Episodes
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Abhishek Sharma is the Co-Founder & COO of Fashinza, a tech-enabled platform that solves manufacturing for fashion brands.
Started initially to improve experience while dealing with suppliers, Fashinza takes a value chain approach to support brands, acting as a one stop shop for their sourcing requirements, from the placement of orders all the way to fulfilment, including design, pattern making, sales forecasting and even colour on latest trends and styles.
Fashinza is able to do this by digitising the entire production flow at the supplier's end.
Listen in for a super interesting chat to understand how various cogs work and fit within the global fashion supply chain and how Fashinza is attempting to formalize and optimize this flow.
Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
Piyush Gupta is the CEO of VOSMOS, connecting brands to customers through immersive, engaging and easily accessible virtual experiences.
VOSMOS is helping companies create virtual and hybrid events, immersive DIY virtual stores, and transforming online customer interactions through creation of tailormade and realistic digital environments.
Piyush takes a pragmatic take towards the evolution of digital commerce, blending arguments in favour of metaverse/related immersive technologies with on-ground structural realities such as low adoption of hardware beyond mobile (i.e. VR/AR headsets etc.).
Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
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Anuj Parekh is the Co-Founder and CEO of Healthysure, an employee benefits insurtech company enabling comprehensive group health coverage for employees of SMEs, startups, and enterprises.
Healthysure offers digitized policy and claims experience with curated health and wellness offerings, including an industry-first flexi top-up insurance product which allows employees to personalize & upgrade their corporate health covers and enjoy continuity benefits post-employment.
Riding the post pandemic spike in insurance penetration in general, Healthysure helps SMEs build customized benefits suite, receive proposals from 20+ insurers, lock plans, and simplify/automate the entire experience for employees including visibility on claims etc. Albeit insurance has traditionally been a push product, Anuj believes that the cat is out of the bag and these trends are there to stay.
Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
We chat with Narinder Mahajan CEO of ODN Digital Services (short for ‘Open Doors Now’), a market leader in ‘Shop Now’ strategies, enabling brands and e-commerce platforms to sell successfully online.
Narinder is a consumer-retail and e-commerce specialist, and has over 20 years of industry experience. During his corporate journey, he worked with various game-changing organizations across diverse industries and formats of consumer retail.
In 2015, he turned entrepreneur and co-founded ODN. At ODN he assists 200+ consumer brands across 20+ product categories meet their ecommerce and digital conversion goals.
In this chat we touch upon:
Understanding ODN's business model and monetisation Differentiation/USP - explain the "Shop Now" strategyThoughts on evolution of D2C - threat of rising CACs, shift towards offline, risk off perception of investors etc.Trends to watch in ecommerce e.g. the role of AR, metaverse etc.Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
We chat with Shivam Bajaj CEO of Avener Capital, an investment bank offering bespoke PE Advisory, M&A Advisory, structured finance advisory and debt syndication services. Being on the same side of the fence we reflect upon:
State of Venture Capital investments in IndiaView on unsecured credit as a new and emerging source of capital for SMEs Next in line for REITS and InVITS in light of recent taxation normsDynamics of deal making in India Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
We chat with Shreyans Nahar CEO of Chennai based Finsire who is building infrastructure to aggregate and secure digital assets so that Banks, NBFCs, and Fintechs can lend against them.
Their solution allows creditors and asset-holding brokers to maximise their lending capabilities and create an additional source of revenues by lending against earned income (for salaried employees) or digital assets (such as life insurance). This is done by permitting the lenders to leverage Finsire’s infrastructure that connects with employers and asset originators (i,e Life insurance companies, and CAMS) to enable secured credit to individuals.
In India, there are 1bn people who own an account at a bank or at other financial institutions, out of which 810m are credit eligible. However, only 50% of the country's working population of 400 million people is credit active, having at least one loan or credit card. Rest end up going through a tedious process of pledging their hard assets. And that's the gap companies like Finsire aim to plug.
Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
We chat with Satyajeet Kunjeer, Founder of Deciml, who is working towards building and automating a micro investing and savings culture in India.
Deciml is a micro-investing and micro-savings app that enables young Indians to auto-invest their spare change (as low as Re 1/-) from online transactions into Mutual Funds or Fixed Return Funds. The company recently raised launched its product and raised capital.
