Day: February 2, 2020

Government and organisations in Asia Pacific are realising the benefits of new technologies as digital spend is expected to have reached US$375.8 billion in 2019. Spending on technologies that enable the digitisation of business practices, products and organisations is also forecasted to steadily increase all the way through to 2022, as we enter an era of digital native enterprises.

While our workflows continue to evolve in a digital-led world, the role of the developer will become more instrumental in driving business growth and enabling organisations to compete in a global economy. 

Software and coding have become so pervasive. They are now a necessity in the modern workplace in Singapore and Asia Pacific. While business leaders and non-tech teams do not need to be software development experts, it is important they gain an element of fluency so they remain relevant, and understand how to best run business operations.

Code and open source are a part of our lives

Code is powering and underpinning every facet of our lives, from how we connect as citizens to our governments, how we shop or access medical records, to how we communicate with our families, live, and work. 

Software has become a key driver of innovation, making coding an absolute necessity to survive and thrive in the modern world. As a result, more organisations in Asia Pacific are tapping into the open-source community to access the wide range of skills available globally, and re-use existing public code. 

Also Read: 9 essential tech skills anyone interested in startups should learn

Open source also enhances collaboration among teams and departments, fostering a smarter way of working and driving innovation, through the implementation of open source best practices within the organisation’s firewall. Called inner sourcing, this practice leads businesses to become more efficient by breaking down barriers and silos, so teams can share skills and better collaborate across the entire organisation. 

This creates a company culture where big ideas thrive, and where everyone contributes to innovation.  

Coding is becoming a life skill

Coding and the adoption of open source practices have much more to offer than just access to technical skills. It can benefit professionals from various backgrounds. 

Coding encourages critical, logical and creative thinking, problem-solving skills, and helps unlock cognitive functions. When fostered, all of those can add incredible value to an organisation, helping businesses create new opportunities and allowing professionals to broaden their career development paths. 

Using the power of open source also enables people to share ideas, experiences, contribute to each other’s projects, which ultimately creates a culture of collaboration and an open business mindset. 

Making an essential skill accessible to anyone, anywhere 

As the demand for tech and coding literate employees continues to rise, it has become obvious that coding should be introduced through education programmes and school curriculum. The Singapore government is taking a step in the right direction by introducing coding to classrooms, with the implementation of a 10-hour programme for upper primary students in 2020.

While we’re starting to see great progress in the education space, it will still be a decade before today’s students are introduced to the workforce. A report shows that 1.7 million students have learned to code on GitHub, 55 per cent more than last year. This is encouraging but we’re only scratching the surface – taking into consideration that there are approximately 200 million college students across the world.

Therefore, it is every organisation’s responsibility to implement coding and open-source literacy trainings as part of its corporate professional development programs. 

The good news is that coding is much more accessible than most business leaders might think. There is a rapid increase in the open-source communities across Asia Pacific.

Also Read: 6 tips for building a successful software development team

Singapore is ranked second for the highest percentage growth of open source contributors and overall contributors across the globe with a 77 per cent increase in 2019 as compared to the previous year.

This is a healthy sign that more members of the workforce are equipping themselves with new skillsets to create impactful software.

Open source platforms provide a fantastic avenue to make coding accessible to anyone, whether you are experienced or have no understanding of software development. The open-source community offers access to a unique pool of public global resources, and millions of qualified developers who are happy to help upskill more individuals.

Coding has become a core part of organisations’ DNA. It is the powerhouse behind every digital project, continuously evolving as every part of the business deepens its digital journey.

Coding literacy needs to become top of mind across the board, from the marketing, sales and operations teams, up to the C-Suite. By gaining coding skills, each individual will become an active contributor to delivering successful innovations, and be empowered to break down silos, create efficiencies, as well as foster a more collaborative and open business mindset. 

It is now up to businesses and government leaders in Asia Pacific to work together to ensure coding literacy be weaved into education and professional training programs, so we can prepare the workforce of tomorrow and equip organisations to succeed in a fast-paced, digital world. This is how our region can become an exporter of innovation.

–

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.

Image credit: Danial RiCaRoS on Unsplash

The post Future-proofing the workforce –one code at a time appeared first on e27.

According to the freshly released East Ventures Digital Competitiveness Index (EV-DCI) 2020 Report, the rapid development of digital economy in Indonesia only occurs in urban areas and several provinces with high technology early-adopters.

This condition has led to a digital divide between Indonesia’s numerous islands as the largest archipelago in the world.

Data from the report shows that Indonesia’s overall digital competitiveness records a high competitiveness score for the communication and information tech utilisation aspect. This means that the country has a high level of tech adoption on smartphone ownership and internet access.

