Qualgro makes its first foray into Europe with an investment in French robotic food tech company Pazzi

Singapore-based investment fund Qualgro has entered Europe via a US$11,2 million Series A funding in Pazzi, a France-based robotic food tech startup. Joining the investment round are French fund Eutopia, Partech and daphni, as well as American and Swiss entrepreneurs from the retail and food sector.

The funding will be used to accelerate the development of Pazzi’s technology by strengthening its R&D teams and industrial partnerships for the manufacture of the next robots.

Pazzi will also use part of the new capital to open the first fully autonomous pilot restaurant with robots cooking in the Paris region in September at the Val d’Europe shopping centre (owned by the Klépierre group), one of the leading shopping centres in France.

Pazzi is a new player in the emerging robotic food tech sector, following the success of Zume or Spyce, the American companies in the sector which fundraised in 2018. Pazzi is said to be the pioneer in the sector in Europe.

According to a report by Meticulous Research, food robotics market is set to hit US$3.1 billion by 2025.

Pazzi was founded by two young French inventors, Sébastien Roverso and Cyrill Hamon, both engineers who are passionate about robotics and electronics. Together, they met with Philippe Goldman, a former director L’Oréal and now CEO of Pazzi. The company’s R&D efforts resulted in five patents obtained.

Pazzi now has a 15-person team. The company has been working with chef Thierry Graffagnino, a three-time world champion of pizza-making, since 2017. Graffagnino creates the dough and recipes for pizzas and helps the engineers teach robots to replicate how pizzaiolo (pizza makers) move. The end goal is to make the pizza-making process look more authentic and unique.

Also Read: Alpha JWC Ventures welcomes NS Solutions to its second fund

Pazzi founders’ mission is to fight junk food and to “use their skills to change the way fast food chains operate by increasing speed and freshness and operates with much more efficiency”.

Combining robots, vision, and data learning, Pazzi has been able to implement high-quality sourcing and recipes thanks to Graffagnino. The ingredients are based on organic vegetables from Italy, clean label hams, French PDO cheeses, sustainable fish, and flour from Ile-de-France mills, with a combination of over five million recipes.

The platform also opens the possibility for 24/7 open catering and is able to make 100 pizzas per hour; allowing Pazzi to be an optimal turnkey restaurant solution for operators of flow areas: stations, airports, main streets, shopping centres, department stores or campuses.

“Pazzi means ‘crazy’ in Italian. It is in the image of our team and the crazy bet invested in research for 6 years, concretised in particular by five patents. Pazzi’s mission is to put technology and robotics at the service of taste and healthier food,” said Philippe Goldman, CEO de PAZZI.

“The autonomous restaurant concept offered by Pazzi is meeting a growing demand from consumers across the world for fast, qualitative, and affordable food options. Its user-friendly digital tools and exciting robotics add to the overall great consumer experience,” said Heang Chhor, founder of Qualgro VC.
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Photo by Willian West on Unsplash

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Sifting through our e27 archives? If you’re looking for a good read, here are a few suggestions

Throughout the history of e27, contributors have always found themselves at the heart of what e27 brings to the tech community of Asia-Pacific and beyond.

We believe in preserving a healthy marketplace of ideas where thought leaders and entrepreneurs can exchange insights regarding the tech ecosystem. Because of this, we’ve decided to curate this special section featuring some of our best contributed articles from the past few months.

Without further ado, here’s our pick for the 10 contributor articles you should check out!

1.) 5 ways Augmented Reality is redefining the gaming industry by Nitin Garg

In this write up by BR Softech CEO and co-founder, Nitin Garg, he chronicles how augmented reality is creating immersive experiences that allow users to feel that they can interact personally with their digital environment.

2.) What I learned about procrastination while scaling my startup to 4.2M users by Aytekin Tank

JotForm founder and CEO Aytekin Tank writes, “Once I reconnect with my goals and remind myself of the potential outcomes, I’m back on track. Obviously, there is no ‘right way’ to deal with procrastination” as he talks about a problem that can be detrimental to your business, yet is often left undiscussed.

3.) Hidden reasons why VCs reject your startup for investment by Christopher Quek

In this think-piece that talks about the decision-making calculus of VCs, TRIVE managing partner Christopher Quek likens acquiring funding from VCs to getting rejected on Tinder: sometimes it’s not you, it’s them.

4.) 8 productivity hacks to streamline your work-life by Bjorn Lee

Here’s an article by MindFi.co founder Bjorn Lee that discusses the different ways one can slither through the busy life of being a young professional, highlighting the demarcation between what it’s like to be ‘busy’ and what it’s like to be actually productive.

