Prior to joining Ecosystm, Sharma was the Vice President and Global Head of Business Development at the Indian tech giant

Updates: The previous version of this article incorrectly stated Anika Grant as a former Uber Global HR Director. We apologise for the inconvenience.

Singapore-based tech research and advisory firm Ecosystm today announced the appointment of Amit Sharma as its Principal Advisor, the latest in the company’s string of high profile new hires which includes former Frost & Sullivan MD APAC Manoj Menon and Uber Global HR Director Anika Grant.

Prior to joining Ecosystm, Sharma was the Vice President and Global head of Business Development at Indian tech giant Tech Mahindra where he managed, coached and cultivated a global team of digital evangelists or digital sales associates.

He also established and managed numerous partnerships covering technologies such as blockchain, AI, machine learning, IoT, big data, cloud, analytics, AR/VR, and mobile payments.

Also Read: If data is oil, Singapore startup Ecosystm plans to be the gas station for the tech industry

He currently serves as Founder & CEO at SPREAD, a digital B2B renewable energy funding and trading platform with a mission to invest in and champion green energy projects in developing economies across Asia Pacific.

Sharma has delivered presentations at the Blockchain Economic Forum in Davos; The Global Summit on Blockchain Technology, Berlin; and IoT World Singapore. He had also conducted and published researches on the potential of blockchain to mitigate climate change.

He is also an angel investor with Business Angel Network Southeast Asia (BANSEA) and Create Responsible and Innovative Businesses (CRIB). He also sits as a board advisor for various startups in the Southeast Asian region.

Commenting on his appointment, Sharma said, “As a change agent, I’ve always been passionate about the potential that disruptive technologies have in transforming organisations, and shaping a better, more sustainable future for our societies. Along these lines, I’m excited to be part of the Ecosystm project, especially with its lofty ambition of data democratisation.”

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Image Credit: Ian Espinosa on Unsplash

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SALATECH’s aim to improve the quality of tertiary education for Cambodian students is as heartwarming as it is commendable

At the TOP100 competition in Phnom Penh, only one startup managed to clinch the Judges’ Choice award — SALATECH. The company will get to enjoy the privileges of a free exhibition booth space at e27’s Echelon Asia Summit 2019 and a chance to win S$50,000 Startup SG grant.

But while only one received an award, there will be three others representing Team Cambodia on Echelon’s TOP100 stage. These companies will also enjoy intimate investor meetings and inclusion to corporate business matchings on top of five starter tickets and TOP100 Tour access in Singapore.

Without further ado, here’s more on the winning pitch:

SALATECH

For the 70,000 students in Phnom Penh entering adulthood, pursuing a university degree seems like the next viable step to take. However, costly travel expenses and administration fees, coupled with paper-based enrollment methods have become a big deterrent for choosing the most suitable university.

Fortunately, SALATECH recognises their plight and seeks to automate the enrollment system and lower administrative costs so that more K-12 graduates can have access to quality education.

With SALA’s digital platform, all prospective students need to do is log in, find a suitable university, enrol in it, and manage their curriculum from there. No paper and pens required!

Its freemium business model provides free university listings and admission, and has already been rolled out across 19 universities and five K-12 schools.

An upgrade to its ‘Basic’ mode for just US$10 a year will add scoring, timetabling and attendance-taking services to the student’s account. For US$20 a year, an ‘Enterprise’ mode will help manage bills, HR issues and transport fares.

Founders Leap Sok, Thavorac Chun and Matt Rybin, who hail from IT and software engineering backgrounds, plan to tap on Cambodia’s market opportunity of three million students.

Their ultimate goal? Transforming and automating educational systems for affordable quality education.

Also Read: Gobi Partners names ex-Sony Chairman as advisor for Japan

Hats off to SALATECH! Now, here are the other three qualifiers who scored themselves a discounted exhibition booth space in the TOP100 Zone at Echelon Asia Summit 2019.

• Sousdey Cambodia

This tech company provides you with the tools to profile your users and improve marketing engagement via a 1-1 approach.

• Cryptoasia

Cryptoasia is the leading digital currency innovator in Cambodia and is a platform for merchants to buy and sell digital moolah.

