The angry fans of Blackpink made hashtag Shopeescam trending on Twitter last week over the allegations that the e-commerce favoured influencers over real fans for the promo-base meet and greet

Shopee reportedly could be penalised up to US$5,800 after it failed to fulfill the terms and conditions of its own shopping campaign centered around the famous K-pop girl band Blackpink, as reported by Mumbrella Asia.

The e-commerce brand reportedly promised customers that 568 fans would stand a chance of having a meet-and-greet with K-pop group, and top 40 spenders will get autographs and be on stage with Blackpink if they spent over US$76.97 on the platform during the campaign period.

Blackpink is the regional ambassador of Shopee, and now angry fans swarmed social media with hashtag Shopeescam over the sudden change in the list, claiming that Shopee removed them. The fans accused Shopee of favoring influencers over the fans and changing the contest terms midway.

The incident prompted an investigation conducted by the Philippines Department of Trade and Industry, according to media reports. If Shopee has indeed changed the contest’s terms after it has been launched, then Shopee could face fines of up to 300,000 peso (US$5,800) with additional US$5,800 per complaint if it’s found to have run a deceitful sale.

The results of the investigation will be announced within this week, Mumbrella Asia reported.

Also Read: In Photos: Pomelo opens first international store in Singapore

Shopee has released a statement on Twitter apologising and providing damage control by “reaching out to all those affected by this issue”.

The official statement in full reads:

“We would like to sincerely apologise to users and fans of Shopee and Blackpink for the issues involving the Shopee x Blackpink meet-and-greet today in Manila

“The event fell short of the high standards that Shopee users and Blackpink fans expect, and we hear our community’s feedback loud and clear. Although we took immediate steps as soon as we discovered our errors to ensure the rightful winners of our contest could claim their prizes, we know that the entire process caused confusion, disappointment, and upset for many Shopee users and Blackpink fans.

“We are reaching out to all those affected by this issue, and we are also taking steps to ensure that such an incident does not occur again in the future.”
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Customers can choose Buyandship for international shipping and deals, products, and exclusives from overseas merchants

Buyandship, a cross-border e-commerce shipping services company based in Hong Kong, has secured US$2.2 million in pre-Series B funding round led by existing investor Infinity Venture Partners.

Other investors include Asia-focussed VC firm SQ Capital and unnamed strategic angel investors, besides Buyandship’s key management.

The money will be used to improve operation efficiencies and also for market expansion.

In operations, Buyandship will streamline its logistics and shopping experience with an advanced warehouse automation system, simplified shopping procedures, and a new “one-click buy” tool. In market expansion, Buyandship will look to solidify its market presence in existing markets, including Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan, India, and the UAE, as well as develop new markets in Southeast Asia.

Founded in 2014, Buyandship provides global shipping services for e-commerce customers. They can choose the firm for international shipping and deals, products, and exclusives from overseas merchants. Customers can pay up to HK$22 (US$2.8) per pound in shipping fees, and choose to either receive parcels at home or pick up from one of hundreds of collection points.

Also Read: Filipino K-pop fans accuse Shopee of scam over girl group meeting

It currently operates collection and export warehouses in Japan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, the US, the UK, Italy, and Australia. Scheduled flights from these warehouses back to HK are arranged on a weekly basis, while the delivery fee will be based on the parcel’s actual weight (not parcel size).

After closing its Series A funding in mid-2017, it has expanded into China, Macau, Taiwan, Japan, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and the UAE. It boasts of more than 320,000 users.

Buyandship has already signed agreements with eBay, StockX, GLADD, Drop, and other merchants to support their Asia expansions.

As per a 2018 report by OECD, B2C cross-border e-commerce is growing fast as Asian e-shoppers look to buy directly from overseas brands rather than settle only for local options. B2C cross-border e-commerce to Asia should reach US$900 billion in value by 2021, with a CAGR of approximately 18.8 per cent. Demand from China alone will account for nearly two-third of this total, but Vietnam and Indonesia will show higher growth rates.

