The COVID-19 emergency has forced individuals to rethink their approach to financial securities. The uncertainties caused has driven people to plan for their financial needs differently and more efficiently than they have done in the past.

According to a report released by Standard & Poor’s and the World Bank, only a quarter of Southeast Asians are financially literate –a situation that carries “significant costs.”

“Consumers who fail to understand the concept of interest compounding spend more on transaction fees, run up bigger debts and incur higher interest rates on loans. They also end up borrowing more and saving less money,” it explains.

Cheryl Wang, a former financial advisor, was moved by these reasons. Apart from that, one of the best advice that she had ever received was to increase one’s income and invest in career during the twenties and early thirties. However, she noticed that few people were taking the right steps towards it.

In July, Wang then decided to build PlannerBee to solve a challenge that Wang was herself facing as a financial advisor.

“I was dreaming up this app for years, from thousands of conversations I’ve had in the past ten years as a financial advisor. Handling a roster of more than 6,000 clients has allowed me to meet a huge variety of people, and examine so many different types of needs,” she explains.

“When I start out planning with a client, I always do a pretty lengthy and in-depth assessment of their finances. I kind of wished an app as Planner Bee existed, and one day I decided I’ll try to launch something like this myself,” she continues.

PlannerBee allows individuals to track their expenses and figure out if their investments and savings are in line with their goals with their smart goal-tracking capabilities. The app has been created keeping simplicity and ease of use in mind.

Also Read: Fintech company Achiko wants to help tackle COVID-19 with its new healthtech projects

Users can simply download the app on the iOS platform and sync their bank accounts and insurers, after which the platform securely encrypts the data on the cloud and Amazon data centres. Each user is then able to customise his budget plans according to their needs.

“What sets us apart from other close competitors is that we are focused on covering multiple countries, multiple banks, insurers and investment providers,” Wang tells e27.

Partnership with SaltEdge

Most recently, PlannerBee partnered with Canadian fintech company SaltEdge to sync the data of users seamlessly with numerous banks.

Some of the banks PlannerBee has been able to connect with via SaltEdge include HSBC, DBS, Standard Chartered, Maybank, and OCBC Bank. The app has also been recognised by the Singapore Fintech Association.

“The ability to sync seamlessly with multiple banks, and safely pull all of that information into one place lies at the heart of effective financial planning. In my ten years of managing close to a thousand clients, taking the first step to assess all your cash and assets remains the biggest obstacle for most people in properly managing their finances,” she adds.

Planner Bee relies on Salt Edge’s platform which claims to be both “secure and compliant with the top banks’ requirements in over 70 countries.”

As of now, the app has 2,000 downloads after just three months since its launch. For the future, PlannerBee plans to keep on growing its team with the target to secure one million users across Asia in the next seven years.

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Image Credit: Cherie Wang

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The startup has over 20K GoGetters and claims to have helped over 5K businesses, including MNCs and SMEs

GoGet, an on-demand workforce and jobs platform in Malaysia, announced today it has closed a Series A round of US$2 million, led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.

The money will be used to scale GoGet’s services in the home market through product development, building and expanding its product and technology teams.

The startup will also expand its sales and digital marketing teams to grow user acquisition.

Also Read: GoGet, a platform for verified part-timers in Malaysia, wins UNCDF’s Finlab B40 Challenge

The GoGet platform connects MNCs, SMEs and business owners to verified flexible workers, called GoGetters. Companies can hire GoGetters through the app for part-time support at any time to help with logistics, including next-hour delivery, sales and marketing support, operations and admin support.

“The traditional labour market is inefficient during these challenging times. Businesses, especially SMEs, need to find innovative ways to cut costs while being profitable. Our robust technology provides these businesses a cost-efficient solution beyond what a traditional job matching service can provide. This includes quality control, compliance to standards, good user experience, and workflow integration,” commented CEO and Co-founder Francesca Chia.

“Our vision is to build a sustainable future of work by empowering both businesses and gig economy workers in ASEAN. We also believe that by addressing the gaps in protection for flexible workers, it is making flexible work sustainable for our future,” Chia added.

Today, the platform has over 20,000 GoGetters and claims to have created US$5 million in value of jobs and helped over 5,000 businesses from small to large to scale up operationally without incurring full time costs.

Its customers include Lazada Malaysia, IKEA Malaysia, and foodpanda, which are using GoGetters for regular tasks, including delivery, packing, and event support.

GoGet has also introduced gamification to upskill from basic skills to promoter skills and increase utilisation of their GoGetters. GoGetters also get access to financial products such as savings and insurance.

Also Read: Be a rainmaker: The only advice Monk’s Hill Ventures’ managing partner wants to give us

The venture also plans to open its platform for companies to utilise their technology to manage and digitise manual processes in their workforce. The company also has ambitions to expand across ASEAN.

“The nature of work is being redefined as companies and workers seek both flexibility and fit. This trend has been accelerated by the pandemic, as businesses are transforming in response and require more elastic workforce. GoGet provides a community of motivated and well-trained workers, but more importantly, its platform extends the corporate people management systems to ensure quality, compliance and seamless workflow,” said Kuo-Yi Lim, Co-founder and Managing Partner of Monk’s Hill Ventures.

