6 Major Technological Changes in 2015

With just a few days left before we bid adieu to the year 2015, we at www.indianweb2.com decided to give our readers a quick recap of six major technological changes that have shaped our lives over the years.

Undisputedly, the three major upcoming superstars of the technological world are
Internet of Things, big data and cloud computing. These powerful three have the potential to drive Internet development in years to come.

The digital revolution has changed the way we work, talk, live and do business. Here's listing the six major technological changes.

1) Mobile Internet -

With the world wide web now accessible within the palm of our hands, all thanks to smartphones and tablets, we are now connected with the world 24x7.

According to IDC, this mobile internet craze is only going to get bigger and better with the new year. According to its forecast, about two billion people, which is two-thirds of total online population, is expected to use mobile devices to access the Internet in the year 2016. Further, this market is expected to grow at a rate of two percent each year through the year 2020.

2) Driverless Cars -

Though the technology is still in its initial stages but this one holds big potential in the future. Various tech giants like Google and Samsung etc. have already assessed the grandeur of this concept and its potential success as they have started their testing the technology within their own potential. While Google has already been testing a driverless car on the road, Samsung has recently announced that it is establishing a new business group with an objective to research driverless technologies.

Baidu, China's largest search engine recently successful conducted a fully autonomous road test with a modified BMW 3 Series.

3) E-commerce -

Online shopping became bigger in the year 2015 and it is expected to become even more bigger in the year 2016. With everything now accessible within a click of a button, the ecommerce boom is here to stay. What the industry will have in store for us in the new year, will be an interesting thing to wait and watch.

4) Education without classrooms -

The online world has transformed the way in which education is taught and received all around the world. Now, a student sitting in a remote village in India can be taught by a teacher living in Amsterdam. E-learning is a boon of the 21st century that is surely going to change the world as we know it today.

5) Internet Finance the small businesses -

The development of Internet technologies has resulted in more and more online businesses entering the finance sector, by offering services like crowd-funding, peer-to-peer lending, microfinance, and wealth management for SMBs.

Although the Internet finance world hasn't been able to shake the foundation of the traditional banking system yet, it is still considered as a sector with huge future potential. While opinions are still divided on whether the sector is a boon or a bane, it for sure somehow encourages individuals to start businesses from scratch, or go for mass entrepreneurship.

6) Cybersecurity -

While the good is on the rise, the bad isn't far behind. There's not doubt that the Internet market is flourishing like never before, but so are the security concerns arising because of it. Hacks, breaches, and information leaks have become regulars in our dictionary with some or the other cyber security crime occurring in some part of the world almost every minute.

In order to curb this cyber security concern, the world as a whole will need to take charge of the situation.

10 Internet of Things (IoT) Predictions For 2016

For all the avid readers of IndianWeb2, Internet of Things or IoT as we call it, is not a new thing. Throughout the year, we have tried our level best to keep our readers updated about each and every new invention or happening on the IoT front and 2016 would be no different. How do we know it you would ask, Well, we spoke to some of the industry experts and this is what they predicted for the IoT sector for the New Year.

1) IoT would be everywhere -

According to Industry experts, IoT has the potential to become as important as electricity in the coming twelve months. Data through fibre will soon become equivalent to electricity through copper as nowadays we heavily rely on data networks in our daily lives. Hence, there's a need for these networks to be highly economic, efficient and accurate. In 2016, we can expect the IoT inventors to shift their focus from IoT products to the value of their ongoing service, and use data to meet the service expectations of the customers.

2) IPv6 -

For the unaware, the IPv6 is the the next-gen internet protocol. It is expected to take off with the IoT in the year 2016. If this is actually made possible, this would mean IoT devices would then be capable of incorporating end-to-end communications. Further, it would also give them the opportunity to become more versatile and flexible in the way they're currently being used. The IoT would be even more deeply integrated if IPv6 becomes a reality in 2016. IPv6 could also give birth to a whole new level of possibility for everything from smart cars to smart cars and much beyond. Here's keeping the fingers crossed.

3) Wearables and business solutions will keep the motor running for IoT -

Wearable devices will prove to be highly beneficial for the immediate growth of the IoT. In fact, they're currently quite popular with the users because of their real time benefits.

While the extremely tech-savvy Generation Z would take care of the consumer interest in IoT, business solutions are expected to don the main hat in the next year as companies would be looking to gain the competitive edge being offered by these new technologies in town.

4) Security and IoT-

According to various industry experts, security will remain on the top of the list of considerations for the IoT in the New Year. With the IoT connecting more and more devices and reaching reaching more and more audiences, businesses nowadays are at a much greater risk of facing a data security attack. Hence, the data protection process is in deep need to become even more challenging.

5) Virtual Reality -

Industry experts are hoping that Virtual reality will finally be able to deliver its promise in the year 2016. With the Oculus Rift finally being released next year, their hope is surely going to turn into reality. Besides this, there are other options like the value-end Google Cardboard, and reasonably priced Samsung Gear VR, that makes use of the features of the smartphone to deliver Virtual reality to the market. In 2016, businesses can be expected to understand the importance of Virtual reality to their business on a larger scale.

