Tag Archives: mobile

Tech Events this Week: @NexusVP, @GNUnify, Mobile Apps, @SpotZot, Cocoa, OpenStack

Here is a list of technology events happening in Pune over the next few days. To be informed of these events in advance, you should subscribe to get the PuneTech calendar event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe.

Panel Discussion: Intelligence at the Edge with @DruvaInc @Helpshift @Uniken_Inc and @nexusvp

  • Date: Thu, 13 Feb 6:00pm – 9:00pm
  • Location: Sumant Moolgaokar Auditorium, Ground Floor, Wing A, ICC Trade Center, SB Road

Nexus Venture Partners is one of India’s top technology venture capital firms, and has invested in 4 of Pune’s top technology startups: Druva, Helpshift, Pubmatic and Uniken.

On 13th October, Nexus is hosting a panel discussion on the topic “Intelligence at the edge”. With the CTOs of Druva and Helpshift, and the CEO of Uniken as panelists, it promises to be a great event that every techie in Pune who’s interested in the future of technology must attend.

Detailed Program:
– 6 – 6:30pm: Introductions
– 6:30 – 7:30pm: Panel Discussion.
– Panel Moderator:
– Jishnu Bhattacharjee, MD, Nexus Venture Partners
– Panelists:
– Milind Borate, Co-founder & CTO, Druva
– Baishampayan Ghose, Co-founder & CTO, Helpshift
– Sanjay Deshpande, Chief Innovation Officer & CEO, Uniken
– 7:30 – 8pm: Q & A
– 8 – 9pm: Networking over dinner

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/16L17gU5zTGPFtfIxQWymz5tJWqcfzG3IsWvdeIag5DA/viewform

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

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(Paid) Android QuickStart

  • Date: 14-15 Feb
  • Location: Pune – Contact Organizer for details

This Android application programming workshop from Cralina is a hands on workshop designed to address the need of professionals who would like to start up on Android mobile application development. It is also useful for professionals who have worked on any other mobile platform and need to develop a good understanding of Android application development concepts.

Target Audience:

  • Developers, technical leads/managers who need to develop a good basic understanding of Android
  • Engineers/Managers who wish to understand Android architecture, application development on Android and also test Android based products
  • Anyone who wishes to develop a good understanding of the workings of Android

Fees and Registration

This is a paid event. Check the event website: http://cralina.com/upcoming-programs#AS for details.

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

About the PuneTech Calendar

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GNUnify 2014 – 2-day open-source technologies conference

  • Date: 14-15 Feb
  • Location: SICSR, (Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research, near Om Market, Model Colony)

GNUnify is one of India’s biggest open source conferences, will happen again in Pune, this Friday and Saturday (14, 15 Feb) in SICSR.

The conference will have talks and workshops on Android Hacking/Development, Programming with GCC/GDB/GMake, HTML5/CSS3/JavaScript/JQuery, Python, Google Admob challenge, OpenStack, Drupal and more.

Lots of people from all over India, and also some from abroad, usually come for this conference. This is your chance to connect with people passionate about technologies, and enthusiastic students.

This conference is free and open for anyone to attend. Click here to register.

From Idea to APP (Google Admob Challenge)

  • Date: 14-15 Feb
  • Location: 7th floor, SICSR, (Symbiosis Institute of Computer Studies and Research, near Om Market, Model Colony)

This is a 2 day workshop happening at SICSR along with GNUnify, the 2-day free and open source conference. Participants get an insight into how to transform an idea into an app. Student participants can present the same app in “Student’s admob Challenge”. Find more details at http://www.google.co.in/ads/admob/challenge.html

Entry is free. Though students can participate in Student’s Admob Challenge, working professionals too can participate as campus has kept it open to all.

