Category: Business

Nuvah Secures Rs.4 Crore Pre-Seed Funding to Revolutionise Heels for Indian Women

Backed by Amit Jain, Shantanu Deshpande, Ishendra Agarwal and others, the Avni Jain-led footwear start-up will invest in R&D, proprietary comfort technology and go-to-market experimentation.

India, September 2026: Nuvah, a technology-driven footwear brand pioneering comfort-engineered heels, has secured ₹4 crore in a pre-seed angel round. The funding attracted a distinguished roster of investors, including Amit Jain, Shantanu Deshpande, Ishendra Agarwal, and others. The company will use the new capital to fund research and development, advance its proprietary comfort technology, and test go-to-market strategies to capture India’s growing premium footwear market.

Founded in October 2025 by Avni Jain, Nuvah adopts an engineering-first approach to solving one of women’s footwear’s most persistent challenges: the perceived trade-off between style and comfort. Before launching Nuvah, Avni’s career spanned venture capital, McKinsey & Company, and Goldman Sachs. She is an alumna of IIM Ahmedabad. The brand crafts heels tailored to the way women move, work, and navigate daily life, aiming to deliver lasting comfort without sacrificing aesthetics.

Central to Nuvah’s offering is SteadyForm, its proprietary footbed technology designed to respond dynamically to shifting pressure across the foot. Developed through an exhaustive process involving 24 footbed prototypes and over 900 hours of real-world wear testing, SteadyForm treats comfort as an engineering challenge, factoring in diverse body profiles and everyday environments rather than treating it as an afterthought. Commenting on the fundraise, Avni Jain, founder and CEO of Nuvah, stated, “Women have long been conditioned to accept discomfort as the cost of wearing heels.

Nuvah was founded to challenge this belief. We are not merely adapting a global product , we are engineering footwear for Indian women, designed for how we move, work, and live. This capital empowers us to invest deeply in product innovation, fortify our proprietary technology, and establish Nuvah on a strong foundation.” Nuvah is focused on serving the modern Indian working woman, particularly those in the country’s major urban centres, with thoughtfully engineered heels designed to bring together style, comfort and functionality. This fundraiser coincides with rising demand for branded and premium footwear in India.

According to an IIFL Securities report (October 2024), India’s per-capita footwear consumption is about 1.9 pairs, compared to a global average of 3 pairs and over 6 pairs in developed markets, signalling significant scope for growth. The report also forecasts branded women’s footwear to grow at a CAGR of approximately 15% over the next decade, outpacing the broader category. Nuvah asserts that this opportunity is bolstered by a wider shift in how working women approach fashion and mobility. As lifestyles become more dynamic, footwear must transcend pure style and meaningfully address movement, comfort, and extended wear.

The company will unveil a new festive collection at the beginning of Navratri 2026, expanding its portfolio while furthering its engineering-led approach. Over the next three to five years, Nuvah aspires to become India’s leading lifestyle footwear brand for working women, setting a new benchmark where women no longer have to choose between looking good and feeling good. About Nuvah Founded in October 2025 by Avni Jain, Nuvah is a technology-led footwear brand reimagining comfort-engineered heels for Indian women. Rooted in the belief that fashion should empower, not restrict, the brand merges contemporary design with engineering-driven development to elevate comfort, stability, and all-day wearability. Its proprietary SteadyForm footbed technology adapts dynamically to shifting foot pressures. Nuvah is available pan-India through its D2C platform, with products starting at INR 4,000. 

Spiro strengthens leadership team with appointment of Ram Ramanathan as Group CFO

DUBAI, UAE 25 SEPTEMBER 2026 – Spiro, Africa’s leading electric mobility company, today announced the appointment of Ram Ramanathan as Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO).

Ram joins Spiro with three decades of international finance and general management experience across multinational companies and large diversified groups. His career spans strategic and operational finance, M&A, capital raising, treasury, corporate governance, financial transformation and performance management across multiple markets and sectors.

