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<ul><li>Khatabook has raised $100 million in its Series C round led by Tribe Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV).</li><li>Overall, the company’s merchants network manage more than 264 million users across India.</li><li>The company will use this funding to introduce new offerings for the merchants and hire across verticals.</li><li>The company had reported no revenue with a loss of ₹126 crore in the financial year 2020, as per Tofler.</li></ul>Bookkeeping app Khatabook’s valuation has touched $600 million even though the company is still in a pre-revenue phase. The company had reported no revenue with a loss of ₹126 crore in the financial year (FY) 2020, as per data platform Tofler. Khatabook’s financial statement for FY21 is not yet publicly available. A major reason for the company’s skyhigh valuation seems to be its penetration in the Indian small and medium businesses (SMB) market, which does not have much internet penetration. The company claims to have over 10 million monthly active merchants registered on the platform. Overall, its merchants manage more than 264 million customers. About 95% of the Indian districts are represented on its app, as per the company. The company, on Tuesday, said that it has raised $100 million in its Series C round led by Tribe Capital and Moore Strategic Ventures (MSV). Alkeon Capital also participated in the round, along with existing investors B Capital Group, Sequoia Capital, Tencent, RTP Ventures, Unilever Ventures, and Better Capital. Former and current partners of Andreessen Horowitz, Balaji Srinivasan and Sriram Krishnan, also infused an undisclosed amount in the Bengaluru-based startup. The latest round would allow Khatabook to strengthen its talent base and hire across multiple roles like engineering, product, design, analytics and data science functions. The company currently employs 200 individuals. A part of the funding will also be used to launch several new financial services for its merchant partners, the company said in a press note. Khatabook further added that it would also buy back $10 million worth of employee stock ownership plan (ESOP) shares to reward current and former employees of the company. Eligible employees will be able to sell as much as 30% of their vested options, the company said. It has also expanded its ESOP pool to $50 million. Khatabook was originally founded by Vaibhav Kalpe in 2016. The company was later acquired by Kyte Technology — founded by Ravish Naresh, Jaideep Poonia, Dhanesh Kumar and Ashish Sonone — in 2019, with Kalpe joining the company. The company enables small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to record and track business transactions. Khatabook helps small shopkeepers and kirana store owners in India manage their account by keeping track of the money owed to them through digital ledger. It also offers several features to make collection of money earlier through the use of technology. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/swiggy-sharechat-byjus-lead-the-funding-race-as-indian-startups-raised-6-5-billion-between-april-and-june/articleshow/85583697.cms">Swiggy, ShareChat, Byju’s lead the funding race as Indian startups raised $6.5 billion between April and June </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/ikea-products-would-now-be-even-cheaper-in-india/articleshow/85585775.cms">Ikea products would now be even cheaper in India</a>

Khatabook’s valuation touches $600 million with zero revenue to show

<ul><li>BFSI brands are getting creative on new-age platforms like <keyword id="6762469" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="TikTok">TikTok</keyword>, to stay connected with the younger audience.</li><li>Brands like <keyword id="7598194" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="khatabook">Khatabook</keyword>, <keyword id="103837" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Angel-Broking">Angel Broking</keyword> and <keyword id="3007265" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Money-View">Money View</keyword> have been using the platform smartly, to ensure they are present where their young consumers are.</li></ul>Millennials and Gen Z are some of the most sought after consumers for most brands today and they are not an easy set of audience to crack. These young consumers are going to be big future spenders and therefore it is imperative for brands to try and become a part of their lives. The Banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) has slowly been upping its spend in advertising. A recent report titled ‘The era of consumer A.R.T.’ by FICCI-EY stated that BFSI accounted for 4% of the total advertising pie in 2019. A lot of brands are putting a lot of their monies on various digital platforms, and understandably, because that’s where the consumer is. A lot of BFSI brands have therefore left no stone unturned to make sure they endear themselves to this younger set of audience, and the easiest way of doing it is by expanding their presence on new-age platforms that are used by them. We recently noticed a few BFSI brands think out of the box and get innovative on TikTok. For Bangalore-based startup, Khatabook, the aim of utilizing a platform like TikTok was to reach out to and engage with a relevant target audience and ensure that there’s a surge in its app downloads. Ved Prakash