The 50 Startups To Take A Look At in 2019

1. www.insightssuccess.in The 50 Startups To Take A Look At In 2019 VOL-3 March-2019 ISSUE-8 Outstanding Startup Soumya Chatterjee Co-founder & CEO Easyrewardz

4. Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Devasish Kanojiya Executive Editor Rahul Niraj Art & Design Head Amol Kamble Associate Designer Poonam Mahajan Art & Picture Editor Rahul Kavanekar Co-designers Mayur, Aparna Sales Executives Tejaswini, Sapna, Ajay Technical Head Pratiksha Patil Technical Specialist Amar Sawant Digital Marketing Manager Prashant Chevale SME-SMO Executives Manoj Shelge Circulation Manager Tanaji sales@insightssuccess.com March, 2019 Corporate Ofces: Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Off. No. 513 & 510, 5 Flr., Rainbow Plaza, Shivar Chowk, Pimple Saudagar, Pune, Maharashtra 411017 Phone - India: +91 7410079881/ 82/ 83/ 84/ 85 Email: info@insightssuccess.in For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.in Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com th Cover Price : RS. 150/- https://twitter.com/insightssuccess Follow us on : www.facebook.com/insightssuccess/ We are also available on : Copyright © 2019 Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd., All rights reserved. The content and images used in this magazine should not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior permission from Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success. Printed and Published by Insights Success Media and Technology Pvt. Ltd. RNI NUMBER: MAHENG/2019/75953

5. From the Editor W prominently placed amongst the key five countries on earth in relation to the number of startups established. The Indian Startup Ecosystem has already witnessed various noteworthy advancements in the year 2018; similarly the start of the year 2019 has boosted the overall scenario of the budding startups like never before! On the other hand, the government reforms like the execution of GST and expanded spotlight on ‘Make in India’ is adding an extra plus to the Indian Startup Ecosystem. to the Indian Startup Ecosystem ith each passing day, India is becoming a well- known name in the global startup ecosystem. According to an independent survey, India is An Overview The tech-enabled startups are alluring for investors and investments from industry veterans with an aim to withstand the complexities of the market. As of late, these startups are grabbing the eyeballs of the Silicon Valley and VCs based out of Silicon Valley. These VCs are sharing an enthusiasm to put resources into various new Indian startups, thereby enabling them to create more milestones. While the investors strongly believe that the new-age startups with their novel thoughts and expanding collaborations have the potential of making the country 'developed'. As per the business professionals, the trend that is disrupting the Indian Startup Ecosystem is that the better- financed corporates are putting their resources in the all-around well-planned acquisitions of new companies. These purchases would instill confidence in the finance experts globally, consequently pull in reserves. As such, this is a step towards fueling the development of the startup ecosystem in India. To be precise, the emerging startups are focusing on cutting misfortunes, increment their general valuation, and achieve operational brilliance in the longer run. These significant characteristics along with the positive assumptions of the investors and support from the legislature will help the startup ecosystem of India in reaching new heights in the coming future. Rahul Niraj Rahul Niraj

6. A R T I C L E S C O V E R S T O R Y Lessons to Learn56 Startup Lessons Every Founder Should Know Money Matters 68 Money Begets Money: Startup Finance Explained 28 Creditmantri Igniting The Lamp Of Financial Independence BlueTie Networking with Widened Horizons and Sharpened Focus 12

7. OUTSTANDING STARTUP Easyrewardz Smart Minds Make Smart Moves 20 INTERVIEW WITH INSIGHTS SUCCESS 36 ThoughtBit A Young Technology Firm Decoding Business Problems

8. Expert’s Voice 40 Why Employers Should Adopt Digital Technologies in Blue-Collar Labour Heavy Industries C X O S T A N D P O I N T Fintech Insights 48 Using Technology for Reimagining Banking Services for the Masses Leader's Thought 58 The Digital Age Industry Insider 78 Challenges Faced by Startupsof 21st Century and Solutions to Overcome them Tech Archieves 94 Emerging Technologies in Business Tech Trends 106 AI & ML Driving the Technology Future

9. 9stacks C O N T E N T S 24 A Synonymous Name for Seamless Poker Experience Aaveg 32 Transforming Corporate Ground Transportation Management Landscape Board Infinity 44 A Catalyst for Career Acceleration Budli 46 Bridging the Digital Divide in India Direct Create 52 Craftsmanship in the Digital Age EAT Anytime 54 Mindful Eating, Anytime, Anywhere 62 EM3 Agri Services Empowering Farmers, Transforming Agriculture

10. Footprints 64 A Preferred Parenting Partner Hug Innovations 66 Unleashing New-age Technologies for a Better Future INNOSTUD 72 The Perfect Blend of Innovation and Learning! Matrubharti 74 Vernacular Content Community MedCords 76 Bringing the Impactful Change in Healthcare Medibox 82 Transforming B2B Pharma Market Digitally in India 84 Mirraw Delivering Creativity at its Best!

11. Nextsky Technologies 86 World-Class Solutions at Affordable Prices OfBusiness 90 Activating Smart Financing for the SMEs OKSir 92 110 Creating Choices for Customers and Businesses for Service Experts OncoStem 98 Striving for Better and Timely Cancer Treatment WeDoSky 100 Sixth Sense Ventures Decrypting Aerial Data for Business India's First Domestic Consumer Venture Fund! Vitor Health 102 Helping People Discover Good Health 108 Wash N Dry Bag Up | Pick Up | Clean | Deliver

12. Acknowledging the New Era of Startups W horizons. Recognizing the startups that are revolutionizing the corporate space and keeping innovation on their radar by staying up-to-speed with the developments, we have come up with this special edition of “The 50 Startups To Take A Look At In 2019”. This issue has featured a handful of professionals offering a diverse and engaging mix of creativity and distinctiveness. This edition of ours will help you to walk through a list of startups embracing multi-disciplinary approach and covering a range of relevant issues in its sector. hile 2018 was an enthusiastic year for the business world, the start of the year 2019 has taken it beyond the success On the Cover of the issue, we have featured Blue Tie Global Pvt. Ltd. – a platform where professionals network with an objective. You can meet and network with those whose objectives complement yours at that moment, right from the moment you sign up. Apart from such an insightful Cover Story, we have also enlisted Easyrewardz Software Services Private Limited as 'Outstanding Startup' – an Information Technology and Services Company; 9stacks is India's fastest growing online poker platform; Aaveg Management Services Pvt. Ltd. is a one-of-its-kind company providing end-to-end corporate mobility solutions with ground transportation; Board Infinity is an online career

