Lendela, a Singapore-based consumer credit management platform, announced today it has raised US$2 million in pre-Series A financing round led by existing investors Promise Future International and Luxembourg-based early-stage VC fund 2be.lu Investments.

The startup shared the fresh funds will be used to support its growth plans across Singapore and Hong Kong, with plans to hire new talent in tech development, business development and marketing.

Launched in 2018, Lendela connects borrowers to partner lenders through an online loan application form. The platform shared applicants would be presented with multiple offers and can sign their loan documents within 24 hours of applying.

In the same year, it announced a US$942,000 seed funding round led by Cocoon Capital and IMO Ventures.

Since its launch, Lendela remarked it has expanded its network to 40 strategic partners, including banks such as Standard Chartered Bank and HSBC.

Also Read: Matching-making for loans: Why online lending platform Lendela has set its eyes on Asia

Having claimed it achieved seven times growth in 2020, Lendela now serves over 50,000 borrowers in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The platform said plans to develop its product to further reduce friction for customers, providing customer identification services, alternative credit scoring, as well as continuing to speed up the loan application process.

“With COVID-19, the shift towards digitalisation has accelerated across Southeast Asia. Lendela’s digital lending process is even more valuable in a pandemic with restrictions on social interaction,” said Nima Karimi, CEO and Founder of Lendela.

“There is an incredible opportunity for growth and improvement in the region’s digital lending space and Lendela is well-placed to capitalise on it,” added Pierre Lorinet, who recently joined Lendela’s board of directors.

According to a study conducted by Google, Temasek and Bain & Company, digital lending in Southeast Asia is on track to grow 33 per cent annually to reach US$18 billion by 2025.

–

Image Credit: Lendela

The post Lendela bags US$2M pre-Series A to expand consumer credit platform in Singapore, Hong Kong appeared first on e27.

The start of a new year is a great time to make a list of new year’s resolutions to help you accomplish your personal and business goals. The usual answers are to sweat a lot more, lose 10 kilos, spend more time with your loved ones, catch up with your old friends, reduce debts or even read more books. They are all fantastic resolutions and great goals.

But if you’re an entrepreneur or a startup founder, you would have missed out if you don’t look at the following new year’s resolutions for your business.

Incorporate your legal entity and follow the legal formalities

Stop exposing yourself to legal risks and personal liability. Form the correct legal structure to operate your business (usually, your business should be formed as a private limited company in your jurisdiction) to ensure that you separate your personal assets against business assets. In other words, no commingling of assets.

If you run a business with more than two people, get it formalised in a founders agreement

What happens if one of the cofounders has a disagreement or has a different change of priority or focus after six months or twelve months after you’ve started a business together? What if a cofounder got into a nasty divorce or even sudden death? What happens if there is a deadlock, say if there is a disagreement between co-founders over a new business development manager? How will such a ‘sticky’ issue get resolved?

These agreements are usually referred to as the founders’ agreement, operating agreement, shareholders agreement, and partnership agreement. Whatever the agreement’s name, entrepreneurs should ensure that they have this agreement to help ensure that the business transition can be smooth and the business can continue as usual.

Assess your business plan

I know with exceptions to corporate planning or venture capital funds, young entrepreneurs or founders may not see the value of having a business plan (especially when you’ve got an ongoing pandemic out there). But a good business plan still plays a considerable role to make sure that you remain in line with your business goals for the immediate future or even long term. Make time to review, evaluate and update your business plan.

Also Read: Three startup resolutions I made that did not work out the way I expected

Put your verbal promises of ownership to employees

If you’ve agreed to give out equity to your employee or anyone that has contributed in your business, get it done in writing. A formal sweat equity agreement or a simple offer letter can set out the promised ownership, including the necessary vesting schedules or other ownership restrictions. Again, if you’ve promised to issue shares to somebody, get it done now. Yes, do it today, not tomorrow or next week.

Protect your intellectual property assets

Do a full audit of your company’s business and assess what your intellectual property assets are. Run through the checklist on protecting your intellectual property assets and take the necessary steps to file and protect your trademarks, trade names, copyrights (i.e. contents, software) trade secrets and other relevant intellectual property assets.

You may not know you’re sitting on a valuable IP asset that can be monetised for revenue for your company if you license it to a customer. Anyone who contributes to the company, including the staff and independent contracts must sign an intellectual property assignment and the confidentiality agreements.

Do a cybersecurity audit

Cloud services are no longer popular or default option among startups or technology companies. Even brick and mortar companies are moving into the cloud and using online platforms to sell their products or services. Your employees may also be working from home and sending emails or confidential documents using cloud services.

Ensure that you take the necessary steps to avoid potential cybersecurity breach and implement plans and strategies to address a security breach if phishing or even social engineering attack.

Put your verbal agreements to writing

The founding father of the United States,  Benjamin Franklin says its best, “Creditors have better memories than debtors.”

Every important business deals and terms and conditions and agreed discussions need to be in writing. People forget stuff. Memories can fade. Your customers or people in charge of your vendors change. Confusion and disagreements can happen. Avoid disputes and get a peace of mind when you put things in writing.

Have a record-keeping policy

Everyone in the company should keep track of documents in some form of a document management system. It could be Google Drive, Dropbox, OneDrive etc. but do have a standardised rule that everyone can follow easily.

Also,  confidential documents involving customers personal data, transactions, payment details (i.e. credit/ debit card details), customer service logs are accessible by the only relevant person in a company on a ‘need to know’ basis. A simple example will be to encrypt personal data like users’ password instead of merely storing them in just plain text.

Also Read: 2020 drained all my energy. Here’s what helped turn things around

Also, founders and entrepreneurs should copy their latest statutory records and filings made by their company secretary to the companies’ registrar. Having a copy of these filings also helps keep things handy when doing a corporate exercise like a fundraising round or an audit to have things ready.

Understand contracts and the terms

Every entrepreneur or founder should not sign a contract that they do not understand. You may not agree with every provision, but you should know the consequences and legal implications when signing a contract. Refuse to be bound by a term that you don’t think is acceptable or understood.

Review and improve your contracts for important agreements

All agreements that you use again and again in your business should get a review. You should contact your legal counsel to review your usual agreements annually or when there is a change of business model by your legal counsel. Get your lawyer to vet and craft the terms to reduce exposure and limit your business’s potential legal liability.

Tackle issues directly (and put them in writing)

Conflicts can arise for many reasons with another party. If there’s a problem, review the relevant contract and determine the appropriate actions based on the agreed terms. Put things in writing. In my experience, ignoring issues or concerns will not make them go away. Things can worsen as it may result in unintentionally waiving rights or consent to a new scenario that may deviate from the originally agreed terms.

Deal with employees matters methodically and carefully

Do not mischaracterise employees as independent contractors or freelance workers because you cannot afford to pay their regular salaries.

The pandemic will be challenging for entrepreneurs struggling with cashflows. Do not change existing employment terms unilaterally, including reducing employees’ salary without their express consent. If you need to do a pay cut or layoff, do not ignore applicable employment laws.

Or worse neglect your statutory obligations like contributing and deducting your employees’ monthly provident funds, social security payments, and monthly income tax deductions on behalf of your employees.

Formalise agreements with employees to protect the business

In addition to the existing employment or services agreements, when necessary, enter into a non-competition, non-solicitation, confidentiality agreements with key employees.

Pay taxes

The issue of taxation was mentioned in the Bible about the Roman dictator Julius Caesar during the Roman period. Here’s a reference to Mark 12:17:

“Jesus said to them, ‘Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s.”

Unfortunately, we cannot ‘choose’ if we can pay or not pay taxes, so we have to pay them if we are eligible taxpayers. Do not delay in paying your taxes as a way to “managing cash flow”. Failing to declare income or under-reporting sales in your annual tax reporting, and deducting applicable monthly tax deductions against your employees will result in fines, penalties, and even personal liability.

Get the relevant insurance coverage for your business

Assess your current insurance policies and coverage with your usual trusted insurance agent and ensure that your business is adequately insured. If you do not have an insurance policy in place, get an insurance agent to assess your business if you should get certain aspects of the company covered like personal accident, theft, general liability, etc. Make sure you understand the fine prints, and you are not paying an unnecessary premium.

Also Read: Lockdown learnings: How I became a half-decent product manager in 2020

Get the best team of professional advisers

Ask around and engage competent company secretary, legal counsels, tax adviser, and accountants with relevant industry experience. Find an adviser or a professional who is willing to work with you as a ‘team member’.

Don’t work with someone who looks at his time all the time (i.e. ‘by the hour’ mercenaries or hired guns). If you are a startup, ask for a  ‘startup-friendly’ package. And know when to engage a lawyer to protect yourself for unnecessary legal hassles.

Finally, a professional may come highly recommended or an expert in a particular area. But before hiring someone do ask yourself, “Do I like him or her as a  person?”

Assess and evaluate financing options

Assess your current funding sources. If you’ve taken money from a venture fund or an angel, look at your current funding terms so that you can anticipate any financial challenges or funding needs. If you are raising money, make sure you know how much money you need, including the proposed terms.

