Ashwini Vaishnaw guest of honor ETSA 2024; Christmas sales in e-commerce are proceeding as planned

Have a nice Monday! Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the guest of honor at The Economic Times Startup Awards 2024. Read about this and more in today’s ETtech Morning Dispatch.

Also in this letter:
▪ Interview with the winner of the ETSA Best on Campus competition
▪ Wakefit financials for FY24
▪ Adda247 takes over PrepInsta

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Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the guest of honor at the ET Startup Awards

Minister of Railways, Information & Broadcasting, Electronics and IT Ashwini Vaishnaw will be the guest of honor at the 10th edition of The Economic Times Startup Awards (ETSA) on Saturday, October 5.

ETSA@10: Vaishnaw is no stranger to this event, which over the years has become the country’s most coveted recognition of entrepreneurial excellence. ETSA will represent an outstanding list of founders, investors and decision-makers as ETSA 2024 marks a decade of celebrating India’s best and brightest entrepreneurs and start-ups.

Artificial Intelligence in India: The country has positioned itself as a key player in global artificial intelligence (AI) policy-making, led by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) headed by Vaishnaw, with India emphasizing its commitment to supporting the responsible development of AI at a global level scale.

Vaishnaw, who has also spearheaded the implementation of India’s privacy law that affects all digital companies, is expected to detail the government’s agenda for the coming months to members of the startup world.

Winners: The winners of the ET Startup Awards 2024 were selected on September 11 at a meeting of the elite jury, chaired by Infosys co-founder and CEO Nandan Nilekani, in eight categories from a shortlist of 41 nominees.

Omni-channel eyewear retailer Lenskart has won the prestigious Startup of the Year award. Mukul Arora, co-managing partner at Elevation Capital, was named winner of the prestigious Midas Touch award for best investor due to his excellent timing when exiting early bets.

Here are all the important stories about ET Startup Awards 2023:

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Sale continues! e-commerce as we see high demand this season

The e-commerce sales season started three days ago. With identical growth across all categories, holiday season sales are likely to achieve 20-25% year-over-year (YoY) growth.

Christmas Growth: According to Datum Intelligence, between September 26 and 28, online retailers recorded about 26% year-on-year sales growth, amounting to about Rs 26,500 crore or $3.2 billion. The market research firm estimated that total gross sales for the holiday season would be $12 billion, an increase of about 23% when discounts and returns are included.

Critical moment: Online marketplaces are being impacted by the rise of high-speed trading, which is eroding their market share in major cities, making the holiday season a critical one for them, especially this year. Both Flipkart and Amazon said in separate press statements that they continue to see strong consumer demand across segments. Several brands across segments such as luggage, electronics and accessories, and home appliances have told us that they have seen significant growth compared to the inactive day or BAU day.

Performance limitations: However, some deliveries made through Amazon India may experience delays in several cities as Amazon has informed top suppliers of “capacity constraints in its warehouses, which means sellers will have to ship goods themselves rather than from Amazon fulfillment centers.”

Read also | During the Meesho Christmas sale, record orders were recorded on the first day, 100% higher than last year

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ETSA 2024: ClaimBuddy wins, easing the pain of insurance claims for everyone

Khet Singh Rajpurohit and Ajit Kumar Patel, co-founders of ClaimBuddy

It was during Khet Singh Rajpurohit’s tenure at a healthcare startup that he gained first-hand experience working with patients facing the settlement of insurance claims. The ClaimBuddy co-founder has seen many cases where people have had to extend their hospital stays or endure more stress simply because of delays or denied claims.

During his second year at IIM Bangalore, Rajpurohit reached out to his former colleague Ajit Patel and the two came up with a solution that would simplify the claims process for both patients and healthcare providers. The ClaimBuddy app won this year’s Best on Campus category in the Economic Times Startup Awards.

Industry problem: Typically, the insurance industry includes third-party administrators (TPAs) who work with insurers to process claims. However, there is no such interface available to hospitals and patients.

As much as 91% of the total premiums collected from the sale of health insurance policies is refundable. While there are many companies selling insurance, almost none solve the claims problem, even though both are equally large markets, Rajpurohit said.

Quote, unquote: “ClaimBuddy is a commitment to providing patients with the care they need without the added stress of dealing with complex insurance processes. We are guided by the belief that healthcare should be compassionate, effective and accessible to everyone,” Rajpurohit said.

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Other most popular articles by our reporter

Wakefit Wakes Up and Turns Profit in FY24: Bengaluru-based mattress and furniture maker Wakefit reported a 24% year-on-year (YoY) increase in revenue to Rs 1,017 crore for the financial year ended March 31, 2024. The company said it returned to profitability during the financial year, thanks to profit before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) of Rs 65 crore.

Edtech startup Adda247 buys PrepInsta internship preparation platform: Google-backed edtech startup Adda247 has acquired PrepInsta, a placement preparation platform. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed. The transaction marks Adda247’s entry into the position of an integrated provider of job-oriented education and skills programs covering positions in the public and private sectors.

Tier 2 and 3 cities have little impact on the development history of GCC Bengaluru: While Bengaluru continues to be the hub of global capability centers (GCCs) in India, it has seen its share of GCC units decline by 4.4 percentage points over the last five financial years, according to an analysis by ET.

Persistent sees more interest in fixed price contracts: CEO | Persistent Systems sees more interest in output-based (fixed-price) transactions than in those that are priced based on time and material, said its chief executive Sandeep Kalra.

Old roots meet on new trails: young Turks use technology to modernize family businesses: Coimbatore, known for its textile units and manufacturing efficiency and more recently as a growing software hub in Tamil Nadu, is witnessing a quiet change in its existing operations.

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Global types we read

■ Who remains at OpenAI? Sam Altman Consolidates Power After Failed Coup (FT)

s Space travel is dangerous. Can genetic testing and gene editing make it safer? (MIT Technology Review)

s The US may finally ban senseless, forced password changes (wired)