Year: 2020

If you are wondering when the time is to start upskilling your workforce, the answer is not today, not tomorrow, not even yesterday … You should have started at least three years ago!

For too long, organisations have resisted change and dismissed digital transformation as a hype. Now these same organisations are playing catch-up and lagging behind their more agile competitors in a digital evolving reality.

I have written in my earlier piece that 85 per cent of big data projects fail and sadly, the data remains trending in this direction. Harvard Business Review found that organisations calling themselves data-driven has actually dropped each year from 37.1 per cent in 2017 to 32.4 per cent in 2018 to 31.0 per cent in their latest study.

So how do we remedy this situation?

I have and will continue to preach that in order to future-proof and position your organisation’s sustainable long-term growth, digital transformation requires talent with digital skills.

Ten years ago, CEOs were struggling to find professionals with global experience. Today, organisations are desperately seeking digital-savvy leaders as well as a digitally agile workforce.

In fact, four out of five CEOs bemoaned their employees’ lack of essential skills and identified that as a threat to growth. LinkedIn Learning’s ‘2019 Workplace Learning Report’ has even christened 2019 as the year of the skills gap, with a 32 per cent increase year over year in identifying and assessing skills gap. Across industries, organisations need talented employees who know how to use new technologies in-line with business objectives, are acquainted with emerging digital business models to achieve business goals and can adapt to new and evolving approaches and methods that can contribute to business growth.

Also Read: Singapore develops contact tracing app to limit COVID-19 spread

Self-motivate

This isn’t only a leadership concern. Tech illiteracy is more likely to make the workforce redundant long before automation has the chance.

By 2030, as many as 375 million workers globally will have to master fresh skills as their current jobs evolve alongside the rise of automation and capable machines, estimates McKinsey Global Institute.

Employees are just as responsible to upskill themselves, either through organisational training or independent learning by proactively seeking out new skillsets and certifications.

They have to adopt an agile mindset that embraces change and uncertainty to create value in a hyper-connected, automated world.

They themselves by right are the best judges of what skills they have and what skills they need. In doing so, they can self-report their capabilities to their managers and together identify what gaps need to be filled along with which areas can be upskilled.

Reskilling might even be necessary to replace outdated skills with new skills to meet the changing job landscape as essential skills acquired only last around five years on average. Allowing the employee’s skillset to grow redundant is a disservice to them and what they can meaningfully contribute to the business.

Managers can track and measure the employee’s progress against set key metrics, advancing promotion opportunities in potential leadership roles and even match-make the employee to a role more suited to their capabilities and career direction.

Also Read: Managing the millennial workforce over coffee and culture

Don’t look for talent – build it

Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon, once said: “I’d rather interview 50 people and not hire anyone than hire the wrong person.”

Just like Bezos used to do, I personally interview every single applicant when hiring to ensure the right person is tasked with moving my company forward. Otherwise, the company culture can be negatively disrupted and demoralize the team. This begs the question, why take the risk?

Not only is there already a scarcity of talent in the market but it takes time to familiarise them with the company culture, meet the company’s expectations, have them learn the workflow and processes from scratch and if they can’t perform, it is expensive to replace them.

The smarter investment is in upskilling your current workforce, which can lead to a more well-rounded, cross-trained workforce while increasing team effectiveness. More than half (54 per cent) of all employees will require significant reskilling and upskilling in just three years.

Providing support, development and career path-building keeps the workforce engaged, productive, innovative and competitive, reduces ‘brain drain’ and better prepared to handle challenges – all of which enhances the organization’s bottom line.

Organisations have to instill a culture of active learning with an engaged workforce now so that, whatever skills are needed down the road, companies are responsive and have all the processes in place to roll out a successful upskilling initiative.

Create a roadmap to define how much of the workforce needs to be upskilled and how. Strong communication plays a major factor as leaders would need to interact with their workforce to manage the change taking place.

Also Read: These 4 medtech startups will help you bust health myths during COVID-19 crisis

A strategic approach with a long-term outlook can result in a greater unity of purpose is not just the leadership team but the organisation as a whole. Knowledge and education will divide the winners and losers in Industry 4.0 as talent is the heart of every organisation.

The data-driven journey

To successfully invest in upskilling successfully, organisations would benefit greatly from first capitalising on skills planning. Skills planning is the keystone of any strong upskilling program, by clearly presenting where the organisation’s workforce is currently in comparison to where the workforce needs to go.

