The venture arm provides a new avenue for a corporate that counts Sea Group as a notable portfolio company

JG Summit Holdings, a large conglomerate in the Philippines, has launched a US$50 million fund to target startups that operate in sectors similar to its current holdings, according to Esquire.

Called JG Digital Equity Ventures (JG DEV) the venture fund is part of an effort to “build new businesses beyond its core”. It wants to invest in companies that will either supplement or disrupt its current holdings.

The company plans to invest in Series A or Series B rounds. The logic is to invest in companies on the precipice of scale. It anticipates cheque sizes that range from US$1 million to US$10 million.

Also Read: Jakarta comes out as “challenger” to global startup ecosystems: Startup Genome Report

An interesting part of the fund is the focus on startups that work in similar areas as its subsidiary companies. This could include real estate, retail and airlines (Cebu Pacific is one famous JG Summit company). It also plans to target startups in finance, consumer services, new media, logistics and healthcare.

JG Summit has already invested in the startup sector, albeit at a later stage. It invested in Sea Group back in 2017 and a Chinese fintech firm called Oriente which owns Cashalo. JG DEV will be separated from the investments made by the parent corporation.

Growsari and Snapcart are also portfolio companies.

Also Read: (In photos) A stroll around STATION F, one of the biggest startup campuses in the world

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Photo by Thor Alvis on Unsplash

 

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From workshops to Echelon Connect, this premier ticket will bring the Wow Factor at #EchelonAsia2019

Enjoy 48 per cent off Premier tickets in these 48 hours! The promotion ends at 4PM on Sunday, May 12th. Get your ticket now.

We all know where you will be on May 23-24. Echelon Asia Summit 2019, obviously.

The question is not IF you will be attending, but HOW you will be attending.

Our general Starter Ticket will get you into the conference, where you can hear from fantastic speakers, network with the next great startup and find future business partners.

However, if you want to take your experience to the next level, there is no better option than the Premier Ticket. It offers a whole host of bespoke experiences to help you along the entrepreneurship journey.

Our mission is, “To empower entrepreneurs with the tools to build and grow their companies,” and we believe our Echelon Premier experience is the best toolkit around.

Let’s take a look at the #Echelon2019 Premier Ticket offerings.

Echelon Connect

One of our most popular features, Echelon Connect is your opportunity to get that face-to-face meeting with the best investors in Southeast Asia. Open to Premier Ticket holders and TOP100 companies, you will be able to schedule a solo sit-down to pitch your startup.

Oftentimes, the hardest part of raising funding is just getting the meeting. Echelon Connect is one avenue to begin a fruitful relationship.

WeWork spotlight series

The global co-working space has come onboard as a ‘Premier experience sponsor’ and has a full-suite of events planned for ticket holders. This includes AMAs with notable startup figures, workshops on how to improve your company, roundtables with the community and discussions about the biggest topics in Southeast Asian tech.

WeWork is famous for its tenant events, so to have them onboard at Echelon is sure to be a success.

Interviews with Asia Tech Podcast [Limited slots available]

One of the fastest-growing podcasts in Southeast Asia is the Asia Tech Podcast. The team boasts interviews with AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes, Golden Gate Ventures Managing Partner Vinnie Lauria and Magnus Grimeland, the CEO of Antler.

At Echelon, they will be performing interviews with Premier ticket holders. So, if you’ve always wondered how to get media attention, this is one way. There are only so many hours in the day so slots will be limited.

Corporate Innovation workshop from Startupbootcamp

Over the past couple of years, the general business community has acknowledged that it is time for corporates to embrace startup-style innovation. However, that has proven to be a difficult challenge. Some corporations are better than others and on a whole we are still striving towards the goal.

Startupbootcamp is the world’s largest network of corporate-backed accelerators. If anyone has hands-on experience with corporate innovation, it is this company.

Also Read: 6 Echelon Asia Summit 2019 exclusives the investor community can look forward to

Learning about corporate innovation is also useful for startups. It’s important to understand corporate culture, what they need from young startups and how to approach large companies for business. This is a great place to start learning.

Corporate Venture Capital workshop by Cato Gullichsen

A cousin of Corporate Innovation is Corporate Venture Capital. These days, a lot of major companies have an arm dedicated towards investing in startups. It has become a major source of capital for young companies and it helps them leverage the networks corporates can provide.

