Technology – Dutch Uncles

Tech Revolution in the Beauty Sector – 5 Emerging Trends

Anju Nambiar — Fri, 27 Aug 2021 05:35:07 +0000

Consumers are becoming aware of their wellness needs. They understand that no single product or brand is the sure shot answer to their grooming needs. The tech revolution is sweeping across the beauty industry. With the pandemic having driven everyone indoors, beauty and wellness have drastically changed in skincare and cosmetic product requirements. For instance, an entire market has been created for ‘Maskne’ (mask acne) with companies coming up with new products and solutions to tackle this.

1. Virtual Try-On:

The virtual try-on tech trend leverages the Augmented Reality technology for make-up and hair colour in the professional beauty sector. Through this technology, customers can try on dozens of shades of make-up and hair colour. The virtual try-on technology uses an advanced face tracker algorithm that detects where customers’ lips, eyes, cheeks, hair, etc., are and applies virtual cosmetics on this zone to give them a real-time, true-to-life view of the products. Loreal India invested in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Augmented Reality (AR) by acquiring ModiFace to enhance their product and customer experience.

2. Webcam consultation

Webcam consultations are the latest consumer trends in the professional beauty sector which enhances the online shopping experience for customers through e-consultations and individualised skincare consultations. Kiehl’s India, a beauty and skincare brand rolled out one-on-one skin video consultations where skin experts interact with customers and give them insights on choosing the products that are the right fit for them.

3. Store Management

Modern beauty salons, skincare clinics, and even cosmetic stores are adopting store and salon management tech that are customised for beauty brands and businesses. Salon and store management technology encompasses accounting, payroll and financial reporting, inventory control, scheduling, and CRM (customer relationship management) software. Beauty businesses are tapping into these technologies to streamline workflows, manage clientele, and attract modern clients.

4. Skin Diagnostics

Skin Diagnostics is a tech trend in the beauty world which brands are leveraging for expert skin analysis. It’s an online tool based on AI driven by dermatologists that evaluates customer’s skin profile through a phone or computer camera. Skin diagnostics tech is built on massive volumes of data and developed on clinical atlases which can deliver tailor-made skincare routines for beauty customers. Indian personal beauty brand Skincraft performs skin analysis for customers by matching the answers received on a detailed questionnaire to regimen kits. This system relies on a data repository which creates a suite of ‘skin profiles’ for their algorithm. These skin profiles are then matched to appropriate products.

5. Interactive retail experience

MAC cosmetics had opened its first ever ‘phygital’ experience centre in Shanghai. Aimed at understanding GenZ’s make-up purchase behaviour, the retail store was equipped with technology like cognitive walkthroughs, virtual makeup mirrors, and infrared touchscreens. Although this concept store trend was first kicked off by MAC in Shanghai, it will surely catch on and eventually seep into the small business sector in India in the near future.

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The virtual try-on technology uses an advanced face tracker algorithm that detects where customers’ lips, eyes, cheeks, hair, etc., are and applies virtual cosmetics on this zone to give them a real-time, true-to-life view of the products.

What’s in it for me?

Beauty product recommendation is being left to Artificial Intelligence in the beauty industry. This is not only eliminating expensive dermatologist visits but also paving the way for start-ups to innovate and disrupt the beauty space with technology. Technologies like Machine Learning and AI have penetrated the beauty and cosmetics industry.

Beauty brands are using technology to bring about a makeover in the market by delivering tailor-made products and forever upending the beauty industry’s ‘one-size-fits-all’ standard. The beauty and personal care market in India is worth $25 Bn. The D2C sector in beauty is booming currently and D2C brands are the biggest adopters of the beauty tech trends in India currently. There is immense scope for start-ups to disrupt the industry through data science and AI tech.

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The Organic World Opts For Omnichannel Expansion Strategy

Aakash Sharma — Thu, 19 Aug 2021 03:35:08 +0000

One of the most prominent natural and organic products supermarket chains in South India, The Organic World has announced plans to strengthen its business in India to enter diversified segments. As part of its omnichannel (multiple-channel) strategy, the retail e-commerce brand plans to open an additional ten stores in the Southern Indian states by mid-2022 and expand its impact on e-commerce through technology like an easy-to-use mobile application.

Current products of The Organic World include pesticide-free organic fruits and vegetables, fat-free snacks, chemical-free groceries, toxin-free household products, natural and preservative-free personal care products, and health and wellness products, including childcare accessories.

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The planned expansion of The Organic World reaffirms its commitment to providing customers with better choice, from product types and customer service to discounts and loyalty programs.

What is omnichannel expansion?

Omnichannel expansion in multi-line retail is becoming an increasingly popular way for companies to expand their operations. Emerging retailers everywhere are combining interconnected omnichannel paths with traditional public advertising methods. Websites, emails, social media posts and brick and mortar stores promote similar information, tips and products of a particular brand, giving more visibility to the intended message.

