Everywhere in Southeast Asia, the plastic waste outcry has emerged thanks largely to awareness raised by social media. The ever-connected world has opened eyes to the amount of trash Southeast Asia, in particular, has collected as the receiving ends of developed countries’ junk in addition to its pile of trash.

Videos of sea animal suffering death by plastic or divers swimming in the sea of trash might be a trigger to finally do something because it is finally trendy to say no to plastic.

According to an article from Southeast Asia Globe, Southeast Asia countries have started to pick up the slack, albeit late.

Malaysia last year issued a permanent ban on the import of plastic waste and announced it will be phasing out the import of other types of plastic by 2021. Thailand will also stop plastic waste imports by 2021, and Vietnam has banned the issuance of licences for the import of plastic waste in preparation for a total ban by 2025.

In another article bt Southeast Asia Globe, aside from being the destination for 75 per cent of the world’s waste -much of it plastic-, Asia also has poor waste management, resulting in the continent became the biggest ocean plastic, polluters.

According to 2017 report by the Ocean Conservancy and the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment, more than half of the plastic waste in the ocean comes from just five Asian countries: China, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Thailand.

With plastic became a major problem in our waste management, the trend has caught up to recycling and minimising a single use of plastic. More people -Millennials and Gen Z to be exact- are raising awareness, which is a good thing that these 16 startups are hoping to last, and not just a fad that sizzles away.

Gringgo, Indonesia

Indonesia has repeatedly made international news because of the numerous whale found dead of plastic ingestion washed ashore. So this country is really in the deep with plastic trash.

Gringgo Indonesia Foundation was named one of 20 grantees of the Google AI Impact Challenge, receiving US$500,000 of funding from Google.org, to help put a stop to the sloppy waste management that could put trash in its 50,000 km of coastline.

Gringgo was co-founded by Febriadi Pratama, who’s also the company’s CTO. It uses artificial intelligence (AI) to give waste workers tools to track their collections and productivity in hopes to boost their earning power while also helping the environment.

“Waste workers’ livelihood depends on the volume and value of the recyclable waste they collect. The idea is to build an image recognition tool that would help improve plastic recycling rates by classifying different materials and giving them a monetary value.

“In turn, this will reduce ocean plastic pollution and strengthen waste management in under-resourced communities. We believe this creates a new economic model for waste management that prioritises people and the planet,” Pratama explained.

Also Read: Can the new waste disposal app bail out Bali from its waste problem?

Pratama mentioned that trash is the country’s major problem due to the country’s topography that makes it more challenging to put a price on recyclables. It consists of more than 17,000 islands with 5 major islands, but most recycling facilities are based on the mainland of Java, making transporting recyclables from other islands expensive, causing materials with low value left unsorted, end up polluting the environment.

Addressing the issue, Gringgo launched several apps in 2017—both for waste workers and the public. One of the apps allows waste workers to track the amount and type of waste they collect to save time by suggesting a more organised route, and manually quantify their collections and earning potential.

The other app is launched for the public, connecting people with waste collection services for their homes.

Gringgo mentioned that it has Google’s support in working with the Indonesian startup Datanest to build an image recognition tool using Google’s machine learning platform, TensorFlow. With the collaboration, waste workers can better analyse and classify waste items, and quantify their value through a photo of trash they took, and through image recognition.

Klean, Malaysia

Klean is a Malaysian-based startup that was one of the six finalists for The Liveability Challenge and managed to secure up to S$1 million (US$733,000) in funding for the development of their projects. The challenge aims to close the financing gap between the ideas that will make cities better and the investments that will turn solutions into reality.

Founded by Mohamad Arif and Datuk Dr Nick Boden, Klean offers a Malaysian-made smart reverse vending machine (SRVM) with Klean operating system and an app that rewards people for recycling empty polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles and aluminum cans with points scheme. The points are redeemable for rewards such as prepaid air time and discounts for transportation rides, goods, and services.

Klean also teams up with HelloGold in a mission to “tackle generational poverty” that lets users
who return bottles and cans to build up a gold portfolio, allowing the underprivileged community to save money using readily available waste and to use it as business loan collateral if they wish so.

According to an article published by The Star Malaysia last year, Klean has teamed up with a beverage company to start a proof of concept on a container deposit scheme in Singapore.

NanoMalaysia, Malaysia

A fresh invention from Malaysian young PhD student-entrepreneurs, NanoMalaysia, offers alternatives to food packing that seeks to dramatically reduce supermarket plastic waste.

NanoMalaysia won The Institution of Engineering and Technology’s (IET) Global Challenge with their approach for packing dried, loose food products by using carrageenan and starch to create dissolvable food blocks called PICAS block, in the hope of significantly reducing the amount of plastic waste from supermarkets.

