We all grew up having our imaginations run wild from science fiction movies on what the future would look like. There are myriads to recall but growing up, I remember thinking that flying cars and personal assistant robots would be the future.

It’s 2020, while we are still working to introduce flying cars to the neighbourhoods, we’ve managed to bring in robots to remind us to keep a safe distance – it’s not quite what we imagined but it’s close!

While we have the brightest minds and entrepreneurs working on these groundbreaking inventions, predicting far into the future is hard to get right. As we discovered in recent months, all it takes is one new discovery or world event to change the course of history.

So instead of predicting the future through my imagination and ideals, another way to look at it is through the lens of opportunity. Great problems and opportunities often attract the best minds to work together to solve them.

My firm belief is that when the best of various fields come together to work across disciplines, amazing progress and breakthroughs happen. To answer the question about what our smart cities of tomorrow will look like, here are some of the opportunities that are worth looking at and should be making good progress in the next 10 years:

Better use of data

Millions of data points are being collected daily and it’s continuing to expand as IoT devices proliferate our cities. The data collected will help us to understand patterns and identify behaviours that are changing as well as how they interrelate.

Utilising the data sets collected would help us to make better decisions in our solutions and improve the quality of our lives. Startups that can harness the data and create meaningful innovation stand a good chance to solve or improve our traffic, energy usage, safety, and social challenges.

Also Read: Life after COVID-19: How and why smart cities need to focus on sustainability

Smart home and IoT security

Smart connected homes are growing at an incredible pace as we continue to add on devices to make our lives at home better. Global forecasts put it that the number of smart homes would increase by 2.6 folds, up from 180 million in 2020 to mind-boggling 480 million households in a short span of five years.

With this proliferation, the importance of keeping our home safe and secure is more important than ever, unscrupulous actors would now be able to compromise the integrity of the smart home system and exploit security loopholes without the need to be physically present. Perhaps subscribing to an anti-virus service for our homes in the future is not too far-fetched an idea?

Sharing economy

In the last five years, we’ve had a wave of startups working on ideas revolving around the sharing economy. The trend seemed to have tapered recently, possibly due to the number of challenges and stakeholders involved in the sharing economy ecosystem.

Uber has been one of the leaders in the sharing economy yet they too faced an incredible amount of challenges in their journey to revolutionise the mobility industry. No doubt, we have seen successful cases i.e. Airbnb but the recent COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the company’s plans and is forcing them to adapt to stay relevant to new norms.

Closer to home, we have seen startups attempting to tap into the sharing economy in various industries i.e. bike-sharing, last-mile transportations, and freelance-gigs, but we’ve yet to see much success due to various factors.

Just two years ago, we had six companies offering a total of approximately 200,000 dockless shared bicycles around Singapore, but most of them shut down by 2019. I’m sure all of us recognise that there is much efficiency to be gained from unlocking utilisation of assets through sharing, but the implementation will need to be a win-win for the idea to take off and truly be successful.

While no one seems to have cracked the code of maximising the potential of the sharing economy, the recent resurgence in companies looking at bike-sharing in Singapore seems to indicate that there is a huge potential in this market waiting to be tapped on.

In the next ten years, we should see more startups learning from past mistakes and making a comeback to tackle the sharing economies in better and more innovative means.

Also Read: Life after COVID-19: How and why smart cities need to focus on sustainability

More efficient home cooling

In tropical climates, living without air-conditioning would make many of us miserable. As the planet warms and more of us continue to work from home, usage is definitely on the rise and projected to double in the next 20 years. Did you know that air-conditioning accounts for almost 40 per cent of the total electricity consumed in Singapore homes?

Providing cooling is expensive and demanding on the power grid, and district cooling is among one of the best options to improve efficiency. It works by aggregating demand among multiple buildings that combine different usage patterns.

District cooling works well with solar and other renewable energy sources, which adds on to its appeal. While this is not something entirely new, there may be more focused implementations and hopefully further efficiency breakthrough within the next 10 years.

Last-mile delivery

As the demand for e-commerce and parcel delivery surge, how will this affect last-mile delivery? Our current infrastructure and logistics operations are not built for future projected growth.

With only 20 per cent of all sales happening online, there is much room for e-commerce to grow. Startups will continue to figure out how to deal with this increase at scale. Is there a possibility that drones and robots may very well be the future of delivery services?

Sustainable living

It’s undeniable that humanity has made much progress in the last 10 years, but the advances will mean nothing if we do not leave a better world for our future generations. Our cities today consume more than 60 per cent of the world’s resources, contribute to 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions, and account for 70 per cent of global waste which all leads to the devastating impacts on the very place that we live in.

To accommodate this growth sustainably, our smart city will need to address traffic congestion, air pollutants, and waste processing. Over the last 15 years, HDB has been introducing various solutions to drive sustainability efforts in our estates.

We have been harvesting rainwater for non-potable uses like washing of common areas, introduced smart motion sensors that automatically adjust the luminosity of the LED lights depending on the motion detected, and is currently piloting the Pneumatic Waste Conveyance System (PWCS) an automated waste collection system to solve environmental and sanitary issues associated with open refuse collection.

