A group of tech and investment veterans, including Koh Boon Hwee, Tan Chow Boon and Seow Kiat Wang, have joined hands to launch Altara Ventures, an early-stage VC fund targeted at the Southeast Asian markets.

Other General Partners of the fund are Gavin Teo and Dave Ng.

“We are targeting a US$100M+ fund and are in the process of fundraising,” General Partner Ng told e27. “We look to invest US$3-5 million on an average in pre-Series A, Series A and selectively some Series B companies. We prefer to lead and are also open to collaborating with other funds as co-investors.”

Headquartered in Singapore, Altara aims to invest in the fintech, consumer, enterprise software, logistics, healthcare and edutech verticals.

Also Read: Koh Boon Hwee’s new US$100M VC fund Credence Partners to invest in Series A, B firms in Southeast Asia

The firm plans to support a total of 20-25 companies operating primarily in the Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines markets.

It has already made three investments — Tonik Financial, a digital bank providing consumer banking services in the Philippines; Stashfin, a mobile-first digital fintech providing consumer credit in India; and Senseye, a deep-tech, AI and data science company that provides insights into user cognitive states.

“We want to back passionate founders and entrepreneurs who have strong product and platform innovation, applying technology to solve a large market problem. This is on top of our typical engagement and diligence process for investments selection,” Ng added.

Altara’s Limited Partners comprise a leading financial services institution, a publicly-listed technology corporation and a prominent family office.

The VC firm’s name derives from the English word Altitude and the Bahasa word Nusantara, which is the historical designation for maritime Southeast Asia.

Each of Altara’s five partners brings extensive experience founding, operating and investing in technology startups in Southeast Asia and globally.

Boon Hwee, Chow Boon and Wang are prominent business leaders and serial entrepreneurs in the Singapore ecosystem, with an angel track record of investing in over 100 companies such as Alteon Networks, FreeCharge, Razer, StashAway and many others.

They previously held the roles of senior executives at HP before founding a leading technology company, Omni Industries, which successfully launched an IPO and subsequently exited to Celestica for S$1.6 billion (US$1.2 billion).

The trio also have years of managing private equity investments as Credence Partners.

Teo and Ng are veteran VC investors bringing decades of experience managing venture funds and operating startups in the US and Southeast Asia. Previously, the duo led investments at B Capital Group, where Teo founded the San Francisco office and Ng was a founding director of the Singapore entity, helping to launch its Asian presence.

Also Read: Renowned Singapore businessman Koh Boon Hwee leads Series A in travel startup BeMyGuest

Together, the two invested in several growth-stage companies such as Atomwise, AImotive, Carro, Icertis, Ninja Van in Asia and the US.

Prior to B Capital, Teo invested with Comcast Ventures and managed product at Zynga through the company’s IPO on NASDAQ. Ng was most recently the Head of Southeast Asia for Eight Roads Ventures, a US$6 billion global VC fund backed by Fidelity.

Early this year, three of Altara’s General Partners — Hwee, Boon and Wang — had launched a US$100-million fund Credence Partners.

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Image Credit: Altara Ventures

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From the lush rainforests of the Amazon to the majestic Andean peaks, Latin America’s varied topography and diverse climate allow for a thriving agrifood sector that presents many opportunities to agribusinesses and agritech ventures.

However, despite the favourable natural conditions, the industry still suffers from structural weaknesses and underdeveloped technologies. There is thus a gaping hole to be filled by knowledge-intensive agritech businesses that understand the workings of the agrifood sector in emerging economies.

Southeast Asia’s agritech boom may just hold the key to the development of Latin America’s agricultural economy. While the two regions may be separated by geography, culture, and language, they both share the realities of emerging economies and developing agricultural spaces. The rapidly rising innovations and solutions in Southeast Asia’s agritech space may thus hold much promise for Latin America’s agrifood sector.

Latin America’s thriving agrifood sector

The Latin America and Caribbean region (LAC) is widely known for its diverse climate and topography, which allow it to produce a wide range of agricultural commodities. The region covers more than two billion hectares, of which 38 per cent is used for agriculture. It accounts for almost a quarter of global agricultural production and 23 per cent of agricultural and fisheries commodities exports.

Moreover, it receives 30 per cent of the world’s precipitation and generates 33 per cent of the world’s water. This renders the region a great reserve for both arable land and water.

Agriculture is one of the most important sectors of the economy, accounting for an average of 4.7 per cent of the region’s GDP in 2015-2017 and employing an average of 14.1 per cent of the total labour force in 2018.

The region is a major exporter of grains, sugar, coffee, fruits and vegetables, poultry and pork. However, the region is still mostly untapped, and it faces challenges related to sustainability, productivity, financial inclusion and value creation in a context of low international prices.

According to the IADB, climate change will affect agriculture in various aspects related to atmospheric and soil temperature, decrease in topsoil moisture, sea-level rise, CO2 fertilisation, rainfall patterns, changes in pests and diseases.

These, in turn, will make some areas unsuitable for specific crops and will reduce crop yields, increasing production costs. To prevent and mitigate the effects of climate change, innovation is needed in production practices, irrigation systems, soil conservation, water management, genomics, biological and precision technologies.

