Finance

Cybersecurity analytics startup CYFIRMA gets Series A funding to support expansion

CYFIRMA, a cybersecurity analytics platform that seeks to address the need for advanced threat intelligence and predictive capabilities to help businesses strengthen their risk and security posture, has raised a Series A funding from India-based early-growth private equity fund Z3Partners.

With the new funding, CYFIRMA plans to expand into markets across Asia, including India, and the US. The funds will also be used to support the development roadmap of CYFIRMA’s cyber- intelligence analytics platform.

Headquartered in Singapore and Tokyo, CYFIRMA has just separated its operation from Antuit Group in October 2019.

“CYFIRMA was born out of the urgent need to help business leaders decipher relevant and critical threats in a sea of noise, so that decisive actions can be taken to prevent massive brand and financial damages. We rely on our way of looking at cyber threat analytics, gathering intelligence across deep and dark web as well as surface web to unravel motivations of threat actors and stop cyber-attack,” said Ritesh Kumar, Founder and CEO of CYFIRMA.

Also Read: Cybersecurity in the age of information warfare and IoT

Z3Partners officially joins Goldman Sachs and Zodius Capital as a shareholder of CYFIRMA with this investment. To date, the company has raised US$8 million including the current round.

Business

Facebook joins Sequoia India’s Surge in launching the fourth edition of VC Brand Incubator

Facebook reportedly has joined forces with Surge, Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator programme, to launch the fourth instalment of the VC Brand Incubator in India, DealStreetAsia has learned.

The VC Brand Incubator is aimed to help brands gain more insights into leveraging the Facebook family of apps for growth.

VC Brand Incubator was first established in June 2019 by Facebook to support India’s small and medium businesses and provide access for collaboration with venture capital funds. For its first, second, and third editions, the social media behemoth worked with Sauce.VC, Fireside Ventures, and SAIF Partners – claiming to have mentored more than 70 brands.

Also Read: Meet the 8 Southeast Asian startups who will receive US$1-2M each from Sequoia’s Surge programme

Besides VC Brand Incubator, Facebook also launched two other support programmes in the country: Facebook Digital Training that offers social and content marketing training for free, and Facebook Startup Training Hub to help businesses go digital.

Started in 2019, Surge said it has invested between US$1-2 million in selected startups from its two cohorts of 37 startups consisting of six countries in South and Southeast Asia.

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Image Credit: Kaur Kristjan on Unsplash

The post Afternoon News Roundup: Cyber-threat analytics platform CYFIRMA secures Series A funding from Z3Partners appeared first on e27.

Is it time to ditch the office? Remote working is here to stay, and here’s what you need to know.

The year is 2016. I had just moved to Metro Manila, one of the densest metropolitans in the world with a population of just under 13 million in a land area of 619 square kilometers. With this many people, a typical daily commute from Quezon City to the bustling business district of Ortigas meant spending forty minutes in traffic from my house to the closest train station, thirty minutes to fall in line and squeeze myself inside a packed train, twenty minutes to get to the station closest to my work, and another twenty minutes to walk to the office.

By the time I arrived, I would already be exhausted from the mere act of getting there on time, and often drenched in sweat after spending two hours inside packed vehicles under the blinding tropical heat.

This means, a typical workday for me consisted of nine hours at the office and four more hours on the road. This is just a conservative estimate as the 12-hour workday I illustrated operates under three important assumptions: that I don’t spend more of my hours doing extra work, that the weather is being cooperative, and that our often unreliable third world transport system isn’t clunking out.

I was not alone in this predicament. People all over Metro Manila have to deal with the exact same problems, while those in other similarly dense cities around the world like Mumbai and Dhaka have to contend with their own versions of the same harrowing story.

To be able to work remotely cuts back four full hours from my workday and relieves me from the violence and terror that a tedious commute system entails.

With remote working, not only am I able to perform better, but conversely, the companies I work for get to maximise my time and energy better, rendering a mutually beneficial partnership between employer and employee.

Environmental impact of remote work

Of all the things modern society has to contend with, the one thing we cannot deny is the impact of carbon emissions to our climate. With climate justice taking on an increasingly important role in how we shape society, it is important to recalibrate how we operate in our daily lives to better mitigate the effects of climate change.

A recent report from the Carbon Trust found that greater adoption of home working could save around 3 million tons of carbon emissions in the UK alone. Because of our growing knowledge on the impact we have towards the natural environment, it is likely that organisations big and small will continue to push for remote working as a means to reduce our carbon footprint.

