Metaforms Lands $9 Mn to Supercharge AI Agents for Global Market Research Giants

• Plans to triple Indian workforce with new funding and invest in AI research.

The market research boom is creating an unexpected casualty: the agencies themselves. In an industry where clients expect faster turnarounds, competitive pricing, and diverse capabilities, agencies are turning down work – not for lack of interest, but because outdated operational systems keep them from meeting client expectations.

Metaforms, a startup born from this bottleneck, is helping research teams scale without burning out. Today, the company announces a $9 million Series A to expand its AI infrastructure platform and accelerate adoption across the $130 billion global market research industry.

The round was led by Peak XV Partners (formerly Sequoia India), with participation from Nexus Venture Partners and Together Fund.

The funding will primarily fuel Metaforms' aggressive hiring plans in India, with the company set to triple its Bengaluru-based engineering and AI research teams, expand into new workflows like report generation and voice-based research, and deepen integrations with tools like Decipher, SPSS, and Confirmit.

"We're thrilled to partner with Akshat and Arjun as they reimagine what a market research agency could look like in an AI-first world. Metaforms is scaling rapidly by enabling some of the largest research agencies globally to automate workflows such as survey programming and data processing through their suite of AI agents," said Shailendra Singh, MD, Peak XV Partners.

Founded in 2022 by Akshat Tyagi and Arjun S, Metaforms addresses a critical bottleneck in the global market research industry. When multinational companies like Unilever, Procter & Gamble, or Tata need to understand consumer preferences across markets, research agencies often struggle with manual, time-intensive processes that limit their capacity to serve clients.

The company's AI agents automate survey programming, data processing, and vendor coordination, enabling agencies to handle exponentially more projects while maintaining quality.

Since launching commercially just six months ago, Metaforms has signed four of the world's top twenty research agencies, including Strat7, and serves Fortune 500 companies.

The platform now processes over 1,000 surveys per month and has achieved a 100% customer expansion rate – every client that started with one AI agent has adopted additional capabilities.

This traction has caught investor attention across the ecosystem. "They're solving a major pain point for the entire industry. That focus and ability to deeply understand customer needs and address that using generative AI is the hallmark of the Metaforms team. We are thrilled to back Akshat and Arjun in their journey of building a remarkable company!" said Jishnu Bhattacharjee, Managing Director, Nexus Venture Partners.

"Metaforms is a breakout example of the India-to-global play in AI," said Manav Garg, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Together Fund. "They're not just automating tasks — they're rebuilding research infrastructure for the modern era."

The impact extends beyond operational efficiency. By compressing turnaround times and reducing costs, Metaforms enables agencies to serve clients they would otherwise turn away, from early-stage startups testing their first ideas to global brands launching multi-country trackers.

Looking ahead, Metaforms plans to continue expanding the breadth of its agent capabilities. Voice research, automated report generation, and expanded language support are all on the roadmap, with the long-term vision to process over 100,000 surveys per year.

"When research agencies grow, better business decisions get made," said Akshat Tyagi, co-founder and CEO of Metaforms. "We're not here to replace the humans in the loop. We're here to give them leverage."

About Metaforms

Metaforms is the AI platform that helps market research agencies operate smarter and win more business. The company's AI agents augment research teams' work output across survey programming, data processing, bidding management, and voice research, enabling them to handle exponentially more projects while maintaining quality. Trusted by world's leading agencies including Dynata, Savanta, Strat7, and Borderless Access.

Indian Research and Insights Industry Overtakes China, Reaches $2.9 Bn in FY'23

• Grew by 17.6% over FY2022
• Expected to reach USD 3.4 Bn in FY2024
• Overtakes China and secures the third position in global markets, after US and UK

India’s apex industry-led market research body, Market Research Society of India (MRSI) has announced the launch of its industry sizing report titled ‘The Indian Research & Insights Industry 2023 Update’. As per the report, India’s market research and insights industry grew by 17.6% in FY2023 reaching USD 2.9 Bn from USD 2.7 Bn in FY2022. Currently at the third position globally, India’s market research and insights industry is further expected to reach USD 3.4 Bn in 2024.

With a strong growth trajectory, supported with global confidence, India is considered a talent hub with strong analytics expertise. The growth witnessed aligns with the global research and insights industry, which posted a substantial 12% increase to reach USD 130 Bn, over USD 118 Bn in the previous year. Data analytics is the fastest-growing sector of the global insights industry in absolute terms.

With large project commissions and strategic work being revived, India’s market research industry is well aligned with the Government of India's Vision-2030 strategy. Custom research and analytics have also fuelled the domestic market to grow by 12%. Analytics business from local clients continues to grow with an increasing focus on combining survey data, client data, and social data to derive insights.

Speaking on the industry’s growth, Paru Minocha, President at Market Research Society of India said, “The Indian research and insights industry witnessed another year of significant growth, achieving a substantial size of USD 2.9 Billion. This growth is a testament to India being the focus growth market for companies and the market research industry's ability to navigate challenges and capitalize on emerging opportunities to enable that growth. In addition, there is global confidence in India as a talent hub and as a market that is pivotal in offering valuable insights and research solutions.”

Mitali Chowhan, Director General at Market Research Society of India further added, “The growth our sector is undergoing is very encouraging. This has helped maintain us our Global ranking, and infact has moved us up to the third position in the global Market Research & Insights industry. India’s significant capabilities, along with our industry's ability to adapt effectively to challenges and thrive on both global and domestic fronts is something we can be proud of.”

The BFSI, FMCG, Technology, and Healthcare sectors continue to contribute significantly to sectors growth and revenue. Emerging sectors like Telecom, Electric Vehicles, and Gaming have seen increased demand for analytics and custom research. While online data collection is gaining traction, traditional methods such as face-to-face interviews remain relevant for their cost competitiveness and ability to provide wider coverage of the Indian consumer.

