Singapore fintech aims to offer better B2B lending terms

Singapore-based startup Cash-IN-Asia has launched its business-to-business (B2B) fintech lending platform. Its approach to provide a 100% digital experience allows business owners to obtain financing from their mobile device.

Cash-IN-Asia plans to serve micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in Singapore with products that not only address existing needs, but also assist these key members of Singapore’s economy to realise their business potential well after the crisis is over.

Its ISO27001-certified platform is powered by artificial intelligence (AI) and data analytics, and aims to provide a one-stop solution for transparent and flexible financing to MSMEs. By using AI and analytics in their credit decision and fraud detection engine, Cash-IN-Asia combines conventional risk assessment methods with alternative data and behavioural analysis for quicker and more accurate processing.

Two types of financing are offered: credit line and term loan. Amounts start at S$3,000 for a credit line to a maximum of S$150,000 for a term loan. Term loan tenures range from six months to three years, with no pre-payment penalties.

The platform requires a three-minute application, and promises an outcome in less than three hours. Successful applicants can request their approved funds to be disbursed in the next three hours. The time-to-cash process is one of the fastest amongst Singapore-based lenders today, the company said.

According to Cash-IN-Asia, studies* reveal that a significant percentage of small businesses in Singapore tend to be self-funded by business owners who may turn to their personal credit cards when difficulties arise. Credit card interest is high, and robs businesses of the opportunity to build their corporate credit history.

To offer a better alternative, Cash-IN-Asia prices financing rates lower than those of credit cards. The rates start at 20% for a credit line and 18% for a term loan. Cash-IN-Asia also structures its products to incentivise MSMEs to build a credit history that ultimately rewards good customers with cheaper financing over time.

Said founder and CEO, Eldwin Wong: “Our initial rate may be 20%, but the final rate they are charged eventually depends on them. If our clients perform well, confidence rises and trust is built. Our rates then come down, which is one of our unique value propositions for clients.”

Cash-IN-Asia also employs a “don’t use, don’t pay” model for its products. Sign up and application is free, and upon approval, clients are granted a credit facility with no fees or obligations. This is unlike other lenders that may impose a recurring facility fee.

The treatment of delinquent loans is another example of how the lender approaches things differently. The common practice with most traditional lenders is to declare these loans “in default” and resort to legal proceedings. Cash-IN-Asia prefers to work towards long-term “win-win” relationships instead. Troubled clients are given the opportunity to restructure their loans on acceptable terms that will help restore their businesses to health and service their loans.

Wong elaborates: “We believe in helping small business owners with their cashflow. That way, they get to focus more on their business and their chances of doing well increases. In turn, we will be able to scale up their loans and do more for them. One example of that is an automatic review of all client accounts every two months, to raise the credit limits of those in good standing for future growth.”

Cash-IN-Asia is the first B2B fintech lending company in Singapore to attain the ISO 27001 certification for information security. The certification allows it to meet diverse challenges of operating in the digital economy with high standards of business protocols and data integrity.

*Bain & Co, Fulfilling its Promise – The future of Southeast Asia’s digital financial services, 2019; and Deloitte Southeast Asia, Digital banking for small and medium-sized enterprises, 2015.

Securing home networks is important when employees work from home

Trend Micro has listed a number of security considerations for businesses that enable their workforce to complete mission-critical tasks outside their main office. According to the security company, some of the biggest threats are related to employees' home networks, as well as networks at public places like coffee shops, airports and hotels.

Unsecured home routers, as Trend Micro pointed out in the Most Noteworthy Home Network Security Threats of 2017 report, are conduits for communications on all sorts of devices used for work and could potentially impact the entire enterprise network once the staff member brings the endpoint back to the office for work.

The issues include:

· Incorrectly configured networks, which can provide an open door for malicious actors.

· Default or weak passwords in use, as these are low-hanging fruit for hackers.

· Not keeping up with firmware updates, creating vulnerabilities.