Yadav, Vice-President, Khatabook said that’s exactly what its campaign on TikTok helped them do. “Our focus has been to build financial solutions for a billion Indians. In order to achieve that, we have been investing in credible partners to help us build that capacity in our journey to fulfill this goal. TikTok has been an excellent growth partner, who has helped us reach our relevant target audience and scale our app downloads in a very short period. By using lookalike audience and experimenting with campaign bidding strategies, we have been able to acquire users effectively at a low CPI. We hope to implement for our learning for continued growth on TikTok,” he said. With the advent of social media, it has been increasingly difficult for brands to hold the audience’s attention. However, a story told on a platform in a language that the younger audience understands is a clever way of ensuring that people listen to you. Speaking about why TikTok as a platform worked for the brand, Prabhakar Tiwari, CMO, Angel Broking said, “The millennials are on rise and are looking for their financial independence. More and more urban and rural audiences, now equipped with the power of mobile data are getting themselves accustomed to new ways of the world. Video viewing is preferred more than any other form of medium by users on the internet. With TikTok we found that their diverse user base, both geographically and linguistically, helps us reach our audience across cities. Creator-led content during our Smart Sauda campaign on TikTok helped us scale-up our campaigns with an approach to reach out to a wider audience quickly. Being amongst the first Stock Broking companies, we benefit from the first mover advantage. The Jhoom Utho and Smart Sauda Campaign on the platform gave us positive results and lots of learning about genres, formats and influencer led content for these platforms.” Another Bengaluru-based financial services company that used TikTok and witnessed a growth in its customer base was Money View. Throwing light on how investing on the platform helped the company, <keyword id="761955" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Nikhil-Arora">Nikhil Arora</keyword>, Head of Marketing, Money View said, “We have received an incredible response from the TikTok community in a short span. Our focus was to highlight the convenience and benefits of using the Money View Loans app. Our partnership has significantly contributed to our customer growth and has created a healthier lead generation ecosystem. Using lookalike audiences has helped us broaden our scales with lower acquisition cost.” Speaking about why BFSI brands are finding value in using TikTok for their brand campaigns, <keyword id="224926" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Sameer-Singh">Sameer Singh</keyword>, Vice-President, Monetization, TikTok India said, “TikTok’s diverse demographics are attracting a slew of brands from across categories, including BFSI. Apart from the opportunity to engage with 200 million users on the platform, TikTok offers a whole new way to engage with Gen-Z and millennial consumers as BFSI brands look to embrace newer digital touchpoints. In the last few months, we have successfully partnered with brands ranging from banks, financial service providers, fintech to digital banking platforms - enabling them to implement creative content marketing campaigns with our tailor-made and unique ad solutions."

Here’s how BFSI brands are getting creative on TikTok and reaping results

<ul><li>The company, which is a part of the startup world’s new favourite term – Dukaantech, helps Indian businesses go online and was launched at the peak of the pandemic. </li><li>Dukaan co-founder and CEO Suumit Shah, in an interview with Business Insider, talks about the growth he had never expected out of an app they had launched on a whim. </li><li>Dukaan is live on the Play Store again after being banned for over a month after a legal battle with <keyword id="7598194" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="khatabook">Khatabook</keyword>.</li></ul>For the barely eight-month-old Dukaan, it’s been a crazy ride. In just eight months, the startup has garnered millions of users, millions in funding, and landed in a soup with a legal battle with Khatabook. The company, which is a part of the startup world’s new favourite term – Dukaantech, helps Indian businesses go online and was launched at the peak of the pandemic. Dukaan opens Dukaan co-founder and CEO Suumit Shah, in a candid chat with Business Insider, talks about the growth he had never expected out of an app they had launched on a whim. During peak lockdown, Shah got a text from a Jockey outlet with a PDF file with all their items listed, and the text read that you can place your order on WhatsApp and they’ll deliver. This brought up two questions on Shah’s mind – why aren’t they using platforms like Shopify, what happens when they get over 50 orders or how will they keep track of them all. At this point, Shah was building a company called Rank, which had a tool that lets you know where your business stands on Google Search and other metrics. “We took a look at the market and decided to build an app that will make it easier for businesses to build their inventory. We built the app in two-three days and immediately started getting a lot of calls,” Shah told Business Insider. As the calls kept coming in