Business

Vietnam’s e-commerce platform Leflair allegedly owes US$2M liabilities to suppliers, customers

Leflair Vietnam, an e-commerce startup which ceased its local operations in February, is accused of owing US$2 million in liabilities to around 500 of its suppliers and many customers, Tuoi Tre News reported.

According to the suppliers, Leflair representatives admitted in a meeting that it is undergoing a capital crunch and is seeking funding from different investors. 

The company also revealed that it only has less than US$50,000 in its cash account.

Founded in 2015, Leflair was started as an online platform with a flash-sales model and sourced goods from brands and official distributors such as Calvin Klein, Botanist, and Moleskin, and resold them to Vietnamese customers. 

Before ceasing operation, Leflair raised US$7 million in Series B funding from Belt Road Capital Management and South Korean retailer GS Shop.

Coronavirus Drug Discovery competition reveals top 3 potential COVID-19 treatments

Sage Health, an organisation with a mission to help treat, prevent and cure all human diseases by the end of the 21st century, hosted Coronavirus Deep Learning Competition.

The competition has revealed its top three potential solutions identified from contestants, they are:

First place: 

Matt O’Connor, Founder of Reboot.AI, Data Science Coach-based in Hong Kong and New York City.

Results: He identified Remdesivir as a potential COVID-2019 treatment, as well as a few other novel molecules that still need to be tested for synthetic feasibility, using a generative recurrent network trained on the Moses and ChemBL datasets which together represent about 4 million molecules to learn a representation, a compressed form, of all of them.

Second place: Thomas MacDougall, a graduate student in Computer Science at the University of Montreal.

Results: He identified a novel compound as a synthetically feasible potential treatment for COVID-2019by building a neural architecture using constrained graph variational autoencoder to generate molecules, and an edge memory neural network to classify them.

Third place: Tinka Vidovic, a PhD student at the Mediterranean Institute of Life Sciences based in Croatia.

Results: Vidovic identified Valproic Acid as potential treatments for COVID-2019 using a Connectivity map genome-scale library of cellular signatures that catalogues transcriptional responses to chemical, genetic, and disease perturbation her analysis. She also used a dataset called ‘Harmonizome’, which contains 72 million functional associations between genes and their attributes as a starting point.

Also Read: Keep calm and remain communicative: Startup founders share how they cope with coronavirus crisis

Sage Health was founded in February 2020 by Siraj Raval and Dr John Billings with a mission to assist healthcare providers in both volunteer and paid projects, involving its growing community in as many related initiatives as possible every step of the way. 

The Coronavirus Competition is its first initiative, and it will be donating samples of the winning compound to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for further analysis.

Malaysia’s Cradle Fund reveals 5th cohort of Coach and Grow programme

Malaysia-based early-stage startup nurturer Cradle Fund announced a collaboration with Proficeo Consultants to launch the fifth instalment of Coach and Grow Programme (CGP)2020 to support the fast-growing innovation ecosystem in the country.

According to Digital News Asia’s article, CGP is a specialised coaching programme focussed on nurturing startups and growth-stage companies to get them on the path of sustainable revenue generation and scale.

The programme provides “show-how” techniques from successful entrepreneurs, investors, and corporate professionals who join the programme as coaches in order to Pay-It-Forward to the ecosystem.

Acting Group CEO of Cradle, Razif Abdul Aziz (pic) said the CGP’s goal is to help build and strengthen the capacity of local entrepreneurs and to accelerate the growth of Malaysian tech-companies.

Started in 2011, the CGP was the first long term coaching programme offering customised content and dedicated coaches for a period of 12 months. 

This programme is fully mandated by the Government of Malaysia for high potential entrepreneurial ventures with the objective of creating a pipeline of high-quality companies that will grow and scale their businesses locally and regionally and attract investment and growth funds from funding agencies and investors.

Enrolment for CGP opens from March 6, 2020 with 100 places available for startups and growth-stage companies.

People

Co-founder of Bali-based creative community hub Rumah Sanur Arif Budiman passed away

One of three co-founders of Bali’s Rumah Sanur – Creative HubArif’ Ayip’ Budiman passed away yesterday at 10 pm local time at Puri Raharja Hospital, Denpasar, Bali. Budiman was known as a creative hustler in Bali’s startup scene and also Deputi Litbang (Head of Research and Development) of Indonesia Creative Cities Network (ICCN).

The deceased will be laid rest at Kampung Jawa Jalan Maruti 13, Denpasar at 1 pm local time today.

Also Read: Indonesia’s association for coworking spaces is officially launched

Rumah Sanur – Creative Hub was opened in June 2015. In line with the co-founder’s vision of fostering Indonesian makers and creatives, Rumah Sanur nurtured two startup businesses—Kopi Kultur, a coffee shop that works directly with Indonesian coffee farmers and To~Ko Concept Store, a store that presents designs by small-to-medium enterprises from across Indonesia with a focus on sustainability and upcycling.

Over time, as the website recorded, Teras Gandum, the Bali Export & Development Organisation, Rudolf Dethu Showbiz, and Chris the Barber joined the Rumah Sanur family.