6) Drone Technology will improve -

Drone was surely one of the buzz words this year in India. 2016 can be expected to be the year in which the sensor technology finally comes of age and makes drones more efficient and equipped to detect and avoid objects while flying safely within close proximity of structures. This would help drones in getting a greater acceptance in society as a whole, which in turn would end up helping both small and big businesses. E-Commerce retailers like Amazon have been wanting to deliver their products through drones from quite a time now.

7) IoT and customer experience -

2015 saw the marketers realising the huge potential of IoT in enhancing customer experience and satisfaction. It also helped them in engaging with the customers in new, innovative and out-of-the-box ways. Through customer-facing connected products and services, the marketers are now able to gain useful insights from the massive amounts of data and new analytics technologies which finally enables them to make strategic business decisions.

8) M2M Strategies -

The year 2016 could see a large number of organisations waking up and finally realising the huge potential that M2M communications holds. They would also become certain of the fact that M2M not only automates internal business processes, but also drives new customer experiences.

9) Extra focus on healthcare security -

Though the digitisation of healthcare and the growth of IoT in the public sector has resulted in hospitals becoming more and more connected, they're also on one some level becoming more and more at risk. Hence, in 2016, it is important that security is on the forefront and encryption is being used for healthy future of the nation.

10) LPWAN will not go mainstream -

While we accept LPWAN technologies have a huge potential for IoT, but we will have to also accept that the technology still in its early stage. Hence, the technology will most probably not see the light of the day in the year 2016. Instead, the New Year can be expected to be an year of LPWAN consolidation, marketing wars and partnerships in order to test which technology will finally turn out be victorious.

DeitY To Expand Startup Incubator Programme For Semiconductor Startups

Electronics and semiconductors based start-ups have a reason to rejoice. While this year might have been good for them, the one to come after this seems to be even more promising.

The Department of Electronics and Information Technology (DeitY) is planning to expand its 'electropreneur park' programme, in association with the India Electronics & Semiconductor Association and Software Technology Parks of India.

With an investment of Rs 21 crore, the first electropreneur park was set up in the Delhi University. The park is currently incubating 10 start-ups that were selected from the total of 168 entries received. By setting up more such facilities, they are hoping that the hardware and internet of things start-ups, which often end up falling under the umbrella of venture capitalists, are able to raise more funding.

According to Arvind Tiwari, chairman of IoT Forum, TiE, "There are tremendous problems and we're getting four incubators added, two of which will be in Bengaluru. The larger challenge is to help them bring their ideas into shape and discover customers; it's too early to worry about exits."

Start-ups that are able to make the cut and become a part of the incubation programme are guaranteed more access to manufacturing facilities and a small amount of funding in order to sustain themselves for over an years time.

After an years time, they're supposed to find external funding or get more customers in order to sustain their businesses and themselves.

DietY's move to expand the electropreneur park is in synchronisation with its goal to provide monetary assistance and expertise to about 50 start-ups over the period of next five years. With this, they are hopeful of helping India in boosting its expertise in the hardware, electronics, IoT and semiconductor sector.

This Indian Origin Entrepreneur Led Startup Is Riding $2.2 Trillion Pipeline

We often are so much set in are own ways that we resist any kind of change. Same is the case with various old process, traditions and rituals that we still follow, without questioning anything about its existence and working. Karthik Sridharan of Kinnek is not one of those. He's an excellent example of an entrepreneur who takes an ancient business problem and solves it simply using modern technology at his disposal.

In year 2012, Karthik along with Rui Ma founded Kinnek, a B2B platform that allows small businesses to request and receive customized quotes from suppliers for their purchases.. The startup which has been making waves since beginning, and recently made $20 million in Series B funding round led by Thrive Capital . It Series A funding, which closed about a year ago, was led by Matrix Partners and raised a total of $33 million.

The small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) end up spending about $2.2 trillion annually on supplies and equipment. Kinnek helps these businesses in procurement of goods and equipments. The platform receives roughly about $1 billion in quotes per year. Further, more than 20,000 businesses make use of the startup's services on the buy side and about 2,000 suppliers.

Kinnek is a perfect marketplace for business owners and purchasers. Typically they approach the marketplace with their needs, and then the vendors respond to them with a quote. The platform charges the sellers, in a hybrid based model, which is part subscription fee and part commission on sales. The service is absolutely free of cost for the buyers.

[caption id="attachment_102846" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Karthik Sridharan (left) and his Kinnek co-founder Rui Ma[/caption]

As many as 20,000 businesses use Kinnek on the buy side (up from 10,000 a year ago), and about 2,000 suppliers. And according to a recent TechCrunch article, Kinnek is the only one of four similar platforms that hasn’t limited itself to one industry vertical.

According to Sridharan, SMBs are continuously looking for customized goods and equipments but many of them cannot afford to have dedicated procurement teams like a big business. This is where Kinnek comes to their rescue.

With $20 million in their kitty, the company already has plans ready to use the money for two areas: firstly, they plan to expand their offerings into new industries; and secondly, they are considering adding up more features like invoicing, shipping and receiving. The ultimate goal is to make Kinnek the social graph of businesses, akin to Facebook and LinkedIn.