13. coaching platform for higher education; Budli Internet Pvt. Ltd. is working on creating and driving change in India through ReCommerce - Reverse Commerce of used gadgets like Smartphones, Tablets, Laptops and other gadgets; Direct Create is an integrated product for the Handmade consumer ecosystem; EM3 Agri Services Pvt. Ltd. solves on- farm productivity and is a holistic service provider to the Indian farmers; Footprints Preschool and Daycare provides Play School and Day-care programs for the parents looking for world-class education and child-care for their children; Hug Innovations is a next-generation Wearable and IoT platform company; Innostud is a first-of-its-kind mobile platform helping schools and coaching institutes to automate their administrative work; Matrubharti Technologies Pvt. Ltd. is a vernacular content community technology startup; MedCords is an innovative platform that makes storage of medical records easy; Medibox Digital Solutions Pvt. Ltd. is a B2B Market Place for OTC, OTX, pharma, healthcare and allied products; Mirraw Online Services Private Limited is one of the leading Ethnic Wear online marketplace; Nextsky Technologies develops Cloud-based ERP solutions for the micro & small scale manufacturing sector; OfBusiness is a technology-driven new-age fintech startup providing smart financing solutions to the SMEs; OKSir is an on-demand real time online-based marketplace that seamlessly connects customers to service professionals; OncoStem Diagnostics is a company that focuses on developing innovative tests in the personalized medicine space; Sixth Sense Ventures Advisors LLP. is possibly the first venture fund in India and maybe the world to return capital within 3 years; Vitor Health Sciences Pvt. ltd helps people discover good health and empower them to proactively engage with it – in a simple, confident and everyday manner; Wash N Dry is an app-based laundry company rolling out end-to-end laundry services with a vision to enhance the comfort of the masses; WeDoSky is a drone data analytics company in India; and Wholesome Habits Private Limited aims to make snacking experience healthy and nutritious indulgence. Alongside startups like Bushel Technologies, Ecom Express, AirCTO, Alamak Capital Advisors, IndusGuru, Mypoolin, Occipital Tech, StoreKing, No Thepla holidays, TouchMagix, Robolab Technologies Pvt. Ltd., Wandertrails, PixelVJ, Haptik, Bigbasket, Nobroker, Intangles Lab Private Limited, Dazeinfo Media & Research Private Limited, Jaypore, Medlife International Private Limited, HOPSCOTCH, myGubbi, Startupwala Private Limited, Tinto Rang, Fusion Microfinance, and Zophop Technologies Pvt. Ltd have also been featured in the listing of this edition. While flipping the pages, take a note not to miss out exclusive Interviews with Gowri Mukherjee, Rajasundaram Sudarshan, and Ranjit Punja – Co- founders of CreditMantri Finserv Private Limited and Siddharthan Panneerselvam – CEO, Rajeshwaran Venugopal – CTO, and Sai Santhosh – CCO at ThoughtBit. Turning some more pages will help you find out articles masterly crafted by our in-house editors which include Money Begets Money: StartupFinance Explained from Startup Finance and Startup Lessons Every Founder Should Know from Startup Lessons. Also, the articles from CXO Standpoint by industry experts would take you on a journey showcasing the challenges, opportunities and tech-based innovations in the Startup universe. Looking at the emerging opportunities and the growing possibilities, this issue of ours will introduce you to a whole new world of novelty. So enjoy the exciting read!

14. Kalyan Garud Founder and Executive Director Kunal Garud Founder and CEO

15. 50 A Look At In 2019 The Startups To Take T and layers of enmeshed challenges. Given the current global digital explosion – India alone has nearly half a billion internet users – it has become extremely important to be involved in higher networking to learn from and master solutions to existing as well as future challenges. he current day professional world is an open marketplace with increasing complexities Networking with Widened Horizons and Sharpened Focus Networking, however, is more effective with easy accessibility to capable and available professionals, given a favorable, firm ecosystem. Blue Tie Global Pvt. Ltd. thus steps in, as a one-of-its-kind platform offering access to profiles of relevant professionals, replete with their requisite information and professional goals. Its algorithms successfully enable effective networking, even beyond the personal connections. The company empowers objective- driven technology and caters to the needs of professionals by helping them identify and connect with other

16. professionals with complementary objectives. Thus this platform efficaciously addresses the essential need of the hour and improves productivity, thereby helping the users to disassemble professional convolutions. BlueTie stands tall in taking away all formalities and intricacies of building bridges with people far from the reach of common customers. Widening horizons to network with relevant professionals, BlueTie plays a pivotal role in sharpening the focus on rolling out a mutually synergized experience. Recently, BlueTie was also recognized as the Fastest Growing Indian Company Excellence Award at the 11th Edition of the International Achievers Conference held in Thailand recently. The Professional Journey Acknowledging the loopholes in the effective networking, BlueTie placed its cornerstones in the latter half of 2016 with an aim to transform the networking landscape for better. The journey stemmed from the desire to bridge this gap by enabling individuals to discover and communicate with professionals across diverse geographic locations. The platform focused on helping individuals collaborate with other professionals with symbiotic synergies that match their objectives at that time.

17. With concrete endeavors, the company engaged Sweden based Jorgen Nilsson, CEO, Zenterio and the UAE-based Khalil Mohd Al- Hindwan, VP, TransSys Solutions as the global advisors. These personas made swift moves in focusing on the aspect of global expansion for BlueTie. Today, the company has grown from a team of fifteen to over fifty, backed by investments of over 1.2 Million USD. Meet the Proficient Duo Kalyan Garud and Kunal Garud, the Co-founders of BlueTie and brothers by relation, come from different professional expertise. Having founded and led an advertising agency, Shrooms Creatives, Kunal comes from an entrepreneurial background. He oversees the operations and product evolution at BlueTie to keep it evolving in the right direction in line with the global vision. On the other hand, Kalyan comes from a corporate sector with experience in global IT companies such as IBM, KPMG, Mahindra Satyam, etc for over a decade. Currently at BlueTie, he fosters an ecosystem of growth by cementing the overall organizational pillars and the technical infrastructure for the products to ensure the realization of its vision in the longer run. The duo understood the importance of networking and recognised that the biggest hindrance in effective networking was the absence of a platform which enables professionals to network and collaborates with a purpose, thus bringing to life BlueTie. “When you have the right thing to say, you don’t need recommendations” “We strongly believe that shifting focus from only network building to networking is the key!” says the duo. The Curated Set of Services The company firmly believes that networking is a one-stop solution to all professional problems. Some of the core features of BlueTie are: Objective Based Networking – Users can meet and network with the right professional for every objective. Users can choose their

18. networking objective and connect with professionals who share a co-relating objective Get Searched Precisely – The platform allows users to choose their fortes (Skills, Certifications, Software expertise) and get searched by those who are looking for professionals with the same skill set. Go Beyond Your Personal Connections – The professionals who complement the objectives that the users are looking to achieve can be beyond their limited personal connections. BlueTie allows one to look beyond one’s personal connections, and reach out to professionals in a cordial manner, cutting straight to the chase without the frills of introductory obligations. Acknowledgement – Interactive and effortless acknowledgement system so that the professionals can utilize their time effectively thus reducing the scopes of miscommunication. Networking, without Network Building – BlueTie enables professionals to start networking the moment they join, without the hassles of building and maintaining huge lists of personal connections. BlueTie Pin – A Professional Contact detail for all professional communication dissuading the use of any personal information in order to minimize spam A Bigger Canvas Blue Tie Global believes that the foremost thing to stand out from the clutter is to stay updated with the trends and be prepared for the future challenges. “You always need to keep learning not only from market success but also from market failures. Understand what is relevant to you, absorb it and put it to use,” asserts Kalyan. “Being in any kind of business, the biggest difficulty that any startup faces is to execute its innovations. A startup where ‘no idea is bigger than execution’ is the sustainable one and will have a long term differentiation factor in the ecosystem. In short, the game plan is to apply the learnings, stick to the vision, and bring the

19. innovation to execution,” Kalyan Garud included. Lastly, for young entrepreneurs, starting early gives an upper hand. There is little or no added responsibility. There’s a lot to learn and very little to lose. Youngsters can explore more, take more risks and decide on what they want to settle. So, the company edifies the emerging entrepreneurs to inculcate the habit of starting things early and taking it to a closure, irrespective of how big or small the startup is. This habit is worth a million dollars! A decade ago, E-commerce industry saw a huge impetus triggered by the availability of a huge potentially virgin market. The investment bait was the expansion of customer base as opposed to the unit economics which was then considered as a long run business objective. “Network Building is an option, Networking is not! Hence, professionals need to shift their focus from only network building to actual networking” Now, there is a similar wave for networking. With the emerging career scopes, networking has become a must for every professional. Different platforms offered different ways of building huge networks, lots of them discontinued while some settled to become industry leaders. However, all these platforms focused on the connection-based approach and the other avenues were left unexplored, limiting the scopes of actual pure networking. BlueTie thus focuses on leveraging these gaps and providing a platform which enables professionals today to bring effectiveness in the way they network, by introducing and inculcating objective-based networking. Turning More Pages Cherishing afuturistic approach throughout the organization, BlueTie is moving forward to expand itself into a multi-dimensional one. It looks forward to evolve as a frontrunner in newer avenues of networking along with bringing more effectiveness and efficiency to the existing avenues. The second objective down the line is to place its best foot forward for and expand globally. Currently having PAN India presence, the company aims to be a leader in the emerging markets, starting with South East Asian countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, Philippines and so on. The company is all set to launch one of its major roadmap items in the near future. Fueling the Emerging Masses For budding entrepreneurs, the energy that is driven by their passion is the key to unlock the doors to success. Kalyan Garud, advices the young minds to make sure that they complete the cycle. “There will be times when you are just two steps away or likely to fail, that is fine! Backing out or leaving that undone will do more harm than failure. Do not give up, complete the cycle that you started. Most of the startups or ventures fail not because they don’t have the potential; it’s because they fail to complete the cycle.” BlueTie looks forward to evolve as a frontrunner in newer avenues of networking along with bringing more effectiveness and efficiency to the existing avenues. “With over 185k+ users and a new professional coming aboard every 70 seconds, we are on our way to add many more feathers to our cap,” conclude the co-founders. The BlueTie mobile application is available for download on the Google Play Store as well as the App Store. Kalyan also asserts the importance of validating your ideas. However convinced one is with one’s own idea, to make it fool proof, it is important to validate it with a proper documentation and experts who have an experience in the field. For more details, visit - https://www.bluetieglobal.com

