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<keyword id="9905514" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="lunchclub" source="Orion">Lunchclub</keyword>, a US-based networking platform that uses <keyword id="294572" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="machine-learning" source="Orion">machine learning</keyword> algorithms to connect professionals with common interests, values, goals and objectives, is now open for Indian users. Launched in 2017 in the US, the platform was first rolled out as an invite-only concierge service for in-person introductions, but the company pivoted to video calls when the pandemic hit last March. It optimises the professional matchmaking experience, leveraging <keyword id="6355999" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="ai" source="Orion">AI</keyword> to facilitate connection based on shared interests and goals — regardless of geographic location, industry, or generation. It plans to grow to over 100k users in India by the end of 2021. "India is a key global destination when it comes to professional networking. We have seen great success and growth in the US market and are now confident of replicating the same in India. With the kind of audience we have in India, we believe this will be a breakthrough moment," said Vladimir Novakovski, Co-Founder and CEO, Lunchclub, in a statement. "The sheer diversity of connections that the platform can offer the sub-continent from all over the world will write a story of growth and opportunities for the emerging start-up hub," added Pritish Nair, India Lead, Lunchclub. The start-up was founded in the US by Vladimir Novakovski, Scott Wu and Hayley Leibson and is valued at over $100 million. It has raised a total of $30 million that includes investors from Lightspeed, Andreessen Horowitz, Coatue, and other strategic investors. Lunchclub has created 1 million connections and achieved 15x growth in 2020 alone. The platform is accessible through a mobile app or the web browser. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/is-urban-company-heading-the-ola-uber-way-with-over-100-beauticians-taking-to-the-street/articleshow/86935701.cms">Is Urban Company heading the Ola, Uber way with over 100 beauticians taking to the street?</a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/chingari-raises-19-million-in-crypto-tokens-to-launch-its-own-crypto-token/articleshow/86868155.cms">Chingari raises $19 million in crypto tokens to launch its own crypto token</a>

AI-powered professional networking platform Lunchclub is now open for Indian users

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">LunchclubLunchclub cofounders, Vladimir Novakovski, Scott Wu, and Hayley Leibson</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li><a href="https://lunchclub.ai/">Lunchclub</a> is a San Francisco-based startup that wants to change the way networking happens. </li><li>Using data inputs, like public information from Twitter and LinkedIn, Lunchclub matches users who are looking for career advice, looking for their next employee, or just looking to brainstorm a crazy idea. </li><li>Lunchclub CTO Scott Wu told Business Insider in a recent interview that the team actually found their third cofounder, Hayley Leibson, through the service. </li><li>To help grow its networking platform, the San Francisco-based startup raised a $4 million Series A round led by the Silicon Valley powerhouse venture capital firm, Andreessen Horowitz.</li><li>Below is the pitch deck that helped Lunchclub raise its recent multi-million dollar round. </li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>We've all heard the old adage: "It's not what you know, it's who you know." And in many ways, that idea still holds true today. But as <a href="https://lunchclub.ai/">Lunchclub</a> cofounder and CTO Scott Wu told Business Insider in a recent interview, he quickly learned when entering the workforce that something wasn't quite right about the networking events he was attending."It felt so inefficient and artificial," Wu said. "It's like you're going through this transactional affair more for the purposes of growing your network and less so about really getting to know people." Wu and his cofounder Vladimir Novakovski - who previously worked together at the investment management software company, Addepar - teamed up to try and change the way networking typically happens. With Lunchclub, instead of cocktail parties with numerous attendees and nametags, users can set-up one-on-one coffee or lunch meetings with people who are looking to accomplish similar goals. If someone is looking for career advice, they'll be paired with someone who can offer them mentorship. If someone just wants to brainstorm their crazy ideas, they'll pair them with someone who wants to do the same. Wu said that he and Novakovski actually found their third co-founder - Hayley Leibson - through Lunchclub. They were looking for someone to run operations at the company and Leibson was looking to join an early startup with major upside. Leibson was already a Lunchclub power user at the time, and so the fit was just right. "We found that not only was she super, super amazing at building communities, but also that she was excited to join something new," Wu said of Leibson, who previously founded an online network of female founders called, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/FemaleFoundersCommunity/">Women Founders Community</a>. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-decks-that-helped-hot-startups-raise-millions-2019-4">The pitch decks that helped hot startups raise millions</a>The first time CTO told us that the real "secret sauce" behind Lunchclub is the data his team uses to make connections. That data is comprised of public information from social networks (namely, Twitter and Linkedin), information users provide at setup regarding their goals for using Lunchclub, and user feedback from the coffee or lunch meeting they have already attended. Wu said that early on, the team used to make these connections manually, but that now the process is totally automated.Each Monday, a user will receive an email that asks them how many Lunchclub meetings they want that week, which times work best, and which areas of the city would be most convenient to meet. Twenty-four hours later, they receive their matches with a personalized introduction. Wu told us that the decision for Lunchclub itself to make the matches for users is an "important feature" of the product. "There's no swiping aspect. You receive the match from Lunchclub and you're expected to take that meeting," Wu said. "I think that's a very important feature of it. A lot of the swiping culture I think has led to much more transactional and much less genuine [interactions] and a lot of the networks that build around that, you can see the effect." Notably, Lunchclub is meant to foster professional relationships, Wu said, and so using the service for dating purposes isn't supported. Also, today, there is no cost to use Lunchclub. In the future, Wu said his team will consider offering an <keyword id="6356323" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="enterprise">enterprise</keyword> service where companies pay for connections to qualified candidates. Currently, Lunchclub is available in seven major cities, including San Francisco, New York, LA, and London. And recently, to help grow its team and expand its services even further, the San Francisco-based startup raised a $4 million Series A round led by the Silicon Valley powerhouse VC firm, Andreessen Horowitz. In total, Lunchclub has raised over $5 million from investors. Here's the pitch deck that helped Lunchclub raise millions to help build the professional networking platform of the future (some sensitive data has been redacted):

