Day: January 26, 2020

Gredu, an Indonesia-based school management solutions provider, announced that it has raised an undisclosed Pre-Series A funding from Vertex Ventures.

The funding will be used to develop the Gredu application further so that its features are “fully completed and functional” in accordance with the existing education system in Indonesia.

Formed in 2016, Gredu focusses on facilitating teachers’ administrative work such as filling and processing student attendance lists, compiling the daily reports, compiling syllabus details, and managing their teaching schedules.

In its official statement, the company said it supports the mission revealed by Nadiem Makarim, the Minister of Education and Culture in Indonesia, during his speech on National Teacher’s Day 2019.

Makarim stated that even though teachers wanted to help students to catch up with their study, they would still have to spend most of their time doing heavy administrative tasks.

“The commitment in presenting a solution to digitise the school environment can create a more efficient, effective, transparent and measurable learning and teaching process,” said Rizky Anies, CEO of Gredu.

Also Read: Indonesian edtech startup HarukaEDU secures Series C funding led by American global trading firm SIG, expanding into B2B services

Gredu builds a centralised management system supported by separate apps for teachers, parents, and students. It also provides technical assistance before, during, and after the onboarding process.

The system can be adapted to the curriculum that is being used by the schools to help reduce the amount of paper usage significantly.

With its app, Gredu also invites parents to keep up with their children’s progress in real-time. Through recommendations given by teachers, parents are expected to be able to recognise and explore their children’s potential as well as to assist them in areas that they are lacking.

To date, Gredu said it has worked with more than 200 public and private schools in Indonesia.

Venture capital fund ​Vertex Ventures is the venture capital unit of Singapore’s Temasek that holds more than US$700 million in assets under management.

Also Read: Edtech requires certain distinct help that’s different from other verticals: StormBreaker’s Pat Thitipattakul

Joo Hock Chua, Managing Partner at Vertex for Southeast Asia and India, said that the fund is very optimistic about the edutech space in Indonesia.

“We see that the education industry, along with many other sectors in Indonesia, is undergoing rapid transformation and digitisation. We believe that Gredu, with its holistic approach to serving the school’s stakeholders and value chain, is in a great position to capitalise on this change as well as help improve the education quality in Indonesia,” Chua said.

The year 2019 was an exciting year for the Indonesian edutech sector as several Indonesian startups announced high-profile funding rounds.

Ruangguru announced a US$150 million Series C funding round led by growth equity company Global Atlantic and venture capital firm GGV Capital in December. The startup’s co-founder Adamas Belva Devara Syah also made headlines with his appointment as a presidential special staff by President Joko Widodo.

HarukaEdu raises its Series C funding round in November, which was meant to support its expansion to B2B services.

Zenius also announced their funding round in October and had launched a free-to-access content offering since.

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As a startup lawyer, I tend to see when things go wrong for companies and their founders more often than most people. To save you having to untangle easily avoidable issues, here’s a list of the most common pitfalls for startup founders.

The good news is that these issues are easy to avoid with a bit of planning.

Not giving love to your cap table

Your cap table needs to be accurate and mirror the formal share register. We have seen fundraising transactions postponed or even cancelled where founders have not been able to clearly explain their cap table to investors.

Warning signs that you might have a cap table issue looming:

• Inaccurate cap tables not showing convertible instruments at all, or incorrectly.
• If you’ve promised options or shares to people but not clearly documented these arrangements. For example, indicating to employees that they might get a certain percentage of the company in shares or options could end up being legally binding and yet confusing – a percentage of what and when??

How to avoid this pitfall? Keep track of both your cap table and your share register, whether using specific software or a simple excel spreadsheet. Only allocate options under a formal share scheme approved by the board.

Bonus tip: ESOPs and cap tables.

A common question we get from founders is, “how does my ESOP appear on my share register and/or my cap table?”

The answer is that options are not recorded on a company’s share register or on its public filings. However, cap tables typically include the ESOP allocation together with any other convertible instruments such as convertible notes or warrants. This means that your current share register might differ from your fully diluted holding (i.e. after accounting for your ESOP).

Not having vesting arrangements in place

It is a misconception that founder vesting is something that only investors like to see. Founder vesting agreements are key from the outset: Covering founders and also any advisors who are offered shares. Why? They protect your startup if founders or advisors move on quickly, by enabling the company to claw-back unvested shares.

Also Read: 8 common legal mistakes made by entrepreneurs

Having a large percentage of a company’s equity held by people who are no longer contributing is not efficient – those shares could be used to incentivise others in the business, plus new hires.

