All posts by Neel Achary

Business World

“Atmanirbhar spirit will result in India coming out much stronger after Covid-19,” says minister Hardeep Singh Puri

Sep 16, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #and the Minister of State, #Atmanirbhar Bharat, #Ministry of Commerce and Industry, #Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Civil Aviation

Kolkata: “The Atmanirbhar Bharat spirit will result in India coming out much stronger after Covid-19 because we are unleashing our animus spirits in terms of self-reliance and work. Some of this is in reaction to global trends. If the global supply chains are unduly dominated by a particular country, and you apprehend difficulties, well thats the genius of the Indian people to quickly rebound and the results are heartwarming,” said Mr Hardeep Singh Puri at a special online session of The Write Circle and in conversation with former diplomat, author and foreign policy analyst, T C A Raghavan, organized by Prabha Khaitan Foundation of Kolkata. The Write Circle is a forum that brings top minds and experts to share perspectives and deep insights from diverse fields and spheres of activity.

Mr Puri, who currently holds three portfolios as the Minister of State (Independent Charge) Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs and Ministry of Civil Aviation, and the Minister of State, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, in response to a question by Mr. Raghavan further said, “Atmanirbhar Bharat is not intended to be an inward-looking excuse to close our borders to the world. It is a spirit and a resolve to make us more productive and better members of the International Community and the global system. We are on the cusp of the fourth industrial revolution with the Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning, and artificial intelligence, and the spirit is to make sure we don’t become a lego or just nuts and bolts. Atmanirbhar will resonate strongly because we want to take advantage of the other supply chains in the world.”

As a career diplomat for 39 years, Mr. Puri has held many important posts including former Representative of India in the United Nations, President of UN Security Council and Chairman of UNSC Counter-Terrorism Committee and others. Mr. Puri has also authored two books Perilous Interventions and Delusional Politics.

Commenting on various challenges and struggles of the COVID pandemic, Mr. Puri said, “Since 6th May India has now (in the fifth phase) brought back over 1.4 million citizens from across the globe during the pandemic. I can say with a sense of confidence that this is the largest evacuation and repatriation mission undertaken at any point of time in human history and the rate at which things are moving we shall set a new record. We were able to do it within reasonable arrangements of social distancing and other safety quotients.”

Touching upon different topics he said that the lockdown has helped us to create necessary infrastructure – the number of beds required; PPEs, ventilators, medicines, etc., that have been exported to many countries in the world, including the developed West.

Puri lauded the Prime Minister for the foresight and courageous steps to combat the pandemic. “The decision to prioritise life and livelihood is a difficult one. Domestic civil aviation was opened on 22nd May and in the pre-COVID days India was handling 2.5 to 3 lakh passengers per day. By Diwali we hope to handle 1.5 to 2 lakh passengers per day and hopefully, by the end of the year we would go back to the pre-covid days,” Puri said.

Talking about his other ministry, he said that they have built more than 6,00,000 public toilets and more than 66,00,000 toilets in individual households. This has helped to reduce the open defecation in India and also helped in gender empowerment by providing safety and security to the girl child. The Yojanas that helped micro industries has played a huge role in tackling covid.These micro industries produced crores of face masks, lakhs of PPE kits and thousands of litres of sanitisers.

Even though a scheme such Awas Yojana shouldn’t be a factor in deciding who to vote for, there is some sort of correlation according to Puri. Even in the case of youngsters who faced job problems came in and voted for Modi ji because there was a clear outline of the plan.

Business World

Informa Markets in India and KDCL Unveil INFRACONEX

Sep 16, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Atmanirbhar Bharat, #Informa Markets in India, #Managing Director, #MSMEs, #Yogesh Mudras

Gandhinagar, September 16th, 2020: Informa Markets in India, (formerly UBM India), India’s leading B2B exhibition organiser, and K and D Communication Ltd. ( KDCL ) in a Joint Venture, today unveiled a brand new Exhibition ‘ INFRACONEX’ that will cater to the Indian construction equipment sector. The three day Expo slated for 6th-8th August 2021 at Gandhinagar, Gujarat, will focus on new launches, automation technology in construction, provide solutions to the industry drivers, and forecast the challenges of the India construction equipment market through high content-driven conference, seminar & product presentation. The announcement was virtually marked by the presence of Shri Satin Sachdeva-Founder President- Construction Equipment Rental Association (CERA); Shri Arvind Patel Chairman Gujarat Contractors Association (GCA); Shri Sanket Shah- Hon. Secretary, GIHED CREDAI, Shri Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India, and Shri Samir Kapoor- Head Projects – KDCL at the Virtual Press Conference.

