In the past year, I have become a little obsessed with Web 3.0. The pace of growth is so fast that changes take place daily.

People worldwide are pivoting careers. The most talented professionals join the decentralised web movement because of a) their ideology and b) the underlying technology.

While Web 2.0 and software as we know it are still eating the world and bearing fruit, we are at the threshold of the following significant paradigm shift in internet applications– Web 3.0.

It isn’t easy for non-tech folks like me to understand the impact Web 3.0 will have. I spent a lot of time reading and following intelligent people to start understanding the basics.

I will be writing a series of essays on the topic to accelerate my learning. Hopefully, helping other people understand what’s going on, too—starting with this one.

Web 1.0

In Web 1.0, we discovered the internet through dial-up modems, which helped us access static web pages. By today’s standards, Web 1.0 was a laughable experience.

I still remember how during my childhood, an average movie took three days to download. The internet was slow, expensive, and had a terrible user experience.

Also Read: Creating a trusted internet with augmented whitelisting

Yet, the fact that we could share information so easily with pretty much the entire world had an incredible impact on our progress. Before the internet, we relied on printed books. We could spread information only at the speed of physical distribution.

Access to information was slow, gated, and not even possible in some parts of the world. For example, growing up in the suburbs of Bulgaria’s capital city Sofia, I had access only to three sources of information a) books at home, b) what the local school forced me to study, c) the two libraries in my neighbourhood.

With the arrival of Web 1.0, information exchange became possible like never before. I could download books and content from all over the world, which had a lasting impact on my life. In turn, the access to more and better content led me to make some contrarian choices at the time.

While my family’s expectations boiled down to getting a stable job, I moved abroad for studies. Then I travelled half the world, even though I never met anyone who travelled to that extent in my childhood. Later, I was the first person ever to start a business in my family.

Making such choices and reaping the benefits that followed would not have been possible without access to a wide variety of content written by other like-minded people.

“The ”World Wide Web” was just a set of static websites with a load of information and no interactive content. It was connecting meant dialling up through rickety modems and blocking anyone in the house from using the phone.

“It was the web of AOL chat rooms and MSN messenger, of AltaVista and AAskedJeeves. It was maddeningly slow. Streaming videos and music? Forget it. Downloading a song would take at least a day.”

In 2021, the memory of slow internet and crappy static websites has gradually faded away. We have come a long way since. Today, we refer to the internet as Web 2.0.

Web 2.0

Web 2.0 is everything we take for granted, like faster internet speed, interactive content, social, mobile, cloud, and user-generated content.

Also Read: Tackling misinformation and creating a safer internet through blockchain amidst Asia’s lockdowns

Some argue that the rise of Web 2.0 was driven by three core innovations: mobile, social, and cloud.

The iPhone in 2007 enabled mobile internet access on the go. We moved from using the internet for just a few hours a day to an “always connected” mode. Our phones gave us access to web browsers and mobile apps throughout the day.

In ~2004, companies such as Friendster, MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn transformed brought the next wave of innovations. Changing the internet from a dark and anonymous place to what it is today.

Social networks encourage good user behaviour. In the process, such platforms enabled content generation, recommendations, referrals and connected the world.

Last but not least, web 2.0 brought the cloud. The rise of cloud computing decreased the costs of starting new businesses considerably. Suddenly entrepreneurs did not need to invest heavily into servers, hardware, and maintenance.

Instead, companies such as AWS launched data centres worldwide. They allowed businesses to shift from buying and maintaining their infrastructure to renting storage, computing power, and other relevant resources at low costs.

In turn, the lower costs of starting a business unleashed innovation like never before. Simply put, Web 2.0 enabled founders to build prototypes and run experiments while keeping the costs down.

Thanks to all that innovation, more and more people have joined the internet. The UN estimated that internet users have increased from 1.1 billion to 4 billion between 2005 and 2019.

Also Read: New-age internet platforms are breeding grounds for financial crimes. Here’s how to tackle them

​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ITU estimates that at the end of 2019, a bit more than 51 per cent of the global population, or 4 billion people, are using the internet.​​​

In the process, we generated data like never before in human history. Companies realised how personal information has immense value.

Big tech brands such as Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Google started collecting all that information. Everyone’s identities, browsing habits, searches, and online shopping information were sold to whoever could pay the most.

Web 2.0 was all about improving the experience of browsing the internet, which resulted in the centralisation of data, abundant connectivity, and new opportunities. While that was great for education and wealth creation, some downsides were inevitable.

The most significant problem is consolidating too much power in the hands of big tech companies, which leads to giving up on privacy. So this begs the question, how will the web adapt, and what’s next?

The next wave of the internet will be all about decentralisation and privacy. Everyone’s information will be returned.

Also Read: What is web 3.0 and why should you care?

