Ficus Asia raises US$10M from Alibaba’s eWTP Technology and Innovation Fund

The story: Dealstreet Asia reported that Vietnam-based retail firm Ficus Asia has raised US$10 million from Alibaba’s eWTP Technology and Innovation Fund after it has invested US$50 million into the company last year. Both investments were made via ReDefine Capital Fund; it has made Alibaba the second-largest shareholder in the firm.

The company: Founded by Mobile World veteran Dinh Anh Huan, Ficus Asia has businesses in the retail, logistics, and tech sectors. It is the parent company of Seedcom, which is, in turn, the parent company of various lifestyle and F&B companies in the country.

Singapore-based ProfilePrint shortlisted into FoodBytes! Pitch 2021

The story: FoodBytes! Pitch 2021, an annual agritech and foodtech startup programme held annually by Rabobank, has named the 45 finalists of their programme. The list included 12 startups based in Asia Pacific with ProfilePrint being the only Southeast Asian startup in it.

The company: Based in Singapore, ProfilePrint is an Artificial Intelligence-powered food ingredient analysis software.

The programme: According to a press statement, the top 45 startups globally will now participate in a two weeks virtual mentoring programme and one-on-one meetings with corporate leaders and investors. They will also be pitching their solutions to Rabobank and other corporate and investor members who will choose 15 finalists to participate in a live-streamed public pitch competition on November 8-10, where the ultimate winner in each of the three sectors –Consumer Food Beverage (CPG), foodtech, and agritech– will be decided.

Also Read: Legit Group raises US$3M seed funding to further expand cloud kitchen business

Report: Singapore tops the list of countries with great interest in NFTs

The story: Blockchain Centre announced that based on Google Trends platform data analysis, global interest in NFTs jumped by 426 per cent in August. The interest in Google queries for the phrase “how to buy NFT” on August 1 was 19 but jumped to 100 by the end of the month.

The research also revealed that Singapore is the country most interested in digital assets, with a score of 100 in August 2021. It is followed by Australia (score of 86) and Nigeria (score of 70).

The implication: According to Blockchain Centre CEO Tadas Maurukas in a press statement, “Even though we see huge growth in popularity, NFTs are still unknown to the majority of the population. Investors see this as a massive opportunity for early adopters, as profits could be exceedingly high when these digital assets go mainstream.”

The non-fungible tokens (NFTs) market is exploding in popularity. Prior to 2021, only a small group of investors saw the potential for significant earnings in NFTs. Yet, the course of the market took a massive turn at the start of the year, and it does not seem to be slowing down anytime soon.

Flash Express, AIF Group Laos team up to launch Flash Laos

The story: Thai unicorn Flash Express and AIF Group Laos announced a partnership to launch the full-service logistics platform Flash Laos. According to a press statement, customers will be able to deliver parcels between Thailand and Vientiane Capital to support the growth of e-commerce industry and the economy of the two countries.

The details: The cooperation between will have two main parts: the first part is the launch of Flash Laos which will provide logistic service from Thailand to Vientiane, and the second part is a key cooperation of both companies, expanding the service to cover all areas of Laos. The second part of the partnership will be launched in November.

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So much has been said and written about the vast potential of Malaysia’s startup ecosystem –and for all the right reasons.

Within ASEAN, Malaysia was one of the first countries to invest in the digital economy with the establishment of multiple government agencies, seeding policies, industry blueprints and development acceleration programs.

Coupled with its multicultural society, ease of adoption in digital economy services and a well-exposed middle class, the nation has always been a prime destination for Asian and MNC organisations to expand their business footprints.

Microsoft, Intel, NTT, Dell and Sony for example have all established Line-Of-Business hubs in Malaysia.

And yet, it seems that Malaysia has been lagging behind in technology investments in recent years. In 2019-2020 a mere US$362 million was invested in Malaysian startups –-a number dwarfed by Indonesia’s US$5.63 billion and Singapore’s US$1.47 billion.

Neighbouring countries, Thailand and Vietnam, with lesser ICT investments in the past, attracted significantly more venture and growth capital in the same period.

More troubling is how many venture investors seem to view Malaysia as an opportunistic investment market rather than a key focus of their investment mandate.

It is also the case that until very recently, Malaysia has found laying claim to having its own “unicorn”, a privately owned startup whose investment valuation is in excess of US$1 billion, to be elusive in comparison to ASEAN neighbours Indonesia, Singapore and Vietnam.

“Unicorn” badging brings all-around confidence (perhaps part hubris) to budding tech ecosystems, and the resultant halo-effect drives further distance in the funding disparities in these markets.