Event website: http://www.meetup.com/Pune-GDG/events/164627612/ and http://gnunify.in

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

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(Nominal Fees) Breakfast with @TiEPune: Lessons on E-commerce & Internet advertising for entrepreneurs

  • Date: Sat, 15 Feb 8:30am – 10:30am
  • Location: Shekhar Natu Hall, 5th Floor, A-Wing, MCCIA, ICC Towers, SB Road

TiE Pune Breakfast session – with Pehr Luedtke CEO of SpotZot

As with any business move or expansion, considering an online presence can raise a sometimes dizzying list of questions for an entrepreneur. Exactly what must be put in place to make it happen? How does an online presence change the market for the business? What are competitors doing? How will people shop? What kind of security is required? How will customers pay online? Small businesses that have little or no e-commerce capabilities on their websites should know about taking the next step in converting their marketing sites into selling locations that extend their customer bases, images and sales in entirely new ways. Those entrepreneurs not yet online need to discover how the Internet is likely to transform their businesses and introduce them to markets far beyond those which are currently in reach. The most amazing aspect of e-commerce is its ability to impact sales and marketing efforts immediately. By going online, suddenly a neighborhood bakery or a home based consulting service expands its reach to a national, or even international base of potential customers. Web-based sales know no international boundaries.

About the Speaker – Pehr Luedtke

Pehr has a decade of experience in ecommerce, internet advertising, and retail. Currently, Pehr is the CEO of Spotzot, a leading location-based mobile advertising platform for retailers and brands. Spotzot employs proprietary technology to create compelling offers for consumers near retailers that they care about. Spotzot is venture funded with headquarters in San Francisco and a large development center in Pune. Prior to Spotzot, Pehr was on the executive team at Bazaarvoice, the leading ratings and reviews software company. He joined Bazaarvoice through its acquisition of PowerReviews, where he was CEO. Prior to PowerReviews, Pehr held leadership positions at eBay, Levi Strauss, and Oliver Wyman. He has an undergraduate degree from Princeton and an MBA from Stanford. Pehr lives in the Bay Area with his wife, two children, and a new puppy.

About TiE Pune

Pune chapter of TiE – A non-profit global network of entrepreneurs and professionals, established to foster entrepreneurship and nurture entrepreneurs.

Fees and Registration

Fees : 150/ members and 300/- non-members of TiE.

Register here: http://em.explara.com/event/tiepune15feb

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

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Pune Cocoa Meetup: Database Wars: YapDatabase Vs Core Data

  • Date: Sat, 15 Feb 3:00pm – 5:00pm
  • Location: Synerzip (3rd Floor, Revolution Mall, next to City Pride, Kothrud, Pune)

Chaitanya (@chaitanyapandit) from http://www.includetech.co will be speaking about his new found love towards YapDatabase.

YapDatabase is a “key/value store and MUCH MORE” built atop sqlite for iOS & Mac. It has the a Ton of features can be found on GitHub page

There will be a follow up Panel Discussion on YapDatabase Vs Core Data.

So, roll up your sleeves, brush up your thoughts on both these DBs and see you there.

About Pune Cocoa Meetup Group

See http://www.meetup.com/Pune-Cocoa/ for more details about the Pune Cocoa meetup group.

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.meetup.com/PuneCocoa/events/162447612/

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events.

WordPress User Group Pune Meetup

  • Date: Sat, 15 Feb 5:00pm – 7:00pm
  • Location: Cafe Coffee Day, Ground Floor, Mariplex Mall

If you’re interested in meeting other WordPress developers in Pune…

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.meetup.com/WordPress/Pune-IN/1103872/

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events, or follow @punetech on twitter

Software Developers Meetup: Intro to developing a mobile app using PhoneGap

  • Date: Sun, 16 Feb 11:00am – 1:00pm
  • Location: 5th Floor, A-Wing, MCCIA, ICC Towers, SB Road

In this tutorial, we shall create a fully functional mobile application with PhoneGap. We shall cover:

  • How to use different local data storage strategies.
  • How to use several PhoneGap APIs such as Geolocation, Contacts, and Camera.
  • How to handle specific mobile problems such as touch events, scrolling, styling, page transitions, etc.
  • How to build an application using a single page architecture and HTML templates.
  • How to build (compile and package) an application for 6 platforms using PhoneGap Build.

