Humans are naturally wired to be oriented towards the other and sociality is a dominant factor that has shaped our physiological and emotional needs. This makes the idea of co-working space a popular option amongst independent workers and startups.

It is based on the concept of connecting and communicating with like-minded individuals, thus giving rise to another trend called “co-living” — a housing solution where people with common interests share a living space together.

This is great for working professionals, freelancers and travellers moving to a new city. Here, e27 lists down nine leading co-living spaces perfect for working professionals, travellers and freelancers across Southeast Asia.

1. Dojo Bali

Located in the south coast of the Indonesian island of Bali in Canguu, Dojo offers a two-storey co-living space a few minutes away from the famous “Echo Beach”. This space mostly attracts a vibrant community of freelancers, startups and founders from across the globe.

All rooms have an en-suite bathroom and access to a shared kitchen, chill-out areas, pool, garden and an area for sunbathing. Situated near local warungs (cafes), grocery stores, gym, yoga studio, health food shops and bars, the coliving space also has a coworking space just minutes away.

However, it is tough to find rooms here, and pre-booking is recommended. For individuals who are on a tight budget, this might not be the best option. 

What’s unique about it: Dojo soft landing package including airport pickup, SIM cards, surfing lesson, and yoga lesson, among other perks, so you don’t have to worry for anything.

Location: Bali, Indonesia

Contract terms: No contract but a minimum of 7 days stay

Cost: US$1140/month for the package.

 

2. Draper Startup House

Draper Startup House (formerly ‘Tribe Theory’) aims to create an “entrepreneurial-centric accommodation” by utilising hostel beds to put like-minded people under one roof.

It is clean and well-maintained with spacious dorms and washrooms. This makes it an excellent steal for entrepreneurs who are on the go looking for opportunities and meeting other like-minded individuals.

Also Read: Tribe Theory rebrands to Draper Startup House after a US$3.5M investment from Tim Draper

Every location is strategically built so that residents don’t have to worry about availability of food, groceries, etc. Even though it can be difficult to find accommodation for long-term, pre-booking is highly recommended.

What’s unique about it: Budget-friendly and offers tools for aspiring entrepreneurs like Draper Startup House Ventures, where entrepreneurs can submit pitch decks to the Draper Venture Network, events among others.

Contract terms: No contract but limited availability for long-term residents

Location: Singapore, Bangalore, Bali, Austin, Lisbon, Manila, Yangon, Tallinn

Cost: Pricing depends on the country

 

3. Hmlet 

Hmlet is a fully-furnished serviced co-living apartment in Singapore that has widely spread across different regions in Tokyo, Hong Kong and Sydney.

It guarantees a membership plan with a fully-furnished home, utilities, unlimited WiFi, weekly cleaning, maintenance, access to community events for people looking for flexible and easy options.

The apartments are located in prime business areas in Singapore. The different room sizes offer flexibility in price without compromising on location.

What’s unique about it: Flexibility in pricing options. Members can choose from ‘master’, ‘regular’, or ‘pocket rooms’.

Contract terms: 3 months minimum lease period

Location: Singapore, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Sydney

Cost: US$900/month onwards.

 

4. Spiced

Located in the capital city of Vietnam, Spiced advertises itself as “having the comfort of Airbnb with a co-working space”. All bedrooms come with a comfortable bed and a private bathroom. Guests also have 24×7 access to the co-working space. All utilities, room cleaning and laundry, are included with most co-living options.

If you’re at Spiced, food is also not something to worry about as a community-spiced lunch is organised every day where members can connect with one other.

What’s unique about it: Delicious Spiced Community Lunch

Contract terms: No contract but limited availability for long-term residents

Location: Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

Cost: US$608/month.

 

5. Cove Living

Apart from having a ready-to-move-in housing option, Cove Living in Singapore uses AI to find the right flatmate based on one’s living habits, values, and interests. The company meets all the residents who apply through the viewing process and chats with everyone and understands individual requirements. The data is then added to the website.

Also Read: Flexible housing platform Anyplace enters Southeast Asia, teams up with coliving operators

It comes with three membership plans — normal plan, flat-sharing, and studio apartment, all which have different perks attached to it.

What’s unique about it: Finding a flatmate through AI

Contract terms: Flexible with a three-month minimum stay 

Location: Singapore

Cost: US$1220/month onwards.

 

6. Lyf

A vibrant co-living space, lyf caters to both the work and play elements of residents. It caters to both short- and long-stay residents (millennials, technopreneurs, self-starters, digital nomads, and aspiring entrepreneurs).

The space boasts “Instagrammable… social zones” that consist of co-working spaces and an area for hackathons, innovation talks, music jamming sessions, cooking sessions, and workshops which are organised weekly by lyf’s Ambassador of Buzz (AOB).

The length of stay can be tailored, from short term to long term. Typically, condominium rental units have a minimum stay of three months.

What’s unique about it: The laid-back chill vibe, Instagram worthy

Contract terms: No contract for short term rentals and 3 months minimum for condominium rentals

Location: Singapore, Cebu, Shanghai, Fukuoka, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok

Cost: Pricing depends on the country

7. Hub Hoi An

This is for those who want to stay away from the hustle and bustle of city life. Hub Hoi An is a co-living and co-working space in Vietnam offering a professional work environment for remote workers, digital nomads, local entrepreneurs and freelancers.

Events, workshops, open talks, networking dinners, excursions, daily community lunches and social meetups are hosted regularly in this space.

Also Read: The future way of life is co-living, and these 7 Thai spaces help pave the way

They have options of living in a ricefield homestay or a villa with a complete package that includes perks like one free bicycle, unlimited Vietnamese coffee, SIM card and free lunches.

What’s unique about it: Package perks, location

Contract terms: No contract for short term rentals and 3 months minimum for condominium rentals

Location: Hoi An, Vietnam

Cost: US$966/month depending on the living option.