Malaysian tech startup founders also have a tendency to be Malaysia market self-sufficient –reflected as “timid” and “lacking boldness” in their expansion plans to non-Malaysian investors. Often, their initial focus on rooting in Malaysia’s 32.7 million population becomes a permanent preoccupation.

Also Read: Everything from soup to nuts: Meet the 27 ghost kitchen startups in Southeast Asia

The Malaysian market, whilst of decent size by traditional measures, cannot fully realise the potential of the digital economy era in drawing the hub-spoke power of various Cloud, SAAS and Platform services available –as compared to the captive build of US$1 billion businesses for Indonesia startups’ 266.6 million, 16,000-island playground, or the scaling mindset of Singaporean founders who aim to go regional, if not global from Day 1.

All that said, we have witnessed green shoots in the last few months.  Bright spots have dotted the Malaysian startup landscape: Fave’s US$45 million acquisition by Pine Labs, Carsome’s recent entry into unicorn status, Aerodyne’s global leadership in the drone space, AirAsia’s super app plans kicking into high gear and of course, Grab – a Malaysian born and incubated startup listing on a SPAC to a value US$40 billion.

Malaysia’s tech ecosystem is finally coming of age, and this is the moment to unlock Malaysia’s underrated, untapped and unknown unicorns-in-making.

Underrated

For all the concerns about the ability of the Malaysian ecosystem to create winning companies, Malaysian startups have shown the highest investment to return ratio in the region – more than double that of Singapore, and nearly 10x more than its neighbours down south in Indonesia.

Perhaps a byproduct of being handicapped in raising foreign funds and expanding regionally, Malaysian startups seem to have found ways to develop businesses with good business models with a focus on profitability.

Malaysian founders have demonstrated their resourcefulness in leveraging corporate partnerships beyond POC projects, and as well lobbied for government support grants and other benefits to sustainably grow their businesses and exosystem. It would seem that this approach has yielded benefits during liquidity events.

Furthermore, local startups have access to a diverse and skilled talent pool. A result of years of development in the ecosystem thanks to entities such as MaGIC, Cradle and MDEC.

With COVID-19 testing, the best of founders, the years of development work by these entities will now bear fruit as the Malaysian founders demonstrate their mettle in more equitable environments compared to their regional counterparts.

Untapped

In the eyes of many investors, Malaysia’s ecosystem is indeed a diamond in the rough-chock full of ideas and potential and awaiting the right and timely stimulus to be the birthplace of thousands of successful startups.

Also Read: Revolutionising the food industry with Malaysia’s StixFresh

Beyond financial investment, the key to unlocking this potential is matching timely guidance at the various stages of funding to ensure that their startups are investor-mindset ready. Targeted coaching with regional and global mindsets will provide these startups with a good footing when branching out beyond Malaysian shores.

Malaysian startups need a strong go-to-market ethos, with a focus on scaling their models beyond the founding market borders.

Many follow-on investors look to Malaysian startups who have successfully proven that they can build a business in another market as a signal of viability and invest-ability. The need to go regional from the moment of inception is non-negotiable.

Finally, corporate Malaysia needs to play its part in supporting the startup ecosystem. It is one thing for the government to catalyze growth through grants, tax breaks and other benefits but in the long run, corporations must play a role in creating an environment for startups to develop long term collaborations that could lead to investments or acquisitions.

It is encouraging to see companies such as Sunway Group, Petronas, Axiata and AirAsia be active in the startup space but more corporates should follow suit.

Unknown

There are thousands of Malaysian founders who are building profitable technology companies in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Johor Bahru, Kuching and other cities. Official startup estimates state that there are 3,000 startups in Malaysia however the number can be significantly higher.

Many of these companies are structured as small-medium enterprises that use technology to reach their audience. It is unfortunate that these companies don’t rise to prominence but this is the opportunity for Malaysia – to turn these companies into high growth venture-backed startups that can grow regionally and beyond.

Malaysian founders, too, should do their part. They need to shake off their mild-mannered personalities and communicate their beyond-horizon growth plans when speaking to regional partners and investors.

In many cases when they do, they achieve breakout success such as the likes of Tony Fernandes, Patrick Grove, Anthony Tan, Joel Neoh, Eric Cheng and Kamarul Muhamed. Malaysian founders will be perceived as good as how they perceive themselves.

In fact, the most recent Global Entrepreneurship Index (GEI) produced by the Global Entrepreneurship and Development Institute (GEDI) in 2019, which aims to provide a holistic assessment of the entrepreneurial foundation of countries and allow for normalized comparisons, shows Malaysia in a promising light.