In other words, organisations can identify essential skills that are required as well as the development employees need to meet ideal proficiency.

Many leaders whom I have spoken with often have to resort to either poaching from other organisations or importing their talent from overseas, both of which are expensive and usually temporary solutions.

When all is said and done, it is about taking initiative and gathering up the courage to make that big leap into data-driven status.

Ensure the business is set for success by developing a digital mindset, skills and new ways of working for all employees across all levels.

It is incumbent on organisations to advance their workforce’s abilities in realising the value of cognitive technologies and thus transform their enterprises into efficient engines fueled by innovation.

Based on what we see above, the question of “where do I begin” is automatically answered. We should begin with Talent. Then the next question arises, “how should I do it”?

Also Read: COVID-19 is a serious wake up call for sustainable innovation

The department leads of Human Capital, CEO and the Chief Strategist need to come together and strategise on the necessary steps to take when embarking on the data science journey.

First and foremost, identify which talents within the organisation can be upskilled quickly. Parallelly, educate the whole company on what is Big Data 101, Data Storytelling and Data Visualisation as this knowledge will be a strong foundation for the future.

Build a learning pathway of online classes, courses and other educational programs for all the organisation’s must-have skills. This should be the priority of one’s organisation for the next one to two years! If these are not in place as soon as possible, organisations will struggle to stay alive.

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honestbee sues its ex-CEO and ex-Director for fiduciary duties breach

Embattled grocery delivery startup honestbee has sought legal action against its former CEO Joel Sng and former Director Jeffrey Wong for breach of fiduciary duties.

Since their departures, honestbee said it has been investigating various transactions done by the company while Sng was CEO and Wong was Director of honestbee. 

honestbee has since discovered numerous irregularities that call for further investigation.

It was discovered that in December 2015, Sng purchased a house in Niseko (Japan) under his name, and the company, on his instructions, paid the purchase price of about US$1.1 million (including acquisition tax), on top of other running costs of the property. 

During the time of the purchase, there was no apparent real benefit or commercial advantage for honestbee to purchase the Niseko house.

In February 2018, Sng attempted belatedly to regularise the Niseko purchase by entering into an agreement with honestbee where Sng indicated that in December 2015 he had been appointed to provide Commissionaire activities by acting on behalf of honestbee in the purchase of the Niseko house, and the company had appointed Sng to purchase and hold the Niseko house. 

The Niseko purchase was not disclosed to the then-Board or shareholders of honestbee until September 2018.

Furthermore, in May 2013, Sng and Wong started a company called The Cub, with Sng owning 70 per cent shares and Wong owning the remaining 30 per cent.

In October 2017, The Cub entered into a tenancy agreement with LHN Space Resources (landlord of habitat by honestbee) for 34 Boon Leat Terrace #02-01 Singapore 119866 and Open Space — the unit above habitat by honestbee.

Also Read: Honestbee to discontinue Singapore food delivery service

honestbee paid for all security deposits and transaction costs (including stamp duty) for the tenancy agreement, and also paid the monthly rent and expenses totalling approximately US$35,000 per month from October 2017 to October 2018, as well as the architectural design fees for the premises, on behalf of The Cub.

Prior to September 2018, Sng did not disclose The Cub payment arrangement to the then Board or shareholders of honestbee. Since October 2017, the tenanted premises were left empty and in fact, were of no real use to honestbee.

In January 2017, Sng incorporated a company called PayNow to ‘develop’ an e-wallet solution on his own account. He was the sole shareholder and director of PayNow.

Upon Sng’s representations that PayNow had a viable product that was ready for launch and that PayNow was worth US$2.7 million as a company, honestbee then entered into a ‘share subscription’ agreement and a ‘partnership’ agreement with PayNow where honestbee subscribed for 20 per cent of the ordinary shares in PayNow, with Sng owning the remaining 80 per cent of the ordinary shares in PayNow. honestbee paid US$700,000 for the ‘share subscription’.

Between August 2017 and February 2018, honestbee paid further sums totalling approximately US$4.4 million for the purported purchase of Sng’s shares in PayNow. These payments were made at Sng’s instructions.