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Picture Credit: Unsplash.com/Dimitri-Karastelev

 

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SAMA, a digital recruiting platform for migrants, closes US$1.15M seed round

Sama, a Singapore-based startup that uses a digital recruiting platform to match migrant workers to jobs, announced today that it has closed a US$1.15 million seed funding from Collaborative Fund, 3tvcp, Antler and other unnamed angel investors.

Steve Melhuish, Co-founder of Property Guru, also joined the round.

The company plans to use the capital for growth in 2020.

SAMA recently became a fully-licensed agency, having obtained the Singapore Ministry of Manpower (MOM) license to work directly with companies to address hiring needs.

Also Read: Owning your data is a basic human right says blockchain-based startup Credifys Rasmus Kütt

Migrant workers are currently said to be paying S$10,000 in agent fees to secure a job in Singapore, Sama targets to drastically lower these rates and enable workers to save for the future.

Newman, a medtech startup for men in Indonesia, raises US$150K to boost marketing initiatives 

Indonesia-based men’s medtech startup Newman, which was part of Y Combinator in the US last year, has raised US$150,000 from the accelerator, according to DealStreetAsia.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Vietnam’s e-commerce startup Leflair accused of owing US$2M to suppliers

Prior to this, the startup had raised undisclosed pre-seed funding from Indonesian early-stage VC firm Everhaus.

The platform that aims to tackle uncomfortable topics in health through its online consultation aims to use the funds to grow its team and bolster its marketing initiatives.

Newman has also expressed plans of offering consultation into other verticals, like erectile dysfunction and smoking cessation.

First Digital Trust raises US$3M from Taiwanese venture studio Nogle

First Digital Trust (FDT), a technology-driven financial institution powering the digital asset industry, has secured US$3 million in funding from Taiwanese venture studio Nogle according to a press release statement.

Previous investments of Nogle include Telegram and TNG.

Also Read: Singapores Vouch Insurtech raises US$755K from GREE Ventures, Nogle Capital, angels

The newly added funds will support FDT in building its platform as they prepare their Asia launch in May.

“At Nogle, we are always looking for the next innovative technology that will disrupt the financial services industry. That is why we have invested in First Digital Trust. We see great potential in their technology for the digital asset industry, which will pave the way for the future of trust and custody services”, said Jonathan Leong, Founder of Nogle.

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Image Credit :  Anthony Fomin

 

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The tech sector is a notoriously difficult place to be a woman. A congressional report shows that only seven per cent of women-founded businesses receive venture capital funding. Every time we turn around, it seems there’s another gaffe that causes a rise within the community — this ranges from major companies’ lack of women in board positions to distasteful overheard conversations.

While most everyone in the tech sector has an opinion on the issue, for me, being a woman in the fast-growing tech space has actually paid off. In fact, I think that in most ways, being a female in tech has worked to my benefit.

Also Read: 3 awesome Indian women entrepreneurs tell you what it takes to start up

Maybe it’s the dynamic between me and my Co-founder Eileen Murphy Buckley, or the fact that we’re an ed-tech company that operates in a female-dominated industry (nearly two-thirds of teachers in the US are women). I’d like to think it’s because we built an amazing product that helps great teachers teach better. So far, all signs point to the fact that we’re doing something right: ThinkCERCA is now available in schools nationwide, and we’ve secured US$1.5 million in funding. We were a graduate of the Impact Engine Accelerator’s inaugural class, and we won the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Literacy Courseware Challenge in July 2013.

So how can you navigate the complex male-dominated tech world and succeed?

Combine skill sets
You have to be strategic about whom you partner with and bring onto your team. Our biggest success had nothing to do with gender. It had to do with our team’s unique combination of skills. I come from an entrepreneurial background, and have years of experience taking businesses from concept to launch, growing them in both revenue and size. Eileen is a teacher turned entrepreneur, and the former director of curriculum and instruction for a major school system. So while I brought the entrepreneurial know-how, Eileen brought the industry expertise and a firm basis of pedagogy and research. This helped us create a product that principals, teachers and students really need. Her deep knowledge continues to help us meet our core goal: helping students achieve college and career readiness.

I believe it’s this combination of skills that has not only helped us build a successful business, but also secure funding.

Never shy away from the hard stuff
So much of our success can be attributed to our dedication to our customers. Sometimes that means going against what others are telling you to do. While the ed-tech market continues to boom, there’s still the age-old problem of the chicken and the egg. Several investors wanted ThinkCERCA to be something it was not. They told us we either had to be a content publisher or a technology platform. Despite this feedback, based on our expertise and what our customers were telling us they needed, we decided to be both. Technology alone wasn’t the answer. Content alone wasn’t either. Focussing on both, and using a research-based approach, we have carved out a place in the ed-tech ecosystem and are poised for continued and rapid growth.

