Tourism industry jobs take off after pandemic pain

June 13, 2023

Your wanderlust is helping with the recovery of jobs in a field severely impacted by the pandemic-related lockdowns. The travel and tourism sector has experienced a robust rebound, increasing its net workforce, a sign that it has emerged from the pandemic’s long shadow.

According to data collected by specialist staffing firm Xpheno, a collective of leading airlines, hotels, and tours & travel management companies has seen an increase in headcount of almost 11% since January 2023. The data shows that during the time, hotels added 3% net headcount, airlines gained 17%, and travel agencies added 10%.

According to Xpheno, this cohort dealt with attrition that ranged from 6 to 16 per cent during the time. Over 26,000 people have been hired in total gross terms so far this year (January–May 2023) across the bellwethers. Each working day of the year, around 175 resources were onboarded. On the other hand, the same was over 30,000 during the entire year of 2022. Based on the present trend, the cohort’s growth would be twice that of last year, with 90% of 2022’s net headcount increase already accomplished in the first five months of 2023.

This sector is set to create new jobs this year, said Xpheno co-founder Kamal Karanth. “The travel and tourism sector has clawed back to health after Covid hit in 2020 and early 2021. With the larger economic buoyancy in 2021, business travel resumed before personal travel, and tourism got their boost. The travel and tourism sector has been one of the steady contributors to active job openings over the last six quarters. According to the current trajectory, 2023’s travel and tourism talent growth is set to be twice that of 2022,” said Karanth.

ITC Hotels EVP (HR and L&D) Sanjay Bose said, “In the last one year, ITC Hotels has expanded its footprint across brands wherein about five properties with over 500 keys were added to the portfolio. This has created almost 1,000 job opportunities in the industry.”

ITC recently launched its properties in Goa, Dharamshala, Udaipur, Ahmedabad and near Jim Corbett National Park. Cleartrip HR head Ajay Sreedhara said, “We see a steep increase in hiring at Cleartrip. We have grown by about 120 per cent in headcount since January 2022 and with a line of sight of another 20 per cent increase in calendar 2023. While majorly investing in the tech and product space, we are also growing across categories, business development, and building capabilities.”

Location-wise, Delhi has seen the most demand for talent in the airline and tour and travel management sectors, while Mumbai has the highest demand in the hotel sector.

SaaS B2B platform Skills Caravan bags seed funding from angel investors

BRL Editor

June 12, 2023

Delhi-based technology startup Skills Caravan has raised an undisclosed amount in a seed funding round from a host of angel investors, including Abhishek Poddar (Macquarie Group), Paras Berwala (Investec India), and Deep Bajaj (Sirona).

The New Delhi-based startup will utilize the funds to expand its operations in the US.

Skills Caravan, a startup founded in 2022 by Sarita Chand and Dinesh Chaudhary, uses artificial intelligence (AI) to give individualized educational resources, streamlining organizations’ learning roadmaps and enhancing employee potential and job performance. It currently offers services to the financial services industry but intends to expand into other areas.

Before establishing Skills Caravan, Chand also co-founded Edupristine, a venture that aimed to bridge the professional skills gap and later received funding from Accel Partners and Kaizen Private Equity. Adtalem Global Education, a Fortune 1000-listed US-based company, acquired Edupristine.

Average flat sizes increase in top 7 Indian cities: Anarock

BRL Editor

June 12, 2023

Indian home buyers continue to prefer larger flat sizes, a trend observed during the COVID-19 pandemic when individuals started working from home and sought out bigger spaces, says property consultant Anarock.

“Before covid-19, apartment sizes were shrinking annually to meet the demand for compact homes prevalent then,” Anarock Chairman Anuj Puri said. “The central concerns were affordability and millennials’ preference for low-maintenance homes. 2020 saw an abrupt reversal of buyer preferences.”

The data reveals that the average flat sizes in the top seven cities have increased 7% over the past five years, from approximately 1,150 sq. ft. in 2018 to around 1,225 sq. ft. in Q1 2023. In 2022, the average flat size in these cities stood at 1,185 sq. ft., and in 2021 it was 1,170 sq. ft.

However, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) stands out as the only city where average flat sizes have decreased over the past five years, Puri states declining from 932 sq ft in 2018 to 743 sq ft in Q1 2023.

He said only 2020 had an annual increase in average flat sizes in MMR over 2019 of 21% during the five years. Since then, the size of homes in the area has decreased.

The average flat size increased the most among the top seven cities in the National Capital Region (NCR), rising from approximately 1,250 sq ft in 2018 to around 1,700 sq ft in Q1 2023. In response to the demand, developers in NCR are launching larger homes after closely monitoring it.

According to the data, Hyderabad boasts the highest average flat size at around 2,200 sq. ft. in Q1 2023, followed by NCR with approximately 1,700 sq. ft. Chennai and Bengaluru have average flat sizes of around 1,175 sq. ft. and 1,300 sq. ft., respectively. Kolkata’s average flat size is around 1,150 sq. ft., while Pune’s is approximately 1,013 sq. ft.

Though property prices are on the rise, people still want bigger houses. Except for MMR, where average home sizes decreased by around 20% over the same period, the top 7 cities saw an average rise in flat sizes of about 7% in the first quarter of 2023 compared to the same period in 2018.

When comparing annual trends at the city level, Q1 2023 saw an increase of 5% compared to Q1 2022, with NCR leading the growth with a 50% increase and Kolkata coming in second with a 44% increase. Hyderabad saw a 29% increase, Pune saw a 16% increase, Bengaluru registered an 8% surge, while Chennai and MMR saw decreases of 6% and 5%, respectively.

Andreessen Horowitz to open first international office in London

BRL Editor

June 12, 2023

US venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, a major cryptocurrency investor, said it would set up its first international office in London at a time when US regulators have increased scrutiny of the cryptocurrency sector.

The company said in a statement that the London office, which is set to open later this year, will collaborate with UK universities and help the development of blockchain technologies and startups. It added that it will be led by Sriram Krishnan, one of the company’s general partners.

Andreessen’s move comes as the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is taking legal action against cryptocurrency exchanges Coinbase and Binance for allegedly breaking SEC regulations.

“We’re thrilled to open our first international office in a jurisdiction that welcomes blockchain technology and is committed to creating a predictable business environment by pursuing regulations that both embrace Web3 and protect consumers,” said Chris Dixon, founder and managing director of Andreessen’s a16z crypto fund, which is setting up the office.

Dixon said the decision follows talks with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and other authorities for months. Web3 is a much-hyped vision of a future internet built on blockchain.

Sunak said in the statement he is “determined to unlock opportunities” for blockchain technology and “turn the UK into the world’s Web3 centre”.

However, Dixon said his company would continue investing in the US and work with policymakers there.

“We will remain heavily invested in the US. We continue to be committed to working with US policymakers and regulators to push for more regulatory clarity for crypto startups here,” Dixon wrote in a blog post.

Though there are enormous opportunities with crypto and Web3, Dixon added in the blog post that the industry is still in its early stages.

“Technology takes decades to develop — we are just now seeing mainstream applications of AI after 80 years of development. We are in the early innings of crypto. Today there are tens of thousands of crypto developers, but the numbers are growing fast, and we expect to see one million developers by 2030,” read Dixon’s blog post.

Dixon claimed that one of the reasons in favor of the UK was the authority’s willingness to work with industry to create policies that incentivize startups to pursue decentralization.

“We have been working with policymakers and regulators across the globe, and during our discussions, it has become clear that the UK government sees the promise of web3, with Prime Minister Rishi Sunak suggesting the UK can become a hub of web3 innovation,” he wrote.

Andreessen has also invested in UK-based Gensyn, a crypto firm whose decentralized compute protocol is expected to enable developers to build state-of-the-art AI systems on any connected hardware, and their novel cryptographic verification system allows users to trust that the protocol’s machine learning work was completed correctly.