Web 2.0 centralised all the data in the hands of a few large organisations with questionable motives. Web 3.0 is working towards decentralising information and bringing back privacy.

Web 3.0 boils down to a few core concepts: open, trustless, and permissionless networks.

• Open: web 3.0 is built on the blockchain, most often from open-source software by a community that operates transparently.
• Trustless: because there is no need for third parties to interfere. They are eliminating slow transactions and higher rates because of the third-party cuts. The blockchain enables participants to interact publicly or privately through intelligent contracts.
• Permissionless: as there is no need for authorisation from governing bodies.

While Web 2.0 democratised many power structures and created new opportunities, the economic engine is primarily privatised and monopolised. Facebook, Uber and Airbnb have made private networks for public infrastructure, which they dominate.

Web 3.0 is the antithesis of this; it’s’ about multiple profit centres sharing value across an open network.

When I speak of blockchain, I do not refer only to Bitcoin. Some folks argue it triggered the development of Web 3.0 as a whole.

Yet, for the sake of this essay, I do not want to focus on Bitcoin. Instead, I am referring to an architecture of blockchains with tokens, aka crypto networks.

Also Read: Building a privacy-first internet: How developers and enterprises can adapt to the new privacy normal

It could be generalised to a lot of different applications like Solana. That’s why let’s use the following definition of blockchain by Chris Dixon:

Blockchain: A virtual computer that runs on top of a network of physical computers that provides strong, auditable, game-theoretic guarantees that the code it runs will continue to operate as designed.

In traditional applications, the organisation running the business may decide to change how the product works. With blockchains, you need a critical mass of independent users to change their minds collectively for that to happen. Hence why, “guarantees that the code it runs will continue to operate as designed.”

To illustrate that, let’s dive deeper and take a look at the past ten years of Web 3.0’s’ history. To truly grasp the development in the space, we need to have context around all relevant activities. The more context we have, the easier it is to understand the true potential of Web 3.0.

Unfortunately, economic opportunities inevitably bring some bad players. In turn, the sentiment in some communities is that crypto is a bubble. Many people believe that there is no real value to those assets, and the bubble will pop sooner or later.

Like any other new technology, crypto develops in cycles. Most people got into crypto early on because the price was very attractive; think of Bitcoin in 2011.

Also Read: Understanding how the internet has changed business with Greg Zen

The attractive price prompted early adopters to start reading about blockchain. The combination of promising tech and attractive prices hooks you further. Over time that interest converts into new ideas, which naturally results in startups.

I like the following chart because it tracks growth across different activities. While token prices are essential, there is a lot more happening in the space. To truly understand why Web 3.0 is exciting, you need to consider growth in price, developer, startup, and social media activity.

It turns out there is a similar level of activity taking place across all those dimensions, which results in a steady and gradual growth until we reach the third wave of crypto in early 2016. At about that time, we saw exponential growth across all dimensions mentioned above.

Also Read: How the spatial web is changing the internet as we know it

There was a lot of initial coin offering (ICO) activity in that period. Unfortunately, many ICOs were led by bad players. In turn, things got a bit quiet after that up until COVID took place.

Now, we see growth in developer, startup, and social media activity once again. In a nutshell, throughout the past decade, we have seen consistent growth.

Today we are seeing the first attempts of building decentralised versions of Web 2.0 popular applications. That combines the utility of tools like Spotify while adding crypto back-end power.

In simple terms, Web 3.0 allows you to create solutions that pay people to use them through tokens. Imagine if all players in the Airbnb ecosystem could get financial incentives. Thus, get a piece of the wealth the platform created?

Today, only the founders, investors, and employees are sharing the upside. Tomorrow, we can reward the hosts, guests, and all sorts of partners too. Web 3.0 aligns incentives like never before while bringing back privacy.

Just as Web 2.0 didn’t automatically extinguish Web 1.0 (still gathering dust around some parts of the internet), the move to 3.0 will take time and integration with existing online systems.

The wheels have already been set in motion, and the train has left the station. Web 3.0 is a revolution in action; we are past the point of no return.

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Jiwon Moon and Changseong Ho, founders of US-based video streaming company Viki, has launched a venture builder to invest in Southeast Asia’sAsia’s startups.

TheVentures Singapore (TVSG) will invest in e-commerce, community, fintech, O2O, biotech, healthcare, foodtech and sustainability.

“We aim to help over 100 high-growth startups incorporate or relocate to Singapore within the next five years,” said Changseong Ho, co-founder of TVSG.

Leveraging Singapore as the base camp, TVSG will create a new incubation system to strengthen early-stage, high-growth tech startups in terms of their intellectual properties, business models, and global expansion strategies.

“The country [Singapore] is well positioned with an ecosystem that is driven by finance and innovation, which helps to facilitate the cross-pollination of businesses and technologies internationally,” said Jiwon Moon, co-founder of TVSG.

