Over 200 startups participate in BizStart 2019

Google Business Group Nepal chapter held the second edition of BizStart 2019 today in Kathmandu to provide a platform for startup companies. According to the organiser, some 210 startups participated in the one-day event that saw over 10,000 visitors.
“Our main aim is to provide a platform to the startups so that they get an opportunity to find investment, business and networks,” said manager at Google Business Group Nepal chapter Amit Agrawal. Besides the exhibition, the organiser also conducted a training session on developing entrepreneurship skills for entrepreneurs. Last year, a total of 100 startup companies participated in the event.
‘Even unregistered startup companies participated in the event as there is no fee to join and visitors can enter for free,’ Agrawal said, adding that the startups showcased their ideas, from using drones to irrigate farms, reviving analogue music to creating customised tour packages. “Some were working on robotics, recycling, food business, health, apparel and developing mobile apps.”
Google Business Group has been organising the event on an annual basis to bring entrepreneurs and startup-founders together from around the country under one roof. Besides displaying their products and services, startups also get an opportunity to learn new strategies and expand their businesses with Google’s technology, said the organiser. “The changing business environment in the country and rise of successful startups have inspired youths to set up their own companies,” he said, adding that the government needs to do more to encourage startups.

Google Business Group to host second edition of GBG BizFest & BizStart 2019

Google Business Group Kathmandu – a community of business professionals in Kathmandu – is hosting the second edition of GBG BizFest and Bizstart 2019, Nepal’s biggest startup meet and expo on December 28. GBG BizFest is the first and only of its kind technology and business exhibition in Nepal, claims the organiser. “This edition of the event is being organised in collaboration with Genese Software Solution, a cloud consulting company in Nepal,” it said, adding that the main objective of GBG BizFest 2019 is going to bring together entrepreneurs and startup-founders from around the country in a single platform. “In this expo, along with exhibiting products and services to their potential customers, startup founders of Nepal will get an opportunity to learn new strategies and expand their businesses with the Google’s technology.”
“GBG BizFest is an annual event happening in different countries throughout the world,” manager of GBG Kathmandu Amit Agrawal said speaking about the concept of organising the event. “We are excited to host this event for the second time in Nepal and bring all the emerging startups under one umbrella,” he said, adding that startup, in Nepal, is a very recent phenomenon. “We can see many startups emerging to solve various need gaps existing in our society but not many people know about the emerging Nepali startups and there are no such expos in Nepal that are focused on startups only.”
Also, it’s not possible for all recently founded startups to pay a heavy fee to exhibit in expos, he added. “Thus, GBG Kathmandu is taking an initiation to bring all major startups of Nepal in a single platform.”
Through GBG BizFest & Bizstart 2019, the organisers claim that they are trying to provide a free and open platform to connect with their potential customers.
More than 200+ startups, app developers and tech communities of Nepal are expected to participate in GBG BizFest 2019 to promote their products and services. Likewise, GBG Kathmandu is expecting to bring more than 10,000 visitors in the event. The first edition of the event was held in January 2019 and was participated by 120+ startups and 5,000+ visitors from across various parts of Nepal.
Along with the BizFest expo, the day will also see BizStart, a series of special tech-focused workshops delivered by experts in the industry. The participants will be given a hands-on opportunity to listen to leading individuals in the industry, who will talk about various topics, ranging from Google’s suite of tools of online marketing – including Google Analytics and Google Ads – to growth hacking in modern organizations.
To the delight of budding entrepreneurs in the country, the event will have a stall dedicated to Google My Business. Startups can get themselves enlisted in Google’s business ‘directory’, which can help them in two ways: Customers would be able to find the business and its details – such as location, working hours – much more conveniently and the startups’ websites would gain much more chances of appearing on the first page of Google Search Engine Results Page (SERPs), which would effectively mean that their website would get Search Engine Optimised (SEO) automatically.
The title sponsor for the startup fest is Genese Software Solution, Nepal’s first and only Consulting Partner of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud, and a partner for Microsoft, IBM, Nagios, VMware, Barracuda, TrendMicro, and Neo4j for Nepal. Likewise, ConnectIPS is the associate partner, NIC Asia is the banking partner, Turkish Airlines is the airlines partner, LBEF is the knowledge partner, WorldLink is the internet partner, Sparrow SMS is the SMS partner, and Pathao is the mobility partner. The event is powered by Google.