The executive summary of The Indian Research & Insights Industry Report 2023 is available to download at – https://insight.mrsi.co.in/indian-industry-report/

About MRSI

Market Research Society of India (MRSI) is a unique, dynamic and a not-for-profit autonomous market research body formed in 1988 by a large fraternity of research suppliers and users from across India. MRSI works with ESOMAR to bring Indian industry’s voice to the global forum.

MRSI aims to guide, encourage and uphold the highest quality standards of professionalism for all those who use, need, generate or interpret insights/data in the market research industry. It is a platform that brings marketing professionals and insight professionals together and instills a code of conduct that should be followed in the market research industry in India and showcases developments and innovations that take place.

Marketing and social research users, providers, innovators and generators are members of MRSI along with organizations which provide support services to the industry, thus holistically representing the interests of the industry at large.

To learn more, visit mrsi.co.in

Disruptions Led Companies Miss-Out $1.6 Trillion in Annual Revenue Growth – Accenture Research

By 2026, Most Companies Wants To Buy, Sell and Produce in The Same Region and That's The Key To Resilience – Accenture Report

Combining Regional Production and Supply with Digital Maturity Boosts Resiliency, Accenture Report Shows

Companies with the most resilient engineering, supply, production and operations achieved 3.6% additional annual revenue growth amid disruptions

US$1.6 Trillion Potential revenue growth opportunity left on the table each year.

Companies are ramping up regional suppliers and production facilities to become less vulnerable to disruption, according to Accenture’s “Resiliency in the making” research. By 2026, 65% of companies intend to buy most key items from regional suppliers, up from 38% today. Even more organizations (85%) plan to produce and sell most of their products in the same region by 2026, almost doubling from 43% today.

According to the Accenture report, regional sourcing and production are important to becoming less vulnerable to disruption, but not enough to reach sustained resiliency. Companies must also increase their digital maturity. They need to invest in data, AI and solutions like digital twins. Having more mature capabilities in these areas helps companies build reconfigurable supply chains and autonomous production. These capabilities also enable dynamic, sustainable product development and support decentralized, real-time decision-making at the frontlines of operations.

Disruptive events have surged in recent years, from geopolitical shifts and extreme weather to technology breakthroughs and material and talent shortages. Few businesses sustained their resilience and long-term growth amid the turbulence:

• In 2021 and 2022, companies missed out on $1.6 trillion in additional annual revenues because their engineering, supply, production or operations were disrupted.
• At the same time, the 25% most resilient companies achieved 3.6% higher annual revenues than the 25% most vulnerable companies.

Sef Tuma, global engineering and manufacturing lead, Accenture Industry X, said: “Resiliency has become an opportunity for growth, not just a strategy for survival. Taking advantage of this opportunity requires companies to drive the digitization of engineering, supply, production and operations processes. Solutions like digital twins and technologies like generative AI can help companies adapt faster to sudden changes and take data-driven, real-time actions.”

On average, companies are investing $1 billion in 2023 to digitize, automate and relocate supply and production facilities, which is expected to increase to at least $2.5 billion in 2026, according to the report.

Sunita Suryanarayan, global supply chain and operations resiliency lead at Accenture, commented: “When disruption struck, many companies quickly applied short-term fixes to their complex global production and supply networks. These networks had been designed for cost efficiency and just-in-time deliveries. Now is the time to strategically redesign them for multi-sourcing, without creating unwieldy silos or new bottlenecks, and make them more transparent and agile with data and AI to drive sustained resiliency.”

Sustained resiliency is still a distant prospect for many companies. As part of the research, Accenture developed a model to measure engineering, supply, production and operations resiliency on a 0-100 scale. On average, companies achieved a score of only 56.

The report recommends three areas companies should focus on to increase their resiliency:

1. Visibility. Companies should make supply chains and production processes more predictable and autonomous. For example, smart end-to-end control towers monitor processes and analyze different scenarios in real time to detect and correct issues early on. Today, only 11% have near real-time alerting; 78% need at least a week to fully understand the impact.
2. Resiliency in design. Moving activities earlier in the development process allows companies to get products, processes and ways of working right the first time. For example, digital twins – digital replicas of physical production facilities down to individual assembly lines and machines – allow product designers and engineers to identify and troubleshoot potential prototype issues or defects and iterate the design before production begins.
3. New ways of working. Businesses must upskill the workforce in data, AI and other digital technologies so they can use predictive and visualization tools to make data-driven decisions at the frontlines of business. Today, only 17% of companies already have such a multi-skilled, digitally literate workforce; 68% plan to have one by 2026.

Research Methodology

The “Resiliency in the making” research is based on a survey conducted January – March 2023 among 1,230 senior executives across engineering, production, supply chain and operations. Respondents were from Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. Their businesses were from the following industries: Aerospace and Defense, Automotive (OEMs), Automotive (ancillary, parts), Chemicals, Consumer Goods and Services, High-Tech, Industrial Equipment, Metal and Mining, Life Sciences, Oil and Gas (upstream and downstream) and Utilities.

North American Businesses Plan to Invest 67% More in Generative AI in Next Year, Says Infosys' Research Arm

Generative AI creates enterprise agility, yet data and skills threaten progress

Companies are quickly ramping up investments in generative AI (GenAI) and realizing rapid returns, according to new research from the Infosys Knowledge Institute (IKI), the research arm of Infosys (NSE, BSE, NYSE: INFY), a global leader in next-generation digital services and consulting. The research forecasts that companies will increase GenAI investments 67% in the next year. This translates to a conservative estimate of $6 billion to be invested by US and Canadian companies in the next year. Enterprise leaders are taking a pragmatic view of GenAI, which may mitigate the reality check the broader GenAI market will likely face in the coming year.

Generative AI Radar 2023 – North America, by IKI, surveyed over 1,000 respondents from companies across the US and Canada. Supported by interviews with business leaders and AI practitioners, the report highlights the following insights.

Generative AI is not constrained by traditional innovation barriers

Large enterprises adopt GenAI and generate revenue faster; 73% of firms with over $10 billion in revenue have implemented GenAI solutions, compared to less than 38% of smaller companies

C-suite buy-in is not an obstacle; more than 95% of senior executives support GenAI investment

Companies expect GenAI to deliver operational performance, not only content creation

Only 13% identify content creation and creativity as GenAI’s most impactful area.

