Credit Culture will kickstart its operations in personal loans space with the funding

Credit Culture, Singapore-based fintech that is among the six entities selected as part of a pilot by MinLaw, announces S$40 million (US$29.5 million) funding from Malaysian-listed investment holding company, RCE Capital Berhad.

The funding is to be directed to build up Credit Culture’s operational capability as it gathers pace to be one of the first pilot licensees to operate under the new pilot by the Ministry of Law on new business models for the personal loans industry.

Also Read: Mapan reveals its current focus following new CEO appointment

In December 2018, Credit Culture, which is a subsidiary of Dey Private Limited, was selected as one of six entities that are part of a pilot by the Ministry of Law. The pilot seeks to professionalise the personal loans space.

Credit Culture is said to be the first Singapore fintech startup that provides digital solutions for personal loans.

Founded by a group of former bankers, Credit Culture’s use of proprietary technology allows applicants to apply online using a simplified process. It’s then supported by instant and personalised loan terms from its credit-scoring engine to assess the creditworthiness of a customer instantly.

It proceeds on to allow loan application process that can auto-populate the necessary fields using government sites like MyInfo. The system reduces the need for often cumbersome processes which in turn makes the application more convenient for consumers.

In terms of saving costs, reduced manpower and competitive rates capped at 1% per month once operation begins are what the company offers.

All rates and fees are presented upfront when presenting loan offers so the consumer is able to make an informed decision before taking up the loan. Credit Culture also ensures the removal of high late interest and extra charges for early settlement.

Edmund Sim, founder and Chief Executive Officer of Credit Culture, said that its approach increases transparency and brings costs down.

“This investment aligns with RCE Capital’s core business of providing personal loans and bringing opportunities to the underbanked,” said Shahman Azman, Chairman of RCE Capital Berhad.

Also Read: Indonesian legaltech startup Justika raises pre-Series A funding by top law firm

Credit Culture plans on championing clearing debts towards its consumers and is committed to providing funding options across all income segments.
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Image Credit: Credit Culture

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Also, Printerous to expand regionally, Vertiv Academy opens in Singapore

Vietnam-based fintech firm Finhay raises US$1M from Insignia Ventures Partner [Viet Nam News]

Finhay, a Vietnamese fintech firm that allows customers to invest as little as VNĐ50,000 (slightly more than US$2), announced that it has raised nearly US$1 million from Singapore-based Insignia Venture Partners and other investors.

“With new capital of nearly US$1 million, Finhay will focus on user growth this year as well as looking for talent to join the team,” Finhay’s founder and CEO Nghiêm Xuân Huy shared in official statement published by Viet Nam News.

Also Read: Mapan reveals its current focus following new CEO appointment

Finhay was established in 2017 as a micro-investment platform targeted at millennials. It allows customers to start investing with as little as VNĐ50,000, or slightly more than US$2, in mutual funds in Việt Nam upon Finhay’s investment portfolio and related risk assessment recommendation based on the applicants’ information.

Besides the main investor Insignia Venture Partners, Finhay also received seed round investment funds from Hong Kong and the US.

Indonesia’s Printerous to expand regionally this year [Press Release]

With the official announcement of its revenue increase that hit over 300 per cent last year, Indonesia’s online printing platform Printerous shares its plan to expand to other regions in Southeast Asia within this year.

Printerous said that it aims to focus on B2B market, as 98 per cent of the total transactions were contributed by B2B segments.

“Printing demand from B2B segments has increased significantly, thus we do lots of development to provide real solution through e-commerce and e-procurement,” said Kevin Osmond, Founder and CEO of Printerous

Some of the products that Printerous provided for B2B are packaging printing, marketing materials, and office supplies. It currently serves micro and small businesses.

Vertiv Academy expands to Southeast Asia through its first training facility in Singapore [Channel Asia Singapore]

Vertiv Academy has opened up its first training facility in Singapore, bring aboard the mission to equip channel partners, customers and engineers with the technical know-how to properly and effectively manage critical infrastructure.

“With the comprehensive course offerings of the Vertiv Academy, customers and partners attending our trainings will develop the technical agility to allow them to respond to any business challenges,” said Chris Mandahl, vice president for service of Asia at Vertiv.

Vertiv Academy is located at New Tech Park in Singapore. It will be tailored for partners or customers who have purchased Vertiv solutions, with customisable classes that have a mix of both classroom time and practical exercises, as well as a comprehensive safety overview.