Also Read: Why agritech startups will call for the next e-commerce revolution

Southeast Asia’s agritech boom

Agriculture plays a pivotal role in Southeast Asian economies, contributing to almost half of the rural income in the region. From the world’s largest exporters of agri-commodities such as Thailand and Indonesia to the innovation hubs of research and development in Singapore, the region presents itself as a thriving agricultural centre.

According to AGFunder, the agri foodtech startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. The region reported a total of US$423 million invested into agri foodtech startups in 2019 alone, across 99 deals. The biggest deal valued at US$100 million, and YoY investment and deal growth is estimated at 33 per cent and 41 per cent respectively.

A growing number of innovative startups have been paving the way for the advancement and digitalisation of the industry. There are an estimated 100 million smallholder farmers in Southeast Asia, and the booming agritech startup scene has seen the rise of mobile app technology with the potential to aid farmers in utilising and maximising their resources for greater yield.^[9]

One such example is Proximity Designs, a social entrepreneurship in Myanmar designing tech tools at lower prices to help farmers improve farm yields.^[10] Other promising startups include Indonesian agtech firm eFishery that won the international Get in the Ring pitch competition in 2014, and also bagged VC funding of US$15M in its series B round for the development of its smart shrimp and fish feeding system.

DiMuto, an agri-food trade technology solutions platform from Singapore, has also been on the path of expansion with its recent entry into the Latin American market.

Fertile ground for partnership

As two emerging economies where agriculture plays a key role, Southeast Asia and Latin America are prime for partnership in the agritech space. At first glance, the two regions seem to be unlikely partners separated by geography, language, and culture.

However, take a closer look and we will find more similarities than meets the eye. Both regions have similar population sizes of close to 650 million, shared economic realities, and rapidly growing internet penetration rates that are fueling the accelerated adoption of new technologies.

In the agricultural space, a vast majority of farmers in both Southeast Asia and Latin America are smallholder farmers. Obstacles such as limited access to irrigation, the effects of climate change, occupying marginal lands, limited access to machinery and technical inputs, and lack of financial and insurance support plague farmers in both regions.

Also Read: A comprehensive guide to Indonesia’s agritech ecosystem

However, while Southeast Asia moves full steam ahead with agritech innovations and the adopting of technologies to try and address some of these issues, Latin America continues to trail behind. While agtech in Southeast Asia has received much attention and funds of up to US$423 million, agritech in Latin America continues to represent barely a per cent of overall VC investment in the region and remains one of the most undercapitalised sectors^[13].

As technologies continue to develop in Southeast Asia and more innovative startups enter the space, there is great potential for increased cooperation with Latin America. The shared similarities underscore the adaptability of digital solutions across both regions, and the rapid pace of arigtech developments in Southeast Asia holds much promise for the industry in Latin America.

Overall, there is much to be gained on both sides from increased cooperation. Southeast Asia possesses the resources and technological know-how that can advance Latin American society, while Latin America presents itself as a widely untapped market for expanding Southeast Asian businesses with a wealth of raw materials and human capital.

These conditions lay the fertile ground for a partnership between the two regions that may not seem so unlikely after all.

Soft-landing for agtech business expansion

Expanding to new markets presents a wide range of risk factors and obstacles such as cultural differences, language barriers, local business practices, unpredictable regulatory and political environments, valuation challenges and ever-changing tax regimes.

These should not be taken lightly, as the costs of not addressing them properly can outweigh the benefits to be earned. Few companies actually succeed at going global.

In a study done by the Harvard Business Review, the average ROA of companies selling abroad was minus 1 per cent and it took them 10 years to reach more than one per cent with only 40 per cent of the companies averaging more than 3 per cent.

To avoid ill-fated strategies, companies should consider deploying their business through soft-landing, which aims to minimise the risks of international expansion by supporting a controlled launch with limited resources and connecting the company to a network of local stakeholders.

Also Read: How COVID-19 will pave the way for deeper tech cooperation between Latin America, Southeast Asia

This process is best led by a local partner known as a soft-landing facilitator, who is experienced in helping companies scale in the new market.

Some of the benefits of soft-landing for agritech ventures include:

Cost reduction

When entering a new market, the cost of entry can be significant and many times it can exceed business budgets. According to the World Bank no Latin American economy ranks among the top 50 best places globally to do business, and this is in part due to high costs of entry that include paperwork, establishment fees, cultural barriers, and legal procedures among others.  Therefore, having reliable information and the support of a local partner can help avoid cost overrun.

Cultural adaptation

The cultural and business practices in each market determine the way

of doing business. Informality is one aspect of the Agrifood sector in Latin America that needs to be overcome. Language, communication peculiarities and specific local knowledge within each country are keys for a successful landing into a new ecosystem.

Time to market

The time it takes for each company to position itself within a new market will

depend on the level of preparation it has and the knowledge of the entry barriers into the new market. The soft-landing facilitator has local resources that accelerate the operational, commercial and legal establishment, providing access to strategic information, decision- maker contact networks, and talent.

