By Peter Lee and Nidhi Chamria, Co-Founder of Sofocle Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Prolitus | 3/5/18
Sofocle Technologies Pvt. Ltd – https://www.sofocle.com/
Prolitus – https://www.prolitus.com/
LinkedIn Profile – Nidhi Chamria

Peter Lee: Hi Nidhi, thank you for joining us.  Please tell us about Sofocle and your role there?

Nidhi Chamria: I am Nidhi Chamria, Co-Founder of Sofocle Technologies Pvt. Ltd, where we develop products and solutions using Blockchain as an underlying Technology. An MBA in Marketing & HR, I have earned an entrepreneurial experience of over 8 years in managing Prolitus Technologies, an IT services company, with a global clientele. My forte is in researching and marketing the right placement for our innovative products. Furthermore, I take care of the talent retention and management for our team.

Sofocle Technologies comprises of researchers, developers and consultants, with the core aim of brain-storming revolutionary Blockchain concepts and converting them into Enterprise solutions, for various industries such as Manufacturing, Logistics, Insurance, Finance, etc.

Peter: As a leading Blockchain development organization, in what regions or markets of the world is your clientele most concentrated and why?  What are the most important target locations where you would like to expand?

Nidhi: The clientele of Sofocle Technologies is concentrated in India and the APAC region. In 2017, most of the client engagements were in the form of POCs. So, it was making complete sense for us to work with the clients either locally or in proximity, for the ease of management and to save on cost & time. In the future, we look forward to further expand in the MENA and African markets.

Peter: What are your major product offerings and what benefits do they offer?

Nidhi: Our product offerings that can facilitate various industries in multiple ways are categorized below:

1. SofoCap: It is a Blockchain-based solution that helps enterprises to ease complexities of Supply Chain Financing and reduce cost by eliminating manual processes.

Benefits:

• Building Trustworthy Supply Chain Ecosystem
• Facilitating Lending by Financiers
• Enhancing Liquidity of the Collateralized Assets
• Automating Execution of Contracts in Real Time

2. SofoChain: It is a Blockchain-based solution that helps in determining and proving provenance of a product and securely track & trace exactly where the product is in a Global Supply Chain.

Benefits:

• Creating Digital Passport of Physical Assets
• Linking & Assigning Properties to Products
• Eliminating Double Spending
• Verifying Certifications and other Sustainability Standards
• Tracking and tracing

3. SofoInsure: It is a Blockchain-based solution that utilizes Smart Contract, AI and Mobile App to Automate Insurance Processes.

Benefits:

• Automating Claim-Settlement
• Automating Disbursals
• Eliminating Paperwork

Peter: Any further information about these 3 product offerings and their adoption you can tell us?

Nidhi: Given below is a little further brief about our products and their utilization:

• SofoCap: It is a Supply Chain Financing Solution, which enables seamless supply chain financing. It is built on Hyperledger and uses Smart Contracts for digitizing processes.
• SofoChain: It is a Product Supply Chain solution to record the quantity and transfer of assets as they move between supply chain nodes like trailers, containers etc.
• SofoInsure: It is an Autonomous Claim Processing Solution that uses Blockchain-based ‘Smart Contracts’ to automate insurance process. It combines the power of the mobile technology and Blockchain to autonomously execute a claim payout on the receipt of correct verification information.

We have done a couple of POCs for each one of our products, and now, we are expanding our clientele and doing pilots to try our products. We are getting appreciation from the clients and partners for the maturity we have in our products in such short span of time.

Peter: How do you determine what product offerings to pursue? Is it primarily a function of demand?  And, what might be the next product offering that we might expect to see from Sofocle?

Nidhi: The solutions developed by Sofocle Technologies are based on the experience and understanding of many years by providing technological solutions to multiple sectors. These are developed after thorough research, understanding of pain points of the industries, and thus providing them scalable futuristic solutions with a full proof deployment.

In a nutshell, we use these approaches:

1. One is to determine the demand for a product based on our experience, of being into IT industry and developing solutions for the rest of the industries.
2. Second is based on the problems faced by the clients and drafting an architecture to solve them using Blockchain technology in case applicable.

Sofocle Technologies is focusing on the Blockchain Technology, and the upcoming products shall be based upon the same. You may expect the incorporation of the Blockchain Technology with IoT, AI, Big Data, Cybersecurity and much more.

