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    Jump Networks to capitalise on $100b opportunities in India

    Mumbai:  Jump Networks Limited aims to capitalise on more than $100 billion opportunities in India and help the “next billion” users cross the digital divide.

    Most countries with lower internet access are in Asia and Africa wherein India tops the list followed by China, as per media reports. 

    Interestingly, India has the highest number of disconnected people despite having the second largest online market in the world.

    However, India has also seen significant growth – between 2019 and 2020 – the number of internet users in the country grew by more than 23 per cent to 128 million. Clearly, India has some untapped potential as well as notable promising growth.

    “The opportunity in India is the biggest in the world for our technology. Our integrated ecosystem ‘JumpNet’ – physical and digital network offering – allows us to reach audiences most others cannot,” Harshawardhan Sabale, Managing Director, Jump Networks Ltd, said.

    There are 1.2 billion mobile users in India – 50 per cent reside in rural areas. By 2023, internet users are expected to rise by 40 per cent and the number of smartphones to double and monthly mobile data consumption per user is growing at 152 per cent annually – more than twice the rates in the US and China.

    Jump Networks provides a plethora of offering including JUMP, Edmission, JumpTalk, and a multitude of digital services including but not limited to high-definition video and audio streaming, unlimited Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, unlimited audio calling, unlimited video calling, amongst others.

    Some of its brands include:

    JUMP:  a direct to consumer brand and its offering comprises multiple digital products and services at an ultra-low price point with zero additional data cost when accessed through their SIM-enabled set-top box (STB).

    Edmission: Offers a ‘phygital’ model of education for learners and educators across the world. It is also the first truly democratic platform for educators to reach out to potential learners by having access to completely equipped studio shoot facilities as well as an integrated learning management system (LMS).

    JumpTalk:  A Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service and a video conferencing solution for businesses that enables users anywhere in the world to make high-quality audio and video calls to anywhere in the world.

    GAIA AgriTech: Works with farmers of the Konkan region to produce organic milk and eggs in a transparent, no middle-men, technology-driven environment.

    Akemona becomes first smart contract-based funding portal on blockchain

    Bengaluru: Akemona, a digital securities provider, has announced that it has registered with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and is now a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) making it the first smart contract-based funding portal to achieve this distinction.

    Akemona allows qualified businesses to raise funds by offering and selling zero-coupon bonds as digital securities on its platform. Digital securities introduce efficiency in capital markets.

    Traditional securities require complex post-trade processes and large investments in infrastructure of depositories and clearing agencies for settlement of trades. These settlement processes take two days.

    Recognizing this as an opportunity, Ravi Srivastava, Founding Partner, focused Akemona’s technology on digital securities, which eliminates post-trade processing. Ravi emphasizes, “Digital Securities can be traded 24×7 and are settled immediately, providing full transparency of trade and pricing.”

    Brady Matthews, Chief Technology Officer, points out, “Akemona meets this challenge by introducing the aPledge software token to represent investment commitments as well as digital securities. Underlying an aPledge is a smart contract, which is a self-executing software containing the terms of the agreement between buyer and seller. This agreement is immutable and resides on a decentralized blockchain network. All transactions executed by the smart contract are visible on the blockchain, which allows full auditability of transactions by any third-party.”

    “Polsinelli is delighted to represent Akemona in their use of innovative blockchain technology to enhance its crowdfunding platform under Regulation CF,” noted Stephen Rutenberg, Polsinelli shareholder and member of their Fintech and Regulation practice.

    Akemona plans to release a beta version in 2020 and expects to go live by the end of the year.

    Skyroot becomes India’s first private firm to test upper stage rocket engine

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    Bengaluru: Skyroot Aerospace, a Hyderabad-based startup says it has successfully test-fired its upper stage rocket engine, as it aims to launch its first rocket by the end of 2021.

    The company which was established in 2018 by former scientists of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) into building India’s first privately built space launch vehicles.

    “No better day than Dr. Vikram Sarabhai’s birthday to announce our successful test firing of our Vikram-1 Launch vehicle’s upper stage Engine-Raman. Four Raman engines with multi-start capability produce a thrust of 3.4kN and inserts multiple satellites into orbit.” a note from the company said, without giving details of when the launch was conducted.

    “We demonstrated India’s first 100 per cent 3D-printed Bi-Propellant Liquid Rocket Engine injector. Compared to traditional manufacturing this reduced the overall mass by 50 per cent, reduced total number of components and lead time by 80 per cent. The engine is capable of multiple restarts enabling them to insert various satellites into multiple orbits in a single mission,” Pawan Kumar Chandana, Co-Founder and CEO, Skyroot Aerospace said.

    Two of the firm’s rocket stages are getting ready for test firing in six months, he added.

    Skyroot has developed in-house software for launch vehicle guidance, navigation and control functions and testing for onboard avionics modules is in progress and the firm is targeting its first launch vehicle in December 2021, Naga Bharath Daka, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer, Skyroot said.

    “Our first launch vehicle ‘Vikram-I’ which is under manufacturing and targeting launch in Dec 2021, hosts an Orbit Adjustment Module (OAM) at the top which gives the final burn and inserts multiple satellites into space. In an ‘India’s first’, we successfully test-fired its liquid engine,” he said.

