Angela Merkel praises Bengaluru, Indian innovation, creativity

German Chancellor Angela Merkel was on Wednesday all praise for Indian innovation, saying a lack of resources in the country is leading to greater creativity, which she saw recently in Bengaluru and described the city as the “Silicon Valley of India”. Stating that she was immensely “impressed” with the innovations coming out of India in general and Bengaluru in particular, Merkel said while German researchers are great, those in India are very creative and innovative.

“Only a few days ago, I was in the Silicon Valley of India in Bangalore. I had the opportunity to visit your (Bosch) research centre there. Researchers here in Germany are probably wonderful and great, but those in India are quite creative and innovative”, Merkel said after inaugurating Bosch GmBH’s integrated research campus in Renningen. She went onto add that “sometimes when you don’t have anything to go by really, that makes you more creative.”

Stating that she was very impressed with the engineers of Bosch’s Bengaluru facility, she said, “I was looking at what they’ve invented in their spare time and was quite impressed. For example a medical equipment that allows you to control your eyesight”. As part of her state visit to India earlier this month, Merkel had flown to Bengaluru along with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to visit Bosch’s research centre.

The Bengaluru centre houses 12,000 researchers working on a host of technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), and image processing among others. This is the second biggest R&D facility for Bosch after Germany. Bosch global chairman Volkmar Denner said the company has invested 310 million euros in the Renningen facility spread over 100 hectares near Stuttgart, Germany’s fifth biggest city that also houses the group’s headquarters.

The Bosch researchers at the new facility housing 1,700 associates from various disciplines, will be working to find solutions in electromobility with work on batteries, improving the internal combustion engine and automated driving, among other things in an environment designed to make them work like a startup, he said. He said the company hopes to drive an automated car on an autobahn or an expressway by 2020. It invested 5 billion euros or around 10 per cent of its sales in R&D last year.

Merkel exhorted German firms to invest more in R&D, saying target of raising research spends to 3 per cent in the Euro Zone is possible only if they invested more. Nearly two-thirds of the R&D spends on an absolute basis come from private sector while the state contributes only one-third. The state has also sufficiently funded educational institutions to help enable research, Merkel said, replying to a complaint by Denner, who blamed the Germans for not being courageous enough to start businesses.

Image Credit: Wikimedia

Ola Launches Social Ride Sharing Service ‘Ola Share’

Ola, India’s leading cab aggregation and rental mobile app today announced the launch of social ride-sharing offering on its app. Called Ola Share, the feature helps users to create and join Social groups who plan to travel on same route in real time.

OlaShare could be termed as a platform where users can come together and share rides by forming or joining groups.

In addition, an individual traveler can check out various groups on the Ola app and join the ones that are traveling on the route of their choice. Ola Share is currently available to Ola customers at an introductory fare of Rs 50 anywhere in Bangalore, for any number of rides.

If you open Ola mobile app, Ola Share will be shown as a separate category on the left hand menu.

Ishan Gupta, Head – Ola Share said, “At Ola, our goal is to build mobility for a billion Indians and this requires us to innovate constantly, for the future. With Share, we not only bring economy, convenience and comfort of travelling with people in your circles, but also increased inventory utilization of vehicles on the platform. This will also contribute towards significant reduction of traffic, congestion and pollution in our cities. Ola Share is a major step in the direction of sustainable transportation, allowing us to serve more people at a fraction of the cost, with driver-partners benefitting from increased revenue.”

How Ola Share Works

In Ola app, customer will need to first register themselves for Ola Share, which is available as separate category. The process involves either joining a public group or a private group (by invitation only). They can also create their own group, incase there is no group available that travels on the same route.

Alternatively, a the time of travel, customer can mention the drop location and Ola will use advanced algorithms to match users from common groups who are also looking for a cab on the same route in real time. Once additional user’s en-route is identified, the driver’s device gets an alert with navigation to their pickup location within minutes, to join the ride. A maximum of 3 people can share a cab together via Ola Share.

For Ola driver-partners, they get an option to log into the Share platform, getting instant access to increased revenue of up to 50%, through continuous fulfilment of booking requests.

