Tag: Indian Startups

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Business motivation

Aspiring to Become a Successful Entrepreneur? PM Narendra Modi Shares This Basic Mantra

बिजनेस सफल उद्यमी
सफल उद्यमी

Every entrepreneur aspires to become successful. Being successful often means learning from those who have already achieved their goals. For any entrepreneur, having a mentor is an amazing blessing. However, not everyone can find one! As the country is battling the coronavirus pandemic, many businesses across the country have suffered greatly during the crisis. Many entrepreneurs, who have strived hard to fulfil their dreams, have suffered hardships during the ongoing pandemic. Several business are now limping back to normalcy during this challenging time. Many startups are now managing to survive in the market as entrepreneurs have found ways and means to get their businesses going.

On Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi shared a few noteworthy tips for aspiring entrepreneurs. During the 8th Convocation of Pandit Deendayal Petroleum University, Gandhinagar in Gujarat on Saturday, the Prime Minister addressed the students and told them to consider this pandemic a new opportunity to move forward and aspire of doing great things in life. He asked the students to have purpose in life and stressed that it’s not that successful people don’t have problems, but the one who accepts challenges, confronts them, defeats them, solves problems, only succeeds.

The Prime Minister added those who take on challenges, later succeed in life and cited an example of the youth of the 1922-47 period, who sacrificed everything for freedom. He urged the students to live for the country and join the movement of Atmanirbhar Bharat and develop a sense of responsibility. The Prime Minister remarked that the seed of success lies in a sense of responsibility and a sense of responsibility should be turned to the purpose of life. He pointed out that the same people are successful in life, do something by which there is a sense of responsibility in their lives. Those who fail are the ones who live in the Sense of Burden.

The Prime Minister added a sense of responsibility also gives rise to a sense of opportunity in a person’s life. He said India is progressing ahead in many sectors and young graduates must march ahead with commitment and stressed on protecting nature and the environment.

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Startup

Startup Registrations at GeM Portal Doubles in Past 1 Year Giving a Major Boost to Make in India Initiative

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

New Delhi, November 21: The startup registration at the Government e-Marketplace (GeM), the public procurement portal, has more than doubled in the past one year, reports said. The registration of the startups have witnessed a spike and has doubled to 7,438 in just one year as they are receiving many orders from government departments and public sector units, a senior official said. The Government e-Marketplace (GeM) was launched in August 2016 for online purchase of goods and services by all the central government ministries and departments.

GeM CEO Talleen Kumar was quoted by PTI saying that providing increased market access to seller groups like startups, and MSEs has reinforced Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Make in India initiative. “We now have 48,038 buyers, 7.42 lakh sellers with 2.42 lakh MSEs (micro and small enterprises), 7,438 startups, 10,252 product categories, and 173 service categories. One year ago, we had 40,275 buyers, 2.98 lakh sellers, 59,536 MSMEs, and 3,509 startups”.

The official further added saying that the startups have fulfilled orders worth over Rs 1,800 crore through the marketplace. He added saying that the GeM is taking a number of steps so that more and more startups, MSMEs, artisans and weavers can register their goods and services on this platform. “Presently, over 20,000 artisans and 1.2 lakh weavers have registered so far as sellers and are uploading products in their relevant categories,” Kumar added.

Talking about the steps taken for startups across India, the officials said that the GeM portal started a ‘Startup Runway’ so that these entrepreneurs can showcase their innovative products and solutions, and they can also list multiple products with minimal technical specifications. The official said , he said a new and advanced version of the platform will be launched soon which will have powerful features and availability of big ticket items to attract large buyers like PSUs, Railways and Defence.

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Startup

Startup Hub in Odisha to Be Set Up by March 2021, Aims to Create Employment Opportunities for Youth in State

Startup

Bhubaneswar, November 16: With an aim to give a major fillip to startups in Odisha, the Naveen Patnaik government in the state has decided to set up a startup hub. The hub, comprising of common facilities and will be set up by March 2021 and aims to create employment opportunities for youth in the state.

An official aware of the development said that the government has also given its in-principle approval to provide financial assistance to five startups and four incubators. “With the completion of the new startup hub by March 2021, it would be a centre of excellence with co-working space, laboratory and common services under one roof,” the official said.

