India’s Future Technology DNA will be Shaped by SaaS – Say Chiratae, Zinnov

Image - thesoftwarereport.com

Over the last two decades, the Indian SaaS space has undergone a transformational evolution across dimensions of products, use cases, market, customers, talent, and funding. The landscape has metamorphosed and matured to bring about a chromosomal change in the Indian technology ecosystem and is poised to provide a massive boost to the Indian economy in terms of growth and employment rates. 

The Chiratae-Zinnov study titled, “Indian SaaS Revolution: Rising Trillion Dollar Global Opportunity,” explores the factors driving this explosive growth, the surge of unicorns in the space, and also where the industry is heading in the next five years.

• Explosive Growth of SaaS in India
  
  The Indian SaaS industry has witnessed an unprecedented bull run in the last five years. The 5X explosive revenue growth and the 2X growth in the number of SaaS companies have been built on the track record of the SaaS industry being highly capital efficient as compared to any other industry. The numbers tell the story – the capital required for B2B SaaS to reach unicorn status is half that of B2C start-ups in India, and the revenue per employee for SaaS companies stands at twice that in the IT Services industry. The growth continues unabated at a pace of ~51% CAGR, making the possibility of it becoming a trillion-dollar-valued industry by 2030, a strong reality. This aggressive growth will create 200K+ new jobs over the next five years, with the total talent employed by the Indian SaaS industry expected to grow by 5X in the same time frame.
  
  Factors such as sticky revenue stream, high capital efficiency, ease of scalability, resilient business models, and the evolving consumer demand have made enterprise SaaS a highly attractive avenue for companies and entrepreneurs alike. A formidable combination of resident unicorns such as Freshworks, Postman, Uniphore, Druva, etc., and non-resident unicorns such as Zscaler, Nutanix, Automation Anywhere, etc., are putting the stake in the ground for India’s role in shaping the local and global SaaS narrative.
• Enterprise SaaS: An Entrepreneur’s Paradise
  
  Indian founders and entrepreneurs are trailblazing alongside their global counterparts and have created billion-dollar SaaS companies that are giving tech giants stiff competition. Of the 51 unicorns in India, 10 are from the SaaS space, with 4 joining the coveted unicorn club in 2021 alone. This propulsion of start-ups into the unicorn club has been accelerated by global Venture Capital (VC) investments, especially in the last decade. The study highlights that global VCs have been at the forefront of capitalizing on the rising trillion-dollar Indian SaaS opportunity, with VC investments surging 10X in the last 10 years. Investments to the tune of USD 6 Bn have been made in Indian SaaS companies so far, with ~USD 4 Bn coming in the last 3 years alone. With more than 600 global VCs actively investing in the Indian SaaS industry, the stage is set for many more unicorns to emerge over the next few years.
• The PERFECT storm fueling the Indian SaaS Revolution
  
  SaaS companies are innovating and building new product segments, which are differentiated by the confluence of technologies being leveraged. There are nearly half a million skilled product managers working on these globally competitive SaaS products that leverage new-age customer-centric product design to build enterprise-grade products.
  
  The Indian SaaS space is the epicenter of a major SaaS revolution, with Indian SaaS players poised to fulfill 19% of the global SaaS demand by 2025. The global SaaS market is estimated to reach a massive USD 400 Bn by 2025, and this will firmly position Indian SaaS companies as major players on the global stage. World-class products and platforms, rising interest from global VCs, and a vast pool of digitally skilled technology talent have put Indian SaaS companies on a decidedly firm footing.

“It’s no secret that the future of business and scale is SaaS driven, more so in the post-pandemic landscape. What’s interesting however is how quickly Indian companies have set a global benchmark for the industry. The exponential growth unlocked in the last 5 years is a testament to how capital efficient the Indian SaaS industry is. As an early investor in the Indian SaaS ecosystem, we are stoked about the ground-breaking progress our companies have made and are excited to unlock what the future holds in the form of newer industry milestones and innovations,” says, – Venkatesh Peddi, Executive Director & Head of SaaS, Chiratae Ventures.

