Bukalapak raises US$1.5B on the first day of its IDX debut, shares jump 25%
The Jakarta-based firm is the first tech unicorn from the country to go public, both domestically and abroad; Bukalapak wants to use the proceeds from the IPO to support the operations of its holding company and its subsidiaries.

Is AirAsia a toxic workplace? Current and ex-employees tell Tech In Asia
The casual F-word that AirAsia Thailand CEO Tassapon Bijleveld directed at an employee wasn’t an isolated incident either; “What you saw that day [in the town hall] – about bringing a girl to [AirAsia’s head of ecommerce] Ben Jie – that happens all the time. It wasn’t one-off behaviour,” says a former staff member.

Blibli is the latest Indonesian tech company to confirm unicorn status
CEO Kusumo Martanto confirmed this to Daily Social; The e-commerce company is reportedly mulling the possibility to go public through a SPAC merger with COVA Acquisition Corp with an estimated US$2B valuation.

AirAsia’s fintech unit BigPay raises up to US$100M from Korea’s SK Group
BigPay offers a prepaid debit card, local and international money transfers, micro-insurance, bill payments, and a budgeting tool; BigPay has applied for a digital banking license in Malaysia as part of a consortium with Malaysian Industrial Development Finance and Ikhlas Capital.

REA Group build a US$147M stake in PropertyGuru, completes 99 Group divestment
REA Group, which is majority-owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., will also commit US$52M to PropertyGuru as the latter carves out its plans to list on the NYSE through a US$1.8B merger with Bridgetown 2.

Finch Capital-MDI Ventures JV ‘Arise’ hits first close of US$40M fund, to back 25 ASEAN startups
With ticket sizes ranging from US$250K to US$3M, Arise can invest in startups even before the founders fully solidify their ideas and teams; Arise is currently in the process of executing new investments. The fund targets at least five closed deals by the end of 2021.

It’s raining unicorns in India. Here is why
Just in the first seven months of 2021, India has produced 16 unicorns; Interestingly, India isn’t just one of the biggest markets out there, it is also, for the most part, untapped.

Yummy Corp raises Series B+ from Sembrani Nusantara
This round comes less than a year after Yummykitchen bagged US$12M in Series B, led by Softbank Ventures Asia, in September 2020; The startup will use the fresh capital for expansion into 50 new locations across Indonesia.

Razer to suspend e-wallet services by September 30
It includes all wallet top-up, payment, and transfer features on Razer Pay; The gaming tech firm’s exclusive 10% cashback on Razer Store and Razer Gold purchases were reportedly not enough to incentivise its target millennial clientele.

Forbes listee accuses Nas Daily founder of rude and exploitative behaviour
Mabulo, founder of The Cacao Project, says Nuseir Yassin repeatedly labelled the people of her hometown of San Fernando, Camarines Sur as being poor; “He didn’t care about making a change or shedding light on real issues. He only wanted content – a good, easy story to tell that would get him more Filipino views.”

China’s tech crackdown widens to Tencent from Alibaba
Ostensibly, regulators are focused on anti-competitive practices and protecting customers’ personal information; But many observers believe the move is motivated by a desire to keep mighty IT companies in check.

Singaporean neobank focused on women entrepreneurs Lucy bags seed funding from EmergeVest
Lucy helps women entrepreneurs set up, run and grow their businesses, with affordable financial services including no-interest salary advances; Before this round, Lucy secured US$450K in a women-only round of 21 diverse women.

Vietnam aims to become AI hub in ASEAN by 2030
The government has issued a national strategy on the R&D, and application of AI till 2030; It intends for Vietnam to be among four leading countries in ASEAN and 50 nations globally in terms of AI R&D, and application over the next few years.

5 promising adtech startups in Indonesia
Adtech startups are making the most of the country’s growing population and the rising use of the internet and mobile phones to market products and services; By 2022, the total advertising market size in Indonesia will be over US$4B; Technology is changing the landscape by bringing greater efficiency to how companies use their ad spend.

