Year: 2020

With an ambition to become the Alibaba of the Philippines, e-commerce enabler Great Deals announced early this week a US$12 million financing round from Navegar, the largest private equity investor in the country.

It is rare for a company in the Philippines to raise such a massive sum in the very first round of funding, but for CEO Steve Sy, it is a well-deserved feat. He founded Great Deals in 2014 after spending many years as an entrepreneur in the retail and e-commerce sectors. He identified a glaring need to enable entrepreneurs like himself to succeed in the internet economy.

Also Read: 5 Filipino startups are giving Lazada, Shopee a run for their money, defying expectation

In this conversation with e27, he talks about the country’s e-commerce industry and Great Deal’s roadmap.

Edited excerpts:

You have worked in the retail and e-commerce industry before starting Great Deals. How has the industry grown over the last few years?

I entered this industry in 2012 during its infancy stage when the penetration was shallow, and the chance of even small merchants dominating the online retail world was very high. I have seen e-commerce’s hyper-growth in the last few years.

Now, merchants need to find a strategic partner to help them succeed. As a ripple effect, our company has been growing a hundred per cent year on year.

Why did you go for a single investor for this funding? What is the synergy with Navegar? How much stake did you dilute this time?

Rather than an investor, we wanted a strategic partner that would help us grow in the right way. I believe that with Navegar’s support, our company will propel to better heights. I diluted only minimum stake.

You aim to become the Alibaba of the Philippines. In what sense — as an enabler or a marketplace? Do you have B2C e-commerce arm?

We are having what we call the network externality effect. Aside from Great Deals, we are also pioneering companies that will soon be a vital part of the digital economy.

Also Read: How top e-commerce platforms are fuelling Philippines’ online economy

We booted a live-streaming service company, a farm-to-kitchen marketplace business, and we also have an SME for drop-shipping in the country. Each of these initiatives is interrelated in the e-commerce industry.

Our ultimate goal would be to contribute to the development of the ecosystem.

E-commerce is still just 2 per cent of the the country’s GDP. What is holding back the growth of this industry?

I believe that our poor internet infrastructure is holding back its growth. Despite this, a recent study shows that we Filipinos spend the most time on the internet.

The e-commerce sector in the country has everything in place for massive growth. What is still lacking? Is there still a trust deficit between e-commerce and consumers?

We lack two things: better internet infrastructure and low logistics cost. Due to regulations, unemployment and other factors, the Philippines has the highest logistics cost, and we are evaluated as the worst performer, not just in ASEAN but also globally.

In a country like the Philippines, poor traffic conditions often affect the timely delivery of products. How do you manage to address this challenge? What is your strategy?

Our plan is to set up several fulfilment centres across the country. The warehouses would be closer to the major cities, and consequently, the deliveries would be faster.

Do you also partner with offline firms to help them go online and tap into the e-commerce opportunity in the Philippines?

That’s what we do. We work together with offline business or firms with a weak online presence to help them tap into the e-commerce space.

Some of your clients, like Zilingo, have a foreign presence. Do you handle their overseas market requirements as well? How does it work?

We’re only operating nationwide, but we have been having talks regarding this possibility. We are not closing our doors.

What are the top three items consumers prefer to buy online?

Most probably, they are diapers, milk and electronics.

What are the unique characteristics of the Philippines’s e-commerce consumers? What do they expect from an e-commerce platform?

I can share three characteristics of a Filipino consumer. First is our preferment for cash-on-delivery payment method. People feel safer and find comfort in the thought that they would receive their package because it is unpaid.

Also Read: Great Deals raises US$12M from Navegar to be the Alibaba of Philippines

Second is the peak purchase time. Most buyers place their orders during their lunch period, which is between 12 pm and 2 pm.

Lastly, shoppers like reverse showrooming. It is when people visit brick-and-mortar stores to browse items but purchases online where they have access to discounts and free shipping. Those are the typical consumer behaviour right now.

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From Baidu to Meituan, Chinese tech firms to donate millions to support the fight against coronavirus [South China Morning Post]

The recent outbreak of the mutated coronavirus in Wuhan, China has prompted many Chinese tech giants to pledge to donate the cause for fighting the virus.

Among the big guns are Qihoo 360, which pledged to donate US$2.2 million in medical resources while AI firm iFlyTek said it donated US$1.4 million and US$72,000 worth of medical supplies, as reported by South China Morning Post.

