Tag: Founder and CEO

Business World, News

Melorra launches its fourth new age digital experience centre in Delhi and the first in Bhopal

Jun 21, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Founder and CEO, #Melorra, #Saroja Yeramilli

Delhi: Melorra, India’s fastest growing lightweight fine jewellery brand designing affordable and trendy jewellery for everyday wear announced the launch of its fourth experience centre in Delhi/NCR and the first in Bhopal. Melorra will be launching 350 such centres pan India in the years ahead, as part of creating a new age digital experience for its customers.

Melorra has captured the customer sentiments through its innovative and high-quality jewellery designs from the outset. It has been experiencing very strong growth month-on-month even during the pandemic due to increased demand for and popularity of lightweight jewellery. Melorra is also forecasting the best year-end-revenues.

Melorra’s experience centres are fresh and fun. They are built in line with the online experience offered by Melorra to make the connection between the channels seamless for its customers. The brand aims to enhance a customer’s sense of touch, feel and trial of Melorra jewellery, through the experience centres.

Saroja Yeramilli– CEO and Founder, MelorraSpeaking about this, Saroja Yeramilli, Founder and CEO, Melorra, said, “We are extremely happy to announce the launch of our fourth experience centre in Delhi and first in Bhopal. Melorra has been a disruptor in the lightweight and trendy gold jewellery category ever since we started operations and even during the pandemic situation. Our USP lies in the fact that despite being commensurate with global fashion trends, our jewellery is also affordable and starts from Rs.3500 ! We have been able to create a new category as per the changing perceptions around gold jewellery and give the women of today something more than what was being offered earlier. Gold is fashionable and affordable and suitable for everyday wear with modern attire. This is what the Melorra experience is all about.”

All the experience stores are designed for any of the many journeys a customer may choose to adopt: shop online pick up in store; shop in store ship to home and everything in between. The customers are welcomed with beautiful full-length mirrors and in store stylists available as advisors and consultants, enabling the woman to build her fashionable fine jewellery wardrobe.

Since inception in 2016, Melorra has delivered to over 2500 towns in the country and made its mark everywhere – from villages with a population of less than 10,000 to cities with population above 1 million. The brand launches 75 designs every Friday inspired by global fashion trends.

Education, News

Teach For India welcomes 650+ Fellows for its 2021 Fellowship

Jun 14, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #2021 Cohort, #BA Social Sciences, #Founder and CEO, #Maria Rojas, #Shaheen Mistri, #Tata Institute of Social Sciences, #Teach For India

Delhi: The catastrophe of Covid-19 has disproportionately affected the Indian education system which largely depends on traditional classroom teaching. India’s poorest children have not been in classrooms for more than 15 months now. To build a better India, it is essential to address the educational inequity in the country.Teach For India has been working to repair the fractured education system, through the commitment of caring and responsible Indians’ who apply to a highly selective, two-year Fellowship.This year, 650+ Fellows (teachers) have agreed to stand up for India and show up for India’s children, by joining the 2021 cohort and leading the charge against educational inequity.

Since 2009, the organization has built one of the largest movements of committed and driven talent in the Indian development ecosystem to address the challenge of educational inequity in India. The Teach For India Fellowship is an opportunity to create lasting change at the grassroot level in education by engaging promising individuals to serve as full-time teachers to the children from low-income, urban communities.

On 14 June 2021, Teach For India will induct its 2021 cohort into the Fellowship. Using the learnings of the past year of teaching digitally, we will equip our Fellows to maximise the opportunities of blended instruction. Through a balanced focus on skill, knowledge, mindset, community, and culture building, the Fellowship creates versatile and courageous leaders. Fellows will be trained to sustain challenges, unpredictability, and the ambiguity that accompanies the current education crisis.

Welcoming the new cohort, Shaheen Mistri, Founder and CEO, Teach For India commented, “Having the courage to join Teach For India – the courage to stand apart, to do what is different, to serve others – isn’t easy. In a year like this, where each one of us have struggles of our own to face – it is even harder. Thank you for having the courage to do this. Thank you for having the compassion to serve. Thank you for not just believing that all children deserve the opportunities to reach their greatest potential – but for getting up and doing something about it. We can’t wait to see you in this movement!”.

