Words of wisdom from founders

3 lessons from a founder who scaled his startup to 13 markets in five years by Kosuke Sogo, CEO and co-founder of AnyMind Group

As a company, we started in the advertising industry, but shortly after, expanded into influencer marketing and publisher ad monetisation.

In the past year, we expanded into the direct-to-consumer (D2C) space with products for cloud manufacturing, e-commerce enablement, and logistics management. We started with one product, but have expanded that to seven.

All this happened within a period of five years whilst scaling our operations from one market then to 13 markets today.

Throughout this time, there were various learnings for us, let me share three of them.

Entrepreneurship is at an all time high, but are you doing it right? by Julien Labruyere, co-founder and CEO, Sleek

Earlier, the government allocated S$8.3 billion to support Singapore’s Transformation and Growth Strategy, which included S$300 million for the Startup SG Equity co-investment scheme.

A strong appetite for entrepreneurship is encouraging and essential as it drives innovation and creates new opportunities for Singapore’s economic recovery.

But with so many startups unable to survive past the first year, building lasting success is easier said than done. Here are three best practices to bear in mind.

The key digital marketing tips to help small businesses thrive by David Fairfull, CEO, Metigy

Understanding online Asian markets is an important part of many digital marketing campaigns for an important reason. By the end of 2020, an estimated 989 million people had access to the internet in China, followed by 696 million people in India.

Those two countries alone make up 36 per cent of the total number of internet users in the world. When the rest of the Asian market is added, it becomes even clearer why understanding trends in these regions is so beneficial.

Here, we delve into the three digital and social media marketing trends for small-to-medium-sized businesses in Asia looking to get ahead of the curve.

The power of the fintech world

Fintech companies targeting the next billion users are living a pipe dream. Here’s why by Saurya Simha Velagapudi, Startup Consultant

When you’re addressing an incredibly diverse market such as the next billion, you have to find the common denominator that you can turn into a product– not culture, language or market size. It’s money.

However, fintech, in its most common form, digital payments, is a solution looking for a problem for the next billion. People like cash! There are significant societal problems that result from cash, but it is beneficial to many folks.

So, why are all these companies and governments still trying to push for it?

They see the population from the top-down. They see a world full of potential Chinas – a country where nearly 40 per cent of GDP flows with no visibility to the government at all. That terrifies many governments and they want a handle on it.

How NFT is bringing ownership of digital assets back to content creators by Kenneth Hu, CTO at Formosart.io

Moreover, today Instagram blocked your account, or the App Store removed your app, or even Facebook reduced its reach. You can report it to the platform but it does not mean your problem can be resolved, so the final decision is not in your hands.

A game player bought a virtual treasure in a certain game. This object appears to belong to the game player, but he cannot let the game player decide whether it can be used on other platforms. The reason is that the ownership of these digital assets does not belong to the individual creator or purchaser, but is dominated by various platforms.

However, NFT is a solution that allows the ownership to really return to the creator’s hands when creators can really decide whether to put their creativity on the platform or not.

Life in a pandemic

How COVID-19 was a blessing in disguise for these Vietnamese startups by Duyen Tran, PR at Loship

Consumer spending has plummeted, and even F&B and food delivery services have been suspended. The government is having a hard time dealing with a dilemma: how to keep the economy going while at the same time shutting it down to protect people from infection.

In face of adversity, that’s when the DNA of entrepreneurs comes into play. And the resurgence of COVID-19 is another opportunity for entrepreneurs to display their grit, tenacity, and flexibility to adapt to an evolving situation.

For some high-potential Vietnamese startups, this is not the time to stand still and just plan for survival.

How to ensure your digital transformation will serve your ROI by Jacob Davis, Revuze

Digital transformation, which focuses on staying relevant in the eyes of customers, gaining an edge on the competition, streamlining internal processes, reducing overhead costs, and improving ROI, is the new approach of utilising a novel or existing technology that can help to improve or create a process, product, or experience which yields potential business desirability.

Your main objective must be how to improve customer experience by using technologies such as AI, machine learning, analytics, and self-service. While doing this, you must be able to measure your ROI.