The Organic World’s expansion plan aims to simplify its reach to provide customers with better options, offer products that offer increasingly healthier choices, and help them grow according to their ultra-busy lifestyles.

It is essential to keep up with technological developments

Through The Organic World mobile application, the company aims to supply more than 1,500 non-pharmaceutical products to its customers. With the planned increase in the number of its physical stores, the company will be able to acquire all the necessary facilities and organic market segments in the South Indian market.

The Organic World’s omnichannel strategy highlights its movement in the organic products market to ensure quality products available to many customers. It also gives small local retailers a bigger platform to compete in mass production via its e-commerce arm, increasing the market for SMEs and expanding the purchasing ambit of consumers.

The Organic World omnichannel expansion and growth spurt

Over the past four years, The Organic World has gradually increased its market regarding natural and organic products in Bengaluru. In early 2021, the retail chain consisted of 10 outlets in the city. The brand’s unique design and simplicity reflect its best propositions for consumers across the entire monthly need’s expenditure basket, which indicates its loyalty to being a dependable retailer.

As The Organic World ramps up its stores in Bangalore and other Southern states, the brand will significantly contribute to India’s organic commodities market value by 2022.

The Indian market for natural restaurants

The Indian organic products and food market was valued at $849.5 million in 2020. The market is forecasted to rise at an average annual rate of about 20.5% during 2021-26 and rise to $2.601 billion in valuation.

Rising levels of health consciousness are driving the demand for organic food in the country as consumers pay attention to the nutrient content and quality of their food. The COVID-19 pandemic has further increased consumer spending on health and wellbeing.

Businesses of all sizes operating in the food and wellness sectors can take advantage of these changing trends. They must work towards tech adoption and omnichannel strategies for their business expansion, just like The Organic World has.

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MPhasis Growth Strategy, A Playbook For SMEs

Aakash Sharma — Mon, 09 Aug 2021 10:35:10 +0000

Mphasis Limited is an IT services company based in Bangalore, India. The company primarily provides IT and application outsourcing services. In addition to architectural consulting, integrated application development, and application management services, the company’s application services include application development, app maintenance and support services.

In April 2021, the investment management company Blackstone Limited committed to acquire a controlling stake in Mphasis for $2.8 Billion. UC Investments, a wholly-owned division of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA), and other long-term financiers also plan to join the Blackstone joint venture.

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Mphasis provides integrated solutions that include business process outsourcing, infrastructure technology, and application services.

Mphasis plans to implement a “four pillar” strategy this year and beyond to drive its growth. The mid-sized IT service firm will focus on:

Capacity expansion

As companies cannot always depend on technology in a five-year investment model, a big step forward in digital participation and adoption is driving the entire cloud migration. Mphasis plans to do this flexibly. It has invested a lot in understanding how they can use data and a form of artificial intelligence to make critical decisions.

Leadership and talent

The biggest obstacle that companies today face is the lack of supply in the labour market. As Mphasis plans to do, other companies in the segment must also continue to build a talent supply chain to deliver the best customer satisfaction services and cross-industry skills under one roof. In addition to positioning capabilities, companies also need to find new positions and take advantage of global talent. Mphasis hired around 2,000 people in the first two quarters and plans to continue hiring people in India and countries with delivery centres.

Geographic presence

The geographic expansion involves the development of new markets for talent and businesses. Mphasis expects a significant market share in the Nordic countries as well as Canada and the UK. In addition, the company has expanded its distribution centres in Taiwan, Estonia, Mexico and Costa Rica, recruiting senior management and technical talent across all departments and sales functions.

Utilising IP-driven AI/ML innovations – what can other businesses learn from Mphasis?

It is time for all companies – small and large – to find unique and innovative ways to create impactful AI/ML-based business models. Entrepreneurs need to learn the “art” of innovation in artificial intelligence activities based on artificial intelligence to create sustainable solutions for technology that can be used more widely.

In this regard, they should have a clear understanding of the role of intellectual property (IP), with a particular emphasis on patents and patent information analysis. Clear information about the top AI/ML patentees: corporations, research organisations, and top patenting AI start-ups must be explored for delving into this segment.

Businesses and budding entrepreneurs in communications, financial services and insurance, manufacturing, healthcare, government, transportation, and consumer and retail industries can go a long way in following the industry trends and big players like Mphasis.

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What Does It Take To Create An Investor Ready Pitch Deck?

Abhilash Bapanasha — Thu, 05 Aug 2021 12:51:27 +0000

A pitch deck is a presentation that helps potential investors learn more about your business. These slides of several presentations help you to tell a compelling story. What the company’s overview is, its vision and mission, team, problem, solution, market opportunity, product, customers, marketing and sales strategy. Our Innerview with Mr. Dilnawaz Khan highlighted his entrepreneurial journey, and during his learning and evolution how he mastered Pitch Decks. Innerview is our weekly live 45-minute motivational and inspirational talk show which features interviews of industry experts who bring forth informative and life experiences and techniques to help shape and gear you up, to succeed.