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Image Credit –  Helena Lopes

 

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Every month the team at e27 runs the monthly Startup of the Month poll where we put the spotlight on the most outstanding startup of that month, giving it the extra attention that it deserves. Five startups are selected internally by taking into account idea, team, funding and founders. Three eventually make it to the final round, where we take in votes from our Telegram community.

The winner for February is none other than GTRIIP, a Silicon Valley-Singapore-based startup that eliminates the need for paperwork in hotels using biometrics driven sensors in smartphones.

From the minute a guest checks in …

When you check into a hotel, you know the constant hassle of filling out all the paperwork and providing a government-issued ID card. For too many hotels, spas, and casinos, this paperwork gets in the way of creating a smooth guest experience. But there is no way that this process can be avoided.

One must wait for the document to print, then sign it, and then wait for the staff member to scan and copy it. This tedious paperwork takes time away from leisure.

But what if there was a way to make the process quicker, easier, and leaner?

Founded in 2014, one of GTRIIP’s offerings enable guests to have a better check-in process by using their smartphone’s fingerprint and facial recognition systems.

The AI-powered system then registers and verifies the guests’ profile “instantaneously”, cutting down the time taken to less than five minutes.

Also Read: GTRIIP raises Series B funding to take its digital identity solution into new APAC markets

“During my travels, one of the pain points I encountered personally was the registration of information. For example, when I fly, there is the immigration information that I have to fill up (each time). I was once stuck in a hotel lobby for 15 minutes after a late-night flight but I couldn’t get a room as the front desk was understaffed,” said founder Maxim Thaw Tint to Business Times.

“It consists of my first name, last name, passport number and more. When I arrive at the hotel, the hotel’s front desk will give me a registration card that also requires the same kind of information. One thought that came to mind was why this process had to be so manual,” he continued.

Currently, GTRIIP has partnered with leading hotels like Park Hotel Group, Amara Singapore and Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa, aiming to approach one million check-ins.

GTRIIP’s partners also include Assa Abloy Global Solutions and Salto Systems Asia.

The backers

The company has raised a total of US$1.5 million in funding over three rounds, with their latest Series B funding round announced on February.

Participants in their funding round include Japanese VC firm GlobalBrain, Kepventure and Japan’s Accord Ventures and M1.

Tint also said that the company envisions a future where people can travel without any photo ID or access card. According to him face and biometrics suffice as our identity and this would be enough to make geographical mobility seamless.

The company currently has 20 employees and claims to have completed installations for 13,000 rooms and access points, enabling more than one million digital identity check-ins.

Diversification of product lines beyond hospitality for other commercial properties, such as tenant access and visitor access has also been expressed by the company.

Also Read: Startup of the Month, January: Singapore-based biotech startup TurtleTree

In addition to GTRIIP, the e27 community also voted for Credify and Forward School as the runner-up for the Startup of the Month title.

Credify provides secure and cost-effective blockchain-driven Universal Identity and Trust System solutions to companies in e-commerce and digital finance whereas Forward School integrates co-learning, and co-living spaces together for aspiring IT professionals to succeed in the fast-paced tech sector.

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Image Credit: Proxyclick Visitor Management System

 

The post Startup of the Month, February 2020: GTRIIP, a paperless hotel check-in platform appeared first on e27.

The month of February was an exciting one in terms of later stage funding rounds in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem.

In addition to seeing the rise of the latest Indonesian unicorn, as JD.id announced its latest funding round from gojek, we also got to see a greater variety of startups raising a later stage funding round.

Check out the list of the startups that had announced their later stage funding round last month, based on our news coverage and database:

GTRIIP
Funding: Undisclosed Series B
Investor(s): GlobalBrain, Kepventure, Accord Ventures

GTRIIP wants to use the capital for expansion in both hospitality and other commercial properties in the Asia Pacific markets with ageing populations, waning workforces, and high labour costs.

Aerodyne
Funding: Series B
Investor(s): North Summit Capital, Arc Ventures, and Leave a Nest as its key strategic partners and investors in the second round of Series B funding, supporting its plan to enter new APAC markets such as China, India, and Japan.

The company said that it will use the funding to focus on data technology advancement, hiring talent globally. It also aims to continue expansion to key global markets such as Japan, the US, Latin America, Europe, and the Middle East.

TIX ID
Funding: Undisclosed investment
Investor(s): PouchNATION

With this investment, TIX ID aims to extend its on-ground handling capabilities in anticipation of launching its events ticket sales business.

Grab
Funding: US$850M+
Investor(s): Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), TIS

The investments were meant to support Grab’s effort to further expand into the financial sector.

Also Read: Afternoon News Roundup: Funding Societies teams up with SGeBIZ to lower working capital barriers for SMEs

UangTeman
Funding: US$10M in Series B extension
Inevstor(s): ACA Investments, Pegasus Tech Ventures, Spiral Ventures

The first part of the company’s Series B funding round was led by Draper Associates and Japan’s KDDI Open Innovation Fund.

JD.id
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): gojek

This round takes the company’s total valuation to over US$1 billion, making it the sixth unicorn in the country after gojek, Tokopedia, Traveloka, Bukalapak, and OVO.

CoolBitX
Funding: US$16.75M in Series B
Investor(s): SBI Holdings, National Development Fund of Taiwan, BitSonic, Monex

CoolBitX plans to expand the Sygna product line’s presence beyond the APAC region as the first-to-market FATF-compliant solution for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) around the world. It also plans to continue to innovate its bluetooth-enabled hardware wallet CoolWallet S, its flagship product with a focus on security, functionality, and usability.

Dahmakan
Funding: US$18M in Series B
Inevstor(s): Rakuten Capital, White Star Capital, JAFCO Asia, the GEC-KIP Fund, Woowa Brothers, the former CEO of Nestlé Germany, Partech Partners, Y Combinator

Dahmakan will use the funding to continue building their end-to-end operating system which powers the entire value chain from product development to last-mile delivery from a network of “satellite” distribution kitchens.