IIT Delhi Alumnus Launches Startup That Aims To Solve Chronic Disease Management Problem In India

Already having a successful business in healthcare in their kitty, two IIT Delhi graduates, Kaustubh Chandrabhan and Anshuman Chaudhary has launched their second venture - DailyDoc

The founders came up with the idea for DailyDoc when they realised the game changing role technology could play in the management of chronic and long term diseases in India. It is essentially a platform that makes on-going care convenient, effective and collaborative for patients and care providers.

According to recent statistics available, about 60% of all healthcare spending is done on Chronic diseases. Further, Diabetes alone has some 60 million patients in the country with another 30 million heart patients.

In simple words, DailyDoc is a chronic care management platform working towards improvement in the outcomes of chronic care by making the processes more collaborative, data driven and efficient.

[caption id="attachment_102816" align="alignleft" width="233"] Kaustubh Chandrabhan and Anshuman Chaudhary - Co-founders, DailyDoc[/caption]

Gurgaon-based DailyDoc claims to be India's first chronic care management platform, disrupting the more than USD 50 billion chronic healthcare market in India. DailyDoc focuses on improving outcomes in chronic care by making it more efficient, data driven and collaborative. Its product suite includes a patient app on android and a web based physician dashboard that syncs over the cloud with the patient app.

DailyDoc differentiates itself from its competitors by the way they deliver personalized health insights based on the way a user/patient interacts with the app each day and the way their care management modules are organised.

Furthermore, DailyDoc's medication adherence system is very organised and powerful. So much so that it can really benefit a user's health as medication non-adherence and ignorance are considered some of the most important reasons for poor results in chronic care.

The patient app comes with goal tracking combined with graphical insights of personalised health insights and patient data through automated reports and proprietary algorithms that can further be emailed to any care provider. On the top of it, DailyDoc also provides the patients an opportunity to collaborate with their physicians through the feature of secure messaging.

The Gurgaon based startup currently has around 400 users who are using the app to manage their diabetes. The app also has a very high engagement rate with some of them using the app more than 10 times a day.

With the app currently only available in NCR, the startup's immediate plans include expanding DailyDoc's healthcare services to Bangalore, Mumbai, Chennai in the first phase.

Google's Internet Balloon Project Facing Roadblocks In India

While Google's CEO Sundar Pichai is waking waves in India with his humane charm and subtle display of intelligence, his company's much ambitious project called the Project Loon is facing a tough time to being able to see the daylight in the country. According to some media reports floating the net, the project is facing strong opposition from at least three of the main Indian ministries, which includes defence, telecom and civil.

Project Loon is a balloon-based project, which aims to provide internet access to all in the country.

Apparently, Project Loon is also on Pichai's agenda of discussion when he meets Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during this week. The two had first discussed the project during Modi's much talked about Silicon Valley visit in the month of September. According to some sources, the Prime Minister’s Office is directly monitoring the progress of Project Loon.

Through this project, the Internet giant's mission is to provide internet access to rural and remote areas in the country. The project will be making use of high-altitude balloons, some 18 km from the ground, to create an aerial wireless network with up to 4G-LTE speeds transmitting as far as 40 kms in diameter.

Project Loon is most likely a short for loony since the company itself came up with an idea to provide internet services to 5 billion population.

To those, still skeptical about its working, Project Loon balloons will basically float in the stratosphere layer on a height twice as high as the weather balloons and aeroplanes.

[caption id="attachment_102812" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Loon uses high-altitude balloons, 18 km from the ground, to create an aerial wireless network with up to 4G-LTE speeds transmitting as far as 40 kilometers in diameter [/caption]

According to the company, the balloons involved in Project can go anywhere they need to by descending or rising into a stratum of air, blowing in the desired direction of traveling.

According to the company, the balloons involved in Project can go anywhere they need to by descending or rising into a stratum of air, blowing in the desired direction of traveling.

The project is facing opposition from the ministers because they are concerned that the balloons may interfere with flight paths. That's why the Civil aviation is in the favour of these balloons been monitored via the Air Traffic Control in order to avoid accidents. On the other hand, the home ministry is concerned that the balloons might get used for surveillance creating a safety issue for the entire country.

Whether the Project is able to see the light of the day, is something which we will have to wait and closely watch.

Facebook Will Now Let You Know If The Govt. Is Snooping On Your Account

Security and privacy have become the two biggest vices of social media. There are a majority of people getting off the net in order to make sure that their private life remains private.

Facebook, the social networking giant, is trying its level best to curb these numbers. In a effort in this do so, the social network has announced that it will soon sending banner notifications to anyone whose account's security might be in danger by the government or if company suspects someone is trying to hack into it.



Announcing the same in a blog post, Facebook said that the privacy of its users is on its priority list.

While we have always taken steps to secure accounts that we believe to have been compromised, we decided to show this additional warning if we have a strong suspicion that an attack could be government-sponsored. We do this because these types of attacks tend to be more advanced and dangerous than others, and we strongly encourage affected people to take the actions necessary to secure all of their online accounts," read an excerpt from the blogpost.

