Rural Commerce Startup Hesa Acquires Flinkhub for Enhancing Super App Capabilities

Rural commerce platform Hesa has acquired Flinkhub to enhance their super app and drive product-led Growth. Hesa will bring onboard Flinkhub’s Co-Founders Ashish Rajput, Ananth SNC and Jerrin Joy to accelerate their product adoption among India’s next billion users. Flinkhub is a platform for creators to build social learning experiences.

With this aquisition, the team will focus their efforts on enhancing the Hesa Super App capabilities, from a ‘phygital’ marketplace to a technology led interface where a rural consumer gets access to all their product & service needs in one place.

“With the acquisition of Flinkhub and its team we have made a 2-fold commitment towards our product-led approach to Hesa Super App. The founders, IIT-Kharagpur Alumnus, come with a product & user centric approach that will boost our expertise in this area and will help Hesa widen its key offerings to customers on the grass-root level across India. We are really excited about this new acquisition and the new energy the founding team will be bringing to Hesa." said Vamsi Udayagiri, Co-Founder and CEO, Hesa.

Flinkhub has 2 products - Flinkhub Relationship Intelligence, a tool that accurately maps a user’s network and Papertown, a social networking app for learning. Hesa will use these technologies for product-led acquisition & training of their network of village-level entrepreneurs (VLEs) to solve the challenge of outreach in remote locations.

Hesa has 40,000 VLEs (village level entrepreneurs) or Hesaathis who use the Hesa Super App to fulfil the needs of users in their village network. FinTech, Agri, E-commerce and Digital brands integrate their products on the Super App and get direct access to rural users.

“Technology has drastically changed the way we work, earn, spend and live. We’re truly at an inflection point, with a large consumer base coming online for the first time. We are also working on Consumer Workflows through Telegram, Whatsapp, SMS, Call Bots to make life easier for rural consumers to directly order from Hesa's unique Platform.”, states Ananth SNC, who will head Technology at Hesa.

Hesa’s marketplace drives 150 Cr monthly GMV and is growing rapidly with 20% MOM growth. India’s rural market of 70 Cr users is largely untapped. Several Fintech, Agri, FMCG and digital brands are now focussing on serving this market. Hesa is backed by investors like Venture Catalyst and WeFounderCircle.

”Hesa’s phygital model already drives 18% online commerce in villages, which is higher than many cities. Scaling this across India’s 6.5 lac villages requires unique strategies, quite different from what works for urban.”, states Jerrin Joy, who will drive Growth at Hesa.

Hyderabad-based HESA recently announced plans to provide financial solutions to over 60,000 village-level entrepreneurs across 30,000 villages by the end of 2022. It will provide ease of transitions such as bill payments, opening an account to withdraw money, small needs like mobile recharge, bus ticket booking, opening Demat accounts, among others to rural India.

“Building products for the next billion users requires a highly user-centric approach. They have unique ways of interacting with technology. Hesa’s widespread Hesaathi network and consumer intelligence puts us at the forefront to build for them." states Ashish Rajput, who will lead Product at Hesa.

About Hesa:

Hesa is a unified social, digital and physical (phygital) commerce platform enabling digital transactions of products and services in rural India. Headquartered in Hyderabad, Hesa with integrated B2B marketplace is enabling buying and selling of various services and products with an almost ‘doorstep access’ with a network of 30,000 village network entrepreneurs serving more than 700,000 customers in a short span of one year. Hesa has partnered with more than 65+ brands, this unique model is a win-win initiative for both entrepreneurs and startups.

Agri-fintech Startup Hesa to Provide Financial Solutions to Over 60k Hesaathis Across 30,000 Villages in 2022

The financial services provided also increases the productivity of farmers - as it reduces the time to travel to another village as most of the remote villages do not have a bank account so through Hesa this is being eliminated

Hyderabad - based Agri-Fintech startup Hesa, announced that it aims to provide financial solutions to over 60K Hesaathi’s across 30,000 villages in tier 2 and 3 cities. The feature will provide ease of transitions such as bill payments, opening an account to withdraw money, small needs like mobile recharge, bus ticket booking, opening DEMAT accounts, opening a fixed deposit account and electricity bills etc to rural India. With this, the app works towards bridging the gap between the financial services providers with their last-mile target consumers using a phygital approach. It expands and empowers businesses to ride the rural value chain for buying and selling leveraging our technology and human capabilities.