Carpooling and Ride Sharing are increasingly becoming an important part of urban city travels – Not only do ride-sharing help with decreasing the ever increasing traffic, they also help with reducing pollution. Not to mention that they save money as well!

Give Ola Share a try and let us know what your experience…

First Apple Retail Stores To Open In India Next Month

Apple will open its first Apple Retail Stores in India next month, the company has teamed up with consumer electronic chain Croma in India.

There will be six Apple Retail Stores initially and they will be inside the Croma stores in Numbai, Malad, Juhu, Oberoi Mall, Phoneix Mall and Ghatkopar.

“We are proud to partner Apple to launch the Apple Store in India and extremely bullish about it,” said Avijit Mitra, chief executive officer of Infiniti Retail, which owns Croma. “These stores will be modeled on the global design and will offer the best experience to consumers, showcasing the entire range of Apple products.”

The store designs will be the same that Apple uses in its own retail stores and all of the staff will be trained by Apple.

Apple products are already available in India through third party retailers, but Apple having its own stores in the country could help it increase sales there, India is seen as the next major market for Apple.

Source ET, Engadget

Apple will launch its own stores in India, partners with Tata-owned Croma

Apple Stores in partnership with electronics retailer Croma, are coming to India in six different locations as a pilot project. The outlets are supposed to open before Diwali next month just in time for the rush of festive shoppers who are likely to want to get a feel of the devices they wish to buy before laying out the cash for them.

Avijit Mitra, CEO of Croma owner Infiniti Retail, asserts the Indian Apple Store will have the same look as international outlets. This means the space will have the same design, fixtures, lighting and furniture as the global outfits of the company. Furthermore, the sales staff is to be trained by the brand itself.

Apple is planning to set up shop at 5 Croma outlets in Mumbai namely Juhu, Oberoi Mall, Malad, Ghatkopar and Phoenix Mall. Jayanagar in Bengaluru will get one as well. The shop requires 400-500 square feet in area at each location. The US-based brand has been selling its products through third-party retailers in India so far.

These range from multi-brand chains to premium resellers running exclusive stores under the franchise model. Apple hasn’t been able to introduce a standalone outfit in India yet because of the country’s local-sourcing rules for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in single-brand retail. By partnering with Croma, the manufacturer has the freedom to directly deal with customers within the limitations set by the government.

According to the Economic Times, Apple CEO Tim Cook is said to have requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to ease the laws regarding sourcing norms. The company is stepping up its presence in the country to boost sales of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus, which are arriving on October 16, with their starting price at Rs 62000. It further has plans to unveil its Watch by Diwali.

Common specs of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus:

– Apple iOS 9 platform
– 2GB RAM, 16GB/64GB/128GB memory
– 2GHz dual-core Apple A9 processor
– 12MP iSight camera, 5MP FaceTime lens

If all goes to plan, the combined sales of the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus will total up to 12 lakh units in the October – December time period. The brand is probably hoping the Apple Store plays a vital part in achieving that goal.

Vodafone invests Rs 500 cr for upgrade of its network in Mumbai

Apart from investing Rs 500 crore for upgrading its network in Mumbai, Vodafone India is also planning to launch 4G services in the city by December 2015, having successfully started the testing process earlier this year. As it stands currently, the brand is the leading mobile service provider in Mumbai.

Mumbai contributes to over 30 percent of Vodafone India’s data revenues, making it an important market for the brand. According to a statement by the company, it’s launched over 1000 new sites and sunk in nearly 500 crores into the metro in the past 6 months. The operator has joined hands with leading international infrastructure service suppliers for the 4G rollout.

Vodafone initially began LTE trials for India in select circles in July this year. It supplies the high-speed network in 18 countries, with over 24 million customers across the globe. The company thinks its previous experience in the area will inform the quality of service it provides in Mumbai.

The release further mentioned Vodafone was investing heavily in high-capacity fiber or backhaul to increase data connectivity. Ishmeet Singh, the brand’s Mumbai business head, stated that the 4G network in the city would be provided through the 1800MHz band. The operator is also planning to kickstart the service in Kerala by December this year.

Trivandrum, Kochi and Kozhikode will be the part of the initial roll-out in the state, which will commence in a phased system across the circle. It currently has over 5300 sites in the area, and has invested nearly 350 crores in its efforts towards network upgrades in the ongoing fiscal.

