Grab’s main investor, Singapore-based Vertex Venture Holdings announced a US$290 million venture capital fund to invest in high-growth technology firms, according to a Reuters report. They have secured commitments from Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings, Taiwanese chip design firm Elan Microelectronics and other institutions, family offices and funds based in Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

Vertex Venture Holdings’ long-time CEO Chua Kee Lock said: “The Vertex Growth Fund seeks to invest about US$10 million-US$15 million per company, typically in third and fourth round fundings, versus US$3 million to $4 million by affiliate funds in early rounds.”

With the Vertex Growth fund exceeding an initial fund target of US$250 million, Vertex aims to capitalise on the growth of technology startups in Southeast Asia including everything from ride-hailing apps to e-wallets. An early investor in Grab, Vertex Growth is the sixth and latest member of Vertex’s global network of funds spread across China, Southeast Asia and India, the United States and Israel.

Also read: Binance Singapore partners with Vertex Ventures to set up fiat-to-crypto gateway

Vertex has about US$3 billion in assets under management across its network of funds and has invested in more than 200 companies. The funds focus on investments in their regions of industry specialization and are run independently.

Chua said the fund will also look at global opportunities, including in areas such as cyber-security in Israel and consumer-related technology in Southeast Asia and China.

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Image credit: Unsplash

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The battle of spaces between working more effectively and productively

 

If you’re a freelancer, startup owner, or solopreneur in the modern age, you’ll notice that the work landscape is more mobile than ever. Meetings with existing and potential clients, personal endeavours, and other business opportunities abound, forcing you to be on the move. This leads you to look for quiet, remote work-friendly locations such as coffee shops and coworking spaces

Both options are certainly viable, but today, we’ll be looking at the differences between a cafe and a coworking space to determine which remote work setup better suits your needs. Of course, any coworking space worth its salt would provide free coffee.

Wifi connectivity

Wifi is the most important consideration when choosing a place to work on any day, as it is every professional’s key to staying connected in today’s digital age. Off the bat, a coworking space is a superior choice in terms of wifi.

A coffee shop offers limited access to wifi, literally.

Most cafes will only provide a wifi password if you pay for a drink or pastry, and even if you do manage to access their internet, there are at least ten other people sharing the bandwidth (which is likely a basic subscription) so working from a coffee shop only works when there are only a few customers.

Also Read:  We checked out 6 of the best coworking spaces in Beijing, so you dont have to

On the other hand, shared desk facilities have wifi connectivity that’s suited explicitly for business operations, making it fast even when more than 20 people are sharing bandwidth. Put, a coworking station beats out the typical coffee shop wifi, and itself already worth the hot desk fee.

Work atmosphere

Many freelancers flock to coffee places because of the generally quiet environment (and also the smell of coffee) which helps increase productivity.

The problem is that this doesn’t last long, as there are certain parts of the day, such as lunch when the establishment will most likely be full of customers.

 

While cafes are right spots for working when it’s not lunch or dinner time, you’re just better off at an open office area because you’re assured that the atmosphere is entirely professional, and everyone is working.

“But how about the coffee?” you might ask. The best part about coworking areas is that today, most of them have cafe-style coffee machines so you can whip up a quick cup on your own.

Overall, coworking stations beat out coffee places by a huge margin when it comes to the work environment. Sure, cafes obviously have better coffee, but coworking stations provide an atmosphere that’s truly conducive to output, and you don’t have to dish out P150 for an Americano.

Facilities

When working outside, you should always look for these two amenities: a power outlet and a table/desk.

The latter is readily available at both establishments, but yet again, there’s an issue when it comes to cafes: accommodation. Some cafes are strict when it comes to seating customers, and might even require you to buy several products to stay longer.

Coworking areas don’t have that kind of limitation. Hot desking allows you to work all day long from the location of your choice without worrying about someone taking your seat.