Today, the organization is proud to have 900 Fellows teaching in 260 under-resourced schools across 7 cities in India. The growing movement of 4000+ Alumni work at all levels of the education system, from leading change in the education and social sector to pioneering transformation in governance and in the private sector.

“I used to enjoy my short walk from the bus stop to my hostel. But suddenly that walk turned out to be really disturbing. The sight of some children working near the railway track shook me. The socioeconomic situations of those children had closed the door of education and schooling. But now I am really curious to start my journey and wipe out this evil of education inequity. I want to be able to proudly say that I have created a ripple. ” said Maria Rojas, BA Social Sciences, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Teach For India, 2021 Cohort

About Teach For India –

Teach For India’s Fellowship places outstanding working professionals and college graduates as Fellows – who work full-time as teachers for two-years in low-income and under-resourced schools. With operations in Mumbai, Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Ahmedabad, and Bangalore. Teach For India has over 900 Fellows impacting more than 32,000 children across the country. Post the Fellowship, they join a growing movement of over 4000+ Alumni working at all levels of the education sector. A part of the global Teach For All network of 60 countries, with a shared vision of an excellent education for all children, Teach For India’s mission is to end educational inequity in India by creating a strong pipeline of driven, skilled talent within the educational ecosystem. https://www.teachforindia.org/

Business World

Pee Safe aims to build depth in personal hygiene and accelerate personal care brand FURR with INR 25 Crore in Pre-Series B raise

Jun 10, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Founder and CEO, #Pee Safe, #Vikas Bagaria

New Delhi, June 10, 2021: Pee Safe, India’s leading hygiene and wellness brand, has raised INR 25 crore in Pre-Series B funding in a round led by Entrepreneur and Investor Shaival Desai and existing Series A investor Alkemi Growth Capital.

Through this raise, Pee Safe aims to build depth in feminine hygiene and sexual wellness, and accelerate its personal care brand FURR as well as allocate funds for further R&D and product launches in the next one year. The brand is also looking at raising Series B funding later this year.

Pee Safe is helping India fight health issues brought on by unhygienic conditions through their complete personal hygiene and wellness products including the bestselling toilet seat sanitizer spray. Their products are a preferred choice among customers and the brand has disrupted the feminine hygiene products segment — from period care to intimate care. They also offer environment-friendly products like biodegradable pads and menstrual cups.

Pee Safe Brands

Pee Safe’s other products include those in the category of personal care, adult and maternity care. The company is changing the narrative around sexual wellness and pleasure through the launch of Domina Female Condoms. Pee Safe also plans to launch other sexual wellness products in the near future. Their recently launched FURR range of products offer an entire portfolio of grooming and skin care essentials and aim to promote body positivity and even gender neutrality to a large extent.

Speaking about this, Vikas Bagaria, Founder and CEO, Pee Safe, said, “We are excited and happy about the growth prospects of Pee Safe as a brand that addresses personal and intimate hygiene holistically. The funding round will enable us to further research and development, as well as build Pee Safe as a forward-looking brand. We are happy to have Shaival Desai’s support. Alkemi Growth Capital have placed their trust in us once before and even this time, we will ensure that the association is a win-win in all respects.”

Adding further, Alka Goel, Founding Partner, Alkemi Growth Capital and Existing Investor, said, “Pee Safe and its sub brands Domina and FURR have continued to grow alongside the creative, innovative, and much-needed products for its target segment. The team is agile and is closely connected with its customer base that truly loves its products. Pee Safe has demonstrated boldness in challenging long-held stereotypes and to that extent is making it fun and normal to talk about topics that may previously have been taboo.”

Shaival Desai, Entrepreneur and Investor, added, “We are really excited to have partnered with Pee Safe in their journey to become a leader in the personal hygiene space in India. Their domain expertise and knowledge of the Indian consumer, coupled with an underpenetrated market create an unparalleled opportunity to take the market by storm.”

