each color in the logo represents the six phases of the marketing ad campaign.
Admybrand Logo
What is ADmyBRAND
ADmyBRAND is a one-stop platform for buying, selling and analyzing ads across all media. The ADmyBRAND portal currently has 32+ products to completely automate marketing. There are various products for searching ad spaces, and booking and analyzing ads. Some products of ADmyBRAND are-
Products for booking and selling ad space
8Hoarding- a hoarding and fixed media advertising platform
Ad8OOH- Avenue and movable media advertising platform
8Digiad- for booking and selling ads on digital screens & LCDs
Ad8Mobi- Mobile advertising platform
Ad8Paper- Newspaper advertising platform
Ad8Radio- Radio advertising platform
Ad8TV- Television advertising platform
Ad8Social- Web and social media platform
Ad8plan- Platform for managing inventory and lead generation for media sellers.
Products for searching and exploring ad spaces
Calci– A search engine for Ad spaces
8 Surface – A DIY tool for creating ads
Ambicode – Allocating ad spaces with universal codes.
Pages– Gives the ad sellers the advantage of an online presence.
Search Seller – Search Engine for ad spaces sellers
InventMyAd– lets users create and design advertisement campaign
Console – A single dashboard to monitor all campaigns Products for Ad Analytics
ARP – It provides real-time rating and analytics for ad spaces
AnalyzeMyAd – For analyzing and strategizing Ad campaigns
Ambicash – A Blockchain based solution for mobile ad analytics
Boost – For TV & radio ad analytics
VIA – Offers visibility scores for outdoor and OOH ad media
Social Media listing – Lets users see what’s trending on social media.
Listen – Lets users identify radio ad audience with audio QR codes
Adify – It’s an AI-based personal assistant to plan, book and manage ads
Pixel – Lets users identify and retarget TV ads to viewers on other ad platforms
Box – Big data solution for retargeting TV and Radio ads to mobile devices.
Products for growing the business
Zeedback – Lets users get feedback and generate surveys for ad viewers and clients
8Chat – Professional Networking platform for marketing professionals
Clicko – A single platform for social media management.
Besides, ADmyBRAND offers Ambloan– working capital loan for marketing campaigns, And Ambsure– a plan to insure marketing campaigns against uncertainties.
We have improved portal and added inventory on the supply side in 2018 and for the last 4 months, we are now doing aggressive marketing campaigns receiving 4-5 campaigns in a week. Prior to that we did more than 100 campaigns but those are offline mainly as I am acting as an agency manually connecting demand and supply side, but now we have a complete automatic portal with 32+ products to completely automate marketing. Just like Google Suite and Microsoft office, ADmyBRAND is a suite of products and not a single product.
What Admybrand Does
ADmyBRAND – Launching Startup
In 2017 Initially, Sudhanshu worked on the product for 4-5 months in Indore which is his hometown, renting up an office in Silicon City. However, soon he realized that Indore does not have a startup ecosystem, which made him move to Hyderabad, where he met various seller including leadspace – leading outdoor ads player, Sakshi TV, leading Media Company in Newspaper and TV. This gave Sudhanshu an opportunity to understand their problems and tweak ADmyBRAND’s product accordingly. Recently ADmyBRAND has also opened its tech office in Bangalore.
ADmyBRAND – Revenue Model
For every transaction through its portal ADmyBRAND charges a convenience fee of INR 199 per media or INR 2499 per campaign (whichever is higher) from advertisers.
It charges a 5-15% commission from ad-space sellers.
There are also other services like premium analytics and design support that come at extra cost but DIY drag and drop style tool to create ad designs along with basic analytics module for each campaign is free of cost.
If sellers want to show their listing on top of search results there is a separate fee.
ADmyBRAND assigns a unique six-digit code to each ad media, if sellers want a premium code for their media, there is an additional cost.
Besides, ADmyBRAND provides an Inventory management system to sellers on freemium based subscription plans. Similarly, for agencies, white-labeling solution is available on a freemium based subscription model.
Admybrand revenue model
ADmyBRAND – Funding and Investors
ADmyBRAND raised angel funding in the year 2017.
Funding Date
Funding Stage
Funding Amount
Investors
2017
Angel Round
INR 3.5 Crore
Angel Investors
ADmyBRAND – User Acquisition
On the demand side, the initial set of customers were acquired through Sudhanshu’s personal network. ADmyBRAND did not do any serious marketing of its products until August 2019.
“I think we are on our strategy to refrain doing our own marketing till August 2019. We are a media-shy company for the time being, you will not find much of our mention in any key media outlets, the reason is simple because we want to first create a big entry barrier creating a superior non-replicable product and then move aggressively to capture 80% market share as what our online counterpart Google is doing to online ad industry” says Sudhanshu.
ADmyBRAND – Startup Challenges
As Sudhanshu says, formulating analytics and finding suitable manpower for platform development was the most challenging part of starting ADmyBRAND.
At first, I hired a web development company for creating my portal but wasted a lot of time and money on it. Then I experimented with a lot of other models, freelancers, etc. Finally, I understood one thing that for tech startup you cannot outsource technology now we have in-house design, technology and analytics team.
ADmyBRAND – Competitors
ADmyBRAND is one of its kind startup, the services it provides in the field of offline marketing is vast and unique. As such, there is no direct competition for ADmyBRAND. ADmyBRAND enjoys first mover advantage in its field and has a wide scope for profitable expansion in other parts of the globe.
We are probably India’s first pure tech company that is not a replica of any other startup. In fact, because of this first mover advantage of ours, we look forward to moving to other geographies as well. I had a discussion with one ex-director of Softbank and He suggested me to plan our company’s tech architecture and technology stack planning International expansion from day one, thus, you see the current version of ADmyBRAND. We thought about many things from day 01 which many companies think later on. We are working to create a robust product
ADmyBRAND envisions to become a global technology company in the next few years and has implemented features like single sign-on and multiple login that helps it stand out from the competition. It has also enabled country wise different admins and different customer care team for different countries.
In India, ADmyBRAND is now managing inventory from all over the country and have regional offices in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata. In the supply side, ADmyBRAND is handling 10 lac + inventory with 5lac + inventory available for booking.
ADmyBRAND is currently running 4-5 campaigns of ticket size 10-12 lacs per month.
Besides, ADmyBRAND tied up with major media companies like Spotify, Verizon Media (Yahoo, AOL, Tumblr), Twitter for its mobile and digital advertising platform. The company has partnered with almost all TV and radio companies to book ad spaces on them.
ADmyBRAND also has international presence and is operating in countries like Singapore, China, United Kingdom, United States, Indonesia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Macau, Nepal, Thailand and Vietnam.
ADmyBRAND – Awards
Being a single founder, Sudhanshu believes that its more important to concentrate on up-scaling the startup from all aspects rather than diverting attention to compete for awards.
The founder won various competitions at IIM Calcutta and was mentored by IIM Calcutta Innovation Park and Times Group. He even won a competition and received INR 30,000 prize money from Times Group to start Chikoop.com.
