Along with Airbnb, DoorDash is planning one of the most anticipated IPOs of 2020. Its anticipated valuation is also similar to Airbnb’s at around US$32 billion. While we have a positive outlook for Airbnb, our evaluation of DoorDash is more negative.

In short, DoorDash’s tremendous growth and market share gains, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, don’t seem defensible in the long run.

A closer look at the facts and similar industries around the globe actually just makes Uber look more attractive as an investment since there’s nothing structurally that prevents Uber from making DoorDash into a Lyft of food delivery industry.

DoorDash’s growth is purely due to suburban focus

The most prominent bull thesis on DoorDash is that it is, and will continue to be the market leader in a growing market. For instance, its market share in meal delivery has reached 51 per cent as of October 2020, a very impressive feat for a company that has been competing against giants such as GrubHub and Uber Eats.

DoorDash’s secret sauce has mostly been its focus on suburban areas. While GrubHub, Uber Eats and Postmates have been competing fiercely for market share in urban markets, DoorDash simply casted a wider net on areas that its competitors weren’t paying much attention to.

And the COVID-19 pandemic boosted its market share even further as consumers and their wallets moved away from cities to suburbs. Competitors such as GrubHub and Uber Eats that had a much bigger exposure to markets such as New York City (NYC) suffered due to this transition.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: Govt. pushes for LinkAja IPO within the next year and a half; What SEA can learn from Pinduoduo’s success in China

Certainly, DoorDash and its management team deserve all the credit for making such a strategic decision and successfully executing on their plan. Even in NYC, where GrubHub has enjoyed a massive market share, we actually see more restaurants on DoorDash in suburban areas outside of Manhattan such as Queens and Brooklyn. However, their success doesn’t seem defensible for a few reasons.

First, aside from their geographic focus, their product isn’t inherently different from those of competitors. They all offer deliveries from restaurants, and charge similar levels of fees. And more importantly, the global travel industry, food delivery industry in China and global ride hailing industry have all proven that merchants who are already using an online marketplace want to be on others in order to maximise their business.

Just like hotels and airlines, most restaurants and drivers that are already on DoorDash are highly motivated to get on Uber Eats and Grubhub to get more business as long as these platforms provide similar treatments, especially during a pandemic driven recession.

Uber Eats had thus far chosen not to focus on suburbs because it was prioritising bigger markets while controlling their cost. Now that DoorDash has proven how attractive suburban markets have become due to COVID-19, there’s nothing structural that prevents Uber Eats from aggressively expanding in DoorDash’s home turf.

Uber’s structural advantage

And Uber has every motivation to grow its delivery business aggressively because its main ride-sharing business has been suffering due to the pandemic. This is where Uber’s structural advantage comes into play. First, unlike its rivals, Uber can make money from the same user and rider in two different ways, rides and food delivery.

Also Read: Meet these 22 under-the-radar ride-hailing startups catering to Southeast Asia’s hustle and bustle

This means that Uber could potentially acquire customers more efficiently, shown by its lower S&M marketing expense historically (prior to COVID-19). This also means that Uber could potentially afford to spend more than its competitors to acquire customers (i.e. marketing and promotions) to or to simply charge them slightly less. Secondly, Uber’s war chest of US$8 billion of cash sitting in its bank account (compared to roughly US$4.5 billion DoorDash is about to have after its IPO) means it can indeed do exactly this.

Uber already has drivers and riders in many suburban markets. All it has to do is to call restaurants that are already on DoorDash in those areas, and spend some money on marketing and promotions to get consumers to use Uber Eats in those areas.

When DoorDash was private, it could afford to spend aggressively because it didn’t have investors who care about profit. Now that it’s publicly listed, it will be playing on the same field as Uber under public scrutiny. With a smaller war chest, and a structural disadvantage of just playing in food delivery (as opposed to delivery and rides), DoorDash starts to look a lot like Lyft. On the flip side, Uber starts to look more attractive because its potential to grow its food delivery business seems more sure than ever.

A tale of two IPOs

Airbnb and DoorDash may seem similar at first glance. Both are hot consumer technology companies valued at around US$30 billion, competing against larger companies valued at around US$85 billion.

However, there’s a big difference between the two companies. Airbnb has a distinctive competitive advantage in being the trusted network of travellers and single-home owners who aren’t motivated solely by money. The travel leader Booking.com has been trying to compete against it for several years with limited success.

This doesn’t bode well for pure online delivery companies in Asia such as Foodpanda and Deliveroo that have to compete with rides + delivery companies such as Grab, even more so if the rumoured merger between Grab and Gojek actually occurs.

