The Most Profitable Startup Ideas in Delhi 2023

The Hottest Startup Ideas that Will Dominate Delhi's Market in 2023

Are you a visionary entrepreneur looking to make your mark in Delhi's bustling market? Look no further! In 2023, the Delhi startup scene is set to explode with innovative ideas and game-changing ventures. The opportunities are endless with the city's thriving economy and tech-savvy population. Several startup ideas are poised to dominate Delhi's market, from cutting-edge technology solutions to niche market disruptors. Whether you are interested in fintech, e-commerce, health tech, or sustainability, this article will unlock the door to success.

Market Trends and Opportunities in Delhi

Delhi, the capital city of India, is known for its vibrant economy and entrepreneurial spirit. The city offers a plethora of opportunities for startups to thrive and succeed. With a population of over 20 million and a growing middle class, Delhi's market is ripe for disruption.

One of the key market trends in Delhi is the increasing adoption of technology and digital solutions. With the rapid advancement of technology, there is a growing demand for innovative products and services that can simplify and enhance people's lives. Startups that can leverage technology to solve everyday problems and improve efficiency have the potential to make a significant impact in Delhi's market.

Identifying potential startup ideas

When identifying potential startup ideas, it is essential to consider the needs and pain points of the target market. By understanding the challenges Delhiites face and finding innovative solutions, entrepreneurs can create successful startups that cater to the specific demands of the city.

One area with immense potential is technology and software startups. Delhi has a thriving tech ecosystem with numerous tech parks, incubators, and accelerators. Startups that can develop cutting-edge technology solutions, such as artificial intelligence, blockchain, and augmented reality, can potentially disrupt industries and create new markets in Delhi as seen on the super sic bo live.

Another promising sector is e-commerce and online marketplaces. With the increasing popularity of online shopping, there is a huge demand for platforms connecting buyers and sellers. Startups that can provide a seamless online shopping experience, offer unique products, and provide excellent customer service have the opportunity to dominate Delhi's e-commerce market.

Health and wellness is another sector that offers excellent potential for startups in Delhi. With the rising healthcare costs and the need for accessible and affordable healthcare services, there is a growing demand for health tech startups. Startups that can provide telemedicine services, health monitoring devices, and personalized healthcare solutions have the potential to revolutionize the healthcare industry in Delhi.

Technology and software startups

Delhi's tech ecosystem is thriving, with numerous startups making waves in the technology and software industry. One of the hottest startup ideas in this sector is artificial intelligence (AI). AI has the potential to transform various industries, from healthcare to finance. Startups that can develop AI-powered solutions, such as chatbots, virtual assistants, and predictive analytics tools, have the opportunity to disrupt traditional business models and create new markets.

Another exciting startup idea in the technology sector is blockchain. Blockchain technology offers secure and transparent transactions, making it ideal for finance, supply chain management, and healthcare industries. Startups that can leverage blockchain to solve real-world problems and provide innovative solutions have the potential to dominate Delhi's market.

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are also emerging technologies with great promise for Delhi startups. AR and VR can potentially revolutionize various industries, from entertainment to education. Startups that can develop immersive AR and VR experiences, such as virtual tours, training simulations, and interactive games, have the opportunity to create new markets and captivate Delhiites.

E-commerce and online marketplace startups

E-commerce and online marketplaces have witnessed tremendous growth in Delhi in recent years. With the increasing popularity of online shopping, there is a huge demand for platforms connecting buyers and sellers. Startups that can provide a seamless online shopping experience, offer unique products, and provide excellent customer service have the opportunity to dominate Delhi's e-commerce market.

One of the hottest startup ideas in the e-commerce sector is social commerce. Social commerce combines the power of social media and e-commerce, allowing users to buy and sell products directly on social media platforms. Startups that can build robust social commerce platforms and provide a secure and user-friendly experience have the potential to disrupt traditional e-commerce models and capture a significant market share in Delhi.

Another promising area in the e-commerce sector is niche marketplaces. While major e-commerce platforms cater to a wide range of products, a growing demand for specialized marketplaces focuses on specific niches.
Health and wellness startups

With the rising healthcare costs and the need for accessible and affordable healthcare services, there is a growing demand for health tech startups in Delhi. Startups that can provide telemedicine services, health monitoring devices, and personalized healthcare solutions could revolutionize the city's healthcare industry.

One of the hottest startup ideas in the health and wellness sector is telemedicine. Telemedicine allows patients to consult with doctors remotely, eliminating the need for physical visits and reducing healthcare costs. Startups that can develop user-friendly telemedicine platforms and provide quality healthcare services have the opportunity to disrupt the traditional healthcare model and provide accessible healthcare to all Delhiites.

Another promising area in the health tech sector is wearable technology. Wearable devices, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, have gained popularity among health-conscious individuals.

Conclusion

Delhi's startup scene is set to explode in 2023 with innovative ideas and game-changing ventures. Whether you are interested in technology, e-commerce, health, food, education, or sustainability, several startup ideas can potentially dominate Delhi's market. By identifying Delhiites' needs and pain points and finding innovative solutions, entrepreneurs can unlock the door to success and make their mark in the capital city. With access to funding and support, the possibilities are endless. So, seize the opportunity and be at the forefront of Delhi's startup revolution.

Phytotechnology-based Leg-Healthcare Startup Varco® Raises Seed-Funding from Ex-Hindustan Coca-Cola CEO

Founded in 2022, Varco® is India's first brand that focuses exclusively on leg care, aiming to address end-to-end leg health concerns

Delhi based-health care startup, Varco® Leg Care raised an undisclosed amount in the seed round led by Mr. Neeraj Garg, Ex-CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola, Dr. Mohit Lalvani Mascot Spincontrol India Pvt Ltd, Simple Juneja, Global Business leader, Ex- Coca-Cola, Bacardi, LVMH and other angels in medical, top consultant companies, FMCG and infrastructure.

The Delhi-based Varco® Leg Care is founded on cutting-edge science and nobel prize winning phytotechnology.

Varco® Leg Care plans to use its recent funding to broaden its range of products, with a particular focus on enhancing leg health. The company will invest in advanced technology to improve retention and discoverability, while simultaneously enhancing its distribution channels. Varco® intends to recruit additional key opinion leaders in high-performing markets, scale up its business operations in the United States and UAE, and allocate substantial resources to research and development efforts.

Speaking on the occasion, CEO, Varco® Leg Care, Mr. Anondeep Ganguly said, "At Varco® Leg Care, we have invested in a comprehensive research and development initiative to develop the first phyto-based leg care brand in Asia. Our Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Apurba Ganguly, has spearheaded this effort and has more than 100 clinical studies published in reputed medical journals, in addition to being a Member of the American Academy of Pain Medicine and the European Medical Association. Our aim is to become the leading brand in the sector, by focusing solely on addressing the actual requirements of leg care.

“We are proud to announce the appointment of Dr. Tapish Sahu as our Chief Medical Advisor. Dr. Sahu is one of the country's leading Vascular Surgeons, and his guidance will be invaluable in developing our range of products. Under his guidance we intend to take the KOL (Key Opinion Leader) route to cater to various conditions such as varicose veins, diabetic feet, and nail fungus, leveraging advanced formulations and proprietary phytotransdermal technology to provide cutting-edge solutions for end-to-end leg health challenges," Ganguly added.

Mr. Neeraj Garg, Ex-CEO, Hindustan Coca-Cola said, “This is an excellent product that has been validated by scientific research not only in India but also in the US and Europe. While the online journey is progressing well, the ultimate goal is to establish distribution channels from D2C to a Phygital model to unlock its true commercial value. He strongly believes that within 3-4 years, this brand has the potential to generate $10 million in revenue.”