With this, the app aims to solve financial challenges and accessibility in remote rural locations and enable the technology for both customers and the brands from buying, selling, promoting, and delivering. It is currently accessible in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka and will soon expand its operations into five additional states of India starting with Maharashtra in the next quarter.

The financial services provided also increases the productivity of farmers - as it reduces the time to travel to another village as most of the remote villages do not have a bank account so through Hesa this is being eliminated. This applies to all who are doing different business in the rural market. The app works towards bridging the gap between the financial services providers with their last-mile target consumers using a phygital approach. It expands and empowers businesses to ride the rural value chain for buying and selling, leveraging our technology and human capabilities.

Rishabh Shah, Chief Strategy Officer & Head-Fintech, Hesa said, “We are in an era where the rate of fintech adoption is immense as there is an exponential increase in the rate of smartphone penetration in India. Mobile payments have been a joy for customers in urban and rural India. With our services, we want to empower rural India in a way that they are owners of their own business and still at the same time they are associated with us so they have employment options. Currently, the platform has over 15 Lakh transactions a month and we aim at having more than 30 Lakh transactions by the end of 2022.”

The vision of the company is to provide not only employment opportunities but to provide all kinds of services which are easily available if you are living in a metropolitan city becoming the one stop destination for rural India. This will also develop these markets in a way that people now do not have to come to big cities to find job opportunities, people can easily sustain themselves in rural India as well with proper job facilities.

Hesa is a unified social, digital and physical (phygital) commerce platform enabling digital transactions of products and services in rural India. Headquartered in Telangana, Hesa with integrated B2B marketplace is enabling buying and selling of various services and products with an almost ‘doorstep access’ with a network of 30,000 village network entrepreneurs serving more than 700,000 customers in a short span of one year. Hesa has partnered with more than 65+ brands, this unique model is a win-win initiative for both entrepreneurs and startups.

Rural Tech Start-up Hesa Acquires Digital MarketTech Platform Gullybuy

 

Hyderabad based rural technology startup Hesa recently announced its acquisition of GullyBuy- a digital MarketTech platform, based out of Pune. By acquiring GullyBuy’s software and IP, that helps consumers with comparison of local/city merchants to buy products, Hesa will include last-mile sales enablement on its platform more efficiently. Founded in 2019, GullyBuy offers unique technology that simplifies local shopping experience through a digital marketplace that directly connects buyers and stores in neighbourhoods (gullies) across India.

The acquisition of GullyBuy will further strengthen Hesa’s presence in rural geographies and empower village level entrepreneurs (Hesaathis) to manage a powerful last mile e-commerce capability so end consumers enjoy a faster, smoother and simplified shopping experience. Leveraging technology and its 32,000 and growing on ground workforce called Hesaathi, Hesa efficiently connects end-to-end business to the rural population at the doorstep for buying, selling, promoting, marketing, services and more. The robust supply chain and user-friendly API allows Hesa to create business and employment opportunities in remote areas.

Commenting on the acquisition, Vamsi Udayagiri, Founder and CEO Hesa said, “We are excited to announce our first acquisition of GullyBuy. Its mobile first technology is aligned with Hesa’s vision of curating unique solutions for rural India. As India’s largest tech integrated marketplace that enables ease of commerce in rural India, the IP and software acquisition of GullyBuy, will further enable Hesa to execute and manage large scale operations.”

Swati Deodhar, Co-founder, GullyBuy said “Our unique technology combined with Hesa's commerce platform will empower their strong network of rural entrepreneurs via new business capabilities. With innovative solutions for local stores, a segment that has been underserved by the digital economy, our objective together is ease of management for local businessmen with rapid scale.”

Focusing on user efficiency and expansion, Hesa is on a growth trajectory with 32,000 micro entrepreneurs on its platform across 5 states in India. With 65+ brand partnerships and 60,00,000 consumer base, Hesa is committed towards ease of commerce and business in rural India through their unique technology platform.

