Vietnamese ride-hailing startup Be Group has joined hands with Vietnam Prosperity Bank (VPBank) to roll out the digital bank Cake, according to a DealstreetAsia report.

Similar to a traditional bank, digital banks provide banking services, including account opening, money transfer and debit card issuance, among others.

Cake claims its online know-your-customer (KYC) system would enable users to utilise digital signatures to verify their transactions.

With services hosted on the Be app through VPBank’s digital banking license, Be claims Cake will have access to over 10 million customers, nearly a third of the Vietnamese ride-hailing market.

“Be Group understands that e-banking will not simply stop at a new payment method but it will also encompass a new technology that can be integrated into our every day lives through essential devices,” said Nguyen Hoang, CEO of Be Group.

Also Read: Meet Lucy, the digital bank platform that aims to empower female entrepreneurs

Founded in 2018, Be Group operates a suite of transportation services, from ride-hailing to delivery. The Saigon-headquartered startup claims that as of November 2020, it has over nine million app downloads and grown its fleet to 100,000 drivers.

In the first half of 2019, it was reported that Be had achieved 16 per cent market share, making it the second-largest ride-hailing firm in Vietnam after Grab.

The rise of digital banks within Vietnam should come as no surprise. Despite a smartphone penetration rate of 45 per cent of the total population, only 30 per cent were served by the financial sector, representing an untapped market for digital banks.

A similar trend has been observed in other countries within the region. In December 2020, Singapore awarded four digital bank licenses to a slew of corporations, including a consortium comprising of Grab and local telco Singtel.

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Ever been entrusted with the thankless task of procuring corporate merchandise such as mugs and hoodies for your company?

Anyone who has undertaken this task can testify to the challenges of procuring these products. Besides having to manually source for suppliers, one has to surrender the final design of the product to the supplier too — never a good idea, given the multiple disagreements that would occur.

With poor product quality, lack of price transparency and inconvenience stemming from the slow turnaround, the corporate world is frustrated with the traditional players operating in this segment. They desperately need someone to address their grievances.

Enter Boxaroo. The online platform wants to disrupt the US$23 billion global promotional products industry by changing how companies can procure their corporate merchandise.

Also Read: How startups can improve customer engagement and grow LTV ratio

Launched in August 2020 by Nikhil Charan and Robert Rajeswaran, Boxaroo automates and simplifies the merchandise procurement process through a self-serve platform that allows users to live-preview their customised orders while designing them.

Users can choose from a variety of products ranging from apparels and stationary to drinkware and eco-friendly products, such as a reusable cutlery set.

How it works

Upon payment, Boxaroo assigns a dedicated account manager to each order. Acting as a direct line of communication between Boxaroo and its clients, the account manager is responsible for the end-to-end process of the order, right until the successful delivery of it.

Simultaneously, the design created is sent to Boxaroo’s team, where a designer will evaluate factors such as colours, alignment and suitability for print. Should an edit be required, relevant corrections will be made and mockups are shared with the client through the account manager.

After reaching out to the client and getting approval on mockups and production timelines, the account manager will then contact suppliers and give the green light for production.

Boxaroo claims cancellations are permitted before production, and orders are usually delivered within two to four weeks.

Charan shared with e27 that Boxaroo places a huge emphasis on quality and sources only high-quality products from both branded and non-branded manufacturers worldwide. After all, while merchandises are a great marketing tool, they only work if recipients find a use for them.

Within six months of starting up, the platform has managed to partner with many international brands, including Netflix and Paypal, to provide branded merchandise to both employees and customers.

Challenges faced

However, Charan cautioned the journey has been far from smooth and the startup did encounter challenges along the way.

“The complexity of this industry was the biggest challenge. There’s a wide variety of product categories within the corporate merchandise industry. Furthermore, there’s a wide range of printing and decorating methods for each product, each with its own limitations,” shared Charan, formerly Head of Partnerships (APAC), Samsung.

Adopting the ‘first-principles approach’ famously embodied by Elon Musk — where complicated issues are reverse-engineered into basic elements and rethought from the ground up — Charan was able to identify existing gaps in procurement processes and address these challenges.

Also Read: 10 principles of great strategy inspired by design thinking

By challenging manufacturing and production partners to think differently, he was able to streamline the process to ensure a better experience for users.

When quizzed on the key factors in their approach which saw them secure deals with household brands, Charan shared it was about “providing an exceptional customer experience”.