Search firm Baidu and food-delivery platform Meituan also have pledged millions of yuan towards medical research, supplies, and support for frontline health care workers in the battle against the coronavirus epidemic.

Baidu, specifically, said that it had established a US$43 million epidemic and public health security fund to “support efforts including screening and research and development (R&D) for cures of diseases such as the new coronavirus, as well as for longer-term efforts such as public health and safety information dissemination”.

Meituan also set up a separate US$29 million fund dedicated to caring for the nation’s medical staff. Initially, it will focus on assisting medical staff in Wuhan, the epicentre of the coronavirus outbreak, with funds going toward medical resources, humanitarian help, and ensuring that medical staff is supported in their daily lives.

Alibaba Health, Alibaba’s health care arm, has made its telemedicine services available to residents of Hubei, the area most affected by the plague, encouraging patients who have minor illnesses to consult online doctors for free as hospitals in the area feel the strain.

Also Read: Together with Ping An, GrabHealth starts to show its teeth in Indonesia

Online healthcare Pingan Good Doctor also set up an antivirus command centre with access to free online consultations for all users in China.

After announcing a lockdown for a country-wide quarantine, battles to contain the spread of the virus continue, which has so far caused some 80 deaths with 2,800 confirmed cases in the country.

UK welcomes Huawei to build 5G network’s parts despite US security concerns [Wall Street Journal]

Chinese telecom company Huawei is given permission to build noncritical parts of the network in the UK, ignoring Trump’s call to boycott the telecom-equipment vendor stressing on security matters, as reported by Wall Street Journal.

The government has said that Huawei would be given permission to build noncritical parts of the country’s 5G network because Britain’s National Security Council concluded that the security risks the Chinese company presented could be managed.

The security matters in question are that the equipment provided by Huawei could be used by the Chinese state to spy on countries or incapacitate key infrastructure. Huawei denied the rumours.

“Nothing in this review affects this country’s ability to share highly sensitive intelligence data over highly secure networks, both within the U.K., and with our partners,” British Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said.

Many countries are expected to make a decision whether or not they will employ Huawei for its 5G network building, including Germany and Canada.

The UK’s way to contain every possible scenario with Huawei is by banning the company’s equipment from centralised parts of the 5G infrastructure that route data across the network, as well as sensitive locations such as near military and nuclear installations. Huawei will only be allowed to provide more peripheral equipment—such as base stations and antennae that connect the core to consumers’ devices—that is viewed as less of a security risk.

Singapore’s Temasek invests in French DIY home improvement startup ManoMano [SWF Institute]

Singapore’s Temasek Holdings announces that it has led a US$138 million Series E funding round in ManoMano, an e-commerce startup in France aimed at DIY (Do-it-yourself) home improvement and gardening products.

Also Read: The top Chinese smartphone brand, Huawei, just launched a mobile payment service

Other investors in the round are General Atlantic, Eurazeo, Piton Capital, Bpifrance, and Kismet Holdings.

Formed in 2013 by Philippe de Chanville and Christian Raisson, ManoMano has presences in markets other than France, such as in Germany, Spain, Italy, and the United Kingdom. ManoMano raised US$121 million on April 1, 2019. ManoMano Fulfillment is the company’s logistics platform based in Gretz, which was recently launched in November 2018.

Malaysian BigPay adds 3 new international remittance service corridors [Press Release]

BigPay, ASEAN-focussed fintech startup based in Malaysia announces that it has added three new corridors to its international remittance service: India, Nepal, and Bangladesh. The company explained the decision to have access to the three countries is because these three countries have the highest number of foreign workers in Malaysia right after Indonesia, and the amount for some of the highest numbers of outbound remittances in the country.

BigPay’s mission is to democratise financial services across the region by offering a low-cost and accessible way of transferring money to and from these countries is a cornerstone of BigPay and its financial inclusion strategy.

Also Read: Temasek teams up with Swiss firm to launch a US$50M logistics fund in Singapore

BigPay launched its international remittance services in September 2019, enabling users to send money directly from Malaysia to bank accounts in Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, with fixed fees per corridor and competitive exchange rates.

The company said it is currently working on cash pickups in selected markets.

Singapore-based startup SynOption launches FX options trading venue [Press Release]

Singapore-based startup SynOption Pte. Ltd. launched its platform for electronic trading of FX Options this week. An institutional platform, it allows investors to execute FX Options trades by requesting quotes from multiple banks on a centralised venue.

