Dear Founders,

Given the recent developments in the global spread of coronavirus diesease (COVID-19), the World Health Organisation (WHO) had announced that the spread of the virus is now considered a global pandemic.

In accordance with this, it is important for all countries, communities, and individuals to do what they can to help prevent the further spread of the virus.

The purpose of this communication is to summarise some key steps you can take to protect your teams and prevent further spread of the virus. Below you will find some practices that you can do for your business.

The action you can take

In preparing your workplace to prevent the spread of the virus, we propose the adoption and implementation of the following practices as adapted from WHO’s guideline.

1. Implement social distancing
The most effective means of reducing the spread of the virus is with social distancing –keeping individuals at home for as much as possible, as long as possible, until the spread recedes.

Accommodate practices for working from home in your organisation, through adoption of technology that effectively facilitates remote work. You can start by preparing your team for remote work, getting the tools and guidelines, and implementing strategies for it.

Avoid hosting or facilitating of in-person meetings. Instead, use online conferencing, email, or phone where possible.

Postpone or cancel non-essential meetings, gatherings, workshops, and training sessions.

Also Read: These Indonesian edutech startups are helping students cope and thrive during the COVID-19 crisis

Eliminate unnecessary local and international travels –utilise the aforementioned tools instead.

Limit congregation of individuals in work rooms, pantries, copy rooms, or other areas where people socialise.

If possible, encourage individuals to avoid public transportation, or avoid rush-hour crowding.

Encourage individuals to limit recreational or other leisure activities, or other activities where close contact is likely.

2. If an in-person meeting is necessary, ensure effective preventive measures are taken
Provide information and briefing on COVID-19, both orally and in writing, and the measures that the organisers are taking to make this event safe for participants.

Avoid making physical contact such as shaking hands when greeting.

Display dispensers of alcohol-based hand rub prominently around the venue.

If possible, arrange seats so that they are at least one meter apart.

Open windows and doors whenever possible to ensure that the venue is well-ventilated.

If anyone starts to feel unwell, follow your immediate response plan.

Retain the names and contact details of all participants for at least one month. This will help public health authorities trace people who may have been exposed to COVID-19 if there are participant(s) who become ill after the event.

3. Promote thorough and regular personal hygiene

Place hand sanitisers dispensers in prominent places in the workplace. Ensure they are regularly refilled.

Ensure that all personnel have access to places where they can wash their hands with soap and water.

Circulate messaging to promote regular handwashing and sanitising, along with guideline for appropriate technique.

Limit the number of times you touched your face.

Supply tissue and provide the bin to dispose of them in.

Encourage individuals to cover their face with the bend of their elbow or tissue if they cough or sneeze.

Also Read: Is COVID-19 curbing startup exits in Southeast Asia?

4. Promote regular and thorough hygiene of physical surfaces and objects

Surfaces (desks, tables) and objects (telephones, computers) need to be wiped with disinfectant regularly.

Wear disposable gloves when cleaning surfaces and objects. Dispose of gloves immediately after use.

If surfaces are dirty, they should be cleaned with soap and water before disinfection.

For disinfection, diluted household bleach solutions, alcohol solutions with at least 70 per cent alcohol. Most common household disinfectants should be enough.

For soft, porous surfaces such as carpeted floor or drapes, remove visible contamination if present and clean with appropriate cleaners for use on these surfaces.

5. Promote good respiratory hygiene
Ensure that face masks and tissues are available in your workplace for those who develop runny nose or cough, with closed bins for proper, hygienic disposal.

Ensure individuals are informed on how and when to use face masks.

6. Promote early medical care and attention for at-risk individuals
Individuals experiencing COVID-19 symptoms (fever, cough, and dificulty breathing) must seek immediate medical attentions and share travel history with medical care providers.

Individuals experiencing mild cough or low-grade fever (37.3 C or more) are advised to stay at home.

Individuals taking simple medications (paracetamol/acetaminophen, ibuprofen, or aspirin) which may mask symptoms are advised to stay at home.

Keep promoting the message that individuals with any symptoms of COVID-19 must stay at home.

Consider how to identify and support individuals who are at risk without inviting stigma and discrimination in the workplace.

7. Stay informed with news and updates from trusted sources
Given the speed of developments, it is crucial to stay up-to-date. Ensure that response plans are in-line with these changes.

Consider sharing and regularly updating summary facts and their implications to avoid the spread of misinfomrations.

Employ an iterative, empirical approach to understanding what is going on and what to do –albeit one guided by experts.

Also Read: How Metro Manila’s COVID-19 community quarantine is affecting the local startup community

8. Communicate with all stakeholders effectively
Define internal chain of command in key areas such as decision-making and response to enquiries.

Communication should be early, often, and include the following:

• That your organisation is aware of the situation and makes contingency plans to limit the disruption to business
• Reference to information about precautionary measures that are being taken
• Links to unbiased, fact-based resources
• Contact information of the personnel activating the response plan

Check out these examples of internal communication for businesses.

Identify channels to communicate to external stakeholders –newsletters and social media are best.

The purpose of external communications is to ensure clients, partners, and investors that you are aware of the severity of the situation and have a contingency plan in store.

Communications with external stakeholders should include:

• Statement about how you prioritise employee and client safety and will continue to monitor the situation
• Succinct statement about preventive measures that are underway within your organisation
• Link to reference or contact person

The following are examples of format for external communications:

• Email signature: Note: Kindly be advised that COMPANY NAME has adopted a job rotational shift (segregated teams) system in light of DORSCON level-Orange. Hence, we seek your understanding that our professionals and staff might be working from home at certain days of the week. Should you have any clarifications, please feel free to email us and we will respond the soonest possible.
• Example of detailed Q&A page by Expedia
• Example of external communication A
• Example of external communication B

9. Prepare an immediate response plan for identified cases 

Identify a room where someone who is feeling unwell can be safely isolated.

