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Ecosystem Roundup: Goldbell acquires BlueSG; Thailand’s IPO Market is a success story in SEA this year

Mandiri Capital Indonesia to launch 2 venture funds, step up investments; While Mandiri Venture Fund is slated to have a total corpus of ~US$50M, the fund size of Indonesia Impact Fund will be US$25M; So far, Mandiri Capital has built a portfolio of 14 fintech firms such as Mekari, Cashlez, KoinWorks, Amartha. More here

Goldbell acquires BlueSG, to invest US$52.3M in the e-car sharing firm over the next 5 years; Goldbell will expand BlueSG’s current fleet of 650+ vehicles, establish an R&D centre and develop new mobility algorithms, analytics and technologies; BlueSG claims it has processed over 1.7M rentals with 100K subscriptions sold since starting in 2017. More here

COVID-19-battered Traveloka may still be the best-poised Indonesian unicorn for IPO fight; The firm is just a click away from becoming profitable, said long-time backer Wilson Cuaca; It has been making groundwork for IPO since as early as 2017. More here

Thailand’s IPO Market is a success story in SEA this year; In 2020, the fundraising scene accumulated US$3.94B and had 23 impressive IPOs to report, even amid COVID-19 based economy stagnation; The 23 IPOs have raised more than half of the total stock market launches revenues in the region, while all the other SEA countries and their 77 IPOs made up the rest. More here

How the coup d’état would play out for Myanmar’s startup ecosystem; The effect of decreased foreign investment would have a greater impact on startups than traditional corporations given the increased reliance on capital faced by these early-stage companies. More here

CXA Group sells brokerage arm to Pacific Prime to focus on SaaS business; Following the deal, CXA will direct its resources to support banks, insurers, and payroll companies to leverage its benefits, health, and wellness platform and to enhance its financial and digital service offerings; Furthermore, CXA will expand into new markets across Asia and Europe. More here

PasarPolis raises US$5M from IFC; The two firms will jointly continue and strengthen PasarPolis’s mission to democratise insurance more broadly, one of which is through the development of micro-insurance products that are affordable and in accordance with the needs of the society. More here

Vietnamese hotel booking platform Go2Joy banks US$2.3M Series A+ led by HB Investments; The firm will start to explore the opportunities to expand service to other markets such as Thailand and Philippines; Go2Joy allows customers to book hotels by the hour or overnight and pay through e-wallet Payoo, Momo, Onepay. More here

MDEC seeks to encourage SMEs’ digitalisation with US$1.5M grant; The 66 local recipients hailed from a wide range of sectors including wholesale and retail trade, tourism, and education among others; The initiative is key to MDEC’s mission to assist SMEs and mid-tier companies to digitalise and thrive in the fourth industrial revolution, where digital processes are set to be the norm. More here

Betatron Venture Group, PTI join hands to invest in proptech startups in Asia; While the partnership can invest as little as US$250K per company, it typically prefers to invest between US$500K and US$2M; Betatron is a team of eight professionals led by two partners and includes a wider network of five prominent VC funds with a combined US$800M in AuM and more than 200 investments across Asia. More here

Is big tech now just too big to stomach?; The relentless rise of the big six tech firms – Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Google owner Alphabet, Apple and Microsoft – powered US markets last year; Their eye-catching performance has prompted increased political scrutiny and the threat of heightened regulation from Washington. More here

Remote working jobs on the rise in SEA: report; A new report from LinkedIn said the year 2020 saw a rise in demand for digital and soft skills as employers shifted from hiring based on credentials to hiring based on skills held. More here

Vietnam digital ecosystem and transformation well on track; Tech firms have shown their increasing influence on the country’s social and economic life; PM Nguyen Xuan Phuc says the Vietnamese business community and digital tech have been vital in ensuring the wellbeing of the nation both for the economy as well as for citizens to live a productive, safe and sustainable life. More here

Applying AI to global cross-border e-commerce and digital marketing; AI is one of the most critical technologies to help marketers keep pace with international consumer behaviour; Global marketers are managing a lot of data about multicultural buyers, including language, traditions, seasons, device preferences, time zones and more. More here

What Google Singapore learned about e-commerce during the pandemic; Online retail has emerged as the preferred way to access goods and services all around the world during the pandemic; This newfound online habit driven by the pandemic has propelled the e-commerce GMV in Singapore to US$4B in 2020. More here

