This is the fourth and final article in this series of helping SMEs chart the course of digital transformation.

We will now look at arguably the most important stage of digital transformation, and that is its implementation into the organisation’s structure and processes.

How to go about implementing?

First and foremost, the CEO/Board/Entrepreneur should be passionate, educate themselves, and amply set clear objectives.

The absence of in-house expertise, as well as security concerns, cannot be an afterthought. While the security concerns can be handled technically, an enterprise’s lack of requisite skills does dissuade and further delay adoption.

Then create a small Digital Transformation team– include youngsters and experienced staff. Send the senior employees for credible training.

Identify and join hands with the right partner who can help lay the digital transformation journey roadmap and identify the priorities that can ensure a quick return on investment (RoI).

It also helps to define the budgets broadly and do a rough RoI calculation. A well laid out digitalisation plan can simplify enterprises to consider the whole while taking manageable small steps towards the larger goal.

As in the above table, many areas within an enterprise can benefit from digitalisation. It is important to prioritise the ones with maximum impact to set the momentum and build confidence.

Specific parameters vary in a small range that would give you a significant impact or identify the low hanging fruits in layman’s terms. The right technology applied in the right way on a well-defined problem can provide a very quick return on investment. Implement the solution and book profit.

Also read: Digital transformation for SMEs, Part 3: Data analytics in the enterprise

Next, identify critical bottlenecks, convert them into an appropriate business use case. Once a business use case is established, it becomes the focal point driving all other decisions– technology, domain experts, integration, and solution partners.

• Measure the current process. Remember, if you can’t measure, you can’t improve.
• Implement the technology solution meticulously. Your team should be as much involved as the partner organisation.
• Measure the benefit.
• Continuously refine to reap better benefits.
• Replicate the process for the rest of the objectives.

Don’t spend too much time and effort trying small initiatives across multiple business areas with no definite value coming forth. Letting technology fatigue set in that dissuades the team from pursuing all such initiatives further.

I want to leave you with a thought.

Often in small and simple changes lie big gains

The uninformed CEO might look at the 10 per cent year-on-year profit (per left bar chart as below) and be happy with the outcome. At the same time, a data-driven one would realise shedding (discontinuing) which products could have made more profits and take corrective measures unless they are produced for strategic reasons.

A Delta Drill chart is capable of segregating the loss-makers from the profiteers.

Delta Drill

Malaysia may have scored high on digital readiness rankings. Still, digital adoption by SMEs and traditional businesses are often hindered by, among others, a lack of awareness, readiness, know-how, and appreciation of the benefits of digitalisation, as well as the oft-misperceived high cost of implementing new technologies.

I hope this series has given our readers, particularly SMEs, a better understanding and more positive attitude about embracing digital transformation, starting with small but impactful areas in the organisation.

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Google, Temasek and Bain & Company returned with the latest edition of its annual report on Southeast Asia’s (SEA) internet economy, e-Conomy Southeast Asia (SEA) Report – Roaring 20’s: The SEA Digital Decade.

In its sixth edition, the report stated that the region’s internet economy is expected to reach US$1 trillion in GMV by 2030, a prospect that led Google Southeast Asia Vice President Stephanie Davis to dub the region as one that will “define the future of the global digital ecosystem.”

The report further revealed that SEA’s internet economy is estimated to reach US$174 billion in GMV by the end of 2021. It is also expected to reach around US$360 billion by 2025, outgrowing the earlier projection of US$300 billion.

The region now has more than 440 million internet users with 80 per cent (350 million) of them being defined as “digital consumers” –or internet users who have bought at least one online service.

How the pandemic impacts the internet economy

The report touched upon the topic of how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the internet economy in SEA by changing customer behaviour and propelling the growth of several verticals. It highlighted how since the pandemic began, SEA has added 60 million new digital consumers, of which 20 million joined in the first half of 2021 alone.

This growth is “primarily driven” by the e-commerce and food delivery verticals.

Also Read: Google Temasek Report: Southeast Asia’s internet economy to hit US$240B by 2025

“In a strong lead-up to 2030, e-commerce GMV could exceed US$120 billion by end 2021 (a near doubling from 2020) with the potential to reach US$234 billion by 2025. The food delivery sector emerged as a bright spot, growing 33 per cent y-o-y to reach US$12 billion in GMV. It has now become the most penetrated digital service, with 71 per cent of all internet users ordering meals online at least once,” the report wrote.

In addition to e-commerce and food delivery, digital lending services are also expected to grow due to an appetite for consumer financing options and supply chain financing.

“By 2025, digital payments are forecasted to reach over US$1.1 trillion in gross transaction value (GTV), up from a forecast of US$707 billion in 2021. Digital lending could see a 50 per cent increase in outstanding balance from US$26 billion in 2020 to US$39 billion in 2021, led by a rebound in lending appetite and growth in usage of buy-now-pay-later services,” the report said.