and feature requests kept piling up, they realised that small businesses have their ways of creating catalogues and have different metrics. “People were doing anything to get back into the business,” Shah said and added that they found takers in people who were earlier opposed to online. Within a week, they had 25,000 orders, and by November, they had over 2.7 million stores created through their platform, which have processed a cumulative ₹100 crore in Gross Merchandising Volume (GMV). The legal battle with Khatabook For Dukaan, the fast-tracked growth hasn’t come without legal woes. The Khatabook-Dukaan legal battle became the talk of the town, as the former accused Dukaan of copyright infringement over the source code of the application. Khatabook was also running its own app called Dukaan by Khatabook. After an intense battle in court, Dukaan was ordered to take down its app from all platforms, including <keyword id="6369511" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="google-play-store">Google Play Store</keyword>. In an out of court settlement, Khatabook and Dukaan resolved the issue with <a href="https://entrackr.com/2020/11/khatabook-and-dukaan-resolve-issues-out-of-court/">Khatabook getting nominal equity in Growthpond </a>(Dukaan’s parent company). And after all that, Dukaan is now live on the Play Store again. Shah looks back at the entire legal battle and says that it has indeed been a roller coaster ride. “The issue isn’t there anymore, they allowed us to use the name Dukaan, and they’ll keep running their app; we will run ours. India is a huge market, and ultimately, the best product will win. These products need the hour, so the user will rely on the product, which helps you and gives you the output. For example, even when Paytm existed and had so many businesses, Khatabook came and created its own segment. Exactly that way, we have our own space and impact we are creating,” said Shah. Cashing in big cheques in a short time Dukaan has been one of those rare startups that has received significant funding within a month of its launch. While there are <a href="https://entrackr.com/2020/10/exclusive-dukaan-app-removed-from-play-store-after-court-relief-to-khatabook/">theories about the financing</a>, Shah says the money came their way because of the popularity of the product. “In one week, we were trending on top on the Google Play Store, investors were looking at that, and we got a lot of inbound calls. On the first call, we had a term sheet of $17 million. By the end, we had four term sheets on the table, and we had to choose who to go with,” he said. Dukaan has raised $6 million in seed funding co-led by Matrix Partners India and Lightspeed India Partners. The round also saw participation from angel investors like Haresh Chawla (Founding CEO Network18, Viacom18), Ryan Hoover (Founder, Weekend Fund and Product Hunt), Jitendra Gupta (Founder, Jupiter), Shashank Kumar (Founder, Razorpay), Sandeep Tandon (Founder, Freecharge), Prabhkiran Singh (Founder, Bewakoof.com), and Kunal Shah (Founder, Cred). But while Shah believes they aren’t growing too fast, he admits he never expected this coming. “In the beginning, a friend of mine knew someone who was a distributor for a big FMCG company. He gave me the deal that he will onboard 15000 stores and give me a 5% stake. I thought about the order; I actually considered it until I got 25,000 orders in a day. So I wasn’t expecting these numbers – the reality has been much better,” said Shah. “The kind of users were also not expected – people selling bakra on eid, panditji selling satyanarayana pooja ka saaman, these are things I hadn’t expected,” he added. But now, there’s a lot more to do Dukaan is back on the Play Store after being down for over a month, which means they have lost out on many incoming users. However, Shah claims that even while they weren’t on the Play Store, they have managed to remain a market leader as they helped the existing users. “By the end of March 2021, having 15 million merchants is what we are trying to achieve,” said Shah. And they are also coming up with new features to support merchants. “Right now, the basic app digitizes the business. The questions merchants have is how do I get more business. We will build small marketing tools that will help our users market their business — for example, WhatsApp stories. We have built a small tool where you can design WhatsApp stories and display your offers. The next funnel is how do we make sure the sellers get more reach. Online payment functionalities is another thing we are working on,” he shared. While Shah claims they made $1200 on day one, the focus is now not on revenue but on building the business. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/white-hat-jr-gets-a-partial-gag-order-against-pradeep-poonia-who-now-has-to-defend-a-hacking-charge-as-well/articleshow/79365073.cms">White Hat Jr gets a partial gag order against Pradeep Poonia who now has to defend a ‘hacking’ charge as well</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/oxford-and-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine-is-70-effective-and-india-may-authorise-emergency-use-after-uk-nod/articleshow/79365393.cms">Oxford and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine is 70% effective — India may authorise emergency use after UK nod</a>

