BW BUSINESSWORLD-1-14 DEC 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Arjun Yadav AKSHAY V.
SINGHAL
H
Founder and CEO

Log9 Materials

2021 HEADQUARTERED IN Bengaluru, in the long term compared to 30-40
Log9 Materials is a nanotechnology kms drop in existing batteries after
company that is operating in the areas two years.
of sustainable energy and filtration.
The team has also been able to
Log9 Materials has developed alu- leverage the existing charging infra-
minium fuel cells for both mobility structure, used by four-wheelers for
and stationary energy applications. three-wheelers which will in effect
strengthen the infrastructure.
Battery Tech:FoundedbyAk-
However, Singhal says that adopt-
shay V. Singhal, Log9 has created a ing EVs is not the be-all and end-all in
unique battery tech that enables rapid India’s fight against climate change.
charging of two-wheelers and three-
wheelers within minutes rather than Storage Capacity: “We
hours.
have to ensure that the electricity
Log9 battery technology is designed which is being used to charge the ve-
to provide peak performance across a hicles is coming from cleaner sources
broad range of temperatures -- from and for that, there is a need to scale
300C to 600C, making it an ideal up our storage capacity for solar and
powerhouse for Indian weather con- wind energy,” states Singhal.

REVVING UP ENERGY The team under his leadership is
TRANSITION DRIVE also working to provide the right kind of
energy storage solutions.
ditions. them to make the shift.
For Singhal, a PhD in Nanotechnol- “You’re not sure how long the vehicle Cost Savings: Electrification

ogy, the core driving force has been to will run when it is out of charge, whether of vehicles especially for commercial
be an innovator and do research and I will find the correct charging option, will use ranging from two-wheelers, three-
development (R&D) to develop new my battery last for the life of the vehicle or wheelers to LCVs to HCVs will not only
technologies and products to fight cli- will it go out in two years or three years. have a significant positive impact on the
mate change, which according to him, environment, but it will lead to huge cost
is a problem of far greater magnitude So, this kind of unreliability and incon- savings as well.
than what was seen during the Covid-19 sistency with EVs is still there and that
pandemic. leads to various operational challenges,” However, different vehicle platforms
says Singhal. have unique requirements and hence
Affinity For EVs: Singhal says there cannot be a ‘one-type fits all’ bat-
Addressing the challenges, Singhal tery technology, says Singhal.
that there is indeed a rising affinity for and his team have developed batteries
EVs among the masses due to the recent that can be charged in 15 minutes, have a Singhal believes that initiatives such
surge in fuel prices but the challenges that life of more than 15 years and potentially as BW Businessworld’s Young Entrepre-
the industry faces act as a deterrent for up to 30 years and at the same time have neur Awards help in giving recognition
a minimal drop of 2-3 kms in its range to startups which further give them op-
portunities to scale up their operations
and at the same time inspire the youth to
do something of their own.

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 49 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Resham Suhail Digital disruption during the pandemic
has resulted in remarkable transforma-

CARE FOR THE tions across industries and the health-
ELDERLY care space is no exception.

Today, if the businesses are not inte-
grated with technology, it will be dif-
ficult to face the numerous challenges
posed by competitors. Narayan states,
“The younger elderly coming in will be

more tech-friendly as it is the need of the

address the issue with commitment and hour.” In terms of latest technologies,

inviolability. Athulya, true to its mean- Athulya has introduced remote and pas-

ing ‘unique’, is one of the first providers sive sensors instead of just a traditional

of assisted living with optimum senior app to capture key critical information

living features for elders. of an elderly patient without any human

Athulya strives to create a secure, intervention and other obstacles.

cheerful and grace-filled senior as-

sisted living. Talking about the obvious Lockdown Spurt: The growth

2021 surge in demand in the market, Karthik in the senior living business is attributed

Narayan R, Managing Director, Athulya primarily to the pandemic but beyond

Assisted Living says, “The growth has that, the travel ban too has been cited

been significant and enquiries have as one of the major catalysts. As chil-

increased. We witnessed an influx of a dren were not able to visit their elderly

volume of more than 30 per cent that parents at home during the lockdown,

resulted in threefold volumes.” that made the elderly realize the need to

take care of themselves when all alone.

Growth Plans: “We observed, cap-

While opening up KARTHIK tured, capitalised on
about their future geo- NARAYAN R the problem that the
graphical expansion society faced and are

plans, Narayan, who is Managing Director going after it,” Narayan
a healthcare strategist adds.

and process improve- Athulya Assisted On winning the BW
ment leader, as well as Living Businessworld Young
a trained physician and Entrepreneur Award,

hospital management Sector: Healthcare Narayan expressed

expert with more than gratitude as well as

10 years of administra- resolve to expand, to

tive and clinical experience, shared that reach and touch more elderly lives. “For-

W Athulya has entered Hyderabad and is tunately or unfortunately, it feels like a
set to enter Bangalore in the coming lonely journey and there is nothing like
months after Chennai. encouragement and validation. Also,
it is perceived well in investor circles,”
Earlier it was unusual for any indi- he adds.
vidual to consult a doctor over a phone

call or video conferencing, but today Athulya raised their first round of

HEN THE PANDEMIC was in full swing, people are comfortable with consulting funding recently. “Earlier it was about

healthcare organisations had to pivot. their healthcare providers and medi- number and valuation whereas now

The healthcare industry did not leave cal professionals over calls or telemedi- in the hybrid model, it is about driv-

any stone unturned in demonstrating cine platforms. Technology has set new ing quality, efficiency and scaling up,”

its resilience and ability to bring inno- norms and commenting about the same, Narayan adds.

vations to the market. Athulya Assisted Narayan adds, “This is a big awakening

Living, a first-of-its-kind, premium in- in the mindset change of the customers,

dependent assisted living homes aims to especially the healthcare customers.” [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 50 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Urvi Shrivastav demand of a domestic user in specific,
as against global brands that are do-
MAKING THE ing it for the global market in general.
RIGHT NOISE While the category is cluttered with
brands, it is not cluttered with the
2021 F cided to look into the industry and see right set of brands who cater to the
whether this is a good business oppor- young audience who are catering to a
OUNDED by Gaurav Khatri in 2014, tunity or not. After speaking to others young audience.
Noise is primarily a connected, life- around me, we decided to get into this
style, ecosystem brand where the line and understand more about this Noise has been listed as bestselling
company strives to develop a high- product.” brand on Amazon and Flipkart for
end technological product and trendy four years in a row and in 2019, Noise
gadgets. Noise started out selling How would you introduce Noise to- was the biggest Indian seller of wire-
smartphone cases but soon its pro- day? “We are into the ‘hearable’ and less earphones in the country, says
moters saw the smartphone revolution the ‘wearable’ product categories,” says Khatri. “We were also the only Indian
and realised that with a phone at the Khatri. brand amongst the top 5 brands sell-
centre of most people’s lives, smart- ing wireless earphones in India,” he
phone accessories would be the next Cluttered Category: To- adds.
big thing in India. And they were so
right in their assessment. day, Noise has a spectrum of prod- How did lockdown impact your
ucts, including smart watches, and business? “Fortunately or unfortu-
Today, Noise has diversified into headphones for the young Indian nately, the last one year has been dif-
smart wearables and wireless head- consumer. They have understood the ficult for all the businesses that have
phones. Noise was one of the first been there, but for us we are in a D2C
brands in India to offer truly wireless e-commerce platform. We already
earbuds; the Noise SHOTS, the com- have platform-ready bidders due to
pany claims. which we were ready to embed and
change ourselves in a world directed
How did it all start? Khatri, CEO, towards e-commerce,” Khatri says.
Noise recalls, “In my early twenties, I
was struggling to find a personalised Growing Fast: Noise is grow-
version of headphones from an Indian
brand. It was not easily accessible to ing at a fast pace. Its team size has also
a young consumer like me. We de- grown by 200 per cent. With internet
taking the world by storm, the con-
GAURAV sumer has a plethora of choice with
KHATRI respect to technology and products
available in the country. This is quite
Founder & CEO contrary to the limited options we had
from nearby shops not too long back.
Noise “This learning and understanding of
the consumer translate into increas-
Sector: Consumer ing the business or the category itself,”
Electronics says Khatri.
With work from home still a reality,
most of us are spending increasing
time in front of the screen and con-
suming more content than ever. Cou-
pled with the rise of internet, this has
given a boost to the business Noise is
doing at present, with the goal of pen-
etrating the Indian market way higher
than it is now. All the best!

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 52 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

IN CONVERSATION

by Sugandh Bahl to help.
Being an online consultancy firm, we
From ‘Fat-Freak’ To
‘Fitness-Freak’ are training Indians who are staying
overseas. They are getting amazing re-
PranitShilimkar,Founder,FitnessTalksshareswith sults. Last year, we transformed almost
BWBusinessworldthesciencebehindfitness, 5,000 people.
hisbusinessplans,the37-daychallengeandmuch
more.Excerpts: Tell us more about your flagship
product, the 37-day challenge.
2021 What is the story behind the success Honestly, this 37-day challenge is just
of your brand? a hook to grab people. If one can get
It all began the day I decided to get fit. positive results in 37 days then that is
Before that, I was ‘fat-freak’, you can just a trailer. It can inspire your to start
say, so actually, I wasn’t feeling healthy. following a fit lifestyle. We are trying to
I wasn’t feeling confident about my make people aware. We all are super-
body. heroes, and our bodies can do wonders
if we push it into the right direction.
I began experiencing the feeling of
not being able to perform certain ac- What is the importance of diet in
tivities flawlessly like other kids. That body transformation?
caused some issues. Following correct nutrition is the most
important element of starting out on
How have influencers helped people the journey to becoming fit.
during the pandemic?
They have helped a lot. And because of Therefore, even in my 37-day chal-
the pandemic, my collaboration with lenge, diet and nutrition form a big
influencers has been a tremendous part. In order to change the body com-
help for me to actually make people position, it’s important to change the
aware about fitness. components that have made this body.

Influencers have a mass following. Proportional and correct intake of
Collaboration with influencers fur- proteins, minerals, nutrients, and even
thers my cause of motivating people water go hand-in-hand towards mak-
to keep fit. ing a body get fit. Taking the right fuel
becomes very important for high per-
What is your vision for your brand? PRANIT formance.
My primary focus will be training peo- SHILIMKAR Hence, following and understanding
ple online. It’s only very recently that correct nutrition is very important in
we have started offering some offline Founder the 37 days challenge.
courses.
Fitness Talks Congratulations for becoming a
I stand for motivating those who winner of YEA! Do you think this
have not done anything about their win will help your brand impact
body fitness. For such people, working more people?
out or going to the gym is a nightmare. I still haven’t been able to digest the fact
I am there to make fitness fun for them. that I have been chosen as one of the
But for fitness freaks, I don’t represent winners. It is indeed a big honour and
my brand, because already there are a humbling experience.
many brands who are doing enough This award will certainly help provide
a boost to my personal confidence. I
am deeply honoured to actually receive
this award. This award will also push
me to do more hard work.

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 53 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Vasudha Mukherjee products.”
The D2C approach allows the

THE SLEEP company to communicate directly
with costumers and meet with their
unique demands. The company offers

MERCHANT customised products for this very rea-
son. With people working from home,
the demand for comfort at home has
increased significantly, alongside the

rise in living standards, focus on self-

care and availability of disposable in-

S Sleep Solutions: The D2C come.
SleepyCat allows customisation of it
brand does not want limit itself to
sleep solutions for just the 8 hour re- products, taking what they already have
charge period that is spent in beds, but and improving on it, while remaining
looks to find solutions
affordable as it comes

LEEPYCAT BEGAN WHEN Kabir Sid- for comfort during the KABIR straight from the fac-
day, while working tory. Easy shipping,

2021 diq, its founder and CEO decided and even travelling. As SIDDIQ convenient packaging,
to enter the retail mattress market Siddiq says, “We have and return policy all

in the ‘traditional’ way. Upon enter- not made a dent at all Founder & CEO work in favour of build-

ing, Siddiq found that not only was in the online industry SleepyCat ing trust in the brand.
the process of purchasing a mattress yet, we are just at the The customisation op-

time consuming and expensive, but surface of it and these Sector: Lifestyle tions also providing

also lacked transparency. Consumer a r e a l l n e e d b a s e d key insights into the

were given no information, and more demands in the mar-

importantly, no choice on the product ket, which play into scaling up.

they were purchasing. Following pur- SleepyCat also plans on an omni-

chase, there was no return option. channel approach from next year, a

Siddiq states, “We wanted to make multichannel approach to sales that

mattress shopping easier and more aims to provide seamless customer

fun, that’s how SleepyCat started.” The experience on all platforms, whether

name too paying homage to, “the Gar- it be online shopping on different de-

field within us all.” vices or in a physical store space.

SleepyCat aims to be the one stop Collaborations are needed for any

shop for all sleep solutions, providing entrepreneur, whether it is to create a

luxury mattresses, comforters, foam range of products, finding new audi-

pillows and even bedding for pets and ences or helping audience find new

weighted blankets. products. Siddiq states, “People try to

“Our mission is to provide you with reinvent the wheel, but don’t need to

the best sleep experience,” says Sid- do so , when they can just collaborate

diq. And how does this happen? Sid- with people.”

diq says by delivering at your door- These collaborations do not stop at

step a simplified and curated range the products but also goes in the form

of premium sleep products that are of knowledge sharing, data sharing

freshly manufactured and sold at fac- that can be used to leverage oneself

tory prices. and their business.

