More than one year into the global pandemic, as the economy around the world and in the region gradually recovers, small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore are expecting a brighter outlook for the future.

In the latest SBF-Experian SME Index released by the Singapore Business Federation, business sentiments for the six-month period from April to September 2021 are at their highest ever since the start of the pandemic in the first quarter of 2020.

SMEs are looking at business expansion opportunities and are expecting to step up on hiring. With many businesses becoming digital-first today, the questions here are, how and where should SMEs focus their resources and efforts at this juncture?

The scramble we all experienced 15 months ago as we migrated to more agile, flexible work methodologies underlines just how important technology has become.

And it will only become more central to the way businesses are run as both big and small organisations put in place hybrid working solutions.

Our 2020 Asia Pacific SMB Digital Maturity Study reveals that 69 per cent of small to medium businesses (SMB) in Asia Pacific are accelerating their digitalisation rates to address COVID-19 challenges.

Also Read: BukuWarung rakes in US$60M to build an OS for Indonesia’s 60M MSMEs

However, while we all intuitively know the importance of IT, managing it is a very different proposition, particularly if you are a small business with dozens of issues competing for your time and attention.

Most micro-businesses operate with either one or two people helping to keep things running and operating an ad-hoc help desk. According to the same study, lack of digital skills and talent is the top challenge for SMBs undergoing digital transformation.

With IT so central to the success of businesses, and with the accelerated evolution of the IT function, what role should an IT team or department play in SMEs?

Working with SMEs across the Asia Pacific region, there are three critical questions SME owners need to ask themselves when they consider their investments in the IT function:

Would a failure in your IT systems stop your business from operating?

Some businesses can manage pretty well if their IT systems face a temporary outage, or even for an extended period of time. While it might be inconvenient, and an increasing struggle with employees working remotely, a small bookkeeping firm, for example, could likely survive for a few days if there was an IT failure.

But imagine the impact for an online retailer? Without their website and the backend systems, the business would grind to a halt almost instantly and with it, revenues. And an extended stoppage would have long-term consequences as customers choose other retailers.

Is cybersecurity risk to your short-term operating viability, and your long-term success?

For companies that depend on the Internet, a cybersecurity incident could be catastrophic. Let’s take the example of our online retailer again. A Denial-of-Service attack – where a website is targeted with so much traffic it stops working – would bring revenue streams grinding to a halt within minutes.

But consider the impact of a data breach; customer trust could be seriously affected if credit card data was stolen. That is the kind of threat that can close businesses within just a few weeks.

Could technology help accelerate your business?

Technologies such as big data and AI are revolutionising the way businesses are able to identify business opportunities. While often the preserve of larger firms, the rapidly decreasing costs of both of these technologies and the rise of many tech-first emerging businesses are bringing them into the sphere of even the smallest of firms.

With the benefit of agility, smaller businesses can then take advantage of changing trends and get ahead of larger organisations.

If you answered “yes” to these questions, IT should be a central part of your business strategy which supports the resilience and drives growth. It also means that you require dedicated expertise in each of these areas, rather than a “jack of all trades” kind of IT personnel.

Also Read: 4 ways to protect your business from cybersecurity threats

The evolution of  IT: From technical support to driver of growth and innovation

As we have seen, IT teams are – or should be – more than just IT support functions helping people deal with laptop issues. At their best, IT teams should be a central part of driving a business towards its objectives.

Our 2020 Asia Pacific SMB Digital Maturity Study classifies SMBs across four stages of digital maturity, starting with the earliest stage of Digital Indifferent to the more advanced group of Digital Challenger and finally, Digital Native.

In terms of people and skills, Digital Indifferent SMBs are characterised by a lack of digital skills, while Digital Challengers make strategic investments in talent and Digital Natives see talent as a top priority and competitive differentiator.

The study found that Digital Challengers generate 50 per cent higher sales and productivity growth, while Digital Natives are able to grow their revenue twice as fast as SMBs in the early stages of digital maturity.

Other than making sure that all aspects of the IT infrastructure function smoothly, the IT function should ensure that the team stays on top of developments in technology including cybersecurity and data privacy regulations so they can recommend smooth, long-term upgrade paths that contribute to revenue and productivity growth.

The IT team – or its most senior member – should be a core part of the management team. They can bring their expertise to bear on all aspects of an organisation that might require technology to work or excel.