Amongst its regional peers, Malaysia scores the second highest at 40.1, behind Singapore (52.4) and ahead of Thailand with a corresponding score of 33.5.

Unlocking Malaysia’s potential

We believe that the recent round of promising news from the ecosystem is not just a random occurrence but rather the beginning of the emergence of Malaysia as a startup heavyweight in ASEAN.

It is the culmination of years of investment by the government, returning entrepreneurs, industry veterans and investors. This is the moment to double down.

To ensure that the Malaysian ecosystem maintains this trajectory, intervention is required to ensure that ascendant startups have the right perspective and focus to achieve meaningful growth. With strategic capital, coaching and effective go to market strategies we believe we can uncover gems in this ascendant ecosystem.

And this provided the impetus for Quest Ventures and ScaleUp Malaysia to come together in 2020 – the first significant investment program by an international VC into Malaysia.  We have made a concerted effort over the last year to focus on grooming and developing startups in Malaysia, leveraging the experience of both teams and their ecosystems.

Also Read: Building Malaysia’s fintech ecosystem

Quest Venture’s involvement in ScaleUp Malaysia’s programme brought not only foreign direct investment into the companies in ScaleUp Malaysia’s sophomore cohort but also served as a catalyst for a shift in the mindset of participating founders.

Companies were coached in the program on multiple and concurrent market access, pricing strategies and best practices when speaking to investors.

Accessing a regional network of businesses, investors and partners in ASEAN, China, India and Central Asia has provided many opportunities for collaboration and has forced our entrepreneurs to benchmark themselves on a global stage instead of simply being local heroes.

As we emerge from the pandemic and the economic morass it has wrought on the global economy, Malaysian startups have an opportunity to lead from the front. ScaleUp Malaysia and Quest Ventures aim to continue to be the port of call for startups in Malaysia who want to become breakout success stories.

As Cohort 3 begins, we aim to build on the strong foundation we started in Cohort 2 – with a laser focus on finding Malaysia’s next big success story. We welcome you to join us on this journey!

This is the moment for Malaysia’s startups to be unleashed.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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When we entered the year 2021, the Southeast Asian (SEA) tech startup ecosystem and surrounding areas were all about facing the aftermath of the pandemic. There was an air of determination as businesses prepared to seize opportunities in a post-pandemic society. There was also excitement over major plans such as IPOs of leading unicorns in the region.

Fast-forward to September. As we are closing into the last quarter of the year, we learn that there are both reasons to be optimistic and cautious. We see some startups continuing to secure funding rounds; we even see new unicorns popping up in the region. The IPOs are finally happening.

But 2021 is still a year like no other. As the pandemic continues to rage on, both founders and investors found themselves finding the same challenges over and over again, leading us to ask the bigger questions: How do investors view the startup ecosystem in this time and age? What are the trends that they are able to note? What kind of opportunities are there to pursue?

e27 reaches out to global investors in our e27 Pro network to understand their views and insights about the matter.

The startups we see

Early in the pandemic, there were several verticals that gained popularity as demands for their services increased with the implementation of lockdown measures in many countries. Healthcare and e-commerce came up on top of this list; this trend also continued throughout the first half of 2021.

“There are still gaps between demand and supply in certain sectors such as health care. If you look at the number of patients per doctor ratio, or if you look at the number of the bed-patient ratio, it is still way behind [when compared to developed markets].  There is a way to solve these problems by reallocating the healthcare resource or increase the productivity by using digital solutions,” says Ryu Hirota, Partner at Spiral Ventures, in a call with e27.

He also stresses that this is a trend that we can expect to remain popular in the latter half of the year.

Also Read: Why BNPL will change the payment landscape in Vietnam?

As investors become warier about the sustainability aspect of a startup’s business, they also begin to see increased popularity in sectors such as enterprise solutions or B2B. This is particularly true in smaller markets such as Taiwan.

“Investors want to invest more in the B2B sectors. Because in Taiwan market, it can be quite hard for B2C companies to gain volume when they are only focussing on the local market,” says Brandon Chiang, Executive Vice President at Cornerstone Ventures.

He also added that from the marketing aspect, B2B services tend to be easier to promote compared to the B2C one.

With the pandemic situation, there have to be some changes in the way founders and investors find each other. Previously, they counted on serendipitous meetings at tech conferences and similar events to build their networks. But this year, they have to rely on online channels such as the Connect feature, available exclusively for e27 Pro members.

For Hirota, while the firm has not followed the connections it makes over Connect with an investment, the feature has become a reliable tool to meet new people.