How about verticals that have taken a hit during the pandemic, such as travel tech? The report stated that while growth remains muted, it is likely to see a recovery in the medium-to-long term, driven by pent-up demand and vaccination progress.

Startup investments: Reaching “all-time high” in 2021

One of the highlights of SEA’s internet economy in 2021 was the resurgence of startup funding and the so-called race to IPO, which led the report to declare the region’s internet economy to be “expected to reach an all-time high in 2021.”

“Deal value came up to US$11.5 billion in the first half of the year, surpassing the US$11.6 billion for the entire 2020,” it wrote. “Investors see SEA as a lucrative investment destination for the long-term, especially in sectors such as e-commerce and digital financial services, which continue to attract the majority of investments (more than 60 per cent of deal value).”

“Increased deal activity and larger valuations that led to bigger funding rounds have spurred the induction of 11 new consumer technology unicorns in 2021, bringing the total number to 23.”

The year 2021 had also seen IPOs of notable tech companies in the region, such as Indonesia’s Bukalapak. According to the report, more tech companies are exploring IPOs as viable pathways to raise capital or allow early investors to monetise their holdings, especially in view of strong valuations and novel listing approaches such as special purpose acquisition companies (SPACs).

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• With the UK releasing massive requirements for sustainability-related disclosure on public markets, Biden is set to come back from COP26 with tangible guidelines for fueling the US green finance landscape.
• As stated by Guido Giese, executive director at MSCI Research, the data shows how stocks with better ESG scores tend to generate better earnings than those with lower ESG scores.
• Over the next five to 10 years, the climate will have financial consequences for most industries and business models – many large corporates are starting to embed sustainability in their core strategy.

Climate risk is investment risk

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Lista, a book-keeping app for micro, small, and medium enterprises in the Philippines, has secured undisclosed funding from 1982 Ventures, East Ventures and Saison Capital, and Alternate Ventures.

Monde Nissin Family Ventures’s Willy Arifin, former Grab Philippines President Brian Cu, Pinelabs CEO Amrish Rau, CRED founder Kunal Shah, Jupiter Bank CEO Jitendra Gupta and Google APAC senior executives Aurelien Pichon and Alap Bharadwaj also co-invested.

Lista will use the funds to grow the team and expand the product offering to reach more MSMEs.

Lista was founded by Aaron Villegas, an experienced entrepreneur with product experience, and Khriz Lim, a former Grab executive.

Also Read: BukuKas makes book-keeping easy for Indonesian MSMEs to save money and time

The Lista app helps MSMEs (freelancers, logistics operators and riders, and other small businesses) digitise their business. In addition, the app also enables them to manage their finances, such as debt tracking, transactions recording, and invoice issuing.

Since its launch in September, Lista claims to have helped collect about US$1.5 million in receivables from MSMEs in the Philippines.

MSMEs are vital to the Philippine economy as they comprise about 99.51 per cent of business establishments in the country and employ around 63 per cent of the country’s workforce, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA). However, the COVID-19 pandemic severely hit them. The prolonged lockdown and quarantines led to the halting of almost 74 per cent of these MSMEs, according to the country’s Department of Trade and Industry.

“MSMEs are the backbone of the Philippine economy, and it’s time we stop leaving them behind. Through this app, we want to revolutionise the way MSMEs operate and provide them with a reliable digital partner,” said co-founder Khriz Lim.

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Image Credit: Lista

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Though the COVID-19 pandemic has burdened the entire world with unprecedented problems, it has also offered an opportunity for accelerated digital transformation. COVID-19 has caused a shift in the way transactions are executed, has expedited the migration to an enhanced digital environment, and has influenced purchasing habits.

This has resulted in a considerable rise in the region’s digital marketing sector, giving women entrepreneurs a significant opportunity to excel and explore global and regional markets.

Women entrepreneurs are seen as key to economic growth because of the multiplier impact on job creation, labour force participation, and uplifting families out of their lower socio-economic background. They can help achieve several SDGs, especially SDG 5 – gender equality.

Women entrepreneurs in the developing nations within the SEA region, on the other hand, face challenges in terms of access to finance, ICT and are unable to expand their businesses and join wider regional and global supply chains, owing to a lack of knowledge and the small scale of their companies (micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME)).

E-commerce could be a powerful tool for interacting with customers and participating in a larger supply chain.

At the same time, the studies discovered that in response to COVID-19, women business leaders exhibited greater flexibility in their business models and were more likely to earn more than 50 per cent of their sales through digital channels.

Despite the passage of time, which has resulted in over 252 million women entrepreneurs worldwide, they continue to struggle to overcome the obstacles they encounter daily.

