LoanTap Group Raises Rs.24 Cr in Venture Debt Funding Led by Lighthouse Canton

Out of the total investment, INR 15 Cr was by Lighthouse Canton

Global investment institution Lighthouse Canton led the venture debt funding round of INR 24 Cr in LoanTap through its venture debt fund, a Category – II Alternative Investment Fund (AIF). As part of the funding, LoanTap has received one of the first cheques for its unique digital lending platform, LTFLoW. Lighthouse Canton’s total share in this round amounts to INR 15 Cr, among other investors.

LoanTap Founders

The AIF is part of Lighthouse Canton’s Southeast Asia & India venture debt strategy. The AIF has a capacity of INR 550 crores and a Greenshoe option of additional INR 550 crores, and it successfully reached a first close of INR 155.4 crores earlier this year. Through the AIF, Lighthouse Canton provides debt capital to technology-enabled start-ups across India.

LoanTap Financial Technologies (LFTPL) offers end-to-end lending through LTFLoW for sourcing, delivery, and asset management. This AI-driven technology platform has been adopted by over 30 e-commerce sourcing partners. It has 10+ LTFLoW clients, including some of India's major banks, Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs), payment platforms, and ERP solution providers catering to roughly 2 million micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). LFTPL has facilitated loans worth INR 1700 crores for its subsidiaries and technology clients. They have two RBI-registered NBFCs subsidiaries that offer tech-driven credit solutions to salaried professionals and MSMEs in the personal finance, supply chain invoice financing, and electric two-wheeler (e-2W) categories.

Based in Pune, LoanTap was founded by seasoned professionals Mr Satyam Kumar and Mr Vikas Kumar, with over 23 years of experience in banking and technology, respectively. Renowned equity funds, including Kae Capital, India Quotient, Avaana capital, 3one4 capital, Shunwei capital, and Tuscan ventures, are backing LoanTap. It is supported by debt facilities from nearly 20 lenders. Additionally, it has its debt issuance programme where the instruments like NCDs and CPs are regularly subscribed by nearly 300+ HNIs and family offices in India.

Satyam Kumar, Co-founder and CEO at LoanTap, said, "It’s our pleasure to have Lighthouse Canton on board in our growth journey, and excited for the passion resonated by Ankit Agrawal and Sanket Sinha in the potential of LTFLoW platform in delivering the digital credit solutions in India."

Ankit Agrawal, Director of Venture Debt at Lighthouse Canton, said, “We are excited to be a part of the debt round in LoanTap. Solutions offered by their LTFLoW platform have been helping MSMEs and retail customers to avail loans. The platform is gradually modernizing lending processes and we are looking forward to supporting the company's growth objectives through our venture debt strategy.”

Lighthouse Canton, headquartered in Singapore, is a global investment institution with wealth and asset management capabilities. The venture debt strategy comprises a Singapore based Variable Capital Company (VCC) for investments in Southeast Asia, and a Category II AIF for investments in India. The strategy has seen active participation from onshore and offshore institutions and family offices, and is the second strategy that it has launched which focuses on the venture ecosystem.

It had earlier launched a partnership to invest in venture equity in the Indian startup ecosystem, and successfully closed a US$40m fund to invest in 27 pre-series A and series A companies across various sectors.

About LoanTap

LoanTap offers innovative loans to help millennials achieve a life that they desire. They differentiate in the otherwise cluttered Personal Loan segment and deliver fastest Personal Loans at customer friendly terms. LoanTap has in-house RBI registered NBFC. Our focus is to delight our customers by helping them choose the best loan products.

About Lighthouse Canton

Headquartered in Singapore, Lighthouse Canton is a global investment institution with wealth and asset management capabilities. We employ over 100 experienced professionals across our offices in Singapore, Dubai and India and oversee over 3 billion US dollars worth of assets under management and advisory (as of 30th September, 2022).

Lighthouse Canton creates value through innovative investment solutions for accredited private clients, institutional investors and an ecosystem of founders and entrepreneurs globally. Our Asset Management service comprises strong product capabilities across private and public markets. We run diversified strategies such as private equity in real estate, direct lending, venture equity, venture debt, public equities, and global macros.

Our Wealth management service caters to corporates, ultra-high net worth individuals, family offices, founders and entrepreneurs, to help with their personal and business investment needs with tailored investment advisory, portfolio management, treasury, business & family office solutions.

Lighthouse Canton Pte Ltd is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (“MAS”) and is an Exempt Reporting Advisor (“ERA”) in the United States. Lighthouse Canton Capital (DIFC) Pte Ltd in Dubai is regulated by the Dubai Financial Services Authority (“DFSA”). LC Capital India Pte Ltd is registered with the Association of Mutual Funds in India (AMFI).

For more information, please visit our website or write to us on info@lighthouse-canton.com

Microsoft Invests $150K in An Engg. Student Founded Startup SCOPE, Selected for the Incubator Program

Given that the program has an acceptance rate between 1% and 3%, SCOPE has proved its mettle against millions of other startups emerging in the market

SCOPE will receive benefits like mentorship, access to startup-friendly offers from Microsoft and powerful development tools, including GitHub and Microsoft 365

Making substantial strides in the fast-evolving and growing entrepreneurial ecosystem, SCOPE, a pioneering and holistic new-age platform for budding entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, investors and industry experts, has added another feather to its cap. The brand has been selected for the Microsoft Startup Incubator Program, which includes an investment of USD 150K. Considering the program has an acceptance rate between 1% and 3%, SCOPE’s selection is a testament to its growth, progress, and potential.

Appalla Saikiran, Founder & CEO of SCOPE

Being backed by Microsoft for the tech giant’s Incubator Program comes with several high-end benefits, which will now be at SCOPE’s disposal. This includes access to productivity and development tools including GitHub and Microsoft 365, mentorship opportunities from business leaders and technical maestros and passage to pro-startup offers from Microsoft partners. The Startup Incubator Program is renowned for providing access to technology, go-to-market and community benefits to emerging startups to expand their operational base.

Appalla Saikiran, Founder and CEO of SCOPE, said, “This opportunity couldn’t have come at a better time for SCOPE. We are thrilled to be a part of the Microsoft Startup Incubator Program and plan to make the best of this window. At SCOPE, while we are gradually progressing and growing, there are a few critical areas where we need the guidance of experts to ensure long-term success. The program promises everything we require, including crucial funding, mentorship opportunities, productivity and development tools. We are optimistic that this milestone in SCOPE’s journey will accelerate its growth trajectory.”

About SCOPE

Everyone aspires to be an entrepreneur. It is regarded as a badge of honour. At the end of the day, however, it is a long journey without a map. To be successful, one must be a self-starter who maintains a constant sense of optimism and passion for one's own ideas. That's where SCOPE comes into the scene as a social media platform that opens up new doors to various aspects of the global start-up ecosystem.

Headquartered in Hyderabad, SCOPE, the brainchild of young entrepreneur Appalla Saikiran, strives to empower change-makers in the start-up ecosystem through 3Cs - Connect, Collaborate, and Create – to encourage, inspire, and guide aspiring entrepreneurs in their quest to turn their dreams into reality.
SCOPE is unique in its customer-centricity and focus on delivering value to its patrons. It has aligned its success with its customers, who only pay for performance in the services they select and when results are delivered. The brand ensures complete value for the user's money.

