Day: January 30, 2020

Sea Limited, a global consumer internet company, today announced that its digital entertainment arm Garena has acquired Phoenix Labs, an independent game development company and the studio behind the cross-platform co-op action role-playing game, Dauntless.

The transaction is already complete.

Post-acquisition, the existing management team at Phoenix Labs will continue to run the studio.

In addition to complementing Garena’s in-house content creation capabilities, the partnership allows Phoenix Labs to tap into the company’s global network in mobile games and community building.

The two companies will work together to continue adding new features to Dauntless and explore new growth opportunities in markets such as Asia and Latin America and on mobile. Together, they will also explore new opportunities in global markets and on mobile.

The transaction was closed.

Jesse Houston, CEO and Co-founder of Phoenix Labs, said: “With this next step, we’re able to ensure that we can provide the best possible experience for Dauntless players around the world.”

Also Read: How Garena became extremely important for Tencent’s future

Forrest Li, Founder and Group CEO of Sea, said, “Over the last few years, we have watched Phoenix Labs mature into one of the best development teams in the business and launch a hugely exciting title in Dauntless. We also know that they share our mission of making great games, creating the best teams, and putting players first. Our skill sets are highly complementary, and we see many exciting opportunities ahead that our teams can explore together.”

Founded in Vancouver in 2014, Phoenix Labs now has a team of more than 100 developers across its offices in Vancouver, Canada, San Francisco, and Seattle, Washington. Dauntless was launched in 2019.

Headquartered in Singapore, Garena is a global games developer and publisher that had more than 320 million quarterly active users in the third quarter of 2019. Its self-developed title, Free Fire, is a popular mobile game.

Garena was one of Phoenix Labs’s earliest investors and has supported the growth of the company and the development of Dauntless over the last several years.

Also Read: Tencent grants Sea’s Garena first access to its games titles with a publishing contract

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Picture Credit: Sea Group

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With an ambition to become the Alibaba of the Philippines, e-commerce enabler Great Deals announced early this week a US$12 million financing round from Navegar, the largest private equity investor in the country.

It is rare for a company in the Philippines to raise such a massive sum in the very first round of funding, but for CEO Steve Sy, it is a well-deserved feat. He founded Great Deals in 2014 after spending many years as an entrepreneur in the retail and e-commerce sectors. He identified a glaring need to enable entrepreneurs like himself to succeed in the internet economy.

Also Read: 5 Filipino startups are giving Lazada, Shopee a run for their money, defying expectation

In this conversation with e27, he talks about the country’s e-commerce industry and Great Deal’s roadmap.

Edited excerpts:

You have worked in the retail and e-commerce industry before starting Great Deals. How has the industry grown over the last few years?

I entered this industry in 2012 during its infancy stage when the penetration was shallow, and the chance of even small merchants dominating the online retail world was very high. I have seen e-commerce’s hyper-growth in the last few years.

Now, merchants need to find a strategic partner to help them succeed. As a ripple effect, our company has been growing a hundred per cent year on year.

Why did you go for a single investor for this funding? What is the synergy with Navegar? How much stake did you dilute this time?

Rather than an investor, we wanted a strategic partner that would help us grow in the right way. I believe that with Navegar’s support, our company will propel to better heights. I diluted only minimum stake.

You aim to become the Alibaba of the Philippines. In what sense — as an enabler or a marketplace? Do you have B2C e-commerce arm?

We are having what we call the network externality effect. Aside from Great Deals, we are also pioneering companies that will soon be a vital part of the digital economy.

Also Read: How top e-commerce platforms are fuelling Philippines’ online economy

We booted a live-streaming service company, a farm-to-kitchen marketplace business, and we also have an SME for drop-shipping in the country. Each of these initiatives is interrelated in the e-commerce industry.

Our ultimate goal would be to contribute to the development of the ecosystem.

E-commerce is still just 2 per cent of the the country’s GDP. What is holding back the growth of this industry?

I believe that our poor internet infrastructure is holding back its growth. Despite this, a recent study shows that we Filipinos spend the most time on the internet.

The e-commerce sector in the country has everything in place for massive growth. What is still lacking? Is there still a trust deficit between e-commerce and consumers?

We lack two things: better internet infrastructure and low logistics cost. Due to regulations, unemployment and other factors, the Philippines has the highest logistics cost, and we are evaluated as the worst performer, not just in ASEAN but also globally.

In a country like the Philippines, poor traffic conditions often affect the timely delivery of products. How do you manage to address this challenge? What is your strategy?

