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Green shoots for early-stage startups in Hyderabad to build on the cloud, despite economic uncertainty

Hyderabad, 22 February 2023: Global venture capital investment in 2021 doubled over its previous year. However, this rapid growth decreased in 2022, led by a contraction in both deal volumes and values globally. Startup ecosystem market intelligence platform, CB Insights[1] reports that in India, funding and deals decreased consecutively across quarters in 2022. However, despite the retrenchment in funding, in India the early-stage deal share held steady at 74% in 2022, same as in 2021.

India has the third largest startup ecosystem in the world, with over 91,000[2] government recognized startups, many of which are located in tier two and three cities. With over 4,500[3] tech startups, Hyderabad is emerging as one of the major hubs for startups and founders to begin their entrepreneurial journey. Born in the cloud, startups in Hyderabad are innovating and building solutions to address the unmet needs of people across the world.

An example of this is OneMoney, India’s First Account Aggregator, licensed by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), that offers a secure data sharing solution to financial institutions. Founder & CEO of OneMoney, Krishna Prasad says he chose to build the fintech startup in Hyderabad because the city offers strong infrastructure support, with a cosmopolitan atmosphere, growth opportunities, top talent accessibility, availability of funds from leading investors and help through government-led initiatives.

Built on Amazon Web Services since Day 1, OneMoney was launched into production in 2021, “OneMoney offers consumers more control over their financial data, through our consent management platform. We work with India’s leading financial institutions, including the public and private sector banks, and enable them to safely share and receive consumers’ data. AWS is designed to provide a stable, reliable and secure technology infrastructure that enables us to serve millions of customers in India. By using the capabilities and managed services provided by AWS, we have scaled to over two million customers in two years, and gained a ~45% market share. AWS also helped us to optimize our technical infrastructure to significantly reduce cloud spend by as much as 25%.”

“AWS contributed to our early stage success through the AWS Activate program, which provided access to AWS credits, cloud services and trainings, and also, by facilitating networking opportunities that helped increase our business and customer base,” added Krishna Prasad.

The fintech uses more than 20 AWS technologies, ranging from basic compute and storage to database and architecture options. With more than 200 fully featured services, AWS offers the broadest and deepest set of capabilities of any cloud provider.

On 22nd November 2022, AWS announced the launch of India’s second AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region, which provides customers with more options to run workloads with even greater resilience and availability, securely store data in India, and serve end users with even lower latency. The new AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region is estimated to support an average of more than 48,000 full-time jobs annually through a planned investment of more than $4.4 billion (approx. INR 36,300 crores) in India by 2030. The construction and operation of the AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region is also estimated to add approximately $7.6 billion (approx. INR 63,600 crores) to India’s gross domestic product by 2030.

“The AWS Asia Pacific (Hyderabad) Region will provide us, and other fintech startups, with greater disaster recovery and resiliency support,” added Krishna Prasad.

Amitabh Nagpal, Head of Startup Ecosystem, Amazon Web Services India Private Limited (AWS India) says AWS is deeply committed to supporting the local startup ecosystem to grow despite the challenging economic environment, “AWS enables startups to tap into the cost effectiveness and flexibility of the cloud to experiment at a greater pace despite lean resources, fail fast with low financial impact, adapt, and recover easily. This creates a low-risk environment that spurs curiosity, innovation, and growth. There has never been a better time to build a startup in Hyderabad. Born in the cloud, OneMoney exemplifies how startups can use a broad range of programs, tools, and applications provided by AWS to achieve scale and at the same time, optimize cloud costs.”

AWS supports local early-stage startups and founders by providing them access to a network of over 60 ecosystem enablers in Hyderabad, including incubators, accelerators, venture capital firms, angel investors, and others.

Endiya Partners, a leading venture capital firm based in Hyderabad, India, invests in promising technology startups across Software as a service (SaaS), healthcare, fintech, and deeptech sectors. Sateesh Andra, Managing Director at Endiya Partners says, “We focus on helping startups reach their full potential, and have seen many of our portfolio companies, such as Darwinbox, Kissht, Zluri, Qapita, Scrut Automation, and others, benefit from their collaboration with AWS. At Endiya, we recognize the pivotal role that cloud technology plays in the success of startups. AWS provides comprehensive support to startups through its AWS Activate program, customer success initiatives, cloud infrastructure, and ecosystem support. We look forward to our continued collaboration with AWS to support the growth of the startup ecosystem in Hyderabad and beyond.”