“India is uniquely positioned to capitalize on and propel the SaaS revolution to even greater heights, thanks to a convergence of factors such as – product leadership, entrepreneurs paying it forward, going global from inception, massive capital infusion, conducive ecosystem enablers, and skilled new-age talent advantage. The soaring valuations that we witnessed even at the height of the pandemic, the revenue per employee compared to that in IT Services (2X in the last 2 years), and the rise in median revenue – stand testament to the potential that SaaS as an industry holds, even beyond the pandemic. SaaS entrepreneurs have demonstrated strong business vision and strategy, strengthened with a robust GTM and Sales strategy, creating a virtuous flywheel of innovation on the global stage, from India.” – Pari Natarajan, CEO, Zinnov.

About Chiratae

Launched in 2006, Chiratae Ventures India Advisors (formerly IDG Ventures India) is India’s leading technology Venture Capital funds advisor. The funds advised by Chiratae Ventures India Advisors collectively have close to $900 M under management and 100+ investee companies across Consumer Media & Tech, Cloud/Software, Health-tech, and Fin-tech. Notable portfolio companies include Bounce, Cure.fit, FirstCry, Flipkart, Forus, GoMechanic, Lenskart, Manthan, Myntra (acquired by Flipkart), NestAway, Newgen (NSE: NEWGEN), PlaySimple, PolicyBazaar, Rentomojo, Unbxd, and Uniphore among others. To date, the fund has recorded 2 IPOs, 38 exits, and 4 Unicorns. www.chiratae.com


About Zinnov

Founded in 2002, Zinnov is a global management and strategy consulting firm, with a presence in Santa Clara, Houston, Chicago, Bangalore, Gurgaon, and Paris. Over the past 19 years, Zinnov has successfully consulted with over 250+ Fortune 500 enterprises to develop actionable insights to help them accelerate value creation – across dimensions of both revenue and optimization. With core expertise in Digital Engineering, Digital Transformation, Innovation, and Outsourcing Advisory, Zinnov assists clients by:

• Advising global PE firms in asset shortlisting and target evaluation, commercial due diligence, and value creation;
• Structuring and implementing Digital Transformation levers enabled by technologies like AI/ML, Cloud, IoT, and RPA;
• Helping global companies outline and drive their open innovation programs, design and operate accelerator programs, and enable collaboration with start-ups across specific use cases and predefined outcomes;
• Enabling global companies to develop and optimize a global engineering footprint through center setups, and technology and functional accelerators to achieve higher R&D efficiencies, innovation, and productivity;
• Growing revenue for companies’ products and services in newer markets through account intelligence, market-entry, and market expansion advisory.

With their team of experienced consultants, subject matter experts, and research professionals, Zinnov serves clients from across multiple industry verticals including Enterprise Software, Hi-Tech, BFSI, Healthcare, Automotive, Retail, and Telecom in the US, Europe, Japan, and India.

For more information, visit http://zinnov.com.

COVID -19 and the Antifragility of Indian Startup Ecosystem - Report by TiE Delhi-NCR & Zinnov

India's startup ecosystem, which was deeply impacted by COVID-19 and 15% of startups halting business operations due to lockdowns, is recovering faster than expected and already has 7 new Unicorns in 2020, with 4 of these startups reaching unicorn status during covid-19

Digitally-led segments are witnessing strong growth as COVID-induced lockdowns are lifted

Investor interest is quickly getting back to pre-COVID levels

TiE Delhi-NCR, among the most vibrant chapters in the global TiE network, released an insightful report today, titled, 'COVID-19 and the Antifragility of Indian Startup Ecosystem,' in partnership with Zinnov, a leading global management, and strategy consulting firm. The report provides an in-depth understanding of the impact of COVID-19 on the Indian startup ecosystem, by assessing multiple dimensions like funding and M&A landscape, sectoral impact, entrepreneur and investor sentiments, and changing market behavior. The report is supported by Cisco Launchpad, NetApp Excellerator, and Lowe's Innovation Labs.

2020 started with the Indian startup ecosystem, the world's third-largest, growing rapidly on the back of a spectacular 2019. However, COVID-19 jolted the startup ecosystem across multiple dimensions and the impact was severe during the lockdown period from March to June 2020. There was a dip in overall funding by 50% during the lockdown as compared to pre-COVID levels, around 40% of start-ups were negatively impacted, and 15% of Indian startups were forced to discontinue operations due to COVID-19.

However, as the economy opened, the pace of recovery – both in demand and in investor sentiment – has been faster than expected. Shift to digital consumption has provided the necessary tailwind to sectors such as education, healthcare, and commerce; while several sectors like travel, hospitality, and mobility, that were negatively impacted, are now on a recovery path. For instance, 75% of start-ups are gradually, but steadily, recovering post lockdown. Around 30% of startups have pivoted to newer markets for alternative revenue streams, while more than 55% of startups are focusing on profitability and reducing cash burn. 