“For first-time founders, they may not have access to investors so naturally, they go to platforms such as e27 or government initiatives such as Enterprise SG,” he says. “We would be happy to follow up with them for the Series A funding rounds.”

For Samuel Santoso, Analyst at Cornerstone Ventures, it has enabled the firm to make connections in markets that they do not usually pursue.

“We have seen a lot of startups from the Philippines that have shown great potential,” he noted.

How IPOs change the tide

Last year, as the pandemic began to take its stronghold in the region, there were concerns about early stage funding rounds. Startups may struggle to raise seed funding rounds as investors become more careful, looking for certain options.

Hirota acknowledges that the situation with the pandemic can be harder for companies that have never raised any funding. This is because the networking that they manage to secure with their angel or seed funding round will help them get introduced to a network of later stage investors.

“Those VCs can help companies by making warm introductions to later stage investors,” he says.

Also Read: Angel Investors: leading the charge for startup growth in Thailand

But despite this known challenge, there are also factors that encourage early stage companies to continue to form. One of them being the startup IPOs that have happened this year in SEA and other Asian countries. For example, in Taiwan alone, there were three IPOs by far with more expected to come.

“They have encouraged young students, entrepreneurs who are trying to involve themselves in the tech industry,” says Chiang. He also added that these IPOs have even inspired sea turtles –young professionals that have studied and worked abroad– to return and build companies in their home country.

The impact of having a notable IPO is also noted by Hirota. He points out that the recent groundbreaking IPO by Indonesian unicorn Bukalapak has triggered greater interest from Japanese investors in the Southeast Asian market.

“The frequently asked questions by Japanese investors have always been about liquidity or ways to exit in SEA,” he elaborates. “There has been M&As and IPOs of Sea Group in NASDAQ and Razer in Hong Kong … but there have always been questions about liquidity in SEA for SEA. But now we can finally answer this question.”

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Ready to start fundraising? Start building your investor network! Use our Connect feature to directly connect, engage, and speak with the most active investors in the region. Connect is exclusive for e27 Pro members, but you can try it out for free. Head over here to start connecting.

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Telkom Indonesia announces rebrand of its startup incubation programme

The story: Indigo Creative Nation, a long-running startup incubator programme by state-owned telco Telkom Indonesia, announced that it has rebranded into Indigo. The rebrand is also applicable to its other business lines, including:

– Creative centre Digital Valley is being rebranded into IndigoHub
– Creative camp programme Digital Innovation Lounge (DILo) is being rebranded into IndigoSpace

The company also announced the launch of IndigoConnect, a networking platform for startup enthusiast, and Indigo Academy, an online learning platform for Indigo Connect members.

It is also changing its startup batch intake mechanism. Opening application twice a year, Indigo will require selected startups to take part in a bootcamp to improve the quality of its business plan.

The company: Founded in 2009, Indigo startup out as an award event for creative entrepreneurs in Indonesia before transforming into a startup incubation and acceleration programme in 2013.

Indian logistics startup COGOS raises US$2M in Pre-Series A funding round

The funding: Bangalore-based enterprise logistics company COGOS Technologies announced a total of US$2 million in Pre-Series A funding led by Dubai-based global shipping and logistics player Transworld Group and New York-based deep tech fund Worldquant Ventures and more. With this investment, Ritesh S. Ramakrishnan of Transworld Group will be joining the COGOS board.

The plan: COGOS plans to expand its business to the internal market and further strengthen and develop its technology platform. It aims to further upgrade its model and expand the business both in India and overseas. The logistic startup envisions itself as a city logistic leader and sets golden standards for the industry.

The company: COGOS is an AI-led Logistics platform coupled with mobile and control tower capabilities. It is operating in 300 cities in India and claims to expand rapidly. The startup was founded in 2016 by serial entrepreneurs Prasad Sreeram and Dr Rama Mohan Katta with decades of experience in logistics, technology, scaling and global operations.

Also Read: Telkomsel injects US$300M more into Gojek to further grow Indonesia’s digital lifestyle sector

Jeff App raises US$1.5M extension for seed funding to expand to SEA

The funding: Latvian fintech startup Jeff App closed a US$1.5 million seed extension round led by J12 Ventures, bringing its total amount raised to US$2.5 million. iSeed Ventures and Toy Ventures joined the round, alongside existing investors EstBAN, Startup Wise Guys and other angels.

The plan: The funds will be used to scale its team from 15 to more than 40 employees. The larger team will support faster new market expansion, growth in B2B sales and partnerships, and offline services.

