Microsoft launches four new tools to empower creators

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October 14, 2022

Microsoft has introduced four new practical tools for content creators to unleash their creativity as the economy for content creators expands.

Microsoft Designer, Microsoft Clipchamp, Microsoft Create, and Image Creator are the names of the new tools.

In Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), the “Microsoft Designer” graphic design programme enables users to make social media posts, invitations, digital postcards, graphics, and more.

The company claims that Microsoft Designer is AI-powered, so users won’t have to start from scratch when making cards or social media posts.

Meanwhile, “Microsoft Climpchap” is a free video editor that allows content creators to quickly make any video (vlogs, reels, etc.).

According to the company, Climpchap enables creators to make videos of a high calibre without the requirement for advanced editing skills.

Furthermore, a brand-new website named “Microsoft Create” has been built to assist users in creating documents, presentations, videos, and graphic designs.

The website combines content creation apps from Designer to Clipchamp, PowerPoint, Word, and beyond.

“The ‘Microsoft Create’ website is live and available for anyone. We’ll continue to build new functionality and content into the site over time,” the company added.

Content creators can create images that don’t yet exist with the help of “Image Creator.”

Image Creator will let creators bring their ideas to life. The tech giant added that type in a description of something, any additional context like location or activity, an art style, and Image Creator will make it for you.

Hyatt Place Jaipur opens in Malviya Nagar

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October 14, 2022

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The first Hyatt Place hotel in Rajasthan and the seventh Hyatt Place hotel in India, Hyatt Place Jaipur Malviya Nagar, has opened, expanding the Hyatt Place brand’s global footprint in markets that are important to guests and World of Hyatt members. The new hotel features the Hyatt Place brand’s intuitive design, casual environment, and practical amenities, including free WiFi everywhere the property and a 24-hour culinary menu. Heritage Motels Private Limited is the company behind the development of Hyatt Place Jaipur Malviya Nagar.

Because Hyatt’s efforts are based on listening and driven by care, Hyatt Place hotels combine style, innovation, and 24/7 conveniences to provide an easy-to-navigate experience for today’s multi-tasking travellers. The Hyatt Place Jaipur Malviya Nagar is close to the city’s core business sector and accessible to the most popular tourist attractions and shopping malls. The Jaipur International Airport is a quick 10-minute drive from the hotel.

“As Jaipur continues to grow and thrive economically, we are excited to offer travellers an international experience through the first Hyatt Place hotel in the city,” said Sunjae Sharma, managing director, India & South West Asia, Hyatt. “With our smartly designed social spaces and guest rooms with separate work and sleep areas, our multitasking guests can easily accomplish what they need while on the road. This hotel also marks our aggressive expansion plans for the Hyatt Place brand in India, making it our seventh Hyatt Place hotel in the country.”

Byju’s to hire 10,000 teachers, develops big plan to become profitable by March 2023

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October 12, 2022

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Byju’s stated that it planned to achieve profitability by March 2023. However, the Tiger Global-backed edtech company announced in September that it had lost 4,588 crore rupees for the fiscal year 2021 due to rising labour and promotion costs.

To become profitable by March 2023, Byju’s has created a plan to lower its marketing and operational expenses. As a result, 5% of its workforce, or around 2,500 employees, will be let go during the following six months.

The company will start focusing on building brand awareness abroad through new partnerships, and it will hire 10,000 teachers for both its Indian and international operations, according to Divya Gokulnath, co-founder of Byju.

“We have designed a path to profitability which we plan to achieve by March 2023. We have built significant brand awareness throughout India and there is scope to optimise marketing budget and prioritise the spends in a way that it creates a global footprint. Second is operational cost and the third is integration of multiple business units,” Gokulnath said.

Fireside Ventures raises $225 million for its third fund

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October 12, 2022

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India’s Fireside Ventures announced on Wednesday that it had raised $225 million for its third fund to back domestic consumer brands, becoming the latest venture capital company to solidify its bet on Asia’s third-largest economy even as startup funding is drying up globally.

The early-stage investor stated that the new fund, estimated to be valued at 18.30 billion Indian rupees, would invest in roughly 25–30 Indian startups with a focus on the consumer goods, lifestyle, and health and wellness categories.

The fund’s backers include Investment Corp of Dubai, India’s largest public-sector lender State Bank of India, Indian cigarettes to consumer goods producer ITC Ltd and Premji Invest, the family office of Wipro Ltd founder Azim Premji.

This year, several well-known VC firms, such as Sequoia Capital, Accel Partners, and Lightspeed Venture Partners, raised significant sums of funds for India and Southeast Asia to pursue high-growth companies in developing markets.

However, they have been reluctant to write checks out of concern that a worldwide economic slowdown could be brought on by persistent inflation and rising interest rates.