To attend this tutorial, all you need is a code editor (Notepad++ is fine too!), a modern browser, and a connection to the Internet (will be provided at the venue). A working knowledge of HTML and JavaScript is assumed, but you don’t need to be a JavaScript guru.

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.meetup.com/Software-Developers-In-Pune/events/165018212/

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events, or follow @punetech on twitter

OpenStack Pune Meetup Group: Network Virtualization – Beyond the Basics

  • Date: Tue, 18 Feb 5:30pm – 8:30pm
  • Location: JW Marriot, SB Road

Agenda

  • 5:30-6pm: Registration
  • 6pm-7:30pm: Future of Network Virtualization: Going beyond the basic Use Cases, Speaker : Martin Casado
  • 7:30pm: Networking and Dinner

About OpenStack Pune Meetup Group

This group is for OpenStack and Virtualization enthusiasts – Developers, IT Admins, Open Source Contributors to learn and share knowledge about this upcoming platform. This group is interested in Open Source, Cloud Computing, SaaS and Cloud Computing, OpenStack – Quantum, Virtualization, Building private cloud with OpenStack, OpenStack.

Fees and Registration

This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here: http://www.meetup.com/OpenStack-Pune/events/162779722/

Please double-check the date/time/venue of the event at the above link. We try to ensure that PuneTech calendar listings are accurate, but occasional errors creep in.

About the PuneTech Calendar

Get event announcements by email. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events.

Pune’s Cuelogic acquires California based mobile apps development company

Pune based services company Cuelogic Technologies has just acquired the services arm of California based company Evolutionate, Inc. Excerpts from their press release:

The acquisition came out through a prior strategic partnership between the two companies in which Cuelogic offered Evolutionate and its customers, mobile application development services, cloud computing services and advanced testing services for their customers in enterprise and consumer software domain. Also, Cuelogic helped Evolutionate and its customers boost their internal team’s capacity and capabilities by providing them iOS and Android developers and designers for temporary and long-term assignments.

Last year, Cuelogic also acquired AU Software Technologies Pvt. Ltd., a mobile and web based game development company to boost and add game development services to the portfolio offerings.

Read the full press release

PuneTech Event: Data Analytics in Location & Intent Aware Mobile Promotions

This Friday, we have a distinguished visitor from the Silicon Valley – Sanjay Mittal, a serial entrepreneur, investor, advisor to startups, with a highly successful track record in building and managing software technology companies. He will talk about his current interest – use of Data Analytics in Location and Intent aware Mobile Promotions.

The event is on Friday, 13 September, 5pm to 7pm, at MCCIA, ICC Trade Towers, SB Road.

Abstract of Talk

Search, Location and Mobile Ads can be put together to create targeted promotions for mobile users. Measuring and improving performance of these promotions is a different matter altogether. Join us to hear Sanjay Mittal (Chairman & CTO of Spotzot Inc) walk you through importance, methods and instruments of data collection, analysis and ad tuning, and how it can create a win-win situation for retailers, advertisers, publishers and consumers.

About the Speaker – Sanjay Mittal

Software Entrepreneur, Technologist, Private Investor, Advisor to Startups. Highly successful track record in building and managing software technology companies. Strong technology background in internet and artificial intelligence technologies.

Sanjay is currently a co-founder, Chairman of the Board, and CTO at mobile startup SpotZot. SpotZot has built a network of 30 million high-intent mobile shoppers who regularly make their purchases offline at brick and mortar retailers. Spotzot reaches these shoppers by providing a location based in-app shopping service to high traffic shopping, search and game applications. Spotzot allows retailers and brands to help consumers discover the hottest trends, best offers and coupons and find a store nearby.