Build a team of mentors and advocates
While Eileen and I have a great partnership, we have strived and will continue to work to create a team that complements our skills and builds off of what the two of us have created. We now have 16 people at ThinkCERCA whose expertise ranges from technology to sales to marketing. In addition, we’ve had an incredible group of mentors and advisors, such as Chuck Templeton, the former Managing Director of the Impact Engine accelerator. Our mentors have provided the encouragement we need but also given us hard-nosed doses of reality from time to time. Our mentors aren’t the people who always tell us what we want to hear. They’re always looking out for us and telling us what we need to hear.

Also Read: Crowdfunding is a strong community building tool for women

As our business has grown, so have we. When we came together, Eileen was “the educator” and I was “the entrepreneur.” Now, we have both learned and have each assumed both roles. We are able to fluidly assume the voice of the customer and the voice of the business, which allows us to brainstorm and problem solve, and — most importantly — switch hit. Thanks to our complementary skill sets, dedication to our customers, and our refusal to accept the stereotypical limits that go along with being a woman in tech, ThinkCERCA is doing great things for the future of education.

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Abby is the Co-founder and COO at ThinkCERCA (www.thinkcerca.com), an education technology company that provides teachers with tools and lessons they need to personalise critical thinking instruction.

The Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) is an invite-only organisation comprised of the world’s most promising young entrepreneurs. In partnership with Citi, YEC recently launched StartupCollective, a free virtual mentorship programme that helps millions of entrepreneurs start and grow businesses.

This article was first published on e27 on September 19, 2015.

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Cryptocurrency and Blockchain technologies are disrupting the technology landscape for sure. Right from small businesses to giant multinationals, right from grocery stores to financial institutions, everyone is talking about leveraging blockchain and changing the course of their industry altogether.

Cryptocurrencies that were once perceived to be evil, and were only associated with the dark web, have attracted the attention of almost everyone with the rise in the prices of Bitcoin that happened last year. Now, everyone is betting big on the success of the currencies as well as their underlying technology Blockchain.

Blockchain and Cryptocurrencies are all set to disrupt the stock markets now. While this goal is an ambitious one, it is not very far from reality. Only recently, Wall Street went down from being promising and optimistic to really depressing. What was shocking for analysts and researchers was the fact that the cryptocurrencies closely resembled the behaviour of the traditional financial market.

It is then that the question of the traditional finance market affecting cryptocurrencies and vice-versa sprung up. Another question this leads us to be how much correlation exists between these two markets.

1. Challenging the Dollar Standard

While up until now, the US Dollar was termed and perceived as the reserve currency of the global economy, with the rise in the use of cryptocurrencies, the trend might take a toll. The US Dollar lies at the core of the financial web that is spread all over the world. As an example, the 2008 global financial crisis that started in the US spread like wildfire to other parts of the world as far as Iceland.

This centralisation and the authority of the US Dollar is being challenged, and at the same time, disrupted by the rise in cryptocurrencies. Financial transactions are being decentralised at a rapid pace with the advent of the most popular Bitcoin and about 1,000 other cryptocurrencies.

Also read: Everyone talks about cryptocurrency, but the real hero is blockchain

The dynamics of international trade can be changed once and for all with the help of cryptocurrencies. There always have been attempts to get the US Dollar off its throne, and the rise in cryptocurrencies might be the last nail.

2. Investing in stocks and Crypto-trading

Trading in the cryptocurrencies market fulfils for some people the same purpose as trading in the traditional stock market does. Profit, ownership, and motivation are the three plain reasons why people have been investing in the stock market since forever, and all these reasons are fulfilled by the cryptocurrencies market too.

The investors who love to go global can do so easily with cryptocurrencies. While investing in stocks that are out of your home country is a painstakingly long process, the alternative to it, crypto-trading, might prove to be beneficial for the truly global investors.

Initial Public Offerings have smoothly been replaced by Initial Coin Offerings. Investing in companies that open ICOs is so effortless that it might be preferred over the traditional methods by almost all of the investors in the near future.

ICObench is a company that lists ICOs from about 70 different companies and confirms the fact that stock markets are begin disrupted by the invaders called cryptocurrencies.

Investors today are of the opinion that if the prices of Bitcoins can surge in a week like they did, why can’t the same happen with other currencies and the companies that are leveraging these currencies, too.

It has been easy up until now to ignore cryptocurrencies in all their merit, but soon things are about to change. The world will witness the staying of cryptocurrencies as alternate ways of investing, or maybe, the primary ways of making investments.

Cryptocurrencies are set to affect the real financial market and not just a bit!

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e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Image Credit: antonprado / 123RF Stock Photo

This article was first published on e27 on April 26, 2018.

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What happens when 20 years of development experience meets that of e-commerce, blockchain, and finance? Most likely, it will lead to a shift in how all or at least one of these areas will function.

And that’s what founders of Credify –Makoto Tominaga, Shuichi Nagao, Rasmus Kütt and Maurizio Raffone — want to data management in e-commerce and finance with their collective experience.

Started in 2018, Credify was born out of research they conducted on how to achieve a fair and genuinely meritocratic reputation system in e-commerce. Their study showed that systems to ensure counterparty credibility in finance and digital exchange of money were fundamentally flawed and that they can easily be manipulated by rogue actors in the system.