“Rajeswaran and I had always set out to avoid a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to partnerships. We work closely with individual brands to understand their problem and engages a team of designers to help personalise each product,” explained Charan.

Besides, the team designs a “digital closet” for international companies, enabling common visibility and knowledge of designs for teams located across the region.

The future of corporate products

With lockdowns still in place in many parts of the world and remote working remaining the preferred method of working, Charan foresees new trends developing within the corporate merchandise industry.

“We think large-scale events will come back at some point, but there will be an increasing number of virtual events, and if you’re attending them, you can now expect to receive a ‘swag bag’ by post,” he remarked.

The co-founder also noticed organisations are placing an increased emphasis on employee wellness, with one of its clients replacing its common pantry utensils with eco-friendly and reusable cutlery kits and mugs for each employee.

With the shift to a hybrid workplace, the common theme among HR professionals has been the effect it has on culture building. Companies have resorted to plugging the “culture gap” by turning to corporate merchandising to build employee engagement and sustain culture.

Also Read: Managing the millennial workforce over coffee and culture

“Our bigger clients, who conduct a lot of workplace research, have plenty of evidence to show that merchandise helps individuals cultivate a sense of loyalty and connectedness to the brand and their teammates,” Charan shared.

As for expansion plans, Charan said that while Boxaroo serves clients across Asia Pacific, the platform is looking to increase its local presence in the region.

Opining that the industry remains complex with “endless options” to create unique corporate products, he said the platform will continue to innovate in the areas of technology, logistics and its product offerings.

Focusing on the fundamentals

Bootstrapped so far, Boxaroo will consider fundraising as it seeks to expand its operations within the region. However, Charan stressed they would only do it “for the right reasons and at the right time”.

For now, the team is focused on changing current processes and mindsets within the industry to improve the experience of acquiring corporate merchandise.

Remarking that this involves “a fair bit of trial-and-error”, Charan is confident that by adopting a customer-centric mindset, Boxaroo would be able to “build a product that customers want.” Only then, will he entertain the thought of fundraising.

“Once we’re ready to grow the business, we will certainly look at the possibility of raising funds,” he signed off.

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Image Credit: Boxaroo

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Vietnam-based payments app Momo has raised an undisclosed amount in Series D financing, says a DealStreetAsia report.

The round was co-led by Warburg Princus, which had led Momo’s Series C round in 2019, and Silicon Valley-based VC firm Goodwater Capital.

They were joined by new backers Kora Management and Macquarie Capital, as well as existing shareholders Affirma Capital and Tybourne Capital Management.

Also Read: Vietnamese e-wallet service MoMo raises Series C funding led by Warburg Pincus

While the size of the investment was not disclosed, CEO Pham Thanh Duc told DSA that the new round is higher than its Series C funding round. DealStreetAsia and Crunchbase have pegged the size of the fresh round at over US$100 million.

The fresh funds will be used to drive Momo’s ambition of becoming a super-app and kickstart its own investment arm, called Innovation Ventures, to “back local startups that can be integrated into Momo’s app“.

Founded in 2007, Momo offers mobile, electronic wallet and payment apps for iOS and Android devices. Its range of products include cash transfers, mobile phone recharges personal loans and services, such as software license and online game cards.

The company has partnered with 24 domestic banks and foreign payment networks, including JCB, MasterCard, and Visa.

As of now, Momo has over 10,000 partners across verticals, such as consumer finance, insurance, money transfers, utility payments, entertainment, e-commerce, shopping, transportation, and F&B.

According to a recent report, Momo was Vietnam’s most-downloaded e-wallet app in 2018, and it currently has over 10 million users.

Vietnam’s digital payments vertical, especially contactless payments, has witnessed a stupendous growth following the onset of COVID-19.

Although cash-on-delivery has been the most popular mode of purchase in Vietnam, the trend is seeing a big shift thanks to the behavioural change forced by the pandemic.

Also Read: News Roundup: Vietnam’s Finhay raises funding; DailySocial launches online incubator

Other major companies operating in the contactless payments space in Vietnam are gojek, Finhay, Payoo, Moca, and SenPay.

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From South Korea to Tokyo and the UK to the USA — as we enter a new year, the world continues to fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Businesses across Asia and all over the world are still faced with movement restrictions, concerns of the safety and well-being and an extremely volatile and unstable economy.

