Google fibre services in India soon

Internet giant Google is in talks with the IT Ministry to roll out optical fibre-based broadband services as part of the Digital India programme. Google plans to roll out a fibre network in a small area as a showcase project.

According to top officials in the IT Ministry, the discussions are at an initial stage. “We are keen to partner a company like Google in furthering the Digital India plan. Modalities have to be worked out,” the official said. One of the issues being discussed is whether Google can be allowed to do the project without having to acquire a telecom licence.

Google has launched a similar programme in the US called Google Fiber where it provides broadband internet and television to a small area. The service was first introduced in Kansas City. In February 2014, Google announced that it had chosen another 34 cities as candidates for expansion.

When contacted, Google India spokesperson said that the company continuously engages with the Centre on various programmes. The spokesperson did not comment specifically on the fibre project. However, IT Ministry officials said that some experts from Google’s US operation are expected in India to evaluate the project.

In a 2012 blog post, Google had said that Google Fiber will offer a different experience from other internet and TV providers.

“Our internet is 100 times faster. Our TV has hundreds of channels in crystal clear HD. And we’re offering quality service plans that are affordable,” Google had said while launching in Kansas.

For players like Google, internet proliferation is key if it wants to reach the next billion consumers.

However the big challenge is that telecom companies are cash strapped to quickly roll out infrastructure that supports data services. In India, for example, most of the telecom operators are struggling under huge debt and high spectrum costs.

Therefore players such as Google and Facebook have been experimenting with balloons and solar-powered drones to address the need for cost-effective connectivity. The more people are connected on the Internet the more money can be made by selling advertisement space on websites and mobile portals.

This strategy fits in very well with the Indian Government’s agenda of taking internet and digital technologies to the masses.

Healthmate for your family back home

NRIs remit about $10 billion a year towards healthcare costs for their families in India. Often, family members divert such funds to other uses rather than attend to a health issue in time.

Manish and Natasha live in a sprawling house outside Seattle, in Washington, - the result of years of hard work and successful medical and accounting careers. Their children go to a private school, and the family enjoys a high social standing in the community. Life is good. But both of them worry about their parents in India.

Manish’s mother is 80 and lives alone in Kolkata. She is asthmatic and on medication but needs frequent medical attention. Natasha’s father, in Delhi, is a heart patient and needs regular tests and reviews with his cardiologist - a routine her aging mother can barely cope with.

With nuclear families the norm and home visits by doctors a rarity, non-resident Indians are often at a loss whom to turn to. For this couple, it was a relief when a friend told them about a healthcare service called OurHealthMate.

OurHealthMate, a web portal, enables NRIs to register as members and book and pay for a slew of services that can help parents and relatives back home deal with health problems. The company was started in early 2013 by Abhinav Krishna, who did his Bachelor’s in computer engineering from National University of Singapore, and Akash Kumar, also from NUS and with a PhD from TUe, Netherlands.

The idea occurred to Abhinav when his father fell ill in Lucknow and he had to spend several anxious hours in Singapore, managing hospital admission and payments on long-distance phone with his mother before he could travel to India.

Triggering point

NUS Enterprise, a National University of Singapore initiative, provided seed money and office space while the idea took shape and the founders pumped in some funds when they were testing the concept’s viability. An incubator in Singapore’s innovation hub, Block 71, the JFDI, also funded the venture. On the early years, Krishna says: “Start-ups are a lot of work in multiple areas – from finance to sales to operations. You should be able to juggle all these hats. Sustained passion is a prerequisite, as inevitably there will be more low points than high points. In my case, for the first 24 months, I didn’t get a salary, as all the money was invested into business development. During this phase, you need a few close friends around to support and motivate you, and you need to enjoy the small milestones.”

NRIs remit about $10 billion a year towards healthcare costs for their families in India. Often, family members divert such funds to other uses rather than attend to a health issue in time.

OurHealthMate restructures such remittances to channel funds directly to pay for healthcare packages for the beneficiary while guaranteeing regular, simple and secure feedback for the NRI payer from the physicians. Member hospitals are charged a small fee for this increased revenue.

“OHM allows users to choose from a wide range of health packages online and pay for them directly,” says Krishna. “Our USP is that we provide full transparency to the user about the services/range of tests and the costs before they book.” While the package costs range from $10 to $100 for preventive healthcare, the average booking is for $30, for check-ups every six months.

In just two years, the OHM network covers more than 300 Indian cities, with about 800 hospitals and clinics signed up.

Over 10,000 doctors are registered with the portal and the system currently carries about 35,000 individual packages. India is still an under-penetrated market for health insurance, though the segment is expanding, and projected to grow at 18-20 per cent a year.

Plans to up headcount

The OHM base is in Lucknow, from where 15 staffers, including developers dedicated to the portal, operate. The staff strength will go up by 50 before March.

On plans to extend the service within the country, Krishna says: “After NRIs, the next major market segment for us will be domestic remittances from children living and working away from their parents, in different parts of the country.”

OurHealthMate recently tied up with CXA, an Employee Benefit service provider in Singapore, with several corporations as clients. Through this partnership, employees of several Forbes 100 corporations can use their Flexi Benefits on the OHM portal. OHM renews the contract with CXA annually.

Investor value-add

Asked for his takeaways on successful multi-tasking, Akash says: “While a founder is busy with fundraising, he/she needs to make sure that business is increasing exponentially as well. Short-term targets and milestones are critical to prove credibility to the investors. That’s why a partner/co-founder is important; so that one person focuses on leading the business while the other is doing fund-raising. It’s also important to think how the investor can add value, besides providing cash. That is one most important things we focused on.”

