RushOwl, a Singapore-based smart mobility startup, has raised S$650,000 (~US$479,000) in a seed financing round led by Silicon Solutions Partners, an investment firm focusing on servicing and accelerating startups in the smart city sector, Vulcanpost has reported.

Other backers include existing investor Seeds Capital (the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore) and Workplace Accelerator (an HRtech accelerator).

RushOwl plans to utilise the capital to extend its ride-sharing service RushTrail across the Asia Pacific region, including expansion into mass markets like Vietnam and India by 2022. 

“We believe that our service will scale exponentially in 2022 because more people are looking at how they can reduce their carbon footprints through their everyday rides,” said Shin Ng, Co-Founder and CEO of RushOwl.

The RushTrail app will be integrated with electric vehicle networks and new mobility products to support the company’s smart commute ecosystem.

Also read: How electric mobility startups are tackling climate change in Asia

Launched in 2018, RushOwl provides on-demand shuttle rides by collaborating with fleet owners, smart cities, and governments worldwide. It aims to build digitised transportation infrastructures that offer flexible and environmentally-friendly ride-sharing for commuters.

By combining ride requests through routing algorithms and employing AI to automate transportation plans, the smart mobility firm bridges first-mile and last-mile journeys of passengers based on their specific schedules via the RushTrail app.

“Our goal is to help cities tackle inaccessibility, road congestion and air pollution through shared mobility leveraging on our technology and traction, “Ng said.

The firm says it facilitates approximately 3,000 daily trips around the island. It boasts of having recorded a 400 per cent surge in ridership since the onslaught of the pandemic as commuters seek a transportation alternative from home to work. 

RushOwl also provides a corporate solution for businesses looking to develop more efficient and flexible staff commute schedules. This can serve as an extra employee perk that results in higher performance and job retention.

The startup has reportedly won an employee transportation contract worth over S$700,000 (~US$516,000) in a recent public tender organised by Sentosa Development Corporation. 

According to MarketsandMarkets, the market for mobility as a service is expected to grow to US$40.1 billion by 2030, up from US$3.3 billion in 2021. The growth is driven by increasing smart city initiatives, expanding acceptance of on-demand mobility services, CO2 emission reduction effort, enhanced 4G/5G infrastructure, and smartphone penetration.

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Image Credit: RushOwl

 

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I think it’s fair to say that no one will mourn the passing of 2021.

It’s been an intensely difficult year for individuals and businesses as the pandemic increasingly swept across the world. Now we have the Omicron variant to contend with, which threatens the start of another challenging year.

The hope, of course, is that 2022 will be a year of rebirth and new beginnings as businesses put in place digital transformation strategies for greater resilience in the face of current and future shocks.

Indeed, 2022 will be the year of the tiger, which traditionally represents strength, determination, removing evils, and, fingers crossed, reconnecting with networks and people. These are all ideals we collectively must aspire to build back better (as the politicians like to say).

The question, of course, is whether businesses big and small will be able to fulfil this zodiacal promise and put in place strategies across the organisation to rise from the ashes like a phoenix and with the strength and determination of a tiger.

One of COVID-19’s unintended benefits has been a dramatic acceleration in the onboarding of digital solutions that have to date been collectively thought of as part of the ‘future of work’.

McKinsey found that investments in digital and automation transformations that were viewed as optional just 18 months ago are now very much necessary to not only remain competitive but thrive in the after-COVID environment.

Given this backdrop and the challenging year we’ve all just lived through, I now see three notable trends on the horizon that will likely touch every business in Singapore and beyond as we move into the new year: the future of work (which is already here), a unique physical-digital mix, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations.

The future of work is already here

Remote and hybrid work, which have been with us in one form or another for decades, is now going mainstream and becoming an inevitable part of tomorrow’s post-pandemic office.

These work styles’ shift to the forefront may pose challenges for some businesses that resist change. Still, for most companies, they are already a necessity rather than a nice-to-have.

Enabling this future of work at scale and organisation-wide does require new cloud platforms and solutions to ensure both internal and external stakeholders are properly connected without suffering from any major communications or process breakdowns.

While decentralisation is a theme we’re hearing more about every day in the world of finance (DeFi), it is also a big theme in the workplace as we spread workers out over more locations and geographies – rates of people coming back to the office will likely increase for a while but are unlikely to reach pre-COVID levels.

Also Read: How to build a strong remote workforce for startups

While not without challenges of their own, these new arrangements do have a range of perks: better work-life balance, greater flexibility and autonomy, and more quality time between parents and their children.

For businesses, this cloud-enabled future of work structure is an asset to business continuity planning and resilience in the face of future shocks – and may even reduce costs associated with large, fixed offices.

Physical will remain, but digital will dominate

We yearn for in-person human interaction and camaraderie; that’s how we’ve evolved as a social species.

