#dltledgers, a blockchain-powered cross-border trade digitisation startup based out of Singapore, said today it has closed its US$7 million Series A financing, led by Regis & Savoy Capital (Bengaluru), with participation from Vittal Investments, Walden International and various veteran industry leaders.

In July last year, e27 had exclusively reported that #dltledgers was in advanced talks to raise US$9 million in Series A.

The startup had previously raised US$2.5 million in pre-Series A round from global VC firm Walden International in July 2019.

#dltledgers was founded in 2017 by Samir Neji, a serial technopreneur who has lead four businesses in his career. The concept was born out of his enthusiasm to disrupt global cross-border trade digitisation.

Also Read: How ASEAN is shaping up to be a blockchain frontrunner

In a nutshell, #dltledgers is a plug-and-play blockchain platform with a focus on “significantly reducing” lead times/delays in cross-border trade/supply chain transactions and increasing operational efficiency, while reducing the overall costs of financing for buyers and sellers.

The startup achieves this through end-to-end digitisation of global supply chain workflows for its clients and their partners, therefore reducing the reliance on paper, phone and e-mail.

In addition to this, it has also created a digital marketplace for clients to negotiate interest rates and financing terms with banks in a secure manner, allowing them to lower their costs of financing by choosing the trade financing solutions which work best for them.

Corporates and banks use the platform to authenticate their commercial documents, contracts and bank interactions, enabling them to automate multi-party transactions, streamline processes and reduce cost.

The startup’s network participants include buyers, sellers, trading companies, banks and alternative lenders, as well as carriers, logistics partners, insurers, ports, and a variety of certifying bodies and government agencies.

As per a press statement, the latest round comes off the back of a “record-breaking” third year for #dltledgers with more than 200 per cent y-o-y growth, as the need for digitisation across trade finance surges amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.

#dltledgers has commenced expanding its 70-strong team by 120 per cent across Asia Pacific, ANZ, Japan India and the Middle East.

To support #dltledgers’s rapid growth, the company plans to migrate its blockchain-based solutions from Hyperledger Fabric to Corda (R3’s flagship enterprise blockchain platform). This will enable businesses in trade finance to streamline business operations, while reducing transaction and record-keeping costs.

Also Read: How blockchain-powered fintech services can improve financial inclusion

According to Neji, by migrating its blockchain platform to Corda, its current and future clients will benefit from unparalleled security, transparency and performance that comes with Corda.

In addition, he noted, the platform’s ability to facilitate repeatable transactions enabled it to stand out globally and led to engagements with corporates like Shiseido, Wilmar, Mitsui, Wipro Unza, Vertiv, Schneider Electric, as well as over 45 banks including ANZ, DBS, Standard Chartered Bank and Rabobank.

“The injection of funding will help #dltledgers to amplify its work on partnerships, standards, integration, as well as accelerating product development in several areas,” he said. “One area is Cognitive Document Automation (CDA) — a unique combination of graphical processing, machine learning, and blockchain — further reducing the effort required to reconcile invoices, purchase orders, packing lists, and other trade documents.”

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Image Credit: #dltledgers

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Builk One Group, a Thai construction-tech company, has raised an undisclosed amount in Series B financing from Beacon VC, the venture arm of Kasikorn Bank, and three other unnamed strategic investors.

Other details of the deal haven’t been disclosed.

The Bangkok-headquartered startup will use the money to strengthen its technology and financial services to enhance local companies’ construction material management process and propel the industry towards the digital era.

According to Builk, this innovation is expected to benefit the construction supply chain, property developers, contractors, manufacturers and distributors of construction materials.

The company also plans to use a portion of the capital to strengthen its product and expand within the ASEAN region.

Previously, Builk raised investment from Thai corporate venture capital funds Moonshot Venture Capital and AddVentures by SCG.

Founded in 2009, Builk provides a business management and online construction material trading platform for construction companies. It helps companies to digitise their construction projects, which include tracking inventory and gathering construction information.