But it’s also hard to fully understand how to tap into this funding avenue. That is why we have Cato Gullichsen, a Corporate Venture Advisor, to lead a session at Echelon. He has worked as both an enterpreneur and a VC who now helps corporates develop their relationship with startups.

Seems like the perfect candidate to lead this workshop.

Swag bag!

We won’t spoil the surprise, but expect some nice perks in the Premier ticket swag bag.

Access to a smart fridge

I mean, this is a tech conference so we can’t just have a normal fridge. This nifty smart fridge integrates the latest technology to help make sure your tummy is always full over the two days.

Plus, we will provide offer more traditional food vouchers during the conference

One drink at the afterparty

The Echelon Afterparty is one of the most anticipated events of the entire conference. With the entire tech industry enjoying a few hours to relax and let loose, it becomes a great place to meet future industry friends.

Also Read: Everything you need to know about #Echelon2019

Premier ticket holders can enjoy a drink on us to get the night started right.

Dedicated registration lane at Echelon Asia Summit

Nobody likes waiting in queues, especially if you’ve sprung for a Premier Ticket. That is why we will have a dedicated registration lane to help you quickly get into the conference.

Convinced?

Enjoy 48 per cent off Premier tickets in these 48 hours! The promotion ends at 4PM on Sunday, May 12th (because technically you may have read this tomorrow). Get your ticket now.

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Photo by Andre Hunter on Unsplash

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Tencent and Garena’s key gaming partnership is just getting started and will drive a major transformation for both companies in Southeast Asia.

In November of last year, Tencent and Garena (the digital entertainment arm of Singapore-based Sea Ltd.) entered into a strategic partnership whereby Garena gained a 5-year right of first refusal to publish Tencent’s mobile and PC games across Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

While the news was widely reported when first announced, we believe the transformational nature of this deal remains under-appreciated by the general market today. It represents how Garena and Southeast Asia are becoming a critical part of Tencent’s gaming business future.

A great deal for Tencent

For Tencent, the Garena partnership is important because of the Chinese gaming regulator’s past suspension of issuing new gaming licenses in the country.

This had slammed the brakes on the company’s growth potential for games. While China’s regulator has recently resumed issuing game monetization license (“banhao”) approvals after a nine-month suspension, Tencent has only received approval for eight games since (7 mobile games and 1 PC game), with an undisclosed number of games still pending approval.

China’s regulatory environment has made international expansion very important

China’s peculiar regulatory control of video games continues to pose a major bottleneck for Tencent’s digital entertainment growth. Given that other Chinese game developers are vying for licenses as well, China’s approval backlog is causing significant delays for Tencent’s game release schedule and game monetization inside China.

In the company’s recent FY2018 annual results, Tencent said that “Since there is a sizeable backlog for the banhao applications in the industry, our scheduled game releases will initially be slower than in some prior years.” Most recently Tencent was forced to remove one of its most promising games, PUBG Mobile, from the Chinese market entirely due to regulatory challenges.

During the company’s 4Q18 earnings conference, Tencent’s CEO Pony Ma mentioned that one solution they have introduced is a new method to monetize existing Tencent games in China called the “Battle Pass” whereby players can purchase a seasonal pass that gives them access to exclusive in-game content the more they play an existing game.

Although this feature has only launched on Tencent’s mobile game Honour of Kings, it could potentially allow for Tencent to increase revenue without requiring new license approvals since it simply monetizes already approved games, in order to make up for the company’s delay in monetizing new games.

However, it’s not enough. “The Battle Pass is really a new trial. I don’t think it does provide a lot of benefit yet. But, over time, hopefully, the Battle Pass can become another addition to continue the revenue generation,” Pony Ma said.

Also Read: Everything you need to know about #Echelon2019

This is why Tencent’s Garena partnership is becoming increasingly valuable. By leveraging its partnership with Garena, Tencent can launch games in Southeast Asia without needing to wait for license approvals since these games are to be sold outside China.

This not only allows Tencent to monetize its existing portfolio of older games in a new market, Southeast Asia, but also to launch new games first in Southeast Asia while waiting for license approval in China. PUBG, for example, is already available in Southeast Asia and performing very well despite having been pulled in China.

