Indegene Expands Omnichannel Software and Commercial Solutions Portfolio Through Acquisition of Skura Corporation

Indegene, a global healthcare solutions provider, has announced the acquisition of Skura Corporation’s life science business. Skura’s SFX platform is a global leader in adaptive sales enablement technology for life science organizations and delivers next-generation sales-enablement technology, ensuring the right message reaches the right healthcare providers (HCPs) at the right time, thus, increasing sales and customer success.

Life science manufacturers, including pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer health and biotech organizations, have been accelerating the transformation of their sales, marketing, and medical functions to align faster and better with major trends like digitalization, reduction in sales forces, evolving regulatory environment, and the changing needs of HCPs. Much of the industry’s response to these changes is being driven by the adoption of newer software technologies (estimated to be ~$6 billion per annum), especially CRM, closed-loop marketing (CLM), sales enablement, campaign management, digital remote engagement, and multichannel marketing software. According to Gartner, “By 2018, digital drug launches will be the standard, with 80% of the top pharma companies announcing new products via at least five digital channels.”

On the occasion, Manish Gupta, CEO, Indegene, stated, “We see a step change in how HCPs want to engage with life sciences manufacturers, and are committed to accelerating innovation through our significant investments to address this challenging shift. We have now acquired two specialized software product offerings in this space and launched the Omnipresence for Lifesciences™ suite of technologies to address critical gaps in HCP experience and coverage from an omnichannel standpoint. We now have customers using our software products in over 50 countries across a broad range of regulatory and health system environments.”

“We’re delighted to partner with Skura as they share our transformational vision for the industry and are respected thought leaders in life sciences sales enablement. With this acquisition we’re also now looking to make Toronto our next product innovation hub in addition to Montreal, Los Angeles, and Bangalore,” said Rajesh Nair, President, Indegene.

“We see tremendous opportunity for our existing life sciences customers to leverage Indegene’s portfolio of omnichannel solutions to bring them closer to their desired business outcomes, as well as for our platforms to reach a broader audience through Indegene’s global presence and deep partnership with the industry. We’re delighted to partner with Indegene.” said Chris Skura, CEO, Skura Corporation.

Indegene Expands Omnichannel Software and Commercial Solutions Portfolio Through Acquisition of Skura Corporation

Indegene, a global healthcare solutions provider, has announced the acquisition of Skura Corporation’s life science business. Skura’s SFX platform is a global leader in adaptive sales enablement technology for life science organizations and delivers next-generation sales-enablement technology, ensuring the right message reaches the right healthcare providers (HCPs) at the right time, thus, increasing sales and customer success.

Life science manufacturers, including pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer health and biotech organizations, have been accelerating the transformation of their sales, marketing, and medical functions to align faster and better with major trends like digitalization, reduction in sales forces, evolving regulatory environment, and the changing needs of HCPs. Much of the industry’s response to these changes is being driven by the adoption of newer software technologies (estimated to be ~$6 billion per annum), especially CRM, closed-loop marketing (CLM), sales enablement, campaign management, digital remote engagement, and multichannel marketing software. According to Gartner, “By 2018, digital drug launches will be the standard, with 80% of the top pharma companies announcing new products via at least five digital channels.”

On the occasion, Manish Gupta, CEO, Indegene, stated, “We see a step change in how HCPs want to engage with life sciences manufacturers, and are committed to accelerating innovation through our significant investments to address this challenging shift. We have now acquired two specialized software product offerings in this space and launched the Omnipresence for Lifesciences™ suite of technologies to address critical gaps in HCP experience and coverage from an omnichannel standpoint. We now have customers using our software products in over 50 countries across a broad range of regulatory and health system environments.”

“We’re delighted to partner with Skura as they share our transformational vision for the industry and are respected thought leaders in life sciences sales enablement. With this acquisition we’re also now looking to make Toronto our next product innovation hub in addition to Montreal, Los Angeles, and Bangalore,” said Rajesh Nair, President, Indegene.

“We see tremendous opportunity for our existing life sciences customers to leverage Indegene’s portfolio of omnichannel solutions to bring them closer to their desired business outcomes, as well as for our platforms to reach a broader audience through Indegene’s global presence and deep partnership with the industry. We’re delighted to partner with Indegene.” said Chris Skura, CEO, Skura Corporation.

Google Files Patent for a Tearable Screen; A Screen You Can Tear & Rip Apart

[caption id="attachment_105547" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Image Credit - l i g h t p o e t / Shutterstock.com[/caption]

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Are you also a fighter like me who fights to have a control? A fight with any of the family members. Over control of the TV remote so that you can watch whatever you want to?

A common story, eh?

Your father wants to watch a News channel, your brother a music channel, while your wife, or sister, she, holy cow, the boring daily soaps! And you, the Holy Spirit, you want to watch the religious things only, a football, for example.

So there seems to be a tug of war with no solution whatsoever!

But what if you could break your TV display into four different screens? And watch whatever channels you want to?
Am I sounding like a sci-fi writer? Well, I am not and whatever I have said in the above para is soon gonna be a reality. How? Great question! Because Google recently has filed a patent application for a tearable screen.

The patent discloses tearable display screens which we can tear-off into multiple portions. And each portion can display same content or different content. Have a look at the patent images below.

In the image-1, the same dog appears on the torn screen. Plus the content adjusted itself. In the image-2, different portions of the images are cut-off and used independently.



The patent mentions detecting a tear in a display using multiple ways. Its shape and size, for example, can be detected by a broken circuit along magnetic fasteners. Other than that, there will be a strain sensor installed in a tearable display which will sense separation of a part of a display.

Moreover, in the future, we are going to have foldable displays which we can roll like a paper. And this technology of Google is surely going to make the things interesting

Just think how awesome it would be to tear your smartphone screen into two parts. You can give the second screen to your friend who wants to watch a video on the YouTube while you want to… ummm, read an informational article on IndianWeb2. Not football every time!

 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][td_text_with_title title="Author Of This Article"]

Nitin Balodi is Research Analyst at GreyB Services, a boutique IP research and analytics firm based out at Singapore that combines machine learning and human brains in patent and business analysis.

[/td_text_with_title][/vc_column][/vc_row]

Google Files Patent for a Tearable Screen; A Screen You Can Tear & Rip Apart

[caption id="attachment_105547" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Image Credit - l i g h t p o e t / Shutterstock.com[/caption]

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]

Are you also a fighter like me who fights to have a control? A fight with any of the family members. Over control of the TV remote so that you can watch whatever you want to?

A common story, eh?

Your father wants to watch a News channel, your brother a music channel, while your wife, or sister, she, holy cow, the boring daily soaps! And you, the Holy Spirit, you want to watch the religious things only, a football, for example.

So there seems to be a tug of war with no solution whatsoever!

But what if you could break your TV display into four different screens? And watch whatever channels you want to?
Am I sounding like a sci-fi writer? Well, I am not and whatever I have said in the above para is soon gonna be a reality. How? Great question! Because Google recently has filed a patent application for a tearable screen.

The patent discloses tearable display screens which we can tear-off into multiple portions. And each portion can display same content or different content. Have a look at the patent images below.

In the image-1, the same dog appears on the torn screen. Plus the content adjusted itself. In the image-2, different portions of the images are cut-off and used independently.



The patent mentions detecting a tear in a display using multiple ways. Its shape and size, for example, can be detected by a broken circuit along magnetic fasteners. Other than that, there will be a strain sensor installed in a tearable display which will sense separation of a part of a display.

Moreover, in the future, we are going to have foldable displays which we can roll like a paper. And this technology of Google is surely going to make the things interesting

Just think how awesome it would be to tear your smartphone screen into two parts. You can give the second screen to your friend who wants to watch a video on the YouTube while you want to… ummm, read an informational article on IndianWeb2. Not football every time!

 

[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width="1/1"][td_text_with_title title="Author Of This Article"]

Nitin Balodi is Research Analyst at GreyB Services, a boutique IP research and analytics firm based out at Singapore that combines machine learning and human brains in patent and business analysis.

[/td_text_with_title][/vc_column][/vc_row]

These Twin Agrawal Sisters Have Created Modern-Panties For 'Women On Period'

Mensuration is one particular normal bodily function that a lot of people, irrespective of whether they're men or women, still shy away to talk about. But, New York based entrepreneur Miki Agrawal along with her twin sister Radha Agarwal is on a mission to end these apprehensions attached to periods for once and all.

