Betatron Venture Group, a network of five prominent VC funds, and PropTech Institute (PTI), an independent, non-profit association representing Asia’s proptech community, have announced a partnership to spearhead VC investments in the real-estate industry in the Asia Pacific regions.

“At Betatron, we see compelling opportunities for digital transformation in the real estate industry. We’re looking for startups that will help shape the future of the sector across Asia,” said Matthias Knobloch, Managing Partner and CEO of Betatron Venture Group.

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

According to him, the partnership doesn’t have a specific target investment number in mind. “But to give you an example, in early 2020 we launched a partnership with YPSN to target investments in the logistics and maritime sector and within half a year of announcing the partnership we sourced hundreds of deals proposals and made three investments. That makes us one of the leading early-stage investors in the maritime sector in Asia.”

He further noted that while the partnership can invest as little as US$250,000 per company, it typically prefers to invest between US$500,000 and US$2 million.

Founded in 2016, 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$800 million in assets under management and more than 200 investments across Asia.

PTI is an independent, non-profit association representing Asia’s proptech community led by a team of seasoned professionals from the real estate industry. The association seeks to bridge the gap between real estate and technology as well as providing a platform for founders, corporates and investors to drive innovation in the real estate sector.

Investments in proptech companies globally hit US$14 billion in the first half of 2019, representing a more than 300 per cent increase year on year.

Also Read: Meet the 9 startups selected for Betatron’s cohort 6 accelerator programme

“Asia with all of its mega cities and high-rise buildings is the place to be for any tech company that looks to innovate in the sector. And with our teams in Hong Kong and Singapore and the newly formed partnership with the PTI, we’re in a prime position to help scale up companies,” added Knobloch.

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Image Credit: Betatron

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The ASEAN Investment Opportunities 2021 report forecasts investment opportunities in the fields of fintech and digital innovation. These are spaces where blockchain technology is expected to thrive. Incidentally, the ASEAN bloc is viewed as a potential blockchain frontrunner given the growing number of blockchain startups in the region.

Investor interest is an important factor, but it is not going to be enough without counterpart actions from governments or regulatory bodies. In the absence of legislation or regulations that clarify the treatment of digital assets and blockchain-based transactions, tech startups that pursue blockchain applications in their business models cannot attract investors.

Investors will likely find it too risky to extend financial backing to companies that operate in markets where their businesses can face legal challenges.

ASEAN as a whole does not have specific policies related to blockchain and digital asset adoption. However, some member countries have introduced legislation or changes in their policies over the years in support of blockchain-based business models and innovations.

Singapore’s active support

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) has programmes or policies that are deemed supportive of digital currency use and blockchain applications. With these, the city-state has been dubbed as Asia’s cryptocurrency and blockchain hub. Singapore has a notably welcoming attitude towards these technologies.

As early as 2014, MAS has indicated its inclination to avoid actions that would lead to illegalising digital currency use. Also, since 2016, MAS has been exploring the use of distributed ledger technology or blockchain for payment and securities clearing and settlement. Singapore is also known for helping blockchain startups that are planning to launch initial coin offerings (ICO).

Also Read: 3 trends that defined Taiwan’s blockchain industry last year

A joint project by MAS and Temasek, a government investment firm, was initiated in 2016 to establish a blockchain-based payment system prototype that supports multiple currencies. Also, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) launched a Blockchain Challenges series designed to promote and improve blockchain adoption in Singapore. This initiative aims to nurture the blockchain ecosystem in the country.

It’s not surprising why Singapore has a good number of blockchain startups. Companies such as Electrify and Bluzelle are gaining recognition for their innovative applications of blockchain technology. Of note, Electrify, a startup that decentralises the energy marketplace, attracted a US$30 million investment in 2018 to support its international expansion.

Bluzelle, a “serverless” data delivery network provider, closed a US$19.5 million ICO in 2018 after securing US$22.3 million in seven funding rounds. The company is set to launch its mainnet on February 3 this year. Bluzelle also launched its Developer Grant Program for censorship-resistant applications, with focus on increasing transparency, enhancing security and preventing censorship. The company will support innovative use-cases with its US$500,000 fund.

