Day: November 29, 2019

FEBE Ventures launches US$25M Vietnam-focused early-stage VC fund [press release]

FEBE Ventures, an early-stage VC firm, has announced the launch of a US$25 million fund, which will invest in Vietnam-based and cross-border startups.

“We believe that Vietnam is a great place to invest in outstanding founders at the beginning of their startup journey and to support them to become regional champions,” said Eric Merlin, Co-founder of FEBE Ventures.

“We invest in entrepreneurs who want to become regional leaders and we are acting on two main corridors: Southeast Asian startups that want to enter Vietnam early and Vietnamese founders who want to expand regionally,” said Olivier Raussin, Co-founder of FEBE Ventures.

FEBE Ventures is sector and business model agnostic (B2B, B2C, education, healthcare, logistic, fintech, O2O, mobility, etc.) and is looking for startups that can scale exponentially and quickly dominate their market.

The fund is focused on early stages, which can be Powerpoint or MVP phase, or ‘pre-seed’, or ‘seed’ rounds. Despite its early stage focus, the fund can also be flexible to make investments in pre-series A and series A deals.

FEBE, the acronym of ‘For Entrepreneurs, By Entrepreneurs’, is founded and managed by three entrepreneurs with 28 years of experience building and scaling companies in Vietnam and Southeast Asia as well as investing in tech startups in Asia, Europe and South America. Prior to forming FEBE, the five-person team together have invested in a total of 31 companies.

FEBE Ventures’ third Co-founder is Olivier Raussin, also the fund’s Managing Partner.

The three co-founders have personally committed 10 per cent of the fund as Limited Partners (LPs). The fund is accredited by the MAS in Singapore and it aims to complete the second closing in 2020.

FEBE Ventures has made its first investment in Zenyum’s Series A round alongside Sequoia Capital and others VCs.

Malaysia risks falling behind Indonesia, Vietnam: Pikom’s Ganesh Kumar Bangah [DigitalNewsAsia]

Malaysia runs the risk of falling behind neighbours in the region if the country doesn’t pick up the pace of digitisation, warned outgoing Pikom chairman, Ganesh Kumar Bangah, in his final media briefing as chairman on Tuesday in Selangor, Malaysia.

“It is very important for us to be adopting technology faster than our neighbouring countries to ensure that we remain competitive,” he said. “Our competitor today is not Singapore. Our competitor today is Indonesia, our competitor today is Vietnam.” Pikom is the Nasional ICT Association of Malaysia.

TransferWise rolls out in Malaysia, allows cheaper cash transfers to 83 countries [The Star Malaysia]

British cash-transfer service provider TransferWise has rolled out in Malaysia, allowing customers to send money to 83 other countries at competitive exchange rates.

TransferWise chairman Taavet Hinrikus said the entry into Malaysia was due to a high number of requests from potential customers – over 15,000 altogether.

“Along the way, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and other government departments were very professional in the way they handled our application. By allowing and encouraging more nonbanks to provide financial services in Malaysia, BNM is ensuring consumers benefit from better and more affordable services,” he said.

she1K angel syndicate invests in New York-based Farmshelf [press release]

she1K, a global corporate executive women angel network, has made a syndicated investment into Farrmshelf, headquartered in New York.

Farmshelf aims to democratise farming, enabling anyone to grow where they live, work and eat by offering a plug & play indoor bookshelf-like farming system.

Farmshelf’s smart, hydroponic growing systems evoke a space commitment to design, innovation and sustainability while providing meaningful yield in an automated, internet-connected bookshelf-sized device. The system is equipped with all the sensors and tools necessary to monitor the produces’ needs every step of the way and notify the user when to its ready to harvest.

EOS VC invests in blockchain games developer Biscuit [press release]

EOS VC, the venture capital arm of blockchain software company Block.one, has announced an investment in innovative blockchain games developer Biscuit.

Biscuit is the creator of EOS Knights, the first mobile game to run on the EOS blockchain.

“Our direct investment in Biscuit extends our strategic focus of working with some of the smartest minds in the gaming blockchain sector,” said Mike Alexander, CEO of EOS VC. “Biscuit has taken the powerful qualities of blockchain’s smart contract and combined it with the traditional Role Playing Game elements to produce one of the best-loved gaming apps on the market.”

“Block.one has closely supported us in the successful development and operation of EOS Knights from the very start,” said Jay Lee, Founder of Biscuit. “This new investment from Block.one’s venture arm EOS VC confirms our strong continuing partnership and underscores our belief that gaming dApps like EOS Knights are catalysts for the mainstream adoption of blockchain technology.”

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Private investment firm RHL Ventures has announced the launch of an accelerator programme to identify and scale Malaysian businesses dealing in emerging technologies.

The VC firm has also inaugurated its new office in Kuala Lumpur.