Unfortunately, the pandemic is not the only challenge that the world faces today. According to a report by Asian Development Bank, climate change, the rapid depletion of natural resources, and worsening environmental degradation are markedly increasing the vulnerability of populations that are least able to adapt. This is particularly true for the APAC — between the years 2000 and 2018, around 84% of the 206 million people affected by weather and other disasters globally on average each year were from the region.

These issues are not new but they are definitely more urgent now. Innovative solutions are becoming a necessity and this is where technology can help. Innovations in technology can help us build a better ecosystem and a better tomorrow. Tech might not be the only answer to these social problems, but it is definitely an important part of the solution. From renewable energies to helping people adopt smarter lifestyles and helping harness natural renewable resources — tech innovations can help do a lot.

Encouraging innovators from all walks to work towards sustainability and social connectivity

Organised by the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) and supported by the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP), the first-ever City I&T Grand Challenge (the Grand Challenge) was recently launched, with the theme of the competition as “Innovating for Hong Kong’s New Normal”. This is in line with ITC’s mission to spearhead Hong Kong’s drive to become a world-class, knowledge-based economy by enhancing the country’s technological infrastructure to facilitate the development of innovation and technology (I&T) activities, hence building a smarter city. Set up by the Hong Kong Government in 2001, ITC aims to foster the development of I&T in the city. HKSTP, a statutory body that houses a thriving I&T ecosystem comprising Hong Kong Science Park, InnoCentre and Industrial Estates in Hong Kong, is also committed to creating avenues for best-of-breed innovations.

Also read: How Boxaroo aims to change the way companies purchase their corporate merchandise

Open for primary and secondary school students, local and non-local tertiary students, technology enterprises, R&D teams as well as entrepreneurs, the Grand Challenge invites participants from all walks to put forward I&T solutions focusing on these two crucial issues- environmental sustainability and social connectivity. For “environmental sustainability”, two focus points include disposable plastic tableware and household food waste, whereas for “social connectivity”, two main areas are physical and social well-being of senior citizens and children under the new normal of social distancing and distant learning.

A host of workshops, seminars and training activities will also be organised to introduce knowledge on technologies and entrepreneurship as well as topical daily life issues. Winners of the University and Open categories will have a chance to receive R&D resources and training for refining their I&T solutions for trying at a designated venue, such as a government department or a public organisation.

Solving the sustainability and social connectivity challenges in a collaborative approach

Every year, 8 million metric tons of plastics enter the oceans and this is in addition to the estimated 150 million metric tons that are already circulating our marine environments. Furthermore, the trash dumped in landfills releases methane gas — open landfills have been found to represent 91% of all landfill methane emissions. The burning of large, open piles of trash in various parts of the world also emits dangerous levels of carbon dioxide heating up our planet.

While people are now more aware of social-distancing with an increase in takeaway orders, the solid waste problem becomes a pressing environmental issue. The Grand Challenge hopes to look for some innovative solutions that cause a behavioural change in using single-use plastic utensils and containers and handling food waste.

If the past year has taught us anything, we need to be prepared to protect the most vulnerable group of people in times of crisis and epidemics. According to a survey conducted in China during the pandemic, 22.3% of adolescents had scores indicative of clinical depressive symptoms, which was higher than the 13.2% regular estimate. Meanwhile, older people are experiencing adverse effects from the pandemic, including concerns about access to care and disruptions to daily routines, difficulty in adapting to technologies like telemedicine, and concerns that isolation would exacerbate existing mental health conditions.

In view of this, the Grand Challenge is also looking for proposals that can help children maintain healthy social connections with classes being conducted virtually, and for elderly and disabled people to obtain social and emotional support under the social-distancing measures.

Also read: Momo secures Series D to become Vietnam’s next super-app; plans to launch new startup fund

For future-proofing the world, we not only need tech innovations for sustainability but better social connectivity is also equally important. It is important to understand that moving forward, it cannot just be about solving these problems but there has to be a keen focus on rendering a livable world for future generations. Hence, when it comes to addressing these multifaceted challenges, a collaborative approach is the key. Only with all sectors coming together and working hand-in-hand towards sustainability and better connectivity can help build an ecosystem that contributes towards a resilient, cleaner and happier future.

“Everyone has the potential to be an innovator to shape the future. The City I&T Grand Challenge offers an invaluable opportunity for the public to apply creativity and develop smart solutions catering to the new normal under the epidemic for the benefit of the community,” said Albert Wong, Chief Executive Officer of HKSTP.

With the goal of helping the world move forward and build a better, more sustainable and well-connected future by leveraging technology-based disruptions and innovations, the time is ripe for innovative entrepreneurs of all ages to share their ideas at the Grand Challenge and create the road to the future for the “next normal”.