Also Read: Meet the 13 UN Women Care Accelerator startups transforming care work in APAC

With women accounting for around one-third of all entrepreneurs worldwide, things have never looked better for them on paper. Unfortunately, these figures only tell half of the picture.

Gender norms are impacting the ecology of entrepreneurship and posing tremendous obstacles for women worldwide, just as they do in other sectors today.

Between 2013 and 2019, the number of female-led businesses that became unicorns increased. In 2019, there were 21 new female-led unicorns reported globally, six more than the previous year.

There were only four new female-led unicorns recorded in 2013; therefore, unicorn numbers rose by more than 400 per cent over this period.

Being a woman entrepreneur is challenging since you must look after everything on your own. Being the primary caregiver makes the job double as hard. In addition to taking care of the household, unless heavily funded, you must be a jack of all trades at business– operations, sales, marketing, product development, and finance.

However, with a solid digital outreach plan, you may at least minimise the strain of obtaining excellent sales and keeping the cash flow going. Most businesses don’t know what they want to or can achieve with digital marketing, and as a result, they fail at the first hurdle. You must sit down and write out the goals you want to attain by investing time and effort in advertising your company online.

In the long run, a strong band helps with organic growth; however, in the initial days, the approach is towards customer acquisition, successful servicing or order fulfilment to keep the engines running.

The approach begins with identifying the businesses target audience. Understanding wherein the internet world they lurk, what content they consume, who they follow.

Next is to build a detailed plan to reach this identified audience group through social and search channels, influencers and sponsored campaigns.

When constructing the tactics, consider:

Numbers to define success, including time, budget and Objective KPIs to measure

As soon as someone decides to start their own business, they have a sales goal in mind. It is, by far, the essential KPI that companies should focus on. However, in addition to sales, it is critical to focus on growth and scalability.

Also Read: A woman among women: 27 female-led startups in SEA that are going places

Direct and indirect competitors and their most successful campaigns

Who are the top five direct and indirect competitors? What is their marketing strategy? Which platforms are they putting their money into? Do they have a hyper-personalised or localised approach? Most of the time, the answers to these questions will assist you in developing your marketing plan.

In my opinion, most businesses ignore some of the most critical techniques that their competitors exercise. It usually pays more to improvise than to reinvent the wheel. Whether it’s an off-page SEO plan or influencer marketing on Instagram, you could overlook fundamentals that your rival is flourishing online.

Ways to localise your product or service

Finding the correct marketing platforms is the simplest of all if you can complete all of the processes, including establishing your goals, identifying the right consumer persona, recognising your local competitors and drawing inspiration from successful ones in your space.

Digital marketing is broad and offers many various ways to create revenue for every firm. Still, it’s critical to pick the correct approach for your budget to avoid going overboard with your marketing costs.

Multiple variations of your campaigns to test resonance with your target audience

You must decide on your marketing budget based on your desire to create sales for your brand. For example, as an eCommerce business, if you can only send ten orders per day, decide how much money you want to spend on advertising to achieve those ten orders. As the adage goes, “never put all your eggs in one basket.”

As a result, distribute your spending over several channels to determine which ones perform best for you. Regular experiments and assessments of each platform provide the highest ROI and adjust your spending appropriately.

Once the basics are covered, focus on building a brand for longevity and organic growth.

The life of an entrepreneur is hard and lonely. With the community’s help and a robust support system of customers, partners, the team with a similar vision, the statistics say, less than 2 per cent of startups survive.

The mechanics do not change as per the gender of the entrepreneur. However, given the nature of one’s surroundings, for the fairer sex, statistically, it is much harder to build a business.

Also Read: Why women and tech are a rocking combination!

Although I’d like to believe the struggles are more internal and one can overcome the challenges with meticulous planning, undeterred execution and perseverance, the truth may be far from it.

It takes a village to run a business, and for women, the process is multiple times harder. Time and again, successful entrepreneurs have established to build for a brand, network, lean in the community to learn, grow and pursue the goals with grit and determination, which will lead to success, so let’s build one for one another.

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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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Better HR, a cloud-based HR tech startup, has raised a six-digit USD funding in a bridge round from new and existing investors, such as Seed Myanmar Ventures, Blibros, and nexlabs.

The funds will be used to further fuel the expansion in other target markets across ASEAN and South Asia.

Better HR was conceived out of nexlabs, a digital agency in Myanmar. It later set up a separate entity, called Better Technologies, with Seed Myanmar Ventures as an angel investor in 2019 to push the product into the market.

Founded in September 2019, Better HR provides cloud-based enterprise web and mobile apps enabling organisations to streamline HR processes for SMEs, such as attendance, leave, overtime, and payroll.

Also Read: How your HR team can help with crisis management

The firm claims that more than 200 companies across Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Vietnam use its products to manage over 35,000 employees and process over US$2m salaries per month.