42% expect GenAI to improve user experience and personalization

Data challenges and lack of skills are the biggest obstacles to adoption

More than half of respondents identify data privacy, security, and usability as primary challenges

Nearly 20% see lack of skills, knowledge, or resources as the largest adoption obstacles.

Heavily regulated industries have been quickest to adopt GenAI

Financial services, healthcare, and life sciences lead adoption of this new technology, bucking the stereotype of slow-moving regulated industries

Satish H.C., Executive Vice President, Co-Head Delivery, Infosys, said, “Generative AI is unlike any recent digital disruptors. Investment is flowing in fast, and our report establishes that these projects are generating value that is recognized at the C-suite. By embedding responsible AI techniques and developing an AI-first operating model, business leaders can realize the full potential of this new technology.”

Full report – here

Methodology

Infosys used an anonymous format to conduct an online survey of more than 1,000 business executives across industries across the US and Canada. To gain additional, qualitative insights, the researchers interviewed subject matter experts and business leaders.

Artificial Intelligence, Tele-ophthalmology, and IoT to Drive the Ophthalmic Diagnostic and Monitoring Devices Market

COVID-19 pandemic is pushing the demand for contactless ophthalmic diagnosis and portable handheld devices, finds Frost & Sullivan

Artificial Intelligence, Tele-ophthalmology, and IoT to Drive the Ophthalmic Diagnostic and Monitoring Devices Market (PRNewsfoto/Frost & Sullivan)

Frost & Sullivan's recent analysis, Emerging Technologies Driving Growth Opportunities in Ophthalmic Diagnostic and Monitoring Devices, finds that the demand for ophthalmic diagnosis and monitoring devices is expected to surge as the prevalence of eye diseases rises because of the growing aging population, lifestyle changes, and increasing incidence of chronic diseases. Advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and telemedicine in the ophthalmic diagnosis and monitoring space play crucial roles in driving the market as they address the need for eye screening by increasing operational efficiency, accuracy, cost efficiency and access to ophthalmic care. 

For further information on this analysis, please visit: http://frost.ly/4jn

"Conventional ophthalmic diagnostic devices are bulky and non-portable, take a long time for analysis, require expertise, are uncomfortable for patients, and require frequent visits to the clinic or hospital," said Dr. Sneha Maria Mariawilliam, Technical Insights Senior Research Analyst at Frost & Sullivan. "Going forward, these emerging technologies will support ophthalmologists in better understanding of diseases, taking rapid clinical decisions, and also improving patient compliance and access to eye care, while obtaining better clinical outcomes. These digital solutions will enable ophthalmic diagnostic companies to strengthen their portfolio and stay competitive in the growing market."

Mariawilliam added: "The COVID-19 pandemic outbreak is pushing the demand for contactless ophthalmic diagnosis and monitoring technologies due to which home-monitoring devices and portable handheld devices will experience massive growth in the days ahead. Healthcare providers are adopting new business models, and digital-based devices and platforms are the most sought-after solutions in ophthalmic care in the current scenario."

Due to the expected shortage of ophthalmologists and increase in the number of patients with eye diseases and disorders, along with the need for timely diagnosis and treatment, ophthalmic diagnostic and monitoring devices with high operational efficiency will find promising growth opportunities in the industry, including:

• Partnering with AI technology providers to improve ophthalmic diagnosis efficiency and accuracy to help ophthalmologists in managing the anticipated overwhelming patient numbers.
• Launching new and reliable handheld devices with increased image quality and added digital solution features to increase the access to ophthalmic care in remote regions of developing countries.
• Investing in the development of home monitoring for ophthalmic diseases, as continuous monitoring of disease progression and efficacy of treatment can enhance the clinical outcome. Strategic partnering, mergers and acquisitions in this space are also growth levers.
• Driving growth through geographical expansion of digital health companies using telemedicine solutions in low- and middle-income countries as there is a high demand for remote ophthalmic consultations in these regions.

Emerging Technologies Driving Growth Opportunities in Ophthalmic Diagnostic and Monitoring Devices is the latest addition to Frost & Sullivan's Technical Insights research and analyses available through the Frost & Sullivan Leadership Council, which helps organizations identify a continuous flow of growth opportunities to succeed in an unpredictable future.

About Frost & Sullivan

For over five decades, Frost & Sullivan has become world-renowned for its role in helping investors, corporate leaders and governments navigate economic changes and identify disruptive technologies, Mega Trends, new business models and companies to action, resulting in a continuous flow of growth opportunities to drive future success. Contact us: Start the discussion.

Indian Smartphone Users Seek Immersive Audio Experiences When it comes to Content Consumption During Lockdown, Reveals CMR Study

• CMR Study: Indian smartphone users consider audio quality as one of the most important factors in their next smartphone purchase, followed by Battery Life and Camera.
• Four in every five users feel Dolby Atmos would lead to increased video consumption.
• Six in every seven users agree that Dolby Atmos would lead them to decide their music/video service subscription.
• 81% smartphone gamers believe Dolby Atmos can enhance their gaming experience.
• 82% smartphone users believe movies are best enjoyed with advanced technologies, such as Dolby Atmos.

In the neo normal, working remotely and staying indoors has become the norm. This homebound work & leisure economy has led to a significant rise in online video content consumption by the populace. This, in turn, has given rise to the demand for richer smartphone audio quality that consumers do not want to compromise on.

To understand the changing consumer sentiment, Cyber Media Research (CMR) a front-runner in market research, partnered Dolby, a company with decades of expertise in delivering breakthrough audio & visual experiences to billions of people worldwide. The survey titled “What Audio Means for Indian Smartphone users?”, revels consumer insights on audio for smartphones and consumer preference for object based next generation immersive audio technology like Dolby Atmos.

