Archive: January 6, 2023

India’s Leading SaaS Based Drone Logistics Firm Skye Air Debuts at CES 2023

New Delhi, 6th Jan, 2023: Skye Air Mobility, India’s leading SaaS-based drone logistics firm that recently reached a milestone of delivering over 1 million packages via Drones; has announced its debut in much awaited CES 2023 being held from January 5-8 in Las Vegas.

Skye Air today announced that it will be launching its proprietary UTM platform, Skye UTM, for India and the UAE followed by the US and other markets. Skye UTM is considerably the most advanced UTM platform in the world with numerous layers of data for the UAS operators/enterprises to make use of, in case of flying in urban or rural environments.

Legacy ATM (Air Traffic Management) companies deploy solutions which requires ATC (Air Traffic Controller) to communicate with the aircraft and the pilot on-board, solving the purpose for manned aviation. However, for UAS (Unmanned Aerial Systems), the need is to have a more comprehensive, autonomous and efficient traffic management solution which can communicate with the UAS and suggest measures so as to make flights more safer.

Skye UTM is an answer to such needs, the platform integrates with the UAS and captures more than 255+ parameters of UAS movements and stores them into its ‘Blackbox’ which is a published systematic description of the entire flight. Skye UTM also offers the first 3-Dimensional view of the UAS airspace along with operations and regulations mapping servers which offer the latest airspace status, verified paths, and display real time UAS movements. Skye UTM platform offers real time, low latency infrastructure that ensures we know how each UAS is flying in the airspace and predicting the next 50 seconds of the flights and accordingly maintaining the integrity of the airspace.

Skye UTM is India’s one and only UAS traffic management platform that has been built towards providing better navigation, risk assessment, connectivity, and traffic management to all drone operators across the airspace. Skye UTM has already supported 300+ successful BVLOS drone flights till date.

Ankit Kumar, CEO, Skye Air Mobility, said, “It’s a great opportunity to showcase the India-developed Skye UTM at a global platform like CES 2023. We believe this is the right time to be in the market and Skye UTM is rightly placed to offer safer skies for all. Apart from providing airspace awareness, the Skye UTM also offers ground risk assessment leading to creating tunnel-based navigation for enhanced safety. The platform will be available for commercial use in India and the UAE starting mid-January, followed on by the US and other markets towards mid-2023. With the increase in adoption of UAS across different applications around the world, the need to have safer skies is must. The proprietary tunnel based navigation is placed to help operators fly with ease and enhanced safety.”

Skye Air expects the global launch of “Skye UTM” at the CES 2023 to help the company to bring the India-developed platform to the global drone operators.

Cathay Pacific welcomes quarantine-free travel and will more than double its flights to the Chinese Mainland

New Delhi: Cathay Pacific welcomes the Hong Kong SAR Government’s latest measures to facilitate quarantine-free travel between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland, as well as the lifting of transit restrictions, effective 8 January 2023.

In light of today’s announcement, Cathay Pacific will more than double its flights into the Chinese Mainland, operating 61 return flights per week between Hong Kong and 13 Mainland cities from 14 January 2023. This compares to the 27 flights per week from Hong Kong to the Mainland, and 50 flights per week from the Mainland to Hong Kong that the airline is currently operating.

Cathay Pacific is working actively to resume and add more flights progressively between Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland in the coming weeks, with the aim of operating over 100 return flights per week by March 2023.

Anand Yedery, Regional Head of Marketing and Sales, South Asia, Middle East and Africa (SAMEA), said, “The new year has welcomed us with positive developments. We have always had strong connections into the Chinese Mainland and are delighted to more than double our frequency. With the Chinese Mainland lifting its quarantine and transit requirements, we anticipate the demand to travel further grow particularly with the upcoming Chinese New Year. The increase in operations will provide travellers, particularly from the business and trade segment with more options and accessibility to travel.”

From 8 January 2023, Cathay Pacific will increase its flights between Hong Kong and Beijing to 10 pairs per week, and between Hong Kong and Shanghai (Pudong) to 21 pairs per week. The airline is also resuming flights to Guangzhou with five return flights per week.