Founded in 2022, Varco® Leg Care is India's first brand that focuses exclusively on leg care, aiming to address end-to-end leg health concerns. Within just a few months of its launch, Varco® Leg Care achieved a remarkable feat by becoming one of the few Indian brands to be listed on Walmart's prestigious platform. Varco® Leg Care has accomplished a notable achievement with a remarkable growth rate of 30% month over month.

As Varco® Leg Care continues to prioritize the development of a comprehensive and impactful leg care product portfolio, the company also plans to strengthen its position in the US market through strategic partnerships with leading marketplaces. Once this initial objective is accomplished, the company intends to leverage data-driven decision-making to expand its presence into retail channels, with the ultimate goal of dominating the leg care section in pharmacies worldwide. This approach is reflective of the company's ambitious long-term vision and its commitment to delivering innovative and effective products to customers across the globe.

About Varco® Leg Care:

Varco® Leg Care, a Delhi-based innovative healthcare startup, is founded on cutting-edge science and nobel prize winning phytotechnology. The company sets itself apart with its unique portfolio of products and vertically integrated supply chain, where it cultivates most of its own raw materials. Varco® Leg Care is dedicated to creating and providing a wide range of leg care products that address the leg health needs of customers worldwide. The company has earned the trust of Indian consumers by offering competitively priced, high-quality, and effective products that effectively target a variety of leg health issues.

Website: https://www.nanophytopharma.com/

Delhi-based Female Hygiene Brand Mild Cares is Solving Women Hygiene Issues in Most Sustainable Ways

Observing the struggles and discomfort that menstruation caused for his mother and wife, Sandeep Vyas, founder of Delhi based Mild Cares, wanted to create a range of products that were both comfortable and discreet, so women could forget about their menstruation and focus on their daily lives.

This led to the decision to venture into toilet and intimate hygiene and period care products. Mild Cares recognized the importance of maintaining good hygiene, not just during menstruation but also in daily life. The company wanted to create a range of products that would cater to the needs of women in all aspects of their hygiene.

Started in January 2020, Mildcares offers range of female hygiene products including Period Care Products, Toilet Care Products, and Intimate Care Products. The idea was to create a one-stop-shop for all the women's hygiene needs and make their lives more comfortable and hygienic.

Last December, Mild Cares Pvt. Ltd. received undisclosed amount from Tim Draper family-led investment platform & reality show "Meet The Drapers".

The Problem Mild Cares is Solving

Mild Cares aims to solve the problem of lack of access to reliable and affordable menstrual hygiene products in rural areas. The company provides innovative and eco-friendly menstrual cups under the brand "GynoCup" to improve menstrual hygiene for women and girls in rural areas.

The company represented India as a HealthTech company in the 1st ASEAN-India Start-up Festival held in Indonesia, last year in October. 

GynoCup

Mild Cares' flagship product is the "GynoCup" menstrual cup, which is made of medical-grade silicone and provides a cost-effective and sustainable alternative to traditional menstrual products.

Sustainable and Eco-Friendly Option

GynoCup is a reusable menstrual cup made from medical-grade silicone, making it a sustainable and eco-friendly option for menstruation management. Unlike disposable pads and tampons, which generate waste and can take centuries to decompose, GynoCup can be used for years, significantly reducing your environmental footprint.

Material and Safety Considerations

GynoCup is made from high-quality, medical-grade silicone, which is hypoallergenic and free from harmful chemicals like BPA, latex, and phthalates. This ensures that GynoCup is safe for long-term use and suitable for users with allergies or sensitivities.

Mild Cares use LSR Technology to improve their menstrual cup, by using liquid silicon in their menstrual cup. The company claims that liquid silicon is the best certified class 6 medical grade silicon for menstrual cups. This type of silicon is known for its high-quality, durability and flexibility, and also biocompatible, which means it is safe to use in the human body.

Additionally, LSR technology enables more precise manufacturing, which can result in a more consistent product with fewer defects.

Why GynoCup is Gaining Popularity

Recognized as India's innovation to solve global challenges in Feminine Hygiene by AGNII — Government of India, GynoCup has gained popularity for several reasons, including their eco-friendliness, cost-effectiveness, and health benefits. Many users find them more comfortable and convenient than disposable products.

In addition to the menstrual cup itself, GynoCup offers a range of complementary products like cup wash, intimate wash, wipes, disposable toilet seat covers, and disposable stand & pee devices. These products help girls & women to maintain personal hygiene and comfort during their period.

Additionally, the company has collaborated with Jiyyo Mitra e-Clinic to promote and sell GynoCup in rural areas of India.

Counting Sirona and Peesafe as its competitors, Mild Cares' founders says, "Mild Cares is unique in several ways. First, the company provides innovative and sustainable solutions for menstrual, intimate, and toilet hygiene issues faced by women globally, which sets it apart from traditional menstrual product companies. Second, Mild Cares offers a revolutionary menstrual cup called GynoCup, made of medical-grade silicone, that is reusable for up to 10 years, providing a cost-effective and eco-friendly solution for menstrual hygiene. This is a unique and innovative approach to menstrual hygiene that sets Mild Cares apart from competitors."

Mild Cares generates revenue through both online and offline channels, with 80% of the revenue coming from online channels and 20% from offline channels.

The company sells its products through leading eCommerce platforms like Amazon, Flipkart, Nykaa, and also has its own shopping store. Additionally, Mild Cares has strategic partnerships and collaborations that contribute to its revenue generation.

The Founders

Mr. Sandeep Vyas

Mr. Sandeep Vyas is the founder of Mild Cares and GynoCup. He is an enthusiast for women's hygiene and a successful businessman.

Sandeep holds a Master's degree in Business Administration from the Institute of Management Studies Indore in India and has over a decade of experience in developing profitable and rising enterprises. He has a deep understanding of marketing communication, business administration, and company growth. He was inspired to assist women in having healthier, cleaner, and happier lives, which are reflected in the company that is now known as Mild Cares. 

Sandeep has worked hard to fulfill his dream and has kept the company afloat with his determined approach.

Ms. Rachna Vyas is the Co-Founder of Mild Cares & GynoCup. She has over 7 years of operational experience with Network 18 and is involved in the research and development of the company. 

Rachna says her goal in life is to liberate women from menstrual poverty and ensure that every woman has access to the best female hygiene products at an affordable cost. Being a woman herself, she understands the health hazards and infections that come with unhygienic tampons and sanitary napkins, and she wants to change this by providing a sustainable and affordable solution with the revolutionary women's hygiene product "GynoCup". Rachna takes a personal interest in the design of the product. 

Future Plans

Mild Cares' growth strategy & future plans includes several key elements, such as –

Increasing customer acquisition: We plan to ramp up our marketing efforts to reach a wider audience and attract more potential customers. This includes targeted online advertising, social media marketing, and search engine optimization.

Expanding our product offerings: We will continue to invest in research and development to expand our product line and introduce new features that meet the evolving needs of our customers.
Building strategic partnerships: We are actively seeking partnerships with other companies that can help us reach new markets or enhance our product offerings.
Scaling our operations: As we grow, we will focus on streamlining our operations and increasing efficiency to ensure we can meet the needs of our customers while keeping costs under control.

Exploring international markets: Mild Cares' plan to explore opportunities to expand into international markets, leveraging our existing technology and partnerships to enter new geographies.

Expanding product offerings: Mild Cares plans to expand its product offerings to include new categories such as Maa Care, Pregnancy Care, PCOS / PMS Care, Women Wellness, and Intimate Care in the future.

Technological advancements: The Company is planning to bring in more technological advancements such as Smart menstrual cups, Biometric sensor technology in the future.