SynOption claimed to be the first firm approved by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) to establish and operate an organised market for a period of 9 months under the Sandbox express framework. The firm has also been awarded a grant by MAS Financial Sector Development Fund as a designated special project.

“SynOption attempts to build a fair platform for trade execution for all participants in the niche FX Options market. We provide an efficient workflow to clients, by getting involved in their entire investment process from idea to implementation while protecting liquidity for banks in an illiquid space,” said SynOption’s founder, Anchal Jain.

SynOption has started onboarding Institutional clients based in Singapore and has gained good traction. The platform has signed up top-tiered banks up as liquidity providers and is rapidly looking to expand its participant base in the next few months.
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Photo by CDC on Unsplash

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It’s no secret: Asians love food, and so when we think about opening our first business, many of us gravitate to it. We may dream of opening our own restaurant, eatery, or cafeteria … depending on our capital. But there is so much more to food than just cooking and serving meals.

The last decade has seen the emergence of foodtech. Most of us are familiar with foodtech services such as GrabFood, FoodPanda, and Lalafood, but the space is much larger than those on-demand food delivery services.

Foodtech encompasses any attempt to innovate a product or service along the food value chain, any of which would be a promising area for Asian founders to create a business around.

Perhaps the easiest way to understand the opportunity in foodtech is to look at the biggest players in the space and see what it is they exactly do.

The prospects are so huge and exciting that the popular online social and copy trading platform eToro recently launched a foodtech portfolio comprised of companies across the space. eToro’s idea, of course, is for ordinary folk to have a piece of the action and be able to invest in what are otherwise large global stocks.

One example from the portfolio is Beyond Meat, which creates meat substitutes that still taste like meat. The company thus targets the unique demographic of health-conscious people around the world who have gone vegetarian for some reason – whether it be for their health, morality, or environment – but still occasionally crave the taste of a good slab of beef. 

Also Read: India-based foodtech startup HungerBox raises US$12M to expand to Southeast Asia

Beyond Meat is an example of innovating the very foods we consume. While some may assume that such products require prohibitively expensive research and development, this is not always the case.

Sometimes it’s just about turning consumers toward a product that is already there, as in the case of some Asian brands that extol the virtues of goat’s milk.

Foodtech for food security

Creating demand for alternative foodstuffs that are as healthy as the incumbent but are nowhere near as popular will aid with food security, one of the sustainable development goals of the United Nations for 2030. As the world population soars past current highs, it becomes even more imperative for foodtech companies to ignite demand (and our appetites) for more sustainable, alternative foodstuffs. If there’s not enough social incentive, there is clearly business value (Beyond Meat has more than quadrupled its stock value in three short months after its initial public offering this past May).

Another telling example from the eToro foodtech portfolio is Danone, a multinational food company that has also been actively investing into foodtech disruptors. The inclusion of Danone is reflective of two major trends in foodtech: The first is the influx of venture capital into the space, which according to a recent article from TechCrunch, made for 459 unique investments in 2017, a serious jump from the 223 in 2015.

The writing’s on the wall: Asian founders who have an idea in the foodtech space will have a serious chance of raising serious venture capital to turn that dream into a reality.

The second trend that the inclusion of Danone points to is the very nature of most foodtech businesses. In most cases, these are not value-add companies, but disrupt the very nature of how restaurants and other food businesses operate.

Take the example of Travis Kalanick, who recently raised US$400 million for his first startup after Uber, known as CloudKitchens. This company creates what it calls “smart kitchens for delivery-only restaurants.” These, in effect, allow food operators to expand rapidly and project themselves into what may have once been prohibitively remote locations. 

Also Read: [Exclusive] Foodtech startup Ai Palette gets US$1M seed funding from Decacorn Capital, others

Since the cost is significantly lower than setting up a consumer-facing restaurant with all its attendant expenses (waitstaff salary, design and decorations, utensils, and so on), food operators can open up more locations at a fraction of the cost. Just as “cloud-based” software allowed companies to save enormously in comparison to on-premise software, “cloud kitchens” will enable food operators to earn more from their menus.

Scaling across a spectrum of possibilities

The foodtech trend is not limited to cloud kitchens. Every stage of the value chain is now being upended, from how food is cooked (some kitchens employ robo-cooks), ordered (some employ touchscreens and other server-less options), sold (many are going with fintech and other cashless solutions), and even marketed – there are an increasing number of digital storefronts that allow food operators to increase their food traffic, such as through user-generated reviews, time- or demand-based discounts, digitized menus, or other high value content.