Also Read: The benefits of coworking based on business size

When it comes to power outlets, coworking also beats out cafes. Coffee shops don’t have power outlets just lying around for customers to use, the best they can provide charging stations with a paywall. Coworking desks, on the other hand, come with power outlets so you can charge your devices there.

At the end of the day, coworking spaces and coffee shops both work for freelancers and startup owners and help them achieve a flexible lifestyle and work setup, but the former is the superior choice.

Not only do co-working desks offer everything you need to work productively, but it is also the ideal space for startup teams as studies support that coworking spaces are good for mental health.

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In addition to Circles.Life, we also have updates from Nodeflux, Pixerf, and Dolfin

Circles.Life launches in Australia – Press Release

Singapore-based telco company Circles.Life today announced its expansion into Australia through a strategic partnership with local telco giant Optus. The expansion followed its entry into Taiwan recently.

“We have made history in the telco space with our rapid launch in Taiwan and now, Australia. In Australia, similar to other countries we found that customers are unhappy with their telcos so we’re stepping up the game by offering a premium customer experience. We are proud to partner with Optus and we aim to set a new benchmark for customer satisfaction in the country,” said Circles.Life Co-Founder Rameez Ansar.

In a press statement, the company credited its ability to enter new markets rapidly due to its Circles-X technology stack. Unlike a traditional telco or MVNO, Circles.Life has eliminated all proprietary hardware and appliances and moved the entire architecture to a software-based cloud environment.

In Singapore, Circles.Life has already expanded beyond telco by creating digital lifestyle and insurance products, with more to come.

Nodeflux, Jakarta govt sign partnership to implement the startup’s AI technology – Press Release

Indonesian Vision AI startup Nodeflux announced that it has signed an MOU with the government of DKI Jakarta province to implement the use of its platform VisionAIre.

As part of the province’s Jakarta Smart City initiative, the VisionAIre platform will analyse data gathered through more than 7,000 CCTVs in Jakarta, helping the government make data-driven decision through real-time analytics.

The results will be used to develop policies in these sectors: Smart Mobility, Smart Governance, Smart Living, and Smart Tourism.

Since 2016, the use of AI has been implemented as a proof-of-concept in the Jakarta Smart City initiative.

Also Read: A deep-dive into how Circles.Life can become Singapore’s unicorn

Stock photo marketplace Pixerf launches in Indonesia – DailySocial

Singapore-based stock photo marketplace Pixerf announced its entry to Indonesia, DailySocial reported.

Having been around since 2015, the startup has only been officially launched in 2018, together with a US$2 million early-stage funding round from an undisclosed investor.

According to Pixerf Founder and CEO Sa’at Ismail, the startup chose to enter Indonesia as the country is the second biggest contributor of users in its platform, about 27 per cent of more than 80,000 users.

In the next five months, the company plans to open an office in Jakarta, followed by Denpasar and Jogjakarta. It also plans to recruit a marketing team.

Kezar3D Printing Services opens 3D printing kiosk in a mall – Press Release

Filipino 3D printing startup Kezar3D announced the opening of its first 3D printing kiosk at Robinsons Place Lipa, Batangas.

The Kezar3D kiosk is a 2-meter by 2-meter kiosk with a built-in 3D printing system that can receive, evaluate, quote, and print 3D models.

Its open design puts an operating 3D printer in an aquarium-like enclosure allows visitors to see how 3D printing technology works. Visitors are also allowed to touch multiple finished prints that are on display.

The company is set to open kiosks in Manila, Pampanga, Cebu and Davao from November to September next year.

Kezar3D currently have 41 remote sites all over Luzon and is valued at over PHP61 million (US$1.1 million).

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Image Credit: Circles.Life

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Tueetor founder Tan Han Sing spills the beans on the growth of edtech and why social impact mindset is key for new-age startup founders

Bringing the uber tactic to teaching, Singapore-based Tueetor matches learners and trainers based on a set of pre-defined criteria: subject, academic level, qualification, teaching experience, rate/budget; preferred time and location.