Pee Safe’s online business has seen a 40% jump in the current quarter and the brand has achieved over 70% growth annually (FY20-21). Apart from raising $10 million in series B funding, Pee Safe is looking at expanding its retail presence from the current 10,000 stores to having a few franchise owned brand exclusive stores (FOFO) to enhance customer experience across India. They have already expanded overseas and are building local production of toilet seat sanitizers in Europe.

Business World, News

Droom’s Orange Book Value crosses 500 million pricing queries for used vehicles in India

Jun 1, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Droom, #Founder and CEO, #OBV, #Orange Book Value, #Sandeep Aggarwal

New Delhi: – Owing to the tremendous response for Orange Book Value (OBV) in the market, Droom, India’s largest and pioneering AI-driven online automobile marketplace today announced the new milestone in continued success by Orange Book Value. With approx. 7 million queries received every month, OBV, is India’s second largest AI and Data science-based algorithm pricing engine for used vehicles, that has crossed the colossal figure of 500 million queries since its launch in 2016.

OBV is available in 38 countries, 7 currencies and 11 languages. It has been hailed as a game-changer in the used automobiles transactional sphere, covers a wide spectrum of vehicle categories in its evaluation base-including car, motorcycles, scooters, bicycles and planes – covering 80,000+ unique products from 100+ makes, 1000+ models, and 4000+ variants manufactured in the last 18 to 20 years. As per an OBV adoption survey, nearly 85% respondents claimed they relied completely and solely on OBV to determine the valuation of the vehicle to be purchased to sold.

Commenting on the exponentially rising popularity of OBV, Sandeep Aggarwal, Founder and CEO, Droom, said, “With India’s pre-owned automobile market showing an uptick and accelerating digital adoption, due to rapid urbanization, changing consumer needs and growing internet penetration, the figure of 500 million queries for OBV is an exciting milestone. OBV provides independent, objective and unbiased fair market value of any used vehicle and has reduced search time and search cost for used vehicles and has made buying and selling much easier. The pricing estimate carried out by OBV is the industry de facto standard now and is completely trusted by buyers, sellers, tens of thousands auto dealer and so many banks, NBFCs, and Insurance companies resulting in its immense popularity and adoption”.

He further added, “This success reflects the strong customer trust in the OBV and its emergence as defacto industry standard for used vehicle pricing is due to its independent, objective and unbiased methodology AI and data driven approach”.

The data collected from the 500 million queries received for OBV revealed certain interesting results. According to the data, the two-wheeler category surpasses the four-wheeler category in terms of pricing queries generated. With income rising rapidly and the price of a motorbike being relatively less, first-time buyers with no or small familial responsibilities generally opt for the same. Furthermore, youngsters are attracted to the latest bikes with a high-price range, hence they look to buy used versions of the same in a perfect working condition. The top two-wheeler brands searched included Hero, Honda, Bajaj and Royal Enfield topping the charts. As for four-wheelers, the top brands searched were Maruti Suzuki, Toyota, Mahindra and Hyundai. A major chunk of OBV’s users reside in metropolitan cities such as Bengaluru, which tops the charts of highest traction of OBV city wise. Following Bengaluru are Delhi, Mumbai and Gurugram.

News

Aisle aims to move beyond dating and enter the matrimony market with its ‘Settle Down’ feature

May 29, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Able Joseph, #Aisle, #Founder and CEO

Bengaluru; Aisle, India’s second most downloaded dating app and the market leader in high intent dating, has introduced ‘Settle Down’ feature for its users. Since its inception, Aisle has been an enabler for meaningful, long term relationships and with this feature the company has taken a step ahead to bring together the best of matchmaking and matrimony. Through ‘Settle down’ users have an opportunity to know if the people they are connecting with are interested in getting married or not.

Unlike casual dating apps that rely on quick attraction swipes, Aisle is meant for meaningful connections and effective matchmaking. With the launch of ‘Settle Down’, Aisle has moved a step further from being a dating app to a platform that enables people to find long-term life partners. The ‘Settle down’ feature allows users on the app to display their plans of settling down by giving them options about whether they wish to settle in one year or two years etc. With the help of this feature users get better clarity and don’t have to second guess the intentions of people they are connecting with. Premium users can directly reply to someone’s ‘Settle Down’ field by sending them an Invite. Invites sent directly to a ‘Settle Down’ prompt are likely to result in deeper and more meaningful conversations among the matched members.

