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BharatPe forays into secured loans, launches gold loan for merchant partners

Fintech startup BharatPe on Monday announced the launch of Gold loan for its merchant partners. This marks the entry of BharatPe in the secured loans category. The company has partnered with RBI-approved NBFCs to offer gold loans of up to Rs 20 lakh. BharatPe has already launched the Gold loan offering for its merchants in Delhi-NCR, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad, and will be scaling this to 20 cities by the end of 2022. It has set a target of facilitating disbursals of Rs 500 crore by the end of 2022.

The company is facilitating gold loans at an interest rate of 0.39 percent per month. The loan application process is fully digital and the company claims that loans are disbursed within 30 minutes of completion of the assessment process. Merchants can see the best offer for them and apply for a gold loan via the BharatPe app. The company is providing doorstep as well as branch collection facility, in partnership with NBFC partners. 

The merchants can take loans for a duration of six, nine and 12 months, and have an option to repay the loan via Easy Daily Instalments (EDI). BharatPe will also be launching the EMI option for repayment shortly. The QR code-enabled product offering makes gold loan applications easy, with minimal paperwork.

Suhail Sameer, CEO, BharatPe said, 

“Gold loan will enable us to further empower our merchant partners and positively impact millions of small businesses. We had conducted a pilot for the product for two months and the response has been very encouraging. We facilitated disbursals of Rs 10 crore during the pilot phase. We are confident that with our lucrative gold loan product that is available at competitive interest rate, industry-best disbursal rate and with the option to pay via EDI, we will be able to facilitate gold loan disbursals of Rs 500 crore by the end of the year.”

ZFunds announces two new leadership appointments

Mutual fund distribution platform ZFunds on Monday announced two new leadership appointments as the company expands its footprints to make mutual funds Sahi and Asaan for the people of Bharat. While Yogesh Yadav joins as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Tanvi Jadhav has been appointed as the Head of Products. 

The appointments strategically enable ZFunds in the distribution of financial products in Tier-II, III and IV cities and rural India through ZFunds experts.

Manish Kothari, Co-founder and CEO, ZFunds said, 

“We are pleased to welcome Yogesh and Tanvi on board. Their belief in new age startups like ours despite their backgrounds with long-standing organisations is heartening. At ZFunds, we are proud of our culture of meritocracy, customer-centricity, growth, and diversity. These attributes serve us right in our mission of making purchase of financial products and decision making Sahi (Right) and Asaan (Easy) in the 500 bottom-most districts of India.”

Agnys develops an automatic composting machine that can convert waste into manure in just 10 days

Agnys Waste Management Pvt Ltd, a SIIC IIT Kanpur-incubated startup, has developed an automatic composting machine known as BHOOMI, in collaboration with Imagineering Lab, IIT Kanpur. BHOOMI stands for bio-composting of horticulture and organic waste into manure indigenously. The R&D for the device has been supported by Engineers India Limited.

The device is equipped with advanced features like carbon filters, shredders, air pumps, solar panels, which systematically convert waste into manure in just 10-20 days. 

Prof Abhay Karandikar, Director, IIT Kanpur said, 

“At IIT Kanpur, we resolve to work for sustainability and other key areas of environmental conservation. This is a prime step in this regard and I congratulate the whole team for developing BHOOMI. I believe this device would be a boon for treating organic waste and would contribute significantly towards the Swacch Bharat Abhiyan and Atmanirbhar Bharat initiatives.”

The device follows a step-wise simplistic process where at first the organic waste goes through the hopper and the inbuilt shredder cuts it into small and uniform pieces. The finely cut waste then enters into the main body of the machine which contains a unique bacterial solution to initiate the composting process. A mixer and air pumps are installed inside to enhance its speed so that the composting is done within 10-20 days. Temperature and humidity sensors are also installed to regularly measure the day-to-day process. After the temperature stabilizes, the compost can be collected for use.

The common issue of smell has been solved by installing advanced carbon filters. Moreover, the solar panels keep the composter energy efficient.

MakeMyTrip launches limited edition NFTs to celebrate India’s diversity, beauty

Online travel company MakeMyTrip has launched limited-edition non-fungible tokens (NFTs) to celebrate the spectacular beauty and diversity of India’s myriad landscapes, varied flora and fauna, and more.

The artworks have been conceptualised and designed to commemorate some of the popular as well as the unexplored travel gems of India. This will give travellers a chance to own digital collectables of their favourite destinations. The first batch of these digitally crafted, immersive artworks unravels the majestic landscapes of Goa, Ladakh, Odisha, Himachal, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala, Meghalaya, Rajasthan, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Each artwork has been designed using Advanced AI Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) wherein the AI tool is uploaded with several images and trained to produce realistic, creative and unique images. The artwork is conceptualised and designed by AI Bots, an online community of digital artists. Overall, the limited-edition artwork will present a kaleidoscopic meta-world view of the explored and the relatively lesser explored destinations in the country.

This limited collection of NFTs can be accessed through MakeMyTrip’s website/app and bought on ngageN starting March 09, 2022. With a starting price of Rs 14,999, the company has launched 25 tokens per artwork – and these will be available for purchase on a first-come-first-serve basis. These artworks have been minted on Polygon Blockchain, a platform for Ethereum scaling and infrastructure development.

“The limited edition NFTs are a confluence of new-age technology with the world of travel as it captures the beauty of some of the exotic locations of India. We are offering travel enthusiasts a never before chance to be owners of this beauty in the digital domain,” said Sunil Suresh, Group Chief Marketing Officer, MakeMyTrip. “These NFTs are in line with our overall marketing and communication objective of inspiring every Indian to discover and explore the majestic beauty of India.”

Mumbai Angels welcomes Hem Angels as its latest co-investment Partner

Mumbai Angels, a premier platform for early-stage investments, has announced Hem Angels, a part of Hem Securities Ltd, as its next partner for the co-investment programme. Hem Angels, a part of Hem Securities Ltd, has been actively raising early-stage funds through its network spanned across 21 states and 112 cities.

The co-investment programme launched in 2021 by Mumbai Angels offers a host of opportunities for emerging startups seeking financial backing and guidance. The companies chosen for the programme will also receive unrestricted access to Mumbai Angels’ Multiplier programme, an exclusive marketplace offering an array of services such as advertising, advisory, cloud storage and marketing solutions, among others.

Nandini Mansinghka, Co-founder and CEO of Mumbai Angels, said, “As one of the pioneers in introducing angel investment platforms in India, we strongly believe in creating a favourable environment for robust growth. Co-investment program is a step towards building up a startup ecosystem that is brimming with opportunities.”

“Through 14 months of operations, we have funded 16 startups through our investor network, and we are hopeful of doubling the numbers in 2022 through the partnership with Mumbai Angels. We believe that this collaboration will help us achieve our goals faster and would give an immense boost to our chosen startups,” added Gaurav Jain, Director of Hem Angels.