The duo’s objective is to replicate the success of TheVentures in South Korea, which is backed by blue-chip LPs and investors, including Kakao, NCSoft and Com2Us. Since 2014, the firm has taken stakes in over 100 startups and possesses a portfolio value exceeding US$1 billion.

Also read: 5 ways for venture builders to reduce startup failures

Ho and Moon founded Viki in Silicon Valley when they were studying at Harvard and Stanford. The startup was later acquired by Rakuten for a reported US$200 million in 2013, after six years of operations.

Besides TVSG, the duo also runs Impact Collective, a community-driven impact investment programme aiming to evaluate the social impact of startups.

Heading forward, Moon and Ho unveil their plans to expand Community Alliance Network (CAN), a SaaS tool for entrepreneurs without an in-house tech team, and CANnovate, a SaaS-powered startup incubation programme targeted at entrepreneurs in the community, education, and commerce sectors.

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As Malcom X once said, “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” This statement rings true especially for today’s interconnected globe, where the education system has to prepare learners for the modern world challenges.

In the global educational community, every day, new opportunities present themselves in the form of tech tools, communication channels and new learning approaches. Despite this, adoption tends to be slow, and usage is lacklustre. 

Education systems cannot afford to fall behind, especially when we consider the fast-paced needs of the modern world. However, to be better at delivering knowledge, development, and training, educators need to upgrade their practices first.

When the COVID-19 pandemic came, however, there was a silver lining. Amidst the school closures and social distancing, edutech was finally given a chance to thrive.

Lack of right development for educators

Teachers are at the heart of a robust education system. These are the individuals that possess the skills and knowledge to shape the next generation. However, what happens when teachers are not given the optimal environment to transfer knowledge? Or when qualified educators leave the system due to a lack of support?

On the surface, it appears that teachers have it all. They are given sufficient training, a decent starting salary, and usual career benefits. Diving deeper, various issues plague the teaching workforce, threatening classrooms across the globe.

Also Read: Edutech is surging, but here are the 3 issues it is facing

Particularly in Asia, countries like Singapore are celebrated for a stellar quality of education. However, a closer look will reveal that teachers in Singapore work 46 hours on average a week, seven hours higher than the global average.

In Japan, teachers typically clock in 56 hours a week. These nations rank seventh and first place in the list, joining their counterparts globally, such as Canada, Alberta and Kazakhstan.

When you rank these results against the Best Education System in the World Index, Singapore and Japan aren’t even in the Top 10.

This brings about the worrying question: are we overworking our teachers for no reason?

It’s important to create support systems educators can turn to if they want to improve the quality of their work and deal with current challenges.

The teaching workforce, like their peers in other industries, is susceptible to burnout and overworking stress. Surely there must be a way to nurture good teachers by giving them the right development opportunities.

It’s common to hear educators in some countries who have been drawing the same salary since they started years ago and depend on passive income to survive.

This is rather astonishing since it significantly impacts the quality of their jobs in the day-to-day.

Also Read: ‘Education is not a content business but a human one’: Nas Academy’s Nuseir Yassin

The need for tech solutions

At the same time, the whole educational industry is falling behind in terms of technology. There are a lot of barriers that need to be overcome.

Given that the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated the edutech adoption, the rapid influx of new tools and solutions may have come as a surprise to many who have not had the time to adapt to the new world.

Sadly, the COVID-19 pandemic showed these weaknesses. Almost overnight, educators had to replicate the “chalk and talk” online without knowing the right tools or methodology. 

Pre-pandemic, the ASEAN region did not see much LMS success. Perhaps this is since they lacked scalability, were cost-inefficient and only in English. There is a severe lack of tech infrastructure orientation in this industry.

Especially in developing Asia, where lessons were conducted in their native language, it seemed unnecessary to invest in an LMS at all. These shortfalls were brought over when the pandemic happened, which is why there is a significant disparity in the impact of COVID-19 on education across Asia and even the rest of the world.

Suddenly, everyone wanted in on the edutech market. Promising new players were coming up almost every month, hoping to bank in on the initial edutech surge. Schools, colleges, and other educational institutions were getting learning management systems at a low price to shift their efforts online.

The whole LMS market in the Asia Pacific market grew fast, driven by several factors. Still, we found ourselves in conversations with teachers. We found that even though the schools had invested in LMS platforms and several other edutech apps to enhance the quality of teaching and learning, most of the teachers still preferred to use video conferencing systems like Zoom or Google Meet.

But this teaching method had its inherent problems – for starters, not all students had digital devices or stable internet connections. The ones who did may or may not be engaged through the lesson, and there was no realistic way to find this out.

Also Read: Why customer education plays an important role in Wise’s international expansion plan

Just because teachers started teaching online using various learning management systems, it didn’t mean that all the challenges had just disappeared. There’s still a long way to go in perfecting the educational systems, support, and mechanisms. 