IMDA’s Future of Services report predicts that Singapore’s blockchain market spending can reach up to US$272 million in 2022 and up to US$2.6 billion by 2030, with a compounded annual growth rate of 32.5 per cent.

Indonesia’s change of heart

Indonesia was initially against digital currency and blockchain. It issued an outright ban against cryptocurrency in 2018. However, the government eventually changed its stance as the government decided to create legal frameworks to govern the operation of digital currencies and blockchain-based assets.

Indonesia still prohibits the use of cryptocurrency as a medium of exchange, but the country’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency classifies cryptocurrencies as trading commodities. This gives legitimacy to crypto exchanges and other businesses involved in digital asset transactions except for the use of crypto to pay for purchases.

The government also acknowledges other applications of blockchain technology, particularly the idea of smart contracts. There is growing attention to this concept in the context of fintech regulation. Indonesia allows local companies to employ and implement blockchain-based solutions as they are viewed as essential in driving innovations in financial technology.

Also Read: How ASEAN is shaping up to be a blockchain frontrunner

The Indonesian government further demonstrated its openness to blockchain as it used the technology to verify nearly 13 per cent of the country’s votes during the last presidential election. Additionally, the government forged a partnership with PLMP FinTech, a Singaporean blockchain company, to develop new solutions and strategies for Indonesia’s logistics industry.

Indonesia has a formal blockchain organisation called the Indonesia Blockchain Association, which was created to educate and engage local regulators about blockchain. It has had considerable success as it helped government entities such as the Indonesian Customs adopt blockchain-based solutions to enhance supply chain data management. Indonesia’s biggest bank, Bank Central Asia, is also contributing to blockchain promotion with its local hack-a-thons that promote and support the development of blockchain tech for FinTech businesses.

Malaysia’s tolerance

Just like Indonesia, Malaysia was not as welcoming to blockchain adoption. However, it did not impose regulations that clearly made blockchain and cryptocurrency use in the country illegal. As such, Malaysia’s local blockchain industry gradually made progress.

Instead of shutting down businesses involved in virtual currency exchanges, what Malaysia’s authorities did was to mandate compliance to KYC requirements.

It was in 2019 when Malaysia made a significant stride towards blockchain adoption with the country’s finance minister issuing an order to recognise crypto assets and digital currencies as securities. Similar to what happened in Indonesia, this resulted in the legitimisation of crypto exchanges, initial coin offerings, and related business transactions.

In a statement, Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance recognised blockchain’s potential in ushering innovations not only in new sectors but also in traditional industries.

The Malaysian government has already approved several crypto exchanges and is moving closer towards institutionalising the buying and selling of crypto assets. In early 2020, the country’s Securities Commission introduced regulations for initial exchange offerings (IEO), which enable registered platform operators to carry out digital token offerings.

Also Read: How blockchain can help combat ongoing fraud in the Halal food industry in SEA

There are also reports that Malaysia’s national stock exchange is already considering the possible digitalisation of the bond market with the development of a proof-of-concept blockchain project.

Just like Indonesia, the move to consider cryptocurrencies as legal tender still has a long way to go. There have been no plans for a government-backed cryptocurrency similar to China’s. However, blockchain technology and digital assets are steadily gaining user adoption. Industry observers also see growing demand for crypto assets in the country partly driven by the lingering pandemic.

The takeaway

Blockchain is not just about digital currency or FinTech. It also has use cases in a variety of other settings as demonstrated by the successful startups mentioned above. However, government actions that are largely about cryptocurrency adoption and regulation are the ones that have the biggest impact in advancing the blockchain market across Southeast Asia.

Singapore, Indonesia, and Malaysia are not the only countries that have policies that help foster blockchain use. Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines have also made some progress towards crypto and blockchain adoption. However, the actions of the three largest economies in the ASEAN bloc somewhat summarise the developments that allowed blockchain technology to advance in the region.

One has a proactive policy that welcomes the new technology while others initially reject, then tolerate, and later on regulate.

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The purpose of this short article is to provide a common ground of notions and knowledge on SaaS metrics, based on the hundreds of SaaS companies we see and evaluate on a yearly basis at Qualgro.

We hope that this will help everyone in the ecosystem (founders, advisors, VC friends) to speak the same language and normalise expectations and understanding when tackling SaaS businesses.