In its capacity, SCOPE is reimagining the potential of a networking platform and envisions becoming the world's largest platform which acts as a catalyst for opportunities for the global start-up ecosystem. Over the next few years, the company aims to emerge as one-stop shop for entrepreneurs, investors, mentors, and working professionals.

 
A teen Telangana-based entrepreneur, Saikiran founded SCOPE at the age of just 17. He is currently a first-year BTech Data Science student at Manipal University, Jaipur. Even before crossing the threshold of his teen years, Saikiran is already leading a prosperous professional career. He completed his Junior CEO program certified by Brown University. He also received the monumental Global Kids Achievers Award for developing SCOPE’s avant-garde application. He was also one of the top-100 students across India selected by Google to visit their office.

Through SCOPE, Saikiran is committed to initiating a common platform where people can connect, collaborate and create together with like-minded people. The platform will help the younger generation to take charge of their lives, summon opportunities instead of waiting. It is the brainchild of a teenager striving to create a revamped networking platform that directly impacts numerous lives.

Online Teaching Academy Enabler Edmingle Secured $300K from SucSEED Indovation Fund, Mumba Angels & others

Online Teaching Academy Enabler Edmingle raises $300,000 from SucSEED Indovation Fund, Mumbai Angels & Others

Edmingle has helped several training businesses completely digitize their classroom training, growing it’s topline by 400% over the last year

Hyderabad, India, 28th June 2021: Edmingle, the online teaching academy entrepreneurship enabler has secured $300,000 in Fundraise from Hyderabad headquartered SucSEED Indovation Fund, Mumbai Angels and other angels including Gaurav Gulati, - Founder of ScaleX Partners a firm focused on early-stage investments and Jaideep Mehta- CEO VCCircle as part of its Seed round.

Edmingle’s proprietary software platform is designed to “CREATE, TEACH & GROW”, with a boundless ability to enable educators, entrepreneurs, and training businesses to launch branded online teaching academy websites and mobile apps to instantly launch and grow their knowledge businesses.

Edmingle provides a subscription-based software platform to educators where they can build their courses, market them on their website/app and engage their students.

Unlike marketplaces, where educators must do heavy revenue sharing, Edmingle allows them to successfully launch and scale their online teaching business while allowing them to keep full control over their brand, finances, and data. This allows them to build a brand where they reach out to their target students and build a loyal customer base.

Over 4000 trainers are delivering their courses to over 3,00,000 learners across 30 countries. These trainers have turned their passion into a successful business selling courses worth 75 Crores and conducting live training sessions for over 90 Lakh minutes. During the pandemic, edmingle has helped several training businesses completely digitize their classroom training, growing its topline by 400% over the last year.

Gaurav Doshi, the Founder, and CEO of Edmingle said, “Trainers have to heavily rely on marketplaces to sell their courses, often ending up sharing a large chunk of their earnings as commissions. With Edmingle, these trainers are now confidently running their courses on a platform they can call ‘THEIR OWN’ and transforming their passion into a sustainable knowledge business.”

He further added that “The seed funding we raised from SucSEED Indovation Fund and such established Angel Investors will help us take our mission to the larger market and also further strengthen our technology and operations).”

Speaking on why they have invested in Edmingle, J A Chowdary, Co-Founder & Partner of SucSEED Indovation Fund, said, “Edmingle is a next generation all-in-one platform which substantially reduces times to create, market and sell online courses. I have interacted with enthusiastic professionals who have stepped into education to substantiate their covid-effected income from home using this platform. We believe their comprehensive and easy to use solution helps prepare and deliver online and offline courses in a faster and effective manner.”

Adding further, J A Chowdary said what encouraged us to invest in Edmingle is its well-laid outgrowth and sustainable customer focus business model, and the ability of their platform to help entrepreneurs solve the online realm problems.”

Speaking on this investment further, Gaurav Gulati, Founder of ScaleX Partners, said “The pandemic has resulted in a systematic shift in how educational content is consumed. Educators and entrepreneurs in this segment have no choice but to adapt to this new reality. Edmingle seamlessly empowers such professionals to take their educational business online and increase their earning potential; professionals in the educational segment can use the Edmingle white-label platform to build their own community and grow their own brand.”

About the market Potential in this space: The TAM for Learning Management System in the world is US$ 13 Billion, projected to grow to US$ 25 Billion by 2025.

The global online education market is slated to reach $325 billion in the next few years. Increased smartphone and internet penetration, content digitisation, demand for virtual learning environments, and professional content providers for sophisticated course materials for upskilling/employability education and vocational training will be the key driving force behind online learning.

Upscale Raises $250K in Pre-Seed Round Led by Powerhouse Ventures, Java Capital & GSF Accelerator

Upscale is a Sales Engagement Platform transforming the B2B inside sales industry

Capital will be used to accelerate product innovation and scale the user base

Bangalore, India - April 14, 2021 - Upscale, a new-age B2B sales engagement startup, today announced that it has secured pre-seed funding of $250K, led by Powerhouse Ventures, Java Capital, and GSF Accelerator. The funding enables Upscale to expand its market reach and bring unparalleled automation to the B2B inside sales industry through the sales acceleration platform.

Upscale's AI-powered sales engagement platform, launched in January 2021, empowers B2B inside sales teams to book more meetings faster and maximize revenue growth. The platform allows sales representatives to streamline their prospecting process through a multi-channel outreach that includes emails, phone calls, LinkedIn actions, text messages, and more. It also gives sales leaders team-level performance reports and insights on buyer sentiments. This unified platform has supercharged sales teams' productivity across companies selling SaaS products in the US and Europe.

Reflecting on the inception of this tech platform, Sandeep Singh, Co-Founder of Upscale said, "The very nature of B2B sales translates to a lot of back and forth and manual hours spent doing grunt work. We, at Upscale, believe there is a lot of potential in how B2B technology innovation can transform sales performance, and enhance productivity. Our technology simplifies the sales outreach process and provides an intuitive tool for sales teams to achieve targets without the heartache."

This product is the brainchild of co-founders Yeshu Singh, Sandeep Singh, and Amit Mastud, and is poised to revolutionize the sales engagement space. The team comes armed with valuable entrepreneurial experience in the B2B tech industry, which not only makes them privy to the complex challenges faced by inside sales teams but also better equipped to design the best solution.

Vinod Shankar, Co-Founder and Partner, Java Capital says, "Building from India for the world, especially in the SaaS domain, has gained significant traction in light of the pandemic, and this trend is only expected to accelerate in the near future. We see significant potential in building SaaS tools like Upscale in the sales engagement space, and we have a strong belief in the tenacity and grit of Upscale's founders, with two of them being second-time founders."

Upscale plans to expand its customer base in the US over the next few months.

Commenting on the company's mission, Yeshu Singh, Co-Founder, Upscale, said, "We're excited to bring Upscale's advanced sales engagement platform to sales development representatives who are on the frontline acquiring new prospects every day. They have been successfully brute-forcing daily activities so far but with this solution, they can now automate their tasks and focus only on what truly matters - selling! Feedback from our existing customer base of global companies is a testament to the product doing the right thing."