Having already won laurels like Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the World Technology Awards 2015, the Tribeca Film Festival's Disruptive Innovator Award, and landing a place in Forbes's Top 20 Millenials on a Mission in the year 2013, this Social Entrepreneur has now decided to invest her focus in breaking the period taboo by inventing THINX, a startup that manufacture and sells underwear for women on their period.

These award-winning, patented technology panties promises to keeps its customers feeling clean, dry and confident all day long. In order to fulfil its this mission, every Thinx has a top layer that wicks all liquid into the uber thin absorption layer present right beneath it. In addition to all this, it's anti-bacterial, leak-resistant and highly absorbent, so much so that it can hold up to two tampons' worth of liquid. The underwear comes in six versions, including one for transgender men.



Designed by women in the city of New York, the underwear is manufactured by Sri Lankan women at a family-run factory that has a serious commitment to provide its employees with supplementary education and training in order to empower them to become powerful leaders in their communities.

According to the startup, its aim is to eliminate shame and empower women and girls all around the world by reimagining feminine hygiene products to provide support, comfort, confidence, and peace of mind.




THINX has a unique support matrix hidden within beautiful underwear that has women covered every day of every month. This high-performance, patent-pending underwear is leak/stain-resistant, anti-microbial, moisture-wicking and lasts for several years. No more worries or embarrassment - just full support, superior comfort & style.

Considering the subject at hand, the startup did face several road bumps on the way. For example, they aren't allowed to advertise on television, in elevators, in taxis and have to constantly come up with new ways to make mensuration and feminine hygiene products an acceptable dialogue. Despite all these obstacles, the startup has crossed all expectations and increased its revenue by a solid 2,500-3,500 percent between 2015 and 2016.

The Thinx's team strong dedication and hard work is essentially the reason that Thinx was recognised as one of TIME magazine's top 25 inventions in the year 2015.

Seeing Thinxs' set on the right path, Agrawal is now working dedicatedly on two new projects: Tushy, a bidet that has a royal black and gold version; and Icon, an underwear for incontinence.

Having an Indian father and a Japanese mother, Agrawal twins spent her childhood in beautiful Montreal before making a move to New York city to attend Cornell University.

Notably, the global feminine hygiene industry is projected to hit $15.2 billion by 2017, according to data from market research firm Global Industry Analysts Inc., and is dominated by major brands including Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Johnson & Johnson. Startups like THINX by Agrawal sisters could disrupt the market that is still dominated by old and big brands and yet to be tapped by new startups.

These Twin Agrawal Sisters Have Created Modern-Panties For 'Women On Period'

Mensuration is one particular normal bodily function that a lot of people, irrespective of whether they're men or women, still shy away to talk about. But, New York based entrepreneur Miki Agrawal along with her twin sister Radha Agarwal is on a mission to end these apprehensions attached to periods for once and all.

Having already won laurels like Social Entrepreneur of the Year at the World Technology Awards 2015, the Tribeca Film Festival's Disruptive Innovator Award, and landing a place in Forbes's Top 20 Millenials on a Mission in the year 2013, this Social Entrepreneur has now decided to invest her focus in breaking the period taboo by inventing THINX, a startup that manufacture and sells underwear for women on their period.

These award-winning, patented technology panties promises to keeps its customers feeling clean, dry and confident all day long. In order to fulfil its this mission, every Thinx has a top layer that wicks all liquid into the uber thin absorption layer present right beneath it. In addition to all this, it's anti-bacterial, leak-resistant and highly absorbent, so much so that it can hold up to two tampons' worth of liquid. The underwear comes in six versions, including one for transgender men.



Designed by women in the city of New York, the underwear is manufactured by Sri Lankan women at a family-run factory that has a serious commitment to provide its employees with supplementary education and training in order to empower them to become powerful leaders in their communities.

According to the startup, its aim is to eliminate shame and empower women and girls all around the world by reimagining feminine hygiene products to provide support, comfort, confidence, and peace of mind.




THINX has a unique support matrix hidden within beautiful underwear that has women covered every day of every month. This high-performance, patent-pending underwear is leak/stain-resistant, anti-microbial, moisture-wicking and lasts for several years. No more worries or embarrassment - just full support, superior comfort & style.

Considering the subject at hand, the startup did face several road bumps on the way. For example, they aren't allowed to advertise on television, in elevators, in taxis and have to constantly come up with new ways to make mensuration and feminine hygiene products an acceptable dialogue. Despite all these obstacles, the startup has crossed all expectations and increased its revenue by a solid 2,500-3,500 percent between 2015 and 2016.

The Thinx's team strong dedication and hard work is essentially the reason that Thinx was recognised as one of TIME magazine's top 25 inventions in the year 2015.

Seeing Thinxs' set on the right path, Agrawal is now working dedicatedly on two new projects: Tushy, a bidet that has a royal black and gold version; and Icon, an underwear for incontinence.

Having an Indian father and a Japanese mother, Agrawal twins spent her childhood in beautiful Montreal before making a move to New York city to attend Cornell University.

Notably, the global feminine hygiene industry is projected to hit $15.2 billion by 2017, according to data from market research firm Global Industry Analysts Inc., and is dominated by major brands including Procter & Gamble, Kimberly-Clark and Johnson & Johnson. Startups like THINX by Agrawal sisters could disrupt the market that is still dominated by old and big brands and yet to be tapped by new startups.

Meet 'Otto' - Samsung's Cute Personal Assistant Robot

Samsung, the tech giant, recently wrapped up its Developer Conference in Moscone West, San Francisco. Held between April 27-28, 2016, the Conference saw developers, creators and builders alike coming together to discuss the latest technologies and future innovations. But, one particular invention which managed to catch everyone's eyeballs at the Conference was Samsung's cute and compact personal assistant robot, Otto.

Being termed as Amazon's Echo's clone by industry experts, Otto comes power packed with microphones and speakers so that it can listen and respond adequately to its owner. Not only this, it is also capable of controlling various connected gadgets in our homes like light switches, refrigerators and Televisions etc.

What sets Otto apart from Echo, is the fact that the former has a High Definition(HD) camera with a capability to recognize faces. Further, it can also double up as a security camera for your home/offices.

Otto sings a song #sdc2016

A video posted by Nicole Lee (@nicolenerd) on Apr 27, 2016 at 2:02pm PDT

In order to give Otto a more humanly touch, it has a small screen on it which resembles a face and can display a variety of animations based on the application. For example, if it's raining outside, Otto will used the animation of rain to alert it's customer about the same. In addition to all this, Otto understands that life is nothing without a little music and dance, hence the cute, little robot can also add a zing of entertainment to human's lives by singing and dancing.

For people who have already set their eyes on Otto, the wait might be a little longer than they expected as Otto isn't a real product yet but just a prototype that Samsung used to demonstrate its ARTIK Internet of Things platform at the developers conference. Though ARTIK has been in the market for awhile, the developers conference saw Samsung unveiling a new set of tools that the developers can utilise to create mobile applications and devices for it. In addition to this, Samsung also launched its ARTIK Cloud platform in the conference, which can be used by developers for storing data for devices like Otto, the personal assistant robot.

Keep checking this space for more on Otto.

Meet 'Otto' - Samsung's Cute Personal Assistant Robot

Samsung, the tech giant, recently wrapped up its Developer Conference in Moscone West, San Francisco. Held between April 27-28, 2016, the Conference saw developers, creators and builders alike coming together to discuss the latest technologies and future innovations. But, one particular invention which managed to catch everyone's eyeballs at the Conference was Samsung's cute and compact personal assistant robot, Otto.

Being termed as Amazon's Echo's clone by industry experts, Otto comes power packed with microphones and speakers so that it can listen and respond adequately to its owner. Not only this, it is also capable of controlling various connected gadgets in our homes like light switches, refrigerators and Televisions etc.

What sets Otto apart from Echo, is the fact that the former has a High Definition(HD) camera with a capability to recognize faces. Further, it can also double up as a security camera for your home/offices.

Otto sings a song #sdc2016

A video posted by Nicole Lee (@nicolenerd) on Apr 27, 2016 at 2:02pm PDT

In order to give Otto a more humanly touch, it has a small screen on it which resembles a face and can display a variety of animations based on the application. For example, if it's raining outside, Otto will used the animation of rain to alert it's customer about the same. In addition to all this, Otto understands that life is nothing without a little music and dance, hence the cute, little robot can also add a zing of entertainment to human's lives by singing and dancing.

For people who have already set their eyes on Otto, the wait might be a little longer than they expected as Otto isn't a real product yet but just a prototype that Samsung used to demonstrate its ARTIK Internet of Things platform at the developers conference. Though ARTIK has been in the market for awhile, the developers conference saw Samsung unveiling a new set of tools that the developers can utilise to create mobile applications and devices for it. In addition to this, Samsung also launched its ARTIK Cloud platform in the conference, which can be used by developers for storing data for devices like Otto, the personal assistant robot.