Eureka AI
Funding: US$20M in Series B
Investor(s): Apis Partners, Gobi Partners, the Riyad Taqnia Fund, MEC Ventures, SG Innovate, GDP Ventures, Pacific Bridge, and Cianna Capital

The company said that the funding will be used to support its expansion plans in Europe and the US, as well as develop its product portfolio.

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Image Credit: Andrew Neel on Unsplash

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February was another busy month for the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem with a total of 24 early stage funding rounds being announced.

Without further ado, the following are those we managed to cover in the month:

Mortgage Master
Funding: US$381,105 in seed funding
Investor(s): Bala Swaminathan, Andy Lim

Secured through crowdfunding platform FundedHere, the company managed to close theirs in eight days.

Hukumonline
Funding: Undisclosed Series A
Investor(s): Media Development Investment Fund (MDIF)

Hukumonline will use the funding to develop new products, improve existing products, and grow its subscriber base.

Moovby
Funding: US$500,000 in seed funding
Investor(s): Angel investors, strategic partners

The newly-raised capital will be used for expansion in existing markets in Southeast Asia, namely Malaysia and Indonesia.

Clear
Funding: US$3M in Series A
Investor(s): Eight Roads, Telefonica, Deutsche Telekom, Hong Kong Telecom (HKT), and Singtel

Clear states that it will use the money to expand its team and telecoms operations. It will also explore possible integrations in other industries, including the financial services and energy sectors.

gudangada
Funding: “double-digit millions” in seed funding
Investor(s): Alpha JWC Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, Pavilion Capital

The money will be used to fuel the company’s continued business expansion, from expediting member onboarding, expanding service and solution offerings, to enhancing leadership and operational talents to accelerate growth.

Also Read: Starting off the new year with these early stage funding rounds of January

Forward School
Funding: US$500,000 in pre-seed funding
Investor(s): Chan Kee Siak, Chu Jenn Weng, Chiew Kok Hin, Ang Siak Keng, Brian Wong

With the new investment, Forward School plans to move into their new campus this quarter, an integrated co-learning and co-living space.

Circles.Life
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): Warburg Pincus

The funding round is reported to have put the company “closer to unicorn status.”

PeerPower
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Series A
Investor(s): InVent, Business Online Public Company (BOL)

PeerPower will use the funds to invest in product development and broadening its digital financing services.

Greenly
Funding: Undisclosed seed funding
Investor(s): East Ventures, angel investors

The company plans to use the fresh funds for product innovation, technology development, and expand its network both locally and into other cities.

Printerous​
Funding: Undisclosed Series A
Investor(s): BAce Capital, AddVentures, ​GDP Venture​, Gobi Agung, Sovereign’s Capital

The company said it will use the funding to deploy its technology infrastructure and expand its presence to 30 cities in Indonesia. It also plans to further grow the business in a sustainable way.

GrabWheels
Funding: US$30M in ongoing Series A
Inevstor(s): KYMCO

The funding is said to be the part of a strategic partnership to develop two-wheeler electric vehicle (EV) solutions to accelerate the adoption of EVs in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: That time of the year: A look back into the early stage funding rounds of December

CYFIRMA
Funding: Undisclosed Series A
Investor(s): Z3Partners

With the new funding, CYFIRMA plans to expand into markets across Asia, including India, and the US. The funds will also be used to support the development roadmap of CYFIRMA’s cyber-intelligence analytics platform.

BizApp
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): CommerceAsia

With the investment, the startup will complement with Commerce.Asia’s ecosystem to better bridge the urban-rural entrepreneurial divide in Malaysia.

WhatsHalal
Funding: Undisclosed seed funding
Inevstor(s): FundedHere

The startup, which provides enterprises decisions and solutions to enter the halal market internationally, will use the fresh funds to continue regional expansion and further development of its technology.

Credify
Funding: US$1M
Investor(s): Deepcore, Beenext

The proceeds will be used to enhance its product, and further localising its software development operations in Southeast Asia.

TopDev
Funding: “seven digit” investment
Investor(s): SaraminHR

With this funding, TopDev aims to “continue to improve TopDev’s services quality and develop new values for our customers, while still continuing to enhance others goals besides the recruitment functions such as increasing the developers’ supply for the market through training, developing IT career programmes for young people, students, and freshers.”

ShopRunBack
Funding: US$900,000 in pre-Series A
Investor(s): OBOR Capital, Negocia Ventures

ShopRunBack is a reverse logistics company that was founded in 2014 with the aim to transform the returns experience for both customers and merchants, combining international logistics network with a new generation of plug & play software.

Also Read: Kinesys Group names Steven Vanada as managing partner, targets US$20M for early stage startups

SOCAR
Funding: US$18M in Series A
Investor(s): Eugene Private Equity, KH Energy

Based in South Korea, the startup aims to use the fresh funds to enhance its platform, grow within Malaysia, and expand into new countries by Q4 2020.

Waves
Funding: US$1.2M in seed funding
Investor(s): Insignia Ventures Partners, Hustle Fund, Skystar Capital

Waves founders Kevin Gao and Ben Minh Le have said that the startup “aims to become one of the leading platforms in Southeast Asia for podcast and audio content.”

QUEST
Funding: Undisclosed seed funding
Investor(s): REAPRA

The company’s CEO and Co-founder Kirk Pathumanun said that the funding will be used to develop real-time coding talent platform through a full-stack automated teaching curriculum tracked and identify skill sets.

Tonik Financial
Funding: US$6M
Investor(s): Insignia Ventures Partners, Credence Partners, family offices, angel investors

It will use the funding to support the launch of its digital bank in the Philippines after its subsidiary Tonik Digital Bank received approval the central bank of the Philippines to provide digital banking services.

Uncharted
Funding: US$5.8M in Series A
Investor(s): Founding investors

The funding followed the merger of its Shift Insurtech and Uncharted businesses, according to Nick Macey, Founder and CEO of Uncharted.

Visinema
Funding: US$3.25M in Series A
Investor(s): Intudo Ventures, GDP Venture, Ancora Capital

Visinema said it plans to use the funding to build capacity in animation production, enhance talent acquisition, and drive international expansion.