“Our clients are using Better HR to keep up with employee communications and HR processes going despite having to work remotely. That gave us the confidence to move forward and raise another round to accelerate the growth,” said Ye Myat Min, chairman of Better HR.

In 2019, Better HR raised a six-digit seed round funded by Seed Myanmar Ventures.

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Construction accounts for 11% of the world’s carbon emissions — meaning it contributes almost as much to climate change as the world’s cars and trucks.

Meanwhile, inefficient legacy practices and human error lead to construction project delays and increased emissions, and with construction activity only set to pick up from here, this spells continued trouble for our environment.

Fortunately, companies are fielding new digital “smart” construction technologies that leverage artificial intelligence and data analytics — and these technologies promise to change the way the construction industry works, making it cleaner, greener, and more climate-friendly.

Smart construction solutions are taking the media spotlight

These smart construction innovators include the US-based Skycatch, a company that developed enterprise-grade technology that captures, processes, and analyses high accuracy 3D drone data. This data gives construction companies a “cheat code” to accurately plan and track their projects in ways they couldn’t before. 

Skycatch founder and CEO Christian Sanz appeared last month on  “Climatic,” a YouTube series from the Asian Development Bank’s (ADB) venture arm ADB Ventures that focuses on the entrepreneurs working to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and make the Asia Pacific region more resilient to climate change.

Sanz introduced Skycatch’s core technologies, including the “vision engine” that collects raw 2D images and photos from drones and turns them into highly precise and automated 3D digital terrain models of construction sites, as well as Skycatch’s analytics engine that compiles and processes data for clients.

Also read: AWS Activate power boosts startups through agile and efficient cloud infrastructure — and free credits

These 3D models and data insights allow clients to complete construction and mining operations more quickly, resulting in decreased emissions.

“I was completely shocked when I first started getting involved in construction in the early days of Skycatch, in 2013, and realised how much of a construction project is doing a redesign of something that was done poorly or done the wrong way,” Sanz said, referencing projects derailed by costly human errors.

“If we can reduce [even] one day of construction,” Sanz added, “not only does it make an impact in the environment and reduce CO2, but it also makes the whole process more efficient.”

Daniel Hersson, Senior Fund Manager of ADB Ventures, which made an equity investment in Skycatch in March 2021, was also a guest on Climatic. Hersson said ADB Ventures was especially interested in the transition towards digitalising infrastructure, as well as the ability to capture the real world in a very detailed digital model. “That in itself can significantly improve how we develop construction sites and reduce inefficiencies in group activities.”

The game-changing efficiencies drone technologies bring  to construction projects

Thomas Abell, Chief of Digital Technology for Development at the Asian Development Bank, described the ADB’s use of Skycatch tech last year to construct a new port for the Pacific island of Nauru.

“Skycatch basically brings the data right into our hands on our computer so any ADB staff can go into the database on any day of the construction and look at what’s happening,” Abell said. “They can compare stockpiles of materials, they can look at where construction components are being laid down compared to the design, and they can look at the progress compared to the timeline.”

Also read: ASEAN’s first smart shopping cart technology is transforming the offline shopping experience

Ricky Togashi is Head of Innovation at Japanese construction giant Komatsu, which has gone all-in on smart construction technologies. Togashi said his company has created project visualisation and optimisation tools to alleviate worker on-site safety issues and make up for labour shortages, which he said are two “huge problems” now facing the construction industry.

Komatsu partnered with Skycatch in 2018 and deployed its drone solutions on construction sites around the world. Skycatch’s aerial survey capabilities, as Togashi told it, had unlocked seemingly exponential efficiencies for construction projects.

One “just has to push a button,” Togashi explained, to send up a drone to complete a highly accurate 3D survey of construction in “ten to fifteen minutes.” By contrast, Togashi said that it could take human survey teams “three days or one week” to perform a tedious manual survey of the same area, and their survey would likely include errors.

But there’s more to smart construction than AI-powered drones

Still other construction startups are offering technologies that reimagine all phases of the construction process.

The Finnish company Caidio appeared on an episode of Climatic called “Startup Showdown” and pitched its AI-powered “concrete intelligence” solution to a panel of judges. . the

Two other startups pitched on the show: viAct, a startup from Hong Kong, demonstrated a computer vision solution that increases safety and reduces delays on construction sites, and WaveScan, a Singapore-based deep-tech company that built a see-through scanner technology used for high-resolution structural inspections on construction sites.

Daniel Hersson of ADB Ventures was also a panellist on the Showdown and remarked that “these are three really exciting companies… trying to transform a very conservative industry and one that has a very significant climatic impact.”

The startups’ solutions yielded praise from other panellists, including Hara Wang Head of Investments and Fund Partnerships at Third Derivative who highlighted Caidio’s efforts to reduce emissions on construction operations in its initial market of China.   Meanwhile, Juan Nieto of CEMEX Ventures said he would work with “no other” company than viAct to optimise CEMEX’s Philippines operations.