Evoware, Indonesia

Edible food wrappings and sachets as alternatives to single-use plastics for packaging certainly are not something new, but it is yet to catch a wave with Southeast Asia’s food industry.

In Indonesia, Evoware, co-founded by David Christian, offers seaweed-based wrappings for instant coffee or noodle sachets that make it edible or dissolvable after usage.

Christian claimed that it uses seaweed without chemical additives in applications, allowing it to dissolve in hot water or be eaten. Seaweed, he said, has one of the best mechanical properties while still being energy efficient and very economical with friendly land cultivation.

Evoware challenges the comfort of single-use wrappings and offers a circular economy solution instead to help free the oceans from the trash. With seaweed, it plans to increase its local capacity and is in a position to expand internationally since seaweed can grow on almost every coastline.

Also, Evoware has designed a version, made using damar resin from South Asian fig trees, that holds liquids, creating readily compostable packaging for personal care products and medical supplies.

Evoware is a Circular Design Challenge winner in category Redesigning sachets. It also joined
the New Plastics Economy Accelerator Programme.

RWDC Industries, Singapore

RWDC Industries is a Singaporean biotechnology startup co-founded by Roland Wee and Daniel Carraway that develops cost-effective biopolymer material solutions in 2015. The company, according to an article from e27, produces medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mclPHA) biopolymers that can be used to make eco-friendly consumable products.

In Entrepreneurs’ article, it is explained that PHAs are linear polyesters naturally produced by bacterial fermentation of plant-based oils or sugar and are widely recognised as the only commercially viable biodegradable plastic due to its versatility.

Also Read: Biodegradable plastic startup RWDC Industries raises US$22M in fresh funding

RWDC claims its PHA is certified to be fully biodegradable in soil, water, and marine conditions by agency TÜV Austria (formerly Vincotte), within weeks with no toxic residue.

RWDC said that it aims to supply bio-based materials to its clients, which can then turn them into products like single-use cutlery, straws, diapers, wipes, and agricultural mulch films.

In 2018, the startup closed a US$13 million Series A2 round co-led by venture capital firms Vickers Venture Partners and WI Harper Group. Finance firm Ridgevale Enterprises and individual investors also participated in the round.

The funding was used to expand PHA production capacity in Athens, US, to 2,000 tonnes per year, making it one of the world’s largest PHA producers.

In July, RWDC won the inaugural Liveability Challenge, presented by Temasek Foundation Ecosperity, securing S$980,000 (US$710,000) in funding for its proposal to make fully biodegradable drinking straws made of PHA.

RWDC Industries has raised US$22 million in the third tranche of its ongoing Series A round of funding, led by early-stage investment firm Vickers Venture Partners and US-based Eversource Retirement Plan Master Trust — its first institutional investor. Others who participated in the round include cross-border VC firms and existing backer WI Harper Group.

Avani Eco, Indonesia

It’s uplifting to see there is more than just one solution to replace the use of polluting plastic out there, and Avani Eco first made news when a viral video of its founder drinking a soluble plastic bag caught international news’ eagle eyes.

Avani Eco was established in 2014 by Kevin Kumala, a biology graduate, to provide a technology solution that can be adopted by businesses and end consumers. The main product was originally a cassava-based poncho before Avani Eco provides a full range of sustainable packaging and hospitality products made from renewable and natural ingredients of root vegetable cassava, that are fully compostable, from plastic bags, straws, hospital covers, to styrofoam-lookalike food packaging.

According to a CNN article, Kumala and his school friend partner studied the emerging field of bioplastics and took inspiration from new materials based on corn and soy starch. They devised their recipe using cassava starch, vegetable oil, and organic resins.

In 2017, CNN reported that Avani secured funding from a private equity group for the first time.

With Bali banning plastic bags in 2018, the company has grown significantly despite categorised as a premium product with twice the price of regular plastic.

Upp!, Vietnam

Here’s a startup that offers solutions to the already-disposed plastics, by upcycling it into a construction material. Upp! is a social enterprise startup based in both the Netherlands and Vietnam, that hopes to save plastic waste from landfills and oceans by introducing circular plastic factories in 10 cities by 2025, according to an article by Green Queen.

Founded in 2017 in the Netherlands and later expanding to operate in Vietnam as well, Upp! is supports companies, communities, and local authorities to become plastic waste-free by working alongside several local partners to make repurposed plastic products.

These repurposed plastic products can then be used in many ways, from becoming construction materials to building recycled parks.

Taraph Technologies, Singapore

Singapore-based Taraph Technologies is a green tech startup that aims to remove all plastic waste by 2050. It was co-founded by Liew Mei Shan.

The company offers Waste Management Diagnosis and Waste Management Consultancy. According to an excerpt from a Bloomberg’s piece, Taraph Technologies is one of the companies using bacteria or organic processes which harnesses natural enzymes that digest plastics and turn them into chemicals normally produced in oil refineries.