Keep checking this space for more on Otto.

Enam Group Picks Minority Stake in Digital Content Platform Arré

Three weeks into the launch of Arré, the Enam Group has acquired a significant minority stake in the company. The Founders, along with the Enam Group have also acquired the residual stake held in the company by Unilazer Ventures and Ronnie Screwvala.

Enam’s investments will be used in the organic build out of Arré’s content, the overall product offering and facilitate scaling into a significant player in the digital content business. The Enam group has been an early investor in several sectors including the media sector. Their past investments in the media space include Zee TV, TV18 and Balaji Telefilms. The Arré investment would be Enam's first significant investment in the private equity domain in the media sector.

Arré is a multi-media, multi-genre digital media brand offering original content across video, audio, text and doodles, across various genres such as fiction, factual entertainment, documentaries, social experiments and more.  Arré's debut web series, A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend, has already crossed more than a million video views. IDWT (I Don’t Watch TV), a disruptive spoof on the TV industry was launched a few days back and Arré’s immediately upcoming products are a first-of-its kind audio series titled Trial by Error | The Aarushi Files, in an exclusive association with Saavn as well as Death By Breath, its first documentary produced in collaboration with The Indian Express Group.

Branded content, video and display advertising, syndication and multi-platform content alliances lead Arré’s revenue model. Digital content consumption and advertising, especially video advertising, has been witnessing a stupendous growth curve. Better broadband speeds synchronous with the roll-out of 4G, along with the mushrooming of digital payments could also throw open the possibility of consumer pay revenues in this space. Arré is well placed to exploit and leverage these seismic shifts in consumption and exploit the various monetization opportunities in this fast-growing digital space.

Arré will also be launching its mobile app shortly.

Enam Group Picks Minority Stake in Digital Content Platform Arré

Three weeks into the launch of Arré, the Enam Group has acquired a significant minority stake in the company. The Founders, along with the Enam Group have also acquired the residual stake held in the company by Unilazer Ventures and Ronnie Screwvala.

Enam’s investments will be used in the organic build out of Arré’s content, the overall product offering and facilitate scaling into a significant player in the digital content business. The Enam group has been an early investor in several sectors including the media sector. Their past investments in the media space include Zee TV, TV18 and Balaji Telefilms. The Arré investment would be Enam's first significant investment in the private equity domain in the media sector.

Arré is a multi-media, multi-genre digital media brand offering original content across video, audio, text and doodles, across various genres such as fiction, factual entertainment, documentaries, social experiments and more.  Arré's debut web series, A.I.SHA | My Virtual Girlfriend, has already crossed more than a million video views. IDWT (I Don’t Watch TV), a disruptive spoof on the TV industry was launched a few days back and Arré’s immediately upcoming products are a first-of-its kind audio series titled Trial by Error | The Aarushi Files, in an exclusive association with Saavn as well as Death By Breath, its first documentary produced in collaboration with The Indian Express Group.

Branded content, video and display advertising, syndication and multi-platform content alliances lead Arré’s revenue model. Digital content consumption and advertising, especially video advertising, has been witnessing a stupendous growth curve. Better broadband speeds synchronous with the roll-out of 4G, along with the mushrooming of digital payments could also throw open the possibility of consumer pay revenues in this space. Arré is well placed to exploit and leverage these seismic shifts in consumption and exploit the various monetization opportunities in this fast-growing digital space.

Arré will also be launching its mobile app shortly.

How Three IIT-Delhi Alumni Created India's Largest Community of Verified Doctors.

Doctors are someone whom we trust with our lives and the lives of our loved ones. Wouldn't it be great if we could have all the doctors under one roof? Well, solving this doctors dilemma is a Gurgaon based startup called Curofy.

What is Curofy?

Boasting to be India's largest community of verified doctors, Curofy has been conceived with the sole objective of bridging the currently visible gap among doctors and help them collaborate easily with each other to solve various medical cases.

By offering a secure and spam-free platform to doctors to communicate with each other, Curofy currently has more than 30000 active doctors and 150 medical cases being discussed daily on the Curofy app.



Using the app, doctors can share cases with each other, call each other without saving numbers and provide referrals to one another. Not only this, using the app, the user will also have access to all the latest developments happening in various medical fields, thus transforming the platform into a collaborative learning one.

With the medical field evolving everyday with new diseases, new cures and new technology, practicing professionals find it a tough task to keep pace with these developments but with Curofy, all this is soon going to be a thing of the past.

How did the journey begin?

The idea for Curofy stuck the three founders mind during a midnight coffee break in the last year of college. With the entrepreneurial bug bitten, the three decided to first research well and then take the final plunge. After graduation, they stuck with good paying MNC jobs, while simultaneously researching and meeting doctors. Once they were fully sure about the concept, they left their jobs and joined hands to give life to Curofy.

USP of the Startup

According to Curofy, being a mobile only platform has proved to be a big plus point for them as it helps them provide their users with a sorted, clutter free environment- something which is a far cry from their busy and complex professional lives. The ease with which the doctors can network with one another is something which no other platform has been able to achieve in the past.

The Founders

Mudit Vijayvergiya, Nipun Goyal and Pawan Gupta are the three genius behind the startup. Belonging to the same college, IIT Delhi, Mudit is a dual degree graduate in chemical engineering, Nipun is a B.Tech from with major in Electrical Engineering and minor in Business Management and Pawan is a B.Tech. in Electrical Engineering.

Funding Details

On the funding front, all is well with Curofy. Having started its funding journey in the reality television-type formatted Young Turks TiE the Knot at TiEcon in October 2014, the startup managed to raise $150,000 owning to great interest from various investors post the event. Recently, the startup industry was abuzz with the news of Curofy raising an undisclosed amount for their pre-series A funding from a Round Glass partners, a US based VC firm.

Big industry names like Rajul Garg (Sunstone Business School, Global Logic, Pine Labs), Alok Mittal (JobsAhead, Canaan), India Quotient, Spice Labs, Dinesh Agarwal (Indiamart), Dr Shuchin Bajaj (Cygnus Hospitals), and Presha Paragash (Zostel, Sol Primero) have invested their trust and money in the company.

Future Plans of the startup

Curofy's immediate plans are to make their app more personalised and offer their users with an even better experience. In addition to this, they wish to keep improving their product and become the best friend of every doctor in town. Further, the startup is also contemplating associating with various top doctors specialising in their fields and making them the face of the Curofy app.

Curofy app is for sure a breath of fresh air in the Indian healthcare field, opening new avenues for digital health by increasing online activity of doctors.

When India Was Busy With "Digital India", Pakistan Became One The Few In The World To Use Armed Drones

While the Indian citizens might have heard about a technology called drones the first time sometime back in last year when a food delivery joint in Maharashtra delivered a pizza using a drone. Our neighbour, Pakistan seems to be two steps ahead when it comes to the technology.

Just few months back, the country joined an exclusive club. Pakistan became the fourth country in the world to have used an armed drone to conduct a targeted killing. The other three countries to have used the technology for same purposes include United States, the United Kingdom and Israel. And, all this rapidly happened at that same time of last two years when India was busy glorifying its initiatives like "Digital India", "Make In India" and "start-up India", to name a few.

The drones, which exactly are unmanned combat aerial vehicle (UCAV), are used for targeted killing can lead to various deadly consequences in the future for World peace. The Pakistan Army used the drone to kill enemies on its own territory, unlike the U.S and the U.K. The strikes were part of the country's long-running campaign to pacify Waziristan.

The Pakistan army has been involved in a bitter campaign since August this year to expel militants sheltering in the Shawal Valley. The valley is considered as an important conduit of personnel and weapons into the Afghanistan. Despite having the support of manned aircraft, the forces haven't been able to do much due to the fierce resistance it has faced from Taliban-linked tribal forces in the mountainous valley.

According to ISPR Director-General Asim Saleem Bajwa, the drone strikes are strictly to be used against "high profile terrorists." He further added that such strikes should be seen as an effort to break the will of the militants and clear the region.

The Pakistan government since long has been under huge pressure from the U.S. government to launch ground offensives in its tribal regions in order to stem the flow of fighters into the Afghanistan country. The toll to militant groups has been very high. It is estimated, that more than three thousand people were killed from the offensive in Waziristan alone.

