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Indian Beverage Bootstrapped Start-Up Gets Its Global Footprint in Two Years

Tencha- a Matcha green tea-based beverage brand, has ventured into the global market in just two years of operations. After registering a CAGR growth of 100% year on year and establishing a concrete market in India, the brand decided to launch overseas and listed the brand and its products on amazon.co.uk and amazon.de through which they are able to cater to 10+ countries in the UK and Europe.

With the Japanese superfood sourced directly from Shizuoka, one of the most popular regions in Japan for growing matcha, Tencha launched its operations in the year 2020. Attributable to the lack of good quality matcha in India, the brand was launched with an incentive to provide authentic and the best quality matcha tea to the customers, making it the only brand in India that is solely focused on matcha and matcha-based products.

Acknowledging the growth of the brand, Ashish Agarwal, Founder, of Tencha, said, “While the world around me was slowing down during the first wave of COVID, my mind was striving to create value. After realizing that there were a few D2C brands selling matcha but there were none that were focused solely on it, I knew it was time to deliver great matcha-based products in India- in the right packaging with quality ingredients. With the tea’s incredible health benefits and a plethora of use cases, this Japanese goodness isn’t a fad like Dalgona and brings more to life than an aesthetic Instagram reel.”

After extensive research and development, the brand kicked off with a Matcha Ice Tea ‘Iced Matcha Cold Blend’ in December 2020. At present, the brand has a novel product line that includes Ceremonial Matcha, Culinary Matcha and Drinkware. Owing to the ingredient’s high concentration of natural caffeine and L-Theanine, and its aptness to boost metabolism and burn fat, the brand has also newly launched its Matcha Pre-Workout.

Along with amazon.co.uk and amazon.de, Tencha’s products are available on the company’s website www.tencha.in and marketplaces such as Amazon and Flipkart.

Matcha is a versatile tea that comes packed with antioxidants, amino acids, vitamins and minerals, and is great for the skin. To boost energy levels, improve concentration, or simply enjoy a delicious and healthy beverage, matcha is a great option. With the innumerable health benefits of matcha, it can be made part of anyone’s daily routine.
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YES SECURITIES launches investor awareness campaign, Udaan for B30 Towns

Bangalore, February 10, 2023: To educate and empower investors in the B30 towns, YES SECURITIES, one of India’s leading Wealth Broking firms, has announced the launch of a new investor education campaign, Udaan in partnership with educational planning platform, Invest4Edu. Udaan aims to equip individuals and families, mostly young parents with the knowledge and tools they need to make informed financial decisions and take flight toward their financial goals.

As part of the campaign, YES SECURITIES and Invest4Edu will be jointly hosting a series of webinars and workshops designed to teach the basics of investing, budgeting, and financial & education planning in B30 cities starting with Bhagalpur in Bihar on February 12. Further, in February, the team will be traveling to ar Pradesh

These events will be open to the public, mostly young parents and will feature expert speakers from the company’s team and industry.

In addition, YES SECURITIES will be offering special promotions and discounts on its investment products during the duration of this entire campaign. These deals will be available exclusively to those who attend the company’s educational events.

“We are thrilled to launch this investor education campaign that will aim to help kickstart the financial planning journey of a lot of young parents in the country. The name Udaan signifies a flight toward one’s financial goals. As per latest data, total demat accounts account for only 10% of the total population whereas some developed countries have this as high as 50%,” said Anshul Arzare, Joint MD and CEO of YES SECURITIES. “We believe that financial literacy is essential for achieving long-term financial success, and we are committed to helping our clients and the community at large to achieve their financial goals. A new-age investor must focus on long-term wealth creation and the affluent investor must focus on preserving wealth along with risk-adjusted returns. We want to become partners in wealth creation for all our clients and we want this journey to be for everyone, not just Tier-I investors.”

“Less than 30% of Indian parents use money from dedicated education savings. To meet the aspirations of India’s youth bulge amid the rising cost of education it is imperative for every Indian parent to start education planning. Along with YES SECURITIES, we plan to reach out to people from 100 cities based in tier II, III, and IV through our on-ground activities in the next year. Our platform is built to democratize access to education, planning, and saving for every individual to plan their kids’ future financially and psychometrically which they truly deserve without compromising on lifestyle. It provides an opportunity to make better financial decisions towards the biggest outflow of 90% of Indian households which is funding the entire education of their children.” said Rozy Efzal, CEO Invest4Edu.

