Pune Startup 'Shoptimize' Offers One-Stop Shop For E-Commerce Firms

Have you been pondering over your idea of starting an online e-commerce portal, but don't know where to start from or what to begin with? Is the internet confusing you more more than solving your query? Don't you worry because we might have the perfect solution for you that will make your dream of opening an e-commerce platform into a reality.

Shoptimize is a Pune-based startup that promises to deliver ideal end to end e-commerce solutions to its customers. You just need to have an idea and the rest will be planned, managed and executed by them.

The startup's services includes creation of an online store, integration of payment logistics and gateways, generating traffic to the store created and driving the conversion of that traffic into real orders. The startup enable merchants to sell online under their own brand from Shoptimize platform and the Pune startup make it interesting and fun for consumers to browse and buy products they like for e.g. - www.cooliyo.com.

The company believes in being up-to-date with the new trends and makes sure it changes its services according to them.

The thing that makes Shoptimeze.in different from a flood of such startups available in the market is that the Pune based startup combines the benefits of SEM, SEO, superior aesthetics, social commerce and quick payment technologies all into one single place.

Being a "mobile-first" company, Shoptimize designs and develops e-commerce technology by keeping an eye on the future. The company with its amazing combination of a deep understanding of Indian consumers and merchants and a robust Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)’ solution driven by cloud computing technology provides its customers with the best ecommerce solutions platform they can hope for.They also make sure that you concentrate maximum on the creative development of your product and leave the ecommerce part completely to them.

The startup will not only build your store and leave it there, it will make sure that the store receives an amazing traffic. It does so by appropriately marketing the store on various social media platforms

The startup will also provide its customers with a comprehensive admin panel so that they can manage their store the way they want to.

The startup follows a monthly payment routine. For less than 100 orders, a fee of Rs. 5000 is charged ; from 101 to 400 orders, a fee of Rs. 10,000 is charged and more than 400 orders in a month cost the customer a sum of Rs. 15,000. They also charge a one time set up fee depending on the implementation and the design complexity of the online store.

Founded in 2012, Shoptimize is Mangesh Panditrao's second entrepreneurial venture. He's currently the CEO of the startup. The core team also includes Mr Vivek Phalak, CTO and Mr. Vardhan Phadnis, Vice President.

Shoptimize has done two rounds or funding so far, led by Tandem Capital from the Silicon Valley and is in advance talks to a few more investors about its expansion plans at this time.

The Top 20 IoT Companies Right Now

Internet of Things (IoT) involves connecting everything from wearable devices and traffic signals to waste control systems and door locks to a huge network. We recently reported about how Industry veterans from Vodafone, Tesco, Tech Mahindra, Philips, GE and Cisco have joined hands to form an Internet of Things panel in India.  While Internet of Things seems to have recently started gaining pace in India, it is a well known concept in the international markets since the year 1999.

A lot of companies over the years have tried to do their bit for IoT and have given us some of the most amazing IoT products that we could have ever imagined in the process. Currently, the numero uno position is a close contest between five of the largest technology companies in the world, namely: Intel, Microsoft, Cisco, Google, and IBM.

Iot-analytics.com has come up with a list which ranks the top twenty Internet of Things companies in the world right now. The ranks are based on number of Google searches, Twitter mentions and blogs and newspaper headlines that the Internet of Things companies are able to attract. They have also taken into account the number of Internet of Things focused employees these companies have employed.

1. Intel -

   
   Brian Krzanich, Intel’s CEO, seems to be a person who learns from his past mistakes. When Smartphones first came into the market, Krzanich thought it wasn’t an opportunity worth capturing and the concept would fizzle out after sometime but as time has it, he was horribly wrong. With Internet of Things, he doesn’t want to repeat the same mistakes. He wants every fifty billion connected devices that the IoT promises in the next five years to have “Intel Inside”.
   
   Intel is one of the forerunners in manufacturing new generation low-power chips for Internet of Things connected devices. The company’s Research and Development centres and a number of other industry co-operations lay the foundation of its Internet of Things push. The software giant is currently focusing on developers and startups. The company is marketing its Intel Galileo developer kit all over the world. With the kit, anyone can create their own thing. The company has recently added a new addition to its Internet of Things profile. It’s a platform that will connect the data from your devices to the cloud.