In the US, the city of San Antonio, Texas is encouraging businesses to authorise more flexible working arrangements for employees such as getting them to work a four-day week (instead of five) to decrease their time on the road and improve the city’s air quality. On the other hand, the Philippines has passed a recent law that allows employers in the private sector to offer remote working and promote people’s capacity to earn without the need to exhaust their valuable resources and energy in commuting.

These initiatives are mere examples of how institutional change are being enforced across multiple parts of the world to better accommodate the increasingly precarious state that our natural environment finds itself in. Not only is it important for governments to implement these solutions in the labor force framework, but it is becoming increasingly necessary.

As such, we can realistically project that remote working as a solution to this problem will only take on a more prominent role as the decade unfolds. Not just as a trend, but as a norm, remote working coupled with tools and technologies is a viable and impactful solution to the pressing problems that come with climate change.

Business continuity planning in times of crisis

Business continuity planning (BCP) is the process of creating a system of prevention and recovery efforts from potential threats to a company. The plan ensures that personnel and assets are protected and are able to function quickly in the event of a disaster.

These disasters can span from anything between situations of environmental calamity like typhoons, to less common predicaments like concerns surrounding health and other related issues.

With global threats and health risks becoming more and more prominent, there is an acute awareness among big and small companies that preemptive measures and proactive systems must be in place in order to err on the side of caution.

Such is the case in Singapore where, due to certain public health risks, many multinational companies are encouraging remote and flexible working arrangements in order to better protect their employees while still managing the daily grind that comes with operating a business.

Given these developments, business continuity planning is more important than ever as it helps strike a balance between securing the health and safety of employees while at the same time, making sure that the company gets to continue rendering products and services for its consumers.

Remote working is a great way to circumvent these problems and equip companies with a formidable business continuity planning system. Given the right set of tools, a lot of businesses especially in the tech ecosystem will be able to function normally with the help of remote working despite certain public threats.

The right set of tools

There are many technologies out there that can help a company promote business continuity planning and provide ample tools for remote working. One of the greatest markers of a powerful tool when it comes to effective remote working is an integrated system that combines all conversations, documents, and meetings in one seamless platform.

Because remote working means one’s workforce is somewhat scattered and fragmented and often across multiple time zones, the best way for it to work is by streamlining and simplifying operations that can only be achieved in an effective integrated model.

One of the best examples of these technologies is Lark, the new unified communications and collaborations solution for teams of all sizes. With tools such as messaging, calendar, video conferencing, and docs all synced in real-time and under one platform, Lark is a great example of a technology that can help one’s business ease into a remote working environment.

Not only that, but you can also install third-party tools into the platform that you may need in order to function as you would in an office-setting.

Kick-start your remote working journey with a free business subscription valid until 1 May 2020 when you sign up at www.larksuite.com.

The post The beginning of the decentralised office — are you ready for a remote working future? appeared first on e27.

 

In its latest The China AI Report 2020, South China Morning Post (SCMP) addresses the growing concerns of US-China tensions which included the recent import bans of Chinese tech –and how it will impact the country’s AI ambitions.

The report further explores the impacts of these developments. In principle, while tech tensions hammer the financial market, the battle for AI supremacy is predicted to continue between the two nations.

The report also interviews many top-level individuals who continually stress upon privacy as an increasingly crucial aspect of the AI industry. As more privacy concerns begin to develop, China plans to build more trust with consumers and users.

The region is also working towards developing technology which will fight against the negative impacts of machine learning such as bias, discrimination, algorithmic transparency, and explainability.

Healthcare, manufacturing remains key

Authored by the SCMP Research team, the report includes deep dives, case studies, and first-hand insights of the AI industry in China. It also included projections for the long term future, with manufacturing being one of the aspects covered in it.

China maintains the top position in terms of manufacturing output; the report further elaborates China’s plans of moving manufacturing into a more personalised direction due to AI advancements.

In the near term, there will also be wider use of automated checkouts, which will reduce labour costs and enhance data gathering. But the use of “unmanned stores” has been disregarded for the foreseeable future.

Also Read: Report: SEA digital investment climate to become more diverse, “strong” growth in most deal sizes

Healthcare is another major focal point of the 2020 report. It reveals that more attention will be given to preventive maintenance. Beyond fully automated diagnosis and treatment, including surgery by domestically produced robots, AI will involve highly customised lifestyle recommendations based on individual genotypes.