 

According to Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, “The findings from the survey gave us an understanding of how consumer sentiments around smartphone audio are evolving with the times. There is increased awareness among users about Dolby Atmos and how it enhances audio quality for content experiences. With an upsurge in content consumption whether it is music, episodic content, gaming, or even UGC, consumers are now seeking infinitely better listening experiences, whenever and wherever they go and that’s where industry-leading innovations, such as Dolby are fulfilling consumer aspirations.”

 

The study conducted across six cities, including New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Ahmedabad, was aimed at understanding how Indians are consuming content, the importance given to sound quality and what they seek going forward while purchasing their next smartphone. The study established for Indian smartphone users that Dolby Atmos is essential for an enhanced audio experience.

 

Here are some of the most interesting study findings:

• 75% smartphone users are aware of Dolby Atmos technology in smartphones and how it enhances audio experiences.
• Dolby Atmos enabled content is a preference for quality audio experience. Consumers believe that movies and episodic content are best enjoyed with Dolby Atmos constituting 82% and 77% respectively
• Better audio experience leads to increased content consumption. For instance, (70%) of consumers believe that Dolby Atmos enhances the overall listening experience with (81%) users agreeing that it leads to increased content consumption
• Four in every five users use audio during gaming and believe Dolby Atmos can enhance the experience.
• 84% smartphone users (six in every seven) believe that Dolby Atmos would lead them to decide their music/video service subscription.

The CMR study titled “What Audio Means for Indian Smartphone Users?” is based on a digital survey covering 1012 respondents, across six cities of India, namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad, covering the age groups of 18 to 40, and socio-economic levels of SEC A and B. The study was conducted in early to late August 2020. For results based on a randomly chosen sample of this size, there is 95% confidence that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3% of what they would be if the entire population had been surveyed.

To know more, and download the report, please visit cmrindia.com/shelf/what-audio-means-for-indian-smartphone-users.

GCCs based in India can provide cost of savings up to 45% over 3 to 5 years, as per Nexdigm

50% of all Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are located in India

70% of India’s GCCs belong to US-headquartered companies

180+ innovation centers in India belong to Fortune 500 companies

India-based GCCs continue to have a digital focus, and over 75% are investing in analytics, cloud technology, and robotic process automation

The southern and western parts of India have been the primary locations for most GCC establishments

Software plus Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance verticals account for almost 30% of the total installed talent base 

With an increasing focus on digital, over 75% of India-based Global Capability Centers (GCCs) are investing across analytics, cloud migration, and robotic process automation, and over 50% in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and Internet of Things (IoT) as discussed during Nexdigm’s webinar on ‘India – A Favorable Destination for Global Capability Centers’. Nexdigm is a global business advisory organization serving clients from more than 50 countries leveraging its multifunctional, professional capabilities to help organizations set up Global Capability Centers (GCCs), manage and optimize existing GCCs, or provide outsourced services for their clients.


The webinar highlighted that 70% of India GCCs belong to US-headquartered companies, followed by 20% from Europe and 10% from the Asia-Pacific region. The session aimed to showcase the potential of GCCs in India and highlight how multinationals can leverage India’s sizable knowledge-driven workforce to their advantage. This can be in terms of business continuity, expanding their talent pool, strengthening their operations, and globalizing their back-offices.


The Indian GCC market size is approximately USD 28.3 billion (as of 2019), with over 1,750 centers and over one million employees. India’s skilled talent pool across sectors is set to increase to over 600 million by 2025. At present, ~50% of all GCCs are located in India, and over 180 of these are not just capability centers but also innovation centers that belong to Fortune 500 companies. As per Nexdigm, with GCCs, there could be savings of up to 45% over an average time of three to five years.


Speaking at the Nexdigm webinar, Mr. Rajiv Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT (MeITY), said, “Over the years, India has changed its perception from being a cost-center to an innovation center for GCCs. Today, we have more than 4 million people in the workforce within the IT sector, and nearly 1/4th of them work in GCCs. With more than 1,300 GCCs currently operating in India, we are seeing businesses expanding in diverse sectors, such as automobiles, semiconductors, aerospace, industrial automation, engineering, energy, and healthcare. With the vast talent pool, upgraded infrastructure, and right government policies, we have shown the world that India is a great marketplace to invest for GCCs.”


“Technological transformation will play a huge role in making us the e-commerce technology development capital of the world. Today, 80% of companies, either B2B or B2C, are doing business digitally in India. We are setting up ‘Startup SETU’ to enable Indian and global startups to engage, create, and build a better ecosystem in the country. We have also opened 20 centers of excellence across Tier II and Tier III cities to boost local talent,” he added further.


Factors such as a large educated talent pool, young demographics, infrastructure requirements across metro and smaller cities along with well established intra-country connectivity, and appropriate policy support have enabled India to maintain its leadership position in GCCs. India’s cost to value proposition is approximately 3 to 4 times lower than the US. As discussed in depth during the webinar, there has also been ~250% increase in GCCs in India in the last 10 years. India has also been attracting global unicorns, eight of which have already set up operations in India.


“Indo-US enjoys a comprehensive strategic partnership that cements cross-sectoral links between them. With current trade of ~USD 142 million, the countries have complementary strengths and capabilities that can make the combined vision and ambition of USD 500 billion trade a reality. The liberalized atmosphere and large talent pool are attracting a lot of global companies, resulting in them moving their manufacturing units to India. I believe Indo-US trade will play an important role in boosting growth for industries in India,” said Dr. T. V. Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India, San Francisco, at the Nexdigm webinar.


The webinar also highlighted that 43% of GCCs are singularly focused while 57% offer integrated services with a combination of IT, Business Processes, Engineering, and R&D from one cohesive center. A majority of GCCs in India are from sectors such as Software and IT, BFSI, Pharmaceuticals, Telecom, Electricals & Electronics, and Manufacturing. An interesting fact is that the Software plus Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance verticals account for almost 30% of the total installed talent base.


Mr. Peter Bendor-Samuel, Founder & CEO, Everest Group said, “India has executives who have a deep-root level of understanding and are capable of driving operations on their own. Backed with digital transformation, matured market conditions, and cost-saving business models along with immense range of services and capabilities, GCCs have opened a gateway for not only global firms but also smaller players in India. I think that's really fuelling the next wave of growth and building investments in India due to the exhaustive ecosystem created by the government.”