5.) How listening to our 4.1 million users inspired a new product idea by Aytekin Tank

An article contributed by JotForm CEO and founder Aytekin Tank where he delineates “the product” versus the feelings we ascribe to that product (or in simpler terms, how that product makes us feel) as he attempts to interrogate the purchasing habits of the everyday consumer.

6.) What I learned from reading 50 books in a year by Edric Subut

“I certainly will carry the momentum and leverage my expanded inner confidence from this challenge to stretch myself further. I don’t know where exactly life will take me or what my next challenge will be. But one thing is certain, I will never stop growing,” writes Google App Growth Manager for Southeast Asia, Edric Subut, as he talks about channeling inner growth gained from expanding knowledge as a means to harness outward growth.

7.) Hire slowly, grow slowly: how we grew from 1 to 100 employees by Aytekin Tank

Once again, JotForm CEO and founder Aytekin Tank dazzles us with his insights. Here, he talks about how patience is indeed a virtue when growing your employment pool, and how it took him and his growing team 12 years to bring JotForm to where it is today.

8.) Fantastic tech co-founders and where to find them by Jackie Tan Yen

Here, self-proclaimed blockchain enthusiast and current PhD candidate at NTU, Singapore, Jackie Tan Yen uses a quirky Harry Potter reference to shed light on the critical act of finding the right partner to get your company off the ground.

9.) There’s hope for markets in 2019 despite 2018’s crypto winter, here’s why by Kenny Au

To all crypto enthusiasts out there and the like, here’s an article by LUXSENS co-founder Kenny Au detailing why the market isn’t an entirely bleak space to explore in 2019 in spite of crypto’s performance in the year prior — 2018.

10.) 7 traits of successful startups by Jamie Cheng

Is there really a common thread that binds successful startups together? Find out in this adeptly written article by Digital Alpha Agency co-founder Jamie Cheng, where she discusses common traits observed among successful startup founders.

Also read: e27 is a platform for exchanging ideas, here is a quick guide to contribute an article for the community

Submissions

Want to read more? You’re in luck since e27 houses tons of articles containing meaningful insights revolving the tech ecosystem and beyond.

If you’re interested to be part of e27’s growing pool of contributors, sign up for an e27 account today and submit your articles here. All contributions will be reviewed by our editors.

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Prosa.ai focusses on Natural Language Processing and Speech in Indonesian language

Indonesia-based Prosa.ai, an AI-powered startup that provides Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Speech in the country’s local language, announced that it has received a Series A investment from GDP Venture.

Prosa.ai was built in 2018 as a result of the research conducted by its co-founders: Dr. Ayu Purwarianti and Dessi Puji Lestari, PhD, who are both locally-known experts in NLP and Speech alongside Teguh Eko Budiarto, an IT entrepreneur veteran.

Now the company has over 20 Data Scientists, 16 Data Annotators for its NLP Speech products, data, and services that are sourced from IT sectors, government, and academics.

“Indonesia has seen emerging startups with potentials in AI industry and Prosa.ai’s technology is one that we actually need to support other industries,” said Martin Hartono, CEO of GDP Venture, commenting on the strategic investment.

Also Read: Singapore’s Qualgro lands in Europe with a US$11.2M Series A in Pazzi

GDP Venture also participated in Prosa.ai’s seed funding round.

Teguh Eko Budiarto, CEO of Prosa.ai said that the company plans to use the funding to improve its products and data, especially their Prosa Hoax Intel, NLP Toolkit API, Concept-Sentiment, Chatbot NLP Processing, Text Data Sets, Voice Biometrics, Speech Datasets, Speech-to-Text, Text-to-Speech, Conversational Analytics. and Meeting Analytics for Bahasa Indonesia.

Recently, Prosa.ai collaborates with Indonesia’s Minister of Communication and Informatics to launch Chatbot AntiHoaks (anti-hoax chatbot) in Telegram that can be accessed through [at]chatbotantihoaks account. The chatbot is intended to help to check on the credibility of news, articles, or links shared by the public through chatroom.

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Image Credit: Prosa.ai

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The company says it has no assets to clear its accounts with creditors and users

Ofo can’t pay its debts, but says it is confident of a comeback [KrAsia]

After abandoning its overseas operations, Ofo just refuses to die.

After a Tianjin court ruled that Ofo is unable to repay RMB 250 million (US$36 million) in debt to a bike manufacturer, revealing that the company has “no assets” to clear its accounts with creditors and users, the company told local newspaper Beijing Business Today that it respects the ruling and that it is still going all out to generate revenue and return users’ deposits.

This means that Ofo, which was once valued at north of US$2 billion, has no property or land usage rights, no investments that can be liquidated, and no vehicles. The court added that Ofo’s bank accounts were either already frozen by other courts or didn’t have a positive balance.