What to do: Get vesting agreements in place for founders and advisors. For founders, this should cover some, but most likely not all, of their shares.

If shares are to be issued to advisors upfront for future services, the company needs a mechanism to buy back some or all of those shares, not just if the advisor leaves, but also if they don’t deliver what was expected.

Signing the term sheet without negotiation

When doing a capital raise, most of the tricky legal and commercial issues are set out in the term sheet. Whilst term sheets are usually legally non-binding it is important to negotiate them with the help of a lawyer before signing.  It is difficult to get investors to go back on what was already agreed upon.

What to do: Engage a lawyer at the term sheet stage. An experienced startup and VC lawyer can review and provide comments on a term sheet in under a couple of hours.

This is a good investment if, as in most cases, it helps you secure more balanced documents and deal terms.

Bonus tip: Short form term sheets

Be wary of short-form term sheets that appear to leave all the key issues to the long-form transaction documents. Whilst you’ll probably sign this kind of term sheet quickly – the likelihood is you are simply delaying the real discussions until later.

If there are investor-friendly deal terms you’ll want to know early on in the process so you don’t waste time, and then not proceed with the deal.  For extra tips, watch this video guide on negotiating a series A term sheet.

Underestimating the time taken to fundraise

Documents are becoming standardised and financing rounds closing more quickly. That said, the process always takes longer than founders think. Series A rounds can take three months from signing the term sheet, especially where there are lots of moving parts (e.g. if you have a lot of investors to deal with or several existing shareholders).

Founders sometimes get ‘deal weary’ at the end of a long process and concede material points just to get it over the line. Therefore, have realistic expectations on the timeframe from the outset and, if necessary, start the fundraising process sooner if cash flow is tight.

How you can minimise the fundraising timeframe:

• Start early.
• Get organised. Set up and maintain an electronic due diligence folder (sometimes called a ‘data room’) before you’ve started the fundraising process.  This should contain all your indexed company documents, records, and signed agreements.
• Don’t leave the disclosure process until the last minute on a fundraising transaction – disclosure is critical to protect the company and founders against claims by investors.
• Use a complete checklist to streamline the closing process.

Making everything too complex

Speed and simplicity often carry the day. Startups can go wrong when they make things complex, especially when it comes to fundraising.

Warning signs: If the convertible note you are negotiating is now 20 pages or more, you’ve probably defeated the purpose of using a note in the first place.

If you are raising very small funding round but the investment is only drawn down in tranches and/or involves KPIs, you might well be speaking to the wrong investors.

How you can avoid this:

• Take the easy route where you can. Use standardised terms for convertible notes like the KISS but check with your lawyer on the terms – they can point out quickly the key points to negotiate (if any).

• Work with good series A templates such as the Singapore VIMA model documents and don’t try to reinvent the wheel.

• Raise a little less money if you can do so much more quickly on simpler terms.

Agreeing to harsh terms with early investors because you need the cash

Conceding material issues in early seed rounds can set a precedent in future fundraisings. It’s not the type of thing that you can ‘fix’ down the road.

For example, if your first round of investors ends up with a twice participating liquidation preference (which would not be considered to be market standard), your future investors are likely to ask for the same, or worse. This becomes more material as the funding rounds “stack” on top of each other of course.

Also Read: The biggest legal traps startups fall into

The same applies to control rights. For example, requiring all investors to approve certain board matters (rather than a majority) is inefficient and may encourage future investors to ask for the same (ending up in approval gridlock).

How you can avoid this? Think about the next round when you are negotiating the current one. Stick to market standards and spend time negotiating the key economic and control rights rather than issues that make little difference to your end goals.

Letting your record-keeping lapse

Bad record-keeping will cost you time, money and aggravation down the line and make you look disorganised when talking to investors.

Depending on where your startup is incorporated, you will have certain statutory and filing requirements.  In some countries (such as Singapore), you may have a company secretary who helps you with this.

Startups move quickly. One minute your company has a few ordinary shares held by a couple of founders, and before you know it there are investors, several classes of preference shares, convertible notes, and an ESOP.

What you can do to make it easier:

• Work with a company secretarial firm that understands the dynamic startup environment so that the paperwork approving transactions and matters can be prepared quickly. Some company secretaries now offer to keep all necessary files on an online platform for easy house-keeping.

• Ensure all signed documents are stored in electronic files and updated regularly. This will speed up the process when distributing information to investors.

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Ideas take birth every moment, but not each one succeeds.