Routers and other devices are also being leveraged for mining Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, which Trend Micro calls "the most detected network event seen in 2017". Besides routers, devices found mining cryptocurrency included home computers (14,586), tablets (358), smartphones (981), game consoles (314), IP cameras (573) and printers (219).

"Cryptocurrency-mining malware, for instance, are capable of infecting devices to illicitly mine for cryptocurrency," Trend Micro researchers noted in the report. "Such malware can spread the same way other malware types spread, e.g., through spam emails and malicious URLs, and take advantage of the computing power of multiple devices to increase yield from mining."

Another threat comes through Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) capabilities in devices, which hackers are using to carry out brute force logins of devices operating outside the office. RDP technology allows someone to take control of a device remotely. While it is meant to be used for maintenance and troubleshooting, hackers can also use RDP to execute malware that could eventually spread to enterprise networks; steal user details, and find out who has control of what devices. Those with more privileges may then be targeted for a wider network attack.

Source: Trend Micro. Network diagram above a tablet.

"The risk lies in the network, when a hacker is able to gain access to the RDP without the user admin knowing," Trend Micro researchers explained. "The home network is where all the connected devices and stored data lie."

In one real-word instance, an employee took his work laptop home, where his daughter used the device to check her email. One infected message that she opened contained Sircam, which infected the laptop and then the corporate network after the laptop was brought back to the office.

Luckily for the employee and the small business he worked for, the infection was spotted on the company network and systems were disconnected before it could spread further or damage machines. The instance did result in downtime for the company, during which the network had to be cleansed and employees were unable to access mission-critical assets.

Explore:

Read the blog post from Trend Micro, and check out Trend Micro's report

Cloud-based accounting solution designed for non-accountants

Asian Business Software Solutions (ABSS) today announced the launch of Financio, a cloud-based automated accounting software for micro and small businesses in Singapore that gives companies access to a secure solution that tracks business finances.

Developed by ABSS and powered by Microsoft Azure, Financio does not require any accounting knowledge to operate and is designed to be used by non-accountants. Users can track sales, purchases and miscellaneous transactions through a simplified dashboard, and automatically generate financial reports and tax records or forward transactions to recipients via email and inventory tracking. Through Financio Connect, businesses are also able to collaborate seamlessly and share documents on the platform.

Paul Conway, CEO, ABSS said: “SMEs make up 99% of Singapore’s enterprises, employ two-thirds of the workforce, and account for about half of Singapore’s GDP. As Singapore embarks on its Smart Nation journey, it is crucial for companies to start their digital transformation journey and gear up for the new digital economy. Through Financio, businesses are able to leverage accounting technology to boost productivity, drive collaboration and stay on top of their finances.

“Financio is intuitive and simple to use - it takes away most of the bookkeeping process from the business, and all users need to do is put in the sales and purchase figures. The system will do the rest such as double entries, generating reports and GST tax records.”

In Singapore, Clove Bridal Studio is an early adopter of Financio’s premium version. The professional photography agency is relying on Financio to streamline its financial processes. Fiona Liu, Sales Director, Clove Bridal Studio said: “As entrepreneurs in this information age, we were looking for an all-in-one solution that could help us simplify the traditional time consuming bookkeeping methods, and putting our focus on delivering more value for our customers and growing the business. With Financio, we have digitised our accounting operations with the cloud and will save over S$1,000 and 100 man hours a year.”

Jye Eng, CTO, Financio said: “Financio is currently powering more than 4,500 small businesses across Southeast Asia today, and saving over 384,000 man hours a year. We are seeing more customers adopting software-as-a-service (SaaS) on a subscription service basis, and realising the benefits of accessing data on the go. Companies that are processing information offline should now be looking to do this online.”

Financio also offers features that include multicurrency support, real time backup, Singapore GST support, file storage for attachments to transactions and is also available in Malaysia. ABSS is also looking to deploy its solution to SMEs in Philippines, Hong Kong and Indonesia.

Interested?

Small business owners can use Financio for free for up to 10 invoices monthly, and upgrade to the premium version from S$9.95 a month. Register

Convert leftover small change into digital money at airports

Source: TravelersBox. A kiosk at Singapore Changi Airport (airside).