“India as a country provides minimal business risk for companies due to suitable policy backing. Hence, I feel companies should not look at India as a makeshift set up but as a full-fledged business unit. Also, the talent here has exceptional leadership capabilities to lead strategic businesses, which enables companies to make collaborative investment in nurturing and building up right talent for future growth” said Mr. Jerry Kinnick, President, Continuum Global Solutions at the Nexdigm webinar.


The webinar also stated that the southern and western parts of India have been the primary locations for most GCC establishments. States such as Maharashtra, New Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana house the majority of Indian GCCs. However, northern India has also emerged as a promising location for GCCs in recent years.


The esteemed panelists at the webinar were Rajiv Kumar, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Electronics & IT; Dr. T. V. Nagendra Prasad, Consul General of India, San Francisco; Peter Bendor-Samuel, Founder & CEO, Everest Group; Jerry Kinnick, President, Continuum Global Solutions; moderated by Marc Lessem, Senior Executive Director, Nexdigm, and Alpana Shirgaonkar, Executive Director, Business Process Management, Nexdigm. The webinar is a part of Nexdigm’s series – ‘Diversify to Differentiate – Think India, Think Next!’


Notes to the Editor: The data mentioned within this press release comes from prominent industry sources, including Nasscom and Invest India.

About Nexdigm

Nexdigm is an employee-owned, independent, global business advisory organization serving clients from more than 50 countries. Harnessing multifunctional and digital capabilities across Business Consulting, Business Services, and Professional Services, Nexdigm provides customers, both listed and privately held firms, with integrated solutions to navigate complex challenges. Nexdigm resonates with the plunge into a new paradigm of business; it is a commitment to Think Next.

CMR Study Reveals Consumers are Prioritizing Audio Quality Over Camera in their Smartphone Purchase

Indians consider audio quality as one of the most important factors in their next smartphone purchase with a score of 66 out of 100, followed by battery life at 61, and camera at 60

As per a new study by CyberMedia Research (CMR), Indian Consumers are now prioritising audio quality as a key smartphone purchase driver ahead of camera and battery. In fact across all parameters one in every four users have stated audio quality as the most important factor while selecting their smartphone. For the first time ever, consumers are more tuned into 'audio quality', possibly driven by long hours spent alone in a homebound economy. In doing so, they are also seeking better, immersive experiences.



"Given the advancements in smartphone camera and battery, I believe consumers are mostly satisfied with industry-leading innovations therein. On the other hand, in the current homebound economy, consumers are getting more aware, and paying more heed to audio quality. As such, they are putting it on priority for the neo normal, from a communication and content consumption point of view," said Satya Mohanty, Head-Industry Consulting Group, CMR.

According to Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group, CMR, "These interesting study findings provide us with a basis to better understand evolving consumer aspirations around smartphone audio. Consumers are now seeking infinitely better and immersive listening experiences, whenever and wherever they go. Across use cases, ranging from OTT consumption to mobile gaming & even UGC, consumers seek more high-quality sound. This is where brands with industry-leading innovations, such as Dolby, will stand to shine and fulfill consumer aspirations."

The CMR study titled "What Audio Means for Indian Smartphone users" categorizes Indian consumers, based on their audio consumption patterns, into three broad cohorts:

• Digital Natives who spend >20 hours weekly (39%)


• Digital Dependents who spend 10-20 hours weekly (44%)


• Digital Laggards who spend <10 hours weekly (17%)

Online content consumption - movies and music, have witnessed a tremendous growth, driven by the ubiquitous smartphones. Over the past few years, the rise of affordable and value for money smartphones has fueled content consumption, on-the-go, and at home.

India loves to binge watch on video streaming platforms, cutting across genres, including episodic content and user-generated video content on social media. In the midst of the pandemic, OTT platforms are benefiting from increased viewership, as well as new subscribers. Amongst the three cohorts, Digital Natives tend to spend more time on OTT platforms & rate audio as the most important factor considered while buying their current smartphone.

Here are some of the most interesting study findings:

Audio quality matters. Indians consider audio quality as one of the most important factors in their next smartphone purchase with a score of 66 out of 100, followed by Battery Life at 61, and Camera at 60. Smartphone users consume audio mostly through

listening to music on popular audio OTT platforms (94%),

watching video - movies, OTT content, or user-generated content on social networks (96%).

Preferred audio accessories include wired earplugs and earbuds. 78% of the consumers prefer wired earplugs, while 65% indicate using earbuds.

Video consumption differ with consumer personas. For instance, Digital Natives prefer videos of shorter duration (38%) whereas Digital Laggards prefer videos of longer duration (23%).

Better audio experience means differently to different consumer personas. For instance, Digital Laggards associate better audio experience to voice and dialogue clarity (69%), whereas Digital Natives associate it to an immersive experience (61%).

Five in every eight users (62%), use audio during gaming. 72% of those users are satisfied with it.

Indians more tuned to audio problems. Three in every seven users face some problems in smartphone audio on a regular basis. Problems faced include

• Audio being too soft (33%)


• Audio being too loud (30%)


• Distorted audio (24%)

The CMR study titled "What Audio Means for Indian Smartphone Users" is based on a digital survey covering 1012 respondents, across six cities of India, namely New Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Ahmedabad, covering the age groups of 18 to 40, and socio-economic levels of SEC A and B. The study was conducted in early to late July 2020.

For results based on a randomly chosen sample of this size, there is 95% confidence that the results have a statistical precision of plus or minus 3% of what they would be if the entire population had been surveyed.

To know more, and download the report, please visit www.cmrindia.com/shelf.

About CMR

CMR offers industry intelligence, consulting and marketing services, including but not limited to market tracking, market sizing, stakeholder satisfaction, analytics and opportunity assessment studies. Its bouquet of consulting services includes incubation advisory, go-to-market services, market mapping and scenario assessment services. CMR is servicing domestic as well as international clientele in India and few global destinations. The clientele serviced represents SMBs, Large Enterprises, Associations and Government. CMR's core value proposition encompasses a rich portfolio of syndicated reports and custom research capabilities across multiple industries, markets and geographies.