Despite that, the reality is that more –not less– of our teamwork and collaboration will move to digital channels, even as entertainment venues, trade conferences, restaurants, and offices reopen to larger groups in the year ahead.

While physical events and tradeshows, which we all love and miss, will return, they will do so with more implementation of digital platforms and solutions that coexist alongside the physical. For instance, paper business cards may continue to be exchanged, but QR codes may be scanned to exchange contact details alongside them.

At the office, even as more employees do return, we will not see the last of cloud platforms like Zoom, which came to prominence as a solution to remote work but are now even being used for group meetings when everyone is in the same building – simply owing to preferences around social distancing and convenience. 

This is just one example, but there are dozens of popular cloud platforms and solutions being used internally at organisations worldwide for work and collaboration. These will continue to be relied on and onboarded even after the pandemics’ worst is behind us.

My advice to businesses looking to start in earnest with their digital transformation (DX) in the year of the tiger is twofold: first, start with a small manageable pilot project in an area like digitising invoice management in the finance function; second, hire or designate a DX champion to champion and oversee these projects and push the cause internally with leadership and with staff at all levels. Buy-in is imperative for success.

Greening business by tackling our corporate paper addiction

ESG has taken the world by storm in 2021, and this trend will only continue as nations attempt to live up to their net-zero pledges made at COP26 in Glasgow.

This brings me to the third major trend I want to highlight for next year: the mainstreaming of ESG strategies at every private sector organisation and government department.

Also Read: A wave of change: What sets impact investing apart from traditional investing

Specifically, I’m calling out our collective corporate paper addiction and suggesting that business leaders recognise that reducing paper reliance within their business is a good starting point for ultimately reducing their carbon footprint.

This is no longer about just looking good: institutional investors, consumers, and governments are increasingly looking through an ESG lens as they choose capital allocation, tax breaks, and purchasing decisions based on the appeal of a company’s products and services.

Moreover, less paper and more digital in every organisation’s finance function may help reduce rates of some types of fraud, especially in emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, where it remains stubbornly high.

This leads to not only more sustainable business but also better governance.

I wish every company, big and small that’s grappling with these three themes – the future of work, the new physical-digital mix, and ESG factors – the best of luck in the year ahead. I’m confident that those who take these seriously (perhaps in the form of a corporate New Year’s resolution) will thank me this time next year.

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Pankhuri Shrivastava, the founder of Pankhuri, a Sequoia Surge-backed online community for women, passed away on Friday. She was 32. The exact cause of her death is not known.

Shrivastava was also the brains behind GrabHouse, which was acquired by India’s leading online classifieds company Quikr in 2016.

A graduate in Computer Science Engineering, Pankhuri delved into the startup world by founding Grabhouse in 2013. GrabHouse offered digital solutions for the rental needs of both owners and tenants. It also provided a managed rental homes model comprising a range of fully furnished, ready-to-move-in apartments across four major cities. In October 2015, the company raised US$10 million from Sequoia Capital and Kalaari Capital.

Her next venture Pankhuri, launched in 2019, is a women’s only community for members to socialise, explore and upskill through live interactive courses, expert chat, and interest-based clubs. Last July, the startup secured US$3.2 million from Surge, India Quotient and Taurus Ventures.

Also Read: Sequoia Surge’s new cohort comprises a vegan makeup startup, an innovative email marketing platform and more

Mourning her passing, Vani Kola, the founder and managing partner of Kalaari Capital, wrote on Twitter that she was a vivacious bright woman full of ideas and full of life. “Hailing from Jhansi, she [Shrivastava] felt that the spirit of Jhansi Ki Rani was in her blood. She was incredibly satisfied that she opened an office in Jhansi & gave opportunities to girls to work in jobs that gave them a strong identity. She was proud of these girls and how much they could do if only given an opportunity. I saw in Pankhuri a young woman who continued to inspire and give back generously. My heart reaches out to her family at this untimely tragedy. Her demise is a loss for our startup ecosystem. We lost a bright and young founder, but I know her legacy will live on. It was truly a privilege to know Pankhuri.”

According to Rajan Anandan, managing director at Sequoia India, Pankhuri [Shrivastava] was so full of life, ideas and passion and had a missionary zeal. “We loved having Pankhuri in our Surge family and will miss you so dearly. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family in this very difficult time.”

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As members of the startup ecosystem, it is in our DNA to identify solutions that help improve the way we live. As disruptors are catalysts for innovation, startups keep coming up with solutions and exciting new ideas to make things faster, more efficient, and more productive for all stakeholders.

But how many of these are genuinely and positively life-changing for everyone?

With the thousands of solutions out there, do we ever think about the possibility of how many great innovations never even see the light of day because of either lack of support, being deemed too risky, and/or having inadequate resources? Which leads to the question: if you had the opportunity to solve the world’s problems, would you take it?