How logistics firm Lalamove powers same-day deliveries for over 5K businesses in SG
With the expansion of its delivery fleet, Lalamove now has a fleet of over 50K local drivers and over 700K drivers worldwide; Beyond getting Lalamove to fulfill their delivery needs, businesses will have a personal account executive to help them with their operations.

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Image Credit: AirAsia

The post Ecosystem Roundup: BigPay bags US$100M, why it’s raining unicorns in India, is AirAsia a toxic workplace? appeared first on e27.

 

Post-pandemic world in the eyes of our contributor community

Sleeping beast ready to awaken: The rush for regtech in a COVID-19 world Tiarnán McCaughan Market Advisor – Digital Tech and Financial Services

One of the curious aspects about the financial services industry is that while investment in technology has boomed over the past number of decades, the basic cost of financial intermediation has remained the same at around 1.87 per cent, as studied by NYU Stern School of Business.

Fintech Commentator David Birch speculates that this occurs as the cost and complexity of financial regulations has increased faster than industry can gain efficiencies.

Therefore, it is with regtech where the opportunity lies in truly driving improvements in the financial services industry and ultimately a better experience and end value for the wider economy.

Life goes on: What will life in the post-COVID-19 era look like? by Michelle Ng, Quest Ventures & Social Impact Catalyst

As we live in these times, I could not help but think of Huxley’s imagined future of a totally planned society of alphas, betas, gammas, deltas, and epsilons, who are genetically engineered and live a pain-free life.

We are far from this society as the world population struggles with vaccination campaigns and even the wearing of masks to limit the spread of the virus. Not an advocate of Huxley’s Brave New World, but I believe we are moving into our very own Brave New World triggered by the pandemic.

This Brave New World is strongly characterised by high tech and high touch. And these are some trends from the pre-COVID-19 era, which will persist and mutate in the COVID-19 era.

Plant-based protein: Is it really meat? by Rachel Lau, Managing Partner at RHL Ventures

Bullish signs began to emerge about 10 years ago when Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods were established in 2009 and 2011 respectively. Both had their missions aligned and that was to take on the behemoth of the meat industry – beef.

They kicked off their narrative with the simple crowd favourite food of burgers.

Beyond Meat’s colossal IPO in May 2019 created a movement that heightened acceptance of this alternative, granting it the overused tagline of the “new normal” by 2021. Its shares soared 163 per cent on its first day of trading.

Currently, Beyond Meat accounts for roughly 21.9 per cent of the retail refrigerated meat market share in the US, with Impossible Foods trailing behind at 9.0 per cent.

Also Read: From the contributor community: Enhancing investor engagement, job hunting guide by MHV talent head, and more

How app entrepreneurs are growing multifold in Southeast Asia by Derick David of Hikre School

Apps are taking over the world. Grab, Robinhood, DoNotPay, Snapchat, mobile apps are expected to generate over a trillion in revenue by 2024. On the other hand, third-world countries are considered now the new breeding ground for app innovations and next-gen app entrepreneurs.

Why?

There’s no doubt that developing nations have more real-world problems than first-world countries. Areas such as community, logistics, education, legal, and environment are only some of the spaces to which there’s a ton of potential for innovation.

Startup lessons from startup professionals

How to be an effective product team manager as your grows by Neil Rahilly, VP Product and Design at Mixpanel

Leading a product team in a startup is very different from leading one at a well-established enterprise.

Having joined Mixpanel in the early years and growing with it for close to a decade, I’ve learned that priorities change as you move from startup to scale up and then mature into an enterprise.

As you grow, your customers become your most valuable asset. Their complaints, feedback, input, and feature requests are all invaluable sources of information that inform your product strategy.

Take time to listen to them and understand how they’re using your product and what they’re using it for.

Tech-enabled goal tracking is the key to success in this digital world by Andrew Lee YongJoo, Co-Founder of GoalKeepin

The rise of self-improvement mobile apps has made the process easier in recent years, allowing users to keep track of their progress and habits through tech-enabled platforms that provide them with rewards in return for sticking to their plan.