Hence Garena and Southeast Asia can act as a powerful alternate sales channel for Tencent to launch games, reducing the lag between game development and monetization caused by Chinese regulations.

Garena’s userbase offers significant growth potential for Tencent

While Garena’s userbase is relatively small by China standards, its still nothing to scoff at. Garena hit 135.7m monthly active users (MAU) in 4Q18, having grown this userbase a whopping 128% in just one year.

While Tencent doesn’t release user count data for its gaming business, if we simply compare Garena’s userbase to Tencent’s massive 1.1b MAU WeChat user base, it’s already 12% of the total.

Given that Southeast Asia as a region has a total population of 650 million people, there remains a lot of upside for Garena’s userbase. With China already ostensibly saturated by Tencent, Southeast Asia hence represents hundreds of millions of potential new users and is a major growth opportunity for Tencent.

Considering that Tencent is a major investor in Sea Ltd, Garena’s parent, it is fitting that Garena gets first picks for game distribution throughout SE Asia. Tencent has little to lose by sharing its portfolio of existing games with Garena since localization is to be carried out by Garena.

In return, Tencent gets to publish its games through Garena’s established distribution footprint throughout SE Asia and Taiwan with little need to incur incremental costs.

To see how Tencent’s partnership with Garena will become increasingly important, the diagram above shows Tencent’s annual gaming revenue for 2017 and 2018.

Even though total gaming revenue increased 8.9% year-on-year (“YoY”), their PC client game revenue saw a dip of 8.2% YoY to RMB 50.6 bn from RMB 55.1 bn. Tencent could potentially rapidly monetize more PC games through Garena, even though we have yet to see a Tencent PC game being localized.

We can also see in the diagram above how Tencent’s annual gaming revenue growth slowed in recent years due to regulatory issues in China. International sales, such as in Southeast Asia, will become increasingly important as a counterbalance to China’s game monetization delays.

The Tencent partnership could supercharge Garena’s growth

Concurrently, Garena stands to benefit massively from its partnership with Tencent as the company has first rights to Tencent’s existing games portfolio, potentially boosting Garena’s already-strong portfolio of PC and mobile games and further solidifying the company as a Southeast Asia gaming powerhouse.

While Garena already has a successful portfolio of games such as League of Legends, and the self-developed title Free Fire which saw its daily active user count (“DAU”) jump 48.1% QoQ in 4Q18 to 40m DAU, Tencent has the potential to add substantial growth to Garena above and beyond Garena’s own games.

To put Tencent’s gaming business into perspective, the company’s total annual gaming revenue was US$15,733m (RM104bn) in 2018.

Also Read: How startups should approach public relations

If Garena were to leverage its distribution and Tencent’s existing games portfolio to create just 2.5% growth for Tencent, this would imply US$393m of additional revenue created for Garena, which is already more than half of Garena’s entire annual revenue of US$661m. This simple math shows how Tencent games have the potential to become a massive driver for Garena.

Hence, we believe that with priority access to Tencent’s pipeline of upcoming and existing games, Garena has the potential to significantly increase both spending per user thanks to more available games and to also increase monthly active users as new people are attracted to an expanding selection of games.

The benefits for both companies are just beginning, much more to come

With the January launch of ‘Speed Drifters’ by Garena, a localized version of Tencent’s hit game ‘QQ Speed’, the two companies’ transformational partnership has only just begun.

In the coming years, we are going to witness more and more games rolled out by Garena thanks to its Tencent partnership, and the rise of Garena to new heights as Tencent’s key gaming distribution platform for Southeast Asia.

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The investment arm, called KASIKORN Vision or KVision, will use US$100 million of its US$245 million for Vietnam expansion 

KVision, Kasikornbank’s investment holding company, announces that it will take a sum of US$100 million from its current startup investment budget of US$245 million to be invested into Thai startups entering Vietnamese market, as reported by Nation Multimedia.

The sum will be taken from KVision’s current startup investment budget of US$245 million. The company said that the rest of the budget will go to funding Thai and foreign startups in the ASEAN region.

With the mission targeting startups who want to operate in Vietnam, KVision has joined hands with the Vietnamese government to support Thai startups in Vietnam. KVision signed a cooperation agreement with the Vietnamese government’s Business Startup Support Centre (BSSC).

