Category: Press Release

The strategy is aligned with UN Sustainable Development Goals across GMG’s key markets 

Dubai, UAE, August 5, 2022: GMG – a global well-being company retailing, distributing, and manufacturing a portfolio of leading international and home-grown brands across its sports, food, and health sectors has announced the launch of its new sustainability strategy framework. The new framework will enable GMG to make a positive and transformative contribution to the environment and society as a whole as well as to its stakeholders and operations.

The framework which was developed in conjunction with EY, is built around Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles and based on three key pillars: Planet Forward, Spark People, and Own Change.

Make a Difference: 

The ‘Planet Forward’ pillar is aimed at ensuring that our company actions are geared towards building a better planet for everyone, not just for the business, by tackling energy, water, and waste management. 

The ‘Spark People’ pillar is focused on ensuring the well-being of employees by supporting their career growth, as well as ensuring equality and their health, safety, and well-being. 

The ‘Own Change’ pillar aims to inspire people to own and drive change for continuous growth and operational excellence across all of GMG’s business units.

Commenting on the launch of the new sustainability strategy, Mohammad A Baker, Deputy Chairman and CEO of GMG, said, “As a global company, we believe that setting an ESG framework is key to fostering business evolution, mitigating risks and challenges, and most importantly, making a positive and responsible impact on people and the environment. Our values will serve as a compass in guiding our brand, while our sustainability framework will reflect our operational ethos as we continue our global expansion journey.”

“The ‘Make a Difference’ sustainability strategy which is aligned to key global and local sustainability trends, showcases GMG’s commitment to creating positive, transformative change across the region and beyond through its three strategic pillars: ‘Planet Forward, ‘Spark People’ and ‘Own Change.’ These have been developed to address the issues and topics that matter most to GMG and its stakeholders and create a positive and long-lasting impact,” said Yasir Ahmad, Partner and leader, of Sustainability Services, EY MENA.

Alignment to Sustainability Goals:

GMG’s sustainability strategy is aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) across its global operations as well as the UAE’s own sustainability goals. The UAE has set up a National Committee on SDGs to facilitate the alignment of SDGs across the private and public sectors and has embedded SDGs into its national agenda.

The twelve countries across which GMG operates are already making headway with their national sustainability agendas, including three of its key markets – the UAE, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore.  The UAE became the first country in the Gulf to launch an SDG Data Hub to actively track and monitor progress made toward SDGs. Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 includes a series of objectives and programs that overlap with the UN agenda. For example, the Kingdom has developed the National Renewable Energy program to diversify its energy sources and embrace clean energy. In Singapore, the government has integrated SDGs into its Green Plan 2030.

GMG will publish its first sustainability report early next year that will reveal the company’s performance across ESG pillars, highlight key achievements, and set the direction for the future.

 The Best Luxury Boutique Hotel to offer genuine Georgian hospitality & curated community experiences

Tbilisi, July 25, 2022: Across the street from the 6 century Anchiskhati Basilica, in the heart of Tbilisi’s charming Old Town, Kerten Hospitality, a mixed-use, ESG and lifestyle operator, has opened The House Hotel Old Tbilisi, its first of three lifestyle hospitality projects in Georgia. The three-story, 17- room hotel was once the Nikolozishvili mansion and blends that traditional charm with chic sensibility. Each room is distinguished by a historical Georgian character painted by local mural artist, Musya Qeburia, and features custom-made furnishings from Georgian oak, parquet floors and marble bathrooms with a rain shower. Suites feature Tbilisi’s trademark wooden balconies with a view of the nearby Mtkvari River and pedestrian street below. In a cozy district of crooked streets and houses, medieval churches, museums, wine bars, and many attractions, The House Hotel Old Tbilisi is Tbilisi’s newest landmark and a destination in itself.