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You have to think of breaking out the problem into smaller parts and that is an art. The problem is - a lot of first-time entrepreneurs get discouraged when we tell them this - you do not go and solve what will happen on the thousandth day, you start from day zero and slowly build on top of it.

Mr. Dilnawaz Khan is the founder at Codesign Labs and Power Deck. With over 12 years of professional experience across the design, technology, and start-up incubation industry, he is also a Subject Matter Expert on Pitch Decks, Start-up Fundraising and Lean Start-ups. He acts as an Advisor at various academic institutions where he supports them with the creation of an entrepreneurial ecosystem focussing on student entrepreneurship and innovation.

In brief, the session had the following takeaways:

Dos and don’ts for an investor pitch deck
How to create and irresistible and compelling pitch deck for investors
Structuring of an investment pitch, its importance
What to cover and what to ignore
Importance of the start-up pitch deck or slide deck

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

According to you, what should weigh more – the problem or the solution when we create that pitch?

Identifying a great problem is an art, creating a greater solution on top of it is a bigger art. Eventually the goal is to create a business. So, everything is of equal importance. May be five things I can say that an entrepreneur needs to look at – looking at a great problem, creating a world class solution, creating a desirable solution for a feasible or viable business, and last but not the least there has to be some sort of a long term vision to enable all of these and on top of it a great team to execute all of these. So, if you have a great idea, a great problem, a great solution but a bad team, you are in a bad state. But you have a mediocre idea and a mediocre solution but it is a rockstar team behind it, you will be definitely going to kill it.

Are there any errors that you have seen that people can be aware of?

I can point out what are the mistakes first time entrepreneurs commit. You have to think of breaking out the problem into smaller parts and that is an art. The problem is – a lot of first-time entrepreneurs get discouraged when we tell them this – you do not go and solve what will happen on the thousandth day, you start from day zero and slowly build on top of it. Again, regarding solving too many problems at a time, I met some interesting startup founders. A lot of them say that I am thinking of making a startup which is Zomato plus Paytm plus Book my Show and I have no competition at all. Of course, when you look at that particular thing, it will have zero competition. But individually if we look at them, there are vertical leaders to compete with. So, do not try and solve everything. Another big problem is that the motivation to do a startup until and unless they jump into the ecosystem is derived from external sources like funding stories, Pitchers, Silicon Valley and so on and so forth. Do not solve a mammoth problem on day one, start from a small problem and build on top of it. Create a better start of your journey when it comes to beginning the startup game.

As we say that the first impression is the lasting impression, would you like to share any thumb rule?

I think one thing that a lot of investors like is authenticity. There are a lot of things you do not have an answer for. Be authentic, just say ‘I don’t know’ and move on. Always make sure that your communication is crisp, clear, to-the-point. Thirdly, which overall again is a very cliche advice but again very very underestimated is to make sure that you leave a great impression. Make sure people see that you are invested, you have put in time, money and energy. And you have prepared well. So, your deck should be very nice, if not designed well, at least aesthetically nice. Your communication should be well. Your pitch should start on time, end on time. You should be very clear as to what you want to talk about. So, practice enough. As per the industry, you have to make at least a hundred pitches to get your first deal. Make sure that you are invested enough. If not, people will again catch hold of you and they will realise that you are faking and nobody likes fakers.

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On an average, an analyst at a VC firm evaluates five thousand decks in a year, so it is very very important for you as an entrepreneur to figure out the right method and the right mechanism and make it customisable.

Audience Asks:

What do you suggest about connecting to investors for pitching? Which will be better – a live presentation or just mailing the slides?

When you are reaching out to investors, there are multiple methods. Incubators and accelerators are the lowest hanging fruits. If you get selected, the incubator will definitely host a demo day where you get access to investors. If you apply to an accelerator programme, similar things will happen. Another method is reaching out to investors via cold mail – which is hunting them on LinkedIn, reaching out to them, looking for their email IDs, writing to them. If you mean going in front of them and presenting, then every time you will not get that opportunity. So, if you are sending cold emails to investors then make them customised as if they are for that person. Do not spam investors, do not create one fits all, people like customisation. When you are reaching out in that sense, I think mailing slides is perfect – that is a very good method but make sure your slides are crisp, five to seven, maximum ten. Everybody has their own mechanism and it is very very important for you to identify what they like. On an average, an analyst at a VC firm evaluates five thousand decks in a year, so it is very very important for you as an entrepreneur to figure out the right method and the right mechanism and make it customisable.

I sent mails to a lot of incubation centres and investors but there is no response for the mail from them. What do you suggest for contacting better?

