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

Agrisea was initially built to solve the UN Sustainable Development Goal 2, No Hunger. In 2018, when we started our process, as founders we both thought it was ridiculous that hunger could still be so prevalent throughout our society. As we grew and became the company we are today, we realised we held a unique opportunity to change the very fabric of our food and agricultural system.

A complete overhaul with sustainability as a core focus of agricultural development. Together we built a vision of the agricultural system that integrates planetary longevity with sustainable resource management and promotes ecosystem integrity. All of these components work together to solve world hunger and provide permanent food security for all of our futures.

We see Agrisea an ocean agriculture company, as the gateway to a truly sustainable future. To us, we can all be a part of Agrisea.

Growing rice in the ocean

Agrisea is developing oceanic salt-tolerant crops by identifying the genes in organisms such as mangroves and seagrasses that allow them to activate salt tolerance and thrive in the oceans. Rice, for example, has these same genes, and technology encourages the expression of these genes to create crops that have gained the ability to grow in oceanic salt conditions.

The genetic design is based on four key pillars that have been individually proven through in-depth academic research over the past 70 years. These four pillars manage the salt concentrations between our plants and their environment. The company is currently commercialising its technology by licensing it for specific crops to agriculture companies to grow.

As Agrisea scales, we will focus on the supply of agricultural goods, e.g. staple crops – rice and alternative protein sources – soybean and mungbean, by deploying our own farms in coastal waters as a means of sustainable food production. Now, more than ever, our second phase is ever important to replace the demand generated for alternative protein sources that taste excellent as we move away from high-density livestock production.

From rural England to the salt deltas of Vietnam

Agrisea started as an idea in a bedroom of a small village in the rural North of England. Through the friendship and vision bound by Rory and Luke, Agrisea has evolved into an international brand and company. One of our greatest achievement came as the graduation from IndieBio, the world’s most successful biotech accelerator programme.

Four months in the heart of San Francisco, meeting goliath corporations, monumental investors, and building a network spanning continents.

Also Read: Bringing innovation to the table: Why foodtech is the next frontier in Southeast Asia

Expanding from those four months and our final event of the IndieBio Demo Day, where we presented to 3,000 people split between our physical crowd and virtual viewers, Agrisea has continued to grow and build the foundations of an agricultural system that will change the fabric of the food industry.

Some highlights include our confirmed plan to create a pilot plot site and field lab on the coastline of Grand Bahama Island to support circular economies in the Caribbean and building relationships with key seed distributors across ASEAN, including starting our first contract to convert Vietnamese rice varieties for application in the Mekong Delta.

Inroads into Asia

Amid all the concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic, it is thrilling to be a part of a community working to build the world of post-COVID-19. We are excited to begin partnering with representatives from the entire Asian region and elated to be part of the Future Food Asia 2020 cohort of finalists. It is an honour to be recognised for our role in the world we are trying to build. It provides us with the opportunity to integrate deeper into the Asia wide innovation network that is critical for us to build the world we so often refer to.

A vision to grow more with less

Agrisea’s vision and supporting technology have the potential to redesign the industry. The fundamentals of agriculture have existed for 12,000 years without strong deviation from the existing model. Agrisea changes the fundamental assumptions to redesign why and how we produce our food.

We believe that food production does not have to come at the cost of our natural world and is proving that we can produce more food, with fewer resources and in locations previously considered infertile all while supporting the integration of the human and natural worlds for planetary longevity.

Also Read: 5 foodtech startups in Asia Pacific to watch in 2020

But Agrisea is such a colossal vision and disruptive technology that for us it is so important to work with environmentally and culturally conscious partners to ensure the best implementation and adoption of our technology across regions and borders.

We are also very aware of the public’s perception of new technology; we wish to clearly educate and share our vision so that everyone from the grower to the consumer can understand and align on why Agrisea exists and why we want to bring about sustainable change for the world.

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There is no denying that the COVID-19 pandemic is a turning point for global business. From international travel and workplace culture to international trade and supply chain logistics—COVID-19 has impacted virtually every industry. With serious disruptions causing a pronounced business slowdown around the world, it is becoming apparent that the old way of doing things is over, including for Singapore.

A long time hub of economic activity within the Asia-Pacific region, Singapore is home to numerous MNCs, an international talent pool, and much of the region’s shipping activity —it’s a city made for the globalised economy. However, as markets face a global pandemic, Singapore has entered recession following its worst quarter on record with a -42.9 per cent contraction in the economy (on an annualised, seasonally adjusted basis). This is almost double that which followed in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis.

It is off the back of this dramatic change in Singapore’s circumstances that Trade and Industry Minister, Chan Chun Sing, has announced his belief that Singapore must now chart a new path, focusing on agility and resilience.

COVID-19 and the frailties of global trade

COVID-19 has resulted in increased trade restrictions on a global scale, which —combined with the deepening geopolitical tensions at play between the US and China— have dramatically slowed international commerce and laid bare the frailties of the global trade finance sector and international supply chains.

Already before 2020, the complexities of global trade were well-known, with cumbersome numbers of participants to transactions, arduous financial settlement systems, and outdated means of information exchange. However, the old fault lines of the globalised economy are under increasing pressure.