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22. Sapan Kadakia Co-founder & Director Angad Singh Co-founder & Director Soumya Chatterjee Co-founder & CEO 20 MARCH 2019

23. Outstanding Startup Easyrewardz Smart Minds Make Smart Moves T impactful weapons in the armory of the sellers as they play a pivotal role in retaining buyers. However, often it’s a tedious task for the buyers to manage and take maximum benefits of these programs as they are fragmented in nature. conceptualized in 2011 with the vision to address a white space, especially between the available CRM tools for SMB’s in the retail sector. oday’s competitive market is flooded with a plethora of choices that forces the consumers to explore new brands and experience the latest offerings. From the seller’s perspective, holding out customers is the key to survive the fierce market competition. Loyalty programs and reward points act as the most Easyrewardz was Tejas Kadakia Co-founder and Director This unique excerpt unveils the story of Easyrewardz Software Services Private Limited – a company that was conceptualized in 2011 with the vision to address a white space, especially between the available CRM tools for SMB’s in the retail sector. Additionally, Easyrewardz is India’s first social collaborative rewards market-place. At present, it has customers across diverse segments including Apparels, Banking, F&B, and a lot more! Some of the biggest brands like PVR, Fabindia, Pizza Hut, Spykar, Jack & Jones, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Hyatt, SRL Diagnostics have bestowed their trust on Easyrewardz. Team Easyrewardz is focused on delivering technology products with in-depth analytical insights and best in breed services to create customer- merchant ecosystems that foster growth for the merchant and delight for the customers. Exquisite Services Right from inception, the company had set definite goals and had commenced its operation accordingly. Offering two distinct product lines, Easyrewardz has successfully managed to evolve as a competent player in a very quick time. 21 MARCH 2019

24. Customer Lifecycle Management Stack: This is a full-stack CRM & marketing automation platform built for retail SMBs. Through various interweaved modules it helps retailers to engage customers right from lead identification, through the first sale, to timely engagement, understanding their preferences and guiding them towards the right products. The CLM stack helps retailers derive maximum value by providing professional services to integrate the technology with their business processes allowing their marketing team to use the insights & trends captured by Easyrewardz’ s tools in the promotion & pricing strategies of the brand. Today, it influences consumer experiences across 8000+ stores of 125+ brands that use this technology. has been a part of various management teams delivering core responsibilities like Operations, Technology, Payments, Customer Strategy, CRM and much more! We have customers across diverse segments including Retail, F&B, Healthcare, Wellness, Hospitality & Banking Angad Singh (ex-investment banker, Barclays) is an IIM Alumnus and a people’s person. A Formula-One lover, travel junkie, professional swimmer and a strategist for life – is how his life is defined! As the Co-founder & Director – Strategy, Angad leads Business Development & Alliances for Easyrewardz. He focuses on the business acquisition in the North & Eastern regions of India. In addition to his existing responsibilities, he also doubles up as a CFO, managing the investor community & corporate finance. Poiink: Poiink is a ‘gee whiz’ channel to drive business through customer engagement and is a B2C platform for businesses to maintain an Omnichannel presence. It works as an enabler for brands to reach a captive base, delight customers and drive loyalty. This is a platform for end consumers to allow them to track & manage several loyalty programs & offers of brands in a single place & get recommendations while shopping. POIINK allows the clubbing of points across several participating brand programs, making points redemption easy for consumers. Till date, the app has over 100k downloads and continues to create milestone despite limited marketing. Tejas Kadakia is another Co-founder & Director – Sales (ex-AVP of BNP Paribas, New York). Often called the ‘Rainmaker’, he has mastered the art of making relations and business deals. His love for tech & innovation drives him to create strategies for next-gen products. He heads Sales & Business development for Easyrewardz with a core focus on West & South regions. He also onboards new strategic partners who can work as our vendors or resellers. can do so much” stands apt for Easyrewardz as this entity was co-founded by mavens who came from diverse professional backgrounds. The inspirational journey of these marvels gives a glimpse of how they realized their dream of building a castle together. Let’s unveil these personas and understand what makes them so unique! Completing this team is Sapan Kakadia - Co-founder & Director – Marketing & Operations. Over the years, his intuitive nature coupled with the analytical problem-solving approach has uniquely positioned him to overcome the obstacles in the professional-life scenarios. At Easyrewardz, he manages the strategic alliances including vendors who list As the Co-founder and CEO, Soumya Chatterjee (ex – CTO, Yebhi.com) is a start-up veteran with deep experience spanning geographies & verticals across strategy, technology or operations in these disciplines. As a CRM practitioner, he leads the product vision & strategy, which in turn also shapes the organization strategy of Easyrewardz. Prior to Easyrewardz, he The Team – Getting Up, Close, & Personal The famous quote by Helen Keller, - “Alone we can do so little; together we 22 MARCH 2019

25. Keeping Pace with the Future their products along with managing the resellers, who help the entity to connect with retailers to onboard their technology solutions. and launched it by end of 2012. However, it was still an uphill battle and a lot was yet to be accomplished! As the startup eco-system continues to flourish by each passing day, team Easyrewardz is quite optimistic about the future. The company plans to consolidate its business across India by upgrading the existing and new customers to the integrated CRM platform. Onboarding Resellers: Despite working on limited funds, they launched the next version within the next three months; however, the immediate concern was to create a reseller network. Lack of prior knowledge of the industry and creating the infrastructure in the market was again an uphill task and the core team had to devote a long time in convincing and finalizing these deals. Conquering the Challenges Every successful journey carries the imprints of the challenges and hiccups faced during the initial days and the same acts as a motivational force in creating new milestones for the future! While recalling the challenges, Easyrewardz has segregated the major issues under three categories that it had faced to withstand the complexities of the Startup Industry. Alongside having a continual progression in the MENA region, Easyrewardz plans to expand its footprints in the untouched territories of the APAC region through its reseller network. Analyzing the growth prospects in the international arena, it’s confident that around forty percent of the total revenue will be coming from the expanding overseas business in the next twenty-four months. By 2022, the entity plans to reach the pinnacle of success by cementing itself as a reputed leader in CRM for SMB in the India and APAC region. Working Environment: By 2014, the company started to deliver the solutions but soon realized that the ultimate challenge was to have a pool of talented resources and that too on limited budgets. As consistency of delivering quality and innovative services became a priority, flourishing a positive work-place environment was the need of the hour! All these efforts paid off well and the icing on the cake is that the first employee of Easyrewardz is still a part of the growing family. Raising Money: The foremost hurdle was to raise money and back in 2011, the venture capital industry was enthralled in an e-Commerce or B2C startup investment environment. The Enterprise tech sector under various segments – B2B, B2B2C, or SaaS had not gained momentum yet and the total available market for CRM in India was being earmarked at ~$200Mn. Left with limited options, it decided to bootstrap with some seed capital and built the first version of the core stack Alongside having a continual progression in the MENA region, Easyrewardz plans to expand its footprints in the untouched territories of the APAC region through its reseller network 23 MARCH 2019