[caption id="attachment_105505" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Pakistan's armed drone Burraq[/caption]

The drone used by the Pakistan in the strike was a homemade “Burraq". The drone was originally designed for surveillance mission purposes, but was later on converted to carry on and deploy a missile under remote control. While the Burraq couldn't match the sophistication and range of the United State's Predator and Reaper drones, the drone is capable enough to carry out a targeted killing with a reasonable level of accuracy. This may even lead other states such as India, Iran and Russia who are in possession of less sophisticated drones, to start contemplating whether their technology is good enough to be converted for a similar drone strike. If not this, it shows that some surveillance drones can have or be used for “dual use".

India, on other side which infact is next neighbour of Pakistan and always been in tensed relationship with later for ages, is in very early stage or say already too late to get its army equipped with "drones with warfares". Recently, India’s Directorate General of Infantry has issued a request for information (RFI) for 600 mini-UAVs but that's not exactly the drones or UCAVs used for targeted killing but UAVs to monitor borders.

The drones can prove to be a great tool for Pakistan to please the U.S but on the way of doing this, it's wary of risking money and blood on ground operations.

The use of armed drones throws open various scenarios that could be or couldn't be true in the future. For example, the counter could use the technology in a way that might affect its relations with its neighbors, such as Afghanistan and India. This could further lead the governments of these countries to launch an even more aggressive campaign to develop and start deploying their own drones. The conclusion here is, that this drone strike is more noteworthy for what it represents than for its consequences within the country of Pakistan.

The current situation is that the drone war is expanding and that too in unexpected ways. Few people would have predicted that Pakistan would become the first among the countries in the East to use a drone for a targeted killing.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

5 Secrets To Success In Tech

In today's times, technology and growth go hand in hand. This means, they're directly proportional to each other. A development in technology sector automatically triggers growth in economy and lifestyle standard. Seeing this huge potential that a tech career offers to an individual both in terms of money and work, tech is becoming a hot favourite career field amongst youngsters. But, one big question that still looms large on their heads, is what is the secret to a successful and illustrative career in the technology sector? Here, at IndianWeb2.com we will try to answer this difficult question in five easy steps.

1) Choose the Right Company -

Being company fit can help you take your tech career to great heights without much effort. While there isn't a full proof way of finding which company will suit to your ideologies, working style and personal style, the best thing you can do is to do a pre-research about the company with the help of industry professionals, internet and previous employees and get a hang of what goes inside the company. Once you genuinely like working at a place, good work will follow and this will ultimately result in good results. If you and your company are a perfect match, then your company's and your growth graphs are bound to match and accelerate at the same pace.

2) Right People -

Having the right kind of people along the way can help you up your game. So, always make connections with individuals having the right frame of mind, skills and knowledge. Whether it's your subordinate, superior or your business partner, you need to know having people who agree with each and every idea and movement of yours isn't the ideal business relationship. People who debate and discuss each other's each move write the script to humongous success and glory in the future.

3) Maintain the speed -

This is your time, make most of it. Don't halt, don't digress. Once you have decided to tread the path of tech, keep moving forward with whatever you have got and keep increasing and updating your knowledge base all way long. Don't wait for things to happen to you, make them happen instead. This saying of "wait and watch" doesn't works in the 21st century and has been replaced by the current generation with another saying "You snooze, you lose."

4) Decide on Entrepreneurship plans -

Whether you're in or you're out, don't hang in the middle and end up wasting precious time. If you have decided that you want to be an entrepreneur, then just don't waste your time in contemplating, take charge and execute your plans. Even if you end up failing, you will have gained a host of skills sets and experiences that will only add to your expertise.

5) Don't restrict yourself -

Since the field has been there for a long duration of time, there are various conceptions about what amounts to success in this field. For all those, industry experts have only one advice to give, don't fall into the pre-ridden paths and carve out your own paths to success. Just remember that there's a plenty of work that still needs to be done and you're the perfect human resource to get the work done. Maintain your uniqueness in work and ideas and the filed will honour you in return someday. Tech as a filed has a huge potential. There's something new out there for everyone to conquer and achieve.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

5 Secrets To Success In Tech

In today's times, technology and growth go hand in hand. This means, they're directly proportional to each other. A development in technology sector automatically triggers growth in economy and lifestyle standard. Seeing this huge potential that a tech career offers to an individual both in terms of money and work, tech is becoming a hot favourite career field amongst youngsters. But, one big question that still looms large on their heads, is what is the secret to a successful and illustrative career in the technology sector? Here, at www.indianweb2.com we will try to answer this difficult question in five easy steps.

1) Choose the Right Company -

Being company fit can help you take your tech career to great heights without much effort. While there isn't a full proof way of finding which company will suit to your ideologies, working style and personal style, the best thing you can do is to do a pre-research about the company with the help of industry professionals, internet and previous employees and get a hang of what goes inside the company. Once you genuinely like working at a place, good work will follow and this will ultimately result in good results. If you and your company are a perfect match, then your company's and your growth graphs are bound to match and accelerate at the same pace.

2) Right People -

Having the right kind of people along the way can help you up your game. So, always make connections with individuals having the right frame of mind, skills and knowledge. Whether it's your subordinate, superior or your business partner, you need to know having people who agree with each and every idea and movement of yours isn't the ideal business relationship. People who debate and discuss each other's each move write the script to humongous success and glory in the future.

3) Maintain the speed -

This is your time, make most of it. Don't halt, don't digress. Once you have decided to tread the path of tech, keep moving forward with whatever you have got and keep increasing and updating your knowledge base all way long. Don't wait for things to happen to you, make them happen instead. This saying of "wait and watch" doesn't works in the 21st century and has been replaced by the current generation with another saying "You snooze, you lose."

4) Decide on Entrepreneurship plans -

Whether you're in or you're out, don't hang in the middle and end up wasting precious time. If you have decided that you want to be an entrepreneur, then just don't waste your time in contemplating, take charge and execute your plans. Even if you end up failing, you will have gained a host of skills sets and experiences that will only add to your expertise.

5) Don't restrict yourself -

Since the field has been there for a long duration of time, there are various conceptions about what amounts to success in this field. For all those, industry experts have only one advice to give, don't fall into the pre-ridden paths and carve out your own paths to success. Just remember that there's a plenty of work that still needs to be done and you're the perfect human resource to get the work done. Maintain your uniqueness in work and ideas and the filed will honour you in return someday. Tech as a filed has a huge potential. There's something new out there for everyone to conquer and achieve.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

Housing Cofounder Advitiya Sharma Launches Education Startup Genius

Housing Co-founder Advitiya Sharma, who quit the real estate portal last month, has launched an education start-up, Genius which is backed by Genius Learning Labs Pvt. Ltd and it will offer software for neighbourhood tutors to make learning more effective.

“Right now you have schools, which have a great environment but where learning doesn’t happen well, and you have platforms like Coursera, which have good content but there’s no learning environment. We are taking the hybrid approach,” said Sharma.

Genius will provide neighbourhood tutors content and software that adapt to each child’s learning abilities. It plans to reach 800 teachers and 8,000 students in five metros in the next six months. It will target schoolchildren from kindergarten to Class VIII, but currently it is launching with Classes III-V, and will offer lesson plans in mathematics, science and English. Also the startup plans to make money by taking a cut from the teachers’ income.

Genius will compete with players like Vidyanext (run by Pengala Learning Pvt. Ltd), flipClass (run by Gyankosh Solutions Pvt. Ltd), and Tiger Global-backed Vedantu Innovations Pvt. Ltd, which all try to serve the needs of home tutors with some technology.

Recent deals in ed-tech space include Bengaluru-based Byju, which offers learning programmes for Class VI to XII students and preparation programmes for competitive exams, alone raised $75 million funding in March, compared to the $70 million that all the education start-ups raised last year, according to data from startup tracker Tracxn.

Housing Cofounder Advitiya Sharma Launches Education Startup Genius

Housing Co-founder Advitiya Sharma, who quit the real estate portal last month, has launched an education start-up, Genius which is backed by Genius Learning Labs Pvt. Ltd and it will offer software for neighbourhood tutors to make learning more effective.

“Right now you have schools, which have a great environment but where learning doesn’t happen well, and you have platforms like Coursera, which have good content but there’s no learning environment. We are taking the hybrid approach,” said Sharma.

Genius will provide neighbourhood tutors content and software that adapt to each child’s learning abilities. It plans to reach 800 teachers and 8,000 students in five metros in the next six months. It will target schoolchildren from kindergarten to Class VIII, but currently it is launching with Classes III-V, and will offer lesson plans in mathematics, science and English. Also the startup plans to make money by taking a cut from the teachers’ income.