In Asia, other Vertiv Academy locations are in Sydney, Australia and Shenzhen, China.

Singapore sets up US$72M training fund for “smarter” processes [The Straits Times]

In a bid to establish a building industry that’s no longer labour-intensive and more about “smarter” process, Singapore has set up US$72 million funding, officially announced by National Development Minister Lawrence Wong yesterday.

The funds are said to go towards boosting skills in the building sector, including financing existing scholarship and sponsorship programmes for students and adults. The funds itself have been earmarked from June last year to May 2020, expected to benefit 118,000 locals working in the construction industry as well as architects and facility managers.

Minister Wong noted that venture funding in building technology is growing and traditional firms are starting to do more to transform how they build, picking up new capabilities in automation, prefabrication, and digital building and design methods.

“Our people are at the heart of this transformation journey. How far we go depends on the quality of the people we have,” added Minister Wong, who was speaking at an iBuildSG scholarship ceremony at the National University of Singapore.

The $72 million fund will support an enhanced iBuildSG Scholarship and Sponsorship programme for those seeking academic qualifications in a full-time undergraduate, diploma or Institute of Technical Education track.

All those awarded scholarships and sponsorship will now receive a $3,000 training grant to boost their skills and competencies through courses. They will also be encouraged to stay on in the industry with a $7,000 retention incentive one year after their bond ends.

First-in-the-region Tourism Lab and Tourism Development Fund for Sustainability set up in Bali, Indonesia [Press Release]

A partnership of World Economic Forum Global Shapers Denpasar Hub and Five Pillar Foundation with the strategic support of Mayor Office of Denpasar, Indonesia Creative Cities Network (ICCN), Bali Tourism Board, University of Udayana, and Kumpul Coworking Space hosted the first regional industry design jam by Public Private Partnership by Youth (“PPP by Youth”) themed as “Bali Beyond Tourism” on January 12 – 17, 2019 in Denpasar, Bali, Indonesia.

The program gathered 120 guests and delegates from 29 cities in Asia with notable guest speakers include The Honorable Ida Bagus Rai Dharmawijaya Mantra, Mayor of Denpasar, Mr. Maxwell Nie, Doctor of Urban Design of Harvard Graduate School of Design, Ms. Faye Alund, Founder of Kumpul, Mr. Agus Teja Sentosa (Gus Teja), world-class Balinese flute class music performer, Ms. Ni Komang Ayu Suriani, Curator of Global Shapers Denpasar Hub and Mr. Shadman Sadab, CEO of Future City Summit.

An intensive industry design jam was carried out by 18 regional teams with 4 scenarios of tourism industry, including segments of urban design, eco-tourism, tourism financing and policy innovation. The event aims to explore how to make Bali become beyond tourism, tackling multiple issues in the industry from water crisis, plastic waste, culture degradation, urban design, and many else.

The preliminary Memorandum of Understanding was signed with 18 cohorts of public and private sectors from 10 countries in Asia including Indonesia, Mainland China and Hong Kong, Pakistan, India, Sudan (Africa), Sri Lanka, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, and so on to encourage the economic sustainability and development of Denpasar city, with the government committing to bringing forth innovation and design of the city through Creative Economy Committee of Denpasar. Public Private Partnership (PPP) via the founding of Tourism Lab.

Also Read: Indonesian legaltech startup Justika raises pre-Series A funding by top law firm

Tourism Lab is to establish pipelines of tourism companies and project among the connected cities towards Bali tourism, which would be assessed by the committee to be formed.

“Startups are early stage business that seeks to disrupt the market with innovation – and that is exactly how startups can play a role in the Tourism sector, by bringing in new perspective, ideas and inevitably changing the behavior of the industry,” said Faye Alund, CEO & Co-founder KUMPUL Coworking

As for the setting of Tourism Fund, it aims to aggregate financing resource from Hong Kong and Indonesia to provide development financing to potential projects and innovation of tourism for proper growth and development. “It will lead to groom the next unicorn of tourism in the region,“ said Zaki Yamani, Founder of 1001Teras and City Partner (Indonesia), Future City Summit.
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Image Credit: Printerous

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Ghazi also admitted there was some intention at the government level to shut down MaGIC, in order to avoid overlapping, as well as to streamline things

Ashran Ghazi, who stepped down as the CEO of Malaysian Global Innovation & Creativity Centre (MaGIC) in November last year, feels that the country has all the ingredients to turn it into a startup hub, but what it lacks is the “Michelin Star Chefs” who can mix these ingredients in the right proportion.