Fintech outperforms banks in Indonesia; Fintech payment services in Indonesia are the largest in SEA where e-wallets from fintech contribute around 72% of e-money transactions in the country; This preference has driven a wide range of online transactions including e-commerce, education and entertainment. More here

TranSwap expands into UK with plans to open new R&D centre; It is the cross-border payment platform’s fifth market after Singapore, HK, Indonesia and Malaysia; The UK is a pivotal market to accelerate TranSwap’s next phase of expansion. More here

Singapore’s IMM launches virtual mall on Shopee; The virtual mall aims to accelerate the digitalisation of IMM’s retailers and help them increase their online presence; With the virtual mall, retailers at the Jurong East mall who do not have an online presence will now be able to market their goods online. More here

Here are the 6 deeptech startups unveiled at Entrepreneur First Singapore’s 8th cohort; EF is a talent invstor that backs individuals instead of fully-formed startups; It claims to have helped over 2K individuals in its programme, who have gone on to build more than 200 companies with a total valuation exceeding US$1B. More here

An unlikely duo: Will banks and fintech have a happy marriage?; With the entry of fintech firms into the market, retail banks are faced with a new and direct competition; Both function as a financing option for businesses; However, there is also a seemingly ideal allyship in this scenario. More here

Photo by Geoff Greenwoodon Unsplash

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How your face can determine the funds you raise (while crowdfunding)

crowdfunding

With the COVID-19 pandemic causing a significant slowdown of economic activity, entrepreneurs and startups are having problems securing the critical financing they need. As banks review their lending practices and government assistance programmes are stretched to capacity, startups may have to look beyond more conventional channels and explore other avenues such as crowdfunding to attain much-needed capital.

The crowdfunding scene is primed to help startups during this challenging time. While the quantity of live projects on Kickstarter is down about 25 per cent year on year, support for Kickstarter crowdfunding campaigns and their success rate are consistent with pre-pandemic levels.

During the pandemic’s emergence last year, equity crowdfunding platform Wefunder saw investor volume increase 35 per cent in the first quarter of 2020, with crowdfunding investments doubling to US$63 million through November (up from US$28.2 million the year prior).

Government bodies also recognise crowdfunding’s potential to help take up the slack; the SEC recently updated crowdfunding guidelines so that companies can now raise US$5 million per year using equity crowdfunding (vs. the previous limit of US$1.07 million), while the EU harmonised crowdfunding rules so that issuers can raise up to EUR5 million across all EU member states.

With crowdfunding serving as a lifeline for startups and small businesses, how can you attract backers and leverage the power of the online community? What will make your project stand out from the others vying for investment?

The answer lies in how trustworthy your startup is perceived, especially when funders don’t have much else to go on. Our new study explores how a certain type of trustworthiness – based solely on an entrepreneur’s facial features – can play a role in crowdfunding success.

Based on previous research findings, certain facial features such as roundness of the face and wide chin are likely to be perceived as trustworthy.

Also Read: Bambooloo raises US$250K+ via equity crowdfunding to expand its plastic-free home goods into UK

Building on this premise, my team and I constructed a comprehensive facial trustworthiness index that uses machine learning-based facial detection techniques. We ran photos of entrepreneurs for technology-related projects on Kickstarter through the index to uncover these most applicable findings:

The more you look the part, the more likely you are to get the funds

Our study found that entrepreneurs who look more trustworthy are more likely to have their campaigns funded. Positive facial trustworthiness impacts both quality and quantity – not only do “more trustworthy” appearing entrepreneurs receive more in pledged amounts, they attract more funders overall.

Trust is more important than attractiveness

Facial trustworthiness plays a more important role in determining the crowdfunding success of female entrepreneurs versus their male counterparts. While some may argue that perceived attractiveness and not trustworthiness– is playing a role behind-the-scenes, we tested for this and found that facial attractiveness didn’t significantly impact crowdfunding success.

A trustworthy-looking face helps funders feel better about the overall project

Facial trustworthiness does really alleviate funder concerns about crowdfunding uncertainty. These perceptions can be key to the decision-making process in an investment environment where other project-related information is limited.

Facial trustworthiness is a thing, but some common truths remain

Projects with lower fund-raising goals and longer durations are more likely to be successfully funded, and entrepreneurs who include a video presentation have higher success rates, as this signals both high quality and preparedness– elements that build trust.

While it may seem superficial to have your face sway potential crowd funders, the study shows that the success of Kickstarter crowdfunding efforts don’t always have to do with the quality of a project, people need to be won over with trust. In order to win over a funder’s support, you really may have less than 34 milliseconds– the shortest amount of time needed for someone to judge a person’s trustworthiness based on their face.