Limit the number of people having contact with said person.

Have a plan to have them safely transferred to a healthcare facility. Agree the plan in advance with your healthcare provider.

Ensure all individuals are aware of this response plan.

Also Read: How COVID-19 is changing traditional retail and e-commerce in SEA

10. Develop a contingency and business continuity plan
Consider a plan in the context of the communities and geographies where your business operates as well as the geographic segment of your supply chains and sales markets.

It should address how to keep your business running even if a significant number of employees, contractors, and suppliers cannot come to your place or business due to illness or travel restrictions.

Conduct a focussed discussion or exercise of your plan to identify gaps or problems to be corrected ahead of time.

The plan should communicate human resource policies, workplace and leave possibilities, and available pay and benefits.

Further guidance can be found here.

Be aware of potential myths.

Important updates on travelling within Indonesia and overseas

When planning overseas travel, always check with Safe Travels –Indonesia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs platform for updated travel recommendations for each country. For updates on major travel destinations, please refer to links below:

Singapore

The US

India

Italy

Australia

Before travelling, please consider the following as per WHO’s travel guide:

• Asses benefits and risks related to travel
• Avoid sending high-risk individuals to areas where COVID-19 is spreading
• Ensure all travelling individuals are briefed by qualified professionals
• Consider issuing small bottle of alcohol-based hand sanitiser for travelling employees

Also Read: How COVID-19 is changing traditional retail and e-commerce in SEA

Formal reporting for Indonesia

The following are a number of resources for those living and working in Indonesia:

Official information about COVID-19 in DKI Jakarta

Latest information on COVID-19 in Indonesia

Reported cases of COVID-19 in Indonesia

Additional useful resources

Questions to guide company reflections and formulation of COVID-19 responses.

Workplace practices in China as a roadmap.

Excel model to predict when to implement work-from-home policy.

Online training resources by WHO.

Comments on the impact on global financial market.

Official remarks by Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, delivered on March 12.

Information about what scientists know about how the COVID-19 affect the body.

Information on groups identified as being high-risk and how it impact different groups.

Infographic on key statistics.

SEA awareness campaigns.

Database for more useful links.

BCG on navigating the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

What this mean for global economy.

How to prepare for self-quarantine.

Advice on how to be effective (and mentally well!) when working from home.

In containing and reducing the spread of the virus, China took eight weeks to achieve it –with highly restrictive precautionary measures. Other countries may take the same amount of time, if not more. Therefore, it becomes increasingly important to be prepared.

Thank you all and please be safe.

—

Image Credit: Adrian Pranata on Unsplash

The post An Indonesian VC firm’s call for action against COVID-19 appeared first on e27.

For those who like to work from home (WFH), Covid-19 is a “blessing in disguise”. They can now wear minimal clothing during the work, have a short power nap in the midst of work, cook own food, login and log out anytime they want — all staying off the surveillance radar of their boss. Not to mention the huge amounts of money and time being saved by not travelling to work.

The list of the benefits of WFH is endless. As Covid-19 spreads rapidly, we at e27 have also been forced to prepare for a scenario where we need to be a fully remote team until the pandemic is checked forever. But we already have a few employees working from home for quite a few years.

Here in this article, e27‘s ‘work-from-home pioneers’ share their experience and give you tips on how to do WFH effectively.

Nina Palad, Accounts Manager

Allocate a dedicated workspace to yourself that has good ventilation, and keep a routine. What we do with the Business Development team is that we have a list of our weekly focus aligned to our tasks and OKRs, so we don’t lose track

Team discussions on Asana are open and tagged to relevant people, for decks, deals, weekly challenges, etc. Good music in the background helps too, when not in a call with clients.

Anisa Menur, Editor

Have a proper support system. If you have family/friends/landlords, communicate and make sure they understand that just because you’re at home, it doesn’t mean you’re available for chit-chats. You’re still working; you’re in that productive head-space and can’t be distracted.

Also Read: Why remote working is the future for startups

Prepare a work corner. A space in your home that is all about work, everything you need to be productive should be there. When the time comes to rest/take break/”go home”, get out of that space.

Get some sun. Seriously. It affects your mood.

Do not deny yourself some bits of fun. I always work with music/Netflix/Youtube playing in the background. Helps prevents boredom/loneliness.

Be clear, sufficient, and straightforward while communicating with the team members. Let them know if you’ll be away from desk.

Shower and wear “outside” clothes. This is weird but it helps you to get in productive mode

Lyra Reyes, Marketing Manager

Stick to a schedule. Generally, I wake up at 6 am, do my morning routine, reading and finish household chores before 10 am.

Speaking of the morning routine, I prepare as if I’m going out. Shower, a bit of makeup, things like that. It helps me mentally get ready to work.

I have a designated workspace. Never work in bed because it’s very very easy to just lean back and fall asleep.

For me, checklists are my friends. At 9:45 am, I sit down and write on a notebook my priority for the day and a checklist of things I need to do and what time I will do them. It helps with prioritising and scheduling. You can also do this digitally, it’s just that handwritten works best for me.

I set up an hourly alarm to remind me to stand up and stretch my legs. Walk around some.

Allot time throughout the day to check and respond to messages. For deeper work, muting the notifications can help.

If you don’t live alone, let people know your work hours so they know not to disturb you.

When you communicate with people, make sure you’re communicating clearly. It’s very easy to confuse other people by beginning a conversation that you’re already halfway through in your head.

Also Read: There are some dark sides to working from home (but I do not care)

Play music while you work but it depends on your distraction level. I have specific playlists for specific types of work. I also sometimes play documentaries in the background. Just not during calls or meetings.