“BSSC’s understanding of their home market will help Thai startups thrive in the Vietnamese business ecosystem,” said Pattarapong Kanhasuwan, Chairman of KVision.

KVision shared their finding that investment in startups in Vietnam has reached US$889 million in 2018, which three times its figure in the previous year.

Also Read: Blockchain-powered ride-hailing app TADA officially launches in Cambodia

“This makes Vietnamese market just like a “Greenfield”, offering ample business opportunities for new ventures. In investing in Thai startups that will enter the Vietnamese market, we are not looking for investment returns. Instead, we are investing in the long-term for future business partners, as we plan to eventually become a regional bank in ASEAN,” Pattarapong said.

KVision said it will particularly target fintech and e-commerce startups, which are in-line with the market trend of Vietnam.

BSSC expects 20 Thai startups to enter the Vietnamese market in the upcoming year.
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Thailand has legalised the use of medical marijuana. What opportunities does it open up for cannabis startups in the region?

Countries around the world are beginning to change how they look at marijuana and cannabis more broadly. After a decades-long War on Drugs, many countries are throwing in the towel on fighting weed and its derivative products. Canada and Uruguay have both made recreational marijuana legal, and many states in the United States have pushed for recreational marijuana as well. Similarly, most countries are beginning to acknowledge that cannabis has some immensely beneficial medical properties.

Asia has long opposed legal cannabis, with Rodrigo Duterte, the President of the Philippines, championing an aggressive War on Drugs executing people for possessing marijuana. However, the tides are beginning to change. Thailand became the first country in Southeast Asia to legalise medical marijuana and Singapore is also exploring the path. South Korea also legalised medical marijuana, becoming the first East Asian country to do so.

Medical marijuana is a US$55.5 billion per year industry and many countries are realising that turning their back on it is costing themselves lucrative opportunities. As entrepreneurs begin to explore how to make the most of these new-found business opportunities, there are a variety of potential paths to take.

Growing cannabis for research

 

A number of Southeast Asian countries are currently exploring the potential for cannabis in medical opportunities. This includes both marijuana and hemp. Until any conclusive findings are settled upon and new legislation is adopted, entrepreneurs can profit off growing cannabis to sell to research facilities or merely running the growing operations in partnership with a research organisation.

This will require finding the right partnerships and getting licenses to grow medical marijuana or hemp for research. In order to succeed you will have to learn about the intensive process of growing cannabis effectively. This can take and experience, and perfecting strains of marijuana is becoming an art craft in and of itself.

Also Read: The Jay Kim Show with Drake Sutton-Shearer, the Co-Founder and CEO of PRØHBTD Media

Cannabidiol (CBD)

 

One of the byproducts of marijuana and hemp is called cannabidiol or CBD. This is different from THC, which is the psychoactive element that gets you high. Rather, CBD is a compound that offers a number of medical benefits. As Southeast Asia is mainly aiming to adopt medical cannabis, it is likely they will favor CBD products more than THC products, which have recreational appeal.

The United States Food & Drug Administration recently removed CBD from its drug schedule but requires that it comes from industrial hemp and contains less than 0.3 per cent THC. A number of people will use CBD oil for anxiety, aches and pains, and other conditions with a good amount of success. While the research is still not conclusive, CBD is likely the most medicinally beneficial part of cannabis.

There is a wide range of CBD companies that can be found across the internet right now. Their e-commerce stores are stocked with all sorts of CBD-infused products, including oil tinctures, gummies, gel capsules, topical ointments, and more. They can be ordered online and sent straight to your home.

Medical marijuana

 

Medical marijuana is an enormous industry, making up tens of billions of dollars in sales per year. For entrepreneurs who are able to sell cannabis to patients for treatment, they can cash in on the emerging trend. Success in this vertical requires that entrepreneurs can find the best suppliers of product and curate high-quality strains that meet the requirements of both regulators and consumers.

This can be a competitive space, where consumers will begin to rely on location, referral, brand image, and price to determine who they will purchase from. As a result, entrepreneurs need to be willing to engage in competitive businesses tactics and develop unique strategies to gain customers. Similar to coffee shops, medical marijuana dispensaries need to have a niche appeal that helps differentiate them from the rest.