MDEC launches comeback career programme for more women to join cybersecurity sector [The Star]

The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) wants more women to become a part of the cybersecurity workforce, by encouraging them to apply for the new Empowering Women in Cyber Risk Management Programme.

MDEC chief executive officer Surina Shukri described the pioneer programme as an important step towards building a highly-valued workforce with critical skills.

“This programme will empower women to develop the skills needed for jobs with high-demand in the era of Industry 4.0,” she said.

Women, Family and Community Development deputy minister Hannah Yeoh at the launch said the programme is “timely”.

AI mental health startup Wysa raises Rs 15 crores in pre-Series A round of funding led by pi Ventures [press release]

Wysa, an AI conversational agent which aims to help improve mental health, announced that it has raised about US$2M in a pre-Series A round of funding led by pi Ventures, with participation from Kae Capital and other investors.

Wysa has raised an earlier round of US$1.3 million in seed funding from Kae Capital and angel investors in 2017.

The company plans to use fresh funding to further strengthen their technology and for expansion.

Founded by Jo Aggarwal and Ramakant Vempati three years ago, Wysa is an AI-based ‘emotionally intelligent’ bot, a virtual coach that combines empathetic listening with evidence-based therapeutic techniques like CBT, meditation and motivational interviewing, to make mental health accessible at scale.

Wysa has helped over 1.2 million people from 30-plus countries.

Oculo and plano partner to protect children’s eyesight [press release]

Oculo and plano have announced a new partnership designed to combat the growing global myopia epidemic.

The plano app provides a suite of child safety functions, while using science-based features to help modify behaviour in children to reduce myopia related risk factors and empower healthier device usage. plano users (families with children aged 2 to 16 years) will have access to the extensive Oculo network to make the process of finding and booking optometry appointments easy.

“plano empowers parents to work with their children to develop healthy screen habits – and this includes regular and timely comprehensive eye check-ups. As part of plano’s inbuilt eye referral system, users will get reminders when their children are due for an optometry review and can seamlessly find an optometrist in the Oculo network for care,” said plano Founder and CEO, Dr Mo Dirani.

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It enables kids to earn KID coins for chores, reaching new learning goals in reading/math, and buy stuff on online stores

Last summer, Kaede Takenaka was having lunch with her mom and her friends in a restaurant. They were talking about adult stuff and mentioned cryptocurrency, blockchain and different projects and how to solve problems. An enthusiastic Takenaka asked them where all these coins came from and if she can have her own coin.

“And I got my own coin,” Takenaka tells e27.  “We created a coin on the NEM blockchain. The very next year, I taught how to do it to Master’s students.”

A Grade IV student at AKIS International School in Bangkok, Takenaka is the Co-founder and CEO of KIDLetCoin, a blockchain platform for kids to learn all about blockchain and fiscal management. She believes kids taking control of their own financial education and learning about disruptive technologies early are the keys to their success.

KIDLetCoin was started by Takenaka as a hobby because she had not much time to invest as she was busy with academics. So she did things in her spare time with the help of mother.

“KIDLetCoin was started as a way to make kids learn about cryptocurrencies by doing chores and getting coins in return. In the beginning it was designed as a system wherein parents could take coins back or not release them if the kids were not doing their chores or for being naughty. But we gave up on that idea later,” continues Takenaka. “In the current form, KidLetCoin enables kids to earn KID coins for chores, or reaching new learning goals in reading/math, etc. Kids can use their KID in an online store to buy stuff.”

The startup’s ultimate goal is to create a global network of kids, who will work together on blockchain projects and educational products.

Despite her achievements at this very young age, Takenaka doesn’t consider herself a prodigy. She says she learned all about crypto and blockchain from her mom, who is working for a blockchain firm. Takenaka goes to all blockchain events along with her mom. Besides, she watches a lot of YouTube videos about this technology.

Also Read: 16-year-old Indian prodigy has developed a drone that can detect and destroy landmines

“I’m just a normal kid. I love to read and always have books around. I also love Minecraft (a sandbox video game) and finding ways to do Minecraft mods and building a Piper laptop kit. This is how I got interested in tech,” he clarifies.

KIDLetCoin also has a few people on the team, but since it was her own brain map and idea, Takenaka took on the role of the CEO. “My mom helped and so did some of her blockchain friends, but they don’t want publicity. As the head of the company, my roles are to go out and tell people about the project, invite kids to help and learn, and try to learn more coding.”

The inspiration to start the project came from the class room. “We use the International Baccalaureate system and this year we did UOI (unit of inquiry) about entrepreneurship. Everyone in class had to make a business,” he shares. “This was started as a passion project.”

Takenaka has a lot of plans with this project but she doesn’t want to talk about just yet. She has however made it clear that the company will not do an ICO, ever. “I will do my best with KIDLetCoin, and hopefully make it successful.”