Ghazi, who is currently serving as the CEO of Dattel Asia, a home-grown consumer intelligence company, also believes that the local market is the perfect test bed for a Southeast Asia’s startups.

In an interview with e27 (the full text of which will be published in the coming days), Ghazi said that Malaysia has a great potential and is quite ripe for growth within Southeast Asia. However, it needs to still churn new ways of thinking from the bottom up.

“We need to have raw entrepreneurial spirit that is resilient in the open market and also need to build more creative and innovative thinking people. People who cannot stand status quo. We have the ingredients, but sometimes what we lack is enough “Michelin Star Chefs” who can mix these ingredients in right proportion,” he commented.

Ghazi joined MaGIC in April 2016 after its founding CEO Cheryl Yeoh departed in January that year. During his tenure, Ghazi brought in several initiatives, including the Corporate Entrepreneurship Responsibility Program (designed to bring startups and corporates for mutual benefits), Impact Driven Enterprise, Global Entrepreneurship Community Summit, PUSH (Great Social Entrepreneurship Programme), Corporate Open Innovation Program, and Mentorship Platform.

Towards the end of his period, MaGIC went through a controversy when the newly-elected Mahathir Mohamad government intended to wind up the agency in May 2018. Talking about this, Ghazi admitted there was some intention at the government level to shut down several agencies, including MaGIC, in order to avoid overlapping, as well as to streamline things.

Also Read: MaGIC or no MaGIC, Malaysia’s startup ecosystem is bound to flourish!

“MaGIC, like many other agencies, was in a pretty unique situation then. True there was some intent as a whole to tighten the ship within the government. In most conversations happened around that time, there was a sentiment that many agencies were overlapping. This seemed to be the case at a macro level, but if you closely analysed things, you will get a different picture. Indeed, all these organisations are doing different activities,” he clarified.

He went on to say that there were naturally many views during that time. So, before MaGIC stabilised and landed as an agency under the Ministry of Entrepreneur Development (MED), Ghazi had to educate and inform relevant stakeholders about the work MaGIC has done, its impact, as well as its future aspirations. “We were meeting with different people in the new government. Finally, we got an audience in the form of the Minister of Entrepreneurship Development. He immediately saw the value of the organisation and thought about how MaGIC fits in his aspirations in driving the entrepreneurial community to be future ready.”

As soon as the Minister got convinced and appreciated the context, he decided to move MaGIC to the MED family. It was indeed an exciting time for the agency, he added. “So it wasn’t so much about the government changing mind but, from my perspective, various ministries needed to get clarity on what they wanted to do and ensure that they had the right agencies under them. But I must say that we had a nerve-wrecking experience during those four to five months due to the uncertainties.”

Ghazi also added that MaGIC, under the new leadership, is getting ready to execute big things in 2019. It is tuned towards working closely with private sector and is designing programmes in a strategic manner to scale new heights.

“I cannot agree with the opinion of several people that MaGIC has not done much. I think we have done quite a bit and we wish we had done more. I feel there are naturally certain things that the agency can be done well, but there are certain things that can be done better as a private entity. MaGIC is in a transition to scale its impact, and this is what I have been instilling since day one of joining MaGIC. I think MaGIC under the new leadership will be able to see the results of this as the seeds of scale has been planted over the last 2.5 years,” he noted.

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Indonesia-based Jojonomic secures the new undisclosed round of funding led by the fintech VC fund Finch Capital

Southeast Asia-operated expense and business management platform Jojonomic has announced an undisclosed amount of funding raised led Finch Capital. Participating in the round are Jojonomic’s existing investors East Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures.

This round makes for Jojonomic’s shareholder base, which now covers Europe, the US, Japan, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia.

Jojonomic had said it intends to use the funding for completing Jojonomic’s portfolio of business solutions, integrating external data, expanding its customer base across Indonesia, and beyond, and developing further Jojonomic’s use of machine learning.

Also Read: Singapore’s Travelstop officially expands to seven markets in Asia

With the investment, Finch Capital brings its financial technology and will put Hans De Back, partner of Finch Capital on the company’s board.