Genius will compete with players like Vidyanext (run by Pengala Learning Pvt. Ltd), flipClass (run by Gyankosh Solutions Pvt. Ltd), and Tiger Global-backed Vedantu Innovations Pvt. Ltd, which all try to serve the needs of home tutors with some technology.

Recent deals in ed-tech space include Bengaluru-based Byju, which offers learning programmes for Class VI to XII students and preparation programmes for competitive exams, alone raised $75 million funding in March, compared to the $70 million that all the education start-ups raised last year, according to data from startup tracker Tracxn.

Impact Guru Raises $500K in Seed Round from RB Investments and Fundnel

Impact Guru, a Harvard Innovation Lab incubated fintech company, has announced a seed round of $500,000 from RB Investments, a Singapore based venture capital firm, and Fundnel, a Southeast Asia-based private investment platform. Impact Guru and Fundnel have also created a first in the world strategic partnership between a social/rewards crowdfunding platform and a private investment platform.

The capital raised from RB Investments and Fundnel and the strategic partnership with Fundnel will enable Impact Guru to scale social/donation crowdfunding (online) for nonprofits, social enterprises and personal causes; and leverage Fundnel’s private investment network for facilitating equity or debt funding (offline) for startups and social enterprises in India and Southeast Asia. Fundnel will select and invite startups and/or social enterprises that have successfully leveraged Impact Guru’s crowdfunding platform in India to demonstrate traction to Fundnel’s network of family offices, venture capital funds, and accredited investors for international investment and for further scaling within Southeast Asia. Both Impact Guru and Fundnel will engage in the exchange and collaboration of relevant know-how in crowdfunding, technology and deal syndication.

The partnership with Fundnel will particularly help Impact Guru to extend its influence beyond India to attract more philanthropic and/or investment capital from NRIs (Non Resident Indians) / PIOs (Person of Indian Origin) abroad especially those residing in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia which are estimated to be 2.5mm. The funds will also be utilized to expand Impact Guru’s core team, to accelerate product development and sales and marketing efforts particularly for rewards crowdfunding for startups and social enterprises, and to build a larger community of donors, customers, and investors.

Piyush Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of Impact Guru said, “The traditional charity and social enterprise fundraising model in India is broken. The alternatives to online fundraising are outdated, expensive, and ineffective. We firmly believe that a full stack crowdfunding solution that combines social, rewards, and investment crowdfunding will make Impact Guru a platform of choice for individuals, nonprofits, social enterprises, or startups for all their fundraising needs - be it small or large. RB Investments has a proven track record of helping its portfolio companies scale their businesses in India and Southeast Asia and has already backed several high profile startups. We are certain that RB Investments’ expertise and networks will help us accelerate our growth.”

Impact Guru is pleased to announce two additions to its Advisory Board: Harvard Business School Professor Ramana Nanda, an expert in entrepreneurial finance and management, and Gaurav Gupta, Regional Director for Asia, Dalberg, a thought leader in the social sector. They will provide mentorship, and strategic guidance to the Impact Guru management team along with other existing members of the Advisory Board, that includes Sam Raymond, lead crowdfunding strategist at World Bank’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit; Calvin Zhang, Managing Director, JPMorgan Asia Pacific; Anthony Oundjian, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group; David Back, co-founder of Zoomcar, a Sequoia portfolio company; and Huzaifa Khorakiwala, CEO of Wockhardt Foundation.

Impact Guru has already partnered with nonprofits such as World Vision India, Oxfam, SOS Children's Village, Habitat for Humanity; CSR departments of Tata, Godrej, and Wockhardt; impact focused organizations such as Dalberg and Asha Impact; international Indian community organizations such as TiE in a relatively short span of time since its launch in August 2015. Impact Guru is the only crowdfunding platform in the world that allows people to give to causes without making a direct financial contribution through its SMILE innovation. SMILE stands for Social Media Impact Linked Engagement. Impact Guru connects the mere act of sharing a social cause via Facebook to be equivalent to a donation of upto Rs 1,000 per share depending on certain factors.

Impact Guru Raises $500K in Seed Round from RB Investments and Fundnel

Impact Guru, a Harvard Innovation Lab incubated fintech company, has announced a seed round of $500,000 from RB Investments, a Singapore based venture capital firm, and Fundnel, a Southeast Asia-based private investment platform. Impact Guru and Fundnel have also created a first in the world strategic partnership between a social/rewards crowdfunding platform and a private investment platform.

The capital raised from RB Investments and Fundnel and the strategic partnership with Fundnel will enable Impact Guru to scale social/donation crowdfunding (online) for nonprofits, social enterprises and personal causes; and leverage Fundnel’s private investment network for facilitating equity or debt funding (offline) for startups and social enterprises in India and Southeast Asia. Fundnel will select and invite startups and/or social enterprises that have successfully leveraged Impact Guru’s crowdfunding platform in India to demonstrate traction to Fundnel’s network of family offices, venture capital funds, and accredited investors for international investment and for further scaling within Southeast Asia. Both Impact Guru and Fundnel will engage in the exchange and collaboration of relevant know-how in crowdfunding, technology and deal syndication.

The partnership with Fundnel will particularly help Impact Guru to extend its influence beyond India to attract more philanthropic and/or investment capital from NRIs (Non Resident Indians) / PIOs (Person of Indian Origin) abroad especially those residing in Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia which are estimated to be 2.5mm. The funds will also be utilized to expand Impact Guru’s core team, to accelerate product development and sales and marketing efforts particularly for rewards crowdfunding for startups and social enterprises, and to build a larger community of donors, customers, and investors.

Piyush Jain, Co-Founder and CEO of Impact Guru said, “The traditional charity and social enterprise fundraising model in India is broken. The alternatives to online fundraising are outdated, expensive, and ineffective. We firmly believe that a full stack crowdfunding solution that combines social, rewards, and investment crowdfunding will make Impact Guru a platform of choice for individuals, nonprofits, social enterprises, or startups for all their fundraising needs - be it small or large. RB Investments has a proven track record of helping its portfolio companies scale their businesses in India and Southeast Asia and has already backed several high profile startups. We are certain that RB Investments’ expertise and networks will help us accelerate our growth.”

Impact Guru is pleased to announce two additions to its Advisory Board: Harvard Business School Professor Ramana Nanda, an expert in entrepreneurial finance and management, and Gaurav Gupta, Regional Director for Asia, Dalberg, a thought leader in the social sector. They will provide mentorship, and strategic guidance to the Impact Guru management team along with other existing members of the Advisory Board, that includes Sam Raymond, lead crowdfunding strategist at World Bank’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Unit; Calvin Zhang, Managing Director, JPMorgan Asia Pacific; Anthony Oundjian, Managing Director and Partner, Boston Consulting Group; David Back, co-founder of Zoomcar, a Sequoia portfolio company; and Huzaifa Khorakiwala, CEO of Wockhardt Foundation.

Impact Guru has already partnered with nonprofits such as World Vision India, Oxfam, SOS Children's Village, Habitat for Humanity; CSR departments of Tata, Godrej, and Wockhardt; impact focused organizations such as Dalberg and Asha Impact; international Indian community organizations such as TiE in a relatively short span of time since its launch in August 2015. Impact Guru is the only crowdfunding platform in the world that allows people to give to causes without making a direct financial contribution through its SMILE innovation. SMILE stands for Social Media Impact Linked Engagement. Impact Guru connects the mere act of sharing a social cause via Facebook to be equivalent to a donation of upto Rs 1,000 per share depending on certain factors.

DocsApp Raises $1.2M From Facebook’s Early Investors and Rebright Partners

DocsApp, a leader in the Online Doctor Consultation space has now announced a seed investment of $1.2 million in funding by Facebook’s Angel Investors Anand Rajaraman - Venky Harinarayan and Japanese Venture Capital firm Rebright Partners.

Founded in 2015 by IIT Madras Alumni, DocsApp is the leading mobile medical consultation platform in the country which provides quality consultation for patients with fastest turnaround time of 30mins. DocsApp has been designed to give the best experience to patients with complete privacy. Patients can chat with the doctor and also share pictures and reports of the ailment with the doctors privately. DocsApp aims to utilize the funding to develop and expand their scale of operations, recruit talent and continue breaking barriers through technology in the medical space thereby excelling at user experience.

In India, currently around 4 billion transactions happen in the healthcare sector every year. The entire healthcare market in India is worth around $80 billion; however the online market is estimated to grow to around $42 billion in the coming years. . Within a year, majority of DocsApp users have come from major cities like Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai & Hyderabad. With over 80,000 users, more than 15,000 patients take consultation using DocsApp every month. DocsApp has a pool of 500 top notch doctors in the country who are available to connect with the patients for consultations.