Further, deal activity – both in terms of total investments and the number of unique funded startups – has recovered to pre-COVID levels during the quarter that ended in September 2020. Interestingly, four Indian startups have become unicorns amidst COVID-19, and India is on track to have 8 unicorns in 2020 – almost the same number of additions as in 2019. Additionally, the startup ecosystem is expected to have 7-7.5 Lakhs direct jobs and 26-28 Lakhs indirect jobs in total, by the end of 2020, further cementing its recovery. The brave response of entrepreneurs and the ecosystem as a whole, to the uncertainty brought on by the pandemic, by adopting new business models in line with the evolving customer needs and market conditions exemplifies the antifragility of the ecosystem.

Rajan Anandan, President, TiE Delhi-NCR, said, "Although the immediate impact of the lockdowns on the Indian startup ecosystem was severe, we have been amazed to witness how quickly Indian founders have acted to reimagine their businesses. What has been most impressive is how many startups have reduced burn and improved their unit economics very rapidly. Digitally-led segments have recovered much faster than anyone expected and in many spaces, demand is well ahead of pre-COVID levels. Investor sentiment has also recovered quickly and we expect the Indian unicorn club to steadily expand through 2020 and 2021. Although COVID-19 has been a major setback for the ecosystem, we believe that the changes that the pandemic has brought on will make our ecosystem much stronger, across every dimension. India is on a path to have 100 unicorns by 2025."

The report illustrates the range of impact on the various sectors and elaborates on the steps were taken by entrepreneurs to reinvent their business models to minimize the impact of COVID-19. Elucidated in the report are factors that reflect the ecosystem's resurrection, including a pickup in M&A activity and seed as well as late-stage funding. In Q3, the Indian startup ecosystem showed positive signs of recovery – funding reverting to 98% of Q1 (pre-COVID) levels, investor sentiments becoming positive, ticket sizes increasing, number of startups raising their first investment round also reverting to Q1 (pre-COVID) levels – ensuring that the startup ecosystem bounced back, with an expectation of becoming healthier and more vibrant in the future.

Speaking about the report, Pari Natarajan, CEO, Zinnov, said, "Despite setbacks due to COVID-19, the Indian startup ecosystem has risen to the challenge, as evidenced by its faster than estimated recovery. In the initial days, the startups reduced cash burn and redeployed existing capabilities to focus on tiding over the uncertainty. The shift to digital consumption certainly provided an opportunity. By being nimble and rapidly responding to different challenges, looking at them as an opportunity, the Indian startup ecosystem has displayed its antifragile nature. Despite the trying times, and the death of many startups, the ecosystem has played a key role in employment generation and is expected to create ~15-16 Lakhs direct jobs by 2025. There is clear evidence that India's future is about technology, policy, innovation, and entrepreneurship."

Madhurima Agarwal, Director – Engineering Programs and Leader, NetApp Excellerator, said, "Resilience, hardiness, and adaptability are inherent traits of startups that allow them to succeed despite all odds. COVID-19, a black swan event, wreaked devastation in its wake, both on the societal and the economic fronts. The manner in which startups responded to the challenges posed by COVID-19, is a testament to the antifragile nature of this ecosystem. While certain sectors were impacted worse than others, it drove positive change in key areas like automation and digital transformation. In every challenge lies an opportunity; the mantra is to survive these turbulent times and prepare for the opportunities that follow."

Sharing her perspective on the report, Sruthi Kannan, Head, Cisco Launchpad, said, "COVID has shaken the world, causing disruptions across a multitude of parameters. Despite all negativity and bottlenecks, the Indian startup ecosystem has been able to hold its firm grip – courtesy of its antifragile nature. Startups have been nimble, despite the challenges, in converting this crisis into an opportunity. We are witnessing an inspiring response – from harnessing tailwinds in select sectors to business pivots, to repurposing capabilities to new or adjacent markets. We continue to be positive about the impactful change that Indian startups can make, both locally and globally."