This is the challenge that Leave a Nest Singapore is taking on.

Advancing science and technology for global happiness

Leave a Nest Singapore was founded in December 2010 — almost a decade after its parent company in Japan was founded — with the main purpose of connecting Singapore and Japan as a first step in realising their vision of Advancing Science and Technology for Global Happiness. 

As such, the company is responsible for spearheading a slew of initiatives anchored on development and innovation in several key spaces, which includes engaging financial investors and large companies seeking partnerships with innovators to be able to implement or commercialise innovative technologies. 

In Singapore, Leave a Nest started with their education programme; their first big project with Science Centre in 2010 saw them starting the Science Festival and Maker Festival. Through that, they were able to bring in a Japanese company that was involved in bringing some workshops to school children in Singapore. 

Also read: Leave a Nest takes innovation from research to market

The year 2014 saw the launch of TECH PLANTER, an initiative that serves as a platform for researchers and startups to develop and bring their tech out to society.

Then in 2016, Leave a Nest did a business tour that allowed them to bring in big Japanese corporates, as well as SMEs, into Singapore. This initiative also allowed them to get some funding from the Japanese government. This led them to work closely with the Singapore government in initiatives today with the Global Innovation Alliance Program.

“We were starting to see some researchers who are very keen to start up their own business,” said Dr Kihoko Tokue, Managing Director of Leave a Nest Singapore “But they have no role models who address gaps in their business knowledge.”

This gap in business knowledge makes it difficult for researchers to communicate with potential VCs or investors, apart from the fact that some of these technologies — despite possessing great potential — are very risky that none of the VCs or investors would be willing to take a chance on.

With TECH PLANTER, Leave a Nest works with its corporate partners to support these emerging technologies from Southeast Asia. “We are lucky to have those corporates who shares our vision and believe in deep tech ecosystem building can result in future business through innovations,” Tokue said.

And how open are the large corporates with this exactly?

“There is of course a limitation, yet many are seeing the need to change and starting to take action to bring change,” explained Tokue. “That’s why they come to us and ask us to be a catalyst for their company.”

TECH PLANTER is just one of the many initiatives and projects that Leave a Nest Singapore spearheaded. They also work on different programmes for various partners and clients, and their approach is very much customised to what their partners need. 

“Depending on what they would like to solve, what kind of thing they want to achieve, [we could develop] the programme — even the same programme that we already have and utilise it in a different way,” she added.

Also read: Here’s how you can earn passive income with cryptocurrency easily and safely

And Leave a Nest’s mission of advancing science and technology for global happiness certainly translates well with their grassroots practices: everything from education to development to building partnerships, and the occasional investment.

“We do everything from education Science workshops, training for university students, and work with deep tech startups. We do some investment from time to time, and we work with companies to do some new innovation programmes with the corporates, as well” said Tokue.

A culture of building

With all these customised programmes tailor-fitted for their partners, one would assume that Leave a Nest Singapore is a large team. But it is quite the opposite. The team is still at a growing phase with 6 members. 

The secret? An ecosystem of partners ranging from incubators, accelerators, ecosystem builders, and even government officials who are willing to play their part and work together as a team for a certain initiative.

The ability to build and sustain relationships is important for Leave a Nest especially since they closely work with various stakeholders across a wide range of backgrounds to ensure that their projects and initiatives become a success. Partnerships with corporates, ecosystem builders, and government offices require the Leave a Nest team to have the skills necessary to work with diverse networks and companies.

One of the things they train their team members on is Science Bridge Communication, encompassing everything from communicating science to bridging together different parties with different backgrounds like research and business.

“Because even if they speak the same language, how they communicate is totally different. And sometimes they are talking but not really communicating. That skill is valuable everywhere and is something that we train everyone in,” said Tokue.

Being part of Leave a Nest allows members to be closely involved in projects. Working with startups means involvement with a level of dedication similar to a founding member of the company. “Team members get to see from zero to 100 of how to build a company and make it sustainable,” said Tokue.

Also read: How electric mobility startups are tackling climate change in Asia

As a startup themselves, Leave a Nest Singapore aims to create a team culture anchored in continuous building — from solutions for the benefit of Singapore and the world to partnerships that help develop these solutions and even to skills that help advance their vision. 

As a company that aims to provide solutions to the issues that exist in the world, Leave a Nest is opening its doors to those who share the same goals. “If you are looking for a company to help you achieve a life mission or goal and you know that this goal cannot be achieved alone; if you want to belong to an organisation that can help achieve that goal — if you have that mindset, then Leave a Nest would be the best place to join,” Tokue concluded.

