GoodWorkLabs Founders Plan to Invest in 3 Startups:

2017 has been an exceptional year for GoodWorkLabs. Last year, we were awarded as the 5th fastest growing technology company by Deloitte and just recently, we also got recognized as a Google Certified Developer and Android Agency.

As part of a business expansion plan, we also launched a state-of-the-art and design inspired Co-working studio called GoodWorks CoWork in Whitefield, Bangalore. This idea was born as an initiative to support the growing Startup ecosystem in Bangalore.

Our Founders, Sonia Sharma and Vishwas Mudagal recently caught up with the Economic Times to announce the big news that in 2017 this entrepreneurial duo are all set to invest in 3 Startups in the field of Financial technology, Healthcare technology, Internet of Things, Education technology.  The seed funding will amount to anywhere between 25 lakhs to 1 Crore INR.

After having built a successful multi-million dollar company such as GoodWorkLabs, both Sonia and Vishwas are all set to support the growth of Startups in the technology sector. Their recent venture – GoodWorks CoWork is also aimed at providing the perfect ecosystem required for their growth. Right from office space to community building and mentorship, GoodWorks CoWork is all set to become the breeding ground for Startups in Bangalore.

“We have built a multi-million dollar company and have grown 500% year-on-year and this is our way of giving back to the startup ecosystem”  Vishwas Mudagal ,CEO of GoodWorkLabs, told Economic Times.

GoodWorkLabs, set up in 2013, develops mobile apps and products for its clients. The company has been profitable from its second year of operations and will now be using these profits to invest in Startups for the next 5 years.

“The Startup should be solving a real-world problem and should be able to sustain itself” said Sonia Sharma who is the MD of GoodWorkLabs.

Together, they both are super excited about their new journey as Angel Investors and also about their CoWorking business venture and we wish them the best for the journey ahead!

GoodWorkLabs is now a Google Certified Agency

GoodWorkLabs is very proud to announce that Google has certified us as an expert agency that understands and excels at building Android applications. We are one of the first few companies in 2017 to make it to Google’s Android Certified Agencies list across India, UK, Russia, Indonesia, USA and Canada.

As a leading Outsourced Product Development Company and UX design studio, we know what it takes to build a mobile application that can spur millions of downloads from the Play store. Attention to detail, User Interactions, Design and Graphics, we ensure we build the best technology for our clients that will scale up their business.

GoodWorkLabs is one of the top 25 Google Certified Agencies: 

As part of this Developer Certification program, Google recognizes only a hand-full of organizations that have undergone the required training and have demonstrated expertise in building exceptional Android applications. By bagging this prestigious title, GoodWorkLabs has proven its excellence in terms of Android technology, design and mobile apps as a whole.

Here is the list of top Google certified agencies:

“This is by far the biggest recognition in the global industry that GoodWorkLabs is the leading company when it comes to building Android applications and related technologies. Google Certification has put us on the map of the best of the best agencies in the world,” said Vishwas Mudagal, CEO and Co-Founder at GoodWorkLabs. “Having bagged this certification, our credibility has gone up many notches higher, which in turn has resulted in increased confidence in our capabilities by our growing customer base across geographies.”

This certification will also help clients make a more informed decision while looking for an agency to build Android apps. In the past, we have worked with some of the top clientele which include both funded Startups and Fortune 500 companies.

Sonia Sharma, Founder and MD at GoodWorkLabs, said, “There is no bigger certification authority than Google for an agency. Years of effort in perfecting UX, design and technology, and a vision to build apps that touch the lives of millions of users have brought us here today.”

The benefits of becoming a certified Google developer agency are plenty, some of which include personalized training, priority support, dedicated content, and access to Google’s developer relations teams. Certified Agencies will also get early access to upcoming developer products and will get help with UX reviews.

GoodWorkLabs is delighted to be part of an ecosystem that understands and excels at building Android technologies.

Even a few years ago, the very idea of simulated three-dimensional worlds that you viewed through those special goggles appeared to be unfamiliar. But, today things are no longer the same. Virtual Reality has gone mainstream and is increasingly adopted today to bring about a competitive edge and win over customers with tremendous audio-visual impact. For instance TechViz states that 171 million people globally could be using VR hardware and software by 2018. Another stat from Digi-Capital states that the 2020 VR revenue forecast stands at $120 billion.