What’s next for AI in China?

Recent reports pointed towards unfavourable economic predictions for China, as it is being weighed down by violent anti-government protests in Hong Kong, US-China trade war, and the outbreak of Coronavirus. These developments leave the future of China highly uncertain.

Interestingly, while it is hard to conceal the fact that China has seen a drop in private investments, the Chinese government and local tech giants are not facing a shortage of capital or solutions. They are even striving towards widening the lead in AI deployment as of 2020.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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GrabWheels, the mobility arm of Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab, announced that it has secured US$30 million investment into its ongoing Series A round from Taiwanese electric vehicle (EV) company KYMCO. The funding is said to be the part of a strategic partnership to develop two-wheeler electric vehicle (EV) solutions to accelerate the adoption of EVs in Southeast Asia.

The partnership will enable both firms to jointly explore developing and deploying two-wheel electric vehicles, specifically KYMCO’s Ionex electric bikes, as well as the Ionex EV charging platforms in Southeast Asian cities where Grab operates.

The partnership will also include a research study in which GrabWheels and Kymco will look into how best to develop a shared two-wheel EV service, build electric charging infrastructure, and ensure KYMCO’s EVs meet the licensing requirements across Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Grab launches green e-scooter GrabWheels in Indonesia’s top university

Chris Yeo, Head of Grab Ventures and New Platform Business, said, “This joint effort underscores our commitment to work with strategic partners and local governments to bring about a safer and more environmentally sustainable transport network.”

“The transition toward electric vehicles is one of the most significant transformations of personal transportation for the next 10 years,” said Allen Ko, Chairman of KYMCO Group, who added, “Accelerating this transition, KYMCO Ionex is the EV turnkey solution that empowers all businesses and governments to go electric.”

Grab has been steadily expanding its EV ecosystem by collaborating with governments and partners such as automakers and electricity providers, to drive up EV adoption. Grab said it plans to gain insights on how to better operate and expand EV fleets by co-developing policies with governments with the aim of making EVs more affordable, thus encouraging driver-partners and fleet owners to adopt EVs.

In July 2019, Grab and Universitas Indonesia (UI) launched GrabWheels as a green mobility solution at the university campus in Depok, Indonesia, just a month after it first offered a new subscription plan for its food delivery-partners across the city-state to be able to enjoy unlimited rides on GrabWheels’ e-scooters available at close to 30 pick-ups or drop off points across the island.

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Image Credit: GrabWheels

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Finance

NFC-based event management startup PouchNATION raises Series B funding from Indonesian online cinema tickets platform TIX ID

TIX ID, the online cinema tickets platform in Indonesia, has invested in PouchNATION, to extend its on-ground handling capabilities in anticipation of launching the events ticket sales business.

PouchNATION digitises mass participation events and venues through the use of NFC technology to manage crowds process payments, collect data, as well as offer events and recreational venues space in Asia with offices in Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

It will be complementing TIX ID product offering by providing its technology for on-ground capabilities at events and venues.

Sean Kim, Managing Director of TIX ID, said: “Jointly we will be able to guarantee a seamless experience starting from online ticket sales, on TIX ID platform, to offline crowd management, access control and brand activation on PouchNATION’s platform.”

For more than 10 million registered users on TIX ID platform this collaboration means that soon they will have a broader choice than just accessing movie tickets; events tickets will be available as soon as March 2020.

GrabWheels snags US$30M investment from KYMCO to bring two-wheeler electric vehicle to Southeast Asia

GranWheels, the mobility arm of Grab, announces that it has secured US$30 million investment from Taiwan’s electric vehicle (EV) KYMCO.

Grab’s mobility arm GrabWheels said that the funding will enable both firms to jointly explore developing and deploying two-wheel electric vehicles, specifically KYMCO’s Ionex electric bikes and Ionex EV charging platforms.

Also Read: Grab launches green e-scooter GrabWheels in Indonesia’s top university

The partnership will also include a research study in which GrabWheels and Kymco will look into how best to develop a shared two-wheel EV service, build an electric charging infrastructure, and ensure KYMCO’s EVs meet the licensing requirements across Southeast Asia.