A new approach for resolving the teaching crisis

Beyond every groundbreaking technology, there lies a need to make it valuable and usable to the average person.

We found that most teachers had never received any relevant training on designing engaging courses for their learners using digital tools. As such, video conferencing apps were the channel of choice, since it was after all, the most usable. 

Again, teachers didn’t have the suitable development courses available to them to overcome these obstacles. In other words, the teachers didn’t know where to turn.

There was little to no support teachers could get to help them transition into teaching online and improve their work quality. The lack of teaching development will naturally lead to poor results with students.

These issues weren’t limited to SEA. They were a global problem. That’s why Akadasia focused on the worldwide issue with Freejoo.

The goal was to create a digital ecosystem that would support educators globally and give them the knowledge, resources, and connections they need. 

Through Freejoo’s Digital Learning Community, teachers can instantly access a wide range of professional development courses that help them improve their teaching skills, create more engaging online courses, and collaborate with their peers on various projects. 

Over 60 per cent of teachers globally feel that they have limited access to relevant and valuable development courses to help them do their jobs in the 21st century.

Also Read: SMU’s Protégé Ventures as a catalyst for entrepreneurial education

The problem is that teachers can communicate with their friends on mobile devices but can’t handle holding e-learning courses in the same manner.  

To help people keep teaching, we need to support them and improve their work environments. More than ever, teachers need to be nurtured and provided with a community that can help them share experiences and practices of working online. 

On top of that, they need to stay relevant in the job market by acquiring new skills. That’s why development is essential to keep up with the latest e-learning practices and technologies.  Ultimately, this will help increase their salaries and bring in more people towards careers in education. 

The pilot programme started in 2020, and by September 2021, it was used by more than 130,000 teachers from 36 countries. The platform has been growing at a rate of around 8,000 users per month. On top of that, over 18,000 teachers were on the waitlist before the launch.

Education needs a significant change for the future

We cannot divorce the classroom setting from the increasingly globalised and complex world that it exists in. If what students need to learn goes beyond rote, then there needs to be a simultaneous shift in teacher pedagogy.

All industries are working on adding innovative solutions and digitising various processes. It’s essential in a field where professionals and organisations work directly with their clients or, in this case, students.

As edutech rises to the forefront of education, it needs to do more to empower and support educators by first recognising the notion of teachers as learners. In other words – education needs to enter the 21st century. 

There shouldn’t be a gap between tech solutions and the teachers’ ability to use those technologies to deliver knowledge through different mediums in a digital-led generation. 

Also Read: 1 tech, 4 ways: How blockchain disrupts the education sector

Online learning is here to stay, even after the pandemic. Organisations and individuals have invested a lot in setting up digital environments for their students to thrive.

On top of that, 73 per cent of students say that they would like to continue with their online courses even after the pandemic has ended. Hence, it is essential to empower educators everywhere on a war footing.

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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.

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Sipher, a blockchain-powered gaming studio in Vietnam, has completed its US$6.8 million seed round of financing, co-led by Arrington Capital, Hashed and Konvoy Ventures.

Also participated in the round are Defiance Capital, Signum Capital, Dragonfly Capital, CMT Digital, BITKRAFT Ventures, Delphi Digital, Alameda Research, Fenbushi Capital, Sfermion, Hyperchain, GBV, Kyber Network, Coin98 Ventures, YGG and Merit Circle.

Angels, including Holly Liu (Kabam), Kun Gao (Crunchy Roll) and Alex Svanevik (Nansen.ai), also joined the round.

Also Read: Metaverse is around the corner and you should play a role in it

Sipher will utilise the money to develop its upcoming World of Sipheria game and build the tools needed to create “compelling, fun and engaging gaming experiences” based on blockchain technology.

Founded by prominent Vietnamese entrepreneur Nguyen Trung Tin (CEO), Sipher is on a mission to unify state-of-the-art blockchain tech, artwork, storytelling, multiplayer gaming with decentralised financial technologies.

Its vision is to create an expansive world that attracts and keeps the player base engaged for years to come as new worlds, characters and factions are introduced.

Sipher intends to create an ecosystem where people can play for fun while earning rewards for their time spent in-game. It also provides the community with ownership of in-game assets, which directly contributes to the growth and success of the gaming industry.

“First and foremost, games are meant to be fun,” Tin said. “They are meant to be social. They are meant to invigorate, excite, and bring people together to enjoy time spent with each other for a common purpose. This is true for the most classic and for the most futuristic of games. This is what makes games the most powerful medium for sharing and discovering amazing moments together.”

Jason Chapman of Konvoy Ventures noted: “Gaming has always been home to creators, thinkers, and competitors, and it is time that we see games show their communities financial loyalty. More than three billion people are playing games across the globe, and less than 0.1 per cent of gamers are experiencing direct profit sharing. Sipher is renegotiating what players should expect from their games and is here to bring joy to their players both through entertainment and financial freedom.”