Prior to September 2018, Sng did not disclose any of the transactions to PayNow to the then- Board or the shareholders of honestbee. honestbee has since found that PayNow did not during that time have a minimum viable product that was ready to launch. In fact, the said product that PayNow had produced was only at a rudimentary stage.

honestbee had essentially paid approximately US$5.1 million in total to subscribe and acquire Sng’s 100% shareholding of PayNow. It is believed that the above transactions have caused loss and damage to the Company, and have no doubt contributed to the financial difficulties of honestbee.

The current report said that the company has not received any substantive response from either Sng or Wong. honestbee intends to and will raise and pursue any other questionable transactions that may come to light in the course of its investigations.

MDEC launches a campaign to mitigate COVID-19 impact on the economy

Following the two-week movement control order (MCO) to combat the COVID-19 increasing spread in the country, the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) has launched the #DigitalvsCovid campaign in an effort to guide local tech companies to extend digital solutions and services to affected domestic businesses and consumers.

Also Read: MDEC partners 9 Digital Transformation Lab for tech enabling support

According to an official statement, the #DigitalvsCovid campaign’s call to serve the nation received encouraging responses, particularly by MDEC’s network of GAIN companies consisting of tech startups and scaleups that are recognised for their tech innovations and sizable business footprint, locally and abroad.

“While large corporations have contingency plans to minimise the impact of COVID-19, many SMEs and micro-enterprises may not be able to tide through this global pandemic. One way forward is through automation and digitalisation,” said Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC.

Shukri said it only took one attempt to rally Malaysian tech companies to ‘Pay It Forward’ during these trying times. Numerous tech companies within and beyond the GAIN network have expressed their sincere interest to offer their services on a pro-bono basis, either through attractive discounts or strategic collaborations.

MDEC’s #DigitalvsCovid campaign to raise awareness and mitigate against the spread of the Covid-19 threat also launched a series of short videos across its social media channels that encourage a digital approach for businesses to combat COVID-19. 

The campaign will also work with Key Influencers to increase its message penetration, with the first video by Alif Satar already getting over 45,000 views.

Co-living startup Hmlet co-founder Zenos Schmickrath exits the company

Co-founder Zenos Schmickrath has exited Singapore-based co-living startup Hmlet to pursue her next entrepreneurship opportunity, DealStreetAsia has reported.

Schmickrath, however, remains a shareholder of the firm. 

CEO and co-founder Yoan Kamalski remains with the company.

The startup recently switched its business model by adopting a revenue-sharing model with landlords, from directly renting and operating. It allowed the group to lower its operational risk while expanding its portfolio via more mergers and acquisitions.

Kamalski noted the strategic move is significant as it is the best “inflection point” for Schmickrath’s departure. 

“In this regard, we have had to hire a number of professionals over the last two quarters to fuel this shift, while parting ways with a handful of members, including Zenos our co-founder,” Kamalski said.

Japanese trade company Itochu enters into partnership with remote working platform Eko

Trading company Itochu Corporation ahas entered into an agreement with Thailand-headquartered virtual workspace tool Eko Corporation to be its distributor in Japan.

Eko is the virtual workspace tool for remote working that seeks to ensure business continuity for corporations and teams.

Also Read: Indonesia’s SMDV leads US$20M funding round for Thai SaaS platform Eko

Founded in 2012 by Korawad Chearavanont, Eko is a startup corporation founded in 2012, Eko is able to contribute to the revitalisation of in-house communication, improvement of staff engagement and productivity, especially between employees working in stores or at home, as this tool makes a variety of functions possible from a single smartphone, from managing chats, phone calls, and files to creating in-house applications and business reports.

In light of the outbreak of COVID-19 globally, the tool is currently being offered in Japan as a 3-month free trial to support corporations urgently engaged in telework, including working from home, due to the spread of the effects of the coronavirus.

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Picture credit: honestbee

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The world is undergoing a big shift. While optimists claim this is earth’s rest time, we all can’t just shut shop and stay put. The show must go on…and most of us are compelled to grapple with the new work-from-home (WFH) diktat.

Luckily, for the content team at e27, it is business as usual since most of us work remotely anyway. But we understand that transitioning to WFH is easier said than done.

From all those water-cooler moments to birthday cakes and lunch meetings to staring at your plant for a work buddy and running out of coffee, WFH may get depressing.

Add to that connectivity challenges, noisy neighbours and lack of human touch to virtual communications, the fear of misunderstanding each other and losing focus remains high. To help you overcome these trying times, e27 invites you to join a webinar to learn how to manage remote teams.