Their core product acts as a personal data bridge, connecting consuming services like e-commerce marketplaces and lending platforms with institutions that possess valuable, yet untapped information like identity verification results and credit scores.

They aim to significantly reduce fraud in e-commerce and finance, while also unlocking entirely new revenue opportunities through their secure and cost-effective blockchain-based Credify Universal Identity and incentive-based Trust System.

We spoke to Kütt, Head of Marketing and Business Development, to understand more about how Credify employs blockchain to make data management more secure and how it can empower the consumer while incentivising business.

How exactly do you use blockchain in your core product at Credify?

One of the ways Credify is unique is that the technology used for its core services is based on secure and cost-effective EOSIO blockchain technology. This technology allows for industry-leading throughput capabilities and a highly flexible deployment environment.

Only indices of encrypted data, and not the data itself, are stored in the blockchain, securing user account information through a tamper-proof record.

As a result, user data cannot be leaked or breached through a central-point vulnerability, reducing the risk of fraud for companies and raising overall levels of trust in the ecosystems they enhance.

All of this is secured by standard encryption protocols that ensure the true owner of the data controls access to and manages their credentials. At the same time realising new monetisation opportunities as the data is accessed on a compensation basis.

As an illustration, when a company wishes to retrieve user data from the owner, and the owner grants that permission, then that user data is securely decrypted on-device and sent directly to the requesting party. On top of this, we are developing a novel stake-based mechanism of expressing counterparty credibility that relies heavily on smart-contract managed DLT’s, called Credification.

But how exactly does Credify help the end-user?

The issue nowadays is that companies are using user data in ways that are not visible to the end-users. In some instances, it has led to dramatic losses, such as those associated with Cambridge Analytica and other Facebook-driven scandals.

Companies are also storing that user data centrally within their ecosystems, which are constantly breached by hackers. We have an endlessly growing list of links that show this problem is much emphasised in the SEA region, where high incidents of account takeover and fakes jeopardise ecosystem health.

Also read: 3 companies leveraging the power of blockchain technology in security

The flow for the end-user, and the way Credify helps the end-user in e-commerce and finance ecosystems, is as follows.

By installing Credify Universal Identity app, a user then starts putting together his universal digital identity “passport.” The user does this by first aggregating his user data into Credify ID from sources like their carrier, social accounts, eKYC, and eventually data sources that we already trust, like banks and insurance providers.

By having a universal and unique digital identity “passport,” the user now has one service where its most commonly used personal data resides, inside the Universal Identity app.

That information is retrievable from multi-layer encrypted decentralised networks, where there exists no central point of attack–this is in stark contrast from centralised systems that are in constant peril of this vulnerability.

This user is now the only entity who can access and manage his data. When companies want to utilise parts of the user’s data, they have to request permission directly from the user, allowing the user to determine whether they would like to provide that access or not.

Naturally, the user is okay in letting the company access his data for registration and login purposes but he might decline company access to other more sensitive data for cases where the requesting platform is not fully trusted or does not logically require such information.

Such a Universal Identity solution also allows easy data interoperability throughout enterprise ecosystems, which in some cases amount to more than 10 separate services owned by the same company. The Universal Identity is similar to a “Sign in with Google” but with all the added benefits and security mentioned previously.

Credify Trust System acts as an enhancement to the Universal Identity solution in cases where rating and vouching is needed. Company “coins”/” points” are tokenised and used by the end-users to vouch for the reputation of transactions, products, digital services, merchants, shoppers, borrowers, etc.

Such rating and vouching activities incentivise and unlock gamification in the ecosystem so that rewards are given out for vouching for positive outcomes. All these histories and events are also cryptographically secured and stored on the blockchain.

This is quite empowering. So how will Credify execute this over the next decade?

Credify is a believer in the concept of ‘Own Your Data’, and that it should be part of a basic human right that everyone has the right to legal ownership of their inherent personal data as property.

We are laser-focused on developing a user base for the technology that catalyses greater credit inclusiveness around SEA markets, giving this much-underserved area of the world a leap ahead when it comes to personal data privacy and participation in its value.

In five years, we aim to be deployed across all major SEA nations, with deep integration into each member country’s digital finance and commerce leaders.

Over the decade, we envision becoming an integral piece in the connection between the coming world of decentralised finance and hyper-integrated commerce, where users can freely move about service providers without having to worry their options are limited by lack of portability of their financial/credit profile and reputation.

I am glad you mentioned SEA expansion. What are your key markets or clients in the region? 

ASEAN nations represent the fastest growth opportunities globally in fintech and e-commerce: US$72B fintech market with 72.5 per cent CAGR by 2020, and US$102B e-commerce market by 2025.

At the same time, Southeast Asia fraud rates in finance and ecommerce are globally one of the highest.

Credify aims to tackle these issues with its software backed by patent-pending technologies, and also enable entirely new revenue streams for these traditional organisations in a completely secure and data privacy-compliant manner.