Deployment and reputation

Having a well-reputed local facilitator vouching for the new entrant in the Agrifood sector is crucial when it comes to accessing institutions, local businesses and potential customers. This is why having local professional teams becomes critical for business development and facilitates integration from the beginning.

Peer to peer exchange

Facilitating the direct discussion between companies in the agrifood industry either looking to expand to Latin America or already engaged is part of a fluent and collaborative ecosystem.

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There are several exciting milestones that FlowerStore has achieved within the past few years.

Yes, the COVID-19 pandemic has been challenging for the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem. But for some, it actually opened up doors of opportunities. In May, as Metro Manila underwent a lockdown as a consequence of the global health crisis, online flowers and gifts platform FlowerStore Group actually managed to pull off a successful Mother’s Day campaign in May.

As most offline flowers and gifts retailers were closed, the startup seized this opportunity and managed to deliver tens of thousands of flowers to customers.

In August, at the height of the pandemic in Southeast Asia (SEA), the company announced its second office in Vietnam, a market that they have entered in 2019. Starting off in Ho Chi Minh City, FlowerStore expanded its presence to Hanoi.

“We see that from a demographic point of view it is pretty similar to the Philippines. But at the same time … the marketing costs are actually way lower than Indonesia, and the labour costs are way lower than Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia,” FlowerStore founder Saul Molla says.

In this interview with e27, Molla explains how the company sets itself apart and breakthrough a market in a challenging time.

Also Read: BloomThis CEO Giden Lim on the power of flowers and working with a co-founder spouse

A budding potential

FlowerStore Group was founded in July 2018 in the Philippines with the goal to bring affordable flowers to the emerging market.

This year, the company says that it sold out its 20,000 Valentine’s Day delivery slots one week before February 14. The milestone has encouraged the company to increase its Valentine’s Day slots to 100,000 next year.

“Being able to scale up at this level while generating significant positive FCF has always been a challenge in the industry due to high customer acquisition costs (CAC) and promotions to attract consumers. FlowerStore’s strong P&L due to its direct access to the producers will continue to help the company achieve its goals,” it explains in a press statement.

It also stated that its revenue continues to surge while generating positive EBITDA and Free Cash Flow (FCF) unlike traditional fast-growing e-commerce companies in the region.

According to Molla, the company’s focus on pricing and customer experience help them to get ahead of the competition. In addition to providing affordable flowers and gifts that were sourced directly from farmers and suppliers, it also tries to adjust to unique user behaviour in the market.

For example, cash-on-delivery (COD) remains a popular payments option for many markets in SEA. But considering the fact that most customers are buying flowers for gifts, FlowerStore recognises that it would be strange to have the flowers delivered to the recipient’s door and the delivery man asks for the payment.

“Basically, what we do is send one rider to pick up the cash from the customer … And then with another rider, we deliver the order –it is all about making it a seamless experience for the customers. This is something that has received very good acceptance from the market,” Molla says.

Also Read: FlowerAdvisor is building a million dollar business in flowers and gifts

Blooming to the future

Prior to founding FlowerStore, Molla was previously known as the CFO and Head of Business Development of Lazada Philippines, a position that enables him to get a good idea of the e-commerce scene in the region –and what it takes to win it.

With a background in aerospace engineering, he came to the Philippines in 2016 from Spain. He cited boredom of the European market as the reason for his move.

“Flowers and gifting are vertical that is already established in the developed markets. But it’s still completely unattended in SEA, without any market leader,” he explains.

Molla credited his experience at Lazada for enabling him to generate strong customer demand for FlowerStore within the first two years of its operations –especially with floral and gifting e-commerce industry being highly underpenetrated in the region.

In 2019, FlowerStore raised a US$1.5 million seed funding round led by “local family offices with large stakes in the agriculture and real estate industries.”

The company used the funding to fuel its Southeast Asia expansion plan and to strengthen its gifting category capabilities.

This year, FlowerStore plans to continue its regional expansion plan.

“We have reached some kind of a sweet spot which we actually weren’t expecting until now … we are at a scale that allows us to have a kind of flywheel of a business, a business that is generating money, that allows us to continue expanding,” Molla says.

“I thought that there was also a good moment, in the sense that it is good to bring kind of positivity to the community when, just a while ago, I was reading about another e-commerce in Indonesia closing down,” he continues.

Today, the company has over 150 team members and delivers thousands of orders across the Philippines and Vietnam.

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Image Credit: FlowerStore

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Singapore-based proptech startup Ohmyhome has announced its official launch in the Philippines, its third market after Singapore and Malaysia.

The company’s full suite of property services, including professional real estate agents and mortgage to renovation, will be available in the country.

It said in a press note that the expansion will bring in several benefits for Singapore property buyers and investors, including an avenue for sourcing real-estate investments in the Philippines.

Also Read: Can SEA’s proptech come back to its pre-COVID-19 glory? Experts speak

Conversely, with the Singapore listings accessible to house hunters in the Philippines, Singaporean homeowners and landlords will be able to reach potential tenants and kickstart negotiations earlier.

