We are pleased to inform you that Business India, a leading magazine of the corporate world of India in its issue dated April 3rd, 2023, has published an article on Biocube Technologies. The article covers the changing landscape of the biometric industry; how Biocube is going to make its mark in the sector and the uniqueness and disruptive nature of Biocube’s offerings. And how Mr. Subodh Narain Agrawal was inspired to create the same.

1. April 3-16, 2023
n Foreign Trade Policy 2023
n Sutlej Textiles & Ind
n Prabhudas Lilladher
n Titagarh Wagons
R100
RNI No.35850/80; Reg. No. MCS-123/2018-20; Published on: Every alternate Monday
The fintech market is estimated to touch
$150 billion by 2025

2. Business India u the maga zine of the cor por ate wor ld • No. 1148
Contents
u 4 u
apr il 3-16, 2023
COVER FEATURE
24
Rise and rise
of fintech
Fintech is
transforming
finance and
promoting
financial inclusion
in India. As the
sector continues to
grow and mature,
it is expected to
make finance
more accessible,
innovative and
inclusive
u C O R P O R A T E R E P O R T S u
Sutlej Textiles and Industries 36
STIL has put up a robust platform for charting its future
growth journey
pRABHUDAS LILLADHER 40
Transformation at Prabhudas Lilladher is underway with
Amisha Vora losing no time in getting the broking house
future ready
TITAGARH WAGONS 44
Titagarh Wagons offers a complete solution in mobility
BIOCUBE 48
Armed with an integrated AI
powered multi-factor, multi-
modal biometric identity
and data analytics platform
Biocube is well-entrenched in
its space
SOROCO 52
Soroco’s Scout wants to create
a fundamental tech, which
will have a global impact

3. Business India u the maga zine of the cor por ate wor ld
Corporate Reports
u 48 u
apr il 3-16, 2023
E
ven for successful entrepreneurs,
60s in their life cycle is unlikely
to be considered the phase when
one should kick-start a new venture on
a large scale. There are, in fact, very few
examples of entrepreneurs in this age-
bracket having embarked on something
new and eventually made them big.
But this is what precisely Subodh Agar-
wal (65), a London-based NRI and serial
entrepreneur, has chosen to do.
For the past over five years, he, along
with his associates in India and lead-
ing markets across the planet, have been
trying to put up different components
of a big-ticket biometrics play. His ven-
ture Biocube, a dedicated technology
firm with specialisation in biometric
services offering several differentials, is
now raring to go, having successfully
gone past the proof of concept stage in
several projects in different geographies.
The company is rooted in India in
terms of positioning of product devel-
opment and R&D team, while it will
have decisive global footprint with con-
tracts being executed in other countries.
“We have created a strong base to make
a mark in the fast growing biometrics
space,” says Agarwal. “And, we are look-
ing at an exponential growth from the
next calendar year. This is the biggest
bet of my life so far,” The serial entre-
preneur (executive chairman & CEO,
Biocube) has quite a long list of achieve-
ments in his career of over four decades,
wherein he has dabbled in multiple
businesses across several geographies.
Expanding horizon
But, before unravelling Agarwal’s (he
comes from a business family in Bareily,
UP) epic scale intent, here is a quick take
on the churnings in the business of bio-
metrics – both globally as well as in
India. Quite interestingly, while it may
have skipped the attention of many that
biometrics services have emerged as a
major technological offering of the digi-
talisation era, the fact (as several studies
reveal) is: it has fast evolved as
a formidable business, which
is growing by leaps and bounds.
And, those who think that it is primar-
ily used in many advanced offices to
mark attendance may just be living in
dark ages.
As per a report released by a global
research agency last year, the global bio-
metrics market had stood at $32.48 bil-
lion and is expected to jump to $60
billion level in 2026, registering a CAGR
of 16.25 per cent. North America was
the largest region in the biometrics mar-
ket in 2021 and Asia Pacific is expected
to be the fastest-growing region in the
forecast period. “The main types of bio-
metrics include Iris recognition, hand
geometry, facial recognition, signa-
ture verification, fingerprint, voice rec-
ognition, and palm vein. Biometrics
including contact, non-contact and
combined devices are used by the gov-
ernment, the military, banking, finance,
consumer electronics, healthcare, com-
mercial safety & security, and logistics,”
says the report.
An India-specific research paper
recently unveiled by TechSci Research
had confirmed domestic market emu-
lating trends in the global market. “The
Indian biometrics market has witnessed
high growth in recent years owing to
the increasing adoption across the pri-
vate and government sector,” says Karan
Chechi, founder & research director,
TechSci. “The usage of biometric tech-
nology has also been boosted by gov-
ernment efforts such as the issue of
e-passports, the rise of e-banking and
the use of biometric technologies for
identity and verification reasons in
visas”.
As per the TechSci report, the value
of biometrics services in India had stood
over $2 billion in 2022 and by 2028, it
will well cross $5 billion mark maintain-
ing over 15 percent CGAR in the forecast
period (see graphs). The report spe-
cifically mentions the hard push
from the government in adopt-
ing biometric technologies for
identification and verification
of individuals in various e-gov-
ernance applications such as
RSBY (Rashtriya Swasthya Bima
Yojna), UIDAI (Aadhar), e-pass-
port, driving licence, etc. “Some of
the other factors driving the Indian bio-
metrics market include rising number of
smart phone users, improving internet
connectivity, increasing security con-
cerns, etc,” the report further says.
Moreover, after Covid 19 pandemic,
contactless biometric systems have also
taken strong roots, with emphasis on
solutions like face and voice recognition
for identity authentication. Currently,
the finger print recognition modality
dominates the Indian biometrics mar-
ket, with a market share of 46.52 per
cent in 2022. Furthermore, about 56
per cent of biometrics-related business
is derived from the government sec-
tors, followed by banking and finance
sectors.
Armed with an integrated AI powered multi-factor, multi-
modal biometric identity and data analytics platform
Biocube is well-entrenched in its space
Ready to make a mark
Agarwal: looking
at an exponential
growth