I participated in lots of events and competitions for my previous startup Chikoop.com, but then I realize that all these competitions are of no use and generally pull away focus of startup founder. For me being single founder, it’s necessary to skip on everything and focus on one thing at a time. Last 2 years I focused on product development and for the next 1.5 years I want to focus on building huge supply (real-time inventory) for the venture.
ADmyBRAND – Future Plans
ADmyBRAND is looking to move aggressively on supply side after its next funding round. It is also coming up with the idea of unique QR code-based marketing campaign. The company is looking forward to capture 40-60% market share on the supply side in newspaper and outdoor advertising vertical.
As you see Paytm QR codes outside every retail store similarly we want each ad space to assign unique AMB QR code. Currently, on empty billboards, you see some random numbers written to contact them and book space but we want to replace it assigning unique QR code and unique checkout page for each media. Each outdoor media to carry this code and you can book it online by simply scanning that QR code.
ADmyBRAND – FAQs
What is ADmyBRAND?
ADmyBRAND is a one-stop platform for buying, selling and analyzing ads across all media. The ADmyBRAND portal currently has 32+ products to completely automate marketing.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
Voot is a video-on-demand platform designed to watch TV shows and movies online. The company’s platform offers daily soaps, television shows, movies, reality shows based on four content pillars – comedy, reality, drama and kids, enabling viewers to watch unlimited movies and TV episodes.
With over 35,000 hours of exciting content for audiences with varying choices and preferences, covering Colors (Hindi), MTV, Nickelodeon, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Colors Kannada, Colors Marathi, Colors Bangla, Colors Super and Colors Gujarati, Voot offers the biggest TV Shows, Blockbuster Movies, your favorite Toons & Voot Originals, absolutely free.
Voot is a video-on-demand platform, part of Viacom 18 Digital Ventures, the digital arm of Viacom 18, has been around since 2016, one of the country’s largest growing media networks.
Voot used to only available in India, with over 35,000 hours of exciting content for audiences with varying choices and preferences, covering Colors (Hindi), MTV, Nickelodeon, Viacom18 Motion Pictures, Colors Kannada, Colors Marathi, Colors Bangla, Colors Super and Colors Gujarati. Voot has content from Colors TV, MTV India, Nickelodeon India. It is Viacom 18’s advertising-led video-on-demand platform that is available as an app for iOS, KaiOS and Android users, and a website for desktop consumption Voot offers the biggest TV Shows, Blockbuster Movies, your favorite Toons & Voot Originals, free of cost.
It also hosts many Bollywood films for streaming. It has produced several ‘Voot Original’ shows for streaming as well. In the children’s segment, it is working on shows in Malayalam and Telugu.
Voot is a completely free service. Simply access the platform via the web or download the app on your mobile device and start watching in only a few clicks. Users have to register an account by signing up with their email or via Facebook/Google, which is quick and painless.
What’s the catch? Well, Voot is an ad-supported platform, which means you’ll have to deal with the occasional advertisement popping up during your binge-watch sessions. Ads can be annoying, but they’re a small price to pay for access to Voot’s impressive content catalogue.
Voot – Logo & It’s Meaning
Setting happiness as the premise for the brand, “VOOT” evolved from “Woot,” capturing the spirit of celebration. Colors and dynamism being feasible for a digital brand, they developed a dynamic identity that changed with every screen refresh.
Voot Logo
Simple geometric shapes infused with bright color gradients were used for the alphabet VOOT to connote an effortless, approachable brand. With the simplistic approach, the logo was made customizable and could be played around with on digital screens. The brand identity was created to connote happiness across the spectrum of age, geography, and gender.
Voot is a video-on-demand platform, part of Viacom 18 Digital Ventures, the digital arm of Viacom 18, has been around since 2016, one of the country’s largest growing media networks. Viacom 18 is a joint venture of Network 18, the media group controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and U.S. media conglomerate Viacom.
Rahul Joshi is the group CEO of Viacom 18, from where the Voot is derived.
Sudhanshu Vats, Ex-Group CEO & MD, Viacom18, said, “Viacom18 has grown over the years by focusing on white spaces that are challenging and yet have tremendous potential. As a network, we have been the undisputed leader in kids’ entertainment content for the past 5 years. Our digital play VOOT is the second largest video-on-demand platform in the country today.”
Sudhanshu Vats stepped down from being the CEO this year itself in April. Viacom18 has announced the appointment of Manjit Sachdev as head-content for its video on demand brands Voot and Voot Select. In her new role, Sachdev will lead the content team at Voot and will be responsible for driving the future original content strategy across the advertising and subscription businesses of Voot.
Its freemium service Voot Select was launched this quarter. INR 13 crore was invested into Voot Select and Kids (and in Kannada and Gujarati movie channels). Operational revenue from “digital, print, others and & intercompany Elim.” fell 16.6% QoQ and 20% YoY to INR 40 crore.
Voot – Revenue
Its freemium service Voot Select was launched this quarter. INR 13 crore was invested into Voot Select and Kids (and in Kannada and Gujarati movie channels). Operational revenue from “digital, print, others and & intercompany Elim.” fell 16.6% QoQ and 20% YoY to INR 40 crore. Now Viacom18’s Voot expects 50% revenue from the new subscription-led service Voot Select. Earlier, it used to be all free. It was just an ad-supported platform.
Voot – Business Model
Voot has 100 million monthly active users and aims to be one of the leading Indian OTT players. Currently driven by an Advertising supported video-on-demand model, Voot will continue to build scale by diversifying from 1 business model of AVOD to 4 – VOOT AVOD, VOOT Kids, VOOT International and VOOT Freemium. With the freemium model, Voot plans to invite more first-time users, and give them a preview of their original, exclusive content. The monetization and revenue plan will largely be advertisement driven, but premium services for pay-per-view subscribers will also bring in money. “The current digital advertisement market is around INR 1,200 crore and will push up to INR 6,000 in the next 2-3 years. We hope to exploit that,” Gandhi said.
The group’s streaming platform Voot witnessed a “significant improvement” in monthly active users with the resumption of fresh content during the pandemic, the company said without specifying the exact number. The average user spent around 52 minutes on the OTT (Over the Top) service every day. A spokesperson for Voot said, “Voot enjoys the most loyal audience amongst broadcaster-OTTs.”
“People are willing to pay for compelling and binge-worthy stories,” asserts Sudhanshu Vats, the ex-CEO, on the shift to freemium.
So Voot, which till now was running primarily on catch-up content and a bit of value-added content from the extensive Viacom library (that boasts shows from Colors, Tigerish, MTV, etc), is now trying to create original, digital, binge-worthy content.
Voot – Partnership
Online streaming platform Voot, has announced its partnership with online higher education company, upGrad, to enable the consumers and working professionals to seamlessly access entertainment and education videos, all under one roof.
Voot has also announced its association with Cult.Fit, a health and fitness startup
Voot is also associated with Isha Foundation, founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev that aims to bring physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing.
Voot has also announced a strategic partnership with India’s leading content powerhouse Shemaroo Entertainment Ltd. to provide its live linear channels Shemaroo TV and Shemaroo MarathiBana to the millions of users of Voot.