26. 50 A Look At In 2019 The 9stacks A Synonymous Name Seamless Poker Experience C empire with its sheer determination and unified efforts – this not only counts the exclusive range of products and services but also the distinct approach which the company follows to outshine its competitors. Today, Enabling users to play poker – online, anytime, and anywhere is what best describes 9stacks. Recently, the company has been recognized as the “Hottest Startup to Work for in 2018” by an employment agency. Startups To Take for reating a niche in an industry, where trust and transparency is of utmost importance, 9stacks, India’s fastest online poker platform has built an Zivame.com. Abhinav is an IIT KGP alumnus and ex-BCG consultant, with over twelve years of experience with Accenture Strategy and the Boston Consulting Group. Rishab is an IIT KGP alumnus with over twelve years of experience in technology. He was the head of mobile technology for Nearbuy and CTO of 9monks and Blot Canvas. Setting the Chips Right! Team 9stacks consists of young individuals truly passionate about poker. Every Friday, the company organizes a poker evening where all the team members get together to brainstorm for newer ideas and play poker, which makes the work environment fun and challenging. Along with believing in the adage ‘work hard, party harder,’ the company also stands tall when it comes to work responsibility and accountability. 9stacks’ advocacy for poker as a recognized mind sport in the country is loud and clear and it has partnered with the All India Gaming Federation to take this to greater heights. Like any other startup, 9stacks also faced some teething troubles in the beginning. The biggest challenge was getting the word out in an industry with already established companies. Acknowledging this scenario, the company started introducing innovative online poker tournament formats and worked on launching highly achievable online poker cash races. It added a variety of goals and milestones with rewards to make the chase more exciting in its big cash grind contests for the users. The company took the largest contingent of poker players from India to Las Vegas during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) 2018. After that, it launched the Aussie100 Challenge which was spread across three months. This was a compete-against-yourself cash grind, where qualifiers won the Aussie package worth two Lakhs and fly to Melbourne, Australia during the Aussie Millions 2019 in January. Four Aces Ruling the Table Sudhir Kamath, Pratik Kumar, Abhinav Nigam,and Rishab Mathur are the Co-founders of 9stacks. All of them come from various professional backgrounds and each one has his core strengths in Marketing, Technology, Operations and Management. Sudhir is an IIM-A alumnus and ex-McKinsey consultant with over seventeen years of experience. Prior to 9stacks, he was also the CEO of Suntera Energy – a privately held oil and gas exploration company. Pratik is an IIT KGP alumnus, with over twelve years of experience in e-commerce and online marketing. He was the CMO of Nykaa.com and founding team member of On 11th January 2019, 9stacks took the Indian poker industry by storm when it announced the ‘version 2’ of the #LFGVegas promotion. #LFGVegas2.00 is spread across 4 24 MARCH 2019

27. Pratik Kumar Co-founder “You Play Safe With Us” months (11th Jan- 31st May 2019) and brings back the ‘compete-against-yourself’ grind that poker players enjoy so much. Participants have to play on cash tables, make atleast 50K points on the Vegas Board to win a trip to Las Vegas, the poker capital of the world. There are more milestones to be achieved and the prizes increase accordingly. Selling Poker Dreams The company is a data-driven and focused on what the poker players in India demand from an online playing platform. It is on its way to add innovative features in its menu. It recently launched a Skills Dashboard, where gamers can carry out in depth analyses of their own strategy, and become better poker players. A lot of poker players gave their feedback about their experience and how this has helped them evolve their poker game strategy on the table. On 5th February 2019, the company opened the doors for online poker tournament aficionados by launching its newest promotion, ‘Vegas in Rs 2’. With this, 9stacks has effectively taken online poker mainstream. Vegas in Rs 2 is the first promotion of its kind ever, to be launched by any poker company, in the India. The company has been steadily increasing the prize pools of its marquee tournaments and simultaneously the payouts in the cash grinds are getting bigger and better to attract more players. The winners will get to experience the poker capital of the world, Las Vegas, first hand during the 50th Anniversary edition of the World Series of Poker (WSOP), the world’s largest poker festival. 9stacks will fund flights, visa fees and accommodation for winners. The Pro Tips With its overwhelming experience, 9stacks advices the young to be – obsessed about growth, data driven, nimble, and frugal. It also advises them to keep a keen eye on its target group to generate profitable outcomes. 9stacks’ tournaments like Peti@FT and leaderboard contests like the Tournament Milestone, the Mini Tournament Milestone, Prime Time Leaderboard Challenge, are innovative formats that people enjoy participating in. Every week there are individual prizes worth 1 Lakh and more, won by leaderboard toppers. The Next Game Plan 9stacks is on a mission to be the biggest player in ‘real money’ gaming space. With an aim to bring more women players into the pool, the company took 9 women players this February 2018 to the Deltin Poker Tournament in Goa. In March 2018, 9stacks launched Ladies Night – India’s first women only, weekly poker tournament, to encourage women to discover and play poker. It would be exploring other gaming properties besides poker over the next few years. The company is working towards building a more responsible attitude towards gaming and will introduce some unique features in the near future. 25 MARCH 2019

30. CREDITMANTRI IGNITING THE LAMP OF FINANCIAL INDEPENDENCE T Mukherjee, Rajasundaram Sudarshan, and Ranjit Punja are the Co-founders of the company. Over the years, CreditMantri has evolved as a preferred choice for over 10.5 million customers who go along with the vision and mission of the company. To get more insights about the company’s prominent services and uniqueness, we bring you an exclusive interview with Gowri, Rajasundaram, and Ranjit. his abstract unveils the enthralling startup journey of CreditMantri Finserv Private Limited, one of the pioneers to embrace technology and innovation to set up a platform that caters to a diverse range of financial services.Bringing in over sixty years of combined business acumen in the area of banking services, Gowri 1. Kindly brief us about the company. CreditMantri uses data and technology to simplify credit decision making for both borrowers and lenders and facilitates financial growth for ALL – whether credit healthy, new to credit or credit challenged. Our mantra - “Credit Healthy toh Credit Wealthy” defines everything we do. We are a digital first company. Everyone, not just technology and data science teams think of how to make it easier, quicker for the user. Technology and Innovation has always been our strong suit – be it pioneering credit profiles using alternate data or co-creating credit products. CreditMantri leverages data and technology to transform the way credit is delivered in India. 2. Please tell us something about the Founder/CEO and his/her contribution towards the company. We are three co-founders – Gowri Mukherjee, R. Sudarshan and Ranjit Punja, with the common thread being that we all worked at Citibank for many years. The founders have diverse experience in digital banking/marketing, product & operations management, credit and collections management, technology and data science. Together the co-founders have over 60 years of banking experience, both in India and overseas. 3. Your perspective about the Startup world. Startups are extremely exciting, high energy, adrenaline-rush providing, high stress and very satisfying places to be. Besides being fully committed and passionate, one has to be wired a certain way to enjoy and 28 MARCH 2019

31. I N T E R V I E W Gowri Mukherjee, Rajasundaram Sudarshan, Ranjit Punja Co-founders thrive in the startup world. Some lessons learned so far on managing a high growth startup: • Vision is critical, but results matter more • Throw caution to the wind and GO FOR IT • Inspiration should move team members to serve customers better than the competition • Listening is often more important than talking • You cannot do it all yourself – surround yourself with innovative & collaborative high performers • Ditch the strategies that you love but that don’t work • Leadership gets more complex as the startup grows 4. Mention any awards and appreciations that your company has received. Listed below are a few of the awards that we received in 2018: • 100 Leading Fintech Companies Globally – presented by IFC and Stanford • Global Fintech 250 – presented by CB Insights • The Economic Times BFSI Innovation Tribe Award • The CII Connect Award for Exemplary Application of IT • The TIECon Award for Growth Story of The Year - 2018 29 MARCH 2019