4. Business India the maga zine of the cor por ate wor ld Corporate Reports
u 49 u
apr il 3-16, 2023
The business has seen emergence of
a set of players who are collaborating
with government and private firms, pro-
viding them with generic or customised
solutions. IDEMIA, HID India, SecuGen
India, NEC Corporation, ESSL Security
and Honeywell International are some
of the leading firms in the domestic bio-
metrics fray.
Trigger points
Talk to anybody in the technology busi-
ness today and in all probability he will
strongly emphasise the inevitability of
more innovations in biometrics applica-
tions in the time to come. “Biometrics is
becoming a major tool for data authen-
tication,” points out Varun Bhalla,
country manager, Provenir. “A major
emerging trend is the deployment of AI
in biometrics solutions, which signif-
icantly improve the value of data and
provide critical support in areas like
fraud detection. It helps in quick deci-
sion making”.
And, it is in this growing environ-
ment that Biocube is promising to make
a mark, spearheaded by Agarwal, with
his vast global experience, at the helm.
Hailed as a visionary entrepreneur in
business circles, he is credited to have
led a consortium of leading petrochem-
ical firms in the 1990s, pioneering pri-
vate partnership under PPP model in
liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal
business in India. Later, he developed
a deep interest in investment banking,
for which he shifted base to London
in 2002. He founded Euromax Capital,
which facilitated some large scale merg-
ers and acquisitions (M&A) transactions
for companies in the telecom, steel, oil,
gas and mining sectors, with a maxi-
mum valuation exceeding $30 billion.
Biocube is his new baby, which he
founded in 2017, following his real-
isation that visa application process
for many countries is full of hassles as
one needs to visit physical visa centres,
submit paper documents and biomet-
rics and a host of other logistics activi-
ties. Around the same time, he became
a victim of identity theft and incurred
a major financial loss due to hacking of
his multiple bank accounts. The inci-
dent propelled him to do something as
the issue of solving identity fraud and
hacking would become a major chal-
lenge in a digitizing environment.
A visit to his nearly 200 seater head-
quarters in Gurgaon today clearly
emphasises the point that Biocube is
looking for a global play with its oper-
ational base in India. With a manpower
pool of around 100 (mostly IT profes-
sionals with specialisation in software
development and research), the com-
pany claims to have created a cutting
edge operational base and with a host of
prestigious contracts in its kitty both in
India and in countries like the US, the
UK and Australia, it is now all set to see
the fruition of its efforts.
Operational differentials
According to the top brass of Biocube,
the real high point for them is not just
the arrival in a fast-growing segment but
rather reaching there with a series of dif-
ferentials which is helping it to eventu-
ally draw the attention of its prospective
customers – be it the government agen-
cies or private sector businesses which
need identity mapping and authentica-
tion, often at a humungous scale.
“All biometric systems globally are
based on specific hardware. This is the
first system which is hardware agnostic.
It can work on any hardware system,
even on your mobile. Furthermore, our
system is the only one where data is not
stored by anyone. Nobody has access to
data unless the user permits it,” Agar-
wal explains. This is made possible by
keeping the data in the encrypted form.
“Given the kind of data security con-
cerns which has emerged in the recent
past, encryption of data in all forms is
the big frontier for players in the bio-
metric space everywhere. Things are
heading in that direction,” points out
Pratik Patel, VP, Biomatiques Identifica-
tion Soultions, a Surat-based start-up.
Biocube today calls itself an inte-
grated AI powered multi-factor, multi-
modal biometric identity and data
analytics platform which is commit-
ted to set new paradigm in its space.
According to a company presentation,
the company has developed capabil-
ities for generation three-face match
that ensures fast and foolproof biomet-
ric match; cutting edge voice and finger
match modalities as well as augmented
intel extraction, which helps in accurate
analysis of body posture, crowd density,
activity monitoring and object or inci-
dent detection. Based on these capa-
bilities, the company is promising to
redefine the identity determining bio-
metric processes particularly for sectors
like health, agriculture, public distribu-
tion, law and order, digital id system
and gig economy.
“The most satisfying thing is that
our defining solutions have been devel-
oped in-house,” Agarwal informs, while
adding that the company has filed for
multiple patents.
Incidentally, the company bagged its
first patent around the end of the last
month in the US. Here are a couple of
Biometrics market size
($ Million)
Others
11.37
Others
10.79
1,273.18
2,113.91
2,432.13
5,044.25
2018 2022 2023 E 2028 F
CAGR
13.51%
CAGR
15.71%
Source: TechSci Research; Others include Multiple Biometric, Signature, Middleware, Heartbeat Reader, etc.
Biometrics Market Share
(%)
Finger Print
Recognition
46.52
Finger Print
Recognition
45.72
Iris Recognition
19.51
Iris
Recognition
18.08
Facial
Recognition
16.26
Facial
Recognition
17.85
Voice
Recognition
5.16
Voice
Recognition
6.17
Hand/Palm
Recognition
1.18
Hand/Palm
Recognition
1.39
2022 2028F