As per Aisle, amongst the total number of users 44% of the users have chosen to display their wish to settle down. Early data from ‘Settle down’ reveals that 51% of the users are looking to settle down within a year and 27% are looking to settle down within two years. Users between the age 26-29 have used it the most on their profile.

Speaking about the launch, Able Joseph, Founder and CEO, Aisle said, “We are constantly pushing the envelope to offer our users the best of services. High intent dating across the globe is customised for people and their sensitivities. We’ve been building Aisle for over 6 years and are the only Indian dating app to make it in the top 5. In India, the trajectory of a successful relationship is for it to culminate in a marriage. Aisle has always been an enabler for long term relationships and with Settle down we wanted to converge the gap between modern dating and matrimony.”

Aisle is an app that connects people of Indian-origin from around the world, who are looking for serious relationships. During 2020, Aisle was the first to launch an interact before matching feature, ‘Rooms’ on its app which allowed individuals to host a virtual room and begin an audio conversation with any other interested user. Besides this, Aisle also launched its premium feature ‘Concierge’ with an aim to offer curated matchmaking to users by browsing through a collection of handpicked profiles all in one place.

Business World, News

Grapes Digital bags the PR mandate for Mankind Pharma

May 21, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Founder and CEO, #General Manager, #Grapes Digital, #Himanshu Arya, #Joy Chatterjee, #Mankind Pharma, #Sales and Marketing

Mankind Pharma, the fourth largest pharmaceutical manufacturing company headquartered in India has appointed Grapes Digital to handle its PR mandate.

Grapes Digital’s Delhi office will be responsible for public relations strategy, planning and execution for Mankind Pharma and the seven brands under the corporate brand; Prega News, Manforce Condoms, Gas-O-Fast, Acnestar, Health OK, Safekind and Unwanted72. The agency will strengthen Mankind Pharma’s core brand value of being a trusted leader in the Pharmaceutical Industry, leveraging through an integrated communications approach combining strategic counselling and communication, media advocacy, crisis management and driving thought leadership in the pharma and healthcare space.

Commenting on the partnership, Joy Chatterjee, General Manager, Sales and Marketing, Mankind Pharma, said “We are extremely happy to associate with Grapes Digital as our communication partners. We believe that leveraging Grapes Digital’s expertise and long standing experience in the industry will enhance our brand visibility and connect with the target audience. We are confident this partnership will help us communicate our purpose as a brand and build the vision.”

Mr. Joy Chatterjee

Speaking on the win, Himanshu Arya, Founder and CEO, Grapes Digital said, “We are delighted that our deep and extensive understanding of corporate communications and a strong team have helped us win the mandate for Mankind Pharma, in their communication journey. We are keen on delivering result-oriented strategies and are delighted to leverage this association.”

Grapes Digital bags the PR mandate for Mankind Pharma

Grapes Digital is the fastest-growing digital-first marketing agency that is now aiming to grow in the PR industry as well and will be announcing the onboarding of more brands in the near future.

News

Now Order Special Nostalgic Thalis Anywhere in Kolkata with JustMyRoots

May 12, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Founder and CEO, #JustMyRoots, #Samiran Sengupta

JustMyRoots, India’s first Perishable, Interstate, Food Supply Chain enabled e-commerce platform which handles nostalgic food from different parts of the country is now delivering affordable Bengali, Chinese, Nepalese and Tibetan Thalis anywhere in Kolkata.

Foodies everywhere agree – Thali is an ideal plate of food, and there are a number of reasons for that. First, you get to try a large variety of dishes in one single Thali, all delicious and complementing each other. Add to that, the array of regional Thalis offering neverending variety in taste and style. Truthfully, there’s nothing better than a Thali on days you want to try different delicacies as well as satiate your hunger.

