ITV

Tag: Sachin Bansal

  • Navi Technologies Ltd renamed to Navi Ltd

    Navi Technologies Ltd renamed to Navi Ltd

    MUMBAI: Navi Technologies Ltd announced that it has officially changed its name to Navi Ltd, aligned with the company’s evolution from a technology-led disruptor to a holistic financial services destination built around the needs of Indian consumers.

    The rebranding underscores the company’s focus to position itself  as an integrated, customer-centric institution encompassing lending, insurance, asset management, and UPI services, committed to making money simple, seamless, and accessible for millions of Indians.

    “The new name fits who we are today. Not only are we a technology provider, we are a full-fledged destination for financial services for our customers,” said Navi Group founder and executive chairman, Sachin Bansal. “It signals both simplification and scale – two ideas core to our philosophy.”

    Navi Ltd MD & CEO Rajiv Naresh added, “This change aligns with the company’s evolution. While technology remains core to how we build, our focus today is broader. The new name reflects the company we’ve become: more integrated, more customer-focused, and ready for the next phase of growth.”
     

  • Navi onboards MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador

    Navi onboards MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador

    Mumbai: Sachin Bansal-backed Navi has appointed cricketer MS Dhoni as its brand ambassador. MS Dhoni will be the face of Navi’s branding initiatives. The association with the iconic former team India captain strengthens the brand’s trustworthiness as it works to fulfil customer goals by providing simple, affordable, and easily accessible financial services across India.

    Navi has launched its first ad with Dhoni on Hotstar during Thursday’s India vs. England T20 semi-final match. The goal of this campaign is to promote Navi’s prompt and accessible financial services by dismantling the old and conventional ways of doing business in this sector. The campaign will initially run on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube before moving on to print and out-of-home (OOH) advertising in the second phase.

    Dhoni said, “Today’s India is intelligent, aspirational, and always working toward its goal. It is crucial for billions of Indians to achieve and surpass their life goals, which is why Navi and I have teamed up to make this vision a reality. Navi’s mission is to make financial services easily accessible whenever they are needed. I am very excited about this new journey with Navi.”

    Navi Group co-founder Sachin Bansal said, “We are thrilled to introduce MS Dhoni as our brand ambassador and the newest member of the Navi family. He personifies trust, ambition, and dedication—qualities that resonate powerfully with Navi and all we stand for, making him the ideal brand ambassador. Associating with him, in my opinion, would greatly enhance the value of our brand and further our mission to provide every Indian with simple, affordable, and reliable financial services.”

  • Sachin Bansal invests $21 mn in Ola

    Sachin Bansal invests $21 mn in Ola

    MUMBAI: According to a filing with the Registrar of Companies (RoC), Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has invested around $21 million in the SoftBank-backed cab-hailing platform Ola in a Series J funding round. The move comes a week after it raised $74 million from existing investor Steadview Capital. The fund raised is expected to be a part of the $1 billion, the company has been trying to raise.

    The filing reveals that 70,588 fully and compulsorily convertible, cumulative ‘Series ‘J’ preference shares with a face value of Rs 10 have been allotted at a subscription price of Rs 21,250 at a premium of Rs 21,240.

    This is Bansal’s first major move after leaving Flipkart last May.

  • ‘Disruptors’ Bansals named ‘Asian of the Year’ by Straits Times

    ‘Disruptors’ Bansals named ‘Asian of the Year’ by Straits Times

    MUMBAI: Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, founders of Flipkart, have been chosen for the prestigious 2016 ‘Asian of the Year’ by Straits Times of Singapore as part of a group called the ‘The Disruptors’. Flipkart claims to be India’s largest e-commerce marketplace with over with over 60% market share of mobile commerce.

    The Asian of the Year 2016 awards recognises entrepreneurs “operating at the frontiers of technology’s interface with business” who have launched companies that have disrupted traditional business model for the benefit of end consumers. The other disruptors include the founders of Tencent, Go-Jek, Grab and Razer.

    Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, in a joint statement, stated: “It validates our commitment to creating a world-class internet company that is transforming the lives of Indians by making a better quality of life both accessible and affordable to them.”

    Awarded since 2012, the ‘Asian of the Year’ award recognises “a person or people who have contributed significantly to improving lives at home or in the wider region”. In 2014, the award was given to India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and, in 2015, it was awarded posthumously to Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father.

    According to the award citation for 2016, The Disruptors have “made the inevitable march of technology easier to understand and accept by millions of people concerned about their old ways of life yielding to an unfamiliar new one.”

    2016 has been a year of accolades for Flipkart. Earlier this year, Time Magazine put Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal on the list of 100 Most Influential People in the world. In September 2016, Flipkart has emerged as the ‘E-commerce company of the year’ in a nationwide consumer study conducted by Business World Group in association with Nielsen. Flipkart also emerged as the top-ranked Indian brand in the Ipsos study of India’s most influential brands in April.

