Category: Startup
Calcutta Angel Network and Appliyifi back startup Vehico for providing automobile IoT solutions
Bengaluru-based Vehico that develop an Internet of Things (IoT) solution for the automobile industry has raised an undisclosed amount of angel investment from Calcutta Angel Network and Applyifi, an online platform for startup investments.
The fresh capital was raised in late October and will be used to strengthen the company’s product, scale up their technology infrastructure and for talent acquisition, to expand the team, Abhishek Chatterjee, the Founder and CEO of Vehico said.
Founded in early 2015, Vehico is owned and operated by Metaiot Technologies Ptv. Ltd. Before launching Vehico, Abhishek Chatterjee who graduated from the University of Calcutta has worked with IBM and Tata Steel.
Its flagship product, Vehico Fleet is a telematics-based fleet management and analytics solution which facilitates distance transmission of information that will enable automobile industry and users to remotely control and manage data in vehicles.
It offers fleet owners and car rental companies with real-time insights on the vehicle health as well as the driver behavioral patterns. This information data will allow the user to save money on fuel and vehicle maintenance which will avoid potential accidents.
“Using our predictive analytics enabled dashboard, they can plan, budget, forecast and allocate resources beforehand thus improving the overall efficiency,” Chatterjee said.
The company also offers Vehico Link, a hardware device that similarly collects and monitors the vehicle’s performance data ranging from driver to its surroundings. But the difference lies in part that it runs optimised edge analytics algorithms which will provide a precision point driver performance information.
“Within the next 2 quarters, we are coming up with advanced hardware, product improvements, and an API-based solution which anyone can integrate with their current solution. Our vision behind Vehico is to build a connected transportation ecosystem bringing better safety, security, connectivity and efficiency in the transportation industry,” Chatterjee said.
Vehico had received a small, first tranche of seed investment from the same angels in June this year.
About Vehico:
Vehico develops Internet of Things (IoT) solutions for the automobile industry. The company provides a one-stop solution to all fleet optimization problems through Vehico Fleet, an advanced fleet intelligence and data analytics suite designed for intelligent vehicle tracking, driver performance analytics, smart vehicle diagnostics and problem alerts.
For more information, please visit http://www.vehi-co.com/
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
DataStreamX raises US$465k to help businesses buy and sell real-time data
A Singaporean real-time data online marketplace, DataStreamX has managed to secure US$ 465,000 for its pre-series A funding on Sunday.
The round was participated by VC firm Wavemaker Partners, an incubator partner of Singapore’s National Research Foundation, JFDI, and an undisclosed angel investor.
Based in Singapore, DataStreamX’s marketplace contains data for weather, traffic, finance, ship movements, and more – in a single convenient platform.
The company help facilitates the flow of data, allowing businesses to monetize their data products while providing access to streams of new data sources for companies, developers, data scientists, academics and beyond.
It has an API for both buyers to stream data to their apps after they subscribe to it, and sellers to transfer data from their sensors to the platform and offer it for sale. The company profits through taking a cut in successful transactions.
Besides, DataStreamX also offers consultancy and training services for companies who are unfamiliar with how to get value out of their data and want to learn more about how to use their data.
This has become a big part of DataStreamX business – the startup provides an efficient way of organizing and analyzing your data and helps reduce the associated costs.
With this, troves of non-personal data, like real estate or advertising, can also share their collected information across border and industry.
“We’re building tools on three different fronts: a creation of data products, assessment, and consumption”, CEO of DataStreamX, Mike Davis said.
With the fresh funding, the startup will look into how it can help companies create useful products based on their data and bring them on its platform.
Besides, the fund will also be used for talent acquisition, to staff up on sales and marketing people as well as data scientists and data engineers.
“We want to develop a strong team of enterprise people,” Mike adds.
At present, the two-year-old startup has worked with more than 400 data vendors and 500 buyers on the marketplace, with 208 products listed.
For the coming year, DataStreamX hopes to reach annual recurring revenue (ARR) of US$702,000 by the time it’s ready for its series A, around Q4 of 2017.
Besides, DataStreamX also wants to create replicable use cases for the different industries and companies it serves. For example, financial data that helps fintech companies is currently a big part of the marketplace.
DataStreamX previously raised US$368,000 in seed funding from undisclosed private investors. The company is also a graduate of JFDI’s startup accelerator.
About DataStreamX:
With the vision to see an intelligent world where data flows between companies and across silos, DataStreamX works to help unleash the power of the world’s data and strive to provide a delightful marketplace experience that connects suppliers of data and consumers of data.
