The Curofy storyline — highlighting entrepreneurial lessons of 2016

The name Curofy has become synonymous with the healthtech boom in India. Founded in 2014 by three engineering graduates from IIT Delhi, Pawan Gupta, Mudit Vijayvergiya and Nipun Goyal, Curofy is a medical networking app that enables communication between doctors.

Learnings from 2016:

Nipun Goyal, co-founder, Curofy, told YourStory, “2016 has been a great learning curve for us. With the industry on the verge of a digital makeover, acting fast and making our product ready for the wave has been an outcome of our learnings in 2016. Doing fast iterations has been the key to moving rapidly as a product company, and we have significantly accelerated a typically slow-moving healthcare industry’s pace to adopt digital as a mode of communication to connect with relevant stakeholders. Pharmaceutical and devices companies have started allocating good chunks of their marketing budgets to digital.”

He further added, “We also realised that both engagement and monetisation have to go hand in hand, one driving the other; else, it might be an opportunity lost. However, 2016’s biggest learning has been our understanding of the industry. We have always believed that offline behaviour needs to be replicated online for sustainability. And with the industry still taking baby steps, the onus was on us to spread the word and to understand the aspects of the healthcare industry that can go digital.

Nipun hopes to further understand their capabilities and make the necessary product iterations accordingly, and 2017 will be another learning curve for the company. The lessons of 2016 will play a great role as they embark on their 2017 journey. And with the government’s push towards taking India digital, they are game for any challenge that lies ahead.

Key milestones till 2016:

Reached a user base of 2,00,000 verified doctors

Reached a user generated case repository of more than 80,000 cases

With 300 cases being posted every day, we are the most engaged platform for doctors

Started monetising and have a pipeline of more than Rs 2.5 crore worth of projects today, including one worth a significant Rs 55 lakh. Roped in more than 30 big clients, including Abbott, GSK, Boston Scientific, Boehringer Ingelheim, Dr Reddy's, MSF ,and Cipla.

Among the top seven Indian startups selected for 3rd Google Accelerator Programme in Silicon Valley (only Indian healthcare startup).

Featured among the five best Android apps for doctors by Times of India.

Reference:https://yourstory.com/2016/12/chinmay-shah/

Hybrid technology: 3 engineering PhDs and a finance guy go Altigreen

Mahadevpura, a suburb of Bengaluru, is an extension of the traffic congested Whitefield area. While primarily known for its malls and IT parks, it is also an industrial area where commuters have to face gravel roads. It is in one of the corners of a bylane here that a hybrid technology startup called Altigreen Propulsion Labs resides. Like the name suggests, this is not a company filled with pseudo-green activists who go out on the road and ask the world to go green in the day while drinking several bottles of beer and making snide remarks on capitalism at the pub by night.

That being said, Altigreen does make the world greener, retrofitting conventional fuel-guzzling cars with hybrid technology, saving both the environment and money for the driver in the form of fuel costs.

The company has over 37 engineers calibrating their software box to make the batteries assist the drive train, which transfers power to the wheels of the car, and reduce the fuel consumed by the engine to propel the drive train. Remember that these are additional batteries installed in the boot of the car, and Altigreen’s systems do not tamper with the engine or the existing battery, factory-fitted in the bonnet, at all. At their facility, they are testing a sub-one ton truck and cars of several makes on their speed rollers, to check their ability to perform on retrofitted hybrid platforms.

Altigreen’s core team consists of people who have expertise in finance, controls engineering, aerospace, and software. It’s a deadly combination indeed.

“We are using our skills to solve a business opportunity. We are building cost-effective hybrid systems to assist fuel-based powertrains. This is the future of automotive technology in developing regions,” says Amitabh Saran, Founder of Altigreen.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), Delhi tops the list of most polluted cities. The WHO continues to add that India is in the group of countries that has the highest particulate matter (PM) levels. Its cities have the highest levels of PM10 and PM2.5 (particles with a diameter of 10 microns and 2.5 microns). At the level of more than 150 micrograms, Delhi has the highest level of airborne particulate matter PM2.5, considered most harmful. These figures are six times more than the WHO “safe” limit of 25 micrograms. Uncontrolled vehicular traffic seems to be the primary reason.

The Altigreen team

A made in India story

Post his PhD, Amitabh had stints in NASA and HP. He also started two startups in the technical and online fields, and successfully exited both. Shalendra Gupta, the CFO and co-founder, has worked with engineering companies and capital markets for the last 25 years. Dr Lasse Moklegaard has a PhD in control engineering and is an expert in hybrid systems, and Dr John Bangura has a PhD in electrical engineer and has worked in large corporates in the aerospace industry. Both of them were working in the US when Amitabh invited them to join the company in 2013.