MMTC-PAMP introduces Digital Silver, creates holistic digital multi-metal system

Bangalore, 10 February 2023: MMTC-PAMP, India’s only London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) Good Delivery gold and silver refinery, has launched Digital Silver, a cutting-edge asset class that provides a secure, fast, and convenient alternative to traditional silver investments. This digital asset provides all the benefits of silver, with added benefits of transparency, 24/7 accessibility, assured purity, and a low entry point to silver investments, with no making charges involved.

While investing in digital silver with MMTC-PAMP, India’s leader in the precious metals ecosystem, investors are purchasing 999.9+, the purest silver that is fully secured and insured. Physical silver with 999.9+ purity, equivalent to the amount of digital silver purchased by the investor, is stored in certified bank-grade vaults, and audited by a third-party universal trustee. Best of all, digital silver can be purchased for as low as Re 1, enabling us to open up the market for micro-investors by lowering the entry point to silver investments. Investors have the choice of retaining the purchase within MMTC-PAMP’s secure digital vault or redeeming it later from an extensive range of exquisitely crafted 999.9+, purest silver coins and bars, which are delivered to their doorstep, directly. Moreover, digital silver is more economical due to the absence of making charges that are involved in the traditional way to purchase silver.

Speaking on the launch, Vikas Singh, MD, MMTC-PAMP said, “Being the most trusted leader in Digital Gold, we want to make sure we are continually improving our products to offer the best customer experience. With this launch of our next-gen app, we have created a whole new, innovative user experience for our existing Digital Gold and silver proposition. We are democratizing the way Indians buy Gold & Silver, breaking down barriers, and empowering all. Our Digital Multi-Metals platform enables investment for everyone, with the ability to buy the purest precious metals with any amount. With our platform, investors can buy digital gold and later redeem it for silver coins, and vice-versa”

“We have created a state-of-the-art UI/UX, ensuring that our customers have the best possible experience when transacting with these precious metals,” said Amul Kumar Saha, Chief Digital Officer, MMTC-PAMP. “Consumer preferences are clearly visible towards this convenient and safe way to purchase gold. Since the launch of the new app, daily transactions for digital gold have more than doubled, and we have also observed significant improvements across our consumer engagement metrics. We are excited to have launched Digital Silver, enabling easier access to the consumers to engage with this precious metal that is seeing a surge in demand across multiple industries,” he added.

The increasing demand for silver in various industries such as electronics and medical equipment is driving up prices and making it a valuable investment opportunity. Moreover, Silver is a proven hedge against inflation, which makes it an attractive investment option during times of economic uncertainty. This precious metal is a critical component in many sustainable technologies, such as solar panels and electric vehicles. As the world moves towards a greener future, silver is likely to become even more valuable.

Safe and secure, it eliminates the need for physical storage and is convenient. With MMTC-PAMP, one can easily buy and sell 999.9+ purest silver, from the comforts of their home, with the click of a button. Highly liquid with multiple entry and exit points, this offering by MMTC-PAMP can be used to build a silver corpus over time.

The launch of MMTC-PAMP’s Digital Silver represents a major milestone in the digitization of traditional assets and will provide a new level of accessibility and convenience for both individual and institutional investors. Digital Silver will provide investors with a new, innovative asset to add to their portfolios. We invite all investors and traders to explore this exciting new opportunity.

Bluelearn raises $3.5M in seed round led by Elevation Capital and Lightspeed

February 10th, 2023, (Bangalore): India’s first social learning platform, Bluelearn, today announced the funding of $3.5 Million in a seed round led by Elevation Capital and Lightspeed. The round also saw participation from Titan Capital, 2 am VC, along with angel investors Vidit Aatrey and Sanjeev Barnwal (founders of Meesho), Awais Ahmed (Founder of Pixxel), Vivek Mohan (Private equity), and others. This is in addition to the previous rounds led by Lightspeed and 100x VC.

The company was founded in 2021 by Harish Uthayakumar and Shreyans Sancheti while they were studying at BITS Pilani, Goa. Bluelearn started off as a telegram channel for students to help each other with common questions and today their app has over 150,000 members from over 5,500 colleges and startups across 20+ countries and is growing 30% month on month organically.