Prior to joining Spiro, Ram held senior finance leadership roles at IFFCO Group, Landmark Group and PepsiCo, building three decades of experience across strategic finance, M&A, treasury, transformation and corporate governance. Over his career, he has worked across more than 90 countries, led 22 cross-border transactions and helped arrange more than USD 5 billion in equity and international debt financing.

As Group CFO, Ram will lead Spiro’s finance function and support the company’s long-term financial strategy as it continues to expand across Africa. His responsibilities will include financial planning and performance, capital allocation, treasury, governance and financing, while supporting Spiro’s continued investment in its vehicle, battery-swapping, manufacturing and energy infrastructure.

His appointment comes at a significant stage in Spiro’s growth, following a series of major financing milestones. In 2026, the company raised USD 270 million in equity to support its expansion across Africa, while recently securing additional debt financing, including a further USD 18 million from the Africa Go Green Fund. These investments are supporting Spiro’s continued expansion, localisation of its value chain and development of its manufacturing and battery-swapping infrastructure across the continent.

Anant Badjatya, Group CEO of Spiro, said: “Ram brings a depth of financial and strategic leadership that will be highly valuable as Spiro continues to scale. His experience across capital markets, M&A, treasury and transformation will strengthen our financial capabilities and support the next phase of our growth across Africa. As we continue to invest in our operations and infrastructure, his expertise will be instrumental in helping us scale sustainably.”

Ram Ramanathan, Group Chief Financial Officer of Spiro, said: “Spiro has built an exceptional platform at the intersection of mobility, energy and technology, with the scale and ambition to fundamentally reshape transportation across Africa. I am excited to join the company at such an important point in its development. My focus will be on building the financial capabilities, governance and capital structures that can support Spiro’s continued expansion and help translate its strong operational momentum into sustainable long-term growth.”

IIM Bangalore and the Ministry of Minority Affairs sign MoUs to strengthen public programme delivery and innovation initiatives

Bengaluru, 25 September: IIM Bangalore has entered into two significant collaborations with the Ministry of Minority Affairs, Government of India, and the National Minorities Development & Finance Corporation (NMDFC), which will leverage the Institute’s strengths in public policy, entrepreneurship and innovation to support public initiatives aimed at creating inclusive and sustainable economic opportunities.

In the presence of Dr. Srivatsa Krishna, Secretary, MoMA, the MoUs were signed and exchanged by Mr. S P Roy, Joint Secretary, MoMA; Mr. Nixon Mathur, General Manager, NMDFC; Prof. U Dinesh Kumar, Director-in-charge, IIMB; and Ms. Rasika Prashant, CEO, IIMB Innovations (NSRCEL), at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, on 25th September 2026. The partnerships mark an expansion of IIMB’s engagement with public institutions on initiatives that require rigorous evidence, institutional capacity and outcome-oriented implementation.

On the occasion, Prof. U Dinesh Kumar, Director-in-charge, IIMB, said, “IIMB values the responsibility entrusted to it through such efforts, particularly where its expertise can help strengthen public programmes and their outcomes. Through our Centres of Excellence, both of which have over 25 years of experience in creating impact on the ground, we are keen to bring our understanding, knowledge and capabilities to initiatives that can expand opportunities for minority communities as well as enable pathways for enterprise”.

Through its Centre for Public Policy (CPP), IIMB will undertake independent third-party field-level inspection and concurrent monitoring of training centres under the Pradhan Mantri Virasat Ka Samvardhan (PM VIKAS) Scheme across the South Zone. The initial engagement covers 43 training centres across Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana.

The monitoring will assess key aspects of programme implementation, including training delivery, infrastructure, participation of beneficiaries and trainers, attendance, certification and placement outcomes. Field verification and consultations with relevant stakeholders will generate evidence to help identify implementation gaps, strengthen monitoring mechanisms and improve programme outcomes under PM VIKAS.

The second collaboration, between IIMB Innovations, through its entrepreneurship and incubation centre NSRCEL, and the NMDFC, will focus on strengthening the entrepreneurship and startup ecosystem for minority communities. The partnership will support areas including entrepreneurship skilling and capacity building, innovation promotion, incubation and startup support, research and evidence-based policy, and technology-enabled approaches to enterprise development.

