There will be no two opinions on the market dominance of Grab and gojek, especially in Southeast Asia. These two firms are based in two of the top-3 economic superpowers in the region — Singapore and Indonesia, respectively — and are both unstoppable in terms of innovation and service expansion.

In an article by The ASEAN Post, consumer adoption of ride-hailing services will “continue to quadruple from 2015 levels to eight million ride bookings daily with 35 million active users”. The optimistic numbers are not without loopholes, as there’s still headroom for the sector to grow further with more than 80 per cent of Southeast Asian internet users are still not active ride-hailing users.

The number itself was last recorded in December 2018, meaning the number of non-active users of ride-hailing service might have changed and become smaller, but still, leave quite an untapped space for ride-hailing startups other than the two head-to-head decacorns.

Factor the emerging markets in Southeast Asia that’s completely left out such as Laos and Timor Leste, and the opportunity is wide open for ride-hailing businesses to be duplicated in these countries.

e27 visits under-the-radar, locally-thriving ride-hailing startups around Southeast Asia and here they are.

MYANMAR

Oway Ride

In Myanmar, Oway Ride made headlines ever since it was first established in 2014 as an online travel agency. In an interview with e27, Oway CEO Alok Kumar explained how even as an online travel agency, the company was novel and advanced for a country that was just opened up to internet infrastructure in 2012, welcoming foreign telcos such as Ooredoo and Telenor.

Today, Oway has counted Northstar Group, an early investor of gojek, as one of its backers.

With operations in major cities in Myanmar, Oway now has plans to launch in Naypyidaw, a city that’s less dense in population than Mandalay and Yangon, creating access to more distributed transportation and possibly will help lower taxi fares to open up the city more.

Get Ride

Get Ride was officially launched in Myanmar in September 2018. Owned by the founder of Myanmar’s BOD Tech Ventures, this platform offers bike, tuk-tuk, and taxi-hailing as a part of ‘Get, the omnichannel digital commerce platform established in 2017 by early-stage tech investor Mike Than Tun Win and Nyein Chan Soe Win.

According to an article in DealStreetAsia, the startup started to charge a fee lower than its competitors based on a rate agreed upon by its community of drivers and customers in 2019 with a lifetime commission-free services to motorbike drivers.

CAMBODIA

PassApp

PassApp claims to have roughly the same number of drivers as Grab in Cambodia (around 10,000) and also has food delivery and e-payment services.

PassApp was founded by CEO Top Nimol as a ride-hailing app that helps passengers find a tuk-tuk or taxi. Developed in Phnom Penh, it is currently available in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Sihanoukville, Battambang, Kampong Cham, and Kampot.

Also Read: Outpost, Geeks In Cambodia join forces to sponsor local startup

 

In terms of commuting, the access to tuk-tuks, rickshaws, and taxis are more in sync with the way the locals travel. Having tuktuks and rickshaws as options are also good for tourist attractions and that it also serves QR Code payment powered by Wing . Nimol claims two million people have downloaded the app nationwide, mostly in Phnom Penh.

Despite a huge number of downloads, Nimol still finds the market to be too small and competitive for the 11 or so ride-hailing companies to operate.

ExNet

Hailed as the first taxi-hailing firm ever existed in the Kingdom, ExNet was first established by Hor Daluch in April 2016, at a time when Cambodians still needed convincing of the benefit of using technology for their daily commutes.

Despite having been the first, ExNet recently admitted that it was forced to find a new source of revenue for the company, besides depending on commissions from drivers, such as generating advertising revenue from companies that wish to advertise their products and services because of the tight market competition.

According to Daluch, Exnet has about 2,000 registered drivers and the majority are car drivers. The app has clocked nearly 20,000 downloads.

LAOS

LOCA

In Laos, Grab is not available. Instead, local player LOCA dominates the ride-hailing services in the country.

Started off by co-founders Souliyo Vongdala, Jettana, and Johnny Sayasane, LOCA was their solution to the increasingly non-transparent taxi operation in the country, ripping off tourists and leaving a bad image about the country’s transportation. With both Uber and Grab neglecting the country, LOCA became the only ride-hailing service.

LOCA managed to take its business forward after struggling with just a small number of customers and only 15 trips per day. Now, Vongdala admitted in an interview with e27 that LOCA’s GMV has grown to 600 per cent with almost 17,000 customers after since its launch in 2018.

LOCA said it doesn’t provide just ride-hailing service but also tourist information. With the app, a tourist will be able to know where the interesting events are, which is the best restaurant, the hidden local foods and so on. Customers will also be able to book minivan ride as the company said it will finalise a partnership with minivan providers.

EAST TIMOR

Lais

A quick Google search will reveal that Lais is the country’s first and only ride-hailing service. For an otherwise untouchable area when it comes to Southeast Asian startup scene, Lais being mentioned as the first ride-hailing emerging from East Timor is a breath of fresh air.

We’re still looking forward to updates on its operation and performance locally.

MALAYSIA

Riding Pink

While the Malaysian market is packed with multiple ride-hailing options, Riding Pink’s emergence in 2016 gave passengers, particularly women, a safer option.

In an article by KrAsia, it is detailed that Riding Pink was conceived as “a network akin to a social movement of women drivers for women riders”. It matches riders with drivers manually via Whatsapp or Facebook Messenger, centralises bookings and matching riders with drivers systematically before developing an app.

Fast forward to today, the startup remains in operation with women around its narrative.

MyCar

Launched in April 2018, MyCar offers passengers an option to track the location of drivers and to make payment via cash or card.

According to a piece by Loanstreet, MyCar offers a fixed rate to the country’s international airport KLIA and KLIA2 for RM59, essentially beating the pricing of its toughest competition Grab. Being practically new compared to the established giant, MyCar still has a lot of potentials to explore and offer.

Dacsee

Dacsee associates itself to be the ride-sharing services that utilises the advantages of blockchain technology and decentralisation to reduce platform fees and to create a self-sustainable ecosystem.

Dacsee allows you to request rides from friends and family members if they’re already a part of the Dacsee community and fulfil the necessary requirements. Dacsee’s “Joy Locations” features recommend ongoing rewards and promotions with popular brands.