For more information, you may visit the Leave a Nest’s Singapore website or get in touch with them through their Linkedin company profile.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Leave a Nest

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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airasia Digital, the digital arm of the Malaysia-based budget airline operator, has called off the US$10-million acquisition plans of Velox Fintech, a subsidiary of Gojek Thailand, says a TechinAsia report.

The reasons haven’t been disclosed in the company’s papers. However, as per AirAsia’s third-quarter 2021 filings, the company finalised the acquisition deal for another business of Gojek Thailand, Velox Technology, for US$40 million.

On July 27, the acquisition of Velox Technology was approved in its entirety. The transaction resulted in goodwill of US$30.8 million. Yet, it had to follow a 12-month purchase price allocation exercise.

Earlier on July 7, airasia announced its plans to acquire Gojek’s Thai operations for a total of US$50 million to rev up the expansion of the airasia Super App in ASEAN. It would also enable Gojek to increase investments in its Vietnam and Singapore operations. 

The deal involves a share transfer between the two corporations. Gojek would receive shareholding in airasia super app, whose market value was said to be around US$1 billion.

Also read: Gojek wants to move from the idea of a super app to an on-demand company for everything: Group CTO

Founded in 2001, airasia is a one-stop travel, e-commerce, and financial platform that offers over 15 lines of products. Its digital arm leverages the group’s physical and digital assets to create an ecosystem of businesses that connect with its customers in their everyday life. 

It consists of three key digital companies: 1) airasia Super App, which provides a lifestyle platform for travel, e-commerce, financial services, farm to table, health and edutech products and services; 2) Teleport, an e-commerce logistics company offering instant door-to-door deliveries; and 3) the fintech arm BigPay.

The airasia-Gojek deal was expected to intensify the battle for the number one super app position as Grab, which also positions itself as a super app, is far ahead of others with its deep pocket and backing from top-notch investors.

Reuters first reported in July that airasia was looking to a US listing for its digital arm via a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) to raise at least US$300 million. 

Grab debuted its IPO in the US this month, following a merger with a SPAC at a US$40 billion valuation.

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Image Credit: airasia

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2021 has flown by in a flash (has it been two years since the COVID-19 hit?), and it has certainly been an eventful one for Pickupp.

For starters, we recently raised US$37 million in our Series B funding! This is a testament to the hard work of everyone at Pickupp and also a validation for us that we are moving in the right direction in bringing our innovative logistics solutions to the market.

As the year draws to a close, here are some quick reflections of Pickupp’s 2021 in a nutshell:

Building connections in creative ways

As the pandemic persisted from 2020, 2021 has shown us how important it is to pursue and create connections in unique ways. As a tech startup that has embraced remote working arrangements way before the pandemic, it wasn’t our daily working schedule or productivity that was impacted, but the inability to gather together physically as a team and build connections.

As a growing startup with new members regularly, it has been crucial to support social connections in the workplace and help employees form strong relationships.

In light of that, initiatives were made in the year to create these virtual spaces for interaction, whether it is recreating lunch breaks with virtual happy hours, team bonding sessions with online games and trivia sessions or showing appreciation to one another and celebrating milestones and birthdays through the delivery of notes and care packages.

When social restrictions started to ease with gatherings of up to five allowed, arrangements were made so that each team could catch up at least once a week in person. With a 90 per cent staff retention rate this year, I would say that our approach has been pretty successful!

Growth with new opportunities and responsibilities

2021, although challenging, has created new opportunities for Pickupp. With the acceleration of digital transformation, tech startups like ourselves have a competitive advantage. Additionally, as a logistics company, we saw an unprecedented demand for our services and an increased openness towards adopting our technology.

Being at the forefront of technology also meant that we were responsible for spearheading innovations to meet emerging customer needs. Plans to diversify and expand our services were brought forward to speed up the process of digital adoption for businesses, providing them with the solutions they needed.

This enables them to be nimble, flexible, and agile, which helps them provide a better customer experience and de-bottleneck their peak sales deliveries.

The importance of sustainability

With the e-commerce boom comes the question of sustainability and the ability to deliver quickly and efficiently in Singapore’s crowded and dense geographical areas. The government announced its efforts to transition into a car-lite society in 2021.

This goal of decarbonising our operations and improving the efficiency of deliveries is something we’ve been working towards this year, and the recent support we received from our investors through our Series B funding is timely and will allow us to introduce at least 10 new satellite warehouses across heartland areas in Singapore by mid-2022.

Also Read: A look back at 2021: Digitalisation, innovation and sustainability

The expansion of these service points, which provides pick-up and drop-off (PUDO) services, micro-fulfilment and warehousing, and cross-border services, will drive hyperlocal services and minimise the travelling distance for our agents to support faster and more efficient last-mile deliveries for our customers.

Merchants will also rely on more walkers and bikers to fulfil deliveries within their district, leveraging their mobility and flexibility as they are not affected by traffic conditions and the lack of parking spaces during peak hours.

