Also, Freshworks starts operation in Singapore, and SolarHome welcomes retail veteran as new chiefs

e-Wallet OVO partners with Taralite, Bareksa, Do-It to further financial inclusion [Press Release]

OVO, Indonesia’s e-wallet app, has announced strategic partnerships with online mutual funds marketplace Bareksa, and lending platform Taralite and Do-It. The purpose of the collaboration is to expand the open ecosystem for financial services and to accelerate financial inclusion.

The partnership with Bareksa will allow OVO’s users to get investment access directly with 5 to 6 per cent interest.

Also Read: E-commerce marketplace rgo47 secures funding from Daiwa PI Partners

With Do-It as partner, OVO will improve its user experience for both platforms where users can access the financial products and get credit approvals under a minute.

Taralite, who has partnered for a while with OVO, will help improving the ecosystem with OVOPayLater in e-commerce platform Tokopedia.

OVO’s move is tied to its mission to expand its service outside online payment and to meet the country’s demand for faster and reliable funding, especially equity loan for SMEs. “As one of the pioneers in integrated fintech platform, OVO continues to focus on making financial inclusion a reality in Indonesia,” said Jason Thompson, CEO, OVO.

Customer engagement software Freshworks enters Southeast Asia through Singapore [Press Release]

Software-as-a-Service (SAAS) startup Freshworks has expanded to Southeast Asia with the recent setup of its regional hub in Singapore. The company said that it received support from the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB).

Freshworks aims to expand adoption of its customer engagement suite and increase its network of partner resources as it has quite a demand with 45 per cent year-on-year growth in the region.

Headquartered in San Bruno, USA, Freshworks products are used by businesses in Consulting, Retail, and Shipping industries from the region. It includes cloud-based customer support, CRM, call centre software, internal collaboration tools, marketing automation solutions, Freshworks 360; a customer engagement suite that encompasses sales, support, and marketing needs, and Freddy, its AI engine that enables businesses to carry out smart interactions with their customers.

SolarHome welcomes new CEO and COO from retail finance sector [Press Release]

Burmese Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) solar energy provider for Southeast Asia’s off-grid households SolarHome has appointed Greg Krasnov, SolarHome’s chairman and founder, as chief executive officer (CEO) and Geert-Jan ten Hoonte as president and chief operating officer (COO).

Greg Krasnov is the founder and chairman of SolarHome, and also concurrently the CEO of FORUM, the venture-builder that supports SolarHome. Greg has in his pocket over 20 years of international experience in consumer finance and early-stage investing across over 50 countries, and successfully exiting a major retail bank in Eastern Europe.

Geert-Jan ten Hoonte, the new COO, will bring to the table over 30 years of senior experience in the retail and consumer finance sectors with the likes of Ahold retail group, Home Credit Vietnam and EasyCredit Vietnam.

Greg and Geert succeed Ted Martynov who will continue to support SolarHome as a senior adviser.

SolarHome was founded in 2017 and has since raised over US$5 million in equity from some of Southeast Asia’s leading impact VCs and angel investors that has gone into serving over 30,000 homes across 201 hubs in Myanmar.

Singapore’s VC sells its stake in India’s Qwikcilver to Pine Labs [Press Release]

Sistema Asia Fund by Sistema Asia Capital, Singapore-based fund managing firm has sold its stake in Qwikcilver, India-based technology company that offers end-to-end gift card solution. The stake is bought by Pine Labs, Indian point-of-sales solution company, as a part of the acquisition deal it has with Qwikcilver.

This deal would be Sistema Asia Fund’s first exit since investing in Qwikcilver in 2016. The company claimed it exited the company with multiple returns within three years of its investment.

Qwikcilver is an Indian company that develops the gift card business and has made itself available across 16 countries and 15,000 e-commerce portals and mobile application.

Sistema Asia Fund is a venture capital fund sponsored by Sistema PJSFC, a publicly-traded diversified Russian holding company and primarily focussed on investing in technology-enabled, consumer and business-oriented startups in India and Southeast Asia.

RedMart is officially available on Lazada app [Press Release]

In a bid to become a one-stop solution shopping app, Lazada has welcomed the completed move of RedMart into its platform. Any groceries purchase online via RedMart is now integrated to more than 400,000 retailers in Lazada’s ecosystem, all within the same app and at redmart.lazada.sg.