Structurally, pure delivery companies with smaller budgets are disadvantaged against bundlers who not only can monetise their users and riders more efficiently, but also tend to have a bigger war chest to spend on marketing. And given that Asian markets tend to be a lot more urban than suburban, the geographic distinction and advantage DoorDash has been enjoying will be even less available in Asia as well.

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The Carsome senior management team

Carsome, a leading integrated car e-commerce platform in Malaysia, announced today it has raised US$30 million in Series D funding.

The round was led by Asia Partners, with participation from existing investors Burda Principal Investments and Ondine Capital.

As per a press note, the fresh funds will be utilised to strengthen Carsome’s consumer-to-business (C2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) offerings.

Also Read: Digitalisation is driving the new normal for Southeast Asia’s automotive sector

Besides, the money will also be used to support Carsome’s potential M&A opportunities in acquiring ancillary capabilities and consolidating their supply chain.

Founded in 2015, Carsome provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers — from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing.

Every car that transacts on the platform goes through a comprehensive 175-point inspection, and every car purchase is backed up with an extended warranty and a money-back guarantee, it said in a statement.

With operations across Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore, besides Malaysia, the firm claims currently it is transacting an annualised 70,000 cars totalling US$600 million in transacted value.

Also Read: Carsome closes US$50M Series C; aims to be operationally profitable by end-2020

It has more than to 1,000 employees across all its offices.

The company further claimed that it doubled its Q3 2020 revenues from the pre-pandemic period, and achieved operational profitability as of October.

Eric Cheng, Co-founder and Group CEO of Carsome said: “Over the past six months, we have doubled our monthly revenue compared to pre-pandemic levels, a dramatic acceleration due to the impact of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on consumer behaviour across our region.”

“Consumers across our core markets of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore are increasingly purchasing cars to keep their families safe and adapt their businesses,” he added.

“Carsome’s integrated approach offering a one-stop solution to used-car buyers and sellers is genuinely impressive. We see that this will be the way forward for the used car industry, and we look forward to working closely with Eric and his capable team in further scaling the business across the region,” said Oliver M. Rippel of Asia Partners.

“We have built a defensible, scalable, and profitable business with very healthy unit economics attributed to both growth in gross margin and steady improvements in productivity and conversion metrics,” said Juliet Zhu, Carsome Group CFO.

While the platform flourishes from digitalisation tailwinds, Carsome said it remains focused on supporting its partners to navigate new challenges brought about by the pandemic.

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Image Credit: Carsome

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The impact of COVID-19 on the hiring plans of fintech firms is negligible, with the overwhelming majority of firms still looking to expand their headcount in the coming months, finds a survey.

For firms which are not looking to hire more staff, the pandemic was cited as a reason by half of respondents surveyed.

The survey, titled FinTech Talent Report 2020, was conducted jointly by the Singapore FinTech Association (SFA) and PwC Singapore. It explored the impact of the pandemic on the attraction, recruitment and retention of talent among fintech firms in Singapore.

Also Read:  From 30 to 400: TNG Fintech Group founder and CEO Alex Kong shares how to grow your human capital

As per this survey, talent gaps exist across the various identified job functions. But for the most part, these are manageable with firms generally reporting no shortfalls or a shortfall of 0-25 per cent in their desired headcounts.

When hiring talent, fintech companies are likely to draw on their own personal networks and connections, in addition to job portals, to find the right talent for their needs — a trend similar to findings from the 2019 Talent Survey.

Compared to the 2019 findings, more Singaporean fintech firms are focussing on hiring local talent, though the majority of respondents were in favour of hiring both foreign and domestic talent.

This could be due to a combination of factors like increased capabilities of domestic talent and greater challenges in hiring foreign talent.

The Ministry of Manpower (MOM) recently raised the minimum salary required for new Employment Pass (EP) and S Pass (SP) applicants in early August to encourage firms to hire more local talent.

Challenges persist for startups as local talent is more likely to be attracted to larger, more established firms and many applicants have unrealistic salary expectations.

The survey further reveals that many fintech businesses feel that the current situation is an opportune time to upskill their staff so resources and grants may be applied for in order to achieve this.

Despite a growing number of training partnerships and fintech qualifications, many fintech companies in Singapore are unaware of them and those that are aware remain generally neutral in their assessment on material coverage.

The majority of the 1,491 respondents agreed that increased dialogue between industry, academia, and regulators was beneficial in ensuring local talent could be developed to meet the needs of fintech firms.

The imminent launch of digital banks in Singapore is largely perceived to be a boon for the talent pipeline, with the combination of banking and fintech seen as offering the best of both worlds and driving interest in people to learn the necessary skills to work in such institutions, says the report.