Passengers travelling through Singapore Changi Airport can now get more mileage from foreign change or their remaining Singapore dollars using the new TravelersBox kiosks located at the airport.

TravelersBox is a fintech company which helps travellers by converting their leftover foreign currency, including bills and coins, into digital money that can be redeemed online with popular brands. They may also choose to make a contribution to the Changi Foundation, the philanthropic arm of Changi Airport Group (CAG) that supports youth community efforts, or charities such as the Red Cross*. 

“We are happy to welcome TravelersBox to Changi Airport and offer this useful service to the over 58 million passengers who pass through each year. We always strive to innovate in our product and service offerings to meet, and exceed our travellers’ needs. I believe this addition will make their Changi Experience a more delightful one,” said Albert Lim, Senior VP, Passenger Experience, Changi Airport Group.

TravelersBox kiosks were first installed in Changi Airport in mid-December and in that time, there have been four times more transactions in Singapore than in the next best-performing airport.  “Singapore Changi Airport is one of the largest transportation hubs in Asia and the world, and we are thrilled to be able to join an airport of this scale. We believe that this is a service that will be of great value to travellers here and we will continue to bring leading brands and companies onboard as partners,” said Tomer Zussman, CEO and founder of TravelersBox.

TravelersBox was conceptualised when Zussman found himself with his pockets full of change each time he returned from business trips. He would often forget to bring the coins with him on his next trip and realised that he would accumulate an average of US$10 to US$15 in coins per trip. His research found that on average, a tourist carries US$20 worth in loose change. With 1.5 billion travellers a year, the market could be worth much as US$30 billion a year.

After approaching banks and credit card companies which were uninterested in micropayments, Zussman decided to partner with e-wallets and e-gift card merchants. He then founded the firm together with Idan Deshe to capitalise on this market gap.

There are eight kiosks located at the transit area at Changi Terminal 1 and 3 in the initial period which will accept nine currencies: the Singapore dollar, Thai baht, Japanese yen, Philippine peso, Malaysian ringgit, Indonesian rupiah, Australian dollar, Hong Kong dollar, and Chinese renminbi. Visitors will initially be able to change these currencies into credits with companies such as Amazon.ch, Amazon.jp, Facebook, Grab, iTunes, Lazada, Qoo10, Starbucks, Skype, Tokopedia, Viber, and the Changi Foundation, with more to come. 

There are kiosks in airports in Turkey (Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir), the Philippines (Manila) and Japan (both Haneda and Narita in Tokyo).

*E-wallet, e-gift card and charity partners available may differ in different countries. TravelersBox kiosks in Changi Airport do not offer e-wallet deposits.

Ransomware is nasty, nasty business

Ransomware has achieved a revival, and it has come back stronger, says Trend Micro.

Today, ransomware not only locks a victim’s computer or mobile phone, but also encrypts the data stolen. This makes sure that even if the victim is able to remove the ransomware, the encrypted files remain inaccessible without paying for the decryption key.

In the first five months of 2016 (from January to May), Trend Micro blocked 66 million ransomware attacks globally, 10 million in the Asia Pacific region (APAC). In addition, the company has discovered at least 50 new types of ransomware.

Source: Trend Micro. Ransomware facts and figures. The market rate for ransoms is currently between half to 5 Bitcoins.

Source: Trend Micro. Ransomware facts and figures. A Bitcoin cost around US$643 at the time the infographic was created, and US$659 at the time of writing. This puts 5 Bitcoins at US$3,295 today.

More shared service facilities for MSMEs in the Philippines

Philippines Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Adrian Cristobal Jr. will intensify the department’s efforts to establish more shared service facilities (SSFs) that benefit cooperatives and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

SSFs improve competitiveness of MSMEs by providing machinery, equipment, tools, systems, skills and knowledge under a shared system. DTI partners with various government agencies, non government and international organisations, cooperatives, and local government units to acquire and maintain SSFs.