As more of us are aware of the importance of preserving our environments and understand the importance of sustainable growth, more attention will be shined on startups working on sustainability goals and will continue to attract investments. Sustainability would without a doubt be an overarching theme that will shape the future in the next 10 years.

So what do you think future estates will look like? If you visualise a very different smart city from the one we live in now and have some great ideas worth building, join us at the HDB Cool Ideas Hack 2020 to ideate with the best minds, build a prototype and bring those amazing ideas to fruition.

–

Register for Meet the VC: DTribe Capital

Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: shade jay on Unsplash

The post Getting smarter with tech: How will smart cities look like 10 years from now?  appeared first on e27.

Securing investment requires more than a great idea. In essence, beyond a compelling executive summary to tell your story and get you the pitch meeting, you will need to craft a great pitch deck. In my years as an angel investor, I’ve seen hundreds and hundreds of presentations. By the way, without a doubt, the best investor presentations use consistent building blocks. Have the right assembly and the components are arranged in a strategic flow.

You actually need two versions of your deck

Surprise! Generally, you should have two different versions of your deck. Firstly, one that has lots of white space and relatively few words; For instance, to be used as a back-drop to a live presentation. In addition to that, the second one that has enough words that it can stand on its own if you need to email it to someone. By the way, never email the white space one or present from the wordy one. Overall, don’t try to get by on just one version. For instance, both mistakes are going to lead to bad results.

Metadata matters

The single most important data to include in your deck is your contact info. For example, list every single means of getting in touch with you. As an example put it on the very first slide. Sounds like a given, but the stories I could tell you …

Deck building blocks

Hence what does the deck need to have in it? After your contact information, it should cover the following topics in a 10-15 slide decks.

1. Customer Problem: description of customer pain and how you solve it –concept & key elements.

2. Product Overview: what you do, for whom and why it’s compelling

3. Key Players: founders, key team members, and key advisors, with industry backgrounds and expertise

4. Market Opportunity: market size, growth characteristics, segmentation

5. Competitive Landscape: competitors and competitive feature sets, plus your sustainable competitive advantages

6. Go-To-Market Strategy: how you will sell your product

7. Stage of Development: product development, customer acquisition, partner relationships

Also Read: How to create a great investor pitch deck

8. Critical Risks & Challenges: what can go wrong and how you plan to manage it

9. Financial Projections: how much time and money it will take to get to cash flow break-even. Including your five year projections (best to show Yr5 mid-case, worst case and best case with key assumptions)

10. Exit Options: categories of likely buyers, rationales, list of specific likely buyers and comparables with valuation multiples

11. Funding Requirements: how much, what you will use it for, what milestones you can hit

That’s it! For instance, trying to do much more is not going to make your pitch more effective. It is merely going to increase the likelihood that you will not get through it which can be the kiss of death. Details can be drawn out in the Q&A or during subsequent due diligence. Instead, you should focus on covering all of the key elements to ensure you get the next meeting. If you have extra material, stick it in an appendix in case you need to flip to it during Q&A.

Tips on mechanical construction and delivery

Mechanics matter too in successfully presenting your deck. Consider these points:

• Consider avoiding complicated animations or builds in your deck –they make it very hard to go backwards if you need to. Do not build in any videos –it is an AV disaster waiting to happen. Plan ahead to avoid last-minute changes to your deck. Swapping and fumbling while everyone waits for you makes an unprofessional first impression and wastes your presentation time.
• You may want to avoid exotic presentation programmes such as Prezi. Even PowerPoint can be pretty buggy on some machines. So you may convert to PDF. But check the conversion before sending to make sure it didn’t introduce any embarrassing formatting glitches.
• Do not plan to spend time on product demos –just a couple screenshots if necessary.
• Plan for the worst in terms of screen size: no small fonts. And finally, bring multiple memory stick copies, as well as your own remote.
• If it makes more sense to use the remote that is provided. Get familiar with it before starting so you don’t get flustered and make a hash out of your presentation.

Hence with some time upfront and some practice. You will be well on your way to having an effective pitch deck is by learning the Pitch Deck Fundamentals.

—

This article was first published on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Kaleidico on Unsplash

The post Pitch deck fundamentals: What you need to include to build an effective one appeared first on e27.

Even with a global health crisis looming in the background, to expand their business internationally remains on the agenda of many tech entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia (SEA). In the first week of September, SEA-based companies such as PasarPolis and Livspace included international expansion plan with their latest funding announcement.

In fact, Harvard Business Review stated that despite the decline in merchandise trade, foreign direct investment (FDI), and international air travels, these numbers “do not signal a fundamental collapse of international market integration.” This allows companies to remain hopeful about their international expansion plans. But how can they get it right?

Supahands, an end-to-end data labelling partner for AI/ML companies, are basing their operations in Kuala Lumpur, but its clients are based in various countries –from neighbouring Singapore to the US to (even as far as) South Africa. To get to this stage, the company has gone through several steps that include strategy building and execution.