Also Read: Why fintechs and banks have a bright future together

Such a result would likely have spill-over benefits to the wider fintech community, increasing the availability of local talent across the industry.

Patrick Tay, Assistant Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), said: “It is encouraging to note that Singapore’s fintech sector has stayed resilient despite the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and hiring sentiment for local talent remains strong. With fintech companies looking to expand their workforce, workers must keep an open mind and explore picking up new skills to stay relevant or secure employment in this growing sector.”

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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gnômadic founder Jonathan Schiff

“Is this even real? Is everyone going to be talking about something else next year again?”

That was Jonathan Schiff’s response when a group of co-living firms approached him in late 2018 to seek investment and advisory opportunities.

Keen to find out more about the emerging vertical within the real estate industry, the industry veteran set out to travel across the world to experience it for himself. After speaking to several management teams, staying in co-living spaces and interacting with residents themselves, Schiff was won over.

“I was like wow! This does seem to be a secular shift in the way that people are looking at housing,” he shared in an interview with e27.

However, a problem arose. When sharing the idea of co-living with his acquaintances, a recurring theme emerged. “Isn’t that a bunch of 20-year-olds having keg parties on the rooftop every night?” he shared candidly of the encounter.

Thereafter, he realised he had to focus on a niche market to alter these perceptions and do well, especially in the rapidly expanding co-living market, where startups such as hmlet and Cove have emerged in Singapore recently.

Niche market

Seeking to dip his toes into what remains a nascent industry, Schiff founded gnômadic in January 2020. Based out of Singapore, the startup curates luxuriously furnished co-living homes with events to build a community for residents to unwind and connect. Prices start at S$2,500 (US$1,870) per month, with a strong focus on working professionals and expat community.

Also Read: How Rukita turned the pandemic into an opportunity to grow its co-living business

Schiff shares that while majority of gnômadic’s customers are in their mid-30s, it has a diverse range of clients residing in its four properties islandwide.

But the beginning of the company was not easy; within just months of starting, COVID-19 broke out and altered perceptions towards housing. There was a shift towards flexibility amidst the pandemic as uncertainty grew and locals started delaying big-ticket purchases, including property.

However, the movement restrictions imposed within the city-state did not result in an entirely negative outcome, he said.

“The pandemic was a great opportunity for us to learn more about our residents and how to serve them better,” he noted, as we settled in at gnômadic’s latest property Meadow, located conveniently off the bustling Orchard Road.

When quizzed on whether the increased rental demand would remain when the economy recovers, Schiff replied that demand would remain high within the professional community that gnômadic targets, as “highly qualified and compensated people” would continue coming into Singapore.

gnômadic seeks to target working professionals and the expat community

Community building

Throughout our hour-long chat, it was noticeable that building a community around co-living (through events) was important to Schiff.

Also Read: Why mixed-use is the future of real estate in a socially distanced world

Did the pandemic alter your plans? “Before the restrictions, we would have larger events such as rooftop parties with 20 to 30 people. During the lockdown, we were organising virtual events and that wasn’t a big challenge. The hard part was when physical events were reintroduced with restrictions on the size of the gatherings.”

“People wanted to get out of the house and physically interact with each other. However, there are restrictions still in place and residents are mindful of that,” he elaborated, adding that gnômadic is constantly innovating to come up with new solutions to bring residents together while adhering to the pandemic-induced restrictions.

Besides running gnômadic, Schiff is also Managing Director of a family office and a Director of a private equity (PE) fund. Having both founded and invested in startups across a variety of sectors, Schiff has a few words of advice for entrepreneurs.

“You have to focus on a particular niche. A lot of startups get into trouble because when you’re sitting down with a piece of paper, you can go any direction and could soon lose your direction,” he emphasised.

“Building a team is always important. At the moment, there’s an incredible pool of talent that’s out there in the hospitality sector looking for jobs right now. We are in the process of recruiting and the quality of people coming in is amazing,” he revealed.

Sharing his personal experience as he faced restrictions in purchasing property due to his non-citizen status, Schiff encouraged founders to be adaptable and resourceful to overcome any obstacles when starting up.

Also Read: Why startup founders should be open to pivoting anytime

Future plans

The co-living venture is currently looking to expand its operations into Bangkok and Ho Chi Minh City.

Schiff hopes gnômadic can help foreign professionals acclimatise into the local culture to ease their transition into a foreign land.

Revealing his thoughts on what the future entails for the co-living industry, Schiff remarked while it is still early days and co-living firms are in “unchartered territory”, he believes there would be an increased focus on community building in the years to come.

“The whole community aspect is very fascinating. And it is the thing that’s attracted a lot of people. People are asking ‘who am I going to live with?’ Therefore, we spend a lot of time curating our community,” he remarked.