Within three months of its introduction on the Android PlayStore, Deciml received 25,000+ downloads with a total of ₹20,00,000+ being invested through round-ups, as well as daily investments. Currently, an average user of Deciml is investing close to ₹1,859 per month through these small round-up amounts. With an ambition to add at least 1% more young investors to India’s investment ecosystem, the company has onboarded partners that include Lend Box, Motilal Oswal, as well as Yes Bank.
Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
We chat with Nageen Kommu, Founder and CEO of Digitap.AI, whose work has largely revolved around solving the problem of information asymmetry for lenders.
Majority of BFSI players in the country are dependent on bureau data while c. 400mn Indians have low bureau scores, making formal credit inaccessible to them.
Digitap.AI provides alternative data and scoring models to underwrite such borrowers, thereby reducing the risk of NPAs. An early stage fintech platform, the company offers AI and ML based Credit Underwriting, Digital Customer Onboarding, Automated Risk Management and Big Data enabled solutions, including Risk Analytics and Customized Scorecards. The company is a certified TSP on the Sahamati platform.
Clients comprise 70+ organisations, including new age fintechs like Bharatpe, Navi, Incred, Lendbox, Kreditbee, as well as more traditional players such as Motilal Oswal, Piramal Finance, and Northern Arc, among others. For FY 2022, the company's revenue stood at INR63mn ($0.8mn) and EBITDA stood at INR25mn ($0.3mn). Targeting an ARR of $20-25mn in the next 5 years, alternate use cases such as marketing, fraud detection, and identity management and development of a personal finance management suite along with the existing solutions should act as key growth catalysts for the business.
Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
We chat with Adarsh Chokhani of Assurekit, a Mumbai-based Insurtech startup aiming to make insurance commerce simple.
Adarsh is building a technology enabled interface between manufacturers of insurance products i.e. insurance companies, and distributors who want to sell insurance, either as part of their core business or as a value added service.
Think of someone who enables Make My Trip to sell travel insurance directly on its App, or an auto financer sell car insurance through its website, and so on and so forth. And doing this in a country where 99% of policies are still sold face-to-face, right or wrong!
Assurekit promises to be a super interesting B2B2C business, pushing us to delve deeper into the very model which makes it worth noticing.
Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
We kick off our new season with Pankaj Parwanda of goSTOPS, a hospitality startup targeting young people (sub INR1,000 average daily rate beds) via tech-enabled creation and formalization of the youth hostel inventory pan India.
Leveraging benefits of sharing economies and community living, goSTOPS is run by Pallavi Agarwal & Pankaj Parwanda, a very strong founder team who operate 30+ properties comprising 2,500+ available dorm beds spread across the country.
A super interesting business with great potential - being asset light and possessing strong execution capabilities, we delve deeper into the very model that makes goSTOPS great, and which has resulting in them building a solid brand within their TG in a relatively short period of time.
Hope you enjoy this TRANSFIN. Podcast with Nikhil Arora and Sharath Toopran, where we converse with entrepreneurs and business operators running successful startups, profitable SMEs and family promoted firms on one end, and top investment professionals representing VC/PE/credit funds on the other.
The objective is to bring out an "actionable" perspective converging the world of business and investing.
If you're a founder and if you'd like us to drill down your model, feel free to drop us a line at [email protected] -
We speak to Priyank Shah, Co-Founder and Director of Renee Cosmetics, an up-and-coming player disrupting the Indian makeup and cosmetics industry. He walks us through the challenges of creating a phygital commerce company with a differentiated offering in a very competitive sector. Moreover, Priyank walks us through his experiences of building Beardo, his former venture, and how it shaped his journey at Renee. Innovation is the key to success in the beauty and personal care segment, he says, as it helps product experiences resonate with the users. Cultivating on these insights, he aims to lead Renee to newer heights of success, building upon the remarkable growth the company has witnessed recently.
Listen in for an enlightening conversation. -
We speak with Saket Agarwal, Founder and CEO of Onnivation, a firm that invests in deeptech Israeli SAAS companies and drives their business for India. Onnivation's partner companies bring Israel's deeptech ecosystem to India's largest corporations. As someone who christened himself on social media as #YourIsraelGuy, Saket reflects upon the ideas and motivations which drove his journey to-date.
Listen in for a thoughtful conversation. -
We speak with Raj Neervannan, Co-founder and CTO, of AlphaSense - a leading market intelligence and search platform focused on the financial services sector. AlphaSense helps its clients make better business decisions by collecting data, analysing information, and contextualising findings through its AI-powered products and solutions. Raj sheds light on market research's most significant challenges i.e. information overload, asymmetry, non-standardisation and the roles that technology can play in solving them.
