Category Archives: Technology

KredX, an integrated financial services provider announced its vision of becoming a one-stop solution for supply chain financing for businesses. As a part of this rebranding, the company unveiled a new logo and a revamped website. The company has developed cutting-edge innovative products such as discounting of unpaid invoices etc. that has been fostering India’s fintech ecosystem. “Customers are the core of our business and as a customer-first company, we are committed to delivering innovative solutions as per their requirements,” said Manish Kumar, CEO and Co-founder of KredX. “We realised that our customers wanted us to take a deep-dive into supply chain finance and to become an end-to-end solutions provider that can cater to all aspects of supply chain financing and not just invoice discounting. Therefore, our rebranding initiative is a sincere effort to showcase this change and our commitment to the cause.” The company offers a host of customisable solutions ranging from enterprise finance to working capital and channel financing solutions for businesses, large and small, operating within the supply chain ecosystem. Recently, the company has also introduced a slew of new products catering to every player in the supply chain ecosystem – Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) for all kinds of online and offline B2B payments, Import – Export Financing with licensing from IFSCA to launch India’s first ITFS platform, and Capvel for enterprises looking to optimise their cash flow while further strengthening the alternative fixed income instruments offerings for investors on the platform.

FedEx Express (FedEx) announced the launch of FedEx International Priority® Express (IPE) offering customers who ship internationally the flexibility to schedule delivery by 10:30 am or noon to select destinations* worldwide. With the addition of this new service, FedEx now provides a wider range of time-definite international priority shipping options to its customers. Businesses across India can now select the right delivery option that suits their needs with choices, giving them enhanced convenience and flexibility. •The newly launched FedEx International Priority® Express (IPE) service provides customers in India with delivery by 10:30 or noon to select markets* in Asia (Hong Kong, Thailand, Singapore, Australia), United States, Canada, and Europe. •FedEx International First® offers customers in India the option for early-day delivery to select postal codes and destinations* in the United States, Canada, and Europe. •And, FedEx International Priority® (IP) offers end of the day delivery to more than 220 countries and territories around the globe. These time-definite cross-border delivery options are part of FedEx efforts to support businesses amidst the soaring demand for cross-border commerce. The Indian logistics market is poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.5% between 2019 and 2025[1]. Express logistics forms a critical part of the cross-border e-commerce value chain. Consumers today expect fast, customizable, and convenient delivery options.

Logistics company Delhivery Ltd has invested in Falcon Autotech, a logistics automation solutions provider. The investment is in line with its objective of sustained investments in future-ready hardware solutions in its operations. Falcon Autotech is in the business of providing intralogistics automation solutions, sortation systems, conveyor systems, delivery-warehousing systems, and pick/put to light systems Commenting on the investment, Ajith Pai, Chief Operating Officer, Delhivery, said, “The collaboration with Falcon Autotech strengthens our ability to drive greater speed, precision, and efficiency across our business lines.” With this partnership, Delhivery said it expects to work closely with Falcon Autotech to design and implement new automation solutions for transportation and warehousing operations. The partnership will also enable the bundling of the hardware automated solutions along with Delhivery’s SaaS platform, one of the proposed growth verticals for Delhivery in the national and international market. Naman Jain, Chief Executive Officer, Falcon Autotech, added, “We are delighted to welcome Delhivery as a partner to Falcon. This investment is a testimony to Falcon’s commitment to our customers, our design, technology, and delivery capabilities, and the product roadmap ahead.”

SpiceXpress has confirmed acquiring electric cargo airplanes developed by US-based Bye Aerospace, in collaboration with India’s Pifore Group. The total investment is being estimated to be INR 300 to INR 500 million. The alliance is a pilot project to promote zero-emission freighters and also a closed airfield as emission free airport with an electric plane fleet and other zero-emission products. Pifore Group is engaged in provision of engineering, construction and technical services for private as well as public & government agencies/companies in India. They have signed an MoU with Bye Aerospace to deliver five electric cargo airplanes, which will be leased by SpiceXpress by 2024 and an additional five airplanes to be leased by 2026. Earlier this year, Spice Jet had transferred its logistics business to its subsidiary SpiceXpress and Logistics. SpiceXpress is a cargo specialist and is currently in the process of being hived off its parent company.

Shypmax, India’s first and only AI-powered Logistics Platform as a Service (LPaaS) for cross border shipping, announces its collaboration with the Netherlands based B2C Europe, a Maersk company specializing in B2C parcel delivery services in Europe. The collaboration will enable Indian businesses to deliver their products to Europe, including the UK, based customers cost-effectively using a single-window platform. Shypmax, enables Indian companies, especially SMEs, Direct-to-customer, B2C, and E-commerce firms, from over 27,000 pin codes, to deliver any product across European markets and beyond. Shypmax automates processes related to compliance with current regulations in the European Union. As India’s first Import One-Stop-Shop (IOSS) ready facility enabling centralised declaration and payment of VAT by European customers at the point of sale, Shypmax is saving Indian companies and the European customers from the hassles of navigating through different tax systems in Europe. The services also include customised labels, pickup, packaging, and door-to-door delivery via more than 100 connected carriers across Europe and beyond by B2C Europe.

