Day: March 4, 2021

InVent, the corporate VC arm of Thailand-based Intouch Holdings, has announced investments into two local startups Datafarm (Series A) and Swift Dynamics (pre-Series A).

The transaction details remain undisclosed.

Both the companies, according to the VC firm, will play a crucial role in supporting corporates to strongly step into the fully-digitised 5G era.

Founded in 2012, Datafarm is a cyber security company that helps enterprises prevent cyber risks on their IT infrastructure by providing them with increased protection.

It helps government agencies and businesses protect their data through three main stages, which include penetration testing (Pentest), Vulnerability Assessment (VA), and cybersecurity consulting.

“The tools created by Datafarm focus on ease of use and can be compiled according to various standards/requirements at an affordable price which is scheduled to be released by the end of this year,” Pisuttisak Chongboonchuer, CEO of Datafarm, said.

Also Read: Robowealth rakes in Series A from Beacon VC to lower wealth gap in Thailand through tech

“From funding support and business cooperation with Intouch affiliates, and tremendous increase of the cybersecurity market, company expects revenue will increase to 300 per cent within three to five years,” he further added.

Launched in 2018, Swift Dynamics is an IoT management provider which connects multiple devices of clients to the cloud.

The firm provides tools for businesses to improve every part of their business, starting from customer relationship management, procurement management, business operations management, project, construction management, to logistics management.

Co-founder Natee Singhaputtangkul believes that Swift Dynamics is one of the very few firms in Thailand that provides customers with all-in-one IoT-based solutions using 5G network.

The startup also plans to expand overseas in the next five years.

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Image Credit: InVent.

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Eden Farm, an Indonesian agritech startup focussing on the farming supply chain, has received an undisclosed amount in a pre-Series A funding round, led by Australian VC firm Investible. AC Ventures, Corin Capital, and unnamed strategic angel investors also participated.

The fresh funds will be used to expand Eden Farm’s operations in the Java and Sumatra regions and offer increased stock-keeping units (SKU) selections for its merchant partners.

The company also seeks to develop technology to further automate its business processes and grow its farmers’ funding unit.

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

Indonesia is home to over 30 million farmers, with the agriculture sector contributing 14 per cent of its GDP — US$140 billion in market size. However, it is heavily fragmented with inefficient supply chains and significant margin leakages, limiting farmers’ income.

Founded in 2017, Eden Farm focuses on tackling the problem by connecting farmers and communities upstream with F&B businesses, including restaurants, street food vendors and central markets.

The Y Combinator alumnus aims to achieve this by bringing farmers’ produce directly to businesses. On the demand side, Eden Farm allows street vendors and restaurants to reduce costs, save time and increase income.

Besides, it supports farms by creating better access to quality inputs (such as seeds and fertilisers), as well as financing services to support their farming businesses.

Eden Farm claims it services over 25,000 merchants in 12 cities across Java. On the supply side, Eden Farm is supported by more than 1,500 individual farmers from the islands of Java and Sumatra. The company expects this number to grow exponentially in 2021, enabled by its stronger foothold and upstream sourcing capabilities.

Also Read: Robots on the farm: This startup is enabling farm mechanisation in India to cope with rising food demand

“Eden Farm disaggregates the food supply chain by efficiently leveraging communal farming to provide just-in-time inventory to food wholesalers, resellers and hotels. The business has an incredible opportunity to decrease food prices and wastage across Indonesia,” said Daniel Veytsblit, Investment Director of Investible,

“Eden Farm has created strong defensibility through its upstream sourcing capability, demand aggregation and simplifying of the supply chain, enabling farmers to receive stable demand and buyers to purchase fresh produce at more affordable prices and better quality,” opined Adrian Li, Managing Partner of AC Ventures.

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Image Credit: Eden Farm

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Twilio (NYSE: TWLO), the leading cloud communications platform, released its second annual State of Customer Engagement Report today. Combining insight from the Twilio platform, which powers over 1 trillion human interactions annually, with results of new global research of 2,500 enterprise decision-makers, the report reveals that digital communications were critical to business survival in 2020, and that the solutions that were built will shape business success in the post-pandemic economy.

“For nearly every organization dealing with the impacts of the pandemic, increased digital engagement was a core part of their solutions. From remote learning to work-from-home contact centre agents to vaccine distribution logistics, digital communications have played a critical role. We expect that to accelerate through the pandemic recovery and become the new normal,” said Glenn Weinstein, Chief Customer Officer at Twilio.

Also read: Meet these 5 verified investors that are ready to connect with you today

The 2021 State of Customer Engagement Report outlines the major trends in digital engagement that emerged in 2020, and how they are shaping digital adoption across global companies in every industry. The trends include soaring digital interaction between businesses and customers, and what this means for personalization; the rise of the agile workforce; how highly regulated industries are leading in digital adoption; the next generation of video; and how businesses are choosing to build unique experiences. Key findings from the report include:

● Red tape didn’t stop play in APAC — even highly regulated industries experimented. 86% of APAC companies across finance, government and healthcare report COVID-19 spurred their highly regulated organization to explore new strategies to serve customers. 78% of the same companies report it will be critically or very important to their success going forward.

● 2020 catapulted Singapore into a hybrid economy, where nearly every in-person interaction will have a digital element. 93% of Singapore business leaders report that COVID-19 accelerated their move to the cloud, equipping companies with the flexibility to serve customers from anywhere. 95% plan to increase or maintain their current communications channel offerings after the pandemic, and expect to add an average of four new channels this year.