In her spare time, Kaede likes to read books, watch gaming YouTube videos, write short stories, and play sports. She also dances and plays music. In future, she also wants to be a doctor.

As for funding, initially it was all her mom and her friends who funded everything and still fund things. Takenaka also has a few more private investors helping with the minimum viable product.

What are the major challenges you are facing? “Well, it can be difficult to be taken seriously as a kid. I also get tired of school. But I think its a big opportunity to help kids learn about blockchain, and I want kids to join me and learn too,” she concludes.

Takenaka spoke about blockchain and cryptocurrencies at Techsauce Global Summit, which was concluded on Thursday.

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Various countries are developing and implementing standardized regulatory frameworks to protect the interests of consumers, exchanges, and governments

Blockchain technology is fast becoming a familiar term to all and sundry. Whilst many only associate it with Bitcoin, the technology has created a myriad of frameworks and solutions to business processes in various sectors, e.g. digital identities, digital assets, decentralized gaming and many more.

Amongst the various solutions blockchain technology has succeeded in creating, a platform for the exchange of digital assets (a digital representation of physical assets or currencies on the blockchain completely decentralized) is one its foremost technological breakthroughs. The decentralized and distributed ledger framework provides a means for digital assets to be exchanged online based on market value.

Blockchain heralded an era of decentralized peer-to-peer electronic cash system that completely eliminates the need to depend on a trusted middleman (which is often the point of risk/failure). The advent of Bitcoin has given rise to lots of other digital assets, which inspired the need for decentralized exchanges.

These exchanges make it possible to trade digital assets like bitcoin and ethereum based on their various market values. They allow users to buy, trade and sell hundreds of various types of digital assets. While some exchanges allow for the trading of digital assets for other digital assets, some allow trade of digital assets for fiat currencies and vice versa.

Although the global digital asset market has experienced immense periods of volatility in recent years, reports show that the market, which was initially valued at about US$800 billion in 2017, is expected to reach about US$3.6 trillion by 2025. This growth invariably could be linked to the rise in the demand for digital payments and transactions.

Regulatory challenges

There are currently over 300 exchanges facilitating the trade of digital assets globally. However, despite these and the market worth, the majority of these exchanges do not have proper regulatory frameworks. Thus, the protection of traders and institutions in the market is not fully guaranteed.

This may be owing to the fact that the industry is relatively new, and as such many governments aren’t up to date with the developmental speed of digital assets exchanges.

However, the regulation of exchanges currently varies from country to country. While countries like China and India consider the exchanges illegal, other countries like Malta, Switzerland and Singapore consider them legal.

A country like the United States, however, has varying regulations depending on the state of operation. For example in areas with regulation, late last year, the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) fined EtherDelta — a digital asset trading platform — US$388,000 for operating as an unregistered exchange.

The clamour for a global standard of regulation is rightfully warranted as traders on these platforms need a high degree of protection and guarantee that funds invested are not lost to scam setups. It should be noted that the lack of regulations has its contributions in discouraging potential investors in the market and perhaps the volatility of the market.

Towards Standardized Regulatory Frameworks

Clear regulatory frameworks define strict rules that will decrease fraud and grey-area legality issues. In addition to protecting existing customers of these exchanges, it will also set a new foundation for new exchange users. This is quite important to help facilitate the mass potentials the digital assets industry can bring forth.

Also Read: The real reasons why startups fail: no, it’s not the idea

Bobby Lieu, co-founder, UDAX, speaking on the need for regulations says, “The crypto market is primarily categorized as volatile and having a regulatory environment in place provides the stability the market needs and increases the confidence of crypto-enthusiasts and investors to put their money in this market. It may also encourage banks to accept crypto into the mainstream markets.”

A number of government bodies as earlier mentioned, have already implemented or begun implementing regulatory frameworks for these exchanges. Southeast Asia, in particular, has been taking action to protect consumers on digital assets exchanges.

For instance, the Securities Commission in Malaysia is already making positive moves in facilitating exchange regulations. The commission published a list of digital asset exchanges which were permitted to continue their operation for a transitional period from 15th January until 1st March 2019.

A total number of 22 companies submitted their respective applications to the SC which are now on the SC’s official list of permitted exchanges. The remaining 21 out of the 43 existing exchanges who failed to submit their applications have been instructed to cease their operations in the country. According to the statement released by the regulator, “Companies which did not submit their application to the SC by March 1 are required to take the necessary steps to cease their business and return all clients’ assets by March 15.”

In the wake of the new regulations, Lieu remarked, “While some crypto exchanges view regulatory framework from government bodies as a threat for the industry going forward, UDAX welcomes crypto regulations and recognises the importance of crypto exchanges working with government bodies as they implement regulatory framework for exchanges.”