Also Read: Ride-hailing service FastGo prepares to launch in Indonesia and Myanmar

Launched in July 2018, Dacsee’s CEO Liem Chiew Shan told The Star Malaysia that it will expand its services to other Southeast Asian countries this year, including Thailand and South Korea.

The company’s valuation has reportedly exceeded US$100 million, with it recently signing an MoU with two companies, Hanryu AI Center Co and Sports Seoul Co, to start services in South Korea. According to The Star Malaysia’s report, the companies will also be developing a unique Artificial Intelligence solution to be embedded into Dacsee’s platform.

JomRides

JomRides provides ride-hailing services through a compact car, sedan, or MPV that can be booked in advance.

According to a The Borneo Post’s article, Jomrides utilises a profit-sharing concept to generate continuous income. Since its launch in January 2018, the company has garnered 14,000 registered drivers throughout the nation.

JomRides is developed by a Sarawak-based company USGA and has officially operated in Sarawak in March 2019.

MULA

According to its page, MULA was established in September 2016 as a tech-enabled company aimed to provide a wide range of passenger transportation network and logistics services via its mobile applications.

MULA is headquartered in Penang. The company offers “safe and comfortable ride-sharing services with a brand new fleet of premium, luxury MPVs, and compact cars”.

BRUNEI

Dart

According to The Scoop’s article, Dart was launched in May 2017 as an app-based taxi-booking service. Its plans to introduce a ride-hailing, however, faced several delays with the Ministry of Transport and Info-communications approving the DartCar service only after in March 2018, almost causing it to shut down.

Recently in 2019, Dart just introduced cashless payments through debit and credit card, and has also announced an airport pick-up service.

VIETNAM

FastGo

FastGo might have established in April 2018, but it’s already making waves in neighbouring countries such as Myanmar, Singapore, and Indonesia.

FastGo Vietnam JSC launched its service after Uber’s exit from Southeast Asia last June. FastGo is part of Vietnamese technology startup NextTech Group and it reportedly has an ambitious plan to undercut big names like gojek and Grab with its counteroffer of charging only fixed US$5 out of US$30 the drivers made in a day compared to 20 per cent off drivers’ ride fares.

FastGo said in an article by VNExpress that its ride-hailing app will not charge peak period surcharges, and customers can tip drivers.

Be

Be entered the market by offering both car-riding and bike-riding in December 2018. Reuters reported that it secured “hundreds of millions US dollars” of investments ahead of its official launch.

The company is operating under BE GROUP and led by founder and CEO Tran Thanh Hai. The app also has food, delivery, e-payment, and financing services.

PHILIPPINES

Angkas

Angkas is one contender of the three most notable local ride-hailers affected by a recent policy change implemented by the Philippines’s market regulator. According to its website, Angkas is a motorcycle ride-hailing platform that seeks to “help tackle transport mobility for Filipinos where country traffic is some of the highest in the world”.

As reported by Rappler, after Angkas’s drivers took to the street to protest the government’s decision to cut motor taxis from 27,000 to 10,000, motorbike-based taxis were officially declared illegal in the Philippines. It followed a pilot run to test its practicality and safety that ends ahead of the scheduled March 2020 for Angkas, JoyRide, and Move It.

Also Read: Indonesian logistics startup Anterin opens new R&D centre in Jogjakarta

Angkas Singapore-born CEO, Angeline Xiwen Tham, was accused by Senator Aquilino Koko Pimentel of holding almost full ownership of the firm which is against the local law, which stipulates that Filipinos must own 60 per cent of public transport companies.

The Senator then moved a resolution to declare Tham as ‘persona non-grata’ for violating ownership law and defaming the government, as reported by e27.

JoyRide

Despite the uncertain future and recent ban of motorbike ride-hailing operations by the government, Rappler on February 11 reported that JoyRide has begun its operation in Metro Cebu. JoyRide has made news since signing an agreement with insurance giant Malayan Insurance, in a bid to prepare safety measures ahead of its official app launch.

JoyRide is led by Vice President for Corporate Affairs, Noli Eala, who was a former Philippine Basketball Association commissioner and ex-San Miguel Corporation sports director, according to an article by Rappler. The company said they would not have surge pricing, even during peak hours and promises an income of US$29.4 per day.

MoveIt

Also joining the previously mentioned trial phase, MoveIt has around 2,500 registered drivers and 500 riders already on the road, as reported in Philstar. It entered the now-clouded market around the same time as JoyRide after seeing the success and solutions provided by Angkas to tackle the worsening traffic in the country.

THAILAND

GoBike

GoBike claims itself to be the first and only “official and fully-legal motorcycle-taxi app” in Bangkok after Uber’s UberMoto and Grab’s GrabBike were both forced to suspend their operations in May 2015.

In 2016, GoBike closed a US$4.8 million pre-series A round from unrevealed backers, including private equity firms, family trusts, and high-net-worth individuals, mainly from East Asia and Europe.

In a Tech In Asia’s article, GoBike Malaysia-born co-founder and CEO Lian Wah Seng said that the funding followed a seed round of US$1 million in March 2016 from Hong Kong, Malaysian, Singaporean, and Thai investors, before officially launching in July.

To establish GoBike, Seng partnered up with Thai entrepreneur and GoBike Co-founder and Executive Director Attapon Sitichaiareekit to empower and utilise the established ecosystem of 100,000 registered moto drivers.

INDONESIA

Anterin

Serving the few numbers left untouched by either Grab or gojek, Anterin made waves enough to catch the attention of Indonesian conglomerate MNC Group. In January this year, through its subsidiary PT Indonesia Transport & Infrastructure Tbk (IATA), MNC Group announced that it had signed a term sheet to acquire a majority stake in local motorcycle ride-sharing firm Anterin.

The partnership, as reported by e27, was meant to drive the shift of Anterin’s current services towards newer avenues such as food delivery, taxi collaboration with fleet operators, as well as car and helicopter rentals.

Anterin currently has more than 300,000 drivers and 500,000 customers and operates in 100 cities in Indonesia. The company differentiates itself from Grab and gojek by offering a monthly subscription to drivers, instead of slashing fees from each ride they make, without having to give the company commission fees.