The country’s economy and the construction industry both have faced adversity following the COVID-19 enforced lockdown. This unprecedented scale of events had forced the industry to come to a halt forcing the migrant labour to return to their hometowns as private businesses had pessimistic views and reduced spending. The timing of the expo is in sync with the movements in the market especially in the current pandemic scenario where industries are looking forward to revival. According to a recent research report by GLEEDS, general sentiments in the market show the business to be slowly picking up, however, Q4 2020 shows a poor to moderate returns and a sense of normalcy would be expected to return only in Q2 2021, provided the vaccine is found and distributed in India by year-end 2020.

With the Government’s mission of ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT and vision to increase MSMEs’ contribution to India’s GDP to over 50% from the current 29%, the event will also facilitate the MSME companies with special pricing at the MSME Pavilion and will allow meeting the policymakers & buyers. Apart from providing ease of doing online business, the expo will act as a catalyst for global networking with foreign manufactures.

Speaking at the virtual Press Meet of the unveiling of INFRACONEX 2021, Mr. Yogesh Mudras, Managing Director, Informa Markets in India said, “The Indian road infrastructure and highways construction industry, including the equipment and materials, are the biggest component in driving the economy and the second-largest employer after agriculture. With the government’s projection of ₹111 trillion investments for 2020-25 to develop social and economic infrastructure to boost economic growth, allied industries such as the construction equipment market will be augmented. InfraConex aims to create a business /experience for all the industry stakeholders such as construction equipment companies, distributors, policy makers, government, financial institutions, associations, organizations, forums, and alliances related to the construction equipment market. The expo will also help the MSME companies from the construction sector to connect with the financial institutions to better understand the government policies of funding MSME. This would be especially useful given that 30 % of equipment manufacturers in India comprise Gujarat based MSMEs. Special products zone will be created to display the innovative products manufactured by the MSMEs.”

“We are extremely proud to partner with KDCL for InfraConex that will support us with their worldwide networking, pre-emptive planning, and execution. With a strong base in the western region, our collaboration with KDCL will raise the platform for the construction equipment sector. We look forward to a prolific partnership with them.” He further added.

The expo will be a catalyst in the growth of the construction equipment market by creating meaningful interaction between various stakeholders of the industry such as manufacturers, suppliers, distributors, policymakers, investors, nodal agencies, and associations. It will provide a platform to showcase the path-breaking technologies, automation, and solutions for the industry to ascend to the next level. It will help industry stakeholders explore the latest products and technologies and thereby help them in CAPEX related decision making. The expo will also host a knowledge forum by key influencers of the industry through conferences and seminars and will facilitate mind-stimulating discussion on challenges and way forward for the industry.

Infraconex is well received by associations such as Indian Construction Equipment Manufacturers Association-I-CEMA; Construction Equipment Rental Association- CERA; Crane Owners Association Of India- (COAOI); Builders Association Of India- BAI; Maharashtra Chamber Of Housing Industry- CREDAI- MCHI; Confederation of Real Estate Developers’ Associations of India (CREDAI); CREDAI Gujarat; National Real Estate Development Council- NAREDCO; Tunneling Association OF India- TAI; Gujarat Contractors Association; Ready Mix Concrete Manufacturers Association -RMCMA and Fluid Power Society Of India.

Exhibitors at the event will be from various industries related to construction such as Earthmoving, Demolition & Transport Equipment; Roads, Ports & Foundation Equipment, Building & Concrete Sector; Lifting, Handling & Hydraulic; Automation & IT; and Safety Equipment. The first physical expo of the construction industry after the COVID pandemic is likely to attract Architects, Builders / Developers, Consultants, Contractors, Distributors /Retailers, Large EPCs, Financial/Leasing Companies, Government Officials, Industry Associations, Mining Companies, OEM Manufacturers, Oil Refineries, Port Companies, Power Plants, Public-Sector Decision Makers, Rental Companies, Safety Companies, and Spare Parts & Component Manufacturers.

