Month: September 2020

Categories
Startup

Repos Energy, a Ratan Tata-Backed Energy Distribution Company in Pune, Registers Over 150 Fuel Startups in Less Than a Month

Startup (Representational Image Only, Photo Credits: NeedPix.com)

In a major milestone and a step towards Atmanirbhar Bharat, Repos Energy, a Pune-based energy distribution company, has registered over 150 fuel startups in less than a month. Reports inform that these startups would carry on door-to-door delivery of diesel through mobile petrol pumps. Repos Energy startup, which was founded in 2017, is based out of Pune in Maharashtra. It has been funded by Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons, Ratan Tata. At present, the firm operates in over 150 cities of India. The firm said that as per industry experts, this move is expected to garner around Rs 9,000 crore of investment.

According to a report by IANS, Repos Energy will call them ‘fuel startups’ and will provide them with the entire support system. Repos will provide these new startups with end-to-end solutions for buying the mobile petrol pumps along with sharing the know-how. Some of the fuel startups that have registered with Repos include- Easy Diesel from Pune, Nuvera Energy from Mumbai, Auro Fuels from Bengaluru, AMA Fuels from Kolkata, Echological Fuels from Guwahati, Future Fuel Services from Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh.

Talking about the growth of the firm, co-founders Chetan Walunj and Aditi Bhosale Walunj, empowering startups through the dynamic model of doorstep diesel delivery through mobile petrol pumps will change the game of fuel distribution in India. “With the goal to reboot the economy and making India Atmanirbhar, Repos Energy has been working extensively to create a startup ecosystem of its own in the energy sector,” a company statement said.

“These fuel startups will be registered with us and featured on our app. We will also provide them with the necessary infrastructure. This will include a back-end team to build their entire brand identity. We will make sure that they become successful startups,” Chetan Walunj said. Meanwhile, Aditi Bhosale Walunj said, “We have built an entire ecosystem of fuel distribution that consists of IoT and AI-driven Repos Mobile Petrol Pumps (RMPP). These RMPPs are being designed at our IoT facility in Chakan, Pune, and comply with PESO norms.”

Categories
Startup

BYJU’s, Medlife, Big Basket And More; Start-Ups That Bloomed During COVID-19

The pandemic unfavourably affected small, medium, and micro-enterprises across the world. India, known as the third-largest start-up ecosystem of the world, hasn’t been saved from it either. In this crisis time, start-ups are facing an umpteen number of challenges to sustain their business in terms of cash flow, resources, etc.

During this downbeat scenario, a few Indian start-ups are blooming well. These companies are rapidly growing and making a benchmark for other start-ups who are struggling during this time. As per a survey done in February in 2020, many Indian start-ups had made growth as a priority over profitability, but thanks to COVID-19 this strategy had taken a back seat.

But few start-ups in some sectors have bloomed well during this period. Here are the top three sectors which flourished during this pandemic time.

Growth of E-learning Platforms

We all know e-learning platforms were flourishing before the COVID -19 hit us, but after the first phase of lockdown in March 2020 it gained 3 times surge. Platforms like BYJU’s, Whitehat Jr, Unacademy, Toppr, Vedantu have flourished to a great extent. Due to schools, college shuts digital platforms seem to be the best option for a source of education, therefore, the usage of digital education increased. As per the reports that e-learning firms, which have seen monthly visits increased from 102.2 million to 128.8 million in April.

This is one sector that continues to see great growth in these unprecedented times. As lockdown started, these platforms made a smart move by making free access to students, which lead them to new users at a double rate. BYJU’s saw 7.5 million new users since it started free access to content. Similarly, Unacademy, Toppr, and Vedantu noted similar growth in March itself.