Overseas students and startups are welcome to participate, The City I&T Grand Challenge is open for application till 24th April 2021 here.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by 
HKSTP. 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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Sampingan, an online platform for on-demand independent workers in Indonesia, announced today it has closed a Series A round of US$5 million led by Altara Ventures.

Golden Gate Ventures, Antler, Access Ventures, XA Network and iSeed SEA also joined the round.

“This funding will be allocated to the improvement of products for both the workers and businesses and reach more customers with our suite of business offerings,” said Wisnu Nugrahadi, CEO and co-founder of Sampingan.

Launched in January 2019, Sampingan (which directly translates to side-job in Bahasa) aims to empower independent blue-collar workers by giving them equal access to jobs and opportunities.

Also Read: iSeed SEA launches micro-fund targeting Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand

The platform aims to make it easier for companies to find and manage their workers while providing equal opportunities for workers in Indonesia.

It mainly has three offerings: Sampingan Manpower, a service where companies can hire workers for various positions from more than 850,000 workers, while Sampingan handles the administrative process, including the staffing and the payroll.

Sampingan Solutions is a service where Sampingan manages various business process activities from project planning to the final report. These activities range from field force management, crowdsourcing, and market research.

Sampingan Systems provides various SaaS for companies to source or manage their workforce. Companies can source their workers through Sampingan Systems Bursa Kerja, a job listing platform, and manage workers through Sampingan Systems Kerjaan, a workforce management software with performance trackers, attendance sheets, and customizable data dashboard.

Currently, Sampingan has more than 850,000 workers in 80 cities connected through the platform, called Kawan Sampingan, serving over 100 Indonesian enterprises.

“Sampingan is defining the future of work in Southeast Asia. The 2010s unleashed the on-demand ‘gig economy’ on consumer services, and the 2020s will expand this into the realm of businesses. Sampingan has matched thousands of Indonesian freelancers with jobs in areas like logistics, supply chain, and local services using their technology platform,” said Gavin Teo, General Partner of Altara Ventures.

The need for Sampingan’s workforce solution has accelerated amidst the pandemic.

Also Read: Sampingan raises US$1.5M funding

According to the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (Badan Pusat Statistik), there are 29.12 million people that have been affected by the pandemic, both due to dismissals and reduction of working hours and wages. Sampingan has become an alternative to seeking full-time employment as well as an avenue to obtain additional income.

The company claims it saw a substantial increase in the number of partners joined its platform from March to December 2020, and the number of downloads for the mobile app has grown four times since the pandemic.

As of December 2020, the app has seen more than one million downloads.

In October 2019, Sampingan secured US$1.5 million in pre-Series A round of financing, led by Golden Gate Ventures.

Sampingan was part of Antler’s Singapore 2019 programme.

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Image Credit: Sampingan

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Zipmex, a Singapore-based digital assets exchange, announced today it has raised US$6 million in fresh funding, led by US-based VC firm Jump Capital.

The total amount raised in this round exceeded its initial target of US$4 million, the firm said in a statement.

This follows Zipmex’s US$3 million pre-Series A round raised in September 2019 and a US$1.9 million seed round in January that year.

With plans to become the largest digital asset exchange in Asia Pacific, the fresh funding will be used to further diversify Zipmex’s product offerings, including the expansion of its interest-bearing product ZipUp and its new native token ZMT.

Launched in late 2019, Zipmex allows investors to trade digital assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum. Trading fees start from 0.2 per cent per transaction. The firm has partnered with BitGo to provide a digital wallet insurance policy worth up to US$100 million.

Also Read: Inside the changing landscape of Asian cryptocurrency exchanges

The exchange claims that it has since transacted over US$650 million in gross transaction volume and has over 100,000 users on its digital assets exchange.

“Zipmex is providing the Asia Pacific region with a trusted, regulated and innovative digital asset exchange. We believe in the company’s mission and the future of digital asset investing in Asia,” said Peter Johnson, Partner at Jump Capital.

The raise comes at a time when digital asset investing is soaring. This month, Bitcoin set a record all-time high of US$41,941, while more than US$20 billion has been locked into decentralised finance protocols.

To capitalise on this trend, Zipmex recently completed the launch of its savings product ZipUp and exchange token ZMT.

Since its launch three months ago, Zipmex claims ZipUp has accrued over US$40 million in deposits from retail investors.