Out of every hundred mails, you will just get a response from two people. That is the conversion of cold emailing and we have to admit it. If you have not heard for first time, you have to send a second email, then third and fourth. Your chances of conversion will definitely increase. Most of the incubation centres have a proper enquiry form or a programme where you can apply. But let me tell you the flipside of it. In a lot of cases when a lot of people write to somebody, they write with a sense of entitlement that I am entitled to receive a reply and they do not do an introspection. We have to even introspect ourselves and review what we are sending out to them. There is a possibility that the idea might not be good enough for the incubation centre, or your business is not at the right fit for the incubation centre or you are really early in the game to accept you. So, you have to again find a fine balance between both the things – right approach, evaluating yourself and making improvements in the keeping update – this is a cyclic process, it keeps on going and eventually you will reach there.

The Key to Compelling Pitch Deck

In this way, Mr. Dilnawaz Khan, from his own experience of sitting on both sides of the table – pitcher as well as investor, has elucidated the importance of this visual document providing essential information about your business plan, product or services, fundraising needs and key metrics like valuation, target market and financial goals. However, the success of a pitch deck depends on its storytelling, so as to streamline the informative overview of your company to potential investors, such as venture capitalists or angel investors. It remains the key for acquiring funding.

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Women Entrepreneurship, Biotech Innovations and Global Patents

Abhilash Bapanasha — Tue, 20 Jul 2021 15:51:37 +0000

Dr. Shrilakshmi Desiraju a pioneer in Probiotics Space is the Co-founder and CEO of Triphase Pharmaceuticals. After relocating from Canada to India, Dr. Desiraju started her journey of innovation with Triphase in the field of Probiotics in 2009. Triphase has successfully raised funds (up to 1 Crore) from debt financing under CGTMSE scheme, funds from angel investors and also secured series A venture funding by a fortune 500 pharma company to develop robust Research and Development in the field of Probiotics.

Triphase was awarded a US, Canadian and European PATENT for the technology by which Probiotics bacteria could withstand temperatures of up to 240 degrees. This is the first time in the world that a disruptive platform innovation has been successfully completed. In one single stroke the company had eliminated any need for cold storage which meant a huge cost saving in the probiotic industry. A state of art research and development wing for probiotic research at Mysore has been established since 2009.

Dr. Desiraju was the speaker for ‘Innerview – Only the Paranoid Survive’, our weekly live 45-minute motivational and inspirational talk show which features interviews of industry experts who bring forth informative and life experiences and techniques to help shape and gear you up, to succeed. Dr. Desiraju is an MBA in Technology Commercialisation from University of Alberta; PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from Vikram University and a postdoctoral from the Indian Institute of Science. The first big challenge that Triphase solved was in eliminating the cold chain from the Probiotics industry.

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Investors look out for clarity is what I have understood and believe me I understood it after pitching it to 180 people. So, you have to make sure that you keep it as simple as possible.

Here are some excerpts from the interview:

How did you solve this challenge of eliminating coal chains from the probiotic industry?

The probiotics are nothing but good bacteria. We realised that probiotics or these bacteria have to be kept at two to eight degrees that is the refrigeration temperature. That refrigeration temperature is the only way that we can actually take these probiotics in our body where it is known to increase immunity. So, the first research topic that we understood was that can we make this probiotics temperature stable. We did this by simple fermentation process but it is a proprietary intellectual property issue as well as these are simple fermentation media that we play around with to make these probiotics which are the natural gut bacteria which we make high temperature stable. So, our probiotics which otherwise would have been left at two to eight degrees are now stable up till 240 degrees centigrade and that changed the whole game in the area of probiotics because now you can put probiotics in confectionery and bake your breads or make cookies out of it and this otherwise was not possible.

When we talk about this patent, Triphase, your company was awarded a US, Canadian and European patent for this technology. So, can you please tell us more about it?

We found out the problem that we wanted to solve. The solution to it, we saw that there is a competitive advantage because there were not many companies who were doing it. It is not just that there was only one technology which was at par but that technology also could not take the probiotics to 70 degrees or not more than that. This was another thing that allowed us to stay competitively way ahead in the game. Once that happened the next thing was to do IP protection. As the gestation period in biotech or life sciences is longer, there is a need to protect your intellectual property so that you have some time limit that you can actually monetise it. The first thing we did was to find a provincial IP both in India as well as in the US. The US patent attorney lawyers told us to put it on a fast track and in a year’s time or in a year and a half, the US patent came through. The beauty of the US patent is that they not only patented our process in the technology that we developed but they also allowed us to patent the microbes which is unheard of because microbes are something which are natural. You do not get patents on microbes but since this thermal variant of these microbes were developed through a technology and the name of the technology, we call it strain boost technology, and a US patent was given to us. European patents took some longer time but actually we got it by defending our patent in a much stronger way. Canadian patent came out after that and the Indian patent must be on its way. So yes, patenting was the strategy for Triphase right from the beginning.

Audience Asks

Pitching your research and solution to investors is challenging. What was your experience?