Father of two, founder Tan Han Sing dropped everything he was doing in 2014 to devote all of his time and savings to build Tueetor, simply driven a friend’s (and single mother) tutor woes for her child. Focusing on the private tuition market, his edtech company aims to address two pain points many parents face in their children’s education: affordability and accessibility. In 2016, iGroup invested US$1.48 million in Tueetor to expand to other markets in Southeast Asia.

Tueetor is currently operating actively in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand. While Singapore has a lower language barrier and faster speed-to-market, future growth is expected to come from markets such as China and India. A strong belief system in “educating the next” and the high-value of college education, are some of the reasons why Tueetor is confident they can scale in these markets.

Also read: 5 ways the on-demand economy has disrupted the way we study and learn

When asked about Tueetor’s plans for the future, Tan was quick to add, “It’s not so much about the personal or organisational goal, but a national one. You see, most Singaporeans (like me) grow up with one or more foreigner-classmates. They make huge sacrifices to come here, in the hope of a better life for them and their families’ through Singapore-style education, which is renowned worldwide. However, for every foreigner-student that makes it here, there are a lot more who are unable to. It’s just too expensive – tuition fees, living costs, etc. So, why not take our education to these students instead?”

Their answer is the virtual classroom and video-on-demand modules ready for launch in the first half of 2020. Singaporean-trainers will be able to export their knowledge, for the first time, through live and recorded teaching contents worldwide. This carries long-term benefits, not just in enriching per capita income and GDP, but fostering greater understanding between the people of the nations.

You seem to be driven by social change. What are your thoughts on social-impact startups?

Genuine impact investments are few and far between. Even lesser are impact investors that recognise a good social-impact startup. There’s a general perception that startups are more driven in delivering their causes than profits; the projects are not sexy enough in terms of returns. Unknown to many, behind every successful + sustainable startup, you will often find elements of community wellbeing creation. From ride-hailing companies promoting employment to patient/eldercare businesses providing health and physical wellbeing to edtech creating affordable and accessible education. There are huge opportunities in the social-impact startup scene.

Why is it important for entrepreneurs to have a social impact mindset?

Empathy. It allows entrepreneurs to better appreciate pain points; identify workable solutions and implement them with care. In other words: serve its customers and markets better. The same empathy extends inwards too, helping entrepreneurs recognise the strength and weakness of co-workers and current circumstance, allowing them to lead effectively.

Would you say Edtech is still in its early stages of booming? Why?

In 2018, the estimated global advertising market size is US$600 billion, AI: US$10 billion, and biotechnology: US$400 billion. Recorded VC investments in these industries are US$ 7b, 9b and 12b, respectively. Education stands at US$6 trillion and is poised to hit 10 trillion in 2030, fuelled by a global population of 8.5 billion by then. Notwithstanding, it managed only to attract a modest investment of US$6 billion – a huge disconnect – with over 50% of it going to China edtech startups. That said, it was still twice of 2017, and the strong numbers in 2019 so far has suggested that things are warming up.

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You need to develop a mobile app that can win over your customer within a few seconds

How often do you think before downloading a mobile app?

Just for a few seconds!

People make up their minds about retaining an app in their mobile phone just in a matter of a few minutes. The increasing count of mobile applications won’t give you the chance to move ahead in the race. 

To make your mobile app compete and to win the race of downloads, there are several factors to consider. Some of these matrices are general marketing, user acquisition, user action, business metrics, etc. Few of the aspects that are responsible for the failure of your mobile app are listed below:

Inadequate market research

The notion of the mobile app development you came up with, is undoubtedly the solution to a specific problem that you are trying to solve.

The secondary challenge is to find the demography of the people interested in your solution and perform the research if a similar solution is already available. You need to seek for Unique Selling Proposition (USP) of your product, precisely that of a mobile app, here. 

While creating the buyer persona or the user identity, consider yourself as a layman. Secondly, seek for how your thoughts can perform well over others. Then, analyse your competitors and their pain points and craft the strategy to take your mobile app to the next stage of designing.