Sanjay has been a co-founder and CEO of NASDAQ-listed company Selectica which makes software products to help the largest companies in the world improve the effectiveness of their sales and contracting processes.

In addition to being a serial entrepreneur, Sanjay has been a senior researcher at Xerox PARC, a director of TiE Silicon Valley, and many other achievements which can be seen on his linkedin profile

Sanjay has done his B.Tech. Electrical Engineering from IIT-Delhi in 1975, and an MS in CS from the University of Nebraska, USA.

Fees and Registration

The event is on Friday, 13 September, 5pm-7pm, at MCCIA Hall No. 5, 5th Floor, A-Wing, ICC Towers, SB Road. This event is free and open for anybody to attend. Please register here

Get notifications of future event announcements. Click here to subscribe (free) to the PuneTech Calendar of events.

Pune’s Rolocule games (Motion Tennis App) covered in TechCrunch

Pune-based game development company Rolocule was covered in TechCrunch last week for its latest game, Motion Tennis App.

Here are excerpts from the article:

It’s not Rolocule’s first foray into virtual racquet sports, but it is the first that turns your iPhone into the controller and Apple TV into a gaming console.

The Motion Tennis app, which costs $7.99, uses the iPhone’s gyroscope, magnetometer, and accelerometer to track the phone’s motion, so players can slice and slam shots across the court. All you need is an Apple TV and an iPhone: hook the two up, open the app, and you’re playing tennis.

And also:

Rolocule raised an angel round in India last year with Mumbai Angels and Blume Ventures, though Gupta would not disclose how much they raised. He said that they might be looking to raise again, especially if they want to become leaders in this technology. I wouldn’t put it past them.

Read the full article

Showcase your App at NASSCOM Emerge AppFame Contest – Oct 12 Pune

Do you have a cool app that is making life of a customer easier, helping them save time and be more productive? Do you have an app which is enabling people to connect them to their family and friends – easily, and in a fun way to help them come closer? Is it desirable, usable and consumable? If yes, then here is the place for you.

NASSCOM would like to provide visibility to your application at the NASSCOM EMERGEOUT Forum. The conference will showcase the Top 8 mobile applications that are part of the ecosystem as game changers and provide recognition to them.

Last date for submission is 25th September, 2012. The finalists will be announced by 5th October 2012, after which the shortlisted contestants will have to showcase the same on the 12th of October during the Emergeout Conclave, Pune. For any queries, write to Darryl@nasscom.in.

Criterion for selection:

The eligible entries which match up to the criteria will be judged by our jury members, constituting of industry experts. An overview of the criteria is appended below:

  • Accessibility and Availability: What mobile platforms the
    application can successfully run?
  • Usability/Creativity: The application demonstrates superior user
    experience (UI, graphics, etc.) e.g. by leveraging the latest technologies.
  • Uniqueness/Novelty Value: Display creativity in applications, use
    established technology in a unique and innovative way, leverage the latest
    technologies, etc.
  • Market Potential: Size of target market for which the app is
    relevant and accessible. Potential to monetize.
  • Traction: Current downloads, revenue generated, partnerships for
    distribution etc.

Submission Requirement & Eligibility:

This Contest is open only to start-ups & EMERGE companies headquartered in India only. Register here

QuickOffice Launches ‘Connect’ – Frontend Developed in Pune

QuickOffice, the mobile office/documents software company, has recently launched Connect by QuickOffice, which is an ambitious platform which allows users to synchronize their documents across all their devices (multiple mobiles), clouds (Dropbox, Google Docs, Microsoft SkyDrive), and computers (office computer, laptop, home desktop).

QuickOffice has an offshore development center in Pune (in Pune-based Synerzip), and this team has played a significant role in this project. Vishwesh Jirgale, Architect and Delivery Head for the Client-side of Connect by QuickOffice writes:

For past one and half year I led a team of passionate engineers for Quickoffice Pune ODC and finally Quickoffice launching their new product in market, Connect By Quickoffice, which will change the way you work.