Clearly, there are opportunities across the entire spectrum of foodtech for Asian founders to create a business that addresses a pressing need.

The fact that these foodtech companies are publicly listed shows the scale available in the space. Not even the largest tech companies have as wide and open accessibility for their consumers and customers. To access Facebook, for example, you need an internet connection, or to use Airbnb, you need a credit card. No such limitation exists in the foodtech industry, which is predicated on finding new ways to serve everyone and more, including the people yet-to-be-born but will further strain our food security over the coming decades. In this view, foodtech is not only a business opportunity, but one for social impact: Your business can reach an unprecedented scale, all while keeping people satiated, fed, and nourished.

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San Francisco-based dating app, The League, aimed at “power couples”, is set for an official launch in Singapore on February 2.

The new dating app focuses to target Singapore’s growing tech and financial markets which attracts a community of “overachievers”, making it the perfect selection, according to the company statement.

Additionally, the island state has recently ranked as third in the world in 2020 Bloomberg’s Innovation Index and first in the world on the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Competitiveness Report showing that Singapore has a great market for working professionals.

Prior to this launch, The League has already been available in 59 cities in the US.

Founded in 2014, the seed-stage startup was created to connect high-achieving individuals with one another, using a selective admissions-based model.

The app also included a League Live feature which will go live in Singapore on February 2. The way this works is that users sign into the feature, and if selected by The League community, participate in three dates on Sundays at 9PM local time with candidates who fit their preferences.

Also Read: An elitist dating app is stoking controversy in Singapore, but is the vitriol warranted?

Both users are also shown an optional ice-breaker question and given two minutes to get a sense of the other person via video. During the conversation, if they “Heart” each other, a match is formed.

The app has also released statistics based on their beta version in Singapore, which boasted a 14 per cent acceptance rate. Out of these, the top professions were founders or co-founders, and manager or director, consultant, marketing executive and project manager subsequently.

Also Read: Why Tinder beats Bumble and the world is still not ready for a feminist dating app

This method of selection is different from the popular “simple swipe only” method used by other dating apps. However, CEO of The League, Amanda Bradford, believes that the strong rollout process is because the app wants to encourage relationships and not one-night-stands.

“We hit a really strong need in the market that wasn’t being met,” said Bradford to TechCrunch. “Literally dating apps launch every day in the app store, but we hit a need for young professionals that want to meet each other and don’t want the one-night-stand brand associated with their actions.”

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Image Credit:  Matt Mariannelli

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gojek reportedly invests in wearable devices startup Zulu – DailySocial

Indonesian ride-hailing giant gojek has invested in local wearable device maker Zulu, according to a report by DailySocial.

Citing sources familiar with the matter, the report named the investment as gojek’s first foray to consumer tech space. The amount of the investment and what the startup is planning to do with it, were undisclosed.

Founded by CEO Nathan Roestandy and CTO Yusuf Syaid, Zulu builds wearable devices for motorcycle riders such as anti-pollution masks and Bluetooth-enabled helmets. Zulu products are exclusively sold on Lazada platform.

Both gojek and Zulu have not released any official statements regarding the investment.

India’s InterviewBit raises US$20M in Series A funding round – TechCrunch

Bangalore-based computer science education programme InterviewBit has raised a US$20 million Series A funding round, TechCrunch reported.

The funding round was led by Sequoia India, Tiger Global, and Global Founders Capital, among others.

With the funding, the startup also announced that it is rebranding its online coding programme InterviewBit Academy to Scaler Academy.

The computer science education programme is aimed at college graduates and young professionals. It implements an income-sharing model (“human capital contract”) which has been gaining popularity recently.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news: gojek partners US ad tech company The Trade Desk to provide advertisers with O2O sales insight

India’s JSW Ventures makes first close of US$49M fund – Dealstreet Asia

JSW Ventures, the venture capital arm of Indian steel and energy conglomerate JSW Group, announced the first close of its new INR350 crore (US$49 million) fund at INR150 crore (US$21 million), Dealstreet Asia reported.

“We will put the first cheque of US$2-3 million, followed by US$2 million more across rounds, for 10-12 companies and plan to invest in four companies a year,” JSW Ventures Managing Partner Gaurav Sachdeva said.

The report further explained that while its INR100 crore first fund in 2016 was entirely backed by the Jindal family, founder of the steel and energy giant, the latest fund is anchored by the Jindals with a 30 per cent commitment of the fund.