“Jojonomic addresses the inefficiencies businesses often face by providing an expense and business management platform to managers and employees. We are look forward to working together in facilitating the daily activities of Southeast Asian businesses and creating the future of work,” said De Back.

Jojonomic first introduced JojoExpense to be the digital expense management platform in Southeast Asia with the aim to help employees achieve work by automating and bringing transparency to manual processes such as expense reports.

“By using Jojonomic, professionals hopefully will increase their productivity, focus on the things they are passionate about, and let the platform handle time-consuming administrative tasks,” said Jojonomic’s CEO and founder Indrasto Budisantoso.

Jojonomic offers a cloud-based business suite that helps companies manage business expenses with JojoExpense, enhance employee productivity with JojoTimes, manage procurement with JojoProcure, create a cashless ecosystem with JojoCashCard, and handle digital documents with approval flows. These applications can all be accessed under its Saas platform called JojonomicPro that target SMEs and enterprises.

Currently, Jojonomic is integrated with cloud-based accounting and business platforms such as SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Xero, and OpenBravo. The system is integrated with Indonesia’s five largest banks to enable direct account payment and reimbursement, allowing end-to-end expense and cash management.

Also Read: Mobile is the US$120B future of tech business, report by App Annie

Jojonomic claims that it has tens of thousands of active users and support corporations and SMEs across sectors.
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Image Credit: Jojonomic

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Following the funding round, Motorist plans to open a new office in Thailand

Singapore-based auto-concierge platform Motorist today announced that it has raised an undisclosed seed funding round from JobsCentral co-founders Der Shing Lim and Shao-Ning Huang as well as Zopim co-founder Royston Tay.

The company plans to launch a new office in Thailand, complementing its existing offices in Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam.

“The next six months will be very exciting for the Motorist team,” Motorist Founder Damian Sia said in a press statement.

“We will focus primarily on marketing and supercharging our products and services to show future investors the scalability of our business model,” he continued.

Sia also added that the company plans to have another round of fundraising in 2019.

Also Read: How much can technology actually help Singaporeans save on car insurance?

It will also launch a nation-wide campaign in February to promote the launch of its new app.

Founded in 2015 by Sia, Motorist started off as a vehicle transaction platform. The company is now looking at the “car management aspect of vehicle ownership.”

Having been bootstrapped since its launch, Motorist claimed to have been profitable since the beginning.

The company said it has transacted more than 9,200 vehicles worth over S$176 million (US$129 million).

“I chose to invest in Motorist.sg because it has enormous growth potential in not only Singapore, but also
the ASEAN region,” said investor Royston Tay.

“The company offers a unique service to car owners, disrupting the usual automotive model we have grown accustomed to,” he added.

 

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The Vietnam-based startup operates a time-based discount solution for local service booking

JAMJA, a local service booking platform from Vietnam that offers time-based discount as its competitive edge, announces a US$1M total investment from Bon Angels and CyberAgent Capital. JAMJA offers its users discounted price when they book service like restaurants and beauty store on its platform.

“This bridge round investment capital will help JAMJA keep the momentum in the past, launch new services like a movie ticket, spa, healthcare, and karaoke, as well as to prepare for the upcoming official Series A round,” said Le Hung Viet, JAMJA’s CEO.

Also Read: Gobi Partners-Core Capital JV invests in Filipino startups MariaHealth, Edukasyon

In 2017, JAMJA has successfully raised seed round capital from ESP Capital. After that, just last year, JAMJA raised a pre-A round from Nextrans, Framgia, Bon Angles, and KB Investment with a total fund of US$850,000.

In this round, Bon Angels continues to invest in JAMJA, joined by new investor CyberAgent Capital.

With the new funding, the company plans to deploy applications in other major cities of Vietnam besides Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, while developing an in-depth solution that will be integrated into partner’s business activities.

JAMJA brings its users “time-based discount for booking” experience that allows them to find various service with competitive prices in comparison to the market in some special hour of the day.

On the merchants side, they can leverage this approach by controlling the number of guests, reducing the number of empty tables during peak and off-peak hours, setting appropriate discount rates through flash-sale deals, and changing the discount rates every hour, every minute, all available for integration in the standard POS system to manage orders.