The post What metrics to monitor as a B2B SaaS company? appeared first on e27.

After everything that has happened in 2020, naturally, we are kicking off the new year with fresh hope for a much brighter day. In the context of Southeast Asian (SEA) tech startup ecosystem, the fintech sector seemed to have the most reasons to be optimistic about.

In January, we published funding announcements from at least 15 companies in various locations in SEA. Of all these companies, one of the most notable funding rounds was secured by Philippine-based Mynt, which was closing into unicorn status with it.

Lending platforms also continued to become popular among investors with funding announcements by Lendela (US$2 million in pre-Series A), Pintek (US$21 million in debt financing), Alami (US$20 million in debt, equity), MicroLeap (US$3.3 million) as well as payments with Gpay (undisclosed Series A) and Momo (Series D).

In addition to these companies, we also saw movements in the buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) segment with a seed funding round for Pace, the latest newcomer in the scene.

Among the unicorns of SEA, Grab’s fintech arm GFG also secured a US$300 million Series A funding round as part of its further expansion into the scene. The funding round came amidst reports of the company’s plan for a US IPO.

The popularity of fintech investment at the end of 2020 and the beginning of 2021 might be directly related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which had encouraged digital transformation across many aspects of life. This is one of the trends that e27 believes will continue even after the pandemic has lessened, as it enables a new level of practicality and inclusion for the users.

Also Read: Eco-business raises funding from Tembusu Partners to grow its sustainability-focused news platform

What the rest did

Outside of the fintech scene, we also covered funding rounds by companies in the foodtech scene. But what makes January’s foodtech investment unique is the focus on improving the food production process, as opposed to the focus on finding the alternative to meat protein –which was a big theme in 2020.

For example, we had Advantir which builds capsule dessert machine Swirl.GO and Crown Tech which builds AI-powered robot baristas.

Every month, there are always some verticals that seem to stand out among the rest, that work in areas other than fintech or e-commerce. In January, those verticals included multimedia and content creation.

LottieFiles, a community platform for designers and developers, who create motion graphics using the Lottie file format, secured a US$9 million Series A.

Meanwhile, Podcast Network Asia secures a US$750,000 funding to support its expansion plan and live streaming platform GoStream announced that VinaCapital Ventures has invested a “seven-digit figure” into the company.

A different way to get funded

Following up the hype that had begun in 2020, in January, we also saw more reasons to be certain of the popularity of SPAC as an alternative route for tech companies to raise funds.

Joining the bandwagon is Catcha with its blank cheque company Catcha Investment. It has filed to raise up to US$250 million in an initial public offering and aimed 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.”

Also Read: MDEC joins hands with 11 ECF platforms to provide funding to Malaysia’s micro companies with cash-flow problems

Before this, there was also Poema Global Holdings, a SPAC focusing on tech firms in Asia and Europe, with its US$300 million IPO on the NASDAQ stock exchange.

e27 predicts that this trend will continue throughout 2021, especially as leading tech companies such as Tokopedia has even begun considering it as an alternative.

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Image Credit: Chris Liverani on Unsplash

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Faiz Rahman

Singapore-based VC firm Beenext has announced today it has promoted Faiz Rahman as Partner for Indonesia investments.

In the new role, Rahman will be heading tech investments in the archipelago, where the VC firm will largely focus on early-stage (pre-seed to Series A) startups. Besides, he will also be leading the expansion of the network in the region.

A graduate of the University of Indonesia, Rahman brings with him eight years of experience in a variety of fields spread across investment, growth, strategy and entrepreneurship.

In his previous role at Beenext, he built its community for founders/partners in the archipelago. Prior to joining the VC firm, he held the growth and product strategy roles at Lepaya and gojek. He also had a stint with Convergence Ventures.

In the past, Rahman has founded a company called GoodJobs.

“We are fortunate to have Faiz as a new partner and look for more opportunities of collaboration with fellow founders, co-investors and the experts in the local ecosystem and contribute to the growth of the digital economy to the Golden Age in Indonesia,” said Teruhide Sato, founder of Beenext.

Additionally, Beenext also announced that it has elevated its current partner Hero Choudhary to the position of managing partner. In this position, he will be supporting founders of its portfolio companies to scale their business toward the growth stage of their startup journey, including potential IPOs.