This results in increased efficiency and costs saved on gas or parking, further contributing to our decarbonising our operations. Approximately 15 per cent of our daily deliveries are being handled by walkers today; we aim to at least double this by next year.

2022 is shaping an even more exciting year for Pickupp, and we cannot wait to get started!

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There have been many exciting updates in the Indonesian startup ecosystem in recent years. This year alone, we got to see Bukalapak becoming the first local unicorn startup to get listed on the stock exchange. We have also seen the birth of many unicorns, with Kopi Kenangan being the latest addition to the group. Outside of funding-related announcements, we also saw how the ecosystem continued to thrive despite challenges possessed by the COVID-19 pandemic.

These updates have attracted the attention of various parties to the local startup ecosystem, from investors to government institutions.

Recently, fintech startup Ayoconnect announced that entrepreneur Ilham Habibie has joined the company as Strategic Advisor.

Known as the son of former Indonesian President B. J. Habibie –who was a notable aerospace engineer with 46 global patents and formulas named after himself, and a pioneer in the local tech industry — Ilham Habibie has more than 25 years of experience in equity investing. He is actively involved in various organisations that focus on research and technology in the country, including the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KADIN) and the National Information and Communication Technology Council (WANTIKNAS).

“I am always drawn to innovation,” Habibie says in an interview with e27. “I personally believe that building tech for the sake of building it is somewhat misguided, as there has to be a purpose for what we are building. And that purpose is to provide a better living for many people. This is often present in impactful innovation.”

Habibie says that he is particularly passionate about how fintech can help bring financial services to the underserved communities in Indonesia –the reason why he was drawn to Ayoconnect in the first place.

But what are his thoughts about the Indonesian startup ecosystem, and how we can move forward? Find out in this edited interview excerpt with e27.

Also Read: The 27 Indonesian startups that have taken the ecosystem to next level this year

What are some of the most unique characteristics of the Indonesian startup ecosystem?

Our country makes up about 41 per cent of ASEAN. Recently, there has been a strong tendency for global investors to straight to Indonesia, instead of setting up in Singapore, as this is where the market is, where the opportunities exist. Our society’s readiness to become users of mobile apps has also improved due to our demographic aspect. Fifty per cent of our citizens are under 30, being the so-called digital native, making it easier for them to use the services provided by tech startups.

Our smartphone penetration rate is also predicted to reach 90 per cent by 2025. The pattern in Indonesia is that our citizens are first connected to the internet through their smartphones, instead of their computers like in Europe or Northern America.

But what are the challenges that the ecosystem faced that might hamper its potential today?

Digital literacy remains a challenge. While 90 per cent of our citizens are able to own smartphones, it does not guarantee that they are able to use them properly. There has to be an initiative from the industry for them to be able to maximise [the use of the tech]. There has to be a collaboration between startups and financial institutions to reach out to the underbanked society. This is not just those who reside in Java; there are many outside [of the island] who has no access to financial services.

There are many types of financial services, including micro-credits, that fintech startups can help facilitate, turning them into collaborative partners for banks.

Talking about the collaboration, what kind of support do you think the government should provide?

There is a great need for fair, transparent regulations that include rewards and punishments … the government need to play its role in deciding the rule of the game.

In growing this ecosystem, the government should also intensify partnerships with startup ecosystems in other parts of the world. For example, in Jakarta, we have a dynamic and lively startup ecosystem that has been in touch with its counterpart in Berlin –under a sister city concept. I have witnessed in many visits to Berlin how these ecosystems are visiting each other, and they seem very satisfied with the partnership.

Collaboration is a two-way street; we need to be open about sharing with them. While there is certainly a limit to what extend we can share, we must realise the importance of sharing our experiences and challenges. We must also note how the existing digital platform is making this process more cost-efficient.

Nowadays, words about new tech innovation on the other side of the world spread way more quickly. If we really want to do better than other countries, at the very least we need to collaborate.

Also Read: As IDX commissioner, this is how Pandu Sjahrir aims to help more Indonesian startups go public

In the old days, tech innovation in Indonesia used to be led by government institutions. But nowadays, startups seem to be at the forefront of innovations, especially with their ability to reach out to the general public. 

With startups, the tendency is to implement and not to develop the tech itself. This is related to their need to adjust tech innovation with a business model that can reach out to the customers effectively.

In implementing tech innovation, startups are not restricted to the resources that are available domestically. For example, Indonesian startups have the ability to outsource talents from other countries, such as India. This enables them to move faster, and in a more agile manner. Their innovation is not restricted by country borders, enabling them to move fast.

This is something that we could not find in government agencies because the state has to consider its interests, and also the interests of local business players –and this is normal. But in the future, perhaps we can change the orientation a bit by not relying too much on the resources that are available in Indonesia, and by integrating them with what is available abroad.

