For my first post, I wanted something impactful. Something that gave me this so-called “Oh s***, I have to write about this” reaction to fuel me for a first (hopefully not last) short article. And guess what, I found that fuel — and time!

Earlier this year, WiredUK shared an insightful article about Netflix’s carbon emissions. As I have been investigating IT sustainability for some time now, I struggle to find data to estimate online activities’ carbon emissions.

Most enterprises showed strong stances; this is true, but finding data…? Not that easy. And yep, it did not say “relevant” or “accurate”, just data.

I like the article for different reasons because it shows that:

• A new major pure player is on the green move
• It takes more than a mere estimation to understand the whole extent of online habits
• It reminds me that we are at the very beginning of online practices maturity and regulations (I like to call it the Stone Age of the Internet)

Thus, first, it did provide some data I could use (delivered by an organisation called DIMPACT, partially industry-funded though, so let’s be cautious). Primarily, it shows VOD/streaming big boys are finally on their way to a more sustainable mindset.

Google, Microsoft, Amazon, and Facebook have announced over the last couple of years big moves (most of them promised to be carbon neutral by 2030, for instance), but the silence of VOD pure players has been, in my opinion, quite loud.

YouTube made some (lukewarm?) statement as WiredUK already wrote about here, but I always found it awkward that pure players kept silent on such things as carbon footprint. Remember that internet traffic represents around four per cent of global GHG emissions (equal to pre-COVID-19 aviation traffic).

This article also stresses that it is hard to debunk one online action’s actual carbon footprint impact. Today, tracking the carbon footprint of a specific “online action” such as purchasing a t-shirt or watching a video is a tremendously complex task.

It depends on so many parameters (location, devices, infrastructures, etc.), and ultimately this is not easy to take all the chain of actions into account.

On top of that, most companies do not wish to share such data publicly, so finding reliable numbers is not always easy. But that’s for another day …

Also Read: Streaming wars: Why are streaming giants spending big bucks on acquiring content

In the article, Netflix claims that one hour of streaming on its platform in 2020 used less than 100gCO2e (a hundred grams of carbon dioxide equivalent)— that’s less than driving an average car a quarter of a mile.

I am pretty sceptical about this figure, but that’s not the point in the end. Netflix stating they are thinking about “weighing their carbon footprint” is already excellent news and should be followed by better estimations from now on.

Most of you probably did not see that last year, but The Shift Project (a French think tank for sustainability) shared a rough estimation of Netflix’s impact on the environment. Carbon Brief replied— fiercely — to re-estimate the numbers on this paper.

The Shift Project made a couple of mistakes; Carbon Brief helped them pointing them out. And now, the discussion is on, and things are on the table. Aside from some errors, they use two mindsets for their reckoning, and this is the exciting part because it does require arguments to agree on something, right finally?

Speaking of the Devil, Carbon Brief is supposed to publish white papers by the end of summer (I am writing this in May) to investigate in-depth Netflix’s carbon emissions. I am super hyped to read it because it should deliver a consistent set of data for future endeavours.

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Earlier this week, Malaysia’s Aerodyne clinched the #1 spot globally for drone companies. In entrenching itself as a firm leader in this rapidly expanding market and by fostering the rise of more drone companies, Malaysia has ramped up several “live” drone test sites through the National Technology & Innovation Sandbox (NTIS).

Against a backdrop of a drone market revenue that is expected to double to US$17.9 billion in 2025 in Asia alone, as well as a global drone market forecast to achieve US$41.3 billion in 2026, it is clear that drone technology has captured a steadily rising audience.

Considered an emerging technology sector just a couple of years prior, momentum in drone technology is exciting as Malaysian players ready themselves to take on opportunities across the world. Such opportunities are exciting not only for the low-touch, high-tech development work involved but also for the jobs they create and the value they add to the economy.

Already, Malaysia has a few bright sparks in the drone industry. 

The world’s top-seeded drone-based solutions provider in 2021, Aerodyne, for example, develops smart cities through drone technology innovation in surveillance and security, infrastructure development, and more.  

The task at hand is to create a basket of such companies and expand the ecosystem so that we elevate the rewards and returns from such ventures.

Sandboxes for the skies?

In gaining a fast-mover advantage, Technology Park Malaysia, through the  National Technology and Innovation Sandbox (NTIS), has taken proactive measures to foster the growth of the drone technology and robotics industry. 