Airtel has partnered with Voot to bring more premium digital content to its Airtel Xstream platform.
Voot also competes with Netflix and Amazon Primein India but these two platforms are way ahead when it comes to audience reach.
Differentiating Voot from competitive platforms, Gourav Gandhi says: “The others are just catch-up TV; we are an on-demand video service.”
Voot – Challenges Faced
Voot was launched in May 2016, with a strong focus on mobile. The marketing team needed a strong attribution and measurement solution that would not only improve the speed and accuracy of multiple campaigns running at any given point in time but also garner rich consumer insights. Voot’s data-eccentric approach showed a decline by 80% in cost per acquired user.
Gourav Rakshit, COO, Viacom18 Digital Ventures, said, “The foray into the subscription space with VOOT Kids is the first step in our journey towards building an entire digital ecosystem under brand VOOT. In VOOT Kids, we are bringing an offering that is child-friendly, yet parent focused, and gives them an opportunity to bond with an immersive co-consumption experience.”
VOOT Kids will be Viacom18’s first-ever digital subscription service providing immersive content delivered through an elevated product experience and seamless game-play.
The monetization and revenue plan will largely be advertisement-driven, but premium services for pay-per-view subscribers will also bring in money. “The current digital advertisement market is around INR 1,200 crore and will push up to INR 6,000 in the next 2-3 years. We hope to exploit that,” Gandhi told.
With this launch, VOOT Kids will bring alive the ‘Masti Main Acchai’ brand idea, through a high decibel integrated marketing plan that will reach over 50 million households driven by a mix of print, on-air, on-ground activation, and digital outreach.
Voot Kids Logo
OTT watch time has been doing phenomenally well in their journey of three years and has grown at 8x. With 60,000 hours of content, the consumption on VOOT has also grown significantly from 34 million+ active users to 50 million+ as of now. The average time spent has also continued to grow and is now pegged at 100 billion minutes of watch time, making VOOT the second largest Indian AVOD platform. With a commitment to offering quality and differentiated content in the digital ecosystem backed with technology and insights, VOOT now aims to reach 100 million monthly active users within the fiscal.
Voot was earlier a free of cost streaming platform, however, the company has recently changed that and is now offering customers premium content at a subscription cost of INR 99 per month and at INR 999 per year. However, it has not turned over to a fully paid platform as it still consists of free ad-supported content.
How do I install VOOT App?
Open Google Play Store on your Android smartphone. Use the search bar to find the Voot app. Download and install the application on your smartphone. Open the Voot app.
How do I buy a VOOT subscription?
Many Television Channels and News Channels as well. You can subscribe to VOOT on a yearly subscription basis for INR 499 or on a monthly subscription basis that will cost INR 99.
Can I cancel the VOOT subscription after the free trial?
Go to settings and click on the Subscription section. This screen will have your subscription details. Click on the ‘Cancel Subscription’ button at the bottom of the screen and confirm that you want to cancel.
Which country owns VOOT?
Voot is an Indian subscription video on demand (SVOD) service. Launched in March 2016, it forms the online arm of Viacom 18. It is Viacom 18’s advertising-led video-on-demand platform that is available as an app for iOS, KaiOS (JioPhone), and Android users, and a website for desktop consumption.
Is Viacom 18 owned by Reliance?
Viacom 18 is a joint venture of Network 18, the media group controlled by billionaire Mukesh Ambani, and U.S. media conglomerate Viacom.
Voot – Conclusion
Voot, the four-year-old Over the Top (OTT) video platform of Viacom 18 is shifting models from free to freemium. It is altering its content mix, making some big-bang investments in creating Originals. It went International, launched in the UK in 2018. In parallel, it is going aggressively regional as well. Also, VOOT Kids is India’s first and only multi-format kids app. No other kids app offers watch, read, listen and learn all in one place.
Viacom18’s digital video-on-demand streaming service, Voot, as a part of their growth strategy, has also announced the expansion of its services in India. The company will introduce 30 original shows and it will introduce four new services for its advertisers and audience.
Many reports and studies have labeled the millennials as the ‘most health conscious generation ever’. From eating healthy to doing exercises, millennials are investing both more time and money to stay fit, as compared to the earlier generation. Yet, owing to their busy lifestyles, many youth fail to maintain a proper and balanced diet. While nutritional supplements can make up for such dietary deficiencies, it is important that we buy only genuine and good quality supplements. The matter of concern here is that the nutritional supplement market in India is full of fake products which can do more harm than help. To fulfill the demand for quality nutritional supplements, Mumbai based startup Scitron was formed. Scitron offers 100% genuine supplements, and buyers can easily check the authenticity of the same via the TrueMPN app. We interviewed Scitron co-founder Ravi Mohanlal Rohra, to know about startup, and their products, which are now becoming quite popular among health enthusiasts.
Scitron is a brand that aims to deliver high quality nutritional supplements that are accessible to everyone and that yield best results when consumed. Scitron’s products include whey protein, whey protein isolate, gainers and other workout essentials like amino acid supplements. The startup also offers gym accessories like gym bags and shaker bottles.
“With a strong focus and passion for innovation, we are on a constant quest to bring together the best of science and technology to provide better nutrition and help those who want to reach their pinnacle of physical strength and health.” Scitron co-founder Ravi Mohanlal Rohra says quoting the startup’s mission
Scitron has partnered with the leading players in the ingredients industry, and ensures that only best quality ingredients are imported, so that the best quality nutritional products can be offered to the customers. Scitron sources its raw materials directly from the world-renowned Glanbia Nutritionals.
Each of Scitron’s nutritional supplement is driven by research from pharmaceutical expertise which ensures 100% genuine supply of protein. Scitron makes sure that their supplements are made with an easily soluble formula, and contains carefully sourced and premium ingredients to give it a rich, delicious taste. You can buy Scitron Products from the company’s website, from leading e-commerce sites like Amazon, Flipkart, Healthcart etc or from health supplement stores near you.
Scitron – Founders & Team
Ravi Mohanlal Rohra- Co-Founder of Scitron
Ravi Mohanlal Rohra and Dilip Mohanlal Rohra are the founders of Scitron.
Scitron co-founder and COO Ravi Mohanlal Rohra, is an alumnus of New Jersey Institute of Technology, where he studied ‘Master of Science’. He also holds a commerce degree from Jai Hind College Mumbai. Ravi has a vivid experience of working in various technical positions with companies like Champion Mortgage, BEA Systems, Delta Dental and Lord, Abbett & Co. LLC. He was also a broker at real estate company Century 21 from 2004-2007. Besides Scitron, Ravi has also been serving as the Director of health supplement importer MusclePro Nutrition Pvt. Ltd., from 2012 till date. Ravi handles the production as well as marketing aspects of Scitron.
Scitron co-founder and Managing Director Dilip Mohanlal Rohra, has over 25 years of experience across various industries like personal care, textile and nutritional supplements. Dilip looks after sales as well as other operational aspects of the business.
Scitron is backed by a loyal team, that is highly experienced in the sports nutrition sector.