The company stated that its license to operate in Indonesia is underway, with a stretch goal to be completed by the end of 2021. Operations in the Philippines are expected to begin in Q3 2021.

The company: Jeff App is a data-enabled loan brokerage platform for the unbanked and underbanked in South and Southeast Asia. It uses alternative data such as smartphone metadata and behavioural patterns, as well as a chatbot to support its mission of promoting financial inclusion for the one billion unbanked in Asia.

Founded at the end of 2019 in Riga, Jeff App started operations in 2020 in its first market of Vietnam, where it has already served more than 300 thousand customers. The startup has raised US$3 million to date.

Green Bitcoin miner CCU commences trading on TSXV

The story: Canada-based green Bitcoin miner Canada Computational Unlimited (CCU) announced that it has been approved for trading on the TSX Venture Exchange (TSXV) at the opening of the market day as of September 7, 2021 (local time) under the stock symbol SATO.

The company: CCU.ai operates a high-grade, carbon-neutral bitcoin mining centre with a contract of 20 MW of stable, eco-friendly energy. The company’s high-density calculation centres are built for high-grade cryptocurrency mining, AI data processing, and fintech infrastructure.

Created in 2017, it aims to pursued a vision of environmental stewardship throughout the cryptocurrency mining process to increase performance throughout the mining process.

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Image Credit: Indigo

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Three tech companies. Three solutions. One winner.

On Climatic Startup Showdown, breakout tech companies pitch their solutions to the world’s toughest venture capitalists – and find out if they have what it takes to get to the next level and transform the Asia Pacific construction industry.

Also read: Harnessing sustainable technology to build a resilient future with IPI

The Startup Showdown contestants are:

Caidio, an award-winning construction technology startup from Finland with direct development and sales operations in China. Caidio develops AI-powered products for improving quality, decreasing waste, and reducing CO2 in concrete production.

viAct, the Hong-Kong based provider of an AI-powered computer vision solution that automates monitoring to increase productivity and safety and reduce delays on construction sites.

WaveScan, a Singapore-based deep-tech startup specializing in see-through scanner technology and advanced AI algorithms for high-resolution structural inspections. WaveScan’s solution integrates into autonomous vehicles, such as drones, and provides end-to-end AI-enabled asset inspection, addressing the specific needs of the built environment sector.

Watch the startups showdown in the video above or click this link to watch it in another browser.

The Climatic video series focusses on the innovators decarbonising the Asia-Pacific region’s construction industry and the industry leaders partnering with them to scale.

Want your startup to join Climatic? Apply today

Disclosure: This is video distributed by e27 sponsored by ADB Ventures.

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Singapore-headquartered video games developer Virtuos has secured US$150 million in new financing from the funds affiliated with Asian private equity firm Baring Private Equity Asia (BPEA), with participation from existing investor 3D Capital Partners.

According to a press statement, the deal makes BPEA the largest external shareholder in Virtuos. 

Virtuos will continue to operate under CEO Gilles Langourieux. Together with the rest of the management team, he still owns over 70 per cent of the company’s shares.

The company will use the funds to accelerate growth and finance its buy-and-build strategy across global markets with strategic partnerships and acquisitions. The deal will also improve its digital platform and digitalise its studio network, improving productivity, innovation and games delivered.  

“The acquisition and establishment of new studios will allow us to expand our global footprint and offerings, enabling us better to meet the needs of our network of partners and leading publishers worldwide,” said Virtuos CFO Jasmine Cheong.

Also read: Mobile, e-sports, live streaming shaping SEA’s gaming startup landscape in 2021

Since its inception in 2004, Virtuos has developed predominantly with art production and game development services for AAA consoles (AAA are types of games produced and distributed by mid-sized or major publishers), PCs and mobile handsets. 

Its most successful titles are Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty, Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age, Horizon Zero Dawn, League of Legends, NBA 2K18, and Shadow of The Tomb Raider.

With over 2,300 employees, Virtuos has delivered integrated end-to-end game development solutions for game franchises in 13 locations across Asia, North America, and Europe.

The company boasts that it works with 18 of the world’s top 20 digital entertainment companies, such as Activision Blizzard, Bandai Namco, Take Two Interactive, and Ubisoft.

Virtuos has also contributed art services to the film industry’s blockbuster franchises such as Black Panther, Jurassic World, The Avengers, and Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

“As the gaming industry and the demand for its content continue to proliferate, Virtuos will also grow as one of the largest entertainment content creators worldwide,” said CEO Langourieux. 