Indonesia also scores high for the infrastructure aspect, indicating that cellular data networks have been more evenly distributed across the country today.

Meanwhile, human resources and entrepreneurship receive the lowest score, which says a lot about tech talent scarcity issue in Indonesia. The limitations of educational institutions to produce a skilled IT workforce plays parts in the condition.

Also Read: A decade of innovation: How East Ventures is building Indonesian tech ecosystem from the ground up

The low entrepreneurial score itself shows that despite high penetration and distribution of network and internet, only a small number of Indonesians are opening businesses or utilising technology in their workplace.

The report also notes that provinces on the island of Java records the highest EV-DCI score in comparison to other provinces.

It highlights developmental inequality with a huge gap between the city that ranked first (Jakarta) and the city that ranked second (Bandung).

Willson Cuaca, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at East Ventures, explained that the cities with the highest EV-DCI score are the best places to start a new digital business as the likelihood of early adoption is high.

“The digital economy promises inclusivity and equal economic opportunities for all Indonesians. However, Indonesia is oftentimes only assessed from the development of certain big cities such as Jakarta, while there are still many cities untouched by the promise of the digital economy. By allowing everyone to participate in the digital economy, Indonesia could convert demographic bonuses into demographic dividends; turning potential into reality,” Cuaca said.

Also Read: East Ventures invests in Indonesian rental marketplace CUMI, eyeing growth and expansion

Despite its disparity with Jakarta and the DKI Jakarta province, West Java sits as the province with the best source of the skilled digital workforce, students, and lecturers, as well as the availability of school programmes related to digital skills.

Mapping the market

EV-DCI was released to give a full picture of Indonesia’s digital economy, so that stakeholders can take strategic steps to equalise digital access and technological capabilities throughout the country.

Cuaca stated that digital companies founded by local and young entrepreneurs have “successfully” increased economic access and productivity in the major cities of Indonesia, especially in Jakarta.

Furthermore, issues of inequality revealed in the report might turn into a “supporting material” for companies such as gojek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka to continue expanding their wings to other parts of the country.

Some tech companies that managed to have a better distribution serving other regions in Indonesia are education platform Ruangguru, which has been used by students in all 34 provinces, and the writer community of online media IDN Media, that already has a presence in each part of Indonesia.

Also Read: A look into one of the most active early stage VC firms this year

Another example is Moka POS, the POS platform that has made a presence in Papua. E-commerce solution provider Sirclo has supported online sellers located in East Nusa Tenggara, while budget hotel booking platform Airy has partnered with property owners in Bitung and Samosir.

—

Image Credit: East Ventures

The post Report: Indonesia’s digital economy development occurs only in urban areas as disparity continues appeared first on e27.

A friend working in a marketing agency recently asked me if there is any simple and non-technical way to optimise native advertising campaigns, given that major native advertising platforms are still quite new to marketers.

As a performance marketer transitioning from managing accounts on Google and Facebook to now working in a native advertising company, I can empathise with the pain of helplessness on campaign optimisation.

After all, native advertising just emerged and seems mysterious even nowadays. Here is what I shared with him. 

Put context words in the sentence

Instead of writing down headlines plainly, crafting your message by putting more context words, such as time and space, can be of great help to earn the reader’s attention.

If you can’t think of any context word, you are not alone. There is a more straightforward way to understand and implement this idea.

Also Read: YouAdMe: Flipping the advertising industry on its head with the power of connection and creativity

In my case, I would self-brainstorm from the angle of making up a story, a.k.a. storytelling. This allows me to have a specific scene in my brain and all I need to do is describe the scene pertinently, which further helps me come up with a catchy headline.

A case study from Sharethrough is a great example to explain. 

Original headline: A note of the efficiency and safety of our planes

Revised headline: How man’s age-old dream to fly like a bird may hold the solution to aircraft efficiency

The revised headline includes the element of context words and provides a clear picture (or story) for readers to imagine. Consequently, the revised one is more likely to win clicks. 

Use metaphors to spark the reader’s curiosity 

Metaphors, if used correctly in headline writing, can make your native advertising more engaging than ones with context words only and further result in a higher click-through rate.

Also Read: How AI is changing mobile advertising in 2019

This tactic, however, may require a certain level of talent to carry out as not all metaphors are idiomatically applicable and can be correctly related. Any explanation nuance should be carefully examined.  

In my experience, storytelling, the strategy shared in the first passage, can also help cultivate the ability to craft a powerful metaphorical headline.

Here is another example from Sharethrough to demonstrate headlines that utilize metaphors.

Original headline: 5 ways to improve your morning routine

Revised headline: 5 ways to bring a little sunshine into your morning

With just a few words changed, the revised headline quickly sparks readers’ curiosity and drive people to click on the headline to know what the magic is to make their day.