These banner notifications will only be exclusive to people whose account's privacy have been compromised and seeing such a banner doesn't mean Facebook on the whole has been compromised.

While we hope each one of you reading this article never ever gets to see one of these notifications but even if you do, don't panic, just change your password and you're sorted.

Kudos to you Facebook!

KisanServ Wants To Disrupt The Procurement System In India's Agri-Bussiness Space

Making the life's of thousands and thousands of suppliers and buyers out there easier is a Pune based startup called KisanServ. Wholesale markets or mandis are an important part of the businesses of these people but in today's fast paced life, going to a distant mandi isn't always feasible. This is where KisanServ comes into the picture. Instead of a buyer going to the mandi and wasting his precious time stuck in traffic and engaging in futile negotiations, with KisanServ, the mandi comes to them.

KisanServ claims to be a first of a kind virtual mandi platform which aims to make procurement transactions between buyers and suppliers much more transparent and convenient than before.

Procurement has always been a task for as long as businesses have existing. This is majorly because of the lack of transparency and a lot of inconvenience in scheduling these procurements. It’s difficult to go to a mandi every day and ensure that you get the best price every time. Further, there is no guarantee that the deal that you think is good is actually the best deal in the market.

KisanServ increases the efficiency and effectiveness of the procurement system by bringing together the wholesale buyers/suppliers to a common platform that too at the comfort of their home/office.



The platform works in a very simple way. Buyers are required to login, create an indent and then open it for “live” bidding. Once that's open, suppliers are notified about the same and they in exchange quote their price. During the close of bidding, the buyer chooses to go with the supplier with the price that is most suitable for them and confirms the order.

In order to make things easier, the platform comes with a KisanServ dashboard that helps the members to keep a track of their buying patterns so that they can reflect back on them as and when required to take better decisions in the future. Further, the Buyers/suppliers are also ranked are per their service on the platform. According to some members of the platform, their costs have fallen by an average of upto 15 to 20% by using KisanServ.

Praveen, Niranjan, Arun, co-founded the startup with thought that the farmers should also get their much deserved due by being able to sell their produce directly to the traders and getting a good price in return for their hard work. They strongly believe that the Agribusiness should also be open to “unlimited” trading. i.e. it should be assessable to unlimited Buyers and Suppliers throughout India. KisanServ is their effort in achieving all the above.

KisanServ launched their first product on 28th June this year and started with their paid membership drive in Aug end 2015. Currently, they have a total of 200 registered members in Pune, Nashik, Mumbai and Delhi which is growing at a good rate of 30-40% per month.

An IITian Quit His Job To Launch India's First Social Networking App for Neighbourhood

In this socially connected world, while we manage to remain in contact with our aunt living in London through Skype and Facebook etc., we fail to even know the names of the people living next door. Well, this major flaw in the communication structure prompted Prashant Pitti, an alumnus of IIT-Madras to come up with a social networking application for neighbourhood called the NearGroup.

Within a few days of its launch, the app has been successful in connecting 500 localities in Delhi, 300 in Gurgaon, 270 in Ghaziabad and 250 in Noida.

Claiming to be India's first neighbourhood social networking app, it is currently available on Android and iOS and works strictly within a neighbourhood, allowing only genuine residents of a particular area to register via Facebook.

The app is extremely dependable and easy to use as only verified users are allowed to be part of a group of a locality. Recently, using the app, a group of like-minded individuals in east Delhi got together to teach and help the needy children.



The NearGroup app makes available a real-time group chat facility. Their future plans include introducing a panic button that can alert other members of the group in case of any emergency so that help can reach the individual immediately.

According to the founder Prashant Pitti, NearGroup is backed by a survey conducted in India which indicated that 72% of the Indian population face neighbourhood-related issues almost every month. This is when Prashant decided to quit his high profile job with HSBC in Chicago and launch a start-up in India. Pitti is now planning to extend the app to other cities too.

NearGroup isn't just like any other social networking app, it also strives to assist the users in solving problems like women safety, child bullying in their colony, make local friends, carpool with nearby people, meet similar professionals, and even borrow items of daily use like hammer or ladder among others. In order to do all this, they will have to become a part of a neighbourhood community just by downloading the app and registering themselves by selecting their location.

Users can choose their interests from carpool, parenting, sports, yoga, running, gym, dance, painting, cooking, exam preparations, travelling, start-ups, work profile, etc. and depending on their selection, they're allocated a group. After becoming a part of the group, the users can discuss, meet and communicate with other members of the group.

4 Qualities Angel Investors Want To See In Startups

The Startup industry is blooming like never before. This bloom in the industry means both good and bad things for the early starters. While the good thing is, there's enough acceptance and space in the industry, It also means that these new comers have to face a hard time distinguishing themselves from others and establishing a unique identity of their own.

One of the hiccups that these first time entrepreneurs have to face is getting funding for their young ventures. Angel Investment is one of the most famous form of funding in startups all over the world. So, in order to make the going a little easier for all those entrepreneurs seeking Angel investment, we have a few tips up our sleeve which we would like to share.

Here we go!

