Author: Rabindra

Blue Dart Announces Rebranding of its Dart Plus service to Bharat Dart

Mumbai, 13th September 2023: Blue Dart Express Limited, South Asia’s premier express air and integrated transportation & distribution logistics company, unveiled its newly revamped service, formerly known as Dart Plus, as Bharat Dart. This strategic transformation marks a momentous milestone in Blue Dart’s ongoing journey, underscoring its unwavering commitment to serving the diverse needs of Bharat.

Bharat Dart is a time-sensitive delivery service backed by speed, security, and handling with value-added features and benefits like complete visibility on the last mile through a robust system and easy payment options. Blue Dart’s decision to rebrand this service stems from an extensive discovery and research process aimed at aligning itself to the evolving needs of its customers. The company’s unwavering dedication to delivering customer delight has led to a streamlined and reimagined service that promises to provide exceptional value to its customers.

One of the Blue Dart’s key USPs is its unparalleled reach, boasting access to over 55,000+ locations across the nation and spanning 220 countries and territories worldwide. Through initiatives like DAWN (Delivery Anywhere Now) and RISE (Revenue Increase from SMEs and Emerging Markets), Blue Dart has significantly expanded its serviceable locations, with a special focus on tier II and tier III cities in India. The growth in these cities is closely related to the rise of a new middle class and the culture of consumption. In FY-23, share of tier II and tier III cities as a percentage of the overall e-commerce market stood at 18.6% and 37.1% respectively, with a forecast to make further inroads in the sector.

Of the initiative, Pablo Ciano, CEO – DHL eCommerce, says “As India approaches its centenary year in 2047, the focus on e-commerce and logistics has become paramount. Our DHL Group Strategy 2025 has identified e-commerce as a megatrend, and we are committed to our objective of ‘Connecting People, Improving Lives.’ We firmly believe in the immense potential to spotlight the unique products and services offered by India’s small businesses and MSMEs in tier II and tier III cities on a global stage, enabled by our seamless delivery solutions. This vision harmonizes seamlessly with the government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative.”

Balfour Manuel, Managing Director, Blue Dart, added, “During India’s recent G20 Presidency, the need to harmonize growth, efficiency, and resilience as one large family was brought forth. The government’s vision of ‘One Earth, One Family, One Future,’ which underscores unity and purpose, aligns seamlessly with Blue Dart’s forward-thinking approach, cementing its position as a trailblazer in the logistics industry. This rebranding represents an exciting transformation for us as we continue to serve the length and breadth of the country. Bharat Dart is the first step in a new and exciting chapter for our company and our nation. We are dedicated to leveraging our expertise to elevate our capabilities and enhance the overall customer experience.”

Bharat Dart is poised to redefine express logistics services in Bharat, offering unmatched speed, coverage, and support for businesses of all sizes. Blue Dart Express Limited invites all stakeholders and customers to join on this transformative journey as the company continues to connect Bharat to the world and the world to Bharat.

IndiaFirst Life Insurance Launches Guaranteed Single Premium Plan

Chennai, September 13th, 2023 – IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited (IndiaFirst Life) has introduced a novel offering — IndiaFirst Life Guaranteed Single Premium Plan. This unique plan is designed to provide individuals with a seamless blend of financial protection and savings. It caters to their long-term security needs while helping them with legacy and wealth planning for future generations.

IndiaFirst Life Guaranteed Single Premium Plan (GSPP) is a non-linked, non-participating, individual, single premium savings plan, which offers guaranteed return to the customer over long policy term. With a one-time premium payment prior to policy inception, customers can avail dual benefits of financial protection and savings from a single policy.

Customers have the flexibility to select their desired life cover option from a range of choices, including a life cover of 1.25x times or 10x against the single premium. This unique customization empowers individuals to align their coverage with their long-term financial goals.