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Although we’re not quite yet at a cashless society, over the past few decades, banknotes and coins have become ever less important to the citizens of countries with advanced economies. Across large swathes of the globe, the ubiquity of credit cards and innovations like Apple Pay and GrabPay has made it easy to go weeks or even months without handling a physical currency bill.

Central bank digital currencies, or CBDCs, may move the world even further away from cash. Simply put, CBDCs are digital-only legal tender issued by one of the world’s central banks.

They’re secure, they have individual identifiers for tracking, and they stand to make the backend processing of money settlement more quick and more efficient.

Widespread interest

By January 2020, the Bank of International Settlements discovered, over 80 per cent of central banks had begun looking into CBDCs. In the Asia Pacific region, progress has been especially swift.

South Korea’s central bank has initiated a pilot programme that will run through the end of 2021, while this month the Monetary Authority of Singapore tested the international settlement capabilities of its digital currency.

Four major Chinese cities are participating in a CBDC pilot programme. As the breadth of interest in this new technology shows, CBDCs are a very big deal.

While CBDCs do not necessarily need to exist on a blockchain, there are countless advantages in doing so. For example, the decentralised nature of blockchain increases the security of the network, making CBDCs less susceptible to cyber attacks.

Climate-conscious innovation

However, blockchains (specifically “Proof-of-Work” blockchains like Bitcoin and Ethereum) have come under heavy scrutiny for their impact on the planet, largely as a result of the energy requirements necessary to run.

Bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies are “mined” by computer rigs seeking to meet the requirements of this “Proof-of-Work” algorithm.

Although bitcoin mining takes place in long lines of server racks, rather than in pits sunk deep into the earth, mining a bitcoin can be just as environmentally destructive as mining gold or coal. In 2019, bitcoin mining used up as much energy as the Netherlands.

That’s why it’s vital that any CDBC implementation avoid the catastrophic environmental damage that many cryptocurrencies inflict.

Assessing the energy-efficiency of a blockchain’s design is absolutely critical when it comes to deploying CBDCs as it would have a long term impact on the planet. Central banks must be cognizant of the fact that not all blockchains are built the same, and operate on different levels of efficiency.

Proof-of-stake blockchains like Tezos for example, require significantly less energy to run and are therefore the more environmentally-friendly choice.

Seamless and painless

Proponents of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin allege that they’ve discovered the future of money, but anyone trying to operate in crypto quickly runs into problems, including slow transaction processing, extreme volatility, and illiquidity.

It is rare to pay for a good or service with cryptocurrency; in almost all cases, you must first convert your digital holdings into a traditional currency. And that’s getting harder every day.

Also Read: What does the future of CBDCs actually look like and why does it matter?

By contrast, the experience of using a CBDC will be seamless for the end-user, hardly different from using one of today’s card- or phone-based payment services. That’s because we’re already transacting in central bank currencies; a digital central bank currency introduces new efficiencies to transactions, but the money is backed by the same institution that issued the physical bills that once filled your wallet.

Safer societies

Central banks serve an essential role in safeguarding their countries’ economies, but their decision-makers need more and better data for a twenty-first-century world that is ever more connected and ever more complicated. Because CBDCs can be tracked, bank analysts will have better sense of economic trends.

They’ll find themselves better-placed to stimulate growth with new policies, and they’ll receive early alerts about which segments of a market may be overheating. Major decisions such as interest rate adjustments will be more obviously justified; the monetary system will grow more trustworthy.

Central bank digital currencies also make the anti-money-laundering and know-your-customer (AML/KYC) process easier, potentially leading to a global reduction in fraud and financial malfeasance.

Because CBDCs would operate more quickly than traditional fiat exchanges, countries would have a powerful tool for quickly stopping the spread of financial contagion.

Finally, CBDCs deepen countries’ liquidity pools, thereby allowing higher economic activity for the growth and benefit of participating societies.

Privacy drawbacks?

Tracking currency has obvious benefits, but it would appear to have privacy downsides as well. When the European Central Bank surveyed potential users about a digital euro, privacy was the most common concern raised.  Is it really the case that a CBDC will erode privacy?

The first point to consider is that older forms of physical currency are surprisingly traceable. While it’s common to say that cash payments are “untraceable,” a physical note invariably has a serial number on it.