Right now, the article highlighted, mono-ethylene glycol from enzyme-eaten plastic bottles can be sold at prices 10 times higher than the value of trash, but Liew expects the technology to be commercially available in 5 to 10 years.

In April 2019, Taraph Technologies received pre-seed funding from the investment committee of Entrepreneur First.

AYA REUSABLE CUP, Vietnam

How did you put technology into a reusable cup to make it work? This Vietnam-based startup called AYA REUSABLE CUP (AYA) founded by Linh Le offers users the ability to use and return the cup to eliminate the use of single plastic.

It does so by allowing a request of an eco-friendly cup AYA at any participating coffee shop or smoothie bar with consumers’ ID code. With the Life Time Membership Pass option, consumers can drop the AYACUP at any participating locations.

According to an article published by Innolab.Asia, the startup was the most-voted idea in first CrowdPitch Vietnam 2019.

Eco-Plastics, Cambodia

Being crowned runner-up in the 12th year of The Mekong Business Challenge (MBC), two female Cambodian entrepreneurs introduced Eco-Plastic, a startup that plans to utilise Cambodia’s plastic waste to pave cheaper, more durable roads.

Eco-Plastics was co-founded by Bunhourng Tan and Sokhana Ly and it claimed to have received funding from a US investor, as reported by Phnom Penh Post.

Sokhana said: “By establishing Eco-Plastic, we can use plastic waste to improve our roads, transforming landfill waste into a road fill product.”

Cleanbodia, Cambodia

Founded by Japanese-American entrepreneur Kai Kuramoto in 2015, Cleanbodia creates an online platform that offers a biodegradable bag made of the cassava starch. According to Phnom Penh Post‘s article, Cleanbodia has two products: the biodegradable bag that contains plastic and lasts for six years, and compostable bags, contains no plastic and lasts under two years.

Right now, Kuramoto and his team of engineers are still working on having the bags produced in the country.

Also Read: Meet the 15 startups competing for SustainableAg Asia Challenge by Rabobank

“Currently, the bags are not produced in Cambodia, but are made in Southeast Asia. We have studied the possibility of building a factory here in the Kingdom and are still assessing the best way to do that with the right partners.

“Production here would allow for cheaper biodegradable bags and there is certainly enough cassava grown to supply the production of the bags,” Kuramoto concluded.

GooGreen, Thailand

Thailand-based GooGreen is a startup that builds a platform to help urbanites efficiently collect and sort waste. Founded by Chatsanan Masawangpairoj, the company said it has worked with communities, schools, and factories and found these three sectors have efficient waste sorting procedure.

According to Startup Thailand, the platform comprises of mobile and web applications as well as waste disposal kiosks at office buildings. The kiosk staff will assist and instruct people on how to do proper waste sorting, she added.

GooGreen said that the idea of the startup is to encourage attitude change from disposing of waste to “depositing waste and earning points.” Users will be able to locate GooGreen kiosks in their office neighborhoods.

Solu, Philippines

Founded in March 2018 by Matthew Barrie, Solu is a Philippine-based startup that seeks to fix waste management in developing nations, as reported by e27.

Solu allows consumers to connect with waste collection centres who will pay them for their segregated waste.

With the collected waste redirected into where they can be repurposed, Solu believes that it will help make for a cleaner environment.

According to this Eco-Business’s article, June 2019 marked the joint declaration by ASEAN countries that its members will take concrete actions and help one another to “prevent and significantly reduce marine debris”, including plastic waste, for example through the possible development of an East Asia regional plan of action and guidelines as environmentalists have called on the bloc to do more.

With encouraging and significant moves from the 16 startups mentioned, Southeast Asia’s plastic waste emergency may stand a chance to have a complete reversal. What’s left now is the backing of governments to speed up the process, and more spotlight to shine a light on the pressing issues.

In the meantime, the cliche of starting small with the simplest thing one can do such as eliminating the use of plastic remains effective.

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Singapore-headquartered fintech startup GDP Inc. received over US$1 million in its seed fundraising round from angel investors.

The company was co-founded by Amos Huang, COO; Weili Liu, Head of Legal, and Victor Wu, CEO.

Huang previously founded Viscovery in 2013, an Artificial Intelligence company based in Taiwan, and Liu is a renowned attorney at LCC Partners Law office. CEO Wu has a digital marketing background and founded VPon Big Data Group in 2008, Asia’s Big Data ad technology company with offices all over the region.

“Traditional methods provide inefficient cross-border services with expensive fees, long transaction times, unfavorable exchange rates, and even transparency issues. Using the power of Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data analysis, and social innovation, GDP developed two flagship solutions: PEZZAPay and PEZZALoan,” explained Wu.