1) Angel Investors seek to know the real you -

Having invested in a lot of startups and met a lot of entrepreneurs, they're well aware of the kind of people and ideas they're looking to invest into. Hence, the one thing that they're actually looking forward to when meeting probable entrepreneurs for investment, is to connect with them personally. So, the next time you go to meet a probable investor make sure that they get to know and connect with the real product that you're selling i.e. 'you'.

2) They want to see a strong foundation -

While most Angel investors might be perceived as big time risk takers who have landed the role through solid personal net worth and annual income. But most angel investors aren't the wild risk takers, ready to invest truckloads of money at an out-of-the-box idea kind of people. All they want to see is real money -- a legitimate and strong valuation of the startup that isn't skewed by flimsy funding managed from friends and family.

You're most likely to land the investment if in some way or the other, your startup has already proved or manages to prove that it is on a path to success in the future.

3) Angel Investors want to taste the action -

While this might not be the case with all of them, but many of the angel investors don't just want to invest in your startup and then sit back and enjoy. Many of them want to taste the ground excitement and get involved in the day to day working of the startup and use their experience in smoothing the daily working of the startup. They just don't want to remain an outsider, they aspire to become an integral part of the startup and its working. After-all, they want to see good returns on their investment.

4) Angel Investors want to know about the startup's exit strategy in place -

While investing, the investors are predominantly looking to see something in the business's future that makes it a fruitful investment. Most of the times, all they're looking for is a good carved out solid strategy, that ultimately converts into big money.
However, a solid plan doesn't always guarantee huge success. Hence, according to the Wall Street Journal, "In general, the only way one can make a profit on an angel investment--or get at least some of your money back--is if the company you've funded has an exit event, such as an initial public offering or acquisition. And that can take years to happen, if ever."

Hence, if you're an entrepreneur or a startup seeking the attention of an Angel investor, make sure that you have a futuristic exit plan in place so that the investor exactly knows what is he getting into.
With these 4 things in place, you're surely going to win over your Angel investor. All the very best!

Meet Pixel C: A New 10-Inches Android Tablet From Google

There's always an ongoing debate going on whether which out of the two, Android or iOS, is better when it comes to functionality. While we surely don't want to take stands, but we can for sure say one thing, that the new Google Pixel C tablet from Google is actually capable of giving Apple's iPad a run for its money. Here's why!

The first thing that attracts a customer to the new Google Pixel C is its slim and compact aluminum build that manages to feel sturdy at the same time. Its optional Bluetooth keyboard is like an icing on the cake and is equally solid. It even doubles up as its cover and has a powerful battery life.

For those still wondering what does the C in Google Pixel C stands for, it stands for "convertible". It emphasises on the device's two-in-one design. That means, on its own it's a tablet, but with a keyboard, it turns into a laptop in one go.



The brand new instalment from the tech giant is capable of running all the latest versions of Android and gives a performance that is lightning fast. Adding to all this, the tablet's screen is remarkably bright, colorful and sharp, and gaming graphics manage to look magnificent on the tablet.





Priced at a decent $500 for the 32GB model and $600 for the 64GB version, the tablet is a good bet for people looking for a powerful tablet for work. Its accompanying keyboard is expected to cost around $149.



With Google Pixel C tablet, it's the first time that the tech giant has taken up the plunge to build its own model from the scratch. Earlier times have seen Google releasing Android tablets in partnership with tech companies like HTC and Asus.

According to various tech enthusiasts, one of the most important things that makes Google Pixel C different from others in the market is its optional Bluetooth keyboard. The main keys of the keyboard are almost full-sized, and the tab and enter keys have been intentionally sized down. Further, typing on it doesn't feel as cramped as with other Bluetooth keyboards.

The magnificent tablet measures a 9.53 by 7.05 by 0.28 inches (242 by 179 by 7mm) and weighs just 18.24 ounces (517g). It also comes with a USB Type-C port in place of a Micro-USB and runs on operating system, 6.0 Marshmallow.

Pixel C is sadly not available in India however it can be bought in countries - Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Spain, Switzerland, United Kingdom, USA.

With Its Techie Idea, This Indian Startup Offers Free WiFi For Garbage

Free Wi-Fi is the dream of every youngster nowadays. The first thing that they do whenever they go out or check into a new restaurant or hotel, is to check about the Wi-Fi services provided by them. Banking on their this enthusiasm about Wi-Fi, an Indian startup has come up with a unique way to combine technology and the social responsibility of every citizen, a cleaner India, together.

WiFi Trash Bin. Yes, you read it absolutely right. I have indeed written the words, WiFi and Trash bin together. A brilliantly innovative and amazing technology, WiFi Trash Bin can be seen a perfect way to appreciate those who try to keep their surroundings clean. It does so by giving a free WiFi to people who use it. Interesting, isn't it?



Indian School of Business graduate Raj Desai along with Pratik Agarwal, an NMIMS-Mumbai alumnus, founded ThinkScream in the year 2011, with a single aim of providing new age technology solutions to the world. Being B.Com graduates, they had to first learn about different concepts of development and programming and other technological concepts on their own.

[caption id="attachment_102661" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Pratik Agarwal (L) and Raj Desai (R)[/caption]

They started their entrepreneurial journey by setting up WiFi networks for retail shops, multiplexes events like music shows, trade shows etc. For all these places, they have also developed products specific to that place.