Whether that is putting in place HR management software or customer relationship tools, the IT team can help smooth the way from identifying possible vendors to the roll-out.

Given all of this, it goes without saying that IT teams must have excellent technical skills. But one aspect that is often overlooked is “soft” skills.

With the role that technology plays across a business, everyone in the IT team needs to come armed with more than just programming and technology skills: they need the ability to get on with colleagues, create alliances, and drive consensus.

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Intrepid Group, a Singapore-headquartered omni-channel e-commerce solutions company, has secured US$11 million in an oversubscribed Series B funding, led by Mirabaud Asset Management through its Mirabaud Lifestyle Impact & Innovation fund.

Local VC firm Vulpes Investment Management, a group of global private investors, as well as existing investors including SGX-listed Thakral Corporation, also joined the round.

Also Read: Intrepid Group secures pre-Series B to help SMEs accelerate their growth on Lazada, Shopee

The money will go into improving its technology suite and take “our capabilities to the next level in order to continue to accelerate the growth of our brand clients’ business across the region.”

Founded by co-founders of Lazada, Intrepid Group offers both enterprise-grade SaaS and end-to-end e-commerce management to brands and SMEs to accelerate their growth on platforms such as Lazada and Shopee.

The B2B company has offices in six markets: Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

With its asset-light model, the company claims to have already reached profitability in two of its markets, and is on track for regional profitability.

“In less than two years, Intrepid has become the partner of choice for over 60 international brands to grow their omni-channel e-commerce in Southeast Asia,” claimed Jasper Knoben, CEO of Intrepid.

In August 2020, Intrepid raised an undisclosed sum in pre-Series B financing, co-led by Thakral Sun SEA Capital (a VC firm backed by Sunway Group). Ten months earlier, it had received Series A funding led by Kairous Capital.

Renaud Dutreil and David Wertheimer of Mirabaud said: “As consumer purchase patterns see an accelerated shift to online, globally leading brands must adapt. Intrepid has been able to build an industry-leading team across entire Southeast Asia, and thereby rapidly gained the trust of a wide range of world-leading brands across multiple categories. The company has established itself as a preferred partner for leading global brands to effectively reach the ca. 700 million consumers of Southeast Asia.”

Also Read: Lazada’s ex-CMO’s startup raises Series A round, aims to help brands’ maximise e-commerce presence

“As ecommerce is growing much faster than offline and soon for many brands will become larger than offline, we see a mindset shift happening, where brands start to think e-commerce first. Concurrently, e-commerce is complexifying fast in Southeast Asia, with many consumer touch points to manage and optimise. We want to be the preferred go-to partner for brands to make the most of this amazing opportunity ahead,” said Charles Debonneuil, President of Intrepid and former CMO and co-founder of Lazada Group.

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Image Credit: Intrepid Group

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The article was first published on May 3, 2021.

If there is one good thing to come up from the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be the opportunity to re-examine how we are doing things –and how we can do better.

Previously, as part of our Earth Day celebration, we published a special feature that looked into how the pandemic has affected the environment, particularly in the matter of waste management. We concluded that there are many opportunities for startups to innovate; they can achieve great results by collaborating with various parties, including the government.

This time, as we celebrate Labour Day, we would like to examine the issues that have come out related to the workplace –our work environment and the elements that are included in it.

There are major themes that have come into the discussion in the past year, starting from the different ways we can do to manage our employees and even set up our businesses (remote working is here to stay, y’all).

But nothing induces anxiety as much as a discussion about job availability –and rightfully so. In Singapore, by September 2020, the jobless rate climbed up to 3.6 per cent from 3.4 per cent in just one month. This number is related to the retrenchment that was performed across different industries.

In addition to the fear of losing the job to the pandemic itself, there is also another layer of anxiety that engulf the discussion about the future of work. This is something that has been around for a long time, but it is about time we finally address the elephant in the room: The fear that robots will take over our jobs.

Also Read: Otsaw Digital launches home delivery robots in Singapore

Addressing the fear

When it comes to the discussion regarding the possibility of robots taking over human jobs, the first question that we need to ask is: Is there even any base to this fear?

Or have we been watching too many Hollywood films with plots that include robots going berserk and shooting civilians?