“ZipUp and ZMT have come about due to recent changes in the industry and growing investor demand for higher yields on their assets. We see a big opportunity for digital assets to grow, particularly with the technological innovations of decentralised finance protocols and solutions,” added Marcus Lim, CEO of Zipmex.

This investment is part of Jump Capital’s latest US$200 million fund. The Chicago-based firm has invested in over 60 companies across the fintech, IT and data infrastructure, B2B SaaS and media sectors. Notable portfolio companies include digital asset platform BitGo and trading social network TradingView.

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Image Credit: Zipmex

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microLEAP, an Islamic and conventional P2P microfinancing platform, announced today it has raised a total of US$3.26 million (RM13.25M) in equity and other modes of financing from Malaysian investment holding company MAA Group.

The round comprises RM1.25 million in equity and RM2 million advance, besides a separate RM10 million, which will be invested across all of microLEAP’s available Islamic and Conventional Investment Notes.

microLEAP will use the funds for advertising, promotions, hiring staff and tech enhancements.

The Malaysia-based fintech company serves micro-enterprises that may find it difficult to borrow money via traditional means.

Also Read:  How Islamic finance can work with fintech to promote financial inclusion in Malaysia

What makes the company unique is that it provides borrowers access to micro-financing through both shariah-compliant means as well as conventional funding.

A largely Muslim-populated nation, Malaysia is seeing a steady growth for Shariah-compliant financing, which refers to funds that adhere to Islamic teachings with resolutions issued by the Shariah Advisory Council of the Securities Commission of Malaysia (SACSC).

This is evident from the growth of its Islamic Investment Notes/Islamic Financing offering, which it claims to have grown more than 1,000 per cent within just five months of its launch in April 2020.

According to the founder, the reason for this success is because microLEAP does not charge additional rates for Islamic funds in comparison to conventional funds, as it absorbs the Commodity Murabahah brokerage fees.

“On microLEAP’s platform, where we are the first platform to be able to do both Islamic and conventional P2P financing, Islamic is more popular. In fact, our Islamic financing is 92 per cent vs eight per cent for conventional financing,” CEO Tunku Danny Nasaifuddin Mudzaffar told Salaamgateway.

One can borrow between RM1,000 (US$250) and RM50,000 (~US$12,300), with free basic debt management, accounting, online training and complimentary personal accident insurance being provided.

It also requires a business to be in operation for only six months for it to be evaluated, and absorbs the Islamic Commodity Brokerage fee, which eases the burden for micro-businesses while donating the late payment fees to charity.

Also Read: Malaysia’s P2P financing startup Fundaztic to raise US$722K through ECF platform pitchIN

Tunku Yaacob Khyra, Executive Chairman of MAA Group, said that there is an unattended need for many small businesses to remain afloat which is why the company will be focussed towards providing added benefits that can be accessed easily by MSMEs.

In 2021, the company is set to launch two new products: the Islamic Car Dealer Financing and Islamic Invoice Financing.

Last year, microLEAP raised US$492,029 (RM2 million) seed funding from the Malaysian Technology Development Corporation.

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Image Credit: microLEAP

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Titik Pintar, a startup that aims to improve learning outcomes for Indonesian elementary school children via its online tools, announced today that it has closed an undisclosed sum in its first institutional investment from Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF).

The financing will allow the edutech startup to continue on its growth path, improving its service for children, parents and teachers. It also looks to grow its collection of interactive lessons and educational videos via its SahabatPintar.id website.

Also Read: How edutech startups can accelerate active learning

“With the support of IWEF, Titik Pintar is able to build even better products for elementary school children in Indonesia. We believe we can help kids have fun while learning,” said Robbert Deusing, CEO and Founder of Titik Pitar.

“We were very humbled to see the strong traction of Titik Pintar last year, we got a lot of good feedback from students, parents and teachers. 2020 was difficult for everyone, and we worked hard to deliver fun educational content to Indonesian kids nationwide. We are confident to grow our user base in 2021 to 250,000 with the support of our strategic partners,” Deusing added.

Titik Pintar provides an ecosystem for edutainment. Tailored for every elementary school child in the archipelago, it offers gamified self-paced learning and remote micro lessons prepared by teachers, all aligned with the government curricula (Kurtilas).

All content is created in Bahasa Indonesia and English, so children can access and interact with the multimedia materials the way they prefer.

The lessons and videos are created on the website by teachers themselves, who can earn extra income from their contributions, while children and parents can self-pace their learning experience and find the best content for their needs.