Wencis Jude Acosta, Quality Analyst

I have a dedicated space to work. If you have children, let them understand and respect your workspace.

Invest in a comfortable chair, table and equipment, it helps you work faster.

Let everyone know if you are going to be late or if you need to be out for a while, but always make up for the lost time.

Always have measurable targets for the day, it helps you to feel good.

Do not wear pyjamas, it will get you in the mood to sleep.

Hung Nguyen, Business & Innovation Development Consultant

Communication is very important, not just about work, but sometimes, chitchat with my teammates once in a while can keep the spirit up.

Celebrate wins (small or big) because the feeling of it keeps us going.

Stand up, walk around, or even go outside of the house and take a short break once in a while. I will go crazy if I sit down in a one spot in a room by myself for too long

Snacks are important, it keeps me awake and focused. So does music.

I have a digital clock in front of me to tell me time is running out so I better complete my stuff.

I don’t eat too much for lunch when food coma hits me, and I’m at home, it’s bad, and it might affect the rest of my afternoon.

Prisca Akhaya, Writer

Sync your phone with your laptop, so you can work around your demanding kids/family. Since you’re home all day, kids tend to forget that you are working because you don’t look like you’re.

I agree with sticking to the routine. I just get my kid ready first for breakfast and the day kicks off for me.

The Pomodoro method if you’re super easily distracted (block time to work and reward afterwards for 10 mins winding down).

Mili, Writer

A book and a pencil to jot down tasks and often doodle can be handy.

Second the power of a morning ritual: get up and dress up!

I take small breaks and reward them with a snack or a song or social media checks after every big task strikes out on my to-do list.

Keep the right notifications on. You don’t want all app notifications but surely some.

Zoom, Google Hangouts and Slack for the phone are pretty handy. I prefer to walk around while on calls, to give the muscles a break

Shagun Karki, Writer

Having a good wakeup routine gives me a fresh mind (it’s meditation for me, it can be pilates, cardio for someone else).

When I was working from Singapore, I had a routine — I wake up, take a shower, prepare for the day and commute. But when I work remotely, there’s a temptation to skip that entire process and simply wake up and open my laptop and start working.

I feel that a sense of discipline is important while remote- working.

I like to stick to my everyday schedule, regardless of where I work from, and that helps me with starting the day on a good note and having a fresh mind when I start the day

Having the right mindset is important. If you think working from home will affect your productivity, then it will. But if you see it as an opportunity to be creative, many things can happen.

Infographics: Advantages and disadvantages of remote working

Also, remote work encourages focus on personal well being, and work together. It can’t get better than that.

Different people will experience different things that will work/not work for them. Try different things and experiment.

Sainul Abudheen, Editor

I have been working from home for seven-plus years. Unlike my colleagues, I want my kids around while working. They pump in energy and keep me motivated. (While I am writing this, my two kids and nephew are watching a Tami super hit song from the 2000s in full volume, and I don’t get distracted).

I wake up at around 05:30 am, go to morning prayers, come back, and at 6:30, I head to the football ground on my two-wheeler, which is eight km away from the home. After an hour’s play, I come back, take a shower and log in.

I check my mails. If there any urgent work, I finish them. And then take a 30-minute power nap. Most days, I log out after 8 pm.

I don’t have a dedicated/designated workspace. I can work in my bedroom, dining hall, or even courtyard. If I travel, I carry my laptop along and can even work inside a cab.

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Image Credit: 123rf Stock Photos

The post e27’s remote staffers sharing their work-from-home experience appeared first on e27.

Indonesian ride-hailing giant gojek has raised US$1.2 billion, taking the total secured in its current funding round to “just under” US$3 billion, according to a Bloomberg report.

Citing an internal memo, the report stated that the new funding was finalised “just over the past week” at the height of the COVID-19 outbreak around the world. It did not mention the identities of the investors involved in this round.

“We’re not stopping there as we are still seeing strong demand among the investment community to partner with us … There are a number of exciting ongoing conversations that we will be able to update you on very soon,” wrote gojek Co-CEO Andre Soelistyo and Kevin Aluwi in the memo.

Also Read: Afternoon News Roundup: JD.id becomes Indonesia’s 6th unicorn after funding from gojek

The funding round came just after gojek had been reported to be considering a merger with rival Grab — a report that gojek has denied.

The report stressed that this latest funding round will enable gojek to “negotiate from a position of strength” if they do decide to follow on with the merger, especially since both companies have been known burn money in realising its expansion plan.

However, reports of the merger have been met with opposition from competition watchbody in various Southeast Asian markets.

The post Bloomberg: gojek raises US$1.2B to support competition against Grab appeared first on e27.

Grab-IMDA partnership aims to help Singaporean startups expand overseas

Ride-hailing giant Grab today announced a partnership with Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) to pilot an accelerator programme for Singapore-based startups to help them grow overseas, according to a press statement.

“Grab is committed to helping more Singapore startups, and micro SMEs build strong digital capabilities, and capture opportunities in the digital economy through leveraging our expansive reach across the region, assets and capabilities and partnerships… The effort is also aligned to Singapore’s interest to become the global-Asian node for tech, innovation and enterprise,” said Chris Yeo, Head of Grab Ventures.

Grab Ventures Ignite (GVI) will be a 14-week programme, held alongside GVI Vietnam programme, to help each other learn and share ideas.

