Month: November 2022

Analytics and AI solutions company, Course5 Intelligence, has launched its first multi-year scholarship program for higher education – the Course5 Academic Scholarship Program in association with Swades Foundation, a Mumbai-based NGO working towards rural empowerment and development. The company initiated this program on Wednesday with the first batch of 40 scholarship winners from rural Maharashtra. The students will be mentored and supported throughout the duration of their chosen courses.

Launched under the company’s corporate social responsibility function called Course5 Cares, the current program will fund undergraduate and postgraduate studies in Engineering and Technology for capable students from economically underprivileged backgrounds. The visionary industrialist Jamsetji Tata once said, “What advances a nation or a community is not so much to prop up its weakest and most helpless members, but to lift up the best and the most gifted, so as to make them of the greatest service to the country.” This scholarship program enables Course5’s purpose which is to support talent that has high potential and give them the exposure, platform, and ecosystem to thrive. The program will seek to enable these students to be the best at what they do and work with the best companies in the world.

While the company will provide the scholarships, Course5’s employees will partner in this initiative by mentoring the students to become industry-ready. Course5 will also provide internship projects to the students and may hire them upon graduation.

The Course5 Academic Scholarship Program will be enabled by Swades Foundation. They will help identify deserving students with due diligence on their educational and economic backgrounds, ensure the funds provided by Course5 are used as intended and monitor students’ progress till completion of their studies.

Commenting on this initiative, Ashwin Mittal, Chairman and CEO of Course5 Intelligence said, “The privilege to get a higher education goes a long way in shaping a lifetime of opportunities for a person and the generations that follow. This aligns with Course5’s purpose of creating world-class talent and giving it an opportunity to thrive. We will provide both financial support and mentoring to these students. We believe that supporting students who are capable and who will go on to achieve professional success will create a ripple effect of growth and upliftment of their entire families and communities. We’re grateful to Swades Foundation for supporting our goals and ensuring the efforts reach the most deserving students. I wish every student the very best in their endeavors.” 

Mangesh Wange, CEO of Swades Foundation, said, “Providing equal opportunities to rural communities, especially to the young ones, is a must for the sustainable development we want to achieve for India! This Course5 Academic Scholarship Program powered by Swades Foundation starts with forty such aspiring children from rural Raigad to pursue higher education, achieve their dreams and contribute to the development of their families, village, and the nation. I sincerely thank Course5 Intelligence for their support and together we wish to reach many more needy rural students across India.“

Course5 Intelligence caters to many Fortune 500 companies across the globe. The company’s clients span Technology, CPG, Retail, Media, Telecom, Pharma & Lifesciences, and other sectors. Through various initiatives under Course5 Cares, Course5 seeks to create a meaningful and lasting impact on individuals, society, and the broader ecosystem. Over time, the scholarship program will be expanded.

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(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with NewsVoir India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same)

Start-ups growth in India has been lopsided. Small city founders, women entrepreneurs, young people face several hurdles due to lack of a mature ecosystem. To drive an inclusive growth, Vananam has organised a 'Start-up Inclusion Summit.'

BENGALURU, India, Nov. 25, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Vananam Ventures Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru-based alternative investment start-up, in an initiative to drive inclusive growth in the start-up ecosystem in India, is organising the 'Start-up Inclusion Summit' on 26^th November 2022 in Bengaluru.

Through this event, the start-up wants to bring all the relevant stakeholders together – industry, government and academia – to build an inclusive ecosystem in the start-up space. There is a lot that a start-up and the entire ecosystem can benefit from by being inclusive and by embracing diversity. To support the endeavour, Honourable Minister of Finance and Corporate Affairs, Smt. Nirmala Sitharaman, will be the Chief Guest at Vananam Start-up Inclusion Summit, 2022.

India has seen euphoric growth in the start-up ecosystem in the last two decades. But, this growth has been lopsided and confined to urban areas and gender bias still remains. Moreover,  now more and more youth want to walk the entrepreneurial path and leave an impact. The retail public, too, after becoming an active participant in the stock markets, is now enthused about investing in start-ups.

To facilitate inclusive growth, one needs to be provided with a strong stimulus and hurdles that impede the growth of diverse talent need to be removed. These startups face significant hurdles at every stage in their journey – be it ideation, validation, product creation, raising investments or simply finding the right talent pool, because the ecosystem is not mature enough to support their needs.

To address all these issues, Vananam Ventures have organised an event wherein luminaries from various fields will brainstorm on how they can drive inclusive growth in the start-up ecosystem and make Bharat the world's top start-up nation. 