Changing trends in Virtual Reality

So, how are things different from before? In fact, Hollywood has been using the concept of virtual reality for several decades now. The technology sector has been also creating prototypes every now and then. But, what makes things interesting is that consumers can now expect to find high-tech virtual reality gadgets getting closer to the consumer products. The applications based on VR are rapidly emerging in the market. Gaming based on VR does not exist in isolation but is interconnected with latest technologies and social behavior. The synergy between all these fields can change the way you will experience situations and your behavior.

It has also enabled the game developers to design new and interesting gaming experiences. The experiences include online casinos using VR technologies big time, which is extremely popular. Here are some of the ways Virtual Reality can change the gaming experience.

Synergy between collaborating gaming scenarios and social experiences

Virtual reality can create social experiences even while gaming. The person who uses the virtual reality headset can only view the various virtualized elements. This can be also regarded as a piece of the puzzle where the individual who can view the elements needs to communicate the same to the other team members. The job of the team then is to conclude what is the thing to do thereafter.

VR enables greater involvement among the players

Players are more involved when the gaming is based on VR, equipping them with a higher number of tools at their disposal as compared to the flat-screen gaming. While flat-screen gaming does have the capacity to make the players feel emotional to some extent, it does not match up to a VR gaming experience where the players feel as if everything is happening in reality. The players seem to feel that they are witnesses to the events and they are responsible for those scenes. Though earlier games had also done it to some extent, VR gives the players more tools in their hands.

Everything that is unthinkable of in reality is possible in VR 

Virtual reality can make the players feel as if they belong to a scene rather than simply demonstrating things. The simulation enables the players to see things from a different angle. They can witness the experiences of other people, which was something unheard of even some years back.

Thus, the VR technology can create an interesting world of vivid imagination while shattering the scope of traditional education and learning.

The growth of IoT is fueled by the fact that there are more than 6 billion IoT devices in use, and is successfully connecting humans and devices with every passing day. From automatic air purifiers and scheduling hospital beds based on the merit of physical condition, to finding misplaced objects, we have it all. These devices do not come easy; it requires machine learning which programs it to be what we get today.

The ‘things’

Qardio Arm a wireless blood pressure monitor which has left behind the regular monitor is an example how machine learning can bring about change in IoT. With the help of cloud, this machine can store the readings of the patient on cloud and be shared with the doctors digitally. Such products make IoT survive in the market due to its performance enhanced due to machine learning, not just this it opens up a market for the product and increases sale.

Another startup, Zenatix, manufactures and installs smart meters and sensors to reduce energy wastage through monitoring of the devices at every level, using its cloud technology.

Machine learning will keep you going

Just detecting impure air or Fitbit monitoring exercise patterns, isn’t enough. Consumers (especially B2B consumers) want to have deeper level of value from IoT.

This is exactly where machine learning comes in.

Machine learning which will include big data sets, larger algorithms, pattern recognition, image processing and data mining bring greater chances of improving the device.  Through machine learning algorithms and data, now devices can sense a person’s mood or behavior. This will help them to adjust to their requirements and hence provide ‘smart’ value as a part of its convenience and comfort offerings.

Google’s Nest is one such which has made ‘smart’ device indeed a smart one with its cutting edge technology and makes people’s home a smart home.

Race to top

There are many IoT companies but only a few have what it takes to survive this market. With Innovations being made every day the companies have to keep up and make their devices top notch and make improvements to stay in the running.

With this, there is the development of the device that makes the consumer happy not just to have a useful device but a powerful one.

Machine learning which makes the product powerful and has other benefits to the consumer such as cost reduction and not having to buy many smart devices to make one smart device work makes it stay in the IoT industry.

Everyone can be winners

IoT startups have a bright future with several companies who are looking to make investments which are lending their machine learning knowledge to make worthy and smart devices. Cisco Investments are infusing more than $150 million globally in IoT startups. This is a clear indicator that IoT devices from all over the world can get funding and the necessary hardware for making machine learning possible even if it is a small startup with limited capital.

Like they say, things should change with the change in times or be left behind, which is very appropriate in the world of IoT which can be overcome by machine learning.

How Icons can affect User Experience

A user-friendly interface is one that can help in effective communication and ensure that things are done in the right manner. The user interface of a website thus has a crucial role to play to increase its online traffic and repeat visits. The job of a web designer or a mobile app designer is to create the interface in such a way that the user finds it easy to complete his or her actions.