Today, several drone development areas in FELDA Mempaga, Pahang, Drone and Robotic Iskandar (DRZ Iskandar), and Urban Drone Delivery in Cyberjaya are in motion. Pilot projects here are aligned with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) 10-10 Science, Technology, Innovation, and Economy Framework (MySTIE 10-10), aimed at transforming Malaysia into a high-tech and high-income nation through innovation-based solutions.

Also read: Facebook Community Accelerator Program introduces the 19 communities of the 2021 APAC cohort

In the first year since its launch, the NTIS attracted more than 25 Malaysian companies developing drone technology, reaching out for regulatory, commercialisation, and funding support. The sandboxes provide a range of live sites where the drones can be tested for a variety of specific applications, on different terrains, for different ranges and more.

Ultimately, the value of drone services lies in how they are applied in various sectors such as e-commerce, logistics, or mobilisation of pertinent resources or medicine to rural, remote areas, or those affected by natural disasters. It also offers important value in infrastructure management and security surveillance in smart building maintenance, maritime surveillance, urban agriculture, and more. And this is where it gets exciting for the rakyat.

For this reason, Area 57 at Technology Park Malaysia was recently launched as the fourth drone-centred NTIS site. With an extensive 5 acres of land, Area 57 aims to provide an integrated ecosystem for key facilities and services which include research, development, testing, certification, manufacturing, commercialisation, and maintenance of drone technology and solutions in order to benefit the drone community of users and producers. 

Area 57 will be equipped with a 100-meter drone runway, 300 square meters confined netted drone testing area, a mock-up site, drone application testing, hangar, laboratory, manufacturing equipment, training facilities, and prototype testing area, an operations office, as well as service and maintenance workshop for operators. It is currently the only legitimate fly-free drone area within Klang Valley. It is expected to unpack various opportunities through the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology for data operations, analysis, and large-scale optimisation (Drone Tech, Data Tech & Digital Transformation).

Bright lights, smart cities

The current world population of nearly 8 billion is expected to reach 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100 — sustainable smart cities are no longer just “nice-to-haves”. They are a necessity. 

For example, the Drone & Robotics Zone (DRZ) at Iskandar, Johor, was formed to realise the vision of an integrated sustainable living area.

Here, technology and data are purposefully designed to make better decisions and deliver a better quality of life; from the air we breathe to how safe we feel when we walk along the streets at night.

Also read: ScaleUp Malaysia and e27: a partnership that could turn the tide for startups in the region

In order to accelerate the growth of IR4.0 in Malaysia, Iskandar NEXT (New Economic Experience & Talent), a flagship initiative by Iskandar Investment Berhad (IIB), has given rise to the DRZ Iskandar where there will be efforts to upskill local talents and to move them higher up the technology value chain, thus creating significant socio-economic impact, such as:

• Over RM351 million investments targeted by 2025. 
• Up to 1000 high-value jobs created in drones and robotics by 2025. 
• Over 70 technology companies set up business in Medini, creating highly skilled jobs and knowledge-sharing opportunities. 

Already equipped with world-class ready-built infrastructure, IIB will further enhance Medini with advanced digital infrastructure to attract more tech-related companies to establish their footprint here.

At the core of it, our shared prosperity is the goal, and smart cities and drone technology are the means to that end. We want to utilise technology to optimise the infrastructure, resources, and spaces we share. 

Better crops, support from the skies

The sandbox in FELDA Mempaga presents drone players an opportunity to advance agriculture technology in plantations for fertilisation, land monitoring, and weather monitoring.  Here, drone technology is also assessed for its viability to support soil and field analysis, terrain mapping, crop spraying and planting, as well as plant health assessment and monitoring of yield. 

Five high-technology companies — Poladrone, Aerodyne, Braintree Technologies, OFO Tech, and Nanoezinn — were selected to stress-test various drone and robotic solutions to improve aspects of harvesting, maintenance, and fertilisation of palm oil plantations at the 25-hectare site. 

Recent discussions between drone service providers and the Civil Aviation Authority (CAAM) expedited the publishing of the Civil Aviation Directive 6011 part (II) Agriculture, which in turn opened doors for opportunities beyond these test sites. 

With this unlocked, Poladrone, for example, is now currently providing spraying services for Kuala Lumpur Kepong Berhad, Sime Darby Plantations Berhad, Felda, Genting Plantations, and others. They’ve also doubled the company headcount and are on track to achieve revenue targets.

On a similar note, globally-acclaimed drone solutions provider, Aerodyne, has provided immense support in providing farmers with precision agriculture through drone technology and Artificial Intelligence to aid in increasing crop yields and profitability.  