Ms. Rasika Prashant, CEO, IIMB Innovations (NSRCEL), said: “Inclusive innovation is vital for India’s startup ecosystem. By combining our incubation support with the vision of MoMA and NMDFC, we will be empowering minority founders with expert mentoring, market access, and enterprise support to help them achieve scale, market-readiness and attract investment”.

A key area of collaboration will be the Prime Minister Minority Venture Fund (PM-MVF), with potential initiatives spanning entrepreneurship awareness, startup identification, incubation and mentoring, investor and industry linkages, market access and enterprise development. The collaboration is also envisaged to create avenues for knowledge exchange and institutional support across emerging sectors.

The collaborations are part of a wider set of MoUs signed by the Ministry of Minority Affairs with academic, research and innovation institutions in Bengaluru, including the Centre for Urbanization, Buildings & Environment (CUBE), IIT Madras, and the Foundation for Science Innovation and Development (FSID), IISc Bengaluru. Together, the partnerships seek to bring academic expertise, research capabilities, technical knowledge and established innovation ecosystems to the implementation of the Ministry’s initiatives.

Rohde & Schwarz Mobile Test Summit 2026 puts the spotlight on 6G – registrations open

This October, Rohde & Schwarz will welcome the wireless community back for the sixth Mobile Test Summit. Under the banner of 6G, the virtual global forum will connect industry leaders, technology experts and testing professionals. Across three online sessions, participants will gain insight into the technologies set to define the next generation of wireless communications.
 

Caption: The Rohde & Schwarz Mobile Test Summit 2026 brings the wireless industry together to explore the future of 6G.

Following the format of last year’s summit, Rohde & Schwarz will host Mobile Test Summit 2026 as a virtual event. The event will be split across three sessions on October 7, 14 and 21. Wireless communications professionals are invited to register for individual sessions on the Rohde & Schwarz website. Each session covers one of three pillars of the emerging 6G standard: (1) AI-native RAN, (2) integrated sensing and communication (ISAC) and (3) non-terrestrial networks (NTN).

• The series will open on October 7 with a session on AI-native RAN. This architecture unites network operations and AI computing on a single platform. Participants will learn how this technology improves network performance, along with what it takes to validate and test it.

• On October 14, the focus will shift to integrated sensing and communication (ISAC). This technology puts existing radio infrastructure to double use, simultaneously transmitting data and sensing the surrounding environment. The session will cover the current market outlook, use cases already emerging across industries and the ecosystem’s growing momentum. It will close with a look at what ISAC means for testing.

• The final session, on October 21, will focus on non-terrestrial networks (NTN). NTN combines satellites, high-altitude platforms and drones to extend wireless coverage beyond terrestrial infrastructure, reaching regions that ground-based networks cannot. Attendees can look forward to a discussion of current market trends and deployment opportunities. They can also expect to learn more about the technical challenges still standing in the way of truly ubiquitous, uninterrupted connectivity.

Together, the three sessions will cover both the current state of 6G research and its expected future trajectory. The purpose is to provide participants with a well-rounded perspective on the wireless ecosystem.

Alexander Pabst, Vice President of Wireless Communications at Rohde & Schwarz, says: “Now in its sixth year, the Mobile Test Summit has become a trusted meeting point for the wireless community. This year, we’re turning our attention to 6G, with sessions covering AI-native RAN, ISAC and non-terrestrial networks. Beyond exploring where these technologies are headed, we want to give participants practical, actionable insight into what they mean for testing and validation as the industry moves toward commercial 6G.”
There are three sessions for each topic, and participants can choose the one that best fits their time zone

Delo Group organized its first own China–Russia voyage via the Northern Sea Route

Moscow, Sept 25: Multimodal transport operator Ruscon (part of the Delo Group) has organized its first own voyage from China to Russia via the Northern Sea Route (NSR). The Honfu container vessel, which sailed the route, has arrived at Delo Group’s terminal in St. Petersburg.