About TiE Delhi-NCR

TiE is a global not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering entrepreneurship through mentoring, networking, education, incubation, and funding. It is spread across a vast network of 61 Chapters in 14 countries. TiE Delhi-NCR is among the most active chapters across the vast TiE network. In the last 20 years, it has continuously taken the lead in creating an increasingly positive ecosystem for entrepreneurs and investors. TiE has a wide range of programs including TiEcon, Startup Expo, India Internet Day, Special Interest Groups (SIGs) across sectors, TiE Institute & TiE Young Entrepreneurs. For more details, visit www.delhi.tie.org

About Zinnov

Founded in 2002, Zinnov is a leading global management and strategy consulting firm, with core expertise in Product Engineering, Digital Transformation, Innovation, and Outsourcing Advisory. Over the past 18 years, Zinnov has successfully consulted with over 250+ Fortune 500 customers to develop actionable insights that help them in their transformation journeys. Zinnov is committed to empowering leading technology companies to drive innovation and meaningful business outcomes, leveraging a combination of consulting, data intelligence, and platforms to deliver value.

Indian IoT Market is Set to Soar to USD ~15 Billion by 2021, Says Zinnov

Zinnov, a leading global management and strategy consulting firm, released the findings from its latest study titled, "India - Emerging Hotbed of IoT Opportunities," today. The study analyzed the Internet of Things (IoT) market landscape in India, the key demand segments, adoption across verticals, talent availability, and the opportunities for IoT Technology and Service Providers. Zinnov estimated that the IoT investments in India were close to USD 5 Billion in 2019, and are expected to triple to touch ~USD 15 Billion by 2021 across both technology products and services components.

The study highlighted that by the end of 2019, India had 200-250 Million connected devices. Zinnov estimates that this number will grow tenfold to touch 2 Billion devices by 2021, signaling the exponential market growth in the next few years. In fact, IoT adoption has exploded in the last 3 years, with enterprises spending billions of dollars in testing and deploying several IoT use cases. A large part of this spend - about 60-70% - is comprised of software and hardware products, while the rest is on services. Manufacturing, Automotive & Transportation, and Energy & Utilities are the top 3 verticals driving investments in IoT.

Five key segments are contributing to the overall IoT market demand in India - Large Enterprises, Global Capability Centers (GCCs), Small Medium Businesses (SMBs), Consumers, and the Government. There are over 1200 public-listed Large Enterprises in India, with a current IoT adoption rate of around 35%. The base of 1400+ GCCs is further propelling the IoT segment in India and these GCCs are rapidly testing, implementing, and scaling IoT technologies and use cases. With 75 Million+ SMBs, India has the second highest base of SMBs in the world. About 50,000 of these leverage some form of advanced digital technology solutions for driving business operations, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), Cloud, IoT, etc. These burgeoning segments, coupled with the increasing connectivity and smartphone penetration across the country, is driving the adoption of IoT-based solutions in the consumer segment. The Indian Government is also driving large-scale initiatives such as the Smart Cities project with a budget outlay of USD 31 Billion between 2015 and 2022.

Zinnov analysis also highlighted the specific use case categories where IoT investments by Large Enterprises are scaling. Industry 4.0 or Smart Manufacturing and Connected Assets are two most prominent categories with 20-25% of investments directed towards each of these. Spends on Connected Products and Connected Logistics account for 15-20% each, with the share of Connected Workers accounting for 5-6%.

In the case of Industry 4.0, the focus is on digitalization of individual factories for enhanced throughput and quality on the shop floor, which is then scaled as multi-factory deployments for higher enterprise-level efficiencies. Connected Assets use cases revolve around real-time operational intelligence and predictive maintenance of assets, while Connected Products is about building intelligent products to derive insights such as performance, usage patterns, personalized recommendations, etc. Connected Logistics focuses on reducing supply chain friction and Connected Workers category comprises of use cases around worker safety, AR-assisted operations, etc., Zinnov's analysis further revealed.

For this study, the top 200 of the 1400+ GCCs were evaluated. Zinnov shared that a staggering 55% of these GCCs are working on IoT, while nearly 50% of the 35 major global IoT platform companies have engineering centers in India. IoT is clearly a priority for some of the largest GCCs in India, with even technology giants have made significant investments on IoT; in many cases, the global IoT programs are being driven from India.

The Zinnov study also disclosed that India is one of the richest talent ecosystems for IoT, with 30-40K professionals dedicatedly working on this technology. With 25-30%, Bangalore tops the IoT talent pool, followed by Mumbai and Delhi-NCR at 10-15% each. This talent is spread across GCCs, Service Providers, and enterprises, and ranges from software developers to hardware engineers, AI/ML experts, to IoT security professionals, required for any successful IoT deployment.