Amitabh stumbled upon the idea of building a hybrid for India in Gurgaon, at a golf course.

“I was unhappy that the only hybrid launched in India, in 2011, was an expensive Japanese make. But I then realised that these systems could be built by us,” he says.

Amitabh discussed the idea with Lasse, who was more than happy to build a platform for the Indian market. Next, Shalendra, who was an old friend of Amitabh’s, jumped in. Lasse then convinced Bangura to be a part of the startup, post which the two of them moved full time to India.

Amitabh moved the company’s base to Bengaluru because it had the best battery technology and engineering talent. “I studied various clusters across the country before placing my bet on Bengaluru,” says Amitabh.

Market size

Amitabh and team have caught on to a global trend, one that has not caught up in countries like India, or even in Asia. The world over, hybrids are becoming popular. Most hybrid cars in India are unaffordable, priced over $40,000. These expensive cars also have a battery that needs to be charged constantly.

According to PwC, sales of electric, plug-ins and hybrids will grow 433 percent to 2.2 million units by 2021 in Europe alone. This, the consulting and advisory firm says, is driven by a number of factors, including regulatory pressure. PwC adds that alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs) — including hybrids and pure electric — are gaining consumer acceptance in the European Union (EU), even in the face of decreased fuel prices.

Future Market Insights, a research and consulting firm, says that a hybrid vehicle uses two or more distinct power sources to produce motion. For example, distinct power sources can be a combination of diesel and electricity, fuel cell and diesel, or gasoline and electricity. The usage of the battery reduces emissions and improves utilisation of fuel.

The patented motor that does the trick to save fuel

The business model

Altigreen’s business model is to retrofit the software and the hybrid system into fleet vehicles. There are over three million fleet vehicles in India (sub-one ton trucks and taxis), and if you include passenger cars, there are over 10 million vehicles that are less than five years old. Altigreen charges Rs 60,000 to retrofit a vehicle. But in this, there is a government subsidy of 15 percent. “We are going after the B2B market and are creating a roadmap to also offer B2C services in two years,” says Amitabh.

The company has filed several patents. The USPTA has already approved one patent for the motor. This brings exclusivity to the company and the IP becomes valuable in case the company will be valued by automobile or technology companies,

“Going after the right market segment is very important for such a company,” says Naganand Doraswamy, Founder of IdeaSpring Capital.

According to ReportsNReports, a total of 549,000 electric vehicles were sold across the world last year. However, the total number of hybrids that sold last year was around 2.2 million vehicles.

Altigreen works with five corporates and has several fleet cars piloting on their hybrid platform. The company has plans to set up a factory to assemble their hybrid systems onto cars when their business scales up. The capacity of the plant is to be 20,000 units per month. Altigreen’s founding team has raised a total of Rs 20 crore from Jupiter Capital and Chetan Maini, the founder of Reva.

It has been a hard four years for the team as Altigreen is constantly in R&D. It is only now that they are going commercial.

More importantly, it is not one of those CNG systems built by a small-time mechanic, which connects to the car engine and destroys the driving experience. These are serious engineers building a system that works for car owners to bring down the usage of fuel. The average fleet car travels 150 km a day, which means that the driver spends close to Rs 600 per day and around Rs 20,000 per month. The hybrid saves at least Rs 5,000 on this total monthly cost. Altigreen guarantees their product for three years.

Other Indian companies in the space spending on R&D and yet to launch a product are Ather Energy, Tork and Ulraviolette. However, Altigreen sets itself apart because the plugin hybrid works best, not requiring the customer to buy a new car or bike. Just fix the product with the system and save on fuel. Keep in mind that the system does not touch the engine or the engine management system of the car; it is a separate system that will assist the vehicle.

Reference : https://yourstory.com/2016/12/altigreen/

Thanks to this Bill Gates-backed startup, domestic maids are now getting paid in India’s cash crunch economy

Jatin Agarwal has been a businessman for the last 20 years. But one moment was all it took to put everything in perspective.

A year ago, while his house was getting built, Jatin would swing by every day to check on the work. He started interacting with the labourers during this period, who were also working with him as a part of his real estate business.

Founders of SERV'D (L to R): Jatin Agarwal, Tarun Sharma and Suhas Kelkar

This interaction led him to an invite by one of his workers for his son’s birthday celebrations, at the labour camp.

And on landing there, Jatin was in for a surprise.

He saw a lavish party being thrown at the camp, with confetti and the works. Jatin says,

What struck me then was the fact that there was no difference between me and the others. Except for one - the provision of basic facilities.

And this was the very foundation of thought for him to create an impact startup that empowered the poor to come increasingly under the financial gamut.

