HungryGoWhere’s demise shines spotlight on restaurant reservation industry trying to adapt to stay afloat; The homegrown F&B portal is ceasing operations on July 11; The popular site offers restaurant reservations, dining deals, dining rewards, and articles on food and drinks in Singapore; HungryGoWhere’s competitor Eatigo said in an interview that the industry is not in a great shape.

MatchMove receives US$100M from US firm to scale its embedded finance services; Together, the two companies aim to empower clients to embed own-brand digital financial services in their own platforms and apps; These fintech-powered platforms will enable MNCs, SMEs, families, and individuals to “instantly” access intuitive digital banking products.

Intrepid Group attracts US$11M Series B; Investors include Mirabaud Lifestyle Impact & Innovation fund (leaad), Vulpes Investment, and Thakral Corporation; Founded by co-founders of Lazada, Intrepid 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.

BRI Agro to raise capital for digital bank spinoff, enter supply chain financing; The move will allow BRI Agro, a subsidiary of BRI Indonesia, to build a large ecosystem of merchants, consumers and biz partners and facilitate loans for their everyday banking needs.

B Capital’s SPAC trims US IPO target to US$200M from US$300M; The SPAC, B Capital Opportunities, will focus on acquiring tech businesses with the capacity to transform large and traditional industries; This will cover consumer enablement, financial services, health and wellness, and industrial and transportation.

These e27 Luminaries are taking the Indonesian startup scene to greater heights; Far from being a one-hit-wonder, Indonesia almost dominated the e27 Luminaries list with a total of 14 startups; This proves that the local startup ecosystem is filled with players that are resilient enough to face the challenges of a pandemic.

Osome raises US$16M Series A from Target Global, AltaIR Capital, Phystech Ventures, and S16VC; An accounting and corporate compliance app, Osome plans to dive deeper in the e-commerce industry; Osome leverages AI and ML techniques, combined with the experience of human experts, to solve the problem of time-consuming administrative tasks, such as payroll and secretarial work.

Alibaba Cloud invests US$1B to nurture APAC digital talent pool; Project AsiaForward aims to cultivate a million-strong digital talent pool, empower 100K developers and the growth of 100K technology startups in over the next three years; The project forms part of its strategy to invest in infra, tech innovation and talent development to contribute to local economic growth through digital transformation in APAC.

Singapore’s GIC invests US$70M in digital asset firm BC Group; BC Group is a digital asset and fintech company as well as the parent company of OSL; It intends to develop and enhance the platform technology of its digital asset business; In the future, it plans to expand to markets including UK, Singapore and America.

This Japanese biz has set its sights on Malaysia’s market potential for digital gifts; giftee Inc has set up a subsidiary Giftee Malaysia and has partnered with 16 well-loved F&B brands in the country; Currently, Giftee Malaysia has launched 2 out of their 4 available solutions in Japan: eGift System (eGift), and giftee for Business.

‘Buy Now, Pay Later’ – 5 key convenient payment players in Asia; Some pure players operating in the market include Akulaku (Indonesia), hoolah, and Atome (Singapore); The uptake of the payment type across APAC has been fuelled by Gen Z and millennial shoppers.

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Our contributor community is getting stronger by the day. We are now open to video and podcast submissions too! If you are looking to share your webinar content with e27 readers, find more information and submission guidelines about the e27 Contributor Programme or simply submit a post with a short summary of the webinar takeaways and a link to the full video.

This week, the SPAC hype lives on and our contributor provides a great analysis on whether it is here to stay. I am also delighted to bring more women voices from our community along with the story of this revolutionising poultry startup from the Philippines.

The hidden danger in SPACs. Is the hype worth the risk? by Rachel Lau of RHL Ventures

According to Goldman Sachs, SPAC IPOs have raised a total of US$78 billion across 244 transactions globally in 2020. This represents a remarkable five-fold increase from the year before.

Closer to home, Southeast Asia’s most valuable startup Grab is also set to list on the Nasdaq via SPAC Altimeter Growth Corp at an estimated valuation of US$40 billion.

