Singtel brings back its social innovation accelerator programme Singtel Future Makers (SFM) this year with five startups on board.

The startups will receive support from a cash pool of up to USS$109,000. From August to October, they will also receive monetary and non-monetary support to work on their Shared Value Proof of Concept (POC) proposals.

The five selected startups are:

• Tic Tag, a startup that seeks to empower people to participate in the artificial intelligence and data industry, by turning manual data annotation process into a crowdsourced game. The startup collaborates with a social service agency to conduct a POC and usability tests on creating micro-jobs for the seniors.
• GenConnects, a startup that develops rehabilitative games based on research for persons with dementia to stimulate their sensory, cognitive, and motor skills holistically. This is supported by their mobile application which helps to assess and track these skills and provide customised real-time recommendations to enhance their care.
• Fairmarch, an online marketplace platform that connects socially and environmentally conscious consumers to impact-driven sellers. They believe in socially and environmentally responsible businesses that are inclusive and strive to deliver value beyond profits.
• Wiz.Ai, a startup that builds a talkbot platform that enables an enterprise to automate telephonic and app-based voice conversations. The platform is able to analyse spoken voice data and handle complex multi-round conversation intents, empowering enterprises to automate the full-landscape of customer service engagement. The startup works with ICT provider NCS on a POC proposal that leverage NCS conversation AI platform complement their service offering to hospitals.
• Senzehub, a startup that develops vital signs wearable that flags early warning of the condition deterioration which otherwise goes unnoticed.

They will undergo capability building workshops to refine their business strategies to strengthen their social purpose, improve their value proposition and pitching skills. They will also get networking opportunities with Singtel stakeholders, community partners, and impact investors. This includes one-on-one coaching with mentors from Singtel’s business units.

Also Read: Grab, Singtel form consortium for Singapore digital banking license

This year’s programme will end with a pitch day in early November.

Participating startups will also stand the chance to be selected for the regional Singtel Group Future Makers programme which brings together Singtel, Optus, and Singtel’s associates Globe (Philippines), Telkomsel (Indonesia), and AIS (Thailand).

Against the backdrop of COVID-19, Singtel also announced that it has awarded two Singtel Future Makers Alumni with a Special Pandemic Support Grant:

• AEvice Health (2018 batch), a startup that has developed an innovative wearable technology that uses artificial intelligence to help diagnose, manage and predict chronic respiratory diseases.
• Solve Education Foundation (2017 batch), a non-profit organisation that is committed to helping children and youth around the globe receive quality, effective education.

Besides the grant, Singtel also said that it will continue to provide them with mentorship, access to its leaders and industry experts, and regional networking opportunities.

Launched in 2016, SFM is the telco company’s social innovation accelerator and regional capacity building programme. It provides mentorship, coaching, business pilots, and funding support to empower impact startups leveraging technology to address social and environmental issues in the community.

Since its inception, the accelerator said it has invested US$3.7 million in the local and regional SFM programmes.

Singtel Future Makers welcomes startups that meet the following criteria:

• Addresses one of the challenge statements or themes (Digital Enablement, Health & Well-Being, Environment)
• Launches a product or service and looking to scale social impact
• Has the potential to solve real social problems in a sizeable, addressable market

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Image Credit: Singtel Future Makers

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Mosaic Solutions, a provider of profit optimisation solutions for the F&B and hospitality industries in the Philippines, has raised US$1.5 million in pre-Series A preferred equity and convertible debt, led by Australian early-stage VC firm Investible.

Other investors are IdeaSpace (a non-profit which recently launched Opportunity Fund out of Manila), KMC Founders Fund, and JC Capital.

Several high net-worth individuals, family offices and strategic investors like RCGI, besides owners of multiple concepts in the Philippines (Barcino, Single Origin, Bluesmith, Meat Depot and Meatworld International) also joined the round.

Also Read: 4 go-to-market strategy shifts to help startups navigate the post-pandemic economy

With these funds, Mosaic will further enhance its software, which provides restaurants and off-premise food retailers a “comprehensive and immediate” view of their key cost and revenue drivers.