RHL Ventures made the announcement during a press conference hosted by its Managing Partners, Rachel Lau and Raja Hamzah Abidin, as well as General Partner Jo Jo Kong. During this session, they shared RHL’s upcoming plans to nurture Malaysian companies that have high potential in scaling their innovations within the domestic market and abroad.

This was followed by a panel discussion comprising Yang Berhormat Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Minister of Youth and Sports of Malaysia), Yang Mulia Tengku Dato’ Sri Zafrul Tengku Abdul Aziz (Group Chief Executive Officer & Executive Director of CIMB Group Holdings Berhad) and En. Jalil Rasheed (President and Group CEO, Permodalan Nasional Berhad). Their deliberations centred around the state of Malaysia’s SME and entrepreneurial ecosystems.

The discussion particularly focused on what efforts they need to take to scale in a new era of industry underpinned by business innovation and technological transformation, as well as the significant role that investors need to take to promote sustainable economic growth.

Meet the VC: RHL Ventures on sniffing out a good deal and why VCs need to work together

“Our new accelerator programme underlines our firm’s stronger refocusing of efforts to grow Malaysia’s entrepreneurial and investment ecosystem along more sustainable lines,” said Lau. “With Malaysia’s innovation landscape now being more vibrant and dynamic than ever before, we are looking forward to identifying and working with the country’s best and most forward-thinking businesses. This way, we want to help them scale their innovations and grow them to become local and global champions.”

As part of its drive to support the growth of local businesses and entrepreneurs, RHL Ventures earlier this year announced the launch of RM100 million (US$24.3 million) fund to support the growth of local SMEs.

Founded in 2016, RHL has invested several tech startups, including healthcare SaaS company HealthMetrics, and healthy snacks e-commerce platform Signature Market. In February, RHL invested an undisclosed sum in Atap.co, an online marketplace for interior designer sourcing and hiring.

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PwC Malaysia and the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) on Wednesday celebrated the graduation of three startups from their PwC-MDEC Immersion programme, a six-month mentoring programme with partners PwC’s Assurance, Deals and Tax practice.

The Immersion programme is a two-way mentoring programme with the goal to “immerse, exchange ideas and discover new paradigms for businesses in the digital world.”

“We would like to congratulate the startups for completing this mentoring journey. They have demonstrated commitment and tenacity in learning and exchanging knowledge with the PwC partners they were paired with. The insights they brought to our partners in the programme were invaluable to PwC as it deepens our understanding of the investments they have made in digitising their organisations and their approach in disrupting the business,” said Sridharan (Sri) Nair, PwC Malaysia Managing Partner, in a press statement.

Through the Immersion programme, the startups had access to PwC’s network through sharing sessions on selected topics such as funding and raising an IPO, as well as access to thought leadership.

They also attended PwC’s Building Trust Awards 2019, a flagship initiative under PwC’s Building Trust programme.

Also Read: Meet the 5 regional finalists of Alibaba-MDEC Jumpstarter 2020 competition

Those startups are:

Supahands
CEO and Co-Founder: Mark Koh

Supahands is a platform that connects companies to a remote workforce called SupaAgents, based around Southeast Asia. SupaAgents specialise in working with large volumes of data, helping businesses scale projects and processes accurately on demand while reducing fixed overheads by up to 75 per cent.

Koh was paired up with PwC Malaysia Tax Partner Yap Sau Shiung for the Immersion programme.

Dropee
CEO and Co-Founder: 
Lennise Ng

Dropee is a B2B marketplace that brings together suppliers and retailers. It aims to help small- and medium-sized retailers such as convenient stores and F&B outlets source for products directly from qualified wholesalers, manufacturers and brand owners at a faster, cheaper and more reliable way.

Ng and Aizat Rahim, COO and Co-founder of Dropee, were paired up with PwC Malaysia Deals Partner Yennie Tan for the Immersion programme.

Involve Asia

CEO and Founder: Jimmy How

Involve Asia is a performance marketing company delivering affiliate marketing and digital advertising solutions for brands around the Asian region. The company’s ‘Involve’ platform is recognised as a well-established network for advertisers and publishers to connect for marketing campaigns, performance and results.

How was paired up with PwC Malaysia Assurance Partner Kelvin Lee for the Immersion programme.

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Image Credit: PwC-MDEC

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Entrepreneurship is one of the most challenging career paths anyone can, and naturally, the journey is filled with challenges. Success is determined by the decisions you make as an entrepreneur and you need to strategize on how you will leverage your strengths to ensure that you propel your business forward.

In business, mistakes happen, but part of effective leadership during the organisational crisis is being able to prevent certain mistakes and focusing on growth. 