JustMyRoots is now delivering authentic Bengali thali and Chinese combo from Aaheli Xpress, Mutton/Chicken Biryani thali from Shiraz, flavorsome Nepali and Tibetan food combos from The Blue Poppy Thakali and complimentary sweet from Mithai. All of them are authentic Thalis that will keep you asking for more! And the best part is you can order it from anywhere in Kolkata early in the morning and it will be delivered at your doorstep soon.

Link to order: https://justmyroots.com/home/shop-by-cuisine/nostalgia-meals

You can also call on 7777027222 to place your orders.

Speaking on the partnership, Samiran Sengupta, Founder and CEO, JustMyRoots says “The variety available in food is one of the USPs of Indian cuisine. You have so much to choose from in this country. Keeping that in mind, we wanted to create an experience for our customers where they simply decide a region and receive a well-paired combination of dishes that would please their taste buds and satisfy their cravings. Thalis are just perfect for that.”

Business World

Hype expands its services to serve the fast-growing luxury mobility rental market across 19 cities in India

Apr 30, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Founder and CEO, #Hype is now focussing on Tier-II cities, #HYPE Luxury Mobility, #Raghav Belavadi

April 29th, 2021: Hype Luxury Mobility Rentals, India’s first and premier luxury car rental brand has now expanded its services to cater to the fast-growing niche market. It had grown to serve 19 cities across India over the recent months, covering, Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Chandigarh, Chennai, Cochin, Coimbatore, Delhi NCR, Goa, Hyderabad, Indore, Jaipur, Jodhpur, Kolkata, Mangalore, Mumbai, Madurai, and Pondicherry. In 2017, when Hype first started its operations, it had launched the services across seven cities in the country. Today, it is growing at 300-400 percent month-on-month and strives to provide the best customer experience.

After successfully traversing the metros and Tier I cities in India, Hype is now focussing on Tier-II cities and looks forward to serving Lucknow, Kanpur, Ranchi, and Baroda markets also in the year 2021. With the business is picking up rapidly, the organisation is eyeing 300% growth in the fiscal year 2024.

Talking about the organisation’s expansion plans, Raghav Belavadi, Founder and CEO, HYPE Luxury Mobility, said, “Since August 2000, there has been a sudden spike, which is four to five times increase in the number of tourists renting our luxury cars. The demand from different regions in India, drove us to expand our operations in other cities as well.” He also added, “With the unlocking, we have seen a significant increase in the demand for renting our luxury cars for weekend getaways with families and friends, and expect the trend to continue.”

Recently, Hype added 1,000 luxury cars and now has a fleet size of more than 14,000 with over 6,000 luxury and 8,000 premium cars. There has been an increase of 3-4 times in bookings, which has led the organisation to double its fleet size. Hype runs on an aggregator model, working with dealers and manufacturers. In luxury car renting, people prefer self-drive to chauffeur-driven with a ratio of 60:40. The top preference in Bangalore is Mercedes Benz, followed by BMW, which is the general trend in South India and Mumbai as well. In North and East India, the demand for renting Audi is high.

Car rentals are certainly more sustainable as they are more environmentally friendly than owned vehicles. People’s preference for experiential luxury by renting is also on the rise. Moreover, the tech-enabled platforms with GPS, telematics, and security systems providing enhanced navigation and safety features are appealing to today’s customers. The rise of international tourism, exposure to luxury services, increase in smartphone penetration, higher disposable incomes, and better road infrastructure are some of the growth drivers in the luxury mobility rental market.

Business World, News

Verification, documentation & registration of property made easier with LegalKart’s ‘Property’ product

Apr 27, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Dr Arvind Singhatiya, #Founder and CEO, #Indian real estate market, #LegalKart

Gurugram– According to IBEF, the Indian real estate market is slated to be $1 Trillion by 2030 from its current size of $120 Billion. With the Covid situation around real estate has witnessed a surge in the property buyers for both personal and investment purposes. While there is a rise in the number of buyers, a pre-requisite to buy a safe property is that it should be legally verified as it requires a huge sum of money and one cannot risk it for a disputed property. In India, there is no central registry of land records and states have their land records in vernacular language that makes it all the more challenging. In this backdrop LegalKart.com, India’s first technology-enabled legal Advisory platform has now forayed into property legal products for the customers who are planning to buy or sell any property anywhere in India. LegalKart’s newly launched property products are ideal for those who need a trusted and convenient way to get their property transactions executed like property legal advisory, document verification, property registration and drafting of property documents.