Tbilisi-based for the opening of the property, Antony Doucet, Chief Experience Officer at Kerten Hospitality, said: “This art hotel in the city’s most historic part will allow guests and visitors to get the feel, to connect to and to experience trully the Neighbourhood and the destination. Our close-knit collaboration with our UBBU teams (UBBU – United. Building a Better Universe – Kerten Hospitality’s ESG initiative) will bring the focus on Locality and Sustainability all curated around tailored experiences that ultimately create true human connections and support local do-good causes as well.”

The House Hotel is a fast-growing, award winning, luxury lifestyle brand recognized globally for quality and individuality. Its trademark is blending local art and culture with classic and contemporary styles to create an authentic and unique experience in every location. With a pipeline portfolio of over 40 projects, Kerten Hospitality is all about working organically with its local environment to tell a story that compliments the aesthetics of the region, celebrates local culture and supports the local community. The House Hotel Old Tbilisi’s local team understand cordiality and hospitality are a priority, but in Georgia, where guests are considered gifts from God, hospitality is second nature.

Nikoloz Kurdadze, GM of The House Hotel Old Tbilisi, said, ”We are very excited to open our doors for guests and the community in such a unique destination where meaningful connections and lasting memories will be built after experiencing the real sense of Georgian hospitality, cuisine, art and cultural heritage.”

Traditional buildings in Tbilisi have what locals call “Italian Courtyards,” intimate social areas where residents gather to play backgammon and dominoes, hang laundry and gossip while children play. The House Hotel Old Tbilisi has renovated its courtyard to provide much of the same warmth and neighborliness with a bar that mixes special cocktails and uncorks exclusive Georgian wines from its own grower, while rapturous meals are served at tables around an olive tree for both hotel guests and walk-in visitors. Those who set foot in the property will also enjoy viewing a special collection of Georgian contemporary art pieces from the personal collection of the hotel owner.

Tbilisi has emerged from obscurity to become a world heavyweight culinary destination, yet only a few restaurants offer a high quality fine dining experience. Chef Jaume Puigdengolas, a Barcelona native, earned his Michelin stars in Marbella before creating the F&B concepts for Kerten Hospitality. The Blue Fox, named after an old Georgian cartoon character, is a 72-seat restaurant and the chef’s latest achievement. Riffing off of Tbilisi’s multi-cultural heritage, Chef Jaume’s menu combines western and eastern ideas with a Georgian foundation to create something uniquely Tbilisian. “I respect traditions and work closely with local products and producers,” he says.

Khachapuri is one of Georgia’s most iconic dishes. Chef Jaume simply turns the stuffed bread inside out, with beans and marinated onions on top, or marinated salmon, lemon and cucumber, or Sulguni and Imeretian cheese with local truffles. There are several more, which he calls “Pizzettas.” Georgian tomatoes and cucumbers are among the best in the world, which may explain why they are a salad staple on every table in the country. Chef Jaume has playfully tweaked the salad by serving tomato wedges on a pool of lightly spiced cucumber gazpacho. Although clearly not Georgian, Caesar Salads have recently appeared on nearly every menu in the country. The Spanish chef dipped into his roots and turned the salad into a tapas – a chicken croquette stuffed with béchamel and served on a leaf of Romaine. Main dishes include a tribute to Georgian mtsvadi – skewered meat roasted over coals. Here, they include marinated chicken, and the tenderest beef in the country, served with a selection of locally spiced dipping sauces. Some might call it fusion, but The Blue Fox is simply continuing the Tbilisi tradition of innovation.

Tbilisi’s legacy is built upon the Great Silk Road where it was an important trading hub, bridging Europe with Asia. This is evident in Tbilisi’s Old Town, where the local mosque is around the corner from the local synagogue, which is next to an Armenian church. An old Zoroastrian temple is above. Nearly a century of communism devastated this heritage, but it is now being rebuilt by individuals and groups like Kerten Hospitality. The House Hotel Old Tbilisi is now part and parcel of the “New Silk Road,” a modern hub where nations come to meet, mingle relax, and have a truly one-of-a-kind, unforgettable experience.