“Our brand is built to offer you a “Recognition is super important, for

personalized shopping experience. the work you are doing and for your

We are driven by constant innovation team” adds Siddiq.

and the need to enhance the way India

sleeps. It is our goal to be your ideal

sleep partner,” says Siddiq. [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 54 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Urvi Shrivastav to start a platform which was not driven
mainly by profit but Environment, So-

REVAMPING cial and Governance (ESG) compliance
is difficult in a capital-driven industry.
This was a challenge Runaya had to over-

SUSTAINABILITY come. “We identified ESG, including sus-
tainability and safety, to be the emerging
themes, and then found the right busi-
nesses and partners to help us execute our

vision. It was also challenging to enforce

then used as a conditioner by the steel our diversity targets as we scaled, so we

T industry. Elaborating on their other pro- had to be really selective about our hiring
jects, Agarwal explains, “We have a joint and recruited only diversity talent as part
venture with another company called of our Fresher’s Hiring Programme,” says
Moniva where we manufacture ground Agarwal.
support equipment for underground
Sustainability is not a good-to-have

mining, infrastructure and panelling for any company, it has now become a

HE RUNAYA GROUP is a fast-growing sectors.” must-have, which will be true for the

2021 manufacturing startup that leverages With a lot on their plate, the platform foreseeable future. With questions

best-in-class technology and relation- never loses sight of their primary agenda around carbon credits and climate

ships with international partners to cre- whichissustainability.Additionally,they change gaining centre stage, these is-

ate innovative solutions in the resources have zero rate of product failure, with the sues are here to stay. Given the issues at

sector. company focusing heavily on safety. hand, scalability for Runaya is going to

be an upward trajectory.

Cutting-edge Technol- ESG Compliance: The journey

ogy: Founded in 2017 with the vision Intelligent

to deploy cutting-edge technology in the NAIVEDYA Strategy: The dif-
manufacturing sector in India, Runaya
ficult phase was exac-

aims to revolutionise the resources in- AGARWAL erbated during the last
dustry by creating innovative solutions. one-and-a-half years

“The idea was to develop sustainability Founder and CEO which have been diffi-

and technology-driven solutions for Runaya cult for most businesses,
the manufacturing sector. There however Agarwal was

were very few people focusing able to sail through with

on sustainability at a grassroots an intelligent strategy.

manufacturing level. We did our “In terms of businesses we got lucky, all of

research and found out what the projects were at an incubation stage

the pain points of the indus- during the lockdown. Our projects were

try were, worked backwards, delayed, but that is a part of the manu-

identified and developed tech- facturing sector,” he tells BW Business-

nologies to solve these problems,” world.

says, NaivedyaAgarwal, Founder Additionally, they recruited 80-85 per

and CEO of Runaya. cent of their team during the lockdown

Runaya started off by looking at the and getting the team on board with a

aluminium industry, for whom the common company culture is where the

biggest pain point was aluminium challenge lies ahead.

dross, a hazardous solid waste in alu- Manufacturing as a sector sees a lot of

minium production industries that byproducts as waste, and companies like

has caused serious environmental and Runaya serve as a testimony to the unique

public health challenges. ways in which one can reduce waste in

Runaya was able to eliminate pre-existing spaces.

200,000 tonnes of aluminium waste

at their manufacturing site, which was [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 55 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Urvi Shrivastav area as they continue to scale the busi-
ness, he adds.
TURNING ADVERSITY
INTO OPPORTUNITY Zero Attrition:However,starting

C market that combined these two oppor- the business, that too at a time when the
pandemic was at its peak was no cake-
tunities. walk. In Aggarwal’s own words, “Hiring
With digitisation having taken the a team and building a great culture was
very difficult in a fully online environ-
world by storm, the investment platform ment.
is using it to their advantage.
Transparency on business perfor-
“Grip is something people already use mance, open communication, constant
discussion on company vision and online
in 42 different countries and 322 cities. interactions helped us build a cohesive
team with zero attrition,” he says.
OVIDHASHIGHLIGHTEDtheimportance We have done no traditional forms of ad-
Technology-led Busi-
2021 ofasecondarysourceofincome.Withthe vertising, nor have we created a physical ness: Keeping an eye on the future,

job market tightening its threads, many office space,” says Aggarwal. Aggarwal believes that the markets will
witness a massive overhaul in the com-
are turning to investment as a secondary The ability to connect with such a ing years, led by new-age companies and
technologies.
source of income. vast international audience, is due to
“The pandemic has accelerated what
technology which forms the core of their was going to always happen, because
the customer benefits of those things
Physical Assets: A viable op- business and will remain their focus are so large, the cost is so low, and the
options are so many that people are
tion for most is making profit by invest- happy to stick to a digital environment
to consume those services and goods.”
ing in physical assets that he says.

are leased to corporates. NIKHIL While Grip Invest is looking to take
One such platform which on a co-working space in the future,
it is going to hold true to its sen-
facilitates this unique in- AGARWAL
vestment opportunity is timent of promoting a technol-
ogy-led business by providing
Grip Invest, founded by Founder and CEO their employees with a sense

Nikhil Aggarwal one- Grip Invest of flexibility, enabling them to
and-a-half years ago. work at different times across
different locations, which
Grip is an investment is very important especially
during a competitive employ-
marketplace that pro- ment situation. All of these are
possible due to massive digital
vides investors with options to co-invest adoption of technology.

and have partial ownership in physical Risk Taking: Aggarwal can

assets that earn lease income. serve as a source of inspiration to many
who have turned adversity into oppor-
Digitisation: “I started my career in tunity with intelligent risk taking and us-
ing a difficult situation to their ad
investment banking. I worked with Flip- vantage.
kart, Snapdeal and across lots of verticals
deploying SaaS. There I gained insight [email protected]
on how they are running their business.
I then co-founded a company called
‘Chalo’,” recalls Aggarwal.

Soon it was apparent to Aggarwal that
investors were looking for new areas of
investment while the companies were
looking at creating assets which could be
deployed on a lease model.

Consequently, Aggarwal and his co-
founder started Grip Invest to create a

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 56 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

IN CONVERSATION

by Pooja Malik talented artistes and creators.

‘Pocket FM has become How has your journey as an entre-
a top-rated application’ preneur been?
At Pocket FM, we believe, that the
2021 Audiostreaminghaswitnessedaphenomenalgrowthwith key to staying ahead and promptly
technologicaladvancesandavailabilityofsuperfastinternet catering to the country’s audio needs
speed.AudiostreamingplatformslikePocketFM,whichnow is to listen to our users. We are a con-
countsamongIndia’smostpreferredaudiostreamingplatforms, sumer-centric company and hence
haveseenanexplosioninboththeirsubscriberbaseandadvertising understanding consumer behaviour
revenue.PocketFMCo-founderRohanNayaktalksoftheaudio and being receptive to feedback has
platform’sstrategiesandmarketprospects.Excerpts: allowed us to build a product that ca-
ters actively to the customer.
How were the past 18-months
The platform has a wide commu-
for Pocket FM? What were nity of more than 17,000 PUGC writ-
ers and voice artistes. Within a short
your strategies for growth? span, Pocket FM has become one of
the top-rated applications.
The last one-and-half years
What are your predictions
have been tremendously suc- for the audio OTT space?
Audio OTT content has
cessful for us. We have gained emerged as stress busters for
millions in recent times. In a
significant momentum as con- fast-moving society, audio con-
tent is easily consumable and
sumers’ demand for new and accessible to its end-users. As I
mentioned earlier, the demand
unique audio content surged for podcasts and audio shows is
picking up rapidly.
more than ever.
What do you expect the in-
Within a short span, Pocket dustry trend to be?
It (audio OTT) is expected to
FM has become one of India’s evolve intensely over the next
three years.
most preferred audio platforms
What are your expectations for the
with over 40 million registered year 2022?
We are quite positive about the up-
users globally. At present, it has coming year. We can foresee that the
demand for new audio content will be
the highest daily engagement time ample options for video content on the rise. Especially with the resump-
tion of the office setup, listeners will
of 110 minutes per listening user. We consumption, the demand for audio indulge more in audio-based content.

have seen ten times growth in users content was yet to be fulfilled. Audio OTT platforms will become
a significant part of the entertain-
registering on the platform within ment industry in the next few years.
Soon, we will also witness, more and
the last 12 months and have crossed How did you get into the audio more advertisers assigning their
budgets to the audio platforms.
over three billion listening minutes. OTT space?
[email protected]
We started Pocket FM in 2018 with

What motivated the launch of the core agenda to offer a platform

Pocket FM? where consumers can easily access

I and my co-found- the diverse set of au-

ers, who are also my ROHAN dio content.
friends, realised that Pocket FM is build-

several players in the NAYAK ing a global platform
OTT ecosystem were to connect listeners

venturing out with Co-founder with content crea-

a focused vision for PocketFM tors and writers. It
video content. intends to create the

While there were largest community of

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Arjun Yadav portant it is to start their own business
at this juncture in the 21st century but
P I’m seeing some progress as well. Many
have started to understand the potential
of the direct selling industry and have
taken a step towards being financially
sound and having their own business,”
states Sunwar.

2021 ANKAJ SUNWAR HAS now been an en- Leveraging Technology:
trepreneur for 10 years. In the past few
years, Sunwar has been actively involved Highlighting the challenges businesses
in creating awareness and a conducive at remote places faced during the lock-
environment for entrepreneurship in down, Sunwar says he was able to lever-
North-East India, especially in Naga- age technology to scale his business and
land and Manipur. Sunwar believes that reach customers through virtual medi-
the youth of North-East states aspire ums. “I am bullish about technology and
for government jobs and disregard en- rapid connectivity that have brought in
trepreneurship. One of the prime rea- unthinkable levels of innovation, effi-
sons for this disregard is the nature of ciencies, and customer reach. It has not
uncertainty with businesses and entre- only made way for newer businesses to
preneurship in general which has accel- prosper but has helped the Indian econ-
erated after the Covid-19 pandemic. omy as a whole to recover at a swift pace,”
he adds.
Minimum Investment: Sun-
Sunwar also lauds several Central gov-
war is a seasoned entrepreneur with ernment initiatives such as Skill India,
Amway. His childhood was spent away Startup India and Prime Minister Modi’s
from his father as he was in the army. Covid induced pitch for self-reliance. He
He spent his early years in Nagaland.
PANKAJ
SCALING SUNWAR
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Entrepreneur
At that young age Sunwar decided that entrepreneurship journey and decide
he would grow up and become his own what I want to do and how I want to do Amway India
boss rather than aspiring for a govern- it by being my own boss,” says Sunwar.
ment job. Why? With government job says that these initiatives have been able
comes the element of transfers and post- Gig Economy: The fast rise in the to seamlessly synchronise with Amway
ings that keep away fathers from their India’s efforts such as “Build Young Lead-
family. popularity of gig economy and entrepre- ers” to enthuse the youth with that entre-
neurship around the rest of the country preneurship zeal. He says that BW Busi-
“I was looking for an opportunity can also give the much-needed boost to nessworld’s Young Entrepreneur Award
and that is when my uncle introduced the youth of the states in the North-East is a big blessing for him and his team at
me to Amway and shared with me the region of India, says Sunwar who is also Amway. He says he is proud to dedicate
idea of how I can make a career as an doing his bit through Amway India to this award to the people of North-East.
entrepreneur and start building my own inspire the youth to become their own He is confident that this award will give
business with minimum investment. CEOs. “At times it becomes difficult for entrepreneurship a renewed focus in the
It gave me the confidence to start my me to let people understand how im- region and inspire the youth and wom-
en to start their own entrepreneurship
journey.

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 58 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

2021 By Arjun Yadav ing a Covid patient and transporting
them across the city. As the second wave
S hit India, the team was better prepared.
But as it turned out, nothing could have
TANPLUS IS A pioneer in private ambu- prepared any medical response team
lance services and one of the leaders in to manage the scale and volume of de-
ambulance services in Hyderabad. It is mand that came in the April-May-June
backed by a fleet of over 900 ambulances period.
that work 24x7, thereby guaranteeing
medical transport within 15 minutes. “The second wave showed the weak-
These ambulances are packed with top- ness of our healthcare infrastructure. In
of-the-line equipment. the last six months we have made invest-
ments in improving our response time
Stanplus is led by Prabhdeep Singh and are now better prepared for any pos-
who is the Co-Founder and CEO. Born sible third wave or any other pandemic. It
in Chandigarh, Singh is a trained phar- has humbled us as well because we know,
macist and finished his first MBA from no matter how much we prepare, we can
NMIMS, Mumbai. still fall short,” adds Singh.