Two startups will be selected for GVI, and the other three will be joining a 3-day bootcamp hosted by Grab, IMDA PIXEL and Digital Industry Singapore (DISG).

foodpanda launches contactless delivery amid Malaysia border close

As companies continue to be hit by the outbreak of coronavirus, the Malaysian government has recently announced a partial lockdown of the region. On that note, food delivery company foodpanda has decided to continue its services and opted for “contactless delivery” in a company statement.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Y Combinator accelerator plans to run next cohort completely remote

Customers can place their order online and inform the rider via the chat function to opt for a contactless delivery. Food will be placed at the designated drop-off spot at the customers’ home or office, maintaining a 1-meter distance at all times.

foodpanda has also urged customers to switch to online payments in a plea to reduce human interactions to a minimum.

“We value the safety of everyone in our community. Our rider hubs provide hand sanitizer and masks free of charge to all our riders, who are instructed to wash their hands every two hours and after each time they handle a delivery,” said Sayantan Das, Managing Director, foodpanda Malaysia.

Indian microlending startup SmartCoin raises US$7M Series A

The Bangalore-based startup announced today that it has raised US$7M in Series A financing from LGT LightstoneAspada and existing investors Unicorn India Ventures and Accion Venture Lab.

Also Read: e27s remote staffers sharing their work-from-home experience

The fresh funds will be used to primarily to grow the company’s loan book, expand its data science team, launch new products and grow the user base.

The company touted its success in re-engineering the complete loan cycle to make it entirely automated, fast, convenient and personalised for the customer.

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Image Credit: KiwininSaigon

The post Afternoon News Roundup: Grab-IMDA partnership aims to help Singaporean startups expand overseas appeared first on e27.

In a televised address, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said today Malaysia will be closing its borders to overseas travellers for two weeks to check the spread of Covid-19. With this, Malaysia becomes the second country in Southeast Asia to go for a partial lockdown.

On the other hand, Malaysian residents, who re-enter the country from overseas, will have to undergo health check-ups and self-quarantine for 14 days. 

Foreigners will not be allowed to enter the country at all during the said period.

Earlier this week, Italy, one of the hardest-hit countries, also imposed nationwide lockdown, with confirmed Covid-19 cases crossing the 12,000-mark as of yesterday. Several other countries have also implemented quarantine measures and more countries are expected to follow suit.

Of course, this does not subject startups to wait around and react to the situation, as many companies have already started implementing necessary precautions, forcing founders to rethink and revise their 2020 goals/strategies.

On this note, e27 spoke to travel and delivery companies on how they are coping with the situation.

Malaysia-based tour company Tourplus, which eases travel planning by connecting customers to local tour guides; food delivery companies foodpanda, and dahmakan express how they are coping with the situation.

A disaster for all travel-related business

Tourplus told e27 that they’ve seen a major decline in bookings, coupled with increased requests for cancellation and refund from customers, who have booked for April and May. The firm expects further drops as government-initiated partial lockdown prevents international travellers from entering Malaysia.

Food delivery services, however, are not as affected as travel companies are. Restaurants will not be open for dine-in but food delivery services will continue to operate, which means Grab Food, Foodpanda and Dahmakan will continue daily operations.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Y Combinator accelerator plans to run next cohort completely remote

The ban does not restrict grocery stores and shops that provide daily necessities either.

Dahmakan CEO Jonathan Weins has also pointed out that supply uncertainty from ingredient suppliers is a major problem. 

Switching strategies

In times of crisis, planning is valuable and just as valuable is switching strategies while being ethical and taking necessary precautions.

Even though Tourplus’s expansion to China has to be called off, the company is offering masks and hand sanitizers to its customers during trips. It is also running a free mask campaign to help tourists with free masks in Malaysia and offering free airport transfer. 

“For our internal business operation, we can start working remotely using Zoom or Slack to communicate, and our direction for the team is to focus on internal development and preparation for a return after three to six months’ recovery,” said Goh as he plans for a bounce back.

foodpanda has also started a contactless delivery service where customers can place their order online and inform the rider via the chat function to opt for a contactless delivery. Food will be placed at the designated drop-off spot at the customers’ home or office, maintaining a 1-meter distance at all times.

Also Read: Why Korean investors are getting attracted to Southeast Asia

“We value the safety of everyone in our community. Our rider hubs provide hand sanitizer and masks free of charge to all our riders, who are instructed to wash their hands every two hours and after each time they handle a delivery,” said Sayantan Das, Managing Director, foodpanda Malaysia.

Dahmakan is also practising ethical strategies and has implemented remote working, social distancing, correct hand washing, among others.

More content will be added to the article as responses continue to flow.

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Image Credit: Macau Photo Agency

The post As Malaysia closes borders, travel and delivery startups share responses to the current crisis appeared first on e27.

Five women. Sixteen travel tech startups. One mission.

That is how I would sum up my conversation with Community and Investment Manager at Amadeus Ventures in the Asia Pacific, Stephanie Strunk.

Cited as one of the women to watch in the startup industry in APAC, she was the best person to talk about women in VCs, startups, and travel tech.

Strunk first joined Amadeus Asia Pacific in 2012 and has primarily held roles in Corporate Strategy and Business Development. She has been working with the travel tech startup scene in APAC since 2015, supporting seed stage companies with tech building, expert advice, market access, and funding referrals.

Amadeus has been honing its craft to support the travel business for over 30 years now; they launched Amadeus Next five years ago to help travel tech startups with funding and support. Today, it has extended as Amadeus Ventures with “more skin in the game”.

As an early stage investor for startups sitting at the crossroads of technology and travel, it provides funding, industry expertise, technology, and customer reach to its portfolio companies, executing business ideas that will, directly and indirectly, improve the experiences of travellers.

Also Read: Amadeus Ventures to invest in high potential early-stage startups across APAC

While traditional VCs focus on ROI, Amadeus Ventures –led by five women across the globe– is looking beyond the financial value and seek strategic value to help the parent company fill gaps in their tech offering in the B2B travel space.