Also Read: Multitasking is like an addictive drug, and it is a big productivity killer

Once you have decided what aspect of the cannabis business you want to target, you will have to establish all of the necessary components of your business. Most importantly, you will need to acquire the proper permits and become familiar with local regulations. Countries such as Singapore can be incredibly strict, outlawing even chewing gum, and this means that regulation is a major barrier of entry for business.

After ensuring that all of your business activities are compliant with the government, set up your supply chain and business plan. Whether you aim to grow the plants yourself or work with a grower, you need to find a means of supplying the cannabis product. Many countries will have quality controls on the plants themselves, specifying the maximum THC content or what type of chemicals can be used. This means you need to find the right suppliers who will offer high-quality goods that match regulations.

Southeast Asia has seen massive growth in the world economy over the last few years. Any entrepreneur looking to get a slice of that pie can be rewarded for building new areas of these emerging economies. As more countries in the area open up to medical cannabis and the cannabis industry as a whole, there is a new-found opportunity for business ventures. Figure out what your strategy is and how you will go about creating value for your customer, then make it happen.

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Disclosure: The author is part owner of a cannabis cultivation facility in California (not linked in this article).

Image Credit: Alex Person on Unsplash

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The funding comes from Singha Ventures, Genesis Alternative Ventures, and Ozi Amanat’s K2 VC

Grain, an online food company based in Singapore, announced that it has received a US$10 million Series B funding. The funding round was led by Singha Ventures and new investors participating in the round include Genesis Alternative Ventures, Sass Corp, K2 Global, FoodXervices, and Majuven joining returning investors like Openspace Ventures, Raging Bull (founded by Ivan Lee), and Cento Ventures.

Beside host of the mentioned investors, Grain’s Series B round was also joined by Genesis Alternative Ventures and Sassoon Investment Corporation (the family office of the Sassoon family, shareholders of The Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf), and Ozi Amanat, who is an early Spotify investor.

Grain said that the new investment will be used to build infrastructure and ramp up growth in Singapore. The investment is a mix of equity and venture debt.

Singha Ventures is a corporate venture capital fund of Singha Corporation, part of Boonrawd Brewery Group, Thailand’s conglomerate dominating alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage, food, packaging, and property sectors.

Grain shared its plan to expand to other Asian cities, with Bangkok being its first foray. “Specifically for Thailand, Grain will work with Singha by utilising Singha’s extensive F&B network across the country, including logistics and distribution,” said Bhurit Bhirombhakdi, Chairman of the executive board at Singha Ventures.

Also Read: Kasikornbank to allocate US$100M to help Thai startups enter Vietnam

Right now, Grain is said to hold the fifth place on Singapore’s fastest growing companies, a study conducted jointly by The Straits Times and Statista.

Offering everyday meals and catering, the company describes itself as an online food company that focusses on the customer experience — from creating dishes customers love to designing the perfect menu to going the extra mile to make each meal unforgettable.
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Fleur Pellerin and Korelya Capital believe that there is a huge potential for Asian companies to invest and do business in Europe

For most startups in South and Southeast Asia, Europe has not been on top of their mind when it comes to expanding their business. They primarily looked at other economies in Asia or the US to expand their operations. There are many reasons for this reluctance, including language barrier and cultural differences.

But it needs to change, says Korelya Capital. Based in Paris and launched by Fleur Pellerin, a former Minister of SMEs, Innovation, and Digital Economy in France, the VC firm believes there is a huge potential for Asian companies to invest and do business in Europe. The fund also believes that Europe has to look beyond the US startup market and establish good ties with the Asian startup ecosystem.

“In the beginning, our idea was to invest in European startups as the ecosystem was growing and maturing,” said Paul Christophle, Principal of Korelya Capital. “Ten years ago, we (Europe) were far from what we are right now. While the link between Europe and the US was very strong then, it was not the case when it comes toour ties with Asia. We at Korelya wants to change this.”

Also Read: Everything you need to know about #Echelon2019

The VC firm was launched two and half years ago to invest only in European startups. But it has now shifted its focus to Asia. “Pellerin thought that there is a correlation between European and Asian players on the tech side,” he said, in an interaction on the sidelines of a press tour in Paris. “From the European point of view, Asia is no more an anonymous market. For consumers and businesses, Asia is a very innovative market with strong growth rates. So it is naturally and easily a huge opportunity for Europe companies to develop there.”