Byron Auguste, CEO of the Opportunity@Work, elaborates in WIRED how our fears of a potential “robot uprising” are not only wrong, but it is also preventing us from improving work conditions for our workers.

“Our fears about automation come down to three factors: machines will execute tasks more efficiently; machine learning will enable artificial intelligence (AI) to make complex decisions more effectively; and technology companies will sell software and algorithms to replace slow and distractible people with fast and focused machines,” he writes.

“Such fears aren’t without basis, but the biggest technology opportunities have always augmented the work of humans, rather than replaced it altogether.”

He even goes as far as stating that the institutional biases for automation over augmentation –that is, the prospect of losing your jobs to robots instead of having it improved by them– are not caused by the tech innovation itself. Instead, it is the result of a more complex system that does not work in favour of augmentation, or having robots as tools to improve the way we do our work.

“Our tax codes, accounting standards, executive-compensation systems, dysfunctional training systems, exclusionary hiring practices and divided societies do create institutional biases for automation over augmentation,” he states.

Auguste is not the only one to put emphasis on the improvement of work condition as facilitated by technology. In their The Future of Work After COVID-19 report, McKinsey Global Institute states that jobs with the highest physical proximity are likely to be most disrupted.

“Many companies deployed automation and AI in warehouses, grocery stores, call centres, and manufacturing plants to reduce workplace density and cope with surges in demand. The common feature of these automation use cases is their correlation with high scores on physical proximity, and our research finds the work arenas with high levels of human interaction are likely to see the greatest acceleration in adoption of automation and AI.”

This is long overdue.

Also Read: Singapore testing on-demand courier delivery by autonomous robots

During the pandemic, frontline workers –from your food delivery guy to the nurses who are interacting with COVID-19 patients on a daily basis– have shown how crucial the role that they play in our society. More importantly, the pandemic also reveals to us how risky these jobs can be.

As innovators in the tech sector, the worst thing that we can do is dismissing the risks of their profession as just a given. Something that they just have to bear with.

When done correctly, augmentation will also enable frontline workers to move a step up in their self-development and possibly career progression. In February, SMRT has begun implementing the use of cleaning robots at MRT stations in the Circle Line.

Instead of forcing workers to give up their job, the initiative provided them with the opportunity to upskill by learning how to manage the robots and troubleshoot minor issues.

Befriending the robot

Now that we have addressed our fear of having robots taking over our jobs, it is time to address upcoming opportunities: Having them as our new colleagues.

Dubbed by industry players as the fastest-growing segment in automation, the popularity of cobots –robots that serve as a function of collaborator of human workers– had been predicted even as early as 2019.

In his piece for Forbes, author Bernard Marr highlighted robot-as-a-service (RaaS) as a promising opportunity for both business owners and tech builder.

” … those who sign up for RaaS get the benefits of robotic process automation by leasing robotic devices and accessing a cloud-based subscription service rather than purchasing the equipment outright. The headaches of ownership, such as paying off an expensive piece of equipment plus handling maintenance issues that spring up, are avoided with RaaS,” he writes.

Even in Southeast Asia, particularly in Singapore, we have begun to see tech companies scoring projects with various institution to help them improve operations with robots –from cooking noodles to performing surgeries. With the latter, we have also begun seeing investment into the category with the goal of expanding these companies business abroad –another testimony to the prospect of this sector.

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Image Credit: Fitore F on Unsplash

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The story: The startup and investment community in Southeast Asia is co-creating “Makan for Hope Festival” to fundraise US$125,000 to support vulnerable communities impacted by COVID-19.

Why: As reported in April 2020, many of some 300,000 Singapore residents who earn below US$2,000 have seen sudden dips in their income during the pandemic, especially after new measures on April 7 restricted businesses deemed non-essential, among other things.

What is Makan For Hope: It is festival is a series of 30 online roundtable conversations taking place over lunches or dinners from June 24th to July 30th 2021. At each session, a seasoned founder or investor will host and share best practices, experiences or industry insights with 10 entrepreneurs or aspiring founders to inspire and encourage peer learning.

Also Read: Meet Mentor For Hope, the startup mentorship programme that will donate 50K meals for those in need

These hosts include CEO of Carousell, Shopback and Helicap as well as partners at Vertex Ventures, Golden Gate Venturers and Monk’s Hill Ventures.