A part of CyberMedia, South Asia's largest specialty media and media services group, CyberMedia Research (CMR) has been a front-runner in market research, consulting and advisory services since 1986. CMR is an institutional member of Market Research Society of India (MRSI).

For queries, please contact: releases@cmrindia.com.

Pandemic fuels Augmented Reality (AR) buzz in Local and Global markets

• Augmented Reality” buzz shot through the roof in AC at 14x in India and 6x at the global level in AMJ’20
• Top newsmakers associated with the term include Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla and Businessmen like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd, Eric Yuan - CEO and Founder of Zoom Video Communications
• Wizikey Augmented Reality report reveals that AR startup named BlinkIn emerges as the Buzz Maker followed by Immaginate and Queppelin in India

The Augmented Reality Report by Wizikey, Asia’s fastest-growing PR- SAAS Startup, highlights that Augmented Reality (AR) moved center stage in the after COVID-19 world. In an analysis of a million+ news articles, AR hit its high-point in the AC era. In AMJ’20, the AR buzz index moved 14x compared to the pre-COVID index in India. The global index moved 6x compared to the pre-COVID levels. 

Top newsmakers associated with the term AR include Venture Capitalist Vinod Khosla and celebrated businessmen like Mukesh Ambani of Reliance Industries Ltd, Eric Yuan - CEO and Founder of Zoom Video Communications and Byju Raveendran - Founder of BYJU’s.

The report also revealed that AR association with business & technology has exploded. While BC, AR was more associated with entertainment and sports, in AC it is with Business and Technology.

Commenting on the AR report, Anshul Sushil CEO & Co-founder at Wizikey said, “AR technology is now a vaccine for a faster recovery of companies. As highlighted in the report, it’s noteworthy how the overall buzz of AR has grown in global and local markets in the age of social-distancing. The cutting-edge innovation in the AR space by global leaders and Indian startups is surely sprouting a new normal.”

According to the Wizikey AR Report, the increase in safe remote assistance, customer live walk-through, contact-less supports, visual-guided support catapulted buzz of AR amongst start-ups during the pandemic. BlinkIn emerges as the Buzz Maker followed by Immaginate and Queppelin. 

The top-drawers in the AR product category are Aarogya Setu App, Apple’s ARkit, Google’s ARCore, Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft HoloLens 2. In the BC era, Google Maps, iPhone XS/ XR, Pokemon Go, and Microsoft Zoho gained maximum buzz.

Report Methodology

Wizikey’s proprietary tech was used indexing all the category news chronologically and as per their average audience views. After this, the articles were indexed according to their headline and byline to see which organizations were mentioned the most in the indexed articles and what was the frequency of the names used. Once the top buzz-makers were identified, the volume of news made by each of them was analyzed and information was drawn on the following aspects. Their share in the cumulative amount of news created by all the top 10 participants.

The Data Analytics Team at Wizikey identified the top trending words in the AR space  through analysing 156776 from leading publications from March 2019 to June 2020. The report highlighted the buzz and buzz makers  in the AR space in the local and global market before and after the outbreak. The timeline of the news created by them and when did they get the most amount of media attention. The report does a comparative analysis of the before & after COVID-19 era to understand the overall adoption of AR in the key domains.

About Wizikey

Wizikey is a subscription-based Communication SaaS that helps businesses identify and connect with relevant media influencers and subject matter experts. With Wizikey's data intelligence, companies can create campaigns, target and engage influencers and journalists, measure and optimize to scale their brand-building efforts. Launched in 2019, it has garnered 1000+ users over 250+ businesses who have created more than 2500 stories in over 9 languages. With investors like Ajai Chowdhry (Co-founder, HCL), Alok Mittal (Co-founder and CEO, Indifi), Ambarish Raghuvanshi (ex-CFO, Info Edge), Keshav R Murugesh (CEO, WNS), Raman Roy (Chairman, NASSCOM and Chairman, Quattro), Sanjiv Bajaj (CEO, Bajaj Finserv) and the Indian Angel Fund among others, it is striving every day to ensure businesses can get the credibility and trust which they deserve.

India Microfinance Market to Grow at over 40% until 2025 - Research

Government push for the growth of small and medium enterprises and lower-income groups driving microfinance market in India

According to TechSci Research report, “India Microfinance Market By Type, By Bank Type, By Non-Banks, By End-Use, By Area, By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2025”, microfinance market in India is anticipated to grow at a brisk CAGR of more than 40% during 2021 – 2025, predominantly on account of increasing demand for microfinance loans from the country’s MSME sector. The main objective of microfinance organizations is to provide a chance to low-salary borrowers to become self-sufficient. This sector plays an important role in promoting inclusive growth by providing credit to borrowers who fall under BPL category. This industry is also helping the women, especially from rural areas, to avail small loans at affordable rates. 

 "India Microfinance Market"

Microfinance market in India can be segmented based on By Type, By Bank Type, By End-Use, By Area, and By Region. Based on types, India microfinance market is segmented into banks and non-banks. In India, bank are the preferred sources for microfinance. Banks dominated the market in 2020 and the trend is likely to continue in the forthcoming years as well. This is due to banks offering attractive interest rates compared to non-banking institutions.

In terms of Bank Type segmentation, the market is categorized into small finance banks, commercial banks, regional rural banks, and cooperative banks. Small finance banks accounted for the largest market share in 2020 and the trend is expected to continue during the forecast period. By End-Use, the market is segmented into Agriculture and Allied, Services, Trade & Business, Education, Production/manufacturing, and others. Agriculture and Allied segment dominates the end use segment of microfinance market in India. Region wise, India microfinance market is segmented into North, South, West and East regions. South region accounted for the highest market share in 2020, followed by West, North and East regions. The East region is foreseen to witness fastest CAGR during the forecast years. 