Part of a webinar series designed to help you cope with the COVID-19 crisis, this webinar will teach you everything you’ll need to know to make a smooth transition from working at the office to working from home. Whether you’re a manager, professor, individual producer, or HR specialist supporting staff through a new remote-work policy, we think you’ll find something in this webinar that’s worth bringing home.

We have roped in Sean Liao, CEO and Founder of Imaginato, who has built and run remote teams for years now for Lazada and Zalora, and Wai Hong, Chieftain and Co-founder of StoreHub, who along with his remote team just launched a new feature in the last 48 hours whilst working remotely.

What you will learn:

• How to prepare your organisation and team for remote work
• The dos and don’ts of remote working — making remote working, work.
• StoreHub’s transition from office to remote amidst COVID-19 mayhem
• How to manage a decentralised team
• What tools should companies be using and why
• How to build and maintain a strong working culture with a remote team

As teams around the world focus on health and safety and move to remote work, we want to do our part to support you to stay connected and clear on work and priorities.

Register now: The webinar How to manage remote teams will happen on Thursday, March 26. Limited slots available!

The e27 Webinar series is an effort to share actionable insights with the startup community to improve their day-to-day work life. These interactions are laced with advices, inspiration, and productive human connection for learning and development and sharing the best practices with the e27 community in Southeast Asia.

Image credit: Annie Spratt on Unsplash

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On March 6, President Donald Trump said that “anybody” in the US can take the coronavirus test although doctors and health officials reported a shortage of tests in the country. 

The statement created confusion, and the media scrambled to fact-check the statement and reconfirmed with doctors and the statement turned to be false. 

This is just one of the many examples of how misinformation spreads in the world. 

Fake news is a grave problem, not just in the US but across the world, including Asia. Fake news and disinformation are created and spread through social networks and propaganda sites, which have often led to far-reaching consequences.  

Taiwan based QSearch came up with a remedy to tackle fake news a few years ago. The company combats disinformation by helping government officials track high-velocity content that generates negative emotions by sending an email alert to government agencies, so the officials in charge can determine if the content needs to be removed.

Its services are now being used by the governments in Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines in their respective local languages.

In this interview with e27, QSearch Founder Roger Do shares his concerns about how the crisis is affecting businesses in Asia and what startups can do to cope with or how to recover from the crisis.

As a data company, tell us how about your latest initiative that plans to help the community during this time?

Just like COVID-19, misinformation can go viral and does not respect borders; it replicates and travels faster than the physical virus. We have already seen self-medication-induced death stemming from President Trump’s statement. 

Therefore, to combat this as a social intelligence data platform, QSearch is offering free viral COVID behaviour alerts to government agencies.

When social media shows high-velocity content or content that generates high negative emotions, we send an email alert to the government agency so the officials in charge can determine if the content needs to be combated, mediated, or can be safely ignored.

Also Read:  News Roundup: honestbee sues ex-CEO Joel Sng for questionable transactions

While we were preparing the alerts for the Arab-speaking countries, we saw that the top news that went viral were fake remedies and cures. In fourth place, it was a Russian Today’s article broadcasting China’s claim that COVID-19 was a US biological weapon. A hazardous situation if left unmanaged.

Wow, I guess conspiracy theories are not subjected to any location. But aside from that, which countries are you currently helping out? Are there other countries that you think are at a potentially higher risk for misinformation to spread?

QSearch started by offering the service to regional governments, and the agencies of Malaysia, Singapore, and the Philippines are already receiving frequent alerts in multiple languages.

We worked with the former Dean of Lee Kuan-Yu School of Pubic Policy, Dr Eduardo Araral, to offer this service through their alumni network since most of them are connected with their government.

We even had queries from Russian language-speaking countries, and we’re setting up alerts. We aim to help various governments in Asia, which have been hit the hardest, to have some digital assistance.

Right now, we’re concerned with Indian, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The COVID-19 pressure is increasing and even though some people want to hide their emotions most of us are freaking on the inside. What steps do you think startup leaders must take during this tumultuous period?

All startups must have two operating plans based on a world that will recover in 2019 and one where it won’t recover until 2021. When going through these planning processes, it’ll become apparent if a startup will survive or not.

If you can survive, startups must plan and operate on the assumption of recovery and a potential bounce back. However, if your startup won’t make it its best to do a control shut-down, return the funding, take care of your people and your supporters.

Right now is the time to show one is a responsible leader, and life will ultimately reward one with another opportunity based on how the inevitable is handled.