Its SaaS offerings include Pojjaman2 (the fully cloud-based ERP system for large construction enterprises) and Builk.com (a free cost control software for SME contractors in Asia).

Moreover, the company has also developed a technology for construction sites to enhance their operational efficiency and reduce errors.

The firm claims it has helped more than 3,500 companies in the industry to digitise their work process through its SaaS offering and workflow-integrated marketplace models.

Its source of revenue mainly comes from advertisements, construction market research, and licensing.

Builk claims to have helped more than 3,500 companies in the industry digitise their work process through its SaaS offering and workflow-integrated marketplace models.

Also Read: Hubble lands US$3.6M in Tin Men Capital-led Series A for digital construction platform

Despite running on a freemium model, Builk said that it has generated a sales turnover of more than 500 million baht (US$16 million) in 2020.

Thanapong Na Ranong, Managing Director of Beacon VC said, the VC firm is interested in the domestic construction industry because it still has a lot of opportunities to be digitised.

“Despite changes in the Thai construction industry along with challenges stemming from the recent disruption of new construction businesses and an unexpected pandemic, which has hurt the economy and private construction business, the construction industry remains imperative to Thailand’s development and growth,” he commented.

“The company has developed the Builk Platform to help Thai construction entrepreneurs operate more effectively, giving them improved access to funding or financial products. These goals align with Beacon Venture Capital’s vision to bring in digital innovation together with KBank’s financial capabilities to help contractors operate their businesses more systematically, eliminate redundancies, and improve access to capital,” said co-founder of Builk, Patai Padungtin.

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DentX has developed an innovative dental x-ray holder that makes dental x-ray taking a more comfortable experience, as well as an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered imaging recognition solution for film processing.

The brainchild of several National Taiwan University graduates, DentX combines both hardware and software solutions to innovate dental x-rays towards improving both patient comfort and image accuracy.

The typical intra-oral dental x-ray taking process is invasive, uncomfortable, and may repeat the process if the radiographs taken is not clear enough for diagnosis. Dentists and assistants usually use rigid cone indicators, bite forks, or finger press to position x-ray films during the radiograph taking processes. Even then, radiographs may not be accurate due to positioning difficulties or uncomfortable movements, hence patients would have to sit through the entire episode again.

Adding Comfort, Accuracy, Efficiency

DentX has designed several new intra & extra-oral devices that lead to more accurate positioning of x-rays while molding more naturally to patient oral structures. Its products can be physiologically customized based on types of x-rays taken, as well as varying positions and numbers of teeth needed to be recorded, thereby making the process more efficient for dentists and more comfortable for patients.

Co-founder and practicing dentist Theodore Kao said: “Some of the changes and obstacles confronted with in order to create better clinical experiences are basic and minimal, but dental practitioners are accustomed to current methods and set in their ways from doing it so often.

Also read: Messaging tips for startups: a primer on improving one’s customer service

“However, for many patients, it’s an important procedure for oral diseases diagnosis and deciding treatment plans, especially for periodontal problems and pediatric dentistry, but a painful and nauseating one. As a service industry, it is urgent that we make their experiences as comfortable and pain-free as possible.”

DentX reconstructed the entire dental x-ray procedure with a set of physiologically well-adapted, silicone-based soft materials for intraoral structures, and making the process more user-friendly by minimizing mouth opening. They’re also combined with newly-invented semiconductor digital films that result in clearer images, and consequently, better diagnosis.

Also, with their AI-related image recognition software, common oral-diseases and even significant suggestions implemented by world-wide experts could be given by analyzing intra-oral photos, which could be captured easily using smartphone cameras, making them essential in places where dental resources are insufficient, and allowing resource-strapped hospitals to cater to patients effectively.

Intellectual property is key

According to Mordor Intelligence, the global dental equipment market was valued at US$7.65 billion in 2020, and is expected to reach US$10.15 billion by 2026.