• Muuve

Founded by youths, Muuve is a local-food delivery service that makes the whole ordering and delivering process much simpler and convenient.

Congratulations to all who have qualified! Catch us at our next qualifiers in Kazakhstan! Get your Echelon 2019 tickets here.

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Mihuru lets people book their flights and holiday packages by paying a small deposit upfront; the balance can be paid in instalments

Shruti Mehrotra spent the early years of her life growing up in Fiji Islands, before moving back to her home country. In India, given the nature of her father’s job, she had to move around every few years, along with her parents. This ignited a passion for travel in her, and she soon became an avid traveller.

In her childhood years, travelling — especially by air — was considered a luxury in India that only the affluent class could afford. But as the country developed and the market began to open up, travelling became a way of life for many.

“Until now, traveling was considered a luxury,” she tells me. “It has changed for the better now. Traveling is not a luxury any more; it’s now a way of life for many. As we Indians have always been an aspirational bunch, travelling — that too by air — has become more ubiquitous.”

Having said that, there is still a section of people in India, for whom air travel still remains an unaffordable dream. And Mehrotra and her team at Mihuru want this to be a thing of past.

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BCA is the latest Indonesian banks to launch its own accelerator programme

Indonesian banking giant BCA launched coworking space and fintech startup accelerator programme Synrgy at Manhattan Square, Jakarta, as part of its effort to help support the digitalisation of Indonesia. Accelerator programme Digitaraya and Kumpul participating as supporting partners of the programme.

The launch of the programme was attended by executives from BCA, Capital Central Ventura, and Digitaraya. BCA President Director Jahja Setiaatmadja explained that his firm started the initiative as a response to ongoing trend of startups offering creative solutions to solve a problem.

“This background has encouraged us to support by launching a platform called Synrgy,” Setiaatmadja explained in a press statement on Wednesday, March 27.

Synrgy is a collaborative platform and accelerator for startup community that aims to encourage growth and innovation in the digital sector; it also serves as an innovation hub with excellent programmes to help startups grow their business faster.

Also Read: BCA Korea Secures $4.2M in Investment

Participating startups will get access to the programmes, which included the accelerator programme run by Google Developers Launchpad-backed Digitaraya.

The accelerator programme will run for three month with an intense monthly bootcamp to support product and business development. In the first month of the programme, the startup will go through diagnostics, leaders lab, and design sprint processes.

In the second month, the startup will learn about Indonesian financial industries regulations and how to build successful partnership. The agenda will also include legal consultation and product mentorship.

The demo day will he run in the third month. The startups will have the opportunity to present its products in front of potential investors and BCA. At the end of the bootcamp period, there will be a selection of startups who will partner with BCA or other potential investors.

Synrgy will also connect startups with competent mentors (including Google) to have a one-on-one consultation, open access to investors, as well as with BCA itself.

Also Read: BCA, IDA launch Green Mark for data centers

“By joining forces with Google Developers Launchpad, we will offer incomparable support for chosen startups,” Digitaraya VP Strategy Nicole Yap.

Registration for Synrgy accelerator programme has been opened on its official site and will be closed on May 17, 2019. For the first batch, BCA will pick eight fintech startups in the big data, digital payments, cybersecurity, blockchain, IoT, and other fintech verticals.

Prior to BCA, a number of Indonesian public and private banks have also launched similar programmes, such as Bank Mandiri, which hosted Mandiri Digital Incubator (through Mandiri Capital Indonesia), and Bank Bukopin, which hosted BNVLabs with Kibar.

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The article BCA Resmikan Coworking Space dan Program Akselerator “Synrgy” Bersama Digitaraya was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Marsya Nabila for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

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Don’t believe all the doom and gloom surrounding AI — they need us more than we need them!

The rise of artificial intelligence has caused much worry in the workplace, largely because many professionals fear that they’ll be replaced by intelligent software in the near-future.

However, despite the impressive gains that AI has made in recent years, there are plenty of reasons to believe that it will continue to need human workers well into the future. As astonishing as these intelligent machines can be, there are still many things they’re incapable of tackling alone.

Here are some of the ways humans and machines are already working together, and why AI will continue to need human workers despite all the predictions of job loss.