Background:

AWS provides early-stage startups with access to AWS Activate program, which offers AWS credits, services, trainings, and resources, such as ‘AWS Activate Console’, a personalized hub of tools, resources and content designed to support startup founders. The program also offers a collection of production-ready infrastructure templates, to help startups ‘Build On AWS’ in minutes. Other initiatives, such as AWS Well-Architected Framework offers startups guidance aims to ensure that their architecture is well established, secure, and ready to support scale as the startup grows. Tools such as AWS Cost Explorer and AWS Trusted Advisor enable startups to self-manage their cloud consumption and optimize costs.

Over the past two years, Amazon has provided more than US$2 billion in AWS Activate credits to help early-stage startups launch their businesses and accelerate their growth. With this help, startups are using scalable, reliable, and secure cloud services like compute, storage, database, analytics, Internet of Things, machine learning, and many others from AWS to scale their businesses.

Why should you consider buying a property during its ‘new launch’ phase

 By Gunjan Goel, Director, Goel Ganga Developments

Pre-launch refers to the period when the building project is announced. It is definitely a good proposition for the buyers and even investors to purchase the property in its pre-launch stage. Many developers offer pre-launch properties to raise funds before final approvals. This way, they avoid having to borrow money from the market at a higher interest rate. Because the property hasn’t been built yet and you’re unsure of the final design, there may be some risks involved. However, there are many advantages to buying a property in the pre-launch phase.

Some of the benefits are listed below.

• 1. Customised Choices

When you buy a property in its launch phase, you get to make your own choice with respect to the desired floor, unit, view, direction, and much more. Buyers can also get interior modifications at this stage. This brings the dream home or workspace closer to expectations. Once the building is fully done, making changes is not easy. There are clearly more choices available during this phase and compromises can be avoided.

• 2. Smart Investment

Buying a property in the pre-launch phase opens up the opportunity to get the best return on investment. We can take the advantage of price escalation that trickles in after pre-launch. Once the building is up for possession, the prices tend to rise. So if we plan to sell off, we can make huge returns. If we plan to allocate more funds to real estate investment, this is just the right phase to put in our money.

• 3. Enjoy Best Deals

During the initial phase of the project, real estate developers offer attractive prices discounts on pre-launched or new-launched projects to attract homebuyers and investors. If you are planning to invest or looking for a home, this is the best time to book your dream home at the lowest prices. So if you want to invest in a budget property, look no further than a new launch project.

• 4. SImplified payment options

Homebuyers can live the dream of owning a home without money constraint with the help of tax benefits that come along with taking a home loan. Several newly launched projects also have offers or schemes where homebuyers do not have to pay EMI until they take charge of the home, which can be a significant financial relief. Furthermore, if you buy a newly launched project, you will only have to pay the builders 20-25% of the total cost. Because the builder is responsible for paying the interest on the loan, it may motivate them to complete the project as soon as possible. This is another advantage of purchasing a property during its initial launch period.

• 5. Securing Property before the price hike

The other benefit of purchasing a property during Its launch phase is the privilege to block the price before the market opens and the rates go up. The unexpected price increase for properties following RERA certification is a fairly common occurrence in the real estate market, and the ability to pre-book and own a newly launched property is undeniably advantageous. Other factors such as rising demand for housing properties, infrastructure developments, rising labor costs, raw material costs, and revised laws all contribute to a property’s price increase; therefore, choosing a newly launched project will save you a significant amount that you can use for future expenses such as registration and interior design.

Spotflock CEO Sridhar Seshadri sheds light on thriving in a global slowdown at Startupedia ’23

Hyderabad, February 22, 2023: A panel of experts gathered recently for a discussion on “Strategies for thriving in a global slowdown” hosted by the Institute of Public Enterprise (IPE) at the 9th edition of Startupedia ’23 in Hyderabad. It covered among others, a discussion on “Decoding investor needs.” The event concluded on a high note with 100+ participants across the nation and an array of activities that provided the participants with a platform to gain insights and knowledge about the world of startups.

Startupedia is a fully mentored start-up event conducted annually at the Institute of Public Enterprise, Hyderabad. It is a 2-day event where the participants are groomed and mentored by some of the top industry experts to refine their ideas into viable business plans and get an opportunity to pitch their plans in front of a jury comprising industry experts and prospective investors.

Sridhar Seshadri, CEO & Co-Founder, Spotflock Technologies Private Limited, a deep tech company that specializes in AI, machine learning, and natural language processing, talked about focusing on investing in digital transformation, diversifying customer base, leveraging long-term relationships, embracing innovation, prioritizing cash flow and agility, increasing automation, and investing in talent as strategies for thriving in a global slowdown.

Participants gained valuable insights on how to attract investors to their startups. The panel discussion on “Decoding investor needs” discussed various aspects – identifying the different types of investors, understanding their motivations, and establishing trust and communication between investors and startups. They also discussed the importance of financial projections and their impact on investor decisions. They analyzed current market trends’ impact on investor needs and strategies. Participants understood how to communicate the value of a startup to investors effectively.