The hosts are taking the lead in raising donations by donating minimally US$1,000 while interested participants donate US$100 (early bird price) to attend one of the sessions.

Early bird registration for Makan for Hope Festival sessions will begin on www.makanforhope.org on 10 June 2021. Aspiring entrepreneurs and entrepreneurs who are facing financial assistance may request for sponsorship. Meals for each session will be catered from social enterprises such as Soul Food and Pope Jai Thai and delivered to participants’ homes.

Endeavor Scale Up Philippines unveils the two graduates

The story: ScaleUp, an accelerator programme run by Endeavor Philippines, today unveiled the two startups graduated from the first cohort.

About the startups: Dealogikal and Expedock.

Dealogikal is an automation service for the procurement process through an online marketplace of commodities, logistics providers, and financing options.

Expedock is an automation service on data entry for shipment documents for freight forwarders.

About Endeavour Scale Up: Endeavor ScaleUp, which was launched in 2020, aims to accelerate early-stage startups and groom them into becoming high-impact entrepreneurs. Through a dedicated mentor with first-hand experience in scaling up a business, workshops by industry leaders, and guidance from the Endeavor team, the programme aims to double the revenue of candidate companies in six months.

With the first cohort coming to an end, Endeavor is now looking to launch its second cohort in July. Call for applications runs from July 1 to July 28.

For more information, click here endeavor.org.ph or contact at hello@endeavor.org.ph.

NUS develops charger for wearables that transmits power using the human body

The story: A research team from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has developed a solution that enables the wireless charging of wearable tech by using a device such as a mobile phone and treating the human body as a medium for power transmission, says a Tech In Asia report.

Also Read: Navigate the challenges of COVID-19 while feeding a low-income family in need through #MentorForHope

The team is led by Jerald Yoo, an associate professor from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the N.1 Institute for Health at NUS.

What is the solution about?: It involves installing a transmitter on a single power source, such as the smart watch on a user’s wrist, and placing multiple receivers anywhere on the person’s body.

The technology can then harness energy from the source to power multiple wearables through a process termed as “body-coupled power transmission.”

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Float Foods, a Singapore-based foodtech startup that makes plant-based foods, has raised SGD2.2 (US$1.7) million in an oversubscribed seed funding round, led by Insignia Ventures Partners and DSG Consumer Partners.

Other backers include Teja Ventures, Apricot Capital, Baksh Capital, Ebb & Flow Group, Water Tiger Investments, Innovate360, and Agrocorp Ventures.

The new round follows the receipt of a project development grant awarded by Temasek Foundation, bringing the startup’s post-money valuation close to US$5.6 million within under just a year of its incorporation.

The company said that the new funding will be used to boost the research and development (R&D) and commercialisation of OnlyEg.

The economics of chicken production is not a pretty one. More than 6 billion chicks around the world are killed every year after they fulfill the poultry farmer’s needs.

The meat industry makes use of chicken products in two major approaches. One is to grow broiler chickens which will later be consumed. The others are egg layers, produced to churn out as many eggs they can churn before being reclassified as soup chickens.

Also Read: Eat Just’s unit GOOD Meat secures US$170M to bring meat made from animal cells to Singapore

Founded in June 2020, Float Foods aims to eradicate the problem by offering people an alternative source of eggs without killing any animals.

Its flagship product is OnlyEg, a legumes-based substitute for both egg yolk and egg white.

The company claims that OnlyEg will be able to offer nutritional value that matches that of a whole chicken egg while adding that the product will be high in protein, and free from cholesterol, hormones, and drug residues.

OnlyEg is currently in R&D to be optimised with nutritional enhancements and longer shelf life, and on track for commercialisation in Singapore by 2022.

Concurrently, a secondary food tech of plant-based egg shreds and patties is currently in the process of being commercialised into the B2B sector by the second half of 2020.

“We’re proud that what we’ve built in the last year—amidst a global pandemic—can allow us the position to choose the right investors that not only believe in Float Foods’ vision of innovating and advancing a sustainable, plant-based food ecosystem in Singapore and beyond for everyone, but also pave a clearer way forward as we work towards delivering our promise of a fully functional, versatile plant-based whole egg substitute aligned with Singapore’s 30 x 30 goals,” said Vinita Choolani, founder of Float Foods.

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Image Credit: Float Foods

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