To date, Mosaic (one of the companies of e27’s Top100 competition in the Philippines) has raised over US$3 million from investors in the US, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Malaysia and Singapore.

Launched in 2016, Mosaic is a SaaS startup providing solutions including data analytics, inventory management, point of sale and purchasing, which are offered primarily to the F&B sector across Southeast Asia.

Its clients include multi-unit restaurant and bar groups, cloud kitchens, commissaries, hotels and casinos, and now retailers, such as supermarkets and convenience stores.

“Our cloud-based solutions provide customers with the information they desperately need right now — real-time, holistic data analytics, reporting and business insights, seen at the outlet and brand level,” said CEO Brett Doyle.

“Mosaic is first and foremost a solution provider for restaurants, but we made a shift in focus early in the COVID pandemic to include off-premise food retailers, signing our first off-premise retailer in March. We saw an opportunity to help this underserved sector and diversify our customer portfolio by adding a lockdown-resistant, high growth sector,” Doyle added.

Also Read: Looking east: Why the future of VC investment is beyond the Silicon Valley

Currently, Mosaic services over 100 customers across the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, India and the UAE, with a primary focus on the Philippines.

The company claimed in a press note that it grew its customer base (measured as number of outlets) at an annual rate of 300 per cent from 2016 to 2019. Further, with its expansion into off-premise, Mosaic more than tripled its footprint during 1H 2020.

The startup sees a great opportunity in the F&B sector across Southeast Asia, with on-premise F&B spending projected to double to US$5 billion by 2022, and the total F&B market projected to grow to over US$125 billion by 2023.

Besides seeking further growth in the Philippines market, next steps for Mosaic will include regional expansion supported by a Series A capital raise presently planned for 2021.

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Over the past few months, many players in the traditional payments industry have refocused their strategies and offerings to meet the demand for digital payments. Given that the COVID-19 pandemic prompted people to practice social distancing and turn to cashless payments, it has become an opportune time for many financial institutions to modify their work to accommodate more consumers.

For their digital payments, many people have also turned to cryptocurrencies. In addition to their virtual nature, digital currencies are also decentralised and immutable, making them a more secure payment option compared to fiat money. Additionally, cryptocurrencies are not geographically bound to one country, giving crypto holders a convenient way to transact with people in other countries without changing currencies.

Many individuals, organisations, and governments are starting to see the advantages of cryptocurrencies and their potential to create an entirely new way of how transactions can be completed. Cryptocurrencies have become so popular that Germany’s largest financial conglomerate Deutsche Bank even predicted that digital assets would replace fiat by 2030. 

With cryptocurrencies gradually taking the spotlight, this phenomenon has become an opportunity for traditional payment service providers to look into the blockchain and explore how they can integrate such technology into their systems.

Today, many payment companies have already integrated blockchain and cryptocurrencies into their solutions, with some partnering with cryptocurrency providers worldwide to expand their roster of payment methods. Some of these payment companies include:

Revolut

British financial technology company Revolut recently entered the blockchain and crypto scene by launching in the US with Bitcoin services. This development now allows American Revolut customers, except for those living in Tennessee, to buy and sell Bitcoin and/or Ether with fiat money and vice versa through the Revolut app. As of this writing, Revolut is planning to add more cryptocurrencies to its existing roster.

With this development, Revolut is also looking to expand its services to countries in the Asia Pacific region, particularly Australia, Singapore, and Japan. 

Also Read: How Binance acquired 35 per cent market share in a year with its new crypto derivatives line

The startup has been offering cryptocurrency trading and buying services in Europe since 2017. Aside from Bitcoin and Ether, Revolut also supports Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash and XRP. It charges 2.5 per cent in conversion fees from standard customers and 1.5 per cent from premium customers for every crypto transaction.

PayPal

PayPal started taking interest in cryptocurrencies in 2013 when John Donahoe, CEO of PayPal parent company eBay at the time, John Donahoe, said that the payments platform would someday integrate Bitcoin to keep up with changes in the financial industry.

It wasn’t until this year that PayPal confirmed its interest in cryptocurrency and blockchain, building on the idea that digital assets can boost financial inclusion and reduce some “pain points” in the financial industry. It didn’t take long before crypto companies started taking advantage of this development.