Speaking about the $1.2 Million investment in DocsApp, Facebook’s early investors Anand Rajaraman & Venky Harinarayan said, “The DocsApp team has created an amazing app that combines whiz bang technology with specialist doctors to enable speedy doctor consultations and great patient outcomes. This app will revolutionize primary healthcare in India!”

The investment round was led by Rebright Partners and Takeshi Ebihara, Founding General Partner of Rebright Partners said, “The team has a great understanding of the healthcare space and it is a scalable business model that can service millions of patients across India and South-East Asia.”

Founded by IIT Madras Alumni Satish Kannan & Enbasekar Dinadayalane at the IIT Madras Research Park, in 2015, DocsApp, a Bangalore based health-tech start-up has grown to a team of 36 members from leading colleges such as IIT, BITS and CMC Vellore. The app currently supports 9 specialities: Gynaecology, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Paediatrics, Weight Management, Sexology, Gastroenterology, General Medicine and Hair & Scalp care.

DocsApp Raises $1.2M From Facebook’s Early Investors and Rebright Partners

DocsApp, a leader in the Online Doctor Consultation space has now announced a seed investment of $1.2 million in funding by Facebook’s Angel Investors Anand Rajaraman - Venky Harinarayan and Japanese Venture Capital firm Rebright Partners.

Founded in 2015 by IIT Madras Alumni, DocsApp is the leading mobile medical consultation platform in the country which provides quality consultation for patients with fastest turnaround time of 30mins. DocsApp has been designed to give the best experience to patients with complete privacy. Patients can chat with the doctor and also share pictures and reports of the ailment with the doctors privately. DocsApp aims to utilize the funding to develop and expand their scale of operations, recruit talent and continue breaking barriers through technology in the medical space thereby excelling at user experience.

In India, currently around 4 billion transactions happen in the healthcare sector every year. The entire healthcare market in India is worth around $80 billion; however the online market is estimated to grow to around $42 billion in the coming years. . Within a year, majority of DocsApp users have come from major cities like Bangalore, Delhi-NCR, Mumbai, Chennai & Hyderabad. With over 80,000 users, more than 15,000 patients take consultation using DocsApp every month. DocsApp has a pool of 500 top notch doctors in the country who are available to connect with the patients for consultations.

Speaking about the $1.2 Million investment in DocsApp, Facebook’s early investors Anand Rajaraman & Venky Harinarayan said, “The DocsApp team has created an amazing app that combines whiz bang technology with specialist doctors to enable speedy doctor consultations and great patient outcomes. This app will revolutionize primary healthcare in India!”

The investment round was led by Rebright Partners and Takeshi Ebihara, Founding General Partner of Rebright Partners said, “The team has a great understanding of the healthcare space and it is a scalable business model that can service millions of patients across India and South-East Asia.”

Founded by IIT Madras Alumni Satish Kannan & Enbasekar Dinadayalane at the IIT Madras Research Park, in 2015, DocsApp, a Bangalore based health-tech start-up has grown to a team of 36 members from leading colleges such as IIT, BITS and CMC Vellore. The app currently supports 9 specialities: Gynaecology, Psychiatry, Dermatology, Paediatrics, Weight Management, Sexology, Gastroenterology, General Medicine and Hair & Scalp care.

CouponDunia Revamps Business Focus; Forays Into Cashback

In its endeavour to make shopping a rewarding experience, CouponDunia, India's #1 couponing destination, today announced the launch of Cashback. Users of CouponDunia will earn real cash – in the form of Cashback - when shopping at their favourite online stores.

The Cashback is provided over and above any other deals or discounts that the online store provides. For an online shopper, there is no better value proposition than starting their shopping journey at CouponDunia.

Further to this, CouponDunia has undergone a complete brand identity makeover, and has introduced a new logo which aims to signify ‘big savings’. A piggy bank is universally recognized as a metaphor for savings, and cashback works similarly – accumulating your cashback earnings over a period of time will help you save big – hence, the new CouponDunia logo design is a customized piggy bank in the shape of an elephant, thereby personifying the ‘big savings and earnings’ offered by CouponDunia.

Additionally, the company also launched a new "CouponDunia Browser Extension" for Google Chrome that gives users quick access to cashback, coupons, deals, and price comparison.

Speaking about this development, Sameer Parwani, Founder and CEO, CouponDunia, said, “Our aim has always been to be the pre-shopping destination that consumers visit before making any transaction online. Adding cashback brings CouponDunia a step closer to that goal. We hope our revamped offering will present our customers with a platform which will enable them to make smarter shopping decisions – and save or earn a whole lot of money.”

With this revamped business strategy, CouponDunia expects to substantially increase its user base and sales. Currently, CouponDunia facilitates a gross merchandise value (GMV) of Rs.1,000 crore, and is looking at scaling this up to Rs.4,000 crore in the coming year. Also, the company is looking to grow its app downloads threefold, to 7.5 million from the current 2.5 million downloads.

“With a sleeker, more contemporary visual design and a fresher outlook we plan to better engage and gain customer loyalty.” added Sameer Parwani

Founded in 2010 by Sameer Parwani, CouponDunia Media Pvt. Ltd. is India’s most popular coupon website, which now offers cashback to its users. Headquartered in Mumbai with a tech office in Bengaluru, CouponDunia receives about 10 million visits a month, shares coupons from more than 2000 online brands, has more than 7.5 million email subscribers and has more than 2.5 million app downloads.

[Top Image - Shutterstock]

IRCTC Ties Up With Gurgaon-Based Simpli5d For Empowering Captcha Solutions

IRCTC, the largest e-commerce site in the country, has entered into an exclusive partnership with Simpli5d Technologies, a Gurgaon headquartered leading digital advertising and audience Intelligence company to enhance theirsecurity and boost advertisingrevenues. Captcha, a security tool used to differentiate between humans and other malicious programs, was until now offered as distorted letters butthis is all set to change.Now with this partnership, IRCTC would be using innovative image based NLPCaptcha by Simpli5d Technologies.

"At IRCTC, security and user experience are the most critical concern for us and at the same time we look for new avenues of revenue other than the core business of ticketing,”explains a senior official from IRCTC. “NLPCaptcha fits in beautifully into all this - it provides better security, enhanced user experience and an altogether new stream of advertising revenues for IRCTC. We look forward to a long term and mutually beneficial partnership with Simpli5d Technologies," he added.

IRCTC, which has a massive reach, accountsfor more than 1 million e-commerce transactions per day.More than 100 million captchas are solved on the platform every month and all these will be replaced by NLPCaptcha, a patent pending technology to monetise captchas by Simpli5d Technologies. These Captchas will carry messages from leading brands in the country. This presents a unique opportunity for the brands to engage with the unique and premium audience of IRCTC. This exclusive partnership gives Simpli5d Technologies sole monetization rights for the entire Captcha inventory on the ticketing website.

Amit Mittal, Founder and CEO at Simpli5d Technologies is excited about the new association. "This partnership with IRCTC is a huge milestone for us,”says Amit, “On an average 125 million captchas are solved on IRCTC every month and this gives us a reach of more than 50 mn unique audience. Effectively we will be reaching out to every person in India who does an online transaction and we are sure that our advertisers would love it."

“This is a win-win situation for everyone. We are committed to continue delivering the best results for our advertisers as well as for IRCTC. Delighted to have leading advertisers like Lava, Airtel, Pepsi, Dabur etc. already on board” says Sidharth Oswal, co-founder at Simpli5d Technologies.Simpli5d Technologies is backed by YourNest Angel Fund, Dheeraj Jain of Redcliffe Capital and Udaan Angel Partners.

NLPCaptchais becoming widely popular and has been adopted by hundreds of websites and advertisers across India, Europe and South East Asia. Thekey USP for advertisers isits ability to provide guaranteed attention of the end user and a brand recall which is as high as 229% more than traditional banners(as per a study done by Effective Measure, an independent market research company). It delivers significant cost saving for advertisers, with figures as impressive as 85% as verified by Sizmek, a global ad serving and validation platform.

Several brands have shown interest in the platform, with Lava, always looking for innovative platforms to reach their consumer is a launch partner. With recent association with M.S. Dhoni as a brand ambassador, they are looking out to rapidly expand their already growing consumer base.

"Lava wants to strengthen its brand in India and aims to reach out to millions of consumers. IRCTC with its wide reach provides an ideal platform for our ambitions. NLP Captcha platform provides high engagement with our brand message and therefore we are excited about this tie-up." Harish Aswani, Digital Lead at Lava.