Sipher’s Discord community has over 60,000 members. Its first playable NFT character, Sipherian Surge, is available for trading and secondary purchase on OpenSea.

Sipher will also launch the playable MVP of the first gaming experience in the World of Sipheria. The experience will introduce a cooperative dungeon game mode that onboards new waves of native and non-native blockchain users. This is done through beautiful design and graphics, compelling gameplay, expansive world lore hidden with secrets to be discovered and the ability to take part in the game economy.

Also Read: a16z leads Axie Infinity parent Sky Mavis’s US$152M Series B round

It is also preparing to release its second collection called the Sipherian Flash.

Michael Arrington of Arrington Capital stated: “Sipher builds on innovative P2E economics while leveraging both the spirit of crypto culture and mainstream gaming. The art blends a futuristic world of sci-fi and captivating animals; it is internet-native and inspiring. We believe that Metaverse gaming will unlock a new economic frontier where users can reap the rewards of their time and creativity, and we fundamentally believe in the passion and energy behind Tin and his team.”

Early this month, another Vietnamese game studio Sky Mavis raised US$152 million in a Series B financing round led by US-based VC firm Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Sky Mavis is the company behind the popular NFT-based game Axie Infinity, which has been developed on the play-to-earn concept for people to play, live, work and earn within virtual worlds. Axie Infinity enables players to breed, battle, and trade digital pets called Axie.

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Image Credit: Sipher

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Bug bounty and security services provider Immunefi today announced a US$5.5 million funding round from a list of investors that included Blueprint Forest, Electric Capital, Framework Ventures, Bitscale Capital, P2P Capital, IDEO Colab, The LAO, BR Capital, 3rd Prime Ventures, North Island Ventures, and other individual investors.

The company plans to continue acquiring cutting edge security tech and building the “most elite” emergency response team in the industry with the new funding.

They are especially interested in building vulnerability prediction technology and hacker tooling that makes it easier and easier to find vulnerabilities, according to a spokesperson.

Singapore-based Immunefi is a bug bounty platform for smart contracts and crypto projects. It enables security researchers to review code, disclose vulnerabilities, and get paid for it while allowing companies to secure their projects with top security talent.

Immunefi said it was the first on the market to introduce a scaling bug bounty standard, meaning rewards grow accordingly with the severity of an exploit and the volume of funds at risk. By far, it has paid well over US$7.5 million in bounties to whitehat hackers.

Also Read: Why Malaysia is quickly becoming a cybersecurity hub for the rest of the world

The company was built with the background of rising concerns for security in DeFi protocols.

In a contributed post to e27, Antony Ma, CEO at Hoplite, wrote about the current “arms race” of the cybersecurity industry.

“Cybersecurity services providers and products are increasing their efforts in detecting new attacks (called zero-day vulnerability exploitations) … At the same time, cybercriminals are finding unheard ways to exploit networks. So far, ransomware gangs are winning – now is the time to invent or re-think if the current detection-only methodology is working,” he said.

“In 2020, hackers stole about US$120 million from DeFi protocols in 15 separate attacks. As of the midpoint of this year, there have been at least 23 attacks, netting hackers more than US$1.7 billion in value. The statistics prove security practices are becoming more important than ever, and the Immunefi team uses its expertise to ensure the safety of DeFi projects,” Immunefi said in a press statement.

“DeFi is unique because vulnerabilities in code represent a possibility of a direct loss of users’ money … Bug bounty programmes are open invitations to security researchers to find those vulnerabilities in exchange for a reward, and have proved one of the most effective ways to deal with critical security holes. We believe that by helping launch such programmes on Immunefi, we contribute not only to protecting DeFi projects for today, but also to shaping the tech industry for the future,” says Mitchell Amador, Founder and CEO of Immunefi.

Also Read: Privy raises US$17.5M in Series B to further expands its IT, security infrastructure

Synthetix, Chainlink, SushiSwap, PancakeSwap, Bancor, Cream Finance, Compound, and Alchemix are examples of projects that have been using Immunefi to ensure their safety.

Some case studies that the company provided included Belt Finance’s US$1 million payment to a whitehat hacker who discovered a critical vulnerability in the protocol which put more than US$10 million of capital at risk.

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Waste Labs, a Singapore-based Artificial Intelligence startup that helps waste management companies and cities to build and operate sustainable waste collection and recycling, has secured US$500,000 in pre-seed funding.

Entrepreneur First, Singapore VC firm Fund4SE, and strategic angels invested in this round.

Also Read: How this Singaporean AI startup makes waste collection and recycling easy for cities, organisations

Founded in May 2020, Waste Labs has developed an AI platform to digitise, plan, and improve waste collection processes, and enables manufacturers to increase the supply of goods produced from recycled materials.