The sudden boom in SPAC IPOs was more notable given the tepid IPO markets in the years leading up to the pandemic. Companies were trying to stay private longer as venture capital and private equity money was abundant. The rapid renewal of interest in public equity capital raises the question of whether “staying private for longer” will become history.

From women, for women

Check out this comprehensive list of 46 startup resources and opportunities for women by Amanda Tay

The share of VC dollars that flowed into startups founded by a woman or a group of women is only 2.7 per cent of the total investment in 2019.

Will we be able to work towards increasing that percentage in 2021?

With this list of resources, we hope that all women founders, innovators, and change-makers can step up to start building their dreams to help create a better world for all.

From competitions and initiatives to accelerators and incubators and female-focused investors, this list has resources catered for female founders at any stage of their startup idea!

What entrepreneurs can learn from Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open by Duckju Kang, CEO of ValueChampion

Many of us have seen the recent headlines featuring Naomi Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open due to her mental health condition. Osaka’s decision led to an outpour of support worldwide and even triggered The International Tennis Federation to review how tennis players and media interact during tournaments.

Mental health problems have been on the rise and those who work in fast-paced, high-stress environments such as startups can be at risk. Osaka’s withdrawal from the French Open may reveal some surprising lessons that startup entrepreneurs can learn.

Today, more business leaders are aware that mental health impacts workplace productivity. As a startup work culture can be fast-paced, always prioritising business growth and moving the sales numbers upwards can lead to adverse effects on mental wellbeing.

Labour market talent crunch is an opportunity for women in STEM by Miriam Marichalar, Senior Valuer at John Foord

Although more women are pursuing degrees in STEM courses at Singapore universities, there is still a leaky pipeline of talent in related jobs, as noted in a recent study by the Nanyang Technological University (NTU).

In fact, only 58 per cent of women with STEM qualifications continued to work in related jobs after graduation compared with 70 per cent for men– a phenomenon that is true globally.

Data from UNESCO, meanwhile, showed that only 33 per cent of researchers are women though they represent 45 per cent of students at the Bachelor’s level of study.

The same study from NTU found that women leave STEM careers, not because of a lack of interest or confidence, but because they encounter barriers of diversity and inclusion.

Women often feel marginalised at work as their male counterparts are more likely to be employed and make career progress than they are.

Emerging trends in the startup world

How Manulife aims to make lives better and healthier in Asia through startup partnerships by Mark Van den Broek, CIO & COO, Manulife Asia

At Manulife, the pandemic hasn’t been a catalyst for change per se, because change was already underway, since we embarked on our digital transformation journey several years earlier—a strategy taken up with real zeal in Asia. But the pandemic has upped the ante to change faster. Manulife has responded by doing just that, fast-tracking digitisation efforts across the region.

More than C$700 million (US$579 million) has been invested in new digital capabilities globally since 2018. As a result, customers in almost all of Manulife’s Asia markets can now submit claims electronically, including on their smartphones, while agents can close deals virtually and through electronic point of sales systems with auto underwriting built-in.

To further accelerate that rapid pace of digitisation, we wanted to tap the very dynamic fintech, insurtech and healthtech community in Asia. So, in December 2020, Manulife linked up with Brinc, a global venture capital and accelerator firm, to launch Manulife BOOST, a programme that is essentially designed to identify established start-ups with which to collaborate and form meaningful partnerships.

How Iamus’ machine vision robot Gallus is optimising the poultry industry by Abhinav Mehra, VC @ID Capital

Six years ago Shane Kiernan cofounded a business in the Philippines that provides outsourced manpower solutions to the poultry industry – from cleaning poultry sheds to vaccinating baby chicks they did it all. In the course of this business they observed all the challenges and opportunities in poultry production and were particularly curious to understand the drivers behind the wide degree of variability seen in the performance of poultry growers.

One question stuck with Kiernan: why was it that the same tiny proportion of farmers typically outperformed their cohort despite having older equipment or buildings? Fortunately his curiosity carried him to a conversation with Manor Farm, the largest poultry processor in Ireland.

A series of meetings followed where my curiosity validated farm variability is a US$9 billion annual problem for the poultry industry– an industry where low margins and animal welfare pressures abound.