Rural Tech Startup Hesa Forays into Consumer Segment With the Launch of 'Suhas' Brand

One of the largest rural marketplace Hesa has launched a household consumer brand called “Suhas” on 6th April 2022. The new consumer segment will offer a wide range of kitchen essentials ranging from lentils, spices, grains and more at affordable prices for consumers to discover in local Kirana stores and e-commerce platform of Hesa.

Built with an in-depth understanding of consumer needs, Suhas focuses on recreating authentic flavour and formulating delightful taste of Indian food. Leveraging Hesa’s network of 30,00,000 consumers and 30,000 Hesaathi’s, Suhas aims to become the household consumer brand of rural India with assured taste, trust and premium quality.

The brand has received a phenomenal response from customers prior to its launch with over 2 crores of pre-orders from various markets. Following a phase-wise, roll-out plan, Suhas will be available across the southern market in the next 12-18 months, followed by the west, east and north markets.

In line with the Indian Government’s mission of #localforvocal launched in 2020, Hesa envisions to empower farmers by directly procuring from them. Hesa is enabling transactions, promotions and access in rural India becoming the largest rural marketplace. Foraying into a new category, Hesa is on a mission to strengthen its consumer portfolio. Suhas aims to educate consumers about the Indian food authenticity with its expertise in sourcing and procurement.

Commenting on the announcement Vamsi Udayagiri, Founder and CEO Hesa said “Working in rural India for more than a decade, we discovered the consumer need for quality and affordable spices. With Suhas going forward we plan to directly procure produce from Farmers Interest Groups (FIGs) , Farmer Producer Organisations (FPOs) and other agri groups in the future. The idea is to elevate the earning potential of the farmers without any additional cost. Hesa aims to bolster its commitment of empowering rural India by addressing the challenges of branding and market access through Suhas”.

India is a land of fertile soil and agriculture known for its spices and rich heritage. Hesa is on a mission to preserve the Indian heritage of spice and provide consumers with natural and chemical free ingredients. The consumers have become more informed of their food choices and now seek trust and quality. Home made food in Indian families still holds immense cultural value. Suhas brings the highest quality, taste on table with unique formations and delightful taste for consumers.

The technology-enabled commerce platform of Hesa efficiently connects end-to-end business to the rural population at the doorstep by the on-ground workforce called Hesaathi, with buying, selling, promoting, marketing, services all enrolled in one platform, Hesa has become the go-to-market solutions in rural India. Using a robust supply chain and user-friendly API, Hesa creates business and employment opportunities in remote areas. The company is leveraging rural entrepreneurship and offering dignified livelihood opportunities with the holistic development of rural communities.

Hesa to Onboard 1.5 Lakh Microlevel Entrepreneurs in 2022 Across Rural Parts of India

Hesa, which is on a mission to uplift rural entrepreneurs, announced today that it will onboard more than 1.5 Lakh microlevel entrepreneurs by the end of 2022. With this Hesa, the rural- tech startup will empower these entrepreneurs across rural parts of India such as the states of Karnataka , Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and plans to grow into five additional states by the end of this year. 

Expanding its network of microlevel entrepreneurs (Hesaathi), the startup focuses on offering a range of products and services in order to solve the challenges of accessibility, availability and buying and selling in remote rural locations. Identifying the right talent on the ground, the field officer onboards Hesaathi who are then trained to use the platform. After the completion of the training, Hesaathis are awarded with a certificate and then roll on the platform.

Established in 2020, Hesa is a technology-enabled rural commerce platform empowering livelihood in rural areas, enabling access to quality products and services. With currently a total of 30000+ microlevel entrepreneurs (Hesaathi), the startup continues to bolster its rural network across India. Hesa is providing the micro entrepreneurs to settle with dignified work in local villages allowing them to make Rs 8000 to Rs 12000 income monthly.

Hesaathis onboarded at Hesa will be incharge of the supply chain at a local level, facilitating village level mapping, surveys, campaigns and promotions for the company's brand partners. Hesaathis also helps rural consumers with everyday transactions on the platform like utility bill payments, buying and selling of products across sectors and more. Where the rural customer visits Hesaathi in their village for multiple needs in a single visit, which also fulfils the demand of social distancing in the current times, avoiding long commutes in shared vehicles or standing in longer queues, Hesaathis are also able to generate income through commission on every transaction they make on the platform. The startup's business model thereby provides solutions at both ends- Connecting businesses to rural India and enabling scalable solutions for rural households, helping them with progressive livelihoods.