President Benigno Aquino III personally led the handover of P15.6 million worth of SSF projects to at least 23 cooperatives in Dagupan City recently, the DTI has disclosed. There are now 49 SSFs in Dagupan benefiting local entrepreneurs in fish and meat processing, bamboo production, metal craft, candle making, vinegar processing, dried fish processing, among others.

“These initiatives are geared towards identifying and addressing supply chain gaps. By providing technical and institutional capacity building to MSMEs nationwide, we sustain the gains we have achieved in recent years to increase competitiveness and enable our entrepreneurs to access regional and global markets,” Cristobal said.

Since the SSF programme started in 2013, 1,702 SSF projects have been set up, worth P776.53 million—with at least 17,095 entrepreneurs and 72,619 potential small businessmen benefitting from it. These SSFs, located nationwide, aim to improve the quality of products and productivity of entrepreneurs. According to Cristobal, the DTI targets to establish at least 200 more SSFs by June and at least 400 SSFs by year-end 2016.

Philippine MSMEs asked to embrace e-commerce

The Department of Trade and Industry of the Philippines is urging the micro, small and medium sized enterprises (MSMEs) to venture into e-commerce to expand market reach.

E-commerce is a means to “connect domestic industry with the global economy” said Trade and Industry Undersecretary Prudencio Reyes, Jr. The Philippine E-Commerce Outlook 2018 projects that the e-commerce industry will grow by 101.4% by 2018, up from US$1.15 billion in 2013.

The country’s growing Internet population with an estimated growth of 530% over the past five years is significant component to the e-commerce industry. Out of the country’s 101.1 million population, 44% are active Internet users, 42% are active social media users, 113% have mobile connections; and 36% are active mobile users.

Philippine e-commerce sales reached Php79 billion or 0.6% of the country’s total income in 2012. More than 76.2% or Php 60.17 billion was contributed to the services sector, which includes transport and storage, administrative and support service activities, and wholesale retail trade.

The National Capital Region ranks first in terms of e-commerce sales at Php62.31 billion, followed by the Central Visayas and Western Visayas.

Janette Toral, founder of Digital Filipino, said MSMEs are stakeholders in the Philippine E-Commerce Roadmap (PECR; PDF). "Your participation makes you a party/stakeholder to this roadmap, it is a document all of us to own as public and private sectors” she said.

PECR 2016-2020 is a blueprint to address issues in the country’s e-commerce ecosystem with '6Is' being key focus areas as highlighted in the APEC Digital Prosperity Checklist (doc):

Infrastructure: The need for an appropriate supply chain, communications, and applications infrastructure; 

Investment: The ability to promote and support a range of investment opportunities from foreign direct investments to capital flows; 

Innovation: The ability to foster and support innovation, including the ability to protect innovation and investment in research and development; 

Intellectual capital: The ability to foster the appropriate skills and training from technological to linguistic to entrepreneurship; 

Information flows: The ability to use, transfer, and process information — the currency of the digital economy — while promoting privacy and a trusted Internet environment; and 

Integration: The ability to connect domestic industries with the global economy. 

MSMEs in the Philippines crucial to economic success

Senator Loren Legarda of the Philippines has underscored the role that micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) play in generating jobs throughout the country, especially in poor municipalities.

Legarda, principal author of the Magna Carta for MSMEs, issued the statement following results of an online survey conducted by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and JobStreet.com Philippines, showing that three out of four locally employed Filipinos would accept jobs in their home region rather than work in another part of the country.

"I am glad that most of our kababayans (fellow Filipino) prefer working in their hometowns than move elsewhere in the country like Metro Manila, hoping to have better lives. This only indicates that Metro Manila is not the only place in the country where there's a multitude of job opportunities as more Filipino MSMEs participate on economic trade resulting to more jobs," Legarda said.

She added, "We need to sustain our gains by strengthening our MSME programmes because aside from generating employment opportunities and better incomes, MSMEs are powerful platforms for promotion of viable rural livelihoods, cultural preservation, socioeconomic empowerment of indigenous peoples, and environmental protection."