More power to women

Strunk is the entry point for travel tech startups in APAC. In her journey so far she says, “finding a female founder in travel tech has been very rare.” Startups with at least one female founder tend to raise more in venture capital funding in later stage rounds (third and fourth), than companies with all-male teams (21 per cent more), she adds.

Gender diversity in the travel workforce is not so skewed as 50 per cent of the global workforce is female. But it is balanced only at the entry-level and thins out as one goes up the ladder, says Strunk.

“If you don’t have a diverse representation of both the genders how will you address the needs of your customers?” she exclaims.

While at Amadeus, about 75 per cent of the business units are led by women, there is scope for improvement in the VC world overall. And she believes in addition to the historic gender imbalance, lack of confidence in women is to be blamed for this disparity.

Women in the workforce need some support to feel confident and this she believes can come from both men and women in the workforce. It could, in fact, be as simple as providing comfort, praise, feedback, etcetera. “But it is definitely important to know what you are good at to start with,” says Strunk.

Also Read: Women in tech: Carman Chan’s Click Ventures is one of the most consistent VC funds globally

She emphasises that external view on how we are is important, but so is internal and we can do so by “getting comfortable with the uncomfortable”.

Working in the startup space is all about the brand, networking and finding opportunities to grow. “It’s all about the personal brand” she adds.

The ratio of women at tech conferences is 4:1, Strunk says. She notes that speaking opportunities have helped her grow and gain exposure. It was Sheryl Sandberg’s book Lean In that led her to seek more speaking opportunities.

The Amadeus Women’s Network’s event in Bangkok

In addition to working on oneself, it is fruitful to have programmes and initiatives to help women build social and business credibility. It should be a collaborative effort and we should have “more women to support women.”

She was quick to note about the Amadeus Women’s Network, an employee-led support group has helped them share best practices at Amadeus. The network also led to the development of a powerful mentoring tool.

APAC focussed

The all-women team at Amadeus Ventures is working with 16 travel tech startups from across the globe, including BookingPal, FLYR, Betterez, Avuxi, Crowdvision, Situm, Volantio, Dawex, Pana, Refundit; and Strunk is leading the pack in APAC.

Five years ago, travel tech in Asia was in its infancy and since then has made lots of progress. Increasing purchasing power and budget flights have contributed to the travel boom in Southeast Asia (SEA). With India and China becoming rich inbound markets from smaller and more tourism-dependent countries in SEA such as Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines; travel tech startups emerged rapidly.

According to Google’s e-Conomy SEA 2019 report, more than US$37 billion of capital has flowed into the internet economy over the last four years.

Also Read: Amadeus is expanding Amadeus Ventures across APAC to support travel startups

While the majority has gone to e-commerce and ride-hailing unicorns, over US$7 billion in investment funding went to more than 3,000 internet economy startups in the last four years in Southeast Asia. China is also driving ahead of Silicon Valley and the rest of the United States on venture capital dollars invested into startups.

Travelution, a report released by Vynn Capital recently, says that 2019 saw an all-time high of 159 acquisitions and funding activity in the travel tech space while Asia led the number of capital raising with 54 per cent.

Recognising this potential, Amadeus is expanding Amadeus Ventures across APAC in Q1 of 2020. Strunk adds, “APAC is the region for growth and we see a lot of opportunities. The market is diverse and we are paying close attention to Singapore, Thailand, and Indonesia.”

“We initially wanted to build a community to support travel tech in Asia which was not as evolved as North America or Europe. There are a lot of pain points in the travel industry in Asia which we want to solve and a copy-paste solution won’t cut it,” says Strunk.

Also Read: Amadeus Ventures to invest in high potential early-stage startups across APAC

She emphasises on the need for greater localisation in Asia and adapting to local market needs as a recipe for success in the APAC region.

—

Image Credit: Amadeus Ventures

The post Meet the VC: Stephanie Strunk of Amadeus Ventures on why women should support women appeared first on e27.

The cycle of innovation in financial services is always in motion and marketplace banking is fast becoming an invaluable business model.

Incumbent banks, challenger banks, and account aggregator products are all eyeing the transition to marketplace banking, which is driven by customers, market and competition.

In times where customers are moving away from banks to non-bank entities for their financial service needs, customers’ trust in banks has been diminishing, particularly in their ability to provide unbiased and high-quality advice. Banks are pressured to find alternative means to reestablish customer trust and relationships.

“Forty per cent of customers expressed decreased dependence on their bank as their primary financial services provider and have rather used non-bank providers for financial services in the last 12 months” – Ernst & Young’s 2016 Global Consumer Banking Survey

Big tech firms, such as Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, and Alibaba, are making increasingly bold forays into the financial sector. These non-bank players (such as Wechat, Alipay and ApplePay) and neo-banks (such as Chime, Digit and Aspiration in the United States) are altering the banking customers’ expectations and behaviour.

We see Google offers payments via Google Pay, while Amazon and Shopify are offering short-term cash advances or loans to their sellers. Furthermore, their online sites or user interfaces have conditioned consumers and customers to an intuitive e-commerce or marketplace-like user experience.

Also Read: Why P2P lending can be the end of banking as we know it

With these factors in play, traditional banks are rethinking their roles and relevance to their customers, as well as reviewing their business and delivery models. Some have responded with marketplace banking.

What is marketplace banking? How does it work?

The marketplace banking model is an ecosystem of aggregated products and services sharing similar characteristics presented to a customer as a set of offers with addressing specific customer needs in mind.

These products and services could come from different ecosystem partners such as retail or healthcare players, in addition to those offered by the banks themselves. This approach offers transparency, choices, better pricing and better matching of banking customers’ needs – the key benefits of any successful marketplace.

We have seen a couple of variations in the marketplace banking operating models. First, there are those that aggregate to provide a wide menu of choices for the products and services on their marketplace platforms, such as Go-Bear, PolicyAdvisor.com, and Starling’s Marketplace.