Waste managers are provided with data-driven insights and prescriptive recommendations to map waste flows and design and operate sustainable waste collection systems.

Since its inception, Waste Labs claims to have implemented over ten projects with top waste management companies, consumer companies and sustainable producers in Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia and the UK. The projects tackled general and recyclable waste, including food, plastics, cardboard and electronic waste.

“We will now be working to grow our product capabilities and build a globally scalable tech platform and drive its commercial adoption across Asia Pacific and Europe,” said Waste Labs CEO and co-founder Vladimir Chuchkin.

Circular economy, climate change and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) have become key boardroom topics for companies, cities, and regulators. And as consumers increasingly embrace social causes, they seek products and brands that align with their values.

Globally, the total addressable market (TAM) for waste management is US$4.7 billion. The Southeast Asian portion of it is approximately US$2 billion.

Also Read: One man’s trash is another’s gold: How Tridi Oasis plans to transform plastic waste management

“There is a global imperative to move towards environmental sustainability, responsible consumption, and recycling and upcycling practices. This shift is driven by government agencies, industrial companies, consumer brands, and of course, consumers themselves. Waste Labs helps to get closer to this sustainable vision by bridging supply and demand for recyclable materials through the power of data and technology,” said Denis Muratov, managing partner at Fund4SE.

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White Star Capital, a multi-stage global technology investment firm, has launched its third flagship fund worth US$360 million.

A press statement noted that the fund exceeded its original target of US$300 million.

It brings White Star Capital’s total funds raised in the last 18 months to more than US$500 million. It now manages US$750 million of assets, including US$50 million from its recently announced Digital Asset Fund and more than US$90 million raised from co-investment vehicles.

White Star Capital plans to deploy initial investments between US$5 million and US$15 million in 15 to 20 startups across North America, Europe and Asia in their Series A-stages and beyond. It seeks to invest in emerging technology companies in the AI, digital health, fintech, foodtech, future of work, industrial technologies, mobility and wellbeing sectors.

The VC firm has already made several investments from the third fund, including Flash Coffee (Singapore) and PopMeals (Malaysia).

The fund also announced that it plans to open a new office in Singapore. As part of this, it has already hired Cristina Ventura as a venture partner to expand its investment efforts in Southeast Asia. Ventura has worked in retail and technology roles for over 20 years, helping brands such as Prada, Gucci, LVMH, and Apple.

“We are looking for Series A and B opportunities in consumer, lifestyle, digital health, gaming and fintech sectors as a priority [in Southeast Asia]. Over the last two years, we have invested in Asia Innovation Group, Flash Coffee as well as PopMeals, and will be announcing two more transactions in the next few weeks completed in the region,” Ventura told e27.

Also Read: ‘Growth at any cost’ has shifted to ‘growth with reasonable unit economics and a path to profitability’: White Star Capital’s Sanjay Zimmermann

White Star Capital was founded in 2014 by Eric Martineau-Fortin and Jean-Francois Marcoux. A global multi-stage technology investment platform, it invests in exceptional entrepreneurs building international businesses. It has operations in Guernsey, New York, Paris, London, Montreal, Toronto, Singapore, and Hong Kong.

With more than 30 team members in nine locations around the globe, the VC firm supports investors by taking a platform approach. It means providing direct investment through dedicated and specialised funds and offering Limited Partners opportunities to directly co-invest in the firm’s portfolio companies.

To date, the VC firm has invested in more than 55 companies that have gone on to raise over US$2 billion collectively. It also has ten exits and two IPOs to its credit.

Investors in the new fund include Limited Partners from Canada, France, Germany, Guernsey, Japan, Monaco, Poland, South Korea, the UK and the US. They are Andy Tian (Asia Innovations Group), Andrew Graham (Borrowell), Kevin Glynn and David Nolan (Butternut Box), Dr Christopher Oster (Clark), Cherif Habib (Dialogue), and Max-Josef Meier (finn.auto), among others.

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Image Credit: White Star Capital

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As advanced as our school systems are, it’s a shame that they repeatedly overlook one essential form of education: financial literacy.  

The failure to equip our youth with basic financial know-how has long-term repercussions– and the numbers back it up. According to a survey by Standard Chartered, 62 per cent of millennials aged between 24 to 44 in Singapore have found it challenging to manage their day-to-day expenses since the onset of the pandemic (compared to 53 per cent for those aged over 45). 

In fact, according to the same survey, only 18 per cent of millennials feel in control of their finances. They’re also more likely to engage in poor financial habits, like borrowing money from friends and relatives (15 per cent), paying the minimum sum on their credit cards (38 per cent) and speculating excessively to make quick gains (39 per cent), another study by OCBC reveals. 

Millennials believe in investing but find it anxiety-inducing

Needless to say, financial security and anxiety are something that many millennials wrestle with. But I do wonder: is this for lack of trying?  