Our plan is to set up several fulfilment centres across the country. The warehouses would be closer to the major cities, and consequently, the deliveries would be faster.

Do you also partner with offline firms to help them go online and tap into the e-commerce opportunity in the Philippines?

That’s what we do. We work together with offline business or firms with a weak online presence to help them tap into the e-commerce space.

Some of your clients, like Zilingo, have a foreign presence. Do you handle their overseas market requirements as well? How does it work?

We’re only operating nationwide, but we have been having talks regarding this possibility. We are not closing our doors.

What are the top three items consumers prefer to buy online?

Most probably, they are diapers, milk and electronics.

What are the unique characteristics of the Philippines’s e-commerce consumers? What do they expect from an e-commerce platform?

I can share three characteristics of a Filipino consumer. First is our preferment for cash-on-delivery payment method. People feel safer and find comfort in the thought that they would receive their package because it is unpaid.

Also Read: Great Deals raises US$12M from Navegar to be the Alibaba of Philippines

Second is the peak purchase time. Most buyers place their orders during their lunch period, which is between 12 pm and 2 pm.

Lastly, shoppers like reverse showrooming. It is when people visit brick-and-mortar stores to browse items but purchases online where they have access to discounts and free shipping. Those are the typical consumer behaviour right now.

The post ‘Poor internet, high logistics costs hinder Philippines’s e-commerce growth’: Steve Sy of Great Deals appeared first on e27.

From Baidu to Meituan, Chinese tech firms to donate millions to support the fight against coronavirus [South China Morning Post]

The recent outbreak of the mutated coronavirus in Wuhan, China has prompted many Chinese tech giants to pledge to donate the cause for fighting the virus.

Among the big guns are Qihoo 360, which pledged to donate US$2.2 million in medical resources while AI firm iFlyTek said it donated US$1.4 million and US$72,000 worth of medical supplies, as reported by South China Morning Post.

Search firm Baidu and food-delivery platform Meituan also have pledged millions of yuan towards medical research, supplies, and support for frontline health care workers in the battle against the coronavirus epidemic.

Baidu, specifically, said that it had established a US$43 million epidemic and public health security fund to “support efforts including screening and research and development (R&D) for cures of diseases such as the new coronavirus, as well as for longer-term efforts such as public health and safety information dissemination”.

Meituan also set up a separate US$29 million fund dedicated to caring for the nation’s medical staff. Initially, it will focus on assisting medical staff in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, with funds going toward medical resources, humanitarian help, and ensuring that medical staff is supported in their daily lives.

Alibaba Health, Alibaba’s health care arm, has made its telemedicine services available to residents of Hubei, the area most affected by the plague, encouraging patients who have minor illnesses to consult online doctors for free as hospitals in the area feel the strain.

Also Read: Together with Ping An, GrabHealth starts to show its teeth in Indonesia

Online healthcare Pingan Good Doctor also set up an antivirus command centre with access to free online consultations for all users in China.

After announcing a lockdown for a country-wide quarantine, battles to contain the spread of the virus continue, which has so far caused some 80 deaths with 2,800 confirmed cases in the country.

UK welcomes Huawei to build 5G network’s parts despite US security concerns [Wall Street Journal]

Chinese telecom company Huawei is given permission to build noncritical parts of the network in the UK, ignoring Trump’s call to boycott the telecom-equipment vendor stressing on security matters, as reported by Wall Street Journal.

The government has said that Huawei would be given permission to build noncritical parts of the country’s 5G network because Britain’s National Security Council concluded that the security risks the Chinese company presented could be managed.

The security matters in question are that the equipment provided by Huawei could be used by the Chinese state to spy on countries or incapacitate key infrastructure. Huawei denied the rumours.

“Nothing in this review affects this country’s ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secure networks, both within the U.K., and with our partners,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

Many countries are expected to make a decision whether or not they will employ Huawei for its 5G network building, including Germany and Canada.

The UK’s way to contain every possible scenario with Huawei is by banning the company’s equipment from centralised parts of the 5G infrastructure that route data across the network, as well as sensitive locations such as near military and nuclear installations. Huawei will only be allowed to provide more peripheral equipment—such as base stations and antennae that connect the core to consumers’ devices—that is viewed as less of a security risk.

Singapore’s Temasek invests in French DIY home improvement startup ManoMano [SWF Institute]

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings announces that it has led a US$138 million Series E funding round in ManoMano, an e-commerce startup in France aimed at DIY (Do-it-yourself) home improvement and gardening products.