Speaking about the study, Prankur Sharma, Head of IoT Practice, Zinnov, said, "India is one of the most vibrant IoT ecosystems in the world, with various supporting enablers making it conducive for companies looking to serve global demand beyond national boundaries.

The 5 major enablers propelling the Indian IoT market include the IT talent, the dynamic start-up ecosystem, the 10,000+ strong base of IT Service Providers, the robust digital infrastructure that the government is investing in, and the dedicated IoT Centers of Excellences (COEs) being set up.

Large Enterprises in India are leveraging COEs as test beds for IoT use cases and initiatives. This, in conjunction with the fact that close to 10% of the billion-dollar Large Enterprises in India have set up IoT-focused COEs, makes the estimates more compelling. With the various ecosystem entities working closely to conceptualize, support, and scale IoT programs, India has emerged as one of the top global IoT hotspots."

About Zinnov

Founded in 2002, Zinnov is a global management and strategy consulting firm, with presence in Santa Clara, Houston, Bangalore, Gurgaon, and Paris. Over the past 18 years, Zinnov has successfully consulted with over 250+ Fortune 500 enterprises to develop actionable insights to help them accelerate their Digital Transformation journeys to create value - across dimensions of both revenue and optimization. With core expertise in Product Engineering, Digital Transformation, Innovation, and Outsourcing Advisory, Zinnov assists clients by:

• Structuring and implementing Digital Transformation levers enabled by technologies like AI/ML, Cloud, IoT, and RPA;
• Advising global PE firms in asset shortlisting and target evaluation, commercial due diligence, and value creation;
• Helping global companies outline and drive their open innovation programs, design and operate accelerator programs, and enable collaboration with start-ups across specific use cases and predefined outcomes;
• Enabling global companies to develop and optimize a global engineering footprint through center setups, and technology and functional accelerators to achieve higher R&D efficiencies, innovation, and productivity;
• Growing revenue for companies' products and services in newer markets through account intelligence, market entry, and market expansion advisory.
With their team of experienced consultants, subject matter experts, and research professionals, Zinnov serves clients from across multiple industry verticals including Enterprise Software, BFSI, Healthcare, Automotive, Retail, and Telecom in the US, Europe, Japan, and India.

80% Corporate Leaders believe Start-up Collaborations can Derive Tangible Value

• India is home to 60+ active corporate start-up collaboration programs as of 2019


• 80% of corporate leaders believe that they can derive tangible value through start-up collaborations

Zinnov, a leading global management and strategy consulting firm, released the findings of its impact study titled, 'Impact of COVID-19 on Corporate Start-up Collaboration Programs', today. The study analyzed how COVID-19 has affected corporate start-up collaboration programs in terms of budget allocation, internal stakeholder interest, and the programs' operating model, to sustain on the other side of recovery.

In the pre-COVID era, India witnessed a steady and consistent increase in the number of active corporate start-up collaboration programs. The key driver for this increase was a growing willingness of corporates to leverage open innovation to strengthen their business and access innovative solutions by engaging with cutting-edge technology start-ups. In fact, as of 2019, there were 60+ corporate start-up collaboration programs in India, with a majority of them being incepted in the period between 2015 and 2018 alone. Among these, 25% of them are focused on the BFSI sector, with HiTech vertical coming in second at 18% and the Energy sector rounding out the third spot at 14%.

One thing that has been consistent across both pre- and post-COVID corporate action plans, is the clear and present need for corporates to leverage the external innovation ecosystem. Some of the key attributes that are a part of every post-COVID action plan include technology-first, innovation-driven, agile, nimble, as well as frugal and efficient solutions. Since start-ups fulfill all these criteria, it becomes all the more critical for corporates to engage with cutting-edge start-ups through structured programs.

Zinnov's analysis also revealed that although the pandemic has affected nearly every industry vertical, structured corporate start-up collaboration programs with high maturity have witnessed only a negligible to moderate impact. About 45% of structured programs - mainly with low maturity - have reported a reduction in their budget and around 80% of program leaders are embracing a wait-and-watch approach. Further, 25% of programs intend to reduce the number of start-ups engaged per year, with a goal to have fewer but deeper engagements, while nearly 65% intend to either maintain status quo or reduce external partnerships to conserve cash.