About Upscale

Upscale is a new-age sales engagement platform that automates sales outreach by using multiple channels like email, phone calls, LinkedIn, text messages, and more. Our data-driven unified platform helps streamline routine work and lets your sales team focus on what really matters - closing deals. Upscale is backed by leading investors including GSF Accelerator, Java Capital, and Powerhouse Ventures. Visit www.upscale.ai to find out more.

Reissue: MOPP Foods Enters Meals Market with Mealy

Online food delivery startup MOPP Foods which operates popular brand “Mad Over Parathas & Pakodas” adds another feather to its cap with a new brand “Mealy – Your Everyday Meals”.

Rajma Rice, Chole Rice, Kadhi Pakoda Rice, Yellow Dal Rice, Paneer Tikka Masala Rice, Egg Curry Rice, Mutton Curry Rice and Butter Chicken Rice are some of the menu highlights. Combos are also available with homely tawa parathas.

Focus of the new brand is to serve wholesome meals made with high quality ingredients prepared in MOPP’s best in class hygienic kitchens and served at pocket friendly prices. With its range of comfort food meals made with homely recipes and taste, menu is designed to be your everyday meal choice, which aptly fits the brand tag line “Your Everyday Meal”. Meals are served either with home style tawa parathas or as rice bowls starting at Rs 99 only.

“COVID 19 has affected disposable income available with masses and people are looking for economical alternatives to everything in life including daily meals. We see daily meals market getting great impetus as the economy recovers from the effect of a long lockdown. Mealy is our offering that caters to this opportunity with its daily comfort meals.” says Geetika Anand Gupta, Co-founder & CEO, MOPP Foods Pvt Ltd. “Meals from Mealy tastes like homemade food, are light on stomach & pocket and replace daily cooking hassles” she added.

Mealy will also be available in a subscription model wherein a customer can pre-book meals on a monthly basis which will be delivered to the doorstep.

Meals is a huge market in India. Mealy is an attempt to tap this opportunity and create a national brand. Currently delivering across Gurgaon via Zomato, Swiggy and direct orders, the brand will also be launched from multiple locations in Delhi and Noida in Q1 2021.

Corrigendum:

The previous press release mentions Rebel Foods has rebranded to EatSure Ref: Rebel Foods (now EatSure). This is factually incorrect. EatSure is a smart food ordering platform hosting Rebel Foods' own brands, as well as partner brands that have been onboarded to the Rebel Operating System.

SaaS Management Start-up Zluri Secures USD 2M Funding From Endiya Partners and Kalaari Capital

Zluri, a start-up that helps US mid-sized companies manage their SaaS applications stack, announced a seed investment of US$ 2M from Endiya Partners and Kalaari Capital. The funding will help expand sales, marketing, and engineering functions and build integrations and no-code workflow automation for SaaS applications.

Founded by Sethu Meenakshisundaram, Ritish Reddy, and Chaithanya Yambari, Zluri was born out of challenges experienced first-hand by the founding team. Today, 3^rd party SaaS solutions used by corporates do not follow systems or processes to manage them, leading to hidden dollar leakages, sub-par utilization, and rampant software duplication. With SaaS spend per employee expected to increase in the coming years, the problem Zluri is trying to solve will compound exponentially. Zluri currently has ten employees and has onboarded some of the leading organizations as its customers to help them with SaaS application management.

"Given that we have reached the tipping point in the adoption of SaaS, managing, and securing SaaS applications centrally with a high degree of automation is a big focus area for IT teams in large enterprises as well as mid-size companies, globally. With solid domain knowledge and necessary skills, we believe Zluri will be quick off the blocks. We are excited to partner with Sethu, Ritish, and Chaithanya in Zluri's journey to be a dominant force in the SaaS Ops Management space," said Sateesh Andra, MD, Endiya Partners.

"The founders of Zluri come together with complementary skills and deep experience in SaaS businesses. With global expenditure on SaaS applications exceeding $100B, we believe SaaS Operations Management will be a very large opportunity. We are excited to partner with Zluri to build a global SaaS business from India," said Vani Kola, MD, Kalaari Capital. Notably, Zluri is Kalaari's first investment from its new fund.

Zluri's easy to deploy solution will help companies of all sizes manage their ever-growing subscription-based software stack, popularly referred to as tech stack or SaaS stack. Low entry barriers and accelerated workplace productivity are expediting the move from on-premises software to SaaS applications. Today, a 200-employee company uses upwards of 150 applications, and there are no efficient systems to manage those apps.

"Issues such as overspending, shadow IT, under-utilization, duplication, compliance, and security-related issues have all come about lately due to the SaaS explosion. Zluri's mission is to help companies to accelerate innovation through the software stack they purchase, but without the hassles that come along with it," said Sethu Meenakshisundaram, one of the co-founders. He further added, "When the world got powered by electricity, having a meter was considered essential. Similarly, as SaaS apps power up organizations, Zluri will become a necessity too."

IDEMIA Introduces Global Fintech Accelerator Card Program to Support FinTechs and Neobanks in their Card Issuance Process

IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, helps FinTechs launch card programs rapidly with the IDEMIA Fintech Accelerator Card Program, a dedicated program from onboarding to card issuance. 

In the context of a rapid transformation of the banking industry, IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, supports FinTechs and neobanks with the launch of the Global Fintech Accelerator Card Program. This new program allows a rapid process from cardholder onboarding - to card issuance.

IDEMIA’s leadership in card manufacturing, as the number 1 global FinTech card issuance partner, is based on a solid experience of a global dedicated FinTech team and a network of 30 Service Centers in 26 countries around the world. FinTechs can leverage the capability and know-how of IDEMIA to enable card issuance into the marketplace anywhere in the world.

Over the years, IDEMIA has built the largest world wide network of personalization centers designed to optimize responsiveness and proximity to the cardholder for fast delivery times. All of the 30 Service Centers are supported by a Common Personalization System (CPS) that allows card profile developments to be instantly and securely transferred and re-used in any one of them, helping globally aspiring Fintechs to expand rapidly. In addition to CPS, all IDEMIA sites are inter-connected via the IDEMIA Hub with a connection to almost all local and global card processors and BaaS providers so that services and solutions can be safely replicated, extended, shared and optimized across the world.

The IDEMIA FinTech Accelerator Card Program benefits from dedicated local, regional and global FinTech teams that are trained to help to create a card product that will ensure FinTechs can fully differentiate their product in the marketplace. Before manufacturing the cards, the needs of various stakeholders within the FinTech’s organization are taken into consideration to guarantee an optimal start of the card issuing journey. IDEMIA provides advice on how to use innovative solutions to help FinTechs to further differentiate such as card packaging solutions, IDEMIA metal cards, biometric cards (F.CODE), cards with a dynamic security code (MOTION CODE) and recycled cards (GREENPAY).