Businesses may have to move fast due to competition, but unfortunately, this is not something that other sectors can afford.

Compared to two to three years ago, there seems to be a greater awareness of the importance of profitability among startups. How will this affect the ecosystem in the future?

There used to be a strong emphasis on growth at all costs; it was all about market share, market share, market share. There was an emphasis on winning the market through promotions which are often not in line with the company’s ability to generate revenue. But in the future, we are going to be more balanced. It is not that cash-burning will completely disappear, but it will be less dramatic.

This is especially the case with startups that have gone public … it will become some kind of a test for them. Does the projection actually fit their capacity [to generate revenue]? We have seen it many times before in startups that have gone public and experienced a difference in their valuation, before and after the IPO. It is even more urgent if we consider that there are many startups out there with similar offerings. So there has got to be a winner and loser in the market, encouraging investors to be extra careful.

We can no longer afford to force blitzcalling; there will be stronger pressure to be more reasonable.

Also Read: Pocket power: 27 personal finance startups in SEA to help you manage money

What will the ecosystem look like in the future?

Indonesia has the fundamental to build a strong and big ecosystem in ASEAN –and potentially the world.

This is also great timing as Indonesia is a relatively stable country in terms of politics and security. This is a fundamental factor for investors to enter the country; it is also important to note that not all ASEAN countries have this level of stability.

We may not be as strong as Silicon Valley, Shenzhen, or Stockholm, but it is not a problem.

Here is also an opportunity that we can tap into: We do not develop our own tech here. This may sound bad at first, but this can be a good opportunity. If we see how things are like in Silicon Valley, innovation is birthed and implemented on the same ground. We may not be able to get to that level as it depends on the quality of human resources, but this is an opportunity for those with a focus on tech innovation.

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Image Credit: Ayoconnect

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The growth of e-commerce seen in 2020 continued at breakneck speed until about mid-2021. We’re now seeing signs of it slowing down. China, the US, the UK, and the Netherlands all are reporting a downturn from the real height of the pandemic: Amazon’s revenue in the third quarter rose 15 per cent, down from 37 per cent growth in the same period a year ago.

Throughout Cyber Week— Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday — US consumers spent 1.4 per cent less than last year.  Alibaba’s 11.11 event this year experienced slow growth, 8.5 per cent compared to 25 per cent growth last year.

Still, whilst the growth may have slowed, the current levels of e-commerce continues to break records.

Shopee’s parent company Sea Ltd. has just posted US$1.5 billion in revenue for Q3 2021, up by 134.4 per cent year-on-year. FedEx estimates it will drop off an estimated 100 million more packages than it did in pre-pandemic 2019.

People continue to shop online but now expect slicker digital experiences, frictionless checkout, and speedy delivery. These new habits have taken root, and consumers are more demanding than ever.

To cater to these expectations, businesses are paying more attention to the checkout page’s last, crucial part of a transaction. Providing payment choices at the checkout – whether that’s Grabpay in Singapore or GoPay in Indonesia – will drive conversion and hence growth with the local consumers.

With cart abandonment rates sky high, it’s important to remember that nearly one in five consumers will stop a transaction if their preferred way to pay isn’t accepted.

Also Read: A look back at 2021: Digitalisation, innovation and sustainability

PPRO continues to see payment service providers (PSPs) and their merchant customers contacting us looking for seamless, robust payments infrastructure to prioritise their customer preferences.

They have partnered with us to do all the heavy lifting. In the past 12 months, we’ve more than doubled our transaction volumes. We’ve scaled to hire over 230 payments experts, bringing our entire global team to over 460.

It’s all been to meet the e-commerce demand of payment service providers and the businesses they support.

Powering payment choices across Asia is complex, but the rewards for merchants looking for hypergrowth are clear. By 2030, the digital economy in Southeast Asia will be worth US$1 trillion.

Between now and then, 60 per cent of the world’s economic growth will come from Asia. In an ideal world, e-commerce merchants looking for growth would invest right across Asia.

In just one market example, smartphone ownership is the norm. Consequently, with the uptake of e-wallets, bank-transfer apps and other local payment methods (LPMs) surging, the Indonesian payment market seems set to diversify rapidly.

To win in such a fast-evolving environment, merchants and payment service providers (PSPs) must work with a partner that understands local payment culture, preferences and e-commerce conditions. These preferences can be different across merchant industries, basket sizes, and consumer demographics.

And while we’re well into the pandemic, with new variants emerging, we are just at the beginning of a digital payments revolution.

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The post A look back at 2021: The year after 2020’s e-commerce boom appeared first on e27.

Startups in Philippines could raise US$2B over the next 3 years
There’s now a clear direction of how the startup community will continue to progress, according to a report by Gobi-Core Philippines Fund; This includes the country’s new wave of technopreneurs, the preference for camels over unicorns, and the rise of the entertainment and crypto sectors.