For more information, please visit http://www.datastreamx.com/
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
KFit, Guardian, La Juiceria Join BookDoc Activ To Give Rewards For Staying Fit
Combining walking with every Malaysians’ favorite cultural pastime – getting discounts, BookDoc is introducing BookDoc Activ, an excuse much needed to start your exercise plan.
This is a new collaboration where BookDoc will have an ongoing partnership with major retailers and service providers which share the same theme – that is three well-known healthcare brands in Malaysia, namely Guardian, La Juiceria and Kfit to reward BookDoc Activ users for their daily steps.
Users are required to hook the app to a pedometer application and start walking until they reach a daily step threshold. With accumulated points, they can then trade it for the offer they desire. Simply put, the app is an incentive for people to start living a healthier life.
Though BookDoc Activ is promoting the prevention is better than cure approach, the application designed by Dato’ Chevy Beh, a former Managing Director of BP Healthcare Group, BookDoc is originally intended to bridge the gaps in informational asymmetries and reduce inefficiencies in healthcare.
That is to say, BookDoc acts as a platform that can be used to help immediately connect patients in need with healthcare experts who can assist anytime and anywhere – its significance lies in the gift of time that can create a life and death difference.
But that is not all to Dato’ Chevy’s BookDoc as the application also serve another purpose, having partnered with Agoda in July, to help patients with doctor appointments that require traveling. With this feature, it can cater to the needs for booking a doctor’s appointment as well as the accommodation at the same time, through a single app.
Essentially, this function is because BookDoc recognizes that there is a big market of medical tourists. As Chevy puts it, “In this region alone, medical tourism is worth about US$6 billion. Medical tourists amount to about US$250 million in Malaysia, with around 850,000 tourists. In Singapore, there are also about 1 million tourists, generating about USD800 million.”
On a similar note, this region of medical tourism is also taken interest by another Malaysian startup, Smilelink Dental Group who intends to venture into this market of medical tourism as well, focusing on dental healthcare
Though looking back at BookDoc Activ, this new feature is a strategic one as well. As this move not only allows BookDoc to expand their target group since even healthy people now have a reason to download the app but the application through this access to a wider audience can create an awareness of the app among Malaysians.
Additionally, BookDoc has expanded its reach to Singapore, Hong Kong, and Thailand. And although BookDoc offers rewards, acommodation booking, and a healthcare platform, in the simplest terms, BookDoc, as a whole, is an online platform that aims to create a healthier Malaysia, addressing the public’s health problems.
“BookDoc’s objective is not only to provide a seamless platform and access to medical services but is also about taking care of healthy people, as much as we take care of the medically less fortunate, and we believe in rewarding them for staying healthy and active,” said BookDoc founder Datuk Chevy Beh.
The healthcare app is also planning to roll out more discounts with their partner in stages, so users can be on the look out for updated deals.
For more information, please visit https://activ.bookdoc.com/
Philippines To Have Its Own Shark Tank Style Funding Show – I’m In
For those who have enjoyed the seven seasons and 142 episodes under the ABC’s Shark Tanks, there is a new show that showcases entrepreneurs and their pitches as well, but with the backdrop set in the Philippines.
All caught on camera, the new show – I’m In – will feature local aspiring entrepreneur as contestants that will make business presentations to a panel of investors, who will later decide whether they are interested in investing or not.
The show will provide the platform and opportunity for entrepreneurs who have a great idea or solution to real-world problems but otherwise do not have the access to venture capital or a place to showcase their talent.
The format of the show is fairly simple, patterned after the United States Shark Tank. That is the entrepreneurs must introduce the investor panel their product, the amount of money they wish to raise and the valuation they demand. Afterward, it depends on the panel members if they wish to invest.
But beforehand, the contestant’s pitch and proposal is commented and questioned by the panel of investors who may ask tough questions about the business model. At times, the investor may even give a counter offer to the entrepreneur which may be lower than the valuation he or she is asking. But in the worst case scenario, where all of the panel members opt out, the entrepreneur will have to leave empty handed.
Despite that, participants of the show will definitely get a chance to market their idea to the world. That is a chance to become the next Breathometer, which since its Shark Tank experience in season 5, has secured an additional US$6.5 million in funding as well as a partnership with the prestigious Cleveland Clinic. But even if they don’t strike a deal with investors, the guidance and feedback received once adopted has seen most startups having a significant upside in valuations.
Additionally, the startup funding show will be hosted by Winston Damarillo, an enterprise transformation expert who is presently PLDT’s Capital Managing Director, and the Founder and CEO of digital and big data solution firms Amihan Global Strategies (AGSX) and Acalep. Winston Damarillo is also one of the co-chairman of OCEAN (Open Collaboration with East Asia New Champions), a biennial gathering of leaders across sectors in the Philippines.