In July 2019, GoGet won the UNCDF B40 Challenge at MyFinTechWeek 2019 in Kuala Lumpur.

The Malaysian government has recently announced its support for the gig economy in a bid to cushion the economic impact of COVID-19, which led to massive number of job losses across the country.

Finance Minister Tengku Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz recently said the government would continue to support businesses, including SMEs and mid-tier companies, in key sectors that are still reeling from the impact of the pandemic.

In addition, the government will also play its role in upgrading the gig economy as it is fast becoming an integral part of the nation’s growth and transform the traditional sectors as well as streamline supply and demand in the job market.

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Image Credit: GoGet

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September was a packed month for the Product Team at e27.

Revamped Notifications System

We updated our Notifications System so that you can better follow activities and updates on e27. It’s a cleaner interface, we have worked on some of the previous kinds and we also managed to retain the old notifications. We want to continue to push activities directly to you so that you can be kept up to date in what’s happening in the e27 ecosystem.

Revamped Contributor Programme

We updated our contributor program (what I’m using now to write this up) to make it easier for you to create content on e27. It’s cleaner, faster and uses the latest TinyMCE widget. It also better syncs with our existing tags and categories in WordPress, so that you know for sure that you’re using the right tags and categories.

We also allow file/image uploads now, something we shared in our release notes in August, so that you can upload the pictures, infographics, etc. you need to make your content stand out. Try it out here.

Quarterly plan for e27 Pro

Due to popular demand, we launched a Quarterly plan for our e27 Pro membership program. Previously we only had yearly and two yearly plans. If you’re looking to claim one of the Perks we have, or you want a few months to try our Pro offering the Quarterly plan is a good way to test it out. You can check it out all our Pro offerings at our freshly revamped Pro Memberships page.

Help.e27.co: Our one-stop site to sort your e27 issues

As e27 gets bigger and more robust, we need a better way to support our users. We’ve launched a help site at help.e27.co to answer the top FAQs from our users.

You can access this from the top nav bar as well. We are here to support you and answer your queries with respect to profile related questions, pro membership questions, Perks, ecosystem roundup etc.

Pro labels

We have launched Gold PRO labels on different parts of the site so that you can better differentiate between what’s available for non Pro users and and Pro users. As the Pro member offerring is enriching with more and more features, we want to better distinguish what is available to Pro users and how upgrading to Pro can really help you.

Privacy policy updates

We recently updated our Privacy Policy. Check out our latest updated Privacy Policy here.

The post September update: New Notifications, New Contributor Programme, Quarterly Pro Plans and more appeared first on e27.

A B2B fintech startup, it helps financial institutions provide individuals with access to financial education and information, besides capital

ThitsaWorks, a fintech startup in Myanmar, has received an undisclosed minority investment from early-stage VC firm BOD Tech Ventures.

The Yangon-headquartered startup will use the funds to further scale its operations and achieve its larger goal of furthering financial inclusion in the country.

Also Read: Border-crossing and financial inclusion: The story of fintech in ASEAN

Founded in 2016 by Nyi Nyein Aye (CEO) and Thynn T. Win (CTO), ThitsaWorks provides tech solutions for large and small financial institutions to collect, manage and analyse data needed to run effective operations and to manage risks.

ThitsaWorks provides individuals with access to financial education, financial information and capital. It helps financial institutions digitise their operations, access consumer insights and credit analytics of unbanked population.

The company manages a financial inclusion chatbot, Pite Pite, to provides digital financial literacy and lead generation services for financial institutions.

The fintech venture claims its solutions are being used in 70 financial institutions, including banks, non-bank financial institutions and micro-finance institutions in Myanmar and its services currently benefit over 2.5 million borrowers.

With this new investment, ThitsaWorks will continue its work with financial institutions to provide access to credit for the remaining millions of families in Myanmar that are still in need of micro-finance solutions.

Also Read: How fintech is disrupting the Southeast Asian payments market

John Kaaiohelo, CEO and Chief Investment Officer of BOD Tech Ventures, said: “We believe that ThitsaWorks will accelerate the digital transformation of Myanmar’s financial sector, and are convinced that our investment will further Financial Inclusion in Myanmar’s local communities.”

“We believe that digital transformation will help MFIs operate efficiently and effectively, particularly under the current environment brought on by COVID-19,” added Aye, CEO of ThitsaWorks.

Founded in 2016, BOD Tech Ventures is an investor and operator of early-stage tech-enabled companies in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Vietnam, and Cambodia. So far BOD Tech has invested in Hercules (logistics), Flymya (online travel agency), Get (B2B wallet), YangonD2D (food delivery), and mmbusticket (bus ticketing), among others.

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Image Credit: ThitsaWorks

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Saying that 2020 has been a challenging year would be an understatement. This year, businesses were faced with some of the most unprecedented obstacles amidst the COVID-19 pandemic that put many sectors on a standstill. Many startups across Asia and beyond underwent shutdowns and layoffs in their struggle to stay afloat.