“Before anybody moves in with us, we get to know their needs and desires so we can best serve those needs,” he said.

Schiff also shared that gnômadic, unlike conventional startups, has an asset-heavy model. Therefore, the business consists of a property management arm running alongside an operations one.

Though the firm has been self-funded till date, he shares it is seeking investments from real estate investment firms and private equity firms. However, he stressed funding remains a desire rather than a need.

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Image Credit: gnômadic

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2020 reflections are pouring. Thanks for sharing your perspectives on what the years meant for startups, tech and business in SEA.

This week our contributors throw some light on the emerging investment areas and nuances like how will investor actually go about due diligence ‘virtually’; the big talk on AirBnB’s highly subscribed IPO and how it compares to others like Uber, DoorDash etc.; seeking help in the infamous Maslow’s theory (bring out those textbooks) for remote team management (this is here to stay) and much more.

Enjoy your weekend read and if any of these inspire you to share your thoughts, just go ahead and submit it.

How content platforms can work with the community to make online spaces safer for all by Arjun Narayan, Director, Trust & Safety TikTok APAC

“In today’s world, there’s no question that digital platforms play an extremely influential role when it comes to inspiring creativity, enabling freedom of expression and building a strong community. While the internet provides us with many opportunities to freely exchange ideas and connect with others, the principle of freedom of expression is under intense scrutiny as platforms look to ensure they remain an inclusive and safe space for their users.

This industry faces an increasing responsibility to ensure the right voices and content is being spread and heard, and it’s not one that should fall on content platforms alone.

Leading digital platforms have begun creating third-party councils to develop forward-looking policies that not only address the challenges of today but also help plan ahead for the next set of issues the industry will face.”

From IPOs to VC funding

How investors are adapting to effective due diligence practices in the new normal by founder of Capria and Unitus Ventures, Dave Richards

“The financial sector has stumbled upon a hitch, as fund managers find it difficult to raise money for a first or final fund close. For those with dry powder, the challenge to wisely allocate funds, appoint a new team or go with an existing team is seen rising.

Investors across the globe share the belief that due diligence (DD) forms the most critical component of an investment process. Agnostic of the type of financial organisation– VC or PE fund managers, family offices or institutional ones, DD is a key process followed before investing in a fund or company.”

A tale of two IPOs: How DoorDash’s IPO makes Uber and Airbnb’s look better by Duckju Kang, CEO of ValueChampion

“DoorDash’s tremendous growth and market share gains, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, don’t seem defensible in the long run.

A closer look at the facts and similar industries around the globe actually just makes Uber look more attractive as an investment since there’s nothing structurally that prevents Uber from making DoorDash into a Lyft of food delivery industry.”

Why the VCs in Southeast Asia should shift their attention to niche sectors and supporting industries by VC at HH Investments, Maarten Hemmes

“SEA is now in a golden era for tech startup growth as people’s livelihoods improve. In 2018, the average per capita income of SEA countries reached US$4,600, similar to that of China in 2007 when the country started its tech boom.

New venture capital has to be smarter, carve out niche sectors and identify supporting industries where they can find value and success.”

Managing your team

How to use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to drive resilient leadership in 2021 by Chuan Zhen Ko, CEO and cofounder of Plus Solar Systems

“How does a leader focus on staying afloat whilst keeping the team motivated under such extreme pressure? Here are four lessons that I have learned in reflection from the pandemic and each other which we hope will also see us through as we brave through uncertainties leading into 2021.”

Why the future of work in Singapore is remote by Yuying Deng, founder and CEO at Esevel

“While there will be a shift towards remote, we believe the office will not disappear completely. Not every job is suitable for remote work. And physical meetings are still ideal for tasks like creative brainstorming, on-boarding new joiners and relationship-building between colleagues.

However, what these past six months have shown us is that a strict 9-to-5 work arrangement in a single physical premise is irrelevant and unnecessary. In the future, companies will have to be more thoughtful on what they want their employees to achieve and the best ways to achieve that.”

Don’t break the bank: Enabling financial inclusion and equity through tech by Phil Davis, Managing Director APJ, Amazon Web Services

“The good news is that technology has been a driving force behind significant changes in the financial services industry. One instance of such change is in how banks and fintech startups are now empowered to service these previously excluded groups of people, while maintaining industry-leading standards of security and regulatory compliance.

With large investments being made in the region, a figure KPMG estimates at US$8.1 billion in the first half of 2020 alone, there are more opportunities and possibilities than ever before to ensure financial inclusion. All this bodes well for the region: empowering wider swathes of the population to participate in greater levels of economic activity will bring about long-term benefits for economies.”