Also Read: Time to pivot, not panic: The startup advantage to dealing with a pandemic

For Singaporean businesses, this means that now, more than ever, leveraging technological solutions to reorient and strengthen their operations will be vital to their success. Minister Chan Chun Sing is correct to call for a new path for local businesses; in this “new normal”, it will be digitally-empowered organisations who emerge as leaders. Also, it is new technologies, such as blockchain, which will serve as the vital underpinning of the evolution of business’ technological solutions.

Evolution of business and digital solutions: Blockchain’s role

As Singaporean businesses seek to orient themselves within the new normal, digital adoption should be top of the agenda for decision-makers and business leaders. In particular, how to embed emerging technologies into their business to streamline operations, reduce costs, and better manage information.

This will prove incredibly important as the rules of business continue to change and the scale of value chains continues to expand.

Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT, or more commonly termed as blockchain) is uniquely capable of reducing the complexity of elongated and complicated value chains needed to operate on a global level, particularly in the realm of international trade. Allowing parties to check that every link in a supply chain network is authentic, without the need of an intermediary, blockchain can be used to record, track, monitor, and transfer assets in a cost-efficient and transparent manner.

As businesses seek to reduce costs, become more resilient, and overcome challenges presented by a changing international business landscape, blockchain promises to provide faster and more affordable means of conducting financial transactions, storing and transferring information between parties, maintaining data security across industry value chains, and facilitating increased transparency.

The technology also creates an entirely “trust-free” environment and provides a new model for the way organisations interact with one another and operate internally.

One example of the profound impact which blockchain can have upon the supply chain is the Siam Cement Group (SCG), the largest building material company in Southeast Asia. SCG, in partnership with Siam Commercial Bank and Digital Ventures, has been operating a blockchain procurement platform to ensure that data from throughout the procurement process is secure and immutable for easy auditing, analysis, and invoice verification while decreasing the risk of fraud. Built on R3’s Corda enterprise framework, SCG’s Procure-to-Pay solution has cut the company’s average procurement processing time by 50 per cent, while reducing costs for the business by approximately 70 per cent.

Also Read: Will South Asian tech startups thrive in the new normal?

With such impressive early returns, it is safe to say the blockchain integration can have a transformative effect on business sustainability and long-term success.

Singapore’s future as a global leader

The good news is that Singapore is no stranger to digital innovation. In fact, the island nation enjoys a reputation globally for being forward-thinking and technologically daring. Already, financial actors such as DBS, are implementing blockchain technology to digitise cross-border financial processes while the Singapore Fintech Association (SFA) announced a partnership with R3 in July 2020 to provide startups with the blockchain tools needed to drive digital transformation.

Additionally, the local regulatory environment is highly supportive of technological experimentation, with government startup accelerators, grants programmes, and guidelines in place to help steer local enterprise towards more streamlined, future-proof business models.

Looking ahead, a business will be defined by a renewed premium on resilience, transparency, efficiency, and collaboration. By bringing together fragmented processes, information silos, and value chains onto a decentralised, secure, permissioned blockchain —many of the challenges presented by the new normal may be overcome.

Just as digital platforms disrupted trade in the past, COVID-19 will set similar change in motion and we are likely to see the replacement of physical offerings and ways of working, with digital. The success stories of tomorrow will be digitally empowered, lighter, and more agile than the corporate giants of today.

Also Read: Why the new Singapore variable capital company is a fund structure game changer

Although Singapore sits at the top of the global trade and business sectors, decision-makers must remain cognisant of intensifying competition to emerge from the current pandemic as the leader of the new economy.

The time for continued innovation and digital transformation is now. 2020 has shown us that no company or market is safe from disruption. If Singaporean enterprise wishes to remain competitive, it will need to change its way of thinking and adopt the new tools required to overcome new challenges.

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SIRCLO, an Indonesian company providing e-commerce solutions in Indonesia that help brands sell online, announced today it has closed its US$6 million Series B funding from a host of investors, including East Ventures, OCBC NISP Ventura, Skystar Capital, Sinar Mas Land.

“We plan to allocate this injection of funds to help strengthen our internal infrastructure and to keep serving the growing number of businesses that are entering e-commerce, including clients who have trusted our services,” said Brian Marshal, CEO and Founder of SIRCLO.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, the Indonesian Ministry of Information noted that online shopping transactions have increased by up to 400 per cent. The crisis also accelerates e-commerce penetration.

As per SIRCLO Insights’s 2020 e-commerce report, the company saw 12 million new users as stringent social distancing measures were on in Indonesia.

Also Read: E-commerce website builder Sirclo secures funding from East Ventures

Since its establishment in 2013, SIRCLO offers four business solutions — SIRCLO Store, SIRCLO Connexi, SIRCLO Chat, and SIRCLO Commerce.

SIRCLO Store is a software platform for creating template-based online shops for small to medium-sized local businesses. It is now planning to improve SIRCLO Store to provide an integrated platform to access all of its digital platforms on various sales channels, such as brand.com, marketplace, and chat commerce.

SIRCLO Connexi offers an interactive dashboard to manage sales from various Indonesian e-commerce platforms.

SIRCLO Chat presents a conversational commerce platform in the form of an interactive dashboard that is integrated with the WhatsApp Business API. Through its end-to-end channel management solutions, SIRCLO Commerce helps facilitate the entire online sales process, from stock management, ordering, product delivery, to customer service.