Machines can’t do it all

We need to dispel the myth that ‘machines can do everything’ — human workers will always be necessary to some extent.

While basic labourers who handle mundane, repetitive tasks can easily see their jobs become automated by new innovations, intelligent workers who are needed to analyze large sums of information and make responsible decisions will always be called upon for a diverse array of business purposes.

Furthermore, existing market research demonstrates that modern consumers aren’t too happy about a robot-dominated future and still want to see a human face at the cash register.

Also Read: Smart retail startup Blue Mobile raises Series C funding from Ant Financial

Companies everywhere are racing to digitise and automate as much of their operations as possible, largely because they believe the benefits derived from cutting costs will outweigh everything else. As a matter of fact, consumers are beginning to notice that businesses are benefiting by cutting human workers out of the equation, and they’re not entirely happy about it.

A recent report noted that half of all consumers surveyed said that they preferred a mixture of AI and human shopping rather than an entirely automated process. This is only natural, as customers want a friendly face to turn to when things go wrong or they have a question – or, dare it occur, the pleasure of small talk.

A good experience with AI may be enough to wow some consumers into returning, but businesses of the future will need to take the human element into consideration when thoroughly automating their operations. Going too far into the direction of the robots could give your company a lifeless feel, as customers everywhere are going to want to feel as if they’re doing business with other humans rather than emotionless machines that simply process their payments and ship the products.

Elsewhere, we’ll also see AI continue to need human workers because the robots haven’t always proven adept at taking over our jobs.

Some skills still need a human touch

In a number of industries, some areas still require a human touch — unless you want a commercial disaster or PR nightmare on your hands.

Workers compensation and other employment costs may seem pricey, but there are many jobs that AI can do far better than humans like analysing pictures to detect a constant trend — things that an algorithm can do infinitely better than the human mind. Machines nonetheless have a harder time trying to match human creativity, and many automated programs struggle to appear lifelike and realistic when dealing with human customers.

As Forbes has pointed out, some key jobs will always demand a person for a wide variety of reasons.

Also Read: Fintech startup Mihuru is on a mission to make flying affordable for Indians

Accountability, for instance, is something that simply can’t be automated. A business may think they can save some money by automating the manufacturing process in its entirety, but if they lack a human manager to ensure that safety standards are being met, costly and dangerous floor accidents could occur.

Similarly, automated payment systems aren’t always sufficient at making sure workers are adequately compensated, and fully digitised management systems would have a hard time determining who’s worthy of a promotion and who isn’t.

In other words, don’t expect the machines to swoop in and replace everything just yet!

Deloitte has done an extensive amount of research into how humans and machines can work together to produce better results than ever before, and it’s worth considering if you’re interested in the future of AI in the workplace. By and large, Deloitte’s findings echo the results being championed by other AI experts in the marketplace; machines are going to supercharge humans more than they will come to replace us.

They’re simply tools and can be harnessed for good or evil ends depending on how they’re leveraged by human actors. Human professionals will soon be automating the mundane and repetitive tasks they do every workday, which will enable them to focus more of their time and energy on more creative and specialized pursuits more suitable for humans.

Whether it’s ensuring creativity isn’t stifled or that accountability is maintained, humans will always be needed in the workplace. Don’t believe all the doom and gloom surrounding the rise of AI – intelligent machines will continue to need human workers to operate them for years to come.

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The Financial Times recently bought a majority stake in The Next Web, tech media in Europe

In a report released by Techcrunch, Singapore-based tech media Deal Street Asia is said to be bought out by the Financial Times. The century-old newspaper has just recently closed a majority stake deal with The Next Web before moving on to this deal, expected to close in April.

The investors of the media include Singapore Press Holdings, Vijay Shekhar Sharma, the founder of Alibaba-backed Paytm, the Singapore Angel Network and Hindustan Times, the Indian media firm that operates Mint.

The investment is said to be led by the Financial Times’ Japan-based parent company Nikkei, who reportedly bought one-third of the company that could amount to 51 per cent, waiting to see which investors would sell. Another source in the knowledge of the matter said that the deal is worth at least US$5 million.

If the news is confirmed, the current investors of the media reportedly would get a four to five times positive returns from the early investments.