To understand the steps that startups need to take to expand internationally, in this deep dive series, e27 speaks to Greg Meehan, Chief Revenue Officer at Supahands.

He will explain the steps that include:

• Is international expansion right for you?
• Making a move beyond the sea: Market Review, Budgeting, Product-Market Fit, Human Resource, and Review
• International expansion in time of the pandemic

Is international expansion right for you?

Meehan begins the interview by explaining that international expansion is something that a startup should consider ever since its inception. In fact, it should be part of the problem scope that they aim to solve with the solutions that they build.

“Why did you start the company in the first place? Did you start with a global or a local perception to solve a problem?” he asks. “You start to build with that in mind. When we started to build Supahands, we started with a global mindset.”

Also Read: Human-powered training data provider Supahands raises Series A funding

Another set of questions that startups need to answer is related to the reason why international expansion has to be in the picture. Is it because your competitors are doing it? Or is it because there is a market for what you are offering? For Meehan, the key lies in understanding what the market “tries to tell you.”

The answers to those questions will be crucial as companies weigh in the potential risks involved in expanding internationally. According to Meehan, there are two risk factors that need to be considered: Capital expenditure and the process that you will be building on.

If a startup enters a new market too soon, with a shaky foundation and an unoptimised process, they can expect to burn a lot of money –with no guarantee of success.

“We started to receive inbound inquiries that led us to believe that there is a big opportunity for us internationally. Then we need to factor in all the different kinds of costs –and that can be a big risk,” Meehan points out.

“For example, if clients want to buy from us. What would it mean if we had, like, thousands of leads come in overnight? Do we have the processes, people, and systems in place to cope with that? And then we need to start thinking about optimisation … and how we can position people for that. Having [both] the team and the [right] kind of mindset is really, really important,” he stresses.

Making a move beyond the sea

Once the founders are able to answer the questions, they can move towards the next stages of international expansion:

Market Review

Now that the startup has decided to expand internationally, how do they decide which market to start with?

There are two angles that a startup can approach here: They can do it as a company with an existing presence in one market that is aiming to widen its reach there, or as a completely new business launched in a foreign market. If the startup decides to go with the first option, then the first step they can take is to talk to their existing clients.

“Find out what led them to purchase your products in the first place. They are a great source of intel,” Meehan says, adding that from there the startup can see which kind of market they should be aiming for.

Also Read: Human-powered training data provider Supahands raises Series A funding

For startups who are going with the second option, what they can do is start their research online.

“Say you are building a CRM system for salespeople. Find out where these people are hanging out online and you go where they are and engage them,” Meehan suggests.

At this stage, founders do not even need to go for people in a specific market, as a sales VP in the UK will likely face the same challenge as those in other markets.

Budgeting

Budgeting starts with the founders figuring out the go-to-market strategy that they want to use when entering a new market: From opening an office, securing a referral partner, to hiring talents.

“How much budget you can allocate towards that expansion while still maintaining the growth that you’ve got in your current market as well?” Meehan gives the clue.

He also warns against experiencing a “false start” or a situation where a company sees a potential for growth in a market, but then they realise that it is all too soon.

Product-market fit

This is the part where it can get tricky, and Meehan advises startups to “listen to the people on the frontline” or those who interact with clients on a regular basis.

“What we look at here is the collection of this information. We speak to our marketing and product team as well, and feeding them back this information because you can start to see the evolution of your products and services as you grow, as the market matures,” he explains.

“A lot of the times it is like fitting a square peg into a round hole and having to feel your way through it,” he adds.

Meehan also reminds us that the market is changing really fast.

“Market research is a continuous thing and it is not done by just one person in the company … It is your entire business,” he stresses.

What about cases where startups need to localise their product to adjust to the market? Meehan brought forth the example of when Uber tried to enter the Southeast Asian (SEA) market, and their inability to quickly provide a flexible payment infrastructure for a cash-heavy market such as SEA.

“It all comes back to the elements of market research,” he says.

Also Read: Malaysia’s Supahands raises seed round from Axiata, 500 Startups

Human Resource

Regarding their point of how human resource matters during international expansion, Meehan says that the Supahands platform was built to be geography-agnostic. This means the company was built as an international business with the ability to work remotely.

“That is how we have always done our sales, engagement, and marketing,” he explains.

But in the case of its expansion to the US market, there were plenty of offline activities involved. Meehan and Supahands CEO Mark Koh travelled to conventions and meet with potential customers and even competitors in the country to get a first-hand understanding of the market and the strategy that they will need.

“We want to make sure that when we’re bringing people on board, we bring aboard bright people that are going to fit in the culture … that could represent us as a brand and a business externally as well,” Meehan elaborates.

To complete this process, Supahands took at least 12 months, but the company sees that as a necessary process to ensure the right candidate fit.

Review process

Lastly, how does one review the success (or failure) of an international expansion move? Certainly, it all comes down to the metrics, but listening to gut feelings is also important.