With IDEMIA’s digital assets, customers will be able to blend the physical card with digital services. The FinTech Accelerator Card Program not only provides a seamless process for a successful card launch, but also it delivers additional digital services such as mobile identity proofing for customer on-boarding and IDEMIA Card Connect, a way to activate a card or provide secure customer authentication by tapping the contactless card on the phone. IDEMIA’s digital assets can also enable FinTechs to enrich their mobile banking apps with new payment features via digital cards, reinventing the customer journey for both proximity and remote payments.

“We recognize that the FinTech world needs innovative solutions and to move quickly. Our Accelerator Card Program does just that and ensures that we can help the processors, BaaS providers and FinTech customers get their products to market as quickly as possible and expand globally without the need to start a new project in each country” Stuart Yaxley | Senior Vice President Global Accounts and FinTechs for Financial Institutions at IDEMIA

“IDEMIA’s FinTech accelerator card program and Hub have been strategic levers in creating an advanced interface and facilitating business for all of our existing and future global fintech customers, including providing a wide variety of valuable solutions such as metal cards, recycled plastic cards and digital solutions. The IDEMIA FinTech team are extremely knowledgeable in their field, and with our combined global reach, our partnership is a powerful force as we support our customer’s international growth journeys. Moreover, their global service delivery team have made sure that the interface that we have set up with them is designed to work with all of the needs and expectations of our customers.” Neil Harris | Group Chief Commercial Officer of GPS - Global Processing Services.



“We at OneCard have set out to reimagine Credit Cards and have launched a Mobile First Metal Credit Card. We needed a partner who has the same philosophy and outlook of innovation and consumer first. The IDEMIA FinTech team was our partner of choice to create the stunning 16 g Metal OneCard. Their personalized Metal Card offering has helped differentiate OneCard. IDEMIA has been able to deliver the product for us in these challenging times also. ” Vibhav Hathi, Cofounder & CMO, OneCard.

About || IDEMIA

IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, provides a trusted environment enabling citizens and consumers alike to perform their daily critical activities (such as pay, connect and travel), in the physical as well as digital space. Securing our identity has become mission critical in the world we live in today. By standing for Augmented Identity, an identity that ensures privacy and trust and guarantees secure, authenticated and verifiable transactions, we reinvent the way we think, produce, use and protect one of our greatest assets – our identity – whether for individuals or for objects, whenever and wherever security matters. We provide Augmented Identity for international clients from Financial, Telecom, Identity, Public Security and IoT sectors.

With close to 15,000 employees around the world, IDEMIA serves clients in 180 countries.

Digital Transformation Strategies to Thrive in Post Pandemic World

Techment Technology, a leading provider of digital solutions, recently released a new whitepaper on ‘Digital Transformation Strategies to Thrive in Post Pandemic World’.

Techment's whitepaper illuminates the strategies that are essential to navigate the overwhelming change that has been brought by the pandemic, making it crucial for many companies to speed up their digital transformation journey.

Although it may look like apt advice, undergoing digital transformation is not easy. The whitepaper elucidates how success rates of firms undertaking their own digital transformation have been found to be incredibly low, and the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 makes it essential for firms to get this transition right the first time around. 

The team at Techment, interviewed experts on digital transformation around the world and spoke to CXOs who have successfully driven technology-led change in their company to curate insights for this whitepaper.  

“The pandemic has brought about an urgency in almost every business to go digital,” said Manish Agrawal, CEO, Techment, “However, firms need to be aware of the enterprise risks that come along with the digital transformation. Through this whitepaper, firms can learn about the pitfalls and challenges, and empower themselves to strategize & navigate their digital journey.” 

The free to download Whitepaper also enumerates the important fallacies associated with digital transformation and cautions companies against them. It also includes insights into the investment patterns and the latest trends that are COVID-19 induced are highlighted in the paper. 

About Techment Technology

Techment is a Digital Catalyst that catalyzes solution development with its high-velocity agile delivery model. Its team consists of passionate techno-functional experts that bring an outside-in approach and work as an extension of the client's team. It is an industry-agnostic organisation and works with global companies of all sizes, including disruptive startups.

Follow the link: https://techment.com/white-paper-digitaltransformation

Connect with us: manish@techment.com;  www.techment.com 

Oakridger Rishi Verma's Start-up Initiative Swayamkrushi Empowers Rural Indian Women

Rishi Verma a grade 10 student from Oakridge International School Gachibowli started an initiative called Swayamkrushi; with an aim to create a secondary source of income for farmer families who suffer irregular and meagre revenue owing to the unpredictability and seasonality associated with the farming profession. He identified a growing demand for organic village produced sweets and savouries which fuelled his idea to make them available to the masses. Within a short span of time his project was able to raise 80 orders providing a stream of monthly income to farming families.

Educating the farmer families on existing market values

The journey

Rishi visitedBheemavaram a town in West Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh; to understand the issues faced by village communities like dying art and culture irregular wages and unemployment. After interviewing many farmers Rishi figured that farmers generally wait on crops to grow for 5-8 months and end up with a meagre revenue after the harvest. To bridge the gap between revenues in the idle months of harvest Rishi formulated an idea that could serve as a secondary source of income to the farmers on a daily or monthly basis. He empowered women toutilisetheir skills of producing indigenous food such as sweets pure ghee and pickles.

Women making Godavari delacacies Pootharekulu Palakolu and more

I have been very emotionally connected to my village and its people in West Godavari calledKallakuru and I decided to give back to the community where I hail from says Rishi.

I wanted to educate families of farmers especially women about the already existing market value of village goods in the urban areas as 80% of organic food produce is directly obtained from villages. After researching about the top-picks consumers prefer from the selection of village foods I selected the main produce with higher market value than the rest:pootharekulupalakovatatitandrachicken pickle and cowgheeexplains Rishi.

Walking from door-to-door to educate and convince the villagers it was a tedious effort to gain their confidence against the notion of how a 10th grader could impact their lives in a positive way. After being persistent he managed to onboard several women of the village onto the idea of using their excellent skills to earn money in an independent sustainable manner.

By simple WhatsApp communications and word of mouth Rishi managed to grow the customer base for farmers developing these products. He later liaised withVegesna Trust to package the products followed by collaborating with a travel agencyThomas Cook who subsequently connected Rishi toTru India Restaurants a chain of restaurants in HoustonTexas;where they agreed on a monthly order of 12 kgs per product from January 2020. After this massive success Rishi was able to pool in 80 orders and in less than 100 days he was able to generate 1.4 lakhs!

The amount wasn;t the impact but the impact on the families was my major win as my goal to facilitate a daily or monthly income to the families was being met adds Rishi. He was recently invited at the 1M1B Activate Impact Summit at UN New York where he presented his Village Sustainable Programme. The project was receivedwell and was appreciated at the conference.

Speaking on the occasion Hema Chennupaty Principal of Oakridge International School Gachibowli said We are extremely proud of the work done by Rishi and we are sure that this project will have a long-term impact on improving the lives of our farming community. At Oakridge we constantly provide various opportunities for our students to think beyond the ordinary and strive towards making a difference in the world. Like Rishi we have several other students from Oakridge Gachibowli who are coming up with various initiatives to help make our world a better place.