INTERVIEW: Dukaan CEO gets candid about the clash with Khatabook now that the app is back on Google Play Store – aims for 15 million shops by March

<ul><li><keyword id="44033" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="hike" source="Orion">Hike</keyword> had raised $175 million at a valuation of $1.4 billion in 2016.</li><li>The company was known as the fastest growing unicorn despite its inability to generate revenue through operations.</li><li>Earlier this year, Hike closed its flagship messenger to focus on the gaming segment.</li></ul>One-time messaging platform and super app Hike has raised funding for the first time in five years. This development comes almost eight months after the company decided to<a href="https://m.economictimes.com/tech/technology/hike-shuts-down-hike-sticker-chat-to-pivot-to-other-social-products/articleshow/80328203.cms#:~:text=Kavin%20Bharti%20Mittal%2C%20CEO%20of,data%20from%20within%20the%20app."> close down </a>its flagship messaging app and focus on the gaming segment. Several big names like Tinder’s co-founders Justin Mateen and Sean Rad, SoftBank Vision Fund’s chief executive (CEO) Rajeev Misra, Tribe Capital’s Arjun Sethi, Zeta’s cofounder Bhavin Turakhia, Cred’s Kunal Shah, Flipkart’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal and South Park Commons’ Aditya Agarwal participated in this round. The company did not disclose any financial details of the funding round. <keyword id="6567188" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="kavin-bharti-mittal" source="Orion">Kavin Bharti Mittal</keyword>, founder and CEO of Hike, said, “The rapid technological evolution over the last few years has paved the way for massive disruption in social and gaming. There’s little to separate these two categories. Gaming is now inherently social, evolving into a new way for people to hang out and interact in the virtual world.” Hike will use this funding to expand its product strategy and hire across functions. The company has 25 open positions at the moment. It has a team of 160 employees that are working across 50 cities in India. The company will use this funding for its recently launched online gaming vertical Rush and said it will experiment in other domains like social and cryptocurrency. The company was founded in 2012 and was considered one of the fastest growing unicorns in the country. A unicorn, in startup parlance, is a company valued at or above $1 billion. Hike was valued at <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/hike-raises-175mn-in-series-d-funding/articleshow/53720179.cms">$1.4 billion </a>during its last fundraise of $175 million in 2016 despite its inability to generate any revenue from operations. <div type="image" title="Hike raises money for the first time in five years to experiment with crypto &amp;amp; gaming" msid="85588763" hostid="261"></div> The company had been trying to find ways to montinse its messaging app and even decided to launch a super app, combined with other services like digital wallet, ticket booking, e-commerce and more. However, it did not pay off. The company decided to shut off the messaging app in January 2021. Instead the company decided to focus on HikeLand, which is a virtual hangout zone launched by the company in June 2020. The company plans to generate revenue from Hikeland through in-app purchases. HikeLand is now rebranded as Vibe and would continue to offer interactive social media experience. Meanwhile, Rush is a mini games platform that offers casual games. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/khatabooks-valuation-touches-600-million-with-zero-revenue-to-show/articleshow/85586956.cms">Khatabook’s valuation touches $600 million with zero revenue to show </a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/swiggy-sharechat-byjus-lead-the-funding-race-as-indian-startups-raised-6-5-billion-between-april-and-june/articleshow/85583697.cms">Swiggy, ShareChat, Byju’s lead the funding race as Indian startups raised $6.5 billion between April and June</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/retail/news/ikea-products-would-now-be-even-cheaper-in-india/articleshow/85585775.cms">Ikea products would now be even cheaper in India</a>

Hike raises money for the first time in five years to experiment with crypto and gaming

<ul><li>The recent standoff at the Indo-China border has already seen a call for ban on Chinese products as well as uninstalling Chinese or Chinese-funded apps in India. </li><li>Experts believe that this will put a hold on further tech investments in India and thus, startups need to prepare themselves.</li><li><keyword id="417650" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chinese-investors">Chinese investors</keyword> have pumped in an estimated $4 billion into India’s tech startups which includes bets on 18 out of the country’s 30 unicorns.