The shipment was carried out as part of Ruscon’s regular container service between St. Petersburg and Chinese ports. Previously, the service operated via the Suez Canal. Ruscon is now offering seasonal shipments via the NSR, with an expected transit time of 25 days compared to 45 days via the Suez Canal.

The route operated by the Honfu, a container vessel with a capacity of approximately 3,700 TEU, includes direct calls at the ports of Nansha, Taicang and Rizhao. Feeder connections are available for cargo from other regions. NSR shipments are operated during the summer–autumn navigation season. Once the season ends, vessels will resume sailing via the Suez Canal.

As part of the service, Ruscon provides end-to-end delivery, including customs clearance. The service accepts dangerous and oversized cargo, reefer containers, as well as cargo transported on flat rack containers.

“We have successfully tested our own service along the Northern Sea Route. We intend to steadily develop this area, taking into account the needs of our clients, in order to provide the most diversified portfolio of services,” said Mikhail Poluyanov, First Vice‑President of Ruscon.

Lighthouse Learning Expands Footprint Through Strategic Partnership with The Khaitan School

Bangalore, Sep 25, 2026: Lighthouse Learning (formerly EuroKids International), India’s leading Early Childhood and K-12 Education Group, today announced a strategic partnership with The Khaitan School, Noida. The collaboration brings together The Khaitan School’s distinguished legacy and Lighthouse Learning’s scale, expertise and educational capabilities to support the school’s next phase of growth and strengthen learning opportunities for its students and educators.

Founded by the Khaitan family in 1995, The Khaitan School was established with a vision to deliver holistic, values-led education rooted in academic excellence and character. Over the years, the school has built a strong reputation for its academic outcomes, co-curricular breadth and values-led culture. Its campus features modern science and computing laboratories, well-stocked libraries, interactive digital classrooms, and state-of-the-art sports and arts infrastructure.

Through this partnership, The Khaitan School will draw on Lighthouse Learning’s integrated platform capabilities and best practices from across the group. These include a dedicated Health & Safety framework supported by audits and certification; a specialist central education team that supports pedagogy, curriculum design, assessment and faculty capability building; the Centre of Well-Being, which strengthens inclusive practices and supports children’s social-emotional and mental well-being, helping every child feel included, understood and able to thrive; Lighthouse Digital Labs, the Group’s in-house technology team, which develops secure, child-centred solutions to enhance teaching and learning.

The collaboration will also focus on school leadership development and create opportunities for students and educators to benefit from Lighthouse Learning’s wider national network. Through the exchange of ideas, research, professional development and shared pedagogical practices, the two organisations will build on The Khaitan School’s founding ethos while strengthening educational experiences and outcomes for the years ahead.

Speaking on the partnership, Prajodh Rajan, Founder and Group CEO, Lighthouse Learning Group, said, “The Khaitan School has built a strong legacy grounded in academic excellence, values and a deep commitment to nurturing young learners. We are proud to partner with an institution that shares our belief in delivering high-quality, future-ready education. Through this partnership, we will bring together specialist academic expertise, robust health and safety systems, leadership development and purpose-built technology to further enrich the learning experience. We look forward to building on the school’s existing strengths and supporting its next chapter of growth.”

Commenting on the collaboration, Vedant Khaitan, Vice Chairman, Khaitan Welfare Foundation, said, “This partnership marks a proud and important milestone in our journey. Building on the vision with which the Khaitan family founded The Khaitan School, our collaboration with Lighthouse Learning will bring fresh perspectives, best-in-class practices and enhanced opportunities for our students and educators. We look forward to working together as the school enters its next phase of growth and learning impact.”

LoEstro Advisors acted as the exclusive strategic advisor for the partnership. Cyril Amarchand Mangaldas served as the legal advisor to Lighthouse Learning Group and Quillon Partners acted as Legal Advisors for The Khaitan School, while Ernst & Young LLP acted as the financial advisor to the Group.

India’s Recycling Economy Moves From Waste Bins to Big Business

 Pic Credit: Pexel

India’s recycling story is changing rapidly. What was once largely viewed as a waste-management challenge is increasingly becoming a business opportunity, with recycled materials, battery recovery, e-waste, plastics and other waste streams attracting investment, technology and policy attention.