PEZZAPay is a P2P cross-border payment platform that matches users in the Philippines with helpers in Japan and China tasked to execute the desired payment on behalf of the user.

Also Read: [Exclusive] MyCash raises funding from 500 Startups; to take its financial services platform for unbanked migrant workers into new markets

PEZZALoan is a P2P financing platform that aims to provide fast, easy, and secure business loans for SMEs by offering attractive returns for smart investors willing to lend directly to these businesses. It is currently in the early testing phase with established SMEs beta users in Taiwan.

So far, GDP has already established offices in five locations (Singapore, The Philippines, Taiwan, Japan, Estonia) and soon to be in Hong Kong and China.

The startup has also invested in its operations compliance efforts by applying to +7 licenses in the region including Crypto, Money Service Operations, and E-Money licenses.

The startup said that it plans to grow its user pool and its transaction cash flow in the upcoming months, as it prepares for a Series A fundraising in early 2020.
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Curiox Biosystems, a bio-instrumentation startup based in Singapore, announced that it has received US$15 million in its Series B funding round from Korean biotech investors, DealStreetAsia reported.

The investors in the Series B funding round include KB Investment, Dayli Partners, Quad Investment Management, IMM Investment, SV Investment Partners, and HB Investment.

Previously, Curiox has raised funding from Singaporean venture investment firm Zig Ventures.

The company notes that the fresh funding will be used for global commercialisation activities and to scale up. “Our new funding will help us expand our global reach to the flow cytometry community and other cell-based assay developers,” said CEO Namyong Kim.

Curiox also revealed plans to pursue an initial public offering on the Korean stock exchange, KOSDAQ, in the next 36 months, given its now-backer is from the country.

Also Read: Singapore biotech startup Engine Biosciences raises US$10M for drug discovery technology

In a statement, Zig Ventures said that the Korean biotech investors who are attracted to Curiox’s bio-instrumentation solutions developed for cell analysis and therapy in the pharma and biotech industries.

Curiox is a spinoff bio-instrumentation company of the Agency for Science, Technology, and Research (A*STAR) in Singapore. Curiox is led by Chief Executive Officer Dr. Namyong Kim and provides products like the Laminar Wash HT1000 System and two new systems, the Laminar Wash AUTO1000 and Laminar Wash MINI.

The AUTO 1000 system allows scientists to have a fully-automated flow cytometry staining platform that can produce quantitative and reproducible results for flow cytometry. Cytometry is the measurement of the characteristics of cells.

Meanwhile, the Laminar Wash MINI, made up of a smaller, benchtop unit designed for smaller throughput labs.

Zig is SEEDS Capital’s co-investment partner under Startup SG Equity and has been an investor of Curiox since 2011.
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Privacy has become a big thing recently thanks to the European Union’s General Data Privacy Regulation (GDPR).

It’s arguably among the biggest development in tech this year and has put privacy in the spotlight. Organisations with an online presence were compelled to review how they handle privacy even if they don’t really serve European audiences.

But even without the GDPR, it’s high time that privacy becomes part of daily concerns. In the Philippines, its National Privacy Commission is noticeably quite active in recent months launching events and online campaigns that inform of the basic principles of the regulations.

This drive to promote privacy has been long overdue. The Philippines’ Data Privacy Act was passed way back in 2012 but it was only in 2016 that the implementing rules were finally established. The regulations include provision for organisations to take steps such as appointing data protection officers, performing privacy impact assessments, and creating privacy management programs.

The idea is to have organisations comply with these measures but it’s tough to enact sweeping changes especially if it goes against the grain of the prevailing norms and culture.

Also read: How can privacy-focussed apps step up amid a world of data breaches?

It’s been somewhat of a joke that gossip is a national past time in the Philippines.

Some say that the reason why there aren’t many reported serial killers in the country is because neighbours would immediately notice if something shady is actually going on. Jokes aside, it’s easy to experience the effects of the little regard most entities give to people’s privacy.

Proper and secure document management and archiving are capabilities most organisations fail to develop. It’s still common to see enterprises hedge on adopting digitization as they continue to rely on antiquated and insecure paper-based filing systems.

Sales and profits also seem to be more of a priority for larger enterprises. Up until today, it’s common for mobile phone subscribers to get bombarded by calls and texts from various telemarketing agencies which leads you to question how they get access to your contact information.

Smaller businesses and entrepreneurs also have this lax approach to protecting their customers’ information. It’s common to see online sellers showcase their sales by posting pictures of packages or order lists bearing the names, addresses and contact details of their buyers for the public to see.

Individuals and end-users aren’t helping either. Oversharing of information is still common online.

Despite notices by the social networks and online services for users to check their privacy settings, not everyone has chosen to secure their accounts and hide information that can be used by malicious actors for fraud. People still don’t even perform basic measures like shredding bills and bank statements before disposing of them.