Wilson Chan, Co-founder and CEO of Buyandship, says that Asian e-shoppers are primarily motivated by the enormous difference in prices: “Buying a Dyson product in a Hong Kong retail store costs around HK$4,000, but only HK$1,800 from an overseas online store. At a discount rate higher than 50 per cent, customers naturally prefer to shop from overseas stores.”

“Our goal is to build a borderless, international e-commerce network for our users, so they can easily and comfortably enjoy the best bargains from around the world through our service. When they need a cutting-edge, forward-thinking e-commerce logistics service, they think of Buyandship,” he added.

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Also, Amadeus Ventures to invest in travel tech startup Volantio, and Deskera partners P2P financing platform Funding Societies

Trading platform Funderbeam raises US$4.5M Series A funding [Press Release]

Funding and trading platform for private companies Funderbeam announced that it has raised a US$4.5 million Series A funding to further support its secondary market development and expansion across Asia.

The funding was led by UK-based Accelerated Digital Ventures (ADV) and also participated by new investors such as GK-Plug and Play Indonesia, Pandan Ventures, along with existing investors including Draper Associates, Draper Venture Partners, IQ Capital, and Mistletoe.

Recently launched in the UK and Scandinavian countries, Funderbeam seeks to connect venture and SME capital markets through access and liquidity to growth investments.

Founded in 2013, Funderbeam hosts startups and SME and makes them available for cross-border investment and trading. It helps founders to choose who can invest and therefore retain control of their cap table, and for investors, it provides access to a community of growth-stage companies and the option to trade their investments at any time, facilitated by blockchain technology.

Amadeus Ventures signs agreement with travel tech startup Volantio to integrate airlines solution [Press Release]

Amadeus Ventures and Volantio announce a new partnership to help airlines optimise capacity and increase revenues by integrating Volatio’s solution in identifying flexible passengers on full flights and providing them with an incentive (such as frequent flyer miles, travel vouchers, or upgrades) to voluntarily move to lower demand flights. Yana, the name of Volantio’s platform that allows bumping down the flexible passengers, will automatically rebook passengers who accept and fulfill the selected incentive through its machine learning system.

Also Read: Filipino K-pop fans accuse Shopee of scam over girl group meeting

This announcement comes just after Volantio won the Amadeus Accenture Alliance Air Pitch at the Skift Global Forum in September 2018. Volantio also won top startup pitch at Amadeus’ T3CH event in March.

Volantio already works with seven airlines including Qantas, Iberia, Alaska Airlines, Volaris, IndiGo, and others. So far, the company said, partner airlines have seen an average of 3 to 5 times returns on their investment.

Cloud-based platform Deskera partners P2P financing platform Funding Societies to support SMEs [Press Release]

Deskera, a cloud-based platform, and Funding Societies, Southeast Asia’s P2P financing platform, has entered into a partnership to support underserved SMEs to apply to the provided funds minus the paperwork. Deskera’s platform will incorporate Funding Societies’ Invoice Financing feature, whereby B2B SMEs will be able to pledge their invoices and release funding in advance, rescinding their cash flow constraints.

For SMEs, cash flow is a constant concern, especially for SMEs in the B2B sector with payment terms between 30 and 90 days with additional delays beyond that. According to the 2018 SME Development Survey conducted by DP Information Group (now known as Experian), 34 per cent of SMEs were facing external finance-related challenges with 84 per cent of them quoted delayed payments from customers as the key finance-related issue.

Through this partnership, both companies hope that they can provide a fast and effective financial solution that many SMEs are seeking as a way for their businesses to strive.

APAC Realty plans to invest in AI-based proptech UrbanZoom [Press Release]

APAC Realty Limited announced a collaboration with UrbanZoom, a startup that applies big data and artificial intelligence (AI) to the real estate sector. This is part of the company’s investment program Digital Lab initiative.

As part of the collaboration, APAC Realty has entered into an agreement to invest S$1 million (US$ 732,820) in 3-year interest-free convertible notes issued by Dots Connected Pte. Ltd.