” … You’ve got these metrics but what does your gut tell you as well? So, you do a bit of a gut check … Yes, we have these numbers and metrics right in front of me and I will take note and trust the numbers, but I will also verify those numbers,” Meehan says.

But what about the pandemic?

At this stage, we see that there are elements of international expansion that will require founders to travel and be on the ground. But as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage on and affect international travels, this begs the question, will this be the end of our international expansion plan?

Meehan reminds us that there are also elements of international expansion that are being done virtually. For example, market research.

“The global pandemic really levels the playing field for businesses and startups in Southeast Asia that are looking to expand, because everyone is in the same boat now,” he says.

—

Image Credit: Supahands

The post How Supahands works with customer feedback to plan their international expansion appeared first on e27.

Enterprise SG, energy firms launch innovation challenge for SMEs, startups

The story: Enterprise Singapore (ESG) on Thursday launched its inaugural Energy Open Innovation Challenge (EOIC) 2020, in partnership with energy companies Chevron, ConocoPhillips, ExxonMobil and Shell, to seek tie-ups with small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and startups, according to an SGSME report.

Who all can participate?: The EOIC is calling for innovative solutions from SMEs and startups that address 19 challenge statements spanning asset management, robotics, sustainability and workflow.

Also Read: Meet the Govt: How Enterprise Singapore plans to deep dive into startup talent development, international collaboration

Shortlisted SMEs and startups will have the opportunity to work directly with the four companies to develop, refine and test their solutions both in Singapore and globally.

Up to US$730K grants: ESG will also provide eligible SMEs and startups with up to S$1 million (US$730,000) in grant support to ramp up the development of their solution, so they can build their track record, scale the business and create good jobs.

Rukita launches workpod to curb COVID-19 spread

The story: To curb the COVID-19 spread in office buildings, Indonesian proptech company Rukita (a Sequoia Surge startup ) has launched Rukita Workpod as an alternative that facilitates a more efficient work from home (WFH) by enabling employees to live in a group.

More on the Workpod: At Rukita Workpod, employees can work in communal areas with complete supporting facilities and the utmost comfort as presented in co-working space. Rukita also provides tailored services based on corporate needs.

Also Read: Bobobox raises US$11.5M funding when many of its peers in the hospitality sector are on the brink

For those who wish to have more privacy, available areas can be perfectly transformed into a small office or meeting room with sufficient capacity and good air circulation.

To ensure tenants’ safety and health, Rukita strictly implements health protocols as required by the government. In each unit, hand sanitisers are available and a regular body temperature check is performed for all tenants, on-site staff, and visitors.

On top of that, deep cleaning with disinfectants is conducted periodically in all areas, including communal areas, in which frequently touched surfaces will be cleaned every 20 minutes thus employees can live and work with peace of mind.

ZILHive startup accelerator announces 2020-2021 cohort

The story: Zilliqa, a blockchain platform, has announced its 2020-2021 cohort of selected companies participating in the ZILHive, a 6-month blockchain startup accelerator.

The programme is designed to support early- and late-stage startups that are using or looking to use the Zilliqa protocol to build blockchain solutions.

From digital asset exchanges to stablecoins, this year’s batch of 8 companies have been selected to promote blockchain development within Open Finance (OpFi).

Also Read: The battle between private and public blockchains

The programme will run from August 31 2020 to February 2021.

The startups are:

Propine: A Singapore-based startup that provides compliant end-to-end tokenisation and custody solutions

Notabene: A Y-Combinator-backed firm that enables financial companies to be compliant with the Financial Action Task Force’s “Travel Rule” for any crypto transactions

Rupiah Token: An Indonesian rupiah-backed stablecoin that looks to drive a more inclusive and open financial system within the country

MugglePay: A China-based startup that looks to enable far more cost-efficient cross-border transactions by providing a software development kit (SDK) to merchants that accept crypto payments at a fraction of existing fees

Moonlight: A US-based decentralised self-sovereign identity solution

CommX: A Singapore- and Australia-based startup that tokenises art into tradable digital assets

Moonlet: A Romania-based digital asset wallet that enables users to securely store their crypto assets, spend their tokens, and manage their returns from staking

Lumiere: A Singapore and Hong Kong-based film tokenisation platform that strives to boost liquidity, accessibility, and mitigate risk in the film investment space.

—

Image Credit: Rukita

The post In brief: ESG launches open innovation challenge for startups; Rukita launches workpod to curb COVID-19 spread appeared first on e27.

Biofourmis, a Singapore-based digital therapeutics company, has announced the completion of its US$100 million Series C financing, led by SoftBank Vision Fund II.

Existing investors Openspace Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, Sequoia Capital and EDBI also joined.

This round comes over a year after the firm secured US$35 million in Series B round in May 2019. As per a press statement, since this deal Biofourmis increased its revenue “significantly” through new partnerships and growth with seven pharmaceutical companies and 10 health systems, globally.

During this period, Biofourmis also made several acquisitions, including wearable biosensor firm Biovotion and Takeda Pharmaceuticals’s oncology-focused digital therapeutics company Gaido Health.