Due to the highly-regulated nature and complexity of individual countries’ dental healthcare systems, Dent X is looking to connect with life sciences institutes, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other members of the dental community.

“We have filed patents for our devices under the Patent Cooperation Treaty — the World Trade Organization’s international patent system — which would pave the way for protection across the globe. We already own several patents in Taiwan, in addition to filing several provisional applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.

Also read: Making cross-border partnerships work within a Covid-19 reality

“Currently, our devices are going through clinical trials at the National Taiwan University Hospital, one of the most prominent medical centers in Taiwan. We have also tested our devices at some local dental clinics in Taiwan and Singapore due to the patient-based nature of dental x-rays,” Dr. Kao added.

DentX devices are not yet available commercially, awaiting approval as a Class II medical device. This approval is pending several laboratory tests and other key aspects.

Setting an APAC launchpoint

Fresh off a two-year project with the Taiwanese government, DentX is now setting its sights on partnering with Asia Pacific dental associations and fundraising from venture capital firms (VCs) focusing on medtech or medical devices spaces.

Dentistry often has its own field and rules, so entering different countries can be difficult for independent companies like DentX. Global names include big brands like Johnson & Johnson, GSK, Medtronic, Dentsply Sirona. Drilling down to the local level, each dentistry association in different countries has its own standards for clinical practices, patient care, and hygienists.

DentX has set its sights on Singapore as its base to enter the Asia Pacific market, given the city state’s high dentistry standards in addition to being one of the largest dentistry markets in the region.

Dr. Kao noted that expenditure on dentistry services outpace medical services as most of the prices are set by free-market competition, as opposed to the public healthcare providers or employer-funded healthcare solutions that dominate many Asia Pacific nations.

“We are looking to build connections and partner with Singaporean hospitals, clinics and dental associations towards understanding local dental standards. At the same time, we can approach Asia Pacific medical device manufacturers, many of whom are headquartered in Singapore.

Also read: Twilio’s annual State of Customer Engagement report

“If Singapore’s dentists, doctors, hospitals, and hygienists are willing to use our products, DentX will likewise gain a reputation in their dental community,” Kao said, adding that the Taiwanese company is also open to collaborating with other startups in the dental and medtech space who can augment their products, such as 3D printing or local sales channels.

The DentX team is small but each stands a crucial role, with five members, each specialising in different fields including clinical dentists, professors, biomedical engineers, and marketers. The team is expecting to take on a few more projects along with the Taiwanese government, building its local market while innovating its solutions further.

Under the STPI Vision Programme, the DentX team will be paired with a mentor to help build a presence in the Asia Pacific region with a Singapore-first mindset. For more information on DentX, please check out their website.

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

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

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KitaBeli, a consumer-facing social commerce platform based in Indonesia, announced today it has closed its Series A funding at US$10 million, led by Go-Ventures with participation from existing investors AC Ventures and East Ventures.

This comes about seven months after the startup secured a seed round led by East Ventures.

“We launched KitaBeli in Jakarta in March 2020 and have expanded to Solo and Malang, both tier 2 cities in Indonesia where we’ve seen strong growth. We shall be using the funds from this round to expand operations deeper into Java, developing a secure and efficient logistics network,” he said Prateek Chaturvedi, CEO and co-founder, KitaBeli.

“On the product side, we shall focus on building a more interactive and user-friendly, mobile-first shopping experience for our customers,” he added.

Also Read: KitaBeli raises seed investment to enable group buying for Indonesian FMCG customers

KitaBeli offers a mobile app that enables users to buy daily essentials, ranging from fast-moving consumer goods, fresh produce, beauty, electronics and other household items. By sharing information with their friends and neighbours, users can unlock discounts and benefit from lower prices for daily essential items.

In addition to lower prices, users enjoy free shipping, one-day delivery, daily deals and 24×7 online support.

Unlike other social commerce models that utilise agents to sell in their communities, KitaBeli’s users place orders directly on its platform.