Second, as Bank of England fintech director Tom Mutton testified and Finextra reported, “the bank has no commercial incentive to gather user data; choices can be made within a system to protect data; and technologies, such as zero-knowledge proofs and digital identity frameworks, could enhance transparency while still increasing security and privacy.”

In short, CBDCs are transparent enough to deter financial crime while being sufficiently opaque to preserve user privacy.

Central bank digital currencies’ day may not have come quite yet, but it’s clear that the 2020s will be their decade. As I write this, several APAC countries, including Singapore, South Korea, Vietnam, and China, are among the world’s leaders in developing, testing, and implementing digital currencies.

That willingness to innovate, experiment, and think big will pay substantial dividends down the line. If the implementation of CBDCs continues, the people of the Asia-Pacific region will have a brighter financial future.

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As businesses navigate their way through the COVID-19 pandemic, many of them have had to make difficult decisions, including deferring international expansion plans.

A study from Enterprise Singapore (ESG) in February found that local businesses going overseas fell by as much as 38 per cent to 1,600 due to pandemic related travel restrictions.

This has some very real and serious implications. Because, for some startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Singapore, the case for expanding overseas could not be stronger.

From attracting new customers to opening up entirely new revenue streams, cross-border expansion presents immense benefits and backtracking could compromise growth in an economic recovery.

Technology as an enabler of international expansion

We already know that SMEs that digitalised in 2020 earned more and have a better outlook for the future. According to the UOB SME Outlook 2021 Study, two in five SMEs that implemented digitalisation initiatives in 2020 had stronger revenue growth than non-adopters, with those that digitalised their entire business or multiple areas outperforming those who digitalised only one.

Tapping on digital technologies and tools is important for businesses seeking to expand into new markets during this time. The borderless nature of technology enables these SMEs to grow their brand and reach new customers without the need for a physical presence.

With consumer behaviour shifting online, SMEs can leverage this increased digital footprint by moving online without the hassle of having to register a local company, hiring a local team and other tasks that are capital-heavy and time-consuming.

Also Read: Why customer education plays an important role in Wise’s international expansion plan

Complementary partnerships with startups

Pushing forward with expansion plans at this time should be a serious consideration for long-term growth. Fortunately, SMEs don’t have to go at it alone —exploring collaborations with startups in the markets they’re seeking to enter is one great way to kickstart their expansion plans.

There are many programmes and government initiatives such as the IMDA Grow Digital programme that help SMEs connect with potential clients, suppliers and logistical support. All these are important connections to establish.

However, in addition to these collaborations, partnering with startups offer the added advantage of greater affordability, negotiation of terms and win-win situations, flexibility and adaptability, newer technologies, and efficient access to market and implementation.

It is worth noting that SMEs and startups are different, from the way they are funded to their business goals.

At The FinLab, an innovation accelerator by UOB, we believe that building a strong understanding of local markets through networking with such startups is crucial for cross-border collaborative opportunities within the Southeast Asia region.

By tapping on a solid regional network of businesses, The FinLab has played matchmaker since 2018 and facilitated over 550 matches between tech startups and SMEs through digitalisation efforts across Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, to date.

Finding the right and suitable partner is a vital and delicate process. Start by looking at how each business can fill gaps and bring value to one another.

Startups, by nature, are more agile and efficient and can bring a fresh viewpoint that spurs innovation for SMEs. In turn, startups can tap on the established network and market expertise that SMEs bring to the partnership.

Here are some best practices businesses can follow to ensure successful partnership outcomes:

Set up for success with open lines of communication

Collaboration with overseas partners can take many forms and while there is no perfect formula for a successful alliance, the best success stories are always rooted in both parties having a mutual understanding of one another’s roles, concerns and expectations.

Lack of trust, mutual interest, and an imbalance of power are only some of the key barriers to collaboration. According to innovation leader Nesta, a mismatch in speed, coordination and cultural issues are less apparent struggles but contribute no less to failed organisational partnerships which subsequently leads to a failed expansion.

Also Read: Is it the right time to expand your business?

To overcome these challenges, start by establishing clear and open lines of communication which can streamline overly complex decision-making processes, facilitate the free exchange of ideas and foster an environment open to diverse thinking.