Singapore-based blockchain solutions provider Pundi X is already supporting PayPal on its point-of-sale device XPOS. The integration of the two systems now allows merchants to process credit card payments on XPOS and complete purchases of cryptocurrencies via PayPal through the POS machine. Pundi X CEO Zac Cheah even noted that the integration with leading payment providers such as PayPal can help boost blockchain and crypto adoption outside the crypto community. 

Square

Point-of-sale solutions provider Square recently won a US patent for a payment system that will allow users to seamlessly complete crypto-to-fiat transactions. The system would feature automatic exchange and real-time settlements to help merchants accept volatile cryptocurrencies.

On the other hand, the system would also permit consumers to pay in their preferred asset, which would then be converted to an asset that the merchant wants to hold. The converted asset would still hold the value of the original asset.

Also Read: Why Bitcoin is set to boom in a post-COVID-19 era

Square started supporting cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin, in 2018 when it permitted Bitcoin trading on its cash payments app. It’s no surprise that the company finally gave in to crypto given that Square CEO Jack Dorsey has repeatedly praised Bitcoin, even going so far as to predict that it will become a native currency of the Internet.

Ingenico

Like PayPal, Ingenico teamed up with Pundi X in 2019 to help more retailers using the APOS A8 POS device to accept payments in cryptocurrencies alongside those made in fiat money. Customers can pay for their orders using Bitcoin, Binance Coin, Ether, XEM, Wan and NPXS, among other cryptocurrencies. They can also top up on cryptocurrencies with APOS A8 POS. To provide a more seamless transaction experience, XPOS in APOS A8 provides conversion rates between fiat and cryptocurrencies.

Marcus Low, Senior Vice President, Asia Pacific of Ingenico Group, has mentioned it is a great way to prepare for the future of payments and introduce cryptocurrency as a reliable payment option to our clients and customers worldwide.

As shown by these payments giants, blockchain and crypto adoption are making their way toward the mainstream.

More and more people will see how blockchain and crypto can change their lives as the world continues to keep up with changes and developments in the financial industry brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic and other technological advancements.

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Dyslexics challenge their very description. The learning difficulty is, for many people like me, actually a business advantage. Figures such as Richard Branson and Jamie Oliver overcame their dyslexia to create hugely successful businesses and research suggests that dyslexics are disproportionately represented among entrepreneurs.

Commentators note the condition enables people to excel at problem-solving and focus on the wider picture. The same is true for me, a serial entrepreneur who lives with dyslexia. I realised from an early age that mixing up my letters and struggling to follow written commands made me almost invincible to failure. I did not avoid it; I expected it.

I believe this condition that grants me immunity to failure and the ability to learn visually, makes me a better entrepreneur.

Being like me

Dyslexia makes reading and writing pretty challenging and certainly hampered me inside the Singaporean education system, where grades are seen as a way to determine your future job prospects and opportunities. 

Dyslexia intrinsically changes how one communicates via the written word. In my experience, the learning difficulty makes me miss out on some words when reading and writing. For example, I might get confused with the letter “b” and “d”. This made school much more difficult than necessary. There were times when I might need five to eight hours to study for something my peers could do it within the hour. 

This felt somehow shameful for a young man who excelled at everything else apart from written tests. I have come across dyslexic peers who have simply been taught that they were born stupid or incapable. However, when I spoke to them about things that they are passionate they reveal themselves as extremely gifted and brilliant people. 

Dyslexics come to realise that our brains are simply wired differently. It does not make us stupid; in fact, it can help us to do many things that others cannot. I think about things in a very visual way, for example. This allows me to “see” multiple scenarios in the choices I make for my startup, bolstering my foresight for company growth. 

For me, dyslexia made me feel comfortable with failure and it strongly influences the entrepreneur that I have become. Interestingly, I am not an outlier in this thinking.

Our weakness is our strength

It is not correct to describe dyslexia as a hindrance to entrepreneurship. In fact, the reality is far from it. People like me actually thrive in being the boss because, well, it is how our brains are wired to function.

