CXO Outlook – January 2021 – India Edition – Most Innovative Startups Special by Connecta Innovation

INSIGHTS. IDEAS. INSPIRATIONS

DEEPAK SAHNI CEO & Founder, Healthians

MAYANK TEWARI Co-founder, Skeps

KAMYA ELAWADHI

REETI ROY

VP-Customer Success, Doceree

Founder & CEO, Aglet Ink

SACHIN NIGAM

RITURAJ MISHRA

CTO & Co-Founder, Goavega Software

Director, Healing Buddha

SUNIL GUPTA

SUMAN GANDHAN

MD & CEO, Avis India

Founder, Finin

DR YOGESH BHATIA

CHATHURIKA JAYAWARDANA

MD, Detel

Founder, Career Kit

DR. VIVEK BINDRA FOUNDER & CEO, BADA BUSINESS

THE HUMBLE MAESTRO HELPING A THOUSAND SMALL ENTREPRENEURS CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

January 2021

Vol - 2 Issue - 1

India's Most Innovative Startups Special (Indian Edition) Editor in Chief

Dr. Manoj Varghese

Managing Editor Sarath Shyam

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CXO OUTLOOK January 2021 May 2020

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

On a Recovery Mode

he Indian startup ecosystem was thriving until the pandemic hit the world. It had reached to become the world's third-largest at the beginning of 2020. Unfortunately, the nationwide lockdown between March to June 2020 played a spoilsport, and we saw a dip in overall funding by 50% compared to pre-COVID levels. Around 40% startups were negatively impacted, and 15% of Indian startups were forced to discontinue operations due to COVID-19, says a report titled, ‘COVID-19 and the Antifragility of Indian Startup Ecosystem,’ published by TiE Delhi-NCR in partnership with Zinnov. However, the report states that the recovery pace – both in demand and in investor sentiment – has been faster than expected when the economy opened. For instance, 75% of startups are gradually, but steadily, recovering post lockdown. Around 30% of startups have pivoted to newer markets for alternative revenue streams, while more than 55% of startups focus on profitability and reducing cash burn. Interestingly, four Indian startups have become unicorns amidst COVID-19. This shows

5 young Indian entrepreneurs' ability to survive and thrive by keeping pace with the dynamics of the changing world. In this issue, we celebrate the success of such entrepreneurs and their startups, shining even in the cloudiest of weather. We have listed '10 Most Innovative Startup to Watch-out in 2021' and narrated some of their success stories to inspire the business aspirants. On the cover, we feature Dr Vivek, Bindra, a revolutionary entrepreneur, an internationally acclaimed motivational speaker and a business coach, who founder Bada Business that touched the Rs 100 crore revenue mark in January 2021. Enjoy reading.

Sarath Shyam

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

ADVISORY BOARD

Dr. Kuldeep Nagi, Ph.D, MBA, BSc.

Program Director of Ph.D, Recipient of Fulbright Fellowship Award & Dan Evans Award for Excellence and Writer columnist.

Mr. Amulya Sah, PGD PM & IR, PG Diploma in PM&IR (XISS Ranchi)

Senior Director HR. Former Head HR group Samsung R&D Institute India,Transformative HR Leader, Change agent, Digitization facilitator, Engagement architect, Trainer and Diversity champion.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Dr. Varughese K.John, PhD, MBA, MPhil, MCom, LLB. Program Director, MS in Management Program, GSATM - AU

Dr. Ajay Shukla, Ph.D, MBA, BE. Co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Higher Education UAE

Mamta Thakur Former CEO (ASEAN), Arc Skills

Mr. Sreedhar Bevara, MBA, B.Com Senior General Manager: Panasonic Middle East & Africa, Thought Leader, Speaker & Author of ‘Moment of Signal’ (Amazon’s International Bestseller)

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

CONTENTS

COVER STORY

DR. VIVEK BINDRA FOUNDER & CEO, BADA BUSINESS

THE HUMBLE MAESTRO HELPING A THOUSAND SMALL ENTREPRENEURS

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

STARTUP SPOTLIGHT

30 An Ardent, Research-Oriented Leader with A Phenomenal Track Record

Reeti Roy Founder & CEO, Aglet Ink

46 Making India Digitally Proficient through Neobanking

Suman Gandham

60 Healing Buddha : Achieving Healthy Body, Mind, and Soul despite the Chaotic Times

Rituraj Mishra, Director & Manish Kumar

74 The Next-Gen Fintech Player Revolutionizing Credit Systems

Prerit Srivastava & Mayank Tewari

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

IN MY VIEW 12 A Journey from The Cubicle Life to A Boundless Business Life, through Self-Discovery and Self-Learning

Chathurika Jayawardana, Founder, Career Kit

36 EXPERT OPINION

COVID 19 - How a Crisis is Nudging us to Reinvent

5 Cybersecurity Protocols that Every Organisation Needs to Follow to Ensure Complete Security of Data

Deepak Sahni, CEO & Founder, Healthians

Digital Ad Transparency Through Programmatic Means

How AI and Automation are Creating a Wave in the Current Situation for the industry?

Dimpy Yadav, Head of Client Engagement, Xaxis India CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Sachin Nigam, CTO & Co-Founder, Goavega Software

Pulak Satish Kumar, Director & COO, Puresight Systems

CONTENTS

LEADERS INSIGHTS

22 Micro Businesses – The Credit Hungry

Mayur Modi, Co-founder & CEO, Moneyboxx Finance Ltd., a BSE Listed Firm

Optichannel: Winnable Marketing Strategy for Pharma

By Kamya Elawadhi, VP-Customer Success, Doceree

56 How Car Rental Companies are Changing the Face of Shared Mobility Services in India?

Sunil Gupta, MD & CEO, Avis India

70 Electric Vehicles: A Massive Market Opportunity for India in this Decade

Dr Yogesh Bhatia, MD, Detel

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

IN MY VIEW

A Journey from The Cubicle Life to A Boundless Business Life, through Self-Discovery and Self-Learning

Chathurika Jayawardana, Founder, Career Kit

Chathurika Jayawardana is an HR

professional turned work-from-home Mom in business, whose experience in HR practices in multiple organizations and cross-industry recruitment for all levels, passion for professional writing, love for graphic designing, and long years of practice in English editing & proofreading, lead to founding 'Career Kit', a professional resume writing service that aimed to assist all professionals with career progression, which then expanded to cover many other professional areas Chathurika Jayawardana

to help job seekers and business owners. Attempts to Find Gratification After I gave up my full-time corporate job in Human Resource Management, I took on assignments as an HR Consultant extending human resource management services to private companies and freelanced as a Recruitment Consultant for a recruitment firm. Alongside with the freelance work, I wanted to start up my own business, but I seriously doubted if I could. I wished I had the professional qualifications to work from home as a solopreneur – like Fashion Designing or Architecture, instead of a Master's in Human Resource Management (MHRM). I was craving for gratification.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Building the business didn’t happen overnight, it took months of continuous hard work identifying the value proposition, advertising, giving offers, free services, promotions, email marketing and many more.

It was at this point that I wanted to make a breakthrough. I began to wonder “there should be an audience and a target market for any skill, right”? I did some serious self-reflection to identify my strengths, capabilities, and passion.

Self-Reflection My expertise in Human Resource Management wasn't sufficient to build a business because I only had the experience as an employee. I was determined to develop my skills to generate earning as a business owner. Having handled cross-industry recruitment, I was already aware of the many blunders people make on their resumes which ultimately restrained them from getting the job/career they wanted to be in. Often, I used to sympathize with such individuals and help them out with free CV reviews. Sometimes I re-created the CV for them without charging money, to help them land a job. By then, I also had several years of experience as an English Proofread and Editor, as I extended this service for a Professor of a private institute, editing his scholarly journal articles. I realized professional resume creation was something I could take on as a small business, given my background as an HR Professional and Proofreader/ Editor. With this blend of skills, I was able to review resumes capturing the HR perspective and polish up the content. However, I felt the need to earn a professional qualification to enhance my credibility. So, I followed through an online Master Course in Resume Writing, that broadened my knowledge about creating a

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

I preferred to handle the business support functions on my own, at the outset, to learn the best viable ways of developing the business

compelling resume, understanding the best resume practices and terminology to be used. The Breakthrough Finally, I founded my own business by the name of ‘Career Kit’ in 2014. A professional resume writing service that aims to assist all professionals with career progression. It really was like a remarkable dream come true. To promote the business, I also taught myself (and I continue to learn) personal branding, social media marketing and leveraged my skills in graphic designing. I am more of a DIY person. I preferred to handle the business support functions on my own, at the outset, to learn the best viable ways of developing the business. My freelance job as an HR Consultant and the Mom duties took up the whole of my daytime. Hence, peaceful learning could only happen during the night, after the kids went to bed. I sensed the gradual self-development. The latenight hustles (10pm to dawn) were all worth it, as they made me a happier person. Every day I woke up as a newer person. I fell in love with the hustle when my marketing generated leads (potential customers) and then my

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

first paying customer! This was back in 2014 if I remember right. Building the business didn’t happen overnight, it took months of continuous hard work - identifying the value proposition, advertising, giving offers, free services, promotions, email marketing etc. Since its inception, Career Kit’s scope expanded to cover many other services, to support job seekers and business owners. And it happened on the popular demands of the clientele. A Life with A Sense of Purpose I truly felt that my hard work paying off as my customer base expanded, mostly through wordof-mouth marketing. Every other day there was a customer calling through a client referral. It gave me massive pleasure to see individuals succeed in reaching their career and/or business goals. This is what kept me going as a business owner. Finding solutions and providing value for individuals to help them accomplish professional milestones became my daily hustle. Knowing that my services helped them succeed ultimately made me a successful individual with a true sense of purpose in life. And this is me living my own dream and building a future for myself and my family.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

COVER STORY

DR. VIVEK BINDRA FOUNDER & CEO, BADA BUSINESS

THE HUMBLE MAESTRO HELPING A THOUSAND SMALL ENTREPRENEURS

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Dr. Vivek Bindra

lthough the Indian corporate terrain boasts of several A-listers, most of them did have a good foundation to begin with. Only a rare few began from scratch and have displayed class and acumen throughout their journey to success. A decade back, a young magnetic persona entered this genre of individuals presenting rare savoir-faire and round up laurels. Dr Vivek Bindra is an ordinary gentleman, really; but he is someone who found the strength to persevere and endure despite overwhelming obstacles. From quite young, he learned that life does not get easier or more forgiving, we get stronger and more resilient. Growing up, Dr Vivek did not have life on a silver platter. Instead, he had a difficult childhood and growing up years.

A CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

He lost his father at quite a young age and grew up with his grandparents. Due to old age, they too passed away, and Dr Vivek was raised by different relatives, living a not so stable life. Thanks to the help of a kind neighbour, he was admitted to St. Xavier's school, one of the best schools in Delhi and was able to get a good schooling experience. Just because he went to a good school does not mean he had it easy, several instances put him down, but thanks to his love of sports, he always bounced back after every setback. He also turned to self-help books to shape a better personality for himself. He knew the importance of education and excelled at it, managing to get land seats at 4 International Universities for MBA. Unfortunately, due to insufficient funds, he could not pursue it further. Undeterred, he worked odd jobs and sold dictionaries at traffic signals to collect enough money to pursue an MBA from International Business from Amity Business School. Work Well with What You Got Unlike his peers, he was aware of how little resources he had, and although this did lead up to several humiliating situations, nothing could prevent him from dreaming big. He devoted a considerable chunk of his time for self-learning; reading all sorts of books and building up is knowledge base, one page at a time. "My experiences helped shape the person I am and craft a leader out of me. A major turnaround came in my life when I read "Srimad Bhagavad Gita". It became the motivational philosophy of my life and led me to join ISKCON and become a monk. I spent four years as a monk, searching for answers and learning about life. Finally, in 2010 with the blessings of my spiritual guru, I stepped out of the monk life and entered the career of a motivational speaker and business trainer," says Dr Vivek Bindra. In 2010, Dr Vivek marked his first step towards his entrepreneurial journey with Global ACT. The company worked as a corporate training partner with leading corporate houses. Soon, Dr Vivek became a trusted advisor to over 1500 corporates. He was awarded as the "Best Corporate Trainer" by Maruti Suzuki, for three consecutive years. He also etched another significant milestone with the creation of his Leadership Development Program called 'Leadership Funnel' that trained entrepreneurs, businesspersons and organizational leaders in business leadership and management skills.

IN 2019, BADA BUSINESS TOOK ITS FIRST STEPS TO GARNER A NOT SO BABY REVENUE OF OVER RS 60 CRORE IN ITS

FIRST FINANCIAL YEAR ITSELF. IN JANUARY 2021 BADA BUSINESS TOUCHED THE RS 100 CRORE REVENUE MARK

The Birth of a ‘Bada’ Idea In 2019, he decided to expand the scope of his business training programmes to reach the least common denominator in entrepreneurship. After all, management education should not just be the preserve of a select few people. In a country where small businesses are the largest employment creator, he found a glaring lack of business skilling and mentoring solutions for small business owners and wantrepreneurs, particularly in small and semi-urban towns. This thought led him to rechristen his entrepreneurial venture as 'Bada Business Pvt. Ltd' with a new model and goal.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

The objective was to create an alternative business education model that would be affordable and accessible to everyone, such that anyone from a lower-middle-class background in a small town can access it and learn valuable business management skills. To realize this, he created a two-year management program condensing into it the course materials of all leading global MBA Institutions, albeit in vernacular languages. Thus in 2019, Bada Business took its first steps to garner a not so baby revenue of over Rs 60 crore in its first financial year itself. In January 2021 Bada Business touched the Rs 100 crore revenue mark. Founder and CEO of Bada Business, Dr Vivek Bindra shaped the company as an EdTech platform offering digital educational courses and business lessons to arm small entrepreneurs and wantrepreneurs with the requisite knowledge and skills to startups and run businesses effectively. The organization is unique as it is the first such EdTech platform to create a category of business learning services for small entrepreneurs. Bada Business offers a series of digital business learning courses ranging from 2 months to 2 years. The courses are created specifically to help SMEs and MSMEs find solutions to their businesses' burning problems in a comfortable, practical and implementable way by using frameworks, case studies, and proven techniques relevant to the Indian market. Bada Business has also partnered 75 top business leaders of different sectors and industries and brought them on board as ‘professors. These 'professors' offer valuable business learnings to students based on their first-hand experiences and knowledge through video lessons. Some of these professors are none other than Ms Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, T V Mohandas Pai, Alfred Ford, Manu Jain, and Arvind Lal, to name a few. The organization has also started an Independent Business Consultant Model under which the organization supports entrepreneurs on the ground, by training and mentoring them to create their own businesses. 5500 IBCs have already been piloted, and the organization is now aiming to take this number to 125,000 IBCs. "While working as a business trainer with a series of top corporate houses for several years, I realized that while there was no dearth of business training facilities for large organizations, SMEs and MSMEs hardly had access to modern business training resources. Even though this sector forms the backbone of the Indian economy, their need for business skill training remained largely unfulfilled. This was when I decided to turn my attention to create a first of its kind Ed-Tech platform, particularly for the MSME sector," Dr Vivek explains. In April 2020, when the country’s pandemic panic was at an all-time high, he launched ‘India Revival Mission’ that offered business training and hand-holding solutions to millions of SMEs, helping them strategize post COVID business models. The initiative trained 10 million people – entrepreneurs, students and selfemployed individuals, and impacted as many as 50 million lives. Today, his YouTube channel is one of the world’s most subscribed

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

TODAY, DR VIVEK BINDRA'S YOUTUBE CHANNEL IS ONE OF THE WORLD’S MOST SUBSCRIBED ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHANNEL WITH CLOSE TO 14.9 MILLION SUBSCRIBERS AND 700 MILLION VIEWERSHIP

entrepreneurship channel with close to 14.9 million subscribers and 700 million viewership. With over 38 lakh followers on Facebook, is it any surprise that 'India Revival Mission, bagged 5 Guinness World Records? It also put India’s EdTech sector on the global map.

Dr. Vivek Bindra

Teamwork Makes the Dream Work Dr Vivek iterates that all this was possible because he had an equally talented team to back him up. "My team enjoy complete freedom and support when it comes to ideation and problem-solving. As a techcentred company, it is important to institute strong monitoring and accountability mechanisms to ensure that productivity and efficiency remain high. Moreover, the team’s focus should be on identifying people’s problems and solving them. ‘Thinking as the consumer’ is how we operate. As long as you continue to offer commendable solutions to problems, your organization will continue to grow," adds Dr Vivek. A technopreneur, Dr Vivek observes that AI and VR are expected to affect education technology and online education. He further says that through Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality, we are set to see an increasing shift towards immersive learning. "Use of data analytics and machine learning to improve learning experiences is another emerging trend for 2021. Similarly, gamification is another markedly noticeable trend," says Dr Vivek. With an aggressive and detailed expansion plan for Bada Business, Dr Vivek expects the company to grow leaps and bounds in the next 2-3 years. He also aims to double the company's branch offices across India from the current 75 to 150 and establish its presence in most Tier II and III cities and smaller towns where a bulk of small entrepreneurs are based. Bootstrapped initially, the startup is now also in active talks with multiple VCs to raise funds to finance its next phase of growth. Dr Vivek plans to expand Bada Business beyond India to countries with a similar entrepreneurial environment in the long run. "We aim to become a major global player over the long term and a force to reckon with in the global EdTech space," he adds. As someone who took every obstacle, challenge and dilemma into his stride and turning them into golden opportunities, Dr Vivek Bindra is truly a champion of the quote by Marcus Aurelius, “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

LEADERS INSIGHTS

Micro Businesses – The Credit Hungry

Mayur Modi, Co-founder & CEO – Moneyboxx Finance Ltd., a BSE Listed Firm

Mayur Modi, Co-Founder and Co-CEO,

Moneyboxx Finance, has been instrumental in developing a robust strategy, team building, driving the vision and culture at Moneyboxx Finance Pvt Ltd, which is a BSE listed NBFC. He is also actively involved in overseeing the build-up of IT stack (core lending platform), formulating credit and other policies.

Mayur Modi

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

adha aged 45 is a widow and lives in Dewas, a small town, 40 km from Indore in Madhya Pradesh, with her three children, a son aged 20 and two daughters 8 and 6 years of age. Two years ago, her income from a grocery shop left behind by her husband, and meagre interest from some savings parked in bank FD were simply not enough to meet the educational needs of her growing her daughters. She needed a loan. Moneyboxx stepped in with a loan of Rs. 50,000. Radha used that to expand her grocery shop and started selling cosmetic items as well. In the next 12 months, she saved enough and along with her FDs, she was able to invest in a second hand Maruti Van for her son to become a selfemployed entrepreneur, operating as a school van. Radha has since repaid her original loan and taken a repeat loan of INR 1 lac to expand her shop even more.

In the world of financial institutions, the herd mentality is so strong that everybody likes to chase the already most banked companies or retail customers

Radha is just one of the 3000 plus customers of Moneyboxx (www.moneyboxxfinance.com) who remain unseen by India’s large banking network. Hari Shankar Sharma is another such customer. He’s 30 years of age and lives 200 km away from Delhi, with his wife and parents in a small town called Bharatpur, Rajasthan. He runs a small rented Kirana shop (~100 sq. ft), which is just about enough to meet their monthly expenses. Hari was finding it increasingly difficult to manage his rising household expenses, and he had no access to any form of formal financing from banks and NBFCs. Moneyboxx Loan Relationship officer (LRO) reached out to him, and after due diligence, Hari was granted a loan of INR 50,000. He immediately used this money to expand his shop and buy more stock, which in the course of the last 18 months has helped him double his monthly income. Not only has Hari ever missed an EMIs, but he's also realised the combined power of right finance and his business acumen. Like Radha, he came back for a repeat loan of INR 1 lac from Moneyboxx, which he has used to rent (~200 sq. ft) and operate a small oil mill (mustard oil expeller) next to his existing Kirana store. These tiny businesses often run by individuals as small units, the nextdoor Kirana shop, livestock owner, roadside eateries, small trading shops might be the backbone and largest cohort of India’s informal economy, but they continue to remain largely neglected by the country’s mainstream banking and financing system. 73 years of independence and many of these businesses are still forced into the clutches of the sahukar, the ubiquitous, ravenous moneylender. Travel down to a small town India and even today, you will find ample examples of people in debt traps and a replay of 1960s and 70s movie scene. In the world of financial institutions, the herd mentality is so strong that everybody likes to chase the already most banked companies or retail