Overall, the company's goal is to continue to innovate and stay ahead of the curve in our industry, while also building strong relationships with our customers and partners to drive sustainable growth over the long term.

Delhi Startup Gets Seed Funding from DST for Anti-pollution Helmet

Delhi-based startup Shellios Technolabs (Shellios), which has developed an anti-pollution helmet, has received seed funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The startup claims that it has designed a new-age helmet that helps reduce its users' exposure to toxic pollutants by more than 80%.

Shellios has developed a "Clean Air Helmet" dubbed as 'PUROS' integrated with air purifying accessories including the patented innovations of the startup — a Brushless DC (BLDC) blower fan, High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter membrane, electronic circuit, and microUSB charging port integrated into the helmet.

The patented anti pollution helmet has a purifying system set at the back of the helmet that picks up all particulate matter coming from outside and cleans the air before it reaches the biker, via its H13 Grade HEPA filter. In addition, it also reduces visor fogging & feeling of suffocation. The helmet has a cordless device with a dedicated rechargeable power supply.

The helmet has a Bluetooth-enabled app that lets the rider know when the helmet requires cleaning.

Image - www.shellios.com

Puros Helmet [Image - www.shellios.com]

The startup had signed commercialization deals with leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for the helmet. The product, at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) level 9 has been granted utility patent and is now being sold in all parts of the country priced at Rs. 4500/-. The end-users of the product include individual riders all over India and for the next version, Shellios ties up with top tier-2-wheeler OEM for the commercialization of the anti-pollution helmet.

Founded in 2017, by Amit Pathak & Mayank Pathak, Shellios design & develops technology-enhanced wearables like helmets, headgears and respirators for a variety of settings, so as to solve problems faced by two-wheeler riders including polluted air, suffocation, heat & sweating, impaired communications, difficulties in navigation during different ride scenarios.

Shellios Technolabs was incubated at DST-established Science and Technology Entrepreneur Park (JSSATE-STEP), Noida. Sellios was earlier seed funded under STEP programme of National Science & Technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB). It was also shortlisted as one of the top 15 startups of India in 2018 by QUALCOMM®.

Earlier in 2020, an another Delhi-based startup, Proxgy, has developed a smart helmet with a 360-degree rotating camera, which is mounted in a VR powered helmet and do live broadcasting in a 3D view.

IIT Delhi Startup Develop Advanced Fabric for The National Flag for Extreme Weather Conditions

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT Delhi) start-up SWATRIC has collaborated with the Flag Foundation of India to develop a top-notch and advanced textile solution for the national flag of the country.

At the lab scale, the researchers have successfully improved the strength of the fabric by 100%.

In a release, IIT Delhi said that it is also in the process of installing a monumental National Flag on its campus. The project is expected to complete by March 2022. Mr Naveen Jindal, Founder, Flag Foundation of India and Chairman, Jindal Steel & Power limited (JSPL) and IIT Delhi alumni have come forward to contribute to the project.

The Law

Under the law of usage of Indian National Flag, Monumental Flag are mammoth-sized National Flags that are not lowered at the sunset and are adequately illuminated during the night.  This was introduced after a policy decision by the Ministry of Home Affairs on 23rd December 2009, which allowed the National Flag to fly day and night on mammoth-sized National Flags.

These flags, once installed, face challenges of being damaged due to heavy winds and tough weather conditions.

In addition, a recent amendment in the Flag Code of India, 2002, also says that The National Flag of India shall be made of hand spun and hand woven or machine made, cotton/polyester/wool/silk khadi bunting. 

Solution By SWATRIC

Image credits - swatric.com/indian-flag

SWATRIC's unique advanced solution take care of specific requirement for these flags to be durable and weather resistant under extreme condition without being too heavy.

Using the advanced fabric being developed by SWATRIC, the the Flag Foundation of India (FFI) has already installed two different prototypes of the monumental National Flag on the field, one in Delhi and another one in Ladakh.

Prof. Bipin Kumar, Textile and Fibre Engineering Dept., IIT Delhi & Mentor, SWATRIC, said, "The aim is to make the monumental flag material durable for extreme weather conditions without being too heavy. Next month, we are also sending 10 different prototypes to different locations in the country for installation. So far, our research is at prototyping stage, the exact durability of the flag will be known in the next few months."

The startup also provide solution to offer environmentally friendly flags of biodegradable material.

The flag(s) can be bought from here - https://nationflagshop.com/.

SWATRIC's Other Tech Solutions

SWATRIC aims to revolutionize Indian domestic textile and garment industries in commercializing new and competitive categories of smart and functional products. The startup is also working on other technologies like E-Textile technology, Shape Memory technology and Advanced Knitting.

The startup's E-Textile Technology includes the integration of smart sensor/actuator materials in garments for non-invasive health monitoring. Such fabric sensor and actuator help to detect the individual’s vital signs and retransmit them via wireless sensor technology to provide continuous feedback on the health status.

While, the Shape Memory Technology-based textiles are novel fabrics that respond to the temperature stimulation. This shape-memory technology of SWATRIC can be used by different textile and apparel industries to impart smart functionalities to their garment or textile products such as self fitting socks, soft actuators, wrinkle free garment, pressure garments, etc.

Delhi-based AppX Raises $1.3 Mn in Funding Round Led by YCombinator

The company aims to support creators in making a regular source of income every month by selling products to their fan base

To help enable creators to run their online businesses from their own storefront, Delhi-based startup AppX has announced that it raised USD$1.3 million in a recent funding round led by Ycombinator, Global Founders Capital, Rocket Internet, Soma Capital, Shrug VC, Lenny Rachitsky, James Beshara and TDV Partners. The company plans to utilize the fresh funds to increase its product offerings to help more creators monetize, roll out their token as well as expand internationally.

Founded in January 2020 by Sameer Sadana and Anuj Gupta, AppX helps its creators monetize via their own personal mobile applications and websites, wherein creators can run their own online businesses such as ebooks, courses, NFTs and e-commerce businesses. The company is currently targeting creators with over 10,000 followers on platforms like Instagram, Tiktok, Youtube, and more such social media outlets.

Sameer Sadana, Founder and CEO, AppX;Anuj Gupta Co-Founder,AppX

 

Commenting on the funding, Sameer Sadana, Founder and CEO, AppX, said, “The creator economy space is a booming sector with market opportunity worth $100B. Creators and influencers regularly interact with their fans on social media, and thus requiring a mobile-first storefront that could help provide premium offerings to their followers. To cater to this demand, we have built a SaaS platform that empowers these creators to see revenue streams beyond digital ads. We are delighted with the trust instilled in us and AppX’s vision by our investors.”

AppX enables and provides its creators to pursue their passion and generate revenue. Working with creators in domains such as edtech, fitness, gaming, and skill development, currently the company has a network of 3000+ creators, that are using the AppX products to monetize their social media following. Creators and influencers have already earned over USD$10M till now using products created by AppX.

“The creator economy has been rapidly growing with increasing digital penetration. We are delighted to partner with Appx and truly believe in their vision of creating products that helps empower creators and influencers across the globe,” said Don Stalter, Partner at Global Founders Capital.

AppX is also planning to launch a platform where creators can launch their online businesses in less than 10 minutes.

Delhi-based Health Tech Startup Healthquad Grabs Australian Cricketer Pat Cummins as Brand Ambassador

Australian Cricketer Pat Cummins associates with Indian health-tech startup, Healthquad

Becomes Brand Ambassador and Investor

Healthquad raises approx 1Mil.$ funding from Pat and other investors

Healthquad, a unique health & fitness platform that offers 360-degree view of health statistics to its users is teaming up with Australian fast bowler and Test Captain Pat Cummins as its brand ambassador and newest Investor to make an impact in the health tech space and to offer its services to a wider consumer base across India.

