Financial inclusion is seen as a critical indicator of development, which is why startups are working to change this dynamic by offering financial services at affordable costs to the underserved.

At the third edition of YourStory’s Future of Work conference, Ravi Garikipati, Founder and CEO of Davinta Financial Services, a technology and product-focused non-banking financial company (NBFC), spoke about the challenges and opportunities regarding “financial inclusion at the bottom of the pyramid”.

This fundamentally alters how one can provide financial services to those at the bottom of the pyramid, he added.

Ravi Garikipati, Founder and CEO, Davinta Financial Services.

Services at affordable ratesDavinta Financial Services, which launched operations eight months ago, is a technology-focused umbrella NBFC for the underserved, including the rural, urban, and micro entrepreneur segments. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583373606.5626616/Future-of-Work-2020:-Ravi-Garikipati-explains-why-financial-inclusion-is-a-must-in-India?ref=audio_experience

One of the stalwarts of the Indian IT industry, Azim H Premji is an Indian business tycoon, investor, engineer and philanthropist.

He is known for diversifying Wipro from a vegetable oil manufacturer to a software giant with an $8.47 billion revenue.

He took over the company, which was earlier known as Western Indian Vegetable Products, at the age of 21 after his father’s death.

In 2001, he founded Azim Premji Foundation, a non-profit organisation focused on education in India.

After having led Wipro for 53 years, Azim Premji retired as executive chairman on July 30, 2019. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583371805.599192/These-18-inspiring-quotes-by-former-Wipro-chairman-Azim-Premji-show-true-leadership?ref=audio_experience

Social commerce startups are making merry as rising smartphone usage and low data costs have created a market of millions of first-time internet users in India.

Lifting of the ban on cryptocurrency in India by the Supreme Court has been unanimously welcomed by players and crypto startups in this ecosystem.

At YourStory’s Future of Work, Sriram Iyer, VP, Engineering, Flipkart, urged entrepreneurs to have the multi-disciplinary domain knowledge to foster innovation.

Sanjay Kothari, Vice Chairman, KGK GroupHong Kong-based KGK Group’s journey began in 1905.

Richa Hukumchand, Chief Innovation Officer, PixxelAt YourStory's Future of Work, Richa Hukumchand, Chief Innovation Officer, Pixxel, explains how product development for space takes place. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583370009.2013748/How-social-commerce-startups-are-taking-India-by-storm?ref=audio_experience

Little did they anticipate that online examinations were going to be mainstream, and subsequently the test preparation market would follow the transition too.

After working for three years on the digitisation of the test preparation modules, they launched Hitbullseye, the online education wing of the mothership Bullseye.

Apart from edtech startup Hitbullseye, they look after multiple businesses in the education sector including K12 schools, a publishing company, and physical test centers.

Hitbullseye sells test preparation courses, primarily in MBA and +2 student market, except the courses for engineering and medical entrances.

In the test preparation space, there is also Matrix Partners-backed Testbook. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583368206.7807543/[Startup-Bharat]-With-over-90-lakh-students,-Hitbullseye-is-changing-the-course-of-MBA-preparation-for-B2B-and-B2C-customers?ref=audio_experience

0 Shares EmailFacebookTwitterLinkedInMore companies are implementing work-from-home policies in the midst of escalated concerns over the coronavirus.

As such, it’s no surprise that businesses which equip remote workers are seeing an uptick in interest.

Growrk says it has seen a 10 times surge in customers for its offering amid companies – particularly those located in the Bay Area – increasingly asking employees to work from home.

How it worksGrowrk operates under the premise that most remote workers prefer to be at home most of the time as opposed to going to co-working spaces or coffee shops.

Growrk charges a monthly subscription fee to help companies “of all sizes” equip their remote workers flexibly and comfortably with ergonomic home workspaces. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583366406.1612694/Remote-Workstation-Startup-Growrk-Sees-Surge-In-Demand-Amid-Coronavirus-Fears?ref=audio_experience

Quibi, a Los Angeles, CA-based entertainment platform, raised $750m in second funding round.

The round valued the company at $1.75 billion.

It is know that they were studios, major technology companies, strategic partners and financial investors.

The company intends to use the funds to support the expected launch of its platform on April, 6, 2020.

Founded by Jeffrey Katzenberg and Meg Whitman, Quibi will produce original content (movie quality shows) in 10 minutes or less in a format designed for a mobile-first audience and platform. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583364607.684632/Quibi-Raises-$750M-in-Second-Funding-Round;-at-$1.75-Billion-Valuation?ref=audio_experience

World Insurance Associates, a Tinton Falls, N.J.-based full-service insurance brokerage, received a majority investment from funds affiliated with Charlesbank Capital Partners, a middle-market private equity firm based in Boston and New York.

The WIA management team and employee shareholders will remain major shareholders alongside Charlesbank.

The growth investment will enable the company to accelerate its expansion program.

Founded in 2012 by Chief Executive Officer Rich Eknoian, WIA offers comprehensive insurance coverage, risk management strategies, and benefits consulting services for businesses and individuals.

WIA operates 40 offices in 11 states and has grown through a combination of organic growth and agency acquisitions, with 53 completed to-date. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583362807.5716472/World-Insurance-Associates-Receives-Growth-Investment-from-Charlesbank?ref=audio_experience

Membrion, a Seattle, WA-based manufacturer of lower cost, high performance ion exchange membranes, closed its $6m Series A funding round.

The round was led by Bellingham Angel Investors, with participation from existing investors as well as new funding from WRF Capital and SeaChange Fund.

The company will use this funding to commence commercial production of its membranes at a new production facility being developed in Seattle.

The company leverages silica gel to produce a novel class of commercial ceramic membranes.

The technology converts the absorbent, small-pore silica gel into flexible ceramic membranes that can be engineered to meet the needs of a wide range of applications. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583361006.39451/Membrion-Raises-$6M-in-Series-A-Funding?ref=audio_experience

ShardSecure, a NYC-based data protection company, received an investment of undisclosed amount from Industrifonden.

Industrifonden has participated in the company’s seed funding, joining lead investor SineWave Ventures, Tom Noonan, 500 Startups and others in the round originally announced late last year.

Led by CEO & Co-founder Bob Lam, ShardSecure is a data protection company whose Microshard™ technology allows organizations to accelerate cloud adoption by mitigating cloud misconfiguration and data security risks.

The funds will be used to build an experienced sales and marketing team to bring the Microshard data protection technology to market this year as well as to continue strengthening the development team.

FinSMEs04/03/2020 | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583359208.0528932/ShardSecure-Receives-Investment-from-Industrifonden?ref=audio_experience

SkyX, a Toronto, Canada-based aerial data solutions provider, received an investment from Drone Fund, an investment firm based in Tokyo that specializes in investing globally across the drone space, including aerial mobility, drone technologies and DaaS solutions.

This marks SkyX’s third capital raise since the company was founded in 2015.

The amount of the deal was not disclosed.

The company intends to use the funds for expansion into new markets in Asia, the Middle East and Africa and verticals beyond the energy sector.

Led by Didi Horn, Founder & CEO, SkyX provides a Data-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution which allows asset operators in the energy sector to capture high-quality aerial data to develop a predictive analytics model to effectively protect critical infrastructure. | To read full story, visit https://startuparound.com/read/1583357410.6998076/SkyX-Receives-Investment-from-Drone-Fund?ref=audio_experience