</li></ul>From the India-China tensions at the border to the Indian government’s recent restrictions on FDI stating that prior government approval is required for any investment from a bordering country, the startup ecosystem has a lot to worry about. The rising scepticism about China and its investors affects some of the biggest startups in India like <keyword id="6357120" type="DEFINITION" weightage="20" keywordseo="paytm">Paytm</keyword>, Ola, Byju’s and more. China’s biggest funds and their bets in India <table style="border-width: initial; border-style: none; width: 468pt; table-layout: fixed;"></colgroup><tbody><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Tencent </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Byju’s, Ola, Dream11, Flipkart, Hike, Swiggy, Udaan, Niyo, Gaana, Doubtnut, Khatabook, MX Player, Pocket FM, Practo, MyGate. </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Alibaba </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Paytm, Bigbasket, Paytm Mall, Snapdeal, Zomato, Healofy, Ticketnow, Rapido, Vidooly, Xpressbees </td></tr><tr><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Xiaomi </td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1pt;border-right:solid #000000 1pt;border-bottom:solid #000000 1pt;border-top:solid #000000 1pt;vertical-align:top;padding:5pt 5pt 5pt 5pt;overflow:hidden;overflow-wrap:break-word;">Hungama, Sharechat, Rapido, ZestMoney, Oye! Rickshaw, City Mall, Marsplay Internet </td></tr></tbody></table>Source: Gateway House Tensions at the borders and India’s tech ecosystem The recent standoff at the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/policy/foreign-policy/news/three-reasons-why-china-showed-aggression-against-india-on-border-according-to-a-former-diplomat/articleshow/76462632.cms">Indo-China border</a> has already seen a call for ban on Chinese products as well as uninstalling Chinese or Chinese-funded apps in India. Experts believe that this will put a hold on further tech investments in India and thus, startups need to prepare themselves. “The immediate impact of this can be observed in business relations as well, with contract cancellations, trade deficit and fundings being put on hold. To mitigate this direct impact on the startup ecosystem, startups will have to scout for other avenues for big-ticket investments while seeking support from investors from newer geographies. Companies which fall under the portfolio of Chinese investors will also have to look for new alternatives as their transactions will get delayed due to these macro events,” said Roma Priya, Founder of Burgeon Law. Chinese investors have pumped in an estimated $4 billion into India’s tech startups which includes bets on 18 out of the country’s 30 unicorns, according to a Gateway House report. And even though some of India’s companies like Sharechat even have ‘<keyword id="3758" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="Made-in-India">Made in India</keyword>’ in their Google Play store listing, the funding for the startup is from China. What makes <keyword id="417799" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Chinese-investment">Chinese investment</keyword> attractive? With India having the next big internet users, Chinese funds have been betting on the country’s virgin internet users and the lack of an Indian major investment fund only aids their growth. Most of India’s startups – from Paytm to Ola and Swiggy, Zomato – are still reporting heavy losses, which means they would require investments with minimal investor pressure. “China provides the patient capital needed to support the Indian start-ups, which like any other, are loss-making. The trade-off for market share is worthwhile,” said a report by Gateway House. The damage was done from even before the border clash Earlier in April, the change in FDI regulations said that prior approval of the Indian government will now be required for FDI into India (direct or indirect) by an entity of a country which shares a land border with India, i.e., China, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Myanmar and Afghanistan. And this would have a direct impact on India’s startup ecosystem which relies on Chinese investments. “Chinese investors like Alibaba, Tencent and others will be heavily impacted. (i) Rights issuances; (ii) share buybacks; (iii) exits of existing investors from an Indian company which result in an increment in a Chinese investor’s stake will now require prior approval of the Indian government, although there may be no fresh inflow of FDI. Private equity and venture investors may not be able to effectively exercise call options, rights of first offer, anti-dilution or ratchet provisions.” said a report by the law firm Majmudar &amp; Partners. However, China has for long now routed its investments through subsidiary companies. “Chinese funds and companies often route their investments in India through offices located in Singapore, Hong Kong, Mauritius etc.: for example, Alibaba’s investment in Paytm was by Alibaba Singapore Holdings Pvt. Ltd. These don’t get recorded in India’s government data as Chinese investments,” said a report by Gateway House. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/heres-a-look-at-some-of-the-indian-smartphone-companies-that-could-make-a-comeback/slidelist/76465362.cms">Indian mobile companies that Boycott China campaign can bring back</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/thelife/news/here-are-the-five-books-that-will-help-you-decode-the-india-china-relations/articleshow/76462237.cms">Here are the five books that will help you decode the India China relations — beyond just the border dispute</a>

From Paytm to Byju’s to Dream11 ⁠— Chinese investors have big money in India’s biggest startups

Best thermal printers for print bills, receipts and tickets