Also Read: 500 Startups promotes Ee Ling as Regional Director to spearhead innovation programmes in APAC

Launched in 2015, Beenext has invested in more than 80 startups in India and 51 across Southeast Asia so far. Among its notable investments in Southeast Asia and Japan are Zilingo, Sendo, Trusting Social, Ralali, Amartha, Dekoruma, Mekari, Zenius, Sentient, and Japan’s largest HR SaaS company, and SmartHR.

In total, it has invested in more than 200 startups, globally.

In 2019, Beenext launched a new early-stage focused fund worth US$110 million, which has invested in TrustMedis and Akseleran.

Indonesia is the most-populated country in Southeast Asia and has been a favourite of local and foreign VC firms. Prominent local VCs in Indonesia include East Ventures, Alpha JWC Ventures, Prasetia Dwidharma, and Convergence Ventures.

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Image Credit: BEENEXT

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Bot MD, a Singapore-based Artificial Intelligence (AI) clinical assistant platform, announced today it has closed a US$5 million Series A funding round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.

Also participated in the round were existing and new investors SeaX, XA Network and SGInnovate, besides angels such as healthcare professionals Yoh-Chie Lu and Jean-Luc Butel and Silicon Valley entrepreneur Steve Blank.

As per a press note, the fresh funds will bankroll Bot MD’s growth within the Asia Pacific region with the expansion of its platform into Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, and India.

Besides, the healthtech startup will expand its design and engineering teams to develop new clinical applications and integrations for its platform

Launched in 2018, Bot MD is a clinical assistant which provided doctors with answers to their clinical questions. It allows hospitals and healthcare organisations to integrate their electronic medical records and hospital information systems within their platform for doctors to access.

Also Read: The changing face of healthcare in a post-pandemic world

Bot MD said its proprietary Natural Language Processing (NLP) technology has been used by over 13,000 doctors globally, including notable local medical institutions such as the Singapore General Hospital and National University Health System.

The company claims it grew its user base in Singapore from 20 doctors in January 2020 to over 5,200 clinical users by the end of 2020.

“We believe that we can help every doctor in the world save time and improve the quality of patient care by making it more convenient to access the clinical information that they need, wherever they are,” said Dorothea Koh, CEO and co-founder of Bot MD.

“The global pandemic has added tremendous pressure on healthcare systems around the world and reinforced the need for efficient operations and productive healthcare professionals. Unlike other pure SaaS enterprise players, the team’s extensive experience in the healthcare industry have given them deeper insights into the real pain points of doctors and hospitals,” said Michele Daoud, Partner of Monk’s Hill Ventures.

In January, the company launched a pilot with Parkway Radiology to enable its affiliate network doctors to use its AI assistant platform for clinical ordering and scheduling of radiology exams, as well as to view patient radiology reports and scans through integration with Parkway’s existing systems.

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Image Credit: Bot MD

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OceanShield, a cybersecurity specialist firm for the maritime industry, has secured US$800,000 in a seed funding round from Masik Enterprise, angel investors, and grant funding.

The startup, which is based in Singapore, intends to use the funding to commercialise its solution.

“As this is a solution for the protection of vessel Operational Technology (OT), the commercialisation process is key for the company to generate awareness that this type of solution now exists,” Brian Worning, Head of Commercial at  OceanShield, said.

OceanShield was founded in 2o20 by Dr Dmitry Mikhaylov, a scientist, serial entrepreneur and private-equity specialist in the deep tech industry.

The platform offers patented cybersecurity solutions to protect the OT systems of vessels, ports and maritime and offshore infrastructure.

Its patented core Intrusion Detection System (IDS) is a hardware/software complex trained to read and analyse the industrial protocols in vessel OT networks and provide real-time intrusion alerts.

On being asked why this solution was so essential for the maritime industry, Worning said that vessel OT’s have some of the most critical systems which can result in disastrous incidents, if not taken care of. For example, false data in navigational systems can cause loss of location and navigational control which in turn causes rerouting or collision.

Also Read: BeeX wins Singapore’s Smart Port Challenge 2020 for its innovative autonomous maritime solutions

While multiple marine IT protection solutions exist, the OT side has largely been ignored due to the specialised knowledge and technology required to offer functional OT protection, the company said.