The study highlighted that nearly 80% of leaders believe that COVID-19 has presented a definitive opportunity to add tangible value to the organization through structured corporate start-up collaboration programs. Potential opportunities that these collaboration programs can explore include expanding program scope to new products, collaborating with global start-ups from India, and engaging with stakeholders in overseas markets. However, these programs need to overcome major challenges in the wake of COVID-19 like reduced internal stakeholder participation, increased expectations from all involved stakeholders, decreased resource allocation, difficulty articulating direct business impact, and absence of remote work capabilities, giving rise to issues pertaining to cybersecurity, access to facilities, data security, risk and compliance.

To capitalize on the opportunities, corporate start-up collaboration programs are revisiting their operating models. The programs are being reconfigured to optimize the spend without sacrificing the strong value proposition for start-ups to build cost-neutral programs. Further, the corporates are realigning the programs at an objective, charter, focus areas, and KPIs level to reflect organizational priorities post COVID-19. Program processes are also being redesigned to factor in remote work conditions with minimal in-person interactions and capabilities.

Speaking about the impact study, Atit Danak, Principal & Head of Zinnov CoNXT, said, "COVID-19 has re-emphasized the need for corporates to explore open innovation through structured programs. However, 90% of the programs are not proactively pivoting their core operating models to align with the post-pandemic reality. It is critical for corporates to revisit start-up collaboration program operating models, especially for low maturity programs, to derive real value in the new normal. And Zinnov's 5-step approach, comprising of Reconfigure, Realign, Redesign, Rebuild, and Reimagine is a derivative of our hands-on experience, and will help ensure that corporates are able to engage with start-ups effectively and drive tangible business outcomes, even with a reduced budget."

[caption id="attachment_146892" align="alignleft" width="300"]  [/caption]

Founded in 2002, Zinnov is a leading global management and strategy consulting firm, with presence in Santa Clara, Houston, Bangalore, Gurgaon, and Paris. Over the last 18 years, Zinnov has successfully consulted with 250+ Fortune 500 enterprises and technology companies to develop actionable insights that help them create value - across dimensions of both revenue and optimization.

About Zinnov CoNXT

Zinnov's open innovation practice, CoNXT, enables corporates to build effective start-up collaborations to drive tangible business impact. The practice executes a variety of corporate mandates ranging from investments, acquisitions, acqui-hiring, and commercial partnerships.

Zinnov CoNXT specializes in building customized corporate start-up collaboration programs (e.g., Cisco Launchpad, GE Healthcare Edison[X], NetApp Excellerator) and scaling them to consistently deliver clear and definitive value.

L&T Technology Services Recognized as a ‘Leader’ Among IoT Services Providers in Zinnov Zones 2019

L&T Technology Services (NSE: LTTS), a leading global pure play engineering services company, has been recognized among the top service providers in innovation and capability for Internet of Things (IoT) Technology and Services in the Zinnov Zones IoT Services Rating for 2019. Zinnov has also positioned LTTS as ‘Leader’ across 7 other unique expertise areas.

L&T Technology Services (NSE: LTTS), a leading global pure play engineering services company, has been recognized among the top service providers in innovation and capability for Internet of Things (IoT) Technology and Services in the Zinnov Zones IoT Services Rating for 2019. Zinnov has also positioned LTTS as ‘Leader’ across 7 other unique expertise areas.

The areas of expertise for which LTTS has been ranked as Leader include IoT Engineering, Industry 4.0, Connected Worker, Connected Logistics, Connected Assets, Energy and Utilities and Telecom.

Over 3,800 engineers from LTTS’ IoT engineering and managed services provide application and services platform that caters to asset management, energy management, digital factory, smart homes, connected products, connected transportation and smart healthcare.

LTTS’ IoT platform allows holistic end-to-end integration of the best products and solutions that assist in product engineering, sensor engineering, narrow band IoT framework for communication IPs, Edge analytics at sensor level, system integration and managed services. The platform also supports services such as advisory & consulting, cyber security, integrated analytics, gateways and controllers and end-to-end application development involving mobility applications, image processing and data analytics. These services have grown 48% year-over-year.

Zinnov rated LTTS’ advanced capabilities in offering IoT services to a global clientele of over 150 clients across its five verticals, with its offerings having been deployed in 1,067 projects across the globe.