For examples, the WiFi networks in multiplexes allows a person logged into the network to order food from providers inside the multiplex without having to leave the seat during the movie. Further, the person also doesn't need to download any special app for the same. All the person needs to do is to log into the network and use the custom-designed website to order food.

[caption id="attachment_102659" align="aligncenter" width="586"] A working WiFi Trash Bin deployed in an event[/caption]

The idea for such an innovative dustbin came to their minds while working on NH7 Weekender, the biggest music festival for independent music in the country. In the attempt of doing something out of the box, the founders started exploring the kind of problems faced at these festivals. This is when they realised that amidst various problems like music, food, drinks, and all the fun, the major problem being faced at such fests, shows etc. is cleanliness. Once the event was over, the entire place was left looking like a big garbage dump.

This is when they decided to do something of the situation and instead of providing regular dustbins, provide WiFi dustbins. The whole idea behind the dustbin was to incentivize garbage disposal for people.

The dustbin works in a very simple way, whenever someone throws trash in the WiFi dustbin, an access code is generated on the LED display in front of the bin. One can then use that access code to connect to the WiFi network of the dustbin.

They have built the project in partnership with two organizations — MTS (sponsors) and Brandmovers (activation agency). One WiFi dustbin development costs anywhere between Rs. 50,000 and 1 Lakh.



The dustbin's WiFi network can be designed as desired. Its range can vary from a few metres to an entire office or college campus. Further, it either uses the connection set up by ThinkScream or a connection from a nearby location, which is done with the help of their servers.

As of now, the waste bins have been installed in about eight to ten places, which include events like business conferences etc. Their current targets are shopping complexes, corporate offices and residential societies, etc. Further, if all goes well, they also plan to expand and set up WiFi dustbins on the streets in the future.

Israel's Startup Capital To Help India Develop 'Smart Cities'

In order to up its game in the startup arena and extend a helping hand to India on doing the same, Israel's start-up city Tel Aviv has recently sealed a partnership with a Mumbai-based NGO called Delivering Change Foundation.

In December 2012, the city was ranked second on a list of top places to found a high tech startup company, just behind Silicon Valley. In 2013, Tel Aviv had more than 700 startup companies and research and development centers, and was ranked the second-most innovative city in the world, behind Medellín and ahead of New York City.

According to the partnership's agreement, Tel Aviv has agreed to assist in creating “smart cities” in India. This mean, all the wondrous innovative digital technologies implemented by the high-tech capital will now traverse the city to go international. Israeli representatives from the tech city are all slated to train, mentor, assist, escort Indian city officials on how to pull off technological urban transformations in the country.

According to an article published in The Jerusalem Post, the municipality has partnered with the Academic College of Tel Aviv-Jaffa in order to relay the information on the smart systems being utilised in Israel's start up city. The initiative is all set to incorporate Pune, Nagpur and Nashik in the northwestern state of Maharashtra.

In its drive to become a sustainable smart city which enhances the lives of its residents at the same time, Tel Aviv has incorporated various digital resources into its urban ecosystem. This includes the city’s interest and location-based DigiTel pass, digital city services, GPS-based mobile applications and city-wide WiFi.

"We are committed to working closely with the top executives as well as entrepreneurs in fostering innovation and distributing the knowledge generated in Tel Aviv – the 'start-up city' world wide," said Prof. Israel (Izzy) Borovich, the college's dean of the School of Economics and Management in a statement.

The recent years have seen Tel Aviv becoming one of the world’s leading smart cities. All this is a result of its constant innovation, resident engagement and out of the box thinking.

All thanks to Tel Aviv’s constant technological and civic initiatives, Israel’s second-largest city had recently added the World Smart Cities Award at the 2014 Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona to its kitty.

"As a city maker, I am delighted that we are now opening our smart city to the world – assisting other cities and mentoring them in the field of smart cities initiative," said Hila Oren, CEO and founder of Tel Aviv Global.

We hope that this partnership turns out to be successful for both India and Israel.

An Incubator Just For Health Startups in India

The Indian healthcare industry has a huge potential to grow and progress. And, the recent dengue outbreak in Delhi has only proved that the healthcare facility in the country still has a long way to go. This further means that the industry is prime for innovation and investment.

Taking the responsibility to improve the scenario of the Indian healthcare Industry scene is HealthStart, a 2013 founded incubator that claims to be India's first dedicated healthcare incubator.

The idea to setup a Healthcare dedicated incubator came to Pradeep Jaisingh, a healthcare entrepreneur, when he realised that even though there are plenty of accelerators and incubators in India, majority of them are only focused on tech and mobile. Further, having lived abroad, he also realised that pulling off a health startup in India is an extremely difficult task as compared to the west and this is when he decided to take the matters in his own hands and change the scenario.

[caption id="attachment_102625" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Pradeep K. Jaisingh - Founding Chairman of Healthstart[/caption]

The Noida-based startup incubator has managed to bring together a talented bunch of people from different backgrounds as mentors. Some of the names on the mentors list are: Vivek Jetley, CEO of a Singapore-based health company, Raj Airy stems from Baxter India, Suhail Chander of IndusInd Bank, Jayant Goel, an accountant and Anil Gupta of Honeywell International. Vishal Bhansal, a doctor turned entrepreneur, was appointed as the company's CEO a year back in 2014.