Vodafone is presently the second largest telecom company in India. It will face-off against Reliance Jio come December, as the operator is also debuting its 4G services around the same time. Airtel has the advantage for now as it’s already started the commercial pan-India launch of the network in 296 towns.

How ColdEX, a cold chain logistics company, pulls in a top line of INR 200 crore annually

Gaurav Jain is a gritty entrepreneur. He entered the world of business in 1999 by joining Swastik Roadlines, a trucking company setup by his father along with two others. Started nearly three decades ago, Swastik was well established but its business majorly relied on one big client – JK Tyres. When that client went away, the company suddenly hit a wall and that is when young Gaurav took the matter in his hands. He found an opportunity with cold chain logistics and made a huge bet in that direction. Cadbury was their pilot client and that deal helped them turn the tide. Over the years, Gaurav transformed the company from a dry logistics to a cold chain business. Swastik Roadlines started operating under the brand name ColdEX Logistics from 2007.

Today, ColdEX is a leading integrated cold chain logistics company providing end-to-end customised supply chain solutions to client. ColdEX serves leading brands, catering to almost all industries from QSR chains, confectioneries, food processing units, pharmaceutical, meat, poultry, fruits and vegetables, etc. Presently, ColdEX has six warehouses (five leased, one owned) and is in the process of increasing its cold storage capacity from 6,000 pallets to 30,000 pallets over the next 18 months. “We have a large reefer fleet of over 825 trucks and 1,500 drivers. To ensure last mile delivery where products are transported from distributors to consumers via two wheelers, ColdEX is augmenting its fleet of scooters from 10 to 400,” says Gaurav.

Since 2007, ColdEX has bagged some of the biggest customers in the business, and provided logistical support and distribution services to well-known international brands operating in India, including Subway, Domino’s Pizza, Starbucks, and KFC. “Last year, we got the first big client for integrated services in the QSR sector: Yum! Brands, which operates KFC, Pizza Hut, and Taco Bell in India,” says Gaurav. For KFC, ColdEx manages daily pickups from 80 vendors and delivers frozen goods to six Yum! Brands distribution centres in a -18°C environment. Apart from QSRs, ColdEX also has presence in the field of pharmaceuticals, fruits, and the confectionery industry with clients like Nestlé India, Hershey India, Amul, Kwality Wall’s, and GlaxoSmithKline. “Today, we have a top-line of about Rs 200 crore, and sales are growing at 35 per cent annually in the last five years,” says Gaurav.

India’s temperature-controlled logistics industry is estimated at Rs 12,000–15,000 crore and is estimated to grow at a minimum 20 per cent year-on-year over the next three to five years. One of the drivers of this is the increase in the consumption of perishable goods that are sensitive to temperature. The Government of India has recognised the need to nurture the cold chain industry and has introduced several incentives to achieve its objectives. The Budget 2011–2012 provided infrastructure status to the cold chain sector. This opens up the sector for perks like viability gap funding. The Budget also exempted air-conditioning equipment’s and refrigeration panels used in cold chain infrastructure, including conveyor belts, from excise duty. It also extended excise duty exemption to conveyor belts and equipment used in cold storages, mandis, and warehouses. These government initiatives has further added impetus to the sector.

But like in all businesses, there are challenges as well. The cold chain logistics segment is a capital-intensive business requiring investments in equipment, vehicles, temperature controlled warehousing, etc. “Furthermore, the business requires strict temperature adherence and there is a huge energy dependence. The cold chain business in India also faces many of the same issues challenging the entire supply chain business globally: serving the market, driving out costs, becoming more strategic, and addressing capacity and resource constraints, all while managing the exacting needs of the sector’s precious cargo,” says Gaurav.

ColdEX is a pioneer in the space in India and brings in a lot of experience. “We have mapped out a growth plan for the next five years, one that could easily propel us into a Rs 700-crore business,” says Gaurav. ColdEX plans to create a plug and play model in the cold chain logistics business, which can then be sold to any QSR that wants to set up shop in the Indian market. ColdEX already provides services to five of the six major international QSR companies. And according to the company, there are at least 40 international players who are looking at the Indian consumption story seriously.