Ultimately, setting clear goals, understanding and meeting differing needs, and defining roles are steps organisational partners need to take to leverage their strengths and compensate for each other’s weaknesses.

Pilot smaller projects

Before getting into a more serious commitment, it is a good idea for partners to “test the waters” by piloting small projects to manage potential risks and to determine compatibility for a longer-term partnership.

Instead of launching several small pilots which would produce limited success, apply the “Goldilocks Principle” to find the sweet spot – a project small enough to mitigate risks, but substantial enough to deliver real results to make a case for full-scale rollouts.

Success stories aren’t a coincidence, but rather the result of strong collaborations done right. Building opportunities together can be hugely rewarding for both businesses financially as well because it provides opportunities to learn new ways of working.

Regional or even international expansions will become increasingly crucial to an SME success.

However, while the internationalisation process is essential for company survival and growth, business leaders cannot expect quick rewards. Patience is key and thankfully, there are many resources that SMEs can turn to for success.

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(This article has been updated with the full list of investors, HappyFresh’s fund deployment plans, and quotes from the CEO)

HappyFresh, an Indonesian grocery delivery startup backed by Grab Ventures, has secured US$65 million in a Series D funding round, co-led by Naver Financial Corporation and Dutch investor Gafina.

STIC, LB, and Mirae Asset Indonesia and Singapore, besides existing investors such as Mirae Asset-Naver Asia Growth Fund and Z Venture Capital also participated, the company said in a statement.

CEO Guillem Segarra said HappyFresh will use the funds to enhance its existing operating model together with the partnerships it already has with supermarket retailers across the region.

“This will unlock additional operational efficiency, higher service levels, and quality controls to improve customer experience further. We want our customers to get all the groceries they need at the freshest condition and at an even faster speed, ensuring an effortless online grocery shopping experience,” Segarra added.

HappyFresh will also use a part of the capital injection to put in place plans to improve service offerings, such as more payment methods, better user experience, and assortment, bringing HappyFresh’s service to more families in each country across the region.

Early this month, The Korea Economic Daily reported that HappyFresh was raising US$33 million from existing investors, including Naver, its subsidiary LINE Ventures, and Mirae Asset, as part of its US$65-million target. These investors had earlier injected US$20 million into HappyFresh as part of the Series C round in 2019.

Also Read: Naver, Sea, Vertex invest in Vietnamese VC firm Do Ventures US$50M fund I

Launched in 2015, Jakarta-headquartered HappyFresh delivers fresh, high-quality groceries to thousands of customers in Southeast Asia’s major cities. The firm claims it has been experiencing “unprecedented growth” over the past 18 months.

“We have been on a mission for the past six years to provide freshly handpicked groceries of the highest quality to our customers. Especially over the past years, all our efforts have been put into being there for all the families that have trusted us to bring your groceries to your doorstep safely,”

HappyFresh has moved further towards achieving long-term profitability in a time when it’s proven challenging to sustain a business. In 2020, traffic claims to have grown by 10-20x across the three countries it operates in. “We see a big shift in customers’ behaviour; retention and frequency rates have significantly increased while the overall basket size has been consistently growing. We attribute this to a major shift in the share of wallets from offline to online, which is here to stay,” Segarra added.

Prior to the latest round, HappyFresh has raised three rounds of investments — from Grab Ventures in September 2018, a Series B round led by Dubai-based PE firm Samena Capital in January 2017, and US$12 million in Series A before that.

In January last year, HappyFresh partnered with messaging platform LINE to launch LINEMAN, which provides users with a grocery delivery service on its messaging platform in Thailand.

Southeast Asia’s online economy has hit an inflection point, powered by rapid adoption and fundamental shifts in consumer behaviour. With a corresponding retail market size of US$350 billion, the grocery retail segment in Southeast Asia presents a sizeable and growing market opportunity for HappyFresh.

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Image Credit: HappyFresh

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In a nutshell, software as a service (SaaS) can be described as a centrally hosted software licensing and delivery model typically offered on a subscription basis. SaaS products can come in many forms: from business tools to cloud services and everything in between. SaaS offers a valuable alternative to on-premises hardware and software deployment with all the available solutions, providing its own slew of unique advantages, especially as the workplace norm is becoming increasingly segregated and global.