The House Hotel Old Tbilisi opens on July 25^th, 2022.

About The House Hotel:

The House Hotel – Luxury Lifestyle hotels for travellers ‘in the know’

The House Hotel is an award-winning and rapidly expanding luxury lifestyle hotel brand with a global reputation for quality and individuality.

In line with Kerten Hospitality’s commitment to supporting and enriching local communities, every House Hotel is distinctive, tells a story, and has a sense of place. It is the ideal hotel concept for owners looking to transform landmark or heritage buildings into boutique destinations for discerning travellers.  They celebrate local culture in ways that are brought to life by a team of predominantly locals for whom genuine warmth and hospitality is a priority.

About Kerten Hospitality:

Kerten Hospitality is a mixed-use, ESG and lifestyle operator managing and operating hotels, branded residences, serviced apartments, workspaces and business hubs and clubs under its 100% own and developed brands. KH transforms destinations through impactful collaborations both with our own and other branded Food & Beverage, Retail, Entertainment, Art and Wellness brands with a focus on building Ecosystems, and unique community-centric destinations, that connect International & local travelers.

KH manages a portfolio of 12 own brands including: Cloud7 Hotel and Residence, The House Hotel and Residence, Ouspace – a collaborative Social Hub and serviced offices concept. KH has a suite of in-house designed and operated Food & Beverage offerings and employs and collaborates with world renowned Michelin chefs to up and coming local foodpreneurs. All brands have a Purpose. ESG-focused ethos across its operations and pipeline of developments. In June, KH rolled out its ESG Initiative called UBBU: United. Building a Better Universe, across all its properties.

The current pipeline includes 40+ projects and 4,500+ roomkeys in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and the CIS countries. More information: www.kertenhospitality.com

Winners to be announced at a special event during Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Rwanda

Nominations are now open for the 4^th Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network Awards which will be announced at a special event during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) week in Kigali, Rwanda this June.

In line with this year’s theme of Delivering a Common Future: Transforming for Gender Equality, the Awards recognises and celebrates the achievements and contributions of women in business who advance gender equality in their business across the Commonwealth.  More specifically, the Awards recognise women who, through their actions, have become role models especially for girls in school, women in higher education and in the early stage of their careers.  She is an extraordinary woman who leads by example and makes an impact in her community.

“The Commonwealth’s billion plus women need to be celebrated and women’s economic empowerment and achievements prioritised, pushed and praised,” shares CBWN Chair, Freda Miriklis. “The awards are given solely on merit and are awarded to those most deserving for their hard work in spite of the many obstacles and challenges they have overcome to attain professional success and wider impact.”

The Commonwealth Businesswomen’s Network Awards covers a range of categories with the following now open for nominations:

Commonwealth Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (powered by EQUALS Global Partnership and with the Global Entrepreneurship Network)
Nominees should be over the age of 30 and have demonstrated outstanding leadership and vision; and made significant contributions in advancing women in their sector, in spite of challenges, to make significant positive change. 

Commonwealth Young Woman Entrepreneur of the Year (powered by EQUALS Global Partnership and in collaboration with the Commonwealth Youth Council)
Nominees should be emerging female entrepreneurs 16 – 30 years of age who exemplify innovation and displays great potential for future growth.

Commonwealth Young Girl Entrepreneur of the Year (powered by Technovation and in collaboration with the Commonwealth Youth Council)
Nominees should be girls under the age of 16, bright stars that have created opportunities to start and operate a successful business or project and who have made a positive impact within their community. 

Nominations for the 2022 4^th CBWN Awards close on 8^th of June 2022.  Entries will be judged by an advisory panel made up of senior people from CBWN and partners.  Winners will be announced and celebrated at a special event during CHOGM in Kigali.

Winning a CBWN Award will allow the entrant multi-channel access to building their brand across the CBWN network and raise their profile to attract investors and key industry stakeholders.  

CBWN is a platform to upskill, empower and uplift women and to enable and encourage trade for women in business across the 54 countries of the Commonwealth and harness the potential and power of women in order to drive economic growth.

Vin eRetail is a SaaS-based retail suite that offers seamless shopping experiences

India, March 31, 2022: Vinculum, a global software company headquartered in India, enabling Omnichannel Retailing, today announced the launch of its Vin eRetail, Omnichannel SaaS Suite, in Amazon Web Services (AWS) Marketplace. Vinculum’s customers can now merge billing, simplify procurement, and achieve faster time-to-value with Vin eRetail in AWS Marketplace to help produce insight-driven tactics and improve customer experiences.

AWS Marketplace is a curated digital catalog that makes it easy for organizations to discover, procure, entitle, provision, and govern third-party software. Using AWS Marketplace, organizations can shorten procurement times, implement the controls needed to operate with confidence, and unlock innovation.

Vin eRetail is a SaaS based Omnichannel suite built on AWS, leveraging services including Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3), a highly secure, scalable, and durable object storage system. Vin eRetail also uses Amazon ElastiCache, a fully managed, in-memory caching service supporting flexible, real-time use cases to deliver faster responses for integrations, Amazon RDS, a collection of managed services that makes it simple to set up, operate, and scale databases in the cloud, and Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) instances, which provides secure and resizable compute capacity for virtually any workload to eliminate the need to invest in hardware upfront & others.

Vin eRetail offers a seamless shopping experience to consumers with Vinculum’s modular suite of products covering inventory management, replenishment, B2B & B2C warehousing, returns management, order management, supplier portal & analytics. Vin eRetail helps organizations across the entire customer experience, managing data across channels with product Information management, integrating with 150+ marketplaces, webstores & last-mile fulfilment companies, providing a single view of inventory across channels & locations, segregating inventory for multiple clients, providing visibility using client portal, and enabling order fulfilment from multiple warehouses/locations with cross-channel payment reconciliation.

Speaking about the launch, Venkat Nott, Founder & CEO, Vinculum group said, “Vin eRetail’s availability in AWS Marketplace makes it easier for brands and retailers to get started with the cloud easily and quickly. Vinculums expertise, having been recognized as an AWS Advanced Technology Partner, combined with Vin eRetail being listed in AWS Marketplace, means that customers can now jumpstart product deployment and scale on the cloud. We are very excited for the possibilities.”

Vinculums is an AWS Differentiated Partner on the Software Track, and participates in the AWS Retail Software Competency Program, AWS Independent Software Vendor (ISV) Accelerate Program, and Amazon Relational Database Service (RDS) Service Ready Program. Vinculums is part of the Amazon Digital Suite for Small and Medium-sized Businesses (SMBs) a set of easy to use software powered by AWS, designed to meet SMB business needs, available at attractive price points, and with dedicated support.

About Vinculum Group: Vinculums is a Global Software Company enabling Omnichannel Retailing. We help brands and retailers to easily scale, reach and delight customers across channels globally. With a mission to help brands easily reach and delight customers globally, we have managed over 6 MILLION SKUs, served over 30 countries, had over 150 integrations and over 80 partners. For more information, please visit https://www.vinculumgroup.com/

Mumbai, March 29, 2022: Creative Newtech (NSE: Creative) one of India’s leading Brand Licensee and Market Entry Specialist today launched Dustor – a next-gen superior robotic vacuum cleaner that comes with the latest LIDAR technology that maps the area and then cleans corners and surfaces of particles that human eyes cannot see and would be difficult to access manually. It comes with 1.5- 2cm obstacle crossing and its anti-cliff sensor protects the robot from any accidental fall. Dustor also has an automatic charging facility. Being a smart device, Dustor can be accessed from anywhere and cleaning scheduled anytime as per convenience. It comes in 2 variations currently – Dustor BotX Pro & Dustor BotX1, its currently available in online marketplaces like Amazon, Flipkart, Pepperfry and would be rolled out nationwide through modern trade and other channels in a gradual manner.