According to Jaisingh, the reason behind having such a diverse bench of mentors is that finance, health, and tech are all areas that are extremely critical for health entrepreneurs. Further, according to him, It’s not just about delivering care, but also running an enterprise that is profitable.

The incubator has till now funded two batches of health startups, a total of seven healthcare companies. It has also been consciously focusing on funding businesses that solve health problems for India’s urban middle class. It's investment in startups like Gympik, which helps urbanites find gyms, personal trainers, and local yoga sessions and Tattva Spa, a holistic spa with natural remedies, are examples of its this ideology.

But, Jaisingh yearns to change this ideology and wants the accelerator to find businesses that are focused around treatment, rather than lifestyle.

Jaisingh believes that India's healthcare woes doesn't require reinventing the wheel altogether, but finding new ways to deliver care. The way the care reaches the patients needs to more innovative because the hurdles present in India are more significant when compared to the rest of the world.

With Over 2 Lakhs Pending Patent Applications India Is Hampering Its Own Innovation

It takes a lot of time and effort to come with a stellar idea that has the capability to take the world by storm. And, whenever someone is able to pull that off, all they want to do is make it exclusive so as to keep its value intact. There's also a government procedure that helps the innovators to achieve this - It's called Patents.

Patent induce people to invent because of the prospect of reward.

But, it seems, the Indian government is giving Indian innovators sleepless nights as according to recent statistics made available by the government, it currently has 246,495 pending applications for patents (up from 226,339 in July) and more than half a million pending applications for trademarks.

A major reason for this growing backlog is insufficient staffing in the government departments. According to Indian commerce and industry minister Nirmala Sitharaman, the government currently has some 459 vacant posts for patents and design examiners which it's trying to fill. In order to provide a quick fix for the problem, the Indian government has created 263 posts on contractual basis. Further, it has also proposed amendments to patent and trademark rules in an effort to streamline the procedures for filing and processing applications.

The Indian government has granted 3,581 patents and registered 37,799 trademarks between April to October this year.

During the same period, it also ended up rejecting 605 patent applications and 6,543 trademark registrations. This activity did little to help the backlog, which has worsened in recent years because of a surge in patent and trademark applications.

The Indian government's this callousness for Indian patents has resulted in India losing out a spot on Bloomberg's 2014 ranking of the 50 most innovative countries. The rankings are based in part on patent activity along with factors like high-tech density, manufacturing capability and R&D intensity.

Trivandrum Startup Launches Crowdfunding Campaign For An IoT-Based Road Safety Device

In the 21st century, the one thing that has truly worsened for India as a country, is its traffic. Most of the Indian population spend a considerable amount of their day time commuting back and forth from work. Considering this, Elsys Intelligent Devices, a Trivandrum based startup, has developed a very innovative car gadget and road safety platform, that works towards ensuring the safety of the people while on the road.

Raksha SafeDrive by Elsys Intelligent Devices is essentially a connected car device that automatically calls for help in a crash, alerts family & friends thus enabling a faster response.

Beside being a device it is also a smart road safety 'platform' enabled by the cloud technologies, electronics, Internet of Things (IoT) and telecommunications. Incubated at the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM), the startup has recently launched an online crowd-funding campaign on Kickstarter, the world's leading crowdfunding platform, for funding the innovative idea.

The platform basically has two components, an innovative IoT car gadget called the SafeDrive and a network of emergency services coordinated by a 24/7 command centre called the RakshaNet.

The gadget works in a very simple way. Once it is mounted in a car, it activates its automatic crash detection capabilities. Thus, in the case of a massive impact, the gadget triggers phone calls to RakshaNet command centre, currently being managed by a team of safety professionals, who in turn alert the emergency services functioning in the locality.



SafeDrive installation is simple, easy, intuitive and a Do-It-Yourself (DIY) task. No spliced wires, No tear downs. Just attach Velcro pads and plug the adapter into cigarette lighter port. You are all set.



Launched on October 23, the Kickstarter crowdfunding campaign has so far raised little over USD 11,000. They are on verge of reaching their fundraising goal of USD 15,000.

In the event of a crash, Raksha Safedrive, placed on the rearview mirror in front of the driver, will also send the location details of the vehicle and an initial assessment of the severity of the accident. It has a Smart Panic Button that provides a one-touch two-way voice connectivity with the support network, and can be used in case of an emergency services like medical, police, fire and breakdown. Officials from the centre will call the vehicle in distress, assesses the situation, and provide the needed assistance.

Currently, in India, there's no structured way to alert emergency services in case of an incident. In most of the cases, the first alert is usually initiated by kind bystanders who inform about the incident.

[caption id="attachment_102586" align="aligncenter" width="680"] Jayanth Jagadeesh (left) and Prasad Pillai (right) are the Co-Founders of the company[/caption]

According to Prasad Pillai, Co-founder, Elsys, SafeDrive is a cool and affordable gadget compatible with most cars running on the Indian roads. According to him, the gadget is a true blue example of a Make-In-India effort to address road accidents, a global problem.