As part of the expansion, Ohmyhome will be applying its Machine Learning formula to in-market data to ensure “greater accuracy” for matching potential homebuyers and home tenants, while offering more granular insights into the property market.

Ohmyhome targets to have 2,000 listings and 40 properties transacted in the first quarter of its launch.

Started in September 2016 by sisters Rhonda and Race Wong, Ohmyhome  connects buyers and sellers directly at no cost. The platform boasts of features such as ‘ShoutOut’ and ‘Open House’ to enhance the overall user experience.

Operating on a hybrid model — a do-it-yourself (DIY) platform and fully-fledged agency services — the company aims to tackle traditional property pain points that are rampant in the Philippines real estate industry such as the lack of transparency, unreliable agents, slow feedback, and fragmented property services.

The burgeoning property market in the Philippines holds great potential. As per a recent report, Manila is the world’s top housing market for price appreciation at 22 per cent annually.

In Manila alone, the condominium saw a 11.9 per cent increase in annual average prices in the last three years alone. Metro saw a record 54,000 condominium units sold with steady year on year growth.

“We believe that the Philippines property market will remain resilient as there is a huge unmet demand for housing and investors are still interested in property for long-term investments. When Community Quarantine measures are lifted in the Philippines, we expect to see a surge in property deals arising from pent-up demand from buyers,” said CEO Rhonda Wong.

Also Read: How proptech startup iMyanmarHouse remains profitable despite COVID-19

Ohmyhome launched in Malaysia in July 2019, as part of its expansion plans in the Southeast Asia region.

Since its founding, more than 5,100 homes have transacted through Ohmyhome which represents a combined value of over S$1.6 billion.

In September 2018, Ohmyhome raised US$2.9 million in Series A round of funding led by Golden Equator Capital.

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Image Credit: Ohmyhome

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SmartClean Technologies, a startup providing IoT- and AI-powered solutions for the cleaning industry, has secured SGD3.7 million (US$2.7 million) in a pre-Series A funding, co-led by SEEDS Capital (the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore) and an unnamed environmental services company in Singapore, its Founder and CEO Lav Agarwal told e27.

Other strategic investors who joined the round are Ecocare (a leading hygiene company in Indonesia) and co-CEOs of Oneberry Technologies (a security automation company in Singapore).

This round, which was closed earlier this year, brings Smartclean’s total funds raised to date to US$3.4 million, which also includes venture debt.

In addition, the venture had raised government grants in the early days of its operations.

Agarwal further added SmartClean is currently in the process of raising US$10 million in Series A from several investors, including a large VC firm with operations in India and Southeast Asia. This round is expected to close in March 2021.

The beginning

SmartClean was founded by Agarwal, Abhishek Mishra (PhD from NUS), and Stella Aw.

The idea for Smartclean occurred when Agarwal and Aw met in late 2016 to discuss the challenges faced by the cleaning company Spotless, which was co-founded by Aw in 2012.

Also Read: This on-demand cleaning startup adjusts with the needs of Singapore’s market

“We quickly realised that lack of tech adaptation is a major challenge and we sensed huge potential for a groundbreaking digital transformation in the cleaning industry,” he said.

The duo brought this idea to Agarwal’s friend Mishra and SmartClean took shape.

Launched in early 2017 at CapitaLand’s IoT accelerator programme, SmartClean is working on “reimagining the next-gen cleaning industry” and building IoT solutions which will monitor spaces, learn from the facility data and autonomously run cleaning operations of properties with a team of cleaners and robots.

“We are on a mission to fundamentally change how cleaning is done today. We equip facility management and cleaning companies with data-driven solutions to deliver the best,” Agarwal claimed.

A sidelined industry

According to Agarwal, cleaning and security form two of the biggest segments of facility management. While the security industry is tech-driven with automated surveillance and command centres, cleaning operations are still done manually, with cleaners going around and doing physical checks and cleaning on a scheduled and periodic basis.

“Cleaning is also seen as a dead-end job and hence there are very high attrition rates, thereby becoming a challenge for a cleaning operator to continuously train and deploy new cleaners,” he said. “It’s also hard to standardise cleanliness since there is no real-time visibility, and cleaners are only identifying issues during periodic checks.”

This is where SmartClean’s solutions assume significance.

“The system uses advanced data analytics, Machine Learning and predictive algorithm to compute usage and cleaning requirements, which are used to send alerts to cleaners with detailed work instructions and used by managers to plan resources in advance. This helps the industry to move from scheduled to on-demand operations, increasing productivity by over 30 per cent and improving service quality, resulting in net savings for the organisation,” he explained.

SmartClean is also rolling out a one-stop SaaS platform, called Matrix, for MSME cleaning companies to digitise their back-end operations, including workforce management, contract management, audit and payroll.

The clientele

SmartClean was commercially launched after a year-long trial in 2019 and has  expanded to both commercial and public properties, such as Mount Elizabeth Hospital, Jewel Changi Airport, State Court, NParks, Bus interchanges, and JTC Summit.