Pat Cummins, known for his enviable level of fitness and health and has a long standing relationship with India having toured with the Australian side and played in the IPL for a number of seasons understands the Indian health & fitness ecosystem and is a natural fit with the startup.

Healthquad aims at transforming the Indian health industry by using proprietary algorithms which are capable of providing accurate health statistics by considering parameters like calorie-intake, daily step count, sleep patterns, water intake etc. along with other aggregated vital tracking instruments and tools to transform. The platform incentivises users to set and achieve their fitness goals by rewarding them with HQ coins which can be redeemed in multiple avenues.

 
Sanjeev Koul, Founder, Healthquad, said, “It's a privilege for us to have Pat on board as he personifies the very essence of Healthquad. It is an added advantage that Pat is familiar with the Indian health spectrum owing to his long association with the IPL. India is at the cusp of a health & fitness revolution and we’re confident that Healthquad will be leading it from the forefront.”

In describing the association, Pat Cummins said -

As an international sportsman, health and fitness are an integral part of my lifestyle. The experience of playing in the IPL has given me significant insight into the potential of the Indian health & fitness ecosystem. Anything to do with the health tech space excites me and I’m looking forward to strengthening this existing symbiotic relationship with fitness through Heathquad.

Chandra Reddy of Beyond Advisory, as transaction advisors, said, “The versatility and the horizontal nature of the Healthquad platform is an attractive proposition. It is conducive to integrating with the fast growing health tech ecosystem, including apps, wearables and other devices. We plan to scale the business in India and across other geographies. We are delighted to be associated with Pat and other consortia members for their hard work and vision to be part of this exciting journey.”

About Heathquad:

Healthquad, founded in 2019 is a comprehensive health & fitness platform. Its proprietary algorithm gives users a 360-degree view of their health by considering various parameters like calorie-intake, daily step count, sleep patterns, water intake & calorie burn, etc. to give an accurate health picture and provide the tools to transform. The app incentivises users to set and achieve their fitness goals by rewarding them with HQ coins which can be redeemed in multiple avenues. Healthquad aims to be the platform to drive & disrupt the Indian health tech industry.

Delhi based Startup Launches Smart Helmets to Broadcast Real World in VR

Have you ever imagined a service that allows you to shop, visit, meet, celebrate and register your presence everywhere right from home!

If not then now you can do it through Proxgy's smart helmet from a Delhi based start up. Proxgy allows its users to book real human beings who will do real world walks for you in real time while you are sitting at home yourself. In order to keep its customers away from the corona epidemic and provide a full real-world experience, Proxgy has built a smart helmet with a 360-degree rotating camera. This camera mounted in a VR powered helmet will do live broadcasting of 3D view.

"The New Normal is Here, Be Everywhere" is the inspiration to make Proxgy! The aim of Proxgy is to give a completely new dimension to people's everyday outdoor activity. Proxgy customers will be able to experience 360 ​​degrees of video and audio live through the camera mounted on top of the smart helmet of the proxy person booked through the mobile application. The special thing about smart helmets is that the high definition camera on the top will be controlled through the customer's mobile app. Proxgy uses patented technology for broadcasting live audio and video to give the customer the most up-to-date experience.

Just as real-time action and movement are revealed in video games, Proxgy also responds in real-time to the smart helmet camera with audio commands and inputs directed by its client from the app. Proxgy's mobile app is so great that it sends live feeds from the smart hatmate's camera to the customer's mobile. On the pattern of VR - virtual reality, it can also be seen on small and big screens, which makes the trip to your home more exciting. 

Pulkit Ahuja, founder of Proxgy LLP, serial entrepreneur, inventor, owner of several patents, believes that "Proxgy started as a dorm room service conceptualized for the elderly and other high risk prone individuals as a pilot in New Delhi during the corona virus citywide lockdown, wherein these people who were at a higher risk to corona virus could stay safe at home while their younger, fitter proxgies navigated the city for them live using an off the shelf whatsapp video call, helping them with their daily chores."

In the pilot project, this concept received such tremendous support that Pulkit prepared it for many cities as well as many verticals. Currently, Proxgy will be used in shopping, virtual travel, old age care, real estate, remote KYC, car servicing, many other sectors as well as B2B and B2C services.

Pulkit Ahuja further states that "These cutting edge technological innovations have helped us to create a truly immersive and exceptional augmented reality experience for the end users. Proxgy is now using 360 degree rotation cameras on Proxgy smart helmets, 3D viewing options, VR head controlled camera movements and one to many broadcasting abilities to provide the end user an ultimate mix of the real and augmented worlds right at their home."

Proxgy is currently operating on a limited customer base under the beta version. For quick service, you can visit www.Proxgy.com or download Android app from Play Store.

About the Founder

An author, Entrepreneur and Inventor, Pulkit Ahuja, 33 has always been a dreamer and an ideator who believes in chasing the unknown and taking up the unthinkable. A rising star in one of world’s largest car rental company, a two time published author, owner of multiple patents and three time entrepreneur, Pulkit’s visionary thinking and a penchant for novelty saw him embark upon a successful entrepreneur journey early on.

With a career spanning over decade, Pulkit’s expertise in converting new or unknown tech ideas into successful business saw him emerge as a serial entrepreneur in disruptive technologies with a series of successful startups in transportation, ad tech & education domains. Embodying a winning attitude and a unique thinking, it is his ability to think out of box that has constantly led him to innovate concepts that cut through the clutter.

Unlockar, Pulkits first startup was a mobile company that presented users selected content on the lock screen of their android phones. The app was very received by users and within just 8 weeks of the launch the app managed to garner .It was also selected as part of Business World Accelerates second batch in 2015 and emerged as a winner of both m Billionth Award South Asia and Madlabs both in the year 2015. Pulkit’s second and more ambitious venture Cabsguru, which covered about 75 Indian cities saw him raise USD 200000 at an USD 3.5 Million valuation. Cabsguru worked as a cab search, compare and booking aggregator with a booking bot called Robocab receiving huge response from users.

Healthcare Startup GenElek Developing Affordable Exoskeletons for Specially-Abled

With an aim to provide affordable exoskeletons in India, GenElek Technologies, a healthcare startup is developing externally worn robotic exoskeletons that enhance a human's limbic capabilities. The technology helps people suffering from paralysis, stroke, spinal cord injury (SCI) and other neurological conditions to meet eye to eye with the obstacles they face in their day-to-day life. The exoskeleton assists specially-abled people to walk again while making them self-reliant and independent. This not only benefits them physically but also mentally. One such possibility is it will increase their employability.

Some of the benefits of using an exoskeleton include preventing chronic diseases including diabetes and high blood pressure. Additionally, problems like bed-sores are a cause of concern in paralyzed persons which can be avoided if they use exoskeletons. It also helps to maintain normal bowel movement of the user which is the primary reason for becoming prone to life-threatening diseases.

[caption id="attachment_140491" align="alignleft" width="338"] Genelek Exoskeleton[/caption]

The exoskeleton model is lightweight and modular which enables the physiotherapist to increase the much-needed care and standards of therapy required by the affected persons. At home accessibility to healthcare is also a benefit with our exoskeleton. RnD regarding enabling the specially-abled persons is deficient and hence the devices available have limited relevance, with independence a significantly ignored focus.

John Kujur, Founder, GenElek Technologies said, "We at GenElek Technologies are on a mission to make this technology affordable therefore collaborations with leading hospitals with Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation facilities and NGOs are being actively pursued. After, having discussions with many Doctors, Specially-abled persons, and Medical Institutions, we have come up with added intangible benefits for the persons willing to purchase the exoskeleton such as access to dedicated medical experts, occupational therapy, counseling, etc. which will help them to become employable along with the therapy”.