Use pictures that resonate readers

Native advertising is well-known for its relatively strict policies on creatives standard. For instance, overly promotional creatives that could pass the scrutiny on Google or Facebook are very likely to be rejected on native advertising platforms.

Also Read: An end of Google-Facebook advertising duopoly could be a boon for adtech

Despite that, creatives remain a paramount factor to persuade readers on natives ads as our brains are wired to imitate everything we see, according to a study, and cherry-picked pictures that create resonance can significantly drive click impulse.

Considering the visual impact of human behaviour, rather than picking up pictures featuring your products or services solely, you should select the one with the action element you’d like readers to take.

Take skincare products for example. A picture featuring someone applying the facial cream can create stronger resonance and emotional engagement and further encourage readers to imitate.  

Once they subconsciously start to imitate, they would recall your brands and buy your products or services at some point in the future.

Catch up with the latest trends 

Including topics about holiday seasons and viral trends in creatives designing and headlines, writing can as well bring you a surprising result as the above tactics do.

This tactic is extremely helpful with improving the campaign performance as typical native advertising platforms are essentially built on partnering with news portals and blogs to form native networks.

Also Read: 8 tips for a successful Instagram advertising campaign

Internet users on those publishers can easily identify whether the content they are consuming is up-to-date or not. They are likely to skip your native ads once they find out the headlines or pictures are outdated.

With that said, any wittiness of the current trend represented on creatives can greatly appeal to internet users and further earn extra points for your native advertising campaigns.

Based on the A/B test I conducted a while ago, I did see a huge increase in conversion rate when headlines included specific holidays or special events, such as the presidential election, as compared to those that didn’t include. 

Repeat the above four periodically

As the internet becomes our everyday life, internet users are exposed to tons of various information and increasingly get tired of repetitive or same content easily.

Worse still, the circumstance of advertising fatigue will only become more common and there is no sign of slowing down.

Any way to fix this urgent issue? Yes, there is and it’s probably the only way — be diligent to change your campaign creatives and headlines often.

Also Read: How startups can get the most out of their advertising dollars

While it sounds daunting to proceed, because content production oftentimes requires resource and time to complete, what you should do is slightly adjust headlines and creatives.

For example, changing a few words in headlines and adding some new elements to creatives are sophisticated enough to make your native advertising as fresh as it used to be.

Don’t be lazy. You should mark on your calendar to remind yourself of refreshing your creatives from time to time and eventually you will realise how powerful and critical this step is on improving your native ad performance.

–

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.

Image credit: Eleni Afiontzi on Unsplash

The post 5 non-technical ways to make a world of difference to digital advertising appeared first on e27.

We started off 2020 with a whopping number of 21 early stage funding round announcements.

The most unique thing about this month’s announcements is that many investors are embracing new territories with their investments. For example, we published a story about Vynn Capital, which expanded to the Borneo region with a funding round for e-commerce and logistics platform Epost.

We also saw a case of funding round that is followed by a rebranding –which happened to be done by leading investor Tim Draper.

Without further ado, check the early stage funding round announcements that e27 got to cover in January.

Hacktiv8
Funding: US$3M in Pre-Series A
Investor(s): East Ventures, Sovereign’s Capital, SMDV, Skystar Capital, Convergence Ventures, RMKB Ventures, Prasetia, and Everhaus.

Hacktiv8 plans to use this newly acquired funds to build more schools and offer what they dubbed as the first Income Share Agreement (ISA) programme in Indonesia, an alternative to traditional student loans.

Also Read: MassMutual Ventures launches US$100M second fund for Southeast Asia’s early stage startups

StoreHub
Funding: US$8.9M in Series A+
Investor(s): Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Accord Ventures, and a private family office.

Malaysia’s StoreHUb had previously raised US$5.1 million in its Series A round, bringing its total raised funding to US$14 million.

Klub
Funding: US$2 million in Pre-Seed
Investor(s): Sequoia Capital India (Surge programme), EMVC Fintech Fund, Better Capital, Tracxn Labs, 9Unicorns, angel investors

Singapore-headquartered fintech startup Klub is in stealth mode and is doing limited pilots with select brands, including some international ones entering India.

iSTOX
Funding: US$5 million
Investor(s): Hanwha Asset Management

In early 2020, iSTOX plans to transition into full operational status.

Lumitics
Funding: US$557,000 in Seed
Investor(s): Franck Courmont, ReadyVentures, Startup-O and Louise Daley

Lumitics has previously received grants from Temasek Foundation Ecosperity and Enterprise Singapore.