Currently, while its revenue is based on a business-to-business model, ColdEX wants to reach the end customer (the people who eat the burgers and fries) as part of its integrated services. ColdEX should be in a position to reach the city’s narrow lanes and inner roads where the end customer or retail shop is located. “If we can crack this last link in the supply chain, we will target e-commerce companies and offer a separate service to fast food chains,” says Gaurav. ColdEX is a great example of a traditional Indian business that can leverage technology and keep up with the times to give the newly venture funded startups a run for their money.

Flipkart to pamper employees for smooth ‘Big Billion’ sales

Flipkart is unleashing its five-day pre-Diwali ‘Big Billion Days’ sales tomorrow and it is not just online consumers who are being pampered. Bengaluru-based Flipkart has taken measures to ensure that its employees, who are the ones who will ensure that the sales happen smoothly, are taken care of and are at the top of their game throughout the sale period of five days.

The company shared that it is offering breakfast, lunch, dinner and all-day short eats on all five days. Employees, many of whom will be in office round-the-clock, will have sleeping and shower facilities. They will also have shuttle service till 7pm; vehicles for pick-up and drop. Security personnel will accompany women employees travelling after 8pm.

This is not all—there is even 24X7 ambulance service for those who find the stress a little too much and masseurs on-call to soothe tired muscles.

These are just some of the steps Flipkart has taken to ensure that the problems of last year are not repeated this time around. Last year, Flipkart had a single-day ‘Big Billion Sale’on October 6. It hit sales of $100 million; Snapdeal, which also had a sale, declared similar sales numbers. But snags, site collapses and other issues on Flipkart overshadowed the sales.

The deals stopped within seven hours—by 2pm—as the traffic was too huge. About 3,00,000 orders were placed in the first six hours, but social media was flooded with complaints of the website crashing, and prices being raised to make the offers look better. Beside the technical errors, many products being out of stock disgruntled consumers. Flipkart’s Founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, in fact, tendered an email apology to its customers the next day.

This time around, India’s top online retail site is not taking chances. An executive, who did not wish to be named as he is working closely on the sales, said additional data centres have been set up to ensure that the app—this time it is an app-only event—stays up. “We have learnt from last year’s experience. We did $100 million in one day and would have done more if there were no issues. Considering the preparations, the mood in the office is very upbeat,” said the executive.

Among the preparations are initiatives meant for sellers participating in the sales, like helping them hire trained manpower and providing training to manage high demand. Flipkart has also invested heavily in logistics in recent months. It opened a five-lakh cubic feet warehouse exclusively for consumer electronics and durables earlier this month. “With Flipkart Big Billion Days just around the corner, the new warehouse will help us improve the productivity and meet the anticipated demand during this period,” Binny Bansal, COO & Co-founder of Flipkart, had said at the time of the warehouse’s launch.

The merchant and employee support Flipkart is providing shows that the over $15-billion valued Unicorn means business. Tuesday will show how truly well prepared Flipkart is.

Shipdesk is using technology to make logistics simple, scalable and smart

E-commerce logistics has been growing in sync with the online retail industry in the country. It is estimated that online retail will be an USD 18-billion industry in India in 2018 and e-commerce logistics will be a USD two-billion industry in 2019.

In the logistics segment, companies have been experimenting and bringing new methods and technology to make the process smoother. Logistics is always a sub-segment in e-commerce and fraught with inefficiency, but Shipdesk claims it is all about efficiency of logistics through technology.

Launched in December 2014 by Lipjo Joseph and Sree Krishna BV, Shipdesk is a logistics marketplace providing online merchants with a cloud-based shipping solution. It’s using technology to aggregate demand and services on a real-time basis.

“When an online merchant makes Shipdesk its partner, all the information regarding the online orders placed with the online merchant is made available in their cloud and they immediately dispatch their team for shipping. It simplifies shipping and accelerates profits for merchants,” says Lipjo, adding that they offer the cheapest shipping rates..An easy plug-in integrates with marketplaces and e-commerce platforms to allow order, tracking and fulfillment data to populate in real time across all systems. This solution helps companies save time and money on shipping while reducing postal errors and keeping buyers informed, yielding loyalty and better seller feedback.