Absolutely pitching your research and solution to investors is challenging. Please follow this path. Whenever there is a project, I make these five slides for myself. If you do this then you will be able to tell the investor in 30 seconds – this is the market pain, this is the solution, this is the market I am going after and I can do it because of the credentials. So, this is how you channelise it.

Investors look out for clarity is what I have understood and believe me I understood it after pitching it to 180 people. So, you have to make sure that you keep it as simple as possible. Another thing which helped me to pitch into the investor was I was very upfront, saying I can do this and I cannot do this. I had told my investors very clearly that I am good at doing research. I do not know how to handle manufacturing or labourers or I even do not know how to handle sales. So, we ended up making a model which actually benefited both of us.

Look out for investors who you want them to be investing in you not just because they have money but because every business is different. Some businesses in the IT sector require a different strategy of investors. The businesses like ours which have a long gestation require a different strategy so you need to understand what your business requires.

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This is the best time in India to start up your company.

When should one consider patenting this and what are the challenges one can expect in the process?

You should start putting the initial patent application as soon as you are able to go ahead with your idea. When you put in the first application at least you know you have 18 months to prove whether it is happening or not happening so you should take that step very early. It requires only twenty thousand rupees or thirty thousand rupees initially to put this actually on paper and file it so that your idea is safe. Well, challenges are immense. You have to defend your patent so you need to know exactly what you want to do in that patent and keep your area of work only in that direction. This is the best time in India to start up your company. I have benefited from the MSME website. So whatever patenting I did, all the patent money has been reimbursed to me from the government. Under the MSME scheme they have this provision that if you are patenting and if the patent is granted, for Indian patent they give you upto 2 lakhs and for an international patent you get up to 10 lakhs.

When asked to summarise her journey from Mysore to Canada in one line, she flawlessly uttered ‘Be flexible and look out for opportunities.’ Being an inspiration for many womenpreneurs across the length and breadth of the country, Dr. Desiraju highlighted the present time to be best for them. Only that the opportunity has to be made use of by understanding and getting oneself involved. In her words, “We really need to see some unicorns coming out. We have seen a few and we really need to see some real good women unicorns coming out. I am hoping that very soon we will be seeing that.”

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M2P Building a Global Infrastructure Play

DU Desk — Sat, 10 Jul 2021 05:35:18 +0000

Technology is an asset in any industry. When your technology game is strong, you can even help your competitors do well in the market rather than thwart their efforts. M2P Fintech is a unique start-up because it befriends banks instead of appearing as a threat to them. They are happy to give other fintech start-ups a leg up and are subsequently scaling up rapidly.

Who is M2P?

M2P Fintech is a start-up based in Chennai founded in 2015 which is an API infrastructure company that works hand in glove with the fintech industry. It’s a pan Asia company with an active presence in the Southeast Asia and MENA regions.

What do they do?

M2P can be thought of as an ‘enabler’ of fintech companies. They enable fintech companies to launch their own products by taking advantage of their superior cutting-edge technology solutions.

How are they different from other fintech start-ups?

The main differentiator of M2P from other fintech start-ups is that they are a B2B solutions provider. They partner with other fintech start-ups, banking, and financial institutions who take advantage of their technology to build fintech products and services. Rather than providing fintech products directly to the customer, they help other start-ups get into the market. Instead of getting into head on competition with other start-ups in the same space, M2P is actively supporting and helping scale up other fintech companies with their technology. This is what sets them apart in the industry.

Product offerings

It offers fintech services like Instant Issuance, Tokenisation, Programmable credit cards. Their services are used to integrate APIs across cards and wallets. They also facilitate neo banking capabilities like bank accounts, deposit accounts and remittances.

The company’s API platform is called YapPay. Other fintech start-ups can support and build payments services on Yap’s API infrastructure platform. Yap provides embedded finance infrastructure for start-ups to build new use cases. Its API helps banks and other financial institutions integrate various digital payment modes to their products like debit, credit, prepaid, QR, UPI and toll payments.

How M2P intends to build large scale product platforms

M2P intends to build large scale product platforms by reimagining their technology stack to serve new products in efficient ways. They will upgrade their platform to serve global use cases by making it cloud-native, cloud-provider agnostic, and by making sure they adhere to high standards of resilience, security, and availability. M2P will eventually build out a global infrastructure play by building large-scale product platforms that conform to global best practices around infrastructure operations.

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The main differentiator of M2P from other fintech start-ups is that they are a B2B solutions provider.

What’s in it for me?

While traditional banks are hesitant to partner with fintech start-ups because they see them as direct competitors, M2P Fintech approached them from a very new perspective. The company stepped into the fintech industry when it was still a novel sector in India. The timing was right. They focused heavily on their tech stack which would go on to become their biggest USP.

Their product offerings sat perfectly well with the market demand for cashless payments during the onset of the pandemic and continues to do so. They offered to become the ultimate technology partner of fintech services for traditional banks. The start-up also quickly ventured into new, lucrative markets where they were well received and served a large purpose. They are continuing to explore new and profitable markets across the globe which are proving to be high-growth avenues for the company. These are all the things that M2P fintech did right along their journey which other fintech start-ups can emulate.