Hence, in November of 2016, after the government’s demonetisation announcement, Jatin, along with two other co-founders, Tarun Sharma and Suhas Kelkar, kick-started their social impact startup, SERV’D.

Building it for the nation

Targeting the market of domestic help, the core idea of the startup is to bring them within the ambit of financial inclusion, while empowering them with basic financial products.

Moreover, it allows workers such as maids/housekeepers, cooks, nannies, drivers and others to have legal work history, in turn enabling them to have access to financial loans.

Jatin believes that domestic help, as a market, is not below the poverty line. The first basic problem is that their relationships are not strong with their employer. Second is the problem of insurance, as none of the insurance companies wants to lend to this particular segment.

Moreover, neither is the segment privy to savings nor is it offered credit products, since they don’t have a steady income. And this could be all because of a lack of institutionalisation in the space.

Addressing the problem, SERV’D has created a home service management app for service consumers and service providers (domestic help), trying to further institutionalise the space.

How does it work?

The service asks the domestic help to register their bank account, Aadhaar number and phone number. Further, the Aadhaar number is linked to their bank account and is used to verify the identity of the service provider. Next, the terms of service are defined by the consumer who is employing the provider (domestic help). This could be pointers like the number of workdays, job description and so on.

At present, the service is trying to engage with the domestic help through educational townhalls or their respective employers.

Once all this is done, the service provider gets a call for verification. The service also reduces the communication gap between the consumer and the domestic help.

For example, if your domestic help doesn’t turn up for two days, the service calls him or her to check on his or her status. Moreover, technologies like GPS history will allow the service to understand disputes better.

Consumers can also give a rating and review to these helpers based on their punctuality, reliability and quality of work.

But the main benefit of the service is to help these service providers create a legal work history.

The real deal

The firm at the backend creates automatic salary slips and documentation like terms of service for these domestic helpers.

Jatin says that once the firm has six months of data available for these service providers, it can start deploying loans to them, which under normal circumstances are given to them by loan sharks at unreasonable interest rates of 10-25 percent.

Further, it is in talks to partner with various NBFCs and microfinance institutions for providing this class with access to easy loans at fair prices. According to the founders, the interest levied wouldn’t be more than one to two percent per month.

Moreover, in order to avoid any lapses, the firm may automatically deduct a part of the service provider’s salary, which will be used to pay off the credit loaned to them. SERV’Dalso claims to carry out a lot of education about credit rating and managing credit with this particular class of workers.

The firm is also planning to provide insurance to these individuals nine months from now and is looking at partnerships on that front. The firm also claims that the insurance will be issued at a cost of Rs 350 per month.

The business model for SERV’D is simple. The company takes a percentage cut from the margins made by NBFCs on every financial product sold to SERV’D customers.

Goals and numbers

At present, the 10-member core team is working on grass root activations in and around Pune. Once the firm has rolled out the first 10,000 contracts, it will allow its existing set of customers to further act as evangelists for the service.

The firm is also looking to reach a count of 100,000 customers in eight cities by the end of 2017. According to Jatin, the initial plan was to go live on January 1st next year; however, with the announcement of demonetisation, the team decided to expedite the process.

Within two weeks of the launch, the firm had 100-odd contracts (or terms of service) closed and had already received 400-odd downloads of the app. SERV’D has also introduced SMSes in regional languages and guided assistance in the form of a missed call service.

However, the long-term vision of the firm is to reach two percent of the country’s population, bringing more than one crore Indians under formalisation. By April 2017, the firm plans to be present in eight cities, including geographies like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Chennai.

Good stead

Earlier this week, SERV’D received funding worth $100,000 from the Digital Financial Service Lab (DFS Lab), a fintech incubator fully backed by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

According to Jatin, SERV’D made the cut out of 700 applicants who had registered for the prize. He says that the money will be utilised to develop tech for new roles as well as drive activation for the existing product.

While there are other means to still pay your domestic help, Jatin cites the behavioural change that platforms like SERV’D can bring to the process. 

“There is certainly a huge liquidity crunch in the economy. Cheque and net banking are easy to do through conventional means. But, whichever method you choose, it must be preceded by a five-minute one-on-one interaction with your domestic help to explain to them how banking works and ways to access their money by simply using an ATM. Thus, driving the fear of banking from them and encouraging this behavioural change.”

Moreover, domestic workers are part of the legitimate cash economy, and the demonetisation decision has certainly caught them unawares. Because of them using cash as the only means to transact, they have been spending part of their productive time exchanging their money. But considering their limited incomes and frugal saving habits, it is safe to assume that they have made ends meet through a great deal of hardship.

