Internet & Mobile Industry Huddle Together to Propel SMEs to Next Level of Growth

NEW DELHI, July 8, 2010 -

    - Top Players From Industry Brainstorm on Driving SMEs
      Business With Cost-Effective ICT Solutions



    - More Than 500 Real SMEs Participate in the Conference

    - Chief Guest Shri Dinesh Rai, Hon'ble Secretary, Ministry of
      MSME, GoI Announces Rs. 105 cr. Worth ICT Scheme

    - Sessions on B2B Marketplaces, Social Media & Classified
      Portals, IT Applications, Mobile & Email Marketing Take the Limelight

Now is the time of collaboration between the industry
stalwarts for augmenting growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
Indubitably depicting this, for the first time ever, the Internet and Mobile
industry fraternity came together to provide much-needed impetus to Small and
Medium Enterprises (SMEs) at the recently concluded Conference on 'Free for
SMEs'. Jointly organized by IndiaMART.com and Internet and Mobile Association
of India (IAMAI) at India Habitat Centre, New Delhi, the much-acclaimed
conference brought fierce competitors from different verticals on a common
platform to voice their opinions, share their expertise and add value on how
SMEs can leverage ICT tools, services and applications for their business
growth. That is, the conference equipped the SMEs with information and
knowledge of these applications which they were largely unaware of. The
distinguished Chief Guest Shri Dinesh Rai, Honorable Secretary, Ministry of
Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, Government of India also commended such
an effort and announced an ICT scheme worth Rs. 105 crore for the MSMEs.

Complimenting the industry fraternity, the audience gathering
was constituted by the real SMEs. As usually observed, actual SMEs are
missing in action in conferences and seminars. However, the theme was so
valuable and attractive that it was successful in mobilizing over 500 SMEs to
attend and benefit from this unique convention.

No other platform than 'Free for SMEs' could achieve a feat of
having intense competitors like IndiaMART.com, Tradeindia.com,
Fibre2fashion.com, Sulekha and Yahoo! Small Business in one forum and discuss
how SMEs could reap the benefits of B2B Marketplaces. Moderating the session,
Mr. Namit Pandey, Head, Yahoo Small Business, Yahoo India said, "Internet
today has become bigger than any other media viz. radio, TV or newspapers.
Thus, the starting point for SMEs today is certainly to have web presence to
reach out to their customers." The unique session had further deliberation by
Mr. Brijesh Agrawal, COO, IndiaMART.com who highlighted how SMEs can do
wonders by using B2B Marketplaces easily and effectively. Breaking the myth
of having to invest exorbitant amount of time to access B2B marketplaces, he
stated, "SMEs lack willingness to access Internet. If they overcome this, all
they require is 15 minutes to one hour of time in a day to effectively
utilize the services of these online marketplaces and enhance their business
prospects tremendously." Echoing Mr. Agrawal's view, Mr. Bikky Khosla, CEO,
Tradeindia.com, said, "SMEs need to be active on B2B marketplaces which offer
cost-effective solutions for both marketing and sourcing."

In addition, for the first time ever, the entire classified
portals industry was together on one platform. The think tanks from InfoEdge,
OLX, Asklaila.com, Quickr India, J9 Ventures successfully enabled a detailed
understanding of leveraging their cost-effective services for brand building,
promotions and engaging customers. While Mr. Amarjit Batra, OLX highlighted
the worthiness of local classifieds and methods to utilize blogs and social
networking sites like Facebook, Mr. Pranay Chulet, CEO, Quickr India termed
the local classified portals as 'faster, better and cheaper' way of enhancing
businesses. Believing in the tech-tonic shift in the way information is
consumed, Mr. Amlan Mandal from Asklaila apprised everyone in the audience on
evaluating what works better (social media) for business, segmentation of
target group and timing of consumption.

An interactive platform, the one-of-a-kind conference also had
panelists answering questions put forth by the engaged audience. To a
question on what all aspects to be kept in mind while hiring SEO agencies, a
panelist replied that objectives and deliverables are to be well-defined
while understanding basics of SEO by oneself. Replying to another question on
how to use social media for a B2B segment, another panelist said that
companies can start groups around their area of expertise through which they
can tap their target customers.

Proudly enriching the SME audience with low-cost or free ICT
solutions, corporate giants like Microsoft, Google India, Intel South Asia
ardently shared stage with upcoming business leaders like Luna Ergonomics.
Addressing the session, Mr. Rajeev Karwal, Founder and CEO, Milagrow stated,
"In order to remain competitive, SMEs need to use low-cost or free tools like
Cloud Computing. Infact, lesser known softwares like Sugar CRM, Orange HRM
and .proj are very helpful tools for managing businesses efficiently."
Moreover, Mr. Gautam Gandhi, Manager, New Business Development, Google India
emphasized on importance on careful integration of online and offline
activities by small businesses. Sharing an exciting new technology, Mr.
Abhijit Bhattacharjee, CEO, Luna Ergonomics informed that with Panini Keypad
users can type in any language and utilize it for different areas of their
business like sales force automation and sending updates to customers in
regional languages, among others.

The conference concluded with the forward-looking theme of
cost-effective mobile and email marketing solutions for SME businesses where
One97, Valuefirst, 160by2, Sprinklr jointly enlightened the esteemed audience
with their knowledge. Describing email marketing as a high ROI solution, Mr.
Manjunath K G, Co-founder & MD, Sprinklr said, "SMEs need to start building
mailing lists and tracking visitors to their websites and getting back to
them." Lastly, Mr. Pankaj Agarwal, Head-Sales, Netcore Solutions explained
how mobile marketing can be effectively used in a cost effective way. He
added, "Mobile marketing tools like SMS-push/pull, games application,
Voice-IVR or Voice-SMS, Mobile Internet-rich media, et al can be highly
beneficial for SMEs." Mr. Agarwal also ran an instant poll among the audience
to know their feedback about Mobile Advertising. Over 90% SMSed stating Yes!

About IndiaMART.com

IndiaMART.com is India's largest online B2B marketplace
connecting global buyers with suppliers through business directories, online
product catalogs, buy-sell offers, industry specific marketplaces, printed
media and trade shows participation.

Founded in 1996, the company has a pan-India presence in over
100 cities. With over 1500 employees located across 39 offices in the
country, IndiaMART.com offers an extensive range of value-added products and
services to its 700,000 registered members and nearly 5 million global buyers
across various industries and verticals.

IndiaMART.com has won numerous awards over the years and has
been widely covered by media such as CNBC, BBC, BusinessMoney, CNN,
Businessworld, Economic Times, Financial Express, etc for its pioneering role
in promoting SME business in the country. Its existing investors include
Intel Capital and Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd (Times Group), India's largest
print media group.

For more information, please visit:
www.indiamart.com/press-section/

    Media Contacts
    Pawandeep Kaur
    Manager - PR
    IndiaMART.com
    M: +91-9990098828
    E: pr@indiamart.com

Media Contacts: Pawandeep Kaur, Manager - PR, IndiaMART.com, M: +91-9990098828, E: pr at indiamart.com