SIRCLO’s latest merge

In May 2020, SIRCLO officially merged with ICUBE, a local agency that provides e-commerce technology and solutions. This allows the two companies to combine thousands of their clients and to help more businesses and brands carry out an effective and efficient digital transformation.

Following the merger, Muliadi Joe, Founder and President of ICUBE, took over the position of CTO at SIRCLO, and former CTO Leontius Adhika Pradhana was appointed as Chief Product Officer.

Additionally, in June 2020 SIRCLO appointed Danang Cahyono as Chief Operations Officer.

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Image Credit: SIRCLO

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E-commerce saw a surge in transactions in both essential and discretionary items in the past few months in Singapore, as the COVID-19 pandemic forced most people to stay at home, according to a joint study by iPrice Group and Similar Web.

Driven by high-value online orders nationwide, Singaporeans spent an average of S$113 (US$83) during the January-June 2020 period.

The average basket size increased by 51 per cent when compared to the same period last year, the study finds.

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

Given the current situation in the island state, iPrice and SimilarWeb also updated the Map of E-commerce report to shed light on the biggest developments from the top e-commerce platforms in Singapore.

Data reveals that e-commerce platforms in Singapore experienced a two-digit growth (23 per cent) in total web visits (desktop and mobile web) throughout the first half of 2020.

This signifies a strong consumer confidence in e-commerce retail and further growth in the digital economy.

Based on the overall e-commerce traffic in Singapore, five of the top e-commerce players that emerged are Shopee, Lazada, Qoo10, Amazon and EZBuy.

Shopee led the pack

Shopee was the most visited platform in the city-state as of Q2 2020. The e-commerce firm saw a tremendous increase of 82 per cent from Q1 to Q2 2020, garnering nearly an additional five million in average visitors in Q2 2020 alone.

The surge was potentially driven by Shopee’s constant marketing initiatives to promote and help value-driven shoppers during the circuit breaker period. These initiatives included ‘shop from home’, ‘4.4 flash sale’, ‘super mart month’, ‘6.6-7.7 great Shopee Sale’.

Lazada played emerged second with a per cent rise in traffic when compared to Q1 2020, recording an average of 8.5 million visitors as of Q2 2020.

The Alibaba-owned firm retained a strong presence in Singapore as the platform acquired 23 per cent of the web market share, indicating its healthy growth in winning both customers and merchants.

Lazada also aims to stand out from its competitor through its strong brand connections in engaging livestreams. Moreover, it assisted more brick-and-mortar stores to be part of its online platform.

Its online supermarket delivery business, Redmart, reported a 4x jump in sales since Singapore implemented movement restrictions in early April.

Also Read: Alibaba-backed Lazada acquires online grocer RedMart

Additionally, among the most important initiatives to support future business strategies was the recent appointment of Lazada’s new CEO as the company aims to double down on tech investments in each market.

Given Lazada’s growth in numbers, its Group CMO, Mary Zhou, believes Lazada’s Super Brand Day (SBD) promotions are 2nd only to its 11.11 sales day, where 26 brands recorded sales of over $1 million across the region in 24 hours.

Dark horses

Qoo10 is another home-grown company that experienced string growth amidst the pandemic.

As the top-3 e-commerce players successfully maintained their positions in Singapore, a surprising element emerges in the form of an international e-commerce giant Amazon. With its strengthening presence in the market since Q4 2019, Amazon seems to be penetrating Singapore successfully.

Amazon was thriving during COVID-19 as it was the forth most visited e-commerce platform in H1 2020. Its traffic surged to an average of 3.6 million from 2.8 million.

Also Read: Is China the new global e-commerce leader?

Its strong performance could probably be attributed to the closure of many of  its international retail stores not available in the city-state, providing consumers with a variety of options across the globe.

Given its constant growth and maturity in the e-commerce sector, Amazon may catch up fast especially with its innovations to increase its market share in the upcoming quarters.

Securing the fifth position as the most visited e-commerce platform, EZBuy had garnered over 63 per cent increase of monthly visits from Q1 to Q2 2020.

Specialised in bringing wide varieties of consumer products from overseas, the company recorded 1.68 million in average visitors as of Q2 2020.

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Image Credit: Shopee

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Vietnam’s NextPay aims to raise US$60-100M in pre-IPO private placement; The e-payments firm is in talks with 5 investors in from the US, Japan, Korea; It plans to use the money to expand locally and also to Indonesia, Myanmar; NextPay is the result of a merger between VIMO and mPOS. DealStreetAsia

Indonesia’s business packaging specialist Tjetak raises Series A led by Vertex; The startup uses tech to bring specialisation into the US$6B plastics and paper packaging market; Clients can track their real-time production progress on the Tjetak.com platform. e27

Indonesian social commerce startup KitaBeli raises seed funding from East Ventures, AC Ventures; It plans to expand into 2-4 cities; KitaBeli is a social commerce platform where users can invite their friends to form groups to receive discounts from suppliers of FMCG products. e27

VNG sues TikTok over alleged copyright infringement in Vietnam; The local tech giant accuses the Chinese app of using audio tracks owned by its subsidiary Zing without its consent; The lawsuit wants TikTok to remove all the songs taken from Zing records and seeks for damages of over US$9.5M; As of August TikTok has 10M users in Vietnam. e27