Draw up a succession plan

Technically, a legal entity exists in perpetuity, and the business owners can change. Every business owner needs to come up with a succession plan in place. Some business owner may want to plant their exit by selling the company to another more significant player or a strategic investor.

Even so, you may not get to maximise your full business value if you rely too heavily on certain vital people or critical relationships. In practice, it can be hard to assign a person a formal agreement with a crucial hire. A good talent may leave you if he is unhappy with how you’ve treated him when he sees that his boss is making a big bonus from selling the company.

Starting this year with completing even a couple of these resolutions can ensure that this year could be a healthy, happy and exciting one for your business. Of course, getting these resolutions done while keeping up with a healthy lifestyle and spending quality time with family and friends will make this new year a good one.

–

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

The post It’s never too late: 18 new year resolutions for founders and entrepreneurs appeared first on e27.

Global VC firm 500 Startups has announced that it has promoted Ee Ling as Regional Director for APAC.

In this role, Ling will be heading 500 Startups’s business development for corporate and startup innovation programmes in the region.

She will also be responsible for forging partnerships and strengthening relationships with corporates, governments, enterprises, foundations and other stakeholders involved in developing startup ecosystems across the globe.

Ling has over 13 years of experience in investment banking, consumer, retail, technology and edutech. She was previously the Singapore Country Lead (Innovation & Partnerships) for 500 Startups and has built and led innovation programmes for corporates and startups in Singapore and Malaysia. They include the Global Launch market access accelerator programmes, the PETRONAS FutureTech accelerator programme, and The Future of X UnConference.

Ling also spent nearly a decade in investment banking institutions such as Bank of America Merrill Lynch and CIMB, where she advised corporations in Southeast Asia on growth and fundraising.

As a co-founder of edutech company Smarter Me, which addresses the gap in relevant 21st-century skills and what children are learning in school, Ling is actively involved in the region’s startup ecosystem.

Since 2018, she has organised, hosted and mentored for Young Founders Summit, a leading startup competition and entrepreneurship programme for middle school and high school founders in Asia.

Also Read: 500 Startups launches Angkor 500 to accelerate the development of Cambodian startups

Ling said: “We have seen exponential growth in Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem over the past few years, thanks to a combination of strong economic progress, the rise of a digital-savvy population and close collaboration between stakeholders in the startup ecosystem.  However, there is still ample room to grow and innovate, and that is what makes it exciting for 500 Startups.”

500 Startups is one of the most active global early-stage VC firms which has invested in over 2,500 companies across 78 countries. Its fund in Southeast Asia called 500 Durians, which has backed over 200 companies across multiple verticals.

Among its portfolio companies are tech giants like Grab, Bukalapak, Carousell and Alodokter.

—

Image Credit: 500 startups

The post 500 Startups promotes Ee Ling as Regional Director to spearhead innovation programmes in APAC appeared first on e27.

SoundOn, a one-year-old podcasts platform in Taiwan, has just been jointly acquired by Singapore-based Kollective Ventures (KV) and Turn Capital (TC), a family office launched last year by Joseph Phua, co-founder and non-Executive Chairman of M17.

With this strategic deal, the two VC firms have big ambitions and they want SoundOn to grow beyond the home market into Southeast Asia. According to Phua, while the region’s podcasts market is still in the nascent stages, it offers massive growth potential.

In this interview, Phua shares the rationale behind the acquisition and how this deal allows them to further invest and develop the podcast ecosystem.

Edited excerpts:

Kollective Ventures and Turn Capital have jointly acquired SoundOn. How does this joint acquisition work? How does this deal benefit each other as well as SoundOn. What is the synergy?

The joint acquisition creates a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) in which both parties inject capital into this SPV and it then acquires SoundOn. Given my background, I will provide operational expertise as well as advice as a shareholder. This joint acquisition will then become a rocket ship – powered by capital injection, operational expertise as well as network – for SoundOn to accelerate its growth trajectory.

The podcasts industry is still in the early stages and hasn’t gotten much traction in Asia yet. Despite this, why did KV and TC make a bet on SoundOn, which is just over a year old?

The industry has taken off in a significant way, as can be seen by the number of podcast downloads that SoundOn has achieved just after slightly a year into the business, with over 35 million downloads a month, and fast growing to 500m this year.

Also Read: Kollective Ventures and Joseph Phua’s family office acquire SoundOn, a Taiwanese startup with 35M monthly podcast downloads

We strongly believe in the business of audio entertainment/podcast industry in Asia. Already, we see global giants like Spotify and Apple making huge forays into the space. We expect this trend to continue into Asia sooner rather than later.