Deal Street Asia was founded in 2014 by Indian journalists Joji Thomas Philip and Sushobhan Mukherjee, providing daily news on Asia’s startups, financial markets, and business verticals with a subscription business option for its website. The media’s reporters are spread across Southeast Asia and India, licensed to use content from wires.

Also Read: BCA, Digitaraya launch coworking space, accelerator programme Synrgy

Deal Street Asia reportedly has sparked interests with its business events arm, one which Techcrunch highlighted as the possible reason of the acquisition as the Financial Times are trying to enter the Southeast Asian conference scene.

One of the events discussed was the Singapore’s summit back in September featuring senior executives from the likes of DBS, Grab, Sea, GGV, Allianz, and IFC.

So far, the Financial Times has acquired content startup AlphaGrid, intelligence service GIS Planning, and research firm Longitude in addition to The Next Web. In 2015, the media itself was bought by Nikkei from previous owner Pearson for US$1.3 billion.

At the time of the news published, Deal Street Asia hasn’t responded to our request for comment sent today.
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Photo by Thomas Drouault on Unsplash

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Tarad has launched U-Commerce, an integrated e-commerce management system for SMEs to help them manage a variety of online stores from a single platform

Tarad.com, one of the oldest e-commerce marketplaces in Thailand, announced today it has pivoted its business model to become a full-service e-commerce services provider.

As part of this, Tarad has launched U-Commerce, an integrated e-commerce management system for SMEs/merchants/vendors to help them manage a variety of online stores from a single platform.

Sellers can use the e-commerce management function to fill up product information, photo, price, and stock into Tarad.com system and all the information will automatically appear in sellers’ shop on various marketplace platforms. It will thus increase the opportunity to generate sales for entrepreneurs to have sufficient potential to compete in a growing market.

Also Read: The Financial Times reportedly acquires Singapore-based tech media Deal Street Asia

The key features of U-Commerce include:

• It connects merchants with leading e-commerce platforms such as Lazada and Shopee.
• It connects merchants with social media platforms like Facebook that can link to their online store.
• It provides an integrated payment system for merchants to accept online payments, payments via credit/debit card, and QR code of payments etc.
• It connects merchants with more than 10 transportation companies via SHIPPOP.com, and warehouse and delivery services SiamOutlet.com.
• It also provide merchants with advertising services in partnership with Google, Facebook, and Line

According to Founder and CEO Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, with 45 million internet users, the Thai e-commerce market has grown 14.04 per cent to 3.15 trillion baht this year. This indicates that e-commerce in Thailand will continue grow big and many businesses will focus more on online channel.

 

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When in East Asia, do as the East Asians do

Technology has long broken the language barriers hindering the globalisation of businesses. And while this has already been a significant step forward, there is still the cultural barrier to contend with if any business is to succeed overseas.

We can’t deny the fact that underlying cultural rules define how businesses are run in different regions. Not being able to master those rules increases your chances of failure by tenfold.

Asia, particularly East Asia, is one of the regions that have the sharpest business culture contradictions with the west. That’s probably due to the religious, philosophical, and cultural differences between these two parts of the world.

Although these cultural differences aren’t as pronounced in the media, you must pay closer attention to it as after all, they will make all the difference when it comes to success and failure. In this post, we will look at seven must-know business culture clues that will give you a head start in East Asia.

Embrace humility at all times

If you are a fan of Asian movies, then you must be aware of the tremendous respect that Asians treat each other with. The Asian people respect authority and they always expect those with authority to exercise humility in equal measure.

Therefore, as a business owner, it is culturally appropriate to demand respect from your employees but you must be humble when doing it.

Pierre from New Horizons Global Partners, an Asian corporate service providers suggests we “demand accountability from your partners and suppliers, but be careful not to disrespect them otherwise that would hurt your business”

Give instructions with subtle inferences

Westerners like to shoot it straight. You can openly criticise staff members in the west, give them instructions with clarity and firmness, and be direct with them when laying out business strategies.

The Easterners are different. You will need to give instructions with subtle inferences, being careful not to sound rude or insensitive.

Professionalism is on another level here

Eastern Asians love doing business with professionals. Their professionalism bar, however, is too high that some Westerners find it impossible to cope.