The regulatory approach by the government is a welcome development as this will once again restore a level of confidence in the digital exchanges and in the market as a whole.

Relevant moves like these further make the market attractive to potential investors and ultimately allow customers to safely buy, sell, and trade digital assets under trusted exchanges that comply with SC regulations.

Despite the relative novelty of the digital assets market, it’s becoming obvious that various countries are developing and implementing standardized regulatory frameworks to protect the interests of consumers, exchanges, and governments.

Lieu believes regulation is inevitable. According to him, “most countries will be regulating the cryptocurrency industry in the near future if they haven’t done so already.”

Also Read: How blockchain can change the way we think of identification systems

It is his perspective that regardless of the development of the regulatory environment worldwide, adaptability and ensuring compliance will be paramount for crypto exchanges. Time and resources are required for both government bodies and exchanges to implement regulating framework and be compliance-ready respectively. “It may be years from now before the regulatory environment worldwide matures and stabilize”, he says.

To ensure a sustainable framework for growth in the blockchain industry, it is indeed paramount that adequate regulatory measures are implemented. Also, this will not only bring some level of stability to the market but in the long run, attract more investors and increase reliability and assurance in the market.

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e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

 

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Here’s how to keep distractions at bay

Whenever you search online for ways to increase productivity at work, you get millions of results. That’s because it’s the core issue for leaders and managers worldwide.

It doesn’t help that a lot the writers covering the topic seem to repeat the same generic advice. So, we’ll take a different approach and view productivity from the perspective of performance and engagement. Here are the 7 ways to increase productivity at work.

You cannot multitask

According to neuroscientist and MIT professor, Earl Miller’s report named “Multitasking. Why Your Brain Can’t Do It and What You Should Do About It“, people can’t multitask very well and whoever believes they can “are deluding themselves”. His research has shown that our brain is highly capable at tricking itself into believing what it wants.

Also Read: The real reasons why startups fail: no, it’s not the idea

Also, according to Miller, people shift their focus at tremendous speed from one task to another but it doesn’t mean that they pay attention to multiple things at the same time. He also shows that similar tasks which involve using the same skill, such as communication, compete at sharing the same portion of the brain. So, for example, because of task interference and conflict between writing an email and talking on the phone, you can’t properly focus on either at the same time.

Split long-term goals into independent goals

Long-term goals often seem overwhelming and leads to fatigue and risk of quitting or being proactive. So, by breaking them down into smaller and independent goals, you can bypass that risk and feel a sense of achievement.

As underlined by Ryder Caroll who is a best-selling author and creator of the Bullet Journal, when you divide your long-term goal into Sprints rather than phases you get a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction which motivates you to keep going.

Olenski’s 2-Minute Rule

Entrepreneur Steve Olenski recommends implementing the 2-minute rule to take advantage of short open-windows of time.

So, whenever you have free time and you identify a task which you can get done in less than 2-minutes you should do it on the spot. Olenski emphasizes that it will take less time than reverting to it later. Also, thanks to this rule he’s become one of the top online content strategists.

Draft your To-Do list the night before

Your to-do list can make or break your productivity for the day, it keeps you organized and helps you focus. Whenever you’ve checked off one of the items on your list you immediately feel satisfaction for the accomplishment.

However, it’s important that you prepare your next day to do list on the night before so you don’t waste precious time at the beginning of your workday. You can also increase your productivity by simply talking through your to-do-list with someone. According to Leo Wildrich, author of What Multitasking Does to Your Brain, this technique forces you to think about each task and you’ll feel like you have done half the work already.

Turn off any distractions

Your phone can easily become your number one productivity killer. It only takes one second to shift your attention when your phone lights up notifications from social media or WhatsApp. It’s best to completely shut off your phone and any email notifications so you can maintain 100% focus on the task which you’re working on.

Nobody can resist checking an email or text notification, so by switching your phone off you eliminate the risk of being interrupted. It also helps you remain proactive on your work rather than reactive to external stimuli.

Get the right office tools

Automation is the name of the game these days and having the proper tools in your office helps you stop wasting time. Whenever small tasks can be done with office equipment, your best approach is to purchase the right tools. But, before you buy office equipment make a comparison between brands which have a good reputation. Look for increased reliability, high levels of efficiency and low maintenance costs. After-sales support is also important to ensure that your business runs smoothly.

A positive attitude does wonders for productivity

According to studies carried out at the University of Warwick, happy employees have a 12 per cent higher productivity level than those who aren’t. Also the Maastricht University studied the link between performance and optimism to discover that in call centres, optimists had a higher level of sales.

Also Read: What makes your readers click: Writing tips to improve conversions

So, negative and stressful conditions at work will only yield in low productivity. When employees work under constant pressure they’re less engaged and they lose motivation. But, if you show appreciation and gratitude for their achievements, they’ll do their best at work.
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Image Credit: William Iven on Unsplash

e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

The post 7 ways to increase productivity at work appeared first on e27.