Major players operating in India microfinance market include Jana Small Finance Bank Limited, Belstar Investment and Finance Private Limited, Ujjivan Small Finance Bank Limited, Satin Creditcare Network Limited, Annapurna Microfinance Pvt. Ltd, BSS Microfinance Pvt. Ltd, Fusion Microfinance, Future Financial Services Private Limited, Asirvad Microfinance Pvt. Ltd, Mudra Microfinance, and Others. Growing technological advancements and government initiatives towards digital innovations like ‘Broadband for All’, which aims to cover over 200,000 villages in India, will reduce the barrier for the adoption of MFI, which will further boost India microfinancing market over the next five years. Moreover, low interest rate scenario along with increasing urbanization would further steer growth in India microfinance market during forecast period.” said Mr. Karan Chechi, Research Director with TechSci Research, a research based global management consulting firm.

“India Microfinance Market By Type, By Bank Type, By Non-Banks, By End-Use, By Area, By Region, Competition, Forecast & Opportunities, 2025” has analyzed the potential of microfinance market across the country, and provides statistics and information on market sizes, shares and trends. The report will suffice in providing the intending clients with cutting-edge market intelligence and help them in taking sound investment decisions. Besides, the report also identifies and analyzes emerging trends along with essential drivers and key challenges faced by India microfinance market.

Growing Cloud Kitchen Opportunity and its Challenges - Insights By Homefoodi

Homefoodi’s Business Model has been resilient to COVID-19 impact, exponentially aided a strong business continuity during the Lockdown period and the period post Lockdown

Most research and consulting reports on India’s Cloud Kitchen Market Size expects it to be about USD 1 Billion by 2023. The Cloud Kitchen market is increasingly becoming a significant part of the overall food delivery market. The recent Coronavirus pandemic is likely to have altered some of these numbers, but there is no stopping this obvious phenomenon of Cloud Kitchens. 

The recent pandemic is likely to keep people away from dine-in restaurants and further cement the Cloud Kitchen Market not just in India but Globally. The below 2 reasons 

Given the pandemic around, most people have become very cautious about health and hygiene; this strong change in consumer behavior has made Homefoodi, a Home food delivery app that aggregates Home Cloud kitchens to grow by over 50% during the lockdown as compared to Pre-Covid levels. With an ever-increasing demand of Home-cooked meals, Homefoodi provides the consumers with an array of 1000+ Dishes from over 250 Home Chefs for Breakfast, Lunch, Snacks and Dinner. Homefoodi is about everything that can be cooked and baked at home and hence the options are limitless. 

Homefoodi being a renowned Home cloud kitchen aggregator has been growing since its launch in October 2019. Every month has been a growth story and they have been exceeding their defined business goals as well.

Commercial Cloud Kitchens face the following 3 Key Challenges.

1. Dependence on Food Aggregators for Orders
2. Inventory Management for orders and wastage
3. Hygiene and Food Quality Standards

Only once the above challenges are resolved, can a Commercial cloud kitchen have a successful and inspiring story to share. Here's a wider look into the challenges:

Dependence on Food Aggregators for Orders: For a cloud kitchen to shoot up with flying colours they depend majorly on food aggregators, which in turn provide a platform to them. However, one must review each aggregator before going on-board with the said aggregator.

Inventory Management for orders and wastage: A management of orders and wastage is of utmost priority without one a cloud kitchen can easily end up having more to give-up than to achieve. An appropriate management maintains the logistics that helps create a win-win situation for both the Food aggregator as well as the cloud kitchen.

Hygiene and Food Quality Standards: A challenge of utmost priority that needs to curbed and looked after at any cost. No consumer has been or will be ever attracted to food or a cloud kitchen that neglects hygiene and food quality standards.

Home Cloud Kitchens score over Commercial Kitchens as far as the above challenges are concerned. The concept of Home Cloud Kitchens is fast evolving as the next frontier in Cloud Kitchen market. However, to leverage the Home Cloud Kitchen opportunity, one has to partner with a Trusted and successful Home Food Delivery APP.  

For a Home Cloud Kitchen Food Delivery application to be successful the following demands must be met:

1. Supply ecosystem of Talented Home Chefs.
2. Simple Platform uniquely built for Home Chefs.
3. Adequate Demand generation.

The Supply Ecosystem of a home-food aggregator must be able to identify talented home chefs and convince them to collaborate which can be only solved by an expert Front-End team and a robust selection process that involves food tasting and checks for cleanliness and hygiene. The Technology Platform should be user friendly for Home Chefs to address limitations and allow customization that suits their working and cooking style. The aggregator should be able to create marketing awareness and adoption through adequate demand Generation. There is an untapped and growing demand for home food and companies should solve the above for the Flywheel to move. 

“We aim to create India's Largest Community of Talented Home Chefs who are passionate about cooking and committed to serve Healthy, Fresh, Hygienic and delicious Home Food Delicacies to customers” stated Narendra Singh Dahiya, Founder and Director, Homefoodi.

Every country has observed a noticeable shift in people trusting healthy and hygienic home food over restaurant and outside food in general. Homefoodi is empowering every Homemaker to overcome all their challenges to become a successful Home Chef. We have made it extremely convenient for every Homemaker to solve all their challenges to start a ‘Home Cloud Kitchen’ be it banking, FSSAI registration, food photography, packaging, delivery, online payments and marketing. Every Home Chef is ably supported to ensure a seamless on-boarding on the platform with adequate training to understand the market potential and leverage every opportunity.

“We are delighted that we are enabling a Healthy India by serving people Healthy and Nutritious Home Food” further added Dahiya.

About Homefoodi:

Homefoodi is a Mobile Application for Home Food made by Home Chefs that empowers and connects the society. Based out of Noida, the company has a mission of “Ghar-Ghar Start-Up” to create India’s largest self-employment opportunity for women to earn from home being a Home Chef. The company's foundation is built around empowering every homemaker towards nation-building and creating a healthy India. Safety and Health are the cornerstones of Homefoodi. Every Home Chef on Homefoodi is selected after a rigorous process of food tasting, food quality, hygiene and cleanliness of their kitchen and packaging standards. All Home Chefs are 100% FSSAI Certified.     