GenElek is incubated at Electropreneur Park which is an initiative of the Ministry of Electronics and IT and managed by STPI and implemented by IESA.

GenElek Technologies at CYBATHALON 2020

GenElek Technologies will now represent India in CYBATHLON 2020, Zurich in the Powered Exoskeleton Race discipline. GenElek’s exoskeleton will compete with 17 other teams in the 'Powered Exoskeleton Race' discipline. It is for the first time that a team from India has been selected for the ‘Powered Exoskeleton Race’. Over 79 Teams from across the globe will come together in Zurich for CYBATHLON. The pilots for the exoskeleton race are ex-Indian army men who were injured for life in the line of duty.

CYBATHLON is a unique competition where specially-abled people compete against each other using the most advanced assistive systems. The latest developments assistive systems including wearable exoskeletons are put to the test at the CYBATHLON. The technologically-advanced assistive systems are pushed to their limits at CYBATHLON. Specially-abled people compete in specially designed racecourses that include solving everyday tasks like- getting up from the sofa, climbing stairs, walking on a slant path and rough terrain and many others.

You can support Team GenElek to participate in CYBATHLON 2020 by donating on the following link: https://www.ketto.org/fundraiser/help-team-india-win-cybathlon-2020-zurich

New Delhi Based AARK World Acquires Flyrobe to Build India’s largest Fashion Rental Service

• The fashion rental business will be managed and operated under the brand name ‘Flyrobe’


• The business is slated to hit profitability within the next 12 months


• The company now has five physical brand stores and plans to launch 15 owned and franchise stores in the next 12 months nationwide


• The business acquisition is aimed at accelerating growth and International expansions to Dubai, London and the US


• TRYROBE: A ‘virtual trial’ feature to be integrated on the Flyrobe apps in the next quarter, a first of its kind user experience in the ethnic fashion space


• The company plans to scale the market place model (Customer to Customer renting) post witnessing great success

Delhi based startup AARK World Pvt. Ltd that owns and operates Rent It Bae (premium fashion rental service) has acquired the business of Flyrobe, India’s first fashion rental startup. The company has merged the two businesses and is now operating under the brand name Flyrobe.

The deal between the two is a part-cash and part-stock. The new combined business is now valued at 60 crores. The deal is aimed at accelerating growth and expansion. The company plans to expand its footprint in India and overseas to Dubai, London and the US through a franchise model.

To support this acquisition, AARK World Pvt. Ltd. has raised an investment round from its existing investor GEMS Partners, a micro VC fund based in Delhi and is poised to go for a larger Series A. Flyrobe’s previous investor STRIVE (formerly known as GREE Ventures) also remains invested in the new company.

AARK World owned Flyrobe will have Aanchal Saini as the CEO, joining her on the management board are - Ricky Gujral (COO), Karan Gujral (CTO) and Pranay Surana (CSO).

Announcing the acquisition, Aanchal Saini, Co-founder & CEO Rent It Bae and now CEO, Flyrobe said, “We are the first in India offering a wide range of ethnic wear on rent. The aim is to expand our footprints to National as well as International markets alongside exploring new business propositions. With our ongoing growth, we are slated to hit the 100 crore mark in the next two years.”

“We are also launching virtual walls at all Flyrobe stores. Within months the trial feature as Augmented Reality will be available on the mobile app. This virtual experience is called ‘Tryrobe’. We believe that this first of its kind differentiator will be a major boost for our online business” Aanchal added.

Aditya Gupta, Managing Director, GEMS Partners said, “We are delighted to be part of the Flyrobe journey, our belief is that the fashion rental business is one of India’s fastest growing business segments. With a capable team at the realm GEMS is confident that this business will grow not only domestically but internationally”.

Nikhil Kapur, Partner, STRIVE (formerly GREE Ventures) said, “We are excited to see two strong companies in this sector combining their strengths to crack this tough category in India and build an asset light O2O platform for fashion rentals.”

Earlier this year, Rent It Bae had launched India’s first AI-enabled fashion rental store with the introduction of a virtual trial room. Virtual trial rooms are equipped with virtual walls that make it possible for users to try different outfits without having to wear them. The company further plans to integrate virtual trial experience at all the brand stores and Flyrobe’s apps (both ioS and android) by next quarter. This technology will be the first of its kind in the ethnic fashion space.

Flyrobe has previously indicated that it has facilitated the largest marketplace for customer to customer renting (inventory curated from individual closets) that has worked extremely well. More than 1800 curators are onboard with Flyrobe and about 3500 curator applications under review.

The company plans to incorporate an omnichannel strategy to grow the business as consumer demand for a multichannel shopping experience continues to mount. Flyrobe services to more than 1 Mn customers in 30+ cities through its website, apps and stores. The company plans to open 15 owned and franchise stores in the next 12 months both at tier 1 and tier 2 cities.

Nutrition Products Startup Aesthetic Nutrition Raises $100K Seed Funding from Alfa Ventures

Alfa Ventures recently launched 100 Crore fund by sort after investor Dhianu Das who with his Midas touch has made strong successful bets in past like Gomechanic, Cleardekho and Cleansecar etc. Alfa took another big step by powering POWER GUMMIES with their expertise & deciding to invest $1,00,000 in seed round of its parent firm, Aesthetic Nutrition. Their joining hand is certainly a big move to make a strong dent in 41-billion-dollar Over-the-counter health care market.

Power Gummies, a new in-trend product that has created strong buzz for its existence in the market is all set to capture big chunk in its domain. Power Gummies aims to play with consumer psychology and eradicate the misconception of treating health supplements as “medicine” and requiring doctor’s permission to have it, this “fear of having medicines” is the biggest barrier of Over- the-Counter Market. Breaking the stereotype of pills, which are difficult to gulp & create fear of having medicine, Power Gummies are Tasty & Easily chewable. These blue gummies are also very cute looking which further makes them more attractive than tablets."



“Creative marketing, cute packing, right product placement, customer satisfaction, great results and amazing taste has been our anthem to success and we will continue to move with it” said Divij Bajaj, the CEO and Founder of Power Gummies. Around 100+ Celebrities & influencers have been associated with the product so far and have helped create a strong buzz for it. Not only that, the product has more than 3 lac followers across social media platforms.

Power Gummies has been super successful with its Hair Vitamins with Biotin which has the goodness of all the essential vitamins that enhance hair growth, nail growth and also boosts metabolism. Product is known to show great results especially towards stopping hair fall and claims to be one stop solution for all hair & nail care needs. The popularity of these 100% vegetarian Gummies can be seen by their outperforming sales in a short span.

Alfa Venture fund led by Dhianu Das plans to work along right strategic partners to provide this fast growing start up wings to fly high with their network and funds for scaling. Divij Bajaj CEO/Founder of this amazing idea also expressed his aim to launch few other gummy health supplement variants in the near future, targeting different segments of the market but after capturing big piece in hair nutrition market.

Probus Smart Things wins Best Startup in India at Seedstars Delhi 2019

Seedstars World, the largest seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, brought its India round to a successful close during Seedstars Delhi. The event took place this Monday 3rd of June, at Amazon Web Services, and 8 selected startups were invited to present their companies in front of the local jury panel.

The local winner, Probus Smart Things, digitizing distribution grid and improving 2-3% annual efficiency of their network through an integrated IoT platform based service, was named “Best Startup in India” for its innovative sustainable solution. “It was very exciting to take part in the competition. It was very well organized and only curated startups were selected. Thank you for giving me this opportunity as we will get the exposure to meet potential international partners, investors that would help us scale up geographically. Thank you Seedstars.”, explains Rahul Mishra, Co-founder & COO at Probus Smart Things.