Bluelearn has also recently launched its internship and freelancing platform, Bluelearn Work – which matches the top 2% of community members with companies looking to hire exceptional young talent quickly. In under 2 months, BL Work has seen more than 1100+ companies and individuals post gigs and internships and more than 30k total applications.

Commenting on the fundraiser, Shreyans Sancheti, Co-founder, Bluelearn said, “People are at the core of everything we do, from our team to the entire community. With the new capital, we plan on accelerating our market expansion to newer and previously untapped markets in India and globally. By strengthening our core tech and product teams we will continue building impactful products that help people grow in their careers and lives.

Harish Uthayakumar, Co-founder, of Bluelearn added “Over our journey, we have witnessed that a lot of our community members have started companies together, started freelancing, found internships, made life-long friendships, and met mentors all on Bluelearn. The company is enabling previously unimaginable possibilities, and with this fresh round of funds, we will continue to grow”.

Most students and early working professionals don’t get the opportunity to explore interests beyond the academic curriculum or develop other aspects of their personality and soft skills in the current framework. Bluelearn helps in bridging this gap by providing holistic learning opportunities through the power of community. They host large-scale events like AMAs with top entrepreneurs, gaming tournaments, music concerts, and hackathons and have created micro niche communities such as the finance club, coding club, and 20+ more.

Amit Aggarwal, Principal at Elevation Capital said, “We are firm believers that the future of learning will be social, as learners are actively engaged and it’s just more fun in a collaborative setup. Bluelearn is uniquely building both a social network and a learning destination by bringing together communities of young learners, anchored around shared interest areas. We envision that Bluelearn will be the social learning destination for networking, upskilling, and discovering the first employment opportunity for Gen Z.”

Rohil Bagga, Investor at Lightspeed said, “At Lightspeed, we believe that the future of learning is social & community-based and have been fortunate to partner with Bluelearn from day one. Over the last couple of years, the platform has grown to become one of India’s largest digital communities of students, presenting its members with unique opportunities to learn new skills, connect with like-minded folks and participate in the formal workforce via gigs & internships. We feel excited to continue supporting the incredible team at Bluelearn in their mission to redefine the digital learning landscape!”

Bluelearn plans to use the funds to further strengthen the product and team as well as to grow their community user base by 10x within the year. The brand is actively hiring across functions such as product, tech, marketing, and operations and plans to almost double the team size by the end of the year.

Social Audit Network & EQUIPPP, to tap the Rs 25,000 crores CSR space with innovative solutions!

Hyderabad, February 10th, 2023: Social Audit Network (SAN), India, the Indian chapter of Social Audit Network, UK; has signed an MoU with EQUIPPP Social Impact Technologies Ltd. Its flagship offering “EQUIPPP Insights Exchange (ix)”, is an AI/ML-enabled marketplace for insights and impact assessments with end-mile connection spread across ~30,000 villages in India. The MoU was signed by Mrs. Latha Suresh, Director, on behalf of SAN India, and Mr. Sreenivasa Chary Kalmanoor, Director, on behalf of EQUIPPP, recently in Hyderabad.

This agreement facilitates EQUIPPP to provide tech tools to SAN India for a period of two years on mutually agreed terms. SAN, India, and EQUIPPP will jointly leverage mutual competencies and offer innovative solutions in the Rs 25,000 crores CSR spending space. The solutions range from impact assessment and social audit services to entities including obligated CSR agencies, non-profits, and social stock exchange ecosystems, through the tech platform of EQUIPPP Insights Exchange (ix).

The services being offered jointly by SAN, India, and EQUIPPP, hold great significance considering SEBI’s specification to social enterprises raising funds using Social Stock Exchange. These details are required under listing regulations of the SEBI circular numbered SEBI/HO/CFD/PoD-1/P/CIR/2022/120 released on September 19, 2022. Such social enterprises are expected to disclose Annual Impact Report within 90 days from the end of the financial year. This report has to specifically capture the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the social impact generated by the entity and where it is applicable, for the funds raised on SSE.

Celebrate the Season of Love with Senco Gold & Diamonds

February 10, 2023: Senco Gold & Diamonds, the largest organized jewellery retailer in Eastern India (based on the number of stores) is all set to make your Valentine’s Day memorable with ‘Perfect Love’ & ‘Love23’. Senco Gold and Diamonds rolled out the new campaign with brand ambassador Kiara Advani. Through the digital video campaign, Kiara Advani will be promoting newly launched Valentine’s Day special heart-shaped solitaire diamond jewellery collections – a perfect gift for loved ones.