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Image Credit: Proxyclick Visitor Management System on Unsplash

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Thanks to technologies like cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and video conferencing, the world of work is becoming a little smaller every day.

In 2020, businesses of all shapes and sizes can interact with colleagues in offices on the other side of the planet as if they’re sitting beside them. We can collaborate on documents in real-time, even as we switch between devices. We can operate machinery and tools from tens of thousands of miles away.

Technology that seemed insanely futuristic a mere decade ago is becoming commonplace. It’s not unusual to find meeting rooms equipped with AR headsets so colleagues in different locations can physically interact with projects.

It’s easier than ever for businesses to expand outside their domestic markets. Tapping into new customer bases and operating in areas with fewer competitors aren’t just tempting prospects for big companies anymore; they’re essential for any business that wants to maintain growth.

In fact, many Fortune 500 firms expect emerging markets to be their main revenue stream in the coming decade.

All of these advancements go a long way toward helping employees stay on the same page wherever they are—but as an international business will tell you, there’s more to maintaining unity across your global workforce than equipping them with the right tools.

Care for local culture

International expansion can bring its own set of challenges. No matter how small the world gets, there will still be times when cultural differences become apparent. For example, the British fondness for self-deprecating humour doesn’t always translate well to an international audience.

Also read: Ready to spread your wings? 4 ways to tell your startup should

With offices on four continents, we’ve found that our teams have to adapt to local attitudes concerning work/life balance; some hiring managers don’t take kindly to after-hours calls to their mobiles, others see it as a sign of good customer service. This is the kind of knowledge that is not always assumed but very easily researched.

International growth is about replicating your success in a new market, but you can’t just cookie-cutter your way around the world without allowing a little flex.

Be aware that what’s worked for you in certain locales may not yield the same results elsewhere, and prepare to adapt your management style accordingly.

Bridging the gaps to create a global family

It’s imperative that all your staff, no matter whether they’re in Seoul, San Francisco or Sydney, feel part of the same team, working toward the same goal. One way of tackling potential cultural barriers is to staff your new location with a mix of existing employees and local talent.

The current staff knows your business inside and out and will be able to export your company culture while setting an example for new team members. On the other hand, recruiting local talent is essential to cultivating local and cultural knowledge, getting the inside track on the market, and connecting with your new customer base.

The key to blending your international and domestic teams successfully is to embrace different styles of communication.

Create a less formal space for them to get to know each other, whether that’s a group chat, a weekly video hangout, or a round-robin type email that shouts out personal successes or occasions so that the team can celebrate together.

Also read: 3 ways to know if your startup is ready to go international

Encouraging employees to support a local charity is a great way of fostering a sense of belonging, as is supporting their personal development with language classes.

Measuring for fit in new cultural landscapes

When expanding your business internationally or piecing together an expert team for a platform such as Salesforce, do your due diligence ahead of time. Ideally, you should spend time in your target market, finding out about local working culture and practices, and learning about how to hire the best talent.

That’s not always possible, however, and you may find yourself conducting your recruitment drive from the other side of the world. If this is the case, there are a few tools at your disposal to help you gauge a better sense of the person when hiring for your new division.

For informal chats about your vacancies, a more casual platform such as Skype or WhatsApp will help candidates feel more at ease, and more able to reveal their personality during your conversation. To carry out a more thorough assessment of your candidates, video interviewing can be hugely useful.

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Blockchain security startup CoolBitX takes home US$16.75M in Series B led by SBI Crypto Investment

CoolBitX, a blockchain security company that builds the infrastructure to close the gap between the mainstream market and crypto industry, has announced that it has closed US$16.75 million in Series B funding round led by Japan’s financial group SBI Holdings. National Development Fund of Taiwan, Korean crypto exchange BitSonic, and Japanese financial group Monex, also joined.

With this funding, CoolBitX plans to expand the Sygna product line’s presence beyond the APAC region as the first-to-market FATF-compliant solution for virtual asset service providers (VASPs) around the world. It also plans to continue to innovate its bluetooth-enabled hardware wallet CoolWallet S, its flagship product with a focus on security, functionality, and usability.

In June 2019, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) released its latest standards for combating money laundering and terrorist financing, requiring VASPs of FATF member countries to comply with Recommendation 16 aka the “Travel Rule.” With this rule, crypto exchanges must collect and transfer customers’ personally identifiable information (PII) during transactions. CoolBitX launched Sygna Bridge in October 2019, providing VASPs with the first market-ready solution so that they may be fully FATF compliant.

More than 10 exchanges have signed Memorandums of Understandings (MOUs) with CoolBitX, joining a consortium of VASPs to begin or consider implementing Sygna Bridge.

Founded and based in Taiwan in 2014, CoolBitX is helmed by Founder and CEO Michael Ou, who’s also a fintech entrepreneur. Ou is also Chairman of SmartDisplayer Technology, a 20-year old family business and the publicly traded company that pioneered banking security solutions.

Revolut raises US$500M in Series D funding, a business valued at US$5.5B

Global financial platform Revolut today raised an additional US$500 million in Series D funding, taking the total amount raised so far to US$836 million.

Also Read: Revolut plans on taking over the growing cashless society in Asia post Singapore launch

The new funding round was led by US-based growth capital firm TCV, with a number of existing investors also participating.

The latest funding round put the business valuation at US$5.5 billion.

The new capital will be focussed on the customer experience and used to strengthen Revolut’s core retail and business offering in existing markets, with a particular focus on product development that will help accelerate daily usage of accounts.

Future plans include lending services for retail and business customers, extending high-interest savings accounts beyond the UK, further improving customer service, premium and metal subscription accounts, adding more workforces, and rolling out banking operations across Europe.

Thai coding talent platform QUEST receives funding from REAPRA

Thailand-based coding talent platform QUEST has received an undisclosed amount of seed funding from Singapore-based VC firm REAPRA.