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

customers. These are the low hanging customers with established bank statements and/or salary incomes. It’s easy to provide credit to them, piggy banking on the fact that somebody would have done its due diligence. Our seven decades of financing has only accentuated economic inequality and socio-economic imbalances with too much credit flowing to certain strata of the society, while the really deserving, credit hungry and very important segments of the economy are left neglected and underserved. These very micro-businesses, which are repeatedly ignored, neglected and dismissed as non-important by big financial institutions, are our bread and butter. And while bank credit growth shows no improvement despite a heavy push from the government and RBI, we are happy to share, our business is coming back surely and steadily. Let me size the opportunity we decided to seize. There are close to 56 million MSME units in India, including all the big and small units put together. If you carve out the second M or the micro-businesses, there are approximately 48 million unregistered MSME units. Bear in mind though, these 48 million still miss the crores of livestock traders and other small businesses who are not on the radar of any form of formal registration, regulation or supervision. Various studies have tried to piece together this segment and shown that the total credit demand for microbusinesses is a huge ~INR 13 trillion, growing at a 20% CAGR. A majority of 85% of this continues to be met through informal sources (the moneylender). Why is this huge opportunity neglected by financial institutions? The facts are not a surprise for anyone. These units are spread across the length and breadth of the country, and more than 70% are located in tier 2 and tier 3 towns, ~200 km away from any big city. Nobody is really interested in visiting them, understanding their requirement and doing the paperwork to extend loans as small as INR 1-2 lacs. Most of these livelihood businesses are unregistered units, with lack of documentation & personal credit history making it difficult to analyse their true cash flows, and therefore a no-go territory for most financial institutions (especially Banks). They simply

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

do not have the necessary basic documents to require for credit decision making by institutions. Some might argue why not use the magic fintech solutions to reach these micros businesses and provide them with necessary credit. We’ve found that most of these individuals easily get hooked to smartphones for Facebook and YouTube, but they are not financially literate to use technology for availing credit. At Moneyboxx we’ve made inroads into the micro-business segment by doing a few things which difficult but not impossible. We have gone city by city, town by town and set up our phygital network. Our army of loan officers establishes contact with these businesses. They assess the financing need and then provide individual microenterprises with tailor-made and simple financing solutions. We combine the physical presence of our branches with the latest technology to reach and understand the needs of our customers, collect and analyse data to arrive at a credit decision. Robust asset quality of Moneyboxx’s portfolio amidst the pandemic with a high collection efficiency of ~94% during the moratorium and zero NPAs to date, validate the merits of the customer-centric phygital model over a pure-play fintech approach. We believe that the branch model combined with the prowess of technology is a sustainable business model which also creates more employment opportunities for locals, resulting in a win-win situation for all. In our very first year, we have set up operations in 11 cities across 4 states and provided growth capital to more than 3,000 customers and positively impacted 15,000 lives. This is a humble start from our end in the l financial inclusion drive in India. We have lined up plans to spread our presence across the length and breadth of India. Today 52% of our loan portfolio is made up of livestock small owners. These are people in Tier 2 and Tier 3 towns who own 3-8 Cattle and sometimes have small farming business as well. They borrow money from us to purchase cattle. Unlike agriculture, livestock provides a very stable source of earning which is also the reason that despite lock-down and moratorium our collection during past 5 months has been 94% and as high as 98.4% in July. A person owning 3 cattle can double

More about

Mayur Modi

A Chartered Accountant with more than 18+ years of experience in financial service industry across developed and emerging markets, Mr Mayur started his career with GE Capital and went on to work in large financial institutions like JP Morgan and HSBC wherein he was instrumental in developing key relationships across Financial Institutions. He also has considerable expertise in the areas of banking and capital products, credit ratings of financial institutions, industry research, relationship management and risk management, among others

his income in 2-3 years by taking loans from us. Traders make up the second-largest group with 27% of Moneyboxx Finance’s portfolio – These are typical shops like garments, hardware, fancy item stores and so on. The margin is this segment is typically higher at 25-30% as these involve a lot of locally sourced products as compared to branded products. The average daily sale of these segment ranges from INR 7,500 to 10,000 and after taking care of all expenses (rental, salaries and other expenses) they earn anything between 1,500 to 2,000 per day. These set of customers are more financially sound as compared to Livestock and Kirana and are able to borrow much higher amount (typical loan is above 1 lac and can go up to 3 lac). Small manufacturers making ancillary products for large manufactures in auto, garments, shoe industry etc. are the other group we lend to. The margin for such a set of customers ranges between 25-35% depending on the nature of the work and segment that they are into. These customers generally have small manufacturing units in tier 2 and tier 3 cities ranging between 500 sq. ft to 1000 sq. ft in size,

which is generally rented. They borrow mainly for the working capital requirement. Their loan requirement is typically higher ranging from 1.5 lac and upwards, and they also have better repayment capability if they are in business for more than 3 years and above. And Kirana shop owners like Radha and Hari make up 8% of our portfolio. And this segment beat all the pandemic blues, earning almost earning 2x their regular income. This was our best performing segment with least cheque bounces and requests for moratorium within our portfolio. After a loan and repayment journey with us, these previously unbanked individual businesses and entrepreneurs learn how to tap into affordable credit by doing some basic re-modelling of their businesses, such as transacting more through banking channels, registering their units, creating a credit history and so on. For us, a job is well done, not only because these units flourish after credit from us, but they are now ready to access the formal credit system leading to a strong multiplier effect and wonderful transformation in local communities.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

MOST INNOVATIVE

STARTUPS

TO WATCH-OUT FOR IN 2021

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

tartups are becoming increasingly more popular every day, and it doesn’t look like it will slow down. The wheels of the industry keep on turning and many new companies are doing their best to either assist in recovery with their services or are well-positioned to capitalize on the recovery in their market or region. Although Covid-19 may have forced some industries to pivot completely, others have managed to thrive. With the huge shift to online working, shopping, socializing, and more, we’ve seen some major pushes for certain technologies, especially ones that have capitalized on this digital focus. Rain or shine, tech startups are moving forward with their innovations. From AI to famous applications, it’s clear that tech companies are still dominating the market when it comes to serving fresh new products. The enterprise tech startup sector is packed with companies capitalizing on growing demand — even amid the disruptions caused by the pandemic — for tools in the world of big data, DevOps, cloud, mobility, the internet of things, and cybersecurity. Despite the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and increasing economic uncertainty, 2020 still managed to produce thousands of startups. While we are in a global pandemic, the business does not stop. With all these technological advancements on the line, 2021 will surely be an interesting year for the business and tech sector. Companies are adapting, innovating, and moving forward. There are many new ideas and innovations to look forward to in 2021. With that in mind, CXO Outlook presents “10 Most Innovative Startups to Watch-out for in 2021”, to appreciate and showcase their out-ofthe-box thinking for everyone to see.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

MOST INNOVATIVE

STARTUPS

TO WATCH-OUT FOR IN 2021

Company

Key Person

Designation

Reeti Roy

Founder & CEO

Dr Vivek Bindra

Founder & CEO

Prashob Kathiresan

Director

Suman Gandham

Founder

Healing Buddha

Rituraj Mishra

Director

MediBuddy

Satish Kannan

Co-founder & CEO

Skeps

Mayank Tewari

Co-founder

StepSetGo

Shivjeet Ghatge

Co-Founder & CEO

Wishonary

Vivek Saxena

Co-founder

Zolostays

Dr Nikhil Sikri

Co-founder & CEO

Aglet Ink

Bada Business

Fashionfore

Finin

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

STARTUP

SPOTLIGHT

T 30

An Ardent, ResearchOriented Leader with A Phenomenal Track Record Founded by Reeti Roy, Aglet Ink is a full-service creative content services firm rendered to individual clients and. businesses for sprucing up their CVs, Cover letters, white papers, website content and, keynote speeches.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

here was a drastic decline in the Indian job market's growth during 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, we are witnessing a steady growth since the onset of 2021, while most organizations are proactively adapting to the 'new normal'. This upswing has instigated almost all jobseeking individuals to review and strengthen their resumes and cover letters in the best way possible. Yet, there are several highly talented individuals who are an excellent fit for their desired jobs, but cannot present themselves succinctly on paper. This dearth in the Indian job market triggered Reeti Roy to lay the foundation for Aglet Ink in 2014, while she and her passionate team of young professionals are still striving to address it! In fact, this 32-yearold dynamic leader had to deal with this problem by herself when she applied for her first job. Her predilection for researchoriented or research-backed roles made her overcome this problem and sow the seeds of Aglet Ink. Although multiple individuals and organizations presumed her areas of interests as solely being Communications or Outreach due to her English Literature (Jadavpur University) and Social Anthropology (London School of Economics and Political Science) background, she proved her strengths and interests in research by building something big and substantial with it. A One-Stop Solution! Backed by meticulous and painstakingly thorough sectoral research, Aglet Ink stands at the forefront of the creative content services industry in India today, constantly winning the hearts of clients ranging from doctors and lawyers to eco-feminist entrepreneurs, private equity analysts, to professors, artists,

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I often find myself on panels where all are older (and mostly, men!), and I can hold my own, even if I felt nervous

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Creating Aglet Ink was undoubtedly not a child’s play for Reeti! It is the culmination of years of her hard work, passion, determination, grit and most importantly, the fire to redefine the Indian job market