Also Read: The top Chinese smartphone brand, Huawei, just launched a mobile payment service

Other investors in the round are General Atlantic, Eurazeo, Piton Capital, Bpifrance, and Kismet Holdings.

Formed in 2013 by Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson, ManoMano has presences in markets other than France, such as in Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. ManoMano raised US$121 million on April 1, 2019. ManoMano Fulfillment is the company’s logistics platform based in Gretz, which was recently launched in November 2018.

Malaysian BigPay adds 3 new international remittance service corridors [Press Release]

BigPay, ASEAN-focussed fintech startup based in Malaysia announces that it has added three new corridors to its international remittance service: India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The company explained the decision to have access to the three countries is because these three countries have the highest number of foreign workers in Malaysia right after Indonesia, and the amount for some of the highest numbers of outbound remittances in the country.

BigPay’s mission is to democratise financial services across the region by offering a low-cost and accessible way of transferring money to and from these countries is a cornerstone of BigPay and its financial inclusion strategy.

Also Read: Temasek teams up with Swiss firm to launch a US$50M logistics fund in Singapore

BigPay launched its international remittance services in September 2019, enabling users to send money directly from Malaysia to bank accounts in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with fixed fees per corridor and competitive exchange rates.

The company said it is currently working on cash pickups in selected markets.

Singapore-based startup SynOption launches FX options trading venue [Press Release]

Singapore-based startup SynOption Pte. Ltd. launched its platform for electronic trading of FX Options this week. An institutional platform, it allows investors to execute FX Options trades by requesting quotes from multiple banks on a centralised venue.

SynOption claimed to be the first firm approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to establish and operate an organised market for a period of 9 months under the Sandbox express framework. The firm has also been awarded a grant by MAS Financial Sector Development Fund as a designated special project.

“SynOption attempts to build a fair platform for trade execution for all participants in the niche FX Options market. We provide an efficient workflow to clients, by getting involved in their entire investment process from idea to implementation while protecting liquidity for banks in an illiquid space,” said SynOption’s founder, Anchal Jain.

SynOption has started onboarding Institutional clients based in Singapore and has gained good traction. The platform has signed up top-tiered banks up as liquidity providers and is rapidly looking to expand its participant base in the next few months.
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Photo by CDC on Unsplash

The post Today’s top tech news: Multiple Chinese tech firms rallies to donate the fight against coronavirus appeared first on e27.

It’s no secret: Asians love food, and so when we think about opening our first business, many of us gravitate to it. We may dream of opening our own restaurant, eatery, or cafeteria … depending on our capital. But there is so much more to food than just cooking and serving meals.

The last decade has seen the emergence of foodtech. Most of us are familiar with foodtech services such as GrabFood, FoodPanda, and Lalafood, but the space is much larger than those on-demand food delivery services.

Foodtech encompasses any attempt to innovate a product or service along the food value chain, any of which would be a promising area for Asian founders to create a business around.

Perhaps the easiest way to understand the opportunity in foodtech is to look at the biggest players in the space and see what it is they exactly do.

The prospects are so huge and exciting that the popular online social and copy trading platform eToro recently launched a foodtech portfolio comprised of companies across the space. eToro’s idea, of course, is for ordinary folk to have a piece of the action and be able to invest in what are otherwise large global stocks.

One example from the portfolio is Beyond Meat, which creates meat substitutes that still taste like meat. The company thus targets the unique demographic of health-conscious people around the world who have gone vegetarian for some reason – whether it be for their health, morality, or environment – but still occasionally crave the taste of a good slab of beef. 

Also Read: India-based foodtech startup HungerBox raises US$12M to expand to Southeast Asia

Beyond Meat is an example of innovating the very foods we consume. While some may assume that such products require prohibitively expensive research and development, this is not always the case.

Sometimes it’s just about turning consumers toward a product that is already there, as in the case of some Asian brands that extol the virtues of goat’s milk.

Foodtech for food security

Creating demand for alternative foodstuffs that are as healthy as the incumbent but are nowhere near as popular will aid with food security, one of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations for 2030. As the world population soars past current highs, it becomes even more imperative for foodtech companies to ignite demand (and our appetites) for more sustainable, alternative foodstuffs. If there’s not enough social incentive, there is clearly business value (Beyond Meat has more than quadrupled its stock value in three short months after its initial public offering this past May).