Good quality nutrition has always been a subject of interest personally and professionally for the founders of Scitron. Both Dilip and Ravi Rohra has been associated with the nutrition industry well before Scitron was started, and were aware of the dearth of genuine nutritional supplements in the Indian market. This is where they found the motivation to start a nutritional supplement brand of their own to meet the demand for quality nutritional supplements. Explaining the motive behind starting Scitron, Ravi says –
“Our experience showed that there were not many companies who were interested in using science in delivering efficacious doses of nutrition. This is fundamental in delivering a product that provides quality nutrition. We believe that there is no replacement of whole food options but at the same time we accept that a little help from supplements in our busy lives allows us to achieve our nutrition goals. With our experience from Sports Nutrition, we started working on Scitron to deliver good nutrition based on fundamental principles of using Science & Technology in Nutrition. Our research started with using our knowledge and asking every day active people if they would be interested in something like that. With an astounding response from the community, we started the journey to develop our products”
Scitron – Name & Logo
The Scitron team believes in the use of Science and Technology for developing nutritional products, and thus the name Scitron is a combination of the words ‘Science’, ‘Technology’ and ‘Nutrition’.
Scitron Logo
Scitron – Revenue Model
Being a product company, Scitron is working on the traditional inventory model. All the products are offered to the company’s distributors and retailers at competitive margins that prevail in the industry.
Scitron – Customer Acquisition Strategies
Scitron’s association with Musclepro Nutrition (MPN), who are the distributors of some of the top global supplement brands, has helped Scitron acquire its initial set of customers. The startup has been slowly penetrating into the MPN network for adoption of its products.
Challenges Faced by the Scitron Team
Previously when Dilip and Ravi were distributors of Nutritional supplements, the challenge they faced was that of lack of full control over the business, as their business decisions were influenced by the business decisions of the primary company, which’s products they are distributing. It is to solve this challenge that the Scitron co-founders, who are also brothers started their own supplement company where they are independent to take their own decisions and actions as required for the growth of the business. As Ravi describes,
“As a distributor, you do not have control over the decisions that are taken by your principal company but you may end up paying the price for it. . Our biggest learning was that in order to control your destiny, you have to take charge of the brand from the initiation and lead the success story by integrating all aspects of ethe business.”
It has been almost 18 months since Scitron’s launch and the company is on a fast pace of growth. The team expects to grow over 100-200% in the current year and expect the next year will look the same. Despite the Covid setback, Scitron is all set to achieve the growth targets, with its expanding range of innovative products.
“Health is one of the fastest-growing industries. Even during Covid, you do see people flocking to some home based fitness regiment. The stronger we are, the easier it is for us to battle this pandemic. As per our estimates the industry is over 3000 crores overall and it is growing at a pace of 20- 30% every year for the next five years. The biggest contributors to this will be brands like Scitron who are leading the innovation game and will continue to dominate the space.” Scitron founder Ravi Rohra says speaking about the future of the nutritional supplement industry in India.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by Siemens.
Siemens Limited is a holding company engaged in the manufacturing of electric motors, generators, transformers and electricity distribution, and control apparatus; general purpose machinery, and electrical signalling, safety or traffic-control equipment.
Its segments include Power and Gas, providing solutions for generation of electricity; Energy Management, supplying services for transmission and distribution of electrical energy; Building Technologies, providing buildings and infrastructures; Mobility, supplying solutions for passenger and freight transportation; Digital Factory, including software solutions and automation technologies; Process Industries and Drives, providing solutions and services across life cycles for industry sectors; Healthcare, providing technology for healthcare industry; Metals Technologies, providing metallurgical plant building technology catering services, and design and engineering, and Others, including services provided to group companies and lease rentals.
Siemens AG is a German multinational conglomerate company headquartered in Munich and the largest industrial manufacturing company in Europe with branch offices abroad.
Siemens multinational company is a global technology powerhouse that brings together the digital and physical worlds to benefit customers and society. The company focuses on intelligent infrastructure for buildings and decentralized energy systems, on automation and digitalization in the process and manufacturing industries, and on smart mobility solutions for rail and road transport.
The principal divisions of the company are Industry, Energy, Healthcare (Siemens Healthineers), and Infrastructure & Cities, which represent the main activities of the company. The company is a prominent maker of medical diagnostics equipment and its medical health-care division, which generates about 12 percent of the company’s total sales, is its second-most profitable unit, after the industrial automation division. The company is a component of the Euro Stoxx 50 stock market index. Siemens and its subsidiaries employ approximately 385,000 people worldwide and reported global revenue of around €87 billion in 2019 according to its earnings release.
Siemens – Founder and History
Siemens & Halske was founded by Werner von Siemens and Johann Georg Halske on 1 October 1847.
Founders of Siemens
Based on the telegraph, their invention used a needle to point to the sequence of letters, instead of using Morse code. The company, then called Telegraphen-Bauanstalt von Siemens & Halske, opened its first workshop on 12 October.
In 1848, the company built the first long-distance telegraph line in Europe; 500 km from Berlin to Frankfurt am Main. In 1850, the founder’s younger brother, Carl Wilhelm Siemens, later Sir William Siemens, started to represent the company in London. The London agency became a branch office in 1858. In the 1850s, the company was involved in building long-distance telegraph networks in Russia. In 1855, a company branch headed by another brother, Carl Heinrich von Siemens, opened in St Petersburg, Russia. In 1867, Siemens completed the monumental Indo-European telegraph line stretching over 11,000 km from London to Calcutta.
In 1867, Werner von Siemens described a dynamo without permanent magnets. A similar system was also independently invented by Charles Wheatstone, but Siemens became the first company to build such devices. In 1881, a Siemens AC Alternator driven by a watermill was used to power the world’s first electric street lighting in the town of Godalming, United Kingdom. The company continued to grow and diversified into electric trains and light bulbs. In 1887, it opened its first office in Japan. In 1890, the founder retired and left the running of the company to his brother Carl and sons Arnold and Wilhelm.
Introduced in 1936, the new logo is executed in a modern yet simple sans-serif typeface, which is very similar to such fonts as Dialogue Pro Extra Bold and Lucida Grande Black.
Logo of Siemens
As for the colour palette of the Siemens visual identity, there are three options of using its logotype: tender and light turquoise, which is the main colour of the brand, evoking a sense of safety, reliability, and calmness; light grey, which stands for confidence and seriousness, and black, which is the colour of power and elegance.
Siemens – Mission
Siemens’ mission statement: Responsible: Committed to ethical and responsible actions with respect to legal and ethical standards. Excellent: Achieving high performance and excellent results from ambitious targets derived from vision and verified by benchmarks. Innovative: Being innovative to create sustainable value.
Siemens – Business Model
The Siemens Business model is divided into the following five main sectors and 19 divisions. Briefly, these are:
Industry – This sector includes Industry Automation, Drive Technologies and Customer Services divisions.