Emerging sectors to watch for

How smart technology can improve the post-pandemic public life by founder and CEO at Habitap, Franklin Tang

“Smart technology promises greater peace of mind and autonomy for users. Not only will it provide greater convenience, it also facilitates better connectivity and control of their home and office environments and through automation allows people to spend more time and energy on the things that matter to them.

When I started Habitap in 2016, I built it on the premise of bringing technology seamlessly into our homes to empower our vision of a smart nation. We created a seamless user experience around three key pillars: Smart controls, smart community and as a lifestyle gateway, into an integrated mobile app.”

It’s about time: Why global trade will sink without maritime innovation by Shaun Hon, Director at Rainmaking, a corporate innovation venture studio

“Singapore’s port and maritime industry was once the beating heart of its economic progress. But in recent years this has slowed down significantly. Over the last decade, the maritime industry turnover has seen a drop of S$7 billion (US$5.2 billion) from its peak in 2014; a decrease of more than 40 per cent.

Just as the ocean was once the frontier of discovering new continents, so too can it be a site for innovation in supply chains.

Maritime logistics could be the most exciting new innovation opportunity – backed by a trusted legacy. To get there, we must first overcome three major hurdles.”

Legaltech on blockchain is set to be the next hot investment sector. Here’s why by Nikos Kostopoulos, blockchain advisor

“Legaltechs leverage technology to deliver more efficient and lower-cost legal services to lawyers, businesses, and consumers. Their goal is to make legal services accessible to everyone.

The legal and judiciary systems have well-earned their reputations as stodgy. They have traditionally been complex and expensive to use. Facing these barriers, many businesses and individuals have not had fair access to the legal system. Large enterprises pay through the wallet for legal services, while smaller businesses often have no legal recourse if a business partner fails to fulfill their half of the contract.”

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

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

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In today’s world, there’s no question that digital platforms play an extremely influential role when it comes to inspiring creativity, enabling freedom of expression and building a strong community. While the internet provides us with many opportunities to freely exchange ideas and connect with others, the principle of freedom of expression is under intense scrutiny as platforms look to ensure they remain an inclusive and safe space for their users.

This industry faces an increasing responsibility to ensure the right voices and content is being spread and heard, and it’s not one that should fall on content platforms alone.

Leading digital platforms have begun creating third-party councils to develop forward-looking policies that not only address the challenges of today but also help plan ahead for the next set of issues the industry will face.

TikTok, for instance, has created an APAC Safety and Advisory Council which I sit on, alongside other leading legal, regulatory, and academic experts to provide advice on content moderation policies and trust and safety issues specific to the APAC region. The Council will provide subject matter expertise and advise on TikTok’s content moderation policies and practices to help shape regional and global guidelines.

Policies related to free speech and censorship

While today’s leading digital platforms all take a different approach to democratising content, allowing it to be developed, shared and consumed more easily, not all online content is appropriate or safe. For this reason, platforms must establish clear community guidelines and create forward-looking policies that will mitigate the spread of harmful content.

Most platforms agree that dangerous individuals and organisations should not be allowed to spread hateful ideologies or illegal activities, as well as violent and graphic content, content related to self-harm and dangerous acts, hate speech, harassment, sexually explicit, or misleading content. However, addressing these existing and emerging issues can be difficult as platforms are scrutinised for their moderation guidelines.

Also Read: Cybersecurity threats on the rise as companies shift to the WFH model

To provide more transparency into how platforms are keeping users safe through moderation practices, platforms such as TikTok have begun to develop Transparency Reports providing insight into how it responsibly responds to data requests and protects intellectual property. The Council’s mission moving forward is to help outline TikTok’s approach to policies to protect the safety of its community members across the APAC region, while maintaining full transparency to its users.

As a diverse group of legal, regulatory, and academic experts, we believe one of the best ways a platform can keep its users safe is by empowering the community with tools and education.

Policies related to online safety

The most important commitment the industry faces is to keep its community members safe. This is a challenging but critically important area for the industry to get right, and platforms should look to approach the protection and safety of their users through policies, product, people, and partners.

From a policy perspective, platforms should be steadfast in their commitment to immediately remove content, terminate accounts, and report harmful cases to law enforcement as appropriate. They should also build strong safety controls, and invest heavily in human and machine-based moderation tools, as well as work with third parties to identify and remove hateful content accordingly.

As external Council members, our primary focus is to identify and solve challenges related to children/underage kids, digital literacy, mental health and human rights. We are a diverse group of experts comprising of backgrounds in IT, digital safety and literacy, intellectual property and internet law, and advocates of child safety, women and other marginalised groups, who are committed to addressing these challenges.