The rest is being raised from limited partners or investors in a fund such as high net worth individuals, family offices and banks.

JSW plans to invest in Series A rounds in companies that have already found its product-market fit. They should also have a few investors such as angels and incubators or accelerators on board.

SGInnovate Founding CEO Steve Leonard to leave in May – e27

Singapore government-owned startup builder and investor SGInnovate announced that its founding CEO Steve Leonard would be concluding his term in May 2020.

“The conclusion of my current term in May represents a good time for organisational renewal. Every team moves forward based on fresh ideas and energy, and I’m very confident in the men and women of SGInnovate to continuously bring new capabilities to the deep tech startup ecosystem in Singapore,” Leonard stated.

Prior to his role as the CEO of SGInnovate, Leonard served three years as the Executive Deputy Chairman of the Infocomm Development Authority (IDA), a government statutory board under the purview of Singapore’s Ministry of Communications and Information.

He also serves on the advisory boards of a range of universities and organisations in Singapore, as an independent non-executive Director at SingPost, and AsiaSat, a Hong Kong Stock Exchange-listed commercial operator of communication spacecraft.

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Singapore’s new payment legislation will offer a license for cryptocurrency firms to expand their operations today, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The Payment Services Act (PSA) will offer a regulatory guideline for companies handling activities ranging from digital payments to the trading of tokens such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin.

Additionally, the law will also hand the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) with supervisory powers for cybersecurity risks, money laundering, and terrorism financing.

“The key advantage of Singapore’s new legislation is providing regulatory clarity on new types of payments activities such as e-wallets and cryptocurrency exchanges,” said Nizam Ismail, founder of Ethikom Consultancy, a Singaporean compliance consultancy focusing on helping fintech and blockchain-based companies grow in Asia.

Pak Teng Chow, CEO of Blockspace Asia, a platform for startups and SMEs driven by blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), and deep tech, has also expressed his support for the law.

“This is a great initiative to push out and to make Singapore a market leader in the SEA tech space,” he told e27.

““It will create a higher barrier of entry for companies who want to step in the space to come up with quality solutions and therefore will get rid of all of the bad apples that have been around. It is also great that MAS is giving a time frame for companies to first apply for the license and then to comply with it over time,” he expressed.

Also Read: The next generation of cryptocurrency users: A currency and technology that spans the young and old

According to Chinalysis data, about 40 per cent of crypto exchanges are based in the Asia Pacific region and have accounted for about 40 per cent of Bitcoin transactions in the first half of last year.

Increased investor interest in digital tokens over the past few years has encouraged several regulators to bring the venue under their scrutiny, especially for money laundering and other illicit activities. However, with the new transparent law, Singapore will further attract a pool of investors, founders from the crypto community.

The legislation will “provide regulatory certainty to industry players but, more importantly, it will provide consumers with a clear sense of the players they can trust,” said General Manager Sherry Goh of Luno, a London-based firm who are deemed as one of the first firms to apply for the license.

Alternatively, this will also mean that current crypto firms will now have to spend a considerable amount of money to apply for the new license, according to an undisclosed source.

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Image Credit:  Unsplash

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Less than a year ago, our former editor at e27 released an opinion piece on how TikTok would never measure up to Instagram’s monstrosity, calling the China-born app “cringeworthy”.

But today, the app has grown so rapidly that even on Instagram, users are treating it as this FOMO-inducing trend that one simply has to try. Everybody from your former classmates to celebrities is getting their hands on it. That is certainly the case with TikTok.

I was feeling so tired that when my younger sister came for a visit, it became a welcomed distraction from my routine. She pulled out the app, saying that everybody was doing it, and the next thing we knew we were checking what the hype was about.

We started off from the obvious: The swirl. You do not have to understand why but it is quite big in Indonesia –and it is fun. The swirl is basically you putting your hands up in the air and letting the swirl effect twist your body from head to toe like a tornado or a blender. What makes it laughable is actually the song in the background, which brings us to why TikTok has become more relevant than ever in less than a year.

Live to create

When it comes to music streaming, there is not much left in the digital space except for online and video streaming. Spotify and iTunes are the go-to platforms, and there is always YouTube. But that is all. Also, these places are where artists with access to labels or music production thrive, not aspiring creators.

By aspiring creators, I am talking about the rest of us mere mortals. TikTok arrives just when we are all caught in the “create, don’t hate” virus. We create just to exist, to self-actualise.