Technology

5 go to digital platforms for Hindi & regional content

Sep 13, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #netflix, #Roposo

The lockdown period has led to a boom in Hindi and regional content consumption all over the nation, the consumption of Indic language content, especially Hindi, is the most popular choice during this period. Realizing the enormous potential of native content and its popularity with the masses, there are platforms that have disrupted storytelling on digital platforms by bridging the gap between useful native content and community.

Here are the lists of 5 go to digital platforms for Hindi language:

Netflix:

Netflix is the world’s leading streaming entertainment service with 193 million paid memberships in over 190 countries enjoying TV series, documentaries and feature films across a wide variety of genres and languages. Members can watch as much as they want, anytime, anywhere, on any internet-connected screen. Netflix has recently launched its user interface in Hindi to enable users who prefer the most-spoken language to easily discover access and enjoy their favourite streaming content in the country.

Momspresso:

Momspresso is India’s largest user-generated content platform for women. The platform produces over 20,000 hindi content pieces on a monthly basis in formats like blogs, Vlogs and 100 word stories. In fact, the platform has revealed that its Hindi page views per user is 2.8 times of english and  with a 18 times higher interaction rate as compared to english. The unique platform that empanels moms to churn out relevant content for women, also partners with global brands like Dettol, Dove, Nestle, which attracts the audience towards the local content. Brands are increasingly leveraging India’s linguistic diversity to connect with consumers and Momspresso is an instrumental driver of such linguistically diverse content. Momspresso has 25000 content creators creating content in 10 regional languages.

Sharechat:

In an attempt to leverage and drive the number of vernacular content users, ShareChat proposes to be India’s answer to Facebook, Twitter and similar social networking platforms. Headquartered in Bengaluru, ShareChat was founded in 2015 by IIT-Kanpur alumni Bhanu Singh Pratap, Farid Ahsan and Ankush Sachdeva. Similar to Facebook and Twitter, ShareChat enables users to post and share videos, songs, images and other content, as well as discover content that is topical and trending. Users can interact with content in several Indian languages including Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Telugu, etc.

Hubhopper:

Hubhopper is India’s largest podcasting and audio-on-demand platform. It has over a million hours of audio content spread across twelve vernacular languages. It has also launched Online Studio for the potential audio content creators in India, and has seen a good traction of storytellers from towns like Bihar, Assam, etc. With 70,000+ daily active users on its platforms, Hubhopper helps brands target the right audience by streaming advertisements on selective regional and community-focused podcasts. Some of its leading podcasts are Paranormal Reality,  Spanecdotes by Sonata and Kachi Mitti – A Body of Barefoot Stories.

Roposo:

Roposo is a social media sharing platform that lets its users create images, video and other shareable content using editing tools. Based out of Gurugram, Roposo was founded in 2012 by IIT Delhi alumni Avinash Saxena, Mayank Bhangadia and Kaushal Shubhank. The app is currently available in 8 languages namely Hindi, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada Gujarati, Punjabi and Bengali, for users to explore and expresses themselves in. Roposo further plans to introduce languages like Odiya and Assamese among others and state that users can share content on their app without the risk of their message being lost in translation.

Business World

StartupXseed Launches Second Fund of Rs.200 Crores for investing in Seed and Growth stages in Deep Tech space

Sep 8, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Aarav Unmanned Systems, #Mr. B. V. Naidu, #StartupXseed Ventures

StartupXseed Ventures, announces an Rs.200 Cr Fund II, focussed at investing in Deep Tech, B2B focussed companies, from Seed to Early Growth Stages. The Fund announced its first closing with Rs.65 Crores of Commitments from Existing & new LPs and plans to complete the fundraising in the next 6-9 months.