After his MBA, Singh worked for five Partnerships: Singh says that
years in Glenmark Pharmaceuticals.
He did his second MBA from INSEAD, hospitals that have partnered with Stan-
France and graduated with an offer to plus were able to answer 85 per cent of
join Boston Consulting Group in Brazil. their emergency calls during the pan-
However, the call for entrepreneurship demic, compared to five per cent with
hospitals that have not partnered with
PROMPT MEDICAL Stanplus. Also, their success rate on the
RESPONSE trips was 93 per cent compared to 30 per
cent of other hospitals.

PRABHDEEP
SINGH

Co-Founder & CEO

Stanplus
Technologies

brought him to Hyderabad where he people and machines to respond better The team is now working on other
co-founded Stanplus with two of his IN- to emergency medical situations. medical response technologies such as
SEAD batchmates. “We think of us as the first name that ‘Triage’ which would be able to estimate
people should recall when they find their the panic score of a patient through
Cost-basis Only: During April loved ones under emergency medical du- their voice. On the ‘Excess Technol-
ress,” says Singh. ogy’ side, a smoke alarm, for example,
to June this year when India was witness- would be able to send hospitals a signal
ing its dark days due to the second and Stanplus has made a difference in cities about a potential fire without anybody
more deadly wave of coronavirus attack, like Hyderabad and Bangalore and are calling.
Singh took a stand of providing medical further looking to scale their operations
response at cost-basis only. There were no in other cities. Singh believes that entrepreneurship
extra or exorbitant charges. is a thankless job. But encouragement via
Quick Response Time:Singh Young Entrepreneur Awards does give
Apart from their core competency of a boost to entrepreneurs like him.
ambulance services, the team at Stanplus describes the Covid period as a phase of
under the leadership of Singh is enabling learning. During the first wave, the team [email protected]
technology, hardware and skillsets of at Stanplus learnt the protocols of lift-

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 60 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Resham Suhail cation to overseas studies and offers
students an opportunity to begin their
DEMOCRATISING overseas degree online and complete it
EDUCATION on campus.

The programme is designed in col-
laboration with partner institutions
and provides end-to-end support to
help students reach their goals for ed-
ucation. The WorldGrad steadfastly
upholds the academic standards, peda-
gogy style and values of its partners.

T TheWorldGrad is oriented to-

HE DIGITAL EXPLOSION since a pan- ward building an effective online learn-
demic struck 20 months ago neces-
sitated drastic changes in the lives of ing environment for students under the
individuals, in the way of working, in
business models and even the econo- direction of its passionate and zealous
my. Most of all perhaps, it altered the
campus-oriented world of students. co-founders. “We have grown from 10

The education sector witnessed a to about 50 team members. The pan-
drastic transition when the pandem-
2021 ic compelled a sudden shift from the demic was throwing up multiple chal-
traditional classroom setup to online
learning. “It came with its own set of lenges for many businesses and firms,
challenges but we became open to
the idea of not being restricted by the but we have grown multifold. We are
geographical boundaries but captur-
ing talent even if we are not physically fortunate to scale up to five times our
co-located,” said Pranav Saxena, Co-
Founder, TheWorldGrad. size during the last 12 months,” Saxena

Industry veterans are cer- went on to say.

tain that virtual schooling and online He said TheWorldGrad wished to
education will persist post-pandemic.
Commenting on the trend, Saxena said, offer the best student experience to
“It would have been a harder sell to tell
someone to pursue their degree courses prompt students to choose the insti-
totally online but today parents and
students are a lot more accepting of the tution over other industry players. “I
fact that online is an effective medium
for education and learning.” do believe, competition is healthy,”

“Even before the pandemic hit,” re- quipped Saxena.
called Saxena, “We were firm believers
that technology and online education Expressing his delight in winning the
has a big role to play in democratising
education.” He emphasised that his BW Businessworld Young Entrepreneur
company was using technology as an
Award, TheWorldGrad Co-founder

said, “To a larger extent awards or

milestones like these

PRANAV validate and make you
SAXENA feel good about what
you are doing.”

enabler to democratize Co-founder Commenting on
being an entrepre-

access to education. TheWorldGrad neur in today’s un-
Online education certain and volatile

is not just learning scenario, he said, “In-

through different me- stead of challenging

diums, but also a different science and us, the recent unprecedented disrup-

art of engaging with students. Saxena tion helped us create career opportuni-

pointed out that, “the pandemic (had) ties for teachers to work remotely. The

forced the online education industry pandemic helped us accelerate and cre-

into broader acceptance and forced in- ate a general acceptance of online as a

dustry players to be more innovative on mode of delivery.”

how to deliver quality and how to teach

students.”

TheWorldGrad brings online edu- [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 61 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

IN CONVERSATION

by Sugandh Bahl This was the time when Covid had
just started. Around 95 per cent of all
Faster & Cheaper of our infrastructure was actually de-
Access Enabled ployed in public transport. And over-
night, all public transport network
2021 Founded in 2016, SugarBox is a was shut due to the lockdown. So we
content distribution network that had zero business in April 2020.
makes internet access faster and
cheaperforthe masses.RohitParanjpe, But that was also the time when
Co-Founder and CEO, SugarBox, speaks we were able to transition quickly be-
toBWBusinessworld onthebrand,his cause we realised that people were ei-
journey and more. ther back home, or they had migrated
back to the villages.
How did you come up with Sugar- ROHIT
Box? Tell us about the journey. PARANJPE Howareyouplanningtocapitalizeon
The journey to SugarBox is pretty SugarBox?
much a culmination of what I’ve done Co-Founder & CEO The traditional CDN or content de-
throughout my life. livery network stacks work perfectly
SugarBox well until you have 300 million people
The first venture that I started consuming 5 to 10 GB of data every
dabbled in the travel space. We were month. Now you have 800 million
doing very similar to what Ola does people consuming that much data in
today with the tablets that are fitted less than a week. And that is where the
at the back of the cab. ecosystem starts failing.

After that, I dabbled into the media The next bigger part happens the
entertainment space. That is when moment you start moving into future
we started running into problems technologies. Take the example of AR.
with the internet connectivity. That We have connected devices with IoT.
is when SugarBox came into being. Now we are talking about billions of
sensors that are going to keep pinging
Since then we have been diving the internet, literally every minute.
deep into specific problems like the And that is where an ecosystem which
reliability of internet or universal is distributed like ours becomes far
access to the internet. And that is re- more relevant.
ally how the journey of the digital box
game began. Over the next two to three years,
we’ll actually start getting into smart-
Given that you’re trying to provide er applications. Like, how does one
internet to all the remote locations, enable a Kirana store? Or running a
how difficult have the last one- VR application in a remote village for
and-a-half years been in terms of people to experience. That is where
outreach? we’re headed for.
Honestly, it has actually been a mix of
both. Internet is such a wide oppor- How would you describe your feel-
tunity. A number of people travel and ings on winning the Young Entre-
encounter terrible internet network preneur Award?
and horrible connectivity. Hence we It’s always a humbling experience.
decided to solve that problem first. We put in a lot of effort and often
don’t get any recognition for the ef-
fort until you hit it big. Awards do
help in boosting one’s morale. And
not just for us, it’s also for our teams.
I think it’s fantastic.

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 62 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Vasudha Mukherjee team had the ability to re-calibrate and
take a closer, more analytical look at

their working business model to find

Z your head down and doing some work. where large parts of growth as a net-

And, it’s been 13 long years since.” work come from. He states, “The reset
button has allowed us to expand and
Digital Solutions: As stated, has proven the hypothesis we were
writing on this new model of advertis-
Zoo Media is a network of seven agen- ing.” With digital at the centre of every-
cies that work in an integrated format

to solve business problems for clients thing, Zoo Media is realising its vision,

OO MEDIA IS A HOME-GROWN media digitally. Each of these verticals special- seeing growth in both the top line and

network of seven agency brands—Foxy- ises in the service they provide whether in terms of people.

Moron, Doyen Oink, Pollen, The Rabbit it is video production, technology, influ-

Hole, Mammoth Media, Noesis. Tech encers, consulting, media planning or Industry Trends: Moving to

and, Phosphene. Zoo Media was started social. Everyone in these agencies come digital was the largest trend in the last

with the drive to do something different. with their own specialisation. This pro- five years, accelerated by the pandemic.

At the age of 19, Pratik Gupta (founding vides the clients with the best of both Within digital there are increasingly

partner and CEO) and his colleagues did worlds, getting an integrated service of- more specialist teams being developed.

2021 not feel challenged by the education they fering, along with, specialists in each of However, Gupta points out, “None of

were being provided. Recalling how they the service offerings. the teams are working in integrated for-

got started, Gupta says, “It was started BUILDING MODELS,
on a whim. There was no business plan. FINDING SOLUTIONS
There was no focus area. There was no vi-
sion or mission. It was just about putting

Pratik’s philosophy, which is shared mats because that’s how the advertising
across the Zoo Media network, is to work model was initially built.” Bigger brands
with clients as business partners with a are asking for consolidated service offer-
singular focus to achieve business out- ings, asking singular specialised teams to
comes. deliver singular or multiple products. In
this manner, Zoo Media was prepared.
Over the past five years advertising has
changed drastically. Advertising was di- Other than specialist teams, trends
vided between the creative and the media across AdTech and marketing tech are
ecosystems. With the digital, it has be- continuously evolving. Content and
come nearly impossible for these agencies media practices have also changed sig-
to work in silos. Zoo Media built a new nificantly, especially with the rise of in-
model of horizontally and verticals com- fluencer culture that has had a strong
ing together to solve multiple purposes impact on the market. All of these fac-
of brands. tors play into the business model adapt-
ed by Zoo Media. Gupta explains, “We
Over the pandemic, Gupta and his have this beautiful tree at Zoo Media
called ‘Data, Tech, Media and Content’.
PRATIK It’s about the coming together of data,
GUPTA media, content and tech and that is
what’s happening today.” Adding that,
Co-founder & CEO “our vision is coming to life and our vi-
sion was correct.”
Zoo Media
[email protected]
Sector: Media

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 63 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Urvi Shrivastav

SWAPPING SOLUTIONS
FOR EVs

E if they are doing commercial business,”

says Khurana.
Battery Storage is currently pre-

sent across 150 locations. While
the first lockdown saw people re-
treating to their houses, the sec-

ond phase saw mobility return to

LECTRIC VEHICLES HAVE taken the normal. This proved to be a boon

2021 world by storm in the last half a decade. for Battery Storage. The time was

And Battery Smart is playing an im- opportune for them as they them-

portant part in helping India go green. selves are a post-Covid company, who

Battery Smart, co-founded by Pulkit started their operations after the first

Khurana, is India’s largest network of phase of the lockdown.

battery swapping sta-

tions for electric two- PULKIT Challenges:
and three-wheelers.
“Ours is an on-ground

Looking to make the KHURANA operation, with a lot riety of reasons including the declining
adoption of EVs easier of team members hav- price of the Lithium-Ion.
in our lives, Khurana Co-Founder ing to go out to acquire
Customer Base: Today there are
started Battery Smart Battery Smart more and more new
less than two years ago. stations and talk to 2.5 million electric rickshaws on the road.
And this is the largest customer base of
more customers. This Battery Smart.

Facilitating EVs: became more and more The second is two-wheelers, which
is picking up very fast. A 100,000 two-
“Battery Smart started almost a year and difficult due to the pandemic. But giv- wheelers were sold just this year despite
the pandemic.
a half back. We are currently the largest en that EVs are coming in with such a
“In the next five years, two-wheelers
battery swapping network of India, with large push right now, we have almost and three-wheelers in the EV segment
are expected to see a large uptake. Four-
the objective of facilitating EVs in India,” 10,000 customers on our wait list,” says wheelers are also picking up despite their
smaller volumes especially this year,” says
says Khurana. Khurana. Khurana.

How did this come about? Every EV What about some challenges along the He credits his success to his team,
“We stand tall on the shoulders of our
faces a downtime problem where the ve- way?“Anotherchallengewefacedwasthe team. It is their hard work which drives
success.” A novel idea backed by a sup-
hicle needs to be charged for three to four newconceptweareworkingwith;ittakes portive team is Battery Storage’s mantra
for success.
hours. Additionally, this leads to a recur- timetomakepeopleawareofwhatitdoes
[email protected]
ring capital expenditure. Then there is andhowitworks.Butnowthatawareness

the challenge of finding an appropriate around EVs is increasing this issue is get-

charging location. ting resolved,” he adds.

“Battery swapping, which is the flag-

ship product of Battery Storage essen- An expanding market: The

tially solves this problem. enterprise is doing their share in push-

ThinkofusapetrolpumpforEVs.The ing the EV business forward, by helping

usercomestous,swapsthebatteryintwo more and more consumers adapt to it

minutes and is good to go for another with greater ease.

hundred kilometres. This also unlocks And certainly, the EV market has ex-

additional income for users especially panded in the last five years due to a va-

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 64 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Urvi Shrivastav ing under the essential services category,
they did face some issues,” he adds. Ac-

cessing all locations on ground was one

R company to continue its operations even of the challenges. However, the company
during the pandemic-induced lockdown. had been in the business for long enough
“We realised that if waste is not collected, to have forged partnerships across the
it is going to lead to another pandemic,” country. Communication applications
says Nainani. including WhatsApp also came in handy

in order to keep the business operations

Digitising The Business: He going, says Nainani.