On the team expansion plans, Founder & CEO, Vamsi Udayagiri quotes “As a technology enabled platform we are empowering livelihood in rural areas, providing access to quality products and services. Our endeavour is to bridge the gap between rural and urban India by leveraging technology and the workforce. We at Hesa, are overwhelmed with the response we have received in the last 2 years and we are ready to scale our services across multiple states with our innovative tech solutions.

Hesa is a social enterprise enabling convenience with multiple solutions for both ends connecting rural entrepreneurs and brands. The startup has connected 65+ brands to 600,000 rural customers through its network of 30,000 village-level entrepreneurs in around 50,000 Indian villages. The startup has also received recognition for its outstanding contribution in helping 11+ lakh rural households and 10,000+ job creation in a short span of one year. The company further aims to impact 3 crore rural livelihoods and onboard 1.5Lakh microlevel entrepreneurs in 2022. With buying, selling, promoting, marketing, services all enrolled in one platform, Hesa has become the go-to-market solutions in rural India.

Rural-Tech and Village Commerce Startup 1Bridge Raises $2.5M

Building on momentum generated through the COVID-19 pandemic with positive tailwinds for the village-tech sector in India, Bengaluru-based village-tech enterprise RubanBridge Pvt. Ltd (1Bridge), a last-mile supply chain & distribution network focussed on the villages in rural India, has raised USD 2.5 million in a fresh round of funding.

The funding was led by Netherlands-based impact investor C4D Partners, an early investor since the last 4 years, who firmly reaffirmed its support to 1Bridge and its management team by doubling its commitment. The funding round also included participation from new investors such as KAAJ Ventures (venture fund of Silicon Valley-based serial entrepreneur and prolific angel investor BV Jagadeesh), angel investors like Prashanth Prakash, Founding Partner of Accel Partners; Puneet Jetli, technopreneur and co-founder of Happiest Minds and Aradhana D Chatterjee, a seasoned PE/VC executive. Existing angel investor Prashanth Boccasam, a US-based serial tech-entrepreneur & investor also participated in this round with a significant investment. C4D Partners and Prashanth Boccasam also acquired additional stake through a secondary transaction, providing an exit to a few early shareholders.

In addition to this, 1Bridge has also raised its maiden working capital facility from Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth, an Ahmedabad-based Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) that reaches out to a large section of microfinance institutions (MFIs) and grassroot entities. This deal with 1Bridge marks Ananya Finance’s significant attempt to reach out to companies beyond the microfinance sector.

With this round of funding, 1Bridge is robustly positioned to pursue its growth plans over the next 18 months, to:

• Deepen its reach as a supply chain & distribution network across another 10,000 villages by adding 10,000 more entrepreneurs
• Roll out 500+ ‘1Bridge Experience Centres’ at various Tehsil/Block towns that will enable consumers to touch and feel aspirational products
• Expand its product & service offerings through strategic partnerships with consumer durables brands & fintech/credit companies who are looking to expand their reach in rural hinterlands; and
• Strengthen its technology & data platform to make it more convenient for their ‘1Bridge Advisors’ or local micro-entrepreneurs to offer rural outreach and assisted commerce services.

Commenting on this investment, Arvind Agarwal, CEO, C4D Partners said - “We have been actively participating in the evolution of 1Bridge – almost since its inception back in 2016, to now a leader in village commerce. The foundations of the company are built with a strong emphasis on rural consumer experience, assisted commerce platform, terrific execution capabilities and a focus on being capital efficient. We are delighted to continue supporting the team as they embark on their next stage of scale & impact.”

Prashanth Boccasam, Angel investor said “With 1Bridge’s presence in thousands of villages through its entrepreneur network and technology platform, it is uniquely positioned to understand the needs and aspirations of rural India through the data they generate. I am excited to continue working closely with the team to generate insights that can truly transform access, choice & convenience for our villages.”

BV Jagadeesh, Managing Partner, KAAJ Ventures said “With over 700 million citizens residing in the villages of India, it is surprising that very few start-ups have focussed on building a sustainable village commerce model. 1Bridge is a pioneer in this space and I am very impressed with the progress made over the last few years in unlocking this abundance at the bottom of the pyramid. I am excited to work with the team in scaling this model in a profitable way, while delivering significant impact on the lives of our villagers.”