Also Read: Thai online marketplace Tarad.com pivots to full-service e-commerce provider

For example, coming late for meetings is enough reason for Asians to deny your key business opportunities. Putting your arm around someone’s shoulder or any other unnecessary physical contacts can be interpreted to mean that you are professionally immoral.

Also, receiving gifts or business cards is a formal thing in Asia. You must receive them with both hands, literally. If you pocket a card without reading it, that is being rude and unfriendly.

All these are things that you must pay close attention to if want to make it big in East Asia.

Decision-making is highly centralised

Apart from the Japanese who make decisions like Westerners, other East Asian countries have highly centralised decision making. Don’t expect your employees to make decisions on their own, act on those decisions, and stand responsible for any and all their actions.

Here, you as the boss, are expected to act ‘hands-on’; making decisions for everyone from top to bottom and then holding the staff accountable for the decisions you make for him/her.

Agreement vs. acknowledgment

In the West, someone will only respond with a “YES” if he or she agrees with what you suggested. In the East, someone will say yes as a sign of acknowledgment for what you said, not necessarily in agreement.

Asians will say yes and then no in the same breath. Be careful, therefore, not to misinterpret a YES in East Asia.

Conservative dressing

Although the world is moving away from conservative dressing and adapting to the official casual form of dressing, East Asia is yet to make a full switch. You will still be expected to wear a dark suit, a white shirt, and a dull tie if you are a man while women will be expected to wear a feminine version of what men wear.

Also Read: The Financial Times reportedly acquires Singapore-based tech media Deal Street Asia

Don’t go to business meetings with a casual jacket or without a tie and expect to be taken seriously.

Privacy isn’t too much a thing in East Asia

While it is okay to keep secrets from your superiors and colleagues at work in the West, Eastern Asians hate that.

You will be expected to keep everything open and transparent if you are to gain their trust.

The bottom line?

If you are planning to start a business in Eastern Asia, these seven tips will help you to relate productively with the native clients and business associates. While at it, you can engage a professional employer organisation when recruiting employees as such organisations know exactly where and how to find the best talents.

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In addition to LINE, we also have updates from BigBasket, WeWork, and Lightspeed

LINE Founder Jungho Shin being appointed as Co-CEO – Press Release

LINE Corporation announced the appointment of its Founder and Chief WOW Officer (CWO) Jungho Shin as Co-CEO of the company, starting from April 1.

The company will have two representative directors: Takeshi Idezawa, the CEO and President, and Jungho Shin, the Co-CEO and Chief WOW Officer.

According to a press statement, as a representative director, Shin will “now focus on bolstering the competitiveness of LINE’s services and promoting innovation—assuming clear responsibility for creating groundbreaking services and the company’s operations.”

CEO and President Takeshi Idezawa will focus on management, revenue, organizational structure, human resources, and recruitment.

Shin’s appointment comes as the company moves towards its “second growth phase” this year, which is marked by the introduction of its new services in the fintech, AI, and blockchain sectors.

India’s BigBasket raises US$150M – Economic Times

Indian grocery e-tailer BigBasket has raised a US$150 million funding round led by South Korea’s Mirae Asset Global Investments, along with UK government-owned CDC Group and existing investor Alibaba, according to an Economic Times report.

Citing regulatory filings, the report said that the funding round has valued the company at “a little over” US$1.2 billion, helping it secure the unicorn status.

Alibaba is set to invest US$50 million while Mirae Asset will put in US$59.9 million, and CDC Group will invest US$40 million.

Also Read: Perx secures US$5M Series B funding from LINE Ventures

WeWork invests in coworking club Betaworks Studios – TechCrunch

Coworking space chain The We Company (WeWork) and JLL Spark Ventures have co-led a US$4.4 million investment in membership-based coworking club and builder community Betaworks Studios, TechCrunch reported.

Betaworks Ventures and existing investor BBG Ventures also participated in the funding round.

Betaworks Studios was launched in 2018. It offers entrepreneurs, artists, engineers and creatives a place to work on projects and accumulate a network.

Lightspeed ousts co-founder following college admission scandal – Bloomberg

Chris Schaepe, co-founder of Silicon Valley venture capital (VC) firm Lightspeed, has been ousted from his post after acknowledging that he had hired Rick Singer, the college admission coach that is currently involved in the college admission scandal, according to Bloomberg.

