CATEGORIES

Confluence Of Fintech And Banks Is Unavoidable

Unlike most of the banks in India, Bank of Maharashtra has always believed in the power of small and medium enterprises (SME). Ravindra Prabhakar Marathe, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Bank of Maharashtra, shares how they are adressing the needs of SMEs while adapting to new age technologies.

Thinking 'Out Of The Box'!

Former techie RIDHI SINGHAI while heating her plastic lunch box at the office microwave, daily fussed over the toxic fumes that it emitted.

Providing Paperless Experience To Investors

First-of-its-kind omni-channel platform for mutual fund investments, Nivesh is focused on the mass-market and customers are onboarded using a distributor-assisted model. In a span of nine months, Anurag Garg, Founder and CEO, Nivesh, has reached 1500+ customers across 160+ cities.

Best Buddy To Expecting Mothers

Subhadeep (CEO), Sivareena (COO) and Yash (CTO), are here to bridge the gap between expecting mothers and their consultation partners, doctors! Bengaluru-based PregBuddy is positioning itself as a care continuum platform for women around the world to stay connected with their doctors during the most precious phase of their lives.

'A Happy Learning Revolution'

Education is a far achievable idea for millions in India. However, Kaarmic Education is encouraging students towards self directed learning. Anishay Raj, Director, Organizational Design, Prashanth Ramagiri, Director, Higher Education Initiatives and Adithya Sanjay, Director, School Initiatives, shares the company’s vision to help students.

The Teaching Machine

CAN A TEACHER-TURNED ENTREPRENEUR CHANGE THE WAY LEARNING IS BEING LOOKED AT? ANSWERS INDIA’S FIRST BILLION DOLLAR EDTECH UNICORN, BYJU’S

Go Public To Raise Capital

There are more than 300 small businesses that have raised around $4.5 billion by listing on the Indian stock exchanges. If start-ups want to raise capital, entrepreneurs can dilute 10-15 per cent of their stake and raise capital via going public. There are plenty of companies that have given exit to private equity into the market. Entrepreneurs should be able to hold on the stock and sell it to their private equity and then list. In the US, many companies have grown by getting listed early on and raising capital.

Retail Roomies

Location can make or break a business. But not everyone can find or afford desirable commercial real estate. For some, the answer is bunking up with a fellow entrepreneur.

The Rise of P V Sindhu

Born to parents who were professional volleyball players, PV Sindhu went on to choose badminton as a career. Sindhu started playing at the age of eight-and-a-half with her interest driven towards badminton. Talking about her inclination Sindhu says, “I used to play for fun initially but slowly the number of hours increased. I used to love playing badminton and that’s how my parents came forward to support me.”

Doing it the Virat Way

VIRAT KOHLI 28 CAPTAIN INDIAN CRICKET TEAM

When Selfie Replaces Froth

If sipping on a hot cup of coffee or a shake with your BFF is exciting, wait till you drop by Mumbai’s current favorite spot; #Selfiecinno for a personalized treat! Slurp through the page to satisfy your narcissist self!

Educating Thinkers, Not Students

With over 29 per cent of our population in the age group of 0-14 years, the one essential element that will determine the growth of the country is its education. The education sector of India has witnessed a massive growth with a boost provided by the technology. We spoke to Shweta Sastri, Executive Director, Canadian International School, as she shares her thoughts on how their school is bringing about a change.

What's More Concerning To You - Copy Pasting Innovation Or Copy Pasting Business Model?

I don’t think there is anything wrong in copy pasting business or innovation because eventually lot of problems and needs globally are similar such as education, health etc. So we don’t need to reinvent the wheel. There are businesses which can be taken globally like MakeMyTrip which is a replica of Expedia. But if there is someone like Grofers trying to do an Instacart - it cannot be replicated as Indian retail stores don’t have strong IT network. So entrepreneurs must figure out what to innovate and what to replicate.

Are You Your Company?

As Redfin CEO Glenn Kelman found, this can be a thorny question—especially when you end up in an unexpected industry.

A Man On A Mission To Make Karnataka The Startup Nucleus

Karnataka, especially its capital city Bangalore, has always been the face of the startup ecosystem in India.

Fund Raising Is Only The Begining

Over the past few years, the ‘start-up industry’ has witnessed the arrival of massive investment opportunities.

We Actively Support Start-Up India And Stand-Up India

The leader in Indian banking industry, ICICI Bank, is actively supporting the ‘Start-up and Stand-up India’ campaign. In a bid to instil entrepreneurial qualities among the youngsters, the bank runs skill development programmes, which are attended by 50,000 people every year. Also, it organizes ‘start-up’ conferences in major cities to reach to new-age leaders. Simultaneously, with its various products and schemes, the bank is focused on offering personalized services to the entrepreneurs. Narrating such initiatives Chanda Kochhar, MD and CEO, ICICI Bank, spoke to Entrepreneur, on the occasion of the launch of software robotics in Mumbai recently.