  • ‘Disruptors’ Bansals named ‘Asian of the Year’ by Straits Times

    ‘Disruptors’ Bansals named ‘Asian of the Year’ by Straits Times

    MUMBAI: Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, founders of Flipkart, have been chosen for the prestigious 2016 ‘Asian of the Year’ by Straits Times of Singapore as part of a group called the ‘The Disruptors’. Flipkart claims to be India’s largest e-commerce marketplace with over with over 60% market share of mobile commerce.

    The Asian of the Year 2016 awards recognises entrepreneurs “operating at the frontiers of technology’s interface with business” who have launched companies that have disrupted traditional business model for the benefit of end consumers. The other disruptors include the founders of Tencent, Go-Jek, Grab and Razer.

    Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, in a joint statement, stated: “It validates our commitment to creating a world-class internet company that is transforming the lives of Indians by making a better quality of life both accessible and affordable to them.”

    Awarded since 2012, the ‘Asian of the Year’ award recognises “a person or people who have contributed significantly to improving lives at home or in the wider region”. In 2014, the award was given to India’s prime minister Narendra Modi and, in 2015, it was awarded posthumously to Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore’s founding father.

    According to the award citation for 2016, The Disruptors have “made the inevitable march of technology easier to understand and accept by millions of people concerned about their old ways of life yielding to an unfamiliar new one.”

    2016 has been a year of accolades for Flipkart. Earlier this year, Time Magazine put Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal on the list of 100 Most Influential People in the world. In September 2016, Flipkart has emerged as the ‘E-commerce company of the year’ in a nationwide consumer study conducted by Business World Group in association with Nielsen. Flipkart also emerged as the top-ranked Indian brand in the Ipsos study of India’s most influential brands in April.

  • Flipkart to take app route; says 70-75 % of its total traffic comes from mobile app

    Flipkart to take app route; says 70-75 % of its total traffic comes from mobile app

    MUMBAI: After taking the only app route with e-tailing platform Myntra, the Bansals are now gearing to make even Flipkart an only app platform by September, 2015.  

     

    Online shopaholics will now have to squeeze in the Flipkart app somewhere in their congested phone memory if they want to use attractive discounts and shop from the rapidly growing venture. Customers will only be able to shop from the app as is the case now with Myntra. It must be noted that post going only app way Myntra has witnessed a 10 per cent drop in sales.

     

    In a statement Flipkart spokesperson asserted, “India is gradually transitioning from a mobile first to a mobile only country. At Flipkart, we have been following a mobile first approach and 70-75 per cent of our total traffic is already coming from our mobile app. We are constantly experimenting with various aspects of our service to create the best shopping experience for our users on our app. Meanwhile, we continue to offer both desktop as well as mobile option for our customers.”

     

    Mobile is driving the internet penetration in India and till December 2014, India had 173 million mobile phone internet users. The figure witnessed a growth of 33 per cent if compared to the 2013 analysis and is expected to grow by CAGR 21 per cent from 2014 to 2019. 

     

    The key factors that will drive the growth of mobile are:

     

    .  Increasing investments by telecom operators in data infrastructure.

    .  Push for favourable regulations from industry bodies.

    .  Falling handset prices.

    .  Economic growth of the country and financial stability of middleclass.

    .  Increase in mobile screen sizes and quality of display.

    .  Improving quality of curated online content.

     

    As per Google play store analysis, Indians keep social media in the top spot in their priority list followed by shopping platforms, when it comes to downloading of apps. With over one billion downloads, Whatsapp leads the tally of most downloaded free apps followed by Facebook messenger. Flipkart is currently placed on the fifth slot, with over 10 million downloads on Android. Its US based competitor Amazon India holds the 13th spot.

     

    In terms of web search google.co.in tops the list of most visited websites in India followed by facebook.com. Flipkart which is speculated to take its website off holds the fifth place over Amazon.in which is placed seventh. They are the only two shopping websites to have a presence in the list of top 10 website searches in India.

     

    At this point of time, India approximately has over 300 million internet users out of which 66 per cent come from Desktop PCs and Laptops, 55 per cent comes from mobile phones (it is estimated to grow by CAGR 21 per cent), and 11 per cent from Tablets.

     

    Android dominates the mobile platform with mammoth 91 per cent market share, iOS holds 2 per cent share where as Windows occupies 6 per cent of the marketplace.

     

    An e-commerce expert said, “The number of smartphones is already higher than number of computers, moreover people spend more time on mobile phone compared to PCs and laptops. Besides that, from an app, wide variety of consumer insights can be acquired which can emerge as an effective factor when it comes to marketing. So there are a lot of factors which signifies the positives of apps and why players are taking the only app route.”