“Bringing Lazada and RedMart together is a project aimed at offering Singapore customers a platform where customers can compare similar products across all the retailers in our ecosystem, shop for complementary offerings and benefit from having more payment options, such as the Lazada Wallet,” said James Chang, CEO of Lazada Singapore.

Also Read: Meet the 11 female-founded startups of Simona Accelerator first batch

Lazada will be rolling out a series of app updates over the next few months to further enhance the shopping experience for customers with features as follow:

• Order Amend – allowing customers to add more items to an existing placed order;
• Delivery Slot Incentives – incentivising customers to consolidate deliveries within the same area and timeframe to reduce our carbon footprint;
• My List Features – including managing lists and stock up reminders.
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The post Today’s top tech news, March 20, 2019: OVO partners with Bareksa, Taralite, Do-It to further financial inclusion appeared first on e27.

Lens allows people to point-and-shoot at physical buildings and learn more about the listings inside the complex

One of my most enjoyable/depressing pastimes is to look around neighbourhoods I enjoy and imagine living in various apartments in the area.

Typically, I convince myself the apartments are unaffordable, sigh deeply, and go back to my avocado toast and kombucha.

Normal people search for apartments is by combing through the internet. They try and find a place that fits both budget and lifestyle. One reality of this search strategy is that it will inevitably require a tour of the flat with the property owner or agent.

This can be a burden for people in the early stages of finding a place to live. The process will involve a full-tour of the complex, even if the person knows almost immediately the place won’t work. Plus, if you get a bad agent…oofta…enjoy zoning-out during the 2-hour sales pitch.

For people still in this ‘hunting’ part of the process, PropertyGuru has introduced a new product that helps people mix the online and offline.

For Hari V. Krishnan, the CEO of PropertyGuru, it came down to a theory that most of our technology is filtered through our cameras. While smartphones are great, it is the cameras that transformed smartphones from a tech-upgrade to a fundamentally life-altering tool.

So, as the boss of PropertyGuru, it would make sense that his company also looked towards the camera.

“Why wouldn’t you use a camera as a discovery-maker as well? Wouldn’t it be great to take out our camera, point it at a building that you are interested in and discover the listings that are inside?” he asked during the demo.

Also Read: This Filipino startup turns your traffic stress into money

Called ‘Lens’, the product is an augmented reality feature that allows people to move their phone camera around a given area and see what apartments are available.

e27 took the tool for a spin (it is in beta mode) and the word that came to mind was “nifty”. I can’t call Lens an app (because it is a feature within the PropertyGuru app), but it is minimal and functional, unobtrusive and playful, specific in its use but weirdly addicting.

It is remarkably fun to stand on a street corner in Singapore and started moving the phone around, checking out the gossip of what properties are vacant and which require a waiting list.

As I hovered over buildings that looked particularly intriguing, a little home would appear that would show the number of units that were available (some buildings had a shockingly hight amount of vacancies). Then, if I clicked the home, I could get more details about the specific units, like the asking price.

Here is the PropertyGuru advertisement video to help visualise the product:

 

 

The hope of Lens is to minimise or eliminate a common process:

1. Person visits friend’s apartment.
2. Person asks about pricing, neighbourhood and amenities.
3. Person then goes online and types in various search terms to pinpoint the property.
4. Person then sees if they can afford a place.

With Lens, a person can just point their phone camera at a building they like and see if they want to pursue it further.

Going Beta

PropertyGuru Lens is currently in an invite-only beta launch phase. The plan is launching to the Singapore public in the near future.

While Lens showed a lot of potential, it was definitely a beta product. The tech was a bit clunky at times and the loading process was not instant. Occasionally it felt as if Lens was, “bumping into bugs” while I was using it.

During the demo, PropertyGuru was aware that Lens was not perfect, and released it to a bunch of journalists anyways.

Krishnan actually made the beta-phase a talking-point for a good chunk of the demo.

The logic was to encourage a culture whereby Southeast Asian tech companies start releasing beta products fairly often. By launching beta versions of features, it allows users to stress test the product, test load management and discover unforeseen bugs.

It also facilitates a corporate culture and customer expectation that experimentation is part of what happens in a given company. If nothing gets released before it is “perfect”, bugs will get hyper-criticised by the user-base. But, if a company consistently releases beta products, customers will understand it is a tool to play with and will be a lot better 6 months after the beta.