So in a way, I get it. I see why it is easy to get hooked on dancing around to songs and be viral. Aside from having fun, the idea is to become creators –and doing it more easily. This goes from average Joes and Janes like the rest of us to content creators such as dancers, chefs, and craftspersons.

Also Read: [Updated] Mobile studio app Musical.ly, Tik Tok to merge into a new app

TikTok’s short duration also helps. Remember the heyday of Vine? How it died on us for lack of distinctive feature aside from its ability to produce snippets? Well, TikTok managed to resurrect it with a better version, completed with Instagram and Snapchat-like filter. It also comes with the option to go as long as one minute.

Let’s admit it, a better era for this kind of entertainment.

How powerfully early TikTok is

My first encounter with TikTok actually began way before it exploded into a phenomenon like it is today.

I read about it when Lil’ Nas’ became a huge deal for having excerpts of his song Old Town Road on a random user’s video, and how it caught waves. The article stated that “turns out, there’s a ‘new’ platform for previously unrecognised artists and how their songs have found a second life in TikTok.” Just like in the case of Lil Nas.

That was the first time TikTok caught my attention as a real, powerful marketing medium that was a novelty, and now it started to take form. We catch up, most certainly, and we can still be an early adopter to promote our content (a.k.a whatever it is we wish to sell online) on TikTok today.

Now I am not the one to advise on how to use TikTok properly (but then again that would be a good, fun content to have). But with the platform seriously growing users, and how it becomes even more relevant to all ages than what we guessed, it is here as the future of digital marketing platform and social media.

TikTok’s market

Social Report states in its article that “TikTok is largely used by people between the age of 16 and 24. This age group makes up 41 per cent of the total user-base. Unfortunately, the social network hasn’t released much beyond this, though it is safe to assume 24-30 makes up another large part of its audience”.

So with these numbers in mind, the Chinese ByteDance‘s most successful products, which acquired US-based mobile studio app Musical.ly at the end of 2017, can only get bigger with time as it started off as the online place where young demographics create stuff such as skits, craft and art, cooking, and lipsyncing videos. These youngsters will get older with time, but their way of finding their entertainment and content online will stick around for quite some time.

As of now, the platform has yet to monetise their contents with ads. But it will get there, just like the past social networks always did. So if you know you can get on board with the trend and your brands or anything you sell online can manage, get on board now –and get on board fast.

Create content with a viral intention first and foremost, as TikTok is all about the virality of your content, to the point others want to copy and recreate their own interpretations. Remember Lil’ Nas’ success on it?

Instagram vs TikTok

Another thing that makes TikTok so powerful is its ability to let people engage and share.

In the case of Instagram’s engagement, it has provided every option there is online for different types of engagement. From feed post and Instagram story to tell minutiae of a life that is more interesting than yours, to Instagram TV for longer, documentary-like videos. Instagram started off as an online gallery and slowly morphed into other things as well to keep up.

Also Read: Why Tik Tok is not a real competitor to Instagram

In the case of TikTok, people have long been predicting, suggesting, believing, and applying the relevance of videos moving forward –and TikTok came along. Unlike Instagram, it is a video-first platform, which leaves no choice for people but to pick themselves up, post their face, and try not think about it too much.

Turns out, spontaneity and short-span content is the future. And it starts today.

Would they be a match for Instagram? I believe the answer is still no. If anything, I think Instagram would add a new feature that has TikTok’s elements in it. Because that is what Instagram has been trying to do all along: To keep us in and not closing the tab on it, ever. So they will eventually come up with something similar, especially with TikTok’s user closing in at 500 million per last year.

In Indonesia, recent news emerged about how the Ministry of Communication and Information Technology resurrected its TikTok’s account despite blocking it once in 2018. The minister’s head of public relations Fernandus Setu has released a statement saying that they did block it but only for a week. It is safe to say that TikTok’s popularity has caught up even with people in politics.

There are different types of people on social media that I have seen. There are the more cynical ones who keep their Instagram posts to minimal; there are also people who just want to have fun and find out their level of influence online. The second group of people increases day by day. So let us do the rough count starting today.

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Image Credit: Harry Cunningham on Unsplash

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Ivan Linn, a music director of Assassin’s Creed Worldwide concert, developed an online platform to bring together classical musicians and create a forum for discussions and exchanging of information.

He, however, soon realised that the industry of classical music isn’t large enough to support its own global community.