Also, Ohmyhome opens proptech innovations centre, and B Capital invests in Indian scooter rental startups Bounce

Stripe partners with small business platform Xero for payment options [Press Release]

Xero, the small business platform, today announced a partnership with Stripe to develop payment options that help small businesses get paid faster, in more ways, and gain more visibility over their business performance.

The partnership announced at Xerocon San Diego 2019, will see Xero and Stripe building new tools to invoice customers more efficiently, bring additional insights on their business performance, and get paid, in spite of how or where they do business.

The first two options being developed under the new partnership include:

• A new Stripe feed, designed to bring comprehensive transaction data for all Stripe payments into Xero for easy reconciliation and insights using a cloud accounting platform, whether a small business invoices from the Xero platform or an e-Commerce site, and
• Auto pay, allowing small businesses to set up and receive recurring payments for repeat billing customers directly through Xero

Craig Walker, Founding CTO & Executive General Manager Platform Business Technologies at Xero said, “We built the Xero platform to help small businesses grow with better tools, smarter insights and comprehensive connections to the information they need to run their business.”

e-Commerce platform SHOPLINE launches in Malaysia [Press Release]

Hong Kong-based SHOPLINE, an e-Commerce platform, announced the expansion of its operations to Malaysia. The news follows the closure of a US$2 million funding round earlier this year, led by CDIB Capital Group and Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund.

Also Read: Accelerating Asia launches seed-stage accelerator cohort

The startup enables merchants to set-up online stores and offers a wide selection of shop designs, payment gateways, and shipping carriers tailored to the needs of local and cross-border merchants. In 2018, six-year-old SHOPLINE’s merchants reportedly reached over 200 million customers.

SHOPLINE claimed to already have a strong following in its native Hong Kong, along with offices in Taiwan, Ho Chi Minh City, and Shenzhen. The expansion to Kuala Lumpur further ​expand its footprint across the region, offering to include its range of online to offline (O2O) solutions, which enable merchants to connect across channels and optimise the customer’s shopping experience within the coming months

Services will include the SHOPLINE Kiosk, a CRM tool that allows users to sign up for membership with a mobile number or email; the SHOPLINE Broadcast Center, a marketing automation tool enabling merchants to reach customers via Facebook’s chatbot, SMS and email; and Shoplytics, a proprietary analytics dashboard that allows merchants to visualise and analyse data related to their store’s web traffic, revenue, product performance, customers, marketing and promotion campaign performance.

Singapore’s B Capital Group leads investment to scooter rental startup Bounce [The Economic Times]

Singapore-based VC firm B Capital and New York-based hedge fund Falcon Edge Capital, have led Series C investment for US$72 million to Bounce, a scooter rental startups from India. The investment will be used to fund the expansion plan beyond Bengaluru into ten new cities over the coming months.

The Series C investment brings the total equity raised by Bounce to US$92 million so far. Participating in the round were existing investors Accel Partners India, Chiratae Ventures, Omidyar Network, Sequoia Capital, and Qualcomm Ventures, along with Accel Partners US and Mavericks Ventures.

“We plan on adding as many as 100,000 scooters in the next 12-18 months as our focus will be on electric scooters,” said Vivekananda H R, co-founder and CEO of Bounce.

Currently, all of Bounces’ scooters are funded by debt, raised from InnoVen Capital, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal’s firm BAC, and a number of banks. Going forward, Bounce wants to switch over to electric scooters and is looking at a battery-as-a-service model.

Ohmyhome opens proptech innovations centre [Press Release]

Singapore’s property tech startup Ohmyhome announced the opening of the country’s first-ever PropTech (property technology) Innovation Centre today. The 11,000-square-foot facility will be used to accelerate innovation and productivity, as the company expands into other markets in the region.

Also Read: How Malaysia is taking relevant steps to regulate digital assets exchanges

The centre is in Toa Payoh will also double up as the company’s regional headquarters and will have a data and research facility, desks for in-house agents, and a public seminar chamber, where property literacy programmes will be conducted. There are nine zones that include three mains spaces – a Moonshot Room, a Grass Room, and a Happiness Room, catered for different purposes.

Race Wong, COO, and co-founder of Ohmyhome shared, “We hope this center could be a comfortable space for our community of innovators, to execute ideas that will transform the world of real estate.”
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The fascinating world of angel investing in Southeast Asia, from picking the right founders to investing in ICOs

How are valuations justified? Why do different angels have different investment pedagogies? How many portfolio companies should an angel aim to have? How should angels manage risk and make investments?