As a part of the prize,Probus Smart Things will be participating at the Seedstars Asia Summit and get a chance to go to the Seedstars Summit, which takes place in Switzerland, in April 2020. It is a week-long training program, with the opportunity to meet the 65+ winners from other fast growing economies, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. The final day of the Summit is dedicated to pitching in front of an audience of more than 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning up to USD 500,000 in equity investment and other prizes.



The 8 startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury, including Bipin Shah, Ankur Warikoo, Aparna Dua, Ashish Taneja, Sandro Stephen and Satwik Govindarajula.

Remedo, with its patient engagement platform that grows doctor practices and changes clinical outcomes for chronic conditions, came second and Agrowave, with its solution to optimize fruits & vegetables supply chain by connecting farmers directly to business using data driven technology, grabbed the last spot in the top 3.

The other startups invited to pitch were The Knotty Tales, Farmton Agro Services, Cogniable, Sensegrass and FitPhilia. They all win 1-month access to the Investment Readiness Program, a non-time bound and data-driven acceleration program focused in boosting tech startups looking to get ready for fundraising.

After this stop at India, Martin Courtinat, Associate for Asia at Seedstars, says “We were looking forward to coming back to India to find promising startups after Wobot won the innovation prize last April at the Seedstars Summit and we were not disappointed! The selected candidates all had high quality, impact focus projects and we are happy to continue to support them with the Investment Readiness Program and take them to the next level.”

Continuing on its world tour of fast-growing startup scenes in emerging markets, Seedstars World’s next stop is Seedstars Manilla 2019 organised in partnership with IGNITE, to select the best startup in the Philippines. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market. Startups are invited to apply here: https://www.ignite.ph/, until Friday 7th.

The event was also supported by AWS, Ingenious Faces, StartupsClub, Chatur Ideas and Nexus and CoWorkin.

ABOUT SEEDSTARS

"They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds." - Mexican proverb
Seedstars is a Swiss-based private group of companies with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. The groups’ activities cover over 80 emerging ecosystems through a variety of events such as the Seedstars World Competition, acceleration programs, physical hubs called Seedspace, venture capital investments and company building activities.

SucSEED Venture Partners Invests in XploraBox, An Educational Subscription E-Commerce Startup

SucSEED Venture partners has completed an Angel investment into New Delhi-based Imagismart Solutions, which runs an educational subscription activity box company for learning through play in children under the brand name Xplorabox. The investment round was led by Green Shoots Capital. Metaform Ventures LLC, JITO Angel Network, SWAN Angel Network, Group of Angel Investors also invested in the firm.

Xplorabox was founded in August 2015 by husband-wife duo Rishi and Shweta Das, along with two other co-founders — Dhirendra Meena and Rishabh Gupta.

Xplorabox is as an educational subscription e-commerce start-up designed to engage children in activity-based learning programmes. It focuses mainly on children aged between two and twelve and aims to promote ‘Learning Through Fun’ with its innovative products, fun stories, and educational activities each of their boxes. The company has served more than 50,000 customers and dispatching kits to over 500 cities every month.
As per Rishi Das CEO “On an average, children are spending over 3 hours every day in front of screens, this is having a huge impact on their brain development, more and more parents are becoming aware of this problem and are looking to introduce their children to physical activity based learning tools. Xplorabox provides fun, learning and boost essential developmental skills of the children”.

“Xplorabox has helped 30% reduction in screen time, 20% increase in parent-child bonding time and 90% of the parents have reported an improvement in their children’s learning skills” said Rishabh Gupta, Chief Revenue Officer an IIMC alumni

Dhirendra Meena, CTO mentioned “We are also working on some very exciting products and are targeting to launch it in next 9-12 months. These will cause massive disruption in the industry and will be loved by parents and children alike as these are being developed based on solid feedback from thousands of parents.”

“Xplorabox targets ARR of INR 100 Cr within next 3 years”

The startup plans to use the funds to scale up rapidly, and establish overseas presence beginning with North America and Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries.

Speaking on why SucSEED has invested in XploraBox, Vikrant Varshney, Co-Founder and Managing Partner of SucSEED Venture Partners, said “India's accelerated development needs rising middle class and minds which are trained for fast-changing future. Xplorabox fills this future need of India's young minds, by providing physical activity-based learning tools. This ensures that kids have reduced exposure to screens and helps improve children learning skills. We see immense potential in XploraBox and team to immerge as a leader in the segment, with their constant product innovation"

Speaking on why he has invested in XploraBox, Moti Vyas, one of the SucSEED investors, said "SucSEED Ventures has invested in many EdTech ventures. XploraBox fits nicely in SucSEED's EdTech portfolio with complementary offerings. Its members' deep knowledge base and industry experience will guide/mentor Xplorabox in their journey to success. Xplorabox mitigates the adverse impact of the digital technology revolution with hands-on learning away from screens. Xplorabox activities kits encourage participation by family and friends thus creating social bonds."

Market Potential in Educational Subscription Activity Box Segment

There are more than 300 million kids in India in our target age group and another 15 million are getting added every year. We estimate the Total Addressable Market for activity-based learning kits in India to be at least USD 4 billion. And this is just in India – with a much larger customer base the global market is estimated to be over USD 20 billion. Add to this the potential to cross sell any other kids products and the potential to sell to a customer for up to 10 years once the relationship is established and you will start to see why we and all our investors are so excited about this opportunity.

Delhi Startup GIFkaro Raises $250K in Angel Funding for its Product Portfolio Expansion

GIFkaro, a New Delhi-based GIF content startup, has announced that it has raised $250K from angel investors including Pranay Gupta (ex Snapchat and current Google employee), and Dr Ekika Singh, a top gynaecologist and infertility specialist, among others.

Launched in June 2017 by Arpit Kumar, Puneet Kalra and Dinesh Kumar, GIFkaro allows users to create, watch, and download funny GIFs. It provides an editing tool through its app to create a short GIF in multiple languages including Hindi, Gujarati, Marathi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam, Punjabi, and English. Users can also download any GIF available on the platform for free to share it on Facebook, and WhatsApp. The app is currently available for Android users, having more than 40,000 downloads so far.

GIFkaro plans to utilise the angel round of funding for its product portfolio expansion. It has recently introduced a new app named ‘Invitekaro’ for creating customised GIF wedding invitations.

The startup said due to its 'custom animation engine', it takes less than 43 seconds for its app to create a design preview for the user. It combines multiple layers of animations into one, in real time, to come up with the perfect personalised GIF card. User can make these cards highly personalised by adding their own videos to these invitations.

The app also provides designers a "gig" opportunity to submit and monetise their designs on InviteKaro.

Speaking on how his company is trying to simplify Indian weddings, Arpit Kumar, Founder, InviteKaro said,“Invitekaro removes the hassle of going out, picking a card, finding a nearby courier and mailing the wedding cards. It allows you better services from the spacious comfort of your home, where you can relax, pick a design that best represents who you are, how you would want the wedding to be like, add your own videos to it, and that’s that. Go to the social media of your choice and start shooting invites. Paper cards might continue to survive but digital is the present, and it is important to think beyond.”

According to investor Pranay Gupta,"I've always believed that the Indian digital app ecosystem has a lot of potential, We need innovative India-first plays. When I met Arpit, Puneet and Dinesh, I was pleasantly surprised to find that we shared a common vision around this. What they've built is truly remarkable. GIFkaro will light the Indian casual content ecosystem on fire. InviteKaro is a trailblazer and will forever change how wedding invitations are done,"

In the past 18 months, the company has completed more than a billion impressions through its GIFkaro APIs on its partners (Microsoft, Dailyhunt, Shareit, Airtel, and others) channels.

