Startup news and updates: daily roundup (September 1, 2022)

UOLO appoints Abhishek Bhatnagar as VP of Learning

EdTech platform Uolo has appointed Abhishek Bhatnagar as Vice-President of Learning. He will lead the UOLO team to create innovative learning products and incorporate edtech concepts into the school education system. 

Abhishek is an engineer from IIT Kanpur and holds a master’s degree in educational planning, economics, and international development from UCL, London. He started his career in global technology innovations. He subsequently turned to education to pursue his passion for driving impact at scale.

Pallav Pandey, CEO and Co-founder of UOLO, said, “UOLO works with K12 schools to bring technology-based learning programmes. We believe pedagogy and technology must come together to deliver scalable learning experiences that generate measurable outcomes. With his engineering degree from IIT and extensive training in education at XSEED, Lead, and UCL, Abhishek brings the perfect blend of technology and education to lead the learning at UOLO."

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[Funding alert] School communication platform Uolo raises Rs 20Cr led by Omidyar Network, Blume Ventures

Sarathy Srinivas is Head of International Business at WRMS

Weather Risk Management Services (WRMS), a pioneer in smart and sustainable farming in India, has appointed Sarathy S. Srinivas as Head of International Business.

Sarathy will head international business tie-ups for the company’s risk management vertical. He will provide direction to the company’s risk management and regulatory services that help financial institutions, insurers, and corporates understand, quantify, and manage their risk associated with weather (earthquakes, hurricanes, floods, and other weather events) and crop yields. This appointment is expected to be a significant catalyst for WRMS’ growth and customer centricity in the overseas market.

Sarathy is a micro and digital insurance expert with an experience of over 15 years in the insurance and technology sectors. He has steered a wide range of innovative micro insurance programmes across the globe in his decade-long journey at MicroEnsure and during his most recent stint as SVP – Strategic Partnerships at MIC Global. Sarathy will accelerate WRMS’ ongoing journey by enabling new international opportunities and partnerships with local partners, multilateral organisations, and reinsurers.

Capillary Technologies announces partnership with KPMG

Capillary Technologies, a B2B SaaS platform for customer engagement and loyalty, has announced a partnership with KPMG in India for loyalty and customer engagement solutions. Focused on delivering AI-based cloud native loyalty and customer engagement solutions to businesses, the partnership will include a certified and trained team of KPMG consultants.

In an increasingly changing world, brands are looking for new ways to interact and engage with customers by understanding their ever-evolving behaviour, preferences, and expectations. To support them through this navigation, the Capillary-KPMG alliance partnership in India will help businesses to look beyond discounts, offer a differentiated customer experience, and keep customers delighted at every touchpoint.

Zetwerk to appoint Sanjiv Rangrass to its board

Contract manufacturing platform Zetwerk Manufacturing Businesses has said it would appoint Sanjiv Rangrass to its board as an independent director and board member. 

Sanjiv has had a long and illustrious career of 40 years at ITC Ltd, where he joined as a trainee and became the CEO of the company’s agribusiness unit, before retiring in June 2022 as the conglomerate’s group head for R&D, sustainability, and projects.

Amrit Acharya, Co-founder & CEO, Zetwerk, said, “Rangrass has witnessed Zetwerk’s journey from its initial days and thoroughly understands the company’s business, growth, and culture. As Zetwerk marches forward on its mission to become the world's most preferred contract manufacturing platform, Rangrass will shape the company’s building blocks into long-term, sustainable engines of organisational growth.”

StrideOne crosses Rs 500-cr disbursal mark

StrideOne, a tech-led financial services platform for startups, has announced that it has crossed the Rs 500-crore disbursal mark in six months of inception. The company focuses on providing smartly designed customised financial solutions to MSMEs and supply chain partners of startups (anchors). It does this by leveraging data and AI to create risk-efficient, quick-turnaround, frictionless products aimed at enabling access to flexible and timely credit for MSMEs and startup supply chains, which are deeply underserved. Around 85% of disbursals made by StrideOne have been to MSMEs.