Also read: Cashless payments come with security and privacy challenges from the viewpoint of consumers and businesses

The status quo only continues to promote negligence and devalue the importance of data privacy. Many Filipinos still overlook the gravity of the breach of the Commission on Elections website which compromised the personal and biometric data of all registered voters.

While most are preoccupied with violent crimes, the security breach of such magnitude should have been considered among the more appalling crimes to be committed.

While it’s nice that the government is ramping up its efforts to promote privacy. It would take a collective effort to change the prevailing mindset and establish a new culture that truly values people’s information.

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The moment Sean Parker suggested Mark Zuckerberg drop “The” in “The Facebook” was the moment that changed the world as we know it. For the better or for the worse is still up for debate though.

With over two billion users, the social media platform has permeated today’s society in heights unforeseen.

Today, the way we make friends, communicate, promote ourselves and our brands, entertain and be entertained, are all influenced by Facebook and other social media platforms.

It is undeniable impact on people also begs to question if its influence on society is good or bad. Many experts have studied its negative effects, but social media founders and practitioners always find a way to defend their cause. Until now.

Earlier this month, former Facebook Vice President for User Growth, Chamath Palihapitiya, spoke against the platform, noting its harmful effects on the society around the world.

The executive spoke to a crowd at the Stanford Graduate School of Business wherein he shared his “tremendous guilt” for what he helped establish with the Palo Alto company. The exec is the second former employee of the platform who has spoken about the negative effects Facebook and social media has on society.

Palihapitiya admits creating “tools that are ripping apart” society

“We have created tools that are ripping apart the social fabric of how society works. That is truly where we are,” the 41-year-old venture capitalist told the audience during a talk on November 10, 2017.

Palihapitiya joined Facebook in 2007. At that time, the company was still in its early-yet-booming stages, having been launched in 2004. What started as a platform exclusive to Harvard students, created by Mark Zuckerberg in his dormitory room, soon exploded into a country-wide phenomenon. Before everyone knew it, people from all over the world were getting hooked.

When he joined the company, the former VP admitted that there wasn’t really much thought put into the long-term negative effects of the platform. As they built the network, they made themselves believe that no negative consequences will come out of what now seems as the exploitation of consumer psychology.

“I think in the back, deep, deep recesses of our minds, we kind of knew something bad could happen,” he revealed.

Also read: Watch out, these startup social media marketing strategies are bullshit

While social media, as a whole, has helped bridge people from thousands of miles away, Palihapitiya admits that it has taught the community to be impatient. Driven by likes and hearts, people now turn to social media for instant gratification, “eroding the core foundations of how people behave.”

“The short-term, dopamine-driven feedback loops that we have created are destroying how society works. No civil discourse, no cooperation, misinformation, mistruth.”

The Golden State Warriors owner did praise Facebook for the overwhelming good it does for the world, but the damaging effects have pushed him to stop using the tool. And he encourages people to take a “hard break” from Facebook and other social media platforms as well.

Sean Parker, a “conscientious objector” of social media

Even before Palihapitiya made his claims, Sean Parker already made his thoughts about social networking known. The infamous former Facebook president attended an Axios event in Philadelphia earlier in November where he acknowledged the “unintended consequences” of the platform he helped grow.

“It literally changes your relationship with society, with each other … It probably interferes with productivity in weird ways.”

Parker noted that Facebook is “a social-validation feedback loop,” and exploits a vulnerability in people’s psychology. He likens social media to having a dopamine hit whenever someone gets a like or comment. Much like other substances, once the high subsides, users want to take another hit to feel elated and elevated again.

“God only knows what it’s doing to our children’s brains,” Parker, who is now founder and chair of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, said.

Facebook admits mental health adverse effects

Defending itself from all the negative claims about its platform, Facebook responded to its former VP clarifying that things have been different since Palihapitiya left the company. A spokesperson for the company told The Verge that when the former exec was with FB, they were solely focused on “building new social media experiences” and establishing the brand across the world. However, over the years, as the platform grew, “we have realized how our responsibilities have grown too.”

“We take our role very seriously and we are working hard to improve. We’ve done a lot of work and research with outside experts and academics to understand the effects of our service on well-being, and we’re using it to inform our product development,” the spokesperson explained.

Also read: We are in the ‘Black Mirror’, living in a world where social media is taking us on a nosedive

A recent journal published by the social media giant, however, confirmed that depending on the use of their platform, Facebook could indeed affect mental health negatively. “Passively consuming” information — like reading posts on the newsfeed — without interacting with other Facebook users could lead to depression and lower self-esteem.

A UC San Diego and Yale study revealed that people who simply browsed through their feeds — liking posts and clicking on links — are more inclined to have negative social comparison than those who post on their walls often.