Legarda also called on the government to strengthen the country's MSME programme in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), which registered the highest number of residents who would rather find jobs outside of their hometowns, with only one out of three willing to stay and work locally, in order to spur economic growth particularly in the grassroots level.

The Senator also pushed for the promotion of green jobs and green skills in the country, noting that other nations encourage their people to engage in management in agriculture, forestry, horticulture, environmental information technology, and other careers that contribute to environmental preservation. All these efforts would complement our existing job generation strategies, she said.

Republic Act No. 9501, otherwise known as the Magna Carta for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, targets countryside industrialisation through the following: intensifying and expanding programs for training in entrepreneurship and for skills development for labor; facilitating access of MSMEs to sources of funds; assuring them access to a fair share of government contracts and related incentives and preferences; complementing and supplementing financing programmes for MSMEs and doing away with burdensome collateral requirements that small entrepreneurs find difficulty in complying with; instituting safeguards for the protection and stability of the credit delivery system; promoting linkage between large and small enterprises by encouraging the establishment of common service facilities; making the private sector a partner in the task of building up MSMEs through the promotion and participation of private voluntary organisations, viable industry associations and cooperatives; and establishing a feedback, grievance and evaluation mechanism.

ASEAN publishes strategic action plan for SME development

Source: ASEAN Secretariat.

The ASEAN Strategic Action Plan for SME Development (SAPSMED) 2016-2025 has been developed in recognition of the significant contribution of micro, small and medium-enterprises (MSMEs) to economic growth, employment generation and gender empowerment in ASEAN. The plan aims to strengthen MSME engagement in an increasingly competitive economic environment and to support their growth and development.

The plan includes an implementation roadmap using country champions, maximising resources including those from ASEAN Dialogue Partners, and with periodic monitoring and evaluation built-in. Overall MSME achievement will be tracked through 10 key policy indicators, and other operational indicators to be developed.

The plan was launched at the sidelines of the 27th ASEAN Summit on 21 November 2015. It was developed by the ASEAN SME Working Group in consultation with the private sector and prepared with the cooperation of the AEM-METI Economic and Industrial Cooperation Committee and with the assistance of the USAID ASEAN Connectivity through Trade and Investment Project for the Roadmap.

Interested?

Download the ASEAN SAPSMED 2016-2025 report 

World Bank to help Indian, Kazakhstani SMEs grow

The World Bank has approved a US$500 million loan for the MSME Growth Innovation and Inclusive Finance Project to improve access to finance for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the manufacturing and services sector in India. This includes MSMEs from early to growth stage, including those which provide innovative financial products.

In India, MSMEs account for more than 80% of total industrial enterprises, produce over 8, 000 value-added products and employ an estimated 60 million people. It contributes around 45% to manufacturing output and about 40% to exports, both directly and indirectly. In addition, over 50% percent of MSMEs are rural enterprises and widely distributed across low-income states, making them an important sector for promoting economic growth and poverty reduction.

However, lack of adequate finance is one of the biggest challenges facing the MSME sector. Financial institutions have limited their exposure to the sector due to a higher risk perception, information asymmetry, high transaction costs and the lack of collateral. The MSME census of 2006-07 estimated that about 87 % of MSMEs did not have any access to finance and were self-financed. Credit towards micro and small enterprises represent only 13 to 15% of formal financial institutions portfolios.

The project will support MSMEs through direct financing by the Small Industries Development Bank of India or SIDBI, an apex financial institution for promotion, financing and development of MSMEs in India, and also through participating financial institutions across three components. These include support to startup debt financing and risk capital as well as support to service and manufacturing sector financing models.

“With 8 million people entering the labour force every year, MSMEs have the potential to be an important source of wage employment and entrepreneurship in India, foster innovations as well as be the cradle for the government’s `Make in India’ vision formulated recently. For these ideas to take shape, addressing the key constraints that inhibit MSMEs from accessing finance is of utmost importance. This project will work with the government in developing innovative products that address the current constraints of MSMEs, respond to the changing needs of the Indian economy and also catalyse private sector financing,” said Onno Ruhl,World Bank Country Director in India.