UrbanZoom was founded in 2018 by a team of real estate professionals and data scientists utilising a proprietary artificial intelligence algorithm to analyse millions of data points derived from regulatory, industry and other public sources to predict the value of a residential unit.

Also Read: Go-Jek acquires Indian recruitment platform developer AirCTO

Going forward, ERA looks to partner with UrbanAgents in providing business leads to its agents while developing agents-facing productivity tools with UrbanZoom.

CONSENTIUM joins forces with BLUCON to launch crypto-based debit card [Press Release]

Singapore-based crypto wallet-integrated messaging app CONSENTIUM has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with payment platform BLUCON earlier last month. The partnership will see the launch of a CONSENTIUM branded Debit Card in mid-July 2019 and the collaboration of the two companies in launching a CONSENTIUM branded transport card.

The CONSENTIUM Card is expected to work across many card-accepting retailers in Asia and will also allow for cash withdrawals of the local currency at supported ATMs through the use of BLUCON’s technology.

“The partnership with BLUCON is in-line with our goals of achieving organic growth. By catering to the needs of our CSM token holders, who in turn can enjoy greater liquidity, we will also increase the value and utility of the BLUCON cards,” said Wayne Huang, Marketing Head of CONSENTIUM.

Similar to traditional Debit Cards, the CONSENTIUM branded BLUCON Debit Cards facilitate payment by connecting the users’ local banks to their exchanges through the BLU EXO-Platform. BLUCON uses existing financial networks.

The CONSENTIUM team expects to test the cards in June 2019 and will launch the cards for public use by mid-July 2019.
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The Singapore and American startup raised the funding from Standard Chartered and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, among other strategic investors

Team collaboration platform Symphony Communication Services announced today that it has raised US$165 million in new capital from Standard Chartered and MUFG Innovation Partners Co., Ltd., along with a group of existing and other investors.

With the new funding, the Palo Alto-based company that also has its headquarter office in Singapore will bring the total capital raised to over US$460 million.

Starting off with a messaging platform, Symphony claims that it has expanded into a collaboration platform that facilitates the digital transformation of financial markets.

“We are pleased to welcome Standard Chartered and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group to our strategic investor community. Symphony’s community is coming together to build stronger connections, automation, and expanded customer reach as part of their digital transformation initiatives,” said David Gurlé, founder and CEO of Symphony.

The company was founded four and a half years ago and said that the investment is timely given that it’s been gaining momentum. A total of 430,000 users with license comes from over 60 countries.

Also Read: Vietnam payment startups Vimo and mPOS merge, rebranded as NextPay

In addition to the funding, Symphony also launches of Symphony Market Solutions. It is a new business that seeks to help customers speed up their digital transformation initiatives via workflow automation along with a suite of standardised, licensable software solutions.

Symphony will use the new capital to evolve its new Market Solutions business, to accelerate growth in both its current and new markets and further build out its feature stack to deliver new innovation to enterprises as they replace traditional collaboration tools.
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From collaboration to immersive education, AR is set to be more integrated in our daily life

From enhancing the quality of life-saving healthcare to providing a level of inclusive entertainment that’s never been seen before, the potential for remote augmented reality is seemingly limitless.

AR’s seemingly limitless possibilities might well make it the most exciting emerging technology on the planet today. The industry surrounding augmented reality along with virtual reality is forecast to attain a value of over $25 billion by 2025.

The chances are that you’ve already encountered augmented reality while shopping online or playing gaming apps such as Pokemon Go!

Where virtual reality fully submerges users into a world that bears no resemblance to the real-life scenery surrounding them (typically via the use of headsets), AR is far more adaptable and commonly embeds a virtual layer on top of reality through the use of camera phones/tablets or eyewear.

This digital augmentation makes for an excellent visual aid, and retail outlets like IKEA have been swift in adopting the technology to enable customers to render their catalogue items and actually see what they would look like in their homes before making a purchase.