By simply looking the part of a trustworthy entrepreneur, people may be willing to overlook shortfalls that currently exist elsewhere in your project, so put your most trustworthy-looking face forward to seal the deal!

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9 fundraising mistakes entrepreneurs and founders must avoid

founder mistakes

Fundraising is an ongoing effort that entrepreneurs and founders need to manage when starting and scaling an early-stage company. Savvy and well-read founders seeking to raise funds from investors usually use the phrase “smart money” to explain the type of investors they want to take a stake in their business.

“Smart money” means money raised from an experienced, smart and well-informed investor. A “smart investor” provides both cash and invaluable benefits to your company like opening new doors to other strategic investors, partners, or potential new customers.

“Dumb money” means exactly what it means. A “dumb money” usually described an investor that invests in nothing more than capital with no real influence on growing the business.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs and founders can quickly end up as “dumb entrepreneurs” by making frequent and easily avoidable mistakes. These mistakes often create another risk of the venture and startup success and expose the entrepreneurs to even criminal offences.

After helping venture funds, funding agencies and early stage companies for the past several years as a venture and startup lawyer, I have seen several founders and entrepreneurs ended up becoming “dumb entrepreneurs” by making some of all of the following mistakes below.

Using an introducer to secure investment

In your entrepreneurial journey, you may come across people claiming to link you with this investor and that investor.  In exchange for securing the investment, the introducer will get a ‘success fee’ (also known as ‘broker fee’ or ‘introducer fee’) that you have to compensate for his “expert” investor matching services.

Also Read: Meet these 10 verified investors that are ready to connect with you

Consider the challenges of compensating a broker carefully. I have not met an investor who is okay for a percentage of his investment money is deducted to pay off a broker. I also know some investors that reject outright any pitch unless a cofounder or a senior team does it.

As an entrepreneur, you should ask yourself whether you are serious about outsourcing your investor pitch to brokers you don’t really know?

All or most investors I know are usually approachable people. You can reach them out easily on places like LinkedIn or even Twitter. Drop a note and ask if they are open to a quick phone call about your company.

So think carefully if you need to get a broker to help you with your fundraising. An early-stage company using a broker to get a pre-seed or seed round tends to be a ‘red flag’ and give a ‘poor signal’ to potential investors.

Approaching investors too early

Here’s a blunt truth. Elon Musk or Mark Cuban can raise money with only an idea.  The rest of us mere mortals need to have a strong and solid management team, unique products, innovative technology, a perfect and compelling pitch on the business potential on the targeted market and a visible exit strategy.

Suppose you try to raise money when you are not ready or even building a track record or demonstrate any form of success. In that case, it usually ends up a waste of valuable time (for both the founder and the potential investor as well).

We all have been to pitching competitions before. You would have seen how unprepared founders get slaughtered all the time by ruthless venture funds and investors. You need to know the hard numbers about your business and explain how you come up with their “X” mil valuation, financial model, revenue strategy, you know the rest.

There is also another challenge if you pitch too early to investors. Bad pitch can also result in you losing credibility, i.e. “social capital” among potential investors. It may be better if you spend some time building some tractions or solid numbers before you start pitching. And spend this time also to get yourself educated about what goes into fundraising.

Unreasonable timeline

 Aspiring entrepreneurs or founders may get a shock or disappointment whenever I tell them that a typical fundraising timeline is between three to six months.

Also Read: Top contributor posts this week: Building a remote work culture, fundraising from home and more

Institutional investors such as corporates or venture funds may even take longer than this depending on the intensity of their assessment and due diligence process. I’ve said this before, but I’ll repeat it. No investor wants to inherit your company’s problems. Remember that you are trying to get people to part with their (hard-earned) money.

They deserve to know what they are getting themselves into when they invest in your company, especially your company’s legal and financial health.

In other words, you need to have a fundraising roadmap to manage your internal expectations on your current funding needs and expected external funds. Many founders made a mistake of raising too little money. If you think about it, the physical and emotional bandwidth in raising US$250,000 or US$500,000 is pretty similar. To avoid having to start fundraising again just six months after you closed your last round.

Ask any entrepreneur that has been through a fundraising process. Or even founder that raised money on an equity crowdfunding campaign hosted on a crowdfunding platform. Fundraising can be emotionally and physically demanding.