The entire client side development (Android + iOS + Windows Desktop + Mac Desktop) happened out of Pune ODC where we had large team of DEV + QA.

For more information, see this article

Event Report: IndicThreads Conference on Mobile Application Development

(This is a live-blog of the IndicThreads conference on mobile application development that is currently happening in Pune. Since this is a live blog, so please excuse the greater-than-normal number of errors and lack of coherence sometimes.)

NFC in mobile devices – Ashutosh Tripathy, Talentica

Ashutosh Tripathy talked about NFC in mobile devices and why it is important. NFC is “Near Field Communication”, which is a very short range wireless communication between devices. The range is very low – just a few centimeters, and the bandwidth is also low – just 424kbps max. But the important thing is the ease of use it gives in a large number of use cases – e.g. event tickets, sharing business cards, ID cards, easy printing, file sharing, mobile payments etc.

The important thing about NFC is that it does not work at a distance (and it can be configured so that it does not work when the screen is off). This means that NFC communication can only happen with the knowledge of the user of the device. Thus, for many applications you can get rid of complex security procedures and passcodes that are needed to prevent malicious users from getting access to your device without your knowledge.

For example:

  • Bluetooth + NFC gives instant Bluetooth pairing – without requiring passcodes and other complex mechanisms. So if you want to transfer a file between two devices, you bring them close together and NFC is used to set up the Bluetooth pairing. After this, the actual file transfer happens over Bluetooth, so that it will continue to work even when distance between the devices is increased.
  • Wi-Fi + NFC can similarly give very easy to use wi-fi configurations

NFC Enabled Phones in the market already:

  • Google Nexus S (Android)
  • Samsung Galaxy SII (Android)
  • Nokia C7
  • Blackberry Bold 9900 and 9930
  • Nokia 6131

Upcoming and rumored:

  • iPhone 5
  • Nokia N9, N5
  • Lots of Android 2.3.3 phones
  • LG Optimuz NET
  • Various Samsung BADA OS based phones

It is expected that most new smartphones will be NFC enabled soon.

Ashutosh followed it up with a demo of how to build an NFC app on Android.

Developing mobile enterprise applications – Yateen Shaha, SAS

More and more enterprise apps are now mobile enabled. The primary business drivers behind this trend is increased productivity, faster/better decisions, and thus competitive advantage.

Important Things to worry about when building enterprise mobile apps:

  • Delivering the right functionality – not all functionality can be supported in the mobile device. So choosing what is in and what is not included is important
  • Access Everywhere – User should be able to access the app from inside the company intranet, but also from outside over public networks.
  • Offline Access – Should be allowed
  • Protecting data – Security is very important to enterprise customers, so you need to take great pains to keep them happy.
    • Authentication could be device based, or user based, or ideally both.
    • Data Encryption:
      • Over the Air: The data being sent over the public internet should be encrypted
      • At Rest: The data stored on the device should also be encrypted, so that if the device gets lost, the data is still protected
  • Storage/Bandwidth limitations – Since storage and network bandwidth on the mobile device is going to be limited, you need to carefully design the architecture of the app (and the backend services supporting the app) in such a way that it does not require lots of data to be downloaded and stored locally.
    • Some of the decisions could be based on what kind of network connection the device is currently using. Thus, use network liberally when on wi-fi but be more careful when using 2G or 3G.
  • Code Reuse – having to maintain two different code bases, one for desktop apps, and another for mobile apps is a pain. Design the overall app (e.g. by using model-view-presenter patterns) so that maximum code is reused.