To make this season of love more memorable and affectionate, Senco Gold & Diamonds launched special solitaire diamond jewellery collections – Perfect Love and Love23. Love23 Collection comprises of special heart-shaped solitaire. This enchanting range of intricately designed diamond jewellery will express more affection to your loved one. Each piece is carefully curated to capture the spirit of a modern love story. Another exquisite range of rarest hearts and arrow cut solitaires express the love that is true, selfless and authentic known as Perfect Love. The Hearts and Arrows diamonds are precision-cut and are certified by SGL Labs London and GemEx USA.

Expressing her views on the occasion, Ms Joita Sen, Director, of Senco Gold & Diamonds said, “Our aim has always been to bring out the best for our esteemed customers. To celebrate the season of Love, we at Senco Gold and diamonds are offering exquisitely designed solitaires and diamonds, which are a perfect balance of classic, yet contemporary approach and are specially crafted for gifting loved ones. The campaign featuring our brand ambassador Kiara Advani will help the people find the perfect gift for their better halves.”

To mark the occasion, Senco Gold & Diamonds has announced an irresistible array of offers on its jewellery collections. Special offers are available across all 130+ Senco Gold & Diamonds stores nationally and online. Also, Customers can buy jewellery using a monthly purchase scheme.

•  Up to 15 % discount on making charges for Gold Jewellery
•  Up to 100% discount on making charges for Diamond Jewellery
•  Up to 20 % discount on making charges for Polki Jewellery
•  Up to 30% discount on making charges for Platinum Jewellery
•  Upto 15% discount in gross value on Silver & Gossip Jewellery
•  10% discount on making charges for all Gemstones

KRAFTON, Inc. to open its first Canadian AAA game studio in Montréal

MONTRÉAL, February 10, 2023 – KRAFTON Inc., a collective of independent game development studios, is proud to announce today the opening of its first Canadian AAA game studio located in Montréal, Quebec. KRAFTON Montréal Studio will be led by Patrik Méthé, a prominent figure in the gaming industry with over 20 years of experience in leadership roles on some of the world’s most renowned franchises. 

A team of industry veterans including Benoit Frappier, Producer; Frédéric Duroc, Game Director; and Martin Paradis, Technology Director; has already joined Méthé. The studio is looking to hire 150 people in the next 3 years with key positions including animation, programming, and Head of HR. 

KRAFTON Montréal Studio’s first project will be the adaptation of the acclaimed fantasy novel series The Bird That Drinks Tears, created and written by Yeong-do Lee, who is widely acknowledged as the pioneer of the Korean fantasy genre. As one of the best-selling fantasy authors in Korea, Mr. Lee is an exceptionally imaginative writer who builds elaborate worlds and fills them with complex characters. 

The Bird That Drinks Tears has been loved by readers for the past 20 years for its elaborate worldview and three-dimensional characters. It is characterized by its unique settings and characters that exquisitely encompass the East and West, and it tells the story of four races, humans, Leckorn, Dokkaebis, and Nagas, which begin as they become entangled through events.

Since 2021, KRAFTON has been working on visualizing the world and characters of the novel to expand the IP of The Bird That Drinks Tears. In particular, the art book, prepared in November 2022 to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the serialization of The Bird That Drinks Tears, topped the weekly bestseller list of major Korean Internet bookstores within four days of pre-sale.

“We are thrilled to open our first Canadian AAA studio in Montréal, one of the world’s top cities for video game production. The local pool of creative and specialized talent is impressive, and we hope that many will join our team. KRAFTON Montréal Studio will be our third studio in North America and we have found a great leader in Patrik who has extensive experience bringing franchises to new heights,” explains CH Kim, CEO at KRAFTON, Inc.

“Our team is currently made up of seasoned talents with a proven track record of successful games. We share a common goal: to deliver the finest adaptation of the novel and to provide an exceptional experience to gamers. As a fan of medieval fantasy since my teenage years, I’m excited to bring to life a fantasy masterpiece as an ambitious and memorable game. We couldn’t be more thrilled to be a part of the KRAFTON family,” shares Patrik Méthé, Head of Studio, KRAFTON Montréal Studio.