The company’s CEO and Co-founder Kirk Pathumanun said that the funding will be used to develop real-time coding talent platform through a full-stack automated teaching curriculum tracked and identify skill sets. The company monetises service by workforce reskilling program.

The company plans for an expansion to the online conferencing business partnering with Reach LeanSpace, turning it into a turnkey solution for education SMEs in Thailand.

Singapore’s Tonik Financial snags US$6M funding to launch a digital bank in the Philippines

Tonik Financial, a Southeast Asian digital bank based in Singapore, announced today it has raised US$6 million in an equity funding round, led by Insignia Ventures Partners and Credence Partners, with participation from regional family offices and angel investors.

As per a DealStreetAsia’s article, it will use the funding to support the launch of its digital bank in the Philippines after its subsidiary – Tonik Digital Bank  – received approval from Bangko Sentra Ng Pilipinas (BSP), the central bank of the Philippines, to provide digital banking services, such as retail banking, deposits, and consumer loans, in the country.

Also Read: US-based JUUL introduces its smokeless e-cigarettes in Indonesia

The financial technology company was founded by CEO Greg Krasnov in 2018. Tonik was built by fintech venture builder Forum, which was also founded by Krasnov and it provides retail financial products, including deposits, loans, current accounts, payments, and cards on what the company considers as a highly secure digital banking platform.

E-cigarettes firm JUUL Labs halts sales to Indonesian retailers

Stating the conduct of a global reorganisation exercise, operations, strategies and organisation reviews in each of its markets looking to reset the category and earn the trust of society, e-cigarette JUUL Labs‘s distributor in Indonesia, PT JUL, has paused new sales to the retailers in the country indefinitely.

“At JUUL Labs, while we aim to provide the ~67 million adult smokers in Indonesia with an alternative to combustible cigarettes, it is also critical to us that underage smokers do not have access to the product,” said ​Ken Bishop, President, APAC South, JUUL Labs.

“That is why, together with PT JUL, we have taken the decision to suspend sales of our products to physical and online retailers in Indonesia indefinitely until we have had the opportunity to fully evaluate our ability to work with these retailers to increase and enforce age restrictions and compliance measures,” Bishop continued.
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Picture Credit: Revolut

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In recent years, international expansion became easier than ever for companies across the board — particularly, for startups.

Startups that provide digital services and do not rely on logistics or a physical presence have it easier than their counterparts. And, with the internet facilitating cultural, academic and professional exchange, some of these businesses were built by international teams and stakeholders.

Born-digital, born-global startups might be a few steps closer to international expansion than their counterparts. But this does not mean that they should not have a plan.

Born-global companies still need to conduct market research and strategise for specific locales. They still need to bridge specific cultural gaps.

They still need to understand local regulations. And they still need interpreting, localisation and business translation services. Especially, if they will be looking for strategic partnerships in these new markets.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: SOSV’s mobile-only accelerator MOX reveals 10 startups from 8th cohort

But, how do we know when a startup might be ready for international expansion? Whether your products are physical or digital, whether you sell design services or mattresses, you should look out for these four signs:

Good financial health

Expansion is costly. But, when done well, it can have an amazing ROI. Of course, doing it well demands some initial investment. If your company is just getting by capital-wise, it might not be the right time to expand.

While startups selling physical products might need to assign a larger budget to their expansion project, a digital company’s expansion budget can’t be a handful of loose change.

Expanding your product will involve adapting your code for internationalisation, exploring international payment systems, and hiring a localisation team to get your product ready for your new market.

Make sure you’re in a position where you don’t have to cut corners. And remember that recovering from a failed expansion attempt can be more expensive than assigning it enough funds to do it right.

A strong and stable team

Due to the way startups grow, job instability is very common. But, when you have found the right people, and they’ve reached and surpassed goals consistently, you might be ready to embark on bigger challenges.

Also Read: Afternoon News Roundup: Singapore budgets US$215M to support deep-tech startups 

Consider that, as your company grows, you will probably be in need of new hires. Especially, you will need people who understand your new market. Are you ready for that? Do you have effective and dynamic hiring processes in place? And, last but not least:

Can you afford new talent?

A solid position in your home market

International businesses thrive thanks to a certain versatility that makes it possible for them to get over the way things are done in their home market. But, if you’re not seeing good results at a local level, you are not in the place for expansion yet.

If your company is still struggling in its home market, international expansion will only make things worse. If this is the case, fix what is wrong and achieve your local goals before you strive for intentional business. Otherwise, you will be reproducing mistakes at an international and more expensive scale.

Market with growth potential

As Uber’s former Head of Product, Mina Radhakrishnan says:

“You do not turn on every corner of the world overnight. Rather, you work your way through different geographies in some priority order. I have suggested countries as the geographical unit because it is large enough to allow for expansion but small enough to be targeted — this may vary depending on your company model.”

To win at an international level, you should win locally several times. And companies win a favourable market position by understanding where they are, what customers need, what is expected of them and how to meet and surpass expectations.

Also Read: Is Indonesia killing its local talents’ potential with the new proposed law that allows startups to make more foreign hires?

You cannot do that for every country on earth, all at once. Especially because not every country on earth might have the right market conditions for you to thrive. Having local knowledge was key for Uber to grow because, as the company’s former Head of Driver Growth, Andrew Chen explains:

“Uber is ‘hit a button and a car comes,’ but from a business standpoint, it is a vast collection of hundreds of hyperlocal marketplaces in nearly 70 countries. Each marketplace is two-sided, with riders and drivers, has its own network effects driven by pickup times, coverage density, and utilisation.”

Some criteria to evaluate a company’s potential for growth in a certain market are almost universal. Set your own, depending on your specific industry and business model. Then, carefully research and assess potential target markets. Aside from general market conditions, study your competitors carefully and analyse how favourable or disfavourable your position would be, compared to theirs. What are you seeing that they are not?

To assess whether your business is ready for expansion, make sure you have a strong and stable team, capacity to hire specialists and enough funding. You should also consider whether your company might have internal problems to solve before going internationally and if it is serving the local market properly.