Expect more investments and good jobs despite COVID-19, says S’pore minister; The minister for Trade and Industry (MTI) says the government will implement new programmes to bring in investments, support local entrepreneurship; MTI will help firms in biomedical sciences and electronics to invest and expand. Channel News Asia

Insurtech startup Waterdrop raises US$230M Series D led by Swiss Re Group, Tencent; Waterdrop distributes insurance policies online, provides crowdfunding to fund illness treatment, and operates mutual funds; The firm claims that the insurance mall has enrolled 100M users and its crowdfunding service has raised US$4.6B from 320M users. e27

The Alliance to End Plastic Waste, Plug and Play announce 11 finalists  inducted to their startup programme; They are from Australia, India, Indonesia, Myanmar, UAE; The programme is designed to focus on collecting, managing, and sorting plastic waste; recycling and processing technologies; and creating value from post-recycled plastics. e27

One size doesn’t fit all: Why consumer personalisation is a must for all businesses; There is no longer a lineage to a transaction alone; It’s personalised scalable options that are the new norm and is being largely driven by the customer’s need for instant gratification. e27

The changing face of healthcare in a post-pandemic world; With COVID-19 halting physical consultations, the point of care for most consumers has shifted to the digital realm; Digital health tools are enabling physicians to treat patients from safe distances while providing new efficiencies to the healthcare system. e27

SEA leads fintech funding in APAC in Q2; Fintech investments in APAC grew 9.1% to US$1.4B in Q2 2020 v/s Q1, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence; Of this, SEA and Australia drew in US$455M and US$369M, respectively. Fintech News

Malaysia’s B2B fintech firm JurisTech acquires financial products comparison platform iMoney; This announcement follows reports of iMoney’s largest shareholder iSelect exiting the company by selling its investment back to one of the founders for a “nominal value” due to uncertainties caused by the pandemic. e27

How Ant Group turned into the Alibaba of Chinese finance; Ant’s evolution into the Alibaba of finance has been fuelled by a desire to claw back customers who began using WeChat more as it broadened out from a messaging service to an online platform for services of all sorts. Nikkei Asia Review

The DNA of a successful early-stage entrepreneur; Entrepreneurs are made as opposed to born; They do depend on the socioeconomic status of the family they were born in; However, if one is intelligent and hardworking it is likely that they will eventually acquire knowledge and build a network through their education and work experience. e27

Finding love in the pandemic-stricken world: How online dating has changed for the better; Video-based dating sees a rise in SEA; There was a slow-down in the number of paid users for dating apps but new sign-ups for premium membership picked up as the life is returning to normal. e27

How 5G will empower startups and SMEs in the new normal; At a basic level, 5G offers lightning-fast speeds, low latency, and the capacity to carry a massive number of connections simultaneously; One area that holds tremendous promise is healthcare, specifically patient applications that are traditionally performed in hospital settings by health specialists. e27

SEA firms looking to biometric tech to be more secure; Fingerprint recognition is currently the most common type of biometric tech with many people accessing their mobile phone, banking apps, unlocking doors; Facial recognition, palm-vein detection solutions are also being explored. Tech Collective

Venturing into China: The challenges and key success factors of localisation; Besides standard market segmentation and targeting activities, cultural differences is another dimension that needs to be considered; China’s complex cultural landscape proved to be a challenge for foreign entrants; Different cities need to be treated differently. e27

What innovation looks like in a pandemic; UNDP’s Global Strategy Lead Giulio Quaggiotto says governments are focused on building high-profile tech startups rather than achieving economic or social benefits through innovation; They should look at overall societal outcomes, which is not simply saying we generated 20 unicorns, but to actually say we reduced inequality. GovInsider

Eduardo Saverin on the world of innovation past Silicon Valley; As for whether companies think about creating offices in Silicon Valley, absolutely if it fits the requirements of that particular business; The Valley is a tremendous enabler, but it’s also challenging because for talent, you’re in competition with a wide array of heavily funded companies. TechCrunch

Global spending on AI expected to double in 4 years: IDC; The CAGR for the 2019-2024 period will be 20%; Two of the leading drivers for AI adoption are delivering a better customer experience and helping employees to get better at their jobs. Newsbytes.Ph

MDEC launches initiative for youths in digital economy; #YoungCreators will provide an opportunity for young and budding content creators to learn how to leverage digital platforms as a means to upskill, empower creativity and generate income. HRAsia

Investment tech won’t solve systemic wealth gaps, but it’s a good start; Exposure to new wealth-building tools and financial literacy — in a tech-powered, millennial-friendly way — can help solve the barrier-to-entry problem and open up access to more stable investments. TechCrunch

Malaysia’s Securities Commission inks fintech co-operation agreement with OJK Indonesia; It is aimed at facilitating info sharing on emerging trends and regulatory developments in fintech, provide joint innovation project opportunities and facilitate referrals of fintech businesses seeking to operate in each other’s jurisdiction. Fintech News

Vietnam aims for 100K digital tech firms by 2030; By 2025, the nation hopes to achieve 70K-mark with a workforce of 1.2 million; Digital tech companies are expected to have revenue growth 1.5-2 times higher than the country’s GDP expansion rate and export growth at 10-20% per year. OpenGov

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Growing up in the steel city of Jamshedpur (east India) in the 2000s, Rohit Jha was frustrated with the poor internet connectivity in his locality. He carried the frustration with him until he went to Singapore for higher studies after completing his schooling in 2007.