In my experience, people with dyslexia visualise rather than write information and this helps entrepreneurs entertain multiple business scenarios better than others. Perhaps we cannot convert this into the written word very well, but us dyslexics are excellent at considering multiple points of view and multiple possibilities in business.

Also Read: Productivity: What’s expected in the office vs what really happens

Julie Logan, emeritus professor of entrepreneurship at Cass Business School, in London, says that 20 per cent of the UK’s business self-starters have the condition. Her research into the US market showed that 35 per cent of company founders identified themselves as dyslexic, compared with 15 per cent in the general population. 

These figures are food for thought. The word “learning difficulty” implies somebody who is less than able. In the case of dyslexia, however, the opposite is true when it comes to entrepreneurship.

Why creativity is key 

Do not get me wrong – I have not always been thankful for my dyslexia. However, it has certainly carved my career path and shaped my decisions up until this point. I feel that this is a familiar story for many people like me and likely the reason there are plenty of us in entrepreneurship.

Dyslexics know how to best work through their condition. After all, it is something we grow with and learn to accommodate. This probably answers why we flock towards jobs such as entrepreneurship – more than most, we need to take charge and mould our work environment to our personal skillset. 

I now see my dyslexia as a gift. It assists me in finding unique solutions to problems professional and personal. It makes me the entrepreneur I am today, one who is adaptable and flexible to the given scenario. 

Personally, I do not think it would have been possible to find success as a serial entrepreneur without my dyslexia. My entrepreneurship has been coloured by the way the “disorder” makes me think. Dyslexia buoys my experiences with the world and undoubtedly makes me a better entrepreneur for it.

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Sunday, a full-stack insurtech startup based in Thailand, has raised US$9 million in pre-Series B bridge round of funding led by SCB 10X, the venture capital arm of the Siam Commercial Bank.

New and existing investors, including Vertex Ventures (Southeast Asia and India), Quona Capital, and LINE Ventures, also participated.

Also Read: How insurtech is changing the game in Southeast Asia

The Bangkok-headquartered firm aims to deploy the new capital to support its rapid growth plans in Thailand and Indonesia, while deepening its proprietary employee benefits platform and superapp ‘Sunday Service’ for health and motor insurance products and services.

Launched in 2017, Sunday uses Artificial Intelligence/Machine Learning and digital platforms to offer personalised insurance products and services “that suit all types of individual and business risks”. It has developed risk prediction algorithms that power its premium pricing and recommendation engines for health and motor coverages.

The insurance venture also offers self-services, such as disease symptom checker on the Sunday Service platform. Claims notification for vehicle damages is also available to make claim journey easier.

According to Sunday, corporates and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are deeply rooted in its business model as it is the number one requested employee benefits globally.

In addition, telemedicine service is available through API integration with its provider-partners. Medication delivery service will also be offered. The app also recommend suitable hospitals for customers.

Also Read: Asian insurtech on the rise: An overview of the main players

Over the past two years, the company raised two rounds of funding — US$11 million Series A extension led by Quona Capital in December 2019 and US$10 million led by Vertex in February 2019.

“In times of great uncertainty, consumer demand will shift towards affordable core insurance products that truly help with risk management. As a team, we believe Sunday is uniquely positioned to deliver one-stop personalised insurance coverages and services that meet these evolving risks and growing demands from businesses and individuals in Southeast Asia,” said Sunday Co-founder and CEO Cindy Kua.

“Southeast Asia has more than 360 million internet users, who are the most engaged mobile internet users in the world. This makes it an attractive market for insurtech companies to offer online personalised products,” said Mukaya (Tai) Panich, Chief Venture and Investment Officer, SCB 10X.

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Image Credit: Sunday

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Despite COVID-19 looming over the world, disrupting businesses and delaying launches, San Francisco-based startup Onerent is set to launch its property management platform in Singapore.

However, this is not the first time the company made an entry to Asia, the startup already has a fully remote team working from the Philippines.

When asked about further expansion plans in Southeast Asia, Onerent Co-Founder and CMO Chuck Hattemer expressed ambitious goals. He said that they are planning to work in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam.

Part of its Asia expansion strategy includes a partnership with investor Far East, who participated in the Series A funding round for OneRent.