“Our aim for the show is obviously to get this new breed of entrepreneurs to be funded by angel investors who are here because they have a very strong interest in supporting the next generation of entrepreneurs for the country,” Winston Damarillo, the host of I’m In said.
But as a whole, “I’m In” is created with the goal to create a funding event for indiepreneurs or people who are in businesses focusing on the creative economy such as those related to food, music, arts, fashion or technology like government transparency among others. Besides funding, the show could also help indiepreneurs get support in terms of mentoring
“At the same time, we are going to connect crowdfunding to venture funding.” Damarillo said. He noted the I’m In show is not about finding the next Facebook, Google, Uber, or Airbnb, but the next mass industry in the Philippines. “The goal is to fund hundreds of creative entrepreneurs which we think are severely underserved. They are industries that if we do well can accelerate and even improve the Philippines’ position as one of the fastest growing economies in Asia,” Damarillo said.
This is not the first time that a production house is launching a show based on the Shark Tank concept. India’s The Vault which aired in September is also based off Shark Tank. Furthermore, Shark Tank origins itself is also derived from a live funding TV show created by Sony Pictures in Japan in 2001 called the Money Tigers which was later renamed to Dragon’s Den.
Nonetheless, Philippines – I’m In is being crafted as a dual-screen show, intended to aired on TV and live stream online so viewers can interact and engage. The TV network that will carry the show has yet to be announced.
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media
ShopsUp, An Online-To-Offline (O2O) Shopping App Secures US$1 Million In Seed Funding
Following China’s Meituan-DianPing valuation at US$18 billion and KFit’s double acquisition of Groupon’s Malaysia and Indonesia operations. We now move to the O2O sector in India, as Bengaluru-based HyperKonnect Technologies Pvt Ltd has raised a seed funding of Rs 6.6 lakh crore (about US$1 million) for their O2O shopping app platform – ShopsUp.
Two individual investors have participated in this round of seed funding, which are the former president of Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd and present Southeast Asia CEO of Taojinjia, Yang Shu and VR Logistics Ltd’s managing director and promoter, Anand Sankeshwar.
Founded by serial entrepreneur Suhas Gopinath, the app allows shoppers to search online and shop offline from nearby areas. The application also showcases various deals available at neighborhood stores as well as push notifications that are customized according to the users’ search preferences and history.
Despite a boom in e-commerce as seen in Alibaba’s Singles Day Sales or the recent Black Friday sales, India’s retail market which is expected to hit US$1.3 trillion by 2020 has only registered a compound growth rate of 16.7 percent since 2015. Thus, this clearly shows the significance of offline shopping which still retains in the habits of the consumers in the world’s second-biggest smartphone market.
With this, ShopsUp aims to bridge the gap between online and offline shopping by becoming a virtual shopping companion to millennials. With a promise of getting “high on shopping”, ShopsUp targets millennials who still prefer the traditional way of shopping from brick and mortar stores, targeting them with exclusive offers and discounts from their favorite brands and stores.
An additional feature available in the ShopsUp app is that the startup awards loyalty points called ‘shots’ to app users when they shop at partnering stores. This offers instant gratification via rewards that they collect through purchases and even walk-ins in store, collecting loyalty points which can later be redeemed for offers at selected brands outlet.
Some of the rewards that can be redeemed include free movie tickets, cabs rides, spas, or gift vouchers. ShopsUp has also partnered with Uber to provide convenience for buyers with their shopping runs. Besides, other ShopUps’ partnership include Adidas, Pepe Jeans, and Van Heusen, among some.
“Indian millennials want to be rewarded for their window shopping as well as actual shopping behavior, and marketers want to capture these moments as and when they happen,” said Suhas Gopinath, the co-founder and CEO at ShopsUp, “Use of analytics also allows us to partner with top brands and local boutiques and provide them with customized solutions,” he added.
The ShopsUp app is currently available for the Android platform while the iOS version is slated to come soon. Ultimately, the plan for ShopsUp is to use the smartphone to help brand and retail partners with data on a consume’s decision-making habits and choices by telling them where to shop as well as incentivizing the shopper to buy more offline, guiding them to find the right store and desired product while helping shops increase their walk-in rates.
In closing, other startups are also growing in the O2O sector in India. Such as Fashalot, which in April this year, has secured a seed funding round led by YourNest Angel Fund and angel investor Rajul Garg. In the same month, hyperlocal fashion commerce portal Yufta has also raised an undisclosed amount of capital in their pre-Series A. With that, one of the challenges that ShopsUp will face is the competition in this crowded sector, especially India’s largest digital wallet player Paytm, who is also tightening its hold in the O2O commerce space with its acquisition of Near.in last December.
For more information, please visit http://shopsup.com/
By Vivian Foo, Unicorn Media