A foreign market with growth potential and a clear need for your product is an international expansion essential. Do not skip in-depth market intelligence and craft a holistic, data-driven strategy.

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

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Not long ago, a real estate agent in Singapore pocketed US$132,800 of a client’s money and used it to renovate his own home. He was caught and jailed for it, but such cases have, unfortunately, occurred more than once in the city-state’s property landscape.

This is obviously a cause of concern with genuine homebuyers. If one wishes to transact through an agent, how would clients find a trustworthy broker?

This is where proptech comes into play.

Digital brokerage models such as Redfin (United States), Lianjia (China), and Bluenest (Singapore) bring greater efficiency and transparency to their respective property markets. These platforms blend technology with the expertise of local real estate agents to organise workflows and reduce information asymmetry.

How proptech bridges the information gap in the market

For example, US-based Redfin displays data on their agents’ property transactions as well as customer reviews. This way, clients need not rely solely on the word of friends or family to gauge whether an agent would be a good fit for them.

Redfin also pioneered map-based property searches in the US, allowing buyers to view key data points about each property and even compare shortlisted units side by side.

Also Read: gojek-backer Samsung Ventures invests in Indonesian proptech startup Travelio, to focus more in Southeast Asian startups

Closer to home, Bluenest uses an AI platform to generate indicative price estimates for properties, giving buyers and sellers more accurate information to begin their transaction journeys. The agency has also come up with a commission model that pegs agent compensation to customer satisfaction, incentivising agents to work in their clients’ best interest.

What else does it bring?

At this point, property agents are independent contractors who have to handle the entire transaction process from start to finish. But up to 80 per cent of their time can be spent driving to different viewings, marketing properties, and sourcing for leads.

This is an inefficient process – and the costs are generally passed on to the end-users.

Proptech resolves this in a few ways:

Better data and control

By aggregating property listings on just a few platforms, digital real estate brokerages can provide more detailed metrics about the performance of property listings. Clients have easy access to this data, which grants them more control over the transaction process.

Also Read: Thailand’s proptech FazWaz secures pre-Series A funding from undisclosed Singaporean group

More choices

Instead of relying primarily on information passed on from their agents, clients have the freedom to browse through and shortlist property listings on their own.

Less time spent travelling

Virtual listings and 360° online tours enable users to view properties from the comfort of their own homes. This eliminates one of the major headaches in the house-hunting process: being stuck in traffic. Traffic congestion is a real problem in Southeast Asia, with one study finding that the average Filipino loses 16 days a year to it.

Greater exposure targeted marketing: By outsourcing marketing to the digital agency’s operations team, property agents can help their clients list their properties on all the major portals quickly and effectively. Agents can then focus on advisory, leading to a higher-than-average closing rate for their clients.

The end result? Agents help their customer’s close deals faster, and clients save a significant amount of commission.

Also Read: Proptech is changing the face of real estate in Asia Pacific

Such technology will take precedence over the traditional ways of doing things in the coming years. Internet penetration in Southeast Asia may only be at 65 per cent today, but we are expecting double-digit growth year-on-year.

New adopters will quickly adapt to existing tech in the property market, further leveraging on it to resolve issues such as:

• The fragmented real estate market (i.e. inaccurate or simply a lack of information). Good governance and support are required for a successful transformation to take place. Back at home, the Singapore government launched the Smart Nation Initiative, which includes a “Real Estate Industry Transformation Map.” This map established a workgroup to focus on creating and streamlining standardised processes by 2020, including the implementation of digitalised contract templates and checklists.
• Lengthy transaction times and inconsistent user experiences. Today, we can easily shop online and check out with a single click. In the same vein, we should expect the convergence of proptech so that customers can purchase their ideal homes with a few clicks.

With technology already revolutionising fields such as transportation, commerce, agriculture, and even construction, it was only a matter of time before the property scene caught up.

And it is sorely needed, too – consumers are becoming more and more discerning and will demand no less.

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

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When I meet with new startup founders, the one question I get asked about is ‘raising money’. This is smart of them as fundraising is an essential core competence of any startup. As much as I enjoy talking about funding, I rarely –almost never– heard from these entrepreneurs on ‘what does it take to get funded?’

Hence, I want to spend some time talking about a subject that has the greatest importance in what is called the “pitch deck” and what it should comprise of.

So, let’s start with the fundamentals!

What is a pitch deck and/or investor pitch?

The reason I want to talk about pitch decks is simple: I see too many that are simply not good or has missing information.

An investor pitch is a presentation of your business model that shows the potential for growth and viability. It is a summary of your business in 15-25 slides containing key information of your business idea.

Raising capital from investors is difficult and time consuming. It is key for a startup to get the  investor pitch deck close to perfection as possible by not forgetting to articulate a compelling and interesting story!

In this article, as an investor I am providing important advice for creating a strong, thorough, and engaging investor pitch deck, along with guidance on presenting to private equity and venture capital investors.

Also Read: Do farmers need pitch decks? The case for capital in agri-tech

Important Do’s and don’ts for investor pitch decks

Too many startups make a number of avoidable mistakes when creating their investor pitch decks. Here is a list of preliminary do’s and don’ts to keep in mind:

Pitch Deck Do’s

• Do catch the audience from the beginning, for example with a catchy slogan or intro.
• Be enthusiastic, be yourself. You have all information in your hands.
• Keep it short and concise (15-20 slides) and keep to the time-limit given for your presentation
• Take the time given and if possible, use less time than allowed, leaving room for questions and comments.
• Anticipate questions and prepare potential answers.
• Do practice your pitch and improve content and presentation style ongoing.
• Practice your pitch in front of a friend you can trust for rehearsal and who can – and will criticise you. And practice again and again and again.
• Dress up if the audience requires a more formal presentation.
• If helpful prepare a checklist what to bring along with you in order not to forget anything.
• Be well-prepared and double-check if you have everything ready for the presentation in advance.
• With all this, stay relaxed and be confident with your enterprise.