However, from an Asian point of view, Europe is still a bit in the dark, he said. For instance, Europe is not really in the scope of South Korean and Taiwanese players when it comes to investment. Korelya says it needs to change and it has to help Asian companies to discover European opportunities.

“Taiwanese and South Korean players sell smartphones and consumer tech in Europe, but they are not making any startup investments here. I think their investment activities in Europe have potential financial opportunities for assets,” added Christophle.

“Europe is not as mature as the US, China or Asian countries, but it is growing fast — both in terms of startup creation and investment raise. Every KPI indicates this. However, Europe has only one third of what is required in terms of funding, compared to the US. Europe has changed and now we have to communicate to the rest of the globe that we have changed and it is an opportunity for investors,” said Christophle.

According to Christophle, there is another layer that global internet is intimidated by US players. Europe has to find partners in Asia to build a counter power to the US. “This is when Pellerin decided to start Korelya,” explained Christophle.

Also Read: Is Southeast Asia ready for cannabis startups?

Korelya Capital is a EUR200 million (US$224 million) fund backed by Asian LPs. As of now, all the LPs come from South Korea and Japan. It is now in the process of raising its second fund and Christophle hopes to onboard investors from Hong Kong and Singapore. “The idea is to fund-raise in Asia and invest in Europe only, and then help our portfolio companies in Europe to develop back in Asia and to work with parters and LPs out there.”

To date, Korelya has invested in 15 European startups in the mobility, content, blockchain, and education sectors. It is now testing different verticals and also testing to see how it can export these startups into Asia and find out a point to link, primarily with Singapore. “It is much easier to learn SaaS from Singapore, where the market is small and medium businesses are thriving, rather than in South Korea where you have consumer giants Samsung LG, who don’t really buy software from outside.”

The post An ex-French Minister’s VC firm strives to bridge Asian and European startup ecosystems appeared first on e27.

Also, Golden Equator Wealth launches NextGen program, and Google to let users opt out from being online-targeted

Binance hacked, reported losses reaches US$41M [e27]

On its official site, the global crypto exchange Binance has confirmed that there’s been a security breach compromising Binance’s crypto trading. The hackers, the company said, stole 7000 bitcoin in this transaction, translates for US$41 million worth of bitcoins.

The company said that the hackers were able to obtain a large number of user API keys, 2FA codes, and potentially other info. The hackers are said to use a variety of techniques, including phishing, viruses, and other attacks.

Binance said that the above withdrawal is the only affected transaction and impacted a hot wallet (which contained about 2 per cent of Binance’s total BTC holdings), while all of its other wallets are secure and unharmed. Hot wallet is a term that refers to a digital wallet that is connected to the internet.

Binance will use the #SAFU fund, an emergency insurance program, to cover this incident in full, and ensures that no user funds will be affected. Binance estimated that the investigation will take about one week.

Singapore’s multi-family office Golden Equator Wealth launches NextGen Programme [Press Release]

Singapore-based multi-family office, Golden Equator Wealth launched its NextGen Programme as well as its Family Office publication. The program aims to open ways for next-generation members of business families into future leaders through a customised curriculum across finance, wealth management, entrepreneurship, and leadership development.

Also Read: Indonesian sharia-compliant fintech ALAMI raises funding from tryb Group

The program was launched on Monday, May 6, 2019, is said to provide each candidate with learning roadmap is crafted to overcome the unique personal and business challenges as they assume their roles as custodians of the family wealth and family enterprises.

“In the next decade, there will be an enormous amount of wealth and businesses changing hands to the next generation. The business and wealth management landscape has been and continues to be impacted by technology. So, the next generation of enterprise leaders would require new and additional skill sets, network, and traits to manage both business and wealth. We hope to revolutionise wealth preservation to help families build a sustainable legacy that lasts for many generations,” said Shirley Crystal Chua, Founder and Group CEO of Golden Equator Group.

The first participant of the program is a NextGen member of a family office managed by Golden Equator Wealth, whose family business lies in the property development sector. The Family Office publication was a project led by this NextGen member.