Interestingly, a new study by our partner Franklin Templeton reveals that while one in two millennials agree that it’s good to start investing at a young age, one in three expressed that they find it complex and feel anxious about the idea. Among reasons like a lack of budget, the hesitation to start also stems from a lack of investment knowledge.

Also Read: How Finory aims to improve financial literacy — one credit card at a time

This suggests that while millennials do recognise that investing early is beneficial, the “how-to” is still elusive to many. Could this indicate a real education gap in money matters among the younger generation? I’d think so.  

This begets the question: how can we get better at teaching financial literacy and instilling good financial habits in our young? 

Financial literacy is an essential life skill, not a “nice to know”

Much like your health and wellbeing, financial education is a crucial life skill that directly impacts personal wellbeing. 

Learning the basics of financial literacy (like money management, personal finance, savings, investing and debt) can help establish a strong foundation for healthy money habits. It pays off to start young.  

The challenge is that most youths aren’t equipped with the proper financial knowledge. In schools, teachers don’t teach about personal finance. Recent policies to introduce individual finance courses in tertiary schools in Singapore are encouraging but seem to have fizzled out in traction.  

In most homes, money is often a taboo topic to discuss with the kids, unless you’re lucky to be raised in a home where your parents are open enough or financially savvy to have that money talk. 

This means that the onus is often on the young to take the initiative to learn their financial ABCs. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, the murky waters of the Internet financial advice can be a tricky one to wade. 

Sifting good financial advice from the bad

 The rise of social media means that youths are gleaning financial insights from their favourite influencers. A LendingTree survey in the US reveals that 41 per cent of Gen Z-ers have turned to personal finance advice TikTok (also known as #FinTok).

A growing segment in the app, #FinTok is a hotbed of financial advice that is often overly reductive at best or misguided.  

Also Read: The promise of DeFi as a new financial era in SEA and why its worth paying attention

Our young should be getting their know-how from legitimate sources, so they have a strong foundation and are less swayed by clickbait financial advice and shiny new investment vehicles that are too good to be true.  

This is why Autumn has made sure to develop an in-app financial literacy curriculum within the app. We’ve partnered with Franklin Templeton to roll out exclusive financial literacy content that caters to all levels of proficiency. 

Called the Autumn Academy, users can seamlessly access a rich library of bite-sized financial education videos, infographics and more that they can learn and digest on the go.  

“Many of the financial difficulties we see people getting into stem from poor financial literacy,” shares Autumn’s CEO, Mike Kruger. “The Autumn Academy will make a foundational financial education accessible to all, including topics such as understanding your relationship to money, how to recognise a good financial plan, how to manage your finances, and how to turn your financial plans into reality.”

Starting young pays off

So, where do we go from here? If you’re a parent, start having frank discussions about money at home, and get your child comfortable with the subject early. You can do so by teaching them essential personal finances, like how budgeting works or the importance of savings.

As they get older, take it a step further and introduce them into the world of investments and the many apps that help educate and gamify the matter.  

It’s also vital that financial tools recognise this gap in financial literacy and aim to bridge that through simple and easy-to-use features. 

Financial tools need to be simple, accessible and arm users with the know-how to make informed money decisions. It’s precisely this philosophy that governs what we do at Autumn. 

All in all, financial literacy is a life skill, and starting it young pays off. With the wealth of options out there, it’s essential to be prudent and sift out the noise. Early financial literacy teaches kids to have a good relationship with money – a valuable lifelong skill that pays off.   

Also Read: How Finory aims to improve financial literacy, one credit card at a time

Headquartered in Singapore and incubated by SC Ventures, Autumn is a bank agnostic and holistic platform offering customers best-in-class products and solutions that empowers them to plan and manage their financial and physical wellbeing. 

Autumn embraces a holistic approach to retirement, helping people understand how their lifestyle choices can impact their finances and health to prepare for retirement adequately.

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India’s ‘ed-infra’ startup Teachmint closes US$78M Series B

Investors: Rocketship.vc and Vulcan Capital co-lead the round, with participation from Goodwater Capital, Epiq Capital, and existing investors Learn Capital, CM Ventures, Lightspeed India, and Better Capital.

Plans: Teachmint aims to double its workforce in the next six months to support its global expansion. A portion of the capital will also be used to strengthen Teachmint’s proprietary classroom technology. It is also eyeing a few strategic acquisitions to strengthen its infrastructure offering.

About Techmint: Launched in 2020, Teachmint offers end-to-end infrastructure needs of educators — from K-12 schools to after-school tutoring to universities and edutech firms. Through its classroom infrastructure, teachers are able to deliver live online classes, ensure continuous student engagement and automate their admin workflows. The startup claims to have registered a user base of over 10 million teachers and students from 5,000 cities in the world.