While most understand the importance of goal setting, not many see them through. As an entrepreneur and a strong advocate of self-improvement, goals have grown to become a guiding vision that keeps me focused and motivated.

Whether an individual is looking to work on themselves or an entrepreneur on a mission to grow their business, here are some benefits to logging goals digitally to ensure these intangible plans turn into reality through the help of technology.

Why startups need to embrace experimentation culture to thrive in the pandemic by Simon McDonald, VP Optimizely

The pandemic is accelerating change across all industries. Apart from the rapid shift to a digital-first approach, severe supply chain disruption and border lockdowns have meant businesses now need to respond to a volatile global market rapidly.

As a result, businesses that once planned their digital strategy in long-term phases must now condense their initiatives to a matter of months, weeks or even days. The reduced timeline for these investments also increases the pressure for businesses to get it right the first time.

The pandemic has provided a glimpse into a future where digital has become the first layer for every interaction, rather than just a cog in the wheel. This shift has led organisations and individuals to speed up the adoption curve almost overnight.

Digital and mobile channels have become the primary customer-engagement model, and automated processes have become a major drive for productivity. An agile way of working has become the prerequisite for seemingly daily changes to customer behaviour.

Changing the norm, and how our contributor community does it

Edutech is opening up opportunities, but we need to get it right by Rohan Pasari, co-founder and CEO at Cialfo

We cannot talk about equitable distribution of education without discussing the elephant in the room: internet access or the lack thereof. The same ADB study found that in lower-middle income economies, only 18 per cent of households on average have a computer and 41 per cent have internet access at home.

Because of this, online learning is predominantly conducted using mobile phones, which are more readily available in lower-income countries. In support of this, governments have begun implementing programs to make remote learning accessible through mobile phones and via the subsidised distribution of connectivity and devices.

Beyond government and public sector intervention in bridging the digital divide—for edutech to be truly transformational—the industry needs to urgently address a couple of things, including….

SME lending during the pandemic: Is it sensible or unwise? by Endra Masagung, Fintech, DeFi & ESG enthusiast

If there is a silver lining for businesses during the pandemic, it is the increased affinity towards tapping into the limitless digital world. By observing the success of online sectors such as e-commerce and ride-hailing in recent times, there’s no denying the positive role of digitalisation in our economy.

But despite the set of opportunities that complement digitalisation, pivoting online also comes with its very own challenges.

This includes maintaining balanced cash flow and proper financing governance— aspects that can ensure the stability of SMEs during these trying times.

Also Read: Contributor community: Views from executives of Pindudoduo, BRI Agro, and more

Unlock your enterprise agility to unleash the potential of your startup by Andrew Wong of Appnovation Hong Kong

While enterprise agility is very different from agile software development, many parallels and principles can be drawn from the Agile Manifesto and Agile Principles beyond the context of IT.

Applying the spirit of elaboration, harmonisation and user-first approach from software to enterprise agility in providing services, is one of the centre themes of current Agile thinking. In other words, agility must be manifested within the enterprise DNA to generate value.

Imagine a traditional enterprise, burdened with legacy processes, systems and policies that are decades old that no one questions, “Why?”; intertwined with politics, silos and a culture of fear, where people do not feel free to voice out their feedback and ideas.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast or infographic

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

The post From the contributor community: Opportunities in regtech, being a product manager, and more … appeared first on e27.

Let’s face it. There are some big problems with the way we do mental health right now, and no, telehealth hasn’t solved everything. I’m going to list them off because there are that many.

I’m going to be using Australia as my data case study here, firstly because it’s where I live and work so I can comment personally and secondly because Australia is really a best-case, case-study.

We have 95 psychologists for every 100k people, everywhere else around the world that statistic gets worse, in the US for example, where most (non-US) people think it’s almost 1:1, the rates actually drop to 33 psychologists per 100,000.

We also have some of the most highly trained and updated psychologists with mandated professional development, annually.