Therefore, platforms like SERV’D could be monumental in bringing about the change in behaviour necessary to dilute the hardships of demonetisation in a cash crunched economy.

Reference : https://yourstory.com/2016/12/servd/

What are the most common life mistakes young people make?

I lied, stole from my parents, cheated, scammed, humiliated others and laughed, threw rocks at people with the intent to kill. All by the time I was 10 years old.

Later it got much worse. Later I actually thought I was smart.

This is the great thing about being young: you’re so arrogant and stupid and unreasonably confident that you have 100% confidence that everything you do will fit right into the picture.

A million piece jigsaw puzzle where you never pick up the wrong piece as you try to put it in the right position.

But this part is good: you have no money, so it’s really hard to blow it. And if you destroy a relationship, then good for you – you were too young anyway.

This I can say from my experience. I proposed to a girl when I was 19. Then when I was 21, 22, 23, and 24. All to different women.

And they all said yes. That’s how stupid we all were then. It was like the convention of stupid. StupaCon.

Fortunately we were all so stupid and broke that nothing ever happened.

Here’s the truth: you can’t fail as a kid. I sometimes get messages like, “I’m 23 and I failed and now I don’t know what to do.”

A) No, you didn’t fail.

B) Yes, you do know what to do.

Just do the next thing. That’s all you have to do. Regret of the past or anxiety of the future are the thieves of the present.

And don’t do “failure pornography.” You don’t get to succeed now because you failed. You’re not Luke Skywalker.

You get to succeed because if you do enough bad things in a row with the intention of doing a good thing, then eventually you get lucky and a good thing happens.

You don’t meet the love of your life until you’re lonely and looking. You don’t invent “hand washing” until you realize that people are dying in hospitals when doctors don’t wash their hands.

You don’t get to be a brilliant musician until you’ve spent many hours being a bad one and trying to improve.

Every good creation in history was the child of really ugly parents.

So don’t do failure porn. And don’t say you don’t know what to do.

Do the next thing. And the next thing might simply be “improve the old thing.”

Oh, and don’t make any of the mistakes in the attached infographic.

I wish I had this graphic when I was 18. I wish my kids would listen to this infographic.

Kids, if you ever listen to your father: print out this infographic, make it poster-size, hang it on your wall, and look at it every day. And say, “I love you, Daddy.”

I can say that because I know you won’t listen. How come?

Because you’re going to do many bad, stupid things and then, just by luck, good things will start to happen.

I hope so. I hope they will. If they don’t, then just do the next thing with hope and verve and that same zest you had before the arrogance was beaten out of you.

Oh. Don’t die though. Let me die first. I deserve at least that.

Tell me a mistake or two you made before age 25. Help my kids and others learn from you.Infographic design by Pamela Sisson

Reference : https://yourstory.com/2016/12/most-common-life-mistakes/

How this 16-yr-old aims to make the computer an affordable asset for every Indian household

The market for refurbished products is growing, and the category is seeing a great deal of interest from many stratups

Jayant Parab, a 16-year-old 10th standard student, creates computers from e-waste. He aims to provide computers to every household as well as solve the rising e-waste issue in the country, killing two birds with one stone. Three years ago, at the age of 13, he had built his first assembled computer.

“Owing to high prices, owning a computer is still a distant dream for many. But if we address the price point, we could be able to change the situation and realise the dream of making it a household necessity. And it is possible. We can create computers from e-waste and produce the cheapest of machines. Building computers from e-waste will be a twofer,” says Jayant.

Jayant’s computer costs a mere Rs 5,500. It’s portable and has all the specifications that a normal computer has, and also comes with a one year service warranty.

The Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) has also committed to providing Jayant with any sort of help he needs in his endeavour.

An early and inspiring start

“In 5th standard, Jayant repaired a laptop than an office had disposed of. For me, it was an exhibition of extraordinary quality. He had then expressed the desire to address the e-waste problem of the country and bring the computer within reach for the common man,” says father Ravindra Parab, who is a scrap dealer.

He adds that he was an auto driver at the time of his son’s vow. Jayant inspired him to get into the business of scrap dealing.

Jayant says that lakhs of tonnes of e-waste are produced in India ever year, only a small percentage of which is refurbished. Scrap dealers tend to treat the entire e-waste dump as scrap, which is not the case. A large number of items are in functioning condition or can be made functional after some repair. Just consider the possibility if the country refurbished this waste to its full capacity.

He adds that he sources e-waste from offices, schools, residences and individuals as they replace old machines with new ones. He is working with his father and brother, and they have collectively built around 70 computers from e-waste in the past two years. The assembled computers are sold in Jayant’s father’s shop. Besides, they also use references from people and friends to sell the refurbished computers.