Inadequate market research is like leaving a hole in the bucket of water. Your entire efforts and money of transformation of ideas to the mobile app, building marketing strategies, leads collection will be wasted otherwise. 

Choice of the platform

While driving the bandwagon of mobile app development, the selection of the platform comes first.

This solely depends on the goal of the mobile application and the demographics. If your user base involves more iPhone users, there is not much point in creating the Android app. Whereas, if your target audience includes users of both platforms, you may like to go for the hybrid app development. 

Also Read: Optimising your app development: from ideation to launch

The requirement of the app designing for multiple platforms varies from business to business. When your mobile app is not equally compatible with numerous platforms, you can miss the more significant user base. And, that’s why you must think for a while for the mobile app platform before designing an app.

Bad UX designing

Don’t get intrigued by term UX; it implies simply making complex processes look easy for the users. With an interactive UX design, you try offering simpler experiences to the users.

From designing to development and marketing, the app’s UX must meet the goals. For instance, if you’ve created an e-commerce app: the checkout process, product searches, navigation should be easier for customers. 

You can also add certain in-app features like search, set up predictive text, root word recognition, autocorrection to make navigation in the app more comfortable for the users. You can ask for the user to allow auto-save passwords for quick and easy logins. When asking users for permission to call log, messages or camera, explain its need, in brief. This improves the credibility of your app. 

There are plenty of ideas like the ones shared above, that can help you and users attain their goals quickly. A good UX builds your brand value and enhances the chances of customer retention due to the reliability factor. Whereas, a bad UX and weak navigation system can lead to the mobile app uninstallation within a second. 

Launching an untested mobile app

Launching a mobile app completely free from any bugs is a rare event. However, proper QA testing can reduce the count of bugs, if any. These days there is the availability of software in the market that can ease the mobile app designing for you.

The businesses that are eager to jump into the market get their apps designed from such sources and launch their apps, which can be the most significant reason behind the app failure. 

Also Read: 8 things to consider when choosing a mobile app development platform

Without QA testing, you won’t find the mobile apps compelling enough to stand in the market. Don’t get so much in a hurry, rectify the errors, and reduce the chances of app installations. 

Remember, the first impression is the last. So, please don’t leave a chance to acquire negative reviews.

Unavailability of the backend support

 Customer support for any of the products or services you launch in the market is the need of every business. In the case of mobile apps, the niche of your app decides the need for backend support. Like e-commerce, recharge and gaming apps need more stringent help in comparison to that book reading or music apps. 

With the advent of cloud technology, offering backend support turned a bit easier for businesses. You must consider the scalability factor to suffice the sudden increment in the traffic.

When the user is stuck while using the mobile app, they like to connect with you to solve their queries. In case of unavailability of the support in the meantime, the user won’t wait for long. Instead, they will uninstall your app. They will surely seek alternatives, and you will miss one of the users. 

Untimed marketing

The marketing efforts for your products start right from the moment of ideation. You can’t simply wait for the time of product completion and then hire a team for marketing. During the market research, you should collect and add the ideas that businesses like that of yours are already trying. 

To add the audience and user base for your mobile app, start sharing your idea, even when it is under development. In this way, you can make your audience aware of your brand and offerings. It can be helpful for you to entice your customers to be the first users on launch. 

Once the app is ready to launch in the market, app optimisation is the key factor that you must count on. It is a systematic approach that improves the ranking of your mobile app and reduces the chances of failure. 

Also Read: Believing in the iterative process of app development

In addition to these critical factors, proper execution of the mobile app when launched in the market can decide on the success or failure. To improve the user retention rate, you must offer fantastic customer support to your initial customers. Be available to them wherever they feel stuck.

Don’t bother your customers too much with the push notifications or offers. At the same time, don’t leave them unattended. Share everything that you have available for your app and grow your potential with every update. Evaluate your performance regularly and update your strategies in a timely fashion. 

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

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