“The transition toward electric vehicles is one of the most significant transformations of personal transportation for the next 10 years,” said Allen Ko, Chairman of KYMCO Group, who added: “Accelerating this transition, KYMCO Ionex is the EV turnkey solution that empowers all businesses and governments to go electric.”

Grab has been steadily expanding its EV ecosystem by collaborating with governments and partners like automakers and electricity providers, to drive up EV adoption.

Business

Toyota Mobility Foundation, MDEC collaborates to launch US$1.5M-prized city architecture competition

Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) announces that it has partnered with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to launch the City Architecture for Tomorrow Challenge (CATCH).

The challenge marks the region’s first global challenge that will attract innovative, data-driven entries from global participants. It aims to raise efficiency in urban planning, and drive forward the future of mobility.

CATCH will seek to address mobility challenges in Kuala Lumpur with a global call for solutions, for a period of 8 months, where participants — from startups, academic, and research institutions to corporates, or even the general public — can conceptualise and develop solutions that are data-driven to design future city infrastructures and city mobility management for the region.

Also Read: MDEC partners 9 Digital Transformation Lab for tech enabling support

Surina Shukri, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, said, “CATCH is in-line with MDEC’s efforts to drive forward the country’s digital economy, catalyse next-gen innovation through Malaysia’s Global Testbed Initiative, and reinforce the country’s position as the Heart of Digital ASEAN.”

TMF will be providing grants at every stage of the challenge — up to US$1.5 million in total — to support teams towards the development and trial-testing of the solutions in Kuala Lumpur. Participants will also have access to expert mentors, both public and private sector data of commuters’ journey point in the city to empower them to develop solutions that will be selected in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act, and an incubation program.

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Image Credit: PouchNATION

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Jin Xi Cheong grew up in Kuala Lumpur and moved to Melbourne for higher studies when he was 14. He then went on to pursue a Bachelor Degree in Aerospace Engineering at Monash University.

In Late 2015, he returned to Kuala Lumpur to join Intel as a Finance Analyst.

“From a young age, I knew I would not be able to work in a corporate,” says Cheong, recounting his story to e27. “I was often the chief troublemaker at school and had a problem dealing with the authorities, especially when they went against my personal beliefs. I couldn’t change this behaviour. On the very first day at Intel, I told my manager that I would stay here only to learn things and that I would leave the firm if I found a better opportunity elsewhere.”

And this opportunity presented itself in the form of Poladrone.

Giving wings to his dream

While working at Intel, Cheong pursued aerial photography as a hobby. The initial idea was to make aerial photography easy for anyone.

He, however, quickly realised that while the hobbyist industry was famous in Malaysia, there were hardly any companies which utilised drones for solving industrial problems.

Also Read: Drones will revolutionise these 3 industries, so watch out

Cheong smelt an opportunity there and began working on it. He soon left Intel and started working full time in Poladrone.

His familiarity with agriculture came in handy when designing the products. The continuous improvements over the years shaped Poladrone into an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) company for agriculture solutions.

Data matters

Cheong created Poladrone in 2016 and was later joined by Co-founder Yong Guan, who also holds a Degree in Aerospace Engineering.

The company was started with an idea to make drones easily accessible to everyone. As time passed, the founders realised the real value of drones lies in the data that they can collect at scale. “Currently, Poladrone’s vision is to bring aerial insights (analytics) and automation to industries, with a focus on agriculture,” he explains.

The drones provided by the company can be used for data analytics and automation. Drones used to collect data are already available in the market, and Poladrone uses the best hardware for the job, he claims. On the other hand, drones used for automation would need to be customised for local use.

“We have recently developed a solution called ‘Airamap’, which helps simplify the entire data acquisition and analytics process for our customers. Our aim is to enable anyone with a drone to be able to unlock the potential of data, which can be captured using their existing equipment in a cost-efficient manner. We are launching the product at the end of this week,” he reveals.

The target segment

Anyone who manages assets/land over a large area or inaccessible areas is Poladrone’s customer. A bulk of its customers are in the agriculture, infrastructure and survey industries, in which it has mapped and analysed over 500,000 hectares of data so far. Five of the top 10 oil palm plantations in Malaysia, besides many large enterprises and government agencies in different industries, are its clients.

Also Read: 16-year-old Indian prodigy has developed a drone that can detect and destroy landmines

The company also rents out drones but with on strict conditions. “These are industrial-grade equipment that can cost over RM100,000 per set. Thus it requires the companies who rents the drones to have qualified pilots and an excellent safety record of flight operations,” he emphasises.