AHUL NAINANI, Co-Founder and recalls speaking to his team at the ground “We used the pandemic situation to

Chief Executive, launched ReCircle level. “When we spoke to our team we got digitise our business which would oth-

seven years ago as a resource recovery a unanimous answer that we should con- erwise have taken a lot more time,” he

enterprise working towards a sustain- tinue working. However, despite com- points out as an example of staying pro-

able future. “We do this by preventing TOWARDS A
resources from entering landfills and
oceans. Rather, we direct them back
into the economy for recycling, reus-

2021 ing or repurposing,” he says. How did SUSTAINABLE FUTURE
it all start? “We launched ReCircle be-
cause we were at the right place at the
right time,” says Nainani, recalling the

beginnings. “It started off as a casual

conversation with a school friend at a ductive despite the challenges.

business competition.

Today, it has flourished RAHUL Sustainability: Nainani says

into an environmentally NAINANI ReCircle also recognises the impor-
conscious business,” he tance of waste management not just

adds. Co-Founder & CEO from the environment angle but hu-

man angle as well.

Plastic Neutral: ReCircle “Waste is not just an environmen-

Nainani was previously tal issue but a wellbeing issue as well.

pursuing a career in People have started moving towards

finance when the transition to waste organic foods and healthy living. Sus-

management happened abruptly. tainability has become a gambit of the

“What comes to us as waste is actually entire wellbeing aspect. Similarly, peo-

a resource for us as we are looking to ple are going to start picking brands

divert waste away from landfills and that are sustainable as against those

oceans and back into the economy,” he that are not sustainable,” he says.

quips. With consumer consciousness in-

ReCircle achieves its goals by partner- creasing, sustainability is not leaving

ing with the informal sector, right from the top spot anytime soon. Given the

the source to the final processing of the scenario, waste management is an up-

material. The final product is sold as plas- ward sector to be in.

tic credits to big businesses that produce Nainani is a testimony to the impor-

these plastic wastes. This way ReCircle tance of having a noble idea behind a

helps businesses go plastic neutral. business model and the potential it

holds to become successful in the im-

Essential Services:Whilealot mediate and long term future. He truly

of businesses were shut during the lock- stands tall behind the company motto:

down, it did not pose a serious threat to “We Recover, Recycle, Rethink”.

ReCircle as waste management came un-

der ‘essential services’ hence allowing the [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 65 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

IN CONVERSATION

By Pooja Malik

“INCHING TOWARDS How-so-ever, with the current COV-
STABILITY, GROWTH” ID-19 crisis and the lockdown situa-
tions, the lean in towards packaged
T heonlystrategythatcanbeadoptedbyanorganisation foods that came with promises of hy-
asdynamicasCGCorpGlobalandasmanpower giene, safe packaging, and conveni-
intensiveasoursisto‘staycalmandkeepgoing’,Varun ence is far higher. As a result of this
Chaudhary,ManagingDirector,CGCorpGlobaltellsPooja packed foods such as instant ready-
MalikofBWBusinessworld.Excerptsoftheinterview: to-eat items and frozen foods have
gained popularity.
2021 What is your success mantra? impacted the snack market but it
In India, the market for instant
My mantra is very simple. Acquire is slowly and gradually inching to- noodles category is made up mainly
by the millennials, Gen X and Z. The
knowledge; do the hard work and wards stability, growth and revival. work-from-home mode and recently
the hybrid mode are accompanied
persevere in order to succeed. And with frequent snack munching. This
has been surging the demand in the
let’s not forget that we have to also Most of the sectors have witnessed instant noodles category, and also the
demand for savoury snacks, confec-
‘enjoy the process’ while we are at it. a shift in consumer behaviour tionaries, etc. has been rising. This cri-
sis has made the consumers far more
post-pandemic. What was it like accepting of the instant and ready-to-
eat food products, which has resulted
What is the approach of CG Glob- for the instant noodle category? in the growth of manufacturing, pro-

al? What are the challenges ahead There has been an almost para- cessing, distribution as well as
marketing of these items.
for the Indian food/snacking in- digm décalage in India’s culi-
What are your thoughts
dustry? nary tradition and practices. on winning the YEA 2021?
How do these initiatives en-
The vision statement or philosophy Prior to the pandemic times,
courage the entrepre-
of CG Global lies in its simplicity. As consumption of packaged neurial ecosystem?
It is a very humbling
a global company, we give utmost food was limited and there and at the same time
a very encouraging
importance in upholding the human was apprehension experience to win
the Young Entre-
dignity without any discrimination. among consumers preneur Award.
Initiatives like
And, creating value for the customer towards it. People these are always
an advantage for
and subsequently for the nation too, w e r e m o r e i n - the support and

through our services and products. clined towards the endorsement this
award represents. Such
According to a survey, the Indian p u r c h a s i n g recognitions motivate
young entrepreneurs
food market was expected to reach l o o s e f o o d like me to keep march-
ing forward.
$894.98 billion by 2020, well that items from
[email protected]
didn’t happen and we all know the the trusted

reason. shopkeep-

The major challenges faced by ers or grocers.

the snack industry are

in terms of demand and VARUN
supply side bottlenecks

and infrastructure bottle- CHAUDHARY
necks.
Managing Director
A major share of India’s

food processing sector is CG Corp Global
occupied by the snacks

segment. Though the Cov- Sector: Food Processing

id-19 crisis has severely

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 66 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Resham Suhail na) stores.
Speaking of the challenges of the Cov-
BANKING FROM THE
GROCERY STORE id-stricken times, Shriram pointed out
that many industries had collapsed since
is already a well-recognised rural fin- the pandemic broke out, leaving droves
of people without jobs. These people will
M tech company. A team of former bankers, now have to take on new career streams
payment professionals, marketers and and re-establish themselves. Businesses
developers came together then to create that do not opt for updated technology
solutions that everyone could use with integration would have to encounter
ease. The company’s vision is to make In- numerous challenges to compete in the
market. “I would say, instead of mindset
dia, especially rural India, free from the change it is more about prioritising up-
skilling yourself for the upcoming chal-
AHAGRAM IS A FINTECH company that cumbersome paperwork that banking lenges,” said Shriram.

2021 has enabled banking from the mom- involves and make fintech ubiquitous Since its inception,Mahagram

and-pop store round the corner through around the country. has been organically funded by its core
promoters and stakeholders. Mahagram
fintech solutions. The company’s mis- Based in Mumbai, Mahagram now services nearly 8000 PIN codes and pro-
vides basic banking, eGovernance and
sion is to enable rural women to save has a presence in almost all Indian other BFSI services through its distribu-
tion network of around 5,000 distribu-
money at the local kirana (or grocery) states. It is building scalable solutions tors and over 2,00,000 retail partners
among the mom-and-pop stores.
stores, instead of travelling miles to the to grow its market and to enable its cus-
Shriram sees a similarity between
nearest bank branch. tomers to send, deposit, and withdraw the situation that prevails today and the
2008 recession. He feels that India lags
money from the nearest grocery (kira- behind in terms of household savings.
Mahagram aims to increase the ratio and
Through the pandemic and habit of household savings in rural India.
“At Mahagram, we are indulged in offer-
the lockdowns that it mandated, gro- ing basic banking services like deposit
and withdrawing transactions to con-
cery stores qualified as essential services, sumers but it is now high time for rural
people to save money,” said Shriram.
enabling Mahagram to offer undeterred
Financial literacy and financial ac-
services to its clientele. cessibility will grow exponentially as
the fintech sector in India grows and
“The business wasn’t RAM witnesses massive innovations. Ma-
affected, instead it
hagram’s CEO believes that in the
has grown three times SHRIRAM post Covid era, people have turned
for us in the last two serious about a second source of in-
come. They realise that they need to
years,” said Mahagram CEO put their savings into the right invest-
ment solutions. “We are focusing on ru-
CEO, Ram Shriram. Mahagram ral women because they are the ones who
“The challenge was run households. We are offering them
the recurring deposit,” he said, sharing
to retain talent, as his vision for 2022.

during the pandemic [email protected]

people migrated to their hometowns,”

recalled Shriram. Policies on data pri-

vacy and servers for financial technol-

ogy posed a challenge too for remote

working during the pandemic and the

lockdowns that came in its wake. “We

had to keep offices open and wanted peo-

ple to come to the office because mak-

ing systems accessible from different IP

addresses was difficult logistically and

as per the legal guidelines as well,” said

Shriram.

Established in June 2015, Mahagram

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 68 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Arjun Yadav

STREAMLINING DEBT
COLLECTION

2021 T India and even overseas to enable them
to streamline the entire flow around
HE TERM Non-Performing Asset (NPA) collection. RISHAB
has been dominating the Indian financial GOEL
news environment for quite some time Raising Funds: With the rising
now. In comes Credgenics, India’s leading Co-Founder & CEO
recovery and technology-enabled collec- number of defaults during the Covid-19
tions platform. It works with financial pandemic, one would think of it as a boom Credgenics
institutions, banks, NBFCs and digital period for Goel and his platform but in
lending firms to improve their collections reality it became a zero-revenue phase be higher as certain regulatory provi-
efficiency using technology, automation and a question of survival. sions such as restructuring of debt and
intelligence and optimal legal routes waiving off loans were misused by mul-
in order to expedite the recovery of bad “We could foresee collections becom- tiple lenders. These numbers would be
loans. ing a real problem after Covid but then unveiled in 2022 and will indicate a
How did it all start? The growing decibel RBI implemented a moratorium which spike in NPA numbers despite return-
around the word ‘NPA’ caught the atten- essentially meant that there would be no ing to normalcy.
tion of Rishabh Goel, Co-Founder and loan collections for six months leading He believes that forums like BW Busi-
CEO, Credgenics. It led him to develop an to a zero-revenue phase and becoming nessworld’s Young Entrepreneur Awards
end-to-end software-based debt collec- a question of our survival,” describes encourage young entrepreneurs to strive
tion platform to reduce the rising NPAs Goel. for more and give exposure to their in-
and solve the woes of the Indian banking novative ideas. He adds that due to such
industry. However, during this time, the plat- initiatives, investors are chasing founders
form was able to attract every top-notch and not the other way round, which used
Manual Playbook: Goel says investor and was able to raise funds solely to be the trend a few years back.
on the basis of its concept and the belief
the NPA problem was being portrayed in of it becoming a game-changer in debt [email protected]
a manner that cannot be solved. It is im- collection.
pacting the overall growth of the economy
and lending rates. He adds that in India Empathy Quotient: The plat-
or any other developing economy, there is
a manual playbook in terms of collecting form uses Artificial Intelligence (AI)
the debt. to streamline the whole process by au-
tomating several repetitive functions
“Through Credgenics we thought that in the debt collection industry. The use
streamlining this playbook will help the of AI enhances scalability from a col-
economy to grow at a much higher pace lection standpoint and also improves
and accelerate financial inclusion in the borrowers’ experience with an empathy
country,” states Goel. quotient.

Today, Credgencis is working with “It is likely that people in this industry
the majority of banks and lenders in may act rudely to extract money from the
borrowers even after being taught to be
polite. With AI we are making the process
of collection empathetic,” says Goel.

Spike in NPA Numbers:

Goel, however, warns that the NPA
numbers in 2022 vis-à-vis 2021 would

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 69 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

2021 By Sugandh Bahl ence to a longer tail of retailers and D2C
brands in India. Further, Goel aims to
STRENGTHENING D2C match the same day delivery module of
MARKETPLACE giants like Amazon whose module is com-
bination of three main components: tech-
A nological pluming and tooling, fulfilment
operations and last-mile operations.
LEADING LOGISTICS aggregator,
Shiprocket has raised $41.3 million in a When asked how Goel will utilise
funding round co-led by PayPal Ventures, capital it has recently raised, he said,
along with other existing investors like “Everything that happens post check-
Info Edge Ventures, March Capital, Tribe out is pretty seamless and well-built for
Capital and Innoven Capital. Shiprocket a player like Amazon. Hence, my main
is a leading e-commerce fulfilment plat- focus of utilising the raised amount will be
form that recently launched three new towards expanding our stack well and in-
warehouse hubs across Surat, Jaipur, and tegrating it for a hassle-free checkout for
Guwahati. This has been done to expand consumers.”
its delivery network to both western and
eastern India. In an interaction with BW Business-
world in June, when he was asked about
his vision, he had said, “We started our
company nearly a decade ago to make e-
commerce simpler for small and medium
businesses (SMBs) and direct-to-con-