Tips and tricks:

  • Cache whenever you can, to improve performance
  • A good user experience is very critical – much more so than for desktop apps
  • Must take advantage of device features
  • Performance and Response time is critical for user acceptance

Other Talks

There was a panel discussion on “Mobile is the next Desktop.” I was one of the panelists, so unfortunately, I could not live-blog this. Topics discussed were why mobiles are going to take over the world, how developing for mobiles is different from developing for PCs, how the fragmentation in mobile (devices and platforms) is a huge pain (with no solution in sight), how html5 might or might not replace native apps, and other topics.

Mayur Tendulkar gave a presentation on Windows Phone 7. Most of what he said was similar to the talk he gave a few months back at TechWeekend 7, so I’m not repeating it here.

Abhay Aggarwal, from Xebia India talked about building an app that needs to target multiple screens. These are the various sizes available: 240×320, 240×400, 320×480, 360×640, 480×800, 540×960, this doesn’t even count the tablets. He talked about a process & architecture that would minimize the pain of doing this.

(At this point I had to leave even though there where two more talks later in the day, and a full day of talks the next day that I could not attend. However, the presentations are online at http://m11.indicthreads.com if you’re interested.)

ReliScore Tech Talk: Introduction to HTML5 & CSS3 – 6 Aug

MCUG and ReliScore.com present “Introduction to and HTML5/CSS3” by Vikrant Labde, CTO of CueLogic Technologies, to be held at MIT, Pune, at 3:45pm, on Saturday, August 6th. This talk the first in a series of technical talks targeted towards 3rd and 4th year students of engineering and other computer science degrees that will be organized throughout the year by MCUG and ReliScore. To motivate students to attend, our partner, Pune’s GS Lab is sponsoring a few prizes – including passes for PyCon the Python Conference that is happening in Pune this year, and Crossword gift coupons. In addition, GS Lab is also sponsoring the video recording of this talk using their kPoint software so that it can be put online for the benefit of a wider audience. This talk is free for anybody to attend. Register here

Click here to read more

Call for Speakers: IndicThreads Conference on Mobile App Development – 2011

Regular readers of PuneTech will know that we believe IndicThreads conducts the best vendor-neutral tech conferences in Pune, and hence we’re usually glad to promote the CFP for their conferences. Currently, the CFP for their Mobile Applications Development Conference (to be held in Pune on 19, 20 August 2011) is open and we would like to encourage our readers to submit proposals.

Since IndicThreads is a paid conference, PuneTech does not promote the conference itself on the PuneTech home page, but we’re happy to promote the call-for-speakers, since that is free, and it allows the selected speakers to attend the conference without having to pay. There are of course other benefits to being a speaker at one of these conferences – including increasing your visibility, becoming known as a domain expert, etc.

This CFP is soliciting speakers in the areas of mobile applications, mobile application platforms, frameworks, tools, testing, performance, security and in general anything interesting related to mobile applications.

The last date for submitting the proposal is 15th June, and right now, you only have to submit a short abstract of what you will be speaking about. So, it is as easy as just clicking here and writing one paragraph about whatever work you’ve been doing in the area of mobile app development recently. Just do it.

Overview of KLISMA – Loyalty/Group buying startup incubated at Persistent

So Customer is King; and the “loyal” King gets rewards. But how many of us really carry all the paper/plastic around or remember to redeem these? KLISMA, is a new customer loyalty program, that can be used via your mobile – which you always have with you.

KLISMA is primarily focused at providing group buying benefits to employees of corporate and institutional clusters for its services, but it also supports individual customers as well.

KLISMA offers a mobile based membership card. A corporate employee or an individual user can register (free) and get a mobile based ID across all participating retailers in the program. The user can even group family members under one ID. Once the account is setup, the user will be able to obtain digital receipts, return products, redeem m-coupons, and participate in retailers’ loyalty programs using mobile-based KLISMA ID. This service eliminates paper clutter, lost receipts for product returns, the frustration of keeping track of discount coupons and plastic loyalty cards in wallet, purse or key chain. So, you are now a “green shopper” as well.