According to reports, the decision for setting up the hub was taken at a State Startup Council Meeting chaired by Chief Secretary AK Tripathy in Odisha on November 13. During the meeting, the state government gave its in- principle approval for providing financial assistance of around Rs 2.88 crore to five startups and four incubators, the official added. Tripathy also directed officials to make a third-party assessment on the outcomes of the financial assistance to these units.

In Odisha, the number of startup ventures have gone up to 774, which created 6,000 employment opportunities. Moreover, a financial assistance of over Rs 15 crore has been provided to 196 startups and incubators, he added. The chief secretary also asked them to strengthen the startup eco-system in Odisha through a strategic partnership and policy intervention. “The council recognised the first startup in June 2017. The number has increased to 774, including 250 women-led units, by November 2020,” the official said.

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Technology

Facebook Rolls Out ‘SMB Guide’ to Help 9 Million Indian SMBs in Building Digital Presence and Reaching Potential Customers Online

Facebook (Photo Credits: Pexels)

New Delhi, November 4: With an aim to help the micro and small businesses in India to limp back to normalcy, social media giant Facebook on Wednesday rolled out a dedicated offline to online ‘SMB Guide’. In order to help these businesses recover from the pandemic-induced crisis, Facebook has come up with new resources to help make this journey frictionless for them. Reports inform that this offline to online SMB Guide for India is free and publicly available. However, the social networking giant is also proactively reaching out to nine million small businesses across the country to ensure it reaches the businesses who need it the most.

The SMB Guide is available in Hindi as well as in English in order to support a large number of businesses across distinct geographies. Archana Vohra, Director Small and Medium Businesses, Facebook India, said in a statement said that the new resources are geared to helping the smallest of businesses across geographies to move from offline to online with minimum effort. “”While the offline to online SMB Guide is publicly available, we are proactively reaching out to 9 million small businesses across India to ensure timely support”, she said.

The SMB Guide:

According to a report by IANS, the SMB Guide has been designed to provide a step-by-step direction on how the smallest of businesses can build a digital presence quickly, and reach potential customers online. The guide covers Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and key themes such as building an online presence, mobile storytelling, social media advertising, and creative and performance strategies.

The social networking giant said it is also rolling out the next leg of ‘Boost with Facebook’, a skilling and learning programme for scaling young businesses. The programme went virtual earlier this year, and is now going vernacular, and will be delivered primarily in Hindi through Facebook Live sessions. One of the key themes discussed during Boost with Facebook will be how small businesses can build for Diwali and the festive season beyond it, the company said.

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Startup Student Webinar

WE Hub Selects 89 Indian Startups for Second Cohort of ‘Her&Now’ Programme

Startup
Startup

Hyderabad, October 23: As many as 89 startups have been selected for the second cohort of the ‘Her&Now’ programme by WE Hub, which is India’s first state-led incubator to foster and promote women entrepreneurship. The selected startups that have been shortlisted out of 600 applications  include Envi Robotics, Nuture Fields, Ladoo Box, Venica Herbals, ASARA Products, Verma Foods, Lesperanzau and SR Silks. According to a report by IANS, the pitching process had close to 150 women entrepreneurs out of 600 applicants, and each pitch was evaluated across 14 selection criteria like domain knowledge, digital literacy, potential to scale, impact, innovation, business feasibility etc., with external jury members in the panel, WE Hub said.

The acceleration programme is a six-month programme to help formally registered, women-led, for-profit enterprises from tier2 and 3 cities of Telangana to scale up. Reports inform that each entrepreneur was allowed for pitching followed by a 10-minute Q&A session. The programme will have an incubation program for seven months to help women entrepreneurs who have been running an informal enterprise or are a part of a group enterprise and now want to start up on their own and establish their enterprises.

About the Project:

  1. Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH is implementing the project ‘Economic Empowerment of Women Entrepreneurs and Start-ups by Women (Her&Now)’ on behalf of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).
  2. The programme is in partnership with the Indian Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship (MoSDE).
  3. It aims to support aspiring and existing women entrepreneurs in India.
  4. For over 60 years, GIZ GmbH has been working with partners in India for sustainable economic, ecological, and social development.