Titik Pintar claims it has more than 15,000 users across Indonesia.

Also Read: Why edutech is becoming an investor favourite this season

The startup has previously secured a grant from the Dutch Government and investments from Indonesian and international angel investors.

IWEF is an impact fund addressing barriers to women’s economic empowerment by investing in disruptive tech solutions. The fund is jointly managed by Moonshot Ventures and YCAB Ventures, which is part of the YCAB Social Enterprise Group, a leading advocate for women and youth in Indonesia. IWEF is supported by the Australian Government as its lead sponsor and investor.

Tom Schmittzehe, co-founder of Moonshot Ventures, said: “Most teachers in Indonesia are women, whom IWEF seeks to promote, and through Titik Pintar, they will be able to earn a secondary income, while focusing on what they love most — teaching.”

Moonshot Ventures addresses development challenges faced by emerging economies in Southeast Asia. It invests in disruptive innovations and mission-driven entrepreneurs, in order to achieve large-scale impact.

Also Read: How the Coronavirus is teaching edutech startups a much-needed lesson

YCAB Ventures is part of YCAB Social Enterprise Group that invests in economic empowerment activities to end poverty and reduce inequality. Through its funding activities, YCAB Ventures has financed over 185,000 women owned businesses through 600,000 productive loans as well as has supported other likeminded social enterprises.

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Image Credit: Titik Pintar

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With the unpredictable economic climate, constantly shifting market, and new trends in commerce sprouting up, businesses are hot on their heels with not only trying to adapt and survive but more importantly, to grow and expand. Rapidly changing consumer behaviour, online and offline shopping patterns, as well as dynamic product-market fits, are only some of the key factors that are rewriting the business world as we know it amidst the pandemic. With all the changes and challenges, businesses have to maximise every opportunity to innovate and scale.

With the right approach, agility, and, most importantly, a skilled workforce, companies can look beyond surviving this crisis and into exploring non-conventional markets. To succeed, businesses need a diverse and innovative workforce that thinks globally to navigate the challenges and identify opportunities.

At the onset of the decade, Forbes launched its “Global Diversity And Inclusion” study, conducted with over 300 executive representatives from an array of companies across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Middle East, and Africa, with participating companies raking in revenues of at least $500 million to $20 billion. One of the key findings was that diversity is a key driver of innovation and is a critical component of being successful on a global scale. The report also suggested that a diverse and inclusive workforce is crucial for companies that are keen and committed to attracting and retaining top talent. It helps broaden the pool of talent a company can recruit from, while also establishing an inclusive company image. “If you want to attract the best talent, you need to be reflective of the talent in that market,” said Eileen Taylor, Deutsche Bank’s global head of diversity.

As such, SMU offers Global Innovation Immersion (GII) internship programme, organised by Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) where GII interns provide that much-needed diversity in terms of age, nationality, as well as the social and academic background to businesses.

Fostering innovation through diversity is the key to global success

A global company cannot be built and sustained with a local mindset. Only a diverse team that brings a wide variety of experiences, understanding, and knowledge, can richly contribute and innovate to attain that.

It is also important for companies to understand that the fundamental meaning of diversity is rapidly evolving and is no longer limited to simply creating a heterogeneous workforce. Today, having a diverse workforce entails leveraging on innovative talents with complex web differences, ranging across backgrounds to academic disciplines, and experiences to skillsets– a talent pool equipped with boldness, a healthy skepticism towards failure and capabilities to iterate innovative products, services, and business practices. As companies compete on a global scale in these uncertain times, the concepts of diversity and inclusion in a high-performing team must also keep up.

Also read: Titik Pintar raises funding to offer gamified learning and remote micro lessons to Indonesian students

This is where young, forward-thinking interns can help break the often uniform and monolithic company culture by bringing in fresh perspectives and insights particularly of the company’s changing customers. A pool of interns with innovation and entrepreneurship at their core can contribute towards differentiating a company, strengthen its competitive advantage and take the business forward.

A win-win arrangement between SMU and businesses to imbue the global perspective

In line with the current business climate and the dire need for innovative ideas, SMU’s Global Innovation Immersion (GII), a three-month overseas internship programme, was first started to foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship within the SMU community and beyond. Tailored to create a robust and agile talent pool suited for the fast-paced startup-environment, this programme was specifically designed for students who possess an entrepreneurial mindset and are passionate about innovation as well as digital transformation — two of the most important elements needed for success in a post-pandemic world. With rapidly growing interest from students and companies alike, the programme had gained steady momentum over the years.