2. Microsoft -

   
   This software giant followed the footsteps of Intel, when it comes to Smartphones. Windows Phones enjoy a small three percent share in the Smartphone market.
   
   The software giant has come up with three IoT propositions till now. First comes the Azure platform. This platform has the potential of becoming a one- stop- shop cloud platform for all your connected devices. Secondly, the software giant has Microsoft Streaming Analytics, which has an aim of benefitting from a new kind of processing that will be essential for extracting meaning from sensor data in real time. At the third spot is Microsoft Band. The software giant has made a foray into the health and wearable space through this invention. Apart from the above mentioned three products, the software giant has been experimenting a lot in the industrial Internet of Things space. The company recently worked with Kuka, the robot manufacturer, on a project that equipped a Jeep Wrangler plant with the company’s Microsoft technology to run manufacturing lines. Microsoft is planning to launch similar projects in the connected car and connected health space.




3. Cisco -

   
   
   The Company has been crowned for coining the term Internet of Everything. Cisco has managed to centre its business strategy around IoT like no other big technology companies. IoT has always remained at the heart of what the company does. Cisco has developed network equipment like switches and routers for its enterprise customers. The company is also highly active in security solutions. it is also the host of the esteem IoT World Forum.




4. Google -

   
   
   The search giant has increased the pace of its IoT activity over the years. The company bought Nest, the smart home company, for a whopping $3.2 billion in January last year. That day marked the commencement of mass market awareness for the IoT. The search giant’s self driving car project and Google glass also come under the IoT category. In addition to all this, the California based company recently announced the “Physical web platform”. Nothing much has been revealed about the platform yet but it is for sure an IoT.




5. IBM -

   
   
   Acquiring fifth position in the top five IoT companies is the software giant IBM. The company is famous for making huge investments in enterprise application infrastructure and databases for connected devices. It has also been investing heavily in Analytics. The software giant also partners with other companies in order to create IoT showcases in various different areas.
   
   Related Reading - Top 10 IoT-based Product Startups From India
   





6. Samsung -

   
   The Company’s acquisition of SmartThings, a leading smart home platform, has helped it make a cut into the top 10 IoT companies. Apart from this, the company is also a major player in the wearables market.




7. Apple -

   
   The Company believes in doing everything in its own, secretive way. It lays low for some time and then comes out with a bang. Currently, the company’s IoT activity is focused on its Apple HomeKit platform and Apple iWatch. It also has an Apple HealthKit. If some rumors are to be believed, the company is planning to enter the Internet connected car market.





8. SAP -

   
   The Germany based company is at the top of the enterprise software market right now. But the German giant believes that the IoT market will soon undergo a drastic change. The company has planned to position its HANA database as “the secret sauce to make Internet of Things run simple”. The company has worked hard to enable its ERP-System with Internet of Things functionality. It has also been experimenting vigorously with machine-to-machine platforms. The company is working on several projects in service, logistics and manufacturing operations.
   




9. Gartner

   
   The Company has a very good reputation when it comes to IoT. Its great reputation is a result of its much famous hype-cycle. The company placed IoT into the steeply rising part of its hype-cycle in the year 2011, when almost no one was using the term IoT.  In 2014 the company announced that the IoT has finally reached its peak and is now up for a fall. While Garnter believes that IoT is up for a downfall, most of the other IoT don’t agree with it. They believe though the concept may face a little setback, it won’t fall as deeply as concepts such as “gesture control” or “virtual reality” have.





10. Oracle -

    
    The Company is quite behind in IoT when compared to its other heavy weight contemporaries. Most of its activity is focused on its cloud platform. Oracle is renewing its push to promote Java as a platform for developers to build applications for small devices and the Internet of things.
    
    The company also announced Java ME Embedded 8.1 early access, featuring support for ARM Cortex M3/M4 microcontrollers and a developer preview for Freescale FRDM K64 boards with mbed support. Updated Raspberry Pi support is featured as well.
    
    Oracle has announced a collaboration with mobile network operator Vodafone to develop internet of things (IoT) systems as demand for smart cities, connected cars and m-health increases
    




11. ARM -

    
    The United Kingdom based company’s mbed cloud platform and low-power Cortex processor family is its answer to IoT. With IBM, the company offers ARM mbed IoT starter kit which allow hobbyists to make Internet of Things (IoT) products that are cloud ready and capable of transmitting and receiving data for alert or analysis.