SAAHIL
GOEL

Co-Founder & CEO

Shiprocket

Affordable Plans: Shiprocket experience but also drive down the cost sumer (D2C) commerce using technol-
which otherwise retailers would have to ogy. We haven’t waivered from that vision
was launched in 2017 by Saahil Goel pay pan-India shipping for,” says Goel. statement.
who is now its Co-Founder and CEO. “Shiprocket’s strategic partners like Ra-
It essentially aggregates demand from zorpay and entrepreneurs such as Cred’s As we look out into the future, we ex-
direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands, micro Kunal Shah and Zomato’s Deepinder pect to create even more value for SMBs
entrepreneurs and local brands and sends Goyal have also put in capital,” he adds. by providing every part of the e-com-
them to logistics players like Delhivery, merce stack that they need to enhance
Ecom Express and others. Hassle-free checkout:Goel the experience both for their merchants
as well as for their end-consumers.”
The tech-enabled logistic platform has also been awarded by BW Business-
provides affordable plans to MSMEs so world amongst those young entrepre- We wish Goel and Shiprocket lots of
that they can come online and sell any- neurs who have reshaped the way people success in coming times. Because in his
where they want. have been looking at the Indian startup company’s success (and several more
ecosystem. in the space) rides the expansion and
Along with logistic service, Shiprocket growth of e-commerce business and its
provides many benefits like warehous- This first-generation entrepreneur is ecosystem.
ing, packaging and other related services. bringing in a world-class shipping experi-
The brand has built three new warehouse Sche Tvisation: It is necessary
hubs in order to keep the goods closer to
consumer demand. that the government consider announc-
ing attractive schemes and incentives to
“Since demand for shorter time deliv- invite companies to.
eries is originating even from tier-2 and
tier-3 cities, by being able to store goods [email protected]
closer to the end consumer, we are not
only able to drive a much better consumer

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 70 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

IN CONVERSATION

by Arjun Yadav last 18 months. The pandemic was
a blessing in disguise for a business
“From VC To Media-tech like ours because now people have
Entrepreneur growth” started to watch more content and
more people also want to upload more
VINAYAKShrivastav,Co-FounderandCEO,TochAI content. So, more editing came into
aimstobeattheforefrontindeliveringworld-class place. Enterprises want to do away
videoeditingsolutions.AsawinnerofBWDisrupt’s with the manual processes and cre-
YoungEntrepreneurAwards2021,heshareshisjourney ate a digital first product for their us-
andtheroadmapaheadforTochAI. ers. The scale that we’ve reached in
the last 18 months, I don’t think we
2021 What got you into the media-tech VINAYAK would have reached it even in the next
space? SHRIVASTAV three years had it not been for the
I had an affinity for the media-tech pandemic.
sector because of my interest in vide- Co-Founder & CEO
os. Video editing has been a challenge What are some specific areas that
for a number of years due to minimal Toch AI you would like to target in the com-
innovation. ing year?
Our roadmap for 2022 is to create a
There have been great platforms digital first products for consumers.
like Adobe and Final Cut Pro but We are very focused on B2B and now
none of them have seen any compe- want to enter the B2C space.
tition. We realised that there’s a lot
that needs to be done. So, we released Editing is going to see a lot of trans-
a very simple video editing platform formation in the next one or two years.
that could create key moments and Our focus will be on delivering world-
highlights. class video editing solutions on cloud
so that anyone and everyone can use
Today, if you’re watching a live editing at scale.
event, say cricket and someone has
just been dismissed, the replay that The plan is to grow to at least 30
you see is created by our company. plus countries and entering the
consumer market.
What exactly is Toch AI’s
business model? What would be your message to
Our business model is a subscrip- young entrepreneurs?
tion-based service where you pay a Being an entrepreneur in early
monthly fee and basis that you get ac- days becomes an isolated jour-
cess to the platform and its entire fea- ney. You start feeling lonely
ture set and tools which allows cloud about it as people don’t appre-
editing to be done at scale. ciate your vision.
Forums and initiatives like
How would you describe the Covid BW Disrupt’s Young Entre-
phase for Toch AI? What are some preneur Awards put the focus
positives that you took from this on entrepreneurs and their in-
phase?
We have grown 300 per cent in the novations and take it to a large audi-
ence.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, I would
say, don’t be afraid to take on the chal-
lenges. It might be a hardship for a
couple of years but if you’re on the
right path in building a company, you
will definitely get there.

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 71 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Sugandh Bahl the iceberg in India and it’s going to ex-
plode.
MAKING PRODUCTS
FROM JACKFRUIT And as far as the export markets are
concerned they are mature markets al-
W ready. Theyhavebeenwaitingforaprod-
uct like ours. And it’s just that we have to
2021 AKAO FOODS IS India’s first brand that reach there and give them our product,”
makes products from the superfood – asserts Dhond.
jackfruit. This Goa-based sustainable
food brand offers handpicked natural Ready to Cook: Jackfruit is a
products with a vision of benefiting the
planet. very stubborn fruit to cut open, clean and
get it ready for cooking. It’s very sticky.
No Preservatives: The com- And it’s a very hard fruit which needs to
be boiled before you can actually get it to
pany stands for creating a better tomor- cook. And Dhond’s products are giving
row – one where humanity thrives, with access to this ready to cook product all
products that are curated from ethically through the year.
grown and sourced produce that is then
hygienically processed and packaged. “Jackfruit is a seasonal fruit available
All Wakao products have no preserva- just four months of the year, however,
tives, come with a shelf-life of one year Wakao is providing it throughout the
and require no refrigeration. year,” he adds.

For The Masses: A post-pan- per cent of it goes waste. Positive Response: Dhond
We felt proud by tapping into such an
demic company, Wakao Foods has made feels blessed to have been cho-
a name for itself in the market, evinc- unexplored market and thereby giving sen as one of the Young Entrepre-
ing curiosity amongst people to see as farmers a new lease of life,” says Dhond. neur Awards (YEA) winners by BW
to how the company is making products Businessworld.
for the masses from the most ignored Primary Focus On D2C : “Ex-
fruit of the world, jackfruit. “This award is not only for me, it’s for
panding via D2C (direct to consumer) is my team, the entire team that has worked
For Sairaj Dhond, the Founder and our primary focus as it’s the next big thing really hard for the last one year and ten
Chief Executive Officer of Wakao Foods, in the world,” says Dhond.
the Eureka moment struck when he real- SAIRAJ
ised the potential of jackfruit. “We are seeing a lot of people who are DHOND
really excited about these new things
An Unexplored Market: that are coming up. And meats, plant Founder & CEO
based alternatives are just the tip of
“Jackfruit doesn’t require any introduc- Wakao Foods
tion as the fruit has been consumed in the
world as a very famous mock meat. months,” says Dhond.
“And, within such a short time, the ac-
Hence, it came to us as a shock when we
got to know that 1.4 million tons of jack- ceptance that we’ve seen in the positive
fruit is grown every year in India and 75 response that we’ve received has been re-
ally heartening.

This award will go towards strengthen-
ing faithintheconsumersthatourbrand
can be trusted, that we make products
that are really healthy, tasty, and are good
for the world and the environment,”he
adds.

[email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 72 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Resham Suhail Divulging the company’s plans for the
future, Harjai said, “We should look at

HANDCRAFTED the larger picture as we want Hats Off
Accessories to be available everywhere,
through virtual showrooms, and online

LEATHER WEAR business.” To ensure quality, the com-
pany has partnered with factories that
have been crafting shoes for over three
decades.

It works with skilled artisans who

ensure the exquisite craftsmanship and

T detailed designs that are intrinsic to the
brand. Collaborating to innovate in every
aspect is the key to the company’s growth
plan, pointed out Harjai. “The new gen-
eration is very disruptive. We do forget

the hierarchy and corporate structure

HE MANTRA THAT GUIDES Hats Off Ac- but that’s what fuels innovation and de-

2021 cessories is to make handcrafted luxury velopment,” Harjai said.

leather footwear accessible to customers Considering that the recent and un-

through virtual shopping platforms, free precedented scenario had forced en-

of the markups that go to middlemen. trepreneurs to relook at their business

The company envisions promoting In- models and re-strategise their policies,

dian manufactures on a global plane. the need of the hour, she felt, was to get

the optimum output by marrying the re-

Hats Off Accessories is a sources and maintaining the structure

homegrown footwear brand that ex- while learning from innovations. Harjai

udes colourful inspiration, refinement said being an entrepreneur was a very

and sophistication. The company is fo- solo journey but the challenges reignited

cused on paving the way to a direct link the zeal and fostered new growth and

between the consumer and the factory, innovative ideas.

cutting through the multiple intermedi-

ary channels that only add to the cost of SUNAINA On winning the
the product and take away incentives of
BW Businessworld

the consumer. HARJAI Young Entrepreneur
“The customer just needs to pay for the Award, Harjai com-

product and that can happen through Director, mented that “Recog-

e-commerce,” emphasised Hats off Ac- a change of perspective nition like these give

cessories Director Sunaina Harjai. Har- and a lot went into un- Hats Off me a push and valida-

jai is cognizant of the compliances and derstanding the changes Accessories tion to create new col-
audits necessary to fulfil the company’s in the digital economy,” laboration, hire new

objective to make handcrafted leather Harjai said, “We all have people, create more

footwear and accessories accessible to witnessed the growth in entrepreneurs for to-

customers everywhere. the digital economy, be it blockchain, morrow.” What does the future hold

The emphasis, she pointed out, was cryptocurrency, or the Internet of Things for Hats Off Accessories, we asked her.

on easy and hassle-free access to a qual- (IoT), all these areas have boomed after “Looking at the technological boom,

ity product in the contemporary set- the pandemic,” she went on to say. we would want to digitalise manufac-

up of e-commerce gateways. “It’s been Harjai takes pride in the USP of the turing units and our online business in

quite a rollercoaster ride,” she mused, brand, which is to develop cutting-edge order to grow further,” replied Harjai.

“There were positives and negatives, but design with traditional craftsmanship We wish her all the best.

I choose to look at positives more.” and contrasting detailing. Along with

So how did the pandemic impact aesthetic finesse, the company is focused

the business, we asked her. “There was on delivering top-notch quality. [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 73 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Resham Suhail kirana (grocery) stores, dhabas and
other food delivery joints. Gaur ex-
A PAPER BAG EMPIRE plained that the conventional food
THAT GROWS packaging material was mostly indus-
trially processed stock lot paper which
had traces of dye and chemical ink,
which could easily percolate into food
and through it into the human body.

Gaur believes that the compa-

A ny’s human resources department had

DEERA PACKAGING, is India’s largest played a key role in the company’s suc-
manufacturer of paper bags and paper
pouches, giving consumers an option to cess during the pandemic. The Adeera
patronise environment-friendly pack-
aging over plastic. Packaging Human Resources team

The company began as a propri- tweaked company policies to prioritise
etorship firm called Urja Packaging in
2012. It later became Adeera Packag- the overall well-being of employees.
ing, which is now an aggregator of co-
owned paper bag manufacturing com- “We ensured the safety and wellbeing of
panies. In 2019, Sushant Gaur, Chief
Executive Officer, Adeera Packaging, our employees by taking care of vacci-
decided to partner with the company’s
2021 largest customer. “Now, we have three nation, and health insurance. The com-
co-founders and we do around 15 paper
bags per second, every single day,” said pany also tried to create openings for
Gaur.
those who lost their jobs,” said Gaur.
Earlier, most paper making machin-
ery came from either China or Germa- Is there any change in people mind-
ny, but the pandemic brought on supply
chain issues for the paper packaging set, especially post pandemic, we asked.
industry. “Young machine manufac-
turers have decided to manufacture “Yes, there is! It is towards environ-
these machines here in India. This will
be a breakthrough for us in India if it is ment-friendliness and sustainability.
done successfully,” said Sushant Gaur,
adding, “We have seen a lot of investors This will add immensely to the continu-
interested in this industry.”
ously rising demand for paper bags,”
The company’s mission is
said Gaur enthusiastically.
to adhere to the core values of quality,
eco-friendliness and hard work while Adeera Packaging has changed its
providing quality products to clients
at affordable prices. Gaur is optimis- business model to capitalise on chang-
tic about Adeera Packaging’s ability to
dominate the Indian market without ing consumer behavioural patterns and

the sudden uptick in ecommerce. Gaur

considers the change a huge opportuni-

ty for the company, which has been able

to ensure a growth in manufacturing of

paper bags.

Gaur was delight-

having to compromise SUSHANT ed to receive the BW
on the quality of the GAUR Businessworld Young
product or service. Entrepreneur Award.

Food packaging with Co-founder & CEO With his venture, He
Kraft paper is a fast- plans to build a sup-

growing business. Kraft Adeera ply chain of paper bag
paper is more durable, Packaging manufacturers. Since
recyclable, and re-usa- paper bags replace

ble. It is waterproof and plastic, Adeera Pack-

oil-resistant packaging, aging’s growth plans

which makes cold and raw food distri- are in step with the growing awareness

bution convenient. of the need to preserve the ecology,

Adeera Packaging is a pioneer in the which no doubt will prove a recipe for

production of Kraft paper and in pro- success.

moting its adoption in food packaging

over normal paper packaging used by [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 74 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

IN CONVERSATION

by Arjun Yadav difficult for Tressmart and the beauty
industry in general as well. There was

Making Cruelty Free a lot of hesitancy among consumers
Beauty Popular to buy beauty products without ac-
tually trying or testing them. At the
same time salons and beauty stores
were shut for a long time. Due to this
the industry had to make a shift to on-
line platforms. Even we launched our

e-commerce platform in June 2020.

In the long term though, I think that

SargamDhawanBhayana,Director,TressmartMarketing, stakeholders will be benefited due
recentlyacquiredaDutchveganandcrueltyfreeskincare to their presence across offline and
brandtocatertothisdemand.AsawinnerofBWDisrupt’s online platforms.