Fundraising in the video game industry continued at a record level in the second quarter of 2021 with US$18.2 billion of M&A, and another US$7.4 billion in investments, according to DDM Game Investment Review. 

The total funds pumped into the gaming sector in the first two quarters of 2021 is already double the amount invested in all of 2020.

Forbes reported that the game industry has flourished during the pandemic in multiple sectors with a boom in virtual-reality gaming, the launch of new consoles from Microsoft and Sony, and the inception of cloud-based gaming services.

Also read: These Artificial Intelligence startups are proving to be industry game-changers

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Image credit: Virtuos

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Here’s a glimpse into our automobiles’ future. Electric vehicles (EVs), once regarded as a lifestyle item, have now come full circle to be considered essential in Singapore’s 2030 Green Plan, a nationwide initiative to advance the country’s national agenda on sustainable development.

The adoption of EVs pushes for a greener, cleaner, emissions-free future. 

Why are EVs so important?

Environment

By opting for an EV, you are assisting in reducing hazardous air pollution caused by exhaust emissions. When an EV is charged from the grid, it produces greenhouse gas emissions, much lower than the usual carbon emissions from a diesel-powered vehicle.

Minimising carbon emissions cleans up our environment and makes resource and energy conservation the new normal.

Health

Reduced hazardous exhaust emissions are beneficial to our health. Better air quality will result in fewer health problems and pollution-related costs. Electric vehicles are also quieter than gasoline and diesel vehicles, resulting in reduced noise pollution.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: J&T Express in talks for US$1B with Tencent, Carsome bags US$200M, Play Ventures raises US$30M+ for new vehicle

Automakers’ 0pinions

It’s rare to see the industry leaders divide as radically as they have with electric vehicles in an industry as entrenched as the automobile industry. When it comes to the future of electric vehicles, however, the two largest firms, Toyota and the Volkswagen Group (VW) have taken diametrically opposing positions.

The Volkswagen Group has taken a hard line on electric vehicles, emphasising the need to adapt fast and effectively. Toyota, on the other hand, has consistently poured cold water on the future of electric vehicles.

Toyota remains investing in hybrid automobiles. However, unlike plug-in hybrids, regular hybrids cannot be charged and must rely on fossil fuels for electricity.

Obtaining public opinion

Motorist is an automotive platform headquartered in Singapore with over 115,000 app users, i.e. eight per cent of Singapore’s vehicle population. Through transparent transactional processes (buy, sell, insurance), personalised smart reminders and notifications, Motorist hopes to simplify car ownership for the masses.

Currently, eight in 10 users act upon a reminder, whether it’s time to renew their road tax or pay a traffic fine, has conducted a poll with close to 3,400 of their app users in Singapore regarding Singapore’s energy-saving strategy.

Over 73 per cent of users surveyed expressed interest in government attempts to promote the use of electric vehicles in a study done by the company.

Furthermore, over 65 per cent of respondents expressed an interest in adopting EVs after the S$5,000 minimum additional registration charge for EVs was eliminated in January 2022.

The poll also revealed that non-EV users were enthusiastic about moving to EVs, with 68.1 per cent of interested respondents. At the same time, the remainder expressed reservations due to pricing, range, and the bother of charging EVs but said they would keep EVs in mind in the future.

Transitioning too soon, whether as a producer or a consumer, has its drawbacks.

However, given what is at stake for both parties, people should promptly consider this shift. With what the future holds, it’s evident that the automotive industry is on the verge of seeing a level of technological upheaval that hasn’t been seen in decades.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

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Unlike most sectors, edutech has been booming over the past year amidst the pandemic, as many brick and mortar education and professional training institutions in the region are scrambling to digitise. The global edutech industry is currently valued at US$ 89.49 billion in 2020 and is expected to witness a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 19.9 per cent from 2021 to 2028.

This provides ample opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors to capitalise on the growing demand locally and globally and poses a few challenges to the industry.

As industry players continue to innovate to streamline online education, Knovo’s take on three issues that must be addressed to ensure learners can fully benefit from the digitisation of education.

Unfiltered education content and fragmented industry

As of January 2021, about 60 per cent of the global population is reported to have access to the internet via mobile devices, allowing them to access hundreds of edutech platforms and making it difficult for the average student or professional to figure out which education platform is right for them.

Therefore, data aggregation and adaptive learning technologies are important in edutech platforms to help filter education content on the internet.

The high influx of edutech providers has also resulted in the industry becoming more fragmented due to various learning management systems.

The key is to democratise access to quality education tools for students, professionals and educators, thereby driving inclusiveness in e-learning.