Products and services – Products in this category include building automation equipment and systems, building operations equipment and systems, building fire safety equipment and systems, building security equipment and systems, motors and drives for conveyor belts, pumps and compressors, heavy-duty motors and drivers for rolling steel mills, compressors for oil and gas pipelines, mechanical components, automation equipment and systems for production machinery and tools and industrial plants for water and raw material processing.
Energy – This sector includes Fossil Power Generation, Wind Power, Solar and Hydro, Oil and Gas, Energy Service and Power Transmission divisions. The company earned 26.6 billion Euros in Revenue in 2013. At present, it employs about 83,500 employees.
Healthcare – This sector includes Imaging and Therapy Systems, Clinical Product, Diagnostics and Customer Solutions divisions. The business unit is based in Erlangen, Germany with regional presence in different areas around the world. The company formally became Siemens Medical Solutions in 2001 and Siemens Healthcare in 2008. The company employs 49,000 employees with a larger concentration based in Germany.
Infrastructure and Cities – This sector comprises the Rail Systems, Mobility and Logistics, Low and Medium Voltage, Smart Grid, Building Technologies and OSRAM. This sector works towards solutions for urban mobility, environmental protection and energy conservation. The company employs close to 87,000 employees.
Siemens – Growth and Revenue
Siemens AG revenue for the twelve months ending June 30, 2020 was $80.401B, a 17.09% decline year-over-year.
Year
Annual Revenue
Percentage change
2019
$98B
-0.87%
2018
$98.856B
+7.73%
2017
$91.761B
+3.87%
Siemens – Funding And Investors
Siemens funding has raised a total of $5.2 Billion in funding over 2 rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Mar 15, 2018 from a Post-IPO Equity round.
Announced Date
Round
Amount
Mar 15, 2018
Post-IPO Equity – Siemens
€4.2B
Jul 19, 2010
Grant – Siemens
$8.9M
Siemens – Investments
Siemens has made 24 investments. Their most recent investment was on Apr 28, 2020, when Amply Power raised $13.2 Million.
Date
Organization Name
Round
Amount
Apr 28, 2020
Amply Power
Series A
$13.2M
Nov 28, 2018
ChargePoint
Series H
$240M
Jun 11, 2018
Claroty
Series B
$60M
Jun 1, 2018
ScreenPoint Medical
Venture Round
€4.3M
May 15, 2018
Northvolt
Venture Round
€10M
Nov 14, 2017
ubitricity
Corporate Round
–
Oct 1, 2017
Exchangium
Seed Round
$900K
Aug 16, 2017
Swinburne University of Technology
Grant
$135M
Jun 28, 2017
ChargePoint
Series G
$43M
May 2, 2017
Bonsai
Series A
$7.6M
Siemens – Acquisitions
The Siemens acquisitions list is long as they have acquired 69 organizations till date. Their most recent acquisition was Abacus Medicine on Jul 15, 2020.
Acquiree Name
Date
Amount
About Aquired Company
Abacus Medicine
Jul 15, 2020
–
Abacus Medicine is a large and growing business, a company where diversity is treasured
UltraSoC Technologies
Jun 24, 2020
–
UltraSoC Technologies provides SoC infrastructure to enable rapid development of embedded systems
Controls and Switchgear Ltd.
Jan 24, 2020
$297M
Controls and Switchgear Ltd. is a producer of electrical power distribution and switching systems
MultiMechanics
Nov 15, 2019
–
MultiMechanics is a CAE software company
Process Systems Enterprise
Sep 16, 2019
–
Process Systems Enterprise provides engineering and innovation services to the process industries
ESTEQ
Jun 11, 2019
–
ESTEQ is a distributor of product lifecycle management, product design and simulation, and manufacturing operations software and services
Mendix
Aug 1, 2018
$700M
Mendix is the fastest and easiest high-productivity platform to create and continuously improve multi-channel applications at scale
Comfy
Jun 26, 2018
–
Comfy connects people, places, and systems through one intuitive workplace app
Austemper Design Systems
Jun 22, 2018
–
Austemper Design Systems is an electronic design automation tools company that provides a comprehensive tool-suite
J2 Innovations
May 17, 2018
–
J2 Innovations is the creator of FIN Framework, an advanced, open, customizable software platform for building automation & IoT applications
Siemens’s top competitors include Schneider Electric, ABB, General Electric, Toshiba, Bosch, BHEL, Mitsubishi Electric and Philips.
Siemens – Challenges Faced
A big issue was initially Siemens had Group Presidents that were also members of the overall firm’s managing board, which can present a conflict of interest. It is not customary for firms to have members of the board that are also sitting in positions of power within the company. It can make it difficult to be able to provide an un-bias opinion on controversial issues or decisions to be made at a corporate level.
There seemed to be a lack of structure within the corporate departments within the company. There were far too many groups and sub-groups in the corporate centre. There were five corporate centres, as well as five sub-corporate centres. This is seemingly an excessive number of departments within departments that can cause immense communication disconnects.
Siemens profit was stagnant for a period, despite a significant increase in sales. This was a major concern of shareholders. There is usually a problem if a business plan consists of improvements in sales, but not much improvement in profit over a prolonged period of time.
The top+program, while effective, was still missing something to help with the corporate environment of Siemens. Siemens still had somewhat of an unstable environment as a whole on the corporate level. Although the top+ program was implemented, there still were gaps in which Siemens could improve.
A more inclusive program needed to be developed, to still include the initial base of top but also detailing additional necessary strategies. This was part of Siemens’ projected plans throughout the 10-year period. However, many of the developed programs did not succeed as the initial program did. Therefore, they were constantly changing and not providing a stable plan for the company.
When you think of a German multinational engineering and electronics conglomerate company, you immediately think of Siemens. The company decided to enhance its capability to respond rapidly to the increasing number, scale and complexity of Internet threats. This was also an opportunity to simplify its network and security operations to enable faster and more effective response management.
They have set 7 goals for the implementation of Vision 2020+.
Grow company value
Sharpen business focus Electrification, Automation and Digitalization
Be a partner of choice for our customers
Get closer to our markets
Live lean governance and drive continuous optimization
Be an employer of choice
Ignite pride and passion for Siemens through Ownership Culture
Frequently Asked Questions – FAQs
Is Siemens a British company?
No, Siemens is a German company, headquartered in Munich.
What does Siemens company do?
Siemens is a conglomerate company which deals with anything from power generation, transmission and distribution to smart grid solutions and the efficient application of electrical energy to areas of medical imaging and laboratory diagnostics.
Company Profile is an initiative by StartupTalky to publish verified information on different startups and organizations. The content in this post has been approved by the organization it is based on.
The scenario of feminine hygiene is fast changing in India. There was a time when there were many taboos associated with menstruation, and menstrual cycles were perceived as something unclean and shameful. However, thankfully the situations are not the same today. Now, with women becoming more educated, financially independent and aware of her body, the way the menstrual cycle is viewed has changed. Along with it has changed the market for feminine hygiene products in India. Demand for quality feminine hygiene related products has increased and many companies are coming up with innovative products to meet this growing demand.