Another model stems from the bank offering a one-stop-shop platform enabling deep integrations with select third-party ecosystem partners to address very specific customer needs, such as the most recently launched online car marketplace by VTB Bank, Russia’s second-largest bank.

What is a better model?

Personally, I believe the best banking marketplace model where it best addresses the needs of the customers at the right time, at the right place and one which aligns with the maturity of the market it serves.

Also Read: Digital banking in Asia Pacific: What we can expect to happen in 2020

For instance, higher frequency purchases or lower pricing banking or insurance products may work better in a financial services aggregation platform where choices, reviews, and recommendations are what matters most to a customer.

However, for low frequency, big-ticket items or life significant events such as buying a car, buying a house, or having the first child, the customers are generally overwhelmed by a flux of confusion and decisions with multiple information points to understand their options and arrive at the decisions they are most comfortable with.

In such situations, having a trusted marketplace that offers guidance and advisory with a one-stop-shop proposition to help navigate the tedious and complicated process is more than welcome. Banks occupy a position of authority for their customers and could help narrow down their choices for their customers.

So, it all boils down to the customers and how as a bank, you could deliver greater value to your customers. The traditional operating model of banks making money by charging fees for products and services with a product-focus approach is fast becoming obsolete.

Banks need to create customer value by, for example helping them to save money on foreign exchange fees, switching over to a lower-cost energy provider, offer pre-approved mortgage loans quickly, or streamline supplier financing. In some of these value creation processes, the bank could take a referral fee from the beneficiary provider (for example, energy provider or property listing platforms).

Who has deployed it successfully?

Many bank marketplaces seem to be launched in the last five years with varying degrees of success and progress.

GoBear was launched in 2015 to operate an online financial products marketplace that offers over 1,800 consumer financial products such as travel, health and car insurance, credit cards, and personal loans. It offers a smart targeting system that matches users’ profiles to the financial products they wanted.

Also Read: How unique lending platforms boost small businesses in Southeast Asia

Globally, GoBear has reached 40 million people, and is active in Asian markets, including Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

In Canada, there is a similar marketplace to GoBear called PolicyAdvisor.com which is launched by a Toronto-based Insurtech startup in 2017. PolicyAdvisor.com is an online marketplace that aims to “take away the pain” of searching for life insurance, critical illness insurance and mortgage protection products for the Canadians.

It plays as a matchmaker, connecting Canadians to insurance products that suit their needs, such as financial security, debt reduction, family planning and protection or future retirement. It is a mobile-first platform that offers “real-world advice” from experienced licensed brokers and advisors whom clients can speak to online, on the phone, or through video.

In the United Kingdom, Starling Marketplace, owned by the London-based Starling Bank, puts products from other partnering fintech providers, lifestyle products and services providers onto its in-app marketplace. It competes head-to-head with Revolut, which offers insurance and wealth management services to its customers in-app, as well as access to consumer loans via a partnership with peer-to-peer lender Lending Works.

Coming back to Asia, there have been a few interesting banking marketplaces which leverage ecosystem partnerships with non-financial services providers to address specific customer needs in their purchasing journey and decisions. This was in response to the new Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) rules in 2017 which allow banks to operate and invests in digital platforms that match buyers and sellers of consumer goods and services.

Also Read: 5 key trends in banking for 2020 and beyond

These banking marketplaces are owned and operated by two leading financial services group in Southeast Asia – OCBC Bank and DBS Bank.

OCBC Bank launched the OCBC OneAdvisor Home in January 2018 as a one-stop advisory service portal for property purchases to enable buyers to do a home search based on affordability criteria.

It provides information such as property listings, rules and regulations, comprehensive affordability advice to help residential purchasers, and policy details, and even offer customers the option to speak to mortgage specialists for consultation or loan applications. All property listings came from OCBC Bank’s ecosystem partners, EdgeProp, 99.co, and Soreal.

OCBC Bank has also launched an e-commerce platform called mumstruly.com targeting mothers and mothers-to-be but was shut down late 2019 due to change in strategic directives. That was OCBC’s first foray into e-commerce, offering a range of goods and services, from health services to baby and motherhood products as well as wealth and insurance products.

The bank partnered up with Asia-based healthcare, retail and service providers to offer a one-stop-shop service.

DBS Bank, on the other hand, has launched four consumer needs-driven banking marketplaces since 2017 – DBS Car Marketplace, DBS Electricity Marketplace, DBS Property Marketplace, and DBS Travel Marketplace. It was named both the World’s Best Digital Bank and the Best Bank in the World in 2018.

DBS Car Marketplace was the first marketplace launched in July 2017 to offer a one-stop solution for car buyers and sellers, providing all the relevant services and information the customers may require in their car purchases or sales journey.

Also Read: Think like a fintech company: How banks can capitalise on the digital banking revolution

It partners sgCarMart and Carro to establish Singapore’s largest direct seller-to-buyer car marketplace for car listings, while the bank offers car insurance and car loans. In its first year of operation, the marketplace attracted more than 550,000 unique visits, 40 million views, and 2.6 million visitors a month.

Almost eight months later, DBS launches DBS Electricity Marketplace to allow consumers to compare various pricing plans, hunt for deals and make a seamless switch of electricity retailers. Four months after, DBS Property Marketplace was launched with a similar proposition as OCBC OneAdvisor Home.

DBS’s property listing partners are EdgeProp and Averspace. It was reported that the DBS Property Marketplace has generated more than SG$300 million in home loan requests within the first 12 months.

The last e-commerce platform launched by DBS in July 2019 is the DBS Travel Marketplace. DBS has partnered with Singapore Airlines, Expedia Partner Solutions, and Chubb Insurance Singapore to create a one-stop platform where travellers can book flights, hotels, and complimentary travel insurance in one place.