“We wanted to work with people on the ground locally, and that’s why we partnered with Far East Organisation. Right off the bat, they have such a great legacy within the Singaporean market and a history of real estate development, sales and leasing. So, the first thing we did was immerse our team with Far East’s team to understand the way property was in Singapore,” co-founder of OneRent, Chuck Hattemer told e27 in an interview.

Also Read: PropertyGuru raises US$220M from TPG, KKR to accelerate growth in Malaysia, Vietnam

Founded in 2014, Onerent is a proptech company which aims to digitise the rental process holistically. Its ACE technology will allow renters to take a virtual tour of the home, over messenger, WhatsApp and apple business chat.

This technology can especially be seen as more attractive during COVID-19 since it promotes a contactless way of buying and selling property.

However, there are still local companies such as PropertyGuru and 99.co which offer similar services and have been in the market for a longer time. PropertyGuru has also recently launched a similar technology which allows a fully virtual guided tour with a salesperson.

What makes Onerent different, according to Hattemer, is that it has also been backed by Google’s chief of AI Jeff Dean. Its other unique aspect is that it offers users the option to get real estate tasks done over just “a chat experience”. Through the chat, users can ask questions about their property, negotiate, and even manage contracts.

” With COVID-19 shifting consumer behaviour, we have had a lot of interest from real estate operators and developers who have been doing things in a paper-pendant-stamp way and want to adopt technology,” Hattemer said.

 

Real-estate during COVID-19

While it is true that COVID-19 is shifting consumer towards a more virtual form of reality, it is also creating a lot of economic uncertainty. When it comes to real-estate, there have been mixed reports.

According to a Bloomberg report, Singapore’s home prices fell the most in three years in the second quarter of 2020, while analysts have also made predictions that the slide may not be over.

On the other hand, while housing properties are falling the resale volume of the island city’s non-landed private homes have hit a two-year high in August, according to the Business Times.

“If we look at the past long-term property trends in Asia, it has always come back after demand shocks. This might be a testament to the fact that Asia is still urbanising and the long-term demand for property and the related proptech sector is still trending upwards,” said Kay Mok Ku, Managing Partner of Gobi Partners, a leading ASEAN-focused VC firm.

Also Read: How proptech startup iMyanmarHouse remains profitable despite COVID-19

But some skeptics argue that it is too early to get a clear view of how this pandemic will unfold in the proptech sector.

In times like this, one of Onerent’s key strategies for growth is giving people virtual tour access and rebates.

“For our primary business, we allow people to do a full virtual tour. They can even book a self-tour through a lockbox on the property and visit the property without anyone being there,” shared Hattemer.

“In the US, when they sign a lease and move in, they have, 90 days to be able to decide if they want to move somewhere else instead. So even though they signed a one year lease, we give them some leeway, if maybe it wasn’t right, wasn’t the right fit. For some of those features, in Singapore, it will be decided with Far East and how they market their properties.”

Onerent is also planning to offer rent rebates, to help with the pressures of paying rent for someone who is leasing a home with the company.

After its success in the US market, with the help of local partnership OneRent has strong ambitions for its Southeast Asian debut.

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Image Credit: One Rent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Southeast Asian tech giant Grab is in advanced talks with insurance honchos Prudential and AIA and several others to raise US$300 million to US$500 million investment, as per a Reuters report.

The Singapore-based company aims to reach investment agreements as early as October, the report added, citing unnamed sources.

Also Read: [Updated] Report: Grab is raising US$200M at a US$14.3B valuation from South Korean private equity firm

The money is being raised for Grab Financial Group.

As per this report, the deal can also support Grab in its sales pitch for the Singapore banking licence.

When contacted by e27, a Grab spokesperson declines to comment on the report, terming it “market speculations”.

The report comes close on the heels of Grab’s US$200 million fundraise from South Korean private equity firm Stic Investments. Early this year, it also managed to raise more than US$850 million in funding from Japan’s Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc. and TIS Inc.

As per CB Insights data, Grab is currently valued at US$14.3 billion.

There have also been reports about Grab’s ongoing talks for a potential merger with rival gojek. As per a DealStreetAsia report, the two companies are still deadlocked over management and geographical control.