On the 19th of May, the Business Angel Network of Southeast Asia (BANSEA), organised a half day academy for angel investors. Leading figures in the angel investment community, including James Tan, Managing Partner of Quest Ventures and the newly elected Chairman of BANSEA, Michael Blakey, Managing Partner of Cocoon Capital, and “UK Angel Investor of the Year 2015” (UK Business Angel Association), and Dr. Rex Yeap, Partner at Invention Capital and Vice-Chairman of BANSEA, shared their insights during the session.

What do early-stage investors mean when they say “we invest in people?”

One of the key takeaways is that early-stage investing is an art, rather than a science. A common thread across all three speakers was the emphasis on the ‘quality of the founder’. Investing in people does not mean investing in the most charismatic founders, or the most ‘people friendly ones’. It means investing in entrepreneurs who have are driven and tenacious, critical thinkers that understand the market and the problem, and innovators that are not afraid of breaking the rules once in a while.

Commitment

James emphasised that founders should be focussed on their startup and only their startup, and that ‘all other bridges should be closed off’. The sentiment was also echoed by Michael. Founders should not be startup enthusiasts, and focus is pertinent to a startup’s success. Rather than running five different startups at the same time — which is a cardinal sin — founders should be able to identify ideas and industries that they are most passionate about.

References

Michael mentioned that he would typically rely on references by other angel investors or industry experts when making an investment decision. When attempting to understand a founder, the best way to identify if he/she would make a good founder would be to reach out to individuals that he/she has worked with before. James mentioned that he typically invests in founders that have been referred by other successful entrepreneurs.

Also read: Need an angel to back your early stage startup? Here are 5 types of investors you should look for

A hint of insanity

Entrepreneurs with the most disruptive ideas tend to have a refreshing perspective on the world. Michael remarked that he is looking for founders that are not afraid to challenge the norms and industry expectations. That said, Michael also mentioned that entrepreneurs must be grounded, and the science or technology behind the product must be feasible. If angels or VCs don’t have specific domain expertise, they would typically attempt to understand the viability of a founder’s breakthrough idea by interacting with domain experts and connecting with potential referees.

Diversification is key, and risk management through syndication is a good strategy

During James’ sharing on his Investment Pedagogy, he mentioned that angel investors place no more than 10% of their wealth into early-stage investing, and should attempt to have 20 to 25 investments to maximise their returns and diversify their risk. This is because every 9 out of 10 startups fail, and

What do angel investors think about ICOs?

With the recent boom of initial coin offerings (ICOs) in Singapore, Dr. Rex Yeap decided to share his insights on investing in the ICO space. Surprisingly, sophisticated angel investors view ICOs no differently from startups. They discount the irrational exuberance and ‘Fear of Missing Out’ (otherwise known as FOMO), and perform due diligence on ICOs extensively.

One of the examples that Dr. Yeap gave was the investment that BANSEA made into Tokenize.exchange. When making the investment, Dr. Yeap and other angels from BANSEA met the founders of Tokenize personally to understand the motivations behind the founding of Tokenize by the founders. Dr. Yeap also mentioned his disgust over the sheer number of scams in the ICO market, and mentioned that angel investors looking to invest in ICOs must do so with a heightened sense of acuity. He elucidated the numerous ways that angels can work with other investors and industry experts to identify potential ‘winners, losers, and scammers’ in the ICO market.

Are valuations sought by founders over-inflated?

One of the key contentions at the academy was the value that investors should place on startups. Clearly, different angels at the academy valued startups differently. James, however, summarised the situation aptly. He mentioned that it is ‘difficult to nail early-stage valuations’ and that investing at an early stage is typically an ‘art’. However, he also mentioned that there are several cases whereby founders are requesting for valuations at an overly rich price point. For example, he is seeing an influx of pre-product and pre-revenue startups attempting to raise series A valuations, though unsuccessfully.

Also read: I met with some of the biggest angel investors in Southeast Asia, and here are some insights I learned

In general, unless the startup is operating in the hardware space, biotechnology space, or requires extensive amounts of funding for regulatory structures, seed-stage startups from Singapore should be valued at around S$1 million, and Series A startups would typically be valued at S$3 to S$5 million.

Is angel investing for everyone?

One of the key insights that Michael shared was that angel investing is a long-term play and that angels need to be patient with their investments. With typical exit timeframes of 7 to 10 years in Southeast Asia, angels should only deploy funds that they are able to set aside for extended periods of time.

James added that the risk involved in angel investing is difficult to stomach for some, and that risk averse individuals would be better off finding other types of alternative investments, or working with experienced professional investors to invest their funds. He recommends that angels ‘take their first year slow’, and take that time learning from other angels and understanding the ecosystem. If after a year, they find that angel investing is not for them, ‘there is no shame in leaving the ecosystem’.