Though still in its early days, the use of drones and robotics in agriculture could potentially reduce up to 50 per cent in the labour force, generating up to 30 per cent in productivity improvement. At the same time, the application of drones in agriculture could set out career prospects for the younger generation in agriculture, whilst potentially improving the socio-economic outcomes for more than 200,000 ageing settlers working and living on Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) land, with their families.

Smart logistics

Then, there is the Urban Delivery Drone Sandbox in Cyberjaya, where drones are being tested for delivery of packages, with the aim to use drones for the delivery of crucial medicines, essential supplies, and more to rural and remote areas, or those affected by natural disasters in the future. 

Such delivery services could positively impact healthcare services, as 24 per cent of the country’s population lives in rural areas. With delivery drones, medicines, vaccines and necessary supplies can be transported to hard to reach areas quickly and efficiently.

Also read: Kawasaki Heavy Industries invites innovators to co-create solutions to global challenges

Earlier this year, NTIS partnered with AirAsia Digital’s logistics arm, Teleport, to test delivery services in urban areas using automated drones through a six-month phased approach. This approach tested the capability, experience, approval process, deployment readiness, and service expansion of the drone operators, as well as the long-term feasibility of delivery drones. 

The urban delivery drones are estimated to make a contributing impact surpassing USD70 billion in the global smart mobility market size by 2027 and generate up to USD7.4 billion in global market size that is specific to drone package delivery by 2027. 

Fly-tech: Challenges to overcome

In order for the industry to rise, there are some obstacles it needs to weather. Public safety guidelines being one.

As such, drone companies will need to abide by strict certification and compliance for drone operations, which may result in long periods for permits, limited guidelines for Beyond Visual Line of Sight (BVLOS) flights, and multi-agency approvals.  

We laud the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia (CAAM) which has been actively engaging with drone operators to ensure public safety as a high priority in addition to facilitating technological advances. 

Here, NTIS facilitates startup companies operating in regulated industries and vertical technologies such as healthcare, drone operations, agriculture, communications, mobility, etc. that face obstacles and challenges in terms of regulatory or innovation to accelerate such multi-agency discussions. 

Without a doubt, drone technology development efforts must be intensified and we have set our sights on things above to take us on the path towards recovery, rising above the present-day challenges, and into a future of unlimited possibilities. 

With better case studies and adaptive rules that drive innovation, we believe that TPM is poised to help Malaysia achieve its goal of becoming a major leader in the drone technology industry. 

The game is afoot accelerating our STI journey and transforming our nations’ technology landscape. Be part of the revolution. Let’s take flight together.

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

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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Singapore-based Qapita, a fintech startup focused on employee stock ownership plans (ESOP) and cap table management, has received US$15 million in a Series A round of investment.

East Ventures (Growth Fund) and Vulcan Capital co-led the round, with participation from NYCA and other existing investors MassMutual Ventures and Endiya Partners.

Several existing angel investors, including Alto Partners; partners of the Northstar Group, K3 Ventures, and Mission Holdings; Anjali Bansal (founder of Avaana Capital); and Sujeet Kumar (co-founder of Udaan), also co-invested.

Also Read: Qapita banks US$5M pre-Series A to enable companies to digitally manage their ESOPs and cap table

Qapita intends to utilise the money to add more products to its platform to provide solutions for private companies, startups, investors, shareholders and employees. It also plans to facilitate liquidity solutions via a digital marketplace, enabling transactions for companies between investors and employee stakeholders.

A part of the capital raised will amplify Qapita’s client base across Singapore, Indonesia and India.

The new round comes less than six months after Qapita bagged US$5 million in pre-Series A. Before that, it attracted US$1.8 million in seed funding in September 2020.

Qapita was founded in September 2019 by Ravi Ravulaparthi (CEO), Lakshman Gupta (COO) and Vamsee Mohan (CTO). Its SaaS platform helps private companies and startups record and manage their cap tables and ESOPs. It also aims to digitise the issuance of equity awards and shares.

In other words, it solves the pain points relating to HR (ESOP), finance and fundraising for private companies, investors, shareholders and employees. The firm’s marketplace will enable secondary transactions for these stakeholders.

Qapita estimates that more than US$150 billion of equity will need liquidity solutions. The startup expects the value of private securities in this region to exceed US$1-1.5 trillion (with 200-250 unicorns) in the next few years. So scalable digital solutions will be critical for such an ecosystem to thrive.

Currently, Qapita employs 65 people across Singapore and India. It plans to scale up talent across India, Indonesia and Singapore shortly.