12. General Electric -

    
    The Company is credited with being one of the most enthusiastic Industrial IoT companies. GE was behind the coining of the term Industrial Internet. The company is providing solutions in a number of areas such as power generation, manufacturing or aviation. GE achieved revenues worth $1 billion with its industrial internet products last year.
    
    In India, GE along with other tech firms is forming an India Internet of Things panel to build open source IoT solutions for solving problems in areas such as healthcare, education and agriculture.
    
    





13. Accenture -

    
    The Company should credit its place in the top 20 to a number of recent publications. The number of Accenture employees associated with Internet of Things shot up from a mere 11 to a good 250+ on LinkedIn in a period of just three months.





14. Amazon

    
    Its Echo has the potential of becoming a great Internet connected home companion. The company is also in the midst of preparing its much famous cloud services for Internet of Things devices.






15. HP

    
    The Company has an aim of connecting devices with its open-source dev-ready cloud platform called Helion cloud platform.
    




16. Arduino -

    
    The Company’s development boards are a great hit with the developers. They are used by many startups for their prototypes.





17. IDC -

    
    The Company is working hard with Gartner in order to establish itself as one of the topmost IoT companies focused on market research.




18. Blackberry -

    
    The once famous Smartphone manufacturer also provides an Internet of Things platform, specifically for automotive and asset tracking.
    




19. PTC

    
    It is the mother company behind the much famous Thingworx IoT platform.





20. Verizon -

    
    It is a top player in North America for machine-to-machine (M2M) managed services. The services allow data communication through cellular network. The company is famous for showcasing communication solutions specifically in the connected car and the connected health space.

Net Neutrality Violation Against Freedom of Speech Says Nasscom

The debate on net neutrality has caught the eye of the public in a big way. Videos are being made, petitions are being signed, Facebook posts regarding it are getting viral. In the wake of the recent controversy regarding net neutrality, the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) asked the government to define net neutrality.

The association also suggested that the best way forward right now is to try to create a synergy between telecom companies and over the top players.

A statement given by Nasscom President R Chandrashekhar said, "Since the regulatory framework is all-embracing, net neutrality principles need to be very clearly articulated by the government, and adopted by the regulator in a harmonious manner. It will not be useful if different regulators adopt different views of net neutrality. "

The association will also share its answers on telecom regulatory authority of India released consultative paper, ' Regulatory Framework for Over the top services'.These over the top players mentioned above includes those operators which make use of telecom network in order to provide their services.YouTube, Skype, Facebook and Twitter etc. will fall under this category.

According to Nasscom, the advent of internet, ease of accessibility of social media due to high proliferation of mobile technology, internet of things (iot), big data and analytics, cloud etc. along with innovation and Digital India and a phenomenal growth in startups, has given rise to the perfect junction for a breakthrough in country's economic development and transformation.

According to a statement given by Sanjeev Bhikchandani, chairperson of the Nasscom Internet Council, "Any stifling regulations restricting access to Internet or Internet platforms and services would not only seriously hamper this prospect of development, but also suppress growth and success of innovation-driven tech startups and SME companies. "The statement was given to the Economic Times.

The industry body also stated the fact that the key guiding principles of net neutrality are about providing the users with a right to make an informed choice in selecting and accessing legal services or content on the Internet.
This right of the user to access any legal content on the Internet will be hugely compromised when the regulations will not be able to stop price-based and non-price based discrimination being proposed by telecom service providers.

"The other key priority is the proliferation of an affordable telecom infrastructure. These essential building blocks of the digital revolution are not contradictory and can and need to be synergised," said Chandrashekhar.

The association's president also stressed on the need to devise a way in which the over the top players and telecos can work together. He added, "We must look at how to synergise these two so that data consumption goes up, telcos get their revenue from the data, and the development of apps is continued by entrepreneurial companies."

Flipkart To Shut Down Website Within A Year; Myntra To Be App-Only From May 1

Flipkart, India's most successful startup till date, is soon going to make a move to an app only format. With technology advances making shopping on the go a reality, more and more people are accessing these shopping sites on their mobiles in order to make use of thier free time while waiting for something or travelling in a metro etc.
Same route is being followed by the e-commerce giant for its Myntra unit.