“COVID-19 is pushing remote monitoring and digital therapeutics to the forefront of medicine,” said Biofourmis CEO Kuldeep Singh Rajput. “Our vision is to use digital medicine to empower patients, clinicians and researchers everywhere by providing software-as-a-treatment for patients with unmet clinical needs, from post-acute care to optimal medication therapy.”

Also Read: 7 healthcare industries ready to be disrupted by AI in 2022

“With this new funding, we will accelerate our global expansion, advance our digital therapeutics pipeline, develop additional care pathways and drive deeper integration with our health system, hospital, pharmaceutical and clinical research clients and partners,” he explained.

A portion of the funds raised from this round will be used for for developing, validating and commercialising several of its released and unreleased digital therapeutics solutions across cardiology, respiratory, oncology and pain across the US and key Asian markets (Asia Pacific, China and Japan).

In conjunction with the Series C financing announcement, Biofourmis has also announced an alignment of its internal operations to enable deeper integration with clients and partners and to support ongoing innovation.

The new business structure will include two verticals:

● Biofourmis Therapeutics: A new clinically validated software-based therapeutics to treat and manage patients with unmet clinical needs. These digital therapies work independently or in conjunction with pharmacotherapies, thereby augmenting drug efficacy, reducing costs and resulting in better patient outcomes.

With its “beyond the pill” model, pharmaceutical companies can prescribe the company’s digital therapeutics solution as a companion therapeutic with high-value drugs to improve efficacy and to better manage and treat patients with complex chronic conditions.

● Biofourmis Health: This focuses on virtual care models to manage patients remotely as they transition from acute to post-acute care. The company’s AI-based Biovitals Platform is layered with personalised care pathways to manage patients with heart failure, coronary artery disease, respiratory illnesses and cancer, especially those undergoing chemo/radiation therapy or CAR-T treatment.

Also Read: This Singaporean startup wants to save you by predicting medical crises before they arise

Biofourmis Health’s “home hospital” initiative leverages the company’s AI-based remote monitoring to lower healthcare costs through reductions in length of stay, readmissions and emergency department visits, among other measures.

It will also improve patient outcomes by enabling clinicians to remotely monitor patients and intervene up to 21 hours in advance of when a medical crisis would have otherwise occurred.

Started in 2015, Biofourmis discovers, develops and delivers clinically-validated software-based therapeutics to provide better outcomes for patients, advanced tools for clinicians to deliver personalised care, technology to demonstrate the value of and complement pharmacotherapy, and cost-effective solutions for payers.

It has built Biovitals, a highly sophisticated personalised AI-powered health analytics platform that predicts clinical exacerbation in advance of a critical event, which is the backbone of their digital therapeutics product pipeline across multiple therapeutic areas—including heart failure, oncology, infectious disease, chronic pain, acute coronary syndrome and COPD.

—

Image Credit: Biofourmis

The post Biofourmis closes US$100M led by SoftBank to push remote monitoring, digital therapeutics to the forefront of medicine appeared first on e27.

PropertyGuru raises US$220M from TPG, KKR; The group claims it recorded 24% revenue growth y-o-y and continues to lead in SEA with 57% market share; The group claims it provides 2.7M+ home options for property seekers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia, Vietnam; In Oct. ’19, PropertyGuru suspended its proposed IPO plans on ASX. e27

SoftBank Vision Fund leads US$100M funding in Singapore’s Biofourmis; The money will go toward accelerating the health-tech firm’s global expansion; It will also use the new funds to develop and commercialise several released and unreleased digital therapeutics solutions across segments like cardiology, respiratory, oncology, and pain. TechInAsia

Livspace raises US$90M led by Kharis Capital, Venturi Partners; The home design and renovation firm claims to have hit a gross revenue run rate of over US$200M in March and expects to grow into a US$500M business in the next 2 years; In May, it laid off 450 people, or 15% of its workforce. The Economic Times

Indonesian insurtech PasarPolis secures US$54M Series B; Investors include LeapFrog Investments, AlphaJWC, Intudo, Xiaomi, Go-Ventures; The firm wants to make deeper penetration into Vietnam, Thailand; Insurance penetration rate in ASEAN is 3.6%. e27

AI-based loan recovery startup Flow raises debt capital from Genesis; Flow’s data-driven collection strategies have supported over 2.8 million consumers to date; The firm has operations in Singapore, Vietnam, India, Indonesia; In May, it secured US$6M Series A. e27

Malaysian digital media group REV Asia to acquire smaller rival iMEDIA for US$9.6M; iMedia claims to have a combined reach of over 8M visits monthly; iMedia is expected to make US$723K in net profit after tax in 2021; As per a recent report, digital ads spent from Jan-May ’20 exceeded US$104M, accounting for over 22% of total ads spend. e27