<ul><li>This feature will allow users of the <keyword id="9163190" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharatpe-app" source="Orion">BharatPe app</keyword> to lend money to each other at an interest rate of up to 12% annually.</li><li>The company aims to generate a capital pool of $100 million and lend up to $50 million from this product by March 2022.</li><li><keyword id="7349800" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="bharatpe" source="Orion">BharatPe</keyword> has disbursed over $300 million in business loans to over 2 lakh merchant partners under its P2P offering.</li></ul>Fintech startup BharatPe, which largely focuses on merchant payments, has forayed into consumer lending with the launch of its latest peer-to-peer (P2P) lending app named 12% Club. The platform will allow users to invest their savings — within the range of ₹10,000 to ₹10,00,000 — in a <keyword id="11937195" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="12-club-app" source="Orion">12% Club app</keyword>. The company will increase the upper limit of investment to ₹50,00,000 over upcoming months. This amount will later be used to give out loans of up to ₹10,00,000 to customers at a 12% annual interest rate. The loan will be collateral-free for the first three months and the company will charge no processing or pre-payment charges on these loans. The consumers investing via the 12% Club app can put in a request to withdraw their investment anytime, partially or completely, without any withdrawal charges. The loan eligibility will be defined based on several factors such as customer’s credit score, shopping history using multi-brand loyalty programme PAYBACK or payments done through BharatPe QR code. The company aims to achieve an investment asset under management/capital pool of $100 million and a lending of $50 million from this product by March 2022. Suhail Sameer, chief executive officer (CEO) of BharatPe said, “In the pilot phase, we have seen great traction with $5 million of monthly investment run rate and $1 million of monthly borrowing run rate. We are confident that this product will be well received in the market and will play a key role in driving financial inclusion in the country. This is just the beginning and we will be adding new customer products during the rest of the financial year.” Sameer further noted that their P2P lending product for merchants has witnessed a gross investment of close to $700 million by 6.3 lakh merchants. The company claims to have disbursed over $300 million in business loans to over 2 lakh merchant partners. Earlier this month, Kunal Shah-led credit card payments app CRED enabled a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending feature called CRED Mint for its <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/cred-launches-peer-to-peer-lending-option/articleshow/85477419.cms">7.5 million members</a>. The feature will allow users of the CRED app to lend money to each other at an interest rate of up to 9% annually. SEE ALSO <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/khatabooks-valuation-touches-600-million-with-zero-revenue-to-show/articleshow/85586956.cms">Khatabook’s valuation touches $600 million with zero revenue to show </a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/hike-raises-money-for-the-first-time-in-five-years-to-experiment-with-crypto-gaming/articleshow/85588768.cms">Hike raises money for the first time in five years to experiment with crypto and gaming</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/swiggy-sharechat-byjus-lead-the-funding-race-as-indian-startups-raised-6-5-billion-between-april-and-june/articleshow/85583697.cms">Swiggy, ShareChat, Byju’s lead the funding race as Indian startups raised $6.5 billion between April and June</a>

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<ul><li>As the industry copes with the after-effects of the lockdown, which had paralyzed the logistics and production involved in making ad films, communication around IPL has not been very impressive this year. </li><li>A lot of people have been talking about the dearth of quality ads that stand out or that have created an impact this year. </li><li>We speak to experts to find out the reason behind the dip in quality advertising this year and how ad agencies can buckle up to help their clients reap the best benefits in the upcoming days of IPL. </li></ul>Indian Premier League (IPL) has almost become a festival of its own that gives brands an opportunity to reach out to a huge number of people who are glued to their television sets for close to two months every year. Dream11 IPL 2020’s opening match itself was watched by 200 million people, which indicates why IPL is the biggest marketing opportunity for brands this year to bounce back. IPL also brings along an array of wonderful ads every year. In the early years, brands like Vodafone, Kingfisher and Nestle created some spectacular work to take advantage of this uniquely-engaging event. However, the on-going pandemic has brought in a lot of challenges for agencies. They are producing ads with minimum money, trying to operate within the government guidelines of production and selling it for really expensive slots. They are also expected to create an ad that stands out in a sea full of celebrity-endorsing cliches. And after seeing a lean first-half this year, all kinds of brands are trying to cash in on IPL’s fervor. With this increased pressure and responsibility, agencies are working extra hours to meet clients’ expectations. To top that, an air of despondency is still looming