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Blaer Motors, Optimising Hybrid Technologies for Motorcycles

Shalmoli Sarkar — Thu, 24 Jun 2021 05:35:03 +0000

Google puts up dismal results when searched for hybrid motorcycles or 2-wheelers whereas the list is exhaustive in the case of automobiles. With soaring prices of fuel and increasing pollution, though several companies have launched electric vehicles, its acceptance is yet nascent in India due to people’s apprehension regarding battery performance.

The two-wheeler market in India is devoid of hybrid technology that combines the benefits of fuel as well as electric. The motorcycles found are either fully electric or run on internal combustion engines but Blaer Motors is revolutionising the two-wheeler mobility space with its innovative hybrid technology .

Why did Blaer Motors start this startup?

Hybrid technology has largely been focussed on automobiles but none for the two-wheelers. According to the society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers & ICE 2016 360 survey, two-wheelers are used by 37% of metropolitan commuters to reach work and are owned by half the households in India’s bigger cities and developed rural areas.

The two-wheelers are the main drivers of causing two-thirds of pollution that release 30 percent of the particulate matter load which is 10 percent more than cars. Sensing this to be an opportunity, Blaer Motors was started by four college graduates – Abinesh Ekambaram, Ashwin Badri, Adarsh Lakshmann and Niranjan Kumar.

The idea for Blaer Motors initially began as a passion-driven final year project in 2013 but was founded officially in 2014 with initial funding and incubation support from their alma mater NIT-Trichy.

What did Blaer Motors Do Right ?

Their project on hybrid technology further intrigued them to delve deeper to develop eco-friendly fuel solutions in the two-wheeler vertical that gave birth to SPA (Secondary Power Assist). It is a plug-in hybrid technology whose similar kind has been implemented in Toyota Prius.

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The two-wheelers are the main drivers of causing two-thirds of pollution that release 30 percent of the particulate matter load which is 10 percent more than cars.

How Blaer Motor optimises the hybrid tech for Motorcycles?

The SPA technology has three components:

Internal combustion engine (with a modified transmission)
Electric motor
BICS controller (Blaer Intelligent Control System).

As the powertrain starts, it activates the BICS controller which again activates the electric motor. The motor runs on electric mode till the first gear. For shifting into second gear or higher, the motor activates the hybrid mode with their patented drivetrain technology where both the engine and electric motor work together.

The advantage of the SPA system is that a vehicle can run either with an electric motor and internal combustion engine (ICE) in isolation or both synchronised in hybrid mode. The low-end torque offered by its electric motor ensures no knocking. While riding in hybrid mode if the battery charge depletes, BICS automatically switches to ICE thus no interruptions while riding.

The SPA technology of Blaer Motors improves the performance of a two-wheeler by enhancing fuel efficiency by 40 percent and reducing smoke emissions by 30 percent as compared to the petrol engine.

Pricing Matters

Blaer’s SPA hybrid system, when attached to the bike, adds 9kg which costs Rs 40,000. However, the price can go down to Rs 10000 if any original equipment manufacturer adopts the SPA system.

What is in it for the startups in the mobility space ?

Hybrid engine technology for two-wheelers is rare in India. To curb air pollution, the Supreme court has ordered a ban on BS (Bharat Stage) IV engine vehicles which are to be shifted to BS-VI to reduce emissions. However, this will impact the engine performance as well.

Therefore, the inclusion of hybrid technology in two-wheelers will reduce emissions without compromising on engine performance. Startups, such as Blaer Motors, in the mobility space offering sustainable and clean engine solutions in two-wheelers will be largely accepted in future.

However, one of the biggest challenges remains the cost factor, since most plug-in hybrids require Lithium-ion batteries which are imported in India. Though hybrid is in its infancy, to begin with, people perceive electrically driven vehicles to be weaker as compared to IC engine-driven ones. Therefore perception about hybrid-driven vehicles can be a hurdle.

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New-Age Refrigeration Techniques for Dairy Products

Anju Nambiar — Fri, 04 Jun 2021 06:02:34 +0000

Natural ice creams are all the rage, especially since the average consumer is shunning the overtly sweet, chemical, and additive infused commercial ice creams from big brands. They are favouring Brands like ‘Naturals Ice Cream’ that have a soft, melting texture, and subtle sweetness not to mention unique flavours. A number of gourmet brands that rely on advanced storage technology to get that perfect creaminess are on the rise. Here are some of the new-age refrigeration techniques used by them for storing dairy products like milk, cheese, and ice cream.