On his very first day at the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Jha was astonished by the high-speed internet connectivity on the campus and the content and collaboration that came with it.

“It was revolutionary,” Jha said about his experience at NTU. “We wanted to offer such an opportunity and experience to everyone who wishes to push our civilisation faster and further. That was the inspiration to start Transcelestial Technologies.”

Founded in December 2017 by Jha and Dr Mohammad Danesh, Singapore-based Transcelestial is building a space laser network to “deliver a step-change in internet connectivity globally”.

Also Read: How 5G will empower startups and SMEs in the new normal

The startup has developed a device, called Centauri, which provides a wireless distribution network between buildings, traditional cell towers, street-level poles and other physical infrastructure.

With the size of a shoe-box, the device weighs less than 3kg and is capable of delivering fibre-like speeds to customers, claims Jha. It is a rapidly-deployable, low-cost and high-speed solution, which can be used in dense residential areas that require bandwidth upgrades.

Two versions of the device are available — 1 Gbps Full Duplex (4G & Enterprise ready) and 10 Gbps Full Duplex (5G-ready).

“Last-mile connectivity is a big challenge in countries like India where extremely complex land rights issues prevent high-speed fibre deployments and ownership at low cost,” he says.

Education is one sector which has born the brunt of slow internet connectivity. Students and generally those who come in that age group have a huge consumption of content, which puts a lot of pressure on university networks. Most schools and universities don’t see this as a priority. Hence, they don’t invest better internet infrastructure.

Also Read: The proliferation of 5G will transform businesses and societies: Here’s how

This is where Centauri assumes significance. “Using Centauri Wireless Laser Communication, a high-speed dedicated infrastructure could connect main telecom servers in the city to student campuses. This can happen within a few days at a fraction of the cost that goes into deploying dedicated fibre infrastructure.

The device can also interconnect various buildings, street furniture and hostels for increased local collaboration, local streaming of classes and lectures, as well as opening up doors for 5G, self-driving cars and other testbeds for students to learn from,” he claimed.

The beginning

The Transcelestial team

Jha met his co-founder Mohammad Danesh at Entrepreneur First’s first batch in Singapore. After several brainstorming sessions, the duo set up Transcelestial in December 2017 with a pre-seed round.

“We then raised one of the largest seed rounds (US$1.8 million) of that time in Southeast Asia to build the best team globally to address this technology, develop the first version of the core capability and a product, with which we could go to market for early commercial validation,” he shared.

In Q4 2019, the pair decided it was time to scale up the team to put the product in the hands of many telcos, internet service providers (ISPs) and enterprises worldwide.

Also Read: ‘Asia Pacific is rich in innovation’: Airbus Ventures Partner Lewis Pinault

For this, the firm reached out to several VCs and successfully raised a US$9.6 million Series A round, which was led by EDBI and Wavemaker Partners, with participation from Airbus Ventures, Cap Vista, Partech, and Tekton Ventures.

The underlying tech

Centauri is sold along with a network monitoring and management software and is used to transmit extremely high-speed data, matching that of fibre up to a certain level, Jha brags.

“The underlying technology that carries data is a laser light beam. This is the same technology used inside a fibre cable to carry data. Our effort has been to take this technology out of the confines of a fibre cable and make it reliably transmit internet data wirelessly between two Centauri devices (one acting as a transmitter and another receiver). The data transmission follows traditional fibre optics protocols and can support all kinds of traffic as it is a Layer 1 technology,” he said, sharing more details of the product.

The device, when used as part of a telecom network or enterprise network, generates certain network-level information which can reveal the status of the connectivity on a large scale. The software is used to monitor and manage such a network, he detailed.

“We can help telecom companies rapidly set up high-speed cell tower networks (especially for 5G) and for enterprises on their internal networks,” said Jha, who holds an Engineering Degree in Electrical and Electric Engineering.

The price of the device depends on the volume of devices ordered. Usually, a telco deploys 1,000-1,500 cell towers every year in an average-sized country.

“From a price point perspective, it is commercially competitive to existing options for transferring data (fibre, microwave antenna, etc.) which are either slower or more expensive at our current capabilities. So it’s affordable even though it is a super new technology,” he added.

Jha also revealed that the company also has requests coming from individuals to buy the device for personal use.

Currently, Transcelestial has a presence in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and South Korea. It plans to go deeper into the remaining Asian markets, as well as target global markets which have similar issues in fibre connectivity and poor last-mile internet distribution.

Centauri and 5G rollout 

As Singapore getting ready to roll out 5G, Transcelestial claims Centauri can help rapidly accelerate the process because it takes less than 10 minutes to set up compared to fibre, which could take a lot of time to plan and coordinate.

“Deploying a 5G network will require a lot of last-mile connections, as it is much shorter radius technology than 4G,” Jha said.

Elaborating further, he said 5G is a much shorter distance (mmWave) technology in a radius of coverage than 4G and requires near Line of Sight from device to tower. If a 4G tower can cover three to five kilometres, a typical 5G tower should cover something from 500 metres to one-kilometre maximum (which will be even lesser in a dense urban building scenario).

