Tag: and CEO

Business World

Epigamia partners with Shadowfax to offer agile D2C delivery across India

Mar 12, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Abhishek Bansal, #and CEO, #Co-Founder at Drums Food International, #Founder, #Rohan Mirchandani, #Shadowfax Technologies

Hyderabad, March 12, 2021: Shadowfax Technologies, the leading integrated 3PL services provider today announced signing up for exclusively managing the Dark Stores for Drums Food International – Epigamia’s newly launched ambient product line for its Ghee Spread and Almond Milk across 7000 + pin codes in India. Shadowfax has integrated its cutting-edge Warehouse.

Management and Last Mile delivery System with Epigamia’s demand management platform to help track customer orders real-time, which will ensure faster fulfilment and hence faster deliveries.

Shadowfax has expanded its warehousing space from 5 lakh square feet to 6 lakh square feet this month in response to increased demand from its customers. With the E2E Rapid service, Shadowfax will provide end to end logistics and warehousing along with express distribution for effective supply chain management, faster deliveries, flexibility with proximity to consumers, and real-time tracking of Epigamia products.

On the new acquisition, Abhishek Bansal, Founder, and CEO, Shadowfax Technologies, said, “Signing up Drum Foods is a big win for us as they are a recognized and loved brand in India. Our micro fulfillment centers or the Dark Stores, will enable faster deliveries along with our unique WMS which will help capture customer orders real time on the client website. We’ll be investing significantly in our WMS which will allow our clients to offer differentiated value offerings to their end customers. Further, we’ll also target on expanding our network to newer markets, in step with rising demand.”

Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder at Drums Food International said, “The onset of COVID prompted Indian shoppers to go online to shop and discover brands, while brands like us strengthened our online presence via D2C platforms. Though Epigamia is all about innovative offerings, our key focus has always been customer delight. We wanted to continue easing discoverability and maintain our presence in the lives of those who have already made Epigamia a habit.  That could only happen with a logistics partner who helps us deliver faster across India’s far corners. Along with Shadowfax, we will improve our existing customers’ experience and delight our new customers through faster, more reliable operations.”

With lockdown last year, many companies transformed their ordering platforms and strengthened their online distribution to reach their customers in the quickest possible time with faster deliveries be it a few hours, same day deliveries or next day deliveries –  the rise in this trend helped Shadowfax to sign-up with D2C clients across ecommerce, apparels, retail, consumer tech and offers their warehousing facilities to enable 2 models:

  1. Big box warehousing catering to clients who require pan India reach with space more than 10,000 sq ft
  2. Dark stores with same day and next day intra city deliveries with space requirements between 1,000 – 10,000 sq ft.
Business World

Made in India social app Chingari announces collaboration with Sai Mehar Media’s Wild Music Records & Wild Music Haryanvi

Feb 11, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #and CEO, #Ceo Sai Mehar Media, #Chingari App, #co-Founder, #Rajiee M Shinde, #Sumit Ghosh, #video-sharing app Chingari

India’s leading short video-sharing app Chingari has announced a strategic collaboration with Sai Mehar Media, an Indian entertainment content production company owned and operated by ex-CEO of PTC Network and Showbox Channel, Rajiee M Shinde. With this strategic alliance, Chingari will build upon its strong catalogue of Indian regional music for the benefit of its content creators who will now have music released under Sai Mehar Media’s labels—Wild Music Records and Wild Music Haryanvi to choose from. This move is designed to attract increasing engagement from all parts of India on the short-video sharing app. Following multiple partnerships with media companies such as TM Music, ii Music, music giant T-Series, and international record label Thrace Music, this collaboration marks another step forward in the coming together of two entertainment strongholds—music and social media. The Chingari app has enjoyed an exponential increase in popularity across the Indian market, Chingari allows users to create and upload short video, share original content and compositions, layer their videos with the latest music, and monetize their hard work.