Iris Capital Partners announces US$38M venture debt fund to back high-impact startups in Malaysia
Iris Capital Partners brings in funds that will be matched on a 1:1 basis with government-backed Penjana Kapital; The primary beneficiaries of venture debt funds are early-stage startups with validated business models and clear market growth opportunities.

Singapore’s SME services platform Sleek adds US$11M more to Series A round
EDBI and existing investors participated; Sleek automates and integrates company registration, financial and regulatory reporting, bookkeeping, and banking services; In November, Sleek raised US$14M funding co-led by Jungle Ventures and White Star Capital.

Malaysia’s Kenanga invests US$7M in CapBay’s P2P Islamic financing platform
The investment will help CapBay grow its Shariah-compliant supply chain finance arm CapBay Islamic; Last year, CapBay acquired a 49 per cent stake in Kenanga’s unit KCI to create an Islamic supply chain finance fintech unit.

Blockchain-powered trade finance network Contour adds US$4.9M to its Series A kitty
Investors are INTEC Group, Citi Ventures and Bangkok Bank; Singapore-based Contour applies enterprise blockchain tech to unite buyers, suppliers and banks on a decentralised digital trade finance platform.

Animoca Brands invests in Fantico, a startup creating its own metaverse
Fantico is a digital collectible platform catering to celebrated movies, artists, musicians, and sports for the Indian market; VistaVerse consists of virtual land, blockchain games, curated and user-generated experiences, and an NFT marketplace.

Sea to help Indonesian govt. bank BNI enter digibank space
Slamet Edy Purnomo, OJK’s deputy commissioner for banking supervision III, said that Sea Group will contribute “a small portion” to BNI’s acquisition of the bank; Aside from this tie-up, Sea Group had acquired another bank called Bank Kesejahteraan Ekonomi and turned it into SeaBank.

Grab, Gojek, others get low scores on the fair work index in IDN: report
A Fairwork Foundation report said these ride-hailing firms have failed to deliver on the promise of offering fair pay to their gig workers; This comes despite the government’s attempt to ensure fair competition by setting up a minimum per-kilometer fare according to operational region.

Shopee partners taxi operator Blue Bird to launch taxi service in Indonesia
Before this partnership, Shopee and Blue Bird had worked together on several fronts: The taxi firm allows its users to use ShopeePay to conduct transactions in its MyBluebird app; Also, Shopee’s users could use Blue Bird’s logistics service as one of the delivery methods on the app.

UK-based investor Granite Oak plans SEA-focused fund in H2 2022
The VC firm, which manages US$250M of capital, is an investor in Vietnam’s F88, Kumu, Sunday and Lomotif; The SEA-focused fund will have a corpus in the double-digit million USD range.

Line is lining up an NFT service for next year
It will launch NFT service next year via its new organisation LineNext to provide the marketplace for companies and individuals to trade NFTs globally, excluding Japan; Line is separately operating its NFT market beta version through Line Bitmax wallet that is fit for the Japanese market.

Japanese IT firm NEC Corporation launches US$150M VC fund
The fund will focus on investing in areas like 5G and 6G communication, digital government, digital finance, smart cities, healthcare and life sciences, and carbon neutrality; It will invest in firms across Asia, Israel, the US, and Europe.

What Choco Up wants you to know about running a revenue-based financing platform in Asia
Choco Up combines the use of technology and human touch in supporting the startup ecosystem; Find out how they do it.

Why the Australian Fashion Council is helping startups enter the metaverse
From Burberry and Dolce & Gabbana to Nike, major fashion brands in recent months have been embracing NFTs; Now, small Australian businesses will be given support to explore virtual fashion, thanks to a new FashTech Lab programme from the Australian Fashion Council.

A look back at 2021: The year after 2020’s e-commerce boom
People continue to shop online but now expect slicker digital experiences, frictionless checkout, and speedy delivery. These new habits have taken root, and consumers are more demanding than ever.

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One of the major events that happened in 2021 was the COP26, held in Glasgow, Scotland, in late October. In this event, as explained by the World Resources Institute (WRI), country representatives came with the goal to develop guidance on the collective assessment of progress towards the Global Goal on Adaptation (GGA), a key component of the Paris Agreement that aims to strengthen resilience and reduce vulnerability to climate impacts.

Ever since then, decarbonisation becomes one of the hottest topics of the year as stakeholders debated, reviewed, and figured out new ways to cut down carbon emissions to zero.

This update is a call for various stakeholders –including the business sector– to make changes in the way they operate by putting the environment at the forefront of every decision-making process.

But how do businesses, particularly those in age-old industries such as iron and steel, implement change after decades of operating in the same way? What does it take for the younger generation of businesspeople to break the cycle and bring innovation to a family dynasty? What lessons can the startup ecosystem learn from it?

