Day: December 28, 2019

Benjamin “Benjie” Tan, the man who switched on the Cisco router in the Philippines 25 years ago and forever changed the country by connecting it to the Internet, has passed away, Newsbytes.PH reported.

Tan succumbed to cancer on Thursday afternoon at St. Luke’s Medical Center.

Tan had been hospitalised three times this year for pneumonia and for radiotherapy to treat a lymph node mass that grew in his abdomen.

“Benjie was hoping for recovery to finish repairing the WiFi antenna for the benefit of the Aeta community in Porac, Pampanga,” according to Fellow Xavier School alumnus and former tech journalist Edison Ong.

Back in 1994, Tan was working for ComNet, a local supplier of Cisco networking gears. He was tasked with setting up the router at the PLDT main office in Makati, one that would subsequently make him the first person in the Philippines to connect to the Internet.

Also Read: How the spatial web is changing the internet as we know it

Although his significance was undisputed, the modest engineer had always dismissed his role in the country’s Internet history.

Late tech pioneer Jim Ayson wrote in an article, titled The night Benjie Tan hooked up the Philippines to the Internet. “Behind every historic public tech spectacle is the quiet story of the techie working in the background to set things up before the newsreel cameras start rolling. There is a private side to March 29, 1994, which incredibly enough seems to have been left out of much of the numerous newspaper and magazine articles describing the events of that day. Luckily, I managed to corner Benjie Tan, the man behind-the-scenes that day and persuaded him into letting us know what really went on. This is his story.”

The article discusses the story of how Tan worked alone in the wee hours of the morning of March 29, 1994 to link up the Philnet project to Sprint Communications in the US.

Tan was last known to be working for Globe Telecom. Aside from Philnet, Tan also had a stint at Mozcom, the country’s first ISP (Internet service provider).

Also Read: How the Internet of Things is making the world a safer haven

Before his untimely passing, the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) recognised Tan’s pioneering efforts, during the 25th anniversary of the Philippine Internet this year.

There is no known information on the family and friends he left behind. Rest in Peace, Benjie Tan.

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Photo by Eugenio Pastoral on Unsplash

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To be honest, at e27, we do not always see appointment news on the same level as funding news. But the year 2019 has shown us why we were wrong.

After all, a startup ecosystem is all about the people who are involved and running it. To document the movement of these people between companies –and the background stories that go with it– should be able to tell us where the ecosystem is heading, the way a funding announcement can indicate trends and changes.

At the end of this glorious year, we listed down the top five appointment news that had turned our heads, both for the right and wrong reasons.

Nadiem Makarim became Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia –and all related appointments

The rumours had been around for a long time; that a startup founder had been approached by President Joko Widodo to become a minister in his new administration. But in late October, the truth was finally revealed: Gojek Group CEO and Co-Founder Nadiem Makarim left his position at the company to become a Minister of Education and Culture in Indonesia.

As a follow-up, Kevin Aluwi and Andre Sulistyo were named co-CEOs of the company.

Soon after Makarim’s appointment, President Joko Widodo also named two startup founders –Ruangguru’s Adamas Belva Devara Syah and Amartha’s Andi Taufan Garuda Putra– as the presidential special staffs. These appointments indicated the growing influence of startup founders and the startup ecosystem in Indonesia.

Also Read: OYO plays hyperlocal strategy with appointment of new Country Head for Indonesia

Honestbee named new leaders amidst the chaos

2019 was proven to be a tough year for Honestbee as the ecosystem witnessed the e-grocery startup’s rollercoaster journey through a crisis, which included the shutdowns of its services in several markets and an eventual restructuration. The story heated when Co-Founder and CEO Joel Sng was fired in May, leading to the appointment of Brian Koo, the grandson of South Korean tech giant LG founder, as interim CEO and board chairman.

In July, Honestbee eventually appointed Ong Lay Ann as its new CEO. Three months later, in what the company expected to be the next stage of its growth after the period of chaos, Honestbee named Varian Lim as its new COO, together with several changes in its managerial team. It remains to be seen how these appointments will affect the company, especially as it enters the new year.

Bukalapak announced Rachmat Kaimuddin as new CEO

Another surprising appointment news came from Indonesia. E-commerce giant Bukalapak announced that CEO and Co-Founder Achmad Zaky is leaving the position, effective January 6, 2020. The company also announced Rachmat Kaimuddin as its new CEO.

Prior to joining Bukalapak, Kaimuddin had experiences working in the banking and business consultancy sectors. His appointment came at a time where startups in the region are making moves towards achieving profitability; we see this as the company’s attempt to become a sustainable business.

Zilingo named its first CFO

As you may have read in various books about startups, finding a CFO is a step that is usually taken after a company has reached a particular milestone. For fashion e-commerce startup Zilingo, that milestone is its US$226 million Series D funding round.

Also Read: Singapore’s data protection framework gets a boost with new appointment, initiative

The company appointed James Perry, a former Managing Director and Head of Technology Investment Banking for Asia Pacific at Citigroup, to become its first CFO. With over 20 years of experience in corporate finance, Perry has helped clients raise over US$150 billion (including 40 IPOs in the US and Hong Kong) and advised technology companies on over US$80 billion in M&A transactions across six continents.

As tech startups in the region are making a push towards becoming a more sustainable business, it is more interesting to see where Zilingo is going with this appointment.