About Oakridge International School Gachibowli

Oakridge International School - Gachibowli School is a Nord Anglia Education day-school located in Nanakramguda Hyderabad. Oakridge Gachibowli school is one of the best international schools in Telangana and has the proud privilege of being the pioneers of IB School in Andhra Pradesh and one of the largest providers of IB Education in India. The school has also been listed among the top 5 best international schools by Times School Survey consecutively for the last three years and has been ranked no. 1 by Forbes Fortune Magazine and Education World (Top 10 in India).

The school is purpose-built to deliver the IB curriculum and to support our students; growth learning and development.Spread across 5.11 acres the school provides a range of facilities that include state-of-art indoor and outdoor amenities - Soccer ground Wimbledon-sized tennis courts swimming pools amphitheatre digital classrooms and learning resource centres.

For more information please visit www.oakridge.in.

Sports Consultancy Startup, Time of Sports Raises Angel Round of Funding

Time of Sports, a Sports company specialized in sports consultancy services has recently raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Mr. Sandeep Arya Chairman and Managing Director of a $32 million conglomerate of companies Amtrak Technologies Pvt Ltd, Presto Infosolutions Pvt Ltd, Sanvei Overseas Pvt Ltd. The geographical spread of his group is across Africa, CIS, UAE and Singapore. The focus of the group is on thinking “Out of the Box” to give unique and cost effective IT and Security solutions to its customers. Time of Sports is an evolving Sports Company marking its presence in online as well as on ground Sports destined to be our Nations sports and fitness destination with the vision of a FIT NATION and a mission to create an ecosystem of SPORTS FOR ALL.

The funds raised will be invested in expanding the existing Sports Consultancy Leg of the Company to create an ecosystem of sports for all and fabricate India’s Largest Grassroots Initiatives. The funds will also be used to develop a unique sports mobile app which will further converge online and on ground sports & Fitness activities. The app will help the brand reach out to around 100 million school kids and their parents which will also enhance the presence of the brand exponentially. Lastly a portion of the funds would be utilized to launch the World’s Largest STEM Based Technology Challenge – F1 in Schools™ in India.

Yashraj Singh, CEO and Founder of Time of Sports, said, “We are extremely pleased to have Mr. Arya investing in our dream and we look forward to steer the company towards transforming the overall sports consultancy scenario in the country. We envisage to develop the youngest minds and sports stars in the fastest growing economy. We are constantly carving befitting Sports solutions and building a work group obsessed with quality and innovation. We are geared to be trailblazer of disruptive sports marketing concepts in Corporate and Grassroots Sports Initiatives. INDIA is emerging in the Business of Sports & we are at the opportune moment of this ERA. Mr. Arya amplifies the Mission of the Company and makes the Team a perfect amalgamation of Experience & Energy, Innovation & Technology.  The Game Begins…”

Since inception, Time of Sports has provided high quality consultancy advice to the sports and fitness sector and delivered unique Proprietary Platforms like NCR Games, Corpwarriors, Indian Fitness Festival and many more. The company has introduced multiple programs and platforms to popularize sports as an important aspect among sports enthusiast in the country. Over the years, Time of sports has conceptualized, Consulted and Executed Sports Initiatives like sports days, leagues and marathons involving large corporate, RWA’s and schools as well. These services have also supported governmental agencies like DDA, National Dailies, national sports organizations, local sports clubs and institutions.

This year, Time of Sports brings F1 in Schools™ to India. As F1 in Schools™ comes to India Time of Sports aspires to offer students a life changing experience. F1 in Schools™ is an international STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) competition for school children (aged 9–19), wherein groups of 3–6 students design and manufacture a miniature "car" out of the official F1 Model Block using CAD/CAM design tools. F1 in Schools™ is an internationally acclaimed brand associated with the Grand Prix. Time of Sports is privileged to have the support of the Formula One™ community – in particular Mr. Ecclestone and the new CEO Mr. Chase Carey at FOM and, of course, the Formula One™ teams who make our students welcome in the F1™ paddock and in their factories.

Soon A Counselling Cell for Startups in Eastern India, Courtesy CII

Soon there will be prolific counselling cell for startups and budding entrepreneurs in eastern India. The cell will be launched by the a century-year old premier business association -- Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).

J B Pany, Chairman of the Startup and Innovation Taskforce, CII Eastern Region, announced the same at the Financing Innovation organised by CII on Friday.

According to Pany, this is a part of exercise to handhold, mentor and guide prospective investors in terms of financing, funding and technology.

Funding and Financing agencies such as Xelpmoc, GHV Fund & Accelerator, Catapooolt, Unitus Seed Fund, Bhubaneswar Angel Networks, Kolkata Angel Networks, Brandshoot Ventures and Webel venture Capital Fund participated in the CII Financing Innovation.

Earlier, in November 2016, CII had also launched Startup Mentorship Circle - a platform to help connect startups with the global marketplace and showcase their capabilities.

"The meetings were very productive and we expect positive outcomes," said Dipankar Chakrabarti, Co-Chairman, Start-up and Innovation Taskforce, CII Eastern Region.

According to Chakrabarti, Financing Innovation is a special CII initiative which seeks to bridge the gap between the employable and the employed youth through entrepreneurship building. The participants said that mentoring is very important for new innovators. Funding agencies can easily spot the difference between a well mentored innovator and another who has not been coached.

Mumbai-based Cleantech Startup TESSOL Wins World Recognition with Startup Energy Transition Award

Mumbai-based Thermal Energy Service Solutions Private Limited (TESSOL) was announced one among the 6 winners of the Startup Energy Transition Awards recently. This award ceremony was organised by the Deutsche Energie–Agentur, the German Energy Agency (dena) for recognizing innovative business ideas in clean tech and energy transition area from across the world. All the selected startups received awards at the Berlin Energy Transition Dialogue award ceremony recently.

A leader in the field of clean technology, TESSOL bagged the award for its PLUGnCHILL system for refrigerated transport of perishables. It is a patented thermal energy storage technology provides an end to end solution for a sustainable Agricultural and Pharmaceutical Cold Chain.

To recall, IndianWeb2 too had selected TESSOL among 10 promising clean-tech startups in India.

Advantage of Technology

The international jury members chose TESSOL for this award because its PLUGnCHILL cooling systems can have high impact in increasing the efficiency of food supply worldwide. They ensure 100 % product safety, turbo charging, eco- friendly and lower operating cost and lots more.  TESSOL, according to the jury, was able to clearly demonstrate the benefits of their technology in reducing carbon emissions and fossil fuel consumption. Founder & CEO of Tessol Rajat Gupta and Product Manager Raj Dhami received the award. Tessol and five other start-ups from France, Germany, Bangladesh and Nigeria were selected from more than 500 entries from 66 countries.

TESSOL claims that its technology is cost-effective as it reduce 60% to 65% in the operating cost of refrigerated vehicles. The company is developing thermal energy storage solutions for village level pack houses, household air conditioning and hybrid system for buses.

Patented Technology

According to Founder, Rajat Gupta, an alumnus of IIT, Delhi, and Harvard University, “The refrigeration is based on a heat exchanger using an advanced phase change material (PCM) and is independent of the vehicle’s engine. It is charged from the grid and can be tuned to maintain the temperature from -25 to +15 degree celsius”. This is company’s patented technology that permits cold chain vehicles to obviate the use of diesel fuel for refrigeration.