That being said, on the brighter side, many companies are also offering free and additional services to combat the crisis, but what do you think could be the repercussions of this in the future? Would this be a problem?

Actually, it is the opposite many of the world’s powerful brands were created during times of struggles and therefore had an enduring emotional connection with the people they helped.

It is very heartening to see so many startups pitching in to help as this is also a time to forge more inclusive bonds.

Also Read: COVID-19: Delayed revenues, worrying burn rates top challenges for Series A-B firms in SEA

Some startups will emerge from the epidemic with a life-long bond with their users, so this is the time to solve problems with the community rather than see it is a monetary hit.

As a parting message, what advice would you give to entrepreneurs right now?

Never waste a good crisis. All companies must solve a problem, and this epidemic is a stress test on our modern lifestyle.

What startups and astute entrepreneurs can do at the time of a crisis is spot the cracks in the way society has operated and they will come up with solutions that may improve on the reliability, resiliency and the redundancy of the foundation of our everyday life.

This is an opportunity to make our society and global community better and stronger, and only innovation can do that.

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Image Credit: cottonbro

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KKR seeks US$750M to back Asian tech startups

US-based private equity company KKR & Co is reportedly seeking US$750 million for its Asia-focused technology, media, and telecommunications (TMT) fund, according to Dealstreet Asia.

The company has previously funded Filipino tech firm Voyager Innovations as well as in Singapore-headquartered real estate classifieds platform PropertyGuru.

Even though there is no confirmation on the news, the firm is currently in the market to raise US$12.5 billion for its fourth Asia buyout fund, according to a Bloomberg report.

Indian’s Flipkart suspends delivery operations for 21 days

As India enters a 21-month lockdown due to COVID-19, delivery service company Flipkart temporarily shuts down its operations and services for the time being, according to Inc42.

Also Read: Why the e27 Webinar on how to manage a remote team is all you need right now

Flipkart plans to disable all orders but plans to enable categories sequentially.

Senior executives will “evaluate how to get supply chains back in consultation with government and stakeholders, but as of now, the platform will not accept any orders,” according to Adarsh Menon, senior vice president at Flipkart.

The company has also announced on the official website that, “These are difficult times, times like no other. Never before, have communities stayed apart to stay safe! Never before, has been at home meant helping the nations!”

Talend names Adam Dawe new APAC Customer Director 

Singaporean cloud data integration company Talend has announced the hiring of Adam Dawe as Director of Customer Success for the Asia Pacific, according to a press statement. 

Dawe will be responsible for driving regional customer success programme and leading professional services to ensure the proper implementation of customer projects.

Also Read: News Roundup: honestbee sues ex-CEO Joel Sng for questionable transactions

Prior to that, Dawe has served in technical sales, consulting, and customer success leadership roles across Australia/New Zealand and the Asia Pacific.

American accelerator Silicon Road calls applications for its Indian accelerator

US-based early-stage venture capital firm Silicon Road has opened the call for applications for its Indian accelerator today. The accelerator will primarily focus on food tech and retail startups.

Startups will participate in a four-month acceleration programme with access to the mentors from the US, India and Israel. The second cohort will include seed funding, access to mentors in the food and retail space, and infrastructure support.

Startups from the first cohort included GetPY, IndiBean Coffee, Dhriti Bio Solutions, Ornativa Fashion, Q-Online, Meatup and Pickurflick.

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Cybersecurity startup Horangi nabs US$20M Series B led by Provident Growth

Horangi, a Singapore-based cybersecurity company that provides solutions to industries across Southeast Asia, has announced a US$20 million fundraise in a Series B round, led by Southeast Asian private equity firm Provident Growth. 

Other participating investors include Singapore’s Monk’s Hill Ventures, Australian VC firm Right Click Capital, and venture debt fund Genesis Alternative Ventures.

This round brings Horangi’s total funding raised to date to US$23.1 million.

Horangi will use the fresh funds to support its expansion plan in the region. It also plans to enhance its cloud security product Warden, double its staff count to grow presences in Singapore and Indonesia, and infuse Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning technologies.

Since its launch in 2016 by former Palantir cybersecurity experts Paul Hadjy and Lee Sult, Horangi has worked with over 200 customers to provide cybersecurity solutions.

Horangi’s services include Penetration Testing and vCISO, which seeks to empower organisations of all sizes to threats.