The Relationship Manager

Building products now have been commoditized to some extent. Thanks to easily available do-it-yourself tools, people can easily build apps with minimum programming knowledge. The differentiation, hence, lies in having a great customer relationship system that depends a lot on having the right customer relationship management (CRM) software. Baishampayan Ghose, Co-founder of mobile CRM start-up, Helpshift, that raised $23 million in June this year, puts in perspective on how to pick the CRM software meant for you.

Marketing Folks At Start-Ups The New-Age Evangelists

Marketing in the world of start-ups is a tad bit different from those at large organizations. A marketing officer at a start-up, who at times is termed as an evangelist, has the task of canvassing a plan for a brand new set up. The person in command ends up donning multiple hats and most often is the sole person in charge of the task!

Free Market For Start-Ups is Bit Of A Fool's Paradise

Monopolized market, stifled competition, job loss, restricted foreign capital, tax revenue loss, pro-start-up policy collapse, call for market regulation are connotations ascribed to recent uproar over capital dumping by its believers on one hand. On the other, we have cloned business models, desperate investor call to keep their returns intact, wasteful cash splurge, inflated valuation, need for free market, herd mentality that hyped up investment in few sectors, foreign direct investment in e-commerce marketplaces; from those negating charge of capital dumping as absurd. Precisely, hence, the question is would there be implosion of sectors dominated by foreign competitors in an unregulated market with mild tremors to entire ecosystem or a free trade driven robust ecosystem where capital’s role is limited to being a commodity.

Breaking Down FDI In Start-UPS

Capital flow is much like a pyramid. The higher you go the lesser is the capital available per start-up. Even as 36 new funds were launched last year (as per data tracker VCCEdge), late-stage dilemma continues with multiple private equity (PE) and hedge funds ‘revisiting’ their investment strategy. As the market correction continues, recently released new consolidated foreign direct investment (FDI) policy will strengthen much needed foreign investment in startups in India. But will it be a game changer or just a step forward?  

'Our Loans Are Tailor-made To Meet Biz Requirements'

In an exclusive interview with Entrepreneur, Amit Bhatia, Head- Private and Commercial Banking, Deutsche Bank (India), shares the bank’s vision for small and medium enterprises (SME) banking along with its commitment to digitization for a balanced and healthy growth.

Sipping Through Customer Acquisition

Customer acquisition has never been easy for businesses, particularly if you are an app and literally have to jostle for a space in your customer’s smartphone. But Karan Saharan perhaps had his inspiration coming from the tagline ‘A lot can happen over coffee’ for his personal assistant app DoneThing. And boy! A lot did happen.

The Referral Master

How many times have you asked somebody for a referral? Knowingly or unknowingly, we all do this, all the time within our network. A company thought of making it a business practice and today generates over $11 billion through referrals. Founded in 1985, US based Business Network International (BNI) claims to be the world’s leading referral chain. Chairman and CEO, Graham Weihmiller who joined BNI in 2014 and is currently executing BNI’s strategic plan in its 73 operating countries speaks on entrepreneurship, franchising, and operational excellence. 

Banking The Unbanked

Is the underserved india ripe for a fintech revolution? With every financial service provider aiming at financial inclusion of the economically weak, it is considered as one of the hottest topics today. But, what exactly does it convey?

Millie's Not A Cookie That Will Crumble!

With Parineeti Chopra as the brand ambassador,the UK-based Millie’s is looking to tap the cookie market in India. World Iconic Brands (WIB) thatsigned a seven-year franchise contract with the parent company SSP Global is planning to get 10 stores up and running by March '19.

Milkpreneurs: Cashing The Cow

It is commonplace to see urban dwellers in India worry about how fresh and sanitary their morning dose of calcium really is. Bridging a gaping divide in the market born out of untraceable and diluted milk, many entrepreneurs are beginning to restyle themselves to act the part of the new-age, upstanding doodhwaala.

P2P Lenders To The Rescue Of MSMEs

Access to credit is one of the most painful points among the MSMEs in India. However, with alternate data, GST data stack and AI-driven algorithms, MSMEs are hoping for a change in the credit positions — P2P lenders have stepped up to take up the challenge.

Don't Wait Until Tomorrow

What’s the greatest killer of companies? Corporate consultants Benjamin Gilad and Mark Chussil, who have worked with hundreds of giant brands, have an answer: It’s waiting to act on something that needs to be done right now.

A Whiff Of Malabar's Blue Brew

With strong Malabari roots and classy packaging, Blue Tokai is slowly and steadily brewing up a storm. Here’s why it is a hit among coffee-lovers.