Credify’s goals for 2020 are to enhance the development of its suite of products, further localise its software development operations in South East Asia, and move ahead with its live client engagements. Our key markets are: Japan, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Indonesia. And we are currently in the process of starting a project with one Japanese-Philippines Security Token Exchange.

We recently closed a US$1M seed round investment with two leading Beenext and Deepcore which it plans to use for expansion in SEA.

What does the latest funding mean to you?

This funding round allows Credify to enhance the development of its suite of products, further localise its software development operations in South East Asia, and move ahead with its live client engagements.

Also read: Top 9 data and analytics trends to watch out for in 2020

The investment represents far more value than the capital that will assist us as we execute on our vision to elevate trust in digital economies. Both Beenext and Deepcore bring with them strong networks within our target markets and deep understanding of the strategic and practical execution necessary to transform early-stage businesses to large-scale growth enterprises.

How will Credify aid data regulation and consumer protection of data in Asia?

GDPR, PCI DSS, HIPAA/HiTech, and California Consumer Privacy Act are all having an impact on user data. All data regulations have one thing in common: they urge businesses to respect users’ privacy, anonymity, and consent to share or withhold certain information.

Credify’s CFO and Interim COO, Maurizio Raffone, has direct experience working with regulators and public entities in SEA to foster the adoption of best practices and support the development of a secure yet open digital economy. We seek to educate all stakeholders about the importance of adopting open standards, secured and cost-effective solutions to foster financial inclusion and individuals’ rights to data ownership.

We believe that consumers should have sole ownership of their digital and analogue identities and should have the right to moderate how their personal data is shared and used by third-parties. Personal information should remain in the hands of users, also reducing compliance, cybersecurity and data management costs of businesses servicing consumers.

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Image credit: Credify

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When e27 sits down with blockchain-based fintech startup Propine, it had been a month since the company was being selected to take part in a sandbox programme by Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).

Founded by CEO Tuhina Singh and CTO Wong Liang Zan, Propine offers services in the form of a full-service custodian for blockchain-based digital assets.

“We exist to reduce the friction in the close-bordered capital movement to increase efficiency in the capital market. We cannot do it by ourselves; we are building an infrastructure to enable other innovators to be able to build such innovative solutions,” Singh explains.

“For example, we are working with a company that is trying to come up with a new type of bond issuance which will create opportunities for startups investors which had never existed before,” she adds.

In the long run, through their works, Singh states that Propine seeks to disrupt the private capital market.

“The public market itself is already very efficient … there are lower hanging fruits to be picked in the private market,” she stresses.

The irony of the private market, according to Singh, lies in the fact that it is ripe for disruption.

Also Read: Propine Capital raises US$1.2M to help institutional investors safely store their crypto assets

“Private equity companies tend to invest in companies that are disruptive to the traditional industry. However, it seems to me that they are being kind of slow in disrupting themselves. It is oxymoronic and it is only a matter of time until they get disrupted themselves,” she says.

“Eventually, there will only be the top firms who are able to justify the illiquidity of their LP interests. Most of the companies cannot justify it and they will have to go the tokenised route,” the CEO sums.

Promoting the mission

But how does Propine promote its products and services to these private equity firms? How do they build the awareness that change is necessary?

Singh states that the company did not play a very active role in promoting itself until very recently, dubbing itself one of the most “under-the-radar” in the space.

“We had zero marketing activities and we just focussed on getting the job done first. It was only after we get into the sandbox that we realise, ‘Okay, let’s start focusing on marketing and advertising,’” she explains.

Singh describes their marketing strategy as becoming the “super early adopter” in the space –an approach that involves practical steps such as doing a speaking engagement at events.

“We’re not focussing on large blockchain conferences; we’re focussing on talking to real stakeholders, striking to the heart of it,” she stresses.

But before making an outward move such as promoting their work, the company first needs to make sure that they have the right foundation for it. To achieve that state of readiness, Propine puts emphasis on the importance of focus.

Also Read: 52 fantastic investors that might be your next match at #Echelon2019

For Singh, these are some of the most crucial lessons that they got during their time in the sandbox.

“On a company level, there are so many opportunities that are coming our way. The most important thing is to be able to say no and focus on the reason why we exist,” she says.

“For example, there are four different types of tokens in the market: Cryptocurrencies, utility tokens, asset-backed tokens, and security tokens. We need to be able to say no to the three of them and focus on security tokens. It makes sure that our resources are being focussed, even though we do have the tech capabilities to support all of them,” she further explains.

Next steps

Moving forward, in addition to launching services for their new clients, Propine Capital is also looking forward to growing their team.

One of the key elements in growing a team is making sure that the people who are leading the team are sharing the same value as the company itself. This is another reason why having a clear focus is crucial, and Propine Capital achieve it through implementing objectives and key results (OKRs).

“We need to ensure that the same value is being propagated by every single person that is making decisions on a daily basis in the company … We started by implementing OKRs in a very generic way before adapting it to the company’s needs to ensure that everybody knows where the direction is,” Singh elaborates.