There are many reasons why this could happen. Sometimes it is due to lack of resources; sometimes it is due to inadequate research. Planning and implementation are also factors that play an important role.

In today’s article, I’m listing five important questions that you must ask yourself before getting your tech startup idea out in the market.

How are you going to fund your startup?

The first step to bring your tech startup idea to life is to arrange funds. Developing an app or website would require money and not every investor you approach will let you use his or her money right away. He or she will want to see a prototype.

And even if you’re able to convince an angel investor, it will take months to close the deal. So, have other sources. Decide if you want to use your savings, take help from friends or family, or win money through app contests.

So, before you plan to build your million-dollar idea, outline how you will arrange the funds for your tech startup.

Will you focus more on the mobile app or the website?

The next important question is whether you need an app or a website to implement the idea. If the user needs to log into the service frequently (e.g. social media), you’ll need an app. But if it includes plenty of calculations and analytics (e.g. HRMS) to help the users, go for a website.

Also Read: What different types of investors are there for funding your startup?

Then, consider compatibility, maintenance, and upgradability. When you upgrade your app, users will have to download it again to use the features. That’s not the case with websites. But through an app, your service is easy to access.

So, get into the details of your idea and research your target market to decide whether you’ll develop a mobile app or a website.

How will you monetise your idea?

Once you have decided on the platform – website or app – chalk out your revenue strategy.

You can go for the freemium model where you provide some services for free while charging for the others. It works for products such as cloud storage or music streaming apps.

You can also opt for the subscription-based revenue model, as in CRMS or wealth management software.

And if your idea is to build a marketplace to connect customers and businesses, you can earn through commissions on transactions. You can even opt to play ads and earn through them.

Depending on your tech startup idea, research your competitors, interview your target users and find all the potential ways to monetise.

How will you attract the top talent?

Implementing your tech idea will need talented professionals too. But, a team of programmers, web developers, and UI designers won’t be easily attracted to something that doesn’t even exist. You will have to make efforts to hire top talents who understand your vision and sync with your idea.

You can scour freelancing sites or take help from your network. And then, list out the various ways you can use to attract those potential talents. You can offer them the opportunity to work remotely, or the freedom to experiment with their creativity.

Remember, it’s not always about money. So, work on all the possibilities.

How will you stand out from the crowd?

Even if you all the resources, this won’t ensure success. You have to be different. When we started InVideo, an online video editor tool, things were not easy for us as the market is already crowded with many online video editing tools. However, our easy-to-use, simple, interface won the battle for us.

So, find spots where your competitors lack. Your offer can either be a missing feature, a few tweaks for a smoother experience or a pricing model different from your competitors.

Also Read: How to finally get your startup idea off the ground in 2020

You can even target a specific customer segment with features that suit them. The possibilities can be endless; you need to observe.

Find what makes you unique in the crowd, before you decide on a grand launch.

Yes, putting a tech startup idea on-air is easy. But making it a successful venture is a path full of twists. It will take dedication, hard work and even some sleepless nights. But even before that, you should have got a clear vision for the future of your startup.

These five questions are vital to helping you decide if your tech startup idea is feasible enough to put to practice.

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Millennials of today wish to find their dream jobs once they graduate from college. And they are extremely sensitive about the roles and responsibilities that are put on their shoulders once they are hired.

Lending a job in market-leading companies is an achievement in itself.

Still, startups hold their fort that lets their interns learn many things and gives benefits that no leading business can. But is this a good decision? Let’s find out.

Asia is home to continuous progress that has taken the exponential leap from past years. Southeast Asian startups have raised US$8.58 billion in the first few months of 2019, which is very much near to what US startups have raised.

The opportunities for exponential business growth are opened, and this is the best time to start your first job or take an internship at one of these young startups.

Not only their working environment, but their work approach leads their employees to become the next great leader of the market and brings the best out of them. If you wish to shape your career the right way and dream of becoming the next great entrepreneur, startups of Southeast Asia can teach you many things. 

And this earned knowledge becomes a keystone of paving your road to a successful career.

Internships at Southeast Asian startups: Benefits earned

Startups of all regions are not the same. The concept behind a startup heavily depends upon the customer requirements and possible market transformations.

As Southeast Asia is demonstrating a solid growth in the areas of healthcare, technology, and fintech, the chances of succeeding with the best approaches are bright. And it also provides you with the benefits as your company takes the best efforts to bring out your best.

Startups of all regions are not the same. The concept behind a startup heavily depends upon the customer requirements and possible market transformations.