Delhi Startup Introduces a Marketplace Platform for Warehousing and Cold Storage in India

Delhi based startup, Warehouse-India.in has launched a new platform for finding warehouses in India through its marketplace. The website will be helpful for small and medium business owners who are looking for a warehouse space for shorter duration and flexibility in storage solutions.

Delhi based startup, Warehouse-India.in has launched a new platform for finding warehouses in India through its marketplace. The website will be helpful for small and medium business owners who are looking for a warehouse space for shorter duration and flexibility in storage solutions. Started in January 2019, the platform has managed over 4000 listings across India with majority of them being warehouses.

“It was a considerable loss of time and effort to find the right warehouse when I started my import business. When I talked to various business owners and realised it was a common concern. This gave me the inspiration to venture out on my own and start Warehouse-India.in,” said Founder, Dhruv Goyal.

Warehouse, cold storage and service providers list their properties and services to and communicate with the users through the inbuilt messaging feature. The owners will also have the ability to add multiple properties and track traffic on each listing through its customised dashboard. Users can send bookings requests and message warehouse owners directly through the website itself.

“The initial market reaction has been very positive. B2B players identify with the problem and see it as a game-changer in the years to come. There are several bottlenecks that we have tried to solve through an intuitive website and design,” adds Himika Sharma, one of the founding team member.

The demand and absorption in the industry reflect a vast potential. Last year’s statistics from JLL shows 60% growth in absorption versus 2017. Tier II cities are also gaining traction in the industry as more e-commerce, FMCG and ancillary businesses grow in India.

“The focus will now be to increase awareness of the global best practices among warehouse owners and improve their efficiency. Adding listings of service providers is a game changer as well to bring together more stakeholders on our platform. Furthermore, we are looking to build partnerships with multiple players to reach a wide audience through Warehouse-India.in,” commented Goyal on the future steps.

[Published unedited via BusinessWire India Feed]

Philippines based EZAdvance Acquires Delhi-based Fintech Startup Alconomy

Philippines based EZAdvance Consumer Lending has acquired the tech assets of New Delhi based blockchain-powered fintech startup, Alconomy Technologies, to expand into digital banking offerings.

The price of the deal were not disclosed by the company.

Founded by Kashish Manocha, Alconomy Technologies was initially started as a cryptocurrency exchange and wallet based in India. However, as cryptocurrency trading got banned in 2018 by India's central bank, Reserve Bank of India, Alconomy shifted to a financial technology venture, which is working on Blockchain-based credit scoring solution to empower financial institutions.

The Startup is working on decentralized credit scoring system by storing borrower's data on a blockchain to make loan decision making intelligent, data driven and automatic.

POst acquisition, Alconomy's technology will help EZAdvance in providing digital banking services in the Philippines.

Kashish, founder of Alconomy, said, “With over 100 million population, only 23% banking penetration and a 58% mobile phone penetration, the Philippines is ripe for fintech innovation.”

Boris Merkenich, CEO of EZAdvance, said, “EZAdvance has been successfully serving clients for years, developing a powerful body of knowledge and expertise in consumer finance in the Philippines. With our customer-centric philosophy and technology capabilities, we will be offering banking services nationwide digitally."

Established in 2015 in Oriental Mindoro, Philippines, EZAdvance Consumer Lending is a rapidly growing financial services company specializing in Consumer lending and Trade Finance with headquarters in Makati City and offices across Philippines.

Source - Business Wire

AI-Enabled Edtech Startup Genius Corner Raises ₹2 Cr to Implement the ML and Expand PAN India

Noida Based Edtech startup Genius Corner raised angel funding of Rs 2 Crore (~ US$278,000) from Ranbir Singh, Mahesh Mohta and Lakshmikantan Sundereswaran (avid investors in equities and startups in Indian and international markets) for expansion. Dipak Varshney and Puneet Garg who are from technology background also participated in the round.

Started in 2014, Genius Corner aims to redefine learning by providing Personalised learning solutions to students with the help of combining web technology with Artificial Intelligence (AI). The startup is currently working with many leading schools and institutions across India like G.D Goenka, Montfort etc.Genius Corner, an initiative towards making learning experience Personalized for each individual child,envisaged the idea of enabling personalized learning environment in schools through Artificial Intelligence technology. Further the startup plans to expand the machine learning programs.

Genius corner was launched in 2014 and this initiative has helped more than 50000+ students across country to raise the academic level. The startup was founded by IIT/IIM Alumni, Vishal Khatter ( a Delhi college of Engineering graduate and Masters from IIM Lucknow ) Dheeraj Khatter (Engineer from NIT Kurukshetra) and Samrat Chauhan from IIT Kharagpur.

Genius Corner assigns specific training modules to teachers to polish their delivery skills on specific concepts where class as a whole is struggling. Genius Corner is currently working with many leading schools and institutions across India like G.D Goenka, Montfort etc.

Commenting on the fundraise, Vishal Khattar, co-founder of Genius Corner, said,“Funding came at an important time for Genius Corner. This funding is a significant milestone in allowing us to expand the business, strengthen development and create value in the market with new feature.Our focus will always be to assure our students to get the highest quality, along with reliability & accountability.We will be utilising the funding to implement the Machine Learning and grow Genius corner footprints at PAN India level.," he added.

Talking about the investment Mr. Dipak Varshney said, “Artificial Intelligence based personalized learning will bring wonderful benefits to the Students and educational Institute. We need to revolutionise the way our nation approaches education and Genies Corner provides that strongly integrated experience with their core intent being on skill development and learning. I firmly believe that this product is uniquely positioned to make a powerful change in learning outcomes, in India and globally."

Cisco Chairman John Chambers Invests in Delhi-based Cybersecurity Startup Lucideus

Delhi-based and IIT Bombay incubated cybersecurity startup Lucideus has raised US$5 million (~ Rs 36 crore) in Series A round of funding, led by Cisco Chairman Emeritus John Chambers. John has infused funding in Lucideus through his recently launched JC2 Ventures, reported Fortune India.

Out of $5 million, John Chambers has pumped in $4 million, while a handful of angel investors infused the rest of the money.

The latest funding is a result of interesting interaction between John Chambers and CEO of Lucideus, Saket Modi, wherein Chambers asked Modi to explain his business in 15 seconds, and Modi did, and Chambers was stumped.

While the ticket size isn't huge, the investment is crucial as it highlights the potential that investors like Chambers see in cybersecurity in India, and the opportunity that may exist for enterprise service and product providers like Lucideus globally.

[caption id="attachment_127020" align="aligncenter" width="699"] John Chambers and Saket Modi [Image - Tom Upton Studio
/ Fortuneindia.com][/caption]

The startup will be use the freshly raised capital to expand its presence in the US as well as existing markets like India, and also to further strengthen its platform to provide more robust security to the startup's enterprise customers that span across banking and financial services, retail and others.

According to Saket Modi, CEO of Lucideus, the company has seen its revenues growing in triple digits year-on-year and has been cash flow positive for the last few years.

Earlier in May 2017, the startup had raised funding from a clutch of global executives like Google's Rajan Anandan, Facebook Messenger executive Anand Chandrasekaran and FreeCharge's ex-CEO Govind Rajan.

This is Cisco Chairman's second investment in India after he had invested in Chennai-based Uniphore Software Systems, a speech recognition solutions company. In May last year, Chamber had announced the launch of US$70 million fund dedicated exclusively for Indian startups.

Founded in 2012 by by Saket Modi, Vidit Baxi and Rahul Tyagi, Lucideus is a pure play Cybersecurity company, providing Cyber Security platforms to enterprise and governments across the globe. It is empanelled in CERT India, India'a nodal agency to deal with cybersecurity, as one of the certified cyber security auditors by Government of India.