Founded by Mr. B. V. Naidu (Former Director STPI) and Mr. Ravi Thakur, along with Mr. Mohandas Pai (through Aarin Capital), V. Balakrishnan, and other like-minded leaders from the Industry, in a short span the fund has found its niche in investing into 12 Deep Tech, disruptive companies and also exited 3 investments. Fund – I returned 35% of the principal much before it had completed the final drawdown and investment cycle.

The Fund I investments include Aarav Unmanned Systems (AUS), AIBono, Anlyz, AlphaIC, Bellatrix, CloudSEK, DarwinBox, ShieldSquare, Siliconch Systems, Singularity Dynamics, SmarterBiz, and Steradian Semiconductors. The portfolio continues to be healthy and these companies are on a growth path despite the current pandemic situation.

Building on the track record, Fund II will invest Rs 3 Crores to Rs 10 Crores per round in emerging deep tech start-ups from SaaS to SpaceTech including the areas of Cyber Security, Silicon IP, HealthTech, FinTech, AgriTech, and AI/ML.

The Investor base includes successful Tech Entrepreneurs, HNI’s, and Family offices. Despite the pandemic affecting the broader sentiment, several of the existing Investors participated with higher commitments.

Mr. B.V. Naidu, Managing Partner, StartupXseed, commented, “In Fund II, we will continue to focus on Deep Tech companies with capital-efficient business models. Our strategy has worked out very well in the Fund I and is reflected in the performance. Over these years, we have built a team, quality deal flow network, deal evaluation framework, post-investment hand-holding and demonstrated exits.”

Commenting on the occasion Mr. T.V. Mohandas Pai said, “StartupXseed has found its niche and unique positioning amongst venture funds. It will continue to build on its Fund I performance. India is today at the cusp of building technology innovations and start-ups are at the core of it playing a pivotal role and Venture funds like StartupXseed catalyzes the growth of these start-ups.”

Mr. Ravi Thakur, Co-founding Partner, StartupXseed, said, “We have been investing in good companies even during the COVID–19 and the horizon is looking good for investment with many advanced technologies being developed locally. With this new landscape, Fund II will continue the momentum to find exceptional leaders working on the greatest of ideas.”

Jayant Paleti, Co-Founder, DarwinBox, (StartupXseed Fund I Portfolio Co) said “The StartupXseed team has demonstrated great commitment towards the startup ecosystem and have always kept the interests of founders at the forefront in every decision they make. They have exhibited great sensitivity & care while working with us and we have benefited immensely from their involvement.”

Business World

cemX launches new credit feature in India

Sep 8, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #cemX, #India’s pioneer e-commerce cement firm

cemX- India’s pioneer e-commerce cement firm has joined hands with ZestMoney, to launch a first-of-its-kind holistic approach for quick and affordable EMI options for their end customers. This will be the first time when an EMI credit option shall be offered to any Building Material customer to cope up with the financing challenges of small and medium builders in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of India.

Commenting on the occasion, Ashutosh Kumar Jha (Founder & CEO), cemX, said, “We are excited to have taken up this new opportunity for our e-purchasers. Our vision is to empower the community by enabling them easy to pay EMI options. This will immensely benefit the tier two and tier three customers by reducing their financial burdens while keeping their dream of building a house unimpaired.”

Adding to the same, Sourav Chakraborty (Co-Founder & CBO), cemX, said, “We at cemX, are trying to ensure payment feasibility for our clients by introducing the credit options. This will not only help us enrich our clientele but will also unleash our clients’ financial predicaments.”

The e-commerce store facilitates and aggregates cement procurement while ensuring cost-effectiveness for the BOP sections of tier 2 and tier 3 cities to provide hassle and bargain free cement deals. Through this partnership with ZestMoney, customers acquiring cement online will be able to overcome the inconveniences of bank loans seamlessly, thereby supporting the Indian MSME companies. The minimum amount of loan is as low as five thousand with a capping of two lakhs, where the interest rate is 0.75% per month.

Business World

VOICE aims to restore lost shine of global jewellery industry

Sep 8, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #global jewellery industry

The jewellery industry across the globe suffered a major setback due to the COVID 19 pandemic. In countries like India, especially, it has been hit hard owing to a long list of cancelled or postponed events like weddings.