Since its launch, KitaBeli claims to have seen a “strong growth of over 80 per cent month on month”, with a low cost per install rate of US$0.10. Currently, its users spend an average of US$70 per month on the platform. This translates to a wallet share of 35 per cent in the product categories available on KitaBeli, it said.

KitaBeli has implemented a partner-based delivery network, where individuals within the community earn commissions for performing last-mile delivery of ordered items.

Over time, the platform aims to connect suppliers and farmers to tens of millions of consumers in tier 2-4 cities across Indonesia.

“At KitaBeli, we empower our delivery partners to fulfil more than 100 orders per day and earn a substantial amount that supplements their family’s income. Community fulfilment is critical in establishing an efficient logistics chain, as well as delivering low- cost/ high quality products. We focus on providing high frequency items, such as FMCG and fresh produce — items that home-makers use on a daily basis. We plan to expand into beauty, fashion and electronics to build out higher SKU coverage,” said Ivana Tjandra, co-founder and COO of KitaBeli.

Also Read: RateS snags Series A to expand social commerce platform to tier 2, 3 cities in Indonesia

“E-commerce penetration beyond the large metros has remained low, predominantly because of lack of trust, poor product availability, and high logistics costs. Kitabeli is well-positioned to address these challenges through the social nature of its product, accelerating online shopping for a new generation of users and bringing the benefits of e-commerce to a wider population across Indonesia,” said Aditya Kumar, SVP of Investments, Go-Ventures.

“Online shopping can be enhanced through a social experience that traditional e-commerce platforms have yet to incorporate. KitaBeli enables this by creating trust through product-sharing from friends and family, that in turn creates a virtuous cycle of virality. This model also drives cost effective growth in rural Indonesia through its scalable user acquisition strategy,” said Adrian Li, Managing Partner from AC Ventures.

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Image Credit: KitaBeli

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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) are the backbone of the global economy. In many ASEAN nations, SMEs are responsible for up to 99% of all business establishments, over 90% of employment, and contribute almost 60% of the gross domestic product (GDP).

However, despite being the engines of growth of the communities and countries they reside in, SMEs typically employ a lower level of automation than multinationals due to their resource constraints. Cost and talent retention remain major burdens to many SMEs adopting advanced technologies such as Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, and the Internet of Things (IoT).

For manufacturing SMEs, efficiency and productivity remain the name of the game, and smart manufacturing and smart factories begin with ensuring they have good, reliable data with which to make key decisions.

Subscription, cloud-based model

Taiwanese startup GoodLinker has developed a tool to aid SMEs in monitoring equipment status, process visualisation, and alerts. Its GoodLinker Cloud of SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is a subscription service with a cloud dashboard and mobile app that gives business owners real-time data, malfunction alerts, and history reports.

Founder and CEO Ethan Feng brings years of experience at Taiwanese electronics manufacturing behemoth Foxconn, where he was involved in the construction of an iPhone metal processing plant and a Nokia mold demonstration plant. Feng is also a serial entrepreneur, having designed and built automated optical inspection equipment.

GoodLinker business development manager Bruce King told e27: “The first stage of smart manufacturing is visualising production line data. We developed a tool to monitor machinery, improve management and production efficiency, and reduce labour costs.

“Thanks to GoodLinker’s subscription model, our solutions are 10 times more economical and implementation time is 10 times faster (less than a week) compared to the typical onboarding process for new technologies,” he added.

Retrofitting existing equipment to be “smart”

GoodLinker’s solution does not call for a massive system overhaul, as its ARM-embedded industrial computer (LESI Edge Computer) can be attached to existing machinery, turning it into a “smart equipment” by adding computing, event handling, data acquisition, and cloud connectivity capabilities.

GoodLinker industrial IoT platform, which is powered by Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud. The platform is based on AWS serverless architecture able to connect with tens of millions of IoT devices and concurrent users still ensures immediacy and could tolerate temporary disconnection. Through this world well-known cloud provider, GoodLinker could display visual production line data and historical records enable integrated multi-device management, and feature a web SCADA dashboard and mobile app for SME owners to access key data at a moment’s notice.