Puneet Jetli, angel investor & Co-founder & former CEO, Digital Business, Happiest Minds said “Last-mile supply chain & distribution is still a huge unsolved problem for rural India. I am excited to support 1Bridge as it cracks the code of building an efficient technology led supply chain into our villages.”

Gaurav Gupta, MD, Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth said “Much like our motto, we believe in ‘going beyond finance’, with an urge and ability to serve socially motivated double bottom line enterprises. Having observed 1Bridge’s trajectory over the past few years, we are glad to be aligned with its vision for Rural India over the coming years and hope to transform it together.”

Social entrepreneur and Founder & CEO of 1Bridge, Madan Padaki said “We thank our investors for believing in 1Bridge’s vision of bridging aspirations, creating opportunities, ushering abundance to Rural India. With this investment, we aim to expand the network, strengthen our technology & data capabilities, roll-out 1Bridge Experience Zones at the Taluk-level and expand our partnerships for last-mile supply chain & distribution – while pursuing profitable growth.”

Launched in May 2016 by Madan Padaki and co-founders Anil Kumar, Chief Operating Officer and M Chakrawarty, Chief of Growth & Partnerships, 1Bridge is a village commerce platform that provides a wide range of aspirational products & digital services at the doorsteps of village consumers. It works with local rural entrepreneurs or ‘1Bridge Advisors’ to help deliver these products and fulfil services through an intuitive mobile-based tech platform.

Over the last 4 years, 1Bridge has grown steadily with over 75% year-on-year (YOY) growth and has grossed revenue of over INR 52 crores in FY21 and looking to cross INR 100 crores in FY22. 1Bridge has turned EBIDTA positive in FY21 and has been capital efficient (with a cumulative raise of US$ 1.5 million) as it has built a presence in 70+ districts of Southern India and is presently operational in states like Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Odisha.

To date, 1Bridge has onboarded over 10,000+ strong network of entrepreneurs, fulfilled 35 million transactions for rural consumers, and served 1.5 million village consumers directly.

To know more about 1Bridge, please visit: www.1bridge.one

India’s Biggest Rural Technical Festival to be held at RGUKT, Basar on Jan 31st, Feb. 1st & 2nd

National Level India’s Biggest Rural Technical Festival titled “Antahpragnya 2020" to be held at RGUKT (Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge and Technologies (RGUKT)), the temple city of Basar, 180 km from Hyderabad, the state capital of Telangana from January 31st 2020 to February 2nd 2020. 

Disclosing this in a press note issued, Dr. A. Ashok, IAS, Vice-Chancellor of RGUKT, said it comprises of technical, literary, entrepreneurial, fun, cultural activities. 

RGUKT is the first ICT based University in Telangana for rural meritorious students. The main aim of Antahpragna 2020, says Dr. Ashok, is to spot and encourage rural tech innovators.

The theme of the biggest ever National Rural Technical Festival is to ‘spot and encourage rural tech innovators’, Dr Ashok added. 

Antahpragnya, the Rural Technical Fest is very unique. Some of the best brainy students study in rural areas will participate. We need to nurture these innovative brains by creating an ecosystem. This platform can be used by them to apply technology to simple human tasks and create some of the finest and most eco-friendly products and equipment shared Mr. Swapnil Jangale, Convenor.

A total of 300 plus prototype working models created by 4000 rural ignited minds from the RGUKT varsity and outside are presented as part of the program, while 200 different colourful events will be organized. Nearly 50000 people from nearby places and other colleges are expected to witness the Three Day National Level India’s Biggest Rural Technical Festival added Mr. Haribabu, Co-Convenor. 

Thousands of Students belonging to reputed colleges across the length and breadth of India are taking part in the event.

Some of the events include  Virtual Reality, Hologram, Robo Race, Development of Ideal Village Project; Robo Soccer, Sci-Fest(a National Science Fair), Campus Farming Competition etc and others. 

Under Techies for Karshak, Campus Farming Competition, a novel competition which is unheard of before will be held. This is a competition between the branches, PUC1 and PUC2 in implementing innovative ideas and improving the yield of the crop. One acre of land near the football ground in the campus is levelled, cleaned and made it ready for farming. The land is divided into 9 equal parts each for the branches. The participants were given away Spinach seeds and asked to grow that crop. This is a competition between all branches for the championship THE AGRI CHAMPIONSHIP. The champions are decided and judged by the farmers who come to the event.

Students to spend a day with the farmers in a nearby locality, film their entire day, interview them at the end on their problems and solutions they look for. The winners will be adjudged for the most creative and accurate documentary inform A. Sandeep, R. Jyothsna, MSVN Sai and Keerthana, the coordinators of the event.

Robo Race is an innovative event planned. In this fast-growing world, being faster means everything, whether it is a running race or a race of learning skills. Giving this concept a new twist, RGUKT is organizing Robo Race, wherein the students design the fastest robot and take part in the battle. 'Be the fastest or nothing else'. The faster you run the sooner you are done. Racing is great mania which one must sacrifice everything without reticence, without hesitation.

A smooth race never made a skilful racer and to take care of that we bring you the dirt arena, because, 'a little dirt never hurt'. So come with your robots to the dirt track and race it as you stole it, says Ajay, Pavan Kalyan, Tagore Charith, the Robo Race team. The goal of this event to design a manual or wireless Robot which can complete the track, full of hurdles. Each team will have four participants. 

Robo Soccer to present soccer with an entirely new dimension. The participants will bring out the hidden RONALDO, MESSI in them... participants will have lots of fun and thrill, share B. Sachin Kumar and M. Pavan Kalyan. 

There are many amazing Virtual Reality and Holographic events and many exciting games panned to attract the audience. Hundreds of designs of posters are made by students of RGUKT promoting Design in India, Made in India said Vikranth, Harish, Venkatesh, Anupriya, Tilak of designing team.

Another interesting activity is the development of IDEAL VILLAGE. This project deals with the development of the village as an ideal village. We define an ideal village as a bundle of technical devices which are delivered to its residence effectively and efficiently. “Ideal Village” is that modern energy access acts as a catalyst for development in an environment that in turns support further improvement in energy access. We focus on technology which uses improved resources, for a happy and technical society. We are making an ideal village by taking smart decisions using smart technology. It is completely based on the old tradition of livelihood fused with technology.

Some interesting models ID Verification Using QR Code; Automatic Door Open and Close; Smart Bell; Water Monitoring System; Smart Light and Fan; CC Cameras; Smart BIN; Self Erasing Board System; Face recognition System For Hostel Rooms developed by students are part of the Smart RGUKT will showcase the models. 

The team of ANTAHPRAGNYA in collaboration with SSERD(Society for Space Education, Research and Development) have come up with an intriguing way to reach out to young minds by using a distinct method of learning focused on Space Science. It is aimed at creating awareness about the exciting career in the space but also provides the right platform for identifying such brilliance and to support them to achieve their dreams through hands-on activities. And also facilitate their learning of the most important skills like Innovation, Critical thinking, Leadership and Team Management, Creativity, communication skills through Astro Space Camp. According to the team Vinod, Mallesh, Neeraj, working on this project, students will get exposure on Space Science, get Career Guidance in Aerospace Domain, they can get prepared for Space Revolution and they learn Critical and Analytical thinking.

SCI-FEST, a The National Science Fair will be held for students of Secondary High School and Intermediate Colleges, to refine and showcase their ‘Knowledge of today’s science which becomes Technology of tomorrow’. The participants work around 1. Agricultural Technologies; 2. Water Management; 3. Energy Generating Technologies, 4. Best from waste, 5. Green Energy, 6. Bio-Fertilizers, 7. Road Safety and Fire accidents, 8. Technologies for women protection, 9. Pollution Control Methods, 10. Traffic Management shares P.Akhil and S.Kiranmai.

Q’riocity is another activity aimed at testing the team’s IQ, General Knowledge and Coding at various levels.

Brogrammers is an intradepartmental event. The participants are not only tested on their coding skills but also the flexibility of their bond. Overall Brogrammers is an event of fun and tech stuff put together.

Codoholic is an intradepartmental event. It provides a team to experience what standard coding is all about. Teams battle out for the title of “Best Coders of the Department"

Trinayana the Gala Cultural Nights is aimed at bringing out the artistic, cultural, intellectual and creative skills of students into the limelight.