KLISMA goes far beyond linking everything to the cards a user already carry in their wallet or purse. KLISMA constantly searches through promotions and offers to find the best deals on everything from clothing to groceries to electronics to restaurants. KLISMA’s suggestions are unique to the user, as they’re based on what you typically purchase. For example, if we like a certain store, it might offer us a m-coupon from them for “10% Off All Purchases of Rs.1000 or more”. Or, if we like a certain product, it might show us a “Buy 1, Get 1 Free” m-coupon.

Ajay Aggarwal, the Chief Customer Experience Officer at KLISMA says ‘KLISMA is a comprehensive platform for modern consumers to plan, shop and manage their entire consumption cycle and it also enables modern retailers to deliver desired shopping experience to these consumers.” To say it in a simpler way, KLISMA works more like the “armed forces canteen service” for corporate employees. In a way it engages with corporate customers to deliver its services to its employees.

I bet you are now reminded of Groupon or Snapdeal. But KLISMA begs to differ. KLISMA enables its members to buy anything ranging from a car to a cinema ticket at the time they wish to buy, the price they wish to buy and retailer they to buy from. Since KLISMA is completely member driven and not retailer driven it is truly a pull platform which is the core difference whereas all others are push models. Apart from that, it offers deals to its members. There is a unified loyalty program across all retailers, personalised promotions based on individual shopping pattern and behaviour, very wide products & services range (unlike Groupon and Snapdeal) and mixed channel experience over internet, mobile and phone support.

Ajay Aggarwal has been associated with retail industry since 1993 and post 2006 he tracked the consumer challenges in this industry when he felt the need to have a platform to push for shopping experience advocacy. “I firmly think this will be the future need of matured modern consumers”, assures Ajay.

KLISMA comes from Persistent, and Ajay Aggarwal waxes eloquent when he is asked about his experience of being incubated in Persistent.

“I started working on KLISMA in June 2009 and its basic framework comprises of Cloud, BI, Mobile and Collaboration technologies. This is where I shared the concept with Dr. Anand Deshpande in November 2010 and he invited KLISMA to be part of Persistent and committed his support to make it happen. We worked out a unique innovative model of incubating this within Persistent and it has been a great experience of working as an entrepreneur within a corporate. Very soon KLISMA shall be spun out as a separate entity, jointly owned by Persistent, founders, employees and other investors. I must say large amount of credit for the success goes to Persistent to allow us to operate independently and objectively without any bias.”

We asked Anand Deshpande, CEO of Persistent about how and why Persistent, traditionally a software product outsourcing company, is getting into incubating technology startups. Anand says:

“I am a great believer in the Indian consumer story. KLISMA is a technology based Company for the Indian consumers and we are excited to have built the platform. Persistent has funded and participated in other technology platforms another example would be Parasharplus (http://www.parasharplus.com).

“In addition to incubating products within Persistent we have also announced a partnership to connect entrepreneurs to customers. Recently, we have partnered with 1M/1M an initiative setup by Sramana Mitra who has a goal to help a million entrepreneurs reach $1 million in revenue. Persistent as a technology partner will be reselling and also be a channel for products from select 1M/1M entrepreneurs. In addition, Persistent Systems will also provide outsourced product development services to these companies. In this way, we look forward to help entrepreneurs succeed by bringing new technologies to market.”

In short, other Pune startups that are targeting Indian consumers, and would like some help in reaching the market could approach Persistent for some sort of a partnership, similar to Ajay & KLISMA’s incubation in Persistent.

Ajay is of the opinion that this is the decade of e-commerce in India. Consumer maturity, internet and mobile penetration, 3-G and maturity of supply chain infrastructure in India will give a huge push to this channel in the next 10 years. Like the traditional retail e-commerce growth will also be controlled and limited by government policies, especially FDI in retail. He has no doubt that post 2020 e-retailing space in India will not be different than anywhere else in the world. So if going green and paperless and intelligent is something you like, check out KLISMA’s website