Better.com CEO Vishal Garg announces new round of layoffs, closes real estate unit

BRL Editor

June 10, 2023

The online mortgage lender Better.com laid off every member of its real estate team and reportedly shut down the unit in a new round of layoffs. According to a TECHLUSIVE report, Better.com CEO Vishal Garg, of Indian-origin, has laid off more than 4,000 employees in the United States and India since December 2021. It is unclear, though, how many staff will be impacted by the latest layoffs.

According to reports, Better.com planned to move from an in-house agent model to a partnership agent model.

Moreover, an impacted employee claimed they received “little to no severance, after getting a more than 50 percent salary cut in November to ‘ensure’ our jobs to come”.

Vishal Garg attracted criticism in December 2021 for firing 900 workers over a Zoom call. Following the option for employees to resign voluntarily in May 2022, Better.com received around 920 resignations.

In March of this year, Amazon and Better.com signed an agreement allowing Amazon employees to utilize their company shares to contribute to the initial payment needed for a mortgage. Better.com launched a program named “Equity Unlocker” that permits Amazon employees to use their vested equity as security, allowing them to make a down payment when purchasing a house.

“Even though equity is a valuable asset, it is considered ineligible by most banks and financial institutions when calculating the necessary down payment on a home,” Vishal Garg said.

The frequent layoffs at Better.com result from uncertain market conditions currently prevailing in the mortgage space creating a challenging operating environment.

Aponyx Electric Vehicles Expands Operations with New Manufacturing Plant in Surat, Gujarat

BRL Editor

June 9, 2023

New Delhi, 9^thJune, 2023 – Aponyx Electric Vehicles, a leading provider of electric vehicles in India, is pleased to announce the establishment of a new manufacturing plant in Surat, Gujarat. This strategic expansion aims to address the rising prices of electric vehicles and provide customers with cost-effective and accessible transportation options.

The decision to open another manufacturing plant was driven by the increasing demand for electric vehicles in Gujarat. By setting up this facility, Aponyx Electric Vehicles aims to not only benefit customers but also dealers, distributors, and sub-dealers in terms of cost efficiency.

“Our goal is to minimize costs and ensure affordable access to electric vehicles for all”, said Mr. MS. Chugh, Founder & Chairman of Aponyx Electric Vehicles. “With this new plant, we are committed to delivering fast and efficient service, eliminating transportation costs, and directly engaging with our customers in Gujarat.”

The Surat plant will focus on manufacturing electric cycles, bikes, and scooters to cater specifically to the Gujarat market. The initial production capacity is projected to be 4,000-5,000 units, with plans to expand manufacturing operations to other states across India in the near future.

Aponyx Electric Vehicles aims to provide customers with the best price, highest quality, and exceptional service. By establishing local manufacturing units in different states, the company aims to streamline the supply chain, reduce delivery times, and offer superior customer support.

“We understand the growing awareness among people regarding the benefits of electric vehicles, including environmental sustainability and cost savings,” Mr. Manish Chugh, Co-founder & Director. “Our manufacturing capacity of 60,000 units per year from the Surat plant will significantly contribute to meeting the rising demand for electric vehicles in Gujarat.”

In addition to the manufacturing facility, Aponyx Electric Vehicles has plans to build electric charging stations (both AC and DC) for various types of vehicles, including three-wheelers, and two-wheelers. These charging stations will be designed and produced in Gujarat, providing customers with easy access to charging infrastructure across the region. By developing a comprehensive charging infrastructure, Aponyx Electric Vehicles aims to alleviate range anxiety and further promote the adoption of electric vehicles.

The new manufacturing plant in Surat is scheduled to be operational by the 2^nd week of August, with an official market launch planned for the end of August, 2023. Aponyx Electric Vehicles remains committed to revolutionizing the electric vehicle industry and empowering individuals with eco-friendly transportation options.

About Aponyx Electric Vehicles

Aponyx, an electric vehicle manufacturer, was founded and incorporated in 2017. Aponyx headquarters is situated in IME Manesar, Gurugram, Haryana with a core team of approximately 100+ people.