One exciting new area that enables AR to really excel is through ‘remote’ augmented reality. The beauty of manipulating your settings with other users remotely is that you can effectively offer your literal point of view to tutors, colleagues or peers and interact gain their informed insights.

To help shed some more light on the value that remote AR can bring to a host of industries, here are five game-changing developments in the technology that we can’t wait to see enter the fray.

Synergized entertainment

According toInfoholic Research, the augmented reality gaming market is set hit around $284.92 billion by 2023, and remote AR gaming will be responsible for driving profits across the industry.

One such company looking to take remote AR gaming to the next level is WATTY.

The company’s dedicated app, WATTY REMOTE, actively brings users from around the world together through embedding digital layers on real-life canvases. Users can play games via mobile devices and share their experiences and information through WATTY’s remote AR framework.

Through ‘Boo’, WATTY’s anthropomorphic racoon mascot, users can communicate with each other or even engage in battles remotely, with their digital avatars interacting with their respective real-world canvases.

Gleb Braverman, founder of WATTY highlights the potential that remote AR and its uses hold for enabling users to engage across the world:

“Imagine if you could share AR with your friend on the other side of the world with just a mobile phone. We’ll actually be able to deliver it with WATTY REMOTE. Our vision is that AR multiplayer will be as easy as online shopping.”

Effective collaboration

As traditionally office-based workforces become increasingly mobile, effective remote collaboration tools have become much sought after.

Utilising the power of remote AR, Spacial has developed a technology that’s been dubbed by Engadget as ‘the Slack of the future.”

Utilising the market’s many augmented reality headsets, Spacial operates like apparatus straight out of a science fiction film. Users can not only visualise each other but also manipulate 3D rendered objects as visual aids.

If you’re working with colleagues that need to pass judgement on structural blueprints or visualise landscapes, Spacial could be just what the doctor ordered.

Healthcare benefits

Speaking of doctors, remote AR’s influence in the healthcare industry will be felt in the coming years.

Imagine an environment where doctors can get swift second opinions before diagnosing an ailment, or where surgeons have a digital helping hand that can create visual prompts on how to approach the operation they’re undertaking.

With the use of remote AR, industry professionals from around the world can offer guidance for colleagues by sharing their viewpoint through augmented reality glasses and providing digital directions and notes that appear embedded in front of the subject’s real-life environment.

Remote AR could also improve the level of service that patients receive remotely from doctors. Patients will be capable of getting in touch with a practitioner and display their symptoms through a dedicated camera-enabled AR app before the doctor provides digital feedback within the tool.

Immersive education

Whether it’s higher education or staff training, remote AR has the ability to herald a new era of tutoring and study support – especially in practical fields.

Through educational engagement, tutors can utilise AR to actively peer in on their students’ progress during in-classroom or remote practical tasks, ensuring that nobody is experiencing difficulty or cheating in completing their work.

Likewise, when it comes to staff training throughout national and multinational organisations, staff can be appropriately tested and assessed through remote AR solutions – ensuring that all offices and warehouses are as well trained as can be.

Troubleshooting tools

The appropriately named ‘Remote AR’ app promises to be the best solution for remote business supports, and its developers have set their sights firmly on providing practical solutions to the handling of machinery.

The service is designed to provide a remote video connection between field workers and ‘remote experts’ that are capable of providing superior troubleshooting solutions that wouldn’t otherwise be possible by any other means.

The beauty of Remote AR is that it’s set to save an innumerable amount of time for workers who will be capable of providing a live visual display of the problems they are having while experts in the field can respond by utilising a digital layer of augmented reality to provide visual instructions and information.

Also Read: In Photos: Pomelo opens first international store in Singapore

The adoption of Remote AR and its ilk will not only work wonders in helping organisations hit their deadlines by seamlessly navigating around potential issues, but also improve worker safety thanks to the level of expertise than the insight that AR can provide them with.

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Photo by David Grandmougin on Unsplash

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