Marquee Equity assists tech fashion brand Ginik with fundraising

Marquee Equity, a SaaS platform that aids startups in securing funding has recently onboarded GINIK Fashion- an Italian Luxury fashion tech brand. GINIK Fashion combines tech with fashion and offers a unique range of luxury products that are fashionable yet tech-advanced. GINIK has dealt with UX complaints and needs in the tech-fashion market and finally creates revolutionary concepts that will excite the fashion world. It has a taste of royalty and style, but above all, an ambience of excellence and prestige which is what consumers are looking for in this 21st century.

For their fundraising requirements, Ginik has tied up with Marquee Equity, A SaaS platform that acts as a bridge between the startups looking for funding and investors/venture capitalists/angel investors thus making the process of fundraising swift and convenient. Marquee’s team collects and curates relevant data and projections to create a pitch deck that serves as a critical document in carrying forward the procedure. Once the pitch deck is approved, the AI-backed tech platform performs an investors-finding algorithm and connects the businesses to a suitable set of investors, VCs etc., thus making the process of fundraising convenient and effective. As opposed to marketplaces and digital listings that publicly display fundraising details, Marquee matched their clients with their personalized list of investors who would be the best fit for their mutual goals.

With a team of over 100 employees, Marquee Equity helps 1,500 businesses raise money effectively each year. Ash Narain, Founder & CEO of Marquee Equity comments, “We are very excited to have Ginik on board with us and render our services. They are a fashion brand with an amalgamation of technology, which makes it even more exciting for us to work with. Marquee has curated the campaign to their requirements and helped them prepare their pitch deck and schedule calls with potential investors. We have a firm belief in their products and are witnessing some immense responses to the campaign, which just makes us work harder for the next phase of the campaign”.

Ginika, CEO, and Founder of Ginik Fashion, appreciated the work of the fintech platform and said, “Marquee helped us in making several introductions within their investor ecosystem, they are very active, professional & trustworthy. Great team to work with. We are looking forward to converting conversations into investment opportunities soon”.

Marquee Equity’s success in raising funds for early-stage startups and SMEs comes from their time-tested methods, which are optimized by leveraging the power of technology. Marquee believes in using technology not to change the dynamic between investors and businesses, but rather to be the appropriate bridge between them.

By matching each entrepreneur with the ideal investors, Marquee Equity seeks to maximize the company’s fundraising efforts. The fintech platform works with businesses of all sizes,

from conception to pre-IPO, with check amounts ranging from $100,000 to multibillion-dollar private equity firms that raise money from limited partners. For Ginik, Marquee also lent its support in the documentation and the startup’s founder also looks forward to dipping into Marquee’s network of investors for future rounds again someday.

SME Finance Forum 2023 commence their 9th edition of the Global SME Finance Forum 2023 in Mumbai

Mumbai, 13 September 2023: The SME Finance Forum, a dynamic platform fostering SME financing, kick started its three-day conference today in Mumbai. The theme for this year’s event is, “Digital Ecosystems and the Future of SME Finance”. The conference is co-hosted by Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) and Indian Bank’s Association (IBA). Over the three-day, 700 participants will attend the event from senior bankers, tech luminaries, to thought leaders from 70 countries and 250 institutions, to discuss digital ecosystems and future of SME finance.

The conference began with the auspicious lighting of the lamp ceremony by the Chief Guest of the event, Dr Bhagwat Kishanrao Karad, Hon’ble Minister of State, Department of Finance, Government of India.

Dr Bhagwat Karad, highlighted that, “MSME plays a very important role in the development of the Indian economy. Currently around 6.3 crore MSME enterprises are working in India and have generated around 11.1 crore employment opportunities. Around 30% of GDP comes from MSME and the growth rate every year is 10 percent.”

He further added that, “The government of India under the leadership of Hon’ble PM Narender Modi has been proactive in removing hurdles for the SME sector, and together with the banking sector, we strive to make financing easily accessible to fuel the growth of these vital enterprises.”