32. 5. Please describe the journey of your organization so far. CreditMantri received its Series A funding in May 2015 from IDG, Elevar and Accion. In March 2017 we raised our Series B from Quona and NewID, besides participation from existing investors. We now have over 10.5 million customers, deal with over 55 financial institution partners and deliver this with team strength of 165. The entire team (except 2 team members) is based in our office in Chennai. 6. Kindly describe in detail about your distinct services and products. At CreditMantri, we offer a customer-centric digital credit platform where users are credit profiled and empowered to make better borrowing decisions. This platform also serves as an engine that helps lenders discover borrowers who meet their credit requirements. Based upon the completion of the credit profile our customers fall into the below listed categories where we offer them the services listed below: • If you are credit challenged – CreditMantri provides credit improvement services designed to resurrect your credit score and help you become credit healthy and regain access to new loans & credit cards • If you are credit healthy – CreditMantri helps select credit products that are best aligned to your incremental credit needs, and also helps you to save money on your existing credit obligations • If you are new to credit – CreditMantri helps obtain new credit by co-creating tailor-made products with lenders that utilize alternate data (in the absence of Bureau data) to help underwrite and verify applications received from customers in this segment CreditMantri also offers lenders with a credit decisioning tool (the Credit Gateway) that enables lenders to make instant and more efficient & cost-effective decisions about potential loan applicants using traditional and alternate data points that are gathered digitally. 7. What has been your game of plan to tackle the challenges in terms of changing trends, market players and innovations happening in the Startup industry? While tacking challenges is par for the course in running any business, provided below is our game plan in managing some of these: • Ensuring that there is a constant source of funding • Constantly innovating and striving to stay ahead • Making sure that the plan is being executed by a high caliber team • Building a brand that inspires confidence • Constantly managing to tight budgets and operating at high efficiency • Building strong relationships and partnerships Enlighten us about any new advancements and technologies that have had a huge impact on the Startup industry. 8. Specifically, in the Fintech world, the Digital India initiative combined with the India Stack enablers will enable Indians leapfrog even more developed economies. While there appear to be some more recent 30 MARCH 2019

33. roadblocks, these are likely to be cleared in short order making way for significant progress. Some of these enablers are listed below: • Aadhaar – ability to verify anyone with an Aadhaar, anytime and anywhere • Jan Dhan Yojana accounts – providing widespread affordable access to financial services • Increasing popularity/usage of smart phones • eKYC – ability to digitize the KYC process and go paperless • UPI – enables bank account holders to send/receive money instantly using smartphones • eSign – Signing any document electronically using Aadhaar Describe the unique solutions/products that make your company stand out amongst the rest. 9. CreditMantri is the only player offering services to every segment of the population – credit healthy, credit challenged and new to credit. We are the largest player helping the credit under- served segments, either by rebuilding their credit scores or by making available credit using alternate data to the hitherto new to credit segment. 10. What is your advice to the young entrepreneurs in the Startup Industry? • Dream big and throw yourself fully into what you love doing • Important to surround yourself with capable people who challenge you, who support you, and build long lasting relationships with them • Be a lifelong student – constantly learn and keep yourself updated • Have an obligation to guide others and help them rise • Stay healthy 11. How do you portray the future of your company? Tell us something about your upcoming solutions. Improving our offerings and products continuously is what makes our proposition compelling to users. We soon intend to have an offering for SME’s similar to our current offering for individuals. We will broaden our offering to traverse the entire gamut of financial services needs of an individual. We want to be synonymous with credit health. 31 MARCH 2019

34. Transforming Corporate Ground Transportation Management Landscape challenges related to long gestation period and policy change. Slowly and steadily, it has come a long way in making noteworthy contributions to the Ground Transport space. The company’s business plan showcases: Ashok Vashist Founder & CEO End-to-end Management of Employee Transport Solution. SLA based operations. Fleet, Team and Technology under one umbrella. FTE based Pricing. or Per Person per Trip pricing. Centralized Command-Centre for All-India Operations. Structured MIS and Dashboards for Management reviews. · E company providing end-to-end corporate mobility solutions with ground transportation, be it leasing, business rentals, employee transportation or car-pooling. Headquartered in Delhi, the company is on a mission to reduce CO2 emissions, reduce traffic congestions, and facilitate optimum utilization of resources. It is an integrated managed services provider for MNC’s offering solutions related to transport desk and implementation of thought leadership guidelines, selection of right vendors for sourcing of wheels, etc. · · stablished in 2015, Aaveg Management Services Pvt. Ltd. is a one-of-its-kind as transport policy design, vendor management process, floating RFP, training of transport desks & drivers, and ERP technology solutions. Currently, it is focusing on helping the corporate commuters in surpassing the challenges related to safety and security, reducing road congestion levels, and optimizing utilization of transportation resources. The company is also lending a helping hand to the Indian Government in building up the right kind of infrastructure for the smart cities transportation project. It prominently focuses on contracting and managing SLA-based operations on ground along with delivering MSP for transport. · · · · Over the years, the company has been bestowed with various accolades including Company of the Year 2018 India by CIO Review and Asia’s Greatest Brands and Leaders by PWC in 2017. An Ambitious Entrepreneur Aaveg is amongst the few companies in India having ISO certifications 9001: 2015 for Ground Transport Operations. The company provides consulting and advisory services such During its initial days, Aaveg consistently focused on its key deliverables / direct benefits to customers and targeting the right audience in order to dismantle the Ashok Vashist is the Founder and CEO of Aaveg Management Services Pvt. Ltd. Mathematics graduate from Mahatma Gandhi University; he also holds a Post Graduate degree in 32 MARCH 2019

35. aggressively expanding its business footprint in India and acquainting businesses and government bodies in urban cities with modern tech-driven tools and processes. optimization can lead an organization towards achieving higher milestones. 50 A Look At In 2019 Words of Wisdom The In order to reach the peak, Aaveg advices the present day enterprises to: · Offer flexible work timings · Provide benefits to commuters · Make processes easy · Pay heed to employee’s preferences · Clearly communicate the policies · Providing proper employee commute Along with this, the company also embraces some crucial measures for keeping the team motivated which include: • Be Transparent • Lead by example • Radiate positive energy • Give and follow purpose • Reward based on feedback • Prioritize life and work balance • Have an open door policy • Let them lead • Create a bigger picture and show them • Create recognition rituals Startups To Take Management from International Management Institute, Delhi. He has a huge experience of successfully exhibiting a host of leadership positions across sales and marketing landscape. Ashok has been associated with renowned brands like Hertz & Eurocar rental business for International Travel House an ITC Group company. He has an exemplary expertise in Team Management, New Business Development, Sales Management, and Operations Management. At Aaveg, his chief responsibilities comprises of Brand Management and Corporate Development. With an aim to assist Aaveg in creating a prominent niche in the corporate mobility space, Ashok is confident that every 3rd vehicle will be an Aaveg vehicle in years to come. The company advices the young minds to: Be a risk taker Keep enhancing your knowledge Find your passion Know your market Get your finances in order Prepare to make sacrifices Find a mentor Tune up your business knowledge Be a planner · · Tactics to Maximize the Returns on Minimum Investment · · · · · · Listed below are some of the tactics to gain maximum returns with minimum investment: - Advanced routing - Clubbing multiple picks and drops - Using Fleet Management Technology · A Futuristic Approach Apart from all this, Ashok also played a vital role in managing transportation activities during the commonwealth games held in India, and is recognized by AsiaOne (PWC) as the leader in Transport category. • Vehicle tracking (usually GPS based) Mechanical diagnosis to gather data on mileage and fuel consumption Remote vehicle disabling system Fleet replacement and cycle management The managed corporate mobility solutions are experiencing massive demand in India and the market is expected to grow with a CAGR of 25% till 2022. As such, Aaveg is majorly focusing to improve and optimize the employee transportation. With its state- of-the-art technology it has effectively managed to hold the reins of its curated menu of solutions. Subsequently, the company is planning to venture into the community commuting and traffic management space. Additionally, it is also working on effective deployment of Electric Vehicles which will help in controlling the pollution menace. • • • What’s so Unique? Aaveg visualizes creating a perfect and highly optimized corporate mobility infrastructure that is efficient, effective, and ecologically sustainable. The firm envisages an ownership of 33% fleet in Indian enterprise mobility market. In order to achieve these overarching objectives, Aaveg has been - Monitoring the driver’s behaviour - Real-time metrics - Automated billing - Data analysis Adopting these strategies and harvesting the best out of cost 33 MARCH 2019