YEA2021,shetalksaboutherjourney&theroadahead You recently acquired a Dutch ve-

gan and cruelty free

2021 What is Tressmart’s core for Tressmart and SARGAM skin care company,
competency? the beauty industry? BHAYANA Paul Penders. What
Tressmart started as a distribution What were some pos- specific trends did

house. We import beauty products itives that you took Director you pick in the In-
from different countries such as UK, from this phase? dian market that

Israel and USA. We are exclusive dis- Covid has been very Tressmart pushed you to ac-
tributors of DAFNI in India which in- Marketing quire it?
cludes their make up eraser and style I realised that there is

ideas. We now have two e-commerce a growing awareness

platforms as well where one is specifi- among people regarding adopting a

cally for hair products and the other, vegan lifestyle in India. They are now

‘Glow by Tressmart’, is for skin care more conscious of what they are con-

products. suming and this consciousness got a

boost after Covid as people started

How would you describe giving more time to their wellbeing

your journey as an and health. So, I thought that it was

entrepreneur? the best time to acquire a vegan and

What pushed you cruelty free brand. People now check

towards it? before purchasing whether a brand is

My journey has been filled cruelty free or not.

with a lot of learnings and

challenges but it has been an How would you describe your expe-

exciting one. It feels nice when rience at BW Disrupt’s YEA 2021?

you get acknowledged for the What BW Disrupt has done is abso-

work you are doing, it pushes lutely phenomenal, we got to meet

you to work harder. My father entrepreneurs from different sectors

and grandfather have been an and it is always inspiring to learn

inspiration for me. I learnt the from their journeys. You get that en-

art of hard work from them and couragement to scale up your ven-

their values and outlook towards life ture. It also helps in networking with

inspired me to start something of my fellow entrepreneurs who are doing

own and that is how Tressmart was well. Lastly, as one gets recognised,

conceptualised and eventually be- they get the motivation to work hard-

came a reality. er and innovate further.

How has the Covid phase been [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 76 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

By Urvi Shrivastav search process,” explains Jain.
Today, with more Indians opening
NEW INVESTMENT
KEYHOLES broking accounts, engaging in ETF and
investing in the stock market, Jain has
invest in the stock market with an ex- created a technology platform that sits
on top of broking which helps the inves-
W pert. tor get the right curated portfolio.
“It lets experts guide you on stock and
“On the retail front, the market regu-
ETF investments through premium lator Securities and Exchange Board of
WealthBasket portfolios. WealthBas- India, has created investment advisory
ket is a portfolio of equities or ETFs that license, using which top fund advisors
can come on our platform. Also, they can
help you build low-cost, diversified, long create portfolios. On the consumer side,
we will integrate with every broker in the
EALTHDESK, FOUNDED BY UjjwalJain, term as well as short term portfolios. country,” Jain says spelling out some of
this near term goals.
2021 is a platform that helps you discover and Each Wealthbasket portfolio reflects an
Financial Assets: Wealthdesk
invest in the country’s best advisors/re- investment strategy, theme or an idea
has progressed from just a transactional
search-drivenportfolioswhichwerepre- with underlying stocks, ETFs accord- business model to a wealth advisory and
wealth management led business model.
viouslyinaccessible.JainstartedWealth- ingly weighted following a rigorous re- Given that Wealthdesk is a SaaS led busi-
ness, scaling up this way became easier
desk in 2014. An engineer by training, and sustainable, he adds.

Jain joined a hedge fund straight after And to further help the business, there
is a changing financial landscape today
completing his en- where people are moving investments
away from traditional and fixed depos-
gineering degree. UJJWAL its to financial assets. And equity invest-
He then moved to JAIN ments are becoming mainstream in such
Mumbai to build investments.
a hedge fund with
Simultaneously, broking as an industry
Reliance Industries. Founder & CEO is also expanding. Combining these two
factors and presenting the end products
“It’s here that I got Wealthdesk to the consumer is what Wealthdesk pre-
exposed to the stock sents as a final product to the consumer.
It is in the form of premium affordable
marke t,” recalls portfolios.

Jain. He points out Jain is confident that all these factors
will keep the broking accounts active in
to a big gap between the retail participa- the long run.
“Post the Covid era, people have got seri-
tion in global markets versus the Indian ous about their secondary source of in-
come. They are realising that they need to
markets. put their savings in the correct investment
solutions,” he adds.
Exploring Options: It was this
And this factor alone would continue to
gap that Jain saw as an opportunity fuel the growth of platforms like Wealth-
and started exploring options in the desk because younger investors are
startup space. savvy enough to diversify their source of
income.
His stint with MSCI Inc., an Ameri-
can company headquartered in New [email protected]
York, also helped him as it provided the
required exposure to how hedge funds
run globally in a technology led environ-
ment and how Index led ETF business
runs in a technology environment. Both
these experiences combined to produce
and shape what Wealthdesk is today,
he says. So what exactly does Wealth-
desk offer? It invites consumers to

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 77 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

2021 By Vasudha Mukherjee consider ourselves a PR firm, we con-
sider ourselves an extension of every
ginning in 2017, Jajabor Brand Consul- business that we work with.” Predicting
tancy works extensively in public rela- that with technology, the medium of ex-
tions and specialises in brand strategy pression may change, however, the user
and content strategy. behaviour will not. Technology will also
play a big role in scaling things up, but
Today, Jajabor Brand Consultancy the more technology enters the indus-
describe themselves as a ‘strategic col- try, the more people will seek authentic
lective’, specializing in custom storytell- interaction and experiences. “Brands
ing. “We empower brands to bring their and customers want to have authen-
phenomenal stories to their customers tic conversations in a world where you
across platforms that matter. We oper- are saddled by hyper information.” The
ate and converse in an influential eco- work is highly outcome driven, focusing
system of VCs, investors, entrepreneurs on tangible impact, so it is important to
and media helping build synergies that not get caught up in the busy work, but
are impactful and compliment business to remain focused on the end goal.
goals. We deliver impactful communi-
cation for brands across the spectrum,” With storytelling being the driving
says Dash. philosophy of Jajabor, Dash believes in
hiring people who bring diversity and
The name Jajabor comes from the can empower each other. With technol-

OFFERINGSPECIALISED
SERVICES

T eponymous Assamese UPASNA ogy at the forefront, it is
song by Bhupen Hazari- DAS important to have peo-
HE INSPIRATION FOR Jajabor Brand ka. The song, a favourite ple who are passionate,
Consultancy came from the love of story-
telling. From a young age, Upasna Dash of Dash’s grandfather, Founder & CEO driven and can bring
(founder and chief executive) enjoyed speaks of a person trav- something new to the
the art of listening and sharing stories,
stating, “You could be sitting anywhere elling the world, only to Jajabor Brand table. Dash adds, “Even
in the world and just by reading these realise at the end of the Consultancy though we are a PR
stories your mind could get shaped and journey that one does firm, we have lawyers,
new ideas can come in.” After travelling
the world and gaining work experience not need to physically policymakers, artists,
with companies such as Google, Coca
Cola, Nokia and many startups, Dash travel to experience a engineers and anybody
began Jajabor Brand Consultancy with
almost no capital or business plan. Be- new place. Just by listening to a song or who is fascinated with storytelling can

story, one can travel with the power of be part of our team.” There is no rec-

imagination. Jajabor follows the same ognition for PR personnel, with most

philosophy, Dash even adding that, “As of the work having behind the scenes.

long as human beings love listening to Dash, therefore, believes in building a

stories and telling stories, I think we will great culture at Jajabor Brand Consul-

be around.” tancy and looks for people who can add

value to the culture and work together

Future of the PR Sector: to tell the stories of the brands they

While Public Relations is a competitive work with.

industry, Dash does not believe they are

in competition with other companies,

but with themselves. “We actually don’t [email protected]

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 78 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021



Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

EVENT COVERAGE

2021 YEA SUMMIT:
BW Businessworld
Chairman & Editor-in-
Chief Annurag Batra
with Sudhir Sethi,
Founder & Chairman,
Chiratae Ventures
India Advisors

By Pooja Malik

THE NEW AGE
DIGITALPRENEURS

Industry captains and young entrepreneurs

pondered on what makes tech startups tick in

these times of stress at the YEA Summit

N OTWITHSTANDING the onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic
that has now raged on for over 20 months, the Indian tech
startup space has remained unhindered. While several busi-
ness ventures have been hit by the pandemic, tech startups
have thrived, thanks to the greater reliance on the digital space.
The Young Entrepreneur Awards and Summit 2021 hon-
oured and celebrated this new breed of digital-entrepreneurs
(or digitalpreneurs) and also provided a platform for a discus-

Photograph by Bobby Singh 80 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

“The disruption has happened at a fast pace and that is why today’s
entrepreneurship faces a big challenge, because the pace of change has
accelerated manifold. That is what makes today’s entrepreneurs and this
award very meaningful”. S. RAVI, Founder, Ravi Rajan & Co.

sion on the makings of successful entrepreneurs. Through “There are three major changes that may have provoked these
conversations with BW Businessworld and exchange4media big changes that we see today,” he said. The first change, he
Chairman and Editor-in-Chief Annurag Batra, industry said was technology having reached the masses. Technology
leaders and entrepreneurs shared their views on the winning was earlier limited to a select few, who were at the top of the
streaks of tech entrepreneurs and pontificated on what makes pyramid. Today, it has percolated down to the bottom giving
them tick while the business environment continues to be full access to one and all.
challenged by a pandemic that necessitates a “new normal”.
The second change is the major role being played by the
What is fuelling the growth of startups? What are the key availability of capital. “For the very first time private equity,
learnings for an entrepreneur? These are among the issues venture funds are available to all young entrepreneurs. If
that stirred discussions at the Young Entrepreneur Awards these young entrepreneurs possess good ideas, a good busi-
(YEA) and Summit. ness model and an appealing product for serving the cus-
tomer base then they will be able to convert that idea into
Manoj Kohli, Country Head, Softbank India, spoke of the reality through immense capital support,” he pointed out.
huge difference in mindset of the youth of today from the
youth of a few decades ago. “Today, it seems like a big change Lastly, he said, the government has realised that the next
to me when I see today’s purpose-driven youth becoming wave of transformation is coming through young entrepre-
creators rather than applying for jobs,” said Kohli. He mused neurs. They are known to possess fantastic middle-class
that even in the 1990s new technologies were generating values, hailing as they do, primarily from small towns.Kohli’s
multiple options and new business models. Today though, the views found resonance among the other assembled industry
internet and smart connectivity are generating new ventures leaders at the event.
to a degree that has dwarfed even the outsourcing boom of
the 1990s, he went on to say. India is accelerating the digital economy to offer a mega
opportunity to tech startups. Commenting on the pace of
“Internet penetration is finally gathering steam to an ex- digital disruption, S. Ravi, Founder, Ravi Rajan & Co., Chair-
tent that one can easily find mobile network and internet man, TFCI and former Chairman, BSE, said, “The first 100
connectivity in places that may not even have proper roads,” years the change was very slow. It was going at a very slow
said Kohli, adding that the last five to seven years seem to pace, now look how that pace has changed. The disruption
have flooded the market with entrepreneurial opportunities. has happened at a fast pace and that is why today’s entrepre-

81 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Yo u n g E n t r e p r e n e u r A w a r d s

EVENT COVERAGE

SUCCESS
MANTRAS:
Beerud Sheth,
Co-Founder
and CEO,
Gupshup,
shared some
key learnings
on success

2021

neurship faces a big challenge, because the startup will do well or not. We are in the

pace of change has accelerated manifold. “Follow your business of spotting talent. We also learn
That is what makes today’s entrepreneurs dreams. Believe in from the entrepreneurs as they are solving
and this award very meaningful”. your idea. Along the a challenge in the market that has not been
way, you will meet a solved before. We then decide whether we
India’s vision of a $1 trillion digital econ- should back him or not.”
omy involves health services, energy for all,

quality schooling, skilling and e-admin- lot of investors and Sethi said his motto was simple. “We are
istration for the future, multiplying farm- advisors. If they say there on the board because we have capital.
ers’ wages and Make in India for the world. ‘no’ to you, try to Since day one we have proved that our job
Startups of the day are gearing up to ensure find out why. But do is beyond the capital. Capital is important
that these critical sectors operate at scale, not forget to follow but value addition is even more important.
opined industry leaders. your dreams,” Our goal is to be a trusted partner for the
entrepreneur,” he explained.

Capital Deployment SUDHIR SETHI, Those with capital were not in any race
According to KPMG’s Private Enterprise’s Founder & Chairman, as they were learning too, he went on to say.
Venture Pulse report, venture capital (VC) Chiratae Ventures “We do it the way we think is right. First,
investments in India doubled from their realising that what’s good for a company is
India Advisors
previous quarterly high of $6.7 billion in good for us. We must be fair as investors and

the second quarter (Q2) of the calendar year be there for the long term. We must align

2021 to $14.4 billion in the third quarter with what the entrepreneur is thinking and

(Q3). India also attracted the four largest deals in the Asia- must not cross the line. There is a network effect here which

Pacific region during the July-September period. This was VCs form. Second, we are not in the business of money, but

backed by a very strong IPO activity in Q3, which is expected trust,” Sethi said. Referring to valuations, Sethi said, “A valu-

to be stronger in the current quarter. This dynamic is only ation is just a number at a given time. However, companies go

going to strengthen investor confidence. through a journey of their own, especially in a listed market.