To illustrate, Knovo recognises the importance of data aggregation and the impact adaptive learning technologies have on a user’s learning journey.

Its Virtual Interactive Knowledge Exchange (VIKE) platform actively aggregates key players in the edutech industry. Its “one-stop” learning system allows users to tap into a repository of educational content and learning resources to learn synchronously or asynchronously.

As edutech allows ‘flipped learning’ where learners can consume materials offline at their own pace, Knovo addresses the gaps in allowing students to reach out to connect with educators for validated learning and real-time interactions.

Also Read: VUIHOC gets funding from Do Ventures to provide primary school education through animation, gamification

This mode allows a recurring bond between the educators, enterprises, and learners while giving the recognition and exposure for the educators and institutions to connect with new learners globally, outside of their own market or learner base.

This creates an “edu-social” experience between students and educators, giving them flexible learning modes and technology-based features to deliver adaptive digital education content.

Knovo focusses on ‘right’ educator and supply of quality educators

With unfiltered education content comes the challenge of finding the ‘right’ educator. From firsthand experience, the right tutor could change a person’s life as it did for me.

Shadow education is deemed necessary, especially in Asian countries, as most parents believe that an investment in education will pay the best dividends in the years to come.

From a score of F to an A in Mathematics, my experience with an amazing tutor changed my life and was fundamental in earning a good degree and opening up many career options.

With the heightened restrictions and lockdowns implemented worldwide, we recognise that not many have the financial capacity or equal access to quality education. This is where Knovo’s solutions come in.

In collaboration with Singapore Brand Educators and centres, we facilitate access to quality education for underserved communities, making online learning and teaching easier through end-to-end solutions, from class booking, scheduling, virtual learning delivery tools and payment solutions for both learners and educators, all in one.

Our primary goal is to digitally connect qualified educators to learners from all over the world so that those who desire to learn can access quality education without breaking the bank.

Gaps in quality workforce

The reality is that even in this day and age, not many have access to quality education, especially in developing countries. The gaps in the quality of the workforce can directly impact standards of living, business decisions, and the economic growth of countries. These issues derive from lower education standards and have an impact on the way people think and act.

At the K-12 level, where more supervision is needed, the future of education will likely move towards a blended learning model. In tertiary and vocational education, there will be a need for more flexible learning modes to help students acquire the skills they need for jobs or provide them with the opportunity to reskill and upskill at ease.

Hence, as automation and technology transform the labour market, more emphasis will be placed on developing skills that cannot be easily automated, resulting in requirements to be retrained multiple times during their career.

Therefore, I see a rise in AI-powered training suites for enterprises to manage content for such training and drive acceleration in reskilling and upskilling over a longer term.

Also Read: How edutech startups can accelerate active learning

In that vein, the tertiary education spectrum can benefit greatly from blockchain, which provides easy records of students’ educational qualifications or admission details.

This will transform the record-keeping of certificates as well as student credentials in learning institutions and issuing credentials. While many appreciate blockchain as ‘that thing that makes bitcoin work’, there are far more applications for it.

Being secure, decentralised ledgers, blockchains can be applied in many fields, including healthcare and education. I think this is an area that edutech could look at adopting to achieve its full potential.

Our internship programmes for local tertiary and university students allow them to work on real software development projects and understand more about the tech industry and career paths through our extensive database of live instructors and industry experts.

Such courses are targeted towards industry-relevant skills required for jobs and provide lifelong learners with the opportunity to upskill or re-skill through industry-based programmes.

With more initiatives from other edutech providers, we would support a steady pipeline of industry-relevant talent and further establish Singapore as a Global-Asia technology hub.

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Portcast, a Singapore-based AI-powered logistics startup, announced today that it has closed a US$3.2 million pre-Series A financing led by Imperial Venture Fund.

Imperial Venture is a US$20-million joint corporate VC vehicle between Newtown Partners and South African logistics company Imperial.

The round also saw participation from Wavemaker Partners, TMV, and Innoport, among others.

Portcast plans to use the new funding to press ahead with international expansion, double the team size and product enhancement, and move from predictive AI to prescriptive AI. The startup also plans to launch new product features such as order-level visibility and scenario planning.

Founded in 2018 by Nidhi Gupta, Portcast offers global freight forwarders and manufacturers an intuitive SaaS platform and APIs to accurately predict air and ocean cargo flows and forecast daily demand.

By leveraging proprietary machine learning algorithms and real-time external market data, Portcast helps its clients achieve real-time visibility, reduce operational costs and improve customer experience, thereby improving supply chain profitability.