Abhinav Suri, Co-Founder, StrideOne, said, “Aligned with our larger mission of fuelling India’s entrepreneurial promise through financial inclusion, we at Stride knew the answer to this barrier to access to finance for MSMEs lies in technology. The unprecedented growth momentum we have achieved in our maiden year at StrideOne is a testament to the potential of tech-led credit distribution models. We are extremely bullish on doubling down this growth and are working towards diversifying our offerings to continue to enable India’s MSME success story.”

Sonu Sood to be brand ambassador of Dandera’s EVs

Sustainable mobility startup Dandera Ventures has announced that actor, model, philanthropist and humanitarian Sonu Sood will be the brand ambassador of its forthcoming lineup of commercial electric vehicles (EVs). Dandera recently announced that it would launch its first commercial EV in September.

Through this association, Sonu Sood will support Dandera in championing the cause and adoption of environmentally sustainable mobility and also communicate the brand’s values and its EVs' features and benefits to Dandera’s customers and other stakeholders.

Rezo.AI expands services in 10 regional languages

Rezo.ai, an AI-powered customer contact centre, has expanded its services in 10 regional languages. The expansion also aims to tap 260 million users in the rural areas of the country and personalise the interaction between the customers and the organisation.

Rashi Gupta, Founder and Chief Data Scientist, Rezo.AI, said, “Staying connected with the customers is the key to success for any business. Customer service in their preferred language can make them feel more connected and engaged with the organisation, resulting in an enhanced recall. At Rezo.AI, we help businesses personalise their customer service across the channels, whether it's voice, email, chat, social media, or WhatsApp.”

Barracuda names Chris Ross as Chief Revenue Officer

Barracuda, a cloud-first security solutions provider, has announced that security, storage and channel veteran Chris Ross has been appointed Chief Revenue Officer. He will be responsible for worldwide sales and partnerships. Chris joined Barracuda in 2015 as senior vice president of international sales and he brings over 30 years of technology experience to the company.

As the chief revenue officer, Ross will focus on accelerating the company’s growth trajectory across its geographic sales regions.

HealthifyMe announces public release of its flagship fitness plan “HealthifyPro”

Health and fitness app HealthifyMe announced the public release of its highly anticipated flagship fitness plan, ‘HealthifyPro’. Unlike other CGM solutions available in the market, HealthifyPro is a complete ecosystem and combines some of the most advanced technologies in the field of metabolic health to drive behavior change and weight loss.

It comes integrated with a Continuous Glucose Monitor (CGM), a connected Smart Scale, an 80+ parameter metabolic panel (diagnostic test), a panel of Doctors, HealthifyMe’s most elite health and fitness coaches as well as Ria, HealthifyMe’s AI assistant.

Close to 1 lakh people from across the country joined the waitlist to avail the plan since it was introduced in April. From today, the plan and its suite of devices will be available for everyone via the HealthifyMe app and HealthifyMe.com.

W Global, ABC initiate a strategic partnership for funding opportunities

Singapore-based W Global and Delhi-based ABC have initiated a strategic partnership to bring private market investment opportunities across their respective markets to a broader network of investors across Southeast Asia and India.

W Global is a company connecting startups and investors for both primary and secondary transactions within the Southeast Asian market. By providing startups with state-of-the-art equity management tools, including cap table management, ESOP management, and Virtual Data Room as well as advisory services, W Global has built a network of growing early-stage companies in Southeast Asia that rely on the company’s expertise to source investors.

W Global is on a mission to disrupt the fundraising experience for startups by reducing the fundraising lifecycle by 6X through an end-to-end digital ecosystem.

91Springboard joins hands with Google for Startups to launch “Level Up”

 91springboard, one of India’s leading coworking communities, announced collaboration with Google For Startups (GFS) to launch “Level Up”—a nationwide virtual accelerator programme that aims to enable women entrepreneurs in India to elevate their startups to the next level.

Combining key elements of business, tech, leadership and investment readiness, the accelerator programme offers mentoring, masterclasses, connections and relevant tools for women entrepreneurs to refine their models, enhance their leadership skills and prepare them to get investment ready in order to grow their businesses and gain access to capital.

Level Up aims to address the hurdles women entrepreneurs face by creating opportunities for personal and business growth, providing greater visibility and a national platform, and improving access to capital through investor connections. The programme is specially designed to support women entrepreneurs who are looking for access to reliable mentorship, peer groups, and other business related support.

(The copy has been revised with more news updates.)