The shift is being supported by stronger regulations and growing demand for raw materials. The Solid Waste Management Rules, 2026, which came into effect from April 1, have made segregation at source into four categories — wet, dry, sanitary and special-care waste — mandatory. The rules also provide for digital monitoring, stronger accountability and environmental compensation for non-compliance.

For businesses, better segregation can mean better-quality recyclable material entering the formal economy. Dry waste such as plastic, paper, metals, glass and rubber can be directed to material recovery facilities for sorting and recycling, reducing the amount of valuable material that ultimately reaches landfills.

The scale of the emerging market is significant. As of March 2026, India had 4,574 registered recyclers across plastic, battery, tyre, e-waste and used-oil streams, with more than 417.57 lakh tonnes of waste processed under these regulated categories. The government’s Extended Producer Responsibility framework has also created a market for recycling certificates and encouraged companies to invest in recycling capacity.

From Waste Management to Resource Recovery

The next phase of growth is expected to go beyond conventional recycling. Batteries, electronic products, end-of-life vehicles and industrial scrap contain materials that can be recovered and used again in manufacturing.

This is particularly important as India expands electric vehicles, renewable energy and electronics manufacturing. The government’s ₹1,500-crore Critical Mineral Recycling scheme has already attracted strong industry interest. In April 2026, 58 companies were declared eligible, with proposed investment of around ₹5,000 crore and pledged recycling capacity of about 850,000 tonnes per annum.

Recent industry developments also show how recycling is becoming part of the wider manufacturing supply chain. For instance, Indian critical-mineral producer Lohum currently produces around 1,000 tonnes of nickel a year from recycled materials and is targeting a tenfold increase over the next 18 months to meet rising battery-material demand.

Technology Opens a New Market

Technology is also changing how waste moves from households and businesses back into industry. Digital marketplaces, data analytics, artificial intelligence and logistics platforms are being used to improve collection, traceability and movement of recyclable material.

A NITI Aayog-backed case study has highlighted how digital and AI-based systems are helping bring more than one million tonnes of waste back into circulation, while also supporting formalisation and better earnings across the recycling supply chain.

The opportunity extends beyond plastics and metals. Research by the Council on Energy, Environment and Water estimates that processing seven major waste streams could create an annual circular-economy market of around ₹11.5 trillion by 2047, with the potential to generate 8.4 million full-time-equivalent jobs and attract around ₹10.8 trillion in investment.

A New Business Ecosystem

The growth of recycling is creating opportunities for a much wider group of businesses — from collection and logistics companies to material recovery facilities, recycling plants, technology providers, equipment manufacturers and companies using recycled materials in their products.

India’s recent circular-economy discussions are also moving beyond the simple idea of recycling. At the World Circular Economy Forum 2026, policymakers and industry representatives highlighted the need to design products for longer use, repair, reuse and easier recovery of materials. More than 83,000 producers and 4,800 recyclers were registered under various EPR frameworks by August 2026, with nearly 48.2 million tonnes of waste processed across regulated streams.

The challenge now is to build a system in which recyclable material is consistently collected, properly sorted and economically valuable. Stronger collection networks, modern recycling technology and steady demand for recycled materials will determine how much of this potential becomes actual business growth.

For India, the recycling bin is therefore becoming more than a symbol of responsible waste disposal. It is increasingly the first step in a resource-recovery economy, where discarded materials can return to factories as inputs, reduce pressure on natural resources and create new avenues for investment, employment and industrial growth.

A Luxurious Welcome to the Festive Season: L’Occitane en Provence and Fairmont Mumbai Come Together for an Evening of Celebration

Mumbai, Sep 25: As India enters its most radiant season of celebration, two distinguished icons of global luxury converged to unveil the festive calendar with an evening dedicated to the fine art of living and joyful indulgence.