Community effort to make digital platforms a safe space for all

If we exclusively put the onus on platforms to keep communities safe, we will fail. Policymakers, regulators, the platform and its users all have a stake in making digital platforms a safe space for all. Though we all come from different cultural and professional backgrounds and may provide differing opinions on how to keep the community safe, we will work together to spot gaps in content moderation policies and provide advice on the best path forward.

Also Read: VNG sues TikTok over alleged copyright infringement in Vietnam: Reuters

The road ahead isn’t going to be an easy one, per se, but it will be worthwhile as we collectively work together to tackle industry-wide issues. Our Council has long been committed to serving the online community in our own individual capacities.

Now, we’re looking forward to uniting in this endeavour to make the internet safer for users all across the APAC region, taking diverse cultural, religious, and other social nuances into account.

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

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

Image Credit: Jon Tyson on Unsplash

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Magorium co-founder Chu Xian

Soon after being announced as the winner of Singapore’s waste-tech startup competition WASTE 20/20, organised by StartupX in partnership with Enterprise Singapore and The Incubation Network, e27 decided to interview Magorium co-founder Chu Xian to find out more about its vision.

The startup recently received prize money of approximately US$19,000 and managed to outshine over 100 waste-tech startups that had applied for the competition from over 32 countries globally.

The issues of plastic waste have been prevalent throughout the world but have mostly been a major social issue in Southeast Asia, excluding Singapore. Without a viable recycling solution, plastic waste is indiscriminately burned releasing cancerous and pollutive emissions.

While many companies are striving to solve this issue, the lack of strict protocols on plastic production and consumption, coupled with lack of public awareness has led to an increased level of pollution.

Founded last year by Xian and Adriel Ng, Magorium aims to solve the converts plastic into polymers, which are then used to produce high-quality bitumen used for road construction.

Here’s an excerpt from the interview:

How did you come up with the idea of Magorium?

Having experience in the construction industry, the technology was initially an attempt to create more sustainable construction material.

Through years of R&D, we found ourselves not only a better performing alternative material but also an effective plastic waste recycling solution.

Also Read: How Maeko aims to reduce communal food waste through composting

What makes Magorium different from others who are already in the business?

Our technology can recycle a wider range of plastic types and incorporate a higher percentage of it into the roads. Hence, we believe that ours is a more effective recycling solution.

Can you share with us a story about the hard times that you faced when you first started your startup? Where did you get the drive to continue even though things were so hard?

When we first started, we approached different stakeholders essential to the success of our technology – the waste management companies, construction companies and the relevant authorities regarding commercialisation and adoption of our technology. There were substantial pushbacks from all the stakeholders as everyone was waiting for the first party to come onboard before following.

It was really frustrating trying to navigate the whole chicken and egg situation. We did not consider giving up, but it did feel quite helpless and we considered commercialising this technology outside Singapore instead. The drive to not give up stemmed from my team’s belief that our technology is one of the most viable and effective plastic waste solutions to date. If we held that belief and still gave up, I suppose you could say that we would truly feel to some degree responsible for the worsening plastic waste crisis.

What are the industry challenges you have observed that concerned you to jump into this space?

The largest challenge is the underlying problem: lack of market/ demand for recycled plastic. The common perception is attributing the plastic recycling problem to “people do not recycle properly or don’t want to recycle”. But the truth is that even if people were recycling properly, there is no technology to convert all these recycled plastic into a product which has a market. The properly recycled plastics would have nowhere to go.

Upon identifying the true problem, we realised that our technology could potentially be the solution to this problem as road infrastructure is a necessity worldwide. In converting it into a material to build roads, we are giving plastic waste a new lease of life as valuable feedstock with stable demand.

What is the roadmap for your company going forward?

We want to be able to further our R&D to increase the efficacy of our technology as a recycling solution and continue forming more partnerships with relevant stakeholders.

Also Read: Getting smarter with tech: How will smart cities look like 10 years from now? 

We are also planning on scaling into the Southeast Asia market where plastic waste is one of the largest problems.

How has COVID-19 affected your startup?

Our startup is reliant on the demand for road infrastructure materials. In Singapore, there were a few months where the majority of construction works stopped. This significantly slowed down our progress.

During the circuit breaker, an additional 1,334 tonnes of plastic waste was generated from takeaways or online shopping. These habits which developed during circuit breaker emphasises our reliance on plastic and the urgency to find a viable solution.

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Image Credit: Magorium

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Smart technology promises greater peace of mind and autonomy for users. Not only will it provide greater convenience, it also facilitates better connectivity and control of their home and office environments and through automation allows people to spend more time and energy on the things that matter to them.