As we are navigating towards the “next normal” after the pandemic, businesses and entrepreneurs need to explore ways to survive, sustain, and scale-up for a stronger economy. This is where digitalisation and innovation figures in helping build a resilient and successful future, as suggested by a TENCENT study.

Recently, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) launched their annual flagship event Elevator Pitch Competition (EPiC 2020), inviting applications from innovative entrepreneurs worldwide. Given the international travel restrictions and lockdowns, HKSTP will stage the event virtually for the first time, reaching out to more global startups, investors and corporate partners to unlock the opportunities behind.

“EPiC is one of the most important events pushing forward the development of innovation and technology (I&T) in Hong Kong that we should continue to drive. A virtual event that brings together startups and investors from across the region is opportune. The event would not only give startups a chance to brush up their presentation skills but it will also allow them to verify their ideas by talking to the investors. Being agile to disrupt and pivot is of the essence for startups to tide over these difficult times,” said Albert Wong, CEO of HKSTP.

The pitching competition, which offers a total of US$200,000 in cash prizes, is scheduled to take place on 6th November, followed by the Global Matching programme from 9th to 12th November and the “Investment x Corporate Innovation Conference” on 13th November.

A legacy of success

Marking its fifth anniversary, EPiC has been supporting and motivating innovators to shape their unique entrepreneurship journey for the past years. Last year alone, the competition attracted a record number of over 650 entries from 48 countries and cities. Singapore-based startup Osome, an online platform that provides outsourced company incorporation, company secretary, accounting and immigration services, was last year’s Fintech award winner. This recognition coincided with their launch in Hong Kong.

“With EPiC, we received an opportunity to pitch our idea to the local tech and venture capital community alongside other promising startups. The cash prize we received has been a nice reward but the most significant benefit is the opportunity to network and build up our brand at an early stage of our presence in the city. Multiple partners we have started working with mentioned that they remembered us from the event. I would definitely recommend participating in EPiC to any startups that are about to expand to Hong Kong,” Vladislav Sharuda, co-founder of Osome, shared.

Also read: September update: New Notifications, New Contributor Programme, Quarterly Pro Plans and more

EPiC 2020 will help startups gain access to go-to-market support, exposure to funding opportunities and a chance to build a network with global stakeholders and industry leaders. The participating startups will pitch their innovative business ideas virtually via a 1-minute video to a judging panel who will select the top 10 finalists to be announced during the final pitching competition. The top 10 will battle to be named EPiC champion of 2020 with a 5-minute presentation plus an interactive Q&A session.

“The startups have to be very precise in articulating their value. I would recommend that they start by quickly stating the problem statement and telling the investors how they’re going to solve that problem,” said Gordon Yen, one of the judges of EPiC 2020 and the founding management partner of Radiant Tech Ventures.

Helping startups scale globally through collaborative innovation and partnerships

The new normal is spurring I&T within organisations and their future success will increasingly hinge on companies being open to novel ideas and a collaborative business approach. At the core of HKSTP is the goal of fostering I&T and helping innovators scale their businesses across the region and beyond. In line with this vision, they are creating a collaborative ecosystem with different stakeholders.

The Global Matching programme seeks to connect entrepreneurs with key industry stakeholders, including investors and corporate leaders, enabling them to explore business and investment opportunities and quickly get their innovative solutions to the markets in the Greater Bay Area and Asia.

Also read: How PlannerBee aims to put a financial advisor in everyone’s pocket

“All investors obviously look for winners—companies that can actually identify a problem in a potential market, and provide an efficient solution to address that problem. Obviously, investors generally measure that in terms of ROI but at EPiC, we start with a focus on identifying whether a startup is providing real value for the target customers or not. When we see real value in a large enough market, then we go on to analyzing the pricing and returns,” said Yen.

EPiC 2020 will conclude with the “Investment x Corporate Innovation Conference”, which will bring together I&T leaders and global pioneers with a focus on conversations about regional investment opportunities and ways to drive corporate innovation and growth.

Hong Kong to continue its efforts in driving I&T development

In Asia, Hong Kong has been a major investment hub and reports suggest that the city will continue to remain a financial centre attracting capital from across the region and the world. The Hong Kong government recognises this potential and has been pushing for growth through digitalisation and innovation for recent years.

“The world is disrupted by technology and we have to ride on this momentum. I&T is important for the future of Hong Kong to create economic diversity and more job opportunities. The challenge for us is to help turn the scientists into innovators, and into entrepreneurs,” said Wong.

Also read: Ecosystem Roundup: Startup funding in SEA continues decline in Q3; Digital banking heats up in Vietnam

With the objective of bringing the world forward amidst the pandemic by leveraging the technology-based disruptions and innovations, the time is ripe for innovative entrepreneurs to give their businesses a head start as they prepare to embark on the road to the future of the “next normal”. The business climate is expected to be even more cutthroat, and EPiC 2020 will serve as a platform for startups to look for new business opportunities.

Applications are open till 19th October 2020 23:59 hrs Hong Kong time. Interested startups and entrepreneurs can visit the official site for more details.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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