Schaepe was not named in the list of people directly involved in the college admission bribery scandal; he had also stated he had no idea that Singer was doing anything illegal.

Lightspeed said that it decided to part with its co-founder to minimise impact from personal matters unrelated to the firm.

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As Fintech startups gain prominence and are starting to make a bigger impact on consumers, financial institutions and economies grow more interconnected within this complex ecosystem.

The best practices and lessons learned from ecosystems around the world, particularly in emerging markets, can help stakeholders (fintech companies, consumers, financial institutions, investors, regulators, and educational institutions) work together to deliver financial services at lower costs, higher speed, and better qualities.

Ecosystems or hubs have shown particular value in emerging markets. In the 26 hubs and emerging markets across eight geographic clusters, we see different drivers, notable players, and opportunities for growth but also common themes and best practices for success.

ASEAN: fast growing economies with large populations make a unique playground.

Connecting China and India, ASEAN brings together large local and global players with innovative but still cautious regulators. With large population bases in some of the world’s fastest-growing and most dynamic economies, innovation in ASEAN is key to meeting the increasing demand for better quality services.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, March 29: LINE names Founder Jungho Shin as Co-CEO

Latin America: opportunities in an underserved market.

With governments considering financial inclusion to drive sustainable economic development, Latin America is ripe for collaboration among companies, investors, and governments.

Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe and Central Asia (CESA): leveraging a strong talent base.

CESA’s strategic location, strong infrastructure, sizeable talent base, and access to a large unified market make the region an attractive location from which homegrown companies and incoming investors can service the EU market.

Middle East: government support and capital are driving FinTech growth.

Sovereign and private investors are making major capital commitments in the Middle East as the region focuses on diversifying economies and servicing Islamic banking needs.

Africa: leapfrog innovations.

Service providers have huge opportunities to leapfrog generations of technology development to deliver cutting edge solutions to Africa’s unbanked and underbanked populations, in particular via the region’s deep mobile penetration and service delivery innovations.

Asia: the rise of independent finlife ecosystem platforms in Greater China, and India brings out the best from East and West.

Fintech is the “way of life” in China, where supportive regulation and a confluence of market factors have taken e-commerce and chat platforms into full-scale financial service providers with room for further expansion and growth in global markets.

In India, the unique government-led digital infrastructure, along with rapid urbanisation and mobile penetration, are driving developments, particularly in payments.

In each cluster, common pillars unite successful fintech ecosystems. To create a strong, scalable, sustainable enabling environment, clusters must facilitate collaboration, allow easy access to local and international markets, and feature government and industry support.

The ecosystem must be able to access, train, and retain the highest quality talent. Consumers, corporations, and financial institutions must form the backbone of sustained demand. Companies must be able to access risk, growth, and strategic capital.

Also Read: Smart retail startup Blue Mobile raises Series C funding from Ant Financial

Finally, fintech laws must allow an overall regulatory environment that eases operations (including credit availability, taxation policies, visa policies, and regulatory sandboxes) and encourages competition.

Singapore is a particularly successful story, and its continued success as a fintech hub goes hand in hand with the overall strength of the industry. Singapore’s central bank established the Financial Technology and Innovation Group in 2015 with the vision of establishing Singapore as a smart financial centre.

The country also committed SGD$225 million (US$166 million) for Fintech projects from 2015-2020, established a regulatory sandbox, introduced blockchain to interbank payments, issued guidance on ICOs, and plans to issue guidance for use of artificial intelligence in the industry.

The annual Singapore fintech Festival brings together close to 45,000 participants from 130 countries and 5,000 companies. Matchmaking at the festival in 2018 resulted in a groundbreaking investment of USD$6.2 billion pledged to Fintech startups which will be realized in 2019, and an additional USD$6 billion earmarked for the next two years.

As fintech evolves, it is clear that it needs to have strong ecosystems. Startups and scale-ups, regulators, governments, traditional institutions, investors, and talent institutions are all key players in the constantly evolving ecosystems that will drive competition and innovation while maintaining the safety of the financial system for today and tomorrow.

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