The project's first component will support SIDBI in developing, innovating and scaling up its startup debt financing programme as well as encourage participation of potential financing institutions in the development of this missing financial market segment. The India’s startup ecosystem is currently one of the fastest growing in the world and the third largest startup base with 3,100 startups (after the US with 41,500 start-ups and the UK with 4,000). While there has been incredible growth in equity financing in the Indian ecosystem, debt financing is non-existent for the majority of the vast growing startup enterprises which severely constrains the necessary rapid growth startups need to survive. The project will seek to address this gap to demonstrate financial products that both align with a fast growth economy and address missing financial markets that can unlock the incredible potential of India’s startup and early stage ecosystem.

Its second component supports service sector firms’ financing. Although the structure of the Indian economy is shifting towards services, now 65% of Indian GDP, enterprises in this sector continue to face challenges in accessing formal finance mainly due to lack of physical assets to provide as collateral. Financial depth (credit to GDP) for this sector is 25%*. In an attempt to address this issue SIDBI has introduced new products and considering their potential to grow, this project will support scale up of innovative products which are better tailored for MSMEs in the service sector such as use of movable and intangible assets, including light assets and franchise financing. Information asymmetry and credit risk will be mitigated by using information from alternative/multiple sources (such as franchisors for franchisee financing).

The project will also support manufacturing MSMEs through innovative financial products including loan extension services and cluster financing - including women-led clusters. Particular focus will be to expand manufacturing activity in financially underserved areas, including low income states especially through refinancing, as banks and other public financial institutions have a deeper network in these states.

“Addressing financial constraints of MSMEs and start-ups should generate multiplier effects across the economy by unlocking their inherent growth potential, fostering entrepreneurship and creating employment opportunities,” said Gloria Grandolini, Senior Director of the World Bank Group Finance and Markets Global Practice.

The loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a five-year grace period and a maturity of 10 years.

The World Bank earlier approved a US$40 million loan to help enhance the competitiveness and management capacity of small and medium sized enterprises in Kazakhstan as well.

“Small and medium sized enterprises are widely identified as important sources of economic growth and employment and, therefore, an essential foundation for shared prosperity,” said Ludmilla Butenko, World Bank Country Manager for Kazakhstan. “The project is expected to increase the competitiveness of Kazakhstani SMEs to contribute to diversification of the economy by reducing its reliance on extractive industries.”

Lack of professional and management skills as well as limited market connections are some of the key obstacles for Kazakhstan’s private sector. The SME Competitiveness Project is aimed at strengthening the management capacity of SMEs to grow and create more and better jobs. Existing SME advisory programmes will be enhanced in terms of quality and methodology in line with international standards. Several hundred business consultants will be trained and certified to deliver in turn professional consulting to several thousand entrepreneurs and SMEs.

The project will also focus on increasing market linkages for SMEs in non-extractive sectors with a market-based growth potential. The new linkages between SMEs and large buyers will provide entrepreneurs with an increased access to markets. To facilitate the process, the project aims at piloting a supplier development programme and enhancing the capacity of policy making authorities in developing competitive sectors in emerging areas of the economy. The evidence-based policy making will be strengthened through improved existing monitoring and evaluation frameworks and public-private dialogue.

All these activities will result in increased firm productivity and revenues as well as overall contribution of SMEs to the country economy.

The implementation of the five-year project (2015-2020) will start after the country approval process is completed. The SME Competitiveness Project will be financed through a US$40 million IBRD loan, with a 15-year maturity period and a five-year grace period, with US$6 million in co-financing from the government of Kazakhstan.
*Reserve Bank of India figures.

posted from Bloggeroid

Indian government and World Bank sign loan agreement to support MSMEs

The Government of India (GoI) and the World Bank today signed a US$200 million loan agreement to enhance the productivity of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) by expanding and upgrading Technology Centers across India.