Listen in for an insightful conversation! -
We speak with Badal Malick, Co-founder and Chief Business Officer at KarmaLife.AI, a platform building financial solutions for India's growing gig economy. Motivated by the pain points of gig workers, including cashflow volatility, exposure to shocks and limited career progression due to a low skill base, Badal talks about how KarmaLife.AI serves their financial requirements. Drawing from his own experience and interest towards financial inclusion, Badal explains how KarmaLife.AI combines work data and technology to accurately underwrite customised credit and build trust in order to empower gig workers and support lenders.
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We speak with Harsh Bhuta, Partner at Bhuta Shah & Co. LLP, a Mumbai-based premier Chartered Accountant and Law firm, which deals closely in audit, taxation, advisory and corporate finance.
Harsh shares his insights on the way cryptocurrency regulation - in particular, taxation - is taking shape in India. As a seasoned tax consultant, he breaks down the new rules and implications for Indian crypto investors as the country takes a (supposedly) accommodative approach towards regulating this enormously popular asset class. Despite commending its merits, Harsh is rather circumspect and feels that the framework is currently very tight, out-of-touch with global precedents and would not be conducive to attracting institutional volumes - unless regulations evolve fast enough. Will India miss the bus?
Listen in for an enlightening conversation. -
We speak with Mohan Krishnan, the co-founder of Mphasis, one of India's largest listed IT and BPO company. He is also the founder of Global PayEx, a B2B fintech company focused on improving working capital efficiencies through optimisation of a company's Account Receivable and Account Payable cycles.
Having over 30 years of rich experience in financial services-focused information technology, Mohan explains how traditional banking channels are ill-equipped to give a complete and contextualised picture of one's working capital situation, and the need to combine one's AR/AP cycle in real time with value-added lending solutions. From this, we go on to discuss the uniquely India-specific challenges afflicting our unsecured lending markets and why.
Listen in for a super-fascinating and nuanced discussion. -
Anshuman Panwar is the Co-Founder of Creditas, a tech startup which specialises in delinquency management. He speaks at length about his business and the ways in which one can combine the elements of gamification, personalisation and financial literacy to build a robust technology-enabled debt collection layer.
While LongShorts has traditionally focused on the lending side of things, chatting with Anshuman, and his take on the not-so-glamorous albeit phenomenally important area of collections and the role played by technology to make borrower experience as frictionless as possible, has been a breath of fresh air. Anyone can lend but getting your money back is the key.
Listen in for this fascinating conversation. -
We speak with Milan Ganatra, CEO & Founder of 1SilverBullet. His platform's core offering includes building API-based digital interfaces to help financial institutions, consumers and developers talk with each other.
Milan speaks about how 1SilverBullet acts as the bridge between manufacturers of various financial products including investments, lending, and insurance with the wider marketplace (brokers, intermediaries etc.). He takes a nuanced view towards digital adoption, saying physical stores, storefronts and physical advice would always be there.
Listen intently for a brilliant conversation. -
Does your child struggle with instructional learning? This week in LongShorts, we speak with Sonia Notani, the co-founder of BrainGymJr - a technology startup that aims to teach children how to think and apply their school-based knowledge from a young age. Focused specifically on Mathematics, English and real-world skills, BrainGymJr is gamifying learning by presenting simple concepts (e.g. ratios) within a problem-solving framework (e.g. ratios of a pizza) - one game at a time!
Choosing not to identify strictly as an edtech company, Sonia talks about the complex value chains underlying education, the various stakeholders at play and the critical inputs needed to create a product such as hers.
Listen in for an engaging conversation! -
Insurance is one of the world's oldest industries. It’s also an industry “waiting to get disrupted by technology” according to Sanchit Malik, our guest this week on LongShorts.
Sanchit is the Co-Founder and CEO of Pazcare, a seed-funded insurtech startup that is aiming to disrupt the delivery of employee health benefits.
We discuss how Pazcare aims to address the challenges around employee benefits and group health insurance plans.
We also delve into the Indian insurance sector in general, the heated price competition among the players, and why the country's health insurance market remains hospitalisation-driven as opposed to day-to-day healthcare-driven.
Tune in for some valuable insights! - Show more