As Southeast Asia is demonstrating a solid growth in the areas of healthcare, technology, and fintech, the chances of succeeding with the best approaches are bright. And it also provides you with the benefits as your company takes the best efforts to bring out your best.

Friendly work culture

Startups heavily differ in terms of work culture and employee lifestyle when compared to other typical corporate environments. You get to make the best out of your free time; social gatherings, a lot of fun activities to do, and more- are the common ways startups use to keep their employees engaged.

Also Read: Why you should never intern at a startup (especially e27)

You get to work in a culture that is not at all praising based but is real and dynamic at the same time. The credit for achieving success in a task never gets snatched away from you. Because your small team strength helps you get identified easily, and you get credits in your sack.

Moreover, this fun collaboration with your co-workers develops relations with them and makes your regular work life fun and enjoyable. They ensure their employees stay fresh and efficient throughout time and become productive than ever. 

You can never go wrong with a bit of music, good food, and a friendly environment- workers love to participate! Hence, the first benefit you earn is coworker support.

Learn to socialise

If you are an introvert, this might come as a blast for you. But with time, you get habituated to this routine and start enjoying. You learn to make and keep relations with not only coworkers but with any person sitting beside you- isn’t that a crucial skill of an entrepreneur?

Well, we are just getting started.

For example, a Malaysian startup Jewel Paymentech gives their employees a friendly work environment by arranging monthly movie nights, holiday rewards, gym, and swimming pool, and many more.

The point is, they keep engaging their employees in activities to lead a healthy and happy life. And according to SWIFT, this startup is one of the promising fintech companies in Asia.

Shape your career the right way

The work culture of your company is an important aspect that affects your career. A friendly work culture lets you learn many skills from different persons working with you. As an intern, this positive work environment helps you find what you are best at and shape your career in the best way possible.

The skills you learn from your work makes all the difference.

For example, Shopback.sg is a Southeast Asian startup that gives its employees enough room to learn and grow from experienced E-commerce veterans. Their team onboard keeps learning from the experienced veterans to manage their growth with the best approaches.

Exposure and growth

A typical corporate company is highly structured, where each employee has to report to their superior. The chances of getting enough exposure are very low if you are a slow learner. But startups are the best bet for you. They give their employees equal attention and a chance to grow at the best pace.  

Knowledge on latest techs

As Southeast Asian startups expertise in the field of latest Fintech, the newest technology concepts get implemented. The concepts of AI (Artificial Intelligence), Blockchain, cybersecurity, and more- are the fundamental technologies these startups expertise in.

Including the website security measures like generating SSL certificates, preventing hacks, securing online payments, and more are their work areas.

This helps you earn knowledge on the practical implementations of technology- preparing you for the future where technology rules the world. The example of a Korean Beauty product seller, a promising e-commerce giant of the future, Althea fits here. 

This e-commerce websites owners have a flat structure- where every employee is handed over responsibilities equally. It helps learn the aspects that the company assigns you and expertise in the same field.

Productivity measures

Startups are best at measuring employee productivity. As every employee holds significance and contributes to the success of the company, they strive to maintain work productivity. The perks of friendly work culture include increased work productivity. As the responsibility to manage and maintain your work front is on you, you can learn to plan out your work strategy and, ultimately, improve productivity.

Think creatively

Your surrounding environment affects your thinking. Alike corporate hierarchy, startups tend to integrate each and every employee in every process. The innovators or the founders of the startup can teach you many things from their experiences. But the primary benefit you earn is, you get to experience their innovative thinking.

Also Read: 11 tips for managing the digital workforce of your startup

Thinking creative and innovating new solutions to solve common problems is what startups are good at, and if you work at a startup, you get to experience their creativity. 

You can find your lost path to being a creative person too. For example, the innovation of online ride-hailing has led startups to use a uber clone app solution to provide the same features and services, but with an innovative mindset that they implement through their ride-hailing solution.

Opportunities for a bright future

An added advantage of working at a startup is: you get to try on different hats. They assign you various tasks to perform that can help you learn many things that you would never think of learning. 

Therefore, startups encourage you to become a multi-tasker rather than becoming a role-specific employee. It helps you to make your resume bigger and better; after all, all these skills should be mentioned in there!

The startups located in Southeast Asia are highly technology-dependent. Their work culture, employee mindset, corporate profiles, working environment, and more makes them the best choice of freshers.

If you ever get a chance to load in their boat, never let it get away as the benefits offered by the company and the skillsets you can develop are beyond comparison.