TESSOL was founded in 2013 with an aim to provide cost-effective, energy-efficient and fuel saving storage and logistics refrigeration systems. The company is recognized as a leading player with specialties in Cold Chain Solutions, Cold Storage, Thermal Energy Storage, Renewable Energy, Industrial Process Cooling and Transport Refrigeration etc.

Top Image - Tessol Founder CEO Rajat Gupta and product manager Raj Dhami | Via - The Hindu

This VR Startup Facebook Acquired for $2 Billion is Facing Complete Shutdown

Oculus, a $2 billion acquisition that Mark Zuckerberg's Facebook made almost three years ago, has landed the global giant in a huge mess now. A while ago, popular video game publisher ZeniMax, which is best known in the market as the owner of Fallout and Skyrim developer Bethesda Softworks, filed a lawsuit against Oculus accusing it of using copyrighted ZeniMax technology without permission.

In the lawsuit, ZeniMax had accused that Palmer Luckey, the co-founder of the company, stole trade secrets from ZeniMax to build the company’s signature product, the Oculus Rift. It also accused video game design legend and former employee, John Carmack, of stealing trade secrets. ZeniMax argued in the court that Luckey didn't even have the skills and brains to design the Rift. The lawsuit was dragged on for quite a bit with shocking revelations and accusations being made by both the companies against each other. At one point, even Mark Zuckerberg was dragged into the case. One of the most shocking turning point in the case came when Carmack admitted to stealing code and documents from ZeniMax on his way out of the company.

Towards the end, the jury ruled that even though Oculus didn’t steal any trade secrets but its founders had surely violated a non-disclosure agreement and also was guilty of “false designation." On the whole, Oculus is on the hook for a whopping $300 million, Luckey for $50 million, and co-founder Brendan Iribe is on the hook for $150 million.

Experts claim that even though the amounts of this judgement are most likely to be reduced on appeal, but trouble is still not over for Oculus.

ZeniMax is now seeking an injunction to block sales of any product that make uses of their technology. It is important to note here that the technology has already been widely distributed to developers who were working on several games for Oculus products, and notably the most popular Oculus Rift. If and when the injunction is granted by the court, it will result in limiting the games available for the Rift to only a few, which could really burn a huge hole in the sales of a company whose sales figure are already on a downwards trend.

Now the main question is, whether Oculus will be able to survive the $500 million judgment and the injunction if it is granted. The word in the market is that ZeniMax is putting its pressure on forcing a settlement and ending Oculus and its founders appeal process as early as possible. Whatever may be the case, the road ahead for Oculus doesn't look so smooth either way.

Finally After A Year of Announcing, Govt Commits Rs 110 crore from 10,000 Crore Startup Fund

In a major relief to the Indian startup Industry, the Small Industrial Development Bank of India (SIDBI) has finally pledged Rs 110 crore from the 2016 announced Rs 10,000-crore ‘fund of funds’ for startups, to four venture capital funds, namely Orios Venture Partners Fund II, Kae Capital, and two little known funds, Saha Trust and Kitven Fund III.

The selected four are currently trying to raise over Rs 1300 crore, to invest in India-born startups. Out of the 110 crores committed by SIDBI, 50 crore have been given to Orios Venture Partners Fund II, 45 crore to Kae Capital, 10 crore to Saha Trust and 5 crore to Kitven Fund III. Only 5.66 crore of the 110 crore amount has been invested in startups till date.

Orios Venture and Kae Capital are Mumbai-based Venture Capital funds being headed by Rehan Yar Khan and Sasha Mirchandani, respectively. Kitven Fund is a fund run by the Karnataka government aimed at promoting IT startups, Saha Trust on the other hand is a venture capital fund for women centric businesses that are being run by women. Currently, Saha Trust is targeting a corpus of Rs 65 crore and Kitven has a target of Rs 50 crore.

The Rs 10,000 crore startup fund has been allocated to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) by the Reserve Bank of India. The capital has to be invested in Indian startups through a way of providing them soft loans, equity and other risk capital.

Designed to stimulate the growth of the practically non-existent domestic venture capital industry, the Rs 10,000 crore ‘fund of funds’ is the part of January 16, 2016 announced Start-Up India programme.

It is important to note that the Rs.10,000 crore 'fund of funds' is just a reiteration, rather a repackaging of the July 2014 budget proposal by Finance minister Arun Jaitley where he set aside Rs.10,000 crore for startups. The 'fund of funds' just provides us a little clarity on how it will be structured and managed. Earlier, we had reported that the much ambitious Rs 10,000 crore startup fund announced by the Modi government in financial budget of year 2014 was still lying unused as no one is clear which government department is responsible for managing the scheme.

Though announced on January 16, 2016, the Rs 10,000 crore ‘fund of funds’ was established only on June 22, 2016. This is when SIDBI took the responsibility of managing the funds. The funds were to be invested in SEBI-registered Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs). These AIFs were to then further invest in India-born startups.

Though Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) of India also committed to be a co-contributor to the ‘fund of funds,' it hasn't yet contributed any money to the fund.

According to a statement given by Mohandas Pai, who is a member of the six-member committee that selects AIFs, “The fund of funds has sanctioned more than 2000 crore. The disbursements are around 200 crore as of date. It is typical in a fund of fund structure to start like this and go up the J curve."

Under the original action plan, the ‘fund of funds’ was only supposed to provide support to startups operating in education, manufacturing, health and agriculture domains. But, it was finally concluded that the funding through the AIFs would not be just restricted to the startups that the commerce ministry recognises for other benefits. Hence, now the AIFs are allowed to invest in startups functioning in the other domains as well.

The AIFs were selected by SIDBI based on a number of criteria, with the primary one being that the selected ones will have to would to invest more than 50% of the corpus allocated to them in SMBs.

Soon A Startup Visa For Indian Entrepreneurs, By Portugal

Every country in the world seems to be wanting to get a piece of the startup scene. While we already know about the US, UK and Indian startup scene, the country of Portugal also seems to be wanting to catch on. Last year, the much talked about Web Summit in Lisbon attracted the attendance of more than 50,000 people. Seeing such high number of people flocking the event encouraged the government to start thinking about the startup industry in the country and set up a number of partnerships around the world, with a special interest in Asia and the Far East.

During a recent meeting with India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Portugal’s Prime Minister Antonio Costa and Secretary of State of Industry João Vasconcelos said that they are considering speeding up the visa application process for Indian entrepreneurs who are looking to start their businesses in Portugal, with the creation of a special kind of visa category called the ”Startup Visa". The Portugal Prime Minister and Secretary of State of Industry were recently on a visit to the Indian subcontinent to meet the Indian PM and attend the "India X Portugal" startup event in Bengaluru.

Talking about the reason to introduce a special ”Startup Visa" category for India, Vasconcelos said that the Web Summit held in Lisbon, Portugal last November saw more than 700 entrepreneurs arriving from India to Portugal. This made them realise that Lisbon has also emerged as competitive as San Francisco or London, when it comes to narrowing down a place to start a company.

