Latest news with #Shivir
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
AI vision: Founder Peyush Bansal bets on ‘small, beautiful' deals to bolster Lenskart's tech capabilities
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills Eyewear retail chain Lenskart is continuing to invest in and acquire artificial intelligence (AI) companies to strengthen its technological capabilities, founder Peyush Bansal said on Friday.'We are definitely investing and acquiring a lot of AI companies right now. I always thought acquisition was a good way to speed up technology. It's not the first time. I like small, beautiful deals, which are building tech, and that has always enhanced the tech capabilities,' Bansal said at Shiprocket's Shivir, AI Commerce Edition: Made for this month, Lenskart invested in Ajna Lens, a Mumbai-based deeptech company building AI-powered XR company is reported to be planning to acquire location AI startup GeoIQ. Earlier in 2023, Lenskart had acquired Tango Eye, an AI-based computer vision startup.'We think technology first for problem solving, and AI makes it a lot more exciting for us, because for us, that journey is that the base is built, and we feed each other now. We have the super power to do things which we could not have imagined earlier,' he according to Bansal, while the company adopted AI quite early on, it is much simpler for newer firms to build with AI from the ground up than it is for large companies, which have to transform their existing plans to file papers for its draft initial public offering (IPO) this year, targeting a potential $10 billion valuation for a $1 billion public issue, ET had reported July 10, ET reported that the Gurugram-based company is likely to issue additional shares to Bansal through a structured payout arrangement, which could increase his stake in the company by 1.5-2%.The SoftBank-backed company closed a $200 million secondary round in June last year at a $5 billion valuation, with investments from Singapore sovereign fund Temasek and US financial services giant Fidelity. A month later, founders Bansal, Neha Bansal, Amit Choudhary, and Sumeet Kapahi invested almost $20 million in the company produces 25 million frames and 30-40 million lenses annually. It operates more than 2,500 stores in India and Southeast Asia and has a strong online presence.
Time of India
6 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Brands look to quick commerce for fast growth, but costs remain a concern
Academy Empower your mind, elevate your skills The operating cost on quick commerce is significantly high for direct-to-consumer (D2C) brands in India, said Simran Khara, founder and CEO of Koparo, which sells sustainable home care products."The cost to serve on quick commerce is fairly high for brands," Khara noted, especially in categories where margins are already to Khara, 33% of the startup's revenue comes from quick commerce channels."Quick commerce isn't just fast — it's meaningful. It's become a major pillar of our fulfilment model," Khara was speaking at a panel discussion at Shiprocket's Shivir, AI Commerce Edition: Made for Bharat, on India's D2C boom converges with the rise of quick commerce, brands are being forced to rethink not just how they fulfil demand, but also how they create responding within five minutes to a customer query have a high conversion rate, and a delay of even a second in response time implies profits drop by 7%, Meta's director of agencies and VC partnerships, Gaurav Jeet Singh, further added that Meta platforms like WhatsApp can be used by quick commerce platforms for customer retention ET reported on Friday that India's quick commerce market is estimated to have reached around Rs 64,000 crore in FY25, growing at a staggering compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 142% during May ET reported, about 300 regional and small brands had signed up with quick commerce and food delivery platforms in the past month to take advantage of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to a recent report by ICICI Securities , the performance marketing spends of both Blinkit and Instamart have remained muted in the first quarter of FY26. This expense represents the spending on customer acquisition and promoting offerings such as 10-minute food delivery.