● Digital engagement will remain essential to Singapore’s business survival and success. 90% in Singapore report that increased customer engagement during the pandemic drove new customer insights. 82% report digital customer engagement will be critically or very important to their success going forward.

● Companies that adopt a “builder” mindset will survive, those that do not will be outcompeted. 89% of enterprise decision-makers in Singapore report they will choose to build communications solutions to meet customer demands in the future, rather than buy a pre-configured solution. 91% of C-level executives in Singapore found developers were crucial to solving business challenges brought on by COVID. 
The report recognizes Twilio Engagement Builders, innovative organizations that built cutting edge digital solutions to stay connected to their customers and communities in 2020. Engagement Builders include Comcast, BGL Group, Delta Air Lines, Norwegian Refugee Council, and LINE Japan. To explore what they built and read the full report, go to twilio.com/state-of-customer-engagement.

Also read: Scaling communities like startups

Methodology: This report draws insight from Twilio platform data, which reflects digital engagement activity that occurred on Twilio in 2020. Twilio platform data do not represent Twilio’s historical or future financial performance and are presented solely as a context for broader market trends. The report also includes original research from a survey of over 2,500 enterprise decision-makers across the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Australia, France, Spain, Italy, Japan, and Singapore. The research was fielded by a third party to understand how businesses view the role of digital engagement. Survey respondents are full-time employees of companies with 500 to 25,000+ employees, from the director to the executive level.

About Twilio: Millions of developers around the world have used Twilio to unlock the magic of communications to improve any human experience. Twilio has democratised communications channels like voice, text, chat, video, and email by virtualizing the world’s communications infrastructure through APIs that are simple enough for any developer to use, yet robust enough to power the world’s most demanding applications. By making communications a part of every software developer’s toolkit, Twilio is enabling innovators across every industry — from emerging leaders to the world’s largest organizations — to reinvent how companies engage with their customers.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by 
Twilio

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Singapore-based global consumer internet honcho, Sea Group, has launched a venture fund to invest in tech startups.

The group has also allocated an initial amount of US$1 billion for the fund, called Sea Capital, to be invested over the next few years.

The announcement was made during a conference call on Tuesday.

Also Read: How Garena became extremely important for Tencent’s future

As per a press statement, Sea Capital is a new platform launched to manage the group’s investment efforts, and further strengthen its investment and capital allocation capability. It will help accelerate the growth of the overall digital economy and create real and lasting value for our users, business partners and communities.

The corporate venture capital fund will be headed by Chief Investment Officer David Ma, who will report directly to Sea Group founder Forrest Li. Ma is founder of Composite Capital Management, a Hong Kong-based global investment management firm which has recently been fully acquired by Sea Group.

“Sea Capital will focus on identifying, partnering with, and investing in technology companies that share our vision of bettering the lives of consumers and small businesses through technology,” Sea CEO Forrest Li said.

As per a Bloomberg report, Sea is following in the footsteps of internet behemoths SoftBank and Tencent by creating a corporate investment arm as the company aims to deepen its offerings in gaming, e-commerce and digital financial services as well as look for new areas of growth.

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

Founded in Singapore in 2009, Sea owns and operates a number of internet properties, including Shopee (e-commerce marketplace), Garena (online game developer and publisher), and SeaMoney (a digital financial services network in Southeast Asia).

In 2017, it listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Image Credit: Sea Group

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Budget airline operator AirAsia Group Bhd has launched a food delivery service in Singapore today, according to TodayOnline.

Despite the growing competition of similar services within the region, AirAsia intends to woo customers by promising a five per cent lower delivery charge in comparison to its competitors.

The company is also offering a two-week free delivery for orders within 8 km until March 16. Users can book orders via their website AirAsia Food or its app, where flights can be booked too.

AirAsia Group’s chief executive officer Tony Fernandes said at an online press briefing that its food delivery app will not be having features such as “maps” to locate delivery agents, calling it an unnecessary “frill”.

“Just like AirAsia doesn’t have all the frills of Singapore Airlines, AirAsia Food, for instance, (won’t) have maps. We don’t think you really need to know where your driver is, because that costs us,” he mentioned.

Its platform currently has 24 food-and-beverage outlets which include Swee Choon Tim Sum, Maki-san, PizzaExpress, and Indian Wok, and is in talks to get 300 more food operators on board.

Also Read: COVID-19 accelerates food delivery startups in SEA with Grab responsible for near half of growth: Report

Additionally, AirAsia Food also plans to launch its food delivery service in Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines before the end of this year.

It has also revealed plans to enter the fresh produce delivery market in Singapore where consumers can order imported fish from Japan or short ribs from Korea directly to their homes in Singapore within 48 hours.

COVID-19 has accelerated the food delivery market in Southeast Asia (SEA) and at the same time badly hit travel and hospitality companies.

With the lockdown prompting many in the region to download apps offering food delivery services, the number of downloads has increased 2-2.5 times in March and April.

This trend has led AirAsia to hop into the food delivery space as it bets on the growing potential of the sector while also leaning towards other sources of income to survive.

However, will AirAsia be able to stand up against the likes of established market leaders such as Grab, Deliveroo, and Foodpanda?

Only time will tell.

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Image Credit: Macau Photo Agency

 

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