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has also released a similar study wherein it confirmed that social media use may lead to “Facebook Depression” among adolescents. The term coined by the researchers pertains to the depression that preteens and teens develop when they spend time on the platform.

“Acceptance by and contact with peers is an important element of adolescent life. The intensity of the online world is thought to be a factor that may trigger depression in some adolescents,” the journal noted. It added that “Facebook Depression” may lead to substance abuse and self-destructive behaviour.

To address such issues, Facebook has been taking steps to make its ecosystem a safe one. It has been employing the help of social psychologists, sociologists, and social scientists to establish an environment where the network contributes in a positive way. So far, it has added the “On This Day” feature which shows memories with friends and encourages user interaction. It has also positioned itself as a venue for goodwill and humanitarian work through fundraisers for disaster relief.

CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg says the company wants “the time people spend on Facebook to encourage meaningful social interactions.” Moreover, the company promised users that they are willing to reduce their profitability to “make sure the right investments are made.”

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Yummy Corp, Indonesian online catering and cloud kitchen startup has received a total of US$7.75 million in Series A funding led by SMDV (Sinarmas Digital Ventures) and Intudo Ventures.

Participating in the round are East Ventures, Agaeti Ventures, Sovereign’s Capital, and Selera Kapital by Sour Sally Group.

With this investment, Yummy Corp said it is targeting 200 locations for the year 2020 across Jakarta and other major cities in Indonesia.

Mario Suntanu, CEO of Yummy Corp said, “We aim to use this investment to increase the quality of food and customer experience. Our main focus is the customers, and by adding distribution points we want to ensure that the customers can experience faster delivery experiences and fresher food to be enjoyed anywhere the customer orders.”

Yummy Corp was established in 2017, offering two main services: catering solutions and cloud kitchen.

Also Read: Yummy Corp acquires Berrykitchen, aims to become the largest online catering service

Its catering solution offers foodservice to companies on-premise (by operating the company’s kitchen and cafeteria) as well as off-premise (as ready-to-eat meal delivery). Yummy enables employees to select and order their meals through the Yummybox app using their corporate balance or top up their balance.

Meanwhile, Yummy Corp’s cloud kitchen business, named Yummykitchen, works with local culinary brands and delivery platforms to extend their services to its network of delivery-focussed kitchens, serving as a growth platform for the partner brands.

In May 2019, Yummybox acquired Berrykitchen, the first online catering company in Indonesia. Yummy Corp said that the decision to acquire Berrykitchen was because the company happened to have the same target market as Yummybox: Office employees with greater awareness of the health and taste aspects of the food they ate.

Today, Yummy Corp operates 25 cloud kitchen locations in the Greater Jakarta Area that serves upwards of 10,000 meals every day and has more than 3,000 menus.

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Indonesia-based edtech platform Zenius reportedly has raised US$20 million (IDR283 billion) from Northstar Group, DailySocial has learned.

Zenius was co-founded by its CEO Sabda PS dan Jerome Polin, and it’s said that PS will become the company’s chairman following the funding. The CEO declined to comment on the matter.

Zenius claimed to be one of the first initiators of edtech startup in the country.

Moving classroom online has been in trend for the past couple of years, with the country seeing names like Zenius’ competition Ruangguru aggressively accelerates its growth and in-country expansion with it being valued at US$7,100, according to DailySocail’s Startup Report 2018.

Recently, Ruangguru has added another segment like Ruangkerja, aimed at employees to have access to Skill Academy, facilitating extracurricular skills improvement for career people.

Also Read: Reaching out: These startups are educating Indonesia’s underprivileged

According to data summoned from Crunchbase, this could be the first funding outside internal fundraising that Zenius has raised.

Zenius was established in 2007 as an online course service targeting all education levels, from elementary school to senior high with public university test prep.

The cost to subscribe to its online course starts from US$12 to US$46 per month. Zenius is said to already have a library of 80,000 educational videos.

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The Asia-Pacific region is one of the fastest-growing places when it comes to fintech. Multiple startups focused on fintech have sprouted across the area, with China, Singapore, and Japan leading the way.

Fintech has disrupted the financial sector across the world, bringing much-needed innovation and change, and the Philippines looks to be a part of these changes.

 The Fintech landscape of the Philippines

Multiple startups and fintech incubators have opened up in the country, with many focusing on payment systems and alternative finance while blockchain, cryptocurrencies and other financial services not far behind.

Government response towards the changing landscape that is fintech has been positive. In recent years, the Philippine government has enacted policies that are targeted at achieving greater financial inclusion while pushing for growth and innovation in the world of financial services.

The country’s central financial regulator even hopes to raise the adoption of digital payments systems by 20 per cent by the year 2020.

The government has also signified that it is ready to collaborate with other fintech leaders, signing an agreement with the Monetary Authority of Singapore aimed at fostering fintech cooperation. Regulatory safeguards have also been set to help address money laundering concerns and protect consumers.