Waresix
Funding: US$11M in Series A
Investor(s): EV Growth, Jungle Ventures

This brings Waresix’s total capital raised to date to more than US$27.1 million.

allrites
Funding: US$1.1M in Pre-Series A
Investor(s): Artesian Venture Capital, SOSV, Chinaccelerator, and Clarion Venture Partners

allrites enables sellers of professionally produced film, TV and short-form content to list their content for free.

Also Read: That time of the year: A look back into the early stage funding rounds of December

Eko.ai
Funding: US$4M in Seed
Investor(s): Sequoia India, EDBI, Partech Ventures, SGInnovate and Startup Health

Eko.ai is a healthcare company which integrates Machine Learning into its software to predict and treat early-stage heart diseases.

Arkademi
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): SOSV

Arkademi will use the fresh funds to enhance its product, hire new talents, and establish its footing in the Indonesian market.

Great Deals
Funding: US$12M
Investor(s): Navegar

The e-commerce enabler plans to use the capital to enhance its IT, infrastructure, warehouse capabilities and technology solutions, as it aggressively expands its presence in the country.

Hi-So
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): Undisclosed

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.

Muuve
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): Ooctane

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.

Gredu
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Series A
Investor(s): 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.

Also Read: Kinesys Group names Steven Vanada as managing partner, targets US$20M for early stage startups

Epost
Funding: US$700,000 in Seed
Investor(s): Vynn Capital

The newly raised capital will be used by the company to expand business operations in Southeast Asia, acquire talents, and enhance marketing efforts.

Draper Startup House
Funding: US$3.5M in Series A
Investor(s): Tim Draper

With the strategic investment, Singapore-headquartered hostel chain Tribe Theory rebrands to Draper Startup House and form the international division of the business, said a press note.

Pand.ai
Funding: “seven digit” in Pre-Series A
Investor(s):Bualuang Ventures Bangkok

The company said that it will use the newly raised fund to expand its NLP Lab’s resources in Singapore, focussing on developing conversational AI engines for Southeast Asian languages.

RecyGlo
Funding: US$900,000
Investor(s): Undisclosed

The startup is currently raising a US$350,000 bridge funding and expects to make the final close of the ongoing round by the end of Q2.

Joosk Studio
Funding: “six figure”
Investor(s): Nest Tech VN

Joosk Studio is a creative digital animation agency founded and run by artists Thet Paing Kha and Zeyar Htet. The company has worked with companies, including Facebook, CB Bank and Telenor, as well as NGOs, UN agencies and the World Bank Group.

TurtleTree
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Seed
Investor(s): KBW Ventures, Lever VC, K2 Global

TurtleTree uses technology to create real milk from animal cells, with no animal required.

Also Read: Kinesys Group names Steven Vanada as managing partner, targets US$20M for early stage startups

Moladin
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Series A
Investor(s): East Ventures

Moladin said it will use the fresh fund to accelerate its existing products scaleup, build new features such as new car sales category and auto mortgage loans, as well as expansion to new cities.

Akseleran
Funding: US$8.6M in Series A
Investor(s): Beenext, Access Ventures, Agaeti Venture Capital, Ahabe Group, and Central Capital Ventura

Akseleran states that it will use the new funds to focus on scaling up the team, technology, and penetrating the underserved Indonesian market.

—

Image Credit: Markus Spiske on Unsplash

The post Starting off the new year with these early stage funding rounds of January appeared first on e27.

In terms of number, the later stage funding round coverage that we got to write in January may not be impressive. But we still managed to uncovered something unique about these funding rounds.

First, we continued to see investment pouring into the e-commerce sector, particularly in startups that work to help other e-commerce businesses such as aCommerce. This indicated investors’ growing interest in the B2B sector, which had been predicted since late last year.

Healthtech sector also continued to gain popularity with an investment in Homage.

Lastly, also from the B2B sector, AppsFlyer announced its latest funding round and plan to further expand in the Asia Pacific region.

aCommerce
Funding: US$15M
Investor(s): Indies Capital Partners

This round comes almost six months after aCommerce secured a US$10 million round from existing shareholders including KKR & Co. in July 2019.

Also Read: These later stage funding rounds of December are the perfect closure to the year 2019

Homage
Funding: Undisclosed Series B
Investor(s): EV Growth, Alternate Ventures, KDV Capital, HealthXCapital

Homage said it will use the funding to focus on three key areas to scale the delivery of its care services.

AppsFlyer
Funding: US$210M in Series B
Investor(s): General Atlantic

With this announcement, AppsFlyer also announced the opening of its seventh Asia Pacific office in Jakarta, Indonesia.

—

Image Credit: Clemens van Lay on Unsplash

The post Kicking off January with these later stage funding rounds appeared first on e27.