During the fireside chat session themed Digital ecosystems for the future of SME finance & financial inclusion, Mr. Nandan Nilekani, Co-founder and Chairman of the Board, Infosys, said “SMEs are the biggest beneficiaries of Digital Public Infrastructure (DPI). India is building public trails to access credit and market-benefiting SMEs. More than 50 million merchants are opting for digital mode of payment. Digitization helped us generate balance sheet quicker as all the financial details like invoices, transactions, tax credits are easily accessible. Digitization also reduces the turnaround time to get loans. In the next 5 years at least 50 countries are going to implement DPI..”

Mr. Dinesh Khara, Chairman, SBI, who joined virtually in the session titled Unlocking the potential of digital platforms for SME financing said, “In the last ten years, we have witnessed a significant transformation in our bank. There has been a prominent shift from a collateral-based lending model to a data-based lending, which has further assisted us in reducing the bank’s overall operational costs. Digitalization has also helped vendors in making faster and more convenient payments, streamlining the MSME loan process. Additionally, digital platforms have been instrumental in catering to the needs of SME customers and creating value for them.”

Ms. Shalini Warrier, Executive Director, Federal Bank said during that same panel, “In the past, banking operations were primarily conducted manually. However, in recent years, a significant evolution has occurred, with digital technology taking the lead in the sector. One of the notable advancement is the convenience of online is payments through QR codes provided by UPI apps. Nowadays, a substantial portion of transactions occurs digitally on a daily basis, surpassing other traditional payment methods.”

Thampy Koshy, CEO, ONDC, Matthew Saal, Principal Industry Specialist, IFC, and other eminent speakers discussed the role of marketplaces in the SME finance ecosystems. Key issues faced by the MSME sector in terms of flow of credit, ease of doing business and market facilitation were addressed and solutions through use of digital technologies were also mentioned..

Lastly, six SME finance innovators demonstrated their technologies and explained their potential to change SME finance. The fintech invited to pitch were: 360tf, Builder.ai, CredAble, ShopUp, Topicus, Uplinq Financial Technologies

Commenting on the Global SME Finance Forum 2023, Mr. Sivasubramanian Ramann, Chairman & MD, SIDBI, said, “I am grateful for the opportunity extended to SIDBI for hosting such a prestigious event that has witnessed tremendous participation of industry stakeholders across the world and encouraged discussions on very relevant issues and trends on the SME Sector. With India taking the presidency of the G20 for the first time, the country’s views, and outlook on the MSME sector is of significance for the world. The strides made by the Government of India in developing a robust digital infrastructure and the consequent digital innovation by various players in MSME credit domain needs to be discussed, encouraged as also celebrated.

Mr. Qamar Saleem, Incoming SME Finance Forum CEO, said, “I am thrilled to see the level of participation and richness of discussions during first day of Global SME Finance Forum here in Mumbai. We have more than 700 executives representing more than 70 countries and 250 institutions gathered here. It is also fitting that the event is hosted by India which is at the cutting edge of digital infrastructure and innovations steering SME finance. I am really excited as the event unfolds which would feature over 90 speakers across 15 panels, 10 study tours to leading institutions in India, our flagship SME finance annual awards, and brainstorming sessions on key thematic game changing topics. It has been a privilege to partner with SIDBI, IBA as cohosts and SBI as Diamond sponsors to the event and we thank them for all their support. SME finance Forum and IFC remain committed to supporting the private sector globally in playing a catalytical role to support SMEs as they drive economic growth and create jobs”

Recordent Launches Credit Registry, Revolutionizing Non-Banking Payment Reporting

Hyderabad, 13th September 2023: Recordent, India’s pioneering credit and payment reporting platform, proudly announces the launch of its revolutionary Credit Registry. This dynamic non-banking payment reporting platform marks a transformative leap in fostering financial transparency and empowering businesses to make well-informed credit decisions.

Traditionally, credit assessment systems like CIBIL focus on analysing credit behaviour within the banking sector, including loans and credit card usage. However, Recordent’s Credit Registry reimagines this approach by scrutinizing a business’s creditworthiness through its non-banking credit activities, with a particular emphasis on B2B payments.