Also Read: Google, JD.com, Tencent confirm leads in GOJEK Series F fundraising

gojek — which counts Google, Tencent and Temasek among its key investors -recently raised US$1.2 billion from undisclosed group of investors.

Grab recently laid off employees as the pandemic hit the company, mainly its transport business.

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Image credit: Grab

 

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Insurtech company Descartes Underwriting raises US$18.5M

The story: Descartes Underwriting, an insurtech company specialised in climate risk modelling and data-driven risk transfer hailing from France, announced that it has raised US$18.5 million in Series A funding round. The fresh round of capital comes 18 months after raising US$2.5 million in seed funding from BlackFin Capital Partners.

The investors: The investors in the round include global venture capital firms Serena, Cathay Innovation, and BlackFin Capital Partners.

The plans: The new financing will be used to support Descartes’ global expansion to the US and Asia. While headquartered out of Paris, Descartes covers a wide variety of geographies including Europe, North America, Latin America, and Asia and plans to open new offices in New York and Singapore. Descartes will also use the funds to grow its product range, target larger deals and deepen its tech capabilities and data science team.

What Descartes Underwriting does: Founded in 2018, the insurtech company scales up parametric insurance, leveraging new technologies and data science to challenge traditional insurance models. Founded by a team of experienced insurers and reinsurers, Descartes works with corporate brokers to design and underwrite innovative, bespoke and affordable insurance solutions.

Manny Pacquiao launches digital payment platform PacPay

The story: Technology startup Pac Technologies Pte Ltd announces the partnership with Remsea Pte Ltd, a fintech remittance firm licensed by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), in an effort to further both companies’ initiatives in the fintech space in Asia and beyond. Co-founded by boxing world champion Senator Manny Pacquiao, aims to launch PacPay this year.

Also Read: 7 lessons entrepreneurs can learn from Manny Pacquiao

What is PacPay: PacPay is a digital payment platform for global influencers, brands, and fans, providing users with seamless, faster, and safer cross-border prepaid solutions to make payments conveniently. Via PacPay’s rewards programme, users can connect with their favourite influencers for brands easily, participate in exclusive private events, and enjoy what it describes as ‘money-cannot-buy’ privileges and experiences.

During a media conference held in Manila last year, Sen. Pacquiao revealed his plan to develop PacPay. Fans of the legendary boxer have since indicated strong interest, many of whom have pre-registered for the highly-anticipated card programme.

Waze closes sales office in APAC

The story: In news shared by SGSME.sg, global navigation app Waze reportedly halts operations in Singapore, following the layoff of about five per cent or 30 people of its global workforce, due to the impact of COVID-19 pandemic.

The affected sales offices are the ones in Asia Pacific -Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia- as well as in its smaller Latin America markets of Colombia, Argentina, and Chile.

The Chief Executive Noam Bardin’s official note said that “Waze users in many cities and countries are driving less or have stopped driving entirely due to the ongoing pandemic”.

The note emphasises that the affected employees will receive a severance package that includes career transition opportunities within Google, outplacement services from the date of the notice through six months after employment, financial help and eligibility for year-end bonuses, and healthcare benefits.

What is Waze: The Waze app is an Israeli startup, Google-owned company, that uses user-generated data to help riders on the road finding other routes to avoid traffic jams or speed cameras.

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Image Credit: Louie Martinez on Unsplash

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Kim An Group, which runs a fintech platform under the same brand in Vietnam, has received an undisclosed sum in Series A investment from Patamar Capital, Viet Capital Ventures and East Ventures.

The proceeds from this round will be used to develop Kin An’s core technology, optimise its credit scoring platform and better connect customers to financial institutions in Vietnam, it said in a statement.

Kim An connects banks and financial companies in Vietnam with local micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) through an online platform as well as its 80-plus branches nationwide.

Also Read: Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam the most attractive fintech hubs in SEA: Study

According to Shuyin Tang of Patamar, there is widespread interest in providing financial services to MSMEs, the backbone of the nation’s economy. However, very few have cracked the code in terms of how to serve this segment effectively.

