Launching $300 million Innovation Fund – What’s up with the new Dell?

Launching $300 million Innovation Fund – What’s up with the new Dell?

– By Prathamesh Patil

Dell Ventures, Dell’s strategic investment arm has announced an expanded commitment to entrepreneurship and innovation with a $300 million Strategic Innovation Venture Fund. The fund will enable Dell to invest in early-to-growth-stage companies in emerging technology areas including storage, cloud computing, big data, next-generation data center, security and mobility.

The Strategic Innovation Venture Fund is Dell’s second major investment fund and builds on the $60 million Dell Fluid Data Storage Fund announced last yearAs the global business environment evolves and customers are increasingly challenged by the pace of change with virtualization, cloud computing, big data and mobility, Dell is expanding its venture investments to new areas of IT innovation.

The Dell Ventures model is to co-invest with venture capitalists and other strategic investors, acting as a board advisor and making the full breadth of Dell resources available to the portfolio company. These resources include technical and business counsel, as well as access to brand scale, OEM solutions, channel and go-to-market relationships.

“As a company rooted in entrepreneurial spirit, Dell understands the power entrepreneurship has on innovation,” said Jim Lussier, Managing Director of Dell Ventures. “Since we launched our storage venture capital fund last year, we have not only had positive returns on our investments and great deal flow, we have also identified companies and technologies that will help accelerate IT innovation, and more importantly, provide the best solutions for our customers. This substantial increase in our Dell Ventures fund and expansion of our technology focus beyond storage, will bring the power of Dell to even more start-ups and entrepreneurs.”

In addition to equipping startups with resources through Dell Ventures, Dell provides entrepreneurs of all stages access to the technology, financing, networks and knowledge they need to turn a great idea into a successful, growing business through the Dell Center for Entrepreneurs. Spearheaded by Dell’s entrepreneur-in-residence, Ingrid Vanderveldt, and offering a number of core initiatives designed to cater to the needs of growing businesses, the Center for Entrepreneurs recently expanded into the UK and will launch in additional markets in 2014 with the help of a Global Advisory Board of entrepreneurs to lend strategic direction.

Center for Entrepreneurs’ initiatives include the Dell Innovators Credit Fund, a $115M debt capital financing program through Dell Financial Services for U.S. and U.K.-based startups that provides financial and technology resources to bolster speed-to-market and create jobs. Another is the Dell Founders Club, targeted to entrepreneurs leading recently funded companies who view technology as a critical “backbone” to business success, and have immediate technology needs to scale quickly. Since the launch in June 2012, the Founders Club has grown to over members over 150 members; creating a diverse, robust and highly beneficial network for CEOs and Founders of fast-growth startups.

Focus on PALF’s third Indian investment – Avanti Learning Centres

Focus on PALF’s third Indian investment – Avanti Learning Centres

– By Prathamesh Patil

Pearson Affordable Learning Fund (PALF), a collaboration of British publishing and Education Major Pearson and Village Capital has invested into Delhi-based start-up Avanti Learning Centres. This come after Sudiksha sukand Experifun Learning Solutions winners of Edupreneurs India 2013. Both startup got seed funding of $50K.

Avanti will use this seed investment round, which is expected to be aroung $500K and  also participation of two additional angel investors, to develop a comprehensive online-offline learning and monitoring system, to expand on content creation and to build new centres.

Avanti Learning Centres helps to prepare students from low-income backgrounds for college entrance exams, focusing on the highly competitive career paths of engineering and medicine. Students spend up to 18 hours a week at a centre and are charged only $20 per month. Costs are kept low by a large network of volunteers and partners, including universities, public schools, policy makers and private sector businesses, who assist with teaching and administration.

The centres produce significant learning outcomes, with 80 per cent of students showing a 20 per cent or more improvement in performance on standardised tests, and three-quarters of enrolled students measured as being on track for admission to a top college.