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

musicians, and development professionals. Right from resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, speaking points for high profile speakers, website content, brochures, and marketing collaterals to social media training for organizations, one-on-one coaching on strategizing for interviews, one-on-one coaching on written and spoken communication, creative writing workshops, and much more, Aglet Ink has it all covered for you under one umbrella. Creating Aglet Ink was undoubtedly not a child’s play for Reeti! It is the culmination of years of her hard work, passion, determination, grit and most importantly, the fire to redefine the Indian job market. Let us delve back to Reeti’s college days to learn more about her background! She was indeed a true warrior back then. During her second year of under graduation studies itself, she won the Charles Wallace Scholarship for Creative Writing, Matador Network Scholarship for Travel Writing, and the Choice Fellowship from the Seagull Foundation for the Arts. Post pursuing her degree at LSE, Reeti

worked as a research assistant to a Columbia University professor, which involves archival research on the 1943 Bengal Famine. After this stint, she successfully won the LAMP (The Legislative Assistant to a Member of Parliament) fellowship, which is run by PRS Legislative Research. Even at home, she was exposed to an intellectual environment where she could read and think for herself. Once a Leader, Always a Leader Besides the above milestones, Reeti held various leadership positions such as house captain in school, elected representative for all Masters’ Students at LSE, and many others. These experiences moulded her into a better leader who listens to what others have to say and not just impose her views on them. Especially at LSE, she was responsible for representing any sort of grievance that any student had, at the Staff-Student Liaison Committee. Reeti adds, “Being the only student amongst faculty members was undoubtedly the most intimidating and nerve-wracking experience for me, yet a good training!" "In fact, I often find myself on panels where all are older (and mostly, men!), and I can hold my own, even if I feel nervous," she chuckles". Today, Reeti silhouettes among the industry's varied professionals as a beacon of inspiration to never give up on their dreams. Her biggest challenge while incepting Aglet Ink was to onboard the first client. Surprisingly, she was juggling between her full-time job and her own firm with a strong belief in her services such as resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles and others, while marketing about them on social media. One fine day, she landed on her first client from LinkedIn, and they trusted her based on her past work experiences and academic credentials. At the end of 2016, Aglet Ink turned profitable, while Reeti

was still managing her full-time job. She adds, "When I look back at those months, I will not change a thing. I made several mistakes being a greenhorn". From times when someone took advantage of her mistake of not signing a contract to the present times where she signs NDAs, makes judgement calls on who she will work with and not, and juggles various other stints while running Aglet Ink; she has evolved into a woman of substance. These stints include being an award-winning tour guide, commissioned music writer & critic for Score Magazine and consultant with the British Council, conducting art walks in South Bombay,

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

associating with the Empretec India and the United Nations Conference for Trade and Development programme (UNCTAD), which is funded by the State Government of West Bengal (WBIDC), and currently working on a new certification. Reeti also works with a lot of female entrepreneurs, especially those who are poised in the realm of sustainable fashion, environment, and the intersection of gender and culture, while being the visiting faculty at IIM Lucknow and teaching classes on Written Executive Communication.

The Backbones! Despite building Aglet Ink on her own and from scratch, Reeti attributes most of her success to the support and trust she gained from her clients and her mentors. She is extremely fortunate to have been associated with Anamara Baig, her boss at Pratham Education Foundation, Anjali Raina, the Executive Director at the Harvard Business School’s India Research Centre when she worked as a research associate, Dr Shashi

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Tharoor, the Member of Parliament that she worked with, Balvinder Kaur, her coachfacilitated by Empretec India, and Shreya Bose, her editor at Score Magazine. For someone who has been working mainly on her own for almost six years, she feels fantastic about having people (both as peers and seniors) to learn from and grow with, and wonderful clients who have kept her accountable and intellectually curious. Grabbing her first client, relishing a steady stream of work, organic media attention, numerous accolades, recognition, and many other milestones have helped people know that a business like Aglet Ink exists in the market! No wonder, Aglet Ink is always open to working with interesting people and on exciting projects with anyone eager to collaborate with them. Reeti concludes, “My short-term goal is to continue to provide quality services, and long-term goals are to scale-up, hire more professionals and ensure that Aglet Ink is a force to reckon with”.

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CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

EXPERT OPINION

COVID 19 How a Crisis is Nudging us to Reinvent

Deepak Sahni, CEO & Founder, Healthians

Deepak Sahni is the CEO and founder of

Healthians, India’s largest doorstep health test provider, trusted by over 8 Lac households. A self-taught serial entrepreneur, passionate about healthcare, and pioneering the wellness trend in the Indian healthcare sector, Deepak has over 18 years of experience in the healthcare, marketing and technology sector.

Deepak Sahni

o single factor or event has ever affected the entire country way COVID-19 has. On the one hand, it has adversely affected the health of scores of people, caused economic and financial havoc, restricted and reduced social life. On the other, it has created awareness among people about health and healthy behaviours, paved the way for better health care systems, given a push to technological advancement, helped forge better community and familial relations, put a limelight on the importance of mental health. Current challenges - stimulus for an improved healthcare system The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the gaps in the Indian healthcare system in keeping a check on the rapid spread of the infection in the country. Even though testing facilities have been ramped up the number of tests done as a percentage of the population is still modest.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the gaps in the Indian healthcare system in keeping a check on the rapid spread of the infection in the country

The pandemic has also clearly highlighted the issues that exist in our primary healthcare infrastructure in rural areas. However, due to the sudden and serious threat that the pandemic has posed, unplanned expenditure in meeting health care needs at a macro level has risen exponentially. The government has spent about Rs. 300 crores in sourcing equipment, beds, oxygen cylinders, ventilators etc. As per current statistics, the country has more than 15000 COVID treatment facilities with more than 13 lac dedicated isolation beds. This expenditure and restructuring of hospitals to create isolation wards and quarantine facilities will have a long term positive impact as hospitals will have the infrastructure necessary to treat a larger volume of patients, especially in cases of infectious diseases in the future. A physical, emotional & psychological crisis Public health is another area where COVID has had a profound effect. Isolation, stress, fears, financial troubles have all had a serious impact on mental health. Social media platforms are flooded with people talking about and admitting to dealing with mental health issues. This has created a situation where there is a conversation around mental health in the public space, which was absent previously. Physical health too has been impacted. There is a rise in health issues like obesity, back pains, neck pains, diabetes, etc. As per a study conducted by Healthians across

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

the country, there was a rise of 11.5% in diabetic patients during the lockdown. This astounding rise could be due to limited access to health care facilities, unhealthy food choices, lack of physical activity, disturbed sleeping patterns, remote working conditions - where there are no set timings, lack of ergonomic working equipment, etc. But, the issues are not confined only to working adults, the elderly and children, too have had to face significant problems. As per research, the elderly, especially those above 60 years of age are susceptible to a more serious and often fatal degree of COVID-19 infection, which has led to a rise in stress and fear among the older generation. To compound the problem, the lockdown and social distancing has caused loneliness and isolation and also led to a rise in non-covid health issues as they are unable to seek treatment for them. Children have also had to deal with the repercussions of the epidemic. While COVID-19 direct impact on children's health may be limited, the subsequent socioeconomic impact could cause a lot of havoc. Even during the lockdown itself, children have had to adapt to new study regimes like online classes, not meeting their friends, being isolated and confined within their homes. The Silver Lining But, there's a flip side to it; there are some positive changes in general health and well-being also. It has been observed that people have reduced or eliminated processed or outside food, many people are actively looking for ways to include physical activity while confined to their homes, there has been an increased social responsibility towards the underprivileged community, WFH or remote working has allowed people to spend more time with families and bond with them in these times of crisis. This has been corroborated by a recent study by Healthians, where it has been found that these factors have led to a significant drop in total cholesterol levels across age groups, especially among those in high-stress age bracket of 30-50 yrs. While COVID has forced us to adopt healthy habits pertaining to hand and overall hygiene in order to stay protected from the virus, these habits, if continued, will go a long way in helping curtail the spread of other communicable

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

illnesses as well in the future. In fact, the pandemic has triggered a mindset shift towards health and hygiene, making people more aware and conscious about pursuing healthier habits. A recent study by Google reveals that searches for healthier pursuits have gone up in the last couple of months during the lockdown. E.g. search for 'best way to lose weight' has emerged as one of the top searches with a 180% jump in volumes. A massive 500% increase has happened in 'immunity' based searches. Fitness related searches on Youtube has jumped manifold with searches for 'full-body workout at home' going up by 90%, 'gym at home' by 93% and 'Yoga meditation' by 40%. So much so that there’s a growing self-awareness about own health vital parameters with 42% growth in searches to know ‘what’s normal’ for body stats like BP, body temperature, and blood sugar. Healthcare - An inflection point for reinvention At an industry level, the healthcare sector too has come under a lot of stress during these times. Most private players whether hospitals, diagnostics, pharma companies, medical equipment or services companies have all had to bear the brunt of the pandemic wherein they had to deal with reduced OPD visits and dip in elective or non-covid patients, reduced tests, supply chain issues etc. However, the silver lining to this cloud is that there has been a dramatic rise in remote consultations, telemedicine etc., which spell a great opportunity for the future. There has also been a renewed focus on diagnostic services. Private players across the healthcare industry, especially startups, have been working hard and engaging themselves in a bid to develop innovative technology and solutions to challenges posed by COVID-19. Healthians - building confidence through innovation Healthians has also been working continuously in developing solutions to problems caused by the pandemic. In a bid to contribute to the Govt. in ramping up COVID testing facilities, we setup sample collection via walk-in kiosks, mobile kiosks, and drivethru centres. We launched a product called CorpShield which would allow companies to start functioning in

More about

Deepak Sahni He

has

represented

India

the

Medical Tourism Congress in the US for three consecutive years. Prior to founding Healthians, Deepak had a series of successful entrepreneurial ventures to his credit. He started his very first business venture at the age of 19 – a computer assembling business, followed by a digital healthcare agency. He has also worked with 120 renowned hospitals across the world, gaining a vast repository of knowledge and business acumen. He completed his education at St Margaret School in Delhi, followed by Bachelors & Masters in Computer application from Sikkim and Manipal University. His recognitions include 'Futuristic Face of Healthcare in 2009', 'Leaders Award for Social Impact Enterprise of the Year 2015' and 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2016'. He has also been recently chosen as 100 most influential entrepreneurs in India by the Entrepreneurs Magazine.

a post-lockdown world that included health tests for employees, sanitization and awareness drives, safety audits etc. To revive primary healthcare in the country, we are offering a service called MedShield, which is a complimentary service for small clinics and hospitals. Under the initiative clinics are sanitized, the staff is trained, and protocols are setup for safe patient visits. We performed an extensive survey amongst our customer base to understand their safety concerns related to going out for health tests v/s getting tested at home, based on which we launched a 3 layer COVID safe sample collection process. Which includes weekly COVID testing of all sample collectors, daily temperature and symptoms checks, and use of contactless one-time sample collection material. Looking ahead While a pandemic of any kind is unfortunate, but there have been many behaviour changes and events that point to a future where people are developing a better attitude towards health and getting access to better healthcare services. Especially an increasing focus on building and maintaining immunity, a heightened fitness consciousness, or maintaining good health even while being confined to their homes. There is also a growing awareness among people towards preventive healthcare - which translates into working towards avoiding chronic illnesses or if they already have the condition, then managing it better. The extensive use of technology and digital solutions during COVID is a harbinger of times where healthcare services can reach a larger audience easily via digital means. In fact, the launch of National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) is the first step towards setting up of a digital health ecosystem that could drive an elemental transformation in India's healthcare system making it more accessible and financially efficient. The key factors where NDHM would be most impactful are transparent and seamless information sharing; accessible digital records, automated claims and payments, and high scope for continuous innovation.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

LEADERS INSIGHTS

Optichannel: Winnable Marketing Strategy for Pharma

By Kamya Elawadhi, VP-Customer Success, Doceree

Kamya Elawadhi is the Vice President,

Customer Success, at Doceree. In her 12 years of experience, she has crafted some of the notable and award-winning advertising and marketing campaigns. She was recently awarded Woman of Excellence Award 2020 by Indian Achievers' Forum and adjudged Outstanding Young Leader in Healthcare Marketing by Brand Opus. Before Doceree, she worked at top positions in leading global advertising agencies.