One such promising startup in the feminine hygiene sector is Laiqa. Laiqa sanitary pads are made from the highest quality absorbent materials – feather soft, chlorine-free & with reduced plastic-offering protection from rash, allergies and irritation, which makes Laiqa one of the safest and best sanitary napkins available in India.
StartupTalky interviewed Laiqa co-founder Ali Mir to know more about this startup which is envisioning to empower women to embrace and celebrate menstruation by making it a comfortable period.
LAIQA creates a hassle-free period for its consumer, right from product order to acquisition and experience. It offers a subscription model and a hotline number (functional 24/7 within Delhi NCR) promising same day delivery – to further smoothen your periods. Laiqa wants to help the Indian woman move past the stigma attached to menstruation by creating a platform for safe, healthy and comfortable discussion
LAIQA has designed individual and combo packs to suit the needs of different Indian women: With that each pack is a value-added pack, a free panty liner is provided to build the culture of a clean period.
Laiqa is currently offering the following products–
A pack of 10 Ultra-thin day pads designed for moderate flow (1 Panty Liner-Free)
A pack of 10 Cosy-fluff night pads designed for heavy flow (1 Panty Liner Free)
A pack of 20 Panty-liners designed for everyday discharges and spotting
A pack of 15 Sanitary Pad – 10 Ultra-thin Day pads and 5 Cosy-fluff night pads. Designed to cater your flow at any point of your period. (2 Free Panty Liners)
A combo box for you to personalize according to your needs. Choose a combination Day and Night (Ultra-thin and Cosy-fluff) pads that will suit your flow for the month.
LAIQA pads have a unique combination of features and functionalities coming together to make the perfect product. What differentiates Laiqa pads from most other sanitary pads available in the market are its features like, high-quality feather-soft top sheet, with a breathable bottom sheet, allowing breathability for your privates. The pads are rash-free, chlorine-free, fragrance-free, and protect the consumer from UTIs and yeast infections while providing them the best possible comfort.
The napkins are designed keeping in mind the hot and humid climate of India. Excessive amounts of perspiration and moisture make the use of sanitary napkins uncomfortable. Laiqa napkins are manufactured using a negligible amount of plastic. While conventional sanitary napkins carry 70%-80% plastic, Laiqa pads have only 7% plastic presence and come in disposable bags and cardboard boxes that are made entirely of paper – making them 100% biodegradable & recyclable.
Laiqa gives a platform to the users which encourages them to tell their own truths- share their own stories. This creates room for discussion, which further leads to discoveries and offers help in a space that is otherwise neglected due to constructs of shame and embarrassment.
The best part is that the sanitary napkins are delivered to the doorstep.
Laiqa products
Laiqa – Industry Details
The Indian sanitary napkin industry is dominated by 3 players, holding a market share of 52% WHISPER 24% STAY FREE and 15% Sofy, totaling 91 %.
This Industry has done business worth $508 million in the last financial year (2018-2019).
There 42.7 million consumers in India. 18 million Urban and 24.7 million Rural using sanitary napkin
Industry expecting to grow by 80% till 2021.
Laiqa – Founders
Ali Mir, Monica Bindra and Nazish Mir are the founders of Laiqa.
Laiqa Founders- Monica Bindra, Ali Mir and Nazish Mir
Ali Mir studied Econometrics in his undergraduate and numbers are his forte while managing the business. Ali worked at Accenture London for 2 years, prior to founding Laiqa.
Laiqa co-founder Nazish Mir comes with a background in Management and Entrepreneurship.
Monica Bindra is a Chemical Engineer from BITS Pilani with 15 years of experience in marketing research
“We are from different backgrounds, which gives us the ability to bring all our different experiences together to one table – allowing various perspectives to be highlighted” – Ali Mir quotes
Currently, there are 10 members in the Laiqa team.
Laiqa – The Idea and Starting Up
Laiqa was started with the mission is to transform the experience of acquiring, using and enquiring about feminine hygiene and provide high quality, comfortable products for the consumers.
“I was doing my 9 to 6 Job at Accenture when my cousin called me howling over the phone, concerned I rushed to meet her. She had lost a friend to TSS (Toxic Shock Syndrome). I went home thinking about how we could cure this problem if she was at the receiving end, I was pretty sure many more were in the same boat. That’s where the urge to provide a safe reliable product came through” Laiqa co-founder Ali Mir said explaining the idea behind the startup
It was Nazish who came up with an idea to alter an enhance female hygiene quality and supply in India and Ali soon joined Nazish, as he felt the urge to be part of the change that the feminine hygiene market needs.
Ali and Nazish met with Monica early in their journey – she carried the same passion to help women in treating their bodies with better products and quality care. The trio found resonance in one another’s beliefs and ideas and decided to join efforts in market research and product analysis over a period of a year and 9 months.
“We put together a team consisting of the right resources, a product like no other and services that guarantee that you attain your pads in a wholly hassle-free manner. Laiqa strives to ensure a stress free, hassle free & allergy free period” – Ali said
Laiqa – Name, Tagline and Logo
LAIQA’s name was an amalgam of having drawn inspiration from 3 separate sources to come up with a whole new self-definition. LAIQA mean the following:
Laiqa Logo
The Laika dog: The first living being to go into space and orbit the Earth was a Russian female dog by the name of Laika. As per the founders, through Laiqa, they want to take feminine health & hygiene and launch it into a whole new space of comfort and compassion – while drawing a halo of sustainable growth in orbiting the planet.
‘Laayak’ in Hindi: The word literally meaning ‘deserving,’ drew us to it very naturally as we believe all women are in fact ‘laayak’ of the best care for their menstruation, their vaginas their health and their environment.
LAIQA in Arabic: The dictionary definition of this word is ‘elegant’ – which for time immemorial has been highlighted as a predominantly feminine human trait. Again here, the pull was two fold – one, to acknowledge that yes, it is a product/service/safe space for women and two, to take the word elegant and cause it to mean whatever each individual woman chooses it to mean for herself.
LAIQA’s main tagline is: Let’s create a period of change (because that’s what we want LAIQA to be – a different, more careful and mindful avenue into treating our bodies, minds and environment.
Other tag-lines being used by Laiqa for marketing are:
a) Embrace a new cycle: to bring to notice the difference Laiqa is about
b) The hassle-free period: The ease & extra care it offers its users on the 5 most trying days of their every month.
c) Good for her, good for Earth: How the pads are toxin free & biodegradable – making them good for your health and for the environment
d) With you, every phase of the way: acknowledging how the female mind, body, form shift and dances like a water body along with the phasing moon
Laiqa’s logo is the phasing moon: reinforcing how change is a constant in the life of every person, especially a woman. The menstrual flow is exactly like the waters of the ocean, in sync with the alterations that take place during the monthly cycle of the moon. With this, not only does our physical form experience change but also the mental state with its mood alterations and simply handling PMS
Laiqa – Business Model
Laiqa contract manufactures the finest quality product for the consumers. Branding the product in accordance with market gap – an informative, educative and advocative brand. The company has a personalized targeted distribution network, marketing efforts and efficient use of logistics make the business model unique.
Being a startup, we want to evaluate where the consumer finds it most convenient to attain the product, due to which we have kept all verticals of purchasing the product available.