“With the aim of utilising idle resources effectively and economically, the sharing economy model brought by JAMJA is becoming an inevitable trend in the global business environment. JAMJA helps merchants in the field of restaurant, beauty, and entertainment to optimise operating hours, especially the off-peak hours, from that brings value to customers and the whole community,” said Dzung Nguyen, Managing Director in Vietnam and Thailand at CyberAgent Capital.

Also Read: The e27 Southeast Asia Startup Ecosystem Report 2018 is here

JAMJA shared that it leverages on trends, with Generation Z (people who were born in 1995 and up with tech savviness) being its main target market for the application.

To date, JAMJA said it has cooperated with more than 3000 stores that have brought in 1.5 million monthly active users and more than 500,000 visitors to the store through the platform.
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Image Credit: JAMJA

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Neuron Mobility develops a new e-scooter based on the principles of automotive engineering, the company said

E-scooter startup Neuron Mobility takes the urban commute experience to another level with its new development of e-scooter. Neuron Mobility claims to put a spin in a basic two wheels, a board, and a handlebar -the scooter’s shape that public knows.

The company, that operates its fleet in big cities in Singapore, Thailand, and just recently in Malaysia, introduces an in-house designed platform based on the company’s operational experience.

Also Read: The e27 Southeast Asia Startup Ecosystem Report 2018 is here

“An e-scooter is no longer a novelty item or a toy; rather it has become a real alternative to urban transportation. Supporting new roles on an old platform is no longer sustainable, and we need to rethink how to maximise operational efficiency in order to be a viable mode of mobility for the public,” said Zachary Wang, CEO of Neuron Mobility.

The new model is said to focus on the ease of maintenance as well as tamper-proofing. It has improved structural integrity made out of aluminum chassis frame that joins two 12-inch wheels together – using a construction method that is more commonly seen in automotive applications – to give commuters an overall smoother and safer ride.

The e-scooter has a modular design that allows damaged modules to be replaced within minutes instead of spending days in the repair shop.

“All of the new e-scooter components may make the scooter seems oversized, but it allows riders to clear curbs, cross potholes, and sustain bumps without throwing their balance off, which is a common problem in many Southeast Asian cities,” said Mohammed Abdoolcarim, Neuron Mobility’s new Head of Product, who’s also the ex-product lead of Apple’s Siri.

Seeking to integrate this new form of mobility service into various cities, Neuron Mobility also developed proprietary software built into the scooter. Riders can use GPS-enabled parking indicator on the scooter’s handlebar display, allowing them to be easily guided to designated parking zones.

Also Read: Gobi Partners-Core Capital JV invests in Filipino startups MariaHealth, Edukasyon

Neuron Mobility calls their new platform a commercial grade e-scooter, designed to comply with PMD laws across Southeast Asia. The new scooter is also built to be adaptable to various road conditions – from paved streets in dense cities, to rougher roads in emerging markets.
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Image Credit: Neuron Mobility

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Plus, an influencer marketing platform launches X10 Media and Warung Pintar raises US$27.5 million

Faves launches new media group, X10 Media, to consolidate marketing properties — [Press Release]

Faves Holdings, a marketing company targetting micro-influencers, announced today the launch of X10 Media Group, a product that aims to help sales conversions for brands.

As part of the announcement, Faves announced an undisclosed funding round that valued the company at S$1 million (US$740,000). The money will be used for hiring as well as expanding its micro-influencer network.

Furthermore, the company is building a travel and events product that they plan to launch by the end of Q1.

The Singaporean company is looking at an impending launch in Indonesia.

Korean ride-hailing startup TADA launches in Vietnam — [Press Release]

TADA, a ride-hailing app built by the South Korean company MVL Technology Pte. Ltd, announced today it has launched in Vietnam — its third Southeast Asian market after Singapore and Cambodia.

TADA is trying to distinguish itself from its much larger competitors (Grab and Go-Jek) by offering no comission fees for drivers. They charge a 5% processing fee for credit cards, but the hope is by helping drivers pocket a greater share of the fare they can build a sufficient supply-demand.

TADA means “let’s ride” in Korean.

DJI says fraud has cost business US$150 million — [South China Morning Post]

DJI, Chinese drone maker, revealed it has discovered internal fraud that may have cost the company as much as US$150 million, according to the South China Morning Post.

The company says it discovered a number of employees were inflating sales numbers and pocketing the differences. The employees have been fired and a criminal probe is underway. According to the SCMP, the US$150 million number makes this one of the largest cases of internal corruption within a Chinese tech firm.