Meanwhile, from 14 January 2023 the airline will increase its flights between Hong Kong and Xiamen to four pairs per week, and between Hong Kong and Chengdu to six pairs per week.

As of today, Cathay Pacific operates flights serving close to 60 destinations worldwide. The airline continues to add more destinations to its schedule. Please visit our website for the latest flight schedule and information.

The Group remains fully committed to rebuilding the connectivity of the Hong Kong international aviation hub. As a Group, we anticipate that we will be operating around 70% of pre-pandemic passenger flight capacity by the end of 2023, with an aim to return to pre-pandemic levels by the end of 2024.

AjnaLens unveils India’s First True Mixed Reality Glasses, AjnaXR along with its very own metaverse learning platform AjnaVidya at CES 2023

Mumbai, 06 January 2023. AjnaLens, an Indian startup created history by launching India’s first ‘Made In India’ True Mixed Reality Glasses, named AjnaXR at the CES 2023 for learning in extended reality. The meticulously designed glasses are in-built with its learning platform, AjnaVidya which enables users to up-skill or re-skill themselves in the virtual world. AjnaXR packs incredible capabilities into a surprisingly small space. A headset lighter than the lightest in its segment with user interactions so simple and natural, is here to revolutionize the way you learn.

The exclusive AjnaVidya platform is built considering developers’ requirements and the learner’s market. It opens enormous opportunities for both the learners and the developers. The platform enables the developers to upload their content, which the learners can access and learn from the best of industry-validated courses. The leaderboard evaluates the learner’s performance and is accessible to the hiring partners. It acts as a personalised training tool, flagging off the areas of improvement to the learner. Right from automotive, healthcare, mining, to airport maintenance, mindfulness and metaverse creation, the platform offers a wide range of training from different industries under one roof.

Furthermore, for developers, AjnaLens is providing intelligent tools to identify market demand, superior user analytics to build impactful experiences, publish their experience and sell it to millions of learners globally with zero upfront fees. AjnaVidya also offers an NFT marketplace to create these experiences faster or monetize their existing asset library. With AjnaVidya, developers can focus on creating world-class photorealistic training experiences while the platform will take care of everything else.

Simultaneously, AjnaLens has on-boarded 30+ hiring partners, which can select the best fresh talents straight from the platform, opening new doors for the fresh skills in the creators’ market. The platform also enables interactive and collaborative learning, keeping the human experience at the center.

Abhijit Patil, Co-founder & COO, AjnaLens, said, “We are thrilled to launch India’s first True Mixed Reality Glasses and world’s first complete immersive learning ecosystem at a global event, CES 2023. We envisioned representing India and showcasing the talent we have in India. With AjnaVidya and AjnaXR, we aim to provide an immersive learning experience with real-life tools to the trainee and help them get placed at a highly competitive pay scale globally.”

As per a recent study by PWC, immersive learning proved to be the most effective way of learning compared to existing industrial training methods. With AjnaVidya, one can be trained 4X faster and will boost confidence while applying it in the real world. Additionally, it’s a 52% more cost effective way of training.

Speaking about the newest launch, Abhishek Tomar, Co-founder & CTO, AjnaLens, said, “Started with the vision to revolutionize the learning and human development, we have come a long way. We aim to transform human lives by building a skill-first world with equal economic opportunities.”

The platform can be accessed through the web app & the entire processing takes place on the Cloud, making it more immersive. The company aims to satisfy enterprises’ customized training demands with the AjnaXR and AjnaVidya and help them upskill the existing workforce.

RODIC Consultants Partners with NHAI for the Upcoming 4-lane Greenfield Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway

Amritsar, Punjab,  January 2023: RODIC Consultants has been recently selected as Authority’s Engineer by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) for Supervision of Construction of the four-lane Greenfield Amritsar connectivity for the Connection of Amritsar with Delhi-Amritsar-Katra Expressway from Junction with Kapurthala – Sultanpur Lodhi road (NH-703A) near Isharwal village to MDR Junction at Dhunda Village on EPC mode under Bharatmala Pariyojna.