Mr. Shashidhara Dongre, Global Head, Smart Products and Services at L&T Technology Services commented: “LTTS’ positioning as a ‘Leader’ in Zinnov Zones for IoT Technology Services for the third time in succession, is a reaffirmation of LTTS’ technological capabilities and expertise across the spectrum of IoT services. This important industry recognition inspires us to further push the digital transformation envelope for our customers. With our proprietary IoT platforms and solutions we enable enterprises to tap newer revenue streams by creating the next generation of smart products and services.”

Mr. Sidhant Rastogi, Partner & Practice Head, Zinnov said: “LTTS has been rated ‘Leader’ in the Zinnov Zones IoT Services Rating 2019. The company has witnessed high growth in the last couple of years. Its investments towards building horizontal platform capabilities (UBIQWeise and AiKno™) and vertical specific IoT solutions (i-BEMS, mCARE, WAGES, etc.) and new wins across multiple areas such as connected assets, autonomous vehicles, and industry 4.0 led engagements have helped fortify its positioning. LTTS’ deep-rooted domain capabilities and expertise in the space of industrial automation has helped build connected factories for its global clientele. Its framework-driven approach to identify use-cases and enhance RoI from client investments has helped LTTS take industry 4.0 initiatives and establish a successful track record across multiple geographies.”
About L&T Technology Services Ltd

L&T Technology Services Limited (LTTS) is a listed subsidiary of Larsen & Toubro Limited focused on Engineering and R&D (ER&D) services. We offer consultancy, design, development and testing services across the product and process development life cycle. Our customer base includes 69 Fortune 500 companies and 51 of the world’s top ER&D companies, across industrial products, medical devices, transportation, telecom & hi-tech, and the process industries. Headquartered in India, we have over 16,700 employees spread across 17 global design centers, 28 global sales offices and 49 innovation labs as of September 30, 2019.

~ Business Wire India

Globalization Advisory Firm Zinnov & 4 Others Tie Up to Launch a Startup Accelerator Program, SIGMA

Zinnov, GIZ, Citrix, Ericsson, HARMAN, and IKP Knowledge Park together announced the launch of a one-of-its-kind social accelerator program. The main purpose of the startup accelerator program is to boost for-profit social enterprises that have created affordable solutions for the underserved population in India, in turn enabling large scale impact. The five main verticals that the accelerator will support include Healthcare, Clean Tech, Smart-Agri, Sanitation, and Education.

Coined ‘SIGMA’ Sustain. Innovate. Grow. Multiply. Accelerate., the social startup accelerator program was launched on 18th July 2017, at My Fortune, Bengaluru.

India, today, has a burgeoning population struggling with core issues and basic necessities of food, clothing, healthcare, and sanitation. Citrix, Ericsson, HARMAN, and Zinnov have come together to form a consortium of corporates, to fund initiatives that have the potential to alleviate these problems at scale. In addition to funding, SIGMA will also have its founding corporates bring members of their leadership team to the program, who are experts in their respective domains, to mentor and guide these startups.

The initial cohort will have a group of 15 curated social startups, who will undergo an intense Bootcamp, followed by a 4-month-long accelerator program with a rigorous curriculum. Mentors from across India with expertise in Business, Technology, and Domain-specific areas will advise the startups throughout the program.

IKP-Eden, the technology business incubator partner, will provide its Maker-CoWorker space to startups for the duration of 4 months. What makes the facility noteworthy is that IKP-Eden boasts of a facility which consists of a metal-working shop, a woodworking shop, plastics and composites shop, electronics, fluidics and medical devices, 3D printer and laser cutting technology.

At the end of the 4-month period, a Demo Day will be held for the startups in the cohort to pitch to Impact investors, Industry leaders, NGOs, and Government officials. Startups that believe that they can drive large scale change and have a product or a solution in any of the following verticals – Healthcare, Clean Tech, Smart-Agri, Sanitation, and Education – would be perfect for a platform like SIGMA.

Speaking about the SIGMA accelerator program, Eileen Trenkmann, Program Manager, GIZ, said, “The SIGMA accelerator program is another step in fostering more corporate engagement in the social entrepreneurship ecosystem which plays a pivotal role in tackling some of India’s most pressing challenges in areas such as energy, sanitation, and education. The learning of the accelerator program will be documented and shared among corporates and incubators to encourage more such partnerships in the future.”