Month: January 2020

EMQ, a global financial settlement network, has rolled out a new feature to enable customers from around the world to make cross-border money transfers into China using its real-time pay-out network.

Hong Kong-headquartered EMQ currently covers 126 banks in China and will be expanding to over 150 banks in the coming months.

“China is a significant market in our global growth strategy as it is the world’s second-largest recipient of remittances with US$67 billion in currency flow into the country in 2018, according to the World Bank,” said Max Liu, Co-founder and CEO of EMQ.

Also Read: Filipino Senator seeks to declare the Singaporean founder of Angkas persona non grata

“Since we launched our China gateway two years ago, we have continued to invest in our network infrastructure and strengthen our compliance capabilities in the region to deliver a faster, efficient and cost-effective cross-border settlement platform. It allows our customers to send money from anywhere in the world into China,” added Liu.

EMQ operates a global financial settlement network that currently spans across Europe, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, Indonesia, Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan and the Philippines, with expansion underway across key business markets in the Middle East, Africa and the Americas.

Its network infrastructure can be deployed across multiple vertical industries for a broad range of services, including e-commerce, merchant settlement, procurement, remittance, and payroll.

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With Echelon Asia Summit right around the corner, one of the questions that beg to be asked is: how can startup founders maximise their Echelon experience?

Thankfully, your Echelon experience can start sooner than you could ever hope for. Between rubbing elbows with potential future partners, to sharing insights with other startup founders, and even to dazzling potential investors with your one-in-a-million idea, you can make noise in your local startup scene early on with the Echelon Roadshow 2020 Kuala Lumpur!

What better way to boost your business and amplify your reach than by learning from the best and the brightest? With Echelon Roadshow 2020 Kuala Lumpur only a few short weeks away, you don’t only get to listen to experts on stage, but you get to mingle with them as well, and even get to know other key figures who can help you scale your business.

This is ultimately what sets Echelon Roadshow 2020 Kuala Lumpur apart: it is not only a celebration of great ideas and a chance to expand your network while learning from the best, but it’s also strategically situated at the heart of Malaysia’s bustling capital!

On top of that, this is your chance to check out your country’s representatives to the Top 100—an opportunity to immerse in the local startup community and see what efforts other Malaysia-based startups are employing to materialize their vision.

The Echelon Roadshow 2020 Kuala Lumpur is part of a series of international stops leading up to the annual Echelon Asia Summit happening in Singapore. The Echelon Roadshow 2020 is happening on 18 February, 2020, from 5pm to 9pm at the HLX, 3, Jalan Kia Peng, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

RSVP to the Roadshow is free, so if you want to score insights on Southeast Asian tech—grab your tickets now!

 Tickets are running out fast so visit the Echelon Roadshow 2020 page to find out more details!

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After making headlines for submitting digital bank licence application and leading a handful of consortiums, ride-hailing unicorn Grab and online gaming startup Razer are reportedly considering to apply for a similar licence in Malaysia, says a PYMNTS report.

Names like AirAsia, Axiata, CIMB, and financial institutions such as Hong Leong Bank and Maybank are also likely to join the race, a source familiar with the matter told the publication.

“Many financial and non-financial institutions are sizing up market opportunities and working with external parties,” one of the sources was quoted as saying.

The report also mentioned that some have been in discussions with consultants for guidance as they weigh in the possibility of moving into digital banking.

Last month, Malaysia’s central bank revealed that it will issue up to five conventional and Islamic online banking licenses. The licensing system is being prepared and is expected to be finished by the end of June this year.

Also Read: These tech companies are eyeing for Singapore’s digital banking license

Malaysia’s central bank BNM also said that it will likely prefer bidders with capital governed by firms in the region to have a chance in obtaining the licence.

One of the earliest applicants of Singapore’s digital bank licence is the gaming startup Razer’s fintech arm. Razer Fintech’s CEO Lee Li Meng shared that it has ‘vast enterprises in Malaysia’s online payments arena and would assess the prospects of digital banking’. The company was already in discussion with a regional conglomerate for a Malaysian licence.

Meanwhile, telecommunication firm Axiata will be allowed to submit an application via its Axiata Digital Services unit, which controls the e-wallet Boost.

AirAsia’s financial services arm BigPay also runs an e-wallet that has a prepaid card.