It also has ongoing projects in Singapore, India, the UAE, Indonesia and Malaysia, and is starting off in Hong Kong, Australia and Thailand.

Currently, the startup is employing 40 people and planning to grow this number to 80 by the end of this year.

The market size

The cleaning industry is a US$300-billion industry globally, of which 60 per cent is organised commercial cleaning segment. The industry employs around 50 million people and manpower drives 80 per cent of the cost.

Also Read: Singapore’s Solubots unveils self-cleansing disinfecting robots

About 1.2 million people are involved in cleaning operations in India alone, with a total market size of approximately US$10 billion.

Did COVID-19 hit your business?

“Well, cleaning is an evergreen and recession-proof business. In COVID-19 times, the need of cleaning and hygiene has only gone up. As cleanliness and hygiene gained priority, something that was good to have, became a must to have, and so did our solution,” Agarwal replied.

He also shared while SmartClean is seeing good growth, it has been facing challenges commercialising in low-labour cost markets like India, as it’s hard to justify the ROI.

“So, we have worked on market-specific pricing with sensor-as-a-service model which eases the procurement and justifies a positive ROI from almost day one,” he concluded.

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Image Credit: SmartClean

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Malaysia-based digital payments startup MyMy Holdings has raised over US$2 million from Koperasi Tentera (KT), one of the oldest co-operative banks in the country.

This takes MyMy’s total funds raised so far to US$2.9 million, valuing it at US$12 million.

The fresh capital will be used to introduce new digital financial services to its users, including dividend pay-outs, digital accounts, e-wallets and multi-currency solutions.

Also Read: Malaysia’s central bank grants approval in principle to fintech startup MoneyMatch

“With this large capital injection from KT, we will seek approval for an e-Money license from BNM to operate in the coming months. This is the first step in our journey towards securing one of Malaysia’s highly sought-after Digital Banking Licenses due to be released in 2021,” said Joe McGuire, Co-founder of MyMy.

Founded in 2018, MyMy is a digital payments startup that aims to remove traditional costs and hidden fees associated with financial services in Malaysia. It currently has 160,000 members.

Co-founder and COO Kishore Samuel positions MyMy as not simply an e-wallet but as a “financial services that combine modern technology with traditional values”. Yet is ambiguous on how exactly MyMy plans to do that.

“We aspire MyMy to be Malaysia’s first unicorn and shariah-compliant digital bank,” he told Fintech News Malaysia.

Ever since the onset of COVID-19, global fintech industry has seen an  accelerated growth. While organisations are adopting fintech to increase their efficiency, others are simply adapting to it because of the changes caused by the pandemic.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: SEA leads fintech funding in APAC in Q2; Expect more investments, jobs despite COVID-19: Singapore minister; Vertex invests in Tjetak

MyMy is not the only company benefitting from the shift in trend. Malaysia ia not new to the fintech industry as there have been many players who have come and gone in the region. Some of them include GHL, MoneyMatch, Axiata Digital and more.

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Image Credit: MyMy

 

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Listen, to be an entrepreneur, you truly have to be crazy on some level. Anything else in life that has a 95 per cent chance of failure. You probably wouldn’t do. Generally spending years of your life. And millions of dollars of someone else’s money when you fully comprehend that most startups fail? Sure, that sounds like a good idea to you.

The reason for this is that if you are truly an entrepreneur in your blood. You have no choice but to create, even if that means you will most likely fail. For example, there are some instincts you have as a person. That you are going to need to put aside if you want to succeed at the entrepreneurship game.

1. Don’t jump right in without sufficient research

The one thing most entrepreneurs have in common is passion. You have an idea; You are excited by the idea and its potential to change the world. And all you want to do is take that idea and turn it into a product.

Want to know what sounds a whole lot less appealing to you right now? Taking a deep breath, not building the product, and spending a month doing in-depth market research and competitive analysis. Guess what? If you skip this part; boring as it may be; you’ll regret it later. So then fight that instinct to run with the idea. And instead see who else had the same idea, who has tried it, who failed; who succeeded, and why.

2. Embrace competition

Once you have embraced the need for competitive analysis, now ask yourself; what is your goal here? Your instinct, as a human being, is to feel unique, to convince yourself that no one else is like you, no one has tried this, no one has already built what you have been dreaming of building.

You basically need to do the opposite of that. Build yourself a comprehensive landscape of companies in your space. Make that landscape as full as possible. Your goal here is not to convince yourself there is no competition. It is to understand that there is, which means there is a demand for your idea. If others have tried it, then you can either do it better than they, or alternatively, you can go back to the drawing board, which means you have essentially dodged a bullet by not simply building something that already exists.

Also Read: Moovaz acquires GetVan to bolster its tech-powered relocation business

3. No one likes to be wrong, but you might be

As you do your research and become more of an expert on your domain, speak to people, get feedback, look at data, and be prepared to accept that your assumptions were actually wrong. That doesn’t mean you need to call it quits, but a pivot might be in order. That’s never easy because, after all, this was your baby, but as an entrepreneur, knowing how to be wrong and move on is an absolutely mandatory skill.