The founders of Lunchclub, a startup for making better professional connections, used this pitchdeck to raise $4 million in funding

The country's largest carmaker <keyword id="44883" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="maruti-suzuki" source="Orion">Maruti Suzuki</keyword> India (MSI) witnessed a massive over two-fold drop in <keyword id="22637" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="production" source="Orion">production</keyword> last month owing to the shortage of semiconductor chips. In a regulatory filing, the auto major reported total production of 81,278 units in September as compared with 1,66,086 units in September 2020. "Production volume of the company in September 2021 was affected due to electronic components shortage," it noted. MSI said total passenger vehicle production stood at 77,782 units last month, as against 1,61,668 units in September 2020. Production of <keyword id="913938" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="mini-cars" source="Orion">mini cars</keyword> comprising Alto and S-Presso models stood at 17,163 units last month as against 30,492 units a year ago. Similarly, manufacturing of compact cars, comprising WagonR, Celerio, Ignis, Swift, Baleno and Dzire, declined to 29,272 units from 90,924 units earlier, MSI said. Production of utility vehicles -- Gypsy, Ertiga, S-Cross, Vitara Brezza and XL6 -- dropped to 21,873 units last month from 26,648 units in the corresponding month of 2020. The company also reported a drop in the production of its Eeco van at 8,025 units last month as compared with 11,183 units in September 2020. MSI said production of its light commercial vehicle Super Carry stood at 3,496 units last month, as against 4,418 units in the year-ago month. MSI had reported a 8 per cent drop in total production in August on a yearly basis at 1,13,937 units. On August 31, the auto major had announced that it expects total vehicle production in September across its plants in <keyword id="41646" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Haryana" source="Orion">Haryana</keyword> and Gujarat to be just 40 per cent of the normal output due to the semiconductor shortage. The company's production capacity at Gurgaon and Manesar plants in Haryana is around 15 lakh units per annum. Besides, Suzuki Motor Gujarat (SMG), a 100 per cent subsidiary of Japan's <keyword id="100743" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="suzuki-motor-corporation" source="Orion">Suzuki Motor Corporation</keyword>, has an additional installed production capacity of 7.5 lakh units per annum. SMG supplies cars exclusively to MSI. Semiconductors are silicon chips that cater to control and memory functions in products ranging from automobiles, computers and cell phones to various other electronic items. The usage of semiconductors in the auto industry has gone up globally in recent times with new models coming with more and more electronic features such as Bluetooth connectivity and driver-assist, navigation and hybrid-electric systems. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/ai-powered-professional-networking-platform-lunchclub-is-now-open-for-indian-users/articleshow/86936966.cms">AI-powered professional networking platform Lunchclub is now open for Indian users</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/startups/news/is-urban-company-heading-the-ola-uber-way-with-over-100-beauticians-taking-to-the-street/articleshow/86935701.cms">Is Urban Company heading the Ola, Uber way with over 100 beauticians taking to the street?</a>

