Thursday 20 October 2016

Pre-Navratri Celebration at iLEAD

Pre-Navratri Celebration at iLEAD  

 iLEAD celebrated its pre-Navratri event, “Sticks 'n' Rhythm” before the onset of the Puja vacations. As the students in vibrant colourful attires geared up for Garba and Dandiya, the corridors of iLEAD were adorned in white sparkling curtains, Chinese lanterns, matkas (clay pots) and rangolis. The main attraction was the beautiful photo booth in the hallway. In the auditorium DJ Sailesh spun popular songs and dance music which set the cheerful tone for the evening. The stage was host to the dandiya and garba performance by the students following which awards were handed out to- the best dancer of the evening- ShrishtiUpasana, best dressed female – MsRiddhi Jain, best dressed male – Vijay Popat,  Mr and Ms Beats n’ Rhythm for the evening MrSarfaraz and MsRohtara respectively. The delicious dinner for the students marked a scrumptious conclusion to the event following which everyone carried home fond memories of a festive evening.   

Bappi Lahiri at iLEAD

Bappi Lahiri at iLEAD
Kolkata once again acknowledges Global Icon son Bappi Lahiri's achievements at NEZ Fest

Four and half decades in the industry and yet rediscovering himself… fresh with every attempt... From Zeenat Aman to Parveen Babi to Vidya Balan… they all go Ooh la la over Bappi Lahiri... And now, Kolkata once again lauded its musical genius son Bappi Lahiri by bestowing on the prestigious NEZ Global Icon Award at the NEZ International Film Festival opening ceremony held at iLead Campus in Kolkata. Bappi da received the award in the hands of award-winning filmmaker Sudeep Ranjan Sarkar, Producer Rita Jhawar and actress Rokeya Prachy from Bangladesh. 

Enthused Bappi Lahiri, "I have won accolades from around the globe but to be here in my own city Kolkata and to be appreciated and honoured here is a different feeling altogether. I am overjoyed to have received the NEZ Global Icon Award today. I have been associated with filmmaker Sudeep Ranjan Sarkar for a while now and I am really looking forward to work with him in future."


"Bappi da has composed over 5000 songs in over 600 films in Hindi, Bengali, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Gujarati, Marathi, Punjabi, Odia,Bhojpui, Assamese. He is also the Guinness Book of Records holder for recording over 180 songs for 33 films in 1986, a record he has since beaten many times over. And he is also a prominent face in Hollywood making India proud there… Therefore we thought there be could no one better than Bappi da for the Global Icon Award," concluded filmmaker Sudeeep Ranjan Sarkar who is also the Director at NEZ International Film Festival.

Tuesday 18 October 2016

Zoomcar drives into Kolkata

Zoomcar drives into Kolkata

Currently present in 12 cities; to foray into 15 cities in the next one year

Adding to the festivities this Diwali, Zoomcar, India’s first 100% self-drive car rental company, launched its operations in “The City of Joy”, Kolkata. This is the 5th city launch by the brand in a period of just one month and the 12th city overall pan India.

Kolkata has made it to the top 100 in the sixth annual MasterCard Global Destinations Cities Index. The study is based on data from IATA, National Tourism Boards, IMF. Kolkata has always been considered a major transit destination for global and domestic travelers given the plethora of in-city destinations and its reputation as the entry point to Eastern India. Given this fact, Zoomcar is eager to scale up in the city and expand into other nearby cities over the next few months. Zoomcar soft launched its operations last month in Kolkata across three locations. The company has seen multiple use-cases where consumers have booked cars for traveling to nearby locations such as Digha, Shankarpur and Sundarbans. Users have also booked cars for in-city travel, including a huge surge in customers who went pandal-hopping during Durga Puja.

As one of India’s most densely populated cities, Kolkata can benefit immensely from mobility enabled self-drive car rental options. Car ownership rates in Kolkata are also some of the lowest of any large Indian metro.  Given these realities, Zoomcar expects Kolkata to be its fastest growing city in the country and the company plans to add 1,000 cars to its fleet within a year.

With operations up and running in 12 cities: Ahmedabad, Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Chandigarh, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai Mysore, Pune, and Vizag, the brand is looking at further expanding its presence in more Eastern Indian cities such as Siliguri, Guwahati, Bhubaneshwar, Patna and more.

Commenting on the launch, Founder and CEO of Zoomcar, Greg Moran said, “We are incredibly excited to launch our operations in Kolkata. Introducing Zoomcar in the city means more flexibility and convenience for citizens and less congestion on the roads over time. We are confident that this will be a compelling alternative to 'car ownership' and help revolutionize the way personal transportation is viewed in the city in the years to come. Introducing a true car sharing model is a simple, yet powerful example of how technology can actually transform our cities.”

Zoomcar recently closed a $24M Series B round of funding, led by Ford Smart Mobility LLC, a subsidiary of Ford Motor Company. The fresh war chest will be used primarily for accelerating its innovative marketplace model, ZAP ( Zoomcar Associate Program), while furthering its technological lead around the overall customer experience.  The company recently launched initiatives like doorstep delivery and ZAP to help reach even more new customers. 