4. Not everything you do has to be scale-able

Paul Graham wrote a famous essay entitled Do Things That Don’t Scale. You want to build a sustainable business, one that grows consistently, and the thought of going door to door to interview people or pick up the phone and call your customers doesn’t exactly scream scalability.

Fight that thought in the early days of your venture and do things that don’t scale, because the only way to reach millions of people is by first getting tens or hundreds of people to care.

5. Understand that you might have to close up shop

This is the toughest instinct you need to fight as an entrepreneur. You are most likely not a quitter and so reaching a conclusion that it’s time to call it a day is the last thing you are used to doing.

A good entrepreneur knows when it’s time to take an objective look at the numbers, the market, and the competition, and realize that the time has come to move on.

Also Read: NTUitive’s new programme VB18 will help Singaporeans get paid while building a business

As many have said before me, failure is that only if you don’t extract lessons from it. Looking from a failed startup can become your biggest asset in your next venture, but sometimes you just need to know how to quit.

Like I said, you have to be crazy to be an entrepreneur, but let’s not forget the famous Apple ad.

“Here’s to the crazy ones … because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do.”

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The article was first published on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

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This article is published as a part of a partnership with Future Food Asia. ProAgni is one of the 11 finalists of the US$100,000 Future Food Asia (FFA) 2020 Award to be hosted from September 21-25.

While global protein demands continue to rise, the animal protein industry is often entangled with issues of sustainability, biosecurity, and ethics. As an increasing number of consumers are taking matters into their own hands by seeking safer, more sustainable, and ethical food choices, there is a clear gap that livestock producers are failing to address.

It’s no surprise that antimicrobial resistance is on the rise when taking into account the growing prevalence of antibiotic consumption in livestock farming. In regions such as Southeast Asia, for example, the lack of policy implementation and infrastructure perpetuate this issue.

Antibiotic use in farm animals has become a structural problem in the industry, as it is directly harmful to human health, and the consequent antimicrobial resistance poses a threat to the economic sustainability of the farmers.

Anti antibiotics

ProAgni, an Australian bioscience startup, is addressing this problem head-on. With a mission to eliminate the use of non-therapeutic antibiotics in intensive livestock production, ProAgni has successfully developed its patented antibiotic-free nutrition range ProTect that optimises digestion.

Their feed additive technology has been developed to influence microbial fermentation and optimise animal performance, such as weight gain and health, by delivering the key types of energy that the animal can utilise. This has led to significant improvements in productivity, while maintaining animal health safety, thus providing an alternative to antibiotic use for growth promotion.

High steaks

The co-founders of ProAgni asked themselves: how do kangaroos thrive and survive on so little food and water? And produce little or no methane? What if farm animals could do the same?

They were inspired by the possibility of reducing methane emissions from ruminants whilst using less grass, water, and time and remove the use of unnecessary antibiotics to contribute to improving the economics and sustainability of farming.

Also Read: Hunger for no hunger: How Agrisea grows rice in the ocean to address food scarcity

Co-founder Fiona believes their combined efforts at ProAgni could change the status quo of the industry where there’s waste, wasted time, money, and resources. She believes that adopting their technology means more efficient meat production with fewer emissions and antibiotics and that the technology can be adapted to have applications in agriculture in Western and emerging markets.

The biggest achievement moment for ProAgni was witnessing that the product performance exceeded their initial expectations and was supported by positive feedback from producers and strong sales growth. Another milestone was proof that they could shelf-stabilise obligate anaerobic bacteria.

Fiona believes that as a finalist at Future Food Asia, ProAgni will be able to meet like-minded people who are passionate about change in the food supply, toward triple bottom line solutions.

Mooving on …

ProAgni’s ProTect product lines have been commercially available in Australia for the past two years, where the products have been scientifically and commercially validated. What keeps Fiona up at night is the fact that the industry is not adopting change rapidly enough and is doubling down on solutions that are not sustainable.

But this only fuels ProAgni’s visions as they continue to collaborate, create collective value, and accelerate the adoption of innovation for sustainable food production.

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Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) has often been regarded as one of the most lucrative industries and for good reason. In 2018, over US$60 billion was invested in CVC deals.

That number returned a 100 per cent increase from the previous year and represents 23 per cent of the total calculated capital invested in represented VC firms. It is no surprise that CVC puts up these impressive numbers: it is an easy and symbiotic way to develop business interests, expand your network, and see tangible results in a short time.

These results can be seen through new integrated solutions, foreign business opportunities, and growth in general assets.

Many CVC ventures end up largely profitable for the larger corporation as well as the smaller startup. This is because working together allows both organisations to develop themselves in a way that is positioned around each other.

As the relationship develops, this results in financial return and expanded partnerships. In some instances, the larger firm can even acquire the startup if it is well integrated into the larger business environment.

Corporate venture capital, at its core, solves a problem. The scope and intensity of the problem can vary but the bottom line is that CVCs address and mitigate some internal business challenges while finding solutions to other problems that exist through various business areas.