     

    According to the expert, it could be to subtly force consumers to download the app. “It could be that once they reach their target they might have both: the app and the website. They have already experienced it with Myntra. They certainly have a plan which might result in a temporary drop of their sales but in the long run will be efficiently effective.”

     

    India is the fastest growing smartphone market. It currently has over 200 million online shoppers dominated by travel category. The number is expected to witness huge growth as various players are starting different interactive initiatives to popularise the medium in rural India.

     

    Key challenges for Flipkart if they go only app way:

     

    .   Making consumers download the app.

    .   Not letting customers shift to competitors.

    .   Having adequate backend facilities to ensure smooth running of the app.

    .   Making proper use of the acquired consumer insights.

     

    The only app route can also open up opportunities for joint marketing and monetization avenues between the venture and telcos. What remains to be seen is if the only app formula will bring in another source of revenue for the venture. 

  • ‘Young Turks’ to inspire next-gen entrepreneurs

    ‘Young Turks’ to inspire next-gen entrepreneurs

    MUMBAI: Young Turks is not only one of the most popular shows but also has been one of the longest running shows on Indian business news channel CNBC-TV18. It is hosted by the channel’s managing editor Shereen Bhan who recently launched a book commemorating 13 years of the show by the same name- Young Turks: Inspiring Stories of Tech Entrepreneurs.

    Talking about the long running stint of the show Bhan says, “For 13 years we have interviewed close to 2000 people who have displayed new ideas through their entrepreneurship, received legitimate funding from different sources and are showing positive signs of sizeable revenues.”

    She informs that as she did not have a compelling story to tell, she decided to narrate the encouraging tales of 13 tech entrepreneurs like Red Bus’ Phanindra Sama and Charan Padmaraju and shopping portal Flipkart’s Binny Bansal and Sachin Bansal among others. The book has been co-authored by Syna Dehnugara. “Through our long conversations we tried compiling up the stories on the entrepreneurs. We wanted to narrate their story from their eyes rather than just our opinions,” she adds.

    Published by Random House, Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy launched the book in New Delhi. As to the book’s focus on just tech entrepreneurs, Bhan says, “We wanted the book to have a diverse range of stories but decided to focus on tech entrepreneurs as these companies have shown a certain amount of scale and feedback in terms of business growth and revenues. We also reached out to investors and industry experts to find out how well these companies were performing and then zeroed down on the final tally.”

    Bhan’s compelling reasons for someone to pick the book are: “Firstly this is for those who are mostly interested in business.  Secondly there will be many people who want to start one on their own but would not have a clear sense of idea how to go about. This book showcases how first gen entrepreneurs who without a very large bank balance and in the absence of a business background started their companies. Thirdly, the book contains exciting stories of how the founders of these start ups were prisoners of circumstances but managed to outgrow themselves due to their optimism and the fact that they wanted to live their dream.”

    According to her, reading books exposes an individual to opportunities and insights as it broadens one’s thinking horizon. She also feels that today it is far easier to publish a book and an exciting time for the industry as young students are reading books of diverse genres.

    On her favourite books, she says, “I enjoy reading books by Rohinton Mistry. My personal favourite is his book A Fine Balance. I also enjoy reading autobiographies such as that of Vinod Mehta and Warren Buffet.”

    The choice to put Bhan as the face of the book was that of the publishers who also provided the option of publishing the title as a series but for now decided to stick to just one edition of the 304 page book. The marketing for the book is being done by the publishers while the news presenter and her team are promoting it on the show and on social media.

    The kindle edition of the book has been priced at Rs 380 on Amazon. On Flipkart, the hardcover edition is priced at Rs. 447 while the e-book is priced at Rs 380.

     

  • #BigBillionDay sale blunder: Flipkart apologises, govt probes

    #BigBillionDay sale blunder: Flipkart apologises, govt probes

    MUMBAI: The sale that was touted as the biggest sale in India by shoppers across the country seems to have disappointed many. With a mile long complaint list which included everything from server errors to price issues, abrupt cancellations among others, the dissatisfied and disgruntled customers backlashed on social media, with hashtags branding them as ‘Flopkart’ trending.

     

    A day after the failure of the the Big Billion Day Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal apologised for the chaotic and unpleasant experiences faces by the customers on 6 October.

     

    “Yesterday was a big day for us. And we really wanted it to be a great day for you. But at the end of the day, we know your experience was less than pleasant. We did not live up to the promises we made and for that we are really and truly sorry,” the Bansals, wrote in a joint email to customers.

     

    The e-commerce firm said 1.5 million people shopped at its portal on 6 October to take benefit of the one-day sale scheme. The company claimed it sold products worth over Rs 600 crore in just 10 hours under the scheme. The company had announced deep discounts for products in over 70 categories.