"Last year, we had more on the app, but still did our web and desktop. In the next year or so, we're going to be only mobile," said Michael Adnani, vice-president, retail and head of brand alliances, Flipkart said in a statement . He further added, "A year ago, 6% of our traffic was coming from mobile. In less than 18 months, that traffic is 10-fold. That shows the significance of what a mobile phone is doing for the consumers and consequently doing for us."

According to Adnani, with the rates of transactions mirroring the increase in the traffic on the app, this app-only platform move was in the pipeline for sometime.

With over 40 million registered users and 20 million products on the platform, Flipkart is the largest e-commerce platform in India.

India with 243 million users is currently the third largest Internet market in the world.This figure is expected to cross 580 million in a period of another three years.

Starting from May 1, Flipkart acquired Myntra will only be available in an app format. According to Adnani, this decision was taken after it was observed that the the website's growth on the application was higher than that of Flipkart.

Bangalore-Startup Dwingloo Brings Video Streaming At Zero Data Cost For Smartphones

Do you often travel long distances on bus and don’t know how to pass those never ending long journey hours? If your answer to this question is yes, then this device is going to change your life forever. The device called Dwingloo streams videos straight into your smartphone while travelling and that too at zero data cost. With long distance bus travel becoming viable because of country’s road networks, more and more people are travelling by road and availing in-coach entertainment to pass their journey.

The Bengaluru-based startup first tried the device in the Karnataka state-run FlyBus service between Mysore and Bengaluru airport. The device provided the passengers with real-time information on flight arrivals and departure on Bengaluru airport. The startup believes that its device has great potential in a country like India.

"At any given point, 20-30 million people are travelling in India by mass transport carriages like buses and trains, and this number is only set to increase," said Avinash Kudpaje, co-founder, Dwingloo in a statement . Kudpaje has worked with Honeywell Technology, Bengaluru and the United States for twelve years in the past.

"We are currently installing Dwingloo boxes in Volvo and Scania coaches. We have now installed them in some buses of SRS and VRL, and will scale up as we go along," said Shaifali Gupta, cofounder. Gupta currently oversees the marketing department of the startup. "We are also piloting in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh by tying up with local private bus operators there,” she added.



The device is extremely easy to use and understand. Once you have boarded a bus, you’re required to download the Dwingloo application from the Google Playstore. Upon starting , the app automatically scans for a dwingloo server while inside a dwingloo powered bus and connects to it effortlessly. Once that is done, the Dwingloo cloud infrastructure will buffer the content into the Dwingloo device, a white box, through which the video will be easily streamed on to your smartphone or tablet.

A similar startup called PressPlay is also working on bus travelers' entertainment while they travel however unlike Dwingloo, PressPlay rather provides tablets to passengers who travel long journeys in buses for a cost of Rs.100 is on verge of expansion. The tablets can be attached to the seats and are pre-loaded with movies and music.

Dwingloo however doesn't provide tablets or device to its cutomers as in case of PressPlay the startup is rathe app-centric and allow its customers to just download its app and start streamin video at zero data cost as its USP

The startup is currently offering the device free of cost to bus operators. It is also giving a free add-on GPS system for the fleet operators. The startup is counting on to earn revenue through advertisements that will be streamed to captive audience through its device.  Dwingloo has also acquired licenses from various entertainment firms such as Shemaroo and Eros in order to show their movies on its device.

Ola Becomes 3rd Most Valuable Startup After Flipkart & Snapdeal

Bengaluru-based Taxi app company Ola has recently raised a funding of $400 million (apprx.Rs 2,500 crore,) from a number of investors.  With this, the 15,600 crore startup has become India’s third-most valuable venture-backed company after Flipkart and Snapdeal. The Taxi app company will invest the newly raised money into expanding into new locations and diversifying into new business areas.  Ola through this move is looking into strengthening its lead in the cab-aggregation market which it had acquired after buying its rival company TaxiForSure in March. The merger now has almost 80 percent share in the cab market.

The company is currently competing with Uber in India.  Although Uber doesn’t have a significant share in the Indian market yet, but being the second most valuable startup in the world valued at $41 billion, it has huge plans for India.