Booming E-pharmacy Startups

In current times E- pharmacy has become the backbone of our country under lockdown to stand against the pandemic. Online delivering pharmacies like Medlife, 1mg, and PharmEasy is making for a significant role in providing contact-less medicine delivery.
As people trying to avoid going out, therefore, more and more people are buying medicines and essential supplements from these platforms. Referring to the high demand for online pharmacies, they have store consumer data, which helps in planning various public health policies.

With the aid of the onset of the technological era, consumers buy medicines form E-pharmacies like Medlife, 1mg, and PharmEasy have their app, which sends frequent reminders for medicines too.

Flourishing Grocery Startups

When pandemic limited us in our homes, there were only a few industries that were expected to grow. One of them is grocery delivery companies like Big Basket, Grofers, and now many new players have also come into the picture like Amazon, Flipkart, Snapdeal, Zomato few others have entered the grocery delivery space. As more consumers are trusting buying essential items online rather than stepping out of the home, which made the doubled the demand of the consumer.

Grocery delivering apps Big Basket and Grofers have admitted that they have already duplicated the number of daily deliveries compared to before the pandemic hit us. Due to the high requirement for online grocery startups are ramping up with brands and manufacturing partners to meet consumer demands. The high demand for supplies made a high demand for a workforce which leads to new job openings.

It’s true that the future is a little foggy for many but, few startups are shining even in the cloudiest of weather. Once the storm of COVID-19 storm passes these startups, will be standing tall on the grounds. These are the top three sectors that are surviving during this time, and our government of India has been developing new strategies and action plans for startups.

It’s true that the future is a little foggy for many but, few startups are shining even in the cloudiest of weather. Once the storm of COVID-19 storm passes these startups, will be standing tall on the grounds. These are the top three sectors that are surviving during this time, and our government of India has been developing new strategies and action plans for startups.

 

 

Categories
Startup

Vedantu to Nykaa; 5 Startups That Raised Amid COVID-19

The new normal in today’s world is with the least physical contact, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic, when everything is unpredictable similarly, seeing the change in consumer behavior is natural. Fighting with odds, many Indian startups continued to raise funds in tough times.

That’s true, the pandemic has unquestionably changed the funding scene in India, but truly has created many new possibilities for those startups that can adapt to the current environment. There are some startups that have already shown a trend- defying growth, which created a benchmark and ray of hope to many startups.

In current time two situations were going on in the startup ecosystem, one where a handful of startup able to raise funds, and the other hands a few startups is still struggling. Hence, we are going to list a few startups which successfully raised millions of funds and blooming in their sector.

Vedantu

The ed-tech sector has come into the spotlight since the lockdown started. Vedantu is one of the online class venture, founded in 2014 by Pulkit Jain, Anand Prakash, and Vamsi Krishna. They provide online tutoring classes from class 1st to 12th and even for medical and engineering exams.

As per this ed-tech startup has raised $100 million and valuing the company at 600 million. The startup owner claimed they have recorded growth of 220% in the period of lockdown, with 2 million students subscribed.

InCred

Mumbai based NBFC InCred, founded in 2016 by Bhupinder Singh, which started with operations with consumer lending then expanded into small business lending in 2017. As per the company stated, they have a loan book over Rs 2,000 crore.
As per the latest reports of April 2019, the digital lending platform has successfully raised Rs 600 crore in led by the Dutch development finance institution FMO.

Dunzo

Dunzo is a hyperlocal delivery app founded in 2015 by Kabeer Biswas currently, Dunzo has a firm place in the hyperlocal delivery space their services available in eight cities Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Gurugram, Pune, and Jaipur. Initially, they started with delivering individual sources, but with time they expanded in categories like groceries, fruits, and vegetables, fish and meat, etc.
In the current scenario, Dunzo has raised $28 million, and their funding round led by Google and Lightstone Fund. If we speak about an existing investor in the company is Google, and it was their first investment in an Indian start-up in 2017.