38. Interview with Insights Success ThoughtBit A Young Technology Firm Decoding Business Problems Siddharthan Panneerselvam CEO - The MasterMind Rajeshwaran Venugopal CTO - The Technocrat Sai Santhosh CCO - The PolyMath 36 MARCH 2019

39. C analytics requirements. Established in 2017, by Siddharthan Panneerselvam – CEO, Rajeshwaran Venugopal – CTO, and Sai Santhosh – CCO, its mission is to provide cutting-edge data-driven solutions by nurturing ingenuity and fortifying customer relationships. To get more details about the services and uniqueness the company offers, we bring you an exclusive interview. atering innovative Enterprise Software solutions across various industry verticals, ThoughtBit is a one-stop shop for compliance and business control systems, mobile applications and productivity enhancement tools. Rajesh holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Mathematics from University of Madras. Sai Santhosh, the Polymath, is the Go-To person for a variety of things, be it adopting new technology or preparing marketing content or running a focused campaign. Santhosh handles Customer Engagement at ThoughtBit, and ensures every customer is attended to with utmost care and attention. He is the key to each customer becoming a flag-bearer of ThoughtBit. He has single- handedly developed and deployed mobile applications using modern tech-stack. Santhosh holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science Engineering from Anna University. Kindly brief us about the company. ThoughtBit Technologies was founded in 2017 with focus on Enterprise Software. Founders of the organization bring in more than thirty-five years of industry expertise. They have worked with many Fortune 500 clients on mission- critical assignments. Your perspective about the Startup world. The Indian Startup Ecosystem is undeniably a growth story in the making. There is a spurt of activities in recent years with increasing technology adoption, strong government support, availability of abundant talent and higher infusion of funds. Many startups deal with the latest technology trends where the full potential may not be realized today, but will turn out to be game-changers in the near future. Startups, investors, customers and all stakeholders are bound to reap rich rewards. India will soon become a world leader in skilled work through startups, going beyond traditional IT outsourcing. ThoughtBit focuses on Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offerings for the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) segment. It delivers technology solutions to empower SMEs and ameliorate their growth on a rapid trajectory. The organization’s vision is to be a Data-Driven SME Accelerator serving 10000 businesses by 2022. Please tell us something about the Core Team and their contribution towards the company. Siddharthan Panneerselvam, the Mastermind, is a veteran in Information Technology with two decades of industry expertise. He oversees Operations, Finance and Business Development at ThoughtBit. Sid was part of Global Leadership Cadre in his previous organisation, an elite task- force comprising leaders of the future. He was driving strategy and growth for Latin America, with special focus on Banking and Financial Services. He has headed large- scale strategic programs including Core Banking Transformation, Internet Banking Modernisation, Financial Services Centre of Excellence and Payments Innovation Lab. He was runner-up of Economic Times Young Leaders 2011. Sid is a Post-Graduate from Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad. Please describe the journey of your organization so far. ThoughtBit started in early 2017 to enable Small and Medium Enteprises to move in the right direction at a fast clip. With the advent of Goods and Services Tax (GST), SMEs were having problems in understanding the nuances and staying compliant. ThoughtBit team gathered exhaustive intelligence by meeting a large number of businesses and understanding the exact nature of challenges. There was a clear gap in the solutions offered by existing products in the market. Armed with this knowledge, ThoughtGST was built grounds-up and launched with minimal fanfare on 15 August 2018. This compliance platform is now used by a number of SMEs, especially those who handle a large volume of invoices routinely. The platform also helps GST Practitioners to ensure complete compliance for all their clients. th Rajeshwaran Venugopal, the Technocrat, has participated in a wide array of technology challenges in a career spanning 16 years and came out successful in every instance. Rajesh heads Technology and Innovation at ThoughtBit, infusing the culture of solving customer problems with a pioneering spirit. In his previous avatar, Rajesh was Product Head at a successful media-tech startup, and led end-to-end development of multiple solutions including monitoring and The next suite of products will continue to focus on a complete overhaul of the technology landscape for SMEs and put them on a super-fast growth track. 37 MARCH 2019

40. Kindly describe in detail about your distinct services and products. How do you reshape and transform a new tax system that is less than 2 years old? Step in ThoughtGST! ThoughtGST is a one-stop-shop for all GST compliance needs. Core mantra is 100% Compliance, 100% On Time, 100% Savings. The focus is on creating the best experience for users to prepare and file timely returns within minutes while ensuring zero anomalies. For instance, reporting sales volume accurately and claiming Input Tax Credit (ITC) correctly are two critical parts of the return filing, as these directly dictate the amount of tax to be paid. ThoughtGST seamlessly enables these activities. increased cost-efficiency, thereby leveling the field for startups to compete on par with large enterprises. Social media is becoming an absolute necessity. Startups with a clear game-plan have a significant advantage. Technologies like AI, ML, IoT and VR will cause disruptions. Startups understand this, but could still be unprepared. Awareness combined with agility will open up new avenues. Describe the unique solutions/products that make your company stand out amongst the rest. The devil is in the data! ThoughtBit has ingrained methodologies of Data-Driven Intelligence into its core. ThoughtGST’s Smart Reconciliation is an example. It analyses huge volume of invoice data in seconds and identifies problems related to payments, tax credits and compliance. ThoughtAI, an Artificial Intelligence powered data engine, forms the core of ThoughtGST and addresses numerous challenges with minimal human intervention. Some of the salient features include: Seamless GST returns filing at the click of a few buttons ThoughtBit’s clients are a critical part of the differentiation and growth cycle. ThoughtGST is enhanced regularly based on user inputs. This inclusive approach has created opportunities to design unique customer-oriented solutions. Technology adoption is relatively low with Indian SMEs, but the trend is changing with second and third generation entrepreneurs. Business owners are realizing the positive impact of technology. Yet challenges are abundant when guiding them through a transformative journey. It involves empowering them and their teams to assess more data than ever easily and gain meaningful insights. ThoughtBit is at the forefront of dealing with this tough landscape and delivering success through its SME Accelerator. GST data retrieval from ERP systems in one click Configurable Smart Reconciliation with built-in ThoughtAI acumen Automatic calculation of Input Tax Credit (ITC) Multi-User Multi-Company model Secure access to data anytime, anywhere on any device What has been your game of plan to tackle the challenges in terms of changing trends, market players and innovations happening in the Startup industry? In today’s high-tech era, change is inevitable. GST rules and regulations are a good example. There is a need to identify the impact of change and adapt quickly, in order to sustain and move ahead. The market always offers multiple solutions to similar problems. It has become an unfortunate trend to first pick up the latest fashionable technologies and then go looking for problems to solve and customers to serve. ThoughtBit’s motto has always been to identify core problems of customers first and solve those in unique and intuitive ways with the aid of technology. What is your advice to the young entrepreneurs in the Startup Industry? Do what you love! Start as early as possible, but probably not right after college – unless you have a validated idea and a great team in place. It would be better if young aspirants gain some expertise in their field of interest before starting up. If they work in a startup environment, that’s even better. How do you portray the future of your company? Tell us something about your upcoming solutions. We will achieve our vision to serve 10000 SMEs in 3 phases in close collaboration with our customers: Enlighten us about any new advancements and technologies that have had a huge impact on the Startup industry. Cloud Computing has enabled startups to reduce the timeframe between ideation and production. It has also Phase 1: Complete Compliance – accounting, taxation and legal needs. 38 MARCH 2019