Peter: What would you like us to know about Sofocles and your company approach?

Nidhi: We wish that the interested people should know that our prime focus after initiating, has been on maturing and scaling the products we are working upon. We researched and analyzed the demand for our products and the value it will generate for the ecosystem. Concentrating on our vision and revisiting, we do not intend to lose focus by venturing into multiple use cases. It is not a surprise to us when clients reach us out conveying that our products are far more superior and the way they are structured is extraordinary in terms of addressing the industry’s pain points.

Peter: You’re also the Co-Founder of Prolitus. How does Prolitus work with or fit in with Sofocle’s mission?

Nidhi: Prolitus helped Sofocle initially in developing its strength in the Blockchain Technology. Prolitus has been developing cryptocurrencies, exchanges, wallets etc. which are the use cases of Blockchain technology. Based on that, we identified the power of Blockchain and incorporated Sofocle after researching further into the use of this technology to solve real business problems.

Peter: Has anything surprised you so far heading up Sofocle?

Nidhi:  The amount of attraction from the ecosystem comes as a great surprise to us. Though it was anticipated to a certain level, but the sheer amount is overwhelming, both from customers and the investors. This makes us believe that Blockchain is not just a technology, but an ideology. It has the power to transform the future.

Peter: In terms of interest in or adoption of Blockchain Technology, what are you seeing on the front lines?  How would you express how fast things are moving?

Nidhi: On the front line, I anticipate that there will be a huge demand of techies working on Blockchain technology and there is no limit to its adoption. Things are moving very fast and to match up, we are working aggressively each day towards making our products more scalable, adding new features and enhancing our team.

Peter: What do you see as the potential of blockchain technologies in the near term, for India and the rest of the world?

Nidhi: People tend to connect Blockchain Technology with Bitcoins and similar cryptocurrencies, but there is much more to this technology. It holds a great potential to change the world as the technology is still in its nascent stage. Many industries have already started testing and incorporating Blockchain technology in different forms, like the banks are adapting it to prevent frauds and errors. In the years to come, its influence will expand to the IoT, transforming the scenario for better.

With India in vision, Blockchain technology would streamline the nation through secure means. The decentralization of records will ensure that they never fall into wrong hands. Use of this technology may change the scenario of voting as well, making it cost-efficient, safe and free from frauds.

In the years to come, we envision Sofocle to be one of the leading providers for Blockchain technology. Our products will be adopted across industries and geographies. We will grow as a team of solution architects and techies, along with marketers to determine the right placement of our brand. Hence, we will be generating more value to the ecosystem and growth for our organization.

Peter: Do you foresee any new lines of business, issues or challenges emerging that could possibly change your business or mission drastically?

Nidhi: In today’s scenario, no such issues or challenges are observed that will change the mission entirely. If we keep moving as per our plan, Sofocle will be a global company soon. We are working very hard and intelligently to achieve our goals.

Peter: What is the key to saving the world and name one person who is having the most impact?

Nidhi: Sustainability is the key to save the world, which is running after capitalism day in and day out. We need to work on a system of business where, the environment is not harmed by the processes, for the pursuit of growth.

Considering the sustainable development and protection of the environment, one person in my view who is creating a positive impact is Mr. Elon Musk. Not only he is working to spread awareness towards climate change, but also towards saving the environment by creating eco-friendly solutions. As he quotes, “Some people don’t like change, but you need to embrace change if the alternative is disaster”, it is the need of the hour to work on saving the Earth before it is too late.

Peter: Can you tell us a little more about yourself?

Nidhi: Being an entrepreneur, along with a mother to 2 young boys, is no way a meagre job. The challenge lies in balancing the work life with your personal life.

I balance by giving my complete dedication and hard work in whatever I do, applying the experiences that I’ve gathered in personal and professional life.  I believe in giving quality, even if there’s no one to judge.

Peter: There currently aren’t that many high-powered women in the technology field.  What are your thoughts on that?  How has being a woman helped or hindered you in managing and growing Sofocle?

Nidhi: ‘Where there is a will there is a way.’ You may call me old school, but I strongly believe in this proverb. The time is changing and the women today are far more empowered, we are leading and excelling in every field. Unlike as what was considered in the past about women not fit for running businesses, we are creating benchmarks in this sphere as well. And I feel happy to see that this advent of ours in different businesses is being well received across.