Also read: Edutech is surging, but here are the 3 issues it is facing

China’s identity cloud platform Authing banks US$23M in Series A

Investors: Tiger Global, CDH Investments VGC, Agora, GGV Capital, and MiraclePlus.

Plans: To continue investing in research and development, attracting talent and expediting commercialisation progress.

About Authing: Authing provides apps with authentication, authorisation, user management and security risk control services from the perspective of identity-as-a-service cloud computing for enterprises. The startup also integrates nearly 100 applications to help enterprise administrators and developers streamline the complete Single Sign-On applications process, covering collaborative office, cloud computing, marketing, management, development tools, human resources and other fields. It boasts to have served clients spanning across Europe, America and Asia.

Bangladesh’s Bondstein secures US$1M for new IoT solutions R&D

Investors: Runner Group and Runner Trading Limited.

Plans: To drive acquisitions, R&D of new IoT solutions, increased inventory and expansion of manufacturing facilities. Bondstein also aims to expand in IoT technology export.

About Bondstein: Bondstein serves a wide range of customers through offering connected technologies, including vehicle tracking, remote power monitoring, smart home, among others.

Also read: How to firm up your IoT strategy to combat online risks

Ilham Habibie joins Indonesia’s fintech Ayoconnect as Commissioner

The story: Ilham Habibie will join Ayoconnect as a commissioner, bringing into the fold his experience in Indonesia’s ICT and finance landscape.

Background: Habibie previously served as Ayoconnect’s strategic advisor since August 2020 before joining the ranks of investors in Ayoconnect’s pre-series B round in September. He is currently the chairman of Bank Muamalat, Indonesia’s first Islamic (Sharia) Bank, and leading Indonesia’s National ICT Council and the Agency for Research and Technology of the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN).

About Ayoconnect: Founded in 2016, Ayoconnect offers a wide range of financial white-label products on its Application Programming Interface (API) platform. The startup claims to service more than 100 Indonesian companies as clients and connecting more than 1,000 institutions through its network of APIs.  In September, it secured fresh funds of US$10 million in a pre-Series B round.

India’s interior design marketplace Livspace to expand to Middle East

The story: Livspace will execute its expansion strategy into the Middle East through a strategic joint venture with the Alsulaiman Group (ASG), an operating partner of home furnishings retailer IKEA in the region.

Also read: The future of interior design is here

Plans: Livspace will explore the opportunities in the home interiors and renovation segment in the MENA region starting with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.  The JV will also further its plan to strengthen the team by investing in talent across levels while also aiming to onboard over a thousand design and home improvement professional partners in the region by 2022.

About Livspace: Founded in 2014 and based in India, Livspace is an omnichannel home interior and renovation platform. It owns a proprietary technology to provide a one-stop renovation solution for homeowners — from design to managed last-mile fulfilment for all rooms in a home. The startup currently serves users in Singapore and 21 cities across India. To date, it has raised over US$200 million in capital from global investors, including TPG Growth, Goldman Sachs, Ingka Ventures (IKEA), Kharis Capital, and so on.

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Image Credit: Techmint, Ayoconnect

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majoo, a startup providing omnichannel solutions for MSMEs in Indonesia, has received US$4 million in pre-Series A funding led by AC Ventures with participation from BRI Ventures and Xendit.

With the new funding, majoo will continue to add more features to its platform to support MSMEs further to grow their business. It also aspires to expand its team to reach more than 100 cities in Indonesia by the end of 2022.

Also Read: How tech can empower Indonesia’s 63M MSMEs in the post-pandemic era

The SaaS startup was founded in 2019 by Adi W Rahadi and Audia R Harahap. Rahadi was previously head of T-Cash (now LinkAja), while Harahap ran multiple MSMEs.

Started off as a point of sales solution for MSMEs, majoo is now expanding its offerings to be an end-to-end SaaS for them to sell through multiple offline and online channels with a single dashboard.

The company claims its app has grown 85 per cent y-o-y to acquire over 20,000 active merchants. It has processed over 80 million transactions worth US$600 million for MSMEs in more than 600 cities in the archipelago across a diverse range of businesses, from F&B to laundromats and convenience stores.

In July, the startup closed a pre-Series A funding round.

MSMEs form the backbone of Indonesia’s economy, with more than 60 million registered enterprises contributing to more than 67 per cent of the GDP and employing 90 per cent of the adult workforce in the country.

Also Read: Everybody is helping MSMEs go digital today, but Indonesia-based Titipku aims to do it differently

“MSMEs are very dependent on offline sales activities. Looking at the pandemic situation, we developed e-commerce features in a mission to support MSME to pull through this challenging time. We provide them with a tool to create their own website, online payments, and integration with Grabfood, Tokopedia, Shopee, and other e-commerce services,” said Adi W. Rahadi, co-founder and CEO of majoo.

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Image Credit: majoo

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