Alibaba’s Ant Financial invests US$10M in a blockchain privacy startup [The Coindesk]

QEDIT, a Tel Aviv-based blockchain privacy technology developer, announced that it has secured a US$10 million Series A round from investors including Ant Financial, the payments affiliate of Alibaba.

With the investment, Ant Financial will be incorporating QEDIT’s zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) tech into its blockchain projects. Other high-profile partnerships that have been applying QEDIT’s ZKPs include VMWare and RGAX, a subsidiary of Reinsurance Group of America.

QEDIT’s investment round was led by MizMaa Ventures, with participation from Ant Financial and RGAX as well as Meron Capital, Collider Ventures, Jovono and Target Global, which makes up a total of US$14 million in funding comprising the A round.

“The ZKP schemes our company builds are compatible with most varieties of enterprise blockchain, and this has led to the company gaining traction in Asia. We have been getting our product out to large providers in Asia and one of them is Ant Financial,” said Jonathan Rouach, CEO and co-founder of QEDIT.

Also Read: MYPINPAD and Clik aim to unify the digital point-of-sale industry

Zero knowledge schemes provide a way of proving possession of a secret without revealing the secret itself. QEDIT claims that it has demonstrated on the public ethereum blockchain how to prove an individual falls within a certain tax bracket without access to the fundamental data.

Google to let users opt out from being online-targeted [Bloomberg]

In its Google’s I/O Developer Conference, Google’s Alphabet Inc unit announced that it is tightening the rules for how websites track people who use its Chrome web browser. This would be the company’s effort to let users be in control over who watches their moves online.

Browsing platform Google Chrome is being tweaked so that developers will have to specify how far their online tracking software, or known as cookies, can reach. As a result, people can choose exactly which kinds of cookies can follow them and which ones can’t.

The change comes as regulators and consumers around the world are demanding more transparency on how their personal data are being used, and more privacy to shield themselves from online surveillance.

However, the shift could also send shockwaves through the advertising industry considering how Google has been relying on tracking what its users have been doing online to send them targeted ads.

Now, Google’s vision is that “websites should be able to identify, remember and track users, as long as those people know about it and can opt out if they want”.
Google also announced a tool being released soon that will help people learn why they were presented with a specific Google-run ad, and which advertising-tech companies provided information to aid the targeting.
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Diversity in any industry leads to better problem-solving

The world of cryptocurrency has changed the way we look at money. Only two decades ago it was hard to imagine that you could invest money in something that you cannot even hold in your hands. But recently, Bitcoin has created such a stir and has become such a debated topic that everyone wants to get a piece of it.

However, not everything is so sunny and optimistic in the world of crypto. Recently, more and more people started to talk about gender equality issues.

But how many People are associated with Bitcoin?

According to a Cambridge University study, there are up to 6 million active Bitcoin users. This data was collected over the year of 2017 but the number of active Bitcoin users is continuously growing. The study only covers active Bitcoin users and does not include those who are only Bitcoin holders.

Among all those active Bitcoin users and traders, only 8.5% are female, as opposed to 91.5% of male users. This number is what has triggered the problem of gender equality in this sphere. This makes us think: Is the crypto world a playground only for boys? Why do so few women invest in Bitcoin? And is Bitcoin’s gender divide a good sign? Let’s find out.

Why Women are Hesitant to invest in Bitcoin

The world of Bitcoin is thought to belong to the male part of society for different reasons. And the way the women are treated in the world of technology has been a serious issue for quite some time. Not only are women outnumbered in the technology-oriented industries, but they constantly face harassment and reportedly have to work harder to get the same acknowledgment as men.

Also read: How do we overcome the low representation of women in leadership roles?

So, even with all the gender equality movements and #MeToo trends that exist to attract attention to diminishing the importance of women and disrespecting their rights, women are still reluctant to participate in developing technologies, including participation in the cryptocurrency-related industries.

So women are hesitant to work on Bitcoin not because they lack knowledge. They are hesitant because of the high rate of sexism and gender discrimination cases in this sphere. They know that there’s a possibility that they might face:

• A hostile work environment;
• Unequal pay;
• Unequal promotion; and even
• Sexual harassment.

That is why many women in the world of crypto tend to conceal their identities. Earlier this year Quartz took some interviews with a few women working with cryptocurrencies. One of them, Elizabeth Stark, a co-founder of blockchain startup called Lightning Labs, said that women working in this field don’t want to speak about being female. This creates an impression that there’s a lack of female representatives in this sphere, which consequently drives away potential female investors.