DJI employs around 14,000 people and is easily the most well-recognised drone company in the world.

Warung Pintar nabs US$27.5 million Series B — [e27]

Indonesia’s, a micro-retail tech startup has announced today a Series B funding round totaling US$27.5 million.

Existing investors who participated include SMDV, Vertex Ventures, Pavilion Capital, LINE Ventures, Digital Garage, Agaeti, Triputra, Jerry Ng, and EV Growth. The new investor coming on board is OVO.

“Warung Pintar has significantly push mitra’s (term to call its partners) income up to 41 per cent. We will continue to strive in transforming micro-retail so they can have a more competitive advantage in the midst of the retail landscape and build a better economy for themselves,” said Co-Founder & CEO Warung Pintar, Agung Bezharie Hadinegoro.

Jojonomic nabs undisclosed round from Finch Capital — [e27]

Southeast Asia-operated expense and business management platform Jojonomic has announced an undisclosed amount of funding raised led Finch Capital. Participating in the round are Jojonomic’s existing investors East Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures.

This round makes for Jojonomic’s shareholder base, which now covers Europe, the US, Japan, Indonesia, and Southeast Asia.

Jojonomic had said it intends to use the funding for completing Jojonomic’s portfolio of business solutions, integrating external data, expanding its customer base across Indonesia, and beyond, and developing further Jojonomic’s use of machine learning.

 

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Download the report today!

 

Don’t need convincing? Download the report here!

 

Q3 2015 was a turning point for e27 when we introduced e27 Startups, e27 Investors, e27 Events and e27 Jobs, as a natural and strategic extension to our media platform. Going beyond the daily news grind, this was also a way to keep all active stakeholders of the region’s tech startup ecosystem engaged all 365 days of the year – as an O2O integration to complement our flagship conference brand, Echelon.

Since then, e27’s media platform has gained considerable traction, having hosted more than 26,000 startups, 3,000 investors, 13,000 events and 8,000 jobs. Instead of letting all these sit dormant on Linode, we decided to leverage on this database to churn out meaningful information and insights to continue serving our mission – to empower entrepreneurs with the tools to build and grow our businesses.

On the last day of 2018, we announced that we are working on an ecosystem report. It’s ready now:  e27 Southeast Asia Startup Ecosystem Report 2018

Southeast Asia at a glance

 

e27 tracked 5,828 active tech startups and captured a total of 436 deals and US$17.26b funds raised across the ASEAN-6, namely Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam (presented in Alphabetical order). These were companies who either created a new profile and/or updated their existing ones on e27’s media platform in 2018.
The 34-page document details each country’s narrative in 2018 with

• A qualitative overview based on the year’s news and happenings
• A quantitative breakdown on startup funding data by deal size and industry verticals
• An analytical takeaway based on the information and data presented
• Bonus: The editors also included a section to introduce activity from each country’s’ second cities

The report ends off with a summary of the region’s macro-trends, followed by a curated list of the top 10 stories that impacted Southeast Asia in 2018.

Download full report: e27 Southeast Asia Startup Ecosystem Report 2018

Ecosystem Building through the e27 community

Are we proud of the production of this report? Hell yea! Especially considering that this was a bold insertion to last quarter’s OKRs, and that it’s our first run at crunching our own data to produce content like this.

Is this report accurate? Definitely not a 100%. e27 data is heavily reliant on inbound participation and we are well aware that there are startups and stakeholders that have no engagement with our platform at all (this is further explained in the report’s methodology). Case in point, TFI’s Vietnam Startup Ecosystem Report captured US$760m+ of funding, whereas e27’s platform only recorded US$193m.

Nevertheless, we are excited by its vast potential and the endless possibilities. This publication is not a one-off, but a continuous effort to improve visibility and transparency in Southeast Asia’s tech startup ecosystem. To make sense of Southeast Asia’s growth and complexity, this project also presents an opportunity for us to develop a stronger sense of community.

This is an open invitation to the #e27community to continue engaging our platform proactively, as we continue serving our mission- to empower entrepreneurs to build and grow their business. We are also in conversation with active stakeholders and various governments for collaboration and partnerships, so that 2019’s epublication will be more valuable and impactful for the region’s tech ecosystem.