APAC VCs are betting big on a “smart” future for construction

Smart construction companies like Skycatch are getting more than publicity — they’re also attracting abundant financing on their mission to clean up their industry’s dirty impact.

According to a McKinsey report, investments in construction tech have continued to grow briskly, with VC activity rising to several billion dollars at the end of 2019 from lower levels a decade ago. And the pandemic has sped the proliferation of these solutions, which can provide workarounds to lockdown-induced labour shortages.

Daniel Hersson spoke to e27 about his fund’s investments in smart construction solutions: “We realised that these modern tech solutions backed by powerful entrepreneurs if applied at scale in a region like Asia could not only help expedite growth in the construction industry but would also help the environment.”

Also read: AppWorks partners with e27 to help startups build investor network

And Hara Wang said she believes now is the time to invest in technology that can decarbonise the Asia Pacific.

“The construction sector, just like any traditional sector is going through, really, a period of digital transformation right now, Wang said, “I think there’s a really big opportunity here for startups to innovate and help the building and construction sector to better understand and monitor the performance of the construction and infrastructure projects, particularly under the increasing heat, humidity, and flood risk that comes with climate change.”

Wang added that she was also “excited to explore the potentials of achieving net-zero through a combination of prefabricated components, 3D printing and recycled building materials.”

Continued VC support of the industry is a crucial step toward reducing construction’s carbon footprint – and it could very well completely change the way our buildings and infrastructure are built.

Watch the Climatic “Smart Construction” Talk Show here.

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Photo by Mikael Blomkvist from Pexels

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by ADB Ventures

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Earlier this year, a report released by early-stage VC firm Do Ventures and the Vietnam National Innovation Center (NIC) revealed the state of startup investment in the country during the pandemic.

The report showed that the number of early-stage deals of less than US$500,000 rose 11 per cent in 2020 amidst the crisis. The deal size and number rose in H2 2020.

As we entered 2021, it became clear that the pandemic could do nothing to prevent the local startup ecosystem from thriving as companies continue to grow and investors keep on investing in the market despite challenges.

Just as we have done with the startup ecosystem in Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines, this time, we are listing down 27 Vietnam-based startups that have made headlines in 2021.

Below are the 27 startups that are making waves in Vietnam:

1. Bizzi

Bizzi, an AI-powered invoice processing automation solution, announced in October that it raised US$3 million in a pre-Series A round led by Money Forward, a fintech company headquartered in Japan. Other investors include Do Ventures and existing investor Qualgro.

With this new investment, the company plans to improve product features and functionality and expand to other Southeast Asian markets.

Also Read: A women-centric dating app developed by an ex-diplomat seeks to end Tinder’s dominance in Vietnam

2. Sky Mavis

Sky Mavis, the firm behind the popular NFT-based game Axie Infinity, announced a US$152 million Series B financing round led by Andreessen Horowitz (a16z). Accel Partners and Paradigm also joined this round.

The Vietnamese startup will use the money to build a global team, scale infrastructure, and build its distribution platform to support game developers in creating blockchain-enabled games.

3. Dutycast

Dutycast, the company behind the browser extension that helps consumers buy online globally with ease, scored undisclosed funding from Vietnam-based VinaCapital Ventures in January.

Founded in 2020, Dutycast aims to improve the cross-border e-commerce experience for shoppers by providing transparency and security around final prices, duties, taxes, and related logistics expenses.

4. Mobicast

Masan Group subsidiary The Sherpa Company acquired a 70 per cent stake in local mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Mobicast for VN295.5 billion (US$12.96 million) in September.

Under the new transaction, Mobicast, operating under the brand Reddi, will gain exclusive access to the group’s consumer base and physical and online contact points across the country.

5. Clevai

After-school tutoring platform for K-12 students Clevai secured US$2.1 million in a pre-Series A financing round led by Singapore-based Altara Ventures in September. Existing backers, including Vietnam- and SEA-focused VC FEBE Ventures and New York-based marketplace investment firm FJ Labs also joined.

Clevai will use the funds to strengthen Clevai’s live-streaming infrastructure and improve personalised learning capabilities.

Also Read: How gamification is supercharging Vietnam tech startups’ growth potential

6. CoderSchool

Online coding courses CoderSchool secured US$2.6 million in pre-Series A funding led by Monk’s Hill Ventures in September.

The funding will be used to create more educational content and tech infrastructure for the school’s technical education programmes. It also plans to hire an additional 35 instructional staffers by Q4 2022 to support online operations.

7. GlobalCare

Insurtech provider GlobalCare received an undisclosed amount of funding from VinaCapital Ventures in September.