One of the pillars of strength that Chingari lies on is its keen support towards indigenous music and vernacular languages. The app is available in over 20 Indian vernacular and international languages. In line with this, the association with Sai Mehar Media serves to enlarge Chingari’s massive music catalogue with Indian releases in Hindi, Punjabi and Haryanvi. For Sai Mehar Media, this strategic partnership serves as a platform to showcase their wildly popular songs that are currently being streamed across multiple song- streaming platforms, TV channels, and radio stations. This collaboration brings all the local Punjabi and Haryanvi talent and their upcoming songs released under the two labels run by Sai Mehar Media straight to the Chingari music library. It also opens the door to allow Punjabi and Haryanvi talent to reach wider Indian audiences in the form of the flourishing Chingari family of over 46 million users.

Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder, and CEO, Chingari App said, “By adding Wild Music Records and Wild Music Haryanvi’s releases to our music catalogue, our hope is to ensure that Chingari has songs to meet the needs of every content genre and every language. Chingari users can now choose from the latest Haryanvi and Punjabi songs to make their creations more entertaining and fun.”

Sai Mehar Media’s Wild Music Records & Wild Music Haryanvi
Rajiee M Shinde, Ceo Sai Mehar Media

Rajiee M Shinde, CEO, Sai Mehar Media said, “Sai Mehar Media is an entertainment House to showcase the best of Hindi, Punjabi, and Haryanvi music under their vertical of Music Labels. We hope to create more artistic opportunities for India’s artists, singers, and content creators, while providing a collection of latest releases for fans across the country to experience on their chosen platform.”

Deepak Salvi, COO, Chingari App, said, “As a homegrown brand, we have always strived to have an unparallel content library for regional content. With this step we are moving forward another step in this direction. We are hoping that we will have even more such collaborations in this year and be able to continue to offer value additions to our content creators.”

About Sai Mehar Media:
Sai Mehar Media LLP is an entertainment company in the Indian Entertainment industry having two record labels namely Wild Music Records and Wild Music Haryanvi focusing on recorded music, music publishing, and audio-video content in India from across the globe. Its mission is to unlock the potential of human creativity by giving creative artists a platform to launch their songs across musical genres in various Indian languages. Sai Mehar Media produces, co-produces, acquires Indian language content in multiple formats along with creating Events, Reality Talent shows Fiction & Awards.

About Chingari:

Chingari is one of the most popular short video sharing platforms in India. It is owned by Tech4Billion Media Private Limited. Through this app, users can create and upload videos in more than 20 multiple languages including English and Hindi. Chingari was launched in Google Play Store in November 2018. The app scaled new heights in 2020 and became India’s most popular short video sharing application by August 2020. As on date, Chingari has clocked more than 46 Million users in India and the user base continues to grow with each passing day.

Business World

Chingari, TM Music and ii Music come together to promote independent non-film music

Feb 8, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #and CEO, #Chingari App, #co-Founder, #Sumit Ghosh

Chingari, India’s prime video-sharing app has announced that it is partnering with TM Music and ii Music. From the very start of its journey Chingari has been forging alliances to strengthen its music catalogue. It has also been an endeavor for Chingari to make sure that the content creators on its platform are spoilt for choice.

It is with this aim that Chingari has cemented a deal with TM Music and ii Music. TM Music is an artiste first label that has been established with an objective to promote independent, non-film music, by providing a platform to passionate and talented artists, both established and emerging.

ii Music on the other hand is a gen-next music label showcasing some exciting music across genres and styles, featuring talented and unique artists.

Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder, and CEO, Chingari App said, “Chingari is a homegrown app and we have always believed in nurturing talent from our country and showing it to the world. It has also been on our agenda to provide an unparalleled library to our content creators so that they have plenty of options to choose from. Our partnership with TM music and ii Music will help us in achieving both these goals”.