Digital health startup Mobio Interactive secures US$1.8M from Verge HealthTech Fund, others; Mobio develops and commercialises clinically validated and objectively quantified software to prevent, measure and treat mental illness; The funds will be used for the clinical validation of Am Mindfulness, a meditation app that it claims to outperform placebo in randomised controlled trials. MobiHealthNews

eBay- and Telkom-owned Indonesian e-commerce platform Blanja.com shuts down; In 2016, the two firms reportedly injected US$25M into the startup; According to iPrice data, by Q1 2020, Blanja.com fell to 27th place, with just over 400K monthly visits; In 2018, its CEO Aulia Marinto resigned to return to Telkom. e27

Singapore’s mobile games publisher Potato Play raises US$1.75M from Beenext, Play Ventures, Atlas Ventures; The startup helps mobile games (a US$68.5B market) created by Asian developers to take their titles to global markets; The startup has brought over 20 games to market; It claims its games have been downloaded 15M times. e27

Indonesia to digitalise state-owned enterprises (SOEs) for competitiveness; The government plans to direct 3 VCs — MDI Venture, BRI Ventures, Mandiri Capital — to invest in startups that have the potential to help SOEs digitise; As of last year, the nation had 114 SOEs and the number  rises to 772 when all subsidiaries are included; Their assets are worth an estimated US$560B. Nikkei Asia Review

In August, digital transformation took centre stage as startup investors embraced a whole new normal; With the pandemic restricting movement, SEA startup ecosystem saw a surge in popularity of platforms that enable digital transformation for conventional businesses among investors. e27

Singapore’s fintech GoBear lays off 22 staff despite recent US$17M funding; This makes up 11% of its total workforce of 200 employees; Despite COVID-19, GoBear’s financial services platform has seen gross margin positives with growth across the insurance and lending verticals. Vulcan Post

Singtel launches 5G trial services in Singapore, second telco after StarHub to do so; The services are free for the first 20K customers with 5G-compatible smartphones as part of a three-month trial; Network speeds range from 200Mbps to 1Gbps depending on the devices used, population density and other environmental factors. The Straits Times

UMG Idealab invests in Myanmar’s Zay Chin; Its app enables people to purchase goods from wet markets online; The startup will use the funds for regional expansion; UMG Idealab has invested in over 60 companies across Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia and China. DealStreetAsia

On-demand household cleaning service Yangon Broom raises funding from Yangon Capital, EME and NestTechVN; The Myanmarese startup will use the funds to launch a training school that will train people in high-quality cleaning services, as well as to launch a mobile app. e27

Singapore launches US$15M scheme to help local built-environment firms go digital; Built environment firms, particularly construction companies, have been heavily affected by COVID-19; Under the scheme, companies in the construction sector can defray up to 80% of the costs of digital equipment, capped at US$15K per project. The Business Times

Why startup founders should be open to pivoting anytime; Many founders encourage their fellow entrepreneurs to pivot as fast as they can, since no one could predict the future; The pivot should be based on data and your analysis; Understand what you have on hands and what you can achieve within a short period of time. e27

How the future of work will shape the future of mobility; In a future where employees have greater autonomy to choose when and how they want to travel, a combination of flexible working hours, HR tech and a connected fleet could create a better mobility-as-a-service model. e27

Meet the 7 graduates of SOSV-backed MOX’s 9th cohort; They come from India, Indonesia and Pakistan; The names include Deliverfuel, MyRobin, and PriceOye; Selected startups will receive US$100K-120K in funding from SOSV and MOX as part of the 6-month programme. e27

The top e-commerce secrets retailers are enjoying right now; E-sales increased 55% to US$66.3B in July this year compared with July last year; Clever retailers quickly pivoted to better service their online consumers in the absence of physical stores, using AR, live chat, 3D imagery, video, etc. to enhance customer experience online. Inside Retail

Mastercard, MDEC ink MoU to spur e-commerce, foster financial inclusion among micro SMEs; Under the collaboration, Mastercard will work together with the Malaysian government agency to support industry partners and facilitate the rollout of the fintech giant’s payments and business technologies. Digital News Asia

What beekeeping taught Warren Knight about digital leadership; Bees are great communicators, using vibrations and pheromones to help pass complex messages; Bees take on a number of different roles in the hive during their lifetime; So they know how to perform a range of different tasks and, in an emergency, can revert to previous jobs and help out. The Next Web

Technology is key to rebooting tourism; It is now critical to protect individual data, and travellers will demand assurance that digital interactions with the government and the industry remain secure; Travellers will seek out destinations that have enabled and supported digital payments and commerce across all levels of the economy, with a focus on enabling contactless payment. Jakarta Globe

PLDT, Smart fire up 5G at TV5 Media Center in Philippines; PLDT said TV5 can explore the use of Smart 5G through certified devices for live coverage and news gathering with 5G now available in its studios; Smart’s 5G mobile network in late July went live as a commercial service. Philstar

Frasers Property Retail launches e-commerce marketplace in Singapore; Consumers can use it to browse and purchase products from tenants across all of the firm’s malls; The service uses Frasers’s app with a potential membership of 800K+ shoppers on the platform; The app is launching with 200 merchants on board. Inside Retail

—

Image Credit: 123rf.com

The post Ecosystem Roundup: PropertyGuru raises US$220M; eBay- and Telkom-owned e-commerce startup Blanja shuts down; REV Asia to buy iMEDIA appeared first on e27.