Another reason is that investing in Bitcoin is quite risky. And, traditionally speaking, risky actions are a male prerogative. We all know that Bitcoin’s value rose almost overnight. And who knows, maybe it’s not here to stay for a very long time. “I know many women who are ready to invest in cryptocurrencies”, says Margaret Reid, a writer at The Word Point. “But it is inconsistency and high risks that usually drive them away.”

Is Gender Divide in the World of Bitcoin a Bad Sign?

Yes. Even though it’s believed that in the risky and unstable cryptocurrency game men are better players, the female potential is largely underestimated.

In the same set of interviews by Quartz that we mentioned earlier, women told their stories of being pushed away multiple times. Some women claimed that they were mistreated during crypto meet-ups by men who even had less experience working with cryptocurrencies. Others tell that they have been blatantly ignored by the male investors during meetings. And the climax to it all is that no one wants to fix the problem and give women a chance.

So even if women have a lower risk tolerance, it doesn’t mean that they lack the knowledge to work with cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. But it all boils down to the problem of not letting women show their full potential in the tech world.

Can we fix the problem?

Despite the gloomy forecast, women are still optimistic about their opportunities in the Bitcoin world. Earlier this year, Berkeley held a Women in Blockchain conference, which focused on the problems of gender equality in the cryptocurrency world and other important issues. Blockchain Week in NYC also had a day with a program that featured only female speakers.

To fix the gender divide, the crypto world needs more female heroes to look up to, who will inspire women to enter this world and invest in cryptocurrency. Glamour did the whole article dedicated to women being the leaders in cryptocurrency projects, like Kathleen Breitman, CEO of Tezos, Connie Gallippi, CEO of BitGive and other women who decided to invest and work with Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

Also read: Cryptocurrency may be sexist, but it is for women, too

The Bitcoin industry can benefit a lot from attracting more women to become a part of it:

• Women are better communicators;
• Female specialists can solve problems more efficiently as they are capable of analyzing a single problem from different perspectives;
• The Bitcoin industry needs more talent in general, so why not give women a chance they deserve?

Diversity in any industry leads to better problem-solving: Years of research show that a working environment based on diversity leads to a more innovative approach to work tasks and better problem-solving. If the Bitcoin industry lets more women in, it will get generate a flow of talent, innovative ideas, and insights this industry obviously needs.

And to sum up …

The success of the Bitcoin industry is in allowing diversity. As women have to face inequality due to various reasons, among which is unequal treatment and even a lack of venture capitalist support, which doesn’t allow women have their cryptocurrency business, female specialists need more support and appreciation. The fact that the problem of equality in the Bitcoin industry is raising awareness is already a good sign.

So hopefully, the spread of blockchain technology in the nearest future will help boost the participation of women in its development.

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Photo by Michael Prewett on Unsplash

The post To fix the gender divide, the crypto world needs more female heroes to look up to appeared first on e27.

A little brain exercise can help you attend Echelon Asia Summit 2019 this May 23-24

Echelon is just two weeks away! If you don’t want to miss out on all the fun, make sure to register here.

If you would like to meet awesome investors, hear from top-notch entrepreneurs and find the next great Southeast Asian startups, we have a challenge for you.

Make sure to follow the format e27-XXXXX when you enter your answer. Results are case sensitive.

Riddle me this

Question: If you have me, you want to share me. If you share me, you haven’t got me. What am I?

Answer: A __________

How do I answer?

Here are the steps to redeem the tickets (assuming you know the answer ) .

1. Visit the registration page.
2. Under the first bar towards the left, underneath the date, you should see a “promotional code” box.
3. Enter the answer
4. NOTE: The answer is one word and it must be entered in ALL CAPS. Also, follow the format e27-XXXX.
5. Limited Starter tickets will appear for free.
6. After that simply click the ‘Buy Ticket’ button and follow through the registration process.
7. Attend Echelon!!

Also Read: 38 fantastic investors that might be your next match at #Echelon2019

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Photo by Kristina Flour on Unsplash

The post Don’t tell anybody, but this riddle can help you get to #Echelon2019 appeared first on e27.