41. Phase 2: Operations Optimizer – web presence, brand building and business expansion. Adopt measures like hybrid cloud and IoT to improve Machine-to-Machine communication, enhance control and optimise costs Phase 3: Factory Floor Enhancer – efficiency improvement and modernization of workplace. Derive meaningful business insights using Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. In each phase, our focus will be on acquiring data and efficiently using it to: Future is Bright! Future is ThoughtBit! Automate processes to improve efficiency and enhance accuracy 39 MARCH 2019

42. Saurabh Tandon Co-founder & COO About the Author Saurabh Tandon is the Co-founder and COO at BetterPlace – a tech platform for the lifecycle management of India’s blue-collar workforce. He is an industry veteran, a global strategic leader and an entrepreneur. Having done his MBA from Kellogg School of Management, Chicago, he has held leadership roles at organisations like Mu Sigma. He blends his expertise of analytics and data science with his vision of creating a better place for the next billion Indians by helping them migrate into the formal economy. 40 MARCH 2019

43. Expert’s Voice W changing rather slowly. In particular, the life of over 45 crore Indians who work in informal blue-collar job roles such as automobile drivers, construction, maids, logistics etc. and the 65 crore Indians who are the agricultural backbone of the country continue to face challenges such as financial exclusion, poor skill sets and lack of dignity of labour. ith over 135 crore Indians and a multi-level social hierarchy like no other, Indian society has always been fascinating. In the last few decades, there has been clear progress in many areas such as economic productivity and adoption of technology, but some dimensions are However, initiatives such as Aadhaar, mobile penetration and government focus initiatives such as Skill India have also enabled possibilities that one could not envision even a decade ago for this segment aka the ‘next billion’. Using these platforms, a transformation must begin to help these people climb the socio-economic ladder and escape the vicious cycle of poor skills leading to poor wages and continued services exclusion. The responsibility falls upon businesses that continue to be key job generators but are unable to do much more than that. Our study found businesses to have the intent to solve these issues but the inability to execute at scale given challenges such as rampant attrition which leads to workers leaving jobs regularly for just a few hundred rupees of monthly increment. It is also no secret that job-satisfaction leads to improved performance, but this is not just about incentive – it is also about working conditions and much more. The floor for retention today is no longer limited to a providing a job and reasonable compensation – it extends to include things like feeling valued, being listened to, and the ease and possibility of advancement. Statistics show that Indian blue-collar workers tend to skip work and/or frequently switch jobs. The segment has an incredible attrition rate of 80-150%. The key contributors to this phenomenon are the high demand for blue-collared workers and that employees do not experience a sense of loyalty to the business. Workers have no incentive to stay with a company when they can easily find another job after gaining some experience for slightly better wages. The solution is to enrich technical and soft-skill sets through on-the-job training. This will make employees feel that they have gained value from being a part of the company and are therefore not as likely to switch jobs. With smartphones now costing as little as Rs.2000, this is best done digitally through smartphone apps. Employees will not be unproductive while they learn as they would if they went to a physical training center, and the cost of training to the employer reduces significantly as well. As industry becomes more and more customer- centric employees with soft-skills are now invaluable. This is a win-win as employers benefit from more competent employees and employees themselves experience job-stability along with potential career advancement through skill-acquisition. Perhaps the biggest way to foster loyalty is to help blue-collared workers where they hurt most – their financial condition. This segment experiences financial exclusion (inability to acquire loans) due to lack of data (credit history). Wages paid in cash combined with wage rates that result in hand-to-mouth situations where income is spent as it is earned. Therefore, there is no incentive to open bank accounts – which means no credit history. However, the advent of the Aadhaar card and the recent 41 MARCH 2019

44. demonetization situation which gave rise to a plethora of cashless transaction options such as Paytm, financial inclusion is now actually possible. The key to this is information – making wage and salary payments through cashless transactions creates credit history which makes loans, healthcare etc. a possibility. Unevolved hiring practices, paper-based management and a general lack of organization are also severe bottlenecks to business efficiency as well as to the career progress and quality of life of blue-collar employees. Not utilizing digitalized hiring processes that intelligently verify potential employees through proper multi-factor background checks is cancerous to businesses and to employees. Only hiring processes that verify against digital databases are trustworthy and provide quality data about a potential employee as paper-based processes are time consuming, cumbersome, and susceptible to data- manipulation. IT based verification processes standardize requirements of employee reliability which enables employers to hire only quality candidates. This also promotes better work ethic and can potentially improve employee careers in the long run. Another potential trend that would improve business efficiency is if organizations start abandoning paper-based attendance management systems (which can be manipulated) in favor of ‘smart’ tech-based ones which ensure that employees comply with company policy. To conclude, India is steadily moving forward - but some things will not change until those in a position to incite change actively do so. With intelligence and action employer problems of attrition, poor attendance and poor performance can be solved while simultaneously solving common issues such as an unfulfilling work life, financial exclusion and a lack of dignity of labor. It seems that businesses which seek to improve the lives of their employees are more likely to flourish than those that ignore their social responsibility to enrich their workers’ lives. It is the responsibility of business to utilize the phenomenon of digital penetration to propel our society and economy and this can only be done with active participation. 42 MARCH 2019

46. Abhay Gupta Co-founder and COO Sumesh Nair Co-founder and CEO Board Infinity A Catalyst for Career Acceleration uniquely. This is where Board Infinity stands tall along with its highly passionate team, embarked upon the mission of accelerating careers through personalized coaching, career discovery, training, and placement opportunities with the help of its diversified network of coaches. Embracing each opportunity with the utmost prominence, the company focuses on: Students ∞ Coaches – Enable meaningful connections between students and coaches. Colleges ∞ Employers – Coach and train college students and provide employers with business-ready talent. Students ∞ Employers – Connect talent to the right opportunities. E stablished in 2017, Board Infinity is a full-stack career platform for students and jobseekers enabled by personalized learning paths, career coaches, and access to opportunities. Assisted by industry experts, it is an online career coaching platform for higher education aiming to bridge the students and the industries. Creating synergies by connecting the right partners, the company intends to build a platform in order to defy the conventions and redefine the learning landscape. The Dynamic Duo Abhay Gupta and Sumesh Nair are the Co-founders of Board Infinity. Being the alumni of the prestigious SPJIMR (S. P. Jain Institute of Management And Research), both have astounding expertise in business and management. While Abhay acts a prominent pillar by being the COO, A career is a personal journey which needs to be crafted 44 MARCH 2019

47. 50 A Look At In 2019 The technology and retail industry, Sumesh was a Senior Consultant in PwC US Advisory. Startups To Take ‘ ‘ About Board Infinity In August 2018, Board Infinity launched its Beta version and scaled to 15000+ users in two months by partnering with more than 45 colleges and 9 companies. With consistent dedication and unified efforts since the launch, the company has successfully cherished 3000+ Students ∞ 700+ Coaches, 400+ Colleges ∞ 140+ Employers, and 700+ Students ∞ 140+ Employers. Real experts to guide students Some jobs are exclusively hosted on the platform Guaranteed interviews for learners Ability to choose multiple learning paths for different job roles Exclusive long term partnerships with coaches Partnerships with premium institutions like XLRI, IIMs, NMIMS, and SDA Bocconi Ability to make informed decisions in career post higher education and access to opportunity Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Our mission is to personalize your career journey, help you realize true potential, and meet your career dreams Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ Be it a career transition, first job, campus placements preparation or any career guidance, Board Infinity has emerged as a one-stop solution for all the career requirements. Currently, the company works onboarding customers through referrals, word of mouth and job sites. Its coaches are industry experts selected from over 50+ diversified fields. These professionals discover the talent of the masses and help unleash their potential to say ‘Ready. Set. Go’. In these two years of the daunting voyage, the company has been recognized by various media publications including Edtech Review, Your Story, Entrepreneur Magazine and Startup Success Stories to name a few. Sumesh is stirring the organization as the CEO. Giving autonomy of time and task for employees and continuously motivating them to withstand the complexities of the market with a larger vision is the company’s forte. Coming from a Tier 2 city, the duo brings in a strong execution and strategy experience. Sumesh has been a trainer in learning and development teams, TIME, IMS, and Career Launcher. They have spent two years understanding the market before entering the business world. They discovered the opportunity in the career management space with an aim to help individuals on their career journey and established Board Infinity. To be precise, Board Infinity is defined by a team of achievers and go-getters – a combination of young and bright minds, who are the primary reason for its success. Words of Wisdom Board Infinity advices the young minds to focus on their dreams and never give up on them. Also, making concrete efforts to solve one problem at a time would create opportunities and unlock the doors of success. The company assists students in defining their dream job, help them build a great career and achieve their career goals. It provides tailored career advice and coaching which can be accessed online completely. It also provides aptitude tests to gauge the aspirant’s knowledge and skills, to patch them up with a relevant industry coach for becoming business ready. The competitive advantages checklist includes: Ÿ Building intelligence through expert and student interactions Apart from placing the cornerstones of the company, the co-founders also have experience of working with various organizations. Abhay was a Category Manager of the Future Group. On the other hand, with strategy and operations experience as a Management Consultant in the The Future Goals Striving with the same philosophy to pass on erudite earth to the Gen Z, Board Infinity is on its way to build the world’s first AI career coach and revolutionize the learning landscape. 45 MARCH 2019