We have already taken the first step to complement our existing channels with a more active community, and welcome all feedback, discussions and conversations to continue at e27’s Telegram Group.

–

Join TOP100 APAC 2019 and pitch your way to the regional spotlight. Apply here.

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Suzuki, who is an early investor in Tokopedia, says he didn’t expect the Indonesia e-commerce company to grow rapidly to become a unicorn so soon

Takahiro Suzuki is a familiar face in the startup community in Southeast Asia. A serial investor, he was CEO of CyberAgent Ventures (CAV) Indonesia until a few months ago. He is also an early investor in Indonesian unicorn Tokepedia.

Suzuki recently joined Genesia Ventures as a General Partner. A seed-stage investment firm focussed on Japan and Southeast Asia, Genesia recently launched its second fund worth US$80 million.

In an interview with e27, Suzuki talked about his past investment experience, the startup industry in Southeast Asia and Japan, and the fund’s future plans.

Below are the edited excerpts:

There are now quite a few VC funds for early-stage startups in Southeast Asia. Why does the region need another fund? What is your USP?

Yes, there are quite a few VC funds for seed/early-stage startups in Southeast Asia, but we, at Genesia, have three unique selling propositions. First, we are able to make a large investment per company. While our initial investment focuses on the seed/pre-Series A round, we are able to invest up to US$5 million per company in our follow-on investment on the next round. We believe that follow-on investment provides a strong boost to the next round fundraising of startups.

Wanna know how Indonesia’s startup industry fare in 2018? Click here

Second is our quick investment decision making. We have one general partner in Japan and another in Jakarta. Of course, we have due diligence process before finalising an investment, but our investment decision can be made in a few weeks at the shortest.

Third, we are experienced in VC investment in Japan and Southeast Asia, and we have built a large network of business contacts across Asia. While conventional industries have not been developed fully in Southeast Asia, there are many business fields where digital businesses have been growing rapidly before conventional industries do. There are also multiple industries where businesses such as Grab and Go-Jek have leapfrogged Japanese counterparts. Such pieces of information are helpful in making a better investment decision and formulating business strategies of our portfolio companies in Japan.

In Japan, on the other hand, conventional industries are now being redefined, and we are investing in a large number of B2B startups aiming to bring about digital transformation. Digital transformation is expected to be a major movement in Southeast Asia in the future, and we will surely be able to take advantage of our investment experiences in Japan.

Also, many major Japanese enterprises now focus on Asia for future growth. Our limited partners are composed of Japanese major enterprises and banks, and our investment experience in CAV has allowed us to build a network of contacts with enterprises and venture capitals both in Japan and Southeast Asia. We believe that this will help us navigate through the process of funding portfolio companies and forming alliance with them. It is our view that our investment experience and business network in both Japan and Southeast Asia make us different venture capital firm from others.

There is no dearth of funding for seed-stage startups in Southeast Asia, but clearly the region lacks Series B and C investments. Plus, there is a perception that there is a lack of good startups in Southeast Asia. What is your view?

We would like to contribute to the development of Asian societies as a seed fund with the three unique selling points outlined above. Also, regarding the perception that there are not enough good startups in Southeast Asia, we also feel that there may be more good startups in the US and China in terms of number, but this is only because there are a lot more startups there in the first place, in comparison to Southeast Asia.

We believe that good startups make up pretty much the same proportion of startups in both Southeast Asia and other regions. As the startup ecosystem is rapidly maturing in pace with the economic growth in the region, we are certain that there will be many startups that will grow substantially.

You are an early investor in Tokopedia, which is now an e-commerce unicorn. What prompted you to invest in the startup back then? Had you expected this company to become a unicorn in future? Have you already exited your investment?

As the marketplace was dominated by unicorn companies everywhere in the world, I invested in Tokopedia expecting that it would become a unicorn company in the future as well. I could not imagine that it would grow this rapidly, though.

The biggest reason for the investment is the determination of its founders William Tanuwijaya and Leontinus Alpha Edison. They strongly said that they seriously wanted to make the Indonesian society even better through Tokopedia. I wanted to support them in this mission and decided to invest in them.

Whether I hold their stock or not is non-public information and therefore I cannot disclose it.

What do you think were the few things that Tokopedia did right to help it conquer the e-commerce industry in Indonesia?