Avanti was initially founded as a non-profit in March 2010 by Akshay Saxena and Krishna Ramkumar. The company boasts an impressive track record to date, with students at their centres consistently outperforming those in traditional, high-end classroom coaching programs. The centres lean heavily on technology and media, such as recorded videos and online testing, to facilitate powerful personalised education plans, and also foster a peer-to-peer learning environment.

“It was this commitment from Akshay and Krishna to focus on improving the education of low-income communities, combined with an innovative learning model, that was the most attractive aspect of the investment opportunity” explains PALF executive director, Katelyn Donnelly.

“Avanti is particularly exciting because it is a non-traditional pedagogy with very strong initial results. Our investment allows us to partner with a mission-led company to bridge a crucial gap between secondary and higher education for low-income learners.  PALF is enthused to support the Avanti team to successfully grow across India, and we look forward to working with them to deliver on their long-term vision.”

Akshay Saxena commented:
”Once we decided that a for-profit model was the best way to reach scale, we knew we would need expert strategic insight and advice. We are incredibly excited to be working with the Pearson Affordable Learning Fund as they bring unrivaled education expertise to the table that can help us achieve our long-term objectives.  We look forward to building upon the relationship with Pearson as we improve outcomes for low-income learners in the years to come.”

txtWeb’s collaboration with Karbonn Mobiles, why is it a decent value addition?

txtWeb’s collaboration with Karbonn Mobiles, why is it a decent value addition?

– By Prathamesh Patil

txtWeb, a text-based app platform from Intuit Inc. and Karbonn Mobiles, have entered into a license and distribution agreement to make available a range of apps via the txtWeb app platform on Karbonn phones. . The platform democratizes access to information for every mobile user, even the ones with the most basic mobile phones with no GPRS or data plan.

Karbonn phone users will have access to information ranging from academic content, social networking, sports, breaking news, financial tools, games and more, through simple SMS at 50 paise per query or Rs.1 per day for unlimited queries on subscription. txtWeb aims at allowing millions of users across India to access relevant content through text-based apps embedded in the Karbonn phones.

“Karbonn is a leading mobile manufacturer in India that has bridged the digital divide by offering mobile phones at affordable prices to users across market segments. We are delighted to partner with Karbonn to equip their phone users with the world class features of txtWeb that gives them the power of the internet,” said Manish Maheshwari, Managing Director, txtWeb.

“At Karbonn we are excited to collaborate with Intuit to offer affordable, real time information and content to Indian mobile users via the txtWeb platform. Intuit txtWeb fits into changing dynamics of VAS segments in India and have conviction about product given low cost for users. I would look towards Intuit to continue its innovation and expand platform with innovation as per the user adoption pattern” said Ashish Aggarwal, Executive Director, Karbonn Mobiles.

txtWeb lets anyone with any mobile phone can create, discover and consume Internet and txtWeb-only content and services just by texting keywords to one national number. txtWeb provides universal access to information to anyone with any mobile phone on any carrier network with or without internet connectivity. Currently, txtWeb has over 11 million users from India using one or more of the 3500 active apps built by developers and businesses across India.

Commenting on this partnership, Devendra Prasad – Head VAS, Karbonn Mobiles said, “Today, users are looking at unique aggregated services, products, and applications that are available at an affordable price. As a dominant device player in the segment, Karbonn is looking at providing simple-to-use VAS services, in-house, or through third party developers. The Intuit partnership is poised to bring forth innovations by complying with all regulatory guidelines.

 

Realtime Traffic and trabel information portal Traffline raises Series A funding from Matrix Partners

Realtime Traffic and trabel information portal Traffline raises Series A funding from Matrix Partners

– By Prathamesh Patil

Matrix Partners India today announced that it has invested in the first institutional round of funding for Birds Eye Systems Private Limited, which offers real-time traffic and travel information for Indian cities through a variety of mobile and internet channels under the Traffline brand.