Background:

The first cohort of 30 start-ups from Telangana graduated in August by formally registering their enterprises and raising finances through credit linkages and equity investments. “We are happy to witness an escalated participation of women entrepreneurs from 28 to 89 into our innovation ecosystem. With WE Hub, we look forward to foster and supporting many more entrepreneurs in the future,” said Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary (ITE &C), Government of Telangana.

Deepthi Ravula, CEO, WE Hub, was quoted in reports saying that the journey from a minimal viable product or solution to a successful start-up is a not an easy one. “We are deeply committed to supporting the women entrepreneurs as they prepare to launch and grow their ventures. Our partnership with GIZ enables us to invest in entrepreneurship in tier 2 and tier 3 cities where innovation is booming. We are looking forward to helping these select enterprises thrive,” she said.

Julia Karst, Head of Project Her&Now at GIZ, after a successful round of programmes with the first cohort of women entrepreneurs from Telangana, we are looking forward to welcoming 89 women entrepreneurs into the second round of our incubation and acceleration programme. Her&Now through WE Hub offers support customized to each entrepreneur and her business, and we hope this will prove especially useful in these challenging times of the pandemic,” she said.

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Finance Sales Student Webinar

Planning to Start a New Business? These Dates Are Auspicious for the Opening of Shop, Office and Factory in November 2020

Hindu Puja (Photo Credits: Pexels)

If you are setting up a new business, you will always consider an auspicious time to start the venture or a firm. It is believed that the ‘auspicious time’ known as ‘mahurat’ followed by Hindus before starting any kind of new business, small or big, can provide many benefits and help the business flourish. Any work, office, shop or factory that is started at a ‘shubh mahurat’ always open up new business opportunities for the entrepreneur. If one starts the business at an ‘shubh’ time, the business will become a great success with rapid growth. Let us see when are these auspicious days in November 2020 according to astronomy.

In November 2020, a new shop, new office or factory can be inaugurated in these auspicious times-

  1. November 8: If you wish to open a new shop, November 8, 2020 is an auspicious day as it is Saptami Tithi and Pushya Nakshatra on that day.
  2. November 12: On 12 November 2020, Dwadashi tithi will be observed which is considered to be auspicious for starting or opening new office as the day falls on Hasta Nakshatra, which is lucky.
  3. November 13: It is a Friday and it is an auspicious time to start trading as Trayodashi and Chitra Nakshatra fall on the same day.
  4. November 15: Sunday, November 15, 2020 is an auspicious day for opening shop due to Amavasya and Anuradha Nakshatra.
  5. November 19: On Thursday, November 19, 2020, Panchami Tithi and Uttarashada Nakshatra are auspicious to start business.
  6. November 20: On Friday, Shashthi Tithi will be auspicious for shop Opening due to Uttarashada Nakshatra.
  7. November 25: Ekadashi falls on November 25, 2020, which is a Wednesday. The date is auspicious and lucky for office opening due to Uttarabhadrapada nakshatra.
  8. November 27: On 27 November 2020, Dwadashi Tithi and Ashwini Nakshatra are beneficial for the beginning of any trading in business.
  9. November 30: Rohini Nakshatra with full moon on Monday is auspicious for starting a new business.

The Auspicious time for shop-factory-office opening as per Sarvarthasiddhi Yoga are: November 12, November 13, November 25, November 27, November 30. The auspicious time for opening of shop or office – November 8, 12, 13. With the onset of the festive season, people are now gearing up to bring their business to normalcy after being severely hit by the coronavirus pandemic. In the new normal, entrepreneurs are now gearing up to look for opportunities to revive their businesses.

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MSME Startup

COVID-19 Impact: 78% MSMEs and Startups in India Reduced Workforce in Last 8 Months Since Pandemic Broke Out, Says Survey

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

New Delhi, October 20: Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in India, as many as 78% MSMEs and startups across the country have reduced workforce in the last 8 months. As per a survey by LocalCircles, only 22 percent startups and MSMEs have the same or increased workforce as compared to the pre-COVID levels. According to reports, India’s startups and MSMEs ecosystem went through a torrid time due to the deadly pandemic and lockdown that was imposed across the country. Revenues and operations were severely impacted for most businesses which led to cost cutting and some even shut down temporarily or permanently. Per CMIE, 6 million Indians had already lost white collar jobs in the March – August period.