Also Read: Future Flow’s cap table helps founders easily monitor the evolution of their stake, equity dilution

CEO Ravulaparthi said: “We are in some of the fastest-growing private markets in the world. It is an incredible time to build an operating system and transaction rails for private company ownership in this region. This is about leveraging tech to enhance transparency, access, efficiency and liquidity in private markets.”

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Image Credit: Qapita

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The answer is short: regulators globally are still trying to decide what to do about crypto. Several companies have applied to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to approve their crypto ETFs only to get rejected.

Several ETFs track companies that are active in the crypto space. But none of these ETFs are currently holding cryptocurrencies.

Can we move out of this status quo, and what is the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s stance in this?

Discussions have been ongoing since at least 2019, but the MAS has relatively few regulations for crypto in place and does not (entirely) recognise cryptocurrencies as legal tender. Regulations such as the payment services act are forward-looking but still mainly focused on KYC/AML.

Singapore has a clear opportunity to be the first, but MAS seems to follow a wait-and-see approach. However, this appears to be changing as DBS has recently gotten an in-principal approval to provide crypto services.

Once licensed, DBSV, as a member of DBS Digital Exchange (DDEx), will directly support asset managers and companies to trade in digital payment tokens through DDEx.

Anyway, that’s not an ETF yet, but definitely, a giant leap forward as this could bring the trading of crypto into the mainstream with a trusted institution.

The above is an exciting move from MAS, given the recent crackdown on other ‘new’ exchanges such as Binance.

Why do we want a crypto ETF? An ETF is a basket of securities, shares of which are sold on an exchange. They combine features and potential benefits similar to those of stocks, mutual funds, or bonds.

Ease of investing

If you are bullish on the crypto and blockchain industry and you want to get exposure without going down the technical rabbit hole, an ETF would be ideal. Such an ETF could hold the five to 10 coins with the largest market cap, rebalance from time to time, and an investor could apply a buy-and-hold strategy.

Also Read: Are CBDCs better than Bitcoins? Here’s why Asia should bank on them

Diversification

Cryptocurrencies are volatile, and no one knows which projects (Bitcoin, Ethereum or one of the 6,500 others) will win in the long term. By buying a group of cryptocurrencies, investors can achieve a healthy level of diversification.

Platform risks

Cryptocurrencies are traded through various platforms, each having its owns risks and challenges. An ETF could (partly) mitigate these risks.

Passively managed and low fees.

Investors could already work with licensed fund management companies (typically only available for accredited investors) to maintain a portfolio of cryptocurrencies. Still, they would be exposed to high management fees as the manager will ‘actively’ manage the portfolio and sometimes charge as high as five per cent per year.

As an ETF is passive management, a manager typically charges only 0.2–0.8 per cent per year.

So what’s stopping the MAS?

Custody or not?

A traditional company licensed as a fund manager typically takes custody of funds of her investors and invests those funds according to the scope of the mandate given to them.

The challenge with crypto is that a new generation of companies such as the exchange Binance could claim that they never take custody due to the decentralised nature of cryptocurrencies on the blockchain. Hence, they are just facilitating the transaction on the blockchain.

MAS is, however, actually quite clear on what kind of services should be licensed: Buying or selling DPT (“digital payment token”) or providing a platform to allow persons to exchange DPT in Singapore.

And with that statement, the discussion on custody is pretty much closed as almost every company providing services in the crypto industry will fall under this scope.

Security or commodity?

Singapore laid out the licensing rules for Capital Market Services (stock, bonds, funds etc.) in the Securities and Futures act.

In this same act, securities are classified as: shares, units in a business trust or any instrument conferring or representing a legal or beneficial ownership interest in a corporation, partnership or limited liability partnership.

Also Read: Blockchain and Bitcoin for business 101 with Justin Renken

Cryptocurrencies probably don’t fit the bill here, and so it seems that the Securities and Futures act does not apply to companies dealing with cryptocurrencies.

The question arises, though, how the MAS views an ETF purely holding gold or other commodities?

There seems to be room for exceptions to the previous definition: any other product or class of products prescribed.

It is not clear how and if this exception has was in the past.

SEC in the United States

The SEC in the US claims that cryptocurrencies are supposed to be classified as securities and not as a commodity like gold. Given the status of the SEC in the world, whatever they end up deciding will likely impact Singapore as well.

But, if we assume for now that (in Singapore) crypto is not a security, will it then be recognised as a commodity or currency?

Currency or not?