Speaking about the motivation to do this event, Keshav Inani, Founder and CEO, Vananam said, “Wealth creation through new-age alternative investing instruments should not be confined to a few. Our mission is to make the process easy for all. At the same time, founders from across the country, irrespective of their location, gender or age should be able to blossom to their fullest potential. We find our passion in making their journey easy and it is our great privilege that the Honourable Finance Minister and several other eminent personalities are coming together to support this cause. We are truly humbled at the gesture.”

The theme of the Event: Inclusive Growth In Start-up Ecosystem

Areas of Discussion

1. Bringing retail participation in start-up investing
2. Nurturing women-led start-ups
3. Encouraging founders in Tier-II and III cities
4. Need for a unified platform to transform students into becoming entrepreneurs

In addition to the Honourable Finance Minister, several distinguished personalities from government, corporate world, start-up ecosystem and academia will be addressing the audience at the event.

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same)

Experts discuss investment roadmap and opportunities in Asia and the tech sector during the APAC Investor Forum 2022

Singapore, November 24, 2022 – Franklin Templeton hosted last week the APAC Investor Forum 2022, a hybrid event in Singapore that brings together a panel of investment experts from our collection of Specialist Investment Management teams to discuss the evolving macro environment that investors face today and the potential investment roadmap for the next decade.

Investment experts including Jonathan Curtis, Portfolio Manager, Franklin Equity Group, Ferdinand Cheuk, Portfolio Manager, Templeton Global Equity Group and Desmond Soon, Head of Investment Management, Asia (ex-Japan) / Portfolio Manager, Western Asset Management, shared their latest observations on key macro shifts and the upcoming risks and opportunities for investors.

Commenting on opportunities in the technology sector, Jonathan Curtis, Portfolio Manager, Franklin Equity Group, said:

“While we have seen challenges in consumer levered technology sector, we are big believers in digital transformation, and we see long-term opportunities across digitalization themes such as secure cloud and SaaS (software as a service) and artificial intelligence. Secure cloud services underlie all digital experiences, and we estimate that the cloud computing market will likely reach over $3 trillion in size. Despite some brake tapping, fundamentals appear generally robust in the enterprise technology sector. Even as the world is reopening, digital learnings from the pandemic are being operationalized and extended, with companies continuing to extend tech investments to other parts of their businesses to enable more efficient operations, and that is helping to drive general resilience in the B2B side of technology.”

Commenting on the outlook for Asia equities, Ferdinand Cheuk, Portfolio Manager, Templeton Global Equity Group, said:

“We employ a bottom-up valuation-based investment philosophy and we see compelling investment opportunities in Japan amongst Asian equities, especially with the yen causing dislocations in the market. Looking ahead, Japan’s economy should prove more resilient than most developed market peers in a recessionary scenario, given the tailwinds from the COVID re-opening, weakening yen, as well as supportive monetary and fiscal policies. From a sector perspective, we are focused on domestic companies and structural themes that may enable Japanese companies to remain resilient both in this current environment and going forward such as digitalization. There are a number of Japanese companies with competitive positioning along the value chain which includes semiconductors, IT services, software and systems integrators.

When it comes to Chinese equities, a selective approach is key as market volatility may persist in the near term. We are focused on domestic companies that will benefit from long-term thematic growth drivers including rising consumption and localization. For the rest of Asia, our focus is on dividend-paying companies with the solid balance sheets and strong earnings growth to help them achieve yield, stay resilient amidst macroeconomic headwinds and serve as a defensive element for our portfolio.”

Commenting on risks and opportunities in Asia’s fixed income markets, Desmond Soon, Head of Investment Management, Asia (ex-Japan) / Portfolio Manager, Western Asset Management, said:

“Fixed income, for the first time in decades, is offering a very sizeable income and yields are very attractive currently. Going forward in the next three to five years, fixed income is expected to offer good value. Buying high quality bonds for capital preservation, income generation and liability immunization is the way to go. Capital preservation, especially, has never been more important in a very uncertain world.

In terms of opportunities, Indonesia and India stand out as two key places to look at in the emerging world. Indonesia 10-year government bonds are seeing a 7% yield, and the Rupiah is also one of the top currencies this year. Similarly, Indian bonds are also looking interesting, with the yield of the 10-year Indian government bonds reaching over 7.25% yield as India emerges strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic and consumer confidence in the country is high. It is important to consider that a lot of Southeast Asian and South Asian countries will also benefit from the China Plus One strategy of diversification.”