“OceanShield is uniquely positioned to carve a niche in this nascent market. We are especially encouraged by the fact that we are
successfully engaging top maritime players and institutions and receive positive feedback on both the quality and unique technological approach of our IDS,” Mikhail Zeldovich, Managing Director of Masik Enterprises, said.

OceanShield told e27 that as of now its clients include a mix of maritime operators, regulators and Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEMs). It also has a pipeline of installations and deployments coming soon.

The company plans to expand its services globally but is currently focused towards building its presence in Asia, which it says is the shipbuilding centre of the world.

The maritime tech sector in Singapore has seen a rise since 2019 about the same time PIER71 (Port Innovation Ecosystem Reimagined @ BLOCK71) launched a programme to build a maritime entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem in Singapore.

SEEDS Capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore also invested US$36 million into maritime tech startups last year to give the growing sector an added boost.

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Image Credit: Andrey Sharpilo

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Southeast Asian tech giant Grab announced today it has raised US$2 billion from its first term loan, after securing commitments from international institutional investors. According to a press release by the Singapore-based giant, this marked the largest institutional debt in Asia’s technology sector.

Grab shared the five-year senior secured loan was upsized from the original principal amount of US$750 million after strong interest from investors. It also noted the interest rate on the loan was lowered by 100 basis points from the original launch guidance to 450 basis points over LIBOR (the benchmark interest rate at which major global banks lend to one another).

The ride-hailing and food delivery giant commented proceeds from the term loan will enable it to “strengthen its liquidity” by further enhancing its “well-capitalised position”. This comes as Grab made clear of its intention to continue strengthening its super app ecosystem within Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Grab-gojek or Tokopedia-gojek: which merger will make better business sense?

Besides, the term loan serves to diversify the company’s financing sources and “establish a long-term, diversified capital structure”.

Anthony Tan, group CEO and Co-founder of Grab noted the trust investors have placed in Grab as they “continue making consistent progress in achieving our growth and sustainability milestones.”

Valued at over US$16 billion, Reuters reported Grab is looking at a potential US IPO this year, amidst an increased appetite of investors for tech companies. Last month, the group’s fintech arm raised US$300 million in Series A funding, led by Korean asset management company Hanwha Asset Management

In conjunction with the term loan, Moody’s Investors Services and S&P Global Ratings issued to Grab ratings of B3 and B-, with a stable outlook, respectively. The ratings made Grab the first independently-rated technology company in Southeast Asia.

JP Morgan served as the lead bookrunner on the loan facility while Barclays, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, Mizuho, MUFG and Standard Chartered acted as joint bookrunners.

Recently, Grab also became one of the companies that have secured the digital banking license approval in Singapore.

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Image Credit: Grab

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Using algorithms to drive user engagements is fairly run-of-the-mill for tech companies today. If you look at Facebook, YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, and Bigo Live, you’ll see that they share a common feature: a personalised feed.

This feed is powered by an AI-driven algorithm that analyses and predicts the type of content users would like to see and engage with. We internally have been calling this type of algorithm the “Feed Flow AI”— software that controls the content users see on a feed, based on certain optimising criteria.  In Southeast Asia, companies and startups we’re seeing are increasingly adopting Feed Flow AIs.

The Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma highlighted the fact that a number of Silicon Valley tech companies are using Feed Flow AIs to monetise attention with many users being unaware.

For some companies, it is for the sake of corporate interests. Take a look at the social media platforms from the US, which tend to optimise for engagement to drive ad revenues. Meanwhile, platforms in China tend to drive direct revenues through methods like virtual gifting.

Indeed, the Feed Flow AI is a powerful lever for user engagement but this brings up the question of transparency. Are companies respecting users’ attention, privacy, and most of all, their free will?

Several companies have already figured out how to use algorithms successfully to solve complex problems, but it’s not used for consumers’ good (yet). Society is now beginning to understand how social media impacts their lives, and startups using Feed Flow AIs have the potential to disrupt the market, if they start thinking critically about how to use it for users’ benefit.