Laiqa products are available online, through their website, E-commerce portals and also offline in chemist stores. Besides, there is a Hotline Number that helps with urgent deliveries.
Laiqa – Customer Acquisition
To understand what the consumer wants, Laiqa conducted a survey of 1500 women in NCR. Using the data, the company was able to design 5 different types of napkins to suit their demand.
We took the 5 napkins and made 300 consumers use all 5 and went with the napkins that were accepted by 98% of the consumers. This gave us the confidence we needed to steer our business in the desired direction.
The products were launched on Valentines’s day, i.e 14th February 2019.
We started with the theme of love – but we focussed on turning it inward and making an occasion of love about SELF LOVE To attract consumers.
Laiqa was promoted across all digital platforms. The company made its products available on its own website, 7 e-commerce portals and in 50 shops pan NCR, till date. Promotions were also done at DU colleges. Besides, awareness building campaigns were organized at corporates like TCS and Wipro. Laiqa also has a strong Customer Relationship Management that has resulted in repeat consumers. With the subscription model being a hassle free options consumers are shifting to the subscription.
According to Ali, getting people to believe and trust is an uphill task. The Laiqa team was formulated in May 2018. They made contact with all future vendors a good 6 months in advance, vendors, distributors, logistics, PR, marketing everything was planned from the get-go.
It took us all of 6 months to convince people we were the real deal and we are here to stay – Ali recalls
Laiqa – Competitors
Whisper, Stayfree, Sofy, Nua and Carmesi are some competitors of Laiqa. While everyone is in the business of creating the same sort of product – obviously there are variations in how each company is trying to provide its own value proposition.
Feminine hygiene brands like LOLA, Glossier and Shethinx have been greatly inspiring for us through our teething phase as a brand.
Laiqa – Achievements
We are on the rise up, with month on month showing a 158% growth from February to March 2019. Yes, it is a very small duration of time, but the acceptance of the product is obvious.
The consumers are buying into Laiqa’s products due to the marketing campaign #ComfortChallenge where consumers can go to the Laiqa site and within the first click avail a free sample. Within the first month, Laiqa already supplied its product to 12 different states in India.
As informed by Laiqa co-founder Ali Mir, till March 2019 Laiqa was able to attract over 750 consumers on the company’s website. Out of these 250 are repeat buyers who are likely to shift to subscription within the first 3 months. Within just one month of its operation, Laiqa dispersed 5000 boxes in the market through their offline distribution and sold 46% of the stocks.
Team Laiqa is constantly working towards bettering one another – both via active and passive reinforcement. The team believes in letting everyone focus on their forte and job and offering support in whatever form it is required. Ali, Nazish and Monica believe in giving the team members the power to make decisions so that every individual has their experience.
LAIQA is a small family of working hands that care for one another – which is what has comfortably slipped into our brand’s language and ethos too. Support is a word we use a lot around the office.
Ali is driven by sports, so most of what he has learned about team building comes from there. He believes in giving everyone a chance to be themselves and display their talent and most importantly.
I do not believe in the concept hierarchy, we all sit together, eat together and work together. Yes, there are decisions that are made on an individual level but when it comes to work and office operations there is no hierarchy and there never will be.
Laiqa – Advisors and Mentors
Harmeet Bindra is the adviser and mentor of Laiqa. He is the CEO of Leixir Resources.
Laiqa – Productivity Hacks
Team Laiqa has a weekly saturday which, as its name suggests, is a day to regroup, rethink, collect their thoughts and bounce some new crazy ideas off one another and inside our own heads.
Laiqa is looking to capture 13,60,000 Consumers from Tier 1 cities, New Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Bangalore, Tamil Nadu and Hyderabad in the next 3 years. This is .07% Of Urban Consumers Using Sanitary napkins.
Laiqa – Founder’s Advice
“Make sure your heart is in it – make sure it’s a group of people you can trust to create something with. It’s like choosing a partner to have a child with – you need to be able to depend on one another to pick up slack wherever necessary” – Ali Mir
Laiqa – FAQs
Who are the Founders of Laiqa?
Ali Mir, Monica Bindra and Nazish Mir are the founders of Laiqa.
What is Laiqa?
Laiqa sanitary pads are made from the highest quality absorbent materials – feather soft, chlorine-free & with reduced plastic-offering protection from rash, allergies and irritation, which makes Laiqa one of the safest and best sanitary napkins available in India.
Learning a new language is always advantageous. Being multilingual can bring along career benefits, in many fields like marketing, education, sales, banking, public relations, tourism, etc. to name a few. Not just this, several studies have shown that learning new languages has many cognitive benefits as well. However, learning a new language is by no means an easy task. After a certain age learning a new language becomes more challenging. Again, taking a formal training on any language is time consuming and expensive.
Luckily, with the advent of the internet era, with everything else, learning a language has also become somewhat easier. Now teachers and students can come together virtually allowing flexibility of learning at one’s own pace and time. Multibhashi, a Bangalore based startup is utilizing the power of the internet to help learners learn new languages through one’s native language. Besides serving as a platform for learning languages, Multibhashi also provides various translation and transcription services along with creating content for various purposes in multiple languages.
StartupTalky interviewed Multibhashi founder Anuradha Agarwal to know how this startup came into being, and how it is simplifying the process of learning new languages.
Multibhashi aims to empower blue-collar aspirants and workers towards gainful employment and career progression by linguistic upskilling via bilingual mode in a blended e-learning format.
Multibhashi is an android/web app for learning languages most effectively and effortlessly. The current version of the app has audio-visual courses and quizzes to learn English from Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Telugu and Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Oriya, Punjabi. You can also learn Hindi, Bangla, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Gujarati, Malayalam, Oriya and Punjabi through English.
Some USPs of Multibhashi app are–
Multibhashi offers self – paced learning that any learner can utilize in leisure /off-working hours, thereby, making this a more viable and affordable solution to the target segment
The self-paced learning is augmented by live tutor assisted training that ensures personalized blended learning to catalyze the learning process.
Bilingual training ensures each learner can pick up a new language via the native mode of instruction before graduating to monolingual learning.
Multibhashi’s interactive e-learning platform is based on the latest cloud technologies that ensure low latency and low data consumption on devices as varied as simple browser-enabled feature phones to the latest smartphones, thus, making it a ubiquitous solution for the masses of India.
Lets the learners learn the content in bite-sized chunks that helps the learners in grasping the learning quickly.
The platform allows adaptive learning by applying algorithms to personalize the content as per the learner’s pattern, grasping power, etc.
The learners can chat with the mentors anytime to clear doubts.
Evaluates and assesses the learner’s progress from time to time to ensure better learning.
Besides all these, Multibhashi offers several other services like multilingual SEO services, transcription services, translation services, social media content creation in vernacular languages, and much other content and voice-related services in multiple languages.
Multibhashi has recently started “Multibhashi classes” where students can learn English from more than 500 language experts through live video calls. These classes give an opportunity for students to directly learn the language over a video call any time of the day, from the comfort of their homes and we have been seeing a lot of students who are interested in these classes.