"IRCTC is one of the biggest e-commerce platforms with a massive reach when it comes to Display advertising in India. With NLP Captcha, we can not only reach out to desired TG of Lava, but at the same time we can ensure that all the interactions will be driven by real humans only and not by bots.”. Sachin Bhatia, Digital Director at Motivator.

IRCTC Ties Up With Gurgaon-Based Simpli5d For Empowering Captcha Solutions

IRCTC, the largest e-commerce site in the country, has entered into an exclusive partnership with Simpli5d Technologies, a Gurgaon headquartered leading digital advertising and audience Intelligence company to enhance theirsecurity and boost advertisingrevenues. Captcha, a security tool used to differentiate between humans and other malicious programs, was until now offered as distorted letters butthis is all set to change.Now with this partnership, IRCTC would be using innovative image based NLPCaptcha by Simpli5d Technologies.

"At IRCTC, security and user experience are the most critical concern for us and at the same time we look for new avenues of revenue other than the core business of ticketing,”explains a senior official from IRCTC. “NLPCaptcha fits in beautifully into all this - it provides better security, enhanced user experience and an altogether new stream of advertising revenues for IRCTC. We look forward to a long term and mutually beneficial partnership with Simpli5d Technologies," he added.

IRCTC, which has a massive reach, accountsfor more than 1 million e-commerce transactions per day.More than 100 million captchas are solved on the platform every month and all these will be replaced by NLPCaptcha, a patent pending technology to monetise captchas by Simpli5d Technologies. These Captchas will carry messages from leading brands in the country. This presents a unique opportunity for the brands to engage with the unique and premium audience of IRCTC. This exclusive partnership gives Simpli5d Technologies sole monetization rights for the entire Captcha inventory on the ticketing website.

Amit Mittal, Founder and CEO at Simpli5d Technologies is excited about the new association. "This partnership with IRCTC is a huge milestone for us,”says Amit, “On an average 125 million captchas are solved on IRCTC every month and this gives us a reach of more than 50 mn unique audience. Effectively we will be reaching out to every person in India who does an online transaction and we are sure that our advertisers would love it."

“This is a win-win situation for everyone. We are committed to continue delivering the best results for our advertisers as well as for IRCTC. Delighted to have leading advertisers like Lava, Airtel, Pepsi, Dabur etc. already on board” says Sidharth Oswal, co-founder at Simpli5d Technologies.Simpli5d Technologies is backed by YourNest Angel Fund, Dheeraj Jain of Redcliffe Capital and Udaan Angel Partners.

NLPCaptchais becoming widely popular and has been adopted by hundreds of websites and advertisers across India, Europe and South East Asia. Thekey USP for advertisers isits ability to provide guaranteed attention of the end user and a brand recall which is as high as 229% more than traditional banners(as per a study done by Effective Measure, an independent market research company). It delivers significant cost saving for advertisers, with figures as impressive as 85% as verified by Sizmek, a global ad serving and validation platform.

Several brands have shown interest in the platform, with Lava, always looking for innovative platforms to reach their consumer is a launch partner. With recent association with M.S. Dhoni as a brand ambassador, they are looking out to rapidly expand their already growing consumer base.

"Lava wants to strengthen its brand in India and aims to reach out to millions of consumers. IRCTC with its wide reach provides an ideal platform for our ambitions. NLP Captcha platform provides high engagement with our brand message and therefore we are excited about this tie-up." Harish Aswani, Digital Lead at Lava.

"IRCTC is one of the biggest e-commerce platforms with a massive reach when it comes to Display advertising in India. With NLP Captcha, we can not only reach out to desired TG of Lava, but at the same time we can ensure that all the interactions will be driven by real humans only and not by bots.”. Sachin Bhatia, Digital Director at Motivator.

GirnarSoft Buys SaaS Startup Connecto in a Cash and Stock Deal

GirnarSoft, the parent company of India’s top auto portals CarDekho.com, Gaadi.com and Zigwheels.com, has acquired SaaS startup Connecto in a cash and stock deal. With this acquisition, GirnarSoft will leverage Connecto’s tools to improve user experience across all the websites and apps of the company.

Founded in November 2013 by Jagmal Singh and Saurabh Mathur, Connecto has built device-agnostic tools to help product managers and marketers communicate more efficiently with their customers. It provides users with services like notification engine, A/B testing, custom integrations and automatic user profiles creator.

Talking about the new acquisition, Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO, GirnarSoft, said, “Being a tech-intensive company, we are always on the look-out for more hi-tech startups to augment our tech expertise. Connecto will help us create user profiles by tracking user behaviour in real time. These user segments can then be interacted with in a personalised manner via web notifications, specific emails, in-app notifications and chrome notifications.”

Over the past few months, CarDekho.com has launched several unique tools to ease car buying. These include Feel The Car, a tool that gives 360 degree interior/exterior view with sounds of the car and explanation of features with videos, and CarDekho Nxt Gen, a virtual-reality based application to give users a real experience of a car showroom.

Connecto is GirnarSoft’s seventh deal in the last two years. Earlier it made a strategic investment in Advanced Structures India. It has acquired Help on Wheels, Drishya360, Zigwheels.com, Gaadi.com and BuyingIQ. The company has also incubated and invested in CollegeDekho.com.

GirnarSoft Buys SaaS Startup Connecto in a Cash and Stock Deal

GirnarSoft, the parent company of India’s top auto portals CarDekho.com, Gaadi.com and Zigwheels.com, has acquired SaaS startup Connecto in a cash and stock deal. With this acquisition, GirnarSoft will leverage Connecto’s tools to improve user experience across all the websites and apps of the company.

Founded in November 2013 by Jagmal Singh and Saurabh Mathur, Connecto has built device-agnostic tools to help product managers and marketers communicate more efficiently with their customers. It provides users with services like notification engine, A/B testing, custom integrations and automatic user profiles creator.

Talking about the new acquisition, Amit Jain, co-founder and CEO, GirnarSoft, said, “Being a tech-intensive company, we are always on the look-out for more hi-tech startups to augment our tech expertise. Connecto will help us create user profiles by tracking user behaviour in real time. These user segments can then be interacted with in a personalised manner via web notifications, specific emails, in-app notifications and chrome notifications.”

Over the past few months, CarDekho.com has launched several unique tools to ease car buying. These include Feel The Car, a tool that gives 360 degree interior/exterior view with sounds of the car and explanation of features with videos, and CarDekho Nxt Gen, a virtual-reality based application to give users a real experience of a car showroom.

Connecto is GirnarSoft’s seventh deal in the last two years. Earlier it made a strategic investment in Advanced Structures India. It has acquired Help on Wheels, Drishya360, Zigwheels.com, Gaadi.com and BuyingIQ. The company has also incubated and invested in CollegeDekho.com.

The Wedding Brigade Gets Rs 4 Cr from Blume Ventures & Others

[caption id="attachment_105479" align="alignnone" width="705"] vintage wedding dresses uk [/caption]

The Wedding Brigade, a one-stop destination to discover, plan and shop for Indian weddings dresses, has raised Rs 4 Crore in a Pre-Series A round of funding led by Blume Ventures, with the participation of four other angel investors. The capital infused into the venture will be allocated towards enhancing product and services offerings, growth activities and acquiring talent. The Wedding Brigade was earlier known as Indear, and has received rave reviews for its online shop, which lets users purchase wedding apparel, jewellery, gifts and other essentials.

The name change reflects the company’s growth from a wedding inspiration website to a comprehensive wedding solutions portal where users can find inspiration, buy products, and book services for their weddings, all in one place. The name “The Wedding Brigade” represents a group of people - family, friends, vendors, and the company itself - coming together to make a dream wedding a reality!

On investing in this promising venture, Sajid Fazalbhoy, Principal at Blume Ventures, said, “Blume VC is delighted to partner with Sanna and team. The Wedding Brigade is a one-stop destination for consumers to discover and share rich content, shop for clothing, jewelry, and gifts, and book services such as venues or make-up artists for a wedding. We believe The Wedding Brigade's approach captures all aspects of the wedding planning process and delivers immense value to consumers.”

He further added, “The second largest expense for an Indian family post purchase of a home is their children’s weddings.  This enormous market opportunity is currently served by a few small fragmented players. The Wedding Brigade’s all-encompassing strategy makes it a very sought after company going forward."