India Gazette
09-06-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Chintan Shivir 2.0 concludes at IIM Raipur, ministers discuss fiscal, educational reforms
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], June 9 (ANI): After Chintan Shivir 2.0 concluded at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur on Monday, Chhattisgarh Minister OP Choudhary said that the entire cabinet participated in Chintan 2.0 under the leadership of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai and various topics including fiscal reforms, education, reforms related to the health sector were discussed in detail. 'Chintan 2.0 was organised. For this, we have learnt a lot under the leadership of our CM Vishnu Deo Sai. We are seeing that the world is transforming at such a fast pace. The whole cabinet participated in this Chintan 2.0 as students. Be it reforms of the fiscal sector, the education sector, the health sector or any other sector, or achieving the Viksit Bharat aim through good governance, these topics were discussed in detail,' OP Choudhary told ANI. Chhattisgarh Minister Kedar Kashyap said that the second edition of Chintan Shivir is very important in improving your government and administration. Kedar Kashyap said, 'This is the second edition and second year of Chintan Shivir. This Shivir is very important in improving your government and administration. It helps the government to reach the ground level. We are confident the training would not only help in personal grooming but also help in administrative work.' In the 2-day residential program, the cabinet ministers, including the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, Vishnu Deo Sai engaged on this dynamic platform for introspection, strategic dialogue, and policy innovation, aimed at accelerating the state's inclusive and sustainable development, according to the release. The people who attended the event, including the Chhattisgarh CM, engaged in an intensive and collaborative dialogue on critical governance challenges, reform priorities, and strategic development roadmaps. In his address, CM Sai stated 'Chintan Shivir 2.0, conducted through the collaboration of IIM Raipur and the Chhattisgarh Department of Good Governance, was a successful initiative where cabinet members were introduced to relevant topics that will help in running the government more efficiently. The topics chosen and the speakers were remarkable, and their teachings will greatly support us in achieving the vision of Viksit Bharat@2047.' The program included sessions on 'Seva, Sankalp, aur Seekh' (Service, Resolve, and Learning), and concluded with the inauguration of the 'Sushasan Vatika' (Good Governance Garden) via a symbolic tree-planting ceremony. (ANI)
India Gazette
09-06-2025
- Politics
- India Gazette
Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai begins Day 2 of Chintan Shivir 2.0 with yoga session with cabinet ministers
Raipur (Chhattisgarh) [India], June 9 (ANI): Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai began Day 2 of the Chintan Shivir 2.0 by joining his cabinet members for a yoga session at the Sports Complex of the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Nava Raipur on Monday. On Sunday, Vishnu Deo Sai, along with Deputy Chief Minister Vijay Sharma, participated in a 2-day training camp organised at the IIM Raipur campus. The Chief Minister said that through this Chintan Shivir, the state will gain valuable advantages that will help in improving the economy. A unique initiative, Chintan Shivir 2.0, commenced on Sunday at the IIM Raipur campus. This marks a significant step in Chhattisgarh's journey towards contributing to the vision of Viksit Bharat 2047. According to a press statement, this is no ordinary government meeting. It is a thoughtful platform where all state ministers come together to share their experiences, lessons learned, and stories from the field. The two-day retreat, held under the leadership of Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai, is exclusively designed for ministers to reflect on their journey of the past one and a half years and to chart out a collective path for the future. The primary objective of this Shivir is not just to review past work but to define Chhattisgarh's clear and impactful role in making a developed India by 2047. Each minister will present the innovations undertaken in their department, lessons learned through public service, and their roadmap ahead. Special sessions focusing on the core themes of Seva (Service), Sankalp (Resolve), and Seekh (Learning) are also part of the program. Renowned experts from across the country are delivering lectures on key topics such as good governance, transparency, digital administration, public service ethos, cultural consciousness, and nation-building. The Shivir is structured like a learning workshop where each minister is actively engaged in upgrading their vision and capacity. As per the statement, one of the key highlights is a dedicated session on the theme 'From Good Governance to Elections,' which will focus on policy transparency, accountability, and decisions made in the public interest. Additionally, the Chief Minister will share insights and guidance received during his recent meetings with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Delhi, to ensure greater alignment between the central and state government strategies. (ANI)
New Indian Express
08-06-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Chintan Shivir 2.0: Chhattisgarh cabinet at IIM Raipur classroom to introspect, learn and make governance people-centric
RAIPUR: The Vishnu Deo Sai cabinet embarked on a singular initiative -- Chintan Shivir 2.0 -- where all state ministers shared their experiences, lessons learnt, accounts from the field, as they got an opportunity for introspection on an attentive, thoughtful platform. Cited as no ordinary government meeting, the two-day extensive deliberations and exchange of better ideas held at the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Raipur campus is exclusively designed for the ministers to reflect on their journey in the past one and a half years and to chart out a collective path for the future. The primary objective of Chintan Shivir 2.0 is not just to review previous works but to define Chhattisgarh's clear and impactful role in the making of a developed India by 2047. Each minister presented the innovations undertaken in their respective department, experiences gathered through public service, and about the roadmap ahead. 'Renowned experts from across the country are delivering lectures on key topics such as good governance, transparency, digital administration, public service ethos, cultural consciousness, and nation-building." "The Shivir is structured like a learning workshop where each minister is actively engaged in upgrading their vision and capacity', a government spokesperson said. Special sessions focusing on the core themes of Seva (Service), Sankalp (Resolve) and Seekh (Learning) are also part of the program.