When I started Habitap in 2016, I built it on the premise of bringing technology seamlessly into our homes to empower our vision of a smart nation. We created a seamless user experience around three key pillars: Smart controls, smart community and as a lifestyle gateway, into an integrated mobile app.

We aim to make it easy for users using various brands of smart devices to control their devices on one convenient platform in a bid to introduce the use of smart home devices to the masses. We focused on pre-integrating them seamlessly into one single mobile application, with a consistent and therefore familiar user experience.

We recognised that we also live in communities and access common areas functions such as booking of meeting rooms, simple functions such as opening of mailboxes, or accessing e-commerce parcel stations and we linked them to the Habitap app.

I like to think that we are revolutionising the way people can interact with common spaces. We have transformed old school visitor management into the digital age. Today, visitors will be issued with a QR code so they could scan and enter condominiums. Homeowners could also receive a video call from the visitor on their mobile phones without the need to do so from the typical wall-mounted intercom screen in our home.

We also understood the growing trend of accessing lifestyle services from online platforms, and have made Habitap a convenient and seamless gateway to major platforms from transportation to food delivery and even home cleaning services.

Also Read: Fasal’s IoT device increases yield, reduces wastage by helping horticulture farmers make smart decisions on crops

In 2017, we pioneered this same smart living concept in office buildings and workplaces. And over the last three years, we saw a rapid surge in commercial developments adopting smart building platforms to provide convenient digital access for both tenants and visitors.

Habitap alone manages 15 commercial buildings. As you can see, smart technology for managing buildings is fast becoming the norm in Singapore. All of the above sought to bring connectivity and control to people, with the idea of offering a convenient way to manage their homes. Through this, we hope to help them improve their lives.

By 2020, the market has come to accept a new norm: a connected world from the home to office where most services could be accessed using an app. What is exciting is how we could now use this connectivity in a more predictive way.

Using A.I and data, your home would be able to learn your preferences and offer insights into creating greater convenience in your life.  For example, if you always used the water heater or the air conditioner at a specific time of the week, the A.I component could prompt you to turn it into a preset.

The pandemic has changed the way we all live and work

In the near term, the immediate challenges are how we perform contact tracing and distribute real-time news and alerts. Habitap has been pivotal in becoming a readily available and suitable platform. At short notice, we were able to send alerts to all office tenants and condominium residents in the form of push notifications and measure readership of those alerts.

Within four weeks of the circuit breaker Singapore, we integrated safe entry and temperature taking into building access control systems and present data reports to ensure safe measures were in place.

In the long term, the real estate industry recognises the inevitable changes to how we live and work. Contactless functionality is now a requirement in real estate designs. For example, electronic parcel stations create a buffer for deliveries of all office parcels.

Also Read: Smarter Cities will help, but not solve, global pollution crisis

In upcoming condominiums, food delivery stations and gym pods are being integrated into the design. The concept of using our mobile devices as digital access is now further developed into elevator call panels where users can call for elevators using a mobile app.

Moving forward from 2020, Habitap aims to be that app that connects people together through physical and virtual spaces. Secure and intelligent, Habitap manages facilities and offers services where every individual can enjoy the benefits of belonging to the community.

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As we look back on decades of economic growth in Asia, we see a region that has emerged as a global powerhouse, with a rapidly rising share of global trade and manufacturing output. For this success story to continue, financial inclusion is a critical area that needs to be addressed.

The World Bank estimates that over a billion people in the region have no access to formal financial services – in other words, without formal employment, bank accounts, or the ability to participate in both offline and online commerce. In Asia’s developing economies, large segments of society are in danger of falling further behind without access to basic services like low-cost remittance and loans.

The good news is that technology has been a driving force behind significant changes in the financial services industry. One instance of such change is in how banks and fintech startups are now empowered to service these previously excluded groups of people, while maintaining industry-leading standards of security and regulatory compliance.

With large investments being made in the region, a figure KPMG estimates at US$8.1 billion in the first half of 2020 alone, there are more opportunities and possibilities than ever before to ensure financial inclusion. All this bodes well for the region: empowering wider swathes of the population to participate in greater levels of economic activity will bring about long-term benefits for economies.

Overcoming geographic limitations

One of the greatest factors causing financial exclusion is the distance between rural areas and bank branches, which often makes it impossible, or at least extremely time-consuming and inconvenient, for people living in these areas to access banking and financial services.

The advent of smartphones and digital financial apps have been a game-changer, making the need for physical proximity less relevant. Currently, 66 per cent of the population in Asia Pacific is subscribed to mobile services, and with this figure expected to increase to 70 per cent by 2025, we can expect to see more of the unbanked overcoming the rural divide.