The time for starting your internships in any company is getting near. It becomes crucial to identify the field where you want to work. But keep in mind the benefits and possible opportunities a company can offer you. 

Instead of running behind the money factor, it is essential to develop the skills that can help you develop excellent skills for your future betterment.

Also, if your dream is to become a successful entrepreneur in the future, Southeast Asian startups have got the power to make you shine and develop entrepreneurial skills while working with their innovative minds and truthful approaches.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

The post Why working at a startup is a better way to launch your career appeared first on e27.

One of the areas in the tech industry which has been gaining more and more attention over the years is edutech.

At the 5th Asia-Pacific Meeting on Education 2030 (APMED2030) meeting, Shigeru Aoyagi, director of UNESCO Bangkok, stressed the correlation between education and poverty eradication.

“Of all factors considered, low literacy skills are most strongly associated with poverty, socioeconomic disparity, and particularly the gap between rich and poor,” he said. “Reducing poverty requires that countries invest in equipping their populations with functional skills in reading, writing, and numeracy.”

As bringing equal access to education becomes of primary importance to governments, more and more founders are realising the ways in which technology can be used to reach a wider network of people.

To realise this common goal, there have been many investments poured into startups working in the sectors. The Southeast Asian (SEA) region has recently seen high-profile funding rounds raised by the likes of Ruangguru, HarukaEdu, Zenius, Edukasyon, and Gredu.

In an exclusive interview with e27, Nick Hutton, Regional Director Asia at e-learning platform D2L, talks about the challenges faced in promoting e-learning adoption in this region –and why edutech in SEA still has a long way to go….. compared to other countries.

A common misconception

Before we delve deeper into the challenges, Hutton believes that it is important to clarify the common misconception about edutech.

“There is a common misconception about edutech in Southeast Asia. It is believed that e-learning is fully online. But in reality, it happens in three forms: face-to-face environment, blended learning, and complete online learning,” he says.

Also Read: Undeterred by rejections and insults, this duo has built a cool edtech startup and got funding, too

He further explains that the first way edutech can enhance learning is through a face-to-face setting, where software is used to enhance learning in institutions. The second way is through blended learning where a certain amount of time is spent in class and online courses. The last way is through complete online learning.

“Asia and SEA are far behind in the use of technology in assisting learning,” he continues ” North America has taken the lead, UK is pretty ahead, Australia and New Zealand to an extent. Hong Kong and Singapore have also largely incorporated it,”.

But Hutton is of the opinion that SEA and Asia are still largely untapped markets when it comes to incorporating e-learning into mainstream institutions. 

For example, an institution in Indonesia with 40,000 students will use technology in content –but it is still not seen as a campus-wide initiative.

As the regional director of D2L, which comes from the phrase “desire to learn”, he believes that what sets D2L apart from the rest of the edutech startups, is that the platform allows learning in all three forms.

Instructing the instructor

Keeping up with edutech trends is essentially important as technology radically aims to change everything we do, from banking, socialising and purchasing. That also means, convincing teachers to move away from orthodox modes of learning to more unconventional ways.

It is not difficult to introduce Millennials or the younger Gen-Zs to e-learning. In fact, students expect to learn in a “Facebook-style” manner, he jokes. But the main problem in this region are the teachers, he stresses.

Also Read: Businesses are learning to code without coding

“They see it as ‘replacing’ rather than enhancing. It is difficult to convince them to change when they have been teaching in one particular mode for 20 years,” he underlines. “And that is a difficult conversation to have.”

A changing landscape

When asked about how the government fares in encouraging edutech adoption, he does not hold back. “Governments are still very much in the dark ages,” he says.

According to him, governments find it very difficult to recognise “accredited courses that lead to a degree in a completely online environment.”

However, that being said times are radically shifting and ten years ago it was far more important to get a degree from an accredited institution because it had a lot more kudos associated to it and also because of organisations in the past looked for somebody with an undergraduate degree of a certain level in a certain field.

He comes to the conclusion that despite all the hurdles, there is a new trend of “lifelong learning” evolving. Working professionals are starting to become more interested to have more skills to compete in the marketplace.

And employees are changing the way they are accepting these online certificates. Degrees do not have to be from institutions and the future of work and learning is driving that.

The problem for higher education arises because now, and in the future potentially there will be other deliverers of education around who are starting to deliver great education in a lifelong learning mode.

Noticing the shift in the learning landscape which poses a certain amount of threat to these institutions, they are now aiming to use technology much more smartly.

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Image Credit:  Susan Yin

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