“I have always wanted to do something that will be influential to the industry,” he recounts the story for e27. “While I believed that music is a way to express and impact the society and community, I knew that Folkspaper could do something more. That’s how I began my startup journey.”

Folkspaper was launched in late 2019 by a team of three co-founders — Linn (CEO), Musasi Hung (Product Designer), and Alex Wu (CTO). Headquartered in Boston, the startup has one of its co-founders based in Singapore.

Also Read: I tried TikTok out and now I get why it is the future of digital marketing

In its current form, Folkspaper is a community space, which offers its members creative content protection through blockchain technology. Any content created and shared on the platform will be protected and cannot be stolen.

“When it comes to content creation and protection, a question arises: who is the original creator of that piece of artwork, information, music, or video?” Linn says. “In other words, you can upload a piece of original content onto social media, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you are its owner.”

Sharing more details, Linn adds that with the data-anchoring tech, a creator’s work uploaded onto the Folkspaper platform will be able to be anchored to the blockchain network. This would generate a record in an immutable ledger serving as a hard proof that you are the original creator of that work at that time.

“We all understand when there is a transaction uploaded onto the blockchain, you cannot delete, revise, or modify it. Everything is transparent, and every one of us in this world will be able to check those transactions.

With this technology and data-anchoring, we would be able to serve our users, and benefit them when there is such a case where they would have to provide hard proof as to whether or not they are the original content creator,” Linn shares.

The Power of reward

The platform has a feature to reward content creators when they contribute to the community. If one finds another user’s content interesting and likes it, he/she will be able to tip the user directly.

“The platform has a built-in tipping mechanism where users can reward and support the creators that they love with ‘Power’, our internal currency. ‘Power’ can be purchased using your local currency with a credit card, Google Pay, or Apple Pay and spent within the app. The power that you earn can be cashed out into Bitcoin through the PowerStation,” he explains.

Professionals working in different sectors can be Folkspaper’s users, including journalists, freelancers, college students, or academic researchers.

As for monetisation, Folkspaper has a few revenue channels in place. In addition to running ad campaigns on the platform, it also runs a subscription-based content protection programme. The startup also takes a small percentage when users tip each other.

Talking about the challenges Folkspaper is facing, Linn says that it has always been hard to engage the community and foster user adoption when introducing a new product. “A lot of people initially hadn’t even heard about Folkspaper, and especially with its connection to blockchain or cryptocurrency, it can be quite mysterious to our an average user. It took us some time to start getting traction with the community.”

“Another major challenge is with regard to expansion. Even though we have achieved several million impressions and thousands of users on Folkspaper, expanding further is a bit tricky,” he shares.

Angel coming in the form of a cat

Despite being an early-stage venture, Folkspaper has managed to secure an angel round of US$450,000 so far. Curiously enough, the investment came from an unlikely source.

Also Read: Singapore’s new payments law is a boon for the crypto community

“A friend of mine who asked me to take care of his cat ended up being our first angel investor. What happened was that our conversation about the cat turned into business talks. It later turned out that this cat owner was an investor in several other technology products,” Linn laughs.

For the co-founders, the main mission is to create an impact on the industry of content generation and journalism. “When it comes to copyright issues and concerns, there are problems yet to be solved. We believe that by providing easy access to a product, users would be able to register their original work and earn rewards for their content contributions to the community.

We believe that we are entering a new era where people would be able to browse or to absorb information in a new way where content contributed to this community would be compensated and protected,” he signs off.

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The world is mourning the death of 41-year-old retired NBA sensation Kobe Bryant as one of the nine victims of a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, Sunday, January 26. What makes the whole thing even more tragic is that Bryant was riding alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna to a basketball game he was supposed to coach. The father and daughter pair lost their lives in this accident.

After his retirement from professional basketball in 2016, leaving a legacy of five NBA titles, two Finals MVPs, an 81-point game, and 60 points at the final time he took the floor, Bryant made a smooth move to the business and entertainment world. He had even written and produced short animation movie Dear Basketball through his sports-focussed production company Granity Studios. The movie went on to win an Oscar.

In 2013, Bryant co-founded a US$2 billion-investment firm Bryant Stibel with Jeff Stibel, the Web.com CEO and serial entrepreneur, who is known as one of the youngest public company CEOs in America.

This article by The Street stated that the establishment is looking to “provide strategy, capital, and operational support to businesses with a focus across technology, media, and data”.