Multibhashi – Founders & Team
Anuradha Agarwal | Founder, Multibhashi
Anuradha Agarwal is the founder of Multibhashi. Anuradha comes from Jaipur, Rajasthan. She finished her Engineering and went on to pursue her MBA in Finance. She was a part of Dexter Capital Advisors before she started Multibhashi.
The current core team at Multibhashi comes with diverse experience, yet they all unanimously possess the commitment to building a strong community of English learners. The current team size is about 10 who handle different aspects of the product. Apart from this, there is also a team of 200+ educated housewives who work from home and help the company with several projects.
Multibhashi – How It All Started?
The idea to start Multibhashi was born out of Anuradha’s genuine will to help people learn English. Anuradha started out by helping a few people in her immediate circle who needed help with English learning. Even before the app was launched, Anuradha created over 100 animated videos which taught various concepts of English and started posting them on Facebook. She also designed a chatbot for helping people play quizzes on various topics related to English and the page became more and more popular. In order to make the content more engaging, she created an audiovisual course.
Soon after, she formed a team and launched an Android app to teach English from Hindi and Bangla, and there has been no looking back after that.
When Anuradha was searching for online resources to help learners learn English, she realized that there is no single comprehensive solution to learn a language.
There were problems like–
Blue-collar workers who work on a daily wage basis cannot take a break to attend classroom training as it impacts their daily earnings
Existing classroom training is expensive for the target segment.
Personalized training, specifically, linguistic training via native language cannot be feasible in CRT format.
The name came to Anuradha’s mind when Multibhashi wasn’t even a business idea. Anuradha was looking for a name for the Facebook page on which she intended to share all the videos she had created for helping her friends and family members in learning English.
Anuradha wanted a blended name which had English as well as an Indian element. Since the page was dealing with languages “Bhasha/Bhashi” seemed like a good choice. At the same time, Anuradha wanted to convey that this is an open platform for people from different language backgrounds, and this thought leads her to add the word “Multi”.
“Multibhashi literally means a polyglot and that’s what we intend to turn people into” says Anuradha.
Multibhashi – Revenue Model
Multibhashi earns revenue through ads, private sessions and gamification techniques on the app. As a content company, Multibhashi also earns revenue by providing various services related to content like translation, content creation and repurposing, transliteration among others.
Multibhashi – Funding and Investors
Multibhashi has raised 1 round of seed funding till date.
Date
Stage
Amount
Inestor
September, 2018
Seed
Rs 10 Million
Aniruddha Malpani & Startup Oasis
More than the money we are highly grateful for our investors who brought in some very good advice connects and mentorship.
Multibhashi – User Acquisition
India has more than 450 million people engaged in blue and grey collared job roles and gradually they are all coming online via cheap handsets and data availability. This is the target segment for Multibhashi.
Although reaching from 0 to 1.5 million has been challenging and a roller-coaster ride, it has given us the opportunity to experiment with different marketing campaigns.
When it comes to attracting and retaining customers, what worked best for Multibhashi was search-oriented campaigns which made sure that only those users are identified and targeted who had a clear intention of learning the language.
The next best way of acquisition has been word of mouth, referral & downloads through content sharing in its community. Re-marketing to dropped off users also worked well for Multibhashi.
Multibhashi teaches English from regional languages and vice versa. Using the bilingual approach, it ensures that the user is able to learn the language he wants to learn from a language that he already knows and speaks well. Right from acquiring the user to the point where he completes the course, the Multibhashi team ensures every user gets personalized messages, notifications and advertising banners in the language that he knows because users like to see and read these messages in a language that he already is good with.
Dealing with so many languages is definitely a challenge for Multibhashi.
Multibhashi – Competitors
Duolingo, Hello English and Busuu, are some competitors of Multibhashi. However, what sets Multibhashi apart is a keen focus on learning outcomes.
As Anuradha says, “We don’t believe in chasing just the engagement numbers. Engagement is just a means to the final end which is only achieved when our learner can confidently say that he/she can sufficiently understand and speak in the target language”
Multibhashi – Advisors and Mentors
Dr. Aniruddha Malpani from Malpani ventures is mentoring Multibhashi.
Multibhashi – Awards
Multibhashi was selected by Axilor, a platform for supporting early-stage startups, Gray Matters Capital and Google Launchpad Accelerator
GMC Calibrator aimed to focus on the behavioral understanding of users leading to product tweaks that improve learner engagement. Multibhashi got mentored and engaged in one-on-one workshops in the areas of behavioral design, mobile product strategy, monetization and product optimization.
It was selected to be a part of FbStart, a global program designed to help startups build and grow their businesses
Multibhashi was selected to be a part of the AWS EdTech startup accelerator, which is designed to help entrepreneurs build the next generation of online learning, analytics, and campus management solutions on the AWS Cloud
Multibhashi was featured on Forbes in November 2017
It was featured under “top startups to watch out for in 2019” by SutraHR
Multibhashi was selected as one of the top 10 startups out of the 1700 applications received by Startup India and Whatsapp under the Whatsapp Grand challenge
Multibhashi is already 1.5 million-plus learners strong and also have 100+ clients in the language services domain. Multibhashi has 1 Million downloads in the Play Store and has a received a rating of 4.4 from 27.5K+ users.
It intends to reach 10 million users in the next one year and establish Multibhashi as a gold standard in language learning.
Multibhashi – FAQ’s
What is the best place to learn Hindi in India?
Learning Hindi in both online and offline modes can prove to be fun for you. It’s always beneficial to be bilingual. Below mentioned are some offline places where you can learn Hindi.
Rosemount’s Institute of Languages (Dehradun)
Hindi Guru (Panchsheel Park)
Zabaan Language Institute
Landour Language School
Where can I learn Hindi professionally online?
Some of the websites and apps where you can learn Hindi professionally are Duolingo, HindiPod101,Udemy, and MultiBhashi.
Is Portuguese language easy to learn?
Learning a language that is not our mother tongue is not that easy but the effort and time one spends to learn a language will be worth it.
What are good ways to learn how to speak Kannada?
The first step is to get familiarized with the structure of the language. To achieve this, hear more and more Kannada on Radio, TV and also try to catch the live conversations.
What are some best ways to Learn Russian for corporate people?
Below listed are the seven most trusted sources for learning business Russian below.
Blog and Audio Lessons: Everyday Russian
Book: “Learn Russian to Work with Russians”
Learning Program: Multibhashi
Video: Ru-Land Club
Podcast: UCLA Business Russian
Online Course: Business Russian IC
Personalized Course: Communicaid
Multibhashi – Conclusion
Multibhashi, a simplified Language learning platform for upskilling vernacular languages for people who wants to learn new languages and become proficient in multi-languages. It helps the speakers in spoken English as well as refinement of vernacular speakers in their own Indic language usage & associated etiquettes and soft skills.
Multibhashi App is available on the play store and iOS store to learn languages most effectively and effortlessly. The currently available version on the stores has audio-visual courses and quizzes to learn English from almost all Indian languages and vice versa.
Rishabh Rathi