The founders stepped into the electronic and electrical industry 20 years back, the time when radio came into existence, and embraced the opportunity to demonstrate innovations in the electronics and electrical sectors. As technology advanced and various electrical appliances were introduced to the market, the company manufactured and serviced various electronic equipment and appliances including all reputed brands of radios, tape recorders, televisions, CD players, mobile phones, and so on.

For more information about Aponyx Electric Vehicles visit their website: https://aponyx.in/

Luxeglamp launches India’s first luxury ‘bubble glamping’ resort at Munnar, Kerala

BRL Editor

June 9, 2023

Luxeglamp EcoResorts, which pioneered India’s first luxury glamping project, has launched India’s first exquisite ‘bubble glamping’ resort in the picturesque hill station of Munnar, Kerala. This new location, surrounded by spectacular views of mountains, valleys, and lakes, perfectly balances breathtaking views and environmental conservation.

Luxeglamp is situated at Poopara, Munnar, Kerala. The lovely lush green scenery of the hill station and cardamom plantations around Munnar’s six (6) bubble glamps promises panoramic views and a stargazing experience.

Antony Thomas, CEO & Founder of Luxeglamp EcoResorts, commented, “Our aim is to bring new, innovative, sustainable, and eco-friendly glamping and hospitality experiences to our guests. With the Luxeglamp Kodaikanal resort, we were the first to provide a luxury glamping experience with geodesic Domes. Now we are bringing forth the first ever experience of Bubble Glamping in India, which has an enchanting experience for guests.”

With more people looking for unique and sustainable travel experiences, glamping has increased in popularity in India. Providing guests with an opportunity to connect with nature without sacrificing comfort, Luxeglamp is at the forefront of this trend.

Luxeglamp Munnar offers distinctively designed Suite Bubble Glamps and Premium Bubble Glamps, each with unique private areas featuring wooden patios, hot tubs, saunas, and hammocks. There is a restaurant on the premises that serves breakfast for free as well. Additionally, guests can enjoy various activities such as hiking, waterfall trekking, boating, bird watching, and exploring the nearby forests and tea plantations.

Beyond its luxurious accommodation, Luxeglamp at Kodaikanal features an orchard with more than 700 fruit-bearing trees and an organic kitchen garden to give guests the best of nature’s gifts. To prevent deforestation and have as minimal environmental impact as possible, the company has made considerable progress towards being an eco-friendly glamping provider.

“We plan to add another five resorts across India and internationally in the coming two years,” further continued Thomas.

EcoSoul Home signs MoU with Krishikalpa Foundation to exchange knowledge and create new entrepreneurial opportunities

BRL Editor

June 9, 2023

New Delhi, 9^th June 2023 – EcoSoul Home is striding high by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Krishikalpa Foundation, a Not-For-Profit Organization, for collaborative work to share best practices, acceleration principles, and community building. The association aims to exchange knowledge, create new business and market opportunities for rural communities, and provide resources and a network of mentors and advisors for Krishikalpa Foundation’s members.

EcoSoul Home is a D2C, eco-friendly manufacturing start-up for ecologically innocuous kitchenware and dinnerware from renewable resources to accelerate the world’s transition to a sustainable lifestyle.

The purpose of the signed Memorandum is to provide the framework for any future collaboration activities between EcoSoul Home and Krishikalpa Foundation.

After signing the MoU, Rahul Singh, Co-founder of EcoSoul Home, said, “The aspirations of Krishikalpa Foundation very much resonate with ours to support and develop the rural SEME sectors and farmers’ communities. We are proud of our association with the non-profit organization that has some of the best entrepreneurial minds behind the entities initiatives which have envisaged, designed, and delivered value; and continue to boost entrepreneurial spirit among the rural youth to create a vibrant rural ecosystem which eventually makes ample job opportunities at the village level, ensuring good and sustainable living standards. We look forward to working closely with Krishikalpa to achieve desired goals.”