Also Read: ELSA to expand its AI English pronunciation assistant globally with a US$15M Series B financing

The need for transparency to consumers in Feed Flow AIs

There is general concern over the impact of the Feed Flow AI optimising the user experience for corporate revenues. As users, we may seem fine with that because we get entertainment or informational value from the experience. But would we feel the same way if we were aware of just how effective the Feed Flow AI is at capturing and directing our attention, not to mention our time?

Take TikTok, for example. Digital safety app maker Qustodio found that people spend an average of 52 minutes a day on the app, with younger users spending as much as 80 minutes. If the user was consciously allocating time and attention, would they really allocate 52 minutes a day to watching amateur videos?

I suspect that if users would consciously examine these social media habits, the answer would be no. In the long run, getting people to do what they wouldn’t otherwise want to do would not bode well for either the company or the consumer.

Companies need to focus on improving Feed Flow AIs specifically for the user’s benefit, and also to implement it with transparency so that users will understand the optimisation criteria. As many platforms are doing now, apps can offer users the ability to opt-out of having certain behaviours tracked.

The bottom line is simple. Entrepreneurs using the Feed Flow AI to solve complex problems for consumers’ goodwill reap the rewards. Instead of relying heavily on ads, companies can think of how deeper engagement in the app will translate into better results and customer experiences, and perhaps higher virality.

Content is king. Feed Flow AIs ensure its reign

Today, many companies continue to struggle to drive consistent and deep user engagement. Globally, 25 per cent of apps are used only once after being downloaded, according to Statista. The situation is more dismal in Southeast Asia where app engagement rates are lower compared to the rest of the world, according to a study by marketing and retargeting company Liftoff.

Also Read: Taiwanese app developer uses AI and AR technologies to build beauty apps

Feed Flow AIs can change this. As app users generate content, the Feed Flow AI shows the content to the people who will potentially care about it and engage with it. By putting personalised content into users’ hands, the Feed Flow AI allows apps to increase user engagement and longevity. It can also hide or bury sub-par user-generated content (UGC) that might lead to negative user experiences.

In 2019, WeChat launched a new news feed algorithm to boost recommendations of high-quality UGC. The personalised feed takes into account the media consumption habits of both the user and their friends in the network.

This use of the Feed Flow AI enables users to discover and engage with relevant and higher-quality content. Users who worked hard to produce top-notch content also receive more exposure.

The Feed Flow AI also serves to prevent their experience on an app from going sour. Bigo Live, for example, uses AI-driven image recognition, facial recognition, video intelligence, and voice processing capabilities to moderate content on the platform. One could argue that the moderation is not strong enough, but at least they have that capability.

Yes, content is king!  But we also should recognise that random content will most likely cause the user to disengage. It is the purpose of the Feed Flow AI to ensure the reign of content by ensuring the most engaging content shows up for the most relevant users.

Focus on people, not algorithms

In using Feed Flow AIs, companies need to strike a balance between AI and people. In the future, people may have personal AIs to serve their needs, not companies’. But for now, companies can start figuring out how to use this tech to help improve customers’ lives.

Think of these possible scenarios of positive, “for good,” applications of feed flow AIs:

Using feed flow AIs for education

An app that teaches English might use the Feed Flow AI to learn about the topics that interest each user, and then offer customised vocabulary lessons based on those interests. It could encourage users to interact with their friends in English by offering topic prompts and content templates. Encouraging competition between groups of students could increase engagement, and thus learning. By tailoring content that would capture the customer’s interest, the app can help to ease boredom while at the same time encourage study habits and persistence. Ultimately, Feed Flow AIs can shift learning to a fun and highly engaging process, resulting in much higher learning rates.

Also Read: MDEC joins hands with 11 ECF platforms to provide funding to Malaysia’s micro companies with cash-flow problems

Optimising feed flow AIs for financial inclusion and literacy

What if a finance app’s feed showed each user all the financial news and tutorials they need for their particular situation at that moment? It could provide courses contextualised to each user’s country’s investment scene and to cultural nuances around money.

Digital banks could also consider the user’s feed as a channel to educate customers on saving money for an emergency fund, planning how to pay back loans, and preparing to take out a mortgage. As customers engage with these types of content, they become more financially literate and more prepared to use various banking products and services.

While this allows the digital bank to drive revenue, it’s an approach that focuses on educating users instead of just advertising financial products they may not fully understand.