MDEC announced banker, blockchain advocate as its new CEO

Notable appointment news in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem was not limited to those happening at the startups. In January, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) kickstarted the new year with the appointment of Surina Shukri as CEO. Her appointment followed the resignation of Yasmin Mahmood, who left to join an undisclosed startup based in Jakarta, in December 2018.

A banker and blockchain advocate, a Digital News Asia report dubbed Shukri’s appointment as a “big surprise” due to her time spent away from Malaysia and her professional background.

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Image Credit: JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash

The post Top 5 appointment news that rocked the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem this year appeared first on e27.

UMG Idealab, the corporate venture capital (CVC) arm of UMG Group Myanmar, today announced its investment in Indonesian legal tech startup Legalku. The amount of the seed investment is undisclosed.

Founded in December 2017, Legalku runs two business lines: An on-demand legal consultation service for medium- and small-enterprises (MSMEs) and a SaaS platform for legal practitioners.

The company’s SaaS platform enables law office, notary office, and corporate legal team to manage their operations with project management, document management, and e-invoicing features.

In a press statement, Legalku CEO and founder Muhamad Philosophi said that the investment marks “a great trust” given to the company to “provide better technology and services to its clients.”

Currently available in four cities in Indonesia, with the new funding, Legalku plans to expand to 10 more cities in the country before eventually expanding to other countries in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: 5 legal mistakes startups make after inception and how you can avoid them

“We ensure that our presence can help MSMEs advance by assisting legal consultation through technology. This will directly increase the potential of business development such as business automation in franchising, import-export partnerships and even joint partnerships with other strategic businesses,” Philosophi said.

The startup claimed to have worked with 2,500 clients.

UMG Idealab itself has invested in 11 tech startups in Indonesia.

The company is a CVC arm of UMG Myanmar, a producer and distributor of agricultural heavy equipment. Currently run by a team of 5,000 employees, the company is one of the biggest companies operating in the country.

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Image Credit: Giammarco Boscaro on Unsplash

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Taiwan’s first national brand for startup – Startup Island Taiwan launched- Press release

As the only Asian country selected as one of the super innovators by World Economic Forum and was ranked 4th in National
Entrepreneurship Context Index in 2018/19, Taiwan is all set to launch its new startup brand: Island TAIWAN. It is planned and created by the National Development Council (NDC).

Island Taiwan, stands for the communal brand of the startup community and symbolizes the united power of startup companies in Taiwan.

In 2019, more countries in Asia tried to invest more funds in startup companies, including Korea and Vietnam. Helping startup teams grow and becomes success enterprise could be a challenge.

At the launch event, Dr. I. C. Jan, the Ambassador of Startup Genome, emphasized the importance of a unified and consistent identity for marketing. “Startup Island Taiwan could reflect the uniqueness and diversity of Taiwan with emotional connections and resonance,” said Jan, and he expected the brand would help Taiwan in the global startup communities.

He expects the brand to help Taiwan have a voice in the global startup communities in the future. He also urged
full supports from both the public and private sectors.

JCB Signs a Strategic Partnership Agreement with Keychain to Leverage Blockchain in the Payments Area- Press release

JCB Co., Ltd., the leading issuer and acquirer in Japan and a global payment network and Keychain, a leading blockchain technology provider today announced the collaboration in leveraging the blockchain in the payment area.

Keychain is building a new global data security infrastructure targeting the financial, industrial, and enterprise spaces. It’s the main product, is a solution accelerator that enables Keychain’s partners to build applications with self-sovereign identity, data-centric security, secure workflows, contracts, and settlement and custom digital assets.

Chinese wealth manager CreditEase is seeking fresh funding- Bloomberg

Chinese fintech giant CreditEase is raising new funds to bankroll its expansion in the country’s increasingly competitive wealth management sector, according to people familiar with the matter, said a Bloomberg report.

While CreditEase hasn’t decided on a target, it’s seeking several billion yuan in equity financing, the people said, requesting not to be named because the matter is private.

Deliberations are at a preliminary stage, the people added. A CreditEase representative declined to comment.

Also read: Startup Terrace — linking Taiwan’s startup ecosystem and connecting with the world

The Beijing-based company is boosting its data and cloud computing technology to fend off startups and foreign asset managers also seeking to win a slice of China’s wealth management business.

CreditEase offers investment services to high-net worth individuals and so-called mass affluent investors and is the majority owner of New York-listed peer-to-peer lending platform Yiren Digital Ltd.

Backed by Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers and IDG Capital, the company is seeking growth overseas, especially in Southeast Asia, to counter a cooling economy at home. Its customers are also keen to diversify their holdings abroad.

CreditEase is targeting an initial public offering in 2020, Chief Executive Officer Tang Ning has said.

UK regulator to further probe Amazon-Deliveroo deal

Britain’s competition watchdog said on Friday it would undertake an in-depth investigation into Amazon.com Inc’s (AMZN.O) purchase of a stake in online food delivery group Deliveroo, weeks after expressing concerns over the deal, reported Reuters.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it had moved the probe to Phase 2 as both Amazon and Deliveroo had not cleared the doubts it had raised earlier this month before its Dec. 18 deadline.

The post Today’s top tech news: Taiwan launches Startup Island to develop its presence in the global startup world appeared first on e27.

SoapBox is a startup that’s located in the heart of the Toronto tech sector. They are on a mission to help good managers become great. Their app is designed to help managers have productive, organised and collaborative one-on-one and team meetings. Other interesting things you might find is that we recently made the switch from being a sales-led organisation to a product-led on in the last few years.

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This article was first published on nfinitiv.

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