I personally think that Tokopedia was able to grow so rapidly because of the following three reasons:

1- Development of the customer-first services (the pursuit of consumer and merchant convenience)

2- Nationwide, rather than Jakarta-wide, expansion (in particular, they began recruiting merchants nationwide at the early stage)

3- Strong vision and team (they had a strong vision of making Indonesia an even better country, and they were able to create a Nakama [team] that believed in this vision).

Do you think Indonesia has the potential to produce more unicorns like Tokopedia? Are you betting on any tech companies to take a similar growth trajectory in the country?

Yes. We believe that multiple unicorn companies will emerge from Indonesia. We also always try our best to invest in companies that will potentially become unicorn companies.

Do you regret not investing in companies such as Go-Jek and Grab that have later become unicorns?

No. I did have the chance to invest in them, but I do not regret not having done so. But I did learn a lesson because I had not been able to imagine that the businesses would become as diversified as they are today. I would like to be able to foresee how a particular business would grow from its present state.

How is the overall startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia doing. Which country in the region has the potential to compete with Silicon Valley? What are your views on the startup activities happening in Malaysia?

Now many people in the US, China, India, South Korea, etc., are investing in Indonesian startups, and the ecosystem is getting richer. There are now exit cases, if not many. We feel that the startup ecosystem will become even richer if unicorn companies begin to go public on the stock exchange. Silicon Valley is Silicon Valley, so it makes no sense to compare it with Southeast Asia.

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We believe that startups doing business in Indonesia are more likely to become unicorns compared to other countries in Southeast Asia. There are many outstanding startups in Malaysia, and some of them are already profitable. On the other hand, as a nation, the upside potentiality of the market is limited, so we feel that if a company should grow big, it would have a business model capable of overseas expansion like that of Grab.

What are some of the companies that you think can change the startup landscape in Southeast Asia?

In order to enrich the startup ecosystem, we expect to see Go-Jek, Grab, Tokopedia, etc., offer IPOs or secure even larger funds to proactively perform M&A, etc. We also expect to see more entrepreneurs with working experience in those unicorn companies.

Why did Genesia choose Jakarta to base its Southeast Asian headquarters?

That is because Indonesia is the largest and the most competitive market in Southeast Asia.

How many companies does Genesia plan to invest from the second fund? Have you identified any startups for investments? In addition to funding, what else do you provide to your portfolio companies?

We have not yet decided how many companies we will invest in from the second fund, but we are not going to increase the number to three or four a year. We will remain selective in our investment decision. There are already some companies that we are committed to investing in.

In addition to funding, we support them through business strategies discussion, consultation regarding organisational structures and recruitment plan, and fundraising (providing support for making pitch-deck and network with investors not only in Japan and Southeast Asia but also other regions).

What is your average ticket size? Is it going to be different for different markets in the region?

Our investment policy is basically the same everywhere in Southeast Asia. As our initial investment targets the seed/pre-SeriesA round, the average ticket size will be US$300,000-$600,000. The amount of follow-on investment varies from company to company. Our plan is to make the average investment amount per company $1-2 million, including follow-on investment.

Is Genesia I already exhausted? Does it have any notable exit to its credit?

We are no longer making initial investments from fund I. We only have budget for follow-on investments. So we will make initial investments from fund II in the future. There are not so many exits so far because it’s been only 2 years since the foundation of fund I, but we have some.

How has been your experience as General Partner of CyberAgent Ventures? Why did you leave the fund to join Genesia?

My work with several entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia and Japan has driven my interest to be a General Partner at an institutional VC firm, against the possibility of working for a CVC.

Most, if not all, of Genesia’s Limited Partners are from Japan. Are they bullish about Southeast Asian startup industry?

While Japan is still the third-largest economy in the world, its market will not be growing rapidly in the future. Therefore, many Japanese enterprises looks at Asia as important market for their future growth. We strive to be a platform that connects such Japanese enterprises and startups in Asia.

How is the sharing economy faring in the region? Does it have potential to grow even bigger?

As real estate, cars and bikes and equipments of construction and agriculture, etc. are expensive assets, we think that sharing economy for those assets has potential for growth. Therefore, we have already invested in Luxstay, a home-sharing platform in Vietnam. Also, as we invested in Sukedachi (on-demand job-matching platform for contractors and construction workers) and Taimee (on-demand temporary employment platform) in Japan. We are also keeping an eye on the gig economy in Southeast Asia.

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