Staying fit and healthy with feed flow AIs in fitness apps

Fitness apps’ feeds could help users discover people who have the same training method and goals, allowing them to share tips. They could help find advanced users who could potentially provide guidance, as well as exercise buddies to join within their vicinity. In general, the Feed Flow AI will help focus users on getting fit and staying healthy.

Capturing a bigger slice using feed flow AIs for good

In a transactional world, companies will try to milk the user base as much as possible to generate revenues. When a business starts to look at the user base as a group of people with whom the company can build long term relationships, the focus turns to how to benefit the user in the long term. Once the company brings value to the users, there will be many opportunities to transact in a win-win manner over the months and years to come.

Over the next decade, businesses will figure out how to make the Feed Flow AI a core component of their user retention and virality strategy, to build those long term relationships.

Those who do it sooner, and in a transparent, trust-enabling way, are more likely to have more engaged, loyal customers, and eventually capture a bigger slice of the market.

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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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Global Sadaqah Team

Global Sadaqah raises US$111K+ to help charity campaigns match with donors

The story: Global Sadaqah, a Malaysia-based fintech firm, has raised US$111,317 (MYR450,000) via an issuance on Shariah-compliant equity crowdfunding platform Ethis Malaysia.

Investors: Azmi Muslimin, Khaled Fouad, Awaiz Patni and some other undisclosed investors

What the funding will be used for: Product expansion and growth outside of Malaysia

About Global Sadaqah: Founded in 2018, GlobalSadaqah is a crowdfunding platform that matches charity campaigns to donors.

The company claims to have doubled its growth since 2019, with Malaysia and Singapore as the top 2 donor-countries on the platform.

The startup facilitates donations through 11 channels including e-wallet providers in Malaysia, bitcoin, and digital gold.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: Filipino fintech Mynt nears unicorn status; EVs in Singapore: how much is just hype?

“It is more important now than ever to enhance the distribution, impact and especially the sustainability of large donors and corporate zakat. We seek to provide a one-stop service for Muslim-owned companies and business owners to distribute their social funds,” said Ifran Tarmizi, Global Sadaqah’s Country Manager for Malaysia.

GlobalSadaqa has recently partnered with Alliance Islamic Bank.

Binance invests in Furucombo to accelerate the decentralised finance ecosystem

The story: Blockchain company Binance has made an undisclosed investment in decentralized finance (DeFi) aggregator Furucombo. The details of the deal remain undisclosed.

More about the story: The strategic investment will further enhance the decentralized finance ecosystem by enabling easy DeFi loan and trading experiences, the company said.

“We see Furucombo as a game-changer for DeFi. The service makes it easy for the layperson to leverage DeFi composability to string together sophisticated transactions. In particular, the service lowers the barrier to use flash loans, one of the more unique innovations in DeFi but previously only accessible to developers,” said Teck Chia, Head of Binance X.

In the future, Furucombo aims to further collaborate with Binance X and the Binance Smart Chain.

About Furucombo: Furucombo is a tool built for users to rearrange or rewrite their DeFi strategy by simply dragging and dropping. For those who do not know what to do the platform also offers them with pre-built combos.

WildCats appoints new Global Head of Innovation

The story: WildCats, a US-based talent matching firm, has appointed former Carro COO Andy Choi as its new Global Head of Innovation.

More about the story: In his new role, Choi will be responsible for connecting corporations and budding entrepreneurs to further grow the company’s presence.

Prior to his new role, Choi led Carro’s growth in Southeast Asia and grew the platform’s wholesale business into a key revenue driver for the company. In addition to that, he also brings expertise from working in several large organisations like StarHub, Whispir and Great Eastern.

Also Read: In brief: Crypto startup Bonded raises US$2.25M; Vinasun lays off employees

“There are millions of bright, resilient and creative people all around us from mom-and-pop shops to factory workers, teenagers to taxi drivers. Wildcats unites established businesses with the dreamers and doers of the world in a shared vision of success, boosting equality, diversity and inclusion as well as corporate growth and competitiveness,” said Choi.

About Wildcats: Wildcats is an open innovation platform that connects organisations with people that they cannot typically reach as they may be limited by finances, location or education.

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Image Credit: Global Sadaqah

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