But what role does an icon play in this? App icons are just apt for interfaces since they are able to express the meanings without using words. The catch here is whether the icons can convey the core idea to its target audience or not. They should be designed carefully to bring out the objective of an action or a product. Icons provide other benefits too like improving aesthetic appeal and saving the real estate of your mobile screen or desktop. Moreover, a majority of the websites and apps use them since it is a pattern with which users are quite familiar.

What can impact the functionality of an icon? Though icons offer innumerable benefits when designed properly, there can be issues if the functionalities get hidden. This means the icons fail to communicate their usability due to design errors. The most important job of an icon is to support the online or mobile users on where they need to go next.

Check out some of the ways to select the best icons for your app or a website so that your users enjoy using them.

• Make sure that the icons help in enhanced navigation

The basic function of the icons is to help the visitors to enjoy a smooth navigation experience in your website. Choose icons with visuals, which the users are already familiar with and so feel comfortable using them.

Is it your dream to see more and more users download one of your apps on their mobile phones? Your icon can create all the distinction between the app getting overlooked or being immediately recognized.

• Simplicity is the key

Keep your icons simple. Avoid using too many images or colors into the icon for your mobile app. An icon is tiny and overcrowding it with too many concepts or colors can create chaos, which should be avoided by all means. Your main intention while designing the icon for a mobile app should be that its functionality should be instantly recognized.

• Your icons should have a unique symbol or shape

Your app will be competing directly with thousands of other apps when a user navigates through the App Store or scrolls through the home screens. So, you need to go for an icon that can be recognized immediately.

• Do not use words in them

Since the icon does not have much space in it, when you use long words, they become quite difficult to read, especially when it is pitted against so many other icons that look equally appealing. How about using the first alphabet of your brand instead? That will enhance the functionality of the icons for sure.

Keep these tips in mind while designing the icons for your mobile app so that the users can have an enjoyable experience.

In just the next 3 years we will see an unprecedented 90% of the cars fitted with some or the other form of connectivity platform. Combine this with the recent strides Google has taken to improve the performance of its driverless cars, and what we see is that IoT is moving up fast as a decisive influencer in the automotive industry.

What is the trend currently?

Automobile manufacturers have witnessed a growing opportunity in getting their cars connected on digital platforms. A Business Insider report states that there is an $8.1 trillion revenue opportunity in connected cars that will materialize between 2015 and 2020. Automobile manufacturers and policy makers have recognized that this opportunity extends far beyond the telematics and Wi-Fi systems on cars. Think smart sensors, edge computing, chargers, radars, lidars, and public transit surveillance.

What value will IoT provide to automobiles?

1. Enhance access – Imagine holding a hot cup of brew while your smartphone starts the car engine in the snowy season and lets it warm up? This is an actual use case applied by BMW with its ‘My BMW Remote App’. Even if your car comprises of technology not compatible with the modern day IoT, there is a solution to it. Services like SmartStart will ensure that your car stays connected with your smartphone. Your mobile device can also launch specific actions like start, lock, or locate your car with precise GPS coordinates

2. Enhance security – Today’s mobiles are equipped with best-in-class security and encryption solutions. This advanced degree of protection can also help keep your car secure when you are not near it. One example of enhanced security enabled by IoT is the use of NFC based car door locks. You can use the NFC feature of your smartphone to lock or unlock the car door by touching your phone with the door handle. Even when other family members or your friends will use the car, you simply need to provide access to their smartphones from your mobile device. You can check out TapKey to see a similar concept – using the app to convert the mobile phone to a car key for easy and secure access.

3. Enhanced hack protection – Solutions like Karamba Security make it easy for you to thwart unwanted hackers from entering your car’s system. Its electronic Control Unit (ECU) consists of a host of measures that integrate an enhanced level of protection by using your Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB ports on the car. Even if someone tries to gain unauthorized access or install malware, an automated alert is sent to the car manufacturer.

Signing off

As is evident, the amount of value provided by IoT is substantially very high. This also makes IoT a major decisive factor in the strategies of automakers. And this explains the growing interest of this industry in embracing IoT and embracing it fast.

What other advantage can IoT provide to the auto industry? Do write in to us and let us know.