The why behind corporate venture capital

According to Bloomberg, it is estimated that over 70 per cent of capital invested in CVC is directed through the San Francisco Bay Area. This is because the Bay Area still holds the innovation hub of the world. However, for those outside the Bay, it can be difficult to have executive partnership conversations without a local anchor.

With venture capital being such a “people industry,” building and maintaining relationships is one of the most, if not the most important, aspect to be successful.

As a CVC, it is important to go into the venture with the mindset of building synergetic relationships. This is because CVC is always a two-way street. As a part of a larger corporation, it can be easy for the startup to be overtaken with the corporation’s larger disposable resources and facilities.

Also Read: These Kazakh startups are gearing up to dive into corporate innovation waters and beyond

However, this often causes the startup to fail. The CVC Partner needs to play umpire and protect both the needs of the startup and the company they represent.

It is important to maintain authenticity behind both companies while looking for ways to grow together. Avoiding these pitfalls allows for a symbiotic relationship between the startup and corporate partners so that those pre-established internal relationships will let you hit the ground running, and is why successful ventures within a CVC can quickly scale in market and industry respectively.

Establishing CVC governance

When starting to think about running a CVC practice, keep in mind who you will be reporting to. We at 10X Innovation Lab had the chance to interview HP Tech Ventures’ Partner Mitchell Weinstock who has a background in the hardware industry and has three successful startup exits.

Mitchell notes that where your group operates changes the behaviour of the CVC. Sometimes the CVC organisation will report directly to the CEO, CFO, or CTO, and each will have a different governance style. When bringing a startup forward, the CVC team should know the answers to questions such as:

“Who is this project benefiting? And who is providing the funding?”

At different stages and levels of CVC engagement, the people who are supporting the startup project will be different.

This will also affect the other times you will closely work with a specific part of the organisation at large and how they will respond to the CVC group. Ensuring a regular cadence of communication in your chain of command is critical. You need to constantly be aligned with the current thinking and be ready to adjust your investment thesis if the leadership team changes direction.

Part of that is deciding upfront if you are purely investing for strategic intent and financial gain takes a back seat to gain insights for the organisation, if they are equal, or you are acting more like an institutional VC and focusing on financial gain.

A governance structure is also important for a variety of financial reasons. If you are reporting to the CEO, you tend to have greater flexibility in your decision making and funding. CVC funding can be done from a variety of sources.

Depending on the size and purpose behind the venture, the funding may come directly from the company, such as when a single LP fund where the company is the sole limited partner, or it may come from an off-balance sheet account where the funding is not affecting the business units.

Before even starting a CVC practice, Mitchell recommends that you go to the people that will be overseeing the potential venture and align with the strategic visions they have for the company.

Being able to tailor CVC initiatives that revolve around these objectives will allow you to layout a road map for what kinds of potential partnerships you are looking for and create an investment thesis that both startups and other venture entities will understand.

Creating a focus

You might be wondering how to scale down your initial list of CVC opportunities. An investment thesis will keep the team aligned and focused on what is strategic to the company.

When looking at startups Mitchell recommends that you look past the product idea and look hard at the team behind the solution. He added, “The teams that most often win are not those with the best product but those with the best execution.”

Also Read: 5 things startups should know about Corporate Venture Capital

Invest in teams first. Think about the characteristics of a good business partner and know that it may take years for the product to develop and mature to the point where the company can engage in a partnership.

Many CVC opportunities for HP Tech Ventures developed over a long time. Take your time and consistently reevaluate the maturity of the product and team. Don’t give up on them because startups pivot and change over the various stages.

It helps to start with a big funnel of deal flow contacts and then narrow down your potential opportunities to match your investment thesis. Don’t eliminate opportunities just because they don’t match one of your criteria.

Take the time to thoroughly evaluate each business venture and determine whether you see a potential of collaboration in the future. Mitchell points out that some of his most successful opportunities have been from people or places that he did not initially consider as a likely source of good startups.

Landscaping CVC through COVID-19

Amidst the coronavirus, those that operate through international markets are easily able to connect with anyone around the globe. One advantage of being able to meet online is that it is easier to find a common time to sit down and chat. Another one is that those small cultural disparities, which are often overlooked, allow for smoother communication.

By creating a good network right now during COVID-19, you will set up a strong infrastructure for creating syndicates of investors who will support corporate venture capital investors in the coming years. This infrastructure will allow you to assert yourself into the venture capital world and you will be able to carry these networks into real-life collaboration.

You will need to be more creative as an investor or an entrepreneur because of the global working phenomenon caused by the pandemic. Many events where investors and investees regularly come together have been forced to be postponed or cancelled to protect people’s health and safety. Despite this, Mitchell suggests that there are still so many opportunities.

Investor conventions have moved to an online platform so now you have access to thousands of presentations and pitches that you would not normally be able to see because of time and travel restrictions. Go online and find conferences that pertain to your industry or horizontal.

Finally, as you build a pipeline of prospective startups and VCs, have regular readouts of the funnel status with your management team. They need to know when you are getting close to closing so they can prepare all the funding stakeholders for funding requests and to ensure that your internal sponsors are committed to the investment.
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Despite booming sales accelerated by COVID-19, e-commerce players have taken growth for granted at the expense of consumer experience, according to new research.