Nykaa

Mumbai – based e-commerce platform of fashion and beauty, founded by Falguni Nayar in 2012. They have played an instrumental purpose in shaping the beauty and lifestyle industry through its curated product in The Indian market in a great price range.
As per the latest reports in may Nykaa raised Rs 66.64 crore from their primary investor Steadview Capital. Later on, this round of investment company became valued at $1.2 billion, therefore, entering the startup unicorn club.

Unacademy

Another Ed-tech platform Unacademy founded by Gaurav Munjal, Hemesh Singh, and Roman Saini in the year of 2015. The platform was built for educators and new-age learners by focusing on producing educational videos and providing interactive classes to students. During the outbreak of pandemic and complete lockdown, they bulged with 20,000 Free Live Classes on their platform.

Recently, Unacdemy entered the Unicorn club by raising $150 million by Japanese conglomerate SoftBank valuing it at $1.45 billion, in just six months. Which got to them the second Ed-tech startup in the country after Byju’s.

In the gloomy sky, these startups’ growth acted as the silver lining as in these difficult times, not only these, but many more startups from Delhi, Mumbai, Banglore, and other cities were able to raise funds through hard work. We believe after reading the article you find motivation and see the silver lining in these puzzling times.

 

 

Categories
Business motivation Startup

IITs to Help Indian Agarbatti Sector Become Atmanirbhar, 4-Point Agenda Drawn Up by Centre to Extend Support to the Incense Stick Industry

Incense Stick (Photo Credits: Needpix)

Lucknow, September 7: In order to help the agarbatti (incense sticks) industry, the Centre has decided to rope in IITs to extend their support. According to an IANS report, the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Ministry has expanded its reach and support to artisans, involved in making agarbattis, as well as to the industry, by its new guidelines issued on September 4.

The Centre has drawn a 4-point agenda for extending support to the industry, which it believes will help in strengthening India`s MSME sector. The Ministry is working to  The centre has decided to continuously support the artisans through training, by providing raw material, marketing and financial support.

It has also worked on all aspects of this product, like innovation in the fragrance and packaging, use of new or alternate raw materials like re-usable flowers, coir pith, and supply of bamboo sticks by closely working with the Ministry of Agriculture to help the industry flourish.

What is the Centre of Excellence?

A `Centre of Excellence` is also being set up in the Flavour and Fragrance Development Centre in Uttar Pradesh`s Kannauj, which is known to be India`s fragrance capital.

The Centre has also decided to set up 10 clusters with proper marketing linkages under SFURTI (Scheme of Fund for Regeneration of Traditional Industries) scheme of the MSME Ministry at a total cost of about Rs 50 crore.

The Centre believes that these projects will give a boost to the agarbatti industry and help in further building indigenous capability in all areas of agarbatti manufacturing with increased exports, and enhanced employment opportunities to the artisans and entrepreneurs. This is expected to benefit about 5,000 artisans for their sustainable employment.

The Khadi and Village Industries Commission, one of the statutory organisations under the MSME, will implement the programme and will “handhold the artisans” with proper backward & forward linkages and support, the Centre claimed.

 

Categories
Business motivation

Ease of Doing Business 2019 Ranking: Andhra Pradesh Ranks First in Implementing Business Reforms Followed by UP and Telangana; Check List of Top 10 States

Ease of Doing Business (Photo Credits: Pexels)

Andhra Pradesh has again topped the list in the ranking of states and union territories (UTs) based on implementation of the business reform action plan. According to a report released by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on Saturday, Andhra Pradesh tops the list, while Uttar Pradesh and Telangana were placed at the second and third place, respectively in the ease of doing business for 2019. The list has been prepared by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT).

The ranking makes states and UTs a better place to do business. Accordin to a government release, the parameters include areas such as construction permit, labour regulation, environmental registration, access to information, land availability and single-window system. It is the DPIIT that conducts the exercise for all states/UTs under the Business Reform Action Plan (BRAP). In the 2019 ranking which was released in July 2018, Andhra Pradesh had topped the chart, followed by Telangana and Haryana.

