Shabrish Menon

A Milestone Moment for 3Netra: Voices from Three Blindness Centers in India Over the past few weeks, our team had the privilege of working with three incredible institutions: - Shree Ramana Maharshi Academy for the Blind (Bangalore) - Calcutta Blind School (Kolkata) - NFBM Jagriti School for Blind Girls (Pune) Together, we showcased the 3Netra smart eyeglasses — and the feedback has been nothing short of inspiring. Students and teachers shared how features like book reading, face recognition, emotion detection and navigation guidance could make everyday life more independent and dignified. Leaders highlighted the potential for 3Netra to go beyond existing solutions — combining multiple capabilities in one wearable, from education support to understanding emotions and for mobility assistance. The message was clear: this technology is not just useful, it is transformative. This journey would not have been possible without the vision and backing of Tech Mahindra Foundation. A heartfelt thank you to Neha Soneji and Chetan Kapoor  for their leadership and belief in the mission of accessibility and inclusion. What’s next? By the end of 2025, we aim to distribute the first 250 pairs of 3Netra eyeglasses free of cost to those who need them most — powered by partnerships, philanthropy, and innovation. This is just the beginning. With continued support, we can turn these voices of hope into a movement of empowerment for millions of visually impaired people. #3Netra #SocialImpact #Inclusion #Blindness #AssistiveTechnology #TechMahindraFoundation

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Mapping the Nervous System of "Desi" Tech: From Language to the Last Mile. We often talk about the "India Stack" as a monolith, but the real magic is happening in the specialized nodes that are quietly removing friction across the ecosystem. I’ve been analyzing how specific players are solving for Bharat, not just for the English-speaking elite, but for the farmer, the factory, and the vernacular web. Here is the utility map of the key players building our digital backbone: 1. The Voice & Knowledge Layer (AI & Data) * AI Kosh: The repository. It’s democratizing access, ensuring that Indian language data isn't a scarce resource but a public good. * Sarvam AI: The builder. Moving beyond generic LLMs to build full-stack, India-centric models that understand the nuance of our dialects and mixed-speech patterns. * AI4Bharat: The research engine. Creating the open-source "building blocks" (translation/transliteration) that ensure Indian languages are computationally represented correctly. * Karya: The ethical supply chain. Ensuring the wealth of the AI boom trickles down to rural data generators through high-quality, ethically sourced datasets. 2. The Physical-Digital Bridge (IoT & Infra) * Pratiti Technologies: The architect. Building the "Digital Twins" for solar and manufacturing, turning raw sensor data into predictive insights. * SmarDen: The retrofit enabler. Converting "dumb" infrastructure into smart nodes, essential for energy auditing and automation without ripping out existing hardware. 3. The Earth Observation Layer (Agri & Bio) * FASAL: The forecaster. Using space and agro-meteorology to predict output before the harvest, stabilizing the supply chain from the top down. * Bhuvan (ISRO): The truth layer. Mapping biodiversity and biomass to verify environmental reality against the claims. The Missing Link: Cracking the "First Mile" in Agriculture All the cloud computing in the world means nothing if we can't get data out of a dense sugarcane field. This is where Wi-Fi HaLow (IEEE 802.11ah) becomes the critical friction remover. Standard Wi-Fi dies in dense vegetation (water absorbs 2.4GHz). LoRaWAN has range but no bandwidth. Wi-Fi HaLow is the Goldilocks solution: ✅ Penetration: Sub-1 GHz waves punch through canopy cover. ✅ Range: Transmits over 1km, connecting scattered soil sensors to a single gateway. ✅ Bandwidth: Enough throughput to send actual images (pest traps, crop health) where LoRa fails. We are moving from "Digital India" to "Intelligent Bharat." The pieces are all here; the job now is integration. #AgriTech #AIForIndia #IoT #WiFiHaLow #DigitalPublicInfrastructure #DeepTech #IndiaStack #DesiDNA

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You flag such an important theme Abhishek Varshney (अभिषेक वार्ष्णेय) Incentive design can be such that, principally - * Distributor who incurs more cost & effort to serve gets incentivized proportionately * Progressive reduction in commissions to large and/or more well-established distributors * Any front-loading capped at a max INR value that reasonably covers costs to distributor (any costing numbers available on these publicly?) but not more than 1.2 - 1.3 times expected trail commissions if customer stays invested * Incentivise repeated contact with customer to ensure they reap benefits into the contingent future - support for a good quality claims experience, proactively inform them about forthcoming annuity pay-outs & helping to receive them seamlessly * Carefully monitor behaviors of distributors & customers where churn-inducing incentives exist, do not spare bad actors Consider an even more radical approach = gradually increase incentives as the years progress so that the inclination to give up on a customer reduces at any point in the product tenure - particularly important for long term products. Its easy to come up with ideas, but execution is fraught with challenges. Can we start shaping practical ways to devise these? https://lnkd.in/gAGakQNf #incentivedesign #consumerprotection #servicedesign #postsaleservicing Yutadhi Sowmini G Prasad

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Education is no longer a goal. It’s an institutional liability. And most Indian families are still planning it with 2005 assumptions. This week, we unveiled the Rubik Education Architecture — a family-office grade framework that treats your child’s future like a multi-currency, multi-inflation, multi-decade financial commitment. Because by 2035, the real shock won’t be real estate… It will be education. #RubikWealth #EducationPlanning #ChildPlan #WealthManagement #HNIStrategy