Notably, Lucideus is also the cybersecurity firm behind the end-to-end cybersecurity assessment of the BHIM payments application as well as UPI (Unified Payments Interface) library that is today embedded into the mobile banking applications of almost all banks in the country that have a mobile banking facility for transfer of money.

Besides Lucideus, other cybersuecurity startup from India which has raised funding most recently is Mumbai headquartered Sequretek, which had raised US$3.7 million in a bridge round led by Unicorn India Ventures and other investors including GVFL and Sharad Sanghi, MD & CEO, Netmagic.

According to Nasscom, the Indian IT industry is set to reach a size of $350-400 billion by 2025. The country can build a cybersecurity products and services industry of $35 billion by 2025 and generate a skilled workforce of one million in the security sector.

Globally, the cybersecurity market is expected to grow from $152.71 billion in 2018 to $248.26 billion by 2023, at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2% during 2018-23, according to a new market research report by MarketsandMarkets. The major forces driving the growth in the space are strict data protection directives and rising cyberterrorism. The cybersecurity market is growing rapidly because of the rising need for cloud-based cybersecurity solutions among enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) alike.

IIT Delhi Shareholding Startup Clensta Raises Funds from IAN and IAN Fund

Delhi-based Clensta International, which is a biotechnology startup having shareholding with IIT-Delhi, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Indian Angel Network (IAN) and its maiden VC Fund, IAN Fund, led by IAN members - Rishabh Mehta, Founder & CEO LOCAD Pte Ltd., Pradeep Gupta, Co-Founder IAN, Anirudh Agarwal and Sajiv Dhawan. Rishabh Mehta will be taking the board seat in the startup.

Other investors who participated in this round include Ajai Chowdhry, Co-founder HCL, Arvind Singal, Founder & MD of Technopak Advisors, Bikky Khosla, CEO of Trade India, Chairman of ASSOCHAM, Jaideep Mehta, CEO of VCCircle, Raman Roy, Chairman of NASSCOM, and Anand Ladsariya, Founder of Everest Flavours.

Founded in 2016, by IIM Calcutta alumnus Dr. Puneet Gupta, Clensta provides waterless personal hygiene space hygiene solutions and other innovative products. The company envisions at providing innovative and easy solutions for day to day health and hygiene related problems while aiming to reduce the ever increasing problem of water shortage.

Currently offering its producs in B2B segment, the funds raised will be utlized by Clensta to launch its products in the B2C space and develop newer products in the personal hygiene category.

By introducing its so called “Waterless Technology”, the startup claims to have saved nearly 6 million litres of water in a short span of time.

Also Read - Manipal Student Wins Prize for Designing Waterless, Odourless Loo for Railways

All products by Clensta are specially designed "for India" and "in India", and are alcohol, SLS & Gluten free. The producs adhere to all guidelines provided by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) & Food & Drug Administration (FDA).

Clensta, which is housed at the Biotechnology Business Incubation Facility at IIT-Delhi, is already offering its
products through Government E-Marketplace (GeM), which in turn are being supplied both to government and private hospitals and have also been considered to be patronized for Indian Defense and Paramilitary Forces.

The company also has its additional office in The Hague, the Netherlands.

Dr Puneet Gupta, founder & CEO, Clensta International, said in a statement to Economic Times, "We endeavour to bring science and technology to introduce advanced personal hygiene products which can improve existing standards of Personal Hygiene and hence address a huge unaddressed market of close to Rs 11000 crore. Apart from the monetary benefit from this funding, IAN also brings aboard a wide range of experience as well as opportunities from its Individual Investors which we believe will ensure Clensta’s exponential growth."

Source - Economic Times

[Top Image - Puneet Gupta, CEO & Founder of Clensta]

US-based Ebix Acquires IIM Alumnus Founded B2B Logistics Tech Startup Routier

US-based software firm, Ebix, Inc., an international supplier of On-Demand software and E-commerce services to the insurance, financial, healthcare and e-learning industries, today announced that one of its India-based EbixCash subsidiaries has acquired a 67% stake in Routier, a Delhi-based B2B Marketplace for Trucking Logistics. Routier is a cloud-based, data driven and tech-enabled logistic solutions provider to change the way people move and receive inland goods in India.

Founded by first generation entrepreneurs and operating team senior Executives Ankur Dahiya and Adwait Vikram Singh from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) and Harvard Law School, respectively, Routier seeks to revolutionize trucking logistics in the same way taxi logistics have been transformed by Uber, Ola and others. Routier aims to drive efficiency for all marketplace stakeholders, using an innovative blend of data analytics, artificial intelligence and end-to-end streamlined functionality available over the cloud.

With clients like Coca Cola, Asian Paints, and Samsung. Routier’s marketplace is already proving its ability to add efficiency to freight movement. The EbixCash investment was driven by Routier’s desire for a strategic investor who could provide added technology expertise, financial strength and brand recognition to accelerate its penetration of major trucking logistics. Routier is the first start-up where Ebix has made a strategic investment.

With a market opportunity expected to reach $300 billion by 2020, Routier looks to drive productivity and transparency through a transportation sector long considered one of the most inefficient. Routier’s online cloud based logistics marketplace connects companies that require their goods to be delivered (Shippers), typically with small trucking companies who account for 75% of the freight transportation business (Carriers); allowing the Carriers the ability to win a Shipper’s business by bidding from any smartphone, hand-held device or computer. From bidding through final delivery, the Routier platform delivers a seamless efficient, end-to-end online B2B logistics marketplace, that:

• 
  
  
  
  • Connects Shippers and Carriers across the nation on a single platform.
  
  
  • Empowers even a single truck owner to work with India’s largest shippers
  
  
  • Assures Carriers of a continued supply of business through Routier’s contracts with large Shippers seeking delivery of goods across the country from each of their factories every day.
  
  
  • Assures Shippers of Carrier background checks, insurance, GPS tracking and real-time reporting from pickup through delivery
  
  
  
  

All stakeholders win when a supply chain is efficient, so Routier Marketplace is built from the ground up to help Shippers reduce costs, save time, and make informed decisions that increase profitability. At the same time, Carriers benefit from instantaneous nationwide access to recurring business through a blend of technology, transparency, ease of use and other features that directly benefit their bottom line.

Ebix Chairman, President and CEO Robin Raina said “Exchanges and marketplaces are meant to provide a network effect that drives efficiency for all concerned and are best targeted at industries that are highly inefficient and lack technology savvy. India’s trucking industry is a perfect example of such an opportunity to deliver tremendous value and efficiency, and thus we are quite excited to be partnering with Routier in its mission to redefine the trucking logistics industry.

Robin added, “Routier recently secured multi-million dollar commitments from a few large multinational corporations, and thus needed the backing of Ebix in terms of technology expertise, manpower and working capital to implement and scale these and other opportunities. We are excited to invest in this pioneering effort at an opportune time, and look forward to building what could be a large marketplace for the trucking industry."

Routier Founder Ankur Dahiya said, 'Technology can serve as key disruptive force in the logistics sector. Routier aims to use Data Science as a key enabler to organize the fragmented market. By match-making supply and demand, even if we can use 30% of unutilized capacity, we can cause a major positive impact in the Industry in terms of productivity and profitability both.

Routier Co-Founder Adwait Vikram Singh said, “Routier has the potential to rationalize the Logistics sector not only in India but also for the global markets. Currently, Routier operates only in inland logistics but eventually aims to become a key player in streamlining cross border freight movement on a single enterprise marketplace platform. Routier has the vision to become an End-to-End supply chain network, that can handle freight movement to last mile delivery, for transportation across country borders.'