The market for drones is still nascent in Southeast Asia but is growing at a rapid rate. In his opinion, the drone tech is unique in a way that it is an enabler which can be applied across multiple industries. However, the applications of drones are not fully explored yet.

Gearing up for Indonesia launch

Poladrone is currently headquartered in Cyberjaya with branch offices in Bintulu, Sarawak and Bangkok, Thailand. The startup is now gearing up for expansion into Indonesia in 2020.

Like any other startup, Poladrone also had its fair share of setbacks, but they are insignificant when compared to a critical mistake that the founders made during the product launch.

“We were planning for the launch of a product, and I got carried away by putting too much importance in making the launch look good, instead of targeting the right audience. A lot of things went wrong, but in summary, we realised that we trusted the wrong partner and ended up burning quite a lot of resources without achieving our targets,” he shares.

The Echelon experience

Poladrone was the winner of Echelon 2017. Cheong reveals that a lot has definitely changed since winning the title at Echelon 2017.

“When we won Echelon, we were an extremely early-stage startup, with only two of us in the company and barely any customers. Right now, we have over 35 full-timers in Poladrone with many stakeholders across multiple countries to manage. The responsibility and pressure of leading Poladrone have increased significantly but the impact that we make keeps the lights on at night,” he says.

In his opinion, Echelon is a perfect platform for early-stage startups to validate what you’re building with the public. Understanding the market and customers are fundamental to success in any company, and there is no better place than in front of hundreds of people on stage at the Top 100 pitch. Announcing your ideas and goals in public is the best form of commitment and inspiration to push for your best,” he concludes.

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Standard Chartered Bank and Australian firm Assembly Payments have set up a new joint venture to bring payment solutions for the global e-commerce industry.

Headquartered in Singapore, the new venture will cover online, mobile, point-of-sale, digital wallets, debit and credit cards, and real-time payments under one digital platform.

As per a press release, the JV will roll out its payment services to global merchants and will seek to support their ambitions to scale and solve key challenges they face in managing risk, fraud, integration, reporting, and reconciliation.

Michael Gorriz, Group Chief Information Officer of Standard Chartered, commented: “Payments is a critical pillar of banking services. Enabling real-time faster payments and high volume transactions have been a core area of investment for Standard Chartered in line with the evolving needs of clients, particularly with the growth of e-commerce platforms and wallet apps. Our venture with Assembly Payments complements these capabilities, giving our corporate clients a complete offering for high throughput inward and outward payments.”

Alex Manson, Head of SC Ventures, the innovation, fintech investment and venture arm of Standard Chartered, said: “As the world moves towards platform-based e-commerce, the need for the next generation of tools to empower merchants and enable financial inclusion continues to grow. We identified payments as an area where we wanted to make a strategic investment.”

Also Read: AccessPay and Assembly Payments win SWIFT global fintech competition in Singapore

Assembly Payments is a fintech firm, which has been working to capitalise on the demand for new payment solutions — brought on by the introduction of the country’s fast payment network, the New Payments Platform — in Australia and abroad.

Standard Chartered has actively been experimenting with new business models to meet the evolving needs of banking clients. In Hong Kong, it has established a strategic joint venture with PCCW, HKT, and Ctrip Finance to deliver a new standalone digital retail bank in Hong Kong and has set up virtual banking partnerships in Taiwan and Korea.

It has also set up a digital open platform, Solv, to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India and other markets grow by providing a range of financial and business services.
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Photo by Sergio Sala on Unsplash

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Yangon-based logistics startup Kargo today announced its rebrand to Karzo, according to a press statement.

Having been focussing on both B2C and B2B segments, the startup also announced that it will be developing a new B2B-focussed strategy as it moves towards securing a Series A funding round this month.

Karzo connects independent truck drivers, fleet owners, and third-party logistics (3PLs) with businesses. The company claims that the platform “offers a more reliable and trackable distribution and delivery solution for businesses faced with outdated logistics in the region.”

Its refocus to the B2B sector came after noticing the high demand for transportation logistics services amongst businesses in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: E-commerce startup Get acquires Daung Capital to provide one-stop fintech solutions to Myanmar’s micro-entrepreneurs

Other than that, Karzo founder and CEO Alex Wicks expressed strong optimism for tapping into Myanmar’s “freight market” which is expected to grow by 300 per cent in the coming years.