LegalKart leverages its technology to get its property products delivered across the country through more than 10,000 Lawyers on its platform in more than 850 cities and districts in India. Today, the safest option to invest in property requires a thorough legal verification to stay safe. Most of the buyers who are first-timers face challenges with property paperwork and want the property to be safe and dispute-free. LegalKart after detailed verification of all your property papers confirms its valid legal title with Govt. authorities making it a safe investment bet. Thus, democratizing legal access by making it accessible to all.

Commenting on this new feature, Dr. Arvind Singhatiya, Founder and CEO, LegalKart said, “Most of the property buyers in India currently are first-time buyers and have lesser experience in dealing with properties. There is a cumbersome paperwork and verification process involved before ensuring that the property is safe and dispute-free. LegalKart is a ‘Customer First Company’ and we are democratizing legal with affordability and reliability for end-users. There is an exponential growth of users for legal products because now it is easy and affordable. Our recently launched property products are getting strong traction from the customers all over the country. In the last 3 months, we have verified properties worth INR 50 Cr. which clearly portrays the authenticity this solution possesses”

Recently, LegalKart has introduced 8 different Indian language options to consult with a lawyer. It is available in Hindi, English, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Kannada and Bengali. LegalKart.com features ‘Just Consult’ on its website to consult legal problems with verified lawyers 24X7.

Business World, News

Melorra’s new campaign with Shraddha Kapoor is all about gold in a bolder and better avatar

Apr 22, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Founder and CEO, #Melorra, #Saroja Yeramilli

Bangalore: Melorra, India’s fastest growing lightweight fine jewellery brand designing affordable jewellery for everyday wear, is redefining gold as bold. The brand’s recent campaign with actor Shraddha Kapoor talks about the contemporary woman and her choice to feel comfortable in her skin with gold jewellery that can be worn every day and paired with anything. The campaign has got tremendous positive traction from customers on digital platforms and has crossed 8 million views on YouTube in just a few days.

The film shows Shraddha Kapoor in two avatars – a contemporary woman dazzling in trendy lightweight gold jewellery pieces all day, every day and a traditional version of her who laments about how gold can come out only on special occasions. The ad shows a willingness for accepting gold in an absolutely new form.

Through the campaign, Melorra wants to dispel the idea around gold jewellery as heavy and suited only for traditional celebrations. The brand wants to drive home the message that gold can be worn every day and ‘why wait, when there’s Melorra’.

Speaking about this, Saroja Yeramilli, Founder and CEO, Melorra, said, “Gold can be fun, bold, different, and can be worn every day. This is what we want to put out there with our recent campaign. Pieces by Melorra are innovative, easy to wear, modular, and size free. Despite so many modalities, the jewellery does not burn a hole in the pocket but rather starts from INR 2500! We want every woman to enjoy and revel in her gold and not just bring it out because there is an occasion. We want them to be as comfortable with gold as they are with their own personality.”

Melorra is the market leader in the lightweight gold jewellery segment. Since inception, the brand has been instrumental in bringing about a shift in perception around gold jewellery. This is because Melorra launches a new collection every week with 75 new designs inspired by global fashion trends. The brand also offers more than 10k designs and 80% of its products are below INR 50,000.

Melorra has also taken user experience to a new high with its experience centres, four of which have already been launched in Bengaluru and Delhi/NCR. They are a seamless extension of the brand’s online space. Melorra’s aim is to provide a channel-agnostic experience to customers and ensure that they are comfortable wearing gold every day. Every gold jewellery is BIS hallmarked, and every diamond jewellery is SGL & IGI certified.

Despite the pandemic, Melorra has seen a strong month-on-month accelerated growth in terms of order value and numbers. The brand has already delivered to over 1900 towns in the country and made its mark everywhere – from villages with a population of less than 10,000 to cities with population above 1 million. Melorra is also planning to launch more physical experience centres pan India including in Tier 2 and 3 cities.