Another Singapore’s digital bank licence hopeful Jack Ma’s Ant Financial and Touch n’ Go currently are the biggest e-wallet services in Malaysia with 6.9 million customers. CIMB holds a majority stake in Touch n’ Go, which can give it the upper hand in the possibility of going after a digital banking licence.

Malaysia’s draft doctrine also states that electronic banks are required to “minister to underserved and unserved populations” with services and solutions that focus on the void in the market.

Also Read: Customer onboarding and the brand new digital banking licences by MAS

Digital banks in the country are also required to maintain US$24.5 million in starting capital and scale to US$74 million.
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Photo by Poh Wei Chuen on Unsplash

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Home design and renovation platform Livspace today announced that it has raised about US$60 million in funding from a host of investors, including Hong Kong-based Tahoe Investment Group and Singapore-based Mercer Investments, and EDBI, says an ETtech report.

European investment firm Kharis Capital, and Nicholas Cator, MD of Venturi Partners, also co-invested.

As per regulatory filings sourced from Singapore, this round could stretch up to US$90-100 million and is likely to be closed next month.

Also Read: Home design and renovation platform Livspace raises funding from IKEA

Livspace was founded in 2015 by former Google executives Anuj Srivastava and Ramakant Sharma, along with Shagufta Anurag. Livspace facilitates the interaction between customers and interior and home designers as well as with suppliers. It maintains delivery timelines serving the three target markets with a supply chain-supported backend.

The company is said to take end-to-end ownership of a housing project, right from design to manufacturing to installation. Aside from that, Livspace also operates an offline design studio.

To date, the Bangalore-based company has raised about US$150 million.

The last reported investment was in May last year from IKEA’s strategic partner Ingka Group (Sweden).

In 2018, the startup also raised Series C funding from private equity firm TPG Growth, Goldman Sachs, and Jungle Ventures, among others.

In 2016, the company raised US$15 million, led by Bessemer Ventures Partners, with participation from Jungle Ventures and Helion Venture Partners.

In October 2019, Livspace launched in its first international market in Singapore and had plans to make it the base for all Asia-Pacific markets, including Malaysia and Australia.
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Picture Credit: Livspace

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As motorbike-based ride-sharing service Angkas continues to make waves of headlines in the Philippines, e27 breaks down the series of events that led to this week.

The lead-up

It started when thousands of Angkas bikers took to the streets on December 27, 2019, to express their disapproval for a new policy that would result in job loss for 17,000 riders. Announced during holiday season, the policy was put into action primarily for safety and traffic management measures.

Angkas had to resort to social media to call for support from their users, leading to a popular #SaveAngkas hashtag on Twitter.

These social movements did work for Angkas as it prompted the Philippine Competition Commission to appeal to Land Transportation Franchising and Regulation Board (LTFRB) to reconsider its decision of limiting 10,000 bikers per motorcycle firm.

“Angkas business was not like Grab which acquired its competitor and therefore became dominant and a monopoly. Here Angkas grew out of its own efforts. In a sense, you are taking away what Angkas has worked hard on obtaining, which is a driver base,” said Bernabe in an interview.

Here, Bernabe refers to the time when Grab acquired Uber and created a monopoly in Singapore.

However, Antonia Gardiola, another member of the LTFRB, put forth another argument. He puts emphasis on the notion that now the drivers will have the option to choose from two additional players. 

The controversy ended up with the launch of a pilot run from December 23 to March 23, which was meant to test the safety and practicality of motorbike-based public transportation.

Things seem to be doing well until the pilot run was ended before its time. The technical working group in chrage of the pilot run submitted its statement to the congress, urging the Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary and the congress “to immediately terminate the implementation of the pilot study,” according to a letter addressed to Transport Secretary Arthur Tugade.

Angkas was also accused of emotionally blackmailing the government. An LFTRB board member has also accused the ride-sharing company of deceiving the riders as nobody will lose their job with the new cap.

Also Read: Filipino Senator seeks to declare the Singaporean founder of Angkas persona non grata

To add another blow to the already heated up situation, Filipino senator Aquilino Koko Pimentel filed a resolution to declare Angkas’s Singaporean founder Angeline Xiwen Tham a persona non grata, or unwanted person. He stressed that Tham holds almost full ownership of Angkas, which is against the local law, whereby Filipinos must own 60 per cent of public transport companies.