Also Read: How fintech is making credit more accessible for Southeast Asian SMEs

Investors both global and locals have started to take notice as well. In 2017, saw a USD$11.2 million in investments for new fintech firms which has steadily increased, reaching USD$96.6 Million in 2018.

Investors like Indonesian startup titan Go-Jek, Singaporean firm Grab and Hong Kong’s Oriente have made their presence known in the Philippine’s fintech sector while China’s corporate juggernauts Alibaba and Tencent have flexed their investment muscles, with the latter raising over $175 million in a funding round for the Philippine telecom’s fintech arm, Voyager.

Challenges in the Fintech sector

 It’s not all rainbows and sunshine, however. While other countries have made inroads with fintech startups, The Philippines is still lagging badly behind. In 2018, startups in the country only received around USD$50 million in venture capital funding, an abysmally low amount considering investments in the region totaled $3.6 billion that year.

The country has little access to venture capital, aside from angel investors

Funding isn’t the only challenge fintech startups face in the country. Firms face an alarming lack of talent in the country as well. Startups have reported difficulty in hiring and retaining fintech talent in the country. This appears to be a common challenge across the region, as fintech startups in Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand have also experienced the same difficulty.

Also Read: How fintech is making credit more accessible for Southeast Asian SMEs

The lack of infrastructure has also slowed down the fintech sector in the Philippines. Low internet penetration, abysmally bad internet connectivity speeds are also compounded by a variety of factors including geographical concerns, government inaction, corporate monopolies and most tellingly, corruption, have all conspired to leave the country with one of the worst internet services in the Asia-Pacific region.

 Looking to the future: the role of global partners

 Right now, we are seeing a remarkable growth in the Philippine fintech sector. Increased access to wireless internet via 3G and 4G networks is breaking the barriers caused by infrastructural bottlenecks, while the entry of a third major telco player has altered the balance of power in the current Philippine telecoms sector.

As quoted from Atty. Edsel Tupaz, Partner of Gorriceta Africa Cauton & Saavedra Law Firm and a known advocate of fintech in the Philippines, “The government continues to support the local fintech scene with increasingly liberal policies, including testing the waters with regulatory sandboxes. These factors have attracted international Venture Capital firms, boosting access to capital that startups need. Because of these developments, the Philippines is becoming a friendlier ecosystem for businesses and capital supportive of fintech initiatives.”

This stage in the development of the country’s fintech sector is when global partners, such as GBCI Ventures, become critical. Global partners bring not just much-needed capital to startups, but insight on fintech trends worldwide and experience in transforming a concept into reality.

GBCI Ventures does all that and more. Aside from bringing a veritable venture capital war chest to the tune of USD$100 million, the firm also helps startups hit the ground running by providing business-critical processes that every fintech startup needs.

GBCI Ventures can also leverage their own pool of talents to help startups with developing fintech applications in the Philippines. Their focus on investments that will become critical in the fintech sector, as well as smart cities, will become crucial, especially as the country begins to develop the human capital that will become critical in the coming fintech renaissance.

As the Philippine fintech scene grows, it will need a partner that brings not only much-needed capital but the know-how and drive to innovate. GBCI Ventures and other global players can be that partner that helps bring on a digital transformation.

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

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Image Credit: Eugenio Pastoral

Douglas Gan is a serial technopreneur, investor, venture builder and a thought leader in smart city solution using blockchain technology. He currently serves as the co-founder and CEO of GBCI Ventures, a US$100M Smart City Investment Fund as well as BCB Blockchain, a technology protocol focused on the development of smart cities.

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India considers censoring Netflix, Amazon Prime Video – Reuters

A senior government official in India said that the government is considering to censor contents on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Video, Reuters reported.

The move was encouraged by recent court cases and complaints filed to the police that alleged some content on these platforms to be “obscene” or insult religious sentiment.

Public content on television and film are moderated by certification bodies in India but the existing law does not allow censorship on online streaming platforms.

In January, concerns about this possible censorship had led Netflix and local competitor Hotstar to sign a self-regulation code. Amazon did not sign up this code as the company deemed the existing regulations to be “adequate.”

WeWork loses CMO Robin Daniels – Bloomberg

WeWork CMO Robin Daniels is leaving the company, becoming the fifth C-level executive to step down in the last few weeks, Bloomberg reported.

Citing two people familiar with the matter, the report also highlighted how WeWork is “likely” to run out of money as soon as “next month”, following its failed IPO attempt in September. The company is said to be considering a debt package led by JPMorgan Chase & Co. and a US$5 billion rescue plan from its largest shareholder SoftBank Group Corp.

It is also expected to lay off “thousands” of employees this month.

A WeWork spokesperson has declined to comment.