Also read: Banking the unbanked: Have cryptocurrency project achieved the most claimed utility of the blockchain?

On the flip side, rural banks are also embarking on digital transformation initiatives to scale their presence. These efforts were accelerated this year by the outbreak of COVID-19, which drove higher demand for digital services. Some fintech help rural banks bridge the digital gap. In the Philippines, for instance, born-in-the-cloud fintech startup Pearlpay has empowered 450 rural banks in the country to reduce their data centre footprints through its cloud-based core banking solutions.

Opening up economics opportunities

An important element of financial inclusion is ensuring small businesses and citizens in rural areas have access to funding, which they can then use to improve their livelihoods, and their daily lives. Traditionally, this has been an issue because individuals lack credit history or collateral; the high costs of processing loans pose obstacles to the viability of offering such loans.

India’s CreditVidya is tackling this exact issue by using artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to analyse payment data, financial behavioural data, and smartphone device data to score loan applicants’ creditworthiness. This is opening up loans to millions of Indian citizens that were previously financially excluded, with CreditVidya now processing 100,000 loan applications daily.

CreditVidya’s technology significantly reduces the cost of processing loans, making it financially viable to offer such loans. In Indonesia, Amartha Mikro Fintek is helping to connect entrepreneurs in rural areas with investors, allowing them to seek funding more easily. The company is also using analytics and open source business intelligence tools to analyse loan default data and keep non-performing loans below three percent, well under the global industry average.

Simplifying financial matters

Technology is also bringing about equity by enabling easier access by a broad cross-section of customers to financial opportunities that were previously regarded as overly complicated. This is opening doors, and levelling the playing field even for those who might be averse to financial mechanisms due to a lack of understanding.

For example, Singapore-based StashAway is a virtual wealth management platform that allows people of any level of net worth to invest in capital markets. It also personalises portfolios for individuals based on their existing assets and risk preferences. Using cloud technology, StashAway not only cut infrastructure costs for development by 90 per cent, but also built a robust platform that could quickly scale up to serve thousands of customers while also ensuring compliance with multiple country-specific financial regulations.

These are inspiring examples of how innovation and digital disruption are positively improving lives across developing and developed economies, while simultaneously driving economic growth. The fact that private and public sectors are working together, and paying more attention than ever before to drive such initiatives, lays a foundation for a brighter future, giving cause for optimism for the region’s future.

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

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

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The post Don’t break the bank: Enabling financial inclusion and equity through tech appeared first on e27.

If you don’t see the Spotify podcast player above, click on a link below to listen directly!

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Today’s Guest – Mony Gueorguiev

Our guest today is Mony Geuorguiev, a Bulgarian who grew up in the US, and the founder of Maidily, a software that helps cleaning companies manage their clients and schedules.

We met a few weeks ago when he responded to my request for entrepreneurs to answer the question “What stopped me from starting my first company?” If you haven’t seen the post yet, his response was a fear of failure, which I found to be a very common answer among those I received responses from. Eventually, he got tired of being in the “rat race”, and he decided to start his own e-commerce business. After building it into seven products across three brands, he sold the business. After that, he started a turnkey, fully automated, cleaning business!

While running the new business, he realised that cleaning business owners needed to use specific scheduling/CRM software to operate, and his current company Maidily was born. I normally do introduction calls with all my guests, and the typical call goes for 30 to 45 minutes, but Mony and I struggled to get off the phone after two hours of talking because we found we had so much in common. For example, we’re non-technical founders running technical companies in the B2B SaaS space and have completely remote teams, and he lives in Atlanta where my brother is, and he was trying to move to Singapore (where my company is) before the virus made it impossible. So today we honour his drive to find and exploit opportunities, and let’s give Mony a warm welcome!

Let’s give a warm welcome to Mony Gueorguiev

LinkedIn: Mony Gueorguiev
Website: Maidily

Also Read: How Cooklab seizes new opportunities during the pandemic to become Indonesia’s answer to Blue Apron

You’ll learn about

• Being an immigrant in the US
• Fitting into life in the US
• Being multi-lingual and how it’s beneficial for solving problems
• Discovering the American dream isn’t what they said it was
• Figuring out how to take advantage of a situation and turn it into a business
• Why e-commerce businesses are hard
• How to approach any new business

Resources

And remember, Entrepreneurship is a Marathon, not a Sprint, so take care of yourself every day, so that you can live and love, and have the energy and the passion to run your business, and to invest in your team, and to find a way to appreciate those moments of happiness.

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This article was first published on We Live To Build.

Image Credit: Michal Czyz on Unsplash

The post Advice on exploiting business opportunities with Mony Gueorguiev appeared first on e27.