Its product ‘Warden’ is designed to protect organisations using public cloud infrastructure from critical security threats and compliance violations in the cloud. 

Temasek suffers US$23.5B shareholdings plunge in three months

Singapore’s Temasek reportedly experienced a significant fall in its biggest equity shareholdings and those of its subsidiaries, losing almost US$24 billion since January as the result of the coronavirus outbreak hiccuping the market. 

Singapore’s state investor owns multibillion-dollar stakes in worldwide-operating companies such as Alibaba.and Singapore Airlines.

Also Read: Singapore’s Horangi Cybersecurity bags US$3.1M Series A round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures

According to a DealStreetAsia report, there’s a one-third decline in Temasek’s market value.

The nation’s benchmark Straits Times Index slumped 7.4 per cent on Monday. Temasek’s majority stake in Singtel slumped US$7.4 billion. DBS Group is also down US$5.3 billion. Temasek’s interest in Singapore Airlines has declined US$1.7 billion.

Just last month, Temasek announced a company-wide wage freeze and voluntary pay cuts for senior management in part to help fund community programs aimed at alleviating the impact of Covid-19, Channel News Asia reported.

Golden Equator Consulting appoints Meredith Carson as Managing Partner

Golden Equator Consulting (GECo) announced today the appointment of Meredith Carson, a digital transformation, communication, and marketing industry leader, as its Managing Partner. 

Carson will lead a team of strategists, analysts, and creators and will be responsible to drive the growth of the digitally-focused consulting business.

Before joining Golden Equator, Carson was based in the UAE, where she spent 12 years advising global brands throughout the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) as well as Europe and North America. 

She has previously co-founded and was Director of Strategy at Bravo Romeo by AJ, an integrated marketing and communications strategy firm focused on smart government, ICT, and media sectors as well as consulting startups.

Also Read: Singapore-based GECo to run Brunei accelerator program

A subsidiary of the Singapore conglomerate Golden Equator Group, GECo is known for its digital transformation initiatives which impact markets and sectors. GECo is also known for its Startup Bootcamps, including those which it conducts with Brunei’s national SME agency Darussalam Enterprise, as well as for providing market-entry consulting for companies looking to enter and access Southeast Asia.

In January 2020, the group announced its expansion into Brunei.

Grab introduces grocery services operation GrabMart in Vietnam

Singapore-headquartered ride-hailing service Grab has launched GrabMart, a grocery service on its app, in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, says a DealStreetAsia report. 

GrabMart allows users in the southern city to order fresh and processed food and drinks from its merchant partners, including supermarkets, convenience stores, and food retailers.

“GrabMart is implemented in light of the government’s push for online shopping, providing safety options for local people amid the spread of COVID-19,” said Nguyen Thai Hai Van, the newly-appointed Country Manager for Grab Vietnam.

With this, Vietnam has become the fourth market in Southeast Asia where Grab has launched the grocery service, after Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia.

AppAnnie named Sea as Top Publisher 2020, becoming the only Southeast Asian company included

Application market analytics firm AppAnnie has published the results of its Top Publisher Awards for 2020. Sea is the first and only Southeast Asian and Singapore-headquartered company to be included in this global ranking.

With the downloads from digital entertainment firm Garena and e-commerce platform Shopee combined, Sea has also been ranked as Southeast Asia’s #1 publisher of 2020.

Also Read: Tencent grants Sea’s Garena first access to its games titles with a publishing contract

Garena’s self-developed game Free Fire was the world’s most downloaded mobile game, reaching a new record of 60 million daily active users across the globe. 

Shopee, its e-commerce business, ranked first in Q4 2019 by monthly active users and total time spent in the app in the Shopping category, in both Southeast Asia and Taiwan.

Digital innovation firm Imaginato sets an operation based in Singapore

Imaginato, a technology services provider, has announced the expansion of its operations into Singapore to further accelerate digital innovation within the region. 

The Singapore office will be directly overseen by Founder and CEO Sean Liao, who was previously Managing Director for Rocket Internet China.

Founded in 2012, Imaginato has partnered with companies across Asia Pacific on product strategy, platform development, and scaling.

Since arriving in Asia from the US, Liao has founded tech ventures in China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Singapore. Some of his other top ventures include Airizu, China’s first national-scale, sharing economy platform; and Hong Leong Group-backed e-commerce marketplace, GEMFIVE.

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Close to 65 per cent of Singaporeans are open to the idea of adopting a digital-only bank, according to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study.