Launched in 2017 by Niem Thi Ngoc Dinh and Loi Minh Hang, the platform allows insurance companies and agents to sell policies via a cloud-based and on-premises app. It aims to enable end-to-end service management.

8. KiotViet

KiotViet secured US$45 million in a Series B funding round led by global investment firm KKR in September. Jungle Ventures, Kasikorn Bank, and Vietnamese family investment holding company Cao Viet My also co-invested.

KiotViet intends to recruit international talent to support new businesses and expand to global markets.

9. Vietcetera

Digital media network Vietcetera secured US$2.7 million over two successive rounds led by media-focused VC firm North Base Media in August. Gojek’s corporate VC firm Go-Ventures, East Ventures, Summit Media, Genesia Ventures, Hustle Fund, and Z Venture Capital, besides several Singaporean and Vietnamese family offices also participated.

The firm also plans to launch new shows and podcasts with underserved topics targeting the country’s emerging middle class.

10. Medici

Healthtech company Medici secured an undisclosed amount in seed funding led by early-stage investor Insignia Ventures in August.

The startup aims to foray into the insurance industry. It allows Medici to act as a middleman between insurance firms and the general public, which will receive suggestions and guidance from the broker to make the right financial decisions.

Also Read: Challenges of AI development in Vietnam: Funding, talent and ethics

11. Vuihoc

In August, Do Ventures announced an investment in the education platform VUIHOC. The startup plans to utilise the funds to strengthen its technical capacity, upgrade product features, and improve the quality of learning materials.

VUIHOC currently offers more than 150 courses, nearly 9,000 video lectures, and a repository of 240,000 quiz questions.

12. Rever

Rever is a tech-enabled real estate brokerage platform. In August, it announced a US$10.2 million funding round from Mekong Enterprise Fund IV (MEF IV), bringing its total funding to US$16.5 million.

The company will use the fresh investment to grow its management team, strengthen corporate culture, and accelerate the development of technology features.

13. VNG

Vietnamese internet giant VNG Corporation is considering going public in the US via a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) at a US$2 to US$3 billion valuation, Bloomberg reported in August.

The technology giant is working with financial advisers and is holding talks with several SPACs for a potential merger.

14. Loship

One-hour e-commerce delivery startup Loship secured US$12 million in a pre-Series C round of equity financing co-led by BAce Capital and the direct investment unit of Sun Hung Kai & Co., a Hong Kong-listed leading alternative investment company in August.

The round comes close on the heels of Loship’s undisclosed bridge funding round led by MetaPlanet in February 2021.

15. VNLIFE

VNLIFE Corporation, which owns fintech unicorn VNPay, has bagged over US$250 million in its latest Series B round led by General Atlantic and Dragoneer.

For the investors involved in this funding round, this investment marks their maiden investment in Vietnam.

Also Read: Thai e-commerce fulfilment firm MyCloudFulfillment raises US$7.4M Series B to expand to Vietnam, Philippines

16. Kamereo

Kamereo offers an online platform for F&B companies to optimise their sourcing and purchasing processes. The company received US$4.6 million in a Series A round of funding, co-led by conglomerate CPF Group, Quest Ventures, and Genesia Ventures.

The startup will use the funds to expand its team and operations into Hanoi next year and build a new warehouse management system to optimise daily operations.

17. MoMo

Payments app MoMo acquired local startup Pique for undisclosed details in June. With this deal, MoMo plans to capitalise on Pique’s 25 million user database to improve its product offerings.

18. Infina

Investment app Infina, which aims to become the Robinhood of Vietnam, announced a US$2 million oversubscribed seed funding round from several investors. With the new funding, Infina aims to fuel its growth and expand its product offerings.

19. HANET

HANET, a startup offering AI-powered surveillance cameras in Vietnam, received an undisclosed amount of investment from G-Group Technology Corporation at a US$5 million valuation in June.

The startup will use the funds to take its business into global markets, said a press statement.

20. SAMO Holding

SAMO Holding, the company behind the financial comparison platform thebank.vn, secured US$5 million in a Series A round led by UOB Venture Management, the investment arm of Singapore’s United Overseas Bank (UOB), in October.

With this new funding, the firm aims to broaden its agent network and offer more extensive financial products covering loans, wealth management, and insurance.

Also Read: eJOY snags seed round led by ThinkZone to enable English learning via Youtube, Netflix in Vietnam

21. Nano Technologies

Nano Technologies (Nano), a fintech startup that allows workers to access their wages immediately, raised US$3 million in seed capital in May. Existing investors Golden Gate Ventures and Venturra Discovery led the round with participation from new investors FEBE Ventures, Openspace Ventures, and Goodwater Capital.

22. POPS Worldwide

Digital entertainment company POPS Worldwide is planning to raise US$50 million in Series D by the end of 2021. The funds to be raised will be used for expansion across Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, and deepening its footprint in Indonesia.