Andromeda Loans proudly announces that it has reobtained ISO certification for the optimal management of its information security under ISO 27001:2013, in September 2022. This certification has been issued by the International Standards Organization (ISO), after a rigorous evaluation process conducted by a third-party assessor, Pyramid Certifications LLP.

Andromeda has been recognized for its management system for information security that supports the loan distributor’s business processes. The scope of certification also includes its other functions including information technology, human resources and admin operations in Mumbai.

Andromeda Sales and Distribution Private Limited is India’s leading distributor of loans, along with mortgages, and other financing and financial instruments such as credit cards, home loans, unsecured business loans, and car loans. The company is headquartered at Mumbai and has a strong presence pan-India with 1,000+ branches and 25,000+ partners. Established in 1991, it enjoys ‘the top 3 most-preferred channel partners for loans’ for banks, NBFCs, and fintech’s in the country.

Besides, ISO 27001:2013 is globally known and internationally accepted as a standard for organizations of all types and sizes to implement an effective information security management system. The certification defines the requirements that Andromeda has fulfilled when it comes to establishing, implementing, and maintaining information security. It also specifies requirements for the assessment and treatment of information security risks that the organization has customized.

Its executive chairman, Mr. V Swaminathan, said, “Gaining ISO 27001:2013 accreditation enhances Andromeda Loans’ dedication to create and maintain industry-leading information system management systems. It shows we have been able to follow the best industrial practices and processes for handling information. I would like to thank all the employees at Andromeda responsible for helping us achieve this feat yet again.”

For more information on personal, home and business loans, visit Andromeda Loans. 

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India’s leading strategy firm with nation-building at its core, Primus Partners, in partnership with ASSOCHAM, unveiled the report titled ‘Futuristic Technologies: Is India Ready?’ at the Futuristic Technologies Seminar organized by ASSOCHAM in Kolkata on Friday, in the presence of Shri Randhir Kumar, Secretary, Dept. of IT & Electronics, West Bengal, & Managing Director, WEBEL. The report stated the rising urgency for various stakeholders including state governments to adopt policies that support the inclusion of futuristic technologies as it would be key to creating a gigantic impact on multifarious sectors. As part of the report, Primus Partners and ASSOCHAM conducted a survey where 90% of respondents agree that futuristic technologies will be important for India in the coming times and 79% of respondents believe that the gigantic impact on BFSI, Healthcare, Retail, and Manufacturing sectors will be led by their steadfastness in adopting these technologies and optimizing its usage for sectoral growth.

The report charts a comprehensive analysis and recommendations for integrating government policies and new-age digital technology such as Blockchain, AI/ML, Web3.0, Cloud, and Metaverse to reimagine strategies for newer experiences and improved ways of conducting business. The day-to-day impact of adopting these new-age technologies will be an absolute game changer and have an overall positive effect on the mass as 97% of respondents surveyed across India believe that futuristic technologies will make life easier and save time and cost. Moreover, government initiatives like the Smart Cities Mission and Digital India programme have immense potential for incorporating IoT goods and services. It further highlights foreseeable challenges such as understanding the technology, cyber-attacks, and internet speed in the country. However, India’s favourable demographics, growing economy, availability of talent, the 5G rollout, a large start-up ecosystem, and smartphone penetration will become powerful tools to combat them and find meaningful solutions for an elevated experience.

Expanding its horizon to other sectors, ASSOCHAM and Primus Partners’ report also highlighted the importance of strategically shifting towards futuristic technologies for the rapidly growing fintech industry given its revolutionary prowess to transform the growth of the country’s GDP. While India currently has more than 6636 fintech start-ups and 21 unicorns, collaborations with banks, insurance firms, and the retail sector will increase their influence and radically transform the Indian banking and financial industries. Moreover, operating through various business models, its impact has trickled down to the e-commerce industry as it continues to bloom further by offering customer-centric offers, ease of use, and availability of personal and commercial transactions globally. To expedite the friendliness of e-commerce platforms, an important step will be to adopt Big Data for incorporating analytics-driven decision-making mechanisms. The statistics highlight the immediate need for drafting a policy framework on the ethics of data for ease of implementation of such technologies in public and private organizations. 

Sharing his insights on the report, Devroop Dhar, Managing Director, Primus Partners said, “With more than 450 active start-ups in the Web 3.0 domain, the sector is steadily growing in India. We will need to plan, implement, and employ next-generation technologies such as web computing, artificial intelligence, smart cities, blockchain, and the internet of things to yield the maximum benefit. These technologies will also become an important part of swift and efficient governance. The survey we conducted revealed that 93% of respondents believe in the increasing need for governments to adopt futuristic technologies for citizen service delivery. This process may then be enhanced for a choice-based proactive service delivery model based on family ID. The arrival of 5G will boost India’s adaptability to these technologies given its high bandwidth, low latency, and highly reliable communication system.”