L’Occitane en Provence and Fairmont Mumbai co-curated a vibrant gala dinner, seamlessly bringing together Provençal beauty heritage and world-class hospitality. The evening celebrated the natural synergy between two brands rooted in French heritage, evoking the nostalgia of a Madeleine de Proust, where sensory experiences have the power to awaken memories, emotions, and a sense of place. 

Conceived as a festive celebration of discovery and indulgence, the evening unfolded as a vibrant world of experiences. Guests explored L’Occitane en Provence’s iconic Immortelle range through sensorial beauty rituals, while a bespoke flower bar invited them to choose fresh blooms and adorn their hands, faces and hair, an unexpected and playful experience for many. Personalised doodle portraits added a whimsical keepsake to the evening.

The festive energy continued with live artistic experience at Fairmont Mumbai, before guests came together for an elegant sit-down dinner. From floral adornments and beauty rituals to art and gastronomy, the evening brought together a joyful mix of experiences, creating the feel of a sophisticated festive celebration with something to discover at every turn. 

Two Luxury Worlds, One Shared Experience

The evening reflected a more experiential approach to luxury, moving beyond conventional events to create a shared world for guests to discover and participate in. L’Occitane en Provence’s sensorial approach to beauty and well-being came together with Fairmont Mumbai’s legacy of hospitality, gastronomy and artful experiences creating a celebration that brought the festive spirit to life through beauty, art, music and indulgence.

Speaking about the collaboration, Vibhuti Munjal, Marketing, L’Occitane en Provence, said, “Festivity is ultimately about creating moments that stay with you, and we wanted to approach the season through the lens of luxury wellness and sensorial indulgence. Fairmont Mumbai shares our belief that luxury is not simply about what you see, but about what you experience and remember, much like a Madeleine de Proust, awakening deep memories through sensory touchpoints. Bringing our two worlds together allowed us to create an evening that felt immersive, intimate, and truly celebratory. It is a reflection of how we see luxury evolving towards experiences that are more meaningful, collaborative, and rooted in well-being.”

Sonia Paul, Director of Marketing & Communications, Fairmont Mumbai, added, “The luxury landscape is evolving, and today’s consumer is looking for experiences that go beyond the expected. Collaborations allow us to bring together different worlds, perspectives, and audiences to create something that feels fresh and culturally relevant. Our collaboration with L’Occitane en Provence was an opportunity to merge the art of hospitality with the art of well-being, leveraging our shared French heritage to create a distinctive way to welcome the festive season. We believe the future of luxury lies in these thoughtful intersections where brands co-create rather than simply coexist.”

A New Language for Luxury Celebrations

The evening also reflects a wider evolution in the luxury event landscape. Traditional brand-led events are increasingly giving way to co-curated experiences, where complementary brands come together to build a larger narrative and deliver greater experiential value.

From wellness and hospitality to fashion, beauty, art, and gastronomy, these collaborations allow brands to move beyond product-led storytelling and create moments that audiences can experience, participate in, and remember.

For L’Occitane en Provence and Fairmont Mumbai, the festive collaboration was an expression of precisely this philosophy, bringing together two established French luxury icons to create a celebration that was sensory, experiential, and distinctly contemporary.

As the festive calendar begins, the evening set the tone for a season where luxury is defined not only by celebration, but by well-being, connection, and the art of coming together. 

Enso Powers Tokenized Stock Execution for ether.fi’s New Consumer App

Integration marks Enso’s largest consumer-facing deployment to date, giving ether.fi Cash users cross-chain access to tokenized equities and metals in a single transaction

ZURICH, Switzerland, Sept 25 — Enso, the execution infrastructure platform for on-chain finance, has announced it is powering execution for tokenized stocks and metals inside ether.fi’s new consumer app. The integration makes Enso the exclusive minting and redemption provider for xStocks-based tokenized assets within ether.fi Cash, and represents Enso’s largest consumer-facing deployment to date.

The integration underpins tokenized-asset access introduced as part of ether.fi’s broader Summer 2026 release, which added tokenized stock and metals trading, portfolio-backed borrowing and expanded fiat on-ramps to its self-custodial app. Enso operates as the execution layer underneath ether.fi Cash, handling routing, minting, redemption and settlement in a single route interface. 