Another product is a tower light sensor that provides an economical and accurate solution for monitoring the machine status without connecting the sensor to internal wiring, resulting in a faster installation process. The tower light sensor enables factory managers to track utilisation rates, conduct remote monitoring, view historical statuses and respond to abnormal status alarms.

Having good, reliable data empowers SMEs to conduct efficient data analysis across different uses including AI, business intelligence, enterprise resource planning systems, manufacturing execution systems, quality control, and production scheduling.

“We act like a data acquisition interface that provides cloud service maintenance. Thus we can help clients like system integrators build solutions for end users (SME owners or factory managers) centred around demand planning, construction, as well as customer relationship management,” King said.

Next in the product pipeline is a screen data extractor(SDE). It is designed for catch and recognize values on the machine HMI screen via HDMI/VGA signal, based on Advantech Industrial PC and GoodLinker AI technologies. GoodLinker has built-in cooperation with sales and marketing developer Advantech International.

Growing ASEAN presence with partnerships

To date, GoodLinker solutions have been adopted by SMEs from more than 20 industries in its home base of Taiwan, includes CNC, PCB, 3DP, textile, electroplating, casting, steel, printing, rubber, plastic and food industries. There also a using case in smart agriculture for planting green onions.

One of its partners is Chunghwa Telecom, Taiwan’s largest telecommunications company, which GoodLinker collaborated within March 2021 to provide a monthly subscription smart factory solution. GoodLinker worked with Chunghwa’s cloud management team to optimise cloud architecture, costing, performance and cybersecurity — all while reducing its own personnel costs by 60%.

The success of its partnership with Chunghwa paves the way for similar collaborations in ASEAN jurisdictions, where broadband connectivity, cloud capabilities, and system preferences may vary.

In Vietnam, a system integrator is currently testing GoodLinker’s hardware and solutions. Meanwhile, the startup has already signed a non-disclosure agreement with a Malaysian system integrator. GoodLinker views system integrators as potential agents or distributors in markets outside Taiwan.

Expanding user base

Although its short-term focus is on business development towards ASEAN expansion, GoodLinker is also building up to tap the VC market in a couple of years. Its first and only fundraising round was a US$400,000 angel round in 2018 soon after the startup was established.

Moving forward, GoodLinker plans to increase its number of users to more than 150 by 2021. It will build on this in 2022 to fundraise towards hiring talents and taking its solutions to overseas markets.

“Our vision is to make smart manufacturing happen everywhere. SMEs worldwide share the same issues that Taiwan’s SMEs face in adopting Industry 4.0 technologies: high costs of building and maintaining server rooms, months spent on new projects, customisation costs, and a significant gap between operational technology and information technology.

“GoodLinker solves those problems with rapid implementation, simple maintenance and lower pricing that will encourage SMEs to adopt new technologies, and subsequently trigger new demand,” King said.

For more information on GoodLinker, visit their page here: https://e27.co/startups/goodlinker-co-ltd/

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

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

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UI-licious, a Singapore-based user interface (UI) test automation platform, has raised US$1.5 million in a pre-Series A funding round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.

The fresh funds will go towards expanding its product development and sales and marketing teams. This is part of a larger effort to increase its customer base.

Co-founded in 2016 by Shi Ling Tai and Eugene Cheah, UI-licious allows software teams to test and monitor user journeys for their web applications across browsers. The company claims its no-code platform reduces the time needed to write a test by up to 80 per cent.

UI-licious currently serves customers including Daimler and Jones Lang LaSalle, who use the solution to deliver digital e-commerce experiences for their customer-facing applications and backend systems. Glints, a tech-enabled recruitment firm, also uses UI-licious to test their products before they are released to the market.