“In Singapore, the government has chosen to build a 5G standalone network, which brings in all the benefits of 5G (high-speed, low latency, massive IoT, network slicing) but it also means a huge amount of infrastructure costs (roughly 3-5x increase in cell tower sites due to shortened radius of coverage),” he revealed.

For this, Telcos will have to spend a massive amount of money on new towers (5G radio + tower + rooftop rental) and backbone (usually, fibres in most places since you need a minimum of 10Gbps connectivity to every 5G radio).

Also Read: How Circles.Life aims to leapfrog Singapore telcos by appealing to internet-savvy users

“In Singapore, fibres go to most buildings. But to get a 5G network dense enough, the telcos will need to deploy on-street furniture, shophouses, street lamp posts, etc. All of this will incur massive costs and lots of time (it takes usually ages to get permits in Singapore to dig roads) if fibre is used,” he said.

“Transcelestial’s Centauri helps offset that massive additional cost and time of fibre rollout for SG telcos. 5G can hence be rolled out significantly faster and with much scalable CAPEX to telco and end customers,” Jha claimed.

With 5G becoming the new buzzword around the world, companies like Transcelestial could play a crucial role in making it the rollout faster. But can it make this tech affordable to the masses?

Let’s wait and watch.

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Image Credit: Transcelestial Technologies

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Australia-based Afterpay, a ‘buy-now, pay-later’ platform that facilitates e-commerce between retail merchants and customers, has acquired EmpatKali, which operates a similar service in Indonesia.

The financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

When contacted EmpatKali’s Co-founder Jamie Camidge told e27. “Southeast Asia, especially Indonesia, is massive and a fast-growing market, and it represents a unique opportunity for both firms to grow together.”

Also Read: 500 Startups invests in buy-now-pay-later services startup Split

Started in 2018, EmpatKali is a payment solution that allows consumers to shop and pay in four equal instalments with no interest. They can do shopping at its merchant partners, both online and offline.

Camidge claims that the startup has 150 merchants on its platform. Afterpay’s acquisition will further boost its growth in the region. “We want to get on with the current growth and acquired more merchant partners.”

Founded in 2015, Afterpay allows shoppers to receive products immediately and pay in four simple instalments over a short period of time. The service is free for customers.

Afterpay is offered by more than 42,500 retailers and is used by more than 6.6 million customers globally.

Its services are also available in New Zealand, the US and the UK where it is called Clearpay.

As per a Financial Review report, Afterpay is adding 20,500 new customers a day and plans to expand into offshore markets – with Canada and select Asian countries next on the itinerary.

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Image Credit: EmpatKali

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Indonesian Communication Ministry introduces Startup Studio Indonesia

The story: As a way to accelerate digital transformation, the Ministry of Communication and Information of Indonesia (Kemenkominfo) will host Startup Studio Indonesia, an intensive programme for ​an early-stage startup​ to scale its business. This will be the third project initiated by Kemenkominfo after Gerakan Nasional 1000 Startup Digital in 2016 and Nexticorn (Next Indonesia Unicorn) in 2017.

The programme: The Startup Studio Indonesia targets startups that are in Angel to Pre-Series A funding stage, including those who were formed through Gerakan Nasional 1000 Startup Digital, so these startups can scale up faster with various supports that focus on product and team acceleration, fundraising strategy and growth marketing validation, as well as technology development support​, and sharpening ​business skill​.

The program will run for three months with intensive coaching and mentoring every week to make sure the startups participating hit the Key Performance Indicator determined in the beginning.

The program welcomes applications from August 18 to September 4 through its website ​.

Indonesia’s The Shonet launches social commerce to help fashion, beauty industry survives

The story: Indonesian fashion social commerce startup The Shonet launches its social commerce officially, as its contribution to push industry productivity through its platform. The Shonet launches a share and earning service to be able to buy and get a commission through referrals and content sharing from official brand collections available on the site.

Also Read: [Exclusive] Raising a new funding round, The Shonet aims to push for greater growth

CEO of The Shonet Indonesia, Elisabeth Kurniawan, explains that this initiative would be a way to help push the national economy through digital transactions.

What is The Shonet: The Shonet (short for Shopping Network) is Indonesian social commerce that facilitates its customers to buy and sell fashion and beauty products based on The Shonet’s local and international brand collection. The fashion social commerce claims to have more than three million users per July 2020 and carries 500 fashion and beauty brands in its ecosystem.

Nex Cubed, ESG support 16 Singaporean digital health startups through Innovation Launchpad Program

The story: Nex Cubed, a San Fransisco-based early-stage innovation and startup accelerator, has announced a partnership with Enterprise Singapore (ESG), the government agency that supports enterprise development and startup innovation, to run Innovation Launchpad Program for Singapore’s digital health startups that are interested in expanding their business to the US market, as reported by Biospectrum Asia.

The partnership: According to the CEO of Nex Cubed Marlon Evans, the accelerator will run the programme in two cohorts for a three-week virtual acceleration program. It will provide companies from outside the US with the tools, resources, and knowledge required to successfully and affordably scale their business into the US Market.

Applications are now being accepted for the first cohort which will take place from November 2, 2020, through November 20, 2020.