Jayant also wants to create job opportunities for less educated, unemployed people. If these people were to undergo training and learn the assembling of a computer, they could earn a living through this job, while simultaneously solving the pressing problem of e-waste.

E-waste, a growing issue

India is the fifth largest producer of e-waste, discarding roughly 18.5 lakh tonnes of electronic waste each year, says an Assocham study. The rising levels of e-waste generation have been a matter of concern in recent years.

During June this year, Assocham released a report stating that India’s ‘production’ of e-waste is likely to increase nearly threefold, from the existing 18 lakh metric tons (MT) to 52 lakh MT per annum, by 2020, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 30 percent.

The Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change has notified the E-Waste (Management) Rules, 2016, in which producers are for the first time covered under extended producers’ responsibility (EPR).

An Assocham-cKinetics study pointed out that the global volume of e-waste generated is expected to reach 130 MT in 2018 from current levels of 93.5 MT, growing at a CAGR of 17.6 percent.

Amidst this alarming growth in e-waste, many companies have come up aiming to offer solutions in this area.

RenewIT, Renew and many more are offering renewable solutions and have a common goal — to make the computer an affordable asset and address the rising e-waste challenge. Besides these, there are startups like JustLikeNew, Gozunk and Reboot that are providing solutions in damaged electronics products.

Last year, JustLikeNew closed Pre- Series A funding of almost Rs 1 crore.

According to experts, the estimated latent PC market demand is projected to be over 50 million units, which is an opportunity of about Rs 50,000 to 60,000 crore, in addition to the existing market. The startups in this category are vying to capture the desktop market as they also eye the growing mobile market and try to offer refurbished solutions in that segment.

Reference:https://yourstory.com/2016/12/jayant-parab/

Jugaad in the time of demonetisation – this app helps you find ATMs with cash and shorter queues

Chaos reigned on the roads with demonetisation, as one section of people scurried to exchange old notes, while the other, dependent on debit cards and regular withdrawals, struggled to access their own money at ATMs, what with the unending queues and caps placed on withdrawals. So, the money-planner app that has handheld you into saving your hard earned money better over the past year, has now released a feature that will help you blow it all up! Tiger Global and Accel India-backed Money View swiftly swung into action to create an algorithm that would help its users find ATMs that haven’t run out of cash.

Sanjay Agarwal (L) and Puneet Agarwal (R), Founders of Money View

Another money problem to solve

The founders at Money View (a financial planning application to tell you what’s happening with your money by letting you make manual entries as well as have an automated tracker for debit/ credit card messages received on your phone) found some peculiar activity post the announcement of demonetisation. Their research showed that only about a third of ATMs that were active pre-November 8 stayed active post it. Post November 8, ATM transaction volumes were down to about a quarter.

“Clearly, people were struggling to find cash post the demonetisation announcement. There were long queues at ATMs and cash was in short supply. But at the same time, people were willing to help one another. Even at the office, we observed that the team was calling up friends and family to figure out where cash could be arranged or borrowed from. As the leading money manager in India, we thought that it was our responsibility to help our nearly 10 million-strong user base in such times,” explains Puneet Agarwal, Co-Founder of Money View, of the origins of the idea.

The ‘Find ATMs With Cash’ feature was thus born, to show active ATMs in one’s locality, the size of notes dispensed by the ATMs and the lengths of the queues there. They have also added Big Bazaar stores, Inox cinemas and petrol pumps dispensing cash to form a comprehensive list of cash-dispensing locations.

Wondering how it works?

One simply needs to download the Money View app from the Play Store, go to the ‘Find ATMs With Cash’ feature on the app’s main menu, and see a list of all the ATMs around, with the active ones marked in green. Tapping on an ATM shows you what notes the ATM is dispensing as well as the length of the queue there.

“This is based on our user’s feedback and might not show for all ATMs. The same holds true for other cash dispensing locations too,” Puneet clarifies, adding, “We also have a desktop website, which lets you find an ATM on a bigger screen.”

To pull this off, they leveraged their 10 million user base to crowdsource information on which ATMs were active. Every time a Money View user successfully withdraws cash from an ATM, the bank sends a confirmation SMS to the user. Money View links the SMS with the location of the ATM and shows that ATM as active to all their users.

“Additionally, we also ask the user to provide additional feedback - what notes the ATM is dispensing and what’s the line like at the ATM,” explains Sanjay Agarwal, co-founder of Money View and co-creator of the feature.

Much to do, so little time to do it in

Pulling it off was a different ball game altogether, he says. “Once we realised the value this poses, we went all out to make it happen. It involved lots of brainstorming, some sleepless nights and ordering in some great food. We try to have fun while working hard,” Sanjay explains.