Ranking of States based on the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan started in the year 2015. Till date, State Rankings have been released for the years 2015, 2016 and 2017-18. The Business Reform Action Plan 2018-19 included 180 reform points covering 12 business regulatory areas such as Access to Information, Single Window System, Labour, Environment, etc.

The top ten states under State Reform Action Plan 2019 are:

  1. Andhra Pradesh
  2. Uttar Pradesh
  3. Telangana
  4. Madhya Pradesh
  5. Jharkhand
  6. Chhattisgarh
  7. Himachal Pradesh
  8. Rajasthan
  9. West Bengal
  10. Gujarat

The larger objective of attracting investments and increasing Ease of Doing Business in each State was sought to be achieved by introducing an element of healthy competition through a system of ranking states based on their performance in the implementation of Business Reform Action Plan.

The ranking this time gives full weightage to the feedback from over thirty thousand respondents at the ground level, who gave their opinion about the effectiveness of the reforms.State rankings will help attract investments, foster healthy competition and increase Ease of Doing Business in each State.

Categories
E-Commerce Finance

Essential Commodities to Fuel Revival of Retail Sector in India As Consumer Expenditure Remains Focused on Essentials, Says Report

Retail Sector (Photo Credits: Pexels)

A recent study has revealed that the demand for essential commodities is likely to drive the revival of the retail sector in India. According to a report by Anarock Retail and the Retailers Association of India (RAI) titled ‘Indian Retail – Certainty Despite Headwinds’, the average bill value for essentials has gone up 1.5 times after lifting of lockdown — from Rs 650 per basket in early March to more than Rs 900 per basket presently.

“Amidst the pandemic-induced slowdown, essential goods will fuel Indian retail industry’s growth in the coming quarters as consumer expenditure continues to remain focused on essentials, particularly food and grocery,” said a joint statement by Anarock and the RAI.

Anuj Kejriwal, MD & CEO of Anarock Retail, was quoted by IANS saying that COVID-19 will work as a catalyst for the growth of organised retail and e-commerce in India. “Online spending is on a marked rise with online shoppers projected to increase from 15 per cent in 2019 to 50 per cent of the total online population by 2026”, Kejriwal added. The CEO of Anarock Retail further added saying that other new retail industry trends, omni-channel retailing is evolving rapidly with brands collaborating actively to enhance their reach and many are using malls or in-mall stores as urban warehouses to ensure a faster delivery to customers.

The report further adds that organised retail and e-commerce are on an upswing. Giving details of the revival of several retail sectors, the report added that food and grocery, followed by apparel, fast moving consumer durables (FMCD) and electronics, furniture and home furnishings and quick service restaurants (QSR) will see a “v-shaped” recovery within the next two to three quarters. Meanwhile, several other segments including beauty, wellness and personal care and home essentials may take 4-6 quarters to recover fully, the report said.

Citing IBEF data, the report adds that the share of Indian organised retail will double to 18 percent in 2021, from 9 percent in 2017. Similarly, the e-commerce is expected to more than double to 7 per cent from the previous 3 per cent in the same period.

Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India (RAI) was quoted in the report saying that Omni-channel was gaining importance before the pandemic and the pandemic has enhanced the importance of retailers having an omni-channel strategy.

Categories
Finance Sales

India’s Auto Component Sector, Hit by Slowdown and Hammered by COVID-19, May Record 15-18% Dip in FY 2021 Revenues

Passenger vehicles segment. (Photo Credit: Twitter)
Passenger vehicles segment. (Photo Credit: Twitter)

Chennai, September 5: Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Brickwork Ratings on Thursday reported that auto component manufacturers are expected to suffer about 15-18 per cent decline in their revenues in FY 2021. Brickwork Ratings also claimed the sector may see a decline of an average of 100 basis points (bps) in their EBITDA due to sharp contraction in demand over what the industry experienced during FY 2020.