Also Read: How no-code development for startups is a launchpad to success

“Currently, 90 per cent of software teams worldwide rely on manual testing which is laborious, intensive, and costly. We created UI-licious because the software industry needs a UI test automation solution that is robust, scalable, and cost-effective — while being as simple as possible,” said CEO Ling Tai .

“It does not require technical expertise or additional manpower. We believe that automating tests for software will be the norm and standard practice rather than an exception,” she added.

“Shi Ling and Eugene have developed a product to address the quality assurance issues that have plagued the software automation industry for years,” noted Justin Nguyen, Partner at Monk’s Hill Ventures,

“They have shown maturity, growth, and tenacity in pursuing their mission – to rid the world of software bugs. The team’s experience as software engineers has equipped them with the technical knowledge and insights to build a simple and robust tool that empowers manual testers to automate testing and detect bugs before users do,” he noted.

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Image Credit: UI-licious

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IDCloudHost, an Indonesia-based cloud service provider, has secured US$5 million in funding from Bukalapak’s co-founder and CEO Achmad Zaky’s investment firm Init 6.

The startup intends to utilise the fresh funds to improve its technology offerings and expand its team.

Launched in 2015 by Alfian Pamungkas Sakawiguna and Muhammad Mufid Luthfi, IDCloudHost provides cloud-based services, including domain handling and server creation for customers ranging from startups and small businesses to individual developers.

The company claims it has served over 100,000 customers and counts companies including national telco Telkom Indonesia and Mandiri Capital (the corporate venture arm of Bank Mandiri) among its clients.

Also Read: How cloud computing is helping startups navigate the new normal

Luthfi, IDCloudHost’s chief marketing officer, noted the pandemic has accelerated digital transformation across several sectors. “The ever-growing digital ecosystem is an opportunity as well as a challenge for us to produce innovative products tailored to the needs of the growing market.”

In 2019, the startup acquired Dewabiz, a provider of SSD (solid-state drives) hosting, virtual private servers, and domains. The move was aimed at widening IDCloudHost’s business coverage as well as help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) digitize their business.

Init 6 is an independent investment vehicle set up by Zaky and his co-founder Nugroho Herucahyono (Xinuc). In October 2020, the duo announced their first undisclosed investment in edutech startup Eduka System.

Zaky and Xinuc met during their college days at the Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB), where they founded Bukalapak in their college dorm in 2009.

According to the Business Times, Bukalapak is weighing a listing in the US public markets via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). The local e-commerce giant is set to be valued at up to US$5 billion.

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Due Diligence (DD) is an inevitable part of an investment process. In the VC parlance, DD is about the investor and the startup getting to know each other and getting into a comfort level. DD is a long process and often takes weeks or months to complete.

In this episode of e27‘s Fundraising Fundamentals webinar series, Paolo Limcaoco, Investment Officer at Accion Venture Lab (a fintech VC firm), talks about the three aspects of the process.

Below are the excerpts from his session:

DD is about investors getting to know the startup. This is done mainly on three levels — team-level, operations/business model-level, and the financials-level.

1. Team

The very first level is obviously getting to know the team (founders). It is almost like going on dating before you enter into a long-term marriage. You need to get to know each other before the big days. Because once you invested, it’s very difficult to get out of it, and you have to make sure that your partnership works. Of course, there will be disagreement between both parties.

Also Read: ‘Want VC funding? Your startup needs to be valued at least US$700M in 10 years’: Jeffrey Paine

DD can go both ways. While investors do diligence on companies/startups, founders are also expected to perform their diligence on all investors they are speaking to.

It is very important that you guys get to know each other, the values and mission of the investors, their time horizon, as well as about their other portfolio companies. You should try to learn as much as possible about the investors.

By investing, we — as an early-stage investor — are basically making a bet on the founders and management team. It is potentially an early product, early traction and early product-market fit, and we don’t really know how it’s gonna play.

In normal times, what we would do here is spend a couple of weeks on the ground. We talk about a variety of topics, including the business model. We also conduct greater reference checks on the founders by reaching out to our common contacts on LinkedIn, our co-investors and also other founders in the ecosystem.