Brijraj Vaghani, the co-founder and CEO, has extensive experience in the mobile sector with Qualcomm and Nextwave Wireless in the US, before moving back to India and starting Birds Eye Systems. His co-founder and CTO, Ravi Khemani, has worked previously with careerbuilder.com in the US and Sears International in India.

“Getting access to accurate and real-time traffic, travel and local information is a large problem for millions of Indian commuters in major cities. We want to address this problem using an approach tailored to Indian ethos and travel conditions. We partner with private players, government, police, public transport utilities and our users to ensure that information is real-time. We aim to own the everyday door-to-door travel and information space on mobile, be it private vehicles, public transport, or local businesses, across major Indian cities” said Brijraj Vaghani and Ravi Khemani, co-founders, Birds Eye Systems Private Limited

Nitin Agarwal – Investor, IAN said “We are very pleased for the Traffline team. This is an endorsement of our belief in the company and its founders, as well as of the ability of IAN to source, evaluate, and nurture high-potential startups at a very early stage.” Rajiv Dadlani – Investor, IAN added “We have always believed in Brij and Ravi. Their focus and determination was the key factor in our investment decision at the angel stage. We look forward to continuing to work with them, as well as with Matrix Partners India, to grow Birds Eye into a valuable company.”

“We are excited by Traffline’s unique approach of using technology to solve the offline traffic and transportation problem in India. Traffline is a pioneer in this space and we’re investing to expand the product to 10 cities in India and multiple transport modes in a short timeframe. We look forward to partnering with Brij and Ravi in their journey to build a large company. We continue to focus on more early stage investments in the mobile space in India.” said Vikram Vaidyanathan, Director, Matrix India

Birds Eye Systems provides real-time traffic information across 4 major Indian cities under the Traffline brand. Traffline’s products already have several hundred thousand users, and have been covered extensively in major offline and online media outlets. With a network of data sources running into several thousands, Traffline prides itself on its ability to provide short, contextual, conversational calls to action to millions of commuters daily.

Accel and Tiger Global backed Zansaar.com ties up with Severin.

Accel and Tiger Global backed Zansaar.com ties up with Severin

– By Prathamesh Patil

With the advent of cooking shows on primetime TV and an increasing number of restaurants offering a variety of global cuisines, a majority of the populace is acquiring a more discerning palette. Gone are the days when we’d be happy with spaghetti for special occasions or having waffles only when you travelled abroad. Today, a simple walk through any metropolis, no matter the size, gives you the opportunity to indulge in anything your taste buds desire. In fact, the gourmet food market in India alone is estimated at US$ 1.3 billion and expected to grow to US$ 2.7 billion by 2015.

However, more and more people want to whip up the delicacies they’ve tasted at a restaurant or seen on their favourite food show in the comfort of their own kitchens. The Indian home appliances market is pegged at US $ 70 million and is seeing a growth of 30% – 40%. Understanding that every amatuer cook needs the right tools to embrace their inner Cordon Bleu, Zansaar.com brings to you its Master Chef’s Kitchen; a collection of gorgeous imported home appliances that are crafted with finesse.

John Varghese, Category Head for Imports for Zansaar says about this collection, “The range comprises a handpicked selection of products from Severin, which is a premier German manufacturer. Established in 1892, Severin has developed a perfect balance between exclusivity, functionality and value for money that we feel is tailor made for today’s performance-oriented generation.”

Products like the Bread Maker, Waffle Maker and the Automatic Contact Grill are among the bestsellers on Zansaar with a 100% growth in demand for them in the last three months alone. The Toasters, Coffee Makers, Electric Kettles and Food Mixers make cooking convenient as well as delicious, while the Fondue Set, Ice Cream and Sorbet Maker and Food Steamer add a touch of exotic to home food.

While the hustle of everyday work life might whittle away at one’s personal time, the convenience of these home appliances by Severin make mealtimes fun and tasty.