Based on the study, 84 per cent of Singapore respondents indicated that they would be interested in using digital banking services offered by an existing bank.

Seventy-five per cent of them are keen to bank with companies within the financial services industry and reputable companies that are not in financial services.

Sixty-three per cent respondents also highlighted that they are keen to bank with new startups.

The study goes further by revealing that among those who are open to digital banking services offered by non-banks, 60 per cent are willing to switch some services from their current bank to new digital banking players with no prior banking experience. One in five (20 per cent) respondents also shared that they would move all their services to a neobank without hesitation.

The study details that the respondents are open to adopting neobanks due to many sign-up promotions, more innovative products and services, and access to better rewards.

Also Read: Now, Visa joins Go-Jek’s ongoing Series F financing round

The top services that respondents would use a digital bank for include money transfers to family and friends (64 per cent), paying bills (63 per cent), and payments at retail shops (56 per cent).

“The digital banking space in Singapore and Southeast Asia is set for a year of unprecedented growth, setting the stage for the next revolution in banking,” said Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei, Kunal Chatterjee.

According to Chatterjee, when the region shifts to a millennial, digital-led demographic, more consumers will expect digital-first experiences and want their banking and payments to match the speed and convenience of their user journeys.

The top reasons why Singapore respondents prefer digital banks include convenience (54 per cent), faster service (52 per cent), and not needing to wait in line (45 per cent).

Information that respondents are most willing to share with regard to open banking includes bank account history (67 per cent), contact information (64 per cent) and social media profile (63 per cent).

Singaporeans trust banks (62 per cent) the most when it comes to access to personal information, followed by government bodies (58 per cent) and payment providers (58 per cent).

Also Read: After Razer and Grab, China’s Ant Financial applies for digital banking licence in Singapore

On a report jointly done by Bain & Co, Google and Temasek, Southeast Asia’s digital lending market are predicted to grow from US$23 billion in 2019 to US$110 billion by 2025, representing 29 per cent compound annual growth rate.

China-based fintech operator Ant Financial and gaming startup Razer Fintech had applied for a digital banking licence on Thursday, stating its mission in targeting underserved youth market with its Razer Youth Bank. On Monday, Grab Holdings and Singapore Telecommunications announced their joint bid that has 60 per cent equity held by Grab.

The Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study was conducted in October 2019 by ENGINE Insights with 511 Singaporeans aged 18-65 years of age. This is part of a regional research project conducted in Southeast Asia on 5,000 consumers across seven markets in Southeast Asia.

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Image Credit: Mike Enerio on Unsplash

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gojek’s senior management donates 25 per cent of annual salary to pandemic affected partners

Indonesia’s ride-hailing company gojek has announced a support fund for drivers, merchants and other partners, who have been adversely affected by economic slump caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The capital in the support fund will come from 25 per cent of the senior management and co- CEOs’ annual salary, annual salary increase budget, and corporate partners.

“This fund will support drivers who are the lifeblood of our business and have become a vital part of how cities will cope under reduced movement. What is clear is that all companies have a responsibility to offer support where they can, and this is something we can do to help the world through this extraordinary period,” said co-CEOs Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi, in a joint statement.

Blue Planet, a tech-driven waste management firm, raises US$25M funding

Singapore-based waste management company Blue Planet Environmental Solution, which converts organic waste into energy and compost, has raised US$25 million from Japanese financial group Nomura, according to Dealstreet Asia.

The new capital will be used to develop its technology solutions further.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Surge’s third programme to go online, Temasek invests in Indias CureFit

“Together, we aim to deliver our vision of ‘zero waste to landfill’, which is a long-term ambition to eliminate waste from business activities, downstream consumption and waste handling processes,” said Madhujeet Chimni, Co-founder of Blue Planet.

Singapore’s UNL raises US$2M from SG Innovate, others for its universal addressing system

Singapore-headquartered firm UNL today said that it has raised US$2 million, co-led by Here Technologies and VC firm Elev8, according to KrAsia. SGInnovate, SOSV’s Mobile Only Accelerator (MOX), and Amsterdam-based VentureRock also participated in the round.

The capital will be used to develop its technology further and for expansion in Asia. The company is currently building local teams in Singapore, Indonesia, India, and Japan.

UNL aims to give a unique universal address to individuals in rural areas, urban, indoor spaces, underground and airspace.