New figures released by GlobalData reveal collapse in new global IT services contracts in Q2 2020 due to COVID-19

• The global IT services market was worth $1.6 trillion in 2019, with the Asia region contributing around 32% market share


• Total new IT services contracts globally declined by 77% in volume and 72% in value during Q2 2020 with recovery not expected until 2021


• Very few high-value contracts were signed in Q2 2020

COVID-19 has caused companies in Asia and elsewhere around the globe to halt all but the most critical IT projects in the short-to-medium term, reflected in the dramatic 72% fall in global IT services spending, from $14.4bn in Q2 2019 to just $4bn during the same period in 2020, according to the latest research by leading data and analytics company GlobalData.

The global IT services market was worth $1.6 trillion in 2019, with the Asia region contributing around 32% market share. An analysis of GlobalData's IT Contracts Database, which tracks publicly announced IT contracts, reveals that the number of new IT services contracts signed globally in Q2 2020 declined by 77% year-on-year from 886 in Q2 2019 to 200 in Q2 2020 with total contract values falling by 72% to just $4bn during the same period - reflecting the low number of high-value IT contracts being signed during the quarter with only 7% of contracts above $100m.

Nishant Singh, Director of Technology at GlobalData, comments: "The fall in global IT services contracts volume and the value underscores the global economic uncertainty caused by COVID-19, with IT vendors now having to work hard to rebuild healthy IT contract pipelines. IT vendors from Asia, particularly India, have relied on local skills and labor arbitrage to establish themselves. These IT vendors specialize in IT services, and the fall in IT services contract numbers will greatly impact their short term revenues."

Over half of the global IT services contracts signed during Q2 2020 were government and defence contracts. GlobalData does not expect the number of IT services contracts to recover until 2021 at the earliest, which is when most of the digital transformation deals from large enterprises should start flowing in.

Singh continued: "Q2 2020 saw a fundamental change in the way IT services contracts have been delivered up until now. Clients have accepted remote support and service delivery as opposed to the on-site delivery of services. This has allowed IT services vendors to permanently adopt a remote working model for a large part of their workforce, which will translate into cost savings from reduced real-estate and reduced employee travel expenses."

In the current climate, most IT service vendors are expected to focus their efforts on securing more contracts for digital service applications, including cloud and automation.

Singh adds: "GlobalData now expects an extended period of pricing pressure as IT vendors offer discounts and other concessions, including interest-free credit to secure desperately needed client contracts."

Please contact the GlobalData Press Office for comment, analysts available for interview, Office: +44 (0) 207 936 6400, Email: pr@globaldata.com

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Close to 3 Million People Living in Co-Living Facilities Globally; Mkt Valued at $7.5B: Report

Asia is the biggest market by far, with Europe and US catching up quickly

The coliving market globally is now worth close to $7.5 Billion (Up from $6.3 Billion in 2018) with close to 3 Million people living in organized coliving setups across the world, said a report published by TheHouseMonk. China is the breakaway global leader with more than 2.5 Million people staying in coliving facilities and about $6.7 Billion being paid to coliving companies as rent in 2019. India is the 2nd largest market by number of colivers with 130,000 people who are paying a collective rent of $270 Million. 

Across Europe and US, the coliving movement has steadily been gaining momentum. Close to 15,000 people are living in coliving facilities in Europe and about 10,000 people in US, with market sizes being estimated at about $250 Million and $210 Million respectively. (See chart below)

[caption id="attachment_139198" align="aligncenter" width="512"] Fig 1. Number of tenants living in coliving facilities across the world[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_139197" align="aligncenter" width="397"] Fig 2. Split of tenants living in colivings by region[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_139196" align="aligncenter" width="441"] Fig 3. Market size of coliving by region[/caption]

Interesting trends 

“As the coliving industry evolves, we are noticing the foray of real estate developers into the space. We have seen the entry of several such players either as asset owners or operators. We expect this trend to grow further in the next couple of years”, said Ajay Kumar, Founder and CEO, TheHouseMonk. 

He added, “In India, South East Asia and Europe, we are also noticing the entry of hospitality majors (Both hotels and hostels) into the coliving industry. Overall, it is an exciting time to be in this industry.”

Nuances of different markets

The report highlighted differences in colivings in different geographies. While sharing of rooms by 2 or more people is the norm in India and China, this is not a culture that is noticeable in western part of the world where people want to have their own space. As a consequence of this cultural change, as well as purchase power parity between different geographies, the avg annual rent paid by a coliver in the US and Europe is almost 10x the rent paid in Asia (See chart below). 



Another key difference between is that in Asia, coliving operators have chosen to work with existing real estate that is available to them and choosing to repurpose them into colivings whereas in Europe, many operators have opted to work with developers to custom build projects specifically for coliving. While Purpose Built Coliving (PBCL) projects offer better returns for investors and better margins for operators, it takes time to get a project up and running. Close to 25,000 coliving rooms are currently under construction in Europe and is expected to hit the market over the next 3 years. 

Challenges 

While the growth rates might be strong across multiple geographies, there are multiple challenges that are affecting the growth of the industry. A few have been outlined below - 

• Zoning laws need to be updated to include coliving assets


• Clarification by Government agencies on (non) applicability of VAT/GST or the equivalent taxes on rent paid


• Acceptance of coliving as a living option by society at large

What to expect next from the coliving industry? 

With increased urbanisation and mobilisation of people across the world, coliving presents a great option for tenants to live amongst a great community of people in a cost effective manner. While the start of the coliving today is focused on Gen Z and Millennial population, we can expect more inclusive coliving models with housing options for families and senior citizens as well. 

Coliving is also centered around metropoles at the moment. Over the next few years, we should see the evolution of coliving in regions like Australia, New Zealand, Middle East and Latin America. Existing operators would possibly scale their offerings deeper into cities where they are currently operational. 

Download the complete report from TheHouseMonk here -