Kamya Elawadhi

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

arketing to Physicians had long been done through the traditional ‘offline’ way. Face-to-face interaction of sales representatives with doctors to increase brand awareness and ultimately push them to conversion was considered by pharma companies the only ideal solution. But it was THEN. THEN - at a time when digital was in nascent stages and still making inroads. Now, over the years, digital has disrupted traditional mediums of branding and marketing. Consumer marketers adapted to new ways of reaching out to their target audience, balancing between the timetested marketing channel of offline and the new fast-growing medium of online.

Pharma marketing campaigns would remain inconclusive in the absence of thought-out digital campaigns

While they were quick to adapt to the changing marketing dynamics and benefited significantly out of it, pharmaceuticals lagged behind in switching to the popular course of digital. Expanding the digital footprint Though pharma brands are now taking cognizance of the power of digital, embracing the medium by them is yet slow. Pharma marketing campaigns would remain inconclusive in the absence of thought-out digital campaigns. Physicians are becoming digital-savvy. To be present throughout the wholesome journey of a Physician, a Pharma brand pharma must go beyond the physical world to online in a far more effective manner, adopting newer methods and approaches.

OPTICHANNEL Approach to make the most Pharma companies moved from single-channel communication to multi-channel communication and have been implementing it in their campaigns. However, time is apt to shift focus from multi-channel communication to omnichannel communication to match pace with the emerging physician landscape, where now there are multiple layers of engagement, touchpoints and interactions owing to digital. Single-channel communication > Multi-channel communication > Omni-channel communication However, the omnichannel approach would work best when communication is contextual. So, the best approach for Pharma marketing is one step forward: OPTICHANNEL: Omnichannel + Contextual From just spreading the word via many possible channels to Physicians through the multi-channel strategy, it is far more important today to

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Platform

Key Communication

Medical journals

Physician Networking

EHR

Telehealth

Medical Education

Sub Campaign 1

Sub Campaign 2

Sub Campaign 3

Sub Campaign 4

Sub Campaign 5

Read the new study about the Homogesic’s impact on COVID

Are you talking about Homogesic, I have been

3 dose of Homogesic can help your patient

Did you consider Homogesic for fever?

19 patients

using it from 20 years

provide Physicians with the same experience on every platform – whether offline on online - while being contextually relevant. This overall coherent experience of optichannel approach helps build a stronger relationship between Physicians and the brand. Pharma brands must also focus on making communication more sharp and crisp in view of the everincreasing digital touchpoints of Physicians. Pin-pointed messages at the appropriate time through a suitable channel is what a winnable strategy would be. That’s what precision targeting is all about in digital. Also, because Physicians' attention span is less, heavy content pieces do not serve the purpose of grabbing their attention anymore. What’s best: Contextual Communication OR Multiple Sub-campaigns? To achieve best results via the omnichannel approach, what can Pharma brands do to amplify the impact of each online interaction? Could it be contextual communication along the digital journey of a physician or multiple sub-campaigns to take the physician down the conversion funnel? Here, both approaches are appropriate and valid. Digital conversation with a Physician needs to be looked upon exactly in the same way how physician interaction looks like in the offline world. • Sales representative go and do detailing to Physician = Sub campaign 1 in the digital world • He gives or leaves behind leaflet = Sub campaign 2 in the digital world • He invites the doctor to CME/ Webinar = Sub campaign 3 in the digital world

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

get two credit points

• Share a case study over message = Sub campaign 4 in the digital world It’s all about how pharma brands can make the communication relevant and consistent through-out different stages of the AIDA model; very similar to what happens outside the pharma world, i.e. in the consumer marketing space. Physicians today have a widespread digital footprint. While reaching them through subcampaigns via relevant touchpoints, it is important to mould the communication as per the nature of the platform so that the messaging while being consistent remains contextual. Only that adds real value. By aligning offline and online messaging and tweaking the communication basis information and data generated through digital campaigns from timeto-time, Pharma brands can also improve remarkably the face-to-face relationship between Physicians and sales representatives. In a hypothetical situation, Homogesic- a brand known for fever and pain, how this digital journey in an omnichannel approach looks like: Target Speciality: GP & CP Campaign objective: Increase awareness and visibility to the right audience at the right places The number of brand exposures is the key for Physicians to identify and relate with a brand. Thus, reaching out to them in both offline and online space is absolutely essential while making sure the messaging at all times is contextual. That’s why an optichannel approach is the best way to win over Physicians.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

STARTUP

SPOTLIGHT

2 Making India Digitally Proficient through Neobanking

Founded by Suman Gandham and Sudheer Maram, Finin is a Bengaluru-based company with a goal to provide a transparent, delightful, and hassle-free neobanking experience

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

020 threw a wrench into many plans and predictions with the sudden outbreak of COVID19, which unsettled every human being on this planet. The digital transformation came to the rescue at such an unprecedented time. Banking, is one of the core sectors for socio-economic development, expedited adoption of digital technologies on priority as the lockdown hit. A lot of people claim that India is underbanked. However, the reality is that it is indeed overbanked. The only loose end is that the solutions offered by most banks are strikingly similar in a manner to say that they lack personalization, apt utilization of data, or technological inclusions to make the customer journey seamless and intuitive. Working in the Fintech space for a few years, Suman Gandhan, Founder, Finin, has always been aware of India's banking landscape and its shortcomings. So it was a wave of decisionmaking when he decided to move back from Europe and create a ripple in this very well established industry. "The banking infrastructure is indeed a cumbersome and tedious journey. A hyper-personalized neobanking platform like ours is made with the purpose to bridge gaps using technology and help people develop a better relationship with money by simplifying antiquated banking services”, says Suman. There is a general unawareness of finances and money management across India. Growing up, everybody is told to save but not quite told how. FDs and RDs ruled the roost, but the general populace is unaware of smart financial decisions, the right financial terms, and jargons and cannot, due to lack of awareness, pick the right options for themselves when it comes to selecting the best financial management suite. Banking institutions lack personalization due to their one-size-fits-all approach.

Su m an

dh am

It is important to be a leader who does not sit on a high throne expecting only his team to work. You have got to get your hands dirty

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

It is also cumbersome to gain a 360-degree view of financial management and investments through such institutions. Having identified this problem, Finin aims to work as a go-to app for all your money management. Introducing Neobanking to India Right from high utility neobanking app offering improved features such as easy transactions, easy card management which includes blocking or unblocking a card at the click of a button or enabling/ disabling contactless payments, international payments, ATM

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

withdrawals, and online transaction through the app easily and limitlessly, Finin also offers a suite of wealth management features such as budgeting and goal management. These features come gratis with nudge theorem-powered insights and analytics that will not only give you a full scape view of your finances but also guide you into financial planning, discipline, and independence. "We are based out of Bangalore, India, and we were founded in February 2019. We went live in 2020 as the first consumer neobank in India. Finin is an online-only consumer neobanking solution partnered

with SBM Bank India. By creating an account, one essentially creates a Finin Savings account and is issued a Visa Signature powered debit card”, states Suman. Having done his MSCIT from the University of Copenhagen, Suman has always been enterprising and a bit of a hustler. He had taken on odd jobs every once in a while during his college days. “I do not shy away from a challenge, nor do I dodge responsibilities. In Finin, I equally participate in tech

activities, marketing campaign planning, I pick up the phone and call customers to resolve issues, and much more. It is important to be a leader who does not sit on a high throne expecting only his team to work. You have got to get your hands dirty”, says Suman. When Suman came back to India with the idea to start a neobank in India, he was already bouncing ideas off of Sudheer Maram, co-founder of Finin who is also from a Financial background. Childhood friends that share an entrepreneurial mindset joined hands to start working on Finin in February 2019. The early core team was a well-picked list of recommendations from friends and family. The singular motive was to identify those candidates who had a passion for the idea and the appetite to work in a competitive environment. "Luckily for us, the core team is aligned to the company's vision and mission and are keen followers of the Fintech and product innovation space. Our core team members are from Fintech background. Most of them have worked in startups where they have helped products go from 0-1, and everybody has a shared affinity for the problem we are solving", adds Suman. Considering launching Finin as one of the most significant milestones, Suman says, “Not only have I launched a neobank in India, I have launched India’s first-ever consumer neobank, and the roadmap is relevant. We are building this product day in and day out to make it the 'Fitbit of Finances'". Taking the FinTech Industry by a Storm Offering not just banking and wealth management features, Finin’s core savings driven approach is what jarringly sets them apart. Making users understand their money better, analyze the spending and savings, plan budgets, and goals, Finin helps them stay on top of their transactions at all given time. In turn, the idea is to convert borrowers and spenders to savers and eventually investors by inculcating financial discipline and eventually financial independence. “As a consumer-facing neobank, our customers are our clients, and by that we mean, every internet savvy, smartphone savvy individual in the country can find utility in the product. The application is free, and Finin is a zero balance savings account. We have an account linking feature that shows users the transactions across different bank accounts in one app. We have an insightful notification system that reminds users to cancel trial subscriptions, track refunds, and even

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Offering not just banking and wealth management features, Finin’s core savings driven approach is what jarringly sets them apart

get Swiggy super to reduce delivery expenses. We incorporate nudge theorem and 50-30-20 rule to guide users while viewing their spends”, explains Suman. Being a brand new idea or a financial revolution in an entire country does come with its share of ups and downs. When Finin launched its waitlist, there was a noticeable uptrend in interest but with it arose perhaps doubt? However, they sailed through this armed with the right tools and have taken the journey step by step to ensure their customers are educated and trust them. Having a waitlist base of 11000+ users, the most important lesson or rather aspect of marketing a brand new concept is to spread awareness about the benefits and to tailor-make your product for your customers. Suman opines, “Every new concept comes with its fair share of hurdles but nothing