Relief aid flowing into Nepal, rebuilding could exceed Rs 1 trillion

The country needs around Rs 1 trillion to reconstruct the damaged infrastructure in the Saturday's devastating 7.8-magnitude earthquake.
The cost to rebuild Nepal after its most devastating earthquake, in eight decades, would exceed Rs 1 trillion ($10 billion) and take years, according to the finance minister Dr Ram Sharan Mahat. The reconstruction estimate is equivalent to around half of Nepal's GDP that stands at Rs 2 trillion ($20 billion).
According to the US Geology survey, the earthquake has damaged around Rs 1 trillion worth infrastructure including world heritage sites and historic monuments, roads, and buildings. "Due to the mountainous geography, infrastructure damage, collapsed bridges and damaged roads, access to many of the affected areas is reported to be extremely limited," according to the UN.
Scared to sleep inside due to fear that cracked buildings might crumble in another aftershock, Kathmanduites have been living as refugee out in the open. Kathmandu valley has turned into a refugee camp, and they it is in dire need of tents, water supply and medicines, before it is too late to control outbreak of cholera. The situation is not different outside the valley too.
Likewise, the mountainenous region is out of reach also due to geographical difficulty. The UN has also estimated that about one third of the country's population of 28 million have been affected due to the quake with about 1.4 million in need of food assistance.
The government with its limited resources is doing its best to provide relief, Mahat said thanking the development partners for their immediate relief response.
The friendly nations and development partners have committed around Rs 8 billion grant as an immediate relief package, apart from medicines, tents, water, food stuff and relief staff. However, the government that is struggling hard to rescue people trapped more than 72 hours after the earthquake, is waiting for the cash to fund the rescue work.
The International aid organisations and foreign governments are scrambling to get much-needed relief to Nepal.
The United States, India, Israel, Pakistan and other governments have sent emergency supplies and personnel such as doctors to Nepal. The Red Cross has 1,500 volunteers and 300 staff on the ground providing basic first-aid and other support.
On Monday, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) issued an appeal to raise 33.5 million Swiss francs ($35.2 million) to provide emergency assistance. "We call on all partners and donors to urgently and generously support our action," said IFRC secretary general Elhadj As Sy.
The country needs some $13 billion to $18 billion investment to fill the infrastructure gap and also to help country graduate from the current Least Development Country (LDC) status to development country status by 2022. With the current damage of estimated $10 billion, the country now needs to invest around $28 billion in infrastructure that could propel sustainable economic growth.
Though the country has witnessed a political stability, the economy has been slowing recently. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank (WB) have recently estimated the economy to grow at 4.6 per cent – down from 5.2 per cent a year before – and down from the government's target of six per cent, due to mainly poor monsoon. But the damage of the Saturday's devastating earthquake will pull the economic growth further down.
Though for the time being many charities, government agencies and nonprofits are sending essential aid and medical assistance for the rescue and recovery efforts.

Here are some of the countries and organisations that have announced cash contribution:
United Nations: The office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs is releasing $15 million from the U.N.'s emergency relief fund. It expects to issue an appeal for donations from member states later this week.
United States: Washington has committed a total of $10 million for response and recovery efforts, according to US secretary of State John Kerry.
Japan: Announced a 1 billion yen ($8.4 million) grant and sent rescue personnel.
United Kingdom: Department for International Development (DfID) announced a £5 million ($7.6 million) aid package on Sunday; £3 million will be used immediately; £2 million will be given to the British Red Cross.
Canada: Donating 5 million Canadian dollars ($4.1 million) to aid organisations to help with life-saving efforts.
Norway: Donated 30 million Norwegian kroner ($3.9 million) for relief efforts.
Australia: Donated 5 million Australian dollars ($3.9 million) and sent experts.
European Commission: Announced €3 million ($3.3 million) in immediate aid money for Nepal on Sunday.
China: Ministry of Commerce has reportedly given 20 million yuan ($3.2 million) in humanitarian aid, according to the Chinese newspaper, China Daily.
Germany: Berlin has pledged €2.5 million ($2.7 million) and is sending supplies.
Singapore: Donated 100,000 Singapore dollars ($75,000) to the Singapore Red Cross for aid. Singapore Red Cross agency is appealing for more donations. Has already begun disbursing 50,000 Singapore dollars worth of emergency supplies.
Asian Development Bank: The group of 48 countries in Asia and the Pacific are providing a $3 million grant.
USAID: $1 million in emergency financial support.
AmeriCares: The group has raised $750,000 to support relief efforts in Nepal.
American Red Cross: $300,000 initial contribution.
Save the Children: £300,000 ($454,000) in emergency aid. Expects to eventually send millions.
Christian Aid: Immediately sent £50,000 ($76,000) in aid on Saturday. Has raised £124,000 ($188,000) from donations. Expects to raise over £1 million for this urgent appeal.
Oxfam: The British aid agency said online donations totaled £500,000 in Great Britain and $1 million in the United States.
Companies
Coca-Cola: The beverage giant said it is working to provide bottled water to survivors as soon as possible.
Pepsi: Is also donating bottled water and food.
Kellogg: The food company said it donated $200,000 to the World Food Programme (WFP) that is earmarked for Nepal.
Toyota: Making a combined donation of 10 million yen, or about $84,000.
Facebook: The social network has developed a new tool called Safety Check. The simple tool sends messages to people who are in Nepal, urging them to click a button to let their Facebook friends know they're okay.
Google: The search engine has revived its "Person Finder" tool this weekend. The tool helps people search for and post information about missing friends and family in the disaster zone. As of Monday morning, the site hosted 5,600 entries.
Microsoft: Has pledged $1 million in cash and in-kind donations. It is also offering free Skype calls to and from Nepal.
UPS: Pledged $200,000 to various charities working in Nepal.
Communications companies: T-Mobile, Sprint, Verizon, Vodafone Time Warner Cable and others have waived fees for calls in Nepal.
Payment providers: Apple, PayPal, Square Cash are waiving fees and taking other steps to facilitate donations.