Ignoring securities and companies laws

Early stage entrepreneurs like to think they are immune to company law. As a company, they are a set of securities laws that need to be satisfied before shares can be issued to an investor. If you are a director (which is indeed the case if you are a founder), you can face penalties and fines for failing to issue shares according to the securities laws.

Remember I told you earlier about the founder that took money from an angel without signing any paperwork? Doing future fundraising can be hard when you don’t have paperwork on your previous fundraising round (fixing the share capitalisation table can be a nightmare too!). It may also be unlikely for an investor to invest in your company if you have violated securities laws when raising earlier capital rounds.

Overvaluing or undervaluing the company

While vetting potential investors, startups, and founders need to avoid overvaluation or undervaluation of the business.

In my experience, it is surprisingly easy to get money from unsophisticated investors at unrealistically high valuation (for instance, taking money from your ‘rich uncle’ that has too much money laying around). But think about the implications of taking in too much money at such an early stage of a business.

You and your cofounders may end up with problems in the next several months when you want to do another fundraising with other investors at an appropriate valuation. It is difficult and may have to take up new money at a lower valuation (also known as a ‘down round’).

Also Read: How to protect your early stage startup from unnecessary legal hassles

You may end up having to address a group of frustrated initial investors that will be forced to accept an unexpected reduction of their stake and dilution of their ownership or rights as an earlier investor in the company.

Additionally, undervaluing your company can be just as bad. Raising funds at an unreasonably low valuation means you will give away too much equity to the investors. As a founder, you may reduce your potential financial success in the future during an exit scenario like an initial public offering (a corporate exercise where a private company becomes a public company and sells its shares to the general public for the first time) or a trade sale (like selling to a strategic partner or a corporate).

You may end up getting paid less because you get diluted too significantly at the early stage of the business.

Taking money from any investors that offers money

As a founder, you must carefully assess every potential investor as much as a potential investor is assessing your company. Different investors have different characteristics and preferences. Take your time to know them well before you agree to take their money.

For example, more angel investors, especially business owners and professionals, are now getting involved in pitching competitions to find good companies. News about unicorns and how investors achieved financial success in investing in startups attracted startup investing as another asset class.

I recall a founder who told me that an angel investor told everyone that the founder now works for him as his employee, simply because he decided to invest in his company. I also recall another founder telling me that an angel would invest in his company only if he agrees to designate the angel as another cofounder. In reality, the designation does not carry much difference, so the founder decided to such a request. This kind of stuff does happen.

You may end up struggling to manage your business while being obliged to listen to unsolicited advice on how to run your business from unknowledgeable or inexperienced investors. You need to know how to put them in a box (usually covered inside a good shareholders agreement) while ensuring that you don’t neglect their rights as investors like being regularly updated about the business progress.

Using a complicated and technical investment structure

There are only a few financing structures that can be used by a company like issuance of either issue ordinary shares or preference shares to an investor. The legal fees associated with such structures are generally reasonable.

In my experience, entrepreneurs who try to reinvent the scheme may incur more legal fees over the usual amount. In practice, creating complicated and onerous deal terms tends to create issues for future investment rounds when introducing new investors with non- industry-standard terms.

There is a general trend in Silicon Valley for early stage deals to be either two types. One is the Y Combinator’s accelerator “simple” investment agreement called SAFE (Simple Agreement For Future Equity) document. A second most popular option is the 500 Startups’ venture fund KISS (Keep It Simple Securities) convertible note.

Also Read: When does your startup need a legal department?

I won’t delve into details on the pros and cons of any of these instruments. But for any of them to work here in your specific country, the commercial and legal terms need to be considered and localised carefully to fit into the companies laws that we have in your local domicile.

On a side note, they are inherent complexities in both of these instruments (you can read them on the web like pricing the round and managing founders’ future dilution). So you need to know what you are dealing with before happily signing off on the dotted line.

It may be most appropriate to stick to a straightforward vanilla instrument like selling your company’s equity in practice. The usual way is to offer your company’s equity in exchange for money so that you can get back to growing your business.

Raising money for the sake of raising money

There is a common saying that “equity is the most expensive form of financing”.

Consider carefully, why do you need to raise outside capital. I do know some founders that fundraise because that’s what everyone is doing.

Some founders I met do not even consider bootstrapping (i.e. running a company using your personal savings or resources). Don’t get me wrong. I am not asking you to bootstrap forever. For example, you should try to generate revenue for your business before you attempt to raise money.

Some successful bootstrapped companies that have been successful are Mailchimp, Lynda, Shutterstock, GoFundMe, GitHub, Shopify and many others.

Ignoring the important legal and fundraising agreements

In my experience, early stage entrepreneurs usually like to brag on how their angel investors trust them so much by putting in money in their bank account. Once an investor invests in your company, the investor becomes another shareholder in the company and other cofounders. You should have a formal agreement in place (usually a shareholders agreement) setting out the rights and obligations between the cofounders and the investors.

Raising money from investors may be the most important corporate exercise you will undertake as an entrepreneur or founder. Treat it seriously and with respect.

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

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Here’s why universities are turning towards blockchain partnerships and bitcoin

blockchain universities

Blockchain technology continues to further permeate the world in which we live while disrupting legacy systems and improving efficiency. One area where this may be clearly seen is in the sphere of higher education, where partnerships between technology companies and universities are helping to develop some of the most exciting real-world use cases.

Blockchain technology in higher education primarily dates back to October 2017, when the University of Melbourne became the first university in the Asia Pacific region to issue recipient-owned credentials via the nascent technology — effectively ensuring that credentials remain owned by the recipient and verifiable by third-parties, even if the issuing institution ceases operation.

Though late-2017 and early-2018 was a speculative bubble for blockchain projects, a 2019 report from Gartner found that 18 per cent of respondents planned on deploying blockchain solutions within the following 24 months— a trend we indeed saw play out in 2020. 

Today, many institutions for higher education around the world — including Princeton, MIT, Harvard, UC Berkeley, the University of Central Asia, and the Asia Pacific University of Technology and Innovation, and many others — feature at least some degree of blockchain education and regularly publish academic papers on the emerging technology.

Additionally, some Ivy League universities — such as Harvard, Yale, Brown — have been using cryptocurrency exchanges to directly gain exposure to digital assets, following investments from Ivy League endowments via venture capital funds in 2018.

Putting heads together for real-world use cases

The use cases for blockchain technology in higher education are readily evident. As secure databases, blockchain solutions may improve record-keeping, increase procedural efficiency, create new avenues for payments, and fundamentally alter for-profit institutions’ business models. Blockchain studies also encourage some of the brightest minds in this relatively new field to apply for admission to universities interested in fostering their personal development.

Also Read: LongHash Ventures launches US$15M fund to support early-stage blockchain startups

However, the potent combination of blockchain technology and higher education doesn’t end with universities’ simply utilising blockchain solutions. Rather, it also extends to partnerships that aim to develop various industries.

For example, in November 2020, leading technology company Maxonrow partnered with the National Chiao Tung University to jointly establish the ‘Technology Management and Blockchain Research Center’ in order to develop blockchain applications, facilitate cross-domain integrated application systems, and boost industry-wide ecosystem development. The research centre currently also offers FinTech and blockchain courses.

More specifically, the research centre is focusing on improving efficiency in the medical biotechnology industry, providing solutions for agricultural and fishery sales record management, developing fintech applications and smart logistics, and promoting renewable energy management, among other real-world use cases. 

In another example from earlier last year, Tokyo-based NTT Research, Inc.’s Cryptography and Information Security Lab separately partnered with UCLA and Georgetown University to research the theoretical aspects of cryptography and the utilisation of a world-wide blockchain research testbed, respectively.

COVID-19 accelerated the need for blockchain adoption

Universities have always played a role in both the education and fostering of innovation of emerging ideas. As such, partnerships between blockchain companies and higher-education institutions are crucial to the further development of real-world use cases for cryptography and blockchain systems.

Unfortunately, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has, according to the University of Illinois Springfield’s Ray Schroeder, decelerated the blockchain-focus from many institutions of higher education— which found their IT departments over-burdened by the need to adjust to a learn-from-home model. 

This need to adapt has opened the door for more university partnerships with companies— such as the aforementioned collaboration between Maxonrow and the National Chiao Tung University — and it stands to reason that the trend will continue throughout 2021 and beyond.

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

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From our community: BNPL readiness, reflections on the remote work life, hiring offshore developers and more…

Contributor posts

Happy Chinese new year and I hope that 2021 turns out to be more upbeat than its predecessor in many ways.

And going by the enthusiasm in our contributor community, we sure are seeing a lot of action in the fintech space with BNPL and e-wallets becoming the norm. Also find out what we have done right and what we need to do better about the remote working life (hey hey…who said it was only a 2020 thing?).

Have a great time reading and feel free to share your views and opinions (or even how you celebrated a rather-virtual CNY) by submitting a post.