EcoSoul Home Inc. is one of the largest eco-friendly products companies, with over 70+ products with a strong presence in the USA, Canada, India, China and Vietnam. EcoSoul has multiple sales channels, including D2C, Amazon, and Walmart.com, a Retail presence in ~2,000 stores, and a significant B2B presence.

Shri. Prashanth Prakash, Chairman of Krishikalpa Foundation, said, “We are highly elated to have MoU signed with EcoSoul Home. Our association with the multinational brand ensures us the best practices acceleration principles, wherein EcoSoul will aid and train for the developments in the field of Palm Leaf Products about trends in the market and quality control for such products. Moreover, the knowledge exchange program and the renowned brand as our Global Marketing Partner for Rural entrepreneurs or FPOs will set the game up at a different notch.”

EcoSoul Home’s approach is to offer high-quality eco-friendly product alternatives that are sustainably sourced and manufactured while being highly affordable for mass adoption. All EcoSoul Home’s products are chemical-free, toxin-free, and fully compostable and are certified by leading global agencies.

The start-up works directly with more than 50 large and small contract manufacturers across India, China, Vietnam, and the USA to source products directly from farmers, manufacturers and small business operators, thus eliminating intermediaries from the process.

About EcoSoul Home Inc.

EcoSoul home is a USA-based corporation instituted by Co-founders Rahul Singh and Arvind Ganesan in Aug 2020 to accelerate the world’s transition to a sustainable lifestyle by creating eco-friendly goods from renewable resources. EcoSoul, the D2C marketplace, sells bio-based and eco-friendly products with the vision to give every home a greener soul. They have a wide range of products across kitchenware, dinnerware and home essentials. EcoSoul Home significantly contributes to the local economy by encouraging SME sectors and women empowerment and exporting EcoSoul products from India, thus contributing to the thriving Indian exports sector. EcoSoul Home Inc. is one of the largest eco-friendly products companies with an active presence in countries like the USA, Canada, India, China, and Vietnam, offering more than 70+ products in the market. The brand currently has multiple sales channels, including D2C, Amazon, and Walmart.com, a Retail presence in ~2,000 stores, and a significant B2B presence.

For more information about EcoSoul’s products, visit their website: https://ecosoulhome.in

About Krishikalpa Foundation –

Krishikalpa Foundation was founded in 2020 as a Section-8 company, a non-profit initiative with a vision of ensuring farming communities reap the tangible benefits of technological advancement across all the stages of the Agriculture domain, such as agronomy services, market insights, price realization for the produce at various markets etc. The organization arduously believes in creating a self-sustainable business model for FPOs, hence adopting the principle of entrepreneurship, making FPOs real entrepreneurial ventures and nurturing a few mission-driven VLEs (Village level Entrepreneurs). Because to have sustainable growth, development from the roots is necessary.

Edtech startup Raising Superstars bags $2mn in Pre-Series A round

BRL Editor

June 8, 2023

Raising Superstars, a Mumbai-based early childhood edtech company has raised $2 million in a Pre-Series A round from BLinC Invest, a venture capital fund focused on investing in the edtech and fintech space.

Raising Superstars is now in its first institutional round. The company plans to use the funds to expand its management team, improve its global presence by localizing content, and invest in technology.

Raghav Himatsingka, Co-Founder & CEO of Raising Superstars, said, “This fundraise is an important milestone for us because it will help us expand our offerings (both vertically and horizontally) and serve our customers better around the world. We are grateful to the BLinC Invest team for expressing confidence in our product. We are excited about what lies ahead.”

In 2020, Raghav and Shraddha Himatsingka founded Raising Superstars. According to the company, early exposure and experiences help children develop emotional and physical health, social skills, and cognitive-linguistic capacities.

It offers educational videos with activities to help parents engage and educate children between the ages of 0-6. The company serves more than 500,000 parents and is present in more than 150 countries. The company has developed an app called “Prodigy Baby” that demonstrates various activities parents can do for their babies, toddlers, and kids without allowing screen time.