Slowly this conflict begins to get more and more personal, as senator was quoted saying, “Tham is merely a guest in our country, yet she is already acting like an oligarch which seems hell-bent on becoming at our expense.”

What startups can learn from this conflict

In comparison, even as many ride-sharing apps failed to make peace with the government, sometimes having good administration connections can lead a long way. Take an example of Nadiem Makarim, the charismatic ex-CEO of Indonesian ride-sharing app gojek. Not only that he managed to tactfully work with the government when it tried to place a ban on ride-sharing services, but he is also part of the government today.

The savviness of Makarim’s government relations skills was also displayed when Malaysian Youth Minister Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman endorses the company on Twitter, leading to the eventual legalisation of motorbike-based ride-sharing service in the country.

But this could also mean that this situation is in itself a lesson to all startup founders: Startups need to have good government relations skills.

While Angkas has been harbouring public support, ultimately the government will be the one to decide who goes and who stays.

What this will mean for Angkas in the future 

A lot of people in the Philippines and outside of the country see Angkas as an extremely fast, cheap, and reliable mode of transport. This comes forward as the company has a near-perfect safety record in the region.

Also Read:  Motor taxis declared illegal in the Philippines as pilot run ends before time

This move by the Philippine government can be seen as overregulating innovative transport solutions which may be seen as a hurdle for future transport solutions.

What are the possible alternatives for Angkas?

There have been suggestions for the company to switch from motorbike-based ride-sharing to car-based one. But certainly, these two services have a different value proposition. It also has a different driver community to manage.

Since foreign ownership also seems to be the problem here, Angkas might need to consider increasing the number of local ownership –and leadership– within its corporations.

Either way, this is a challenging time for both the company and the ride-sharing community in the country. While it might sound anticlimactic to say that there was nothing that we can do but to wait and see, we see this situation as comparable to being in a crossroad: Anything can happen.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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Cambodian VC firm Ooctane today announced that it has made an undisclosed strategic investment in local food delivery startup Muuve.

The Phnom Penh-headquartered Muuve said it plans to use the funding for expansion into new cities in the country and strengthen its current operations. “This investment will allow us to continue to scale, drive business for Muuvers and merchants, and offer more choices to consumers,” said CEO Phanith Panh.

Also Read: Cambodia-grown VC firm Ooctane secures US$55M from country’s logistic giant

As part of the investment, Tapas Kuila, General Partner of Ooctane, will join the board of Muuve.

“We have been closely tracking Muuve’s progress over the past few months as well as the growth of the food delivery industry in Cambodia in general. We believe that their business model along and customer experience will continue to set them apart from the rest of the pack,” said Kuila.

Launched in Phnom Penh in 2018, Muuve crowdsources its delivery partners (called Muuvers) using an ‘asset-light’ approach. Currently, the company offers over 18,800 different food items on its menu catering to locals, expatriates, and Chinese taste-buds via its 350-plus restaurant partners.

“We’ve always been proud of being the first local delivery platform to utilise an asset-light business model to provide Muuvers with opportunities for jobs and incremental revenues,” Panh added.

Also Read: Venture capital firm Ooctane debuts in Cambodia to support local startup ecosystem

Ooctane primarily focuses on technology-enabled businesses in the logistics, e-commerce, real estate, and financial services verticals, and also advises on various mergers and acquisitions for the WorldBridge Group. The fund is chaired by Oknha Sear Rithy, Chairman of the WorldBridge Group.

The VC firm recently closed its debut US$55 million Cambodia Investment Fund with a mandate to invest in technology-enabled businesses founded in Cambodia, looking to expand into Cambodia, or founded by Cambodians anywhere in the world.

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Google CEO thinks AI will be more a profound change than fire [The Star Malaysia]

Google’s chief executive officer has left no doubt in how important he thinks Artificial Intelligence will be to humanity.

“AI is one of the most profound things we’re working on as humanity. It’s more profound than fire or electricity, ” Alphabet Inc CEO Sundar Pichai said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan 22.

Also Read: Cambodia’s Muuve scores funding from Ooctane to take its food delivery service to new cities

Alphabet, which owns Google, has had to grapple with its role in the development of AI, including managing employee revolts against its work on the technology for the United States government. In 2018, a group of influential software engineers successfully delayed the development of a security feature that would’ve helped the company win military contracts.