Releasing the report, Brickwork Ratings stated that India’s auto component manufacturers saw a decline in the revenues by 8-10 per cent after a year-on-year (YoY) increase until FY 2019. This was due to the shrinking order book from Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) due to lower automobile sales in the last fiscal.

Elaborating more, the report stated, “BWR (Brickwork Ratings) expects export revenues to decline as well in FY21 as more than 50 per cent of our exports are to markets in Europe, the UK and the US, and demand from these markets is expected to decline amid the Covid-19 outbreak and postponement of model launches or deferment/cancellation of orders.”

Adding more, Brickwork Ratings predicted auto components players will be affected adversely in the first quarter of the current fiscal and the dip in revenues may continue in the second quarter. Though they expect a gradual recovery in vehicle sales from the second half of the current fiscal, the sales of automobiles are expected to decline in FY 2021 due to the postponement of model launches, reduced production levels, supply chain disruptions and the slowdown in new capacity additions.

It is to be known that India exports around 27 per cent of its automotive components production to the US, Germany, UK, Italy, Turkey, UAE and Thailand. Over 50 per cent of exports are to markets in Europe, the UK and the US.

Apart from this, the domestic market has also been impacted due to the shutting-down of dealerships and OEMs until mid-May 2020. Other reasons include labour shortage, the shortage in raw material availability, lower income levels and weaker consumer sentiments.

Categories
Business motivation

Karnataka Government Offers Sops to IT Companies To Encourage Them to Invest Outside Bengaluru

Investments (Photo Credits: Pixabay)

Bangalore, September 4: In an effort to develop a strong IT ecosystem beyond Bengaluru, Karnataka government has offered a slew of sops for IT companies. According to an IANS report, the aim is to encourage them to set up shops outside the city.

IT, BT, Science and Technology Minister C.N. Ashwath Narayan as quoted in the report said, “We aim to also strengthen the ecosystem and boost growth in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of the state.  The Minister was optimistic that over 60 lakh plus new jobs will be created in this sector.

In order to help IT companies, the government would be offering financial support to IT hubs and clusters of up to Rs 3 crore outside Zone 3. In the same way, players would also be eligible for financial support of Rs 2 crore outside Zone 3. In addition to this, stamp duty exemption — 75 per cent was also announced in Mysuru, Hubballi, Dharwad and Mangaluru, and 100 per cent for all other zones except Zone 3.

Among some of the sops announced, companies outside the zone will also be eligible for provident fund and ESI reimbursement of up to Rs 10 lakh.

As part of the other major initiatives, the government will consider incentives for mega projects above Rs 250 crore on a case by case basis. The state offered these attractions as part of its new IT policy for the period 2020- 25.

 

Categories
Business motivation

Business Plans: 4 Types of Simple Yet Effective Start-Up Plans

इन्वेस्टमेंट प्लान
इन्वेस्टमेंट प्लान

A start-up business plan is a cohesive document that demonstrates how a business or an organization has decided or strategized to achieve the set goals! But are all business plans the same? Does one kind of business plan suffice all kinds of business requirements in this world? NO! Just like a suit is tailor-made especially to fit your body, the same way a plan should be made exclusively to meet the needs of the respective businesses.

There is no denying the fact that just like an individual goes through several phases of life, a business also experiences several changes. With constant evolution and necessary developments, the needs of a business change and to fulfil those needs, different plans might be required. With the help of this article, we will try and divide business plans broadly into 4 categories. 

The One-Page Business Plan

Do you have a mind-blowing idea but despise making complicated and boring business plans? If yes, then this one-page business plan is your go-to option. This kind of business plan would be enough to put things in order and cover all the ideas that you might have to run your business. A short/one-page business plan is not only easy on you to make but also helps the potential investors or partners go through the strategies easily and quickly.