For Milk

Vapour Compression Refrigeration System

Vapour compression refrigeration system is an innovative technique for storing dairy products, especially Milk. Fresh raw milk is frozen at 4°C as soon as it arrives at the cooling centre. This system comprises bulk double or triple walled insulated storage tanks. These tanks usually have compact polyurethane foam or expanded polystyrene. They offer in-depth insulation for 12-hour milk cooling and storage with 1°C temperature rise at ambient room temperature of 30°C.

For Ice Cream

Low Temperature Extrusion

In this technique, the product undergoes high shear stresses. Ice creams taken out of the continuous freezer are pumped into an extruder.

Ultra-High-Pressure Homogenisation

This is a storage technique which precedes the freezing process. It stabilises the ice cream by lowering the rate of fat agglomeration.

Pre-Aeration

The pre-aeration process is best done upstream from the freezer using a separate high-shear mixer. When the stock is subjected to pre-aeration, small air cells form on the surface of the product which helps in shape retention of the ice cream during distribution.

Use Case – Prerna’s Handcrafted Ice Creams

Prerna’s Handcrafted Ice Creams is a Food and Beverage start-up based in Delhi and a new entrant to the Dairy Industry. They make gourmet ice creams and rely on the innovative dairy and ice cream refrigeration techniques mentioned above to make their products smooth and creamy.

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Vapour compression refrigeration system is an innovative technique for storing dairy products, especially Milk.

What’s in it for me?

There is high demand for artisanal, gourmet ice cream brands that taste creamy and are low fat, healthier versions of the supermarket ice cream. As a Food and Beverage start-up venturing into the ice cream business, you need to come up with several unique flavours.

The lockdown has people craving for exotic ice creams and desserts. But the health factor and weight gain are major causes of concern. To attract the consumer demand, gluten-free, vegan ice cream brands free of preservatives, and additives are a great idea. You can utilise some of the refrigeration technologies mentioned above to obtain the firmness and creaminess that’s not seen in commercial ice creams.

You can market your products as a true, low-fat healthier alternative to the store-bought versions. To achieve low fat concentration, adopt the ultra-high-pressure-homogenisation which lowers the percentage of fat agglomeration in your stored products.

The post New-Age Refrigeration Techniques for Dairy Products appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

The Survival and Revival of Fintech

Anju Nambiar — Sat, 29 May 2021 05:50:30 +0000

The Fintech or the finance industry as a whole is going through a technological revolution and surprisingly Covid-19 has contributed to it. Survival does not look too bleak for Fintech even amidst the dangerous second wave currently ensuing. The adoption of Digital Banking has exploded since the outbreak last year and it’s been a blessing for the Fintech sector.

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Digital lending has been on the rise which will be the single biggest hope for recovery for the entire fintech sector.

How fintech can survive the second wave

Deploy biometric recognition for security

Money laundering has been on the rise and malicious entities have increased their activity. As a financial business, get your hands on advanced security technologies and deploy biometric recognition to secure payments. Consumers are ready to pay additional monthly fees if the financial institution is offering biometric security.

Capitalise on demand for cashless, convenient digital payments

There is high demand for cashless and convenient digital payments, mainly owing to the hygiene factor. To survive and survive well during these times, fintech firms need to capitalise on this demand.

Team up with technology partners

During the pandemic, you need to drive operational efficiencies. Team up with partners for resources that you can use to align new systems with your business goals. Obtain key technology solutions like Integrated CRMs, cloud-based storage solutions, business management platforms from technology partners.

Deviate your services for Covid relief

Follow in the footsteps of a number of Indian fintech start-ups, as a survival strategy. Facilitate vaccine search and registration, assist in volunteering efforts, and organise vaccination drives specially for your field service executives.

Become a Fintech lender

Consumers need quick borrowing to overcome unprecedented pandemic-induced circumstances. Become a fintech lender and offer instant financing solutions to meet this demand.

Financial management apps are trending

Consumers are becoming increasingly aware about the importance of financial management. Apps providing finance management are trending, have become popular and are seeing increased usage during the many lockdowns. Come up with app ideas for finance management as a survival strategy.

How fintech can revive post the second wave

Transform the client experience

A personal finance revolution is underway which completely transformed digital banking post pandemic. Habits and behaviours around finance usage and management have changed. To align with this revolution, focus on transforming the client experience.

Provide financial services for MSME’s

Disburse loans for MSMEs who will be very much in need of working capital and financing. Small merchants will need quick, convenient, small loans post the second wave and lockdowns. Business uncertainty is looming large among small businesses who were abruptly forced to halt production and recovery efforts following the first wave. However, you need to keep in mind that MSMEs will also be the worst impacted borrowers.

Provide Insurances and Personal Loans

Once the recovery phase starts for the second wave, consumer demand will be high for insurance and personal loans. The healthcare sector will show high demand for credit post lockdowns. Come up with health insurance products to cater to this demand.

Volume for Fintech enquiries won’t be impacted – Tap into the demand.