     

    “And though we saw unprecedented interest in our products and traffic like never before, we also realised that we were not adequately prepared for the sheer scale of the event. We didn’t source enough products and deals in advance to cater to your requirements,” the founders said.

     

    They added that the load on server led to intermittent outages that impacted shopping experience on the website.

     

    Flipkart had deployed nearly 5,000 servers and had prepared for 20 times the traffic growth – but the volume of traffic at different times of the day was much higher than this, the mail revealed.

     

    Talking about the out-of-stock issues, the founders reckoned, “We had ensured availability, anywhere from hundreds to a few lakh units for various products, but it was nowhere near the actual demand. We promise to plan much better for future promotions and ensure that we minimise the out-of-stock issues.”

     

    The e-mail further stated, “We realise that this breaks the trust our customers have put in us. We are truly sorry for this and will ensure that this never happens again.”

     

    “Everything that we have achieved at Flipkart is purely on the basis of our customer’s trust and faith…We failed to live up to this promise and would like to apologise once again to every single customer for our failure,” the founders concluded.

     

    Not only customers complained against the Big Billion Day sale, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has also sought a probe into the business model and trade practices of e-commerce companies to find out how they are offering huge discounts during the ongoing festive season. It also demanded setting up of a special task force of experts to conduct an in depth probe of working of such companies.

     

    Also according to media reports, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman expressed concerns over Flipkart flash sale controversy.

     

    “We have received many inputs regarding Flipkart episode. Lot of concern has been expressed and we will look into it,” Sitharaman said.

     

    After receiving many complaints regarding the Big Billion Day sale, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commented, “We have received many inputs. Lot of concerns have been expressed. We will study the matter… Whether there is a need for a separate policy or some kind of clarification is needed, we will make it clear soon,” the reports added.

  • #BigBillionDay sale blunder: Flipkart apologises, govt probes

    #BigBillionDay sale blunder: Flipkart apologises, govt probes

    MUMBAI: The sale that was touted as the biggest sale in India by shoppers across the country seems to have disappointed many. With a mile long complaint list which included everything from server errors to price issues, abrupt cancellations among others, the dissatisfied and disgruntled customers backlashed on social media, with hashtags branding them as ‘Flopkart’ trending.

     

    A day after the failure of the the Big Billion Day Flipkart founders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal apologised for the chaotic and unpleasant experiences faces by the customers on 6 October.

     

    “Yesterday was a big day for us. And we really wanted it to be a great day for you. But at the end of the day, we know your experience was less than pleasant. We did not live up to the promises we made and for that we are really and truly sorry,” the Bansals, wrote in a joint email to customers.

     

    The e-commerce firm said 1.5 million people shopped at its portal on 6 October to take benefit of the one-day sale scheme. The company claimed it sold products worth over Rs 600 crore in just 10 hours under the scheme. The company had announced deep discounts for products in over 70 categories.

     

    “And though we saw unprecedented interest in our products and traffic like never before, we also realised that we were not adequately prepared for the sheer scale of the event. We didn’t source enough products and deals in advance to cater to your requirements,” the founders said.

     

    They added that the load on server led to intermittent outages that impacted shopping experience on the website.

     

    Flipkart had deployed nearly 5,000 servers and had prepared for 20 times the traffic growth – but the volume of traffic at different times of the day was much higher than this, the mail revealed.

     

    Talking about the out-of-stock issues, the founders reckoned, “We had ensured availability, anywhere from hundreds to a few lakh units for various products, but it was nowhere near the actual demand. We promise to plan much better for future promotions and ensure that we minimise the out-of-stock issues.”

     

    The e-mail further stated, “We realise that this breaks the trust our customers have put in us. We are truly sorry for this and will ensure that this never happens again.”

     

    “Everything that we have achieved at Flipkart is purely on the basis of our customer’s trust and faith…We failed to live up to this promise and would like to apologise once again to every single customer for our failure,” the founders concluded.

     

    Not only customers complained against the Big Billion Day sale, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) has also sought a probe into the business model and trade practices of e-commerce companies to find out how they are offering huge discounts during the ongoing festive season. It also demanded setting up of a special task force of experts to conduct an in depth probe of working of such companies.

     

    Also according to media reports, Union Minister of State for Commerce and Industry Nirmala Sitharaman expressed concerns over Flipkart flash sale controversy.

     

    “We have received many inputs regarding Flipkart episode. Lot of concern has been expressed and we will look into it,” Sitharaman said.

     

    After receiving many complaints regarding the Big Billion Day sale, Commerce and Industry Minister Nirmala Sitharaman commented, “We have received many inputs. Lot of concerns have been expressed. We will study the matter… Whether there is a need for a separate policy or some kind of clarification is needed, we will make it clear soon,” the reports added.