Today, the manufacturing sector in India is facing several constraints including difficulties in accessing markets and finance, poor infrastructure, disincentives for MSMEs to grow and difficulties for MSMEs to access technology and skills. Technology Centers are shared facilities – often located near industry clusters – that enable MSMEs to access technologies, business advisory and training that can directly help them improve their productivity and competitiveness.

The Technology Center Systems Program (TCSP) will develop the technological and skills base of MSMEs in selected manufacturing industries. The Technology Centers (TCs) will support industry clusters across manufacturing chains, both upstream (tooling industry) and downstream (such as automotive, electronics and fragrance and flavour industries).

“Select manufacturing industries face shortages of skilled labour and have limited access to advanced technologies. Technology Centers under this programme will provide practical machine-based and hands-on vocational training for MSMEs and youth, especially women, in select manufacturing industries and clusters,” said Tarun Bajaj, Joint Secretary, Department of Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance.

The loan agreement was signed by Bajaj on behalf of the Government of India and Onno Ruhl, World Bank Country Director in India, on behalf of the World Bank.

“With the largest youth population in the world, India has the potential to benefit from an immense demographic dividend. However, with 13 million young people entering the labour force each year, increasing the skills base of its youth will have to be a key priority for the country to gain from this demographic dividend,” said Ruhl.

The programme will set up 15 new Technology Centers and upgrade the technological capabilities of the existing 18 Centers by developing links with Indian and international research institutes and leading manufacturers.

“The unique proposition of this programme is that it aims to create an ecosystem of engagement for Technology Centers and Small and Medium Enterprises. Through introduction of entities such as cluster network managers, technology partners and a pervasive IT platform, Technology Centers can learn from each other and help their end customers better,” said Manju Haththotuwa, Senior Private Sector Development Specialist and World Bank’s Task Team Leader for the programme.

The programme will also complement the work being done by public private providers of vocational training like the Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs), the polytechnics, the Advanced Training Institutes (ATIs) and Nettur Technical Training Foundation (NTTF); help them improve their curricula; train their trainers; and establish links between the Technology Centers and other institutes like the National Skill Development Agency.

The loan, from the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD), has a seven-year grace period, and a maturity of 22 years.

India to get India Inclusive Innovation Fund

A proposal by India's Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) to set up a dedicated fund to promote grass-root innovations with social returns as well as modest economic returns has been approved by the Cabinet. The information was given by the Union Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Shri Kalraj Mishra, in a written reply to a question in Lok Sabha today.

The for-profit India Inclusive Innovation Fund is expected to back enterprises developing innovative solutions primarily for citizens who lie in the lower half of India’s economic pyramid, with limited physical and institutional access to basic services. The proposed size of the fund is a minimum of Rs500 crore and a maximum of Rs5,000 crore. 

Other schemes that the MSME has implemented include the Prime Minister’s Employment Generation Programme (PMEGP), Credit Guarantee Scheme, Credit Linked Capital Subsidy Scheme (CLCSS), National Manufacturing Competitiveness Programme, Cluster Development Programme, Marketing Development Assistance, Skill Development Programmes, and International Cooperation Scheme.

Kickstarter focus: A USB cable that charges smartphones twice as fast

Minsoo and Emily Seo have come up with a USB charging cable that charges iPhones and Samsung Galaxy phones roughly twice as fast as ordinary charging cables. 

As they explain on their Kickstarter page, USB cables automatically try to communicate with the attached device while providing limited electric energy, whereas their DouBBleTime USB charging cable has a switch that limits the cable to charging only, shortening charging times substantially.

Source: Kickstarter.

"A simple yet ingenious special chip inside the switch talks to your computer saying, ‘I’m not a phone; I’m not going to sync, so give me maximum charging energy.’ This message allows the cable to bypass the capped out maximum power a USB can output and connect straight to the mainboard. The special chip also provides over current protection (OCP) and short circuit protection, which guarantees the safety of both your computer and device while charging," say the Seos on their Kickstarter page.

The second wave of backers can get their choice of a Lightning or Micro USB cable for US$18, with US$5 more for international shipping.
 
View the associated video here. The Kickstarter campaign ends May 23, and is already heavily oversubscribed.