Commenting on the launch, Ketan Patel – Chairman and Managing Director said, “The pandemic has brought higher hygiene awareness levels to every Indian home and also has driven home the fact that one cannot always rely on manual help at home when it comes to mundane but important tasks like cleaning. Designed in the US and based on extensive research of the Indian consumer, the Dustor is here to revolutionize not just the home cleaning market but beyond as well. Its cutting edge and packs in so many features that it will make house cleaning a breeze, but also more effective than before. It can clean all surfaces including sofas and carpets making it an all in one solution for upwardly mobile Indian households. Our initial focus is metros and Tier 1/2 cities in the initial phase and we have already received an encouraging response with our test launch roll-out done through social and digital platforms.”

About Creative Newtech: Founded in 1992 by Ketan and Purvi Patel, the Mumbai-based company has grown organically in 3 decades to become one of India’s leading brand licensee and market entry specialist offering offers 70+ brands, 3200+ products, 5000+ happy channel partners, 10000+ metric tons of monthly distribution and 50000+ metric tons (across its product range) of monthly import and export. With an omni-channel network that spans online, offline and retail, Creative Newtech is among the handful of national players to provide end-to-end solution from contract manufacturing to retail distribution & brand licensing. Listed on NSE since August 2019, it employs 200 professionals. It currently distributes Honeywell, Disney+Marvel Reconnect, BPL, Philips, Samsung, Transcend, ViewSonic, Zeiss, Hyperice, BaByliss, BPL, Cooler Master, Colourful, Insta360, Hama, Fujifilm, edelkrone, InVue, MSi, Olympus, PNY, Printronix, Rapoo and Thermaltake, etc. in India and beyond. Its Ckart platform initiative has also taken off well.

For more details on the product:- https://dustor.com/

Virtual i Technologies launched its new product Hi My Eye today. Hi My Eye provides video communication, collaboration, virtual inspection, customer service and maintenance software solutions for multiple industries.

Zurich, Switzerland, xx April, 2022 – Virtual i Technologies carries its experience in agile and hybrid working solutions for the insurance industry to a broader spectrum with Hi My Eye. Hi My Eye  virtual communication software enables inspections, discoveries, customer onboarding and support online anytime, anywhere without the need for travel, delivering for a wide portfolio of industries from banking, health, hospitality to SaaS, manufacturing, e-commerce, logistics and more.

Hi My Eye enables accurate, real-time, structured data gathering via video communication. With its 7-API-point infrastructure it is easy to implement for any local systems as well as available on prem and whitelabel. Developers can adopt the software to their own platforms in up to 2 weeks including integration and tests. With its easy-to-adopt and user-friendly infrastructure, it is the perfect solution for workforce collaboration between clients, project managers, inspectors and crew members (even in remote locations), collecting audiovisual evidence and tracking documentation.

Designed for All Industries

Rather than focusing on limited video conferencing, Hi My Eye is designed for uninterrupted real-time data gathering and verification with 360° video meetings to bring you together with your teams, clients or business partners that are multi-located. Hi My Eye connects remote users with the full context of a real-world location, enabling more effective virtual data collection and communication. Hi My Eye software is easy to use for customer operation, technical support, onboarding teams and all hybrid workers. The software provides secure, easy, remote data collection for different industries such as logistics, health, real-estate, defense, banking, SaaS, e-commerce, energy, retail and more.

Uninterrupted Process

Even in remote areas, with Hi My Eye it is possible to easily collect audio-visual data anytime, anywhere. Users can easily record videos, take photos, and get the location of the callee in a structured secure way. It is automatically uploaded to the cloud for you to operate smoothly.

• No more traveling for or waiting for your customers at your office for customer service operations. Immediate video customer service with Hi My Eye
• Need to adopt today’s hybrid work and service environment? Onboard, support your customers online anytime, anywhere without traveling.
• Don’t worry about months of development and integration timeframes. Hi My Eye is ready to go live in under 2 weeks with easy API integration.