“Kim An is one of those rare companies that have done so,” she said. “Having invested in these types of business models for over a decade, at Patamar we have learnt that serving this segment demands a deep understanding of the behavioural patterns and needs of MSMEs and their owners, as well as outstanding operational capabilities to execute successfully day-to-day.”

As a tech-enabled service provider for Vietnamese banks and financial companies, Kim An has proven that it can deliver on both these fronts. “With the investment from this round and through leveraging technology, we believe Kim An is poised to scale rapidly to meet the tremendous demand in the market,” she added.

Additionally, Kim An Group has signed partnerships with Nam A Bank and FE Credit to expand the scope of co-operation and develop consumer loans for individual customers, household business, and micro enterprises.

Binh Duc Hanh, Chief Sale Officer of Kim An Group, said: “After nearly two years of partnership with financial institutions, more than 25,000 loans have been disbursed to customers through Kim An Group. We aim to help accelerate financial inclusion in Vietnam by being extended technological arms of credit institution to bring their best products and services to customers.”

Also Read: Big banks and fintech startups: Rivals or allies?

As per a recent study by MDI ventures, Finch Capital, and Dealroom.co, Vietnam is one of the most attractive fintech hubs in Southeast Asia.

Almost 90 per cent of Vietnamese consumers opt to pay cash on delivery for their online purchases, a much higher proportion than other regional markets. However, digital payments technology is evolving rapidly. Payments through mobile banking services surged 144 per cent per year over the past five years.

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Image Credit: Kim An Group

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Bangkok Bank (BB) acquires 1 per cent stake in gojek; The Indonesian tech firm now commands US$11-12B valuation; BB is the 2nd bank after SCB to own a stake in gojek; In Thailand, gojek operates under the GET brand. DealStreetAsia

Grab in talks with Prudential, AIA for fintech investment; The tech major is seeking US$300-500M for its financial services unit; Grab aims to reach agreements as early as Oct; Grab Financial Group’s pre-money valuation has been estimated at about US$2B. Reuters

Indonesian logistics-tech firm Waresix closes US$100M Series B; Investors include EV Growth, Jungle, SoftBank, EMTEK group; This round comes six months after it secured US$25.5M Series; Waresix claims it serves 250+ corporate clients, has operates 40K+ trucks and has 375 warehouses in more than 100 cities and towns across Indonesia. e27

Naver, Sea, Vertex invest in Vietnam’s Do Ventures’s US$50M fund I; The early-stage VC firm on an average will invest US$500K-US$5M each in startups; The VC looks to invest 30 startups; It will also help set up an automatic reporting system that empowers founders to understand real-time performance of the biz. e27

SoftBank wants to burn money; As an investor, it has been an enthusiastic proponent of burning cash, spending freely to back its champions in virtually every tech market-share war witnessed in Asia over recent years; The VC firm, however, is now desperate to win; It is struggling after a series of tech bets gone badly, including WeWork and Uber’s underperformed IPO. Nikkei Asia Review

Temasek’s portfolio in China exceeds Singapore home base; Financial services remains the largest sector in its portfolio at 23%, with the fund being an investor in Ant Group; Temasek’s portfolio has its largest weighting in Asia, amounting to 66% of its exposure by underlying assets; China, at 29%, and Singapore, at 24%, are the top two countries by concentration. Nikkei Asia Review

Singapore B2B cross-border payments network Thunes raises US$60M led by African VC Helios Investment; Checkout.com, Future Shape also joined; The money will fuel expansion and growth in Africa, Asia, LatAm; Thunes connects different payment players in more than 100 countries. e27

Edutech firm Edukasyon.ph extends Series A round; Investors include Alternate Ventures, French Partners, Lorinet Foundation; The education marketplace enables students to search, compare and apply to higher education institutions and online courses; Since Dec. 2019, it brought in 700 listed school partners and achieved 500K registered student users. e27

Indonesia, Singapore, Vietnam the most attractive fintech hubs in SEA, says study; The combined value of all the fintech startups in SEA has reached US$108B in 2020; Indonesia and Singapore are the most valuable ecosystems, which are worth US$60B and US$35B, respectively; The two countries are also home to 9 unicorn startups each. e27