The rollout of this feature was nationwide, and in just a couple of days’ time at that – something that amazes Sanjay and fills him with (rather justified) pride. They currently cover over 1.5 lakh ATMs across the nation, and are continuously adding more.

One of the biggest challenges they faced was geotagging the location of the ATMs correctly. “We knew where the ATMs were, but it was difficult to pinpoint which ATM the user had withdrawn cash from, and consequently, which ATM was active at that point of time. We managed to get around this problem by developing a robust model that took a number of different parameters into account in real time. It’s a pretty comprehensive model that can now very accurately pinpoint which ATMs are active in a user’s vicinity,” he says.

As demonetisation has led to an increase in digital payments, it has also led to people seeing greater value in using a digital money manager, and hence, the app has witnessed a fifteen-fold rise in the number of downloads on any given day post the announcement. “Besides locating active ATMs, users can also keep track of their spends, pay their bills electronically and eventually invest money through our app. So, we like to believe that we’ve built a comprehensive money manager app that genuinely enhances people’s lives. The response makes us ecstatic, and it shows that we’re on the right track to providing the most comprehensive money management solution out there.”

A lot of nifty solutions have cropped up in the wake of the cash crisis the country collectively faced after demonetisation. Other apps that also help you find an ATM with cash include Walnut, CMS ATMFinder, and ATMSearch. And it only gets crazier - another service, Bookmychotu, allows you to hire an errand boy to hold your spot in the bank queue!

Reference : https://yourstory.com/2016/12/money-view-app/

Strict regulations, crackdowns, some funding and high hopes: here’s how 2016 was for online pharmacy

In the first month of 2016, the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) issued a directive banning the sale of medicines online, and asked all state governments and Union Territories to take action against e-pharmacies.

Come the middle of the year, the crackdown on online pharmacies began, with five portals coming under the radar of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for selling prescription drugs online.

The FDA registered FIRs against three such e-pharmacies — MeraPharmacy.com, mChemist.com and Healercart.com.

During July this year, FICCI released a white paper discussing the possible ways to address the challenges of e-pharmacy and to enable the government to come up with a structured framework. The report release session was attended by almost all stakeholders, from representatives of online pharmacies and government bodies to consumer activists, among others.

“Five months after the e-pharmacy India conference at FICCI, where we discussed the issue at length and got assurances from government representatives, nothing has changed,” says Bejon Misra, Founder Trustee, Consumer Online Foundation.

Adding to the woes of the online pharmacy sector, the Drug Consultative Committee (DCC), in November, recommended that the Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSO) regulate the sale of medicines on online pharmacies. It suggested that a national portal be created through which drug sales can be monitored.

As per the committee report, doctors will have to create electronic prescriptions or paper prescriptions that can be scanned and uploaded to the cloud by the doctor or patient through the intermediary link. These prescriptions may be linked with the Aadhaar card.

Bejon reasons that government bodies want to keep the pressure on online pharmacies, and alleges that they are doing it under the pressure of offline pharmacy associations.

According to Bejon, the All India Organisation of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) is a politically active and highly organised body.

In November, the AIOCD had called for a nationwide bandh to protest against regularising sale of medicines through internet and online pharmacies. It had called for a similar bandh in October 2015.

What the precedent shows

During April last year, the Snapdeal premises in Mumbai were raided by the MaharashtraFood and Drug Administration. The company also faced an FIR from the Maharashtra government for selling prescription drugs online.

A few months later, another e-commerce player, Shopclues, faced an FIR by the state government for selling drugs online without a prescription from doctors.

According to the FDA commissioner of the state, the law does not permit the sale of prescription drugs online.

During the same year, to the northwest, the Gujarat FDA raided Prowisor Pharma, a Surat-based online pharmacy, along with crackdowns on a couple of other online pharmacy players in the state.

Prowisor Pharma was found contravening the provisions of the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940, and the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertisements) Act, 1954.

2016: A mixed year

According to Yourstory research data, the total healthcare funding in the startup space was around $157.97 million this year, with 99 healthcare startups receiving funds. This funding amount is much lower than the previous year, when 57 healthcare startups raised $276.4 million.

This year, the online healthcare segment captured 10 percent of the total investment, with six online pharmacy companies raising around $16 million.

“I think it was a positive year for the sector. A lot of online pharmacy players have come up this year alone. There has been good investor interest as well. We raised Series B funding, as did a bunch of other players. The investors’ interest has been validated, and consumer interest has also been strong,” says Prashant Tandon, CEO and Co-founder, 1mg.

On growth at 1mg, he says that since the company raised its Series B round, business has really grown. They have expanded pharmacy and diagnostics operations in more cities, and have a much deeper network now. They have also launched e-consultations, which Prashant claims is picking up fast.