“We avoid the cash burn system. We use the auction concept. The drivers can decide their own prices. Customers also can have their own preferences, according to the price, vehicles, or drivers,” said Anterin CTO Rachmat Efendi.

AsiaTrans

AsiaTrans is a more modest ride-hailing option. Suhartoni Yonathan Salusu, President Director, started doing a trial run in a few cities in December 2018 to gauge public interest towards online motorbike Trans Jek and car ride-hailing Trans Car.

According to an atmago article, Trans Jek and Trans Car mostly cover big cities outside the Java island cities like Palembang, Balikpapan, Samarinda, Padang, Makassar, but also in the capital city of Jakarta.

Aside from Trans Jek and Trans Car, the company claims to have 16 online services such as Trans Send, Trans Box, Trans Pick Up, Trans Rent, Trans Food, Trans Clean, Trans Massage, Trans Mechanic, Trans Clean Trans Salon, Trans Market, Trans UKM, Trans Store, Trans Care, Trans Pay Trans Barber, dan Trans Ticket, which is a whole lot of ecosystem on its own just like gojek.

SINGAPORE

TADA

TADA, operated by MVLLABS, differentiates its operation by offering a blockchain-based zero-commission ride-hailing service.

Unlike other cab-hailing platforms, TADA takes zero commission from drivers. For riders, the platform matches them with a driver quickly using its matching tech and the user can choose to pay with cash or debit/credit card.

Recently, TADA raised US$5 million led by South Korean VC firm SV Investment with car parts manufacturers, Central and SIMWON, also participated in this funding round. It will use the funding to expand its service in Southeast Asia with over 50,000 drivers and more than 500,000 users that have used it in Singapore, Vietnam, and Cambodia as claimed.

Also Read: TADA raises US$5M to expand its blockchain-based zero-commission ride-hailing service in SEA

MVL is a mobility ecosystem based on the Mass Vehicle Ledger incentive-based blockchain protocol. Mobility data such as transactions, movements, accidents, and maintenance of vehicles are recorded and connected in a single MVL ecosystem allowing users to interact with MVL’s mobility data ecosystem on the blockchain through connected services such as TADA and other upcoming services.

Ryde

Ryde invites taxi drivers to join its RydeX feature and accept jobs at “dynamic pricing” to open up an additional source of income for them, while reducing their idle time waiting in between street hail jobs, according to an article by Vulcan Post.

In December 2019, Ryde introduced a new metered taxi service, RydeTAXI, offering this to taxi drivers at zero per cent commission with a potential income increase by US$40 each day through this new service. Ryde hopes to add more than 4,000 drivers to its current pool of 29,000 drivers.

With the new offer, passengers can get a ride with shorter waiting times, and avoid surge fares during peak periods.

Moving forward, the ride-hailing sector is projected to be worth close to US$30 billion by 2025. It only grows from strength to strength and is primed for further innovation to circle around the traffic issues and to lift the economy simultaneously. The only question remaining is: how will these startups stay ahead of each other and survive in the fierce competition. The answer also has to do with the government support and potential collaborations with each other.
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Photo by Fikri Rasyid on Unsplash

The post Meet these 22 under-the-radar ride-hailing startups catering to Southeast Asia’s hustle and bustle appeared first on e27.

Asia’s digital payments ecosystem is worth US$2.5 trillion, and this accounts for various payment modes, including mobile and peer-to-peer transactions through cryptocurrency, according to Statista. A big percentage of this will be in digital commerce.

This market will grow with a CAGR of 15.2 per cent to US$ 3.86 trillion by 2023. China is, by far, the biggest market with an estimated US$1.93 trillion in transactions in 2020. 

There is certainly a big opportunity here, and fintech companies are in the best position to enable growth in the market, both for companies dealing with consumer or B2B payments, as well as platforms that facilitate digital transactions.

Even major global tech companies have started to leverage this opportunity with their own digital payment platforms, such as WeChat Pay, GrabPay, and the like.

Challenges in collaboration and scale

In a recent report, Getting Real with Digital Payments, Deloitte cited three big challenges that will shape how businesses tackle the future of digital payments in the region. First is the customer experience–retail companies have been leading in terms of innovation, but many of these are focused on proprietary solutions.

Second, there is fragmentation in the market across Southeast Asia, in terms of both technology and regulatory concerns, especially with emerging trends such as cryptocurrency payments. The third is the challenge of finding the right talent in the region to build into huge opportunities in the digital payments space.

Also Read: Grab announces US$850M+ investment from MUFG, TIS to boost fintech expansion

“The ecosystems that many of the players have built with their collaboration partners have resulted in fragmentation across the payments landscape in Southeast Asia, and interoperability between the different payment systems is quickly becoming an issue that needs to be addressed,” it reads.

The Deloitte report is optimistic that the region’s key players can collaborate toward growing the ecosystem. Victoria Krapivina, Head of Business Relations at Elevate Ventures, affirms this observation: “Both regulatory hindrances and technology concerns can be addressed by the various companies and startups that are focusing on innovation or improving digital payments in the region. This will require the ability to collaborate closely with other value chain players and even with new industry entrants,” she says.

Collaborating towards achieving growth

Fintech startups are aware of the importance of collaboration, especially in enhancing the capability of businesses in leveraging the growth opportunities in digital payments. “Our approach is to partner with great companies that understand the value of our solution,” says Felix Mago, Co-Founder at Dash NEXT and Dash Thailand, a global e-commerce platform for digital currency payments.

“Dash is offering the crypto payment solution, our partners offer the settlement,” he adds, citing the importance of partnering with different players in the ecosystem. This also addresses the third point of Deloitte’s concerns cited earlier, which refers to the talent gap in the region. By partnering with other solution providers, technology companies can leverage each other’s expertise in further enhancing the ecosystem.

In the case of the company, Mago says that Dash is partnering with retailers, payment processors, technology providers, and other stakeholders in the region in order to make payments more secure and convenient for both end-users and businesses that want to engage customers through digital payments. The company is also dealing with developers of decentralised apps (dapps), who can integrate payment capabilities into their applications without the need to build their own payments infrastructure.