• Around one in five Australians have a mental health condition in any given year (pre-pandemic figures, this is likely to be worse now but so far we have no updated figures), around 45 per cent of us will have one in our lifetimes
• As bad as this is, it is almost certainly an under-estimate as it excludes people who are homeless and those in aged care. It also excludes those who are just under the diagnostic criteria but would still have severe effects, and those who do not wish to disclose
• About 54 per cent of those in point 1 above, don’t ever access treatment
• If you live in a rural area you are three times less likely to access treatment, if you live in a remote area it is 10 times less likely
• Even if you get a mental health care plan (the government referral system in Australia, which reduces the cost of access to a psychologist), it’s hard to use it, in fact one in 13 plans are never used
• Wait lists are blowing out, with reports of “months” for psychologists in private practice and six to nine months for emergency help for severe mental health cases for children and adolescents (vii)
• Let’s say you get in, you still need to find a psychologist that you can build rapport with. Research with both men and women indicate a 25 per cent drop out rate overall. In one study on men in therapy in Australia, the drop out rate was at 45 per cent. Thirty per cent dropped out after the first session, and the main reason was a lack of connection with the therapist i.e. rapport
• Now let’s say you manage to be one of the lucky ones who find a psychologist you can connect to, most people present with a K10 or DASS21 questionnaire filled out with their doctor beforehand, and then it’s up to the psychologist and you the client, to work out what is happening for you. These are good questionnaires, but they are general and there’s not a lot of data there.
• Even if your psychologist is great at diagnosis, they are very dependent on the information you provide them from your memory. So do you have a good memory? Would you be comfortable putting your health in its’ proverbial hands? Or your wallet, as your therapy will likely be extended while the pair of you work it out.
• Your psychologist is also human and can tire, so though your psychologist is no doubt brilliant, if they have not slept well themselves, or if you are their last client in the day, their brain may not be as perceptive as if you were the first, impacting the questions they ask and the information you provide, and the diagnosis you get.

(I will stop here but I could also add … issues with hit and miss medications, medications linked to the worst outcomes (i.e. suicide) for reasons that we don’t yet understand, and the development of an expert cohort of psychologists taking almost a decade, and student to teacher ratios in university degrees that mean there is an inherent limit to the number we can create without massive quality control issues and costs).

Also Read: 6 ways to identify burnout before it seriously impacts your business

Most of these problems were certainly understandable in a time before the smartphone but as Barron pointed out in recently Time2030 (ix) in relation to psychiatry, it is time we started modernising mental health.

Your smartphone already logs your behaviour in many ways. It records your expressions when you take a selfie or make a story or stream, it also records your thoughts and moods through social media, IM and email. These are data points that would certainly improve the accuracy of your diagnosis if it were used.

However … would you feel comfortable handing over your social media to a psychologist? Or your Instagram selfies? Most people would say no. It’s also fundamentally biased. Few people ‘gram their worst moments. Most of us preference the good stuff in our lives, and our good hair days, for the likes.

So, we can’t just hand over any old behavioural data, however accurately collected.

There are great solutions to be had in all this though.

Solutions that give psychologists the right information for an accurate diagnosis, every time, that connect you to mental health services in new ways that are more accessible, and get help to those who feel uncomfortable talking to a person, that give more access to those who need a diagnosis but don’t yet have it, and who use big data to improve this in ways that could show us the errors in any psychiatric diagnostic manual.

There is a lot of hope in how big data can create mental health services that help everyone so much more, not least of all the hard working psychologists.

Finally, the need to improve is great, with increasing suicide rates overall and, importantly, some studies telling us that the services have not yet quite hit the mark.

One study found that up to 60 per cent of the men who die by suicide in Australia have sought help in the year prior. So, clearly, the services neither helped them sufficiently, nor demonstrated to them that mental health services are the place to go for help.

Lots to do, but we are starting to solve it for children first, at Gheorg.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast or infographic

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

Image credit: fizkes

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