Plus, it is just fun to play around with a product that is not fully actualised. It is a nice change of pace.

According to a PropertyGuru spokesperson, PropertyGuru has received positive feedback from Lens and “is learning so much more”, which is point of the launch strategy.

The final imperfection that has to be mentioned is that the AR does not show the specific location of the flat (aka the floor). This won’t change in the future as privacy concerns outweigh convenience in this instance.

Overall, the bugs never overwhelmed what is a delightful product. Lens won’t alter the trajectory of PropertyGuru, but it will bring smiles to the faces of its customers.

Also Read: Bangkok TOP100 champion is bringing smiles across Thailand

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Are you aware that the technical skills gap is more acute than ever?

For many businesses, successful growth, remaining productive and staying ahead of the competition is the ultimate goal.

Having staff with the right skills and expertise is a vital requisite for a business maintaining a progressive attitude.

But with the IT sector facing a shortage of well-trained employees, it will require more planning and preparation to make sure your organisation succeeds.

Most businesses are aware that the technical skills gap is more acute than ever.

Already struggling to recruit the right calibre of professionals to fill the vacancies arising within their organisation, it’s becoming increasingly evident there won’t be a positive solution to the problem anytime soon.

The route to rectify this issue can be a costly one, especially if you’re starting from the ground up. But if the available resolutions aren’t doing the job, it could be time for businesses to take some responsibility bridging the digital skills gap.

How can business help reduce the technical skills gap?

The IT industry is continuously changing. New roles evolve from the introduction of cutting-edge technology that helps improve business performance, but for the uptake to be successful, it requires the employment of highly skilled professionals.

Singapore has been identified as one of the global leaders when deploying the latest tech within business scenarios. However, this rapid adoption has placed more emphasis on the growing skills gap, forcing organisations to bring in new staff.

Maintaining a steady influx of new recruits is vital to keeping productivity levels high. Trailblazers in their chosen fields, it’s up to these people who have all the latest know-how to help your performance improve.

But as businesses look to expand, these new high flyers can lack the relevant experience in the chosen target market, and without extra in-house training, they can struggle to have an instant positive impact.

For an organisation to remain productive, they also need to provide the right training and opportunities to current staff. This enables them to stay in the workforce for longer and can give every team a better overall balance.

Also Read: Doubling your e-commerce sales the non-generic way

Many CEOs value experience and market knowledge highly, especially in the IT sector, as these are things that can’t be taught. It’s this experience that makes long-term employees invaluable to your business.

When it comes to reducing the technical skills gap, there isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach for businesses to follow. What works for one may backfire for another, meaning you’ll need to come up with a plan that fits with your growth strategy.

Where can businesses find the right talent?

Finding an initiative to bridge the skills gap is a top priority for the Singaporean government. Along with introducing the Smart Nation programme, it has also provided a significant amount of investment in developing the digital capabilities of all businesses.

When looking to recruit, hiring from the local talent pool should always be a top priority for organisations. A company should have the ability to attract homegrown IT professionals if it offers the right perks.

But statistics show that Singapore faces the issue of an ageing population, which further implicates the problems of the growing technical skills gap, despite the Economic Development Board (EDB) highlighting 80 of world’s best tech firms have operations in the Lion City.

For some organisations, recruiting new tech professionals from closer to home is also not a viable option. Fast-growing tech firms in Singapore have failed to find skilled IT professionals to support their digital transformation effort, ultimately forcing them to import new talent.

Finding the right people to fill the skills gap shouldn’t prove a difficult task if a business knows where to look.

In a recent survey, 53 per cent of respondents said they would consider relocating to another city or country to have a more fulfilling work life, with a percentage of those citing a new challenge as a reason to change roles.

Businesses may have to restructure benefits and retention packages to secure the services of imported talent, with 66 per cent of respondents from the same report stating a laptop tops their list of priorities.

In the same survey, 24 per cent favoured certification vouchers, while 23 per cent listed training as a primary factor.

Partnering with recruitment companies is also a method that businesses can use to find IT professionals to fill the gaps appearing in their development and technology teams. Finding people with transferable skills can open a brand new search radius to find the perfect hire.

The ever-expanding skills shortage will continue to be a concern for many businesses operating within the technology sector and requires the effort of an entire organisation if they are to handle the introduction of future technology that can cause further disruption.

The future looks bright for those striving towards a better future of reducing the skills gap. By attracting and retaining the best talent available, it should help your business grow and choose its staffing priorities.