Also Read: How fintech will revolutionise gold mining as we know it

A focus on data collaboration

In its Technology 2020 and Beyond report, PriceWaterhouseCoopers placed a highlight on application programming interfaces (APIs) as a key driver of collaboration across technology and financial companies. However, businesses will need a paradigm shift, in terms of how such interfacing is treated. PwC says that such data and meta-data may become commoditised in order for fintech to truly flourish. 

The report reads: “The global industry has been standardising the way it handles payments messaging and remittance meta-data. These standards will define consistent structures for individual messages, promoting interoperability and helping developers define API requirements.

But APIs require that financial institutions think differently about strategy, given that the transactions that call them may come from third parties. The payment transaction may become more of a commodity, but the data itself that is captured in the process could drive drastically different business models.”

Interfacing with data can be complicated when it comes to transactions on distributed infrastructure, however, which is another reason for collaboration. For one, Dash NEXT, the Asia-based business development unit of Dash, has announced a partnership with blockchain analytics company PARSIQ in providing real-time payment notifications to merchants, users, and dapp developers that use Dash for payments. 

This is perhaps but one of the many use cases that technology companies can leverage in order to have a bigger impact on Southeast Asia’s growing digital payments ecosystem. According to Anatoly Ressin, Co-Founder and Chief Blockchain Architect at PARSIQ, the ability to monitor transactions in real-time will also ensure better compliance with regulations–thus addressing the need for improved regulatory frameworks in the region.

For users and businesses, this will provide the comfort that their transactions are secure. “Notifications and additional transaction information can be provided in real-time, allowing deeper insights during the transaction process and potentially allowing to react to certain transactions accordingly when time is of the essence.”

Also Read: How is technology influencing Southeast Asia’s fintech industry in 2020

The takeaway

Deloitte reported one stark reality in the payments industry whether in Asia or across the globe: “Customers are used to seamless payments for most daily transactions – with ever-increasing expectations for integrated and secure ways to pay for any product or service.”

For many users and businesses, having to install, understand, and fund different sets of payment applications will only add to the complexity. Thus, interoperability will mean less friction from the perspective of businesses and users, and this can help increase the utilisation of digital payment platforms toward the projected multi-trillion-dollar goal.

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When it comes to agriculture and allied industries, Indonesia is a leading market in Southeast Asia. It has a large growing population, with a fast-expanding middle-class. As the domestic market grows, it will have a higher domestic consumption of food.

The pace of the growth of the industry has opened up immense opportunities for tech startups — both hardware and software. Many companies are already tapping into these opportunities and have made their presence felt. Their revolutionary technologies also won them accolades in the form of funding from prominent VC investors and corporate.

Also Read: All you need to know about Indonesia’s agritech ecosystem

Below is the list of the top-funded startups, which are easing the lives of farmers in Indonesia.

(e27 has just released a comprehensive guide to Indonesia’s agritech ecosystem. Here is a basic version of the report. The full version is available only for our paid members. For any enquiry related to the paid membership, email us to engage@e27.co)

 

TaniHub (A platform connecting farmers to consumers)
Amount raised to date: US$10 million
Investors: Golden Gate Ventures, Intudo Ventures, Openspace Ventures, DFS Lab, Alpha JWC Ventures.

Kedai Sayur (Digitises vegetable hawkers)
Amount raised to date: US$5.3 million
Investors: East Ventures, Multi Persada, Triputra Group, SMDV.

eFishery (An integrated feeding solution for fish and shrimp farming)
Amount raised to date: US$5.2 million
Investors: InnoVen Capital, Triputra Group, 500 Startups, Unreasonable Capital, Aqua Spark, Wavemaker Partners, Social Capital, GSMA Ecosystem Accelerator, The Perase Lyons Accelerator.

Eden Farm (Delivers fresh produce to restaurants and cafes)
Amount raised to date: US$1.75 million
Investors: S7V, EverHaus, Soma Capital, Global Founders Capital, Y Combinator.

Crowde (A platform connecting small-scale farmers with retail investors)
Amount raised to date: US$1 million
Investors: Mandiri Capital, STRIVE, Crevisse.

iGrow (Building organic farm funded by urban people around the world)
Amount raised to date: US$175,000
Investors: Rekanext, Google Launchpad, 500 Startups, East Ventures.

MSMB (Its RiTx platform focuses on the records of activities to help farmers apply a proper cultivation practice)
Amount raised to date: Undisclosed
Investors: UMG Idealab.

Sayurbox (A web-based platform that offers vegetables and fruit for a healthy lifestyle)
Amount raised to date: Undisclosed
Investors: Patamar Capital, Insignia Ventures Partners.

Jala (Helps shrimp farmers manage their water quality to boost the yield and create a sustainable business)
Amount raised to date: Undisclosed
Investors: Hatch! Program, Conservation International, 500 Startups, Hatch Blue, Brinc.

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Image Credit: 123RF Stock Photo

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Insurtech company Uncharted snags US$5.8M Series A investment

Singapore-based insurtech company Uncharted announced today that it has closed a US$5.8 million in Series A funding round with full participation and support from its foundation shareholders.

The funding followed the merger of its Shift Insurtech and Uncharted businesses, according to Nick Macey, Founder and CEO of Uncharted.

The funds, the company noted, will be used to drive its ongoing expansion into key markets across Asia Pacific, Europe, and North America, and continue the development of its core insurance platforms as it expands its product, technology, and data analytics capabilities.

Intudo Ventures leads a US$3.25M Series A investment into Indonesia’s Visinema

Indonesia-based entertainment and IP development company Visinema announced today that it has closed a US$3.25 million Series A round of financing led by Intudo Ventures, with existing investor GDP Venture and Ancora Capital participating.

Visinema said it plans to use the funding to build capacity in animation production, enhance talent acquisition, and drive international expansion.

Founded in June 2008 by CEO Angga Dwimas Sasaongki, who is also a film director, producer, and scriptwriter, the entertainment and IP development company focusses on the production and distribution of a wide range of entertainment content for audiences in Indonesia and around the world. Visinema conceptualises, produces, and distributes content across several formats, including film, television, and digital.

Also Read: Uncharted acquires Shift to fulfill goal to become top 5 insurtech providers

Visinema’s core offerings include Visinema Pictures, which develops theatrical releases; and Visinema Content, producing serial content for brands and digital OTT/SVOD platforms such as Netflix, iFlix, and GoPlay.