Maruti Suzuki reports over two-fold dip in production in September

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">EthosEthos cofounders, Lingke Wang and Peter Colis.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>Three-year old San Francisco startup <a href="https://www.ethoslife.com/">Ethos</a> is upending the experience of buying life insurance.</li><li>The service offers plans to consumers almost instantly, without medical exams, and without pushy sales agents incentivized by commissions.</li><li>In a recent interview with Business Insider Ethos CEO Peter Coils said that most consumers can get coverage from his app in "ten minutes from their mobile devices while in line at Starbucks."</li><li>To help fund the budding endeavor, Ethos raised a $60 million Series C round in August led by Alphabet's investing arm GV, with participation from the likes of Sequoia, Goldman Sachs, and Accel.</li><li>In total, Ethos has raised over $100 million and is valued at nearly $500 million. </li><li>Below is the pitch deck that helped Ethos convince investors that the life insurance market is ready for a new model.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime stories</a>.</li></ul>Shortly after <a href="https://www.ethoslife.com/">Ethos</a> cofounder Lingke Wang graduated from college, he received a call from a life insurance agent who just happened to also be an alumnus of his college. Setting up a life insurance policy wasn't even on Wang's radar at the time. But after four calls and much persistence from the sales rep, Wang finally caved and signed up for a plan. Years later, while attending Stanford Business School, Wang recounted the episode to his roommate, Peter Colis. After researching the industry further, the duo realized that the life insurance market was both massive in size (<a href="https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-industry-overview">$100+ billion per year</a> paid in premiums) and inefficient. The process to sign up was riddled with paperwork and medical exams, and could take months before a person's plan was finalized. There were also the predatory sales agents - like Wang encountered - that put people into expensive plans they didn't necessarily need. In 2014, the two founded <a href="https://www.ovidlife.com/">Ovid</a>, a company that helps consumers get out of expensive, permanent life insurance contracts and receive a cash settlement. Ovid is still in operation today, but it was acquired by another company earlier this year for an undisclosed amount. By 2016, Wang and Colis wanted to pursue another avenue of the industry - this time focusing on life insurance coverage itself. The new company was named Ethos and already, just three years in, it's turning heads across Silicon Valley. After its most recent funding round in August, Ethos' valuation was estimated to be <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2019/08/28/ethos-raises-series-c-funding-round-backed-by-google-goldman-sachs.html">nearly $500 million</a>. In a recent interview with Ethos CEO Peter Colis, the thirty-year-old chief exec told Business Insider his company's strategy started with trying to completely rethink the experience of buying life insurance. That would mean being able to offer plans to consumers almost instantly, without medical exams, and without pushy sales agents incentivized by commissions."There's a saying in life insurance that life insurance is sold, not bought. The implication is, 'Oh, it's such a complex product that you need an agent to push it down someone's throat,'" Colis said. "Our thesis from the beginning was that we could build a product so good that it doesn't need to be hard sold."<h2>Fast enough to get coverage while waiting line at Starbucks</h2>So far, Colis said the company has been able to carry out its vision of a low-friction sign up process. With Ethos, most consumers can get coverage in "ten minutes from their mobile devices while in line at Starbucks," he said. Much of the magic behind the experience lies in the data models the Ethos team has built to predict life expectancy, Colis said. Those predictions, in turn, allow the company to quickly recommend a coverage plan for consumers and establish fair pricing. Feeding those models, the chief exec said, is data like health records - which are made available to life insurance companies - and other public records, like how many speeding tickets a person has received.Colis said - as suggested by its company name, Ethos - making sure consumers are offered the right plans at the right prices is core to the company's mission. "There's an inside rule at the company - if you wouldn't design it, or build it, or sell it to Peter's mom, you don't sell it to our customers," Colis said. And in a life insurance market that's plagued with subpar consumer experiences, putting the customer first has been a key to success for Ethos. In fact, Colis said, word of mouth is the company's biggest customer acquisition channel thus far. Read more: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/lunchclub-pitch-deck-series-a-andreessen-horowitz-led-2019-9" data-analytics-position="2">The founders of Lunchclub, a startup for making better professional connections, used this pitchdeck to raise $4 million in funding</a>To help fund the budding endeavor - the company doesn't give exact revenue figures but says it's "insuring thousands of new families every month" - Ethos recently raised a $60 million Series C round led by Alphabet's investing arm GV. The funding round, which also included big-name investors like Sequoia, Goldman Sachs, and Accel, boosted Ethos' valuation to nearly $500 million. In total, the San Francisco-based startup has now raised more than $100 million. As for general fundraising advice, Colis said he's found that being totally honest and transparent with would-be investors is the best approach, even if that means sharing your businesses' "warts." "It shouldn't be a sales process. You should be honest about the pros and the cons of the business and then they'll make their own decision," Colis said. "If you're trying to spin them, they're going to see through it and then you're going to lose trust. So just focus on being super transparent like, 'Hey, here's the beauty and here are the warts. How excited are you about it?' If it's a compelling business, there's a lot of venture capitalists, one of them is going to get really excited." Here's the pitch deck that helped life insurance startup Ethos raise its recent $60 million Series C funding round (certain, sensitive numbers have been removed from the deck for business reasons):

Ethos wants to make signing up for life insurance a pain-free process. Here's the pitch deck that convinced Alphabet's GV investing arm that it's worth $500 million.

Andreessen Horowitz's a16z podcast: Here's what execs who led growth at Uber and HubSpot say tech entrepreneurs should focus on over the next two years to be successful

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AI-powered professional networking platform Lunchclub is now open for Indian users

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The founders of Lunchclub, a startup for making better professional connections, used this pitchdeck to raise $4 million in funding

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Maruti Suzuki reports over two-fold dip in production in September

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Ethos wants to make signing up for life insurance a pain-free process. Here's the pitch deck that convinced Alphabet's GV investing arm that it's worth $500 million.

Nick Bastone

Andreessen Horowitz's a16z podcast: Here's what execs who led growth at Uber and HubSpot say tech entrepreneurs should focus on over the next two years to be successful

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