    Skyroot will highly benefit from the newly-created Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre (IN- SPACe)which allows access to ISRO’s testing and launch range facilities, Naga Bharath Daka said.

    “We are already in active discussions with ISRO for testing activities. We look forward to utilising ISROs launch ranges for our launch,” he added.
    The startup has so far raised Rs31.5 crore till now and is in the process of raising another Rs90 crore before 2021.

    Former HCL boss Arjun Malhotra joins Accolite as Chairman

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    Bengaluru: Former HCL boss and IT pioneer Arjun Malhotra has joined Accolite as Chairman to its Advisory Board.

    Accolite is a new age digital transformation technology services company providing Product Engineering Technology solutions with offices across the US, UK and India. 

    “My aim is to ensure a 10 fold growth over the next 5 years across Accolite’s core verticals,” says Malhotra, who in 1975 co-founded and grew the HCL group from a six-person “garage operation” to one of India’s largest Information Technology corporations.

    Malhotra served as Chairman of Headstrong’s Board of Directors before its acquisition by Genpact in May 2011. Prior to Headstrong he was Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of TechSpan, which merged with Headstrong in October 2003. Malhotra led the seamless integration across businesses and cultures, resulting in Headstrong’s recognition as one of the fastest growing IT-based Financial Services companies.

    “I look forward to leveraging my experiences and insights from Headstrong and HCL to influence Customer Success and Growth at Accolite,” added Malhotra.

    Accolite CEO Leela Kaza said, “BFSI continues to be our corner stone of growth and our aspiration is to generate $100M annual revenue in the BFSI vertical by 2023.”

    Amazon pips Flipkart for top smartphone sales channel in India

    Bengaluru: Amazon overtakes Flipkart to become the top online smartphone channel for the first time in India in the second quarter of this year, driven by Xiaomi, Samsung and OnePlus.

    Amazon held 47 per cent market share, followed by Flipkart with 42 per cent and Mi with 10 per cent.

    Even though the smartphone shipments in the online segment declined by 46% year on year due to Covid-19, the offline segment also declined by 54% year on year.

    According to Counterpoint Research stats, 43% of smartphones purchased in India in the second quarter were online and it is an indication of a shift in consumer purchase behavior as they resort to online shopping.

    While OnePlus was the top premium smartphone brand on Amazon, Realme remained the top brand on Flipkart.

    Amazon saw strong shipments of Xiaomi Redmi 8A Dual, Samsung Galaxy M30s, and Galaxy M31 despite OnePlus remained the top premium smartphone brand.

    Among the top ten smartphone models on Amazon, nine were from Xiaomi and Samsung.

    Six out of the top ten online models were from Xiaomi, followed by Samsung with three models. Xiaomi Redmi 8A Dual was the best-selling device in the quarter.

    Top models on Flipkart

    Among the top ten models on Flipkart, five were from Realme. Newly launched Narzo 10 series drove the shipments for the brand.

    Realme, Xiaomi, Samsung, and Poco contributed most for Flipkart and accounted for more than three-fourths of its total smartphone shipments.

    Poco maintained its strong performance in online channels in the second quarter of the year.  Poco X2 was the second-highest shipped model on Flipkart.

    Prachir Singh, Senior Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, said that the pandemic had a huge impact on the overall smartphone market, April being a washout month.

    “Online channels’ shipments also declined compared to the last year. However, due to the current circumstances, consumers prefer online platforms. We have already witnessed pre-Covid level shipments at the end of the second quarter due to the pent-up demand created in the market by the nationwide lockdown,” he said.

    Looking forward, he said that online channels are expected to remain strong this year and taking a 45% share in the Indian smartphone market for the full year.

    Shilpi Jain, Research Analyst at Counterpoint Research, said that Xiaomi remained the market leader in online channels with 44% market share, followed by Samsung with 25 per cent market share and Realme with 16 per cent.

     “We believe that offline channels will fare better during the latter half of the year. Vivo remained the top brand in offline channels, followed closely by Samsung. Vivo Y91i was the top model for offline channels,” Jain said.

    DIFC becomes hotbed for Etisalat to deploy innovative technologies

    • Collaboration will provide advanced digital infrastructure to businesses registered within the financial centre.

    Dubai:  Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) has become a preferred location for Etisalat to test and deploy new smart and innovative technologies as they are developed.

    The agreement was signed between Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority, and Salvador Anglada, Group Chief Business Officer of Etisalat.

    “DIFC’s strategic partnership with Etisalat will help address the current and future communication and technology needs of our clients. The agreement will also help DIFC contribute to Dubai’s smart city aspirations,” Arif Amiri, Chief Executive Officer of DIFC Authority, said.

    In line with Dubai’s 2021 strategy, the agreement will also allow DIFC and Etisalat to collaborate on implementing smart city initiatives utilising big data, analytics and new technology.

    These initiatives will allow DIFC to understand trends which will help enhance their business and lifestyle offerings.

    Comprehensive building, energy consumption, waste management and vehicle parking smart systems will be explored, supporting Dubai and DIFC’s ambitions to be the region’s most sustainable city for financial services.

    Salvador Anglada, Group Chief Business Officer of Etisalat, said that Etisalat’s strategic partnership with DIFC will transform the financial community by leveraging smart technologies to accelerate the transition to the new era.