According to the most recent data from investment tracker Tracxn, funding for Indian startups declined 80% over the previous year and 57% over the prior three months in the September quarter.

In January 2021, Fireside raised $118 million for its second fund. Its portfolio includes the personal care products retailer Mamaearth and the electronics brand boAt, which is getting ready to go public.

The VC firm has a portfolio of 31 companies and $395 million in assets under management.

D2C footwear startup Yoho bags ₹20-cr in Series A round

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October 12, 2022

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D2C footwear startup Yoho has raised Rs 20 crore in a Series A funding round, the company said in a press release. The investment was led by Rajeev Mishra, CEO of Softbank Vision Fund, Rukam Capital, and Paytm founder Vijay Shekhar Sharma, along with participation from other investors.

“With strong in-house R&D, right price point and a compelling product offering, I can see Yoho becoming a preferred comfortable footwear brand not just in India but eventually in global markets as well,” commented Rajeev Misra, CEO of Softbank Vision Fund on the investment.

The company plans to use the funds to build the capacity for new product developments and sustainable manufacturing standards.

“This funding has come at a crucial time and will help us to invest in new technology to build new product propositions and build scale,” said Ahmad Hushsham, Founder of Yoho.

Founded in 2021 by Hushsham and Prateek Singhal, Yoho manufactures affordable orthopaedic lightweight footwear. The company raised seed funding in 2021 from a group of investors, including Kunal Shah, founder, Cred, Gaurav Agarwal, co-founder, Tata 1mg, Ashneer Grover, founder, Bharat Pe, Tanmay Saksena, COO, Tata 1mg and Abhinav Sinha, COO OYO.

Pet care startup Goofy Tails bags $500,000 seed funding

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October 11, 2022

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Pet care D2C startup Goofy Tails has raised a seed funding of USD 500,000 led by BeyondSeed and The Chennai Angels, the company said in a press release.

“We would like to thank our partners who have trusted us and helped us raise this amount. We will be using the funds to acquire customers for a lifetime, engage pet parents with good quality content, provide a seamless platform experience for shoppers, and expand our product development to solve challenges that Indian pet parents are facing,” commented Kartik Gupta, co-founder and CEO of the company.

According to the press release, the company plans to use the funds for R&D, portfolio expansion of its healthy pet foods and accessories, customer acquisition, team expansion, and bolstering its nationwide warehouse presence.

By the middle of the next year, the pet-care brand plans to expand its portfolio and expand into other South Asian and European markets.

“We are very excited to be foraying into the “pet category” with our investment in Goofy Tails as we see huge potential and promise in this sector. We believe that Goofy Tails is well-positioned to be a market leader in the “nutrition-focused pet food” category,” said Kuldeep Mirani, co-founder & CEO, BeyondSeed Venture Solutions, Singapore on the investment in the startup.

Goofy Tails was founded in 2019 by co-founders Karan Gupta, Kartik Gupta, Kunal Gupta, and Ashish Kaushal, with its headquarters in New Delhi. Over 1.2 lakh customers, according to the company, were supplied through Amazon, its website, and other channels. Presently, it sells products for grooming, interactive toys, and fresh and healthy food.

Tata to quadruple Zoya stores, expansion fuelled by India’s growth in wealthy consumers

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October 11, 2022

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Titan gets about 90% of its revenue from the sale of jewellery, with the remaining 10% coming from the sale of watches, eyewear, and fragrances. Its umbrella includes the Tanishq flagship brand, the Mia brand, which targets working women, the Caratlane online store, and the wealthy-focused Zoya brand, all of which are jewellery businesses. Because of India’s anticipated growth in affluent consumers, Tata Group’s jewellery division intends to quadruple its Zoya stores by 2027.

A Knight Frank analysis shows that in 2021, the proportion of ultra-high net worth individuals with assets of $30 million or more rose by 11% from last year. As a result, the demand for gold used in jewellery will likely remain strong in India, which is currently the second-largest worldwide market.

Increasing the number of Zoya boutiques to 15 over the next five years will cost almost ₹30 crores per boutique, according to Titan CEO Ajoy Chawla. Revenues at the brand have increased up to five times from pre-pandemic sales numbers, and the company anticipates that growth will continue at this “aggressive pace”, he said.

“There is a lot of latent demand for luxury from India and high net-worth individuals are going to explode,” Chawla said in an interview. “This is just the beginning for luxury.”

Titan also plans to accelerate its international expansion in Zoya to become a recognized luxury brand on a global scale. It recently visited the US and the Middle East with Tanishq. According to Chawla, they will use this experience to organize a cross-country move for Zoya. However, the ultimate goal is to be a worldwide brand with an Indian heart.