ZAP launched in early 2016 and allows individuals to purchase vehicles on behalf of Zoomcar, list the vehicle on a dynamic basis on its platform when sitting idle, and then finally share in the profit on a monthly basis. The company has witnessed robust adoption with an associate base of nearly 500. Zoomcar expects this marketplace model will account for over 50% of its overall vehicle inventory by early 2017.  The funding will allow Zoomcar to reach a fleet size of >25,000 across 25+ cities by 2018.  Along the way, Zoomcar will also significantly expand its current airport offering across all cities to better cater to demand.
===================================================================================================================================================================================================

About Zoomcar: Zoomcar holds the distinction of being India’s first 100% self-drive car rental company. It allows the user to rent cars by the hour, day, week or month. Founded in 2013 and headquartered in Bengaluru, its service is presently spread across 12 cities.  Its vehicle catalogue offers a wide and extensive variety of cars for self-drive in India, ranging from hatchbacks to SUVs to luxury vehicles at all-inclusive prices that include the cost of fuel, insurance and taxes. The company's ever-expanding fleet is currently clocking over 2,000 cars pan-India and increasing monthly.  

Thursday 13 October 2016

TYGR App To Expand Its Reach To 20 State Franchisees

TYGR App To Expand Its Reach To 20 State Franchisees
TYGR will appify 5,000 more vehicles in Kolkata in next 4 months including buses

TYGR, a game-changing transport and logistics app platform, is changing the face of commercial transportation in India by bringing under its umbrella 1,000,000 vehicles in next 6 months reaching out to 20 state franchisees in India.

TYGR has real-time tracking and monitoring of commercial vehicles already operational in Kolkata, Montréal and Toronto and is looking at expanding to UK, USA and other parts of India. This app ensures discovery, hiring and optimum utilization of all kinds of vehicles across passenger, delivery, logistics and specialty segments.

“This is the first-of its kind mobile app in the world to automate cabs, delivery services, trucks, buses, ambulances and other specialty vehicles on a large scale and is set to bring in a revolution in the logistics and route planning space. Today, roadway logistics is a $150 billion industry in India, out of which $30 billion is from last-mile delivery. We are attempting to disrupt the industry by making transportation services as easy and efficient as booking a taxi on phone. TYGR’s easy-to-use interface and highly configurable back-end means the platform can adapt itself to different transport verticals and the specific needs of each region,” says Mr. Dipanjan Purkayastha, Co-founder & MD, TYGR App.

TYGR App is the world’s first organization to automate cabs, buses, ambulances and other kinds of commercial transportation by integrating Big Data Analytics and Internet of Things into day-to-day transportation, making it easy to plan, hire, track and pay for logistics needs of individuals and businesses. In India, the app is already operational in Kolkata. Within 4 months, more than 500 bikes and 2,000 cabs in the city have been appified, and the company is hoping to extend this innovative app to 5000 more vehicles in Kolkata over the next 3 months. 

“Today you no longer have to spend precious time trying to locate and hire the transport option you need, whether it’s a cab ride, delivery for your business, moving home or calling an ambulance in an emergency. TYGR shows you all the available options near you, and let’s you transact and track it in real-time, right from your phone. This convenience will be available across India, as all modes of commercial vehicles on the road are automated by TYGR App. We are even planning automation of mass transit vehicles,” adds TYGR’s Co-founder & CEO Mr. Aditya Poddar.

TYGR App will be launched nationally at the Franchise India Show to be held on October 15-16 at Delhi. Under the umbrella service of Franchise India, it will be expanding its reach to 20 state franchisees.

Speaking on TYGR App’s expansion plans in India, Ms. Sonya Chowdhry, Managing Director, Franchise India Brands Limited, said, “Today technology is doing a great job of servicing demand and supply in a timely manner resulting in convenience to the end customer. An app like TYGR truly fills in the gap that existed in the service marketplace industry by aiming to bring the entire transport industry on a common platform. Such new age businesses will surely be a hit with our investors.

Franchise India is Asia's largest integrated franchise and retail solution provider. It has over 2,500 brands spread across various industries such as retail, fashion, health, beauty, wellness, education, real estate and transport. By partnering with Tygr App, Franchise India is introducing online hiring and tracking as well as accurate and real-time data for predictive analysis in the Indian commercial transportation scenario.

About Franchise India
Franchise India is Asia's largest integrated Franchise and Retail Solution provider. A pioneer of franchise industry, Franchise India was established in the year 1999. Over the years, it has helped thousands of investors in selecting the right opportunity and in turn assisted various organizations in international and domestic franchise expansions and business development. 

Founded and led by Mr. Gaurav Marya, Chairman, the company is a leading business brokerage, which facilitates buying and selling of businesses across India. Franchise India has wide experience in franchise development, business expansion, corporate advisory services, consultancy, multi-brand integration, financial and operational expertise and marketing. The company provides a structure to develop, grow and expand various business models and is built around the idea of profitable and sustainable growth through partnering.

With a team of 900 professionals, 40 offices and outreach in 300 towns and cities, the Group has touched more than 15 million individual entrepreneurs, impacting more than 2,50,000 businesses. The company has more than 2,500 brands spread across various industries such as retail, fashion, health, beauty, wellness, education, real estate, and so on.

Franchise India has other companies in the Group – Francorp, Franglobal and Bradford.
  • Francorp is the knowledge arm which creates a business model for the brands to go for a scalable franchise model.
  • Franglobal is the consulting arm of Franchise India which helps international brands expanding in India through franchise channel.
  • Bradford Licensing is a leading licensing firm in the world which represents some extremely iconic brands in multiple licensing genres, giving end to end licensing solutions in this territory.