48. Bridging the Digital Divide in India Rohit Bagaria Founder & CVO E transform the ReCommerce industry. The company plays a pivotal role in enabling the clientele (consumers and businesses) to buy as well as resell their used gadgets like smartphones, tablets, laptops etc. in a socially and environmentally responsible manner. Living by its name Budli – change, the company is working with a vision to revolutionize the Re-commerce landscape by filling the loopholes in the digital space and reducing e-waste. The company sells certified pre-owned refurbished gadgets at competitive pricing with warranty and guaranteed buy back across the country. With concrete endeavors and will, Today, Budli successfully operates across stablished in 2015, Budli Internet Pvt. Ltd. is a pioneering company striving to 25,000 pin codes with over 325,000 registered users pan India. to its glory is its list of awards including CNBC Business Excellence Award, EO Startup of the Year and Business Leadership Award. Embracing new-age technologies and delivering trust, convenience, and value-for-money to the buyers and sellers is what best describes the company. By using Dynamic Instant Pricing System (DIPS), maintaining partnerships with e-commerce companies and 1000+ offline retailers for exchange, it offers users which best suits their portfolio. B2B selling to companies with guaranteed buyback has made Budli a one-of-its-kind brand in its sector. Meet the Zentrepreneur Rohit Bagaria is the Founder and CVO ofBudli. He has completed is education from UC Berkeley, California and St. Xavier’s, Kolkata. He is a seasoned zentrepreneur on a mission to provide technology access to the masses through re-commerce at ease. Rohit has more than one-and-a- half decade of experience in various sectors including software startup in Silicon Valley, manufacturing and international B2B sales across 35 countries, and e-commerce in India, China and the US. Since inception, the company has featured in various renowned media publications like BBC, CNBC, and Fortune Magazine. Adding more spice 46 MARCH 2019

49. 50 A Look At In 2019 The Startups To Take “We help you responsibly dispose off your used gadgets” Rohit has earned several awards and has been featured in various national and international media publications. He is also invited to speak at various forums including Indian Institute of Management Bangalore and Calcutta. Apart from all this, Rohit is passionate about writing and is also the author of a book titled ‘Embrace Change’. experiments to validate them and measure the results in order to roll out out-of-the-box solutions for the clientele. Being a tech-focused company, it consistently endeavours to embrace technology to the core. This helps the company to empower its proprietary tech platform for efficient transactions. The Initial Journey Budli’s WhatsApp AI Chatbot – BELA offers customer support and solves customer queries with utmost proficiency. Providing employees the necessary guidance and freedom to operate along the way gives it an edge over the competitors. “In life, we regret more of the things we do not do than the things we do. Unless we are prepared to fail, we cannot succeed,” says Rohit. The customers save upto 66% compared to new or rented devices when aligned with the company. Get it Right! For Rohit, entering into the business world with a vision to improve the selling experience, where the e-commerce space was focusing on the buying experience was not an easy task. His idea was to provide an instant price discovery mechanism, offer free shipment pickup across India and prompt direct payment to the user after verification of the device. Acknowledging the unsolved problem, finding a tech-enabled logistical way to solve it and understanding the viability and scalability of the business, led to the foundation of Budli. Rohit believes thatClarity, Certainty, and Purpose to stand against all odds are the keys to unlock the doors leading to success.Apart from all this, patience, perseverance and passion are also essential to withstand the market complexities. “I believe that entrepreneurs overcome their problems using these strengths along the way,” asserts Rohit. Besides, the long-term success of any company depends on its vision and core values, which can never be replicated. Building a POC and MVP without a professional team and financial backup was a major challenge for Rohit. Slowly and steadily his concrete efforts outsourced the website, successfully. Now, the website was aboard but had no firm marketing approach to reach the masses. His conviction and abilities to improve the selling experience helped him to outshine every barrier coming his way. Stirring comprehensive operations related to tech, marketing, product design, finance, sales, packing and delivery, Rohit converted every challenge into an opportunity and stepped towards scripting his own success story through Budli. Future is Now Re-commerce is in the same space where e-commerce was a decade ago. Some of the key challenges have also been similar as that of being a category creator. These include creating awareness, building credibility and in reverse logistics. The evolution of the whole eco system including the growth of e-commerce and organized retail in India is helping solve these problems. Re-commerce market is flooded with opportunities as well as challenges. Acknowledging this scenario, Budli is continuously embracing new-age technologies to expand its online presence. On the other hand, it is also focusing on expanding its offline existence with the help of its partners. More about Budli “We try to find technology related solutions which are sustainable and scalable,” says the founder. Budli objectifies the loopholes through its novel design thinking process, ideate on creating solutions, run 47 MARCH 2019

50. Using Technology for Reimagining Banking Services for the Masses limited literacy. Most traditional financial services in India create products first, and then try to appropriate customers within the product requirements. For instance, the credit application process for both an INR 10,000/- loan and an INR 1,00,000/- loan were similar, despite the wide margins. This resulted in long waiting time and high rejection ratio for small loans. This was a time consuming and costly affair for both the customer and the bank. Hence banks were unwilling to provide additional services to customers with low-value/volume of savings. Spadika Jayaraj Associate – Network Partnerships F technology has made banking services accessible to all segments of society with extensive reach at much lower costs in a timely and efficient manner. intech companies are revolutionizing and reimagining the way banking services are made available to consumers in India. The use of However, innovations by Fintech companies has made it possible for them to reach customers like Laxmi Devi in an affordable, timely and efficient manner. Accessibility and reach: Mobile technology has made it possible for Fintech firms to reach out to over one billion mobile phone users in India across geographies, across segments. In parallel, low cost internet data allows for cost- effective channels to reach out to a wider group of people. Most banking services today, such as checking bank balance or money transfers, a customer can now access financial service providers through their mobile app or desktop. For instance, SME Corner which offers loans to the unorganized retail sector can now reach small entrepreneurs such as vegetable vendors through their app. Lakshmi Devi,52, has owned a small Kirana shop for the past 15 years in a small village on the outskirts of Mumbai. In her free time, she also takes up tailoring assignments to supplement her earnings. Laxmi Devi, like most others in her village, has a low cost smart phone which she uses for both her entertainment and information needs. Lakshmi recently learnt how to check her bank account and transfer money through her mobile, it saves her the monthly trip to the bank and a working day. Her neighbour recently took loan from a company by applying through the phone, she is exploring the idea as well. Fintech companies employ flexible technology backends that are adaptable to needs of various consumer groups including corporate employees or unorganized labor. In addition, fintech firms offer services on mobile apps in regional languages, explaining their products and Until recently, this would have been a distant dream for Lakshmi Devi and many like her. Even accessing simple bank account services meant having to travel to the district level bank branches, standing in long queues or grappling with complex forms incomprehensible to customers with 48 MARCH 2019