Pharma entrepreneur Thomas Miklavec shares his journey on expanding his startup across SEA by Co Tran, Communication Associate, FEBE Ventures

Featured in this episode is Thomas Miklavec, a serial French entrepreneur and founder of POC Pharma, a B2B service platform connecting the pharmaceutical world.

Before starting his career as a serial entrepreneur in emerging markets in the pharmacy space, Miklavec took some initiatives for NGO work during his undergraduate, working on HIV/AIDS programmes mostly in Africa. He supported companies to build plans, prevent and provide care and treatment for HIV/AIDS patients.

What does the evolution of IT in SMEs look like post-pandemic? by Bidhan Roy, managing director, Commercial & SMB in APJC

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.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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

The post From our community: Lessons from Naomi Osaka’s media withdrawal, startup resources for women, and more…. appeared first on e27.

Small and medium businesses (SMEs) made up 70 per cent of the employed workforce in 2020. They makeup 99 per cent of enterprises in the country and bring a healthy 43 per cent of the total nominal value-added of S$428 billion (US$322 billion). 

Even with their significant contributions to the country’s economy – Singaporean SMEs have faced an unprecedented challenge as the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown measures continue to affect life as they know.   

Sales revenue dips, fast-changing customer trends, negative repercussions on cash flow and supply chain problems are just some of the shockwaves SMEs have had to face down to keep their business afloat.  

And as Singapore undergoes yet another heightened alert in the middle of 2021, those with plans of market expansion, goals for the fiscal year or other expectations are forced to turn their attention once again to business survival.  

A hesitant approach to innovation

Businesses have been forced to consider business continuity above all else – which has postponed or even halted entirely the pursuit for innovation in their SME.  

Survey shows that small businesses continue to lag behind when it comes to digital transformations. A study of 782 Singaporean small businesses found that commonly attributed reasons to this delay remain to be: 

• High costs. SMEs hold on to the belief that digitalisation will be more expensive than they can handle.  
• Fear of cybersecurity issues. Without solid implementation, lack of knowledge and unavailable manpower – SMEs fear that their infrastructure will be vulnerable to malicious parties.  
• Lack of necessary digital skills amongst employees. Intent to digitalise might be there, but some SMEs worry about what this means for their employees who lack the knowledge to implement modern technology in their day to day operations.  

Be that as it may, automation and innovation are what differentiates a struggling business from one that adapts and thrives in an uncertain landscape.  

Cloud technology, versatile e-commerce stores, omnichannel sales and marketing strategies, digitalised supply chains and other forms of modern technologies are not just an option for SMEs anymore – they’re necessary.  

Also Read: What does the evolution of IT in SMEs look like post-pandemic?

Journey towards digital adoption

Adopting innovative technology doesn’t immediately equal expensive budget plans or pricey implementation fees. 

SaaS systems for instance, once a luxury only to be used by massive multinational corporations – are made readily available to any SME for affordable monthly subscriptions.

And for that fee each month, SMEs can monitor and improve their finances, digital marketing activities, payroll, and other processes with data-backed insights. 

Such fast-paced digital adoption has cultivated a workforce that is more digitally savvy, or at least ones with the ability to lean into new skills quickly and efficiently. This is why, now more than ever, SMEs should rethink their perception of the digital shift. 

Instead of going in blind or rushing towards digitalisation for the sake of business survival – approach this with strategy. 

 Do management and your workforce have a positive attitude towards digital adoption? If not, how can company culture be revisited to ensure that your workforce is passionate about replacing traditional systems with modern ones? 

Understand what changes you want to be reflected with new technology before using any system. Will this avenue bring you more sales in the long run? Will it increase customer satisfaction? Does this new technology have the power to streamline your supply chain? 

How will implementing new technology impact business as you know it? Is there a need to hire talent to see this through? 

These are the key elements and questions to consider when scaling a small business in Singapore with the help of automation and innovation. 

An upper hand with flexibility

Smaller workforces that can be found in SMEs are agile, quicker on their feet to evolve than multinational companies who must completely transition from legacy systems. 

Quickly implementing such systems will allow SMEs to get competitive in the ways that matter now. 

Another advantage that Singaporean SMEs specifically have is strong support from the government to affordably implement digital strategies.