Tarsame Mittal of TM Music shared, “TM Music is a label where our vision is to provide a platform for non-film music and artists and ensure that quality music reaches as far and wide as possible. With the advent of multiple platforms, the talent pool has widened and our endeavor is to constantly encourage people from across the country to showcase their skills. Not just artists but genres itself across India are so diverse and we barely have any of it tapped, bringing those sounds into the mainstream is the mission statement for TM Music Label. With ii Music we have a strong connection with youth showcasing some exciting music across genres and styles with talented and unique artists”.

Deepak Salvi, COO, Chingari App, said, “Chingari is delighted to welcome TM Music and ii Music as partners. The reason for our success has been our consumer focus approach and we will continue to forge alliances that will help us in serving them better. ”

Apart from TM Music and ii Muscia, Chingari also has a strategic alliance with many music record labels including T-Series, Merchant Records and even international record label company Thrace Music.

About Chingari:

Chingari is one of the most popular short video sharing platforms in India. It is owned by Tech4Billion Media Private Limited. Through this app, users can create and upload videos in more than 20 multiple languages including English and Hindi.

Chingari was launched in Google Play Store in November 2018. The app scaled new heights in 2020 and became India’s #1 the most popular short video sharing application by August 2020. As on date, Chingari has clocked more than 46 Million users in India and the user base continues to grow with each passing day.

Business World

TenderCuts raises USD 15 million led by Paragon Partners and NABVENTURES

Feb 8, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #and CEO, #and NABVENTURES, #Chairman, #Dr. G R Chintala, #Founder, #NABARD, #Nishanth Chandran, #TenderCuts

Mumbai: TenderCuts, India’s only truly omnichannel meat & seafood brand today announced that they have raised INR 110 crore (USD 15 million) in a round led by Paragon Partners, a mid-market PE fund founded by Siddharth Parekh and Sumeet Nindrajog with participation from NABVENTURES, a leading agri-food tech VC fund backed by NABARD.

The funding will allow TenderCuts to expand its current operations and pursue organic and inorganic growth opportunities. The funds will also allow the company to invest in scaling up its supply chain and technology infrastructure to support innovation and accessibility of its products and services.

Founded in 2016 by Nishanth Chandran, TenderCuts is revolutionizing the way meat and seafood is sold in India. Indian consumers, unlike their western counterparts, prefer fresh (never frozen) meat and seafood. Also, many consumers have specific preferences in terms of the cuts of their meat and fish. TenderCuts provides freshly cut meat and seafood to customers through their unique neighborhood stores which cater not only to walk-in customers, but also online shoppers. All of which is driven by a fully integrated supply chain fuelled by proprietary technology.

Stringent focus on quality ensures that customers get the most hygienic and tastiest meat. Besides, TenderCuts is the only branded meat company offering the freshest meat to consumers – either in stores or delivered to their doorstep within 2 hours of it first being cut.

India’s meat and seafood market is worth $100 billion in size, however, over 95% of the market is unorganised. The organized meat segment has seen a rapid acceleration of business during the pandemic driven by an increasing number of people focussing on quality, health, hygiene, and convenience.

Today, TenderCuts has 25 stores across Chennai and Hyderabad which cater to walk-in and online customers. The company’s core product portfolio includes fresh chicken, mutton, seafood, marinades, pickles, and eggs. Besides, the company also has an expansive ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook product range comprising cold cuts, sausages, kebabs, shawarmas, etc.

Nishanth Chandran, Founder, and CEO, TenderCuts, commented, “It is heartening to see TenderCuts become a market leader in the cities it operates in after it has managed to transform the way fresh meat and seafood is sold in these markets. It is an affirmation of the unique omnichannel and seamless supply chain model in the sector. This investment will pave the way for us to enter new markets and further establish our omnichannel network. We are delighted to partner with Paragon Partners and NABVENTURES and look forward to tapping into their significant experience in growing consumer businesses in the retail, agri, food & beverage, and e-commerce sectors.

Siddharth Parekh, Co-Founder, and Senior Partner, Paragon Partners said, “We are excited to partner with Nishanth to realise his vision of revolutionizing the way meat and seafood is sold in India. We believe that TenderCuts has an opportunity to leverage its robust supply chain of farmers and fishermen and its omnichannel strategy to efficiently cater to the mass market. Given our team’s deep experience in retail and e-commerce, we are confident that we can help TenderCuts achieve significant scale and accelerate the shift to the organized segment. We are also excited to announce that this will be the first investment from our second fund”.

According to Dr. G R Chintala, Chairman, NABARD, and NABVENTURES, “Our investment in TenderCuts is a testament to NABVENTURES’ commitment to give a big push to startups operating in the agri and allied space in India. We believe that TenderCuts’ omnichannel strategy gives it a clear edge over online-only/store-backed retail players”.

Rajesh Ranjan, Chief Executive Officer, NABVENTURES said, “The direct-to-consumer meat market is at a nascent stage in India with less than 1% penetration. TenderCuts has been able to build a differentiated business model with omnichannel capability enabling TenderCuts to offer quality meat and seafood to the offline segment as well which is around 96% of the market. NABVENTURES would leverage its network of FPOs and farmers to optimize the TenderCuts supply chain by sourcing farm-fresh meat, provide additional income-earning opportunities for our farmers and build India’s largest meat brand over the next 5 years.”

Alvarez & Marsal and Klaw were the commercial and financial diligence and legal advisors respectively to Paragon Partners, Acuity Law advised NABVENTURES while investment banker IndigoEdge facilitated the transaction.

Business World

Window Magic turns 12 successful years in the Indian Market

Jan 23, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #and CEO, #Director, #Manish Bansal, #Window Magic

New Delhi: Window Magic, one of the leading UPVC brands of doors and windows in India, has completed twelve successful years in the Indian market. The brand is considered one of the leading German technology of UPVC market.

On completing 12 years, window magic has introduced their most versatile aluminium window and door system. Aluminium doors and windows are available in several varieties of shades, patterns, and styles.

Window Magic has succeeded in building up a range of state-of-the-art technologies to manufacture windows and doors, profile lamination in various colors, insect screen, and glass solutions. With the provision of exceptional services and expertise, they have received overwhelming customer responses over these years.

Commenting on the same Manish Bansal, Director, and CEO, Window Magic said, we are happy and proud that we have completed 12 successful years in the industry, we had an enthralling journey in the market. We have always valued trust by delivering the best products to our customers. We try planning and executing all business activities according to the necessities of the consumer. We observe the highest levels of diligent integrity in our dealings and operations. Our customers are our brand ambassador in a true spirit, and we would like to take this opportunity to thank them for contributing to our success”

UPVC is bringing change in the construction industry, because UPVC products make life safer, bring comfort and joy, and help conserve natural resources and combat climate change.

News

Chingari inks a pact with Salim and Sulaiman’s Merchant Records

Jan 21, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #and CEO, #Chingari App, #co-Founder, #COO, #Deepak Salvi, #Salim Merchant, #Sumit Ghosh

India:Chingari, India’s prime video-sharing app has today announced its collaboration with Salim and Sulaiman Merchant’s Merchant Records. Merchant Records is an extremely unique initiative started by Salim and Sulaiman Merchant with an intention to revolutionise music in India.

Chingari has been a thought leader in the space of short video format and has always kept it consumers at the heart of every collaboration. Their new pact with Merchant Records is also another step in this direction. Merchant Records has chalked out plans to produce and release a diverse repertoire of music in collaboration with some of the finest artists in the country. The music label will also give a platform to budding young musicians, talented composers, and upcoming artists a platform to showcase their talent. Chingari also through its platform has encouraged people to showcase their numerous talent and skills and the coming together of Chingari and Merchant Records is a win-win for all talented and upcoming musicians, singers, composers and performers.