In addition to its core business, Visinema has developed a studio ecosystem for music, talent recruitment, and scriptwriting for film development from conceptualisation, production, talent development and recruitment, distribution, and monetisation.

Prior to this round, Visinema had raised a US$2 million seed financing from GDP Venture.

People

Fraud detection startup Vesta hires ex-Visa veteran Shabab Muhaddes to lead APAC expansion

Vesta, a payment and fraud detection service provider, has expanded into the Asia Pacific region with a new office in Singapore and the appointment of Shabab Muhaddes as its Asia Pacific (APAC) General Manager.

Vesta seeks to address the many problems of fraud, such as account takeovers, transaction fraud, e-skimming, and brute force attacks driven by professional crime rings.

Ron Hynes, CEO of Vesta, said the appointment of Muhaddes has to do with his more than a decade of experience building relationships across the region, bringing to his role key local and global insights from the financial services, fintech, and payments ecosystems.

Muhaddes was previously Visa’s head of digital partnerships and ventures for APAC. Prior to Visa, he spent eight years with Mastercard in a range of roles focused on building strategic alliances to drive growth in emerging markets and product strategy development.

AI-based user retention platform CleverTap adds Julie Simon as its VP of Marketing for APAC

CleverTap, Singapore’s AI-powered customer lifecycle and user retention platform, today announced the appointment of Julie Simon as Vice President (Marketing) for APAC region.

In this newly-created role, Simon will lead all aspects of marketing for APAC, including go-to-market strategy, digital marketing, partner marketing, and branding and awareness programmes.

Simon’s appointment is part of CleverTap’s aggressive global expansion strategy following the completion of a US$35 million Series C funding round led by Tiger Global Management and Sequoia India. The company is using part of the funds to fuel team growth across Asia, the US, Latin America, and Europe.

Also Read: Success is a moving target: CleverTap Co-founder Anand Jain

Most recently, Simon served as Head of Marketing, APAC for Temenos, and has previously held marketing roles at Quadient and Neopost.

CleverTap helps digital-first brands maximise the value of their mobile apps by personalising customer experiences using real-time behavioural data and predictive modelling.

Business

Funding Societies, SGeBIZ join forces to provide financing solutions for underserved SMEs

Funding Societies, Southeast Asia’s SME digital financing platform, has announced a collaboration with Singapore’s E-Business Pte Ltd (SGeBIZ) to provide quick financing solutions to local SME suppliers and their buyers.

The platform offers a diverse range of loan products, accessible to SME owners via SGeBIZ’s e-procurement management system EzyProcure.

Funding Societies said that it views the partnership as another way to lower the barrier of access to working capital for small businesses. Small businesses on SGeBIZ will now be able to access funds from Funding Societies to improve and match their cash cycles.

SGeBIZ was launched in 2014 by two ex-Republic of Singapore Air Force aviators on a mission to simplify work processes for SMEs through automating data entry and digitising inventory, supply chain, and credit rails.

Its flagship product, EzyProcure, is now a PEPPOL (Pan European Public Procurement On-Line) compliant, and IMDA-approved access point provider supporting the E-Invoicing Initiative implemented nationwide last year.

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Image Credit: Unsplash.com/@freetousesoundscom

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Temasek Holdings, others confirm salary freeze amidst COVID-19

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings is among the companies that have confirmed a company-wide wage freeze and voluntary pay reductions for senior management for up to a year amid the coronavirus outbreak, according to Vulcan Post.

This will come into action in April when the company will halt all raises and salary increases linked to promotions. With the amount saved, Temasek will donate to staff volunteer initiatives and support the community through unspecified measures.

The entity has a portfolio of a broad spectrum of startups which include Indian ride-sharing company Ola, coworking space giant WeWork, and Virtu Financial, Inc. amongst many others.

Singaporean deep tech startup Dathena names new CTO

Data security and privacy startup Dathena named veteran software engineer Lylian Kieffer as its new CTO, according to a press statement.

Kieffer was Executive VP for Engineering and Operations at App Annie; he brings in over 15 years of experience in building and operating large scale SaaS and data platforms.

“Leading large global engineering teams and managing large-scale analytics platforms, I’ve seen first-hand how challenging it can be to keep data safe while satisfying all the relevant regulatory constraints. Dathena is using cutting-edge technologies to deliver one-of-a-kind tools and functionalities that global businesses urgently need,” Kieffer said.

“I’m looking forward to leveraging my expertise in managing SaaS platforms in fast-growing environments to help Dathena bring its platform to brand new markets.”

Also Read:  Singaporean deep tech company Dathena eyes North America growth with new HQ launch

Kieffer will focus on developing the architecture required to support deployment and distribution of the platform via SaaS and other models.

Hong Kong-based Snapask raises US$35M for its on-demand tutoring app 

Hong Kong based on-demand tutoring app Snapask has raised US$35 million in Series B funding, according to a press statement. The round was led by Asia Partners and Intervest.

Aiming to open its headquarters in Singapore, the company will use the newly added funds to create educational videos as well as expand into Vietnam and other markets in Southeast Asia. The company claimed to have served over three million students across eight markets.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Uncharted, Visinema raise Series A investments

“We will continue to invest in both products and content to meet students’ learning needs, focusing on the promotion of self-directed learning and creating environments in which students can compete and cooperate with peers,” said Snapask Founder and CEO Timothy Yu.

Singaporean fintech startup Jungle secures lending licence in the Philippines

Jungle, a fintech lending platform that allows customers to pay their purchases at a later period, has obtained a licence from Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to DealStreet Asia.

The licence arrived five months after Jungle raised a US$125,000 pre-seed funding round, led by investors and serial entrepreneurs Roger Crook and Enrique Dubois.

The company said that it will continue to pursue partnerships with the country’s top brands and retailers in verticals such as consumer electronics, home appliances and furniture, dental and medical, travel, education, sporting goods, and apparel.

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In its latest report, White Star Capital (a transatlantic fund investing in Series A and B) found that Southeast Asia is exhibiting very favourable demographic and economic trends. VC funding in the region has reached record levels over the past two years. Funding rounds pipeline of high-quality seed and Series A-stage startups have been driven by a large number of less than US$100 million funds.