Another telling example from the eToro foodtech portfolio is Danone, a multinational food company that has also been actively investing into foodtech disruptors. The inclusion of Danone is reflective of two major trends in foodtech: The first is the influx of venture capital into the space, which according to a recent article from TechCrunch, made for 459 unique investments in 2017, a serious jump from the 223 in 2015.

The writing’s on the wall: Asian founders who have an idea in the foodtech space will have a serious chance of raising serious venture capital to turn that dream into a reality.

The second trend that the inclusion of Danone points to is the very nature of most foodtech businesses. In most cases, these are not value-add companies, but disrupt the very nature of how restaurants and other food businesses operate.

Take the example of Travis Kalanick, who recently raised US$400 million for his first startup after Uber, known as CloudKitchens. This company creates what it calls “smart kitchens for delivery-only restaurants.” These, in effect, allow food operators to expand rapidly and project themselves into what may have once been prohibitively remote locations. 

Also Read: [Exclusive] Foodtech startup Ai Palette gets US$1M seed funding from Decacorn Capital, others

Since the cost is significantly lower than setting up a consumer-facing restaurant with all its attendant expenses (waitstaff salary, design and decorations, utensils, and so on), food operators can open up more locations at a fraction of the cost. Just as “cloud-based” software allowed companies to save enormously in comparison to on-premise software, “cloud kitchens” will enable food operators to earn more from their menus.

Scaling across a spectrum of possibilities

The foodtech trend is not limited to cloud kitchens. Every stage of the value chain is now being upended, from how food is cooked (some kitchens employ robo-cooks), ordered (some employ touchscreens and other server-less options), sold (many are going with fintech and other cashless solutions), and even marketed – there are an increasing number of digital storefronts that allow food operators to increase their food traffic, such as through user-generated reviews, time- or demand-based discounts, digitized menus, or other high value content.

Clearly, there are opportunities across the entire spectrum of foodtech for Asian founders to create a business that addresses a pressing need.

The fact that these foodtech companies are publicly listed shows the scale available in the space. Not even the largest tech companies have as wide and open accessibility for their consumers and customers. To access Facebook, for example, you need an internet connection, or to use Airbnb, you need a credit card. No such limitation exists in the foodtech industry, which is predicated on finding new ways to serve everyone and more, including the people yet-to-be-born but will further strain our food security over the coming decades. In this view, foodtech is not only a business opportunity, but one for social impact: Your business can reach an unprecedented scale, all while keeping people satiated, fed, and nourished.

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Image credits: Lisheng Chang on Unsplash

The post Bringing innovation to the table: Why foodtech is the next frontier in Southeast Asia appeared first on e27.

 

San Francisco-based dating app, The League, aimed at “power couples”, is set for an official launch in Singapore on February 2.

The new dating app focuses to target Singapore’s growing tech and financial markets which attracts a community of “overachievers”, making it the perfect selection, according to the company statement.

Additionally, the island state has recently ranked as third in the world in 2020 Bloomberg’s Innovation Index and first in the world on the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Competitiveness Report showing that Singapore has a great market for working professionals.

Prior to this launch, The League has already been available in 59 cities in the US.

Founded in 2014, the seed-stage startup was created to connect high-achieving individuals with one another, using a selective admissions-based model.

The app also included a League Live feature which will go live in Singapore on February 2. The way this works is that users sign into the feature, and if selected by The League community, participate in three dates on Sundays at 9PM local time with candidates who fit their preferences.

Also Read: An elitist dating app is stoking controversy in Singapore, but is the vitriol warranted?

Both users are also shown an optional ice-breaker question and given two minutes to get a sense of the other person via video. During the conversation, if they “Heart” each other, a match is formed.

The app has also released statistics based on their beta version in Singapore, which boasted a 14 per cent acceptance rate. Out of these, the top professions were founders or co-founders, and manager or director, consultant, marketing executive and project manager subsequently.

Also Read: Why Tinder beats Bumble and the world is still not ready for a feminist dating app

This method of selection is different from the popular “simple swipe only” method used by other dating apps. However, CEO of The League, Amanda Bradford, believes that the strong rollout process is because the app wants to encourage relationships and not one-night-stands.

“We hit a really strong need in the market that wasn’t being met,” said Bradford to TechCrunch. “Literally dating apps launch every day in the app store, but we hit a need for young professionals that want to meet each other and don’t want the one-night-stand brand associated with their actions.”

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Image Credit:  Matt Mariannelli

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