The Credit Registry empowers sellers to report invoice and payment data, enabling the compilation of a comprehensive B2B credit report for buyers. This invaluable information streamlines the decision-making process. Importantly, once buyers are reported to the Credit Registry, notifications are issued directly from Recordent, sensitizing them to the consequences of non-payment or delayed payment and their impact on their B2B credit profile.

Recordent’s Credit Registry is not just about data; it’s about cultivating a culture of financial responsibility. By educating buyers on their credit obligations, it fosters a robust financial ecosystem where trust and reliability among businesses flourish.

On the launch of its newest platform, Mr Winny Patro, CEO and Co-Founder Recordent Pvt Ltd said, “Celebrating the dawn of a transformative era, the launch of the Credit Registry platform marks a pivotal moment at Recordent. Businesses utilizing Recordent’s Credit Registry have witnessed a remarkable 25% enhancement in their collections. Statistical data indicates that, owing to the Recordent Credit Registry Platform, 50% of collections are received punctually, with an impressive 87% seeing substantial improvements in collections post-platform notifications. This revolutionary tool is set to redefine the landscape of credit management in India.”

At its core, Recordent’s Credit Registry aims to enable businesses to meet & improve their financial responsibility. The Registry compiles buyer data from multiple sellers. When a seller seeks to partner with a new buyer, they can review the buyer’s credit profile upfront. This enables informed decisions on collaboration. Recordent’s credit registry also sends payment notifications when a seller reports a buyer, educating them about late payment consequences. This encourages timely payments and speeds up debt recovery. Ultimately, this fosters a robust financial ecosystem where businesses trust and depend on each other confidently.

PLANET app by L&T Finance crosses 5 million downloads

Mumbai, September 13, 2023: The PLANET (Personalised Lending & Assisted NETworks) application by L&T Finance (LTF), a retail-focused digitally enabled non-banking financial company, has reached a remarkable milestone of more than 5 million downloads. The application has facilitated business totalling over Rs. 2,300 crore and collections of over Rs. 440 crore. So far PLANET App has served more than 75 lakh transactions from across the country and has enabled fully digital disbursements in both rural and urban areas.

The PLANET App, launched in March 2022, was designed with a vision to provide seamless, secure, and user-friendly access to a diverse range of financial products and services to our rural and urban customers alike. Through its commitment to being a ‘Fintech@Scale”, LTF has consistently delivered best in class solutions to its wide customer base.

Mr. Dinanath Dubhashi, Managing Director & CEO of L&T Finance Holdings Ltd. expressed his delight in\ reaching this milestone and said, “The overwhelming response to the PLANET App is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our team. We are thrilled to see how our App is helping our customers to manage their finances within the comfort of their home on the go. More importantly, we now have more than 5 lakh rural women and over 95,000 farmers using the application for fulfilling their servicing needs digitally. Our focus has always been on providing the best user experience and delivering innovative financial solutions. Looking ahead, we will continue to refine and expand the PLANET App’s offerings by introducing new features and ensure that it becomes one stop shop for availing finance digitally in India. With the Company’s unwavering commitment to excellence, the next milestone of 10 million downloads seems well within reach.”

PLANET App is one of the highest-rated finance Apps on Google Play Store and Apple App Store with a score of 4.3. The App’s success can be attributed to its simplicity, comprehensive features, and commitment to customer satisfaction.

The App has been successful in achieving the Company’s broader vision of driving financial inclusion and empowering individuals from diverse backgrounds to achieve their goals while catering to their financial needs. By leveraging the power of technology, the Company has been able to reach millions of users, including over 6 lakh in rural and remote areas, making a positive impact on their lives. The Rural Group Loans & Micro Finance business which went live on the App recently has already generated nearly 6000+ leads of which over 4500 leads are fresh.

As the financial landscape continues to evolve, PLANET App stands as a shining example of how technology can empower individuals and simplify the complexities of finance, catering to the needs of millions