Qapita secures US$1.8M seed funding to help startups manage their cap tables, ESOPs digitally; Investors include Vulcan Capital, Koh Boon Hwee, K3 Ventures; Qapita has offices in India and Singapore, and will initially serve customers based in Singapore, India and Indonesia before expanding into other markets. e27

Funding Societies appoints GoBear co-founder Frank Stevenaar as CFO, Nihit Nirmal as CPO, Ishan Agrawal as CTO; The SME digital SME lending platform has disbursed over US$1.2B in financing across more than 2.8M loans so far; In April, it raised US$40M Series C; Its investors include Sequoia India, Softbank Ventures Asia. e27

Quest Ventures, ScaleUp Malaysia team up to scale the growth of  local startups; The deal brought in US$1M in FDI to develop startups; 24 firms shortlisted from the 2nd cohort’s applications will start the programme in Oct; As part of the partnership, the programme will invest at least US$60,250 in up to 12 of these companies. e27

Accelerating Asia announces cohort-3 startups; Each will receive US$36.5K while top performers will get US$110K; The programme has an acceptance rate of less than 2% with only eight selected from 450 applications; The accelerator-cum-investor is also approaching the final close of its current fund. e27

Why GERO is optimistic about its chance in the race for anti-ageing drug; The Singapore- and Russia-based biotech firm is developing drugs for complex diseases with a focus on anti-ageing and says it successfully demonstrate it on mice; The firm, however, says it is hard to tell what the side effects of the drug yet. e27

How startup founders can protect themselves from getting sued; The smart solution is management liability insurance, commonly referred to as D&O or directors and officers; This is an absolute essential insurance for startup founders that covers a wide array of messy lawsuits. e27

‘There is always an opportunity to be found within a crisis’: Ben Mathias of Vertex Ventures; COVID-19 forced startups to be more efficient and they realised they can still hit their business plans with far less expense, so the path to profitability is quicker. e27

App Annie co-founder Bertrand Schmitt on why he built the leading mobile analytics platform in China; In 2020, starting a tech business in the mobile analytics space in China makes sense; But 10 years ago, the situation was vastly different and it would seem almost ludicrous, given how small the market was. e27

Growing up in coastal villages, Aruna believes in empowering fishermen as the key to prosperity; The startup has established a collaborative effort with the communications and ICT ministry to provide online programme for fishermen; It has also worked with the ministry of rural and disadvantaged regions development to provide financial access to them. e27

Most APAC consumers prefer staying at home, businesses are responding; According to a Digimind study, top on the list were consumers from India (87.8%), followed by Hong Kong (78.2%), Indonesia (77.5%), Singapore (76.6%) Malaysia (71.3%), Philippines (70.3%); The report found that consumers tend to find alternative solutions that allowed them to remain at home while supplementing their past routines and fixes, including shopping, socialising, and seeking entertainment. The Star

Accelerating the demand for proptech in APAC; The pandemic has prompted more real estate companies to consider incorporating proptech into their operations; But real estate companies are still very viscous and slow. UrbanLand

Launcho Ventures sets up startup studio in Singapore; Startups will be created in-house through internal ideation as well as co-created with other founders in the region; It will inject up to US$220K into new companies; Funders will get US$2,560monthly salary. TechInAsia

Singtel unveils 5G services at pop-up retail store UNBOXED; The telco claims it demonstrated speeds of more than 1Gbps using 5G: For instance, a 2-hour HDR movie can be downloaded in just 40 seconds; 5G can also power IoT and AI, enabling real-time intelligent connectivity and analytics in-store. Singapore Business Review

Here’s the most important thing digital leaders get right; It doesn’t matter how sophisticated your tech is; If the user experience isn’t right, the investment you’ve made isn’t going to succeed; If your organisation remains focussed on operating a process rather than delivering an outcome, you’ll struggle. The Next Web

Homegrown Thai foodtech startups race to meet plant-based demand surge; While mainstream restaurant chains expand their plant-based offerings, startups in the country are also emerging to accelerate the dietary shift to more sustainable proteins. GreenQueen

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