In this interview, e27 speaks to Kimin Tanoto, Founder and CEO of Gunung Capital and heir to the Tanoto business dynasty, and Kelvin Fu, Managing Partner of Gunung Capital, to understand their vision in bringing the environment to the forefront of business decisions.

Singapore-based Gunung Capital is a private investment management company focussing on impact investments guided by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) frameworks. Through this interview, we also aim to understand more about their work and how they aim to balance between profit and sustainability.

Also Read: COVID-19, the environment, and the tech ecosystem: what opportunity is available out there for us?

Breaking the cycle

For generations, the Tanoto family has been known for its business acumen in the steel and cement industry. Ever since an early age, Kimin Tanoto has been prepared to enter the business world itself.

Fast forward to 2018, after founding and running his own businesses, he returned to the family business to take over its leadership. He began to serve on the Board of Commissioners for PT Gunung Raja Paksi Tbk. During his time, he successfully brought the company to get listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange in 2019.

“I stepped into the company about three years ago. So I wasn’t expecting to take over the company because I was the second son. Usually, in a very traditional Asian family, we expect the oldest son to take over the family business,” the Cornell University graduate explains.

The success in transforming the business into a new era did not come easily for him. As the second generation of his family, Tanoto has his own views on what a good business should be –and it is not always in line with what the older generation has been running all these years. So he introduced change management to modernise the operations.

“You have long-serving employees and partners here and there; a lot of them also has family ties. So, it was a delicate situation to mitigate, but I think we were quite successful in doing that. The first thing I did was to get all the stakeholders to buy into the idea of change management,” Tanoto explains.

“We talked about using the digital technology to using professionals to ensure transparency. We got the buy-in, and we managed to convince over 90 per cent,” he continues.

Under all-professional management, all decision-making process has to go through a process where individuals have to present ideas and get the buy-in from the professionals, leading to a drastic cultural change. Tanoto also includes heavier use of technology in the process, particularly data analytics.

“People don’t want to change; change is difficult. But the more difficult it is, usually the more profitable the solution,” he stresses.

Also Read: How consumers are prioritising sustainability beyond the single lens of eco-friendly products

In addition to changes in operations and business processes, Tanoto also introduced a new philosophy that brings the environment to the forefront of the company’s decision-making. When asked about how an age-old industry can balance sustainability and profit-making, Tanoto answers by pointing out the differences between the generations –and the challenges that each of them faced.

“In the left lane, we have young environmentalists such as Greta Thunberg, and the Millennial generation, who expect things to get done –and expect it to get done right now. On the other end of the spectrum, there is a generation that is more slow-moving, because they have spent decades trying to build a power plant and cannot just throw it away. Right? It’s 100 years of hard work,” he elaborates. “So I read this in an article [and I want to emphasise it]: Don’t let perfection be the enemy of good.”

This is why, in his approach, Tanoto believes in finding a middle ground and working from there.

“Right now, everything is moving. The environmentalists are pushing an agenda that the older generation cannot accept because they have the responsibility to stakeholders and their bank loans, they cannot just shut things down. So, how do you balance things out?”

Also Read: Fixing food waste problem means less hungry people and a great economy

Investing for the future

Previously, as the Managing Partner of Gunung Capital, Kelvin Fu has published his opinion on e27 about the importance for corporates and investors to embrace sustainability.

“If we look at the Paris Agreement, Articles Six, which is to decarbonise the world industry and to reduce carbon emission … the amount of CapEx required to fix this issue is massive. Just look at the steel industry alone or power plants. We are talking about a massive amount of investment, possibly three to 10 times the equity value of the company,” Fu says. “But we have to do it because our environment is dying.”

“On top of that, the government will love this because it will begin to create revenue from the tax if there is more investment to improve energy efficiency, carbon extraction, and new technology to make steel,” he continues. “And rightfully so, because 20 to 35 per cent of the world’s carbon emission comes from power generation coal, cement, and steel.”

To support this transition, Gunung Capital is looking at investing in these two broad categories: helping businesses transition into a low carbon future (that may involve a suite of technology practices) and decarbonisation technologies.

“We would love to work with startups in the region that can help us to improve the way we make steel and decarbonise. But the reality is, most of the startups within the space is currently based in the West, especially in Europe and the US,” Fu says, stressing that the firm is open to working with Asia-based startups in the sector.

Fu also stresses that the firm puts emphasis on the quality –instead of the quantity– of the projects that they are working on. This means, if they can put all their investments into just one project with strong potential, then it is the approach that they are taking.

“I am one of those people who think that diversification is overrated,” he says.

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Image Credit: Gunung Capital

The post How Gunung Capital CEO puts sustainability agenda at the forefront of an age-old industry appeared first on e27.