The latest round of funding was joined by New-York based hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital, Singapore’s state investment arm GIC and DST Global along with the company’s existing investors Accel Partners US, Tiger Global, SoftBank group and Steadview Capital.  The company last raised $210 million in October 2014.

"Our growth has been strong and we have a very strong market leadership position, which are key reasons for our investors being so supportive," said Bhavish Aggarwal, founder, Ola in a statement to the Economic Times. Aggarwal has started the firm back in 2011 along with his IIT-Bombay collegemate Ankit Bhati.

According to investor documents accessed by the Economic Times, Aggarwal owned 12 percent in ANI Technologies, the parent company of Ola, and Bhati 5 percent by the end of March.

For Taxi apps in India, the biggest problem is not the market. With the recent Uber rape case in Delhi, Uber and Ola have both been banned in the city and the government hasn’t yet come out with any rules or regulations to govern their services.

According to a statement released by the company on 16^th March, the company will use the raised money to expand its cab aggregation services in about two hundred smaller towns and cities. The company has already expanded to 100 cities in the current year.

Conquest 2015 is here. Register NOW!

Great ideas need landing gear as well as wings. Conquest 2015, the ultimate start-up conclave, promises to provide you both, along with every other quintessential constituent for your idea to blossom into one gigantic million or maybe even a billion dollar idea. Conquest is India’s largest student-run international startup conclave. It’s the brainchild of BITS Pilani’s alumni network aimed at encouraging the spirit of entrepreneurship beyond the national boundary. A B-Plan competition is exactly what it’s not. It is not just about idea; it’s about making ideas happen. Conquest caters every need of a startup and is a perfect launchpad for every groundbreaking idea.

The registration will open on 31st March and will be open all through April. The portal will be closed on the 7th of May. The top 50 will be announced in mid-June. With nearly 2000 applicants battling it out to win the prestigious completion last year, Conquest gave away Rs 3.5lakhs equity less cash to its winners which they hope to increase this year. Apart from the cash, they also plan to distribute over  $1 million worth CRM and other support services.

Last edition’s winners, Freshmentors is an online mentoring platform that allows for students, high schools, and education institutions to interact with a vast mentor network across reputable universities in the U.S., Singapore, and Canada to seek personalized mentoring on college admissions and their careers via live video chats. It caters to its customers with the help of over 300 mentors spread across 150 foreign universities. It had an angel investment of Rs 1 crore in 2014.

Devanshi Kotak, the chief marketing officer of the event this year, says “We strongly believe in the power of youth and aim to bring about a startup revolution in India. Any startup which was registered after 1st Jan 2013 is eligible to participate in Conquest 2015. You can register at http://conquest.org.in/. The applicant has the option of saving his form and filling it at any time before the registration closes. The networking sessions meant to connect every startup with their mentor will be held in 5 cities namely Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai in the month of July. The shortlisting process of our top 50 will be done by a panel of Investors and mentors coming from our investment partners. To provide a comprehensive feedback to all our applicants we have partnered with Applyifi.  DCB bank is our title sponsor”

Conquest will host grand panel discussions with some top Indian entrepreneurs and investors, including Rohit Bansal, Cofounder Snapdeal, Amit Ranjan, cofounder of Slideshare; Ankur Warikoo, CEO of Groupon India; Alok Kejriwal, founder and CEO of Games2Win; Dev Khare of Lightspeed Ventures; and Rajesh Sawhney, founder of the GSF Accelerator and GSF Superangels.

Srikanth Garimella , the CEO of the event , tells us “We are of the firm belief that that the worth of a Startup is dignified not by the words and figures it produces on a piece of paper but on the diligence and grit of team. With over 2 months of mentoring given to all the semi-finalists of Conquests, we ensure that the participants and their mentors are on first name basis by the end of the Competition. Whether you go on to win the coveted title of "Winners -Conquest 2015" or not, everyone’s a winner in Conquest, what with ample networking opportunities, numerous mentoring sessions and a plethora of mentors just a phone call away.”

So all those aspiring minds who have got too much of randomness about an idea in their minds, get up and register. Who knows, this might just actually be that mounting platform needed to scale up that random idea to unprecedented heights.