However, he adds that it wasn’t completely a smooth year. There were some hiccups. A lot of energy had to be spent in dealing with misinformation spread by regulatory bodies.

Vaibhav Kakkar, Partner, M&A, General Corporate & Regulatory Practices, says that the stance of regulatory bodies is not in accordance with the government. He has been closely following developments in the online segment.

He says that the suggestions of regulatory bodies — that prescriptions be stamped by the government, licences be issued to pharmacists to sell in a particular location and that the issuance of e-prescriptions by doctors is necessary — aren’t feasible.

“In my view, the situation at the online vertical didn’t change much as compared to last year. The ambiguity of regulations is still maintained by the regulatory bodies. And in this environment, it wouldn’t have been possible for business to grow liberally,” says Vaibhav.

Ray of hope

In spite of stringent government regulations and continuous crackdowns, Bejon believes that there is a need and demand for online pharmacy in the market, and that government bodies will not be able to hold it for long.

“Our approach is simple. We want the government to end this opacity and formulate a clear and feasible law that will help the online pharmacy vertical function properly. These laws that were made prior to Independence, when there was nothing called online, can’t be applicable today,” says Bejon.

He expects the coming year to surely change the status quo. The countdown for the government will start, and it will have to deliver on its promises to businesses and startups.

Prashant of 1mg says that by next year, he is going to expand in more cities. The platform aims to expand to 30 cities by March. By the end of the year, it is likely to cover most of the tier 1 and tier 2 cities of India.

“I see 15-20 percent growth year-on-year in this vertical. More capital will come into the ecosystem now. We will have an opportunity to develop it,” says Prashant.

On government regulations, he says that there’s a positive mood. Conversation has changed a lot, from whether online pharmacy should exist at all to how it should be regulated.

Vaibhav adds to the hope, saying that online pharmacy players and other stakeholders have shown strong rebuttals to the regulations. “I believe that the bodies will take note of it and ease working conditions soon.”

Reference : https://yourstory.com/2016/12/2016-online-pharmacy/

The man who showed how a footbridge can close many gaps in development

When Nivedith Alva took over as Chairman of Karnataka’s Coastal Development Authority, he was surprised that many low-cost projects that could go a long way in easing people’s daily lives were pending for as many as 20 years.

In many parts of coastal Karnataka, as in the rest of the country, monsoons force communities to travel a great distance just to cross a fast flowing river for lack of a bridge. Sometimes, to quite literally bridge the gap, locals improvise, tying logs together and slinging them across to facilitate movement of people and cycles.

Nivedith Alva, Coastal Development Authority chairman, stands at the water's edge in a remote hamlet in Siddapura, Karnataka.

But, many a time, this is dangerous and can lead to a loss of lives, Nivedith Alva, Chairman, Karnataka Coastal Development Authority, recalled to YourStory. “A woman was carrying a small child in her arms and leading another by hand and crossing a temporary wooden log bridge over a rivulet when the boy fell into it. The shocked mother looked on helplessly as he met a watery grave. This is a sad incident which disturbed me and as CDA chairman I sanctioned and built a proper foot bridge for locals which cost less than Rs 10 lakh. I always wondered why the government could not sanction such a small amount,” he said.

These are projects seasoned politicians or hard-nosed bureaucrats often ignore and some requests have been pending for over 20 years.

With little money at his disposal, in a 21-month span in office Nivedith sanctioned a record 74 footbridges, four suspension bridges, built 15 fish markets, one skywalk, two parks and a number of development projects that will help local communities immensely.

Along with this, he took up many initiatives for fisherfolk and other communities living in the remote Western Ghats region and turned the CDA from an authority with just enough money to propose detailed project reports to one that could plan and implement projects.

From a given budget of Rs 10 crore in 2015-16, noticing the good work, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah enhanced the CDA’s outlay to Rs 15 crore for 2016-17.

As 18 Assembly constituencies come under CDA in Karnataka’s coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada, Nivedith took up small initiatives that were long forgotten.

“The topography is very different here. We have the Western Ghats on the one side and the sea on the other. Sandwiched between is a strip of land where many rivers and rivulets flow. In monsoon, these rivers in a matter of hours can leave people stranded. Children who cross a temporary foot bridge fashioned out of logs or wooden strips may not be able to reach back home as the waters would have risen. The need of the hour was to build small foot bridges that cost as low as Rs 10 lakh each,” he explained.

Another project that interested him was building modern fish markets that helped women who sold fish on the roadside without any protection against the constantly changing weather. These markets added dignity to their lives. The CDA also gifted ice boxes so that their stocks lasted and improved their incomes.