According to industry experts, fresh graduates in the field of engineering and ICT-related disciplines could emerge as real winners of this new Visa category move by the Portuguese government. Since, a lot of details haven’t been given out yet, nothing much can be said about other sectors and disciplines. The experts also feel that the Visa move is just a small part of the Portuguese government efforts to transform the country into a gateway to Europe for Indian entrepreneurs and startups, while still allowing the native entrepreneurs to start their joint ventures and enter into commercial partnerships in the subcontinent.

Apart from ICT and startups, both the countries are hopeful of finding and establishing mutually beneficially collaboration opportunities in diverse fields like agriculture, infrastructure, food processing and security, renewable energies, water and waste management, defence and automotive.

The startup visa project isn’t the first step taken by the Portuguese government to attract foreign entrepreneurs to set up their bases in Portugal.

Eight years ago, in the year 2009, the country launched a non-habitual residents' taxation regime with an aim of attracting foreign capital into the country. The taxation regime enables people who become a tax resident in the country become eligible to pay only 20 percent of taxes for the first five years. Three years later, in the year 2012, the country also launched a Golden Visa scheme that fast-tracks the process of enabling entrepreneurs from outside Schengen area to stay in the country and set up their bases there.

While it is not yet clear when will the “Startup Visa” project see the light of day, but whenever it does, we will keep you updated.

[Top Image: Shutterstock]

Tech Mahindra Launches Incubator For Startups In UK's Milton Keynes

UK's Milton Keynes has a new startup incubator in town. IT firm Tech Mahindra has recently launched InnovateMK that will be closely working with technology startups.

InnovateMK is an initiative sponsored by Tech Mahindra and Lividia Ltd, striving to drive in more and more innovation activity in the Milton Keynes area. The area has for long become a hot stop for startup activity in a variety of sectors- including automotive technologies and digital services.

According to a statement released by Tech Mahindra announcing the launch, the startup incubator plans to support more than 50 entrepreneurial ventures in the region over the period of next two years.

The main idea behind setting up InnovateMK is that anyone with an innovative mind can become an entrepreneur. Globalisation, automation and digitisation have drastically changed the work place and economy in the 21st century. The incubator strongly believes that everyone irrespective of what background they come from should have an equal access to a career trajectory defined by what all they can do, create and ship- not just who or which corporate they are employed with.

Having members such as CAPE (Community Action Platform for Energy), crowd, scholics, livida and Fat Pencil etc., InnovateMK has been built for innovators who work with disruptive technologies. The incubator boost of a range of services, facilities and world class technology businesses for startups, innovators and entrepreneurs to connect to and partner with.

The incubator currently comes with two different packages: While the £99/Mth Entrepreneurs Support Package gives 10 days per month in the innovation facility, mentor access, connectivity and Founders community access, the second package is a £199/Mth Residents Package which gives 5 Days per week access along with other amenities and facilities.

InnovateMK is looking to support local entrepreneurs and startups in the area by providing an easy access to several crucial resources required by a startup to grow and flourish. This includes an access to key entrepreneurial events, vibrant co-working centre, and several networking and mentoring events within the investment community, along with ways to market their ideas and products.

According to a statement by InnovateMK, Milton Keynes has emerged as a numero uno choice for startups outside of London. It also added, that for the sixth consecutive year, the annual index of economic performance has ranked Milton Keynes as the top city in the United Kingdom for jobs growth.

In addition to InnovateMK, Tech Mahindra is also one of the partners closely working on integrating solutions across a connected ecosystem of Smart City centred initiatives through the Milton Keynes area.

Gurgaon Gets Its First Startup Incubation Centre

Yesterday saw the launch of the millennium city, Gurgaon's (now Gurugram) first startup incubation centre. Termed as the 'innovation campus', the centre was launched by Haryana's chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar during a Good Governance day event at the Haryana Bhawan in the capital city, Delhi.

The centre has been set up in Gurgaon's Udyog Vihar Phase-I by Haryana government's IT department in collaboration with National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom).

The centre will be contribute towards the Haryana government's pledge of creating a start-up ecosystem in the state that will enable all innovative, enthusiastic entrepreneurs with an opportunity to develop interesting concepts and businesses addressing the problems, especially in the state's rural pockets.

India is a land of youngsters with numerous innovative, out of the box ideas. While there's no shortage of ideas and talent, the one thing that the country lacks is providing an opportunity to such people to turn those ideas into reality. Such incubation centres are a great step towards providing the young entrepreneurs in the country a chance to spread their wings and make their dreams come true.

The year 2016 saw many government and private incubators seeing the light of the days in various parts of the country. Some of the states that saw the launch of new startup incubators this year include Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad.

10 New Future Business Ideas You Need To Know

Every year, 8 out of 10 small businesses fizzle and bow out of the industry. While there could be several reasons for their failed run, one of the most common reasons in the recent times is the failure to develop a futuristic approach for their million dollar idea.

If an entrepreneur wishes to have a sustainable business, he/she not only needs to take into account the current trends, but also the future business trends for next 10 years. This means, not only analysing the problems that people are facing right now, but also being able to predict the problems that they might be facing in the coming years.

While it might seem like a twisted job, but it really isn't that difficult. All one need to do is keep a tab on all the latest business trends and closely watch the declining industries as well as the fastest growing occupations.

In order to set you on a path to success, we at Indianweb2.com have made a list of 10 of the best future business ideas for entrepreneurs.

1) 3D Printing

3D printing business is closely climbing the popularity charts. It is also one of the most profitable business ideas currently in the world, mainly because it has completely revolutionised the prototype manufacturing business.

During the starting years, 3D printers costed a bomb and were out of range for several entrepreneurs. But with the passage of time, the prices have come down but they're still a little expensive for many.

According to Wohler report 2015, 3D printer sales have climbed from 66 in the year 2007 to a whopping 232336 in the year 2015.

Currently, 3D printers range starts from $2000 and goes on till $15000 or more. The prices vary depending upon the specifications and features of the 3D printer needed.

Once you have your own 3D printers, you can set up your own shop and start advertising your business so as to attract good paying clients.

2) Real Estate Industry

With population increasing at an unprecedented rate, and a major percentage of population moving from rural areas to urban eying better jobs and life, the immediate future will witness an increase in need for affordable houses.

Hence, now can be a good time to start a business in or related to the real estate industry and cash on the future needs.

3) Healthcare Industry

According to the Labor department of United States, 10 out of every 20 fastest growing occupations in the United States are directly or indirectly related to the healthcare sector. Further, a Fortune article also clearly states that the healthcare industry has a bright future ahead of it. This is mainly because the future will witness the usage of preventive medicines increasing rapidly, and general healthcare practices being swapped with personal healthcare practices.

The healthcare sector is expected to generate more than 3 million jobs by 2018. The need for so many jobs will arise due to the rapid expansion of world population. So, if you want to start a business related to the healthcare industry, the future seems bright.

4) Renewable Clean Energy Supplies

The alarming rate at which the world population is growing each year is known by almost everyone, but what is more alarming is the fact that a majority of Asian countries still depend on traditional sources of energies such as nuclear, coal and hydro power plants to satiate their energy needs. Since the Earth only has a limited pool of resources, this is proving to be catastrophic for the environment.