Pitch Deck Don’ts

• Don’t be anxious and do mind your body language (practice in front of a mirror, if needed).
• Don’t talk too much about obvious things.
• Don’t have too many wordy slides.
• Don’t rush through the slides.
• Don’t read your slides but speak freely and tell a story.
• Don’t provide excessive financial details, as that can be provided in a follow-up.
• Don’t have a poor layout, bad graphics, or a low-quality “look and feel.”
• Don’t try to cover everything in the pitch deck

Also Read: The perfect pitch deck

What are the key slides you want in your investor pitch deck?

You want your investor pitch deck to cover the following topics, roughly in the order set forth here and with titles along the lines of the following:

• Company Overview
• Mission/Vision of the Company
• The Problem
• The Solution
• Market Validation
• Market Size
• Competition
• Competitive Advantages
• Business Model
• Customer Acquisition
• Management Team
• Financial Projection
• Current Status/Milestones
• Ask
• Use of Funds

1. Company Overview
It is an overview of the most important points about your company. You can summarise it in several bullet points.

For example, here is what your “Company Overview” page could contain: A quick and easy way to understand your business, its products and services towards a potential investor.

2. Mission/Vision
A good Mission/Vision statement is a useful tool for a well-run business. It is the “why” of business strategy.

• It defines what the company does for its customers
• It defines what the company does for its employees
• It defines what the company does for its owners

The more concrete the story, the better. And keep that in mind for the actual mission statement wording: “The more concrete, the better.”

3. The Problem
The problem slide of your investor pitch deck or presentation is a key section of your investor deck the reason is that you really don’t have a business if you are not solving a problem. This slide gives you the opportunity to state the problem that exists.

It is always a great idea to make it as simple as possible.

One of the things you want to avoid, is having a wordy pitch deck, investors do not have the time to read every line, so you want to state the problem in one or two sentences.

And when you have several problems to state, it is best to use icons or text boxes to separate the different problems you are stating.

Also Read: Pro pitch deck tips for beginners

4. The Solution
In your investor pitch deck, having stated the problems that exist, the next slide gives you a perfect sequence to state the solution you are offering.

After stating the problem, it is advisable to use the same formula you used in stating the Problem, which is, to keep it short and simple using one or two sentences to state your main Solution point and if your Solution has different parts, make use of icons or text boxes to separate your Solution points if your Solution cannot be captured in one or two sentences.

Why now: The “Why now?” slide needs to focus on what is going on in your industry and society at large that makes the timing of your business so prescient. Try to include the “Answer” to “why now” on this section of your pitch deck.

5. Market Validation
When you look at AirBnB’s Investor Pitch Deck or Startup Pitch Deck, you would see that they have a market validation slide, while this slide is not a must-have, it is a good idea to have it in your startup pitch presentation or investor deck.

The market validation is where you put key market information to validate that your business solution really has a “market” or that it is viable.

This could be stating the number of products you have sold so far, or even putting profitable statistics of your competitors such as their annual revenue, products sold, etc.

6. Market Size
As a global standard, when stating your market size you want to have the previous performance and future expectation or projection of your market captured.

This would help the venture capitalist or angel investor that is going through your startup pitch deck; see the growth opportunity in your market.

7. Competition
Sometimes, there are entrepreneurs who do not like to admit that they have competitors; this is not a very good idea.

As a matter of fact, when you say you do not have competitors in your market, it shows two things:

• The business is not lucrative that is why others are not interested.
• The entrepreneur doesn’t know is market enough to know the competition.
• See, every business has competition; it could be direct or indirect. See more on the direct and indirect competition.

So, ensure you state your competition.

Also Read: An investor’s guide to creating a great pitch deck

8. Competitive Advantages
After establishing the competition, the next thing is for you to state in your investor pitch deck is your unique advantages over the competition.

• Is your delivery time faster?
• Are you offering a better service at a lower price?
• Do you have better technology?
• You want to be very clear in stating the things that make your solution better than what already exists in the market.

9. Business Model
A key slide that startup investors pay attention to is your business model slide. This is because; this is the slide in your investor pitch deck, where they expect to see how you make money. So, use this slide to state your revenue model:

• Are you operating a subscription model or one-off payment?
• If you are selling a product, what is the unit selling price and how many quantities do you project to sell per month, year, etcetera?

Make sure that your business model slide will not leave a startup investor or venture capitalist wondering how you make money.

Don’t mix up business model with business plan.

10. Customer Acquisition
Think about it, if you have a good product, and you do not have customers or people buying your product, that would result in zero sales!

In this slide, you want to show in your investor pitch deck or presentation, how you would acquire customers or clients, what strategies do you intend to employ?

State it! Ensure that your customer acquisition plan is actionable; it doesn’t help to state strategies that you cannot execute.

11. Management Team
Interestingly, most investors would tell you that investors invest in people first before they invest in ideas!

So, if you have a solid team behind your business, be quick to state it, and more importantly, you want to show their credibility; why they are a good fit for your business.

This could be by stating their previous roles, and key achievements.

But one thing you do not want to do is to use long sentences in stating why they are credible, it is better to use bullet points in stating the different achievements for each team member.

This makes it easy for one to see the highlights of their achievements.

Also Read: Save yourselves and stop making these pitch deck mistakes

12. Financial Projection
Okay! So how much do you project to make?

Well, the financial projections slide is where you want to give your projections.

As a standard, a three- or five-years projection is ideal! instead of stating you would make some big bucks overnight, state your financial projections in a way that it accommodates your business growth.

So, it is expected that your total revenue for Year 2 should be greater than the revenue for Year 1.

Do not forget to state your revenue, expenses, and profit/loss in this section.

Obviously, there is an art to presenting all of this information in a way that shows your business as the most compelling money-spawning creation.

13. Current Status/Milestones
This is yet another very important slide investors want to see when you are pitching your idea or business to them. Through the years, I have seen businesses fail to raise funds because they could not state their traction, either while presenting it physically or on their deck.