The Payment Services Act broadly covers the ‘fintech’ industry: Technology is transforming the world of payments and has opened up opportunities for transactions to be more convenient, faster and cheaper.

MAS has made some comments and seems to recognise stablecoins as a new form of ‘money because these coins’ value is stable.

With that, MAS also seems to think that ‘other’ non-stable cryptocurrencies are not to be recognised as a ‘new form of money and it even classifies stablecoins as ‘next-generation crypto: Stablecoins have emerged as a new class of cryptocurrencies intended to be relatively stable in value to address concerns over excessive price volatility of the first generation of cryptocurrencies.

And then on the definition of money, MAS states:

“People also need to trust that the value of the money they hold will remain broadly stable over time, so that they are able to use it as a store of value and as a medium of exchange in the future.”

With the Payment Services Act, Singapore is light-years ahead of the US (and most other countries, for that matter). SEC in the US treats crypto as securities (even with all sorts of complicated implications). Singapore has the forward-looking Payment Services Act which allows for cryptocurrencies’ entry into society.

Conclusion

It seems clear that the approval and launch of a crypto ETF in Singapore is a matter of time given the discussed advantages such as diversification and ease of investing for investors.

Also Read: Tesla is now accepting bitcoin. Are crypto payments the future of business?

MAS seems to have a lot of room to provide approvals within existing regulations under the Payment Services as Securities and Futures act. It appears that MAS favours viewing cryptocurrencies as a form of payment for now rather than a security.

Should MAS decide to move forward and give approval for an ETF, this will likely provide a massive boost to the SGX and ‘crypto-friendly’ ecosystem in Singapore.

It seems that the advantages outweigh the risks.

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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: peshkova

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VFlowTech, an energy storage solutions provider in Singapore, today announced the raising of US$3 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Wavemaker Partners. 

 SEEDS Capital, Sing Fuels and other angels also participated.

VFlowTech will use the funds to expand its operations and scale up the production of its “redox flow battery energy storage solutions”.

The startup was established in 2018 by Dr Avishek Kumar (CEO) and Dr Arjun Bhattarai (CTO), in collaboration with Entrepreneur First. It also received generous support from SG Innovate and the Nanyang Technological University, Singapore.

Also Read: VFlowTech’s recyclable energy solution with an expected lifespan of 25 yrs seeks to replace Li Ion batteries

VFlowTech has developed a low cost, reliable, and long-duration energy storage solution, called vanadium redox flow (VRF) battery. This battery works through the continuous reduction and oxidation reaction between the vanadium redox couples with no detrimental issues and with the cross-mixing of the redox couples. Due to this unique setup, and the battery provides stable performance over 20 years.

The firm’s vision is to achieve diesel-free status in remote and rural areas by providing communities there with low-cost, reliable cleantech solutions.

So far, VFlowTech has built and deployed energy storage systems in Singapore, Australia, and Japan to support various applications, with a pipeline of large-scale infrastructure projects in key markets like Australia and Africa.

VFlowTech also plans to collaborate with strategic partners in other countries to develop and install self-reliant green charging stations for the burgeoning electronic vehicle (EV) industry. Its latest project is to develop an intelligent electric car fast-charging station concept for existing gas stations in South Korea.

“The energy storage market is growing exponentially and plays an important role in the cleantech transition across the globe,” said CEO Kumar. “We are on a mission to reinvent the energy storage solution with our modular vanadium redox flow batteries to enable a 24/7 shift to renewables.”

The company has developed three main modular products, namely 5 kW/30 kWh, 10 kW/100 kWh, and 100 kW/500 kWh systems.

According to a press statement, its 10kW-100kWH system can provide up to two days of energy autonomy on average for most small households and remote communities in the region. It also solves the concerns of performance degradation, thermal runaway, and product safety of current battery systems.

Also read: 13 cleantech startups to watch in Asia

Unlike lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, flow battery systems can scale their storage power (kW) and energy (kWh) independently, with power and energy deployments varying depending on the size of the battery stack and the volume of electrolyte contained in the tanks.

As stated by the International Energy Agency’s latest market update, worldwide renewable energy capacity increased by 45 per cent in 2020, the greatest year-on-year growth rate in the last two decades. The “Battery Energy Storage Market, 2021-2028” reported that the sector is slated to be worth US$26.81 billion in 2028, up from US$7.81 billion in 2020.

The development of cheaper long-duration storage than lithium-ion batteries also draws attention from worldwide investors, including tech celebrities Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson.

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Image Credit: VFlowTech

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