And what does the venture fund think of the OHM model? Bimal Shah, CEO, Leo Tech Services Pte Ltd, that funds OHM, had this to say: “When Abhinav came to Leo Tech it was clear that he was the kind of start-up founder who would deliver this project and inspire the team to go the extra mile.”

Such faith is what has helped OHM raise S$850,000, the total investment to date. Says Shah: “Bringing our resources to support OHM in return for equity, made complete sense and OHM's success has validated this model of investing in companies with great ideas.”

An idea that, in this case, brought peace of mind to Manish and Natasha, who worry far less about their parents’ health.

Canadian startup accelerator Ryerson & Chokhanis launch $15M early-stage fund in India

Toronto-based technology startup incubator Ryerson Futures Inc (RFI) is partnering with Mumbai-based Chokhani Group, parent of Jupiter Dyechem, a supplier of bulk petrochemicals in India, to launch a fund worth $15 million (Rs 93 crore) which will seek to invest in early-stage technology ventures in India.

The fund will invest between $50,000 and $500,000 in 10-15 startups, which are part of RFI’s Mumbai-based startup accelerator Zone Startups, every year. It will also seek to find new startups and bring them under the programme.

The fund will be raising capital from both corporates and other high net-worth individuals (HNIs).

In September, Techcircle.in had first reported that RFI was planning to launch a seed fund in India, in partnership with an HNI from Mumbai.

“We are seeing many great startups coming through Zone Startups India. So, launching a fund to help rapidly advance these startups is a logical next step now,” says Matt Saunders, president of RFI. “Teaming up with Anil and Krishna Chokhani increases the size of our network and amount of capital that we can invest to scale innovative technology companies,” he added.

“We have been active in making early-stage investments, and have seen tremendous interest in the market to participate as well,” says Anil Chokhani of Chokhani Group. “Partnering with an existing accelerator allows us to leverage the benefits of a formalised programme,” Chokhani said.

RFI manages a venture fund and provides seed financing, advisory and business services, as well as customer connections to select startups in exchange for an equity stake. It also works with corporate clients to assemble teams of entrepreneurial innovators to research, prototype or pilot solutions to industry problems. Ryerson’s flagship programme is called Digital Media Zone (DMZ) in Toronto. Operational since 2009, it has incubated over 150 startups to date.

Started in February this year, Zone Startups has already on-boarded over 36 startups across data analytics, e-commerce, education, hardware technology, human computing interface, mobile payments, healthcare and enabling platforms. Its incubatees include AasaanPay, Blynk, Cubicle, DrawTime, LinkMySport and RetailNav.

Chokhani Group is a family-owned business comprising multiple operating units. It also owns two non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), which provide financial solutions to corporate customers.

Anil Chokhani and Krishna Chokhani are serial angel investors and members of Mumbai Angels

This startup makes water systems intelligent, helps measure and control your water usage

There was a time when Roti, Kapda and Makaan were the core necessities of every individual. Now we have apps to order Roti, buy Kapda and search for Makaan. 2014 has seen a surge in the concept of Internet of things and lot of startups have come around it. Yet, the true application of internet of things still remains more of a talk. Smartrhomes – a startup which has been working in the field of automation, control and monitoring the use of water is contributing in a significant manner to this subject.

Kasturi Rangan and Vivek Shukla, Co-founders Smartrhomes

Vivek Shukla and Kasturi Rangan, two neighbors who often used to brainstorm ideas while carpooling to work, started Smartrhomes. Both Vivek and Kasturi were looking to startup and break out from the corporate rut. They jotted down many ideas and started going through them. However the one idea they finally chose to work on was not even on the list. Having worked in the energy department of Wipro, it was quite easy for both of them to recognize the problem, Vivek says,

“The housing complexes which don’t have any sub meters for water installed, charge their residents a flat fee per month. This is not the best thing to do as the consumption is different for different households. We have gone to association meetings and came across otherwise friendly neighbors, fighting with each other over cost of water. The challenge with the installation of meters is to do with the way water is supplied in high rise buildings. The shafts which carry these pipes don’t have any access to install the meters and take readings. “

In a socialistic system, where all the residents bill is  calculated by dividing the number of households by total bill. Everyone tries to get the most out of the amount they pay and end up using more water then they ought to which drives up the entire bill for the housing complex.  The device is connected to water inlets outside the house and thus monitors the usage. Once we install the device, users can access a dashboard on the website and configure their daily usage. The device also reports abnormal usage and can be used to control the water flow.

In the event when the occupants are out of station and  leave the tap open by mistake, the device will alert the user on the phone and people can close it remotely with the help of an app.

The concept is quite intuitive and incorporates all measurement, analysis and control in real time. The meter  also incorporates billing and helps people change their habit of over consumption by incorporating prepaid mode and usage quotas in the device.

The team says adoption and marketing has never been a problem as people are receptive and easily get what it is all about, Kasturi narrates an incident when they went to pitch the device to one of the apartment complex.

“We were talking to a high end apartment complex few months back. The President of the Association (a renowned and senior advertising professional) looked through the brochure, understood the concept and was immediately sold that this is the kind of solution he needs. He made a comment – “square feet do not consume water, people do.” So stop billing a flat rate for water. Even though, we couldn’t install the solution due to the complexities in the plumbing design of their building, he is still helping us by referring us to lot of other places.”

According to a report by Business Insider ,  by 2019, around a billion devices in smart home energy automation are expected to ship around the world which shows a great opportunity in this sector Coming to India there might be many challenges, especially in energy sector as a lot of Government regulations come into picture. And if things don’t change soon it might hamper the growth of startups in this sector which otherwise have a huge potential to scale considering the market.

At present there are few startups in the IoT space in India, which are solving need based issues instead of developing feature rich applications. When it comes to water consumption, accountability is a big issue which needs to be addressed and Smartrhomes is doing a great job at it.