Even though the credit demand across various industries will see a significant dip, the enquiry volume for fintech products and services will remain unchanged. Tap into the demand and come up with sales and marketing strategies to convert enquiries into customers.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) Model

The demand for BNPL financial services is high and will continue to increase post the lockdown. This is mainly because consumers are suffering from financial instability and disruptions in income continuity. Adopt the popular BNPL model in your financial services since it’s a golden opportunity to revive and recover from disruptions faster.

Vaccinations and the Fintech industry

Become a digital vaccination enabler through your touchpoints

If your fintech platform has physical touchpoints like local retail outlets and small ‘kirana’ shops, leverage these touchpoints as well as your platform to facilitate vaccination registrations. This is especially important if your touchpoints are in remote, densely populated areas with less tech savvy people. Leverage your distribution network and the people trained in your platform at the touchpoints to get people registered and scheduled for vaccinations.

Incentivize vaccination among your merchant-partners

Similar to a corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative, offer incentives to your retail merchants to entice them to get vaccinated. Increase awareness regarding the need for vaccinations by offering special cashback programs, discounts and scratch cards when merchants submit proof of successful vaccinations.

Dispel vaccine related myths.

Create a registration help centre for rural communities to remove hurdles in vaccine registration among impoverished citizens. Create awareness among citizens who fall prey to myths and vaccine related fears by answering FAQs and thus helping increase registration counts in small towns and villages.

Assist vaccination schedules for the eligible population

A majority of the vaccine eligible population is unable to schedule appointments either due to technical glitches, lack of transparency, or due to vaccine shortages. You can help improve the number of vaccine appointments being scheduled and thus avoid vaccine wastage by becoming a digital bridge. Open appointment scheduling on your platform or instant alerts when slots open for consumers in their vicinity.

Conclusion

The Fintech industry has seen tremendous growth during the pandemic. The industry is seeing decent demand throughout the first and second waves. Digital lending has been on the rise which will be the single biggest hope for recovery for the entire fintech sector. Revival does not look bleak in the remotest and avenues for survival are many in fintech.

SMEs are most impacted in business due to the second wave, and Fintech can become a saving grace for the small business community to survive. Fintech companies can help the start-up community with customized financial products which they cannot get from traditional financial institutions. And this will create a win-win situation for both of them post covid.

The post The Survival and Revival of Fintech appeared first on Dutch Uncles.

What Are the Key Factors Behind the Growth of Findeed, a Consumer-Focused Fintech Startup?

Anju Nambiar — Sat, 08 May 2021 03:35:04 +0000

Findeed, a Bengaluru-based, consumer-focused Fintech start-up raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round in April, backed by Venture Highway, Anicut Angel Fund, and First Cheque. Let’s decode their growth strategy.

Findeed: The Growth Strategy

Well-identified USP

The first factor that set their growth strategy into motion has been their Unique Selling Proposition (USP). Findeed observed the way money borrowing arrangements were conducted among social constructs. They quickly identified a high social capital in the exchange of money between friends and family. Their approach of identifying and following social capital differentiated them from their peers and competitors.

Adopting GTM strategy

In the early days, Findeed adopted a go-to market (GTM) approach wherein they got manufacturing institutions, retail employers with intrinsic member connections on board as partners. Their objective was to gain customers through these partnerships.

Leveraging Community Bonding

Findeed leveraged community bonding, social co-operation, and capital in their technology approach as well as in their GTM strategy. Their strategy is mainly aimed at unlocking access to financial services. They leveraged data analytics, technology and community partnerships.

Experienced Leadership: A Key Factor in Growth

The vast experience brought into the business by the co-founders of Findeed has been the key factor which propelled the company’s growth forward. Co-founder Srividya Ramarathnam has 20 years of experience in strategy and growth across multiple sectors like e-commerce, financial services and management consulting. She also was pivotal in leading the fintech initiatives of Flipkart. Srividya has been a business leader at Intuit.

Sriram Shankar, Co-founder, has largely been a leader in growth, business, operations, and customer experiences at e-commerce, Insurtech, and SaaS companies. He has leadership experiences at Myntra and Digital Insurance.

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Findeed has had a very unique approach of combining technology and data to offer instant credit.

What’s in it for me?

There is no longer any financial security to fall back on during the pandemic. Financial access is becoming tougher to achieve as stronger waves of Covid-19 sweep across the country. Fintech start-ups thus have a responsibility of bridging the gap between undeserved users and access to financial services.

Credit access has mainly been hampered. Fintech start-ups that can provide differentiated financial services to solve these problems will make a mark in the start-up space. Findeed has had a very unique approach of combining technology and data to offer instant credit. Start-ups can follow suit by coming up with new and innovative solutions to improve financial access.

Findeed is a modern start-up which has brought true disruption into microfinancing. Their fundraisers have been successful because investors recognized the value and potentiality of the owners’ background and deep domain expertise. Their determination to offer real value to customers in financial services has also contributed to their funding success.

If you are an entrepreneur, you can present your financial expertise up front to convince investors.

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