Sudhir Sethi, Founder and Chairman, Chiratae Ventures This value must be discovered. The more people discover it,

India Advisors said, “As an investor, one doesn’t know if a the bigger the value.”

82 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

Making of an Entrepreneur The Right Attributes

Individuals who run their own business “You can’t be Not all entrepreneurs are fortunate, for
enjoy a sense of freedom, of constructing depressed when success in business requires some definite
things and watching them evolve and of things are going attributes. No enchanted projectile can
nurturing inventive dreams. Entrepreneurs bad and vice versa. change an individual into a successful en-
also make beneficial choices and foster so- trepreneur in a jiffy. Nonetheless, for those

cial bonds with other entrepreneurs. Sometimes prepared to make a solid effort to succeed,
Being a successful entrepreneur isn’t a traditional there do exist a predictable mix of entrepre-
academics is a huge neurial abilities. According to S. Ravi, the
cakewalk. It requires commitment and best disservice ... Every ingredients that any entrepreneur should
endeavours. As the legendary management day is a new day, have are the Right Partners, Idea, Compli-
consultant and author, Peter Drucker, had your track record ance, Mental Agility and Willpower.
said, “Any entrepreneur utilises his dedicated
efforts to search for a change, respond to it and In the competitive environment of busi-

exploits it as an opportunity”. Successful en- doesn’t matter, ” ness, those who do succeed are men and

trepreneurs have their individual techniques. BEERUD SHETH, women of mettle. They conquer problems
They use new improvements in the area of Co-Founder & CEO, through solutions and take on all the risks
innovation to achieve their business goals. Gupshup, that come along their way. They have grit and
perseverance and the ability to face failures
Beerud Sheth, Co-Founder and CEO,

Gupshup, shared some key learnings on that are beyond their control. Entrepreneur-

success in business. He said the entrepre- ship is not like passing an examination based

neurial journey was like a roller coaster ride. “You can’t be de- on a set syllabus – for there are none – as Sheth pointed out.

pressed when things are going bad and vice versa. Sometimes Sudhir Sethi’s mantra for entrepreneurs in the making,were

traditional academics are a huge disservice, if you get good “Follow your dreams. Believe in your idea. Along the way, you

grades then you succeed! This generally does not happen in will meet a lot of investors and advisors. If they say ‘no’ to you,

the real world,” he said, stressing that there were no set rules try to find out why. But do not forget to follow your dreams”.

in business. “Every day is a new day, your track record doesn’t

matter; Teamwork is really important,” said Sheth. [email protected]

83 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

IN CONVERSATION

“‘RETURNTO
OFFICE’IS
PLAYINGOUT
ININDIA
ASWELL”

MindspaceBusinessParksREIT(realestateinvestment
trust) offersoneofthelargest,gradeAofficeportfolios
inIndiaspreadacrossMumbai,Hyderabad,Puneand
Chennai.MindspaceREITismanagedbyKRahejaCorp
InvestmentManagersLLP.VINODROHIRA,CEO,MindspaceREIT
shareswithASHISHSINHAofBWBusinessworldhowthehiringdone
afterthepandemicisleadingtoareneweddemandforgradeAoffice
spacesthatconformtocompliance,governance,health,andsafety
protocols.Excerpts:

How was the last quarter for Mindspace REIT?
We continue to witness strong leasing activity across our portfolio with over 2.1 million
square feet (msf) leased in the first half of this financial year. We remain increasingly
confident of the commercial market outlook, buoyed by record tech hiring and growth
trends, improved GCC prospects, vaccination coverage in our gateway cities as employ-
ees return to the office. We are excited about the robust demand cycle re-emerging.

The REIT has recorded robust gross leasing of 9 lakh sq ft, with an average rent of Rs
88 per sq ft a month across 11 deals concluded during the quarter. It has also concluded
another build-to-suit lease of 5 lakh sq ft at Mindspace Juinagar in Mumbai region.
Over the last two quarters, it has leased 2.1 million sq ft in total.

The REIT has raised around Rs 400 crore through issue of debentures at project
level at 6.1 per cent helping the reduction in average cost of debt further by 15 basis
points to 6.9 per cent as of September end.

The July-September quarter has already witnessed a sharp uptick in the absorp-

84 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

tion of office space led by leasing activity in the information are witnessing a substantial shift in the ‘work from home’ to
technology and IT-enabled services sector. ‘work from office’ mindset.

The commercial real estate sector is on the path of grad- Global multi-nationals are increasingly looking at India as
ual recovery with majority of companies announcing end an innovation and technological hub. As per a recent Nass-
of WFH. How do you see the demand and leasing activity com report, currently, only 15 per cent of the Forbes Global
in the coming few months? 2,000 companies and 26 per cent of Fortune 500 companies
The demand revival has started, and we expect it to grow have set up GCCs in India. This underscores the immense
stronger in the coming years. India has already administered potential of GCC expansion in India considering the talent
over 1.1 billion doses and the entire eligible population is ex- pool the country offers. We anticipate these strong underly-
pected to be vaccinated in the next few months. As per recent ing trends to translate into a demand upswing towards the
reports, countries in the west are seeing around 40 per cent best managed asset ecosystems.
of their staff back in office. We are seeing this trend of ‘return
to office’ playing out in India as well. Post vaccinations, we The recent hiring across IT/ ITes sector is a positive as-
pect for CRE. What trends are you observing with regard

85 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

IN CONVERSATION

to IT companies leasing office space? Juinagar, located in Mumbai region, where we successfully
We continue to see increased activity for evaluation and concluded another build-to-suit (BTS) lease deal of 0.5 mil-
assessment of new and consolidation needs of large tech- lion sq ft with an IT tenant.
nology occupiers. Technology companies in India have seen
their business prospects improve further in recent quarters What are the expansion plans for Mindspace Business
and have revised their hiring numbers upwards which is in Parks REIT?
addition to the record hiring done over the past 12 months. On the organic side, we expect to add approximately 1.8 msf
to our completed portfolio in the next financial year which
This new hiring done post the pandemic is leading to a comprises of two under-construction buildings at Mind-
renewed demand for grade A office spaces that are built with space Airoli West, Mumbai Region and Gera Commerzone
compliance, governance, health, and safety protocols. Kharadi, Pune.

How has FY22 been so far compared to the previous In our endeavour to maximise stakeholder value through-
year? out the lifecycle of assets, we have firmed our plans to proceed
FY’22 has witnessed increased activity for assessment of with re-development for two wings at Mindspace Mad-
new leases or consolidation in the needs of large technology hapur (subject to requisite approvals). This shall potentially
occupiers. With a large percentage of employees receiving increase the leasable area of the building under re-devel-
both doses of vaccines, the return to office plans has gathered opment from 0.36 million square feet to c. 1.3 million sq
momentum and we are seeing clients gear up for increased ft, subject to final designs and approvals. We also have an
physical occupancy. In the first half of this financial year, we additional c. 1 million sq ft to build in Pune.
have achieved gross leasing of 2.1 million sq ft. across our
REIT portfolio. Our BKC asset is now fully leased with the We also have ROFO pipeline of 8.6 msf across Mumbai
addition of a marquee BFSI tenant. On the ROFO side, in region, Hyderabad and Chennai. In addition, we continue
addition to the pre-leasing of 1.8 msf during the last quarter to evaluate various inorganic opportunities which are value
at Commerzone Madhapur in Hyderabad, this quarter saw accretive and match the DNA of the portfolio.
pre-leasing activity at our other ROFO asset, Mindspace
Like China is the manufacturing hub for the world, what

86 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

As per recent reports, countries in the West are seeing
around 40 per cent of their staff back in office. We are
seeing this trend of ‘return to office’ playing out in India
as well. Post jabs, we are seeing a substantial shift from

‘work from home’ to ‘work from office’ mindset

and trading lot for publicly issued REITs. What impact
have you observed with the change in regulation?
Both these amendments have encouraged a wider retail
investor participation and enhanced liquidity for the instru-
ment. We have seen the unitholders in our REIT increase by
over 31 per cent in less than a quarter.

When we look around the world, all stabilised markets
operate through REITs for commercial real estate. Whereas,
REITs are still at a nascent stage here in our country.

But REITs are poised to evolve as a strong asset class for
alternative investments. The recent legislation on REITs is
very forward-looking and safeguards investors, while build-
ing the REIT space within the right framework.

opportunities you see with India emerging as the ‘tech- Mindspace REIT recently announced their commitment
nological hub’ for the world? to climate group’s carbon neutrality agenda. Why do you
India has demonstrated its resilience despite the pandemic feel it is so integral to business?
and delivered services in technology to the rest of the world. At Mindspace REIT, our endeavour to emerge as a responsi-
That has strengthened India’s position as a destination for ble organization motivates us to implement sustainable busi-
companies to set shop and grow and increased belief in the ness practices across our operations. We are firmly commit-
tech capabilities of the country. As the world is moving to- ted to sustainable value creation for the environment, society,
wards a digital economy, Indian IT sector is poised for a and our organisation by integrating sustainable approach
robust decade. Several Indian IT companies are also going into the business. Our commitment is guided by our purpose
up the value chain in terms of type of services delivered such and vision to create a lasting value for all our stakeholders.
as data analytics, automation, artificial intelligence, machine
learning and much more. Our vision is to be a sustainability leader in the realty in-
dustry by creating long-term value for stakeholders through
These companies are also seeking to establish their own ESG-focused business strategy.
research and development centres in India, thereby provid-
ing a further fillip to the office demand. We are mindful of the emissions generated through our
business operations. We are committed to implement re-
quired measures to decarbonise our business activities to
transition towards a low carbon economy. In this effort, our
focus is directed towards reducing GHG emissions, adopting
renewable sources of energy, and improving energy efficien-
cy, amongst other initiatives. The RE100 and EV100 initia-
tives will give us a path to fulfil our sustainability objectives.

The government is banking on REIT/Invit to drive the
NMP or National Monetisation Pipeline. How do you
see the move for the private players?
The move has good potential. I feel, this needs to be evaluated
further on how best to explore this with REITs / InvITs.

SEBI has recently revised the minimum subscription [email protected]; @Ashish_BW

87 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

COLUMN AcharyaPraveenChauhan

iPhone 13 & the
Threatening 13

EARLIER THIS YEAR rumours Apple is not the
were rife that Apple’s iPhone only company that
13 was doomed because of its will likely find itself
association with the number succumbing to
13 and would be scrapped. However, the triskaidekaphobia,
tech giant defied the rumours and went which may
ahead with the launch. plummet sales of
the iPhone 13, but
As an astrologer, I spend my days ex- have buyers pining
ploring the positive and negative omens in for iPhone 14
everyday life. A few days after the launch of
iPhone13, I was on a Zoom meeting with one The Number 13 in Vedic Astrology
of my clients in the United States. He men- The Vedic numerology for 13 must be ana-
tioned skipping buying iPhone13. I was not lysed from its composition. When 1 and 3 are
surprised, for people do often avoid choos- added (1+3=4), we get number 4. The num-
ing unlucky car numbers, buying houses ber 4 is associated with Rahu in Vedic astrol-
with ominous numbers etc. This time my ogy. The story of Rahu goes back to the epic
client’s reason for dodging the iPhone 13 of Samudra Mathan. According to Hindu
was triskaidekaphobia – extreme fear of the mythology, during the Samudra Manthan
number thirteen. and distribution of Amrit, an asura named
Rahuketu disguised himself as a Dev and
Tracing the Fear of 13 drank some nectar. Before the nectar could
Just as crossing paths with a black cat, pass through Rahu’s throat, Lord Vishnu cut
breaking a mirror or sneezing have super- off his head with the Sudarshana Chakra.
stitions associated with them, many believe The head of the asura became Rahu and
that the number 13 is a harbinger of bad the tail became Ketu. Rahu, the asura is the
luck. The fear of the number 13 is not un- harbinger of bad omen.
known to most now. But why is the number
13 believed to be cursed? The answer lies Numerical Superstitions in India
in history. India does not lag behind in phobias around
numbers. We have our own picks and bits of
According to the Bible at the last supper, superstitions. The commonly used or ‘un-
Judas Iscariot, the man who betrayed Jesus, used’ number is 420. The number is associ-
was the 13th person to take his place at the ated with cheating and forgery. Similarly,
table. There’s also an old superstition that the number 13 is also considered sinister.
says that if you have 13 letters in your name,
you’re bound to have the devil’s luck. In the world’s largest democracy, even pol-
itics has testified to the bad luck associated
Coincidentally, the number 13 is also a with numbers. The number 13 was associ-
number that has won the lottery the least ated with former Prime Minister Atal Bihari
number of times. It is believed that the bad Vajpayee. The number naturally tagged onto
omen attached to the number was also be-
hind the failure of the Apollo 13 mission.
Apollo 13 is so far the only unsuccessful mis-
sion intended to get men on the moon.