Having bettered the average engagement time enjoyed by platforms like SnapChat and Facebook, the Chingari platform has repeatedly scaled new heights since its release in 2018. The short video app has clocked more than 45 million people and more than 95 million videos are viewed on Chingari every single day.

Commenting on tie-up with Merchant Records, Sumit Ghosh, Co-founder, and CEO, Chingari App said, “Chingari today is one of the most popular apps for music lovers and the top choice of content creators. Today with our tie-up with Merchant Records, we are giving our users even wider choice in music. With this move, we are also looking forward to promoting the hidden gems in our country. We have a lot of talented musicians and composers in our country and we hope that along with Merchant Records we will be able to give them the platform to showcase their talent”.

Salim Merchant said, “Merchant Records was set up in the year 2020 with the idea to help musicians be fearless and have that freedom in what they want to create. Art has to always be for art’s sake first, and then it can be for any other purpose. In a short span of time, Merchant Records has scaled unprecedented heights and we are glad to now partner with Chingari, which is a home-grown app. We believe that this partnership will help to promote the music & empower more creators to amplify the music & interpret our tunes into many different visual formats.”

Deepak Salvi, COO, Chingari App, said, “Chingari is delighted to welcome Merchant Records on-board as a partner. As a home-grown app, it has always been our motto to nurture and showcase the talent of people in India and this tie-up provides us with an opportunity to do just that.”

Apart from Merchant Records, Chingari has a strategic tie-up with many music record labels including T-Series and international record label company Thrace Music.

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Epigamia launches Step-Up Initiative to provide access to food and water to migrant workers & village communities impacted by COVID-19 pandemic, with support from Danone Manifesto Ventures

Jan 14, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #and CEO, #Annapurna Movement, #CEO of Danone Manifesto Ventures, #co-Founder, #Epigamia, #Laurent Marcel, #Rohan Mirchandani, #Shievani Upadhyay Co-founder

Chennai: Epigamia has launched the Step-Up Program with a mission to provide food & water to communities impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. Driven by a purpose to improve food & food systems within the country, Epigamia has set up many initiatives under this program, right from providing food to migrant workers, to improving access to water in villages around the country. Danone Manifesto Ventures, one of the investors in Epigamia, is supporting the Step-Up program through its global COVID-19 Relief Fund, which helps its investee companies across the world by supporting the latter’s community outreach programs to improve the lives of those impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, among other initiatives.

Rohan Mirchandani, Co-Founder, and CEO, Epigamia, said, “The pandemic & subsequent impact on migrant workers in the cities got us going. We launched the Step-Up program in May 2020 and have donated and distributed over 7.5 lacs cups & bottles of yogurts. We have partnered with Danone Manifesto Ventures, who supported us for this initiative and provided some guidance on planning & execution. The Step-Up initiative is now a rallying cry in the organization with active participation from employees and our supply chain partners. Over 215 members of Epigamia’s team also stepped-up and donated a portion of their salary towards the distribution of cups”.

The first phase of the Step-Up program was completed in September through partners such as Robin Hood Army, Zomato Feeding India, Annapurna Movement, Rise Against Hunger, Akshaya Patra, and Goonj, to name a few. For the second phase, Epigamia is focusing on supporting rural communities across the country. Epigamia has partnered with Habitat for Humanity India to help improve access to safe drinking water, and help the communities through training and support for livelihood options including agricultural productivity.

“Since Day 1, Epigamia has been a very generous donor supporting Annapurna Movement’s on-ground food relief efforts. Through their Step-Up program, we could reach out to thousands of homeless children across Mumbai. These children who were only surviving on rice & dal meals finally had a chance to taste the extremely delicious & nutritional products from Epigamia! The smile on their faces has been priceless!” added Shievani Upadhyay Co-founder, Annapurna Movement.