If you have already made some progress with your business, this is the slide to state; it is simply answering questions such as:

• Where are you currently?
• What have you achieved so far?

So, let’s say you have your prototype, active customers, you are already making a profit, and things like that, this is the slide you want to state it!

14. Ask
So, after stating all these amazing points in your slides and you have captured your reader’s attention, this slide gives you the opportunity to state what you want.

If you are seeking equity investment, how much is it and what is the percentage equity that you are offering in return?

Make it very clear in your investor pitch deck what you want. Now is the time to state what you want in your investor pitch deck or startup pitch deck and you know what? State it!

15. Use of Funds
It is important you note that the Use of Fund’s slide of your investor pitch deck can be merged with your ASK slide.

In this slide, you will want to articulate why investors should invest with you, how much investment you are seeking, and what you plan on using this investment.

Here are some of the questions you will want to answer in this slide:

• How much capital are you requesting in order to get your product to the next level?
• What is the breakdown of how you are planning to use this capital? (What are you going to spend it on?)
• Why is this a good investment for your potential investors?

Conclusion
Now that you have all the essential pieces to a great investor pitch deck, the last and final piece of the puzzle is being able to convey it in an easy narrative that anyone can understand. And the best way to do this is to create a story around your pitch.

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The article was first published on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Campaign Creators on Unsplash

The post How to create a great investor pitch deck appeared first on e27.

Most startups will try to fashion their employee hiring programmes after big-name companies. After all, the reason they got so big is that they use tried and tested hiring techniques, right?

However, what works for established multinational organisations that have been existing for some time will not necessarily apply to a business entity that is just finding its legs. In Resumeble’s experience, it is a common pitfall of all startup founders to think like a big company from the get-go, especially when it comes to their hiring practices.

Most unfortunate of all, this mismatch of talent, demand, and understanding of what kind of employee a startup needs to look for to thrive, is one of the primary reasons why so many great ideas fail.

Numbers from the year 2014 from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics reveal that of all the small businesses started that year, only 80 per cent made it to the second year, and the numbers only got worse as the years progressed, with merely 56 per cent surviving to year five.

And though a lot of factors play into why many startups find success elusive, one stands out from the rest —a recent study published by CB Insight says that the inability to find the right talent is the reason for 23 per cent of small businesses’ failure to launch.

This reason is made all the more glaring by the fact that it is entirely avoidable and easily solvable. Evidently, these failed startups chose the wrong candidates.

Also Read: Dealing with fundraising problems? These three startups may have the answer

At the early stages of business, founders need to have a vision for the company and find the talent who has what it takes to realise that vision.

But how does one find the right person for the job? It all starts with knowing what to look for in your applicant’s resume.

Startup experience

When looking at an applicant’s job experience, many founders will favour those who have worked for big companies over those employed by startups in the past, for the obvious reason that big names have bigger, more widely known reputations than small ones. However, opting for the latter can be even more rewarding for those just launching their business ventures.

Generally speaking, work in large organisations is traditional, rigid and tightly controlled. At the same time, startups often require their people to be flexible with their hours and be willing to put in extra work frequently.

Reportedly, Twitter and Square founder Jack Dorsey had to put in 100 weekly hours at work at the beginning of his ventures, while Tesla CEO Elon Musk supposedly worked 120 hours a week early on.

Only someone who has worked at a startup before will understand that long hours are part of the job. Like an infant, your new business needs more nurture, care, and attention than usual. You need to know that the people you hire have got the character and tenacity to carry you through your company’s growing pains.

Also Read: Why working at a startup is a better way to launch your career

Provable tangible results

A results-driven applicant—one who will provide real, tangible value to the business—is a must for any startup, more so than any other business. You simply cannot afford someone who will just be ‘going through the motions’ day in and day out.

Thus, when looking at a candidate’s resume, you need to look at work achievements that are both measurable and unique to their position. Keep in mind that accomplishments are different from duties and responsibilities.

Resume accomplishments tell you that the applicant has the drive to go above and beyond the expected job requirements.

• Did the applicant help the company make or save money? How much?
• Did the applicant help the company reach its goals? How fast?
• Did the applicant exceed the company’s goals set for them? To what degree?

High quality work accomplishments are measurable, observable, and provable. Look at the specifics of how your applicant did what they claim to have done.

Culture fit

Statistics show that a company’s culture has a direct impact on employee turnover. According to a Gallup poll, 20.2 per cent of employees quit because of poor organisational fit.

You will want to make sure your new-hire is fitting in with your team, both now and in the future. Find someone who can share your vision and who understands that they have a massive role in making the company better. Investigate their passions, hobbies, and interests, and see if they align with yours or your existing team’s.

Also Read: Morning News Roundup: Malaysian food delivery startup Dahmakan raises US$18M in Series B

You also need to look beyond their resume and scope their online and social media profiles to get a sense of their personalities. During the job interview, discuss and ask thoughtful questions about their passions outside of work.

‘In it for the long haul’

Too many employees leave startups for big brands, which can devastate the entire enterprise. You certainly do not want to hire someone who will get up and go the moment a better opportunity presents itself.

While it’s hard to compete with the career advancement and promotional opportunities offered by other companies, find someone who respects the startup business model and shows that they want to grow with the company. Find the signs in your applicant’s resume that demonstrate they will be a good long-term asset.

While researching their employment history, verify how they work and who they are as a colleague. On that note, it’s best to avoid hiring employees who are still deciding on a career path.

Their cover letter should also contain statements that say they are willing to invest in the company’s growth. It should say something along the lines of “I’m willing to take on responsibilities that aren’t part of the job description.”

In closing

As a founder, the way you go about choosing your hires can make or break your newfound business. Though the ideal candidate will be someone who has all the qualities listed above, that’s not likely to happen.

The key is not to give up too fast, rush into closing the position, or hire someone just because they use buzzwords and famous names on their resume.

Also Read: Why you should never intern at a startup (especially e27)

Take your time, meet candidates both in a formal setting and invite them out for lunch, talk about things outside work and, most importantly, trust your gut.

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

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