However, with the absence of larger funds to finance later stage Series B+ rounds, there remains a clear opportunity for international funds to build a presence in the region, finds the study.

In this interview, Sanjay Zimmermann, Senior Associate at White Star Capital (who is based in Singapore), talks to e27 about the Series B investment crunch, VC investment ecosystem in Southeast Asia and the challenges it faces.

Edited excerpts:

Your survey finds that only less than 15 per cent of the companies that raised Series A funding go on to raise Series B and beyond. Does this suggest there is a lack of Series B funds in the region or is it that there lack quality startups?

The lack of conversion from Series A to Series B and beyond is mainly driven by a lack of Series B-plus funding that is available in the region and as a result of the relatively young nature of the industry, which leads to more risk aversion amongst founders and micro-exits.

The upshot is that the funding gap has been well observed for the last one to two years now and several funds have come up or are in the process of being raised to address it, such as EV Growth, Asia Partners, and Vickers Venture Partners.

Also, as the ecosystem matures and we start seeing an increasing proportion of second-time founders, risk-taking and experience amongst founders will increase as they turn down initial offers to get acquired and aim for billion-dollar outcomes.

Also Read: A comprehensive guide to Indonesia’s agritech ecosystem

For example, think of Elon Musk who sold his first business Zip2 shortly after founding it for US$300 million but then refused multiple offers to sell Paypal, his other business, and only sold after getting a US$1.5 billion offer from eBay.

I assume the Series B funding crunch is a global problem. What do different stakeholders do to plug this gap?

It is indeed a global phenomenon that we have also observed in both our Canadian VC Landscape report and our UK VC Landscape report. It appears to be a growing pain of any thriving ecosystem and fortunately, a situation that the market tends to resolve over time.

Young demographics in Southeast Asia offers massive growth opportunities for consumer startups. But this often comes at the expense of B2B companies, which are also crucial to the growth of any economy. Do you see an upward spiral in the B2B sector as well?

I would argue that the rapid scaling of consumer startups across Southeast Asia is leading to increasing demand for B2B startups to support their scaling when it comes to logistics, payments and several other tangential sectors. This, in turn, supports the overarching theme of the rising middle-class and young millennials beginning to consume online.

On top of this, as certain markets are starting to get oversaturated with B2C startups, there is increasing investor appetite appearing in B2B startups, which are tackling what is referred to as the digitisation of SMEs by offering B2C-like solutions.

Funds such as Wavemaker Partners and Cocoon Capital in Singapore have been driving investments in B2B successfully for a while now, and at White Star Capital, we will be on the lookout for both B2C and B2B opportunities in the region, especially looking out for companies that tie the two together.

Most domestic funds and foreign funds are obsessed only with major countries like Singapore and Indonesia. Several reports show that there is massive potential in markets like Vietnam and Myanmar, but they are not getting as much attention as Jakarta or Singapore do. Is it changing? Do you think Vietnam and Myanmar, etc. will also witness significant growth in the recent future? And what role foreign VCs play to change this scenario?

While it is true that Singapore and Indonesia have received a lot of attention in recent years, we realised in doing our research for the report that there are a number of factors that will make places like Vietnam, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand quite interesting markets over the next decade. This is part of the reason why we chose to go for a broader country deep-dive and evaluate the state of each of these countries in our report.

Myanmar is a market that I find very exciting as well — I had the chance to visit through the eyes of a local, with one of the collaborators who worked on the report’s impact investing section, Grace Su Lei Naing.

I think that it is still very early days to tell how the VC ecosystem will evolve in the country, but one thing I can say is that there are some active players on the ground such as Anthem Asia, Delta Capital and TPG.

On the later stage investment end, we also noted a landmark deal towards the end of last year with the Ayala Group entering the region and strengthening pan-regional bonds.

It is good to see the emergence of Unicorns in the region. In 2017, three companies became unicorns, and in 2019, the number was four. But in 2018, only one startup entered the coveted list. Does it mean 2018 was a bad year for the region?

Not necessarily, I would focus more on looking at the overarching trend of the growing number of unicorns in the region.

Do you see any new unicorns emerging in the region in the foreseeable future? Any candidates?

Our survey seemed to indicate that the majority of investors who responded expect to see between two and five unicorns over the next decade. I would lean towards the tail end of this forecast and would not be surprised if the number would be higher than five.

In terms of candidates, we will soon be announcing our first investment in the region, and we certainly believe that this may become a candidate in the years to come.

Is the ‘super app’ mania among startups good or bad for the ecosystem? Isn’t killing competition and creating a monopoly?

We think the focus on building ‘super-apps’ has been critical in helping build regional champions in circumstances where otherwise there would have been a risk of the US or Chinese players coming in and taking over the ecosystem. By expanding beyond a core product vertical, they have been able to build greater moats and justify higher levels of funding to compete with these global players.

There is a down-side though. Not every startup can be a ‘super app’, and even Grab/gojek are less well-positioned versus Alibaba or Tencent, as social/messaging/payments apps are simply more sticky and have higher daily interaction levels than ride-hailing or food delivery. Other verticals such as e-commerce have even lower user interaction levels which means that there can be a finite number of super apps.

It is unclear if super-apps necessarily kill competition — in China, the dominance of the original Chinese super apps (‘BAT’ – Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent) didn’t stop the next generation (‘TMD’ – Toutiau, Meituan, Didi) from emerging, nor will they be the last. It does make it more difficult — requiring greater innovation and tenacity, but that’s the nature of all business, particularly in tech.

Despite the strong growth in the region, business exits are still rare, and exits via IPO is the most limited. What do you think are the reasons for this? Will we see more exits as the industry matures?

There will need to be more mature capital markets in the region to make IPOs locally more viable, until then, we expect to see more and more acquisition activity from northern Asia.

Some experts say there’s no founder ecosystem yet like there is in Silicon Valley, and former successful founders don’t re-invest in startups yet, mostly because there aren’t that many successful founders that exited yet. If this is true, what is discouraging former successful founders from investing in startups in Southeast Asia?