Laurent Marcel, CEO of Danone Manifesto Ventures, said, “In 2020, we witnessed parts of the world suffer irrecoverable losses to their lives and livelihoods, and decided to support our portfolio companies’ initiatives to tackle unprecedented challenges through a dedicated COVID-19 Relief Fund. This led us to support Epigamia’s team and the frontline workers who fought the toughest of daily battles by aiding their financial, health, and safety initiatives. We are proud to assist Epigamia to fulfill their responsibility as a Corporate Citizen of the country in these challenging times”.

Danone Manifesto Ventures has also supported other projects led by Epigamia in the areas of People, Health, and Safety (focused on employment preservation by providing financial security and personal protective equipment) and Food Supply Continuity (ensuring frontline workers received hardship allowances). For this exceptional impact investment of approx. INR 5.23 crores in Epigamia made through its COVID-19 Relief Fund, which is outside of its usual investment activities, Danone Manifesto Ventures will be issued a special class of shares.

Launched in June 2015, Epigamia is currently available in 30 SKUs under Greek Yogurt, Artisanal Curd, Snack Pack, Mishti Doi, Smoothies, and Spreads – made with Ghee, Plant-based Coconut Milk Yogurt and Almond Milk. The brand retails across approximately 12,000 touchpoints in 25 towns, including modern trade chains like Reliance Fresh, Godrej Nature’s Basket, Future Group, Foodhall, Big Bazaar, and Hypercity; e-commerce platforms including Big Basket and Amazon; and numerous general trade retailers. Additionally, the brand recently launched its Direct-to-Consumer online platform available in Tier 1 and 2 cities in the country.

News

Bobble AI launches New Year campaign My Bobble Keyboard 2020

Dec 31, 2020 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #and CEO, #Ankit Prasad, #Bobble AI, #Founder

New Delhi: Bobble AI, the world’s first Conversation Media Platform that offers highly engaging smartphone keyboard solutions, personalized content for users today announced the launch of its New Year campaign, ‘My Bobble Keyboard 2020.  The campaign aims to give a quick glimpse of the year 2020– to all individual users of Bobble Keyboard through an interesting analysis of conversations-led trends.

The data-backed      personalized insights include     :

Ø  Time spent on texting      throughout 2020

Ø  Favourite or Most used Emojis, stickers and GIFs in 2020

Ø  Fun analysis of mood swings      in 2020

Ø  The cutest or the favourite Bobblehead of 2020

Story 7Story 1Users will be able to share personalised cards with their friends and across their own social media pages to flaunt and compare their scores with each other.     Known for its personalised content, Bobble AI uses sophisticated new age technologies such as AI and machine learning to find out users’ favourite Emojis, GIFs, Stickers, and much more, to describe their mood swings throughout the year.

According to the data report by Bobble AI in the month of April this year, applications such as Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp, and Twitter have seen a 46.28% hike in time spent indicating that people spending more time      texting each other this year than ever before.

Talking about the insight and the creative vision behind this campaign, Ankit Prasad, Founder, and CEO, Bobble AI said, “     The user engagement trends that we witnessed on our platform are a clear reflection of the overall sentiment of millennials and GenZies – the pervasive, instantaneous, and tech-savvy, India’s younger, digital-first audience. It was a year when their conversations were filled with expressing gratitude, compassion, and being thankful for      the small things that made all of them happy.      This in essence was the spirit of the year and the campaign aims to celebrate these struggles and victories, joys and miseries that 2020 brought into our lives.”

Ankit Prasad, Founder, and CEO, Bobble AI added, “The latest ‘My Bobble Keyboard Stats’  feature won’t be limited for a short campaign period rather we have decided to make it permanent in our keyboards letting users view and compare their conversation stats against friends in a gamified manner. At Bobble AI, we are additionally releasing a host of new and exciting features in the upcoming year such as a typing meter which will reflect the number of words typed in the day, typing speed, and accuracy to name a few.