Indian bike rental startup Bounce raises US$105M [TechCrunch]

Bounce, a Bangalore-based startup that operates over 20,000 electric and gasoline dockless bikes and scooters in nearly three dozen cities in India, said today it has raised US$105 million in a new funding round as it explores sustainable ways to expand within the nation and build its own electric vehicles.

The new financing round, Series D, was co-led by existing investors Eduardo Saverin’s B Capital and Accel Partners, said the startup. The new round valued Bounce at a little over $500 million, up from about $200 million in June last year, a person familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.

Thai stock exchange promotes SMEs, startup fundraising via capital market [Pattaya Mail]

The Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) is pursuing its initiative to encourage SMEs and startup businesses to raise funds via the capital market, expecting general investment this year to be challenged by external factors, urging investors to properly manage the risks.

SET President PakornPeetathawatchai said the SET aims to promote balanced growth due to technological changes in the capital market this year, by streamlining its services at One-Stop Service points for registered companies, as well as providing opportunities in Thailand and abroad through capital market connections with Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, and Vietnam.

The SET will be urging SMEs and startup companies to raise funds via capital markets, and improve regulations to provide better ease of doing businesses.

Banned cryptocurrency to uphold the integrity of the banking system: central bank [The Economic Times]

The Reserve Bank of India on Wednesday defended in the Supreme Court its 2018 circular directing banks to desist from dealing in any transactions involving cryptocurrencies, insisting that it had always been consistent in its opposition to allowing any other payments systems and undermining the integrity of the banking system.

Also Read: (Exclusive) Indonesian edutech startup Gredu raises Pre-Series A funding round to help ease teachers’ workload

The central bank, through senior advocate Shyam Divan, argued that though there was no formal ban on cryptocurrencies under any law in existence in India, it had consistently been warning all those dealing with virtual currencies of the risks inherent in them.

Thailand’s DeeMoney rolls out next-day money transfer service DeeNEXT [press release]

DeeMoney, a Thailand-based fintech company specialising in digital cross-border money transfers, today announced the launch of DeeNEXT, a next-day money transfer service.

The new service guarantees transactions are completed within the next business day and is offered at a flat rate of just THB 250 [US$8.27] with no hidden charges and no matter the amount transferred.

DeeNEXT will support outbound money transfers to nine countries and 19 markets under the European Union. This includes the US, the UK, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Pakistan, India, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

The European Union markets are Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Malta, Finland, Ireland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, San Marino, Slovakia, Monaco and Belgium.

 

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Singapore-registered company Hi-So Co., which owns a food delivery app under the same brand name in Myanmar, has secured “six-digit funding” from several unnamed individual investors.

Hi-So Co. is a spin-off of Hi-So Mall, an e-commerce platform owned by Myanmar’s Htun Khaing International.

Hi-So said in a press release that the money will be used to further accelerate the pace of expansion of transaction volume in the delivery and online shopping market in the country, where the competitive environment is intensifying day by day.

Also Read: Cambodia’s Muuve scores funding from Ooctane to take its food delivery service to new cities

The Hi-So app allows users to order any items from its Hi-So Mall app (available on iOS and Android). Besides food, Hi-So Mall also sells a variety of products such as vegetables, cosmetics, home appliances, and clothing.

Since launch in October 2019, Hi-So’s transaction has increased by more than 50 per cent.

The firm has partnered with over 200 stores in Myanmar.

In the food delivery market, Hi-So is pitted against Yangon Door 2 Door and Food2U. “We do not consider them as long-term competitors. Our competitors are the companies that have recently entered the market with huge capital and strong business network Grab Food and FoodPanda. However, since we are not an only food delivery company, we believe Shop.com.mm could be our competitor in the future,” a Hi-So spokesperson told e27.

Htun Khaing International was founded by Kenta Takada, a Japanese entrepreneur. After graduating from Meiji University in Japan, he joined the trading company Marubeni Corporation, where he was engaged in automobile trading and business administration. After that, he was stationed in Myanmar in 2016, and after studying Burmese at Yangon University of Foreign Languages, he established Htun Khaing.

 

 

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Jatri, a mobility-as-a-service startup based in Bangladesh, has raised an undisclosed amount of seed funding from a slew of investors, including Superangel, Falcon Network, and Tahseen Consulting.