What Nex Cubed is: Nex Cubed is an investor and innovation partner that empowers startups, investors, corporates, and governments to bring new technologies to market, helps rising companies scale, and provides paths to liquidity.

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It’s been approximately six months since the COVID-19 pandemic started. Back then, in Malaysia, Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin issued the Movement Control Order (MCO) in an official speech that would greatly leave a dent in the local startup ecosystem.

During the MCO, many startups have learnt to adapt to new setups such as the work-from-home scheme, which enables them to balance their safety and business operations. For Malaysian startups working in the logistics or travel sector, which are directly impacted by the situation, they even found themselves having to adapt their business strategy.

Back then, it seemed like the startups had found the band-aid solution for the looming crisis. However, they quickly burned through their runway to maintain business operations as their revenue got affected by halted projects, a decline in consumer confidence, and even outstanding long term office rental and employee salaries.

In order for these startups to sustain themselves today and potentially thrive post-pandemic, they need funding, resources and cost-effective measures.

Assistance in fundraising needs

According to The Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), funding was a major issue for many startups during the pandemic. The organisation was also mindful that many entrepreneurs may not be successful in obtaining bank loans, government grants and other financial aids. There are reasons why this can happen, but generally, it is due to their inability to meet the requirements.

Also Read: Malaysia’s JurisTech acquires financial products comparison platform iMoney

MDEC’s Global Growth Acceleration division had then come up with several initiatives to assist with the startup’s fundraising needs. The initiatives range from partnering with local equity crowdfunding (ECF) and P2P platforms, M&A workshops, startup-investor business matching with KK-Fund and collaborating with Malaysia Debt Venture Berhad (MDV) to facilitate MYR100 million (US$23 million) funds to address startups cash flow issues by the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.

These are some of the many opportunities for startups to consider to help sustain their business.

The pandemic has also affected established startups, especially in continuing their business operations as they were faced with difficulties such as paying high rental costs and long-term contract durations. With these startups looking to have a flexible and cost-effective option for an office, MDEC has partnered with the Malaysia Digital Hub operators to provide startups with an affordable “Digital Hub Pass” to assist them with coworking spaces and resources to drive growth.

In total, there are seven certified Malaysian Digital Hubs supporting over 400 startups and through these hubs, startups can access vital assistance such as mentorship, funding opportunities, accelerator programmes, corporate partnership and other business and digital development programmes. These are all possible with partners such as Google, Amazon, Microsoft, Cradle, Gobi Partners.

What is next for the Malaysian startup ecosystem?

The Malaysian startup ecosystem certainly was not alone in facing this pandemic. Regionally, in Southeast Asia, startup funding throughout the COVID-19 outbreak fell 13 per cent to US$5.6 billion in H1 2020.

Also Read: Digital hubs take center stage as the Malaysian startup ecosystem leans into developing the digital economy

But this is not the first time the world has gone through a crisis. Throughout history, we have even seen in various markets how the startup ecosystem actually experienced massive growth right after a crisis of such level. An example given by CB Insights is of the Zika pandemic several years ago, where the Latin American startup ecosystem experienced growth as soon as the disease was contained.

For the Malaysian startup ecosystem, its prospect of survival is strengthened by the fact that Kuala Lumpur has recently been ranked as the 11th emerging startup ecosystem and fourth emerging ecosystem in Asia Pacific in the Global Startup Ecosystem Report 2020 (GSER2020) by Startup Genome.

We will continue to remain hopeful and optimistic about the Malaysian startup ecosystem.

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Since Tinder was introduced to the market in 2012 (a kind of revolution in the online dating space back then), the world underwent several massive changes, including widespread adoption of dating apps among the young generation (and of course, the outbreak of COVID-19).

The simplicity of Tinder has swept the world for eight years now, and the US-based firm has built an empire on its own, becoming a benchmark for many modern dating apps, which are looking for ways to fix the ‘flaws’ of Tinder and introduce a ‘perfect’ product.

The runaway success of Tinder also prompted many dating apps to enter and try out their luck in the Asian market, with the hope that Artificial Intelligence and new-age technologies could bring home the love.

This led to a massive growth, particularly in Southeast Asia, a rather conventional region in Asia, with Singaporeans, Malaysians and Indonesians all collectively spending US$18.7 million on dating apps in 2019.

And now, faced with the seemingly unfazed pandemic that wiped out half of the options of dating out there, this number is expected to increase as it is the only option left for romantic social interaction.

Video conferencing in online dating

According to Shn Juay, CEO of Singapore-based dating app Paktor, online video-based dating is expected to soar in the coming years.

Indeed, online video-based dating was already a hit way before the novel coronavirus devastated the world.

“About six to seven years ago, users of online dating apps used to feel content just seeing pictures of potential suitors and reading their bio. But today, video conferencing has improved with better internet networks and smartphones, forcing dating platforms to pivot to cater to video features even before the pandemic hit us.”

Also Read: Top reasons why we download dating apps but neglect using them afterwards

Juay noted that most dating apps were already adding video functionality to the apps. As per a BBC article, global dating platforms such as eHarmony, OKCupid, and Match have reported a big rise in video dates, while Tinder rolled out its own video dating function back in June.

Quoting the Tinder CEO Elie Siedman, the article explains that the video call service operates on a double opt-in policy, allowing both sides of the match to agree to it for free and supported by a team of moderators.