Occupier confidence has improved in the latter half of 2021 with occupiers closing large office deals, cementing the resilience of the sector and the underlying importance of offices. Occupiers remain focused on enhancing the well-being and experience of their employees as they plan to return to the office, chasing lucrative leases while realigning long-term plans. Developers are determined towards asset enhancement through requisite retrofit to remain relevant and retain tenants. “The year 2021 was a watershed moment for India’s real estate sector. Even when the going was tough, the sector not only remained resilient but also emerged stronger than expected. India’s office sector is coming out of the woods, with demand back to pre-record levels. The year 2022 will even be better, even if marred by the new Covid-19 variant. We have now learned to live with uncertainty. Gross absorption in 2022 should be about 15-20% higher than this year as occupier confidence is back in the market. In terms of global capital chasing real estate, the office will continue to remain a dominant sector, but residential and industrial & warehousing will strengthen in 2022 aided by strong business fundamentals,” said Ramesh Nair, CEO, India and Managing Director, Market Development, Asia, Colliers.

With a recent collaboration, India’s leading electric scooter company Hero Electric and Gurugram-based last mile mobility solutions start-up BattWheelz have joined forces to electrify last mile deliveries. BattWheelz offers mobility solutions to e-commerce and hyperlocal grocery companies and with this collaboration, it plans to deploy nearly 4,000 electric two-wheelers by FY23. “Our constant endeavour is to hasten the electric mobility transition in India and thrusting the same through our B2B partnerships with complete EV solutions across India. This partnership highlights our shared vision of offering eco-friendly mobility solutions and the direct advantage of adopting electric mobility in terms of savings and contribution to safeguarding the environment.” said Sohinder Gill, CEO, Hero Electric.

Air New Zealand aims to deploy zero-emissions aircraft in the next five years. The airline has released a Zero Emissions Aircraft Product Requirements Document that details Air New Zealand’s specifications and requirements for a new generation of aircraft. Air New Zealand said it “is seeking long term partnerships with aircraft developers looking to develop zero emissions aircraft. From the PRD process Air New Zealand is seeking to gain an understanding from the aircraft developers of the realistic implementation timeline and technology feasibility to enable long term fleet strategy evaluation”. The overall goal is for zero-emissions aircraft to be deployed in the next five years, with battery electric propulsion, hybrid electric propulsion and green hydrogen propulsion being considered. Air New Zealand’s decarbonisation roadmap identifies four main levers needed to reach net zero by 2050. These are the use of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF); the operation of zero emissions aircraft; continued investment in the modern fleet replacement programme; and improvements in operational efficiencies (such as through optimised flight planning).

The Delhi government is asking e-commerce companies, food delivery services and cab aggregators to completely switch to electric vehicles as it aims to increase the EV share in total vehicle sales to 25 percent by 2024 to check air pollution, according to officials. It is also going to ask dealers and petrol pumps to not give fuel to vehicles without a pollution-under-check (PUC) certificate. Vehicle emissions account for around 40 percent of the city’s air pollution. “The government is going to take two major steps to check vehicular pollution – we will ask all aggregators including Zomato, Swiggy, Ola, Uber, etc. to completely switch to electric vehicles. These services account for 30 percent of the registered vehicles in Delhi,” said an official. “We are also considering directing dealers and petrol pumps not to supply fuel to vehicles without a (valid) PUC certificate,” he said. Directions under the Environment (Protection) Act in this regard are expected to be issued this week.

DHL Global Forwarding announces a collaboration with Mumbai International Airport Ltd. (MIAL) and Kale Logistics for the pilot rollout of D-Cube for paperless and contactless import operations. Soon MIAL will not require hard copies of MAWBs (Master airway bill) and HAWBs (House airway bill) to be submitted by DHL Global Forwarding, said Niki Frank, CEO South Asia and India, DHL Global Forwarding in a Linkedin post. This digital initiative facilitates ease of business to support all forwarders, customs brokers, transporters and customers, on the air import businesswith a ‘contactless’ and ‘paperless’ process, fast-tracking the deliverables factoring safety and security. The post read that queues at the Air Cargo Terminal will become a thing of the past with Digitalized Gate Passes to shortly be introduced. Being a major air cargo player at the Mumbai Terminal, DHL Global Forwarding volunteered to support this progressive initiative and played a significant role in its implementation. A well-aligned move to DPDHL’s own digitalization mission.