The company claims to have predicted the estimated time of arrivals of more than 90 per cent of ships globally and forecasted demand for over 30,000 trade routes (both air and sea) daily.

Also read: Vietnam’s supply chain amid worst COVID-19 outbreak: How tech startups are getting along

According to Gupta, record delays, unprecedented congestion at ports, and constrained capacities have led to high transportation costs of the global supply chain. This translates into the end consumers’ loss and low service reliability.

“We believe that companies with predictive visibility on cargo movements have a significantly higher preparedness to downstream planning and customer service,” said Gupta. “The cloud-based technology has the ability to map out the cascading effects of disruptions such as Typhoon In-fa and the Suez Canal congestion, allowing forwarders and shippers to respond and react more effectively in such scenarios.”

Gupta added that the technology contributes to the reductions in overall port fees by 20 per cent and manual work by 80 per cent for our customers.

“Portcast has proven its technology not just in the long-haul routes, but also in multi-port voyages and emerging economies, which are harder to predict,” said Llew Claasen, managing partner at Newtown Partners. “We believe the technology has global replicability in automating logistics workflows and digitisation.”

Before the latest round, Portcast received US$758,000 seed funding from Wavemaker and SGInnovate.

COVID-19 has enabled the global supply chain to touch its inflexion point, which empowers real-time visibility and forecast capabilities. Gartner reports that 50 per cent of product-centric supply chains will invest in real-time transportation visibility platforms by 2023. 

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Image credit: Portcast

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Pasarnow, an Indonesia-based multi-channel e-groceries platform, has secured a US$3.3 million seed funding, led by East Ventures.

SMDV, Skystar Capital, Amand Ventures, Prasetia Dwidharma, and other angel investors also participated.

This funding will be used to expand Pasarnow’s regional coverage and strengthen its capability in the groceries supply chain and last-mile solutions.

Pasarnow seeks to expand into new cities, hire key talents, enhance its data and technological infrastructures, and develop micro warehouses called frontline mini hubs. As a complement to the current ten hubs across Greater Jakarta, the hubs are designed to enable instant delivery and provide the best last-mile fresh produce solutions to customers. They are located in densely populated areas and equipped with proper fresh and frozen products infrastructure.

“Currently, Pasarnow operates in Greater Jakarta and Bandung, with over 100 full-time employees and 200 daily workers and driver-partners,” said Donald Wono, CTO and co-founder of Pasarnow. “This funding round enables us to cater to more customers and further increase our tech capability.”

Also Read: Agritech ecosystem in Thailand: More than 60 per cent of startups have not raised external funding

Founded in 2019 by Wono, James Rijanto, and Cindy Ozzie, Pasarnow aims to streamline Indonesia’s complicated and layered fresh products supply chain and deliver quality food products to its customers through its multi-channel platform.

“Ensuring product freshness when it reaches the customers is supremely challenging. Food products like fruits, vegetables, and frozen meat are susceptible and perishable, requiring fast and temperature-controlled delivery, which causes expensive logistics costs,” said CEO Rijanto.

“That is why Pasarnow has been investing heavily in our technology and operational infrastructures to solve these issues. Furthermore, having a multi-channel platform helps us in achieving faster economies of scale and in creating greater efficiency in our operations,” he added.

Pasarnow applies a multi-channel ordering system in a single mobile application to provide a unique customer experience based on the channel segmentation: B2B and B2C.

Each channel has a different set of prices, promotions, and key features to meet customers’ specific needs. The operational back-end aggregates all the orders and develops a demand forecasting system that helps its 1,000-plus farmers and suppliers better plan and optimize their harvesting and delivery schedules. It enables Pasarnow to offer fresh and great quality products at fair-trade pricing to customers and minimize its wastages.

Indonesia’s grocery retail value is estimated at US$108 billion in 2019 with online grocery accounting for only less than one per cent of the total. Online grocery retail is projected to increase at around US$13 billion by 2025.

Also Read: Go-Ventures leads US$16M Series A in grocery social commerce startup Segari

With the vast opportunity driven by a shift in customer behaviour towards shopping groceries online due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pasarnow has expanded its operations to other cities, claims to have yielded a 400 per cent increase of B2C orders and doubled its monthly revenue.

East Ventures, co-founder and Managing Partner of Willson Cuaca, said, “The changing shopping behaviour of consumers due to the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about another challenge in the grocery industry. Customers demand fresh and high-quality produce daily amidst the complex grocery supply chain. Pasarnow comes to tackle the challenge, eliminating inefficiencies in the process through its data-driven business model.”

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Image credit: Pasarnow

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