It is not just that we gain value only from meetings with the founders but we also interact with their employees in the office in person.

During the pandemic, we do Zoom calls, Google Meet or even WhatsApp calls with the founders and their business partners. So it is more about scheduling calls and spending time with the founders and the management team.

2. Operations.

Here we check whether the company has a product-market fit, how innovative and differentiated their product is and if they are able to acquire customers — everything that revolves around the operations of the business.

We look at the high-level macro trend to understand what’s happening on the macro side.

If it is a company that’s working with small merchants/businesses/ individuals, we try to meet them. We will also try to meet their distributors/customers/clients. So it is worthwhile thinking about how to bring your customers, products and services closer to your investors.

Another key aspect is obviously the product and technology. So aside from really trying to understand how it works, we try to understand the front-end and back-end operations. We will normally have a tech call with the founders or CTO, alongside a couple of members from our Venture Lab team, and try to understand the process.

3. Financials

We need to ensure that a company’s financials make a lot of sense on the business side. You may not be making any profit yet but in the long-term, the forecasts and economics must make sense.

Because in the end, a lot of businesses survive a long time without making any money. It would be good to at least have an idea of how the company will get to scale. So the financial due diligence is quite important.

Also Read: How investors are adapting to effective due diligence practices in the new normal

It is really about us getting comfortable with the assumptions of the business model and the things that you’re presenting.

When we make an investment, we will definitely look at the similar companies we have invested in in the past. For example, when we are looking to back an SME lender, we can take a look at some of the learnings that we have made from investing in other markets and will try to validate if the assumptions/forecasts make a lot of sense.

It is also very important that you’re able to back up the assumptions. We have seen companies trying to make the numbers look as nice as possible but in the end, there has to be some backing to it.

Normally, we do take those with a grain of salt and are trying to look at more how to be on the more conservative aspect of things.

So, so, yeah, so we make sure making sure that, you know, when you present financial models, your assumptions are solid, clear, and have some level and some level of backup there.

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Image Credit: Accion Venture Lab

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While a rich, modern messaging experience is a technical reality, it may feel out of reach for startups who are, say, establishing a customer support team for the first time.

Messaging might feel ambitious now, but you can still plan for it down the road, and there are more than a few reasons why you should.

Let’s get started.

The importance of messaging

We’ve seen a big acceleration of messaging in 2020, and we think it’s safe to say the trend will continue.

We know that customers want to talk to companies on the channels they’re already using to talk to friends and family, and increasingly, that includes messaging apps like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and even native messaging apps. Already, 69 per cent of customers use messaging to contact customer service, and the reality is, they will expect this even from startups. Given the many benefits of messaging, it’s easy to see why.

Context is retained so that customers don’t have to repeat themselves, conversations are engaging and interactive, and bots can help make services more accessible during off-hours.

3 steps to take before you launch messaging

So we know messaging is important, but sometimes you need to walk before you run. Here are 3 things you can do right now:

1. Master the channels you already have in place

As a young startup, you might only have a few channels, such as email and self-service. These foundational channels are still important, and it’s worth the effort to get them right. Here’s why: Research shows that nearly half of customers would switch to a competitor after just one bad customer service experience.

Every customer counts when you’re a startup, so you need to make a good impression on the channels you already have. Here are a few tips:

Email: Respond to emails as quickly as possible. Most customers expect an email response within 12 hours.

Self-service: Expand your library of help centre articles. A good goal is 40 articles within the first year of funding, according to our startups’ benchmark.

Social media and live chat: Take advantage of apps to help you capture customer data, so you can provide more personalized service. Here is an overview of helpful apps for startups.

2. Understand your customers’ priorities

As a startup leader, you should be intimately familiar with your customers’ needs—and that understanding should extend to customer service.

Before adding a new support channel, you should make sure it’s right for your customers. Customer feedback forms can help you see how your team is performing, and customer surveys (if done efficiently and effectively) can help you find out what your customers want to see from you in the future.