The bank wants to generate customer value by helping travellers reduce the time and effort they need to spend on multiple channels for their pre-vacation planning. In addition, the bank’s customers get free travel insurance and can use their DBS or POSB Daily$ rewards points to offset travel costs.

Singapore banks are not the only contenders in Asia. In India, Bank of Baroda, India’s third-largest bank, announced its plans to launch an online marketplace to offer banking services and farm-related products last year in July. The state-owned lender is keen to enhance its online digital capabilities and is seeking a partner to supply ‘digital commerce platform’ to provide assistance to merchants on catalogue management, purchase management fulfilment, pricing, promotion and other similar services.

Also Read: What makes investments in fintech and alternative lending in SEA promising?

These Asia-based banking marketplaces are showcasing how banks could create meaningful ecosystem partnerships by collaborating and innovating together with partners through a marketplace platform. In this way, customers will benefit from a seamless, fuss-free experience that brings together the best of banking solutions and relevant products and services needed by customers to address specific consumer needs.

Are you ready to brave the new world of Banking Marketplaces?

Marketplaces are gradually becoming a more attractive banking business and operating model that increases customer convenience and efficiency by providing targeted solutions to match their needs while allowing banks to leverage their massive business and enterprise customer networks and partner with the right marketplace ecosystem providers.

This also enables banks to strengthen their position in an environment where customers’ trust in banks was diminishing. Banking marketplaces could be an effective strategy where it offers tremendous convenience as a one-stop-shop with a comprehensive range of curated products and services to address specific customer needs. Customers also enjoy greater peace of mind knowing that the platform and products are trustworthy and backed by their bank.

In a report by McKinsey & Company, it was described that self-service and greater transparency give customers more autonomy, automatically translating into higher customer satisfaction. This could strengthen customer engagement, causing new customer acquisition and lead generation. The convenience, security, and satisfaction all create a more meaningful customer experience, thus reducing customer loss and churn.

However, the journey to becoming a successful banking marketplace is paved with difficulties and possibly, failures, as seen from the many failed online marketplaces in the retail and other non-banking industry sectors.

The success stories to-date suggest a successful banking marketplace involves engaging and integrating with the right ecosystem partners to deliver a robust marketplace ecosystem.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news: Ant Financial seeks digital banking license, Ctrip discusses new listing in Hong Kong bourse

It needs to overcome stagnation and complacency and goes beyond technology, products, data, and processes to disrupt how traditional banks have always operated and created a new value chain delivery system. It is definitely more challenging to execute.

Nonetheless, it is mission-critical to start strategising on how to embark on this journey as the customers are changing fast while neo-banks and challenger banks are responding to the change and well accepted by the banking customers in this digital era. Braving a new frontier and heading towards a new business model is daunting but essential for future survival.

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The crisis at honestbee has deepened further with its employee approaching the Ministry of Manpower (MoM) regarding non-payment of salaries, says a report in The Straits Times.

Of the total 77 employees who have filed salary claims with the ministry so far, 16 were filed in the past month. The MoM has scheduled their cases for mediation in March.

The embattled startup owes its employees salaries for February.

In an emailed response, honestbee spokesperson told e27: “The company has no intention of shortchanging its employees. However, the protracted closure has made it difficult for the company to commit on payment terms until further funding can be secured.”

Last week, honestbee handed pink slips to 80 per cent of its 130 employees in Singapore, as investors are unwilling to provide funding for paying salaries of employees who had no work.

Also Read: 3 high-growth industries to watch out for in Southeast Asia

According to the ministry, honestbee had committed to a repayment schedule for former employees over five instalments from September 30 last year. The firm had complied with the schedule except for the final instalment which was due on Jan 31 to 45 former staff.

honestbee had owed more than 200 of its former employees around US$1 million in unpaid salaries and Central Provident Fund contributions.

The ministry and the Tripartite Alliance for Dispute Management (TADM) have warned honestbee to prioritise the final instalment. The government has also urged all of honestbee’s current and former employees with outstanding unpaid salary, including work pass holders, to file their claims with TADM.

Separately, the company closed its physical grocery store ‘habitat’ in Pasir Panjang since Feb 10, citing the coronavirus outbreak and a fall in walk-in traffic.

Meanwhile, a leaked video emerged of honestbee management and executives taking goods belonging to habitat, such as groceries, cutleries and furniture, for their personal taking.

According to Business Times, honestbee has S$1.97 million worth of furniture and fixtures, S$3.87 million worth of store equipment and over S$84,000 in office equipment as of end-January.

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Image Credit: Yang Shuo on Unsplash

For the Summer 2020 accelerator programme, Y Combinator may go completely virtual

Y Combinator has revealed plans to possibly make its Summer 2020 accelerator programme entirely virtual.

The Silicon Valley firm, as reported by TechCrunch, has already made its Demo Day for its Winter 2020 cohort an online-only affair and has accelerated the timeline for the Demo Day a week early.

Application for the summer programme is open now.

“This is a unique worldwide crisis, but it will not lessen the extraordinary opportunities for terrific founders to start and build epic companies,” the accelerator wrote. “We look forward to reading all your applications and wish good luck and good health for everyone.”

Tech companies in Indonesia start implementing work-from-home policy

In a bid to curb the coronavirus spread, major Indonesian companies including tech giants headquartered in Jakarta, have put in place a work-from-home policy, The Jakarta Post reported.

The report further added that some companies are even devising entirely new workflows over concerns about the spread of COVID-19. One of the large tech companies that have shared its plan is e-commerce firm Tokopedia, which has announced that it would conduct a trial period for remote work from Monday to Tuesday to assess the viability of such a plan.