To understand the impact of the pandemic on startup and MSME, a survey conducted by LocalCircles received over 7,000 responses from startups, MSMEs and entrepreneurs spread across 104 top business districts of the country. In the survey, startups and MSMEs were asked about how have workforce adjustments taken place in their business during the Covid-19 pandemic. In response, 25 percent said their business has shut down and all workforce has been let go, while 15 percent said their workforce has reduced by 50 percent or more.

A 19 percent said their workforce has reduced by 25-50%, and another 19 percent said their workforce has reduced by up to 25 percent. A 6 percent said their workforce has increased and 16 percent said they have same workforce as pre coronavirus time. This shows that 78 percent MSMEs and startups in India have reduced workforce in the last 8 months since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out and only 22 percent startups and MSMEs have the same or increased workforce as compared to the pre-COVID levels.

The Government also took steps to help these small businesses through the Atmanirbhar Bharat scheme, but its advantages per feedback from businesses in July this year has been quite limited, the survey said.

The startups and MSMEs in India were asked about how employment of women has been in their business 8 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, 7 percent said women in their workforce have been reduced by 50-100 percent, 12 percent said women in their workforce have reduced by 25-50 percent, and 12 percent said women in our workforce have been reduced by up to 25 percent. 46 percent said they still have same number of women in the workforce as pre COVID-19. Not a single business reported increase in the number of women employees during the course of the 8 months of COVID-19 pandemic.

This means that 31 percent MSMEs and startups in India have reduced women workforce in the last 8 months. The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among women in India, is one of the lowest in the world and appears to have slid even further during the COVID -19 pandemic.

In the final question, startups and MSMEs were asked looking at the next 6 months as to how do they see employment of women in their business. In response, 50 percent said they don’t plan to hire any women employees while 30 percent said they plan to hire 1-5 women employees. 13 percent said they plan to hire 6-10 women employees and 7 percent were unsure about it.

 

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Startup

Indian Startups to Get a Boost As Atlassian’s $50Mn Global Venture Fund to Focus on India’s Growing Startup and Developer Community

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

Bengaluru, October 19: In what is believed to be a major boost to India’s growing startup and developer community, Atlassian Corporation, Australia’s leading software firm on Monday announced the launch of Atlassian Ventures. The new $50 million global fund aims to invest startups, including established companies that are already building products in its ecosystem. This leading firm in Australia, which set up a research and development centre in Bengaluru last year with plans to expand it further, said it is keen to nurture India’s vibrant startup ecosystem and rich technical talent pool.

Dinesh Ajmera, Site Lead and Head of Engineering, Bengaluru, Atlassian said that with India’s cloud market among the largest in the Asia Pacific region, the firm believe this fund will be an ideal opportunity for up-and-coming startups in India to access funding when building apps for our cloud products. “India is a significant market for Atlassian, one that’s teeming with an extraordinary developer community and a vibrant startup ecosystem that we plan to tap into,” Ajmera added.

According to reports, the company’s software products such as Jira, Confluence, Bitbucket and Trello are used by 1,74,000 customers worldwide, including Ola Cabs, Reliance, Walmart Labs, and Flipkart, to name a few. Atlassian Ventures will invest in three types of companies.

Ajmera informed that firstly, the early-stage startups which are building apps for any of Atlassian’s cloud products and secondly, the larger, more established ecosystem product partners who are ascaling their businesses and finally, the existing sales channel partners who are looking to step up their cloud services and create new products that support the future of teamwork. “As part of this programme, companies that receive funding are also eligible for mentorship as well as global exposure at Atlassian events,” he said.