5. Business India u the maga zine of the cor por ate wor ld
Corporate Reports
u 50 u
apr il 3-16, 2023
examples that explain that extra bit cov-
erage by Biocube solutions. The com-
pany currently is doing an interesting
project with a leading educational insti-
tute in Singapore wherein the exact
carbon footprint of a visitor to the cam-
pus (from entry to exit points) will be
mapped.
Another interesting example is that
of video analytics wherein its solution is
helping in instant analysis of an event/
activity in a live format rather than stor-
age of footage and its analysis in a later
date. The solution is particularly tai-
lor made to make government schemes
more efficient.
According to Agarwal, explaining
the multi-modal offerings and their
benefits to prospective buyers have
been quite an exercise and the com-
pany had to indulge in proof of concept
exercises at a large scale. “Especially in
government departments, I have heard
senior officials saying at our face that
they don’t believe in our claims. We
have done pilots in different minis-
tries in India, Africa and the US. We
have done 16-17 pilots and everyone
has been successful. Either they have
converted into contracts or are being
negotiated for final conversion in con-
tracts,” says Agarwal.
“One social project run by a Central
government ministry has been stopped
because our pilot project detected fake
users and beneficiaries. I think, with
this kind of result, people are taking
us more seriously now,” adds Ashutosh
Agarwal, MD of the firm, who is spear-
heading the operations.
Real show begins now
Having gone past the proof-of-concept
stage and validation by way of patent
grant have begun, the company has a
host of prestigious projects in its kitty.
And with their execution process pick-
ing up steam, the company is expecting
the regular revenue earning modal-
ity to fall in place from this calendar
year. “Our regular operations have com-
menced and after the current calendar
year, you may find us growing expo-
nentially. This year, we are expecting a
revenue of around $9 million. But with
more projects reaching to the signing
stage, our projection for next year reve-
nue is $115 million. By the end of 2025,
we are expecting to touch $400 million
mark in revenue,” says Agarwal.
Largely rooted in pay per use model,
the company has just signed a major
deal with an educational institute in
Australia and is close to inking a three
digit million dollar deal at the govern-
mental level (for visa and migration)
with a country in Asia. Meanwhile,
in the coming years, the company is
looking at earning 70 per cent of its
revenue from international markets
while 30 per cent will be contributed
by projects in India.
Agarwal does not provide much
details on the deal saying it will be big-
gest of all Biocube has signed so far. He
is also evasive, when it comes to shar-
ing details on other critical parameters
like the investments made in creating
the firm saying there has been no cap-
ital challenge. He, however, confirms
that outside investors have put in over
$4 million either in the form of equity
or convertible debentures.
The best thing for the company, as
the top brass points out, is the pat it is
getting from associates and other lead-
ing stakeholders for its cutting edge
offerings now. The likes of Amitabh
Kant, former CEO, Niti Aayog, have
complimented the company for its solu-
tions, which are aligned with the gov-
ernment’s ‘Make in India’ programme.
“Biocube is a core technology business,
with tremendous intellectual property,
a robust product, a strong management
team, and many vertical markets to be
addressed. Biocube can be an exam-
ple of an India-developed technology
product making a mark in the world
at large,” Gaurav Dalmia, chairman,
Dalmia Group Holdings, had recently
commented. And it is comments like
these which seem to be infusing a new
sense of enthusiasm in Agarwal and
his team to take Biocube to its desired
destination. u
r i tw i k s i nh a
ritwik.sinha@businessindiagroup.com
Biocube is looking for a global play with its operational base in India