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

difficult to overcome. We have fostered some very meaningful partnerships to align with our vision and offer the best version of the product we intended to create”. To be a sustainable industry, traditional banking organizations cannot simply rely on providing banking accounts and access to funds. Competitors are eating away at significant parts of the banking value chain with the potential of limiting banks to becoming nothing more than utilities. With a very promising product roadmap, Suman concludes, “We have a lot of feature rollouts planned shortly. Mutual funds, investments, lending, and credit cards are a few of them. The aim is to lead users towards goaloriented savings, better financial decisions, and powerful insights to guide them towards financial independence”.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

EXPERT OPINION

5 Cybersecurity Protocols that Every Organisation Needs to Follow to Ensure Complete Security of Data

Sachin Nigam, CTO & Co-Founder, Goavega Software

Sachin is a technologist who always explores

new and promising technologies which best suits the customer needs. A "hands-on" technology leader with more than 17 years of experience in designing and building enterprise applications across business verticals and tech stacks. He also sets the technology road map for Goavega and recommends what technology suits the best for all our customers. Building publicfacing portals on the web and mobile is his forte. Sachin is an effective communicator, Sachin Nigam

motivator and planner who can map technology to business. He is experienced in building and designing scalable public-facing web applications on the cloud, enterprise application integration, mobility and NLP. He also extensively worked on .Net Framework, Xamarin, React Native, PHP, Python, Lucene/solr, MongoDB, CosmosDB, Redis, ESBs like Tibco Rendezvous, Azure Service Bus, RabbitMQ, and Gearman etc.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Setting up and educating the remote workforce and those working from home, about set cybersecurity protocols, can go a long way in ensuring cybersecurity

ven as the world comes to terms with the new normal in the post COVID era, the cyberspace continues to remain one of the most vulnerable dimensions for businesses and economies. While e-commerce and increasing digital adoption across sectors, has been a saving grace for the both, government and businesses, the increased instances of data fraud, cybersecurity breaches and ransomware/ malware attacks, are posing a huge threat to not just the financial security but also personal privacy and life at large. Additionally, the 'work from home' mandate has forced several businesses to allow employees to access and share sensitive data through their home or private servers which lack the requisite data security and protection. From fintech, eCommerce and education technology applications to the more sensitive health technology solutions are increasingly falling prey to cyber-crimes, even as the governments and economies come to terms with the legal framework and secure SOP protocols, to avoid further crimes. As an enterprise, under such conditions, it can be tough to always be on edge and look out for possible cyber frauds or data breaches. However, listed here are 5 simple cybersecurity protocols that can go a long way in protecting not only the corporate and financial data of the company but also ensure the safety of end consumer, partners, and vendors.

1. Adopt Cloud Computing: A move to cloud-based tools can help ensure a centralised data storage and management system that allows selected and marginal access to a different set of people within the same company or among the customers and vendors. Additionally, the secure server and single device management can be created to be in-tune to ensure remote systems have up to date critical patches.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

2. Set SOP for remote working staff: Setting up and educating the remote workforce and those working from home, about set cybersecurity protocols, can go a long way in ensuring cybersecurity. From using security practices that do not put any confidential/IP data at risk to using interactive and engaging methods to educate the workforce, several traditional and innovative methods can be implemented to ensure the security SOP's are in place. The training part can be gamified so that employees find it engaging rather than treat it as just another training program. There are many ways to gamify the employee awareness programs on cybersecurity including Capture the Flag etc. These gamified training, coupled with strict adherence to new policies and remote work SOP with well-defined DOs and DONTs, are a key to ensure there is uniformity in security practices.

Virtual Private Network is one of the easiest and secured methods to set up a safe and encapsulated connection over a public or unsecured network

3. Make use of VPN/tunnelling for accessing sensitive data: VPN or Virtual Private Network is one of the easiest and secured methods to set up a safe and encapsulated connection over a public or unsecured network. Tunnelling also allows for relatively secure data exchange over a well-encrypted network connection. Leveraging these technological tools can help strengthen the remote workforce of the company while also helping partners, vendors, and colleagues, to remain safe. 4. Third-Party Compliance: While all measures are being taken to ensure a safe network and exchange of data happens within the company and its employees, it is equally important to ensure that third-party partners and/or vendors are also compliant with company's cybersecurity policy. From education and training programs to specialised VPN and encrypted communication platforms, organisations can help build a strong, safe and well- connected network of business stakeholders, irrespective of physical presence. 5. Run scheduled vulnerability scans: This is as important, if not more, than actually setting up a system, protocols, and SOPs. By regularly running both internal and third-party vulnerability checks (or WPAT or otherwise), organisations can gain valuable insights into the potential security threats while also measure the efficacy of the current cybersecurity set up, both in a safe environment and on all systems exposed to the public. As work from home becomes an important aspect of corporate and entrepreneurial lifestyle for the next few months, it is vital for businesses, both big and small, to invest sensibly into a robust cybersecurity infrastructure.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

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LEADERS INSIGHTS

How Car Rental Companies are Changing the Face of Shared Mobility Services in India?

Sunil Gupta, MD & CEO, Avis India

Sunil Gupta has an experience of over 25 years

in leading MNCs in India across FMCG and business & financial services like Hindustan Unilever, Thomas Cook and Kuoni. His skills in the areas of sales, brand building, new business development and business re-structuring have helped in the creation and execution of strategies that have delivered high growth and profitability in diverse businesses. For the past couple of years, his passion has been the development and deployment of unique IT solutions for customer management Sunil Gupta

and automation of business processes.

or decades, the symbol of mobility around the world has ideally been the private car. In India too, car ownership is considered a status symbol. But this concept of mobility is undergoing a paradigm shift. The rise in urbanization is driving increased demand for mobility in India over the years. This fast-paced growth has also been accompanied by related problems such as inadequate parking space, increasingly congested roads, and highly-polluted air due to our dependence on fossil fuels. As a result, there has been a shift in the consumer’s mindset and mobility patterns who are now focusing more on experience rather than ownership.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Players in the car rental segment have realized the need to sustainably grow the mobility ecosystem, both from an economic and environmental point of view

Moreover, particularly with millennials, the idea has moved away from being a proud owner of a car towards valuing the mobility that a car provides. This was further evident when Deloitte’s 2019 Global Automotive Consumer Study highlighted that 64% of India’s millennials questioned the need for purchasing and owning a car. The ball has rolled as the car rental companies have been quick to accommodate the changing needs of the consumers. Players in the car rental segment have realized the need to sustainably grow the mobility ecosystem, both from an economic and environmental point of view.

Changing face of mobility The rise of mobility as a Service (MaaS) is reshaping the way one travels from point A to B. Moreover, the car rental market is expected to reach$214.04 billion by 2027. This has further propelled the mobility providers in developing a new range of mobility propositions such as self-drive car rentals, carpooling, car subscription, and shortterm leasing. Reasons for the shift In most large cities around the world, consumers can access a bike, scooter, or car without owning one, simply with the purchase of a subscription. The concept of car rentals or subscription or leasing is not new in several other countries. However, in India, it has gained massive popularity only recently.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

More about

Sunil Gupta Avis India is a joint venture between Avis Budget Group and Oberoi Group of Hotels and is the leading car rental and leasing company in India. It is the only vehicle mobility Company in India which offers end-to-end mobility solutions - chauffeur-driven vehicles for short term rentals and long-term rentals and vehicles for operating lease and self-drive in India. Since Sunil Gupta joined the company 8 years back, the company’s revenue has grown over four times, IT solutions have transformed the Company and Avis has become one of the Top 3 operating lease companies in India in the 5 years since the business was launched. He is a B Tech from IIT-Varanasi and a PGDM from Indian Institute of Calcutta, followed by management development programs in Leadership and Strategy at Hult Business School, Ashridge, UK and Insead, Fontainebleau, France. He is married and has a daughter and son who are a constant source of inspiration. His passions are travel, cycling and economics.

The global pandemic has been a recent contributor to this growth story. COVID-19 resulted in an economic crisis, leading several consumers to act cautiously when it comes to purchasing a brand new car. Thus, renting a car is seen as a safe and flexible alternative. Most of these car rental service providers offer individuals access to a suite of cars, with maintenance, roadside assistance, and insurance included for one all-inclusive price. The main advantage of the subscription model is that it is cost-efficient, and the consumer is not tied for years to only one car. Furthermore, the on-demand aspect of shared mobility is another reason adding to its rising popularity as urbanization makes owning a car less convenient than it once was earlier.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Shared mobility is a data-driven, user-centred paradigm, powered by the growth of smartphones. Therefore, leveraging the potential of newage technologies such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, and data analytics, car rental providers are consistently innovating to offer the best user experience and ensure the safety of customers. Conclusion Therefore, considering the present scenario, shared mobility provides an alternative way to move more people in a way that is faster, cleaner, and cost-effective than current options. It won’t be wrong to admit that car rental players will create a new ecosystem of shared mobility in the years to come.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

STARTUP

SPOTLIGHT

Healing Buddha : Achieving Healthy Body, Mind, and Soul despite the Chaotic Times Healing Buddha is a holistic health and wellness clinic, that organises all the different levels of the Pranic Healing courses throughout the year.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

OVID-19 has caused unprecedented upheaval around the globe across industries and life in general. The most significant challenge for healthcare services providers in this time of social distancing is the loss of one-on-one personal touch. Meeting with the health care provider itself would bring solace a lot of times. In the current circumstances, health care providers are having to rapidly adapt and rely on technology to replicate the personal touch. Being a non-touch, distant healing therapy, Healing Buddha’s healing modality found high resonance with an increasing number of customers in the social distancing times. To adapt to the pandemic situation, the company has had to change its mindset from being an on-ground local healing center to a global online healing platform. “To do this, we have had to ramp up recruitment and training of additional healers, upscale technology adoption for teleconsultation and marketing outreach and finally go beyond the traditional 9 am – 6 pm approach that we were following at our outlet to being available round the clock as per the convenience and demands of global customers. The ramification is that, even when the pandemic situation goes back to normal, we will not be reverting from our online and global approach”, points out Rituraj Mishra, Director, Healing Buddha. A Passion for Energy Healing R&M Healing Buddha is a multi-specialty energy (Prana) healing center based out in Bangalore. Providing energy healthcare services to clients locally as well as globally unrestricted by physical boundaries, Healing Buddha is a loving manifestation of our combined vision to transform the lives of people through systematic & time-tested

