Ratan Tata Invests In Wearable Tech Startup GOQii

Mumbai-based wearable tech startup, GOQii has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Ratan Tata.

Founded in February 2014 by former Indiagames CEO Vishal Gondal, GOQii, a smart wearable helps in tracking your steps, sleep, and any physical activity. The company’s app can integrate with 35 major fitness bands including Jawbone, Fitbit, Garmin, Moov, Misfit, and Sony. Users have to decide on a goal and choose a coach to guide them on the application.

Talking about the investment, GOQii CEO and founder Vishal Gondal said, “With the recent developments and tie-ups on the platform, the investment from Tata is a testimony to us being a defining player of services in our category making long-term impact in people’s life. We feel honored and it further boosts our confidence to accelerate the pace of our growth. We will ensure that GOQii reaches new heights in the healthcare space in India.”

GOQii charges subscription plans for access to its coaches, who are available over pre-scheduled calls or instant messenger. Currently, it charges INR 3,999 for three months, INR 6,999 for a six-month subscription and INR 11,999 for an annual subscription.

Prior to this in November 2015, it raised about $13.4 Mn (INR 88 Cr) in Series A round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) and China-based Cheetah Mobile. In addition, it raised capital from Vijay Shekhar Sharma of Paytm and Neeraj Arora.

As per a report by research firm International Data Corporation (IDC), India’s wearable market reached 400,000 units in Q1 2016 with fitness bands dominating the market and accounting for 87.7% of the market share. Meanwhile, smart wearables such as smart watches contributed to around 12.3%.

GOQii was also a part of the first batch of InsurTech accelerator programme by Swiss Re, a reinsurance company based in Zurich.

The Chairman Emeritus of Tata Group, Ratan Tata has invested consistently in 2016. Last month, Delhi-based IdeaChakki, a foodtech venture, also raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Tata. The startup also partnered with Enablers for their next round of funding. Prior to this in June 2016, Ratan Tata invested an undisclosed amount in e-ticketing portal Kyazoonga.

In May 2016, Tata added San Francisco-based medical emergency response startup MUrgency Inc to the funding basket. Other startups that have raised funding from Ratan Tata this year include NestAway technologies, FirstCry, CashKaro, Tracxn, Dogspot, Lenskart, Teabox, Invictus Technology, SnapBizz, and Moglix. Last month reports surfaced that continuing with his streak of investments in startups, Tata is reportedly planning to set up a venture capital fund.

Courtesy : in42.com

Ratan Tata, Nandan Nilekani to start microfinance company

Ratan Tata, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons, Vijay Kelkar, former finance secretary and chairman of the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, and Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys Ltd and the architect of Aadhaar, are joining hands to start a microfinance institution (MFI).

Named Avanti Finance, the company, a “technology-enabled financial inclusion vehicle”, will focus on “delivering affordable and timely credit to under-served and un-served segments in India”, said a statement from Tata Trusts.

Avanti will apply to the Reserve Bank of India for registration and is expected to start operations before the end of the financial year, added the statement.

Tata and Nilekani are investing in setting up this microfinancier from their respective philanthropic capital and “any gains will be reinvested in philanthropic causes”, said the statement.

R. Venkataramanan, managing trustee of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, will be the fourth founding director. A senior leadership is already in place, the release said without providing any details.

Tata, who retired as chairman of Tata Sons in December 2012, has spent almost two years investing his personal wealth directly in technology start-ups both in India and overseas through RNT Associates. He has invested in firms such as Snapdeal (Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd), online furniture store Urban Ladder (Home Décor Solutions Pvt. Ltd), cab-hailing service Ola (ANI Technologies Pvt. Ltd) and online lingerie store Zivame (Actoserba Active Wholesale Pvt. Ltd).

Nilekani declined comment.

Micro-lending will be “one of the activities”, said a person directly involved in the venture, on condition of anonymity. This project is “specifically using technology platforms for making available finance at low costs to the bottom of the pyramid”.

The Tata Trusts statement said that “the aim is to leverage on the social sector presence of Tata Trusts and other like-minded partners and the rapidly evolving India Stack (Jan Dhan-Aadhar-Mobile), UPI (unified payments interface) and payments bank ecosystem. Avanti would use this ecosystem and will innovate on product design in consonance with the indigenous needs, to deliver seamlessly for the end consumer”.

According to RBI guidelines, a MFI should have a minimum net owned fund of Rs.5 crore. Net owned fund includes paid-up equity capital, free reserves, balance in share premium account and capital reserves.

The loan portfolio of MFIs stood at Rs.53,233 crore at the end of March, up 84% from a year ago, according to data from the Microfinance Institutions Network (MFIN), a self-regulatory organization for the industry.

“Industry and thought leaders like Ratan Tata and Nandan Nilekani venturing into microfinance is indeed exciting news. It underscores the fact that microfinance has got mainstreamed,” said Alok Prasad, former chief executive officer of MFIN. “Use of technology and fully leveraging the power of Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile trinity will, among other things, bring down operating costs.”

Technology will help microfinance companies reduce their cost of operations and ensure that the end-beneficiaries get loans at a lower price. Under norms issued last year, the central bank had said that microfinance companies with loan books worth Rs.100 crore and above will have to maintain a 10% cap on the margin they charge customers, over and above their cost of borrowing. For microfinance companies with loan books over Rs.100 crore, the cap is set at 12%.

“The promoters strongly believe that the institutional inequalities and information asymmetries are depriving the target customer segment of access to affordable credit. The target customer segment over the last few years has displayed very low delinquency rates compared to any other customer segment, but still is charged the highest rate of interest,” said the statement from Tata Trusts.

Courtesy : LiveMint