Easy Start for the Modern way of Customer Service with 3-months Saving

Virtual i Technologies welcomes their visionary customers who adopt their businesses in agile and hybrid operations for a smoother customer journey with a complimentary 3 months subscription offer. Companies can now start using Hi My Eye without a technical subscription fee for the first 3 months.

Veysel Sinan Geylani, Founder and CEO of Virtual i Technologies: “What we are eager to do at Virtual i Technologies is to support the growth of our customers and enabling them to become a global player in the competition with our ground-breaking technology. We carry the mission to make high technologies such as uninterrupted data gathering accessible for all sizes of companies. Today I am happy to make available our AI-backed data driven technology, which we developed for the insurance industry, now to all sectors to improve our client-centric approach. With Hi My Eye, it is possible to adopt customer services  into today’s changing customer needs in an agile way.

About Virtual i Technologies

AI-backed solutions for insurance underwriting and more

Founded in 2018, Virtual i Technologies provides intelligent solutions that allow the insurance industry to assess risks before insuring them. The company, based in Zurich and operating globally, enables the insurance industry to shift from good faith-based underwriting to dynamic and data-based decision making.

Created and patented by Virtual i Technologies, [VRS]™ Virtual Risk Space offers an innovative platform to assess risks of different sizes, from micro to large, before they happen. As a unique, technology-based and cost-effective platform, [VRS]™ brings immediate and visible results to the insurance industry. With Hi My Eye, Virtual i Technologies expanded the user ecosystem from the insurance industry by enabling  innovative high-tech solutions accessible for agile operations in various industries.

With its outlier vision, Virtual i Technologies is awarded by Morgan Stanley Multicultural Innovation Lab, DXC Invitational Insurtech – Europe 2021, ACORD InsurTech Innovation Challenge, AGEAS INsure Open Innovation Program among others.

Bengaluru, India, February 22, 2022: High-speed, low-latency connectivity solutions for distributed, heterogeneous compute systems are a fundamental element in next-generation autonomous driving applications. Microchip Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHP) is announcing the market’s first Gen 4 automotive-qualified PCIe® switches. These Switchtec™ PFX, PSX, and PAX switch solutions provide cutting-edge compute interconnect capabilities for Advanced Driver- Assistance Systems (ADAS).

“Our automotive-qualified portfolio of Switchtec Gen 4 switches provides the lowest latency and high bandwidth required to link the CPU and accelerator building blocks used in ADAS applications,” says Krishna Mallampati, Associate Director of Marketing and Applications at Microchip’s data center solutions business unit. “We are delighted to see the culmination of several years of collaboration with key technology partners and customers to bring these solutions to market.”

Switchtec Gen 4 PCIe switches provide the high-speed interconnect that supports distributed, real-time safety-critical data processing in ADAS architectures. PCIe is emerging as the preferred compute interconnect solution for the automotive industry for the same reasons it has become pervasive in the data center market. It provides ultra-low latency and low-power bandwidth scalability to CPUs and specialized accelerator devices.

“The qualification of Microchip’s solutions to meet the stringent needs of the automotive market is a significant milestone, and one NVIDIA closely collaborated on,” said Michael Truog, senior director of Automotive Platform Architecture at NVIDIA. “Microchip’s automotive PCIe switches deliver flexibility and advanced programmability, enabling high-speed SoC and GPU connectivity within our NVIDIA DRIVE platform.”

Development Tools

Microchip’s ChipLink diagnostic Graphical User Interface (GUI) provides extensive debug, diagnostics, configuration and forensics tools for rapid deployment.

Availability

Switchtec automotive-qualified Gen 4 PCIe switches are available in production. For purchasing information, contact a Microchip sales representative.

About Microchip Technology: Microchip Technology Inc. is a leading provider of smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio enable customers to create optimal designs which reduce risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company’s solutions serve more than 120,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.