In order to find out a solution for this problem, several scientists are now emphasising on the usage of renewable energy sources. People with a zeal to save the environment and the future of the Earth can come with several green business idea and chart a successful future for themselves as well as other inhabitants of the planet.

5) Outsourcing Business

The working environments are going for a major change in the near future, according to a WEF report. Outsourcing business is expected to become the talk of the town by the year 2020, especially if you are a construction business who wants to outsource a company that offers drywall estimating services.

About 50% of Americans own their own small businesses. The same trends can be witnessed in several other big countries like the UK, Australia, and Canada. The one big challenge they face is that if they hire employees from their own country, they will not be able to make good profits due to the high operating costs. This is why, in order to maximise their startup's profits, and reduce costs, they outsource their work to people in developing countries, where the manufacturing and operational costs are comparatively lower than their own native countries.

Freelance business is also growing at a phenomenal rate in developing countries such as India, Pakistan, Nepal etc. In order to provide virtual services online, all one requires is a good internet connection and specific skills set.

6) Internet of Things (IOT) Industry

IoT is the next big thing that is going to completely change the way humans live, just the way internet did a few decades back.

The world of Internet of Things (IoT) has opened us all to a world where we now have the power to automate, protect, and monitor our houses like never before. Not only this, one can now keep an eye on their children while out for work, integrate their home theater system, protect the house from theft, and even extend a helping hand in reducing capital spent on energy consumption.

According to Mckinsey Global Institute, the IoT industry has a potential to generate $4 Trillion to $11 Trillion in value worldwide by the year 2025.

So, IoT can prove to be a safe bet when thinking about future business ideas.

7) Co-Working Spaces

With the increasing rents, the working space is going to see a major change in the coming future. Separate offices will be replaced by co-working spaces so as to curb the expenses and keep the company above waters away from the burden of avoidable big rentals bills. Hence, starting a co-working space could be a smart decision right now.

8) Collaborative Economy Business

Businesses based on collaborative economy models like UBER, LYFT, Airbnb etc. are expected to grow immensely in the period pf next few years. Such businesses not only extend a helping hand to end customers but also assist the service providers, which ultimately makes them commissions.

9) Consumer Goods and Services Business

The middle-class population is expected to rise up to 3 billion by the year 2030. This population increase would result in an increase in consumption of goods and services. Hence, a business in goods and services has a huge growth potential.

10) Consultancy Business

Experts predict consultancy business witnessing good growth in the future. This could be mainly because of rise of entrepreneurial trends, increasing unemployment issues worldwide or high inflationary rates. Hence, starting a consultancy business like recruitment firm, career consultancy firm, or customer consultancy etc. can prove to be profitable for the long haul.

Mumbai To Get Its First Startup Incubator By Municipal Corporation

In an effort to woo youngsters in Mumbai, Shiv Sena, the ruling party in the BMC, has announced about its plans to set up its very first Startup incubator in Mumbai. According to them, the aim behind the move is to encourage more and more startups and entrepreneurs from the city of dreams.

The announcement was made by Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray in a series of tweets recently.

"The BMC will be setting up its first Start Up incubator in Mumbai very soon to encourage more start ups from Mumbai to pursue their dreams," read one tweet.

He followed the announcement tweet by another stating, "Mumbai has been a city to follow its dreams, support dreams. BMC incubator will make available spaces extremely affordable to startups."

It's interesting to note that the announcement came just a few days ahead of the civic elections.

According to information available, the BMC administration has already zeroed on a building at Chakala in Andheri for the incubator. The building will be completely revamped and converted into an office space for 50 to 100 emerging entrepreneurs. The Andheri space, which has been reserved for the welfare centre, boosts of a parking space on the stilt, while its first floor has a hall and several airy rooms. Since the budding entrepreneurs will have to meet a number of investors, mentors, and other important people on a daily basis, BMC has decided to convert the hall in the building into a beautiful conference room, which will be allotted to people on advance booking.

The budding entrepreneurs will be made available with small offices at a nominal rate for a period of six months. When there six months at the incubator are over, they will have to vacate the space for other applicants.

According to sources, the BMC is looking to complete the building and start the incubator before the civic elections go live. Apart from the Andheri one, they also plan to start more startup incubators in other parts of the city very soon.

The BMC is going to release more details about the policy very soon. It has brought in several prominent startup specialists on its panel to provide them a helping hand in rolling out the incubator.

3 Things To Know If You're Starting A Company

While starting a new business is a tough task in itself, sustaining it is where the true task lies. Once you have zeroed on a killer idea, matched it with your talent and skills, there are still a few things which can go downhill and take your dream of owning a successful business away from you. Today, we at www.indianweb2.com gear up to tell you about the 3 vital things you should know if you're starting a company.

1) Don't try to do it all

While we understand that since it's your idea and hardship involved, you consider your company more than just business; it is figuratively your baby. But, the one thing that you have to keep in mind when you become the pilot of the plane is the fact that you can't do it all. While multitasking can be achieved, but a pilot can't also do the cabin crew job, maintenance job while flying the plane, can he? Exactly! This very rule also applies to entrepreneurs as well. While in the starting you might want to do all the jobs and make sure that everything is being done in the best way possible, but as the work load grows, it becomes harder and harder to be involved in each and every task of the company. This is why, it is necessary to hire people who can do it for you. Find the people who are considered some of the best available human resources at a particular task and hire them to do it for you; of course you can give your inputs time to time but you will not have to take the tension that if you aren't available the task won't be done. One can have a referral system at place in the office, where the existing employees can refer people whom they consider to be apt for a particular vacant job profile, and earn themselves a certain bonus amount.

2) Once you've got the right people, make them stick around

This is one of the toughest tasks in the daily lives of an entrepreneur: employee retention. While you can hire some of the brightest minds in the industry, you still have to train them and work on them almost daily so as to make them understand the company's aims and objectives. All this hard work involved and resources spent end up going down the drain when suddenly one day the employee stands up and decide to leave.

Being the captain of your ship, you have to ensure that your staff is happy because only when the staff is happy and enthusiastic about the work will they be able to keep the clients happy. One of the ways to ensure that the office environment is always at its cheerful best is to keep the lines of communication open. Your staff shouldn't fear talking to you about their problems, and consider you approachable at all times. Make the team take office trips, lunches, picnics and develop a friendly bond among themselves.

3) Ensure there’s money in the bank

Once you become an entrepreneur, you're not only responsible for your own lives and expenses, but also for all the people that you have hired. As an entrepreneur, you have to make sure that there's enough money in the banks to pay the salaries and keep the work wheel running. But, if you take care of the two points mentioned above, the third one takes care of itself. Of course, as an entrepreneur, you still have to keep working on forging great investors relations.

As an entrepreneur, always keep your existing investors updated about your company's progress. Also, keep meeting new people and forming new investor relationships even if you're not explicitly looking at raising funds. Always remember, fundraising is an ongoing process and not a one time event.

So, if you're a young entrepreneur, these three learnings can make a huge difference in your career path. The road to success is hard, but with the right people and right resources, it can be much easier to tread.