We believe that this is simply a function of there not having been a critical mass that is large enough of founders that had large exits to be re-investing in the system. The good news is, however, that amongst those who have been successful, we are seeing angel investments trickle in as well new funds being created to invest back into the ecosystem.

Related to this point, looking at raw funding round data from the various data platforms, one may also conclude that the angel network here is not as vibrant as in other parts of the world.

Also Read: Swingvy co founder and CEO: I only hire people who are smarter than me

The reality, when talking to investors and angels in the region, is that a large number of angel investments intentionally or unintentionally do not get reported to these data platforms, which makes it a lot harder to comment on the funding activity from angels.

Some entrepreneurs feel there are no active female players either as investors or founders in the region. Is gender discrimination playing a role here? Does there exist gender discrimination in the startup ecosystem?

This is an important question that we also tried to assert in our survey. The good news is that over 75 per cent of the funds and organisations that answered the survey have some form of strategy in place to help promote more diversity and inclusion within their firms and portfolio companies.

The lack of female players as investors and founders is, unfortunately, a global issue that is prevalent across ecosystems, and that is fortunately increasingly being recognised and acted on.

In Southeast Asia, we would argue that addressing it can have even more significant positive multiplier effects by creating female-led startups to increase gender inclusiveness across sectors and industries in the region.

A recent report by the Asia Women Impact fund outlined that while 56 per cent of women in SEA work, over 70 per cent f these work in the informal economy which precludes women from accessing the social protection gains of formal employment. Tech startups can go a long way here to lead the way to a more gender-inclusive Southeast Asia.

Until last year it was all about user acquisition and generating revenues. Is profitability now becoming a goal for startups? Is there pressure from VCs on startups to become profitable?

We indeed see a move towards profitability over growth, especially at the later stage investment level. This sentiment stemming from a few missed IPOs is to be seen, in some sense, as a healthy correction in the market.

Nonetheless, at the Series A and Series B stages, the story remains around growth but has shifted from “growth at any cost” to “growth with reasonable unit economics and a path to profitability”, not necessarily immediate profitability.

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Indonesian ride-hailing giant gojek has denied circulating report about merger talks between the company and its rival Grab.

The Information reported earlier that a possible merger is being discussed by the two giants after Grab President Ming Maa and Gojek CEO Andre Soelistyo met earlier this month

The report further explained that the management of the two companies has been meeting occasionally in the past two years, and developing more in the last two months.

The potential deal-breaker in these talks is the question of who will control the combined organisation. Grab has been reportedly asking for a larger share of the pie whereas gojek wants a 50-50 deal.

Other potential hurdles in the deal include regulatory clearance for a merger.

Also Read: Grab acquires Bento to assist SEA users with retail wealth solutions

According to a senior executive in one of the companies, “As the first step, Grab and gojek may look at getting off the price war in both ride-hailing and food delivery to stem losses. In a similar case, even though Ola and Uber, did not acknowledge the same, they had got into a similar arrangement in India, where they had scaled back driver incentives and also raised prices during the last two years.”

On the other hand, investors seem to welcome the idea of a merger. Leading investors in the past from both companies, during off the record conversations with media, have speculated a potential merger according to Dealstreet Asia.

Grab has raised total funding of US$9.8 billion and is currently in the midst of raising another round, with targets of US$2 billion added capital. Comparatively, gojek has raised US$3.3 billion in total and is in talks of another raising Series F funding round, targetting US$2.5 billion.

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Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab, which has been making a foray into the fintech scene, today announced an over US$850 million investment from Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and TIS.

MUFG will invest up to US$706 million in the company while TIS will invest US$150 million (JPY16.5 Billion).

The investments were meant to support Grab’s effort to further expand into the financial sector.

In two separate statements, Grab detailed its upcoming plans with the two companies.

With MUFG, it plans to “co-develop innovative financial products and services based on … combined customer insights to better cater to the financial needs of Grab’s users, driver-partners and merchant-partners.”

Also Read: Indonesian ride-hailing giant gojek denies report on merger talks with rival Grab

Grab aims to use the funding to create products and solutions in the lending, insurance, and wealth management verticals for Southeast Asian consumers and SMEs. The services will be delivered through digital channels; most likely the Grab app, a realisation of its super-app ambition.

With TIS, Grab will collaborate on enhancing the digital payment infrastructure in the region and in Japan to enable greater adoption of cashless payment options, such as GrabPay. Both companies will also collaborate on developing emerging payment technologies.

Starting off as a ride-hailing service for taxis in Malaysia, Grab has been expanding into the fintech segment lately, with the particular goal of promoting financial inclusion.

Launching Grab Financial Group in 2018, it has announced partnerships with the likes of Mastercard, Credit Saison, Chubb, and ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance Co. Ltd.

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Image Credit: Afif Kusuma

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Technology has disrupted every industry and advertising is still adapting each day to the digital transitions. From Adwords to demographic targetting on social media, adtech is growing in 2020. Here are five predictions on where the industry is headed.

Number of players in adtech will be at its highest level ever

This can be a good thing for the industry.

In recent years, programmatic advertising has reached an unprecedented level of adoption as the industry responds to changing marketplace dynamics.

This has resulted in the formation of multiple third-party platforms and tools that enable advertisers to expand the efficiency and effectiveness of advertising campaigns. These platforms and tools have also continued to evolve as the programmatic value chain becomes more complex – resulting in the birth of even more features that provide advertisers with the ability to keep up with the ever-changing landscape.

The increasing number of vendors in the industry means an increase in the level of competition between the different players. Brands can therefore afford to be pickier when choosing partners to work with.

Also Read: Is AI the key to adtech’s data-driven future?

To succeed, players in the adtech industry need to ensure that their capabilities are driven by a customer-centric approach that is grounded in brand experience, privacy, and powerful analytics. The high level of competition will correspondingly ensure higher levels of quality in the services offered by most players in the market, in turn bolstering the growth of the ad tech landscape for the coming year.

Out with the CMO, and in with the CGO (Chief Growth Officer)

Today, producing content is a must for every brand. But that also means that brands are not only going against other brands but other content creators; which essentially means other social media content users – comprising of both individual consumers and other brands alike.