Since its inception, POPS has established a foothold in key markets such as Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia, thus becoming one of the region’s largest digital entertainment industry players.

23. Base.vn

FPT acquired a majority stake in local SaaS company Base.vn for an undisclosed sum in May. As per a press note, this cooperation will enable the two sides to promote the comprehensive digital transformation ecosystem for 800,000 enterprises.

Founded in 2016 by Stanford University alumnus Hung, Base.vn has developed over 20 apps covering two verticals: HR and productivity.

24. POC Pharma

Pharmacy Online Concierge (POC) secured US$4.5 million in an equity financing round in April.

Established in 2020 by Thomas Miklavec and Charles Defrance, POC helps the stakeholders in the pharmacy field (pharmacies, drug manufacturers, distributors, wholesalers, payers) to digitally manage their interactions and collaborative workflows.

Also Read: Vietnam’s stock trading app Anfin nets US$510K from early investor of Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack

25. Homebase

In March, Homebase became the first Vietnamese startup to get accepted into Y Combinator. This came off the company’s funding announcement from Troy Steckenrider III (COO of Zerodown), Darius Cheung (founder of 99.co), VinaCapital Ventures, Class 5 Global (Silicon Valley-based venture fund), Pegasus Technology Ventures, 1982 Ventures, and Antler.

26. ELSA

ELSA, a mobile app that uses AI and speech recognition technology to help language learners improve their English speaking skills and pronunciation, secured US$15 million in Series B funding in January, co-led by Vietnam Investments Group and SIG.

This new funding will go towards R&D to further develop its voice recognition AI, build a scalable B2B platform and hire new talent.

27. Sipher

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

Founded by prominent entrepreneur Nguyen Trung Tin, Sipher aims to unify blockchain tech, artwork, storytelling, multiplayer gaming with decentralised financial technologies.

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Tiki founder and CEO Tran Ngoc Thai Son

Vietnam’s leading e-commerce company Tiki has completed a US$258 million fifth funding round (Series E) led by global insurance giant AIA.

Investors, including Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund, Taiwan Mobile, Yuanta Fund and STIC Investments, participated in the round.

In October, DealStreetAsia reported that Tiki had raised US$146 million in the second tranche of its Series E round. Before that, Tiki had received US$130 million led by Singapore-headquartered private equity firm Northstar Group.

Also Read: How Vietnam’s e-commerce firm Tiki manages to keep employee churn rate healthy

Tiki will use the fresh money to strengthen its logistics business and invest in ‘make in Vietnam’ technologies.

It will also collaborate with AIA to develop an insurtech platform offering insurance products and financial services for the customers. The project will be officially kicked off upon the launch of AIA’s health insurance products on Tiki, tentatively by the end of this December. With this solution in place, customers will be able to consult insurance offers and make insurance claims directly right on the platform.

Tiki is an e-commerce marketplace and supply chain company that operates several business units. Its products include TikiNOW Smart Logistics, an integrated supply chain platform, and Tiki Trading, a retail subsidiary.

The firm claims its fresh grocery delivery service TikiNGON saw y-o-y growth of 2,000 per cent, while its super fast delivery subscription service TikiNOW 2H tripled its active user base. TikiPRO, the scheduled delivery and installation service, also saw a 150 per cent increase in gross merchandise volume y-o-y.

“The US$258 million investment dedicated only to Vietnam proves Tiki’s long-term commitment to building world-class infrastructure — whether they are technologies, supply chain capabilities, talent development, and jobs creation,” said founder and CEO Tran Ngoc Thai Son.

“Together, we will focus on three distinct areas: lifestyle benefits and innovative distribution; distinctive digital health & wellness offerings, and other financial & e-commerce propositions. With Tiki’s existing assets and market leadership, we can bring an accessible and enhanced customer service proposition to make a positive difference in the lives of the people of Việt Nam. We are very excited to extend AIA’s Vietnam’s market leadership and work together with our partner, Tiki,” said Wayne Besant, CEO of AIA Vietnam.

Also Read: How AI is helping Tiki address price hike, fraud, product quality issues during the outbreak

“We have a very positive outlook for Vietnam’s economy, digital transformation, and e-commerce growth. In particular, as a leading local e-commerce company in Vietnam, Tiki is providing differentiated and valuable services to Vietnamese consumers. Tiki has been improving the credibility and convenience of Vietnam’s e-commerce market through its high-quality products offering and fast and accurate delivery,” said Jikwang Chung, MD, Mirae Asset Capital.

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Technology companies are more likely to be acquired than go public, but too little attention is paid to making these acquisitions successful for either the target or the buyer.

In the first half of 2021, Asian merger and acquisition activity surged to its second-highest level ever, totalling US$707.7 billion. That is up 75 per cent from the same period a year earlier.