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CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

energy healing treatments. “The R&M ahead of Healing Buddha stands for Ritu and Manish, representing the founders of the company”, states Rituraj. The idea to come into the Indian healing and wellness space is more out of providence rather than a conscious choice. Since childhood, Manish and Ritu were introduced to various energy healing modalities in their different ways. A few years into their marriage, it was a happy coincidence to discover their common interest in healing. As more and more people started seeking them out for healing, what began as a few random healing sessions during weekends now started to keep them packed during evenings, weekends, and even holidays.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Healing Buddha provides solace to people suffering from simple to chronic health ailments through systematized pranic energy treatment sessions

Realizing that this sacrifice of personal time and space, instead of being a burden, felt like a privilege. The joy of seeing others happy when they are coming out of their suffering made them realize that this is a great way to help others. Rituraj recalls, “Both Manish and Ritu believe that, just like society has good doctors, society also needs good healers. Both of them felt their calling to devote their lives to this purpose. That’s how the inception of the Healing Buddha - wellness center came up. The journey till now has been a rollercoaster, but nothing short of phenomenal”. Healing Buddha provides solace to people suffering from simple to chronic health ailments through systematized pranic energy treatment sessions. The process followed by them in engaging their clients can be compared to that of

a specialist doctor or a surgeon. “You would look at us as Energy treatment surgeons with a systematic process of discuss-diagnose-prescribe-treat-reassess and repeat, as required”, opines Rituraj. Providing Solace in times of Mayhem Healing Buddha always tries to take those on board who match with our ideology of working passionately with compassion to help people achieve a healthy body, mind, and soul. At the time of the pandemic, the world needs more health and wellness professionals than any other thing. “We were very quick to analyze the situation and make a working plan according to that. We conduct group meetings and practices to uplift the group spirit and enthusiasm. Manish and I were always available to answer any query from our employees. With beautiful cooperation we have produced many awesome healing results in 2020”, opines Rituraj.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Healing Buddha has been growing steadily since its inception in 2017. However, the unfortunate circumstance of the pandemic has been a shot in the arm and an eyeopener to the extent and scale of impact Pranic Healing can have on alleviating human anxiety and suffering through energy healing. Pranic Energy treatments being a no-touch, distant healing modality was well suited to treat both covid related and non-covid related ailments for which patients were not able to go physically meet with their doctors due to the unprecedented & unexpected circumstances. “We are overwhelmed and humbled by the possibility of providing

Healing Buddha always tries to take those on board who match with our ideology of working passionately with compassion to help people achieve a healthy body, mind, and soul

solace to a lot of people during this situation. We are inspired to significantly expand our scale so that we can be of service to more people”, adds Rituraj. Just like society has good doctors, society also needs good healers. Envisioning a future where every human being can enjoy the miraculous health benefits of Pranic Energy treatment, which in the past was not available for the common man, Healing Buddha foresees itself being at the forefront of creating awareness and delivering the benefits of Pranic Energy Treatment to people across India and the globe. Picturing the roads ahead, Rituraj concludes, “We are gearing up to expand our presence with flagship Pranic Treatment Centers in the top 25 cities in India supported by neighborhood satellite Pranic Treatment Clinics in potential localities to solidify our position in the Indian Wellness Space”.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

EXPERT OPINION

Digital Ad Transparency Through Programmatic Means

Dimpy Yadav, Head of Client Engagement, Xaxis India

Dimpy entered the digital marketing sphere

a decade ago with prior experience in creative and animation. She takes an in-depth and handson programmatic business approach with global clients to build their market prominence by strategically using new age media. In her current role at Xaxis, she focuses on bringing the ROI for businesses with emerging technologies and innovation. Leading the client engagement vertical, she oversees a wide spectrum of clients while helping their business grow and innovate digitally. Dimpy Yadav

Her growth strategies are driven by data and audience research optimizing the full conversion pathway and uncover possible new opportunities.

upply chain complexity, a varied understanding across metrics that measure ROI, brand safety, and, in particular, transparency are some of the pressing issues that hinder brands and marketers from executing their digital advertising strategies and achieving the desired business outcomes. Thankfully, steps are being taken in the programmatic industry, which aim to address those issues.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

Due to a lack of understanding of the available measurement tools and techniques, advertisers end up wasting marketing resources

The growth in content consumption in social media, video streaming platforms, and mobile apps has encouraged brands and advertisers to shift their attention to digital media. While this shift opens opportunities in digital advertising, the growth in the adoption of digital ads also brings a host of challenges. In response to advertisers clamouring for clarity over inventory cost and brand safety, programmatic has been looking at the potential for improving digital ad and media effectiveness using cutting edge data technologies. By leveraging, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies, advertisers are able to achieve cross-device targeting, audience reach unification, 360-degree measurement and other advanced marketing strategies. With the emergence of AI and ML technologies in the programmatic space, digital media advertising is getting the boost it needs to address supply chain transparency issues and adapt to growing market demands. Transparency: path to optimizing resources Lack of transparency has been a part of the ecosystem since the dawn of digital media advertising. Fraudsters and bad actors have found a way to exploit this flaw, which bleeds the industry dry. As programmatic advertising expands, there is an opportunity to address transparency issues with the use of advanced digital media measurement tools.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

The lack of transparency makes it easy for fraudulent media buyers to sneak into the supply chain and fabricate impressions

While ad verification tools and platforms are available to ensure that advertisers get quality, brand-safe and suitable inventory, advertisers still unknowingly abdicate their control over digital campaigns to intermediary companies in the supply chain. Due to a lack of understanding of the available measurement tools and techniques, advertisers end up wasting marketing resources. Supply path optimization (SPO) is now becoming common practice when buying digital media inventory. The technique works by deliberately choosing a specific supply-side platform (SSP) or ad exchange to procure inventory. Advertisers will then deal directly with the publisher or broadcaster through a private marketplace (PMP) and clear the transaction through the publisher's SSP seat. Using this technique brings more control over domain transparency for programmatic buyers. How the industry deals with transparency issues Transparency issues are discussed within the industry around the need to stop ad fraud. Ad fraud impacts advertisers in two ways - cost and ad quality. Without visibility on ad spend, buyers end up paying more for the inventory than what it is really worth. Similarly, the lack of transparency makes it easy for fraudulent media buyers to sneak into the supply chain and fabricate impressions. The latest report from the Association of National Advertisers (ANA) states that one-third of advertisers have made updates with media agency contracts in the past year due to transparency concerns in media buying. Sixty-nine per cent of the respondents also share they have updated their contracts in the past three years as part of their efforts to clear up murky billing practices. To address fraud and transparency issues, the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB) introduced ‘ads.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

txt’. The solution works by placing an ads.txt file on the publisher's domain that includes a list of authorized resellers of their inventory. Sellers need to do the same by showing publishers the list of authorized inventory for sale. For applications-based environments, IAB announced the app-ads.txt, which provides transparency for the mobile and OTT programmatic advertising ecosystem. Ads.txt and app-ads.txt help eliminate the unauthorized resale of inventory, flag domain spoofing and other dark and deceptive fraudulent practices. Ad fraud is a billion-dollar problem that the industry has been trying to solve. These steps create transparency in the supply path and allow advertisers, publishers and ad tech providers the ability to optimize ad spend and reap the maximum ROI. The Future of Programmatic To prepare for the future, players in the media advertising world are looking for ways to use the latest technology to uphold the integrity of transactional data and strengthen the transparency model for digital marketers. One of the tools being considered is cryptocurrency, a digital currency built on blockchain technology. The technology has a strong potential to decentralize the digital media ecosystem. To introduce a consensus on verification and audit, multiple brands have already started to build workflows, using blockchain technology to eliminate fraud and drive advanced log level analytics. The use of programmatic ads to achieve efficiency, maximize campaign success, and avoid ineffective inventory will continue to grow. With the help of AI and ML technologies, programmatic ads are creating an environment that enables advertisers to reach the right audiences and deliver the best business results.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

LEADERS INSIGHTS

Electric Vehicles: A Massive Market Opportunity for India in this Decade

Dr Yogesh Bhatia, MD, Detel

A dynamic professional with over two

decades of rich and extensive experience, Dr Yogesh Bhatia has worked across the country's Mobility Business market. Currently, he is associated with S.G. Corporate Mobility and Wow eCarts under the S. G. Group. He has been associated with them since 1995.

Dr Yogesh Bhatia

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

he pandemic and the lockdown have made people realise the importance of clean energy and environment-friendly alternatives. India has the potential to become one of the largest Electric Vehicles (EVs) market in the world. With air pollution and climate change becoming burgeoning environmental problems, a sustainable and environmentally friendly approach for public and private transportation. The government is already taking noteworthy steps in this direction, with various policy initiatives as it strives to enable electrification the way forward. According to a study conducted by Avendus Capital, the EV market in India is likely to be a Rs 50,000-crore opportunity by 2025, with commercial and two-wheeler segments to lead the way. Transition to EVs is inevitable, with the industry working towards a holistic solution and developing a strong EV value chain. EVs also registered a 20 per cent year-on-year increase in sales in FY20 (e-rickshaws excluded),

The automotive ecosystem needs to re-align their product portfolios as the industry transitions to EVs, with working towards addressing the infrastructure challenges first

71 with the surge driven largely by two-wheelers, according to the Society of Manufacturers of Electric Vehicles (SMEV). Critically, the economic incentive of profit margins in electric which are several times that of ICE which makes a straight case for electrification. Further, the lower battery costs are also an incentive to EV adoption. The average price of a lithium-ion battery pack is down to $209/kilowatt-hour, globally and they are set to fall further at $100/kWh by 2025, according to a Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF) survey. The FAME scheme, together with various smart city projects, has been a huge impetus to the demand and purchase of electric vehicles. As the government has set an ambitious target of replacing 30% of the total vehicle population with an electric fleet, India has a long road ahead to achieve this. Currently, the Indian EV Ecosystem is at its early stages. While vehicle manufacturing capacities exist, we still depend on imports for batteries and other components need to be reassessed, and new sourcing hubs will need to be built. Batteries are the main drivers for EVs, and India needs to step up in