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At our recent team offsite, we had everyone build human-sized cardboard boats to race across a lake. We were divided into 4 teams and everyone got to work constructing boats that would (hopefully) stay afloat with an actual person inside. Nobody was thrilled about this activity at first. There was a lot of eye-rolling and hesitation. One team was particularly vocal: "Nobody on our team wants to race!" ( They ended up winning in the end :) It was fascinating to watch how everyone approached the problem differently. Some teams got incredibly technical with their waterproofing methods. Others focused on structural integrity. We probably all overengineered our solutions... Ironically, the winning boat was actually the simplest design. It just had enough space and buoyancy for the person to stay afloat. The rider didn't even get wet during the race! What made this such a great team-building exercise wasn't just the fun of the race, but seeing how our team of smart problem solvers tackled the same challenge in different ways. It revealed a lot about how we think and work together. The videos and pictures we captured are gold. (See them below 👇) There's something incredibly telling about watching your colleagues frantically paddle cardboard across water while others sink dramatically. It builds the kind of bonds you just can't forge in a conference room. And now - everyone's already thinking about how they're going to improve their performance for next year's race. What are your favorite team building activities? Would love both remote and in person options!!!

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Is good investing about selecting the best-performing product? In this clip, Saurabh Mukherjea shares why thoughtful alignment matters more than chasing returns. Full conversation now live on YouTube. Link: https://lnkd.in/dN4UwP6V #Investing #FinancialPlanning #PersonalFinance #MyFinPortfolio #YouTube

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*Episode 5: She Builds, She Leads* Unlocking dreams with Mudra Yojna! In this episode, we break down how the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojna (PMMY) empowers women entrepreneurs with financial support to turn their ideas into impactful ventures. Ready to take the leap? Your growth story starts here. #SheBuildsSheLeads #MudraYojna #WomenEntrepreneurs #Empowerment #SmallBusinessIndia #FinancialFreedom #PMMY #StartupSupport #WomenInBusiness

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Excited to announce our investment in Sensesemi Technologies Private Limited! SenseSemi is building #AI chips for edge devices—the kind that power medical equipment, industrial sensors, and energy infrastructure. Their chips aim to pack analog, compute, and connectivity into one ultra-low power design. Why this matters: As AI moves from the cloud to the edge, we need chips built for that reality. SenseSemi is doing exactly that. The team? 60+ years of combined experience from top institutions like Texas Instruments and Intel. They've been selected under the #India #Semiconductor Mission and are building for real-world impact. Congratulations on the close and thanks for the ringside seat Vijay Muktamath! Contra VC

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The future of education lies at the intersection of quality learning and smart business models. In our latest episode of Business Talks, we sit down with Junaid Kochak, Director – Business Development at Aspire Educational Services Pvt. Ltd., to explore how equity participation is transforming the school system in Kashmir. 📌 Catch the full episode here https://lnkd.in/gx5TzSQ7

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FUNDED: PowerUp Money raises $12M Series A led by Peak XV Partners, with participation from existing investors Accel, Blume Ventures, Kae Capital, 8i Ventures, and DeVC.

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Rozana founded by Ankur D., Adwait V. and Mukesh Christopher has raised fresh funding, pushing its valuation close to $200 million as it expands its platform serving rural and small-town consumers. While urban e-commerce markets are becoming saturated, rural commerce remains vastly underpenetrated. This segment represents: • Hundreds of millions of consumers • Rapid smartphone adoption • Increasing digital payments usage • Growing demand for organized supply chains But rural commerce requires fundamentally different business models. Companies must rethink logistics, pricing, distribution, and community engagement strategies. Investors are increasingly backing startups that can build last-mile distribution and trust networks in smaller towns and villages. At Alacrity EXTN LLP, we help companies exploring emerging markets: • Conduct deep market research in underserved segments • Design expansion strategies for tier-2, tier-3 and rural markets • Evaluate strategic investment or partnership opportunities The next generation of Indian unicorns may well be built beyond metro cities. #RuralCommerce #Ecommerce #DigitalIndia #StartupFunding #EmergingMarkets #ConsumerTech #RetailInnovation #MarketExpansion #BusinessStrategy #VentureCapital #IndiaStartups #AlacrityEXTN

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🚀 Microfinance is not just about access to credit — it’s about access to possibility. The recent article by Mr. Manoj Kumar Nambiar, MD of Arohan, is a timely reminder of how microfinance can become a foundational pillar of Viksit Bharat. His emphasis on responsible lending, customer protection, and robust operations reflects the direction the sector must head toward. 📖 Read: https://lnkd.in/git4Hr3j At EasyProblemSolving, we’ve built SARTHI as a unique operational framework that converges the lens of investors, regulators, and operators — creating a singular truth for what good looks like in microfinance. It is our way of supporting the sector with clarity, structure, and execution strength. 🔹 SARTHI codifies 200+ field-tested practices across leadership, operations, and people — each mapped to RBI directions and industry codes. 🔹 It goes beyond audits to help institutions design and deploy robust processes: from geo-risk exposure to center meeting hygiene, grievance redressal to digital sourcing integrity. 🔹 And perhaps most importantly, it puts execution quality at the heart of financial inclusion. Because a resilient Bharat needs resilient field operations. #Microfinance #ViksitBharat #FinancialInclusion #SARTHI #OperationalExcellence #NBFC #MFI #DigitalLending #FieldExecution #ImpactFinance #Governance #EasyProblemSolving #Arohan #JLG

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