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The mobile tyre-fitting startup provides tyres, batteries, engine oil, and service at customers’ preferred location — be it home, work, condo, or even a shopping mall

(Editor’s note: Here is an article from our archives which we think is still relevant)

At times, your car can kill your weekends.

Most of us use the weekends as an opportunity to have our car serviced. This often jeopardises our plans to spend quality time with family and kids, however. In some cases, it takes an entire day to queue up and to have the desired maintenance service done.

And then there is the issue of trust. How sure are you that you can trust the service advisor or mechanic. Worse,  some service centres often charge exorbitant rates from uninformed customers, which could easily burn a hole in our pockets.

But that is now a thing of the past, thanks to MisterTyre. A mobile tyre-fitting startup, the Kuala Lumpur-based company allows customers to buy tyres, batteries and engine oil online, and customers can also schedule a fitting or service at any suitable location of their choice — be it their home, work, condo, or even a shopping mall.

“Our mobile fitting units (typically, Ford Transit vans) make sitting-around in a cold garage a thing of the past,” says Dennis Melka, Founder and CEO of MisterTyre, which currently operates only in Klang Valley. “Now, you can be at home or at work getting on with the things that are important to you, while our expert technicians deal with your tyre fitting or other services.”

Also Read: Row over rental payments leads to fallout between Marvelstone and Hong Leong

Melka, a Czech by birth, came to Singapore in 2000 while working for Credit Suisse. The global financial services giant transferred him from Prague to Singapore to take care of its Malaysian business.

In Malaysia, Melka also got opportunity to work for companies like AirAsia, Celcom and Unisem. He also learned about many other industries such as travel, aviation, and palm oil plantations, and founded/co-founded several companies, including TuneTalk, Asian Plantations, and NIDA Rooms.

“I am a small investor in UK-based mobile tyre-fitting company Tyres-On-The-Drive. I’ve seen how the business  grew from something very small to massive in a few years. I realised this was the future of automotive repair, and Malaysia makes lots of sense to build a business serving car owners,” Melka explains the motive behind the company.

MisterTyre on the wheel

MisterTyre seeks to transform automotive aftermarket services in ASEAN through low prices and doorstep delivery of services. According to Melka, MisterTyre is the first company in the region to offer mobile tyre services through a mobile app.

The booking process is simple. One can download the app (available on Android and iOS), select the car type, insert tyre details (which can be taken from the tyres’ sidewall), make the payments, and place the order online.

“We’re the only mobile tyre fitter to offer dedicated one-hour time slots, meaning you don’t need to be sitting in all day waiting for us. We make the entire buying, scheduling and co-ordinating the service easy just like Grab/Uber. Our team of trained technicians is primed and ready to fit tyres, align your wheel, change your battery or even replace your engine oil in a location near you at a time that suits you, seven days a week, no matter the weather,” he explains.

The van is equipped with state-of-the-art tyre changing machines that incorporate a pneumatic arm and bead raiser, tyre balancing machines and a compressor to inflate tyres. All of the equipment is similar to the equipment one would expect to see in a traditional tyre shop, Melka says.

Melka is of a view that since MisterTyre doesn’t have the huge overhead costs of a high-street tyre shop, it can pass the savings directly on to the customer. “We believe in straightforward pricing — you no longer need to shop around between tyre shops for pricing,” he said. “Additionally, we capture all other information on your car, so we can keep innovating towards making your car maintenance easy in future. This helps us know, say, when your car battery will die down or when the brake pads will wear out. Accordingly, we send notifications to the customer on his mobile. This way we are able to get future works from the customer.”

Currently, MisterTyre deals only in SUVs and passenger cars.

The startup, however, does not offer breakdown/rescue services.

So far, MisterTyre has partnered with 23 brands to directly source tyres, and has on-boarded eight more brands in engine oil and battery.

MisterTyre makes money from battery sales, engine oil change, rotation and front wheel alignment. “We will add a fifth and sixth product line — brakes and rim sales –next year. Each of our current product line is already profitable for us,” Melka goes on.

As of now, the company operates only one van, which undertakes up to six jobs a day. The startup now has plans to operate two more vans in January.

MisterTyre is looking to expand business to Singapore in 2018.

MisterTyre is also working on a corporate programme, wherein its vans will drive to large corporates with 1,000 to 4,000 employees per location. The HR department notifies the staffers that the MisterTyre van will come to the office park on a particular date.

“Almost like a “staff benefit” and we give them a promo code. This lowers our customer acquisition costs, and the staff can have their car serviced whilst at the office, so they don’t waste valuable time after work or during weekend. We have several dozen such corporate promo programmes starting this month.”

As per an estimate, Malaysia is a US$1 billion annual market for replacement tyres, batteries and oil change. There is effectively zero e-commerce.

“We want to change this as fast as possible,” he concludes.

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