around because of the fear of the unknown, blues of working in isolation, pressure to overperform in a dismal atmosphere, salary cuts, work overload and time-crunch. Ergo, COVID-19 has had a clear impact on the country's creative minds as well, possibly leading to unimpressive production this year. A lot of people have been talking about the dearth of quality ads that stand out or that have created an impact this year. A few experts did appreciate Dream11 and Khatabook for their IPL ads but largely, they were disappointed with the plunge in quality ads. <div type="twitter" handle="anubhavsinha" handlename="Anubhav Sinha" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1297501233310138368/6ehw_DUO_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2869" retweetcount="141" status="Who has Directed the Dream11 commercials? Very nice and all the cricketers are acting so well. @agracadabra" createdat="1600876574000" id="1308797330389229568"></div> Roshan Abbas, MD and Founder, Geometry Encompass took to Twitter and said, “The drought in quality advertising during IPL is mind boggling. Show me one good ad, please one good ad.” <div type="twitter" handle="roshanabbas" handlename="Roshan Abbas" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1296454010052808704/zIDYh7wP_normal.jpg" favoritecount="118" retweetcount="9" status="The drought in quality advertising during IPL is mind boggling. Show me one ad, pls one good ad! @AnantRangaswami" createdat="1600839200000" id="1308640574233223168"></div> On lack of quality, Satbir Singh, Founder and CCO of Thinkstr, commented, “Over the next 45 days, clients are going to spend over 2,000 crores on ads on IPL. About 500 crores on celebrities. And, looking at the ads, a couple of crores in creative fees.” <div type="twitter" handle="thesatbir" handlename="Satbir Singh" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1263439382133927941/1jXTTKoe_normal.jpg" favoritecount="506" retweetcount="68" status="Over the next 45 days, clients are going to spend over 2,000 crores on ads on IPL. About 500 crores on celebrities.… https://t.co/nKQbSM3jz9" createdat="1600616932000" id="1307708312478121984"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="dabas_jeetu" handlename="Jitender Dabas" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1137186055126278145/nFmzhBxz_normal.jpg" favoritecount="19" retweetcount="2" status="Buy the most expensive raw ingredients in large quantities, spend more money on fancy ingredients &amp; spices ... the… https://t.co/1qPtZMGY8Y" createdat="1600664254000" id="1307906794367246336"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="abidmg" handlename="Abid. M" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1275706817524510721/zTzvK04N_normal.jpg" favoritecount="2" retweetcount="2" status="No wonder ads are looking lousy these days. Increase creative budgets. Make better ads. https://t.co/PUDONAwtWE" createdat="1600659487000" id="1307886799818170369"></div> <div type="twitter" handle="SlyandSulk" handlename="What's in a name?" image="http://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1261406875750330368/LSIs7HNY_normal.jpg" favoritecount="3" retweetcount="2" status="Advertising industry leadership is equally at fault. &quot;20 lakh me campaign kar denge saar&quot;&quot;20 lakh me campaign ka… https://t.co/j4iPPLkWM7" createdat="1600664558000" id="1307908069876137984"></div> Lloyd Mathias, Business Strategist and former HP, Asia Marketing Head found this year’s IPL to be quite disappointing. He said, “I guess in their keenness to use cricket and cricket stars the brand proposition has got lost. There are a few exceptions though. My personal favourite is the Swiggy spots – esp. the middle aged men getting together to watch IPL. Harsha Bhogle’s commentary at a key moment lends a great touch. IPL sponsor Dream 11’s ads using the superstars in classic gully street cricket situations with the line ‘yeh apna game hain’ is funny, endearing and tells consumers everyone is an equal when it comes to Dream 11.” On whether lockdown has impacted industry’s creativity, Mathias said, “Not really. I think many advertisers think that a spot in the IPL must be anchored in cricket – and sometimes the best spots have little to do with the sport. Vodafone’s zoozoos are a great case in point.” On the other hand, Ambi Parameswaran, Founder, Brand-Building helped us look at the brighter side and appreciated brands who have trusted in advertising despite seeing gloomy days. Parameswaran said, “There is a lot of debate on the fall of creative quality of ads in this year’s IPL. But this is a false argument. The country faced a severe lockdown and even now the movie halls are yet to open. Film shootings are happening in stages. So it is futile to say that why are the ads not their sparkling best. Instead we should applaud the brands that have boldly decided to advertise. These brands are demonstrating their faith in advertising and its effectiveness. Yes, there is a surfeit of tech-enabled brands and that is to be expected. But there are also so many auto brands, consumer product brands, consumer service brands, etc., that have decided to bet on IPL. Each and every one of those brands needs to be praised and not criticised for their relative tame creative quality. Research has shown, over a broad range of products, the creative quality may account for just about 7 - 11 % of ad