Along with crash detection, the device also comes with various other features like reporting telemetrics, GPS tracking, and improving driving behaviour. Thus, it is an ideal partner for all drivers on the road.

Given the increasing number of road accidents and resulting casualties on Indian roads, this innovative product is surely the need of the hour. The startup is currently being supported by Kerala State Industrial Development Corporation (KSIDC) seed funding.

Poketshop Allows Local Retail Shops To Get Online and Sell In Flat 90-Seconds

India accounts for 13 million small and medium retailers, it is estimated that an average of 40 customers walk into each retailer every day, which means 520 million customers are shopping every day at these retail stores.

Online retail with over a decade is still less than 5% of the entire retail. There is a huge gap identified between the technology prevailing in the offline stores and the consumers.

While the current trends might paint us a picture that online shopping has taken over the world, but the sad reality is, that Online retail is still less than 5% of the entire retail. Understanding this huge gap between the technology prevailing in the offline stores and the consumers, is a Gurgaon based startup called PoketShop.

Based on the O2O (Online to Offline) model, PoketShop is an open marketplace which acts as a simple, cost-effective marketing and sales platform for local retailers to showcase interesting merchandise to users nearby.

The Poketapp's merchant app allows retail businesses to quickly setup a store on the app and start selling their merchandise, flash sales, limited time deals, products, all this in just under 90 seconds. For consumers, PoketShop is a discovery app for whats new in brick& mortar stores around them. The app features promotions, new arrivals, flash sales, limited offers from high street stores, malls to cafes or eating out places.

In short, PoketShop is a marketplace for physical retail stores, brands and businesses to allow them to provide their users the online experience while being able to increase sales at their location.



According to Samarth Goyal – Co Founder, PoketShop, the main problem with todays shoppers is that they might know what's around them in terms of physical locations, but they aren't aware about what's happening inside those businesses at that moment.

On the same hand, The No. 1 challenge for offline retailers is new customer acquisition, "How do you get people in the neighbourhood to walk into their business with the intent to make a purchase?" This is where PoketShop steps in and makes a difference.

The self funded & bootstrapped startup has a combined forty years of experience in its founding team, Siddharth Bhatia, Abhishek Satapathy and Samarth Goyal. While this is Abhishek's first venture, Siddharth and Samarth are 2nd time entrepreneurs, whose earlier venture was a VC funded services startup.

While they currently have 300 local stores, brands and businesses in Gurgaon in such a short span. They plan to reach 2000 stores by next quarter in Gurgaon itself. With their app retention at an high 50%, the target doesn't seem to be a tough one to achieve.

In its future plans, the startup plans to do product enhancement that is to include beacons technology, increase stores analytics and the use of social shopping element. The Gurgaon headquartered startup aims to reach the targeted number of 2000 stores by end of quarter. The company is building its merchant app both on web and mobile to enable brands to be able to leverage omni channel sales via its platform.

Poketshop app - http://bit.ly/1T9A1yO

Ed-Tech Startup Admito Poised To Streamline India's MBA Admission Process

Too many options are more of a bad news than good news in the 21st century. And, when it comes to education, this bad news becomes worst. Students are nowadays bombarded with options when it comes to choosing their perfect college. Understanding the mental state that a student goes through while choosing their dream college, a Ghaziabad based startup called Admito has come up with a unique solution.

Focussing on MBA aspirants, Admito isn't just a tool but more of a friend who understands a student and his/her needs. Its algorithm gives the student the most corrective and accurate information about the choices available to him while shortlisting colleges.

Claiming to be an expert in profiling, a master in information processing and an ace in counseling, Admito aims to deliver trustworthy intelligence at the fingertips, absolutely free of cost.

Admito is the result of the cumulative effort of 5 like- minded individuals, Manu Jain, Sahil Garg, Suprabhat Sen, Himanshu Mendiratta and Mukesh Kumar. According to the founders, Admito isn't an overnight dream, it is actually a result of cumulative frustration acquired during their own college selection process. Before getting into IMT Ghaziabad(where four of the founders have studied), they had to undergo a very stressful period of 8 months, where they were highly confused since the options were plenty but the decision that needed to be made was one.

MBA is one of the most important decisions of a person's life. It is a decision on which his whole life depends. Decisions from college application to be filled to selection the final college, a lot of other crucial decisions have to be made. College Selection is not just based on a single parameter, there are a plenty of things that need to be considered. Placements, Brand Value, Specialization, Location, Fee, Alumni Base, Entrepreneurship activity and many such parameters works simultaneously.

According to a survey done by Admito, 5 out of 8 students are not satisfied with their choice of MBA college. The startup aims to change this scenario by streamlining the entire admission process. x

Launched on 23rd Sept this year, the self-funded startup has already been receiving 10k monthly visits and has more than 700 users to its credit. With a current database of 50 college of MBA, Admito plans to achieve the target of 250 colleges by December this year and 1000 colleges by June next year. Admito is currently incubating in IMT Ghaziabad

Still confused about MBA, you know now where to head to.