Despite the vast amount spent on acquisitions, not all M&A is successful. A recent study in Australia found that 60 per cent of public company M&A deals fail.

I have completed more than 30 corporate acquisitions on both sides of the transaction. Here, I have distilled my most important, hard-won lessons to ensure acquisitions are successful.

Be crystal clear

The acquirer needs to be crystal clear about how they expect to create value via the acquisition. In many cases, the strategic logic is not clearly articulated, or various stakeholders in the acquiring company have competing visions. Deals without a clear strategy for value creation are more likely to be less successful.

Seek revenue, not savings

Acquirers often put too much emphasis on cost reductions and too little on revenue synergies. Depending on the case, there may be massive upside in revenue synergies, but attaining them can require focused effort.

Also Read: Bitkub becomes unicorn after SCB’s acquisition of its majority stake for US$536M

Tap on the boosting effect

The impact of the merger between Juwai Limited and IQI Global to create Juwai IQI was transformative. Most revenue drivers doubled or tripled after the merger. Don’t underestimate the brand and morale-boosting effect a merger can have on staff, customers, and other stakeholders. 

One bad business cannot save another.

Some executives seek to combine two outdated or poorly performing businesses hoping that they will do better together than apart. They won’t. When two poor companies are combined into one, you proportionally worsen the outcome.

For example, combining two print businesses has not succeeded anywhere in arresting this sector’s continued implosion of profitability. 

The acquisition is just the start.

It can take months to complete an acquisition or merger, but doing so is just the campaign’s starting point to successfully combining the two businesses. Consider what happens when you buy a software system. You negotiate and pay the license fee, but the hardest work is only beginning.

The license fee is often overshadowed by the costs of integration, which can be five to 10 times the license fee itself and can require the sustained attention of a large team.

After a merger or acquisition, you will also need to invest additional time and effort. Consider sending dedicated post-merger integration teams to critical sites to shepherd the teams towards successful integration.

The roadmap is more important than the advisors

You may spend hundreds of thousands of dollars or even millions on your M&A advisers and lawyers. But your acquisition can quickly still fail. The advisors are essential, but your roadmap is crucial. All the key players must fully understand and agree to it. Your strategy is more critical than your advisers.

Decide what the real assets are

Your acquisition strategy, due diligence, and post-acquisition implementation will all be structured to make the most of the benefits you hope to obtain. But you must clearly understand what you are acquiring and how to protect the value of these assets. This understanding must inform your roadmap.

Also Read: SCB Abacus raises US$12M in Series A to accelerate product development, talent acquisition

Not delegating

You cannot delegate the hard work of M&A. This is a task for the Executive Chair, Managing Director, or CEO. You cannot leave it to external advisers or lower-level managers. The senior team’s level of involvement can determine the success or failure of extensive integrations.

Don’t over-optimise the purchase price

If you negotiate too hard on the purchase price, you risk alienating the target’s founders or other key individuals. You then risk undoing the M&A’s benefits by quickly losing senior team members or seeing a significant sell-off in shares after completion. That could undermine the logic of the acquisition, investor confidence, and potentially the share price.

Have a clear DD plan 

As the first step in your due diligence effort, set precise levels of materiality. Decide how significant particular factors or assumptions are to the purchase. Having this clear ranking of priorities at the start allows you to more easily sort through the masses of information likely to be made available to you in the data room.

Keep the lawyers focused 

While your advisers probably genuinely want to help you make the best possible decisions, they also have a financial interest in attributing as many hours as possible to your account on their timesheets. Keep your lawyers focused on avoiding a cost blowout.

It’s not just about numbers

The numbers may add up, and the acquisition might still be a bad idea. Look out for irreconcilable differences in culture, staff norms, etc. Many buyers assume they can easily rectify such challenges once the acquisition is complete, only to see their efforts fail.

Be on the spot

Remote acquisitions are very tricky. It would be best if you went to the target. To ensure better integration after the M&A, locate some functions of the newly combined business in the target. When bringing teams together into a single workspace, make an effort to restructure the entire space to communicate that the target alone won’t have to bear the burden of integration.

Also Read: User acquisition strategies to grow your app from Adjust and ironSource

It starts at the top

Avoid an adversarial approach to the M&A. After completion, do everything possible to ensure the entire business shares a culture and point of view. “Us versus them” starts at the top, and mid-level executives will take their cues from the senior team on how to act towards their new colleagues. Set a good example by going out of your way to bring the combined leadership team together.

Make or buy?

If you buy technology, always do a solid “make or buy” analysis. Too many leaders overestimate the difficulty of building their technology and underestimate the difficulty of successfully acquiring it.

Given what you now know about how difficult M&A can be, you may want to adjust your assumptions. I hope these tips help ensure any M&A you are involved in is completed successfully.

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