Commenting on the role of consumers and governments driving growth through technological breakthroughs, Perminder Jeet Kaur, Senior Director – East and North East and National Coordinator for the National Task Force on Ayush &  Early Child Education, ASSOCHAM said “We, as consumers, have played a critical role in maximizing the impact of these technologies by adopting technology-led innovations and allowing tech enablers to collect more data for customized and improved experiences. India, today, is well positioned to consolidate its position as a global leader in the era post the fourth industrial revolution owing to one of the world's youngest labour forces and a significant amount of technical aptitude. With the right combination of regulatory frameworks, India can lead this technological revolution.”

In the last ten years, technology has made incredible advances that are still changing our world. Today, it serves as the foundation for all potential future growth and enables the building of a more inclusive and sustainable society. With more than 50% of India’s population under the age of 27, arises an important task for collaboration between institutions and industries to frame policies that encourage upskilling and training the youth of the country to thrive in these dynamic industries. 

 Enhanced access and management of hybrid data will accelerate PTT Oil and Retail Business's creation of Thailand's first ever integrated retail and fueling customer experience.   

SINGAPORE, Nov. 22, 2022 /PRNewswire/ — Cloudera, the hybrid data company, today announced that Thai oil and retail corporation PTT Oil and Retail Business Public and Company Limited (OR) has chosen Cloudera to create the country's first ever integrated retail and fueling customer experience through the enhancement of their data analytical capabilities. OR is taking steps to implement the Cloudera Data Platform (CDP) to power its new data and analytics platform that delivers insights, providing OR with a clearer view of their customers while enhancing customer engagement by offering a unified and personalized experience across OR's 1,900 gas stations and 3,000 retail branches. This optimized use of data analytics will also drive the overall transformation of OR's digital infrastructure, enabling the company to leverage new technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and geo-analytics to accelerate operational processes.

The consolidation of Petroleum Authority of Thailand Public Company Limited's oil and retail businesses to form OR has brought the management of linked businesses, such as cafes located at gas stations, closer together. Customers' interactions with OR's business subsidiaries across multiple touch points generated vast amounts of data to map the customer journey and develop integrated and personalized omni-channel experiences for its digitally savvy customers. These customer insights would also inform future marketing and promotional strategies to expand OR's local business presence. To leverage this data in achieving higher business growth, OR needed a flexible, efficient and secure solution to manage their enterprise data in a new analytics platform that serves as a single source of truth and to democratize data access to their employees spanning different business units for analysis.

OR is working with Cloudera to design and migrate their existing data platform onto Cloudera's hybrid data solution. OR has selected CDP as the best fit solution to speedily access and manage their data stored across their various cloud and on-premises environments, with the goal for full implementation by 2024. Key challenges that OR seeks to address include seamless and secure access to and delivery of structured and unstructured data stored across multiple environments, organization and scale of data across the data lifecycle, and integrated security and governance that will enable the application of new technologies such as geo-analytics and artificial intelligence to enhance operational processes. With the ability to tap on real-time insights, OR will be able to deliver personalized services by integrating offerings from its multiple business units and subsidiaries. This will also help reduce time spent on other business processes such as franchising, as the technologies could automate location leasing requests from franchise owners of OR's food and beverage businesses across Thailand.

“At OR, we see data as 'the new gold' and are glad to have chosen to work with Cloudera to implement the technology crucial for realizing our business strategy. We are interested in CDP's ability to harness both on-premises and cloud-based data, which makes it an ideal solution for our hybrid data architecture. With CDP, we are looking to build a platform to democratize our enterprise data and enhance our analysis, which will help us better understand our customers to create impactful and personalized experiences. This will also provide us with the right structured data to support new technological applications. We are looking forward to harnessing the full potential of hybrid data with Cloudera,” said K.Wison Suntharachan, Senior Executive Vice President of Corporate Strategy and Sustainability, OR

“Customers today are seeking more personalized, omni-channel experiences. Data is an important resource in creating these experiences, by providing the pieces needed to form a robust understanding of customers' needs and wants. OR's vast amounts of data, available through their businesses, provides the perfect opportunity. Cloudera is delighted to provide the platform needed for OR to turn this data into meaningful experiences for customers,” said Remus Lim, Vice President, Asia Pacific and Japan, Cloudera.

(Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with PRNewswire India and this publication takes no editorial responsibility for the same)