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Image Credit: Propine

 

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Congratulations! You sent the deck to your target VC and the VC’s associate responded to ask you to meet to discuss more your startup company.

Many startup founders already get really excited when they reach this point but unfortunately, a lot of them screw-up the potential investment opportunity from VC because they were not prepared for the first meeting.

Meeting with VC is pretty much like any first date. It’s more of an art than a science. Hence, there’s no specific guideline to guarantee you can ace that first meeting.

However, the tips below might help you survive through that first meeting and perhaps win the VC’s heart:

Research, research, and research

Any successful warriors know that you need to know the terrain before you jump into the battlefield. You as a founder should research as much as possible about the VCs that you’re going to meet and you can never ever miss-out on things such as their existing portfolios, investment coverage, and their average ticket size.

In addition, you also need to know the associate/analyst’s profile that you’re going to meet since they are the frontline of VCs and they will have a huge influence in the VC’s decision making.

Create a conversation

Just like being on a first date, meeting with a VC for the first-time also makes a lot of founders become nervous. To help reduce your anxiety, you should always treat the meeting as a conversation meaning that it should go as a two-way street.

The VCs will most likely ask you the most questions but you should also ask questions about the VC and give them some compliments about the recent achievement they’ve made.

Believe it or not, asking questions to VC will create a long-lasting good first impression about you and your company since it shows a serious interest from you in continuing the relationship with the VC.

Also read: Meet the VC: From instant noodles to startups, Salim Group aims to leave a mark in the Indonesian digital ecosystem

Be concise

The time for your meeting with the VC will most likely be very limited so you need to be as clear as possible of who you are, what problems you’re trying to solve, how can your company provide the solution to the problems and be better than other competitors, why are you currently fundraising and what is it for, etc.

But always remember to assume as if the VC ‘does not understand’ anything about the problems you’re trying to solve or the technology you’re using so that it’s your most crucial task to make sure you explain everything to them in the most understandable way and make them curious about your company.

Always be respectful and professional

Even though the associate/analyst you’re meeting is still a fresh-graduate and being a VC is their first full-time job and they may not know much about the industry you are in, you should never treat them differently.

Most of the time the associate/analyst has a very significant influence behind the VC’s General Partner’s decision and once you create a bad-impression to the associate/analyst during the first meeting, your chance of having the second meeting with that VC will be close to none.

Never ask VC to sign a Non-Disclosure Agreement

Although your first 50 minutes meeting with the VC has been going very smoothly and you think they have some serious interest in learning more about your company, many startup founders still screwed-up their first meeting just because they ask VC to sign an NDA before proceeding further.

Why? The VC-Startup relationship is quite like a marriage. If you ask VC to sign an NDA, it shows that you do not trust them and you did not do your research about them (i.e. if you’re worried they might have a similar company in their portfolio) and there’s no reason for VC to go further down with you as well.

Only ask VCs to sign NDA if it’s absolutely necessary such as when you’re about to show a prototype that is still pending for patents.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post. We are discussing inclusivity at work and women all of March. Share your thoughts, tips and best practices on how we can make the startup ecosystem more inclusive, gender and culture diverse.

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Tranglo recently inked major partnerships to tap into China’s US$17 trillion mobile payments market.

Globalisation has led to not just skilled workers crossing borders, but with them, the rise in e-payments services such as remittances, and e-commerce transactions. Fueled by the mushrooming of e-wallets, the high levels of bank account ownership, and widespread smartphone partnership, China leads the world in the digital payments space, with total value hitting US$17 trillion as of 2017.

In its 2019 Migration and Development Brief, the World Bank found that global remittances totalled US$689 billion in 2018, with China being the second-largest remittance recipient at US$67 billion).

Just as tech has helped bridge the global communications gap via social media and broadband connectivity, so too must tech play its role in the payments systems that international payments can be made seamlessly and quickly, at affordable rates.

Fintech has paved the way in recent years through e-wallets for local payment activities and e-marketplaces, yet needs more to be done to address high remittance costs (which average 7% for US$200) as well as international transaction costs involved where merchant and buyer use different payment providers, currencies or wallets.

Tranglo, an international cross-border payments specialist, boasts a global network that spans more than 100 countries, 300 mobile operators, 50 billers, 1,300 banks/wallets, and 130,000 cash pickup points.

The fintech player recently inked partnerships with AliPay and WeChat Pay HK to integrate two of the world’s biggest mobile payment platforms into Tranglo’s cross-border payment network.

Tranglo CEO Jacky Lee said, “When you look at the customer and growth numbers of Alipay (over 1.2 billion) and WeChat Pay HK (over 400,000), the partnerships make perfect sense as they are the most direct route to the heartland of the Chinese payment industry.

“For other industry players, a Tranglo-enabled access to the wider Chinese market puts them in a prime position when we talk about branding.

“The Chinese diaspora around the world is increasing too, and we see a huge potential in terms of processing value,” he added. China (including Hong Kong) is the world’s second-largest remittance market.