effectiveness. The balance rests with media weight and the core messaging. So let us put our hands together for those brave brands who have decided to stimulate the market, nudge the consumer out of their inertia, to start spending.” Earlier while conceptualising TV ads, production challenges were given scant thought while approving scripts. However today, the starting point of conceptualising creatives would be around the associated production constraints, which Ronita Mitra, Founder and Chief Strategist, Brand Eagle Consulting said is one of the reasons why IPL ads are impacted this year. Mitra said, “All these constraints and challenges are visible in the ads being played during IPL 2020. However, these challenging times are also the litmus test of the true creative potential of the creative teams. Due to cuts in marketing budgets, ads have probably been made on much lower budgets. Further given the safety protocols to be followed these days you can see that most brand ads are either old ones or shot with solo models, or using animation. Viewers would also be seeing ads with those filters in mind and therefore be tempering their expectations of the entertainment value of the ads. Still, IPL 2020 could have been the ideal opportunity for brands and agencies to showcase some real creative talent, and to show that creativity and the power of idea can rise above the constraints of low budgets or execution constraints. To that extent, the display of creative thinking has been rather disappointing. For me, the Dream 11 ads are the only ones that stand out for making a serious attempt at creating a series of engaging ads.” Albeit, Kuber Chopra, Founder, Creative &amp; Strategy Director, Rasta, said that lack of creativity is not due to lockdown constraints. Chopra said, “I don't think one should attribute this lack of creativity to the lockdown because all good creatives enjoy good constraints. I am personally just really surprised that no one has done anything contextual which is focussed on the consumers who’ve been dealing with the pandemic. For instance the ad by Paytm featuring Sachin Tendulkar is quite campy where the service is also lost. I really like Dream11’s focus on the active fan. It is also good to see how the cricket demigods have been humanised and are happy to be part of the sobering script. In my opinion, ads need to have some cultural connect with viewers and much of this is missing as is evident even in the ad for Apple 11.” “It’s surprising how brands haven't taken a chance with either new stories or fresh treatment. Decision-makers and creative heads have chosen to be safe,” added Chopra. IPL is considered India’s Super Bowl, not only because it’s the biggest sporting event but also because over the years, it has come to become the benchmark for creativity in advertisements. Shashwat Das, Founder, Almond Branding, said, “Whether it was the iconic Zoozoos or Jio dhan dhanadan, Amazon’s Chonkpur Cheetahs or IPL’s own Jumping Japang campaign, we always looked up to what’s new and path-breaking each season. The expectations have only grown over the years. However, this season, apart from the funny series of Dream11 ads nothing else have yet got people talking. With more digital viewers of IPL this year than ever before, the engagement and online conversations that a brand can pull is the biggest success parameter. Sadly I still remember the DLF Maxima from the initial days of IPL more than any brand campaign this season. I am hoping as the game progresses, brands will rise to the occasion and surprise us.” On how ad agencies can buckle up to help their clients reap the best benefits in the upcoming days of IPL, Sameer Makani, Co-Founder and Managing Director Makani Creatives said, “The industry is still coping up with the after-effects of the lockdown which had led to paralyzing the logistics and production involved in making ad films. Although progress in digital advertising is visible, the attention span of the audience is significantly reduced. Today, it’s about opting for a more concentrated approach and creating content that resonates with the audience instead of conventional carpet bombing. For instance – video content has become an excellent medium to touch, feel and engage with the audience in this new normal. It has helped several brands in channelizing the content in a manner that helps in leverage relationship with customers. The quality of ads depends on how well the advertiser is capable of sending the message and how well the audience perceives the message. This is an opportunity for brands to understand and conceptualize ads as per needs.” The story is not over yet Mathias anticipates that things will change as we get deeper into the league. He said, “I would expect a few brands may release fresh creatives as the tournament progresses. Given that viewership of the IPL has been phenomenal in the first phase and the tournament will build up to the festive season – there should be better advertising on the anvil.” Chopra is hoping to see smaller brands shine on Disney+ Hotstar. “I’m rooting for the iconic equivalent of 'Flipkart Kids' from the ed-tech folks who’ve heavily invested in the IPL. It’s really their moment to own. As a footnote, I’d keep an eye on Disney+ Hotstar -- where smaller advertisers can express themselves efficiently with lower media spends,” said he.

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