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Technology

Google India to Launch ‘Namaste Digital’ Show on Doordarshan to Empower SMBs by Helping Them to Use Internet to Grow Their Business

Google (Photo Credits: Pexels)

New Delhi, October 1: As a part of its new multi-pronged effort to help small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Google India said that it will launch a new show in partnership with Doordarshan called ‘Namaste Digital’ to navigate the challenging economic environment. The ‘Namaste Digital’ show aims to serve as a mass media programme for SMBs to learn about the Internet and help them grow their business. According to a report by IANS, the tech giant’s the new initiative will focus on accelerating the efforts to help businesses build digital presence in partnership with software development company Zoho and payment gateway Instamojo.

Building on its effort to help consumers discover small businesses on Google search and maps and keeping the needs of different businesses in mind, Google has also partnered with delivery services providers Dunzo and Swiggy to fast track the on-boarding process. Both partners have committed to provide additional support to small businesses to start accepting orders online and enable delivery logistics. Under the new initiative, small businesses will be able to create business websites using Zoho inventory and sell online through Zoho Commerce for free till March 31, 2021. Instamojo on the other hand is offering a six-month free subscription to its “Premium Online Store Solution.”

SMBs can also avail Dunzo’s 24×7 merchant support for free with zero sign-up fees and instant registration and can make use of Swiggy’s seven days “Fast track Onboarding”. All these will be available for SMBs on “Grow with Google Small Business” hub in India which was launched in July this year.

Shalini Girish, Customer Solutions Director at Google India, said in a statement that today, the need to go digital is a necessity and SMBs are hard-pressed to digitise fast. “We need to do everything we can to handhold millions of small businesses in their digital-transformation journey and support business recovery during the current crisis”, she added. Adding further, she said that the needs of small businesses differ across the country and we are partnering with the industry leaders to offer more support to help small businesses go digital.

The ‘Namaste Digital’ Initiative:

  1. The new initiative builds on the “Grow with Google Small Business hub” effort. It is in direct response to the feedback received from small medium businesses captured in the Google-Kantar small business tracker research conducted in July.
  2. According to the report, customer related challenges tops the list for small businesses, with 92 per cent businesses facing customer related challenges, revenue loss due to low demand and payment of fixed costs are the other most severe challenges among businesses.
  3. The report also highlights that businesses are seeing the benefits of going digital, and today 5 out of 10 businesses are using digital channels to engage their customers compared to just 4 in 10 in April.
  4. In addition to providing support to go digital, Google India is also investing in efforts to scale its outreach to help small businesses learn to use digital tools in local Indian languages.

As part of this effort, Google has worked closely with Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI) to drive an industry wide skilling program which has already trained 1.2 million individuals.

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Business motivation Strategy

Visa, IFundWomen Announce Grant Programme to Empower Women Entrepreneurs in India

Entrepreneur (Photo Credits: Pexels)

Mumbai, September 21: With an aim to empower women entrepreneurs in India, Visa along with its global partner IFundWomen on Monday rolled out a grant programme to boost the morale of women entrepreneurs across the country. According to a report by IANS, the digital payments technology leader will seek applications from women entrepreneurs across all sectors till October 20, 2020. IfundWomen is the go-to marketplace for women-owned businesses. The applicants need to submit details about their business and online presence, along with a short video about their business to www.ifundwomen.com/visa-india. Three winners will be selected and receive grants of Rs 7 lakh each and training from leaders within the Visa and IFundWomen network.

Women-owned businesses constitute around 14 percent of the total entrepreneur base in India. To spread the word, Visa said it has partnered with FLO (the ladies’ wing of FICCI) and Instamojo as digitisation partner for the programme in the country. T R Ramachandran, Group Country Manager, India and South Asia, Visa, said, “We want to see this number increase but our interactions with women entrepreneurs show that access to capital to fund, run and grow their businesses remains a challenge”.

The Visa and IFundWomen grant programme in India, the first outside of the US, “aims to boost female entrepreneurship and empower budding businesswomen through our network, guidance, financial support and resources to help achieve their dreams”, he added.

Visa’s partnership with IFundWomen is specifically designed to help women entrepreneurs secure the funding they need through a series of grants. This year in June, Visa had committed to supporting 50 million small businesses globally to power recovery and enable them digitally. In August 2020, through the first India edition of Visa Everywhere Initiative, it awarded three fintech startups with monetary awards and technological support to take their solutions to market, the company said.