Also Read: Netflix is a marriage counseling session new parents never expect

Historic all-female spacewalk at ISS scheduled on Friday – The Jakarta Post

US astronauts Christina Koch and Jessica Meir are set to conduct the first ever all-female spacewalk on Friday to replace the power source on the International Space Station (ISS), The Jakarta Post reported.

The mission followed the one cancelled in March due to one astronaut’s ill-fitting suit which led to her replacement by a male colleague.

It will be broadcast in its entirety from 6:30 AM EDT (10:30 GMT) on National Aeronautics and Space Association (NASA) Television and website.

Mark Zuckerberg criticises TikTok’s censorship of protesters – SCMP

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday criticised rival social media giant TikTok for its censorship of political content, even in markets such as the US, South China Morning Post reported.

The CEO also stated that social media platforms such as Facebook’s Whatsapp were used by protesters and activists due to its encryption and privacy protection.

TikTok denied China censors its content by stressing that it is “not influenced by any foreign government.”

The post Today’s top tech news: India considers censoring Netflix, Amazon Prime Video appeared first on e27.

 

I get it-you’re excited about your startup and you can’t wait to get it off the ground. But there are a lot of mistakes you’re making that can land you into legal trouble. And guess what? The continuity of your business depends on whether or not you’re in compliance with the law.

If you are serious about building a startup that won’t fail, then you are in luck. In this article, I am going to walk you through the most common legal mistakes startups make so that you can spot them on time and avoid them.

Mistake #1: Thinking that working with a lawyer in the early stages of the business is unnecessary

Yes, so much is said about law and lawyers that you may feel a bit intimidated by their presence or maybe even apprehensive. But as a startup, one of the grave mistakes you can make is to not have a lawyer you can consult from the initial stages of your business.

So, hire a lawyer who will be there for you when you want to take any decision that will affect your business and ensure that your rights and interests are protected.

Mistake #2: Failing to register the name of the business

So you’ve got a pretty swanky name that you love the ring of. And maybe you’ve told your friends, family and future prospects the name of your business. Or maybe you went further to design and print business cards and even launched a website. Then the bomb drops:  you find out that an older business is using the name that you wanted to use.

Also Read:  Developing your brand voice on social media: 5 mistakes to avoid

It’s literally heartbreaking when you see someone else using your world-class business name. But the only way to ensure that such a thing doesn’t happen is to register your business name. Sadly, some people still see their business as a hobby, so they go the longest time without registering their business name.

When you initiate the process of registering the name of the business, one of the processes you’ll encounter is a name check. At this stage, you’ll be able to know if the name you want to use for your business exists or not. If it does, then you will have to use an alternate name for your business. However, if it doesn’t, then you will be allowed to proceed with the business name registration process.

Mistake #3: Overlooking the need to have a non-disclosure agreement

For the purpose of getting advice, engaging the services of professionals or hiring people, you will have to share some information about your startup. However, sharing this information could put your startup at risk of having its ideas stolen or leaked to people who aren’t meant to hear such information. Yes, these things happen in real life.

In such a case having a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) that the person you want to share business information with can sign will ensure that such information remains confidential. In the event the person breaks this agreement and shares such information, you will have the cause to sue them for breaking such agreement.

Mistake #4: Not doing anything to protect your intellectual property

If your startup has created a unique technology or product and you’ve done nothing to protect it from being stolen by someone else, then you’re making a fatal mistake. And you guessed it – the need to protect the startup’s intellectual property rights eludes some startups.

When it comes to protecting the intellectual property rights of your business these are some of the protective measures you should take:

1. Patents – protects your invention and prevents others from reproducing, using or selling the same invention.

2. Trademarks – protects the distinguishing symbol or name that your business is identified with. Good examples of trademarks are the words “Coca-Cola” or the tick symbol of Nike.

3. Copyright – protects the original creative work like videos, music, art or books. This right gives you exclusive rights to lawfully make copies of your work or sequels of it.

Mistake #5: Keeping yourself vulnerable without a standard contract

A lot of startups have fallen in situations where clients hire their services only for their clients to fail to pay on time or have a disagreement on your rates and how the project was meant to be like. More often than not, it can get pretty messy.

Also Read: 5 mistakes to avoid when building a business from scratch

With a standard legal contract, both you and your clients will be clear on the terms of engagement.

Such a contract will ensure everyone knows what their rights and obligations are to each other and cancel any doubt as to what is expected from the outcome of the contract. It’ll give you the needed protection when it comes to delivering your services to the client.

Time to turn a new leaf

This article might have put you on the spot in some areas, but I promise it’s for your own good. Now that you know that you should register your business and protect your intellectual property and your business interest and of course, the most important of them all: hire a lawyer. Its time to makes some changes.

Honesty hour: Are you guilty of making any of the legal mistakes we mentioned?

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

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

Image Credit: Helloquence

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