At a time now when the Indian, as well as global industry eye revival amidst lockdown relaxations, Italian Exhibition Group (IEG), as organizer of Vicenzaoro – among other shows –,, has announced an extraordinary event titled VOICE to be held at the Vicenza Expo Centre from Saturday 12th to 14th September 2020. VOICE, in precedence of a trade show re-boot with Vicenzaoro in January 2021, will reunite the gold and jewellery sector to relaunch businesses and export activities around the world. The event is curated by IEG in collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation and the Italian Trade Agency and will specifically focus on innovating, organizing and acting responsibly. The event will take place guaranteeing full health protection of companies and visitors in compliance with IEG’s #SAFEBUSINESS project (https://www.iegexpo.it/it/safebusiness), providing more than fifty guidelines, from the digitalization of tickets and payments, to temperature controls, to a sanitization route. IEG has furthermore chosen the GBAC STARTM program to reach the international standard of sanitation for the Vicenza exhibition center. Set to usher in the industry’s global re-start, VOICE will be presented in a unique format with “phygital” — physical and virtual — realities coming together.

Italy is known for its handcrafted jewellery with the “Made in Italy” hallmark being synonymous with excellence in jewellery craftsmanship. The country is looked up to as an international centre for design, fashion and style and Italian-made jewels are among the most sought after in the world. Italy is also known to be at the forefront of manufacturing technology for jewellery.  Hence, an event that comes from this rich and varied heritage is being viewed as landmark.

For countries like India, VOICE holds increased importance as an event that will re-instill a fresh lease of life for its jewellery business against the backdrop of global issues like surging gold and silver prices, and huge uncertainty across the retail landscape. In India, the jewellery industry has suffered a massive damage as mass shopping came to a standstill and no footfalls were witnessed at jewellery stores despite the scheduled peak wedding season. March 2020 was the 12th consecutive month that did not witness any positive YoY exports growth. In FY20, gross exports of gems and jewellery fell by 10 per cent YoY to $35,531 mn. Key commodities such as cut and polished diamonds, rough diamonds, gold medallions and coins and coloured gemstones witnessed declining exports demand.

The industry was already facing challenges in the form of customs duties and fall in exports amongst others. The sudden rise in pricing had resulted in a drop-in sales in the past few months. The pandemic outbreak further led to huge losses given that all retail stores were shut during the lockdown. The world’s second biggest gold consumer saw demand tumbling down as it witnessed the slowest pace of growth in the last decade.

At a time like this, platforms like VOICE are slated to go a long way in helping the Indian jewellery industry look towards revival with lockdowns gradually easing and the market opening up.

‘VOICE’ will aim to give a voice to the Indian as well as global jewellery world, acting as a trend inversion and economic reactivation point. Events will unfold via cutting-edge integration with the most sophisticated television broadcasting systems and digital instrumentation to ensure that all sessions and seminars will be broadcast live on platforms like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook to be viewed all over the world.

Over three days, VOICE will act as a summit where opinion leaders from the international jewellery fraternity: From Damiani Group’s CEO to the Executive Director of De Beers, from the President of the World Diamond Council to the President of the World Jewellery Confederation (CIBJO), from the Executive Director of the Responsible Jewellery Council to CEOs from all the most esteemed Italian gold and jewellery companies, including Bulgari and Pomellato, will discuss and deliberate over various topics including state of the industry and the upcoming challenges. Jewellery brands and designers will also be able to present their new collections, latest design trends and most contemporary procedures and processing innovations. An elegant and essential outfitting context will welcome those buyers who are physically participating in the event. Meanwhile, a Buyer Virtual Room will be set up for virtual participants who may find it difficult to travel to Italy.

Marco Carniello, Group Brand Director Jewellery & Fashion, Italian Exhibition Group said, “Businesses across the world are gradually picking up and are looking for revival. After months of not having live events, VOICE will present a robust platform that will be a mix of live and digital. It aims to offer a voice to stakeholders from the global jewellery industry to present their new collections, latest design trends and contemporary processing innovations. We are excited to bring the international jewellery industry together again.”