Kevin Nguyen is no stranger to e27’s thriving contributor community, having consistently published at least one article per month on the platform on topics he’s most passionate about –travel and healthcare.

“I’m most interested in these topics because these are the industries that my software clients are from,” he said, giving a nod to the software firm he established three years ago, Adamo Digital.

He learned a lot from dealing with these clients, whom he claimed mostly based in Singapore, US, and Australia. Because of his love for writing, he then decided to write regularly about the trends in the healthcare, food tech, and travel tech market.

From software engineer to a CEO

Adamo Digital, the software company he founded in 2018, now has employed 50 people and is based in Hanoi, Vietnam. Nguyen himself said that back then in the university days, he studied business and learned about programming on his own.

Before starting his own software company, Nguyen first got his toe dipped in the tech world working in a travel tech company. He used to build a booking system for flights, hotels, and tours for people to travel to Vietnam.

Not long after that, he ventured on his own by combining his tech knowledge and business background. He started Adamo Digital that focusses on mobile app and website developments from different tech companies.

He regularly came across companies in healthcare and travel tech, and even now, is working on a Singaporean healthtech company that connects patients and doctors without the need for face-to-face meetings.

Also Read: Rachel Lau of RHL Ventures on the kind of thinking that allows innovation

From a reader to a thought leader

Having been an avid reader of e27 since three to four years ago, he began to develop a passion for writing and used the contributor channel to publish his thoughts.

“Until now, with the new contribution policy, I still faced rejection. But I think it’s a good exercise because e27 has this intact policy regarding the quality of writing that can be associated with its brand, which helps filter only the tech-related industry enthusiasts and experts to share their thoughts,” Nguyen said.

Nguyen’s use of e27’s contribution channel goes so far as trying to publish at least one article per month.

“I think I’ve learned a lot from reading the articles published on e27, as it’s always something that readers can gain information from. I tried to emulate that in my articles, and when it’s working, I get to share my experience with my clients, from my point of view,” he added.

On writing as a personal branding

e27’s contribution channel branded itself as a hub where a thought leader can contribute ideas and opinions. Nguyen said that it may motivate contributors to do more research in topics worth talking about, to explore ideas, and finally, to write about it to establish oneself as a thought leader.

“I think it has to do a lot with personal branding. It’s all about the content that you write. I started out didn’t really have much to say, but I took the time to read and understand the industries where my clients are and follow the trend. By writing for e27, I think in a way, I’ve branded myself as the expert in the industry, especially if I focus on several topics only,” Nguyen said.

After seven articles published on e27, what comes next for Nguyen?

“It will always revolve around what learnings I gained from some of my clients at Adamo Digital. I will write more about things that are pertinent to our client’s market and tie it to what’s trending. It’s a formula I tried to apply in my writings,” he concluded.

For more of Nguyen’s articles, click here.

–

Image Credit: Kevin Nguyen

The post Adamo Digital CEO Kevin Nguyen on writing as an exercise of thought leadership appeared first on e27.

Indonesian vehicle tracking startup Webtrace raises funding

The story: Indonesia-based vehicle tracking and fleet management solutions startup Webtrace has secured an undisclosed amount of investment in an extension of its seed round.

Investors: Corin Capital.

The seed round was led by Prasetia Dwidharma, with the participation from Astra Ventura and a Singapore-based unnamed angel investor.

Plans: The funds will be used to strengthen its marketing and customer acquisition strategy as well as expanding sales headcounts.

What is Webtrace: Trucking companies and fleet owners in Indonesia are in the race of tight pricing competition, largely caused by the huge population of commercial vehicles (9.6 million units as of 2019). Webtrace aims to help those companies to be more efficient in cost saving as well as improve the utilisation rate, productivity, and safety by implementing IoT sensors.

99 Group appoints Shivkumar Krishnan as new CTO

The story: Singapore-based 99 Group, which operates several property portals including 99.co, iproperty.com.sg and rumah123.com, has appointed tech veteran Shivkumar Krishnan as Chief Technology Officer.

Who is Shivkumar Krishnan?

With close to two decades of experience in the tech industry, Krishnan spent more than 10 years in the US at tech giants, such as Microsoft and eBay, as well as startups.

Prior to joining 99 Group, he was the Director of Engineering at Circles.Life and the Engineering Leader at Grab.

He holds a Masters in Computer Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

Hiring 100 people: The company also said it will boost its tech workforce by hiring about 100 additional tech staff over the next 12 months, in a move to accelerate the company’s tech innovation for an evolving real estate industry.

The company is recruiting talent such as front- and back-end engineers, app developers, product managers, UX/UI designers, and data analysts, with the job openings already live at 99.co/team.

Meet the 8 startups presented at Iterative’s virtual Demo Day

The story: Iterative, an early-stage startup accelerator focused on Southeast Asia, launched in February and on Monday hosted its first Demo Day for investors across Southeast Asia and in the US.

The virtual Demo Day was the culmination of a 12-week programme that featured eight companies from Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

Which are the startups?