• Microchip’s alternatives to inflexible hybrid-style converters improve design flexibility while reducing system size, cost and development time

India, January 27, 2022 — Space system designers cannot easily support non-standard voltages or add functions with traditional hybrid-style power converters. Microchip Technology Inc. (Nasdaq: MCHP) has eliminated the cost, complexity and customization challenges of these hybrid solutions by offering a discrete-component-based, space-grade DC-DC power converter family that now includes 28V-input, 50-watt (W) radiation-tolerant options.

“Our latest 28V-input SA50-28 products greatly simplify and accelerate system development,” said Leon Gross, vice president of Microchip’s discrete product business unit. “They are easier to customize than alternative space-grade power converters so they can meet specific voltage, current and other needs. Customers gain flexibility while reducing the size, cost and complexity of their space system designs.”

Microchip’s SA50-28 family is the industry’s only off-the-shelf, 28V-input, radiation-tolerant power converter offering that is based on discrete components with surface-mount construction and non-hybrid assembly processes. Delivering more capabilities than alternative off-the-shelf, space-grade power converters, a single SA50-28 device with customized parameters eliminates the volume, weight and complexity problems of using hybrid solutions with their multiple devices and surrounding circuitry.

Microchip’s comprehensive SA50-28 product line is a 20V- to 40V-input, 50W family with nine standard outputs of 3.3V, 5V, 12V, 15V and 28V in single- and triple-output configurations. The devices can be tailored to a system’s exacting power needs in a relatively short time with minimal additional costs as compared to hybrid-style power converter products. Other features include high efficiency, low output noise, output inhibit control, overcurrent protection, external synchronization and full-rated power operation through −55°C to +85°C with linear derating to +125°C. The SA50-28 family is part of Microchip’s growing line of standard non-hybrid, space-grade power converters that enable designers to use commercially available, off-the-shelf components whose circuitry has a proven spaceflight heritage. The products join the radiation-hardened SA50- 120 power converter family, introduced in February 2021 that reduces risk and development time for qualified space systems by allowing designers to start with proven commercially available off the shelf technology in ceramic or plastic packages and quickly scaling up development using lower screening levels than traditional Qualified Manufacturers List (QML) requirements.

Availability

Microchip’s radiation-tolerant SA50-28 family is available for volume production and limited sampling. Prototype-grade units are available from stock, and non-radiation-tolerant engineering units are also available with the same performance as the space-grade units at a lower cost. Delivery times are usually faster than hybrid-construction units with no associated lot penalty. The devices are complemented by Microchip’s family of FPGAs, high-reliability radiation-hardened power semiconductors, and space-grade timing devices. For additional information, including pricing, contact a Microchip sales representative, authorized worldwide distributor, or visit Microchip’s website.

About Microchip Technology

Microchip Technology Inc. is a leading provider of smart, connected and secure embedded control solutions. Its easy-to-use development tools and comprehensive product portfolio enable customers to create optimal designs which reduce risk while lowering total system cost and time to market. The company’s solutions serve more than 120,000 customers across the industrial, automotive, consumer, aerospace and defense, communications and computing markets. Headquartered in Chandler, Arizona, Microchip offers outstanding technical support along with dependable delivery and quality. For more information, visit the Microchip website at www.microchip.com.

ICICI Bank today announced that it has made ‘InstaBIZ’ interoperable, making the benefits of its business banking mobile app available to all merchants including customers of other banks. The first-of-its kind initiative enables merchants- owners of grocery shops, supermarkets, restaurants, stationery stores and pharmacies and professionals like doctors and lawyers to instantly create digital collection solutions like UPI ID and QR code, and start collecting money from their customers immediately. They can also digitally apply for Point of Sale (POS) device. Further, they can transform their shops into an online store in just 30 minutes, and apply for a voice messaging device that confirms the receipt of the payments.