Following this, Startupedia ’23 had a mentoring session for participants and startups. The startup teams were divided into three panels led by Sridhar Seshadri and two others for mentoring. They provided an opportunity for the participants to receive conceptual clarity, which helped them fine-tune their ideas and business models for a better understanding on how to take their startup to the next level.

Prof. S Srinivasa Murthy, Director, IPE; Bhanu Prakash Reddy Varla, Founder, and COO, SagaVisions India; Charan Lakkaraju, Founder, and CEO, StuMagz; Rathnakar Samavedam, Investment Director and CEO, Hyderabad Angels; Subba Rao, Board of Director, Hyderabad Angels; Anubhav Tiwari, Head of Deeptech & Medtech, Incubator, amongst others, attended the event.

Baskin Robbins introduces delightful Cheesecake Sundaes!

Mumbai, 22 February 2023: The dessert dilemma is real. Dessert cravings come with big decisions to be made. So will it be a decadent cheesecake, a warm chocolate brownie or a mouthwatering ice cream? The list can be daunting, because when you do decide to give-in to indulgence, it better be worth it!

Baskin Robbins, one of the world’s most loved and largest ice cream chains is here to make those daunting moments of your life, a bit easier and much happier. Baskin Robbins, India has now introduced All New scrumptious Cheesecake Sundaes. These combine two individually loved desserts to create a magically drool worthy sundae experience where real gourmet cheesecake meets delicious ice cream and is topped up with delightful syrups and cream for that immensely satisfying dessert experience.

These Cheesecake sundaes are available in 4 fun variants:

• · Baked Cheesecake with Strawberry Ice Cream topped with strawberry sauce and whipped cream
• · Baked Cheesecake with Vanilla ice cream and Nutella Spread topped with whipped cream
• · Baked Cheesecake with Vanilla ice cream and mango sauce topped with whipped cream
• · Baked Cheesecake with Lotus Biscoff ice cream and butterscotch sauce topped with whipped cream

Each one is unexpectedly delightful and will leave you craving for more!

Drooling already? Head to the nearest Baskin Robbins and be ready to be #SpoiltforChoice!

Eaton showcases its high-performance and sustainable power management solutions at Elecrama 2023

Delhi, India. Power management company Eaton participates in the 15th edition of Elecrama 2023—one of the largest platforms to connect the electrical world in technology, new trends, and innovation in India, at India Expo Mart, Greater Noida from February 18th to 22nd, 2023. During the 5-day expo, Eaton will showcase their intelligent and sustainable power management solution products that include Low Voltage solutions, Medium Voltage Solutions, EV Chargers, Power Quality Products, and a range of Make in Indian products.

Commenting on Eaton’s presence in Elecrama, Syed Sajjad Ali, managing director, of Electrical Sector, India, Eaton, says, “Elecrama is one of the largest congregations for players from the electrical and power sector in India. This kind of platform plays a critical role in empowering organizations to explore the most recent product and technological developments in the market. Our participation exhibits Eaton’s commitment to delivering high-performance, safe, reliable, and sustainable solutions for the electrical sector.”

Eaton will demonstrate these technologies and solutions at Elecrama with a breadth of display of power products for use in buildings, businesses, manufacturing facilities, and other sectors. In addition, they will showcase their digital solutions, including Brightlayer, a software program that enables customers to access data, business insights, and digital solutions.

“As a technology leader, Eaton endeavors to ensure that its products and solutions meet the precise needs of the customers. In India, Eaton continues to expand its capabilities in both power quality and power distribution by introducing new products and solutions that address specific electrical power management needs of the country,” said Ali.

In a uniquely designed booth, Eaton’s showcase at this year’s Elecrama provides comprehensive product demos, opportunities to physically touch and feel the products, and digital overviews of product specifications, features, and benefits. All this reflects Eaton’s distinct power management capabilities and fosters tailored interactions that help Eaton design, engineer and build smarter machines.

Eaton is an intelligent power management company dedicated to improving the quality of life and protecting the environment for people everywhere. We are guided by our commitment to do business right, to operate sustainably, and to help our customers manage power ─ today and well into the future. By capitalizing on the global growth trends of electrification and digitalization, we’re accelerating the planet’s transition to renewable energy, helping to solve the world’s most urgent power management challenges, and doing what’s best for our stakeholders and all of society.

Founded in 1911, 2023 marks Eaton’s 100th anniversary of being listed on the New York Stock Exchange. We reported revenues of $20.8 billion in 2022 and serve customers in more than 170 countries. For more information, visit www.eaton.com. Follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.