Siedman added that the changes to dating — brought in by lockdowns — have merely accelerated a generational change Tinder was already tracking in focus groups. As per this, video has become the key preference, thanks to a whole new, tech-savvy generation joining the app that has grown up immersed in social media apps and seen that virtual world as something natural.

COVID-19’s blessing and curse

After the lockdown was imposed by governments across the world, many dating apps saw a rise in the number of users. Tinder, for example, made three billion swipes worldwide on March 29, the most an app has ever recorded in a single day.

In the UK, the BBC report added, daily conversations rose by 12 per cent between mid-February and end-March.

However, in terms of subscription, there was a slow-down in the number of paid users but data showed that new sign-ups for premium membership picked up when life gradually returned to normal.

As for Paktor, Juay highlighted the need to be creative in the process of using video platforms as the first place for matched couples to have their first date. “People are now more open-minded to meeting online for the first time, where they initially demanded to meet in person as it feels more real. But with physical distancing imposed by the government, it’s getting hard.”

As per a Paktor data, as many as 80 per cent of its users have seen video conferences in a new light and had an appreciation for dating via videos.

Esther Chang, Co-founder of Singapore’s DateOut, a curated marketplace app to provide experiences and activities targeted at couples and tourists, shares that although the number of online dating users has increased, the ultimate goal of a couple is still to meet offline.

Also Read: Paktor CEO on why online dating is better than a school or workplace romance

“However relevant it is now, the online meeting doesn’t allow for the observation of preferences, understanding the vibe that you give off, things such as smell and body language; it’s not something accessible via virtual meeting. I think with this setting, people start to lack in physical social interaction that can lead to a decrease in settling down for a committed relationship,” observed Chang.

Juay also shared a similar sentiment. “What doesn’t change from a tech perspective is that these tech platforms are neutral ground for finding prospective matches, but for romantic relationships to work, they have to end up offline. That won’t change.”

A safe step in online dating

Juay has, however, pointed out video dating apps have many benefits as they can be a step into a dating in the real world.

“Video dating is now more and more common and it will be more natural, moving forward. It will be a common step moving forward because it actually has a lot of benefits as a great first litmus test,” Juay said.

Juay then went into details how video calls can help eliminate what she called ‘distractors’.

“Meeting someone for the first time through an online video can be a good way to stay safe indoors, without you trying too much to look good. Logistics-wise, it is a lifesaver for us, especially females,” Juay said.

In addition to that, there’s also an opportunity to immediately end the conversation if you don’t feel comfortable or you don’t get along with the prospective match.

“Dating can be exhausting as it can take weeks to set up. Video dating can just get you to your first date almost immediately. You can just schedule a lunch call together and can do video calls multiple times without being exhausted, all before meeting in real life and with no logistics involved such as worrying about splitting the bills,” she added.

Personalisation and localisation is the future

In Southeast Asia, online dating has become more of an option. It is not just because of the lockdown but also because experts have found the tendency of keeping dating secret actually works for Southeast Asians.

Applications such as Tinder, OkCupid and TanTan are great for finding matches but genuine conversations, dates and successful relationships rarely come from them.

In a recent article published by GenT, it was revealed that Paktor has been tapping into a need for discretion by changing the rules and only requiring people to enter a phone number to join, rather than link to a social media account.

So now with video dating taking up the industry by storm and providing another step before in really going all in for a date, what’s next?

“When you’re behind the screen, you can fake things. It’s so easy to fake things, and it’s really important that all these dating sites have proper screening and make sure that the matchmaking is done on a personality basis to reduce the time spent to find ‘the one’,” Chang adds.

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

However, these dating companies can’t be held accountable for anything fishy coming up from their sites — if they have already taken the necessary safety precautions.

“If a dating company has done services for safety measures like a hotline, suspended any accounts after a thorough background check, and red-flagged users who harassed other users, then that’s it. So far, in the dating industry, that’s about it,” Chang said.

But there’s always more to it.

“As not everyone is naturally good at making conversation, we can educate people through webinars or masterclasses on these basic social skills and getting individual perspectives. This way, dating apps and platforms can also facilitate a social skill and can become a good launch way,” Chang said.

Juay also agrees to this type of personalisation in dating app and online dating.

“I think many people can benefit from such education, as communication is also crucial in dating and everybody approaches it differently. Fewer people will experience rejection due to their lack of basic communication skills, and more people will gain confidence that they need to succeed in dating,” Juay said.

Paktor, in collaboration with Singapore Development Network, provides dating content such as steps in online remote dating with video, co-produced with Fleek and Paktor’s GaiGai, as well as promoted remote dating content through a webinar.

Gaigai is a traditional matchmaking business run by Paktor Group, where customers can come to them for a consultation and it helps arrange first dates. This offline arm worked very closely with Paktor as the online meeting ground.

In its Singapore’s headquarters, Paktor has a team that can act as trained moderators joining in a call with two people meeting for the first time in a video call. These moderators become a buffer between the couple, especially if they have stated their concern over conversation dying down. “Icebreaking is hard,” Juay added.

Now, it’s up to the dating apps to make sure they remain relevant and engaging in a tech-enabled setting. What tricks up their sleeves next to make users feel like it’s worth their time to try finding love online and at the same time, gain value from it.

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