How is the podcasts industry growing in Taiwan vis-à-vis Singapore/Southeast Asia. What are the key characteristics of the Taiwanese market and consumers?

There’s a burgeoning number of podcasters in Taiwan. For SoundOn, we work with more than 7,000 active podcast programmes/podcasters and we have over 70 per cent of the market share. In fact, the pace of growth is in line with the growth of YouTube during its initial popularity in Taiwan.

Likewise, we expect the same trend to occur in Southeast Asia. After all, podcasts are another medium for the transfer of information and the sharing of content which is much like videos on YouTube and other significant content distribution platforms.

As per a press note, KV and Turn Capital will look to continue to accelerate the growth of the company and the industry in the near future. How do you plan to achieve these two objectives?

The responsibility of educating the general public of any industry that is in its early stages of growth usually falls on the leaders. Thus, it’s not any different in this case with the podcast industry.

Also Read: ‘Companies shut down not because of crises but only when founders give up’: Joseph Phua of M17

We expect that we will be investing resources, from time to capital, into SoundOn and the podcast industry at large, to assist SoundOn on its path to become the dominant podcast platform in the region.

Do KV and TC have plans to bring SoundOn to Southeast Asian markets like Singapore? Do you see massive growth potential for SoundOn in the region?

Yes, SoundOn has near term regional ambitions because of the massive growth potential.

Where is Southeast Asia’s podcasts industry headed for? What is the growth rate? Do you expect new ventures to pop up in the podcast industry?

It’s super early, and so rate of growth will be very high. We expect there to be significant number of similar ventures pop up soon, and are looking to make further investments/acquisitions in the general audio entertainment space.

What is lacking in Southeast Asia when it comes to the adoption of podcasts platforms? What is hindering the growth? Do podcasts companies struggle to generate revenues unlike SoundOn, which relies on ads? What kind of business/revenue model will suit Southeast Asia?

Certainly, podcasts are ripe for adoption in Southeast Asia. What we need to do to facilitate its adoption is to educate the public, in terms of consumers and content producers.

Using SoundOn as an example, they have been profitable relatively early on given its market leadership and strength in advertising sales. There are multiple monetisation models available that SoundOn can tap into and this goes beyond relying on advertising as we see in other global comparables.

Also Read: Kollective Ventures acquires Paktor Group from M17 Entertainment

Hence, we expect SoundOn to experience exponential growth in its revenue and profitability in the next 24 months.

Last May, KV acquired Paktor. Does KV have plans to integrate SoundOn into Paktor?

Under the Paktor Group umbrella, there is an audio social entertainment application called Goodnight, which provides live entertainment and audio dating services. We believe there to be synergies between the platforms and will actively explore bringing them together.

We believe that the future of audio entertainment is just beginning and this acquisition marks a step towards establishing an Asian beachhead on this front.

—

Image Credit: Turn Capital

The post ‘SEA’s podcast market is ripe for adoption; we just need to educate the public’: Joseph Phua of M17 appeared first on e27.

Catcha Investment, a blank cheque company — aka special purpose acquisition company (SPACE) — formed by Malaysia’s Catcha Group, has filed to raise up to US$250 million in an initial public offering.

The news was first published by Renaissance Capital’s on its website.

The Kuala Lumpur-based SPAC plans to raise the proposed capital by offering 25 million units at US$10. Each unit will consist of one share of common stock and one-half of a warrant, exercisable at US$11.50.

Also Read: David Gowdey of Jungle Ventures: Why we will see an IPO from SEA in the next 12-18 months

At the proposed deal size, Catcha Investment would command a market value of US$313 million, according to this article.

Catch Investment is led by CEO and Chairman Patrick Grove and President and Director Luke Elliott, co-founders of Southeast Asian internet investment firm Catcha Group.

Catcha Investment intends to focus on a target with operations or prospective operations in the technology, digital media, financial technology, or digital services sectors (new economy sectors) across Asia Pacific, particularly Southeast Asia and Australia.

While the concept of SPAC has been around in the market for many years and is used as a mechanism to bring companies public in the US, it has been relatively new to Asia, where companies are yet to jump on the bandwagon.

Also Read: Traveloka considers SPAC option as it plans to go public

However, the recent past saw several SPACs pop up. Early this month, Poema Global Holdings, a SPAC focusing on tech firms in Asia and Europe, announced it has raised US$300 million in its IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

Earlier, Bridgetown 2 Holdings, a SPAC targeting internet economy companies in Southeast Asia and backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li, announced last month that it was seeking to raise US$200 million in an IPO in the US.

—

Image Credit:

 

The post Catcha joins SPAC bandwagon, files for a US$250M IPO in US appeared first on e27.