A remarkable story about the company is that most people would not connect the name “Bryant” in Bryant Stibel to the basketball legend, who managed to keep it that way for five years. The firm is said to focus on three core strategies, which are growth equity, ventures, and value.

Also Read: Great Deals raises US$12M from Navegar to be the Alibaba of Philippines

Describing the investment journey for almost seven years, Bryant Stibel’s team often takes “proverbial long shots” at a variety of businesses with familiar consumer brands.

The businesses in the discussion are a lost-item tracker-maker Tile; Epic Games, the company behind the online game Fortnite, desktop sharing and online collaboration company TeamViewer; Chinese online retail giant Alibaba, Dell Technologies, restaurant-booking company Reserve, and actress Jessica Alba’s wellness brand The Honest Company.

In last year alone, Bryant Stibel had invested in 28 companies, including the now-publicly traded Dell Technologies, Alibaba, and National Vision. The Street further noted that it recently partnered with investment firm Permira on a US$1.7-billion fund called Permira Growth Opportunities.

In 2015, an article by CNN revealed that Bryant was working with Alibaba Group to release the basketball star’s documentary Kobe Bryant’s Muse through its Tmall Magic Box TV in China. The deal also involved working with Bryant to create a new social media platform that brought new avenues of connecting China’s young people directly to Kobe and his philosophies.

Bryant’s most notable investment, however, was his 10 per cent stake in healthy sports drink maker BodyArmor, in which he managed to snag more than US$200 million for his initial US$6 million investment.

Bryant admitted in USA TODAY’s interview that of all his post-basketball ventures, it was the investment firm that became the most satisfying and exciting career win.

Also Read: Executing your mission the Alibaba way

“It’s finding that winning company as an investor,” Bryant told USA TODAY personal technology columnist Edward Baig last September. “Because I always expected to hit a game-winning shot growing up.”

Kobe Bryant’s legacy in the investment world hasn’t been too far-off from his years of experience in the sport. Further noted in the USA TODAY’s piece, Bryant said that patience and teamwork are important in business and investing.

“A lot of time through the course of a game, you may notice a gap in defence or something you can take advantage of offensively. If you attack all at once, you show your hand too early,” he said. “Team sports does a great job in teaching that and how to trust others.”

Finally, Bryant’s advice for anyone looking to grow their money is to “invest in businesses you understand and can get your hands around, and to invest with the right people. You’ve got to have strong entrepreneurs,” he said in an interview with CNBC in September.

“Yes, it’s important to see those returns, right? But it’s also important to have great opportunities, great relationships with our investors, great opportunities with our entrepreneurs to help them grow and put them in situations where they can be successful.”

Rest in Peace, Black Mamba.

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Image Credit: Tokkoro.com/Chisholm Waite

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Messaging app LINE has announced a partnership with Indonesia-based online grocery platform HappyFresh, called LINEMAN to provide users with a grocery delivery service on its messaging platform in Thailand today, according to a press statement. 

Being one of the most popular apps for communication in Thailand, this integration will allow users to have their grocery needs fulfilled within an app which is already installed and frequently used in the region. 

Guillem Segarra, CEO of HappyFresh, stated that the partnership is strategic and a win-win situation for both companies. He believes that HappyFresh can widen its user base via the app and LINEMAN mart; in turn, can provide a solution to assist users with their daily needs.

“This is a strategic partnership between LINE and HappyFresh where we leverage the marketing giant LINE to expand our user base in Thailand while they can launch a complex, operational heavy vertical by integrating our solution into their LINE MAN app,” he said. 

Also Read: Mobile marketing analytics startup AppsFlyer secures US$210M from General Atlantic, opens office in Indonesia

In order to use this feature in the app, users can simply pick out what the products that they want in the app and the HappyFresh will handle both the item-picking and delivery. 

“Our conviction for this partnership is that in bringing LINE MAN’s user-base and hyperlocal marketing approach together with our passion for user experience, we are able to further accelerate grocery penetration and get one step closer to achieving HappyFresh’s long-term vision – to serve every household in Southeast Asia,” Segarra continues.

Happy Fresh itself had recently raised US$20 million in a Series C round led by Mirae Asset Management and Naver, with participation from Line Ventures, Singha Ventures and Grab Ventures. The service is one of the surviving e-grocery services in Indonesia, after the recent crisis faced by Honestbee in its various operations in the region. 

Indonesian ride-hailing giant gojek also provides a similar service in its app.

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Image Credit: nrd

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