With the integration live, ether.fi Cash users can buy and redeem tokenized stocks and ETFs, as well as tokenized metals, directly from their Cash balance in a single transaction, without manually bridging, selecting a chain or holding an intermediate asset. 

The integration builds on an existing relationship between the two companies: Enso already powers one-click, cross-chain deposits into ether.fi’s liquid vaults, live since 2025. This expands that infrastructure into ether.fi’s largest and most consumer-facing product to date, and extends Enso’s broader real-world asset execution track record, which includes serving as an approved minter for Ondo Finance andas a dApp recommended by Porto, Anchorage Digital’s institutional self-custody wallet.

“Tokenized assets have lived in a DeFi niche for too long,” said Connor Howe, Co-Founder and CEO of Enso. “This integration puts them inside a product hundreds of thousands of people already use every day, without asking any of them to think about routing, liquidity or which chain an asset happens to live on. It’s the clearest proof yet that execution infrastructure built for DeFi is ready for mainstream consumer finance.”

“What stood out about Enso was how they work. From the first conversation they focused on the outcome we needed, then built the execution around our architecture rather than asking us to bend to theirs” said Charles Mountain, Head of Ecosystem, ether.fi. 

Access to tokenized stocks and metals through ether.fi is gated at the issuer level and subject to eligibility and jurisdictional restrictions; the feature is not available to users in the United States. 

Huntswood launches Complaints 360 to help financial advisers and investment firms transform complaints into better customer outcomes

Sept 25: Huntswood, a ResultsCX company that delivers resourcing, outsourcing and advisory services from complaints to customer service, remediation to resilience, has launched Complaints360, a new integrated complaints solution that will help organisations transform complaints into customer loyalty. Huntswood helps manage over 280,000 complaints for UK financial services companies, which includes investment firms, every year.

Complaints360 has been built on the foundations of Huntswood’s extensive complaints handling expertise. For more than 30 years, the company has helped UK organisations improve the way they manage complaints.

Financial advisers, wealth management and investment firms are under increasing pressure to deliver consistently good customer outcomes as regulatory expectations continue to evolve, client expectations rise and firms navigate increasingly complex advice, investment and servicing journeys.

Research from Huntswood released today, underlines the scale of the challenge facing UK organisations around their handling of customer complaints.  The study reveals that around one in three consumers (32%) make a complaint to a UK company over a 12-month period, and around 46% of those who complain make more than one complaint.  

Amongst those who say they are complaining more than they did five years ago, 64% cite worsening service or poor product experiences as the main reason, while almost a third (29%) say improved complaints processes have encouraged them to speak up and 22% believe social media and review platforms make it easier to effect change in their favour.

Complaints360 enables organisations to move beyond reactive complaint handling towards a proactive, insight-led model that strengthens compliance, reduces operational risk and improves customer trust.

The comprehensive complaints transformation service blends specialist human expertise, AI-powered technology and scalable delivery.  The solution will help organisations deliver good customer outcomes at scale, identify root causes and improve speed and accuracy across the entire complaints’ life cycle.

James Tattersall, Senior Director, Advisory, Huntswood said: “Complaints360 helps firms move beyond simply resolving complaints to understanding and preventing them.  By combining experienced complaints specialists with AI-enabled technology, organisations can identify root causes more quickly, improve consistency and regulatory compliance, and use complaint insight to drive continuous improvement across the business.”

Siddharth Parashar, Managing Director, UK & Europe, Huntswood/ResultsCX said: “For financial advisers and investment firms, every complaint represents an opportunity to strengthen client relationships and improve the quality of advice and service.  In an industry built on trust, how firms respond to complaints is just as important as how they prevent them.

“The FCA’s Consumer Duty has placed an even greater emphasis on delivering good customer outcomes and demonstrating that firms are learning from client feedback.  Complaints can reveal recurring issues with communications, administration, servicing or client journeys that might overwise go unnoticed until they become more significant regulatory or reputational risks.