According to a 2021 report by MarketWatch, the SaaS market is poised to grow by up to US$99.99 billion by 2025, progressing at a compound annual growth rate of over 11% during the forecast period. With the advent of digitalisation accelerated further by the pandemic, SaaS has taken on an increasingly important role in the business landscape.

Even before the pandemic, businesses that have shifted to SaaS solutions from capital-heavy on-premises infrastructure have enjoyed IT spending reduction of more than 15%, according to data collected by Computer world. With customisable offerings that companies of virtually any size can choose from, SaaS solutions help minimise costs and maximise productivity for all sorts of businesses.

Also read: How TikTok co-creation strategy is supercharging Southeast Asian SMBs

With SaaS, in-house IT staff are able to focus on other vital tasks instead of being preoccupied with maintenance work typically required by on-premises hardware and software infrastructure. Moreover, because SaaS solutions are centrally hosted, disruptions and outages are dealt with more swiftly, allowing your team to continue running despite potential downtimes. These are only some of the practical benefits that many enterprises today enjoy because of the power of SaaS.

Promising young startups offering SaaS solutions for businesses

Given all these benefits and the increasingly saturated SaaS market, here are some of the new startups that are helping enterprises maximise their output with different technological tools that your business might be interested in:

1. ExtraaEdge
   
   This startup helps create an edge in the education market with its one of a kind SaaS model through a US$25B global admissions software space. With its tools, ExtraaEdge helps enable 500 thousand Education Institutes to acquire the next 30 million students using the power of predictive analytics and marketing automation software. With this, it has established market category leadership in the education marketing industry. It helps the education industry increase, manage, and predict their admissions while automating their entire sales and leads processes. The startup is empowering admission teams across the globe to make smart, data-driven decisions to maximise admission outcomes, optimise market expenditure, and boost conversion rates as the cost to acquire admissions is extremely high while conversions are often poor.
2. Eunimart
   
   An AI-powered SAAS platform that helps businesses grow online by leveraging intelligence, reducing cost, and improving efficiency. As the number of channels of sales increases, complexity increases exponentially as well. With that complexity, scaling proves to be difficult even for large multibillion-dollar companies. Eunimart helps different brands and businesses scale up and sell across all channels of sales from Shopify to Amazon, and many more. Euimart’s AI tools make this a single click endeavour by automating everything such as keywords optimisation, image optimisation, pricing, attributes generation, and many more. The tools they offer help merchants save 7-12% in costs, enabling them to increase their revenues. Using their AI platform does not require any upfront investment, charging only a meager 3% commission on the sales generated through the platform.
3. Prescinto
   
   It is an AI-powered SaaS platform that is helping energy businesses collect clean energy plant data and apply data science models to identify causes for underperformance. It does not only help in identifying a problem but also suggests work orders for crew to increase generation for Solar and Wind Projects. The only way to get ahead for a Clean Energy Project owner is to get higher generation from operational projects which can be achieved through data, technology, and AI. Here is where Prescinto steps in to fill this market gap: the model in which Prescinto operates is a SaaS subscription fee based on MW per annum. Its successful model has seen clients sign multi-year auto-renewal master agreements, allowing them to automatically onboard future projects on Prescinto.
4. GeoIQ
   
   It assists some of India’s leading brands with live data insights for some of the most important business decisions involving consumers on a day-to-day basis. These key data points include users’ purchasing power, habits, trends, preferences — everything that can be reviewed to make high-impact business decisions with more precision. The experienced Indian tech talent at GeoIQ leverages machine learning, geo-spatial capabilities, real-time government data, satellite imagery, along with some of the most state-of-the-art tech to deliver cutting edge competitive advantages that help optimise sales, promotion, and logistics expenditures to the most efficient levels for companies.

Building better business with SaaS

Given the plethora of benefits that come with SaaS solutions and the unique models and platforms being offered by some of today’s most advanced and cutting-edge startups, the era of digitalisation looks bright.

ExtraaEdge, Eunimart, Prescinto, and GeoIQ are only some of today’s most promising startups that prove how today’s businesses can better navigate the ever-evolving complexity of the market with the help of SaaS. Through these unique solