We have all been out of pocket before for offering to front the cost of a restaurant bill, only receiving half the money back via bank transfer in the coming days with many friends ‘forgetting’ to pay for their share of the bill.

Though account-to-account payments have been around for quite some time, there is still a long way to go in terms of payment innovations for them to be entirely convenient.

The payment method is making its presence felt with endless practical uses, like paying a babysitter or sending money to kids away at university. Account-to-account payments also help provide additional cost savings benefits to Singapore merchants by helping to reduce the cost of payment processing.

According to findings from the newly released Worldpay from FIS 2020 Global Payments Report, account-to-account payments are the third most common payment method in Singapore, making up 10 per cent of all online payments.

When it comes to shopping online, account-to-account payments are also more popular than payments by debit cards (eight per cent) and closely followed by charge and deferred debit cards (six per cent). This is only set to increase as Singapore, an earlier adopter of Open Banking and APIs, continues to push banks to embrace Open Banking.

Also Read: Why Indonesia is the hottest payments apps battleground in Southeast Asia

Open Banking will make account-to-account payments even more frictionless by providing a way for consumers to authorise payments from a bank account without having to supply their bank account details, all while still helping meet the desired need for security. Many consumers view account-to-account payments as balancing their need for security and their desire for convenience.

Singapore introduced its first Open Banking app in 2017 – NETSPay. The app, created by DBS, POSB, OCBC and UOB, allows users to easily split bills with friends by sending money via a mobile number or QR code.

Other countries in Asia have followed suit, with HSBC introducing PayMe which has enabled 1.9 million people in Hong Kong to pay anyone with just a few taps on their phone.

Account-to-account technologies are on the rise on a global scale too, from Alipay and WeChat in China to Spain’s Bizum, France’s Lydia, Mercado Pago in Argentina or UK-based Neteller. Elsewhere, Apple Cash allows transfers between any two Apple users in the US via an iPhone, iPad, and Apple Watch.

Similarly, PayPal has a solid base as a digital wallet with broad acceptance at online retailers. Google Pay introduced P2P payments to the US market in 2018 and to India in 2019. And India welcomed a wave of new peer-to-peer services in 2019, including Paytm, WhatsApp Pay, and Amazon Pay. Clearly, P2P payment functionality is emerging as a core functionality for the mobile wallets consumers prefer.

As cross border commerce continues to grow, the rise of account-to-account payments shows that real-time payments can provide new pathways for us to pay. While this does bring data privacy issues to the fore, countries worldwide are recognising the need for clear standards and regulations surrounding payment data and customer information.

Also Read: Indonesian digital payments platforms OVO, Dana reportedly agreed to merger

In the same way global regulatory trends continue to advance the protection of data privacy, other initiatives such as open banking could provide the additional momentum that takes account-to-account payment innovations mainstream.

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Transcelestial Technologies, a last-mile internet connectivity startup based out of Singapore, has secured a US$9.6M in Series A round of investment, co-led by EDBI and Wavemaker Partners.

Also joined the round are Airbus Ventures, the VC arm of Airbus; Cap Vista, the strategic investment arm of the Defence Science and Technology Agency of Singapore; Partech; and Tekton Ventures.

Existing investors, including Entrepreneur First, SEEDS Capital, Charles Songhurst (Microsoft’s former Head of Corporate Strategy), and Ajay Shah (who runs technology programmes at a senior level in Standard Chartered Bank), also co-invested.

Also Read: Behind the creative minds of “Circles.Life’s” cheeky content

Founded in December 2016, Transcelestial is building what it claims to be a space laser network to “deliver a step-change in internet connectivity globally”.

The startup has developed Centauri, a mass-produced network device that leverages its proprietary Wireless Laser Communication Technology to create a wireless distribution network between buildings, traditional cell towers, street-level poles and other physical infrastructure.

It is the size of a shoe-box weighing less than 3kg and is capable of delivering fibre-like speeds to customers. It is a rapidly-deployable, low-cost and high-speed solution, which can be used in dense residential areas that require bandwidth upgrades.

Two versions of the device are available — 1 Gbps Full Duplex (4G & Enterprise ready) and 10 Gbps Full Duplex (5G-ready).

“With the Series A capital raise, we are now working actively to get Centauri in the hands of customers globally within the next 12 months. In order to deliver on this global promise, we have set up a manufacturing capability which will scale into the world’s largest for production of CENTAURI class Wireless Fibre Optics devices,” said Dr. Mohammad Danesh, CTO and Co-founder of Transcelestial.

“This will bring our groundbreaking proprietary technology of real time optical alignment and weather compensation to within a commercial price point,” he added.

In 2018, Transcelestial raised US$1.8 million in seed funding.

The startup’s other investors include Entrepreneur First, 500 Startups, AirTree Ventures, SGInnovate, SparkLabs Global Ventures, Michael Seibel (CEO of Y-Combinator), Charles Songhurst (Microsoft’s former Head of Corporate Strategy), Josh Manchester(Champion Hill Labs).

With the sudden advent of the COVID-19 pandemic, the importance of last-mile connectivity to our homes, offices and cell towers (which in turn bring data to your phones) has become critical. Almost every country has seen a 35-45 per cent rise in internet usage.

Also Read: Taihecap Managing Partner on what SEA startups can learn from China and how to tide through COVID-19

“As the front runner in laser communications technology, Transcelestial’s Centauri platform will help catalyse the adoption of 5G communications, a key enabler for the next wave of growth in the digital economy, including areas such as smart cities, industry 4.0 and urban mobility,” said Chu Swee Yeok, CEO and President of EDBI.”

“As our first investment in Singapore, we’re pleased to have such a marquee company as Transcelestial to help us widen our presence in the region, and we look forward to opening our new offices in Singapore in close partnership with the outstanding co-investors Transcelestial has attracted,”said Thomas d’Halluin, Managing Partner of Airbus Ventures.

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Image Credit: Transcelestial

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dltledgers, a blockchain-powered cross-border trade digitisation startup based out of Singapore, is in advanced talks to raise US$9 million in Series A round of investment, its Founder and CEO Samir Neji told e27.

The startup is already “very close” to securing US$5 million and aims to wind up the round by August.

Neji, however, declined to share the details of the investors.

dltledgers had previously raised US$2.5 million in pre-Series A round from global VC firm Walden International in July last year.

Also Read: Singapore’s Transcelestial raises US$9.6M Series A to ‘deliver a step-change in internet connectivity globally’

“We’re very close to raising US$5 million but we’re aiming for US$9 million. While I can’t disclose who the investors are at this point, I can say there are two and they are well-known,” he said. “We’re certain we’ll be able to close by August. But we’re going to keep the round open till September.”

dltledgers will use the capital to be raised to grow its ecosystem of network participants and scale up its sales and marketing teams. Another important and immediate aspect is growing out footprint internationally, particularly North America.

“We’ve already set up offices in India, the UAE, Japan, Australia and New Zealand in the last few months. But since we’ve already set up trade flows and platform users in North America, it’s on our vision board for the immediate future. Product engineering and tech innovation are important,” Neji explained.

dltledgers was founded in 2017 by Neji, a serial technopreneur who has lead four businesses in his career. The concept was born out of his enthusiasm to disrupt global cross-border trade digitisation.

Plug-and-play platform

In a nutshell, dltledgers is a plug-and-play blockchain platform with a focus on “significantly reducing” lead times/delays in cross-border trade/supply chain transactions and increasing operational efficiency, while reducing the overall costs of financing for buyers and sellers.

The startup achieves this through end-to-end digitisation of global supply chain workflows for its clients and their partners, therefore reducing the reliance on paper, phone and e-mail.

In addition to this, it has also created a digital marketplace for clients to negotiate interest rates and financing terms with banks in a secure manner, allowing them to lower their costs of financing by choosing the trade financing solutions which work best for them.

Since 2018, the company claims to have executed more than US$3 billion-worth of physical trade transactions on its platform involving 400-plus traders and 45-plus banks and tertiary partners.

Nearly 4,500 organisations are now collaborating on the dltledgers platform, including traders and producers, banks, logistics providers, inspectors, agents, and more.

“Our platform mainly targets global trading houses and large manufacturers involved in cross-border trade. Furthermore, we offer inter-enterprise workflow digitisation to multiple unconnected parties in any global supply chain to collaborate on a single digital platform,” Neji claimed.

Also Read: Taihecap Managing Partner on what SEA startups can learn from China and how to tide through COVID-19

“In a more niche segment, we also target small/medium enterprises who may need to track provenance in their private trade flows. Along with our target segment, we also establish partnerships with banks/financial institutions to support the financing/security of trade transactions,” he noted.

The firm’s customers include Mitsui, Agrocorp International, Shiseido, Wilmar, Wipro Unza, IFFCO and ANZ Bank.

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Image Credit: dltledgers

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Indonesia has seen a number of leading startup figures making a move to the public sector, but the public finds themselves anxiously waiting for the next big innovation to reveal itself. The high expectation is understandable, but the public sector is a tricky path to navigate, after all.

When Nadiem Makarim resigned from his widely celebrated position of gojek CEO to answer “the call of duty” to become the Minister of Education and Culture of the country, his decision was quickly followed with both scoffs and support. While it remains unfair to criticise an individual’s performance before their first day of work, we must remind you that Makarim’s background was in business and technology –nothing in his CV says culture or education.

But his appointment had sent out a loud and clear message of what President Joko Widodo (Jokowi) is trying to achieve: Makarim’s appointment was meant to bridge between the government and the younger part of the nation.

Scandal-infested

Jokowi went one step further with the appointment of the unprecedented presidential special staff, consisting of seven young people with tech and startup background. These experts were to give the President innovative ideas in regard to the country’s development in various fields, as reported by The Jakarta Post.

They were Ruangguru CEO and founder Adamas Belva Syah Devara, Amartha Fintech founder Andi Taufan Garuda Putra, and Creativeprenuer CEO Putri Tanjung.

Other expert staff members include SabangMerauke co-founder Ayu Kartika Dewi, Kitong Bisa CEO Gracia Billy Mambrasar, and social entrepreneur Angkie Yudistia and former Indonesian Islamic Students Movement (PMII) chairman Aminuddin Maruf.

Also Read: [Updated] Breaking: Nadiem Makarim named Minister of Education and Culture of Indonesia

At first, the idea seemed exciting. But soon, things started to turn suspicious.

Andi Taufan Garuda Putra of Amartha was being slammed for asking district heads across Indonesia to support a COVID-19 relief programme led by his company. Even worse, his request was written in a letter bearing the Cabinet Secretary’s letterhead.

This move was seen as a conflict of interest, especially since the presidential special staffs do not have the authority to appoint a company for COVID-19 mitigation efforts. It blew up in social media and quickly went viral for all the wrong reasons. Putra had to resign 10 days later.

Ruangguru CEO Adamas Belva Syah Devara was next to be grilled by the public. His edutech company had become one of the appointees for the Pre-Employment card for 2.8 million unemployed citizens. Every person’s eligible will receive US$69 in courses selected by the government, one of them being Skill Academy by Ruangguru.

However, Belva soon claimed that the appointment was done before him becoming a presidential special staff, indicating that there was no foul play involved in the process.

Nadiem Makarim himself has been behind a few controversial decisions himself. The most recent one is on the new students enrollment policy for Jakarta area (PPDB).

Also Read: Nadiem Makarim of gojek’s fame crosses to politics, these are what the startup ecosystem has to say

Indonesia’s Child Protection Commissioner (KPAI) reportedly received 15 complaints related to Makarim’s policy for students’ eligibility to move to the next level in school. The complaints mainly are about technical issues due to the virtual application system.

“Many parents are concerned about the age requirement that is one of the PPDB’s selection indicator for the Jakarta area, as well as the policy regarding the achievement path as other selection’s requirements. The latter one is not in line with the previous year’s policy about PPDB,” said lawmaker Syaiful Huda.

“Another requirement being frown upon is the residency requirement with at least one year of residency in certain areas, which further frustrate parents who just want their kids to be able to enrol for the fresh semester coming this month,” he continued.

Before entering the lion’s den

So if you are a startup founder with political ambition, what should you do then? Should you even proceed with this goal?

e27 spoke to one of the prominent names in the Indonesian startup scene to dig his insight. Asking to remain anonymous, in addition to his experience in the tech sector, our source has some familiarity with the Indonesian public sector.

“I think the last cabinet featured so many tech-experienced people because it has to do with the country’s openness towards the digital era. It is to give the right signal to investors that Indonesia embraces digital technology and young talents, although it also has other angles that are more politically inclined to it,” he said.

In the case of such a prolific force in the startup scene such as Nadiem Makarim, his position certainly can bring big benefits for both for Indonesian young talents and the tech ecosystem itself.

“But that is only if he’s successful. I think there will be an inflow of more foreign investment because they see more ‘certainty’ on the government regulations side, with Nadiem being in the cabinet,” our source said.

A recent report by The Straits Times emerged that President Jokowi’s growing frustration with how his cabinet handles the COVID-19 pandemic might soon trigger a reshuffle.

If Makarim, along with other ministers, does not keep up with the expectation, his political career might be short-lived.

Tech founders may know a thing or two about how to navigate the ups-and-downs of the tech market, but it’s clear that politics require a lot of different strategies. One does not simply answer the country’s calling.

“It is better to do a ‘pull’ than ‘push’ move because politics are ruthless and invisible. Without real purpose and passion, tech people can feel easily frustrated there,” our source added his insight.

In the end, we can all just wait and see.

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Image Credit: Joakim Honkasalo on Unsplash

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Qashier to use US$860K funding for SEA expansion

Qashier, a Singapore based startup providing smart point-of-sale solutions for merchants, has raised US$860,000 in funding.

Local investor Cocoon Capital led the round, which also saw participation from Hardware Club, a US-based VC firm.

Qashier says that it will use the funding for expansion across Southeast Asia, hiring, and product development. Its goal is to build an omnichannel commerce platform to power SMEs.

“The current pandemic has pushed businesses of all sizes to embrace technology to increase margins and stay resilient. Yet, many SMEs have been left behind due to the high cost and complexity of adopting new technology. Qashier is providing the tools used by large corporations to SMEs at a fraction of the cost, empowering them to succeed in today’s competitive economy,” said Christopher Choo, Founder of Qashier.

SMU debuts 19 startups accepted into its incubation programme

Business Innovations Generator (BIG), the incubator managed by the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) of the Singapore Management University (SMU), has announced that 19 new startups accepted into the second cohort.

The goal of the 4-month equity-free programme is to support early-stage startups and student founders by providing them with the opportunity to validate their business plan and gain access to industry experts, and grant opportunities early on.

Here are the startups –

Atsell: E-commerce enabler that helps merchants and brands boost their online sales

Beauty Undercover: Matches customers with salons by providing them with information to make better beauty/salon decisions.

Captive Interactive Live: E-commerce (EC) live streaming integrated service platform for brands who want to grow their visibility

Feige: A digital identity and credit line marketplace for gig workers and freelancers

Fluidlytix: A solution for commercial organisations to help reduce water bills and consumption by 30 per cent

Ion Mobility: Electric motorcycle company

Kalpha: p2p mobile platform where individuals can connect and meet up to share any skills, knowledge and experiences on a 1-to-1 basis.

Also Read: SMU-MSc in Innovation programme – where innovation meets pedagogy

Mantheos: Provides businesses with clean and structured data solutions to help them make better decision

ORBIT -animal: Helps monitor animal health as well as educate caretakers on how to better manage their pet’s health.

Paladium: Uses Machine Learning to help B2C match products and promotions to relevant potential customers

Pogmothoine PGM: Online shop and platform for vintage-lovers

QuikChef: Converts individual F&B’s store items into a vacuum-packed chilled product for effective storage

Ridr: An all in one online parcel/food delivery search engine that comprises data from food services companies, SMEs, and online sellers.

Sealed: A B2B learning company that connects organisations with expert insights to plug knowledge gaps, serving investment
funds, management consultants and corporations.

Sekoni Original: Tech-enabled watches that can be customised for everyday life while retaining fashion appeal

Twimbit: A knowledge firm which provides information and advisory to individuals and companies

Unistop Tech: Provides an automation vending store system that is based on robotic technology

Version22: Helps companies get started with their digital transformation journey by automating repetitive, mundane
and inefficient business processes through software

Vita: A platform that allows retrenched workers to prove their resume claims through ex-employer feedback

India’s Reliance Jio receives US$253M investment from Intel

American multinational corporation and technology company Intel has announced an investment of US$253 million into India’s telecom giant Reliance Jio, according to LiveMint.

This mark’s Jio’s eleventh investment up till now in just about two months.

Jio Platforms is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Industries and currently claims to have more than 388 million subscribers.

Mukesh Ambani, MD of Jio, said that the investment will help realise its Digital India Mission, empower all sectors of the economy, and improve the quality of life of 1.3 billion Indians.

Indian mobile apps experience boost after the country announces ban on 59 Chinese apps

Many Indian mobile apps have experienced a surge in downloads after the country’s Prime Minister announced a ban on 59 Chinese apps, citing security threats.

Many startups are now identifying the opportunity and launching their own new short-video app to fill the void of the popular Chinese app TikTok like ShareChat, Mitron etc.

Also Read: Singapore’s Transcelestial raises US$9.6M Series A to deliver a step-change in internet connectivity globally

“This ban gives a unique opportunity to Indian technology entrepreneurs to build and own some of the most highly used internet products,” said Aprameya Radhakrishna, founder of Vokal to The EconomicTimes.

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Image Credit: Qashier, Unsplash, SMU

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