Reducing remittance costs to 3% by 2030 (from 7% averaged currently) is a global target under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 10.7. The same World Bank study notes that remittance fees tend to include a premium where national post offices have an exclusive partnership with a money transfer operator.

The World Bank believes the high costs of money transfers reduce the benefits of migration. Renegotiating exclusive partnerships and letting new players operate through national post offices, banks, and telecommunications companies will increase competition and lower remittance prices.

Tranglo is doing its part through its extensive network and by adding partners with wider reach such as AliPay and WeChat Pay HK.

The collaboration with Alipay is expected to benefit a multitude of users, from business payments such as e-commerce transactions to personal remittance among migrant workers, particularly in Asia, where Tranglo has a foothold in the payments market through local partners.

Meanwhile, its partnership with WeChat Pay HK allows the e-wallet’s users to transact via the We Remit function on the mobile payment platform, thereby expanding WeChat Pay HK’s footprint and offering its users more seamless, secure and easy ways to make cross-border transactions.

Lee explained: “Cross-border payments can be quite fragmented. Businesses and consumers can sometimes find the simple process of transferring money daunting, with the involvement of many different players at different stages of an inherently simple process.

“What Tranglo does with these partnerships is to consolidate the global payment services and seamlessly link businesses and consumers, making the process as painless as possible. When you don’t need to jump through lots of hoops, things get really easy and quick, as they should.”

He called on payment firms to leverage Tranglo’s global network to gain access to giants like Alipay and WeChat Pay HK.

“We act as a bridge between these firms in a huge global market (over 1,300 partners), at the lowest cost to their business. Tranglo essentially takes care of their back-end operations while they take care of their customers,” Lee said.

As of December 2019, Tranglo has processed US$5.05 billion in transaction value. In addition to eyeing more global partnerships in 2020 and beyond, Tranglo is actively harnessing and incorporating big data, machine learning and AI into its processes.

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Work-life balance is one of the most talked-about concerns by both professionals and entrepreneurs. e27 is no stranger to founders’ stories about how to be productive amidst major life changes or even personal crises.

In many fields, there’s also the proverbial glass ceiling to deal with – female entrepreneurs facing much bigger challenges because of societal expectations regarding having children and raising a family.

For Eynat Guez, Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Israel-based startup Papaya Global, this could not be farther from the truth. She recalls an incident during which she had to deal with noisy kids while on the phone with a potential investor. “That was one of the most embarrassing calls because I had a screaming child in the background,” she shares.

That call was with Insight Partners, and although it was two years in the making, Papaya Global eventually got the deal.

In November 2019, the startup raised a US$45 million Series A led by Insight Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, New Era Capital Partners, and Dynamic Loop Capital, as well as existing investors. During that time, the company focused closely on growth.

“We scaled, we grew, we automated, and we invested heavily in our product, technology, and offering. We tripled the size of our team, the number of clients, and our revenues year-over-year,” shares Guez.

The company has the distinction of its growth being achieved from an initially small seed round before growing into an international company with 75 employees and US$10 million in annual revenue. It now counts over 150 customers, including Microsoft and Intel, among other major users. Papaya Global now has offices in Singapore and Shanghai to address the needs of the growing APAC market.

Does a female co-founder make a difference in fundraising and running a startup?

Commitment and dedication to the business are among the drivers of success. Between launching in 2016 and the Series A fundraising, Guez has given birth twice. She recalls returning to work shortly after childbirth.

“I came back to work two hours after I gave birth. This is my choice. This is what drives me,” she shares.

According to the Crunchbase EoY 2019 diversity report, only 20 per cent of newly-funded startups have a female founder. However, the report also stated that “many notable female-founded venture firms have been set up in the last 10 years.”

Additionally, the concept of “investor bias” is not necessarily dominant, although the opportunities might be hard to come by without the right connections. “This is an industry that has always run on relationship networks,” shares Susan Lyne, co-founder of BBG Ventures, and who established a VC that specifically invests in consumer tech startups with a female founder. “Someone you know and respect makes an introduction to a great founder and you agree to hear their pitch. But if women are not part of your network, you’re at a disadvantage — you’re going to miss a lot of great companies.”

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For Guez, this rings true. Having worked in the global workforce industry for a number of years, she was introduced to Ofer Herman (who leads R&D) and Ruben Drong (who leads product development) by friends, who gave the much-needed introductions to people who eventually became co-founders.

Integration

Another factor that sets the company apart is its focus on integration. Papaya’s product integrates closely with an array of other ERP, HRIS, expense management systems, thus providing global companies a way to manage these from one single point of contact.

Having a global focus, the company ensures compliance with regional and local regulations, such as GDPR for data privacy, and local taxation requirements. The service also provides employer-on-record (EoR) capability for businesses that prefer to hire employees in other countries through local entities, rather than go through the expense of setting up a local legal entity.

Guez and co-founders conceptualised Papaya to be a global company from day one. “There is no such thing as an Israeli company,” she has shared, referring to how her startup had a global market in its sights upon launch.