Online airline ticketing and hotel booking platform Traveloka approached the situation by establishing a special team to monitor the latest developments regarding the health emergency and to ensure that the company’s day-to-day operations remain normal.

Also Read: This 4-month-old Y Combinator startup wants to be the Stripe for the Philippines

DailySocial.id, an Indonesia media covering tech and startup news, also implements the work-from-home policy and has announced the cancellation of its regular #SelasaStartup event.

“We have yet to prepare a protocol for that, but offices and companies have to prepare for the protocols and procedures. We did not wish for this to happen, but at least they will be prepared if something happens,” Anies Baswedan, the governor of Jakarta, said on Friday, a statement similar to what President Joko “Jokowi” Widodo has urged.

So far, Indonesia has reported 117 confirmed cases of COVID-19, as well as six deaths. Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi was the first government official confirmed to have tested positive for the coronavirus.

Indonesian VC firm Convergence Ventures reportedly merges with Agaeti Venture Capital

At least six sources familiar with the matter have confirmed to DealStreetAsia that Indonesia-based VC firm Convergence Ventures has finalised a merger agreement peer Agaeti Ventures. Both VC firms’ General Partners and teams are now said to be working together, bringing their respective networks to a single new entity.

The merger, a source said, took place in the third quarter of last year, and saw the newly joint fresh entity looking to raise a new fund. The new fund being raised by the combined entity, according to another source, goes by the name of ACV Capital.

The merger was reportedly driven by Pandu Sjahrir from Agaeti Ventures and Adrian Li, from Convergence Ventures, who have spent time together studying at Stanford University in the US.

Blockchain platform Ziliqa partners with crypto exchange platform Switcheo to launch Zilliqa DEX

Singapore-grown blockchain company Ziliqa has partnered neo blockchain-decentralised cryptocurrency exchange Switcheo to work together in bolstering the decentralised finance ecosystem in the region through building a non-custodial, decentralised exchange (DEX).

With the new, UX-improved Zilliqa DEX, Zilliqa token holders and traders will have the ability to tap into digital assets on the Ethereum blockchain. Users and traders on Zilliqa DEX will not need to sign-up to the exchange to access trading services with its API-based mobile wallet integrations, allowing users to swap between different assets.

Amrit Kumar, President and Chief Scientific Officer at Zilliqa, said: “We believe that this partnership with Switcheo is essential to supporting the meaningful progress we’ve made for our stablecoin initiative, StraitsX, as more companies look to come on board. The opportunity to collaborate with one of the world’s leading decentralised exchanges was one that we simply couldn’t pass up as we hope to garner further ecosystem support and look to solidify our position in the global DeFi ecosystem.”
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Picture Credit: Yang Shuo on Unsplash

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Taiwanese accelerator SparkLabs Taipei has announced the names of the eight startups pitched on its third demo day. 

These startups are working on solutions in diverse industries, from telemedicine to commercial AI to IoT. 

Prominent personalities like Steve Chen, co-founder of YouTube; Taipei’s Deputy Mayor Huang Shan-shan; and CY Tu, Deputy Director-General of the Ministry of Science and Technology, spoke at the event.

Chen, who is also a Venture Partner and Advisor at SparkLabs Taipei, said: “I meet many Taiwanese entrepreneurs who often say, ‘I will wait until I have more traction and resources before I can expand into the international market.’ But, crossing borders into new markets is actually not as expensive or difficult as one may think.”

“SparkLabs Taipei encourages entrepreneurs to target the international market from day one. That’s the mindset entrepreneurs in Taiwan must-have,” Chen added. 

Also Read: SparkLabs launches US$50M early-stage fund for South Korea and Southeast Asia

Here is a short bio of the eight startups:

iDrip

iDrip is a coffee maker, which uses IoT to replicate the brewing techniques of world champion baristas for coffee lovers.

The company currently has partnerships with top luxury brands such as Maserati, Audi, and Tsutaya Bookstore.

Terminal 1

Terminal 1 is a tech recruitment firm, which uses automation to help enterprises and engineering candidates match through their platform.

The company filters quality candidates through personalised assessments.

Cocomelody

Cocomelody is a bridal brand that aims to transform the way brides shop for their wedding dress by offering an omnichannel retail experience to quickly and easily find personalised, affordable and tailored-to-fit dresses.

The company has a built-to-order platform that reduces the lead-time from the industry average of four to six months to only 45-60 days.

PenguinSmart

PenguinSmart aims to increase the efficacy of rehab therapy, through individualised rehab therapy for all via their platform.

Also Read: How Metro Manila’s COVID-19 community quarantine is affecting the local startup community

The team uses data sciences with expert insights to empower caregivers to become a vital part of the rehab journey. 

MoBagel 

The company uses Machine Learning to produce fast and actionable predictions for enterprises, who want to make the right decisions for themselves.

One of its core products, Decanter AI, allows anyone with basic data analysis knowledge to build and deploy machine learning models.

FunTek

FunTek is an app-free chat solution provider, which enables enterprises to interact directly and engage with customers by simply scanning a QR code.

Its direct-to-chat solution, PinChat, allows customers to communicate with businesses without the hassle of registering a new account or downloading any apps.

JustKitchen

JustKitchen creates and curates delivery-only food brands and cuisines on the internet via its hub-and-spoke infrastructure model.

The company is already working with top restaurants like Dan Ryan, Smith & Wollensky and TGIF’s.

VAR LIVE

VAR LIVE creates an immersive entertainment experience for all players. Its core product VAR BOX is an all-in-1 VR eSports solution, which integrates e-sports, community, entertainment, business application and training in one.

VAR BOX currently has 14 patented technologies and nine eSports games.

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Image Credit: SparkLabs Taipei

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