The Wedding Brigade (earlier known as Indear) has also recently introduced a services marketplace, which enables users to book venues, hair and make-up artists and mehendi artists online, or through its free expert concierge service. The platform has been launched for users in Mumbai and Delhi, and will soon expand to other cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai as well as introduce new categories such as photographers, caterers and more.

The Wedding Brigade Gets Rs 4 Cr from Blume Ventures & Others

[caption id="attachment_105479" align="alignnone" width="705"] vintage wedding dresses uk [/caption]

The Wedding Brigade, a one-stop destination to discover, plan and shop for Indian weddings dresses, has raised Rs 4 Crore in a Pre-Series A round of funding led by Blume Ventures, with the participation of four other angel investors. The capital infused into the venture will be allocated towards enhancing product and services offerings, growth activities and acquiring talent. The Wedding Brigade was earlier known as Indear, and has received rave reviews for its online shop, which lets users purchase wedding apparel, jewellery, gifts and other essentials.

The name change reflects the company’s growth from a wedding inspiration website to a comprehensive wedding solutions portal where users can find inspiration, buy products, and book services for their weddings, all in one place. The name “The Wedding Brigade” represents a group of people - family, friends, vendors, and the company itself - coming together to make a dream wedding a reality!

On investing in this promising venture, Sajid Fazalbhoy, Principal at Blume Ventures, said, “Blume VC is delighted to partner with Sanna and team. The Wedding Brigade is a one-stop destination for consumers to discover and share rich content, shop for clothing, jewelry, and gifts, and book services such as venues or make-up artists for a wedding. We believe The Wedding Brigade's approach captures all aspects of the wedding planning process and delivers immense value to consumers.”

He further added, “The second largest expense for an Indian family post purchase of a home is their children’s weddings.  This enormous market opportunity is currently served by a few small fragmented players. The Wedding Brigade’s all-encompassing strategy makes it a very sought after company going forward."

The Wedding Brigade (earlier known as Indear) has also recently introduced a services marketplace, which enables users to book venues, hair and make-up artists and mehendi artists online, or through its free expert concierge service. The platform has been launched for users in Mumbai and Delhi, and will soon expand to other cities such as Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai as well as introduce new categories such as photographers, caterers and more.

Delhi-Based MyHiringBox Is An Online Cloud Based Recruitment Open-Marketplace

A good, hard-working employee is one of the most important asset to the company and, nowadays with every company/business going for the kill, all they ask for is the best of the best. Same is the case with employees, with a plethora of job opportunities available, all that an individual is looking for nowadays, is a job in accordance to his passion and skills and of course the one that pays well. So, acting as a bridge to both these sides of the employment world is a New Delhi based startup MyHiringBox.

If you're segmenting MyHiringBox.com as just another staffing agency on the block, then you're most likely to get disappointed. The recruitment centric startup is an online cloud based Recruitment Marketplace that enables hiring smart talent.

[caption id="attachment_105456" align="alignleft" width="208"] Jatinder Chimni[/caption]

Founded in 2015 by Jatinder Chimni, an individual with more than 13 years of diverse experience in recruitment background handling domestic and international markets, MyHiringBox.com has stemmed from his own real life experience of working in the employment sector and all the problems faced by him all along. During his team on the field, he realised that the amount of time being spent both before and after the interview process was significantly more than that of the interview stage. Another biggest challenge in the process was to handle SPAM. All this was hampering business growth and productivity in a big way. This is when he decided to do something about the situation at hand and the idea of MyHiringBox hit him.

The startup acts as a global cloud based recruitment marketplace where in employers can easily post their job openings and the global community of individual recruiters, job seekers and recruitment agencies can submit their profiles. These profiles submitted are then duly scrutinised by the startup's profile matching algorithm and pre-screening team to make the process of hiring easier, scalable and faster. Using the platform, Job seekers can also land fat joining bonuses by applying to various open positions listed on the site.

Started with an aim of streamlining the ages-old methods employed in traditional recruiting processes, the startup already has 30 successful clients and 200 Recruitment Agencies and Recruiters on Board.

Currently looking for seed funding, MyHiringBox.com aspires to become one single stop box for all recruitment related requirements all around the world. In order to achieve the same, the startup plans to add features like Vendor management, Automated creation of Job Description, Video JD, Video interviewing, Assessment tests (both tech & non tech) etc. to their model.

So, if you're a job seeker or an employer, MyHiringBox.com is a must try from our side.

Wipro Ventures Picks Minority Stake in Silicon Valley Based Cybersecurity Startup Vectra Networks

Wipro Ventures which has so far invested in at least half a dozen early stage startups, has now picked up a minority stake in Silicon Valley-based cyber security startup Vectra Networks for an undisclosed amount of investment. Wipro Ventures is the $100-million venture capital arm of Indian software exporter Wipro, that invests in a range from anywhere between $1 million - $10 million.

Founded in 2011, Vectra is the leader in automated threat management solutions for real-time detection of in-progress cyber attacks. The company’s solution automatically correlates threats against hosts that are under attack and provides unique context about what attackers are doing so organizations can quickly prevent or mitigate loss. Vectra prioritizes attacks that pose the greatest business risk, enabling organizations to make rapid decisions on where to focus time and resources. In 2015, Gartner named Vectra a Cool Vendor in Security Intelligence for addressing the challenges of post-breach threat detection. The company’s headquarters are in San Jose, California. It is backed by investors likes Khosla Ventures, Accel Partners, Intel Capital and DAG Ventures. 

Wipro Ventures has previously invested in startups including big data startup Talena, artificial intelligence startup Vicarious and Pune-based Altizon, which has built a new-age Internet-of-Things powered platform.

Just yesterday, Infosys has also invested in Silicon Valley based Trifacta, a leading provider of data wrangling software that enables non-technical users to easily transform data for analysis.

Wipro Ventures Picks Minority Stake in Silicon Valley Based Cybersecurity Startup Vectra Networks

Wipro Ventures which has so far invested in at least half a dozen early stage startups, has now picked up a minority stake in Silicon Valley-based cyber security startup Vectra Networks for an undisclosed amount of investment. Wipro Ventures is the $100-million venture capital arm of Indian software exporter Wipro, that invests in a range from anywhere between $1 million - $10 million.

Founded in 2011, Vectra is the leader in automated threat management solutions for real-time detection of in-progress cyber attacks. The company’s solution automatically correlates threats against hosts that are under attack and provides unique context about what attackers are doing so organizations can quickly prevent or mitigate loss. Vectra prioritizes attacks that pose the greatest business risk, enabling organizations to make rapid decisions on where to focus time and resources. In 2015, Gartner named Vectra a Cool Vendor in Security Intelligence for addressing the challenges of post-breach threat detection. The company’s headquarters are in San Jose, California. It is backed by investors likes Khosla Ventures, Accel Partners, Intel Capital and DAG Ventures. 

Wipro Ventures has previously invested in startups including big data startup Talena, artificial intelligence startup Vicarious and Pune-based Altizon, which has built a new-age Internet-of-Things powered platform.

Just yesterday, Infosys has also invested in Silicon Valley based Trifacta, a leading provider of data wrangling software that enables non-technical users to easily transform data for analysis.

Meet 'Shodan' - The Scariest Search (Hacker) Engine On Internet

Bored of your Google search engine? Wanna try something new?Try Shodan, the search engine, the next time you want to search something over the net and you will surely be never be bored again ever in your entire life.

Websites are just one part of the Internet. There are power plants, Smart TVs, refrigerators and much more that can be found with Shodan!

Launched in 2009, this particular search engine has earned the reputation of being called as the scariest search engine on Internet. Named after the villainous computer in the video game System Shock, the search engine is not just like another simple search engine. It's more of a prying eye across the world through the Internet of Things (IoT).

The hacker search engine, as Shodan is commonly called, is the works of the wonder minds of John Matherly. He designed it with an aim of linking all the devices connected to the Internet but fortunately, unfortunately, it became a play zone for hackers and experimenters in no time.

The search engine works by collecting and stacking HTTP addresses from various devices linked over the Internet across the world. The indexing is then done on the basis of categories such as brand, OS and country.

The search engine has excellent scanning powers. So much so that, it can even detect security cameras, power grids, control systems for gas stations, and even the nuclear power plants. These public services need to make extra efforts in increasing their online security as once exposed to hackers or terrorist organizations, the results could be very disastrous.

Further, if you have a telnet enabled security camera at your home for the "security" of your family, you might just want to put that camera to rest. Hackers can easily breach into your system if your IoT hub is exposed on the Internet using Shodan. So, for the security of your family, we recommend you to put that security camera right away and think of something else.

Shodan Portal - www.shodan.io

[Top Image - Shutterstock]