With this state-of-the-art project, RODIC Consultants is set to provide their expertise for the connectivity projects to Delhi-Amritsar Expressway. Delhi, Haryana, and Punjab will benefit greatly from the proposed expressway, providing unparalleled connectivity and significant reductions in travel times for goods and services between the three states. The period of service is 8 years (construction period 36 months + maintenance/ DLP period 60 months).

Two parallel cable-stayed bridges having a length of 1,300 meters will also be built on the expressway, making it one of the most iconic structures in India.

The highly acclaimed project comes as a stellar achievement for RODIC Consultants and is expected to greatly enhance the firm’s growth trajectory, while also fortifying its credentials as the country’s leading consultancy firm. It will also catapult the company’s already diverse and successful professional portfolio to unprecedented heights.

Sharing his insights on the project, Mr. Raj Kumar, Chairman & Managing Director, of RODIC Consultants said, “It is an important project for RODIC that will further strengthen our logistics expertise, especially in highway and bridge development. We are delighted to be collaborating with the National Highways Authority of India. As a service partner, we are committed to completing the NHAI project in a timely manner. RODIC uses its owned DRONES to virtually monitor the progress of our projects. The high-precision data collected reports on the as-built state of the site and enables progress monitoring and non-conformance detection, while also supporting informed decision-making on project planning and management. RODIC professionals regularly conduct “RODIC EYE” using visual intelligence for project monitoring, taking site management to a whole new level. By combining our expertise in engineering and digital technology with the latest technology and innovative approaches to data, RODIC has built a unique position in the market that enables us to quickly understand our client’s priorities and create solutions that overcome their challenges. We, therefore, maintain clients’ trust throughout the organisation. Our goal is to create our project sites as “Smart Construction Sites” to accomplish safe, efficient, and high-quality construction.”

TECNO enters a new category of IoT devices with the launch of 4G portable Wi-Fi Hotspot TR109

Mumbai, 06th January 2023: TECNO Mobile, the global premium technology brand, has launched its first 4G Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot TR109. Recognized for introducing industry-first features in the smartphone category, the brand has entered a new IoT segment with the launch of the 4G portable Wi-Fi Hotspot TR109.

Priced at INR 2,499, the TECNO Portable Wi-Fi Hotspot TR109 supports up to 16 simultaneous connections and ensures a stable link among multiple users. The newly-launched offering also eliminates issues such as connection delays caused by multiple connected devices. It comes with a mighty 3000 mAh battery and provides a 7-day long standby time. With a lightweight, portable design, it has a plug-in SIM card and Wi-Fi everywhere structure. It is suitable for network utility in every activity and has capabilities of multi-purpose usage.

Commenting on the newest entrant in TECNO’s IoT devices line, Arijeet Talapatra, CEO, of TECNO Mobile India, said, “TECNO is a technology-centric, innovative global brand that believes in providing advanced features with every new offering. As consumers evolve and become more digitally savvy, the industry must be in sync with the demands and aspirations of its consumers. With Wi-Fi TR109, we have blended trendy design with efficiency. We aim to consolidate our position in the IoT domain too, as we have done in the smartphone segment. Our focus is on providing consumers with a wholesome array of devices with an aim to create a true TECNO-connected device ecosystem.”

Designed for digitally-savvy Gen Z consumers who require strong internet connectivity for various daily activities, the TECNO Wi-Fi Hotspot comes with a speed of 300 Mbps with 2*2 MIMO Technology, offering two spatial streams of wirelessly transmitting and receiving data on the same channel or frequency. Together with the Translink app, users can easily manage their Wi-Fi and access devices, controlling the traffic usage of terminal devices at any time.