Also Read: Meet the VC: Stephanie Strunk of Amadeus Ventures on why women should support women

“UNL is a whole new way to think about locations. It’s about the economic impact and unlocking places to become the gravity points for location-based services. And it’s about economic inclusion: bringing 4 billion unaddressed people into the global digital economy,” CEO and Founder Xander van der Heijden said.

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Image Credit: gojek

 

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With COVID-19 gripping the world, killing hundreds of people every day and felling companies, startup founders in Southeast Asia are a worried lot. They are already feeling the pinch and struggling to salvage their business.

‘How long will the crisis last?’ and ‘How to deal with a prolonged situation that may last more than 12 months?’ are the key questions founders ask each other, but no one has a definite answer to the question yet.

In light of the spread of the pandemic and its impact on businesses, SEA Founders (a community of Series A-B tech founders scaling businesses in the region) huddled together over a call to discuss issues and solutions to help each other tide over the crisis.

Of the 21 founders participated in the huddle, the majority participants cited delayed revenues and the urgent need to bring down the net burn as the top-most challenges. These two are also the high impact and priority items for most of them. 

The inability to travel and delay in fundraising are the other major concerns.

Also Read: e27 Community shares its proven tools and tricks to work from home

The meeting, which took place last week, also discussed the concerns of Southeast Asian founders in five key areas — revenue, cash, costs, employees, and funding & investors.

Revenue concerns

The concerns on revenue are mainly on longer sales cycles and unpredictability of revenue streams. The attendees shared that prospective customers negotiate more and expect discounts. The companies’ pipeline is weakened and deals are delayed/cancelled. Revenues forecasts are also impacted. As the situation gets darker, founders are unable to travel for lead generation and close deals.

Cash concerns

Delayed payments from customers is severely reducing the cash flow and runway. High OPEX and reduced cash flow are also harming their business. 

A bridge round of funding or government-supported loans from banks could help improve the situation.

Costs concerns

Founders are also looking at cost-cutting measures, which will focus largely on employee salaries and benefits, and implement a headcount freeze. But how to reduce costs without jeopardising the ability to produce and deliver value is a challenge.

Employee concerns

Another worrying factor is the low employee morale, with impending pay cuts and freezes. It is a challenge to ensure that productivity does not slip because of work-from-home measures. The possibility of employees looking to leave because of uncertainty about the future and security of their roles also worries the founders.

Funding and investor concerns

The breakout has also impacted investor confidence. Founders are wondering whether investors are looking out for different things in times of crisis. The questions such as ‘which VCs are still in a strong position to invest’ and ‘whether to take bridge funding from existing investors even if it is not required at the moment’ are also in the founders’ minds.

Also Read: Surviving COVID-19: How to adapt your digital marketing strategy amidst a global crisis

SEA Founders is a community that helps founders in the region scale faster by accelerating learning and fostering deeper relationships throughout the ecosystem. Its cross-regional programmes include the Founders‘ Coaching Pause, quarterly Masterclasses, and Local Forum Groups.

Currently, the community has 38 founders operating in different verticals (edutech, fintech, HR, F&B) and models (B2B, B2C, SaaS) and hail from Singapore, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, and Jakarta.,

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March is the time to celebrate enterprising women. And e27 chose to do so with the award-winning journalist, documentary filmmaker, writer, strategic communications advisor, founder and passionate advocate of inclusivity in the workplace — Prerna Suri.

She joined us early this month to shed her thoughts on inclusivity and authenticity. While we focus on embracing all genders, races, and communities at work, we at times fail to embrace our truest selves fully. This often leads to biases that even affect us as entrepreneurs and employees. So, owning up to our true self — in terms of accents, work, ideas, and ethos — is something we need to absolutely delve on.

Catch up on the webinar where Suri will help us become more resilient towards rejection, especially in the face of adversity and shared strategies she developed over the years as a journalist, founder and now communications professional while being a South Asian woman to succeed — and more importantly — stay true to yourself.

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The e27 Webinar series is an effort to share actionable insights with the startup community to improve their day-to-day work life. These interactions are laced with advices, inspiration, and productive human connection for learning and development and sharing the best practices with the e27 community in Southeast Asia.

Next webinar: To help you overcome this global crisis, e27 invites you to join us for a webinar on: How to manage remote teams–– part of a webinar series designed to help you cope with the COVID-19 crisis.

Image credit: Giulia Bertelli on Unsplash

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