VOICE will also be a showcase for products, with trade contacts readily provided to stakeholders to pursue business opportunities. The summit will be a mix of education and insights to help create future trade and solve existing challenges.

Business World

Pure Health Partners with Apollo Diagnostics to Screen UAE Travellers for COVID-19

Sep 8, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Apollo Health & Lifestyle Limited, #Group CEO, #Mr. Chandra Sekhar

Pune 8th Sep 2020: One of the greatest concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic is the prevention of transmission risk among international travellers. This concern has been addressed by Pure Health, the UAE’s largest lab network, in partnership with Apollo Diagnostics, a renowned diagnostic chain and a unit of Apollo Health & Lifestyle Limited. Pure Health and Apollo Diagnostics are coming together to administer COVID-19 tests to airline passengers flying into the United Arab Emirates. Pure Health has been appointed by the UAE government to launch this pioneering project to promote safe travel.

“We are happy to support Pure Health in their efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic and facilitate safe travel for passengers flying into the UAE,” said Mr. Chandra Sekhar, Group CEO, Apollo Health & Lifestyle Limited. “As one of the largest diagnostic chains in India, we are ideally placed to successfully deliver this ambitious initiative, and we are grateful for the trust placed in us.”

Apollo Diagnostics has already set up 9 collection centres across India. The program has been implemented in Hyderabad at Nallagandla & West Maredpalli, Vijayawada at Venkateswarapuram, Kolkata at Laketown & Mudiali, Pune at Wakad, Bavdhan & Dhanori, Delhi (home collection). The traveller should visit screening.purehealth.ae and choose the test location and time slot. They have to make the payment online and carry the doctor’s prescription (depending on local government rules), Aadhaar card, passport, and payment receipt while arriving for sample collection. The test results will then be sent to the UAE authorities, who will use the data to cross-check with the arriving travellers against the border control database. To know more about this initiative, the travellers can contact Apollo Diagnostics at 040 4444 2424.

“The UAE has entrusted Pure Health with safeguarding the nation against the threat of travel-related COVID-19 transmission, worldwide. This responsibility requires us to ensure that we partner only with verified and accredited facilities around the world. We have partnered with Apollo Diagnostics to ensure that the screening process is of the highest quality and provide excellent standards of service to the travellers,” said Maria El Houari, International Passenger Screening Project Manager at Pure Health.

The UAE issued regulations that require all travellers flying into the country to provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test. Travellers without such a certificate will not be allowed to board the flight.

Business World

ENO continues to drive relevance with food experiments

Sep 8, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #ENO, #GSK Consumer Healthcare

New Delhi, September 08, 2020: GSK Consumer Healthcare’s leading antacid brand in India, ENO has launched the third phase of the successful #WhatARelief campaign to drive relevance for the brand. As the country prepares itself for a longer stint of social distancing, the in-home food experiments continue to be a relevant trend, as validated from the recipe search data from Youtube. Riding on this wave, ENO has partnered with Google to create a unique campaign where the communication is customized as per the recipe being searched by the user.

The brand first picked up the top recipes being searched on YouTube (which had high correlation with acidity) and then developed customized 6 second creatives for each recipes. The ENO advertisment is customised basis the recipe searched and plays before the recipe video commences, making the whole experience a very personalized one for the viewer.

Vijay Sharma, Area Marketing Lead, OTC & Expert Marketing ISC, GSK Consumer Healthcare said, “With prolonged confinement at home, food continues to be an expression of relief and people are seeking and trying new recipes that they can themselves make at home. We want people to enjoy their culinary experiments without having to worry about any interruption that may happen on account of acidity, as their trusted ally Eno is always there to take care of it. We had received an overwhelming response to the previous phase of this campaign and that’s why we are extending it – now making it far more personalised with this unique idea.”

With this campaign, the brand will drive relevance via contextual conversations and present itself as a reliable ally against acidity. The campaign has already garnered a massive reach of over 14 million consumers on Youtube within a week of its launch.