“The focus on B2B also allows us to channel our resources in strengthening our presence along with key freight and border corridors of Myanmar to prepare for cross-border expansion across Southeast Asia. With such a fragmented logistics market, our platform simplifies tracking through one simple dashboard that manages shipments both across Myanmar to other markets in the region,” he added.

The logistics startup has already managed to raise US$800,000 in pre-Series A funding from Singapore-based Cocoon Capital and two angel investors.

The Burmese company had also been named ‘Best Logistics & Supply Chain Startup’ at the Echelon Top100 competition in Singapore in 2018.

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Image Credit:  MICHAEL WILSON

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China’s economic appeal is far from over, at least according to a 2019 member survey of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), which suggests that the Chinese market is still prioritised by investors over other markets. The survey found that 97 per cent of USCBC members experienced profitability growth in China over the past year.

Despite the less-than-stellar outlook, which is particularly compounded by the 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) scare, China continues to attract investments.

With the recently released figures on the country’s software and IT sector, investment movement, especially in the IT industry, is set to grow further.

The positive investor sentiment re-echoes the positive outlook presented in a Standard Chartered report that describes the world’s second-largest economy as a top-three priority for five out of 10 investors.

The report reveals that 49 per cent of global institutional investors list China as one of their top three investment destinations even with the uncertainties on the country’s market conditions. Additionally, 67 per cent of the investors surveyed affirmed the high demand for exposure to China as they expressed intentions to raise their Chinese investments in the year ahead.

21 per cent of the survey respondents regard China as a top (number one) priority while 28 per cent consider it a top three priority. Only 2 per cent say that the Asian economic powerhouse is not a priority, while 12 per cent think of it as a niche priority and 37% list it as one of their top 10 investment options.

It also bears pointing out that the 2019 World Investment Report ranks China as the world’s second-largest FDI recipient. It is also hailed as the second most attractive country for multinational companies for the 2017-2019 period.

Strong IT sector growth

Official data from the Chinese government reveal robust growth for China’s software and IT industry in 2019. This component of the Chinese economy generated RMB 7.18 trillion in revenues (approximately US$1 trillion), an impressive 15.4 per cent growth from the previous year.

Also read: How to start a business in China as a foreigner

In addition to the significant rise in revenue, the data presented by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that profits reached 936.2 billion yuan (around USD$134 billion), a year-on-year increase of 9.9 per cent.

Moreover, the Chinese software and IT sector hired more employees in 2019. Data show that the country hired 6.73 million employees in the sector, a 4.7 per cent year-on-year increase. Even better, the IT labor force received a 6.8 per cent per capita salary increase.

Defying expectations

Multinational businesses can attest to this notable growth amidst forecasts of slowing growth for the economies of Asia. One company that demonstrated such projection-defying developments is European IT company TenderHut.

Posting a 50 per cent year-on-year growth for 2019 with a US$9.6 million revenue, the company is taking advantage of the many opportunities presented by the unpredictable but generally positive global economy. The firm undertook a number of strategic takeovers, developed foreign divisions, launched new startup projects, and raked a few prestigious awards along the way.

“After a period of intensive consolidation of the IT industry, we have entered a time of strategic investments, which, in the coming years, will lead us to maximization of profits and expansion to other markets,” said Robert Strzelecki, President of the TenderHut Capital Group.

The startup maintains an optimistic outlook for the Chinese market that it designated its Guangzhou office as the seat of the Chinese Solution4Labs operation.

The local office implements specialised laboratory software on the local market, in contrast to most other companies that only operate in China to take advantage of local labor. There is a clear intention to leverage Chinese demand in achieving market scale.

New investment access routes

New investment access routes have emerged as China continues to attract domestic and foreign investors.

For example, when it comes to equities, the scheme that connects the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets— referred to as the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect—is already used by 51 per cent of the investors surveyed.

An additional 18 per cent said that they plan on using the scheme in the succeeding year. For fixed-income investments, around 33 per cent of the respondents said that they are considering the China interbank bond market.

The presence of new access channels, however, does not mean that investors have already abandoned the older schemes. As the Standard Chartered study reveals, 62 per cent of investors said that they are still using the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme, while 31 per cent said they use the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) scheme.

Risks and threats

Unfortunately, China is facing a serious economic threat in the ongoing Wuhan novel coronavirus problem. To date, there are still no signs of the infection slowing down.