“The company tasked me to compare and analyze their business processes and proposed and implemented improvements. The main bulk of my time was devoted to the company’s financial modelling for pitching to investors during the company’s Series A fundraising,” shared Razzaq Reyal who joined Health at Home as a Business Analyst Intern during his time at GII Thailand in 2019.

Also read: microLEAP raises US$3.3M to help small businesses raise funds via Shariah-compliant means in Malaysia

Another factor that makes this internship programme stand out is its mutually-beneficial arrangement: leading companies can sleep soundly knowing that GII interns undergo a rigorous recruitment process while these young and energetic GII interns get an opportunity of their lifetimes to work at some of the most promising co-working spaces and startups worldwide. These invaluable experiences that interns had gained under SMU’s GII programme ready the next generation for the real world, at times, even bagging their dream jobs.

“GII allow[ed]s me to formally enter the Venture Capital (VC) field and this experience indeed help[ed]s me get my subsequent 2 VC internships. The experience of working in Indonesia plus my bi-cultural background of Singapore and China differentiates me from other candidates,” explained Zhao Yunyi who joined Kejora Ventures as an Investment Analyst Intern as part of GII Indonesia in 2019.

A shifting global market brings in opportunities for scalability and growth

Singapore is the technology hub of the region, which means opportunities abound for startups in the island-nation to explore innovations. GII hires can help startups by marrying up-to-date research and perspectives with open mindsets, helping companies come up with new ways of looking at business problems. Given the robust pre-internship training that the students attend, GII hires will bring in coveted skills in fields such as digital transformation, online marketing, business development, and data analytics, allowing them to make significant contributions to companies. Where relevant, they also attend language classes like Mandarin, Bahasa, Thai, Vietnamese, and Tagalog among others.

Also read: Zipmex snags US$6M in an oversubscribed funding round to expand its digital assets exchange

Founders and business leaders are well aware of the unique opportunities that the pandemic has brought despite its struggles and challenges — opportunities such as growth and scaling.

It is important for startups to take this chance and build a team that helps them emerge successful on a regional and even global level. And for that, they can rely on well-trained GII interns.

If you are looking for talented interns to help you build a diverse and innovative team for your global business dreams, just fill this form or contact the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) at iie-gii@smu.edu.sg.

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Photo by Porapak Apichodilok from Pexels

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by the Singapore Management University

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Happy New Year! Did you have a good break, yeah? Mine was pretty good and long but by the end of it I could not wait to come back to my desk and all the action.

Thanks to gojek, getting back work was far more exciting than I imagined. While we cannot think beyond the impending Gojek-Tokopedia merger (after the long ordeal of possible Gojek-Grab merger), the last week of 2020 and the first week of 2021 was actually very productive for the e27 Contributor Community.

From fintech predictions to productivity to customer engagement, our contributors flooded us with what to expect in 2021. Catch up on the missed action, including tips from COO of Zendesk and more.

2021: Predicting another bumper (un)predictable year for payments by Tristan Chiappini, VP, APAC at PPRO

“The year 2020 has been a year of momentous change for the payments industry not just in APAC but also across the world.

Trends that were identified this time last year as emerging have been hugely accelerated as a result of the pandemic. Rapid growth was predicted, but it was unpredictable on the scale that has happened.”

Top 5 fintech predictions that will take over the world in 2021 by Victor Fredung CEO at Shufti Pro

“The majority of the businesses faced a downfall when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. Only a few of them were smart enough that somehow successfully showed an upward trend and out of them, one was the fintech industry.

Both businesses and customers start utilising contactless payment methods to avoid physical contact with each other. According to a study, there was 72 per cent of evident usage of fintech apps in Europe, especially since the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Following are the top 5 predictions that will take over the world especially in 2021 and later upcoming years.”

Keeping customers happy

What customers really want from brands and businesses in the post-pandemic world by Wendy Johnstone is the Chief Operating Officer for Zendesk APAC

“In this ‘new normal’ we keep talking about, digital strategies and data capabilities drive the customer experience. Increasingly, customers expect quick, simple and accessible support that can instantly provide the answers they need.

Whether this comes in the form of a self-help knowledge base, a reliable AI chatbot, or a quick message to a support agent, the key is being wherever your customers are, whenever they start asking a question.”

How startups can improve customer engagement and grow LTV ratio by journalist Luke Fitzpatrick

“Customer engagement is an essential part of any successful business’ growth formula.