Chawla says that the development potential of the Zoya brand could exceed that of Tanishq. Wealthy clients have been drawn to Zoya owing to Taj Hotels Resorts & Palaces, a sibling company of Indian Hotels Co., and bespoke jewellery created in partnership with the design team and artisans.

Inga Ventures unites with Singaporean TIH to raise ₹125-cr PE fund

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October 10, 2022

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Mumbai-based investment banking firm Inga Ventures (Inga) partners with Singaporean private equity (PE) firm TIH Ltd to launch ₹125 crores (around $15 million) PE fund “Ekkum TIH Emerging Opportunities Fund” for investing in mid-size enterprises in India, both the companies announced.

From the sponsors and their affiliated companies, the fund has received a commitment of 25 crores.

The companies stated in a joint statement that the initial aim for the Ekkum TIH Emerging Opportunities Fund is 125 crore with a total target of 500 crores (about $60 million).

A sector-agnostic fund will “approach with positive bias” towards specialty chemicals, FMCG, electronics, food & agriculture and healthcare/pharma.

“The Fund will infuse growth capital in mid-size emerging companies operating in niche segment with strong track record. The fund will aim to target companies with a clear expansion and value creation plan,” the statement added.

Commenting on the launch, G. S. Ganesh, founder of INGA, expressed confidence in establishing a strong and sound platform for nurturing success stories. He added that with solid experience in dealing with the emotions of founders, the fund would tap the best in industries and partner with them in their growth journey. He further commented that the partnership with TIH brings the best combination of the strong network and long-term relationship of Inga and the long-standing investment experience of TIH. The strength of Inga is a collective experience of over 100 years comprising its founders and key management personnel.

Commenting on the partnership, Allen Wang from TIH said, “We are delighted to partner with Inga, a premier and veteran corporate finance/investment banking firm in India with a mid-cap segment focus. Their wide reach across the country presents great investment opportunities for us in the middle market space in corporate India. We are confident that the partnership will help both parties to expand our opportunities in a quickly expanding Indian economy – from both a direct investment and cross-board perspective.”

With over 20 years of experience successfully guiding family businesses to become strong publicly traded companies or navigating their exit through M&As, Inga has emerged as a boutique relationship investment banker (IB). In addition, Inga has demonstrated the essential characteristics of managing the family’s aspirations in light of their hesitation to cede control in each situation.

Inga Ventures has moved into the next logical phase of developing a PE fund to invest in such possibilities with this background and intense concentration on family-grown SME businesses.

TCS HR head gives update on work from office numbers

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October 10, 2022

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Chief HR Officer of IT giant Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Milind Lakkad, said on Monday that one-third of the employees are coming to the office at least two times a week. He also said that employees are happy to come to the office, and this number will rise.

Lakkad said, “All our seniors are coming to office. The remaining staff – every project is rostering them. Today one third of our workspace is coming to office at least two times in a week. This number is going to increase and employees are happy to come to work.”

N Ganapathy Subramaniam, Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director said: “This was another quarter of excellent execution that saw us delivering several transformational projects like the largest migration of 2.3 million policies to our TCS Insurance platform in one go in the UK, or the trading platform at the Gift City.”

He added, “Our delivery leadership congregated during the quarter and are raising the bar further on execution excellence with frameworks like Rigor in Transformation. We are pleased that our office facilities are becoming once again the place of buzz with more and more of our employees and clients celebrating togetherness to realize their full potential.”

According to the roster established by their supervisors, TCS mailed its employees last month informing them that they must work from the office at least three days a week. In addition, it was stated in the mail that failure to follow the instructions would result in administrative action.

The IT behemoth would switch to a new operating model in which just 25% of its workforce would be present at any given time under the TCS 25×25 plan. The plan will be introduced in a phased manner by 2025.

Sayaji Hotels on an expansion spree in India

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October 8, 2022

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Sayaji Hotels, a high-end hospitality chain, has outlined its plans to increase its footprints across India.

With three flagship brands—Sayaji Hotels, Effotel by Sayaji, and Enrise by Sayaji—the Sayaji group owns 15 properties. With properties opening shortly in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Rajasthan, to mention a few, the group will expand its presence across the country.

Announcing the development, Raoof Dhanani, managing director, commented, “We are presently focusing on asset-light model for expansion. Sayaji Hotels, with its strategic location, luxurious rooms, a host of banqueting and F&B facilities will appeal to discerning travellers by offering warm hospitality in these sought after destinations.”

He added, “We look forward to opening these new hotels and explore future development opportunities throughout India.”

India’s most upscale lifestyle hospitality brand, Sayaji Hotels, is recognised for its unique experiences, signature hospitality, and new standards for luxury in the 4-star and 5-star hotel categories. Luxury rooms and a variety of banqueting and food and beverage facilities are features of each property.

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