9 fundraising mistakes entrepreneurs and founders must avoid by Izwan Zakaria, startup lawyer

“Smart money” means money raised from an experienced, smart and well-informed investor. A “smart investor” provides both cash and invaluable benefits to your company like opening new doors to other strategic investors, partners, or potential new customers.

“Dumb money” means exactly what it means. A “dumb money” usually described an investor that invests in nothing more than capital with no real influence on growing the business.

Unfortunately, many entrepreneurs and founders can quickly end up as “dumb entrepreneurs” by making frequent and easily avoidable mistakes. These mistakes often create another risk of the venture and startup success and expose the entrepreneurs to even criminal offences.”

The WFH era: How SMEs should select the right digital collaboration tools by Joey Lim, VP of Commercial – Asia, Lark

“With COVID-19 still affecting hundreds of millions around the globe, it’s safe to say that the pandemic isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon.

But what does this mean for Singapore’s workforce? Truth be told, when work-from-home arrangements were first rolled out in February 2020, many expected to return to the office by the new year. Only a handful thought it would stretch for longer.

As we approach our one-year anniversary of working from home, there’s no better time to take stock of the current arrangements thus far and reflect on what has worked, what can be improved, and what should be tossed out.”

Here’s why universities are turning towards blockchain partnerships and bitcoin by freelance journalist, Luke Fitzpatrick

“Blockchain technology in higher education primarily dates back to October 2017, when the University of Melbourne became the first university in the Asia Pacific region to issue recipient-owned credentials via the nascent technology — effectively ensuring that credentials remain owned by the recipient and verifiable by third-parties, even if the issuing institution ceases operation.

Though late-2017 and early-2018 was a speculative bubble for blockchain projects, a 2019 report from Gartner found that 18 per cent of respondents planned on deploying blockchain solutions within the following 24 months— a trend we indeed saw play out in 2020.”

Shaping up of the fintech world

Is Southeast Asia ready to buy now, pay later? by Clarence Siut, marketing and CS Specialist at Arcadier

“By splitting up payment, consumers feel less ‘pain’ and view purchases as more affordable than if they had to pay the full amount all at once, and are therefore more willing to make purchases.

BNPL has since taken off in various parts of the world, with pioneer firms such as AfterPay and Klarna achieving unprecedented successes. In fact, BNPL pioneer firm Klarna from Sweden has become the highest valued fintech firm in Europe, with a valuation of over US$10.6 billion as of November 2020. However, in some parts of the world like Southeast Asia, BNPL is still in its infancy. Thus arises the multi-million dollar question: is Southeast Asia ready for BNPL payments?

The answer is a resoundingly positive one.”

Telling the fortune of digital payments in 2021, CNY style by Tristan Chiappini, VP (APAC) at PPRO

“Just over one year into the COVID-19 pandemic, it has been impossible to ignore the stratospheric growth of digital payment methods across the world. In APAC specifically, we’ve seen Facebook and PayPal join Google, Tencent, and other leading technology firms in backing gojek, a popular Southeast Asian super app.

Not missing a beat, Gojek’s competitor Grab has been keeping busy by purchasing stakes in popular e-wallets such as Indonesia’s LinkAja.

It’s safe to say that there’s never a dull moment when it comes to the region’s fintech scene! But once the dust has settled behind this latest wave of M&A activity, what will be the next frontier for digital payments?”

To code or not to code

Why is hiring a good offshore developer for your startup so difficult these days? by Trung Ho, digital marketing lead at Tech JDI

“Developers are the lifeblood of tech companies! They help bring your idea into existence, breathe life into your product, and power up the whole system. Sadly, hiring a good offshore developer is so difficult these days, especially for a young startup.

But do not fool yourself into thinking that you can’t hire them because of their rising salaries across the world. There are always good developers who are willing to stick with startups for values beyond the money.

Instead, the one major challenge that young companies face when hiring quality offshore talent is the painstaking process of searching, evaluating, and convincing candidates within a stipulated time period.”

From brick-and-mortar to e-commerce in just 7 steps and no-code by Neelima Goel cofounder at Purple Nooks and SolvingMinds

“For many major brands, the global pandemic has accelerated the pre-death stage of retail stores into a possible extinction moment. For a smooth transition into online selling, retailers need to keep up with the digital transformation and the only way to go is to adapt no-code to run their e-commerce store.

From brick-and-mortar to selling online in seven simple steps”

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

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