The right timing

Businesses are increasingly going global, and this includes both enterprise and small-scale businesses. At least 65 per cent of small and medium businesses work with vendors and suppliers from overseas. There are nuances that these companies must deal with, including ever-changing regulations on pay, withholding tax, and benefits. Guez says that many companies around the world are still using spreadsheets to manage their global payroll — thus an opportunity to provide a disruptive global payroll and payment services to the market came about.

In the end, family matters for Guez, but she worked to ensure that the company could run itself even with her temporarily out of the picture. She says that with each of her two childbirths, she successfully delegated key decision-making capabilities: “I rebuilt the company to ensure they can all work without me.”

She highlights that motherhood has put things in perspective, “being pregnant ensures you align everything, that the company can really continue working without you, quite a lot of CEOs aren’t doing that.”

Guez concludes: “I’m a ‘people person’ and my experience has taught me that value comes from being truly motivated to help someone else succeed.”

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During a trip to visit his village in north India sometime in 2016, Tikendra Yadav’s two-wheeler ran out of fuel and broke down. Yadav, then an Assistant Manager at Samsung Electronics, had to walk about 10km in search of the nearest fuel station to refuel his vehicle.

When he returned to work, he thought about this incident. He wanted to put an end to this ordeal — of motorists being forced to walk or drive kilometres to refuel their vehicles — which is common in the far-flung areas of India.

Later, he discussed this problem with his former colleague Sandeep Thakur, and they created a fuel delivery startup, Pepfuels, in May 2016. The duo later on-boarded their friend Pratik Kathil.

In May 2019, Pepfuels signed a partnership with state-owned oil marketing company (OMC), Indian Oil Corporation, for doorstep delivery.

“India has over 64,000 fuel retail outlets, and over 3.5 million transactions are conducted daily at these outlets,” Co-founder Kathil tells e27.

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According to standard fire and fuel safety regulations, one can only store less than 20L of fuel in jerry cans. Saving more fuel than the restricted limit is dangerous, especially when one carries the containers in a vehicle.

“There are some businesses, industries, hospitals where fuel is required in large amounts regularly. Standing in queues during peak hours for fuel not only wastage of time but also generates a lot of pollution and traffic issues,” Kathil reveals. “Pepfuels was started to address this issue.”

Pepfuels is a location-based fuel delivery system. The startup delivers “quality fuel” to enterprises and industries at economical prices.

Customers can place their order through its app by entering the vehicle type, selecting fuel quantity, choosing a delivery slot, and entering a shipping address.

“Companies having demand less than 1,000L get fuels in drums and cans, which are transported in an unsafe manner. This method is costly and is dangerous,” warns Kathil.

For instance, industries with a demand for 5-6 kilolitres get fuels in unapproved tankers with no control on the quantity or quality. This requires additional workforce and is also unsafe. In-transit pilferage is also an issue.

“We deliver fuel in the PESO (Petroleum and Explosives Safety Organisation)-approved browsers, equipped with dispensing machines which are safe. We also conduct on-site quality and quantity check,” Kathil claims.

Pepfuel’s dispensers are equipped with in-built fire extinguishers. Its vehicles are also geo-fenced and equipped with GPS and fuel sensors.

At present, Pepfuels delivers to 200-plus enterprise customers (a combined volume of 300,000-400,000L/mo), and generates revenues of INR 2-3 crore (US$270,000 to US$400,000) per month.

Its customers include Delhivery, Oyo, AVG logistics, Triumph Motor, RGL Flexible, Jaquar, and SOIL Business School.

Competition

Based in Delhi, Pepfuels is not the only fuel-delivery company operating in the country. MyPetrolPump, a Bangalore-based venture, provides doorstep delivery of diesel for generators/cars/fleet vehicles in Hyderabad, Pune, and Bangalore. BookMyPetrol is another player, which also runs a similar business in Western India.

At present, Pepfuels operates in eight cities, including Noida, Greater Noida, Ghaziabad, Manesar, Gurugram, Bilaspur, Delhi and Dadri. Expansion to 10 news cities, including Bangalore and Hyderabad, is on the cards.

“We receive 100-plus orders through our app, and our turnaround time is three to four hours,” claims Kathil.

The startup’s current delivery hours are between 8 am and 8 pm. It plans to launch 24×7 delivery soon.

IoT-RFID-based device

Pepfuels recently introduced a location-based fuel delivery system through its patented IoT-RFID (radio frequency identification)-based device to help industries, the farm sector, hotels and malls, save on fuel cost, time and prevent pilferage. It is a server-monitored reader which is connected through the dispensing machine. It is developed to provide accurate and theft-proof delivery, and to prevent fuel loss.

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India is a third-largest fuel-consuming market in the world. The country consumed approximately 84 million metric ton in 2018-19. As per the future projection, it will go by 160 million metric ton by 2030.

As India is an emerging county in technologies and infrastructure, and the consumption grows in a range of four to six per cent a year.

To date, Pepfuels has received angel funding of INR 4.5 crore (over US$600,000) from undisclosed investors.

“We are now looking to raise pre-Series A round to expand into the B2C segment this year,” Kathil concludes.

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