Innovation: Key to Nepal’s Entrepreneurial Future

Four young men – Sajag Shrestha, Rajesh Sharma, Sanjay C K and Kailash Gyawali – dreamt of cashing on advertising on mobile phones. As the mobile penetration rate has been increasing in the country, they thought of linking advertisements to the mobile and making people watch ads directly while receiving their call.

They got a platform to realise their dream when F1 Soft saw potential in their idea and supported them.  Their innovation CashOnAd became popular in the market with highest downloads from the Google store in a short span of time. The application that helps people en-cash their incoming calls by watching ads on their mobile has taken the market by storm – it’s a new concept!

However, not all the young entrepreneurs are as lucky and many struggle to be given the opportunity to realize their potential.  Their dream projects die an immature death due to lack of institutional and legal support. In the country where cheap duplicate products flood the market, it's more difficult to be original and innovative.

The Nepali private sector claims that despite the obstacles and lack of opportunities where innovation is encouraged, however few in numbers, there is a breeding group of young and innovative ideas waiting to break ice. "Depending on the type of sector one is engaged in, the private sector is innovative," claims Sr. Vice President of the Confederation of Nepalese Industries (CNI), Hari Bhakta Sharma.

But, there are more copy cats and less innovation in the Nepal Inc.

"As the country is still in its initial phase of industrial and economic development, there are more copy cats”, he says, adding that imitation is a worldwide trend but it has to go beyond that and graduate to innovation and then invention. But does Nepal encourage such environment – after all, the mantra to remain in the market is innovation. Nepal Inc's focus on research and development is far too less to be innovative. Likewise, lack of institutional and legal support – that could have guaranteed intellectual property rights – is another hurdle why Nepal may not see the likes of a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs.

Though the country has Patent Design and Trademark Act 1965, which is in the process of amendment and Industrial Property Act that is also being amended soon to make it compatible with Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) Agreement, they have not been able to guarantee and protect innovation and intellectual property rights. An almost four decade old legal mechanism definitely fails to safeguard the present needs of the industry making it least innovative.

The private sector must take into concern that without innovation, industry cannot survive for long. Lack of innovation not only damages a brand or an industry but bleeds the whole economy white. A once thriving garment industry – that used to be one of the largest foreign currency earners – is on its death bed due to lack of innovation and legal support mechanism. Had the garment industry been more innovative and able to diversify its products and markets, it could have survived. Innovation needs hard work, consumes more time, capital and knowledge also.

But it's easier to copy and make money overnight. Some fly-by-the-night operators have contributed to this extensively.  Lack of education and social awareness is also known to encourage copy cats. The education system should be innovation friendly unlike the current system that is more exam-oriented. "Education and society, both, should support entrepreneurship and innovation," the CNI vice president thinks, also suggesting the government filter approvals for setting up industry giving impetus to those who promote the culture of innovation.

After 1990, the country embraced free market economy to ensure a competitive market and smooth supply of quality goods and services at affordable rates. But it failed to promote fair competition. The Nepali private sector in this period has seen an increase in unhealthy competition, cartels and syndicates in the name of free market.

Despite the odds, there are young and aspiring entrepreneurs at every corner of the country. Agrees social entrepreneur Dr Bishal Dhakal, "There is enough innovation among our young entrepreneurs but they lack institutional and legal support," he says, adding "they require marketability of their product."

The decade long insurgency has not helped. The private sector has focused more on trading instead of growing sectors like information and technology, health, education and energy that supports innovation. "There are enough sectors, where entrepreneurs can be innovative and make money too," social entrepreneur Anil Chitrakar opines.

"Off grid energy, health and education are some of the areas where we see good innovations," he says, adding that these sectors have been driven by a small handful of entrepreneurs, which needs to be multiplied. Suggesting to look towards young start ups, he asks to feature them and support them with enough institutional and legal mechanism. "Business schools need to take the lead and more venture funds need to support their dreams," he adds. "Young people will take over, it's just a matter of time," states Chitrakar. The country is waiting!

(Published in Business 360 magazine February 2014 issue)

Mobile wallets growth stalls in 2013

Slow adoption, lack of merchant enthusiasm, fragmented offerings and blocking by competitors have all resulted in stalled growth for mobile wallets, according to a report by Javelin Strategy & Research.
More mobile wallet players have been competing for less space in 2013, as small and large competitors position themselves in anticipation of coming growth in the area.

The largest movement has been in digital wallets, with growth in mobile app and mobile online payments dwarfing that of mobile proximity payments. Digital wallets are an effective positioning tool for mobile wallets, opening up the door for frictionless adoption of mobile wallets among current digital wallet customers. Large content ecosystems, such as those managed by Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google, provide a competitive advantage that has yet to be used to its full potential, according to researchers.

The report analyses the mobile wallet industry, leading technologies in the field and consumer sentiment and adoption within the market. It is based on one online survey of more than 3,000 consumers and executive interviews among major competitors in the payment and wallet industry.

Google starts public campaign over ITU regulatory conference

Google has started an online campaign ahead of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) regulatory conference next month, calling on internet users to sign a petition supporting a 'free and open' internet.

Google said some governments are trying to use the 'closed-door' meeting to 'increase censorship and regulate the internet'.

The ITU conference in Dubai will discuss the International Telecommunication Regulations, a multilateral treaty governing international telecommunication issues such as interconnection and interoperability.

Each country that is a member of the ITU may send a delegation. Google said governments alone should not be allowed to direct the future of the internet, and the billions of internet users should have a say in the matter.

It also termed the ITU 'secretive' as the proposals at the conference are confidential. At the same time as building up public interest, Google is participating in the US government's delegation to the conference.

The company has four representatives in the 94-member delegation, the most of any company. Other companies participating include AT&T, Cisco, Intel, Microsoft and Verizon.

The International Telecommunication Union, previously the International Telegraph Union, is a specialised agency of the United Nations which is responsible for information and communication technologies.

ITU coordinates the shared global use of the radio spectrum, promotes international cooperation in assigning satellite orbits, works to improve telecommunication infrastructure in the developing world, and establishes worldwide standards.

Coca-Cola tops Global Brands 2012 rankings

Coca Cola topped the best Global Brands 2012 ranking making it to a 13^th in the row, according to the survey of the Interbrand, a brand consulting company owned by the Omnicom Group.
Coca Cola — is valued at $77.8 billion — followed by Apple ($76.5 billion), IBM ($75.5 billion), Google ($69.7 billion), Microsoft ($57.8 billion), GE ($43.6 billion), McDonalds ($40.0) billion), Intel ($39.3 billion), Samsung ($32.8 billion) and Toyota ($30.2 billion) in top 10 the list that is dominated by the technology.
"Coca Cola excels at keeping the brand fresh while maintaining a powerful sense of nostalgia that unites generations of Coke lovers and reinforces consumers’ deep connections to the brand,” the survey stated, estimating its brand value at $77.8 billion, up by eight per cent from the 2011 report. The company is planning to increase its revenue to $200 billion in 2020, from $95 billion in 2008.
Every year Inter Brand assesses the challenges and by surveys the accomplishments of the world’s most valuable brands and carefully rank the top 100. The report ranks what it deems the 100 most valuable brands on criteria that include financial performance, the role the brand plays in influencing the choices made by consumers and the brand’s ability to help its parent’s earnings.
Some eight of the remaining top nine brands changed ranks from last year, Interbrand reported, including Apple, that rose to No 2 from No 8, and Samsung, which rose to No 9 from No 17.
Two brands, also dropped out of the top 10; Disney, which fell to No 13 from No 9 last year, and Hewlett-Packard, which fell to No 15 from No 10.
Year after year Coca-Cola has quantified and confirmed the enormous measurable value of its brand, said the company, adding that its name is more universally recognised than any other across the globe. "Coca-Cola may be 126 years old, but with more than 50 million fans on Facebook, 1.8 billion Coke products consumed daily and 3,500 beverages in its diverse portfolio, said the Coca-Cola Company that has remained a global force to be reckoned with.
Bottlers Nepal Ltd (Balaju) and Bottlers’ Nepal (Terai) Ltd — both listed companies at the Nepal Stock Exchange — are the bottlers of Coca-Cola in Nepal. Bottlers Nepal Ltd (Balaju) has listed 1,948,887-unit shares and Bottlers’ Nepal (Terai) Ltd has listed 1,210,000-unit shares and their shares were traded at Rs 1,680 and Rs 1,018 per unit share last time.