The severe health scare is causing factory shutdowns and a daunting impact on economic activity. People are advised to work from home, although those in the manufacturing industry will find this challenging. Inflation has sharply risen as food prices soared.

The tech industry has not escaped the adverse consequences. Numerous companies have temporarily closed their stores, offices, and factories. These have resulted in product shortages and delays in product launches. The Chinese economy is logically suffering a slowdown as the disease directly affects industries that comprise more than half of the country’s GDP.

Also read: Why China should be the next market for your startup or scaleup

Some analysts, however, are hopeful that the problem will not linger for long. Wang Huiyao, founder of the Centre for China and Globalisation, believes China’s economy has become more resilient compared to 2003 when it tackled the SARS outbreak.

Huiyao is confident that China’s deeper resources, more effective policy levers, and improved production capacity and technology make it more capable to weather the crisis. On the other hand, Zhang Jun, dean of Fudan University School of Economics, believes that the coronavirus is unlikely to cripple China’s economy.

China’s new foreign investment law takes effect this year, which is expected to help boost capital inflows as it trims the negative list for foreign investment.

The challenges from the novel Coronavirus will need to be overcome, however, in order to achieve the expected benefits of this significant piece of legislation.

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Image: Pixabay

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Greenly, a Surabaya-based F&B fast-casual retail chain startup that serves healthy food and beverages, has secured an undisclosed sum in a seed funding round, led by East Ventures.

Several unnamed angel investors also participated.

The company plans to use the fresh funds for product innovation, technology development, and expand its network both locally and into other cities.

Edrick Joe Soetanto and Liana Gonta Widjaja founded Greenly after the duo struggled to find a healthy diet option in Surabaya, Indonesia second-biggest city. They realised there are a gap and scarcity of affordable healthy food that is fast, easily accessible and has a wide range of product menu.

“We seek to address the gap between healthy but expensive food offered by existing players, and affordable but unhealthy food provided by the fast-food chain network. We founded Greenly as a fast-casual chain serving various salads, grain bowls, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, nut milk, and other healthy products that are created using natural and fresh ingredients,” said Gonta.

The business idea at that time was also timely with the rise of the middle-class economy in Indonesia that is health-conscious, creating an opportunity for the founders to tap in.

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

The data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that the average Indonesians consume only 122 grams of vegetables and 92 grams of fruit every day. These numbers are lower than the recommended daily intake level of 300-400 grams of vegetables and 100-150 grams of fruit.

In 2019, Greenly opened its first outlet in Surabaya with the mission of democratising healthy diet in Indonesia.

Gonta is a Nutritionist from UC Berkeley with experience in the health and F&B industry. She is also the figure behind hundreds of Greenly’s recipes.

Edrick is a serial entrepreneur and a former Consultant at PwC. He took the role of the chief commander in developing and executing Greenly’s business strategy.

“We aim to provide healthy food and beverages that are affordable, convenient, and easily accessible. Our mission is to bring a healthy diet to all levels of society and make it happen in Indonesia as something democratic, not just for a niche market. We are confident with the support of East Ventures and all partners, we can realise this mission,” Soetanto added.

Also Read: Alibaba, Facebook co-founders back East Ventures’s new US$75M fund focused on Indonesia

One of the main components of Greenly’s strategy is integrating the new retail concept with an O2O approach, distinguishing them from other traditional big players. Greenly adopted a multichannel-sales style by combining both physical outlets and online delivery.

As of today, Greenly operates five outlets in Surabaya — one in a mall with a cafe/restaurant concept, while four others are cloud kitchen dedicated to delivery service.

The digital readiness of Surabaya is the main component that contributes to Greenly’s achievement in developing its business through online platforms, which accounts for 50 per cent of its sales. Research from East Ventures — Digital Competitiveness Index 2020 report has placed Surabaya in the third position among 24 biggest cities in Indonesia for its digital competitiveness.

Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner of East Ventures, explained, “Based on EV-DCI, Jakarta is the best city to support the development of digital-based businesses. Successful founders from outside Jakarta must be able to adapt quickly and expand to the capital.”

“Our trust in the founders outside Jakarta has been proven previously by the success of IDN Media, where they expanded from Surabaya to all of Indonesia. We believe that Gonta and Soetanto can bring Greenly from Surabaya to Jakarta, as well to other cities, and provide healthy food and drinks for all Indonesian people,” he added.
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Picture Credit: East Ventures

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