As brands now have to fight harder to vie for consumers’ attention, they also have to be smarter about where budgets are allocated. Return on Investment (ROI) is becoming more important, and brands are naturally becoming more cautious about their ad spend.

To make things more complicated, the current vast availability of data means that the metrics used to quantify and qualify success are becoming more complicated, and will need the expertise of someone who understands not only marketing, but also the other aspects of the company’s offerings that drive growth – such as sales, product, tech, and consumer advocates.

Enter the Chief Growth Officer (CGO) – an individual whose role is fundamentally cross-functional, overseeing multiple divisions. Because of their visibility of various other functions, and the centrality of their role in the company’s performance, CGOs find themselves having influence and accountability across various departments when it comes to board meetings. In the coming year, we foresee the emergence of CGOs becoming more prevalent.

Short videos will reign supreme

The surge of digital growth has necessitated the need for brands to deliver high-quality digital customer experiences (CX). CX is now a fundamental component of digital strategies, and advertisers are constantly having to explore new ways to capture customers’ attention.

Also Read: How AI can boost adtech

2020 will see a greater shift towards more creative-focused solutions that enhance consumer engagement. Video has been the king of content for many years now; however, TikTok’s 15-second video format has revolutionised the way in which stories can be told, the limited time necessitating users to think creatively in sharing their story.

Couple this with today’s mobile-first consumer – bombarded with content competing for their attention – brands and advertisers will need to reinvent the way they engage with their target market. As a result, we expect to see more brands and social platforms embracing short video formats in the year to come.

Rise of influencer partnerships in SE Asia, as platforms become increasingly automated

Influencer marketing has really erupted in the last five years. While there currently exist conflicting views on whether influencer marketing is a fad or the future, there is no doubt that influencers have since disrupted traditional marketing strategies.

As networks such as Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok continue to rise in popularity, especially among younger audiences, it is not surprising to project that influencer marketing will be here to stay – at least in the near future.

Like any marketing strategies, conceptualising an influencer programme requires careful planning and deliberate targeting. Influencer marketing is also very different across different networks, so an understanding of each network, as well as the user behaviours of each network, is imperative.

Additionally, given that influencer marketing is relatively nascent in the region, collaborating with influencers on campaigns can be very time-consuming.

With many different categories of influencers, brands have to approach these influencers and negotiate on terms and rates individually – a potentially frustrating process that can take up a much longer time than it needs to be.

Also Read: The reality of influencer marketing in the age of digital content

Taking a leaf out of our Western counterparts’ book, it will only be a matter of time before the establishment of an automated platform for influencer management. This will not only help to simplify the process of managing influencers for campaigns, but also allow for a more standardised method of reporting and analysing results – enabling a more accurate snapshot of the performance of the collaboration.

These automated platforms may take a while to be established, but I believe that we will see a movement towards that eventuality in the coming year – perhaps starting with the rise of consolidated platforms that will help ease the process of influencer marketing.

Southeast Asia will be the global leader of online gaming and e-commerce

Ecommerce has played an important role in driving the internet economy in 2019. In 2020, e-commerce will play an even more central role in driving the internet economy.

The surge in e-commerce in the region is actually part of a broader transformation – beyond enabling consumers to transact online, e-commerce has also helped to increase the efficiency of cross-border logistics network, enabled offline retailers to reach new consumers, and create a secure medium for digital payments. These have all contributed to building trust in the region’s internet economy.

As it continues to build in momentum, we expect e-commerce to be the main driving force of this growth – creating more opportunities for even more exciting innovations in the upcoming year.

The global spotlight is also on another industry that has grown significantly as a direct result of the growing digital economy: online gaming. Recent research has predicted that the number of PC and mobile gamers in Southeast Asia will rise to a staggering 400 million, accumulating a combined revenue of US$4.4 billion USD by 2021.

A group of nations known as the ‘Big Six’ – namely Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam – are taking the lead as the biggest growth markets. Given the mobile-first nature of the Big Six nations, we expect to see the growth of mobile-centric gaming and startups in 2020.

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Limitless Labs teams up with US embassy, Pasig City to innovate public service design

Limitless Lab, a design and innovation company in the Philippines, is partnering with City Government of Pasig and the US Embassy in the Philippines to develop innovation in public service design and local government units (LGUs). According to a press statement, the partnership will result in a pilot programme called Bayanivation.

Taking place on March 1 at Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig, the event will include innovation boot camp, pitching and mentoring session, and keynote speeches.

Joie Cruz, founder and CEO of Limitless Lab, said that the government cannot be left behind as emerging technologies continues to develop in the world.

The statement has confirmed that more than 500 participants composed of policymakers, industry partners, startup founders, youth, and Pasig City citizens will attend the event.

SOCAR launches person to person car-sharing platform TREVO in Malaysia

SOCAR announced today that it has launched a people-to-people car-sharing platform called TREVO in Malaysia. Through this platform, users can rent a luxury car for an affordable rate.

“For guests, we provide more mobility choices to help them fulfill their travel dreams, while for hosts, we offer the opportunity to earn extra income to offset the cost of car ownership. Thus, improving the lifestyle quality and experiences for both,” said Susan Teoh, General Manager of TREVO.

Also Read: Grab announces US$850M+ investment from MUFG, TIS to boost fintech expansion

The ownership of cars in Malaysia is pretty common with most households owning at least one car and according to the company statement TREVO targets to “ offer the opportunity to earn extra income to offset the cost of car ownership.”

Grab announces US$850M+ investment from MUFG, TIS to boost fintech expansion

Ride-hailing giant grab has raised US$706 million from Japanese investor Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG) and US$150 million from TIS Inc, according to a press statement today.

The organisations will also be partnering to co-develop financial solutions to better cater to the financial needs of Grab’s users and partners.

Also Read:Morning News Roundup: SOSV’s mobile-only accelerator MOX reveals 10 startups from 8th cohort

“MUFG has been developing business in Southeast Asia by building a platform centred on our partner banks. We are excited to be able to provide customers with next-generation financial services by combining Grab’s technologies and data management expertise with our financial knowledge and know-how. We believe that this alliance will also generate additional momentum for our ongoing digital transformation of MUFG,” said Hironori Kamezawa, President of MUFG.

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