Business World

Birlasoft and AmCap Insurance announce Go-live of Submission Automation Portal

Sep 8, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Birlasoft

Pune, Noida (India) and Edison, NJ (USA), September 8, 2020 | Birlasoft Ltd [BSE: 532400, NSE: BSOFT], part of the USD 2.4 billion diversified, The CK Birla Group, today announced it has successfully gone live with the Submission Automation Portal for American Capital Assurance Corp (AmCap Insurance).

AmCap Insurance was looking to transform their underwriting operations around submission intake and management. There has been a steady rise in submissions volume and with state expansion planned, AmCap Insurance realized that process automation in conjunction with an intuitive web portal would alleviate the challenges in submission handling workflow. The Submission Automation Portal automates the intake process, data extraction, submission prioritization, and routing with OCR and eligibility. Integration with email and other internal systems facilitates better underwriter- agent collaboration and seamless data exchanges.

Shilpa Bhandari, SVP & Global Head, BFSI, Birlasoft, said, “I would like to congratulate AmCap Insurance for the smooth release of Submission Automation Portal. We are proud to partner with AmCap Insurance in their journey to innovate and achieve excellence in underwriting operations. This platform provides a strong foundation for AmCap Insurance to generate high underwriting profitability and superior customer service to their agency partners and customers.”

“Birlasoft’s contribution to the insurance industry has been phenomenal and we are happy to have them as partners in this journey. They are constant innovators in their space, helping their customers to be more productive with their innovations and cutting- edge business strategies. Currently, we have been collaborating with Birlasoft on a Submission Automation Portal which will not only help achieve excellence in underwriting operations but propel the desired paradigm shift towards providing seamless service to our customers.” Said, Philip G Peterson III, Vice President, and CAO, American Capital Assurance Corp.

Birlasoft has proven itself as a leading mid-tier Enterprise Digital company by carving out a premier position among the minds of global brands; catering to customers across verticals and providing personalized attention with its two decades of experience in transformational projects. Birlasoft has been invested in industry-centric domain solutions and partnerships. The company has successfully delivered projects for insurance customers in areas of core process augmentation, front to back-office automation, and customer experience. Birlasoft has proven experience in the insurance solutions suite portfolio comprising of various solutions for distribution, policy administration, and claims business units. These specific portfolios help to improve collaboration between brokers and underwriters, boosting underwriting efficiency, and fighting claim fraud.

Business World

ESAF Small Finance Bank Announces Fintech Conclave 2020

Sep 8, 2020 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #ESAF Small Finance Bank, #Fintech news

ESAF Small Finance Bank has announced its first Fintech Conclave for the country’s cutting edge fintech companies who can redefine the future of digital banking with innovative technologies and to be a partner in rebuilding India. The conclave endorses entrepreneurship in the banking sector and is open for start-ups, established and growth-phase technology firms, social innovators and entrepreneurs having innovative solutions that align with ESAF’s core mission to provide responsive banking services to the underserved and unserved population of India.

Through this conclave, ESAF provides fintech firms a platform to showcase their new digital banking solutions that facilitate last mile financial inclusion. The competent finalist can eventually become a long term strategic partner of the bank as the co-creator of new financial digital products that will be the latest enhancement to happen in the banking sector.

The new normal evolved post the Covid-19 pandemic has given fillip to contactless digital banking and the banking sector is exploring more such solutions that would enhance customer experience and technology-based service delivery. It is here the Fintech Conclave 2020 inviting entrepreneurs who offer digital solutions to multipartite banking, to have a say. As the banking sector exploring new digital avenues with customer satisfaction in the spotlight, the doors are wide open for fintech entrepreneurs to devise digital products that meet the need.

Mr. K. Paul Thomas, Managing Director and CEO, ESAF Small Finance Bank said: “Digital channel is a key component of the bank’s strategy and over the years it has leveraged digital platforms for all its services. The bank is now aiming to look beyond this and wants technologically advanced solutions and its extensive application to help customers to build sustainable livelihoods. The Fintech Conclave 2020 would be a platform for such digital entrepreneurs.”

For the participation in the Fintech Conclave, firms can visit https://www.esafbank.com/esaf-fintech-conclave-2020/ and submit the form. Shortlisted companies will receive communication from the bank.

For queries please write to fintechconclave@esafbank.com