Traditional Business Plan

A traditional business plan is more or less a detailed account or cohesive document that covers all aspects of how one plans on running a business. This section includes the official name of your business, its legal structure, and the location where you plan to operate. It is highly recommended by the experts to include a chart showcasing the authority accountable to accomplish various tasks such as sales and marketing, finance, operations, etc. In the long run, a Business plan holds the potential to save money as it carefully presents the present and future financial projections.

Business Model Canvas

A business Model Canvas is basically nothing but a visual alternative to a normal business plan. In layman terms, it is all about your business ideas on a piece of paper. When you draw a business canvas model, you will be able to visualize your business, find out the weak points, and assess the viability as well. The business canvas model is not necessarily designed for presenting new business ideas, one can make the most out of it by using it to analyze the current business situation to make improvements if need be. A business model canvas is used by many businesses as it helps them break down the entire process into key segments that are easily understood with the help of charts and figures. 

Business Pitch

A business pitch is nothing but a systematic and interesting way to present your vision and idea to an investor or a group of people in order to secure the necessary resources to run a business and/or to bag the much-needed funding. This pitch is generally prepared to take a business plan forward or to improve an already existing business. A business pitch is supposed to put the message, mission, and vision across pretty clearly. It is important to get to the main point and save investors from losing interest. 

Choose wisely which kind of plan is the need of the hour and go about it. Highlight all the aspects of running the business of your dreams, mention all the information that is required, and make that business plan so irresistible that no investor could afford to turn a blind eye to that masterpiece. Always remember, a carefully crafted business plan could prove to be the deal maker for your business if presented the right way. 

Categories
Business motivation

Business Plan: The Key To Flawless Execution

It’s tough to build a successful business when you don’t even know what you are trying to build and how you will build that. It is always advisable to come up with a  business plan. This layout of your business will help you realize where you are, what you want to achieve, and strategies to achieve them. It will allow and help you to get some clarity for yourself in order to set the key objectives for your dream business!  

Develop a system, streamline the entire process, and increase the efficiency of your business. not only making it faster and simpler. If you wish to get your business organized and strategically increase the profit margin, then keep reading.

Overview

First and foremost, we will talk about the overview of your business plan. An overview that tells what actually your business is all about. This section includes the official name of your business, its legal structure, and the location where you plan to operate. Along with these core points, you also need to mention the mission of your business because it is what all your plans are focussed on achieving. We would also suggest to include a chart that says who is accountable to accomplish the various tasks such as sales and marketing, finance, operations, etc.

Message

We all want our businesses to be successful but often fail to put across the message that our business wants to convey! All successful businesses to date have been very clear on the message they want to communicate to their target consumer base. The message that shows your importance in their lives and how you help them solve their burning problems! 

Marketing Strategy

To successfully market a business, it’s a basic requirement to know who is your target customer. You can figure out your target audience and evaluate their respective demographics and psychographics. You need to calculate the estimated size of your target market and where you can find groups of your target audience. If you do not have enough information to build up this section of your business plan, then probably you might require to conduct careful and detailed research to set and pivot your marketing position.

Products/Services

This section describes the product you sell, physical or digital. Choose one product as the primary product/service that your business revolves around and invest your energy and undivided attention in promoting and developing it. One of the many advantages of making a single product/service your primary concern is that the business development becomes way easier if only a single product is involved at the nascent stage.

Goals

It is very important to set goals for your respective businesses as all these plans would end up being of no use if you do not have a benchmark set for it. Always be prepared with the goals that you want to achieve and these goals should basically revolve around sales, revenue, impact, and progress.

With all the points mentioned above, it is understood that a goal and a plan, go hand in hand! Writing a business plan is all about knowing what you have taken care of and what you are unaware of! Try to become more aware of the things that you have not already thought about and note it down somewhere to make a cohesive document. You know there are hundreds of thousands of ideas crossing your mind around your dream business venture, you might as well pen them down in the form of a business plan to make the most of it.