The platform claims to have more than 550 users and the number is increasing with around 150 merchants being added every month. Its clients include marketplaces like Zingohub, Frekart, Budli.in, among others and e-commerce sites such as Dailycatcher, Nivysfashion, Kamalsbotique, Zarasbotiques and online sellers who sell their products in various online channels. The company has been growing at the rate of 40 percent month-on-month.

An investment of around Rs one crore has been made into the venture. The capital was spent mostly on resources which includes sales, marketing and technology. Its focus is presently on online resellers and it would be addressing the SME segment soon.

The platform works on two revenue models, namely margin on shipments and subscription revenue. “So far, our annualised revenue has reached more than Rs one crore as we are yet to complete a year,” says Lipjo.

Challenges and growth prospect

Capacity, lack of uniform demand and inefficiency are some of the major challenges in the logistics industry.  However, optimisation and reducing manual intervention can solve many of the problems. “We are continuously investing in these areas and our growth adds credibility to the solution,” says Lipjo.

On growth prospect, he adds there are more than 10 lakh online sellers in India and each is a potential market for Shipdesk. This solution can be expanded beyond the country in other geographies. Besides, there is huge untapped SME segment where unorganised logistics players play a big role. All these markets can be tapped for the growth.

Market and competition

According to a recent logistics report by Singhi Advisors, a city-based boutique investment bank that focusses on deals on the space, the logistics industry has been growing at a CAGR of over 16 per cent over the last five years, despite it being highly fragmented with organised players comprising only six per cent. Globally, the report says the logistics industry was a whopping USD four-trillion giant in 2013, representing 10 per cent of the global GDP.

The players in the segment includes logistics companies like Fedex, Bluedart, Delhivery, Ecom Express etc., marketplace logistics companies like eKart, Gojavas, among others and many localised courier companies.

On competition, Lipjo says that since this market is evolving there is room for every competition. The growth of this industry ensures that each player needs to pick his/her core area and works towards improving the same. He has a roadmap to address these challenges and any new competition would make this industry more stable.

The platform has recently come out with mobile app, and analytics will be playing a big role in its product roadmap.

OnePlus to Start Manufacturing Smartphones in India

OnePlus has announced the company will start manufacturing in smartphones in India in collaboration with Foxconn within the Sri City Integrated Business City in the state of Andhra Pradesh by the end of 2015.

The production will take place in a 30,000 square feet facility with a capacity of 500,000 smartphones per month, and will employee 1,000 full-time workers.

Pete Lau, Founder & CEO, OnePlus said, “Producing smartphones in India is one of the most important decisions that we have made so far at OnePlus, and we are thankful to the Government of Andhra Pradesh and Foxconn for helping us make this happen. India being one of our biggest markets worldwide, we are committed to a long term sustainable growth path. This move will strengthen our presence and help us step up momentum in India.”

The company further added that the first batch of the locally manufactured smartphones will be available by the end of year, and should help the company take care of the supply and demand of the handsets for the Indian market.

It’s not just OnePlus, we’ve seen other Chinese manufacturers aiming to start their smartphone production in India as well.

Source: NDTV

Dell To Buy EMC In $67 Billion Deal

There were a number of rumors last week that Dell were looking to buy EMC and now Dell has announced that it plans to buy EMC in a deal worth $67 billion.

The $67 billion deal will see EMC shareholders recieve around $33.15 per share in a combination of cash and stock.

“The combination of Dell and EMC creates an enterprise solutions powerhouse bringing our customers industry leading innovation across their entire technology environment. Our new company will be exceptionally well-positioned for growth in the most strategic areas of next generation IT including digital transformation, software-defined data center, converged infrastructure, hybrid cloud, mobile and security,” said Mr. Dell. “Our investments in R&D and innovation along with our privately-controlled structure will give us unmatched scale, strength and flexibility, deepening our relationships with customers of all sizes. I am incredibly excited to partner with the EMC, VMware, Pivotal, VCE, RSA and Virtustream teams and am personally committed to the success of our new company, our customers and partners.”

You can find out more details about the deal between Dell and EMC at the link below.

Source Dell