“The Early Childhood Care and Education Report 2021 by BLinC Invest depicts a tremendous opportunity in this sector. We believe that Raising Superstars has created a new category in Early Childhood Development by providing a well-researched pedagogy for overall brain development in children between the age group of 0 to 6 years. Our research shows that the activities created by Raising Superstars for early brain development are deeply engaging and will contribute to the student’s future success in school, the workplace, and beyond,” said Amit Ratanpal, founder and MD, BLinC Invest.

Smart City Indore with Pataa app announces Indore “India’s first digital address city”

BRL Editor

June 8, 2023

Pataa created over 5 lakh digital addresses in Indore in just 4 months, with over 7 million downloads pan-India.

Pataa, an Indore-based digital addressing platform, has recently announced Smart City Indore as India’s First Digital Address City with over 5 lac Pataa digital addresses in association with Smart City Council and IMC Indore. This official declaration was made in the presence of Shankar Lalwani, Member of Parliament, Dr. Nishant Khare, Usha, Smart City CEO Divyank Singh IAS, and IDA CEO Jaypal Singh Chawda at the “Indore Gaurav Diwas” event. All government entities in Indore, emergency services including police, and necessary services like E-KYC and banking geotagging will now use the Pataa app.

Finding an address in India is challenging since a pincode only covers an average area of 179 sq km. In order to resolve the nation’s addressing challenge and address the country’s addressing issue, Pataa and the Indore administration signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in October 2022, and Indore now officially becomes the first digital address city in India. Now, all government organizations and Indore 311 emergency services, including the police, fire department, and ambulance, will use the Pataa application.

In attendance at the event, Mr Shankar Lalwani, an esteemed Member of Parliament, expressed, “It is a proud occasion that Indore has reached over 5 lakh digital addresses. Accordingly, Indore is creating history by becoming the first digitally addressed city in India. Every year, almost 75,000 crore is spent owing to the problem of unstructured addressing systems, which is a huge loss to the country. Rajat and his team chose our capital since Indore is a city that accomplishes its goals by putting them into action. Furthermore, we appreciate Rajat and his team for making Indore stand out all across the country. There is no doubt in my mind that following Madhya Pradesh’s lead, Pataa will continue to be at the forefront of the nation’s digital transition.”

Expressing his gratitude to the Indian government and Pataa’s team, Mr Rajat Jain, the co-founder of Pataa, stated, “Four months ago, we embarked on this initiative with Smart City and Madhya Pradesh to establish Indore as the first digital address city in the country. Today, we proudly announce that Indore has successfully achieved this milestone and stands as India’s premier digital address city. Every institution, including emergency services and fire stations, can now be linked to the app. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to our honorable Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi, and Minister of IT, Mr. Ashwini Vaishnav, who came up with the mandate to strengthen India, which has resulted in 5 lac Pataa addresses.”

“With Pataa, we are overcoming our nation’s major challenge of unstructured addressing. Pataa is bringing out new digital solutions for the country in stages as it transitions to digital addressing. Residents will be able to easily locate their homes and businesses, and emergency services will be able to respond more promptly and efficiently. The method will also increase the accuracy of mail and package delivery, lowering the frequency of lost or misdelivered items,” Jain added.

With the address app, one can drop a pin on one’s door with an accuracy of up to 3 meters, change your long address into a short personal code like ^JAIN73, ^KUMAR100, or ^SINGH221, and share it without any hassle. Also, the service providers will benefit from Pataa’s unique offerings like short codes, recorded voice directions, photos, extensions, etc. By saving the logistics and delivery companies from driving around in circles, the Pataa app helps them save on fuel costs and also allows them to make better use of their time.

About Pataa Navigations Pvt. Ltd.

Pataa is a digital addressing system that creates a short code for your address and location like ^KUMAR100 by converting the long address into a personalized short code. It allows users to select a 3 x 3 meter block on the digital map to mark the exact doorstep just once. The platform aims to address unstructured addressing systems in India to solve last-mile delivery issues for people living in smaller cities and neighborhoods where tiny lanes and streets are still nameless, and delivery agents spend hours trying to locate the drop-off spots.

For more information about Pataa’s platform and services, visit their website: https://pataa.com/

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