88 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

his political career. Vajpayee’s government People tend not lysed by fear that they avoid their normal
collapsed after being in power for 13 days. It to shop, travel, or routines of doing business, taking flights or
is believed that the bad luck was associated schedule important even getting out of bed. It’s been estimated
with the date of his oath taking ceremony, events on Friday the that more than $700 million is lost in busi-
which was on 13 May, 1996. For the second 13th. Consequently, ness on this day.
time too, Atal Bihari Vajpayee became the according to media
Prime Minister for 13 months, following reports, businesses According to the Stress Management
which, the government was out of power. lose hundreds of Center and Phobia Institute in Asheville,
millions of dollars North Carolina, an estimated 20 million
Not just the political landscape, appar- because of it. Some people in the United States are affected by
ently even the Indian Space Research Or- people are so a fear of this day, making it the most feared
ganisation (ISRO) fears the number 13. paralysed by fear day and date in history.
Following the failure of Apollo 13, the ISRO that they avoid their
jumped to the PSLV rocket PSLV-C14 after normal routines iPhone 13 and Triskaidekaphobia
sending PSLV-C12 up into space. of doing business, Fear of unlucky numbers was also the rea-
taking flights or even son behind Apple skipping the roll out of
The lush green city of Chandigarh did getting out of bed. iPhone 9 and jumping straight to the iPhone
not have a Sector 13 till 2020. The reason It’s been estimated X in 2017. Unlike on previous occasions, the
Sector 13 did not exist earlier is because the that more than company didn’t hesitate to launch iPhone
city’s Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier $700 million is lost in 13 this year. However, the superstition has
considered the number 13 unlucky. Even business on this day somehow justified itself. According to some
Uttar Pradesh’s Noida district has distanced reports, Apple may cut back its production
itself from the number thirteen. Be it a house of the iPhone 13 owing to supply chain con-
number, a floor number, a tower number, or straints caused by the chip shortage, which
even sectors numbered by the state housing has impacted the tech industry globally. Po-
body, Noida avoids the number 13. tential supply constraints threaten to muddy
an already uneventful iPhone launch and
Impact on Economy come at a crucial time for Apple.
Triskaidekaphobia – the fear of number
thirteen – impacts the economy with great Apple says supply chain issues have cost
intensity. The number even has a day associ- the company $6 billion in the fourth quar-
ated with it, which is feared in most coun- ter of the fiscal year. “We had a very strong
tries. The ominous date of Friday the 13th, performance despite larger than expected
is culturally feared for the biblical record of supply constraints, which we estimate to be
13 guests having attended the Last Supper around $6 billion,” Apple CEO Tim Cook
followed by Good Friday, the day of Jesus told CNBC.
Christ’s crucifixion.
Not just Apple, Microsoft too directly
People tend not to shop, travel, or sched- skipped from version 8.1 to 10. So factors
ule important events on Friday the 13th. related to both myth and maths have com-
Consequently, according to media reports, bined to make this particular number more
businesses lose hundreds of millions of dol- maligned than any other, inducing fear of
lars because of it. Some people are so para- the number 13 in many fields. But it’s not all
bad news for Apple, as its users now await
the new iPhone 14 with more enthusiasm.
The craze for Apple and the prestige associ-
ated with iPhones is greater than the inten-
sity of triskaidekaphobia. While sales of the
iPhone 13 may dip, prospective buyers who
skipped the purchase for the fear of number
13, now look forward to the launch of iPhone
14. That’s what my client on call said as well,
“I am eager to buy iPhone 14 now!”

The author is an astrologer and palmist
[email protected]

89 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

[PHOTO ESSAY/FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING[

THE BW FESTIVAL

The BW Businessworld & BW Wellbeing World Festival of Wellbeing brought together not just

LAUNCH OF BW WELLBEING WORLD:
Leaders of the Indian wellbeing industry felicitate winners of the BW Wellbeing 40 under 40 Awards 2021
In the frame: Kunwar Shekhar Vijendra, Sister B. K. Shivani, His Grace Gaur Gopal Das, Col. Rajyavardhan Singh

Rathore, Daksha Bharadwaj, Sujit Kumar, Shashi Bhushan Dubey, Luke Coutinho, S. Ravi, and Annurag Batra

Photograph by Bobby Singh 90 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

OF WELLBEING

healthcare and wellbeing professionals, but also voices from a wide spectrum of society

91 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

[PHOTO ESSAY/FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING[

1
2

4
35

TOP: 1. Suzy Singh, wellness edumentor; 2. Nawaaz Modi Singhania, Founder, Body Art Fitness Centres; 3. Dr. Samir
Parikh, Director, DMHBS, Fortis National Mental Health Program, Fortis Healthcare; 4. Col. Rajyavardhan Singh Rathore,
MP, former Cabinet Minister, Olympic medallist; 5. Luke Coutinho, holistic lifestyle coach, Founder, YouCare, All About You;

92 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

8

69
7 10

TOP: 6. His Eminence, the 8th Choekyong Palga Rinpoche of Ladakh, Buddhist teacher and spiritual speaker;
7. Sister B. K. Shivani, Raj Yog meditation teacher; 8. Samir Soni, author, actor and filmmaker; 9. Dr. Ashish Ambasta,
Founder and CEO, HappyPlus; 10. His Grace Gaur Gopal Das, international lifestyle coach and motivational speaker

93 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

[PHOTO ESSAY/FESTIVAL OF WELLBEING[

11 12

13
TOP: 11. Dr Annurag Batra, Chairman and Editor in Chief, BW Businessworld & Founder Exchange4Media with Antano
Solar John & Harini Ramachandran, Founders, Antano and Harini Legacy Accelerators; 12. Advait Yogbhushan, Sacred
Sciences Teacher and Founder & Director, Swamarpan Foundation;
13. Dr Annurag Batraand panelists debate on ‘Happiness - The New Buzzworld’
94 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

14
15 16

17 18

TOP:14. J. C. Chaudhry, Founder and Chairman, Chaudhry Nummero, Pt. R. K. Sharma, remedial astrologer and gem
therapist, Acharya Praveen Chauhan, astrologer, palmist & author, Dr Jai Madaan, Lady of Fortune, Prateek Bhatt,
astrologer, palmist & numerologist with Dr Annurag Batra; 15. Anil Khandelwal, MD and CEO for Yogicsecret Healthcare;
16. Padma Shri Dr Prakash Kothari, Founder Professor, Department of Sexual Medicine, G.S. Medical College and K.E.M.
Hospital; 17. (left) Dr. Mickey Mehta, leading holistic health guru; 18. (left) Ranveer Brar, celebrity chef and restaurateur

95 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

COLUMN By Astro Friend Chirag Bejan Daruwala

What the Stars your colleagues, but they will get resolved.
Foretell for You This month is both special and pivotal.
A RIES: Ganesha says, you will
make the right decisions about money out of you in the third week. On SCORPIO: Foryou,thismonthwillbefull
your career and education. the whole December will prove a delight- of enthusiasm and cheer. You may earn
You will be compensated for ful month for you. Consultation a physi- some unexpected revenue. Be wary of
unpaid dues. You will spend cian for your wellbeing, though. people born under the signs of Sagittarius
a lot of time with your family and Aries. Stay away from dark tones. The
in the first week. Your health will need LIBRA: The fourth week will bring you first or middle of the month will be excel-
attention in the latter half of December. unexpected happiness. A hurried deci- lent for launching a new enterprise.
sion may have negative consequences.
TAURUS: Dear Taurus, your monetary Your corporate appearances will be out- SAGITTARIUS: In your business jour-
issues will be resolved with ease. This standing. You may have conflicts with ney, you will be successful dear Sagittarius.
may be challenging month for you, but Envious colleagues will fail to ambush
bears vital lessons. Married couples your ventures, but you may disappoint
need to pray to ward off the negative someone you have confidence in. It is not
influence of Saturn. You will find affec- a good idea to start a small company now.
tion and enjoy wellness now.
Watch your cardiovascular health.
GEMINI: According to the cosmos, Toiling hard may lead to migraines,
this will be a hectic month. You are dizziness, etc.
likely to make good money through
equity and shares you had purchased CAPRICORN: This month will be
earlier. Family members and ac- both tough and adventurous. You’ll
quaintances may cause you distress, make all of your business decisions
but try to appease them. Avoid travel. with utmost care and explicit re-
search, leading to a specified goal.
Either by month end or the middle
of next month, you will be able to
move on from issues that have been
bothering you for long. Focus on the
present.

CANCER: Yourprofessionalfrontwill Astrologer: Chirag Bejan Daruwala AQUARIUS: It’sgoingtobeatremen-
prove good. The eighth house of your dous month filled with vivid lessons.
zodiac suggests some unanticipated The first or third weeks may prove
income in the third week. People get- tough, but you will learn from the chal-
ting married this week open doors of lenges they bring. Your zeal for your
fortune. Those looking for new jobs goal will attract people to you. You have
will find good options. If you’ve been ill, been blessed by the Goddess Lakshmi and
you will recover gradually. you will make a lot of money now.

LEO: It’s proving to be a terrific month. WHAT DOES PISCES:Your month will be interesting
Make new friends and don’t let your ex- DECEMBER 2021 HAVE IN if you put out the energy in the universe
isting ones fall apart. Keep your cool for dear Pisces. The financial front will im-
you have lots of options in terms of your STORE FOR YOU? prove significantly. Be wary of infections
career and education. You may succeed in CARRYING FORWARD THE or of neglecting old friends. This month,
competitions. Avoid people you dislike in LATE BEJAN DARUWALA’S you should be prepared to start an enter-
the last week of December. prise involving electrical equipment or
LEGACY, THE AUTHOR education. Watch your health and drive
VIRGO: On the commercial front, you GUIDES YOU SO YOU MAY with caution.
will have some unexpected wins. It will MAKE THE MOST OF WHAT
be wonderful to start a new business now. The author is the reknowned astrologer Bejan
Be cautious of people who try to wring LIFE HAS TO OFFER Daruwalla’s son and carries forward his legacy

96 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021

#freedomtobehappy

engagement
plus plus =
involvement

Engagement is passive and encourages a top-down, prescriptive
communication style. It's a transactional system. It is the outcome of
employees' passive acceptance of the company's beliefs and goals.

‘Involvement’ is the active pursuit of these objectives. An involved
employee will take ownership & play an active role in driving change
& add value to your business.

Our happiness framework transitions from engagement to
involvement and is built on the premise of Introspection & not
Interrogation. We involve employees to reflect & help set context to
positively influence their behaviour.

Want to involve your employees to create a happier work culture?
Write to us at [email protected]

LAST WORD BK Shivani

Rebuild Trust

BW Wellbeing World hosted the Festival of Wellbeing where Raj Yog meditation teacher,
spiritualguideandmentorSISTERBKSHIVANI,explainedRebuildTrust –acorporate

culture gradually overcoming distrust developed due to the pandemic

What builds resilience and Could you please tell us

reduces stress? about positive thoughts and

Sleep — ‘early to bed, early to rise’ affirmations that we should

is a phrase that today’s school kids practice?

do not know. We all have a noble Like the last layer of information

intention of giving our kids what that we consume the last thoughts

we did not get, but we also have we have during the end of the day

to give them what we received in are very critical as well. Let’s end

terms of learnings, because we are the day with thoughts of selected

the last generation that can pass affirmations as thoughts manifest

on these, after us they won’t know and become our destiny.

about it. The affirmations that one

Also, Covid is not the fear and should feed their minds before

anxiety that we feel today, Covid is sleep as the mind radiates the

just a pressure but it is divided by affirmations to our bodies along

resilience. Stress is just pressure with the right message as to what

divided by resilience. we want to manifest in our lives

are:

What does the last layer of l I’m a powerful being

information mean, and how l I’m calm and stable always

is it beneficial to be aware l I’m a giver — I give love, I give

about it? Covid is not the fear and acceptance, I give understand-
In the first hour of the morning anxiety that we feel today, Covid is just ing, I give compassion.
and the last hour of the night, a pressure but it is divided by resilience.
if you are going to watch the We need to replace the line
world news, then the world is Stress is just pressure divided by ‘I’m busy’ to ‘I’m easy’, ‘I’m
only going to become more of resilience busy’ is not a healthy line, not
for the mind or the body.

what the world is today — you · I accept everyone as they are and

cannot change the world. Because everyone accepts me

you are observing the world, you are becoming the

world and you are becoming the same world next morn- How do we deal with expectations, acceptance?

ing. Expectations are not normal, acceptance is normal. My

Youcannotchangetheworldbyconsumingtheworld,you body is perfect and healthy and will always be, is an af-

have to consume something different to be able to change firmation we keep in mind before sleeping.

the world. The next six hours our mind is going to radiate this

The last layer of information is critical, hence 20 affirmation to our body, so the last thought before you go

minutes before going to sleep, please consume a healthy to sleep is nothing less than magic.

emotional diet which means watch, read and listen to that Whatever is your target at work, put an affirmation for

what you want to become, which further means watch, read that in your thoughts, I have already achieved my target

and listen to content which has happiness, acceptance, loy- and then create a divine circle of protection around you

alty, compassion, trust—in other words, spiritual content. of God’s love and affection.

Photograph by Ritesh Sharma 98 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 01 - 14 December 2021