Several unnamed angel investors — many of whom were early investors and advisors to leading transport apps like Bolt (previously Taxify), Uber, Bird, Angkas, and Buseet — also joined the round.

The funding will allow Jatri to scale up its services in Bangladesh’s populous metropolitan areas and fast track product development for additional transport modalities.

The startup’s pre-seed financing came from Adventure Capital, a global VC fund founded by Fahim Saleh, Co-founder of Pathao and several other on-demand transport apps.

Jatri is currently in discussions with other MENA investors to participate in its Series A round.

Dr Sayd Farook, Co-founder of Falcon Network, said: “In a very short time, Jatri has proven that it has the aptitude to revitalise the public transportation industry in Bangladesh. It has created a pathway for the everyday commuter to benefit from smart solutions, and we believe these solutions have wide-ranging applications in many markets in the Middle East and Africa region as well.”

Also Read: Meet the 7 leading startup incubators and accelerators in UAE

Jatri was founded in early 2019 by Aziz Arman, Khondoker Taswar Zahin, and Zia Ahmed who saw an unmet need to enhance the reliability of public transport to address Bangladesh’s notorious traffic congestion challenges and insufficient public transport system.

According to the United Nations, Dhaka’s traffic congestion reduces GDP by 6 per cent annually. It pushes commuters to use private vehicles to get around due to lack of public transport coverage and passenger-centric services offered by transport operators — thereby creating a cycle that results in more congestion from significant private vehicle use.

Transport surveys show that lack of reliability is the primary reason for Bangladeshis not using public transport. Jatri views increased bus ridership as a critical solution to enhancing public transport ridership.

Jatri’s mobile app enables digital tracking and ticketing, which enhances the rider experience on buses. Its technology also allows bus operators to improve schedule adherence and optimise travel times.

Jatri’s technology also has use cases for minibuses, electric scooters and bikes, and other emerging transport modalities.

In just over eight months of operation, Jatri has over 30,000 users, and its technology has been used by leading bus operators to complete more than 50,000 trips.

Also Read: Why Bangladesh is the next frontier for tech investment

“Our initial target is to enhance the rider experience on buses significantly, but we are just getting started. We plan to look at other transport modalities and view, enhancing the public transport experience as a global challenge that Jatri’s technology is positioned to solve. We are creating a solution born in the developing world that can address congestion and enhance public transport ridership in the developing and developed world,” said CEO Arman.

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A Senator in the Philippines moved a resolution to declare Angeline Xiwen Tham, Founder and CEO of motorcycle ride-hailing company Angkas, as ‘persona non-grata’ for violating ownership law and defaming the government, says a CNN report.

The resolution was filed by Aquilino Koko Pimentel against Tham for her “high-handed, arrogant and irresponsible acts” in the Philippines.

Than is a Singapore citizen.

“Tham is merely a guest in our country, yet she is already acting like an oligarch which seems hell-bent on becoming at our expense,” said the resolution.

Also Read: Motor taxis declared illegal in the Philippines as pilot run ends before time

According to the Senator, Tham holds almost full ownership of Angkas which is against the local law, which stipulates that Filipinos must own 60 per cent of public transport companies. Angkas maintained that it is the Chief Transport Advocate George Royeca, who owns 60 per cent of the company, and that its stakes were divided among its six owners, with his stake fulfilling the law’s requirement. The Department of Transportation, however, didn’t accept this.

The Senator also alleges that she in December triggered a rally in which thousands of motorcycle riders participated, bringing the traffic of Metro Manila into a standstill. Tham is also accused of spearheading a social media campaign against the government.

The campaign, #SaveAngkas, trended on Twitter late December in an effort to call for action against the DOTr’s order for a 39,000-cap on motorcycle taxis in the country, which effectively means Angkas would be allowed to have only 10,000 riders in Metro Manila and 3,000 in Cebu.

According to Angkas, this order would render nearly 17,000 of its riders jobless. The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board later clarified the cap will still allow riders to join other motorcycle ride-hailing firms such as JoyRide and Move It.

Early this week, motorbike-based taxis were officially declared as illegal in the Philippines, after a pilot run to test its practicality and safety ends ahead of schedule. Overseen by a technical working group under the DOTr, the “pilot run” itself was supposed to be extended until March 2020.

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