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Image Credits: sira jantararungsan

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The latest funding round for Mobilkamu was co-led by East Ventures and Genesia Ventures, with participation of Denali Venture Partners

Indonesian online automotive dealer platform Mobilkamu today announced an undisclosed Series A funding round co-led by East Ventures and Genesia Ventures.

The funding round also included the participation of Denali Venture Partners.

It followed an undisclosed seed funding round that the company has raised in November 2017.

The company plans to use the new funding to expand its reach in the local market as well as to develop its products and technologies.

This year, as part of its expansion plan, it also plans to open new branches in different cities in Indonesia.

Also Read: Used car marketplace BeliMobilGue.co.id raises US$10M Series A investment

“For the past year, we have greatly improved our customer service, increasing the range of products we can offer, including a new exciting initiative that aims to provide eligible customers with access to a care system that will support them for the lifetime of their car ownership,” said Mobilkamu Co-Founder and CCO Caue Motta in a press statement.

Mobilkamu aims to provide car buyers the experience of a simplified car search and purchase process, with the promise of offering “the fairest price in the market.”

Using their platform, car buyers would not need to research and compare multiple offers.

It also operates a motorbike selling platform named Motorkamu and has launched an agent affiliation programme named Mitra Mobilkamu, which promises “a fair source of income” for individuals who want to sell new cars themselves.

Run by a team of 70, the startup is headquartered in South Jakarta with branch offices in Bekasi and Ciputat.

Also Read: How Carro co-founder Aaron Tan raised US$78M by thinking beyond the classifieds model

By 2018, Mobilkamu said that it has delivered over 150 vehicles from various brands per month using its own custom towing fleet.

The startup has established partnerships with over 80 car dealers across Greater Jakarta Area as well as a
diverse range of financial partners, such as Bussan Auto Finance, BCA Finance, Mega Auto Finance, Mandiri Tunas Finance, and Bank Jasa Jakarta.

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Image Credit: Mobilkamu

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The Myanmar-based service plans to use the Unsecured SME financing to implement same-day payments to truck drivers

Burmese online truck shipment service Kargo has announced that it has inked an SME financing agreement with Yoma Bank, Myanmar’s commercial bank, since March 11, 2019.

Also Read: PropertyGuru goes beta with nifty augmented reality feature

The partnership will see Kargo receive an initial loan of approximately US$130,000. Through the bank’s Unsecured SME Financing, Kargo plans to facilitate same-day payments to its truck drivers, boost its ability to grow its customer base, and manage all invoices.

Kargo was founded in 2016 with focusses in the country’s logistics and supply chain industry. Bootstrapped at first, what it does is it connects independent truck drivers, fleet owners, third-party logistics (3PL) companies, and commercial logistics providers directly with businesses that can get access to trackable distribution and delivery of their goods across the country.

Kargo claims that to date, the company has connected almost 2,000 truck drivers in Myanmar.

“When we first envisioned Kargo, we were starting out in an extremely fragmented market that had a very opaque pricing system. Now, our virtual fleet has become the largest one in Myanmar and completing over 5,000 deliveries to date,” said Alex Wicks, the Founder and CEO of Kargo.

Prior to this agreement, Kargo has raised a seed round from Singapore-based SEED Myanmar in 2017 as well as a six-figure grant in February 2018.

Kargo was the ‘Best Logistics and Supply Chain Startup’ at the Echelon Top 100 Start-up Competition, Kargo received US$50,000 prize from the Singapore government.

Furthermore, in its Pre-Series A round, it managed to raise a seven-figure sum from Singapore’s ‘Cocoon Capital’ and another private venture capital firm.

Kargo is the first company that Yoma Bank has offered this loan to since the Central Bank of Myanmar approved the disbursement of unsecured lending.

Also Read: E-commerce marketplace rgo47 secures funding from Daiwa PI Partners

“Unsecured financing is solely based on the cash flow of the business and is a progressive way of supporting smaller enterprises. This financing is the first of many and we look forward to seeing innovative and tech-driven SMEs such as Kargo thrive in this market,” said the CEO of Yoma Bank, Hal Bosher.

Yoma Bank’s Unsecured SME Financing is a move by the bank to support the growth of Myanmar’s SMEs; which typically faces the problem of cash flow management.
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Photo by Rhys Moult on Unsplash

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