1. Making uninformed decisions

This is the worst mistake you can ever make because it can result in irrecoverable damage and loss of profits. With any decision or product change or investment, you need to ensure that you are taking the best course of action by conducting thorough research.

This particularly applies to the new entrepreneur who might still be caught up in the passion of a growing business and prone to making impulsive decisions.

Also Read: How Taiwan can boost your startup in unexpected ways

Any decision you make should be backed by the desire to learn the possible outcomes and how your business will benefit from the decision.

2. Attachment to ideas

As an entrepreneur, ideas will come and go and you need to get used to them going more than coming. Not every idea is a good one and we tend to get carried away with bad or impractical ideas that barely serve us in the long run. As a business person, you need to listen to those around you and present yourself as a receptive person to receive honest and productive feedback.

There is a theory that nothing is new under the sun. Therefore, it is highly likely that someone tried your idea before. Research, again, goes a long way in understanding the viability of a new idea. Before investing large amounts of money – some businesses develop a minimal viable product to test the market.

Becoming attached to your ideas can be dangerous and lead you holding on to and implementing a bad idea. Learn to let go of ideas, even those you are super passionate about.

3. Fear of getting your hands dirty

As the leader of a business, your involvement in the overall process allows you to understand how the daily operations of business work. As a business grows, the CEO may grow distant from operations leading to making decisions that may not be good for the business.

As your business grows, your engagement in daily activities is vital and this impacts the growth of your company. Your employees will also value you as an employer if you are invested in understanding their challenges from a practical standpoint.

Investors are also looking for someone who is not afraid to go the extra mile to improve their business and operations. 

4. Ignoring the financial aspect

Money is everything. In business. That is why you are in business: to make money. This is the number one reason why businesses fail within a short time. As the CEO, you need to keep up to date with every financial decision you make and how it will impact your company and its development.

Understand that nothing comes for free and that any business decision you make has a financial implication, whether immediate or delayed. As a business person, this means you should be well-versed in financial management.

Also Read: Is your entrepreneurial journey just another rat race? Here are 20 things that say it might just be so

You should also be able to group expenses according to needs for the business and ensure that you stick to your business plan. The idea is not to reduce your expenses to maximize your profits. 

5. Taking on too many things at once

The beauty of business is that you now own your time. Yay! However, you need to be careful not to fill it up with too many things that will distract you from your business.

Success in business is cultivated through focus and dedication to helping your business succeed. Be wary of starting something else on the side or adding to your range of products or services. The growth of your business is very important, and it needs a lot more attention than you might think. 

6. Not organizing your days

Being organized saves time. Keep a good diary and use different apps on your phone to ensure that you are on top of your tasks. As you grow as an entrepreneur, it does become demanding on your time. Keeping a solid list and commit yourself to complete tasks that grow your business daily.

A diary helps you to prioritize tasks as they come in and completing them in time to ensure that you are on track. If you are also working towards your degree, you can use the best essay writing service to assist you in completing coursework. 

7. Not seeing the bigger picture

Along the way, there will be failures and mishaps; however, these should not determine your overall path. As an entrepreneur, you will encounter mistakes, and they should form as part of a lesson in the bigger scheme of things.

A lot of the time, certain mistakes lead to a decrease in confidence and losing hope to the point of no confidence in oneself. This is detrimental to the growth of your business, and you need to take a knock but not stay down for long. Pick yourself up and keep moving. 

8. Having a DIY mentality

This is a great trait, but not always. As a business owner, delegation becomes more important with time. In reality, trying to do everything by yourself can lead to complete burnout.

Furthermore, as your business grows, you need more skilled labor to take on project management, financial management, and administration. Thus, you need to let go a little bit to make room for yourself to grow. 

9. Cutting corners

At first, this may seem like a good idea to save time or make a quick buck, but it is not a good business practice. Cutting corners can lead to things like diminishing the quality of your product or selling your product at a loss, which is simply bad for business. 

10. Not saving money

Yes, saving is difficult, but in business, it is vital to actively improve your trade and ensuring that if everything falls apart, there is a way out. If you have an emergency, you should be able to tackle it and resolve issues without having to compromise on your business.

Conclusion 

In any business venture, mistakes are common, but they do not define the rest of your path. You need to be aware of your mistakes and correct them immediately. The best way to correct your mistakes is by preventing them from happening in the first place.

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Image Credit:  Thomas Drouault

The post 10 mistakes that new entrepreneurs tend to make and should avoid in 2020 appeared first on e27.

I filled in many forms. I spent days understanding the terms. I waited for approval. But I failed.

That is a typical cycle of a layman applying for a loan. If there is one time when you really dislike banks is while applying for a loan or even worse trying to understand how it will work. Bringing Scandinavian chic to Fintech in Asia, Lendela is introducing its lending platform in Southeast Asia.

It is a consumer-centric online lending platform, a “first” in this part of the world. Founder and CEO Nima Karimi has spent over two decades in the Nordic banking and finance industry with platforms like Zmarta and Lendo, building them up from scratch. And hopes to bring his expertise to become the “most reliable lending space” in Asia.

“Europe is a fairly mature market and Africa is too slow and after experimenting with the model in Brazil, Southeast Asia seemed exciting,” said Karimi. With Cocoon capital as lead investors and IMO, Lendela started in Singapore in July last year. It has since entered Thailand, Malaysia and Hong Kong with local teams lead by country managers.

Playing cupid

Karimi told me it was simply the dissatisfaction on one’s face while chasing a loan that led him to build this. Loans are a unique product and probably the only one where the seller can deny it. It also lacks transparency as the seller (banks) have a lot of information about the consumers (loan applicant) but not vice versa, necessarily. “That’s what Lendela wants to change,” added Karimi.

Almost as if matchmaking, Lendela works with the consumer right from the start of the loan application to disbursement. “Borrowers don’t know where to find a loan, so at Lendela they just fill in one form and we match them to the right loan partner,” said Karimi. For now, Lendela is focussed on consumer loans like auto, home, etc.

Its a win-win as for lenders or banks it saves user acquisition cost, the effort, and process to screen applicants and processes. They have about 18 lending partners in the region and 30 in the Nordics. This increases the chances of loan approval as consumers have a wide range to match with. Karimi added that the model works effectively when they have a great variety of banking partners. Lendela works on a commission basis with banking partners as they “want to share the risks and success of the business”.

To Asia with love

“In the Nordics, it is hard to sign banks as compared to Southeast Asia,” said Karimi. Since it is not a very widely used concept and not all loans are formalised via banking in this region getting both consumers and partners can be a challenge sometimes.

Also, each country in the region is different and so are their regulations but the market is ripe and there is a thirst for innovation. For eg: In Singapore, banks can market loans but money lenders can’t. In Thailand, credit reports are generated manually by non-banking institutions only.

The Hong Kong lending market is regulated through HKMA which set in motion the Open Banking initiative last year that enables fintech firms to connect to banks via APIs and over time enable users to manage more of their traditional banking services, including loan applications, via connected platforms.

So governments in Southeast Asia are adapting to fintech friendly regulation with the likes of Singapore’s MAS Sandbox and Thailand’s digital identity (NDID). Hence Karimi feels his “timing is right”.

Karimi believes the novelty of Lendela’s platform, its product-driven approach, and Nordic-inspired UX will work to their advantage to attract consumers in Southeast Asia.

Also read: Cocoon Capital announces US$22M second fund to invest in enterprise tech startups

Let’s take a microscopic look at how it is faring in some of its Asian markets:

Thailand: It launched in May this year and signed an exclusive partnership with Kaidee- Thailand’s largest online marketplace. This enables Kaidee’s customers to apply for loans and compare loan offers online at Lendela.th and has been a huge success for both parties so far said Lendela country manager Jear Worrawut.

It is very complicated for consumers to understand where they can find the best loan offer and the level of financial education in Thailand is low. The process of applying for a loan is rarely digital. It is very common that consumers have to visit a bank branch to be able to sign the loan. So there is potential for Lendela to help customers.

Hong Kong: It is a market with over 160 banks and 2,000 money lenders that fiercely compete for the attention of intending borrowers. With Lendela, each lender can reduce their customer acquisition cost, the marketing risk of acquiring those customers, and overall reduce administrative tasks related to each loan application. Consequently, resources at banks and lenders will be freed up to focus on core business activities such as underwriting, expanding product offering and customer monitoring.

“In Hong Kong, there are some bad connotations with lending money, including companies that act as agents, third parties or intermediaries to banks and lenders so we spend a lot of our time explaining how we are different, and how we are empowering consumers,” said Peter Edsinger, General Manager Lendela Hong Kong.

Malaysia: The Malaysian economy is expected to grow at a slightly faster pace in 2020 according to the Economic Outlook 2020. The government’s plans to implement the ‘Shared Prosperity Vision 2030’ which aims to raise the living standards of all Malaysians to a decent level by 2030, may also increase spending over the next 10 years. For individual retail clients, the loan landscape in Malaysia is a very tricky to navigate due to non-standardised rates and processes of all loan providers (both banks or lenders); the availability and aggressiveness of unlicensed lenders; level of the Malaysian public’s financial awareness on their own credit score or financial status and their eligibility status.

“The Malaysian public may not be completely open and trusting of an online platform which deals with helping them find loans, simply because of the many unlicensed moneylenders that are available. Clarity, transparency, and security on that will have to be assured by us at Lendela, that we only partner with licensed and registered loan providers,” said Firdaus Nejim Al-Asedi, country manager, Lendela Malaysia.

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