Within Singapore, over a third of consumers (39 per cent) said they are less than satisfied with their digital commerce experience, citing delivery costs, product prices, and delivery time as their top three concerns.

Titled Into the Light: Understanding What has Changed for the ASEAN Consumer During COVID-19, the study was conducted by data content and social research agency Blackbox Research and consumer intelligence platform Toluna.

Also Read: Why brands fail on e-commerce and what they can do about it

The report analysed current sentiments, expectations and behaviours of 4,780 consumers across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Singaporeans using more but feeling worse

Yashan Cama, International Commercial Director of Blackbox Research, said the study confirmed a significant change in consumer behaviour in recent months driven by an increasing necessity to shop online.

The report found that Singaporean consumers reported a spike in online spending in response to COVID-19, with 63 per cent of those surveyed now spending more online, and the total online spend for the average Singaporean consumer increasing by 31 per cent.

However, the findings also suggest that that while major e-commerce brands are enjoying higher usage rates, this growth has come at the cost of greater scrutiny from consumers.

For example, while brands including Shopee (52 per cent), Qoo10 (41 per cent) and Lazada (39 per cent) are widely used by Singaporeans, consumer satisfaction with Qoo10 and Lazada falls on the lower end, while Shopee only performed average on the spectrum.

Cama said that consumer frustrations about service quality could make or break major brands.

Also Read: How shopping sites performed during COVID-19 in Singapore

“We expect some of these cornerstone brands to experience a shake-up in the coming months if these existing problems are not quickly addressed. Consumers will only become more discerning in future. With 5G technology on the verge of transforming platform capabilities, current market leaders may wake to find themselves no longer at the front of that queue if they don’t address concerns and work to deliver a more frictionless experience.”

However, Cama added that this presents Singapore with a unique opportunity to act as the innovation incubator for brands to develop best-in-class e-commerce platforms and services to address these newfound challenges.

“Singapore has always been an important market for both global and regional brands due to its strategic location, as well as its developed financial and legal system. We foresee Singapore becoming increasingly attractive as a tech and innovation hub, as trade tensions and hostility between markets like the US and China continue. Singapore has every potential to become the testbed for new e-commerce players as they look to achieve a greater understanding of consumer sentiments — within Singapore and the region,” Cama noted.

Local businesses emerge as pandemic heroes

The report also identified key trends as a result of the pandemic, notably a shift in consumer sentiment towards local brands. 78 per cent of Singaporean consumers said they were more likely to support local brands in the future, driven by a desire to strengthen their local communities and economy.

Also Read: How Shopee uses AI, data to build a marketing strategy that suits changes in user behaviour

When asked to identify brands that they are pleased or impressed with during the COVID-19 crisis, Singaporeans named homegrown players such as Sheng Siong and Fairprice as their top local brands, and overall the respondents listed at least three local businesses in their top five.

“‘International’ might be on the verge of becoming a dirty word,” said Cama. “Local brands have truly stepped up to the plate during the pandemic, as demonstrated by the key roles these two grocery heavyweights have played during key milestones such as Singapore’s circuit breaker period, and their ability to manage customers and meet their needs in the best possible way.”

“The resurgence in national pride can also be attributed to consumers looking to support their own economy. They are increasingly choosing to shop local over international. International companies will need to reassess their brand portfolios and seriously consider how they can localise their brands to reflect the values that matter most to Singaporean consumers,” he explained.

Home becomes the new headquarters

According to Cama, COVID-19 is not only changing how and where consumers are spending their money, but it is also shifting how people are going about their day-to-day lives, which will have a tangible impact on future consumer behaviour.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, homes in ASEAN have emerged as the headquarters for learning, working and socialising. An overwhelming 95 per cent of Singaporeans are happy working from home, and the majority aren’t missing going to the movies or shopping at retail outlets,” he said.

“Consumers are not rushing back to their old habits, so this new sense of life revolving around the home hub means companies need to rethink how they build this into the consumer experience in future. These changes go right to the heart of consumer behaviour and require innovative approaches across the board from property developers, landlords, employers, through to retailers,” he shared.

Also Read: How Pomelo tackles the problem of high product return with its O2O retail experience

Commenting on the significance of the findings, Cama said that the study has shown that the pandemic has unequivocally shifted how we identify as consumers. If businesses fail to adapt, the stakes are high. Any negative interaction with a brand, particularly in times of crisis, can have longstanding effects on his or her sense of trust and loyalty.

“In order to build resilience, brands need to keep a real-time pulse on customer preferences, and at the same time reimagine customer experience for a post-COVID-19 world, with care and connection at the forefront. Organisations today have an obsession with data. This is not a bad thing. But only by choosing to value customers as more than digital units or data points, will brands emerge successful,” he concluded.

Blackbox Research and Toluna carried out an online nationally representative survey of n=4,780 across six countries, aged between 18 to 60. Stratified random sampling was applied across key demographic and geographic variables to ensure representative coverage. The survey was conducted in June 2020.

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