KreditBee Closes Second Tranche of its USD 200 million Series D Fundraise

Bengaluru | January 6, 2023: KreditBee, one of India’s leading fintech platforms, in an extension of its Series D round raised an additional USD 100 million in primary funding from Advent International (“Advent”), one of the world’s largest and most experienced private equity investors. Last month, the company raised Tranche one of Series D from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), Japan’s largest bank, along with existing investors Premji Invest, Motilal Oswal Alternates, NewQuest Capital Partners, and Mirae Asset Venture Investments. Avendus Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor to KreditBee on the transaction.

The additional capital raised will be deployed towards scaling the existing business and diversifying its product offering by venturing into digitally enabled financial products. The company serves the credit and other personal finance requirements through its in-house RBI-registered NBFC – Krazybee Services Private Limited (Systemically important NBFC) along with partnerships with over 10 renowned financial institutions. The platform is on track to surpass an AUM of USD 1 billion over the next 6-9 months.

On announcing the fundraising, Madhusudan Ekambaram, Co-Founder & CEO of KreditBee, said, “We are delighted to welcome a long-term financial and strategic partner in Advent. This reinforces the confidence in our profitable business model and its long-term sustainability of it. The latest round will help us to achieve our vision of serving over 400 million middle-income population in the country.”

Shweta Jalan, the Managing Partner at Advent International, added, “We believe KreditBee’s proprietary underwriting tech stack is one of the best in the industry and helps in its ability to identify and underwrite future prime customers at an early stage. We are thrilled about this partnership and to assist KreditBee to drive further value creation in its next phase of sustainable growth.”

Gagan Joshi, Director at Advent International, said, “We are excited about the digital lending opportunity in India, a fast-growing under-penetrated space, which only a handful of FinTechs like KreditBee have been able to crack profitably. We look forward to supporting Madhu and his team in creating a full-service fintech platform to help meet the credit needs of India.”

Ashish Dave, CEO of Mirae Asset Venture Investments, said, “KreditBee has witnessed several credit cycles and has come out stronger each time reflecting the adaptability and resilience of its business model. With this investment, we are strengthening our commitment to back KreditBee’s vision.”

Pankaj Naik, Executive Director and Co-Head, Digital & Technology Investment Banking at Avendus Capital said, “We are thrilled to have partnered with Madhu and KreditBee. This new funding will help KreditBee consolidate its position as a strong leader in the personal digital lending market. The current round is a reflection that in any market conditions, companies with attractive margin profiles addressing a large market opportunity continue to create an exceptional outcome.”

Plan Your Next Holiday with Scoot’s Back to Work Sale

January 6, 2023: Scoot, the low-cost subsidiary of Singapore Airlines Group (SIA), has launched a “Back to Work” sale till 10 January 2023. Travellers may consider planning ahead for their next holidays to enjoy great fares to over 30 destinations, starting from ₹5,700[1].

Scoot currently operates non-stop flights between Singapore, and Amritsar, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchirappalli, and Vishakhapatnam. It also provides convenient one-stop connections via Singapore, to destinations including Bangkok, Bali, Melbourne, and Yogyakarta.

Scoot General Manager of India, Brian Torrey, said, “India remains one of Scoot’s important markets and we are committed to connecting travelers conveniently to and from India with other parts of the world. Besides an extensive network, we will also continue to offer quality services, differentiated products and unique experiences at affordable fares and the highest safety standards that customers have come to expect from a member of the Singapore Airlines Group.”

Last year, Scoot celebrated 10 years since its inaugural flight. The airline now serves 71 destinations[2] across 15 countries and territories in Asia-Pacific, the Middle East, and Europe, and has a fleet of over 50 aircraft comprising widebody Boeing 787 Dreamliners and single-aisle Airbus A320 family aircraft. In the spirit of celebrations, Scoot partnered The Pokémon Company and became the first international airline in the ASEAN region to launch the Pokémon Air Adventures project. The collaboration includes a themed flight experience on board the Pikachu Jet, exclusively designed on the outside and inside. Additionally, Scoot hosted its largest flight ticket giveaway, rewarding customers and fans 10,000 free tickets to anywhere across the airline’s network.