An engaged customer buys from you, recommends you to their friends, and has a higher average order value. There are tons of benefits but how do you create an active and engaged customer base?

That’s a good question. There are many strategies but the linchpin is a deep understanding of who your customers are and what problem they come to have solved. Here are some proven tactics to increase customer engagement and, by extension, customer lifetime value.”

From the founder’s mouth

Lessons from experience: Scaling your startup with a remote team by cofounder at SOTA Partners, Neal Taparia

“As Bob Dylan once sang: ‘The Times They Are A Changin’.’

When you are running a startup, you no longer need all your team members in one place. You can have them scattered across the globe and still manage to scale your operations. Thanks to countless communication and collaboration software, managing a remote team is a cake walk for startup founders.

You can have a developer from Japan, a UX designer from Ukraine, a QA tester from India, and a project manager from the US.

However, there is a catch. Managing a remote team is not the same as managing an in-house team. You need to approach remote team management from a different angle to keep teams motivated, productive, and also to scale your startup.”

Lockdown learnings: How I became a half-decent product manager in 2020 by Gijs Verheijke, founder and CEO of Ox Street

“When Ox Street started, I had a co-founder for about a month — a talented and experienced product manager, who was going to take care of the tech side of things.

Unfortunately, he got an ‘offer he couldn’t refuse’ from his employer and didn’t follow through. That left me as the sole founder, in charge of finding engineers and leading the development of our product.

No problem! I thought my experience with project management and team management in general, as well as my obsession with structure and clear communication, left me well prepared. I was squarely at the peak of ‘Mt. Stupid’.”

e27 2020 Year in Review: A transformative year with lots of reflection, change and appreciation by Mohan Belani, CEO at e27 and Head of Product

“What a year this has been. 2020 forced us to think differently and allowed us to experiment with a lot of the ideas that have been on the back burner. It forced us to rethink our role in the regional tech ecosystem, and here are some of the details to how we changed how we worked during 2020.”

Working with governments

What the Tech.Pass scheme means for startups and the rise of Singapore as a thriving centre of innovation by Charles H. Ferguson, General Manager, Asia Pacific

“It is no secret that Singapore has been vying to become Asia’s tech capital for years. With the mounting US-China trade rivalry and the shifting global technology chain, Singapore has become a rather ideal, neutral choice as a launchpad for any company that wants to seize opportunities in Southeast Asia.

Tech.Pass supports Singapore’s positioning as a regional tech hub. With the scheme, Singapore aims to develop top-notch talent that ensures Singapore stays ahead of the game in today’s fiercely competitive digital world while contributing to the growth of the regional start-up ecosystem.”

Data will help public-private partnerships build future resilience in SEA. Here’s how by Gautam Kotwal, Chief Data Officer, Gojek

“Across the globe, the monitoring and analysing of big data for actionable insights is being put to use, giving rise to initiatives such as contact tracing, movement control in highly-affected areas, or the distribution of financial aid to people in need. But state-sanctioned measures or corporate-led campaigns can only go so far. To make a real impact, the public and private sectors must work together, sharing information and combining resources.

In Southeast Asia, with infrastructure development and public funding so varied between nations, public-private partnerships (PPPs) are even more vital to ensure timely and beneficial solutions to socio-economic challenges.”

A wave of change: What sets impact investing apart from traditional investing by Bowen Khong, Impact Investing Advocate

“Governments, businesses, and most important of all, billions of people around the world realise the need for a change in the status quo. And millennials and the younger generations, whose future is at stake, are starting to demand more action.

This change in attitude is also reflected in the realm of investing – there are many “buzzwords” in the mainstream media to reflect this zeitgeist of ‘do good’ investing. They include terms such as impact investing, ESG investing, and SRI/ethical investing.”

Staying productive

SMEs, here’s how you can do more with less by Joey Lim, Vice President of Commercial – Asia, Lark

“Having lived through the biggest remote working experiment in history, many companies are now well-equipped to accommodate telecommuting arrangements.

However, as the number of COVID-19 community cases continues to remain at zero in Singapore, we see safety measures being relaxed and more people allowed back into the office. This poses yet another challenge for companies as they now need to adapt to a hybrid workforce, where only half of employees are working in the office, while the other half work from home.

For small and medium enterprises (SMEs), these frequent changes can dampen their productivity and efficiency. Compared to their larger multinational counterparts, SMEs have fewer resources, and oftentimes, employees need to wear multiple hats.”

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