1. Become: Affordable teeth straightening for Asia
2. Bungkus: Halal food delivery
3. Haulio: Tech-enabled first mile logistics
4. Outside Voice: No-code app builder for Whatsapp
5. Propseller: Technology powered real estate agency for Southeast Asia
6. Sendhelper: The fastest way to hire top home service professionals
7. Starboard: Xero for corporate entity management
8. TendoPay: Buy now. Pay on installments for your online purchases

—

Image Credit: Webtrace

The post In brief: Webtrace raises funding; 99 Group appoints new CTO appeared first on e27.

Freshket, a Bangkok-based agritech startup, has raised US$3 million in Series A funding round led by Singapore-based Openspace Ventures, with participation from Thai PE firm ECG-Research and public-private joint venture Innospace.

Pamitra Wineka and Ivan Sustiawan (co-founders of Indonesian agritech startup Tanihub), existing investors Denis Asia Pacific (French/Singaporean food conglomerate), and Thai family office Seedersclub also participated.

Also Read: Indonesia’s agritech industry is at an inflection point

“This infusion of capital will allow Freshket to upgrade technologies, enhance efficiencies in our supply chain management and improve our customer service platform. Our planned technology investments will enable us to scale rapidly and move further upstream in the supply chain,” said Co-founder and CEO Ponglada Paniangwet.

Founded in 2017 by Paniangwet and Tuangploi Chiwalaksanangkoon, Freshket is an e-commerce marketplace that brings together farmers and food processors to supply fresh produce to B2B and B2C customers in Thailand.

Also Read: How TaniGroup faces challenges, opportunities in Indonesian agritech industry

For the B2B segment, the food service market in Thailand alone is worth over US$7.7 billion in annual purchases spread across more than 200,000 restaurants.

Hian Goh, Founding Partner of Openspace Ventures, said: “Freshket is addressing a massive market opportunity and is positioned at the intersection of Thailand’s agriculture and food & beverage sectors. We will help the company further develop digital technologies to facilitate growth for farmers, food companies, and restaurants alike.”

In February 2017, Freshket raised six-digit US dollars in its first round of venture funding from 500 Tuk Tuks and a corporate VC fund of an agri firm in Thailand.

Freshket is Openspace’s second investment in Thailand this year following its first investment in Finnomena. It has also earlier invested in Tanihub and Singapore grocery platform Redmart.

—

Image Credit: Freshket

The post Freshket nets US$3M to bring together farmers and food processors to supply fresh produce in Thailand appeared first on e27.

Singapore-headquartered PropertyGuru Group said today it has secured an additional investment of SGD300 million (US$220 million) in recent funding rounds by leading global investment firms global private equity giants TPG and KKR.

The proptech giant will use the funds to further invest in identified strategic areas of growth, including PropertyGuru Finance, its recently-launched mortgage marketplace, and PropertyGuru FastKey, an end-to-end sales enablement solution for property developers.

Hari Krishnan, CEO and Managing Director, PropertyGuru, said: “The additional investments from TPG and KKR will enable us to continue building Southeast Asia’s property trust platform and accelerate our momentum in key markets like Malaysia and Vietnam.”

Also Read: PropertyGuru’s CPO shares the secret sauce of building a highly productive remote team

The realty-tech group had earlier raised US$144 million from KKR in October 2018.

Launched in 2007, PropertyGuru provides solution to resolve home-seekers’ pain-points using data and digital tools. This way, it aims to improve transparency in the property ecosystem for consumers, developers, and agent partners across Southeast Asia.

Over the decade, the group has expanded into multiple markets in the region with a portfolio of property portals, including Batdongsan.com.vn (Vietnam), DDproperty.com (Thailand), and Rumah.com and RumahDijual.com (both Indonesia).

The group claims it provides “the widest option of more than 2.7 million homes” and in-depth insights and solutions for property seekers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

It said the group recorded 24 per cent revenue growth y-o-y and continues to lead in Southeast Asia with 57 per cent market share.

Olivier Lim, Chairman of the Board, PropertyGuru Group, said: “We have scaled rapidly across Southeast Asia by anticipating and addressing consumer needs with a data-driven strategy, underpinned by a talented team of ‘Gurus.This year, amidst the changing business realities, the demonstrable strength of our platforms has solidified our relative market leadership and provides new opportunities to accelerate both organic and inorganic growth with new investments.”

In October last year, PropertyGuru had decided not to proceed with its proposed initial public offering (IPO) on the Australian Securities Exchange on account of the IPO market sentiments then.

Also Read: Can SEA’s proptech come back to its pre-COVID-19 glory? Experts speak

As behaviours adopted during the pandemic reshape consumer habits and preferences in a new normal, digital transformation is accelerated across sectors.

As per the latest report by Bain & Company and Facebook, nearly 70 per cent of Southeast Asians are expected to be digital consumers by the end of 2020.

—

Image Credit: PropertyGuru

The post PropertyGuru raises US$220M from TPG, KKR to accelerate growth in Malaysia, Vietnam appeared first on e27.