Nivedith says young people like himself who have travelled all over the world want to give back to the country. “Having a young person makes a lot of difference especially when it comes to development,” he added.

He was the youngest member to take over as CDA chairman and was also the youngest office-bearer of the Congress party in the State and completed five years as the party’s secretary.

As CDA chairman, he recalled that sometimes he had to trek for more than 10km to reach remote hamlets in the Western Ghats that were not connected to the outside world.

A suspension bridge built across river Sharavathi

Among the projects he is proud to have planned and completed was the 125-metre Sharavathi Suspension Bridge at Kudrugi near Honnavar that can be used by two-wheelers also. “People were asking for this bridge for over 20 years and used boats to cross the river. The suspension bridge will shorten the way for 20,000 people daily. It cost Rs 2.78 crore and was built in a record time of seven months. Its span is 220 metres and its total length is 266 metres along with the approach.,” Nivedith explained.

The CDA also planned and completed the Sharavathi Hanging Bridge near Honnavar. Another highlight was the suspension bridge over Phalguni river in Dakshina Kannada. In Mangaluru town, CDA undertook the main market’s redevelopment and the city’s first skywalk.

Given the large number of people employed in the fishing industry in the region, CDA organised a seminar on Innovative Technologies in Fishing, which will also help the government formulate a fishing policy that is under consideration. CDA also organised skill development workshops, including fish cage cultivation, which does not require fishermen to venture deep into the sea in search of some species.

Looking at the CDA’s response and fast-paced work, a lot of villages and panchayats put forward requests to improve rural connectivity, construct foot bridges and to build or upgrade modern fish markets.

The administrative experience also gave Nivedith a first-hand experience of whether government programmes were reaching the intended beneficieries.

Nivedith Alva, right, overseeing a plan at a fish market under construction by the CDA.

“I have learnt that once you are a keen listener, only then one can help. The government may think it’s a small project, but it impacts many lives. This is the learning I have taken from my short tenure,” he adds.

Reference : https://yourstory.com/2016/12/nivedith-alva/

Impact of demonetisation on the startup community

Introduction

In a measure to curb circulation of fake currency notes and black money, PM Narendra Modi’s announcement on November 8, 2016, to scrap Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes took everyone by surprise.

While many people are seen to support this bold move by PM Modi, the rest have not welcomed it with open arms. Many people are seen standing in long queues outside ATMs, rushing to petrol pumps, rushing to the grocery stores.

Effect of denomination of currency notes on some sectors

Here are a few sectors that would be heavily impacted by the recent ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes in India:

1) E-commerce startups

Majority of tech savvy consumers prefer to pay using e-wallets or online transfers such as Net Banking, Airtel Money, Paytm, etc. E-commerce industry is growing at a rapid pace and many customers avoid the option of COD (cash on delivery) as the cost may be slightly high due to inclusion of carrying cost. However, we can’t ignore people who are not familiar in using virtual cash. This may affect sales to a marginal extent in volume and amount. Considering the growth of E-commerce startups in India, it can be said that almost all end consumers will get accustomed in avoiding COD.

2) Cab startups:

They have their own wallet system and the demonetization move is not going to make them bleed. Many people in India use smartphones and pay for cabs through their e-wallets.

3) Wallet startups:

It goes without saying that the recent ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000 currency notes are going to boost the revenue of these startups. From teenagers to youth to middle-aged people, everyone will be downloading relevant apps in the next few days and even after that. E-wallet startups may also give higher amount of cashback to the new customers to attract higher number of downloads. Eventually, after a few months, the cashback given by these entities would reduce to nil.

4) Food delivery startups:

These startups allow customers to pay for their food orders through debit cards, credit cards, net banking, e-wallets, etc. So, it is quite understandable that food delivery startups like Wow Momo, FoodPanda, Cafe Coffee Day, etc., will be undisturbed by the recent policy implemented.

5) Information technology startups:

Their services are generally highly priced so the likely mode of acceptance of payments are via bank cheque, bank draft, NEFT, RTGS, net banking, etc. Therefore, it is very understandable that ban of currency notes of two particular denominations are not going to hurt these IT firms.

6) Accounting and financial consultancy startups:

They mostly prefer accepting payments other than physical cash. It goes without saying that they would function smoothly irrespective of such massive pan India-based economic policy adopted by the Central Government.

Conclusion

Business houses are an integral constituent of the country’s economy. While medium and large scale business are unaffected to such ban, many small-size commercial establishments are deeply affected by such sudden move by the government. The economy of the country may experience recession in the coming few weeks but is expected to get back to its shape shortly after the influence of Modi government.

Reference : https://yourstory.com/2016/12/impact-demonetization-startup/