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

More about

Yogesh Bhatia Dr Yogesh Bhatia's knowledge and expertise have helped the organisation to explore new growth horizons. His vision has enhanced the diverse services provided by the company and has enriched their clientele. The company has easily overpowered others in this competitive market scenario with the effective guidance of Dr Bhatia. He holds a degree in commerce from Kurukshetra University.

battery manufacturing capabilities within more partnerships and collaborations for mass adoption of EVs. Growth of EVs means changes in the auto value chainnewer capabilities, reinvent business focus and explore in house manufacturing of components and batteries. The automotive ecosystem needs to re-align their product portfolios as the industry transitions to EVs, with working towards addressing the infrastructure challenges first. The opportunity is immense, as western economies such as the Netherlands and Norway have led the revolution, countries like India have a lot to inspire from, and becoming an EV hub. The path towards electrification is also in line with the government's vision for India to be Atmanirbhar and set an example for other economies. India is the fourth largest automobile market in the world, and with a paced transition to EVs, the country can enhance local manufacturing, lower oil dependence and consumption, and indeed enable a global clean transition. Further, localisation of the EV value chain will reduce the acquisition cost for the customer boosting their TCO (total cost of ownership) savings. As consumers are much more environmentally conscious now, going forward, we shall witness a change in the overall sentiment towards EV penetration. Making a shift to e-mobility will breathe worthy change to the future as EVs are strongly connected with environmental benefits. EVs will provide willing businesses with numerous opportunities to develop and stay at the forefront of the industry.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

STARTUP

SPOTLIGHT

F 74

The Next-Gen Fintech Player Revolutionizing Credit Systems Co-founded by Mayank Tewari and Prerit Srivastava, Skeps is a technology-first company redefining the whole financial ecosystem.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

intech has transformed the finance industry, making it easier to deal with our investments, manage our savings, apply for credit and get quick loans. However, 'security issue' is a strong aftertaste that all fintech players aim to avoid. Skeps redefines the whole financial ecosystem by offering a frictionless financing experience to every customer by utilizing revolutionary blockchain technology and excellent data privacy and security feature. Skeps' products help merchants get Pointof-Sale financing options for their customers from a suit of lenders. Merchants can fetch approved loan offers from multiple lenders without sharing the customer's personal information with any lender, resulting in a higher sales conversion and ultimately higher revenue. The products are built on the USP that nobody can access customer data except the merchant. The data reside inside the merchant's infrastructure, and only the merchant (not even Skeps) has control over the data. A decentralized marketplace for loan leads, Skeps connects loan seekers (like merchants sourcing loans for their customers), to underwriters. This means better rates and increased access to credit for merchants' customers and fewer declines for lenders. Skeps' solutions provide merchants with a dashboard that helps them evaluate leads, manage buyers, check metrics and history. This means that Skeps enables merchants to test the offers from the buyers for their customers by uploading customer data in a CSV file, choose with which buyers to share the leads with, check the history of evaluated leads with the buyer and their status, carry out an in-depth analysis of the leads in a given timeframe and get all the information related

Everybody, including the founders, is open to feedback and comfortable with their idea being shot down

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CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

to a lead-current status, offers received, loan amount, the buyer with which the lead was shared, etc. Lending Solutions Under One roof Meanwhile, lenders upload their credit decision model onto the Skeps dashboard installed on-premises)— it can only be uploaded by the designated model manager within the issuer, who is usually someone from the Risk team of the issuer. After uploading, they can select the merchant they wish to upload the model for and click “Deploy Model”. This uploads the credit model to the Skeps blockchain network for the selected merchant. Similarly, when a lender partner with Skeps, their underwriting model and customer data remain within their firewalls, and they

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

get to choose partners on the network. Since lenders have full control over the platform/dashboard, they can easily customize their underwriting model on a real-time basis, rest assured that it is secure and private. An entrepreneur, Mayank Tewari, started working on Skeps' business idea in 2017, along with his trusted friend and co-founder, Prerit Srivastava. In 2018, their efforts yielded fruit, and their platform went live with real-time evaluation feature and assessed around 15K applications a day. Two months later, in December 2018, the team registered as Streamsource Technologies Inc. However, in 2019, the team adopted the brand name Skeps, under which the company is today known. Talking about the hard

An innovative blockchain platform trying to transform the way loans are sourced globally, Skeps crossed the 5000 additional happy customers mark for its clients in November 2020 77

work behind the company, Mayank says that the efforts he took have taught him to keep a close watch on the execution while at the same time, not lose the big picture. "Over the last 2.5 years in the venture, I have solved all imaginable ranging from product, technology, organization structure, renting an office space, and figuring out where my team will park their cars! It has been an amazing journey so far, full of learning and re-learning things," says Mayank Tewari, Co-founder, Skeps. The Dream Team Citing that the biggest challenge they faced early on was recruitment, the Skeps team today comprises talented individuals who share the passion for

building something new. The seasoned professionals, conscientious coders, and ardent doers at Skeps are bound by a single, overarching mission: to enable simplified and secure financing for all. Mayank adds, "It is difficult to find great like-minded individuals to work with you on an idea that does not have legs yet. It takes a lot of courage to join a group of founders just on their belief in the idea. We continued to tap into our network to find folks who were bored with their comfortable jobs and had the hunger to build something. We were fortunate to find great folks early in our journey. Everybody in the room has the right to provide their opinions and discuss solutions without feeling the pressure of hierarchy. Everybody, including the founders, is open to

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

feedback and comfortable with their idea being shot down." This open culture has helped Skeps grow into a team of 25 capable and professional individuals today. This fun and accommodating work culture is also why Skeps was successful in facilitating funds worth $1 million within 15 days of processing loans, a rare achievement for a company celebrating its first birthday. Moreover, despite the pandemic, the company has witnessed a 9x growth in revenue over the last 12 months. An innovative blockchain platform trying to transform the way loans are sourced globally, Skeps crossed the 5000 additional happy customers mark for its clients in November 2020. The company is currently working on building next-gen point-of-sale financing solution for retailers in the U.S. "Our innovative solution helps retailers convert more customers, thereby generate higher revenue. In the short term, we want to be the platform of choice wherever financing is required. In the long term, we wish to be the platform for any consumer lending happening across the globe!" concludes Mayank.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

EXPERT OPINION

How AI and Automation are Creating a Wave in the Current Situation for the industry?

Pulak Satish Kumar, Director & COO, Puresight Systems A marketing veteran with more than

fourteen years of industry experience in marketing commercial technology products, Pulak Satish Kumar is the Director, COO of Puresight Systems Pvt. Ltd, the official distributor of iRobot products in India. iRobot the world’s pioneer practical smart appliances and robots manufacturing brand. In this role, he spearheads the brand’s Indian business operations, managing the administration, product development, market analysis, finalization of Pulak Satish Kumar

strategic alliances, technology procurement, and pricing of products based on market fundamentals and business requirements.

he world is changing faster today than it ever did in the past, and technology has a very crucial role to play in catalyzing the change. On the one hand, rapid technological advances are changing the way live, eat, and communicate. On the other, it has been reshaping the business landscape and enabling the emergence of new business innovation. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation are the talks of the town.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

The increased penetration of smart speakers and voice-controlled technologies is already leading to a smart revolution

81 Knowingly or unknowingly, technologies like AI and Automation have been creating an impact not only on the way corporates do business but also on the way consumers go about their mundane household chores. Are Automation and AI creating a wave? Let us take an example here of autonomous cars, using AI that can drive you to work while you take a nap. It is a farfetched dream. Isn’t it? Let us consider a recent incident we have all experienced. During the pandemic, a large number of people realized the benefits of automation and AI-integrated machines which were already prevalent among us. During the nationwide lockdown, when we were confined to our homes, technology came to our rescue. It emerged as one of the supporting tools in every aspect. From shopping to cleaning the house, washing dishes and clothes, technology helped us in our day-to-day needs. There was also a sudden spike in demand for robotic vacuum cleaners, dishwashers, and washing machines. This attests to technology’s ability to solve issues or help humans in the absence of humans. This means that the winds of change were already blowing. The ongoing pandemic just sped up the changes exponentially. While AI and Automation have helped corporates manufacture efficiently,

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

More about

Pulak Satish Kumar Pulak has an inherent flair for breaking into new markets and developing them for new product categories – a skill he has put to good use for some of the biggest home appliances brands in the country. Counting St. Xavier's and Indian Institute of Science & Management as his alma maters, he joined Opel Infosys in 2001 as

an Assistant Marketing Manager. By 2007, he joined Voltas as it's Senior Executive (Marketing and Business Planning). He later became the Zonal Manager (South) for Philips Lighting in 2012 following his stint at Lisha Leon from 2009 as the company's State Head (Karnataka). At Philips, Pulak’s commendable breakthroughs in product development and market penetration were recognized with ‘Outstanding Performer of the Year’ and by the ‘Philips Excellence Award’. He was working as a Deputy General Manager at Havells India before joining Puresight Systems Pvt. Limited in 2016.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021

market specifically, and research intelligently, at home these technologies have shouldered the burden of daily tasks and freed up time for bachelors, families, and veterans alike. However, as far as the smart appliances category is concerned, it’s still an evolving category in India. With the concept of smart homes trending, home automation, and IoT services are witnessing a rise in adoption in India. Plus, the advent of newer and more affordable technology innovations is a game-changer in the segment. For example, the idea of controlling everything at your fingertips is not just fascinating but aspirational as well. In a go-to world, where time plays a critical role for most people, having their coffee ready when they wake up, or a switch that automatically turns everything off when one leaves for work is an experience to look forward to. The increased penetration of smart speakers and voice-controlled technologies is already leading to a smart revolution. Benefits such as user convenience, enhanced security, and tremendous energy savings that can be achieved in the long run are some of the reasons adding to this growth and revolution. Therefore, several players in the home automation segment are exploring the ability of smart devices to integrate seamlessly into existing infrastructure, thereby providing a hassle-free experience with just a tap using your smartphone. So, do not be surprised if in a couple of years your fridge starts ordering groceries, studying your consumption patterns. Or your AC comes without a remote and still knows exactly what temperature it should cool at a certain time of the day. We certainly are moving towards an era where technology will be deeply integrated into our home appliances to create an ecosystem that will make life more convenient.

CXO OUTLOOK January 2021