Also Read: Future-proofing Singaporean SMEs for a stronger digital future

Such initiatives include claimable bonuses, tax relief, wage subsidies and other measures meant to help small businesses ride out the wave of COVID-19 and the consecutive Circuit Breaker.  

Those that might be relevant to your own small businesses are the Digital Resilience Bonus (DRB) for Food Service & Retail businesses that have been impacted by physical distancing and lockdown measures as well as the Start Digital programme for any SME looking for an affordable way to migrate their operations online.  

Singapore has made these bonuses and programmes available to businesses below a pre-requisite employee workforce size.  

All of these are meant to increase the competitiveness of Singaporean SMEs in the global market – as they make data-empowered decisions for their businesses.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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

Image credit: Erik Mclean on Unsplash

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Pace Enterprise, a ‘buy now, pay later’ (BNPL) startup owned by Spacemob founder Turochas “T” Fuad, has secured an ‘eight-figure USD’ debt financing round led by Genesis Alternative Ventures.

The Singapore-headquartered fintech startup will use the cash to grow its business in Southeast Asia.

This big deal comes fresh off a “seven-figure seed funding” round co-led by Vertex Ventures and Alpha JWC at the time of its official launch in January. Since then, Pace claims to have registered a 1,300 per cent growth in user base and 200 per cent growth in merchant partners.

Also Read: Debunking BNPL myths: Is it going to be the primary mode of payment?

In addition to this, Pace has announced that it has inked an exclusive regional partnership with luxury goods and retail specialist Valiram.

Through this partnership, Valiram’s brands in the region will offer Pace’s BNPL solution to all its customers, allowing them to split their purchases over three interest-free instalments.

The collaboration will extend Pace as an alternative payment option to over 20 international brands represented by Valiram in the region, including consumer brands such as Michael Kors, TUMI, Victoria’s Secret, Bath & Body Works, Steve Madden, as well as Nike in Thailand and Pedro in Malaysia.

Payment via Pace will be available upon checkout across all points-of-sale, including websites, mobile apps, and over 200 points-of-sale in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Macau.

“Through this partnership, the brands under our group will be able to unlock a new segment of consumers. With Pace’s simple, accessible and transparent interface which gives users control over their budgeting and expenditure, we also hope to empower our customers to practice sustainable spending,” said Mukesh Valiram, Executive Director of Valiram.

Beyond Valiram, Pace has also secured multiple local and regional merchant partnerships, with brands such as ALDO, Miniso, Swee Lee, OG, Benjamin Barker, and Motherswork. Pace is also expanding its existing partnerships with OSIM, FJ Benjamin, and Wonderscape group.

“Our aim is to change the way consumers in Asia Pacific shop. With over 900 points-of-sale and over 550 per cent growth in gross merchandise value (GMV) since January, we’re encouraged by the exponential growth we’re experiencing,” said CEO Fuad said.

Also Read: Buy now, pay later: The changing face of finance for a mobile generation

The BNPL industry in Asia has witnessed massive growth over the past 18 months with the change in consumer behaviour following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. In Singapore itself, there are a few startups, which include Rely and Hoolah.

Rely is probably the pioneer in the segment, which in December 2020 secured US$74.8 million credit facility from Polaris, the strategic partnerships arm of Singapore-based Goldbell Financial Services. Hoolah, which is also making inroads into the market, raised an 8-figure sum in Series A round, led by Allectus Capital, in March last year.

Who is T Fuad?

A well-known face in Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem, Fuad has previously launched and sold three startups. His first startup was WUF Networks, an Internet of things software company based out of Silicon Valley. The company was acquired by Yahoo! in 2005.

Fuad was also CEO and founder of travelmob, an online marketplace for vacation rentals. Headquartered in Singapore, travelmob was acquired by HomeAway (now part of Expedia) in mid-2013.

In 2016, the serial entrepreneur established and ran Spacemob in 2016. He was appointed as Managing Director of WeWork Southeast Asia and Korea after the Spacemob acquisition.

In between his startups, Fuad was Managing Director for Skype Asia Pacific, responsible for its business expansion across Japan, China, Australia, Taiwan, Korea, India and Southeast Asia.

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Image Credit: Pace Enterprise

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