• The first-of-its kind app enables merchants to link account of any bank with it
• Merchants can instantly create UPI ID and QR code on the app; start collecting money immediately
• They can also apply for POS; quickly convert their physical shop into an online store
• It offers fully digital and instant KYC process

Any merchant, no matter it has a current/savings account with ICICI Bank or not, can avail the solutions by simply downloading the ‘InstaBIZ’ app from Play Store and link their bank account. This initiative features a completely online and instant Know Your Customer (KYC) process. Merchants do not need to visit any branch nor upload any document. The initiative leverages upon advanced APIs of the Bank that instantly and digitally validate PAN/ Aadhaar number which is required for verification of KYC.

Speaking on the initiative, Mr. Anup Bagchi, Executive Director, ICICI Bank said, “We at ICICI Bank always believe that the self-employed and the MSME segment forms the backbone of the Indian economy. A large part of this segment consists of retail merchants. It is our endeavour to support merchants- around two crore across the country by offering them solutions that make their business easy. With this aim, we were the first to introduce ‘InstaBIZ’, a mobile banking app for businesses, two-and-a-half years ago.

We believe that the benefits of our products and services should not be restricted only to our customers; those who bank with others should also avail them. In line with this philosophy of ‘open architecture’ of our digital banking platforms, we made ‘iMobilePay’, our mobile app for personal banking, available to any individual last year. It was the first of its kind initiative in the industry. Similarly, we are now delighted to extend the ease, speed and safety of ‘InstaBIZ’ to merchants having accounts with any bank in the country, another industry-first initiative. Now, any merchant can instantly avail digital collection services from ‘InstaBIZ’ and immediately start collecting money from their customers. Merchants also get the advantage to get their KYC process done in a fully digital and paperless manner without visiting a branch of the Bank. We believe that this new and unique digital offering resonates with merchants across the country, as it frees up their bandwidth to a large extent, which they can devote to grow their main business.”

Here are the benefits of the digital collection services of ‘InstaBIZ’ for any merchant:
Key benefits:
Create UPI instantly: Merchants having bank account with any bank can download the app, instantly link their bank account and generate a UPI ID easily. This helps them to collect payment physically at the store, home deliveries and online payments. The facility provides instant settlement of payment in the merchant’s account as compared to the industry practice of getting it credited on the next day.
Create QR code instantly: Merchants can instantly create and activate QR code and link it with their account in any other bank. They can then generate digital QR codes with specific amounts and share it with customers digitally on email or messaging platforms. They can also take print outs, keep it at their stores and start collecting payment immediately.
Apply and manage POS: Merchants can apply for POS through the app itself and receive it in a day if they are based in major cities. They can digitally place service requests like indents for paper roll, terminal issue, activating EMI, international card acceptance, statement request, transaction status, GST invoice among others, through ‘InstaBIZ’. They can also track status of all applications of their POS device itself.

Value-added services:
Create digital store: The facility enables merchants of any bank to create digital store on ‘EazyStore’ mobile app. They can choose from over 500 attractive templates and catalogues to design their digital store. The facility also enables merchants to create promotional campaigns, manage invoicing, inventory and collections. The digital stores can be created in flat 30 minutes by just four clicks.
Apply for UPI contactless solutions: Merchants can order counter standee/ plaque for UPI payments from the app itself in quick and easy steps. They can also apply for a voice messaging device, ‘EazySound’, to get real time instant payment confirmation for both successful as well as failed transactions.
Loyalty programme: The merchants are also offered ‘Eazy Rewards Programme’, another industry first feature. With this, merchants accepting instant cashless payments from customers through POS/QR solution, get points for transactions which can be redeemed for shopping, vouchers, vacations among others.

About ICICI Bank: ICICI Bank Ltd (BSE: ICICIBANK, NSE: ICICIBANK and NYSE:IBN) is a leading private sector bank in India. The Banks consolidated total assets stood at 16,82,904 crore at December 31, 2021.