To find out if messaging is important to your customers, try asking questions like: is it convenient to talk to our customer service team via email? What is your preferred method of contact when reaching out to customer support? Do you find it helpful when you can talk to customer support via SMS or messaging apps?

Also read: Making cross-border partnerships work within a Covid-19 reality

You should also consider your customers’ context. For example, a retail customer might prefer the immediacy of live chat or messaging, while a cloud software customer might choose email, which allows them to respond as they have time.

But it’s not all or nothing. Customer preferences might change depending on the type of question or circumstance. It’s good to provide options.

3. Level up with live channels

Live chat is a logical next step for startups that want to offer the convenience of real-time conversations. You might be wondering, what’s the difference between live chat and messaging? Good question. Here is a quick breakdown:

While both mechanisms operate as real-time conversations, messaging threads are retained overtime. This format works best for building stronger customer relationship. On the flip side, live chat threads are limited to individual sessions, making it most suitable for answering questions quickly.

Top startups in our benchmark were 20 per cent more likely to roll out live chat within their first two years. But more importantly, it’s not just startups. There are more than four times as many Zendesk customers using chat compared to five years ago.

Planning for the future

There is no rush to adopt messaging, but it’s something you can plan for. You might even be more ready than you think. An out-of-the-box solution like Answer Bot can be a good first step that’s well within reach.

But the most important thing you can do as a growing startup is keep your customer in focus. Worry less about channels and more about the help you’re providing. If you can deliver fast, reliable service, the rest will follow.

Also read: Twilio’s annual State of Customer Engagement report

Zendesk gives you the tools you need to deliver a better experience for your customers and connects you with the resources to help you grow strategically as you scale. Startups in the e27 community can apply to the Zendesk for Startups Program to get 6 months free of our customer support and sales CRM solution.

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

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

The post Messaging tips for startups: a primer on improving one’s customer service appeared first on e27.

Atomionics, a Singapore-based startup building quantum sensors for navigation and resource exploration, has raised an undisclosed sum in seed funding.

Led by Wavemaker Partners in partnership with SGInnovate and Cap Vista, the round also saw participation form 500 Durians, Apsara Investments, 6th Horizon, Entrepreneur First and other prominent angels.

With the new funding, the startup plans to ramp up its hiring process, further enhance its product and deliver it to the market.

Atomionics was founded in 2018 by Sahil Tapiawala and Ravi Kumar who met with each other at the Entrepreneur First incubator programme.

Prior to founding the startup, Kumar conducted his post-doctoral research in cold atom physics at the Center for Quantum Technologies at the National University of Singapore, while Tapiawala completed his research in multi-material 3D printing and soft robots at the Singapore University of Technology and Design.

The duo decided to launch the startup when they felt that the technology for sensing systems in places like underwater navigation was largely primordial.

Also Read: Uncovering the rise and challenges faced by deep tech startups in Singapore

The startup aims to build an atomic sensing technology for navigation and exploration using quantum sensors, which can pinpoint mineral and hydrocarbon reserves, provide precise navigation and create a universal positioning system that works in places like underground, underwater and space.

“At Atomionics, we realised the common factor amongst industries like mineral and resource exploration, defense and security is the measurement of gravity, acceleration and rotation. We measure these three parameters exponentially better than the current state of the art by utilising atoms as measurement tools,”said Tapiawala.

“What excites us the most is that we can build a completely new global positioning system without the need for any satellites or external signals through gravity-aided navigation and positioning that works anywhere – underwater, underground and even in space,” he added.

“Atomionics has developed a significant step-change in sensing technology that will impact behemoth Industries like energy, infrastructure, and disaster management in unparalleled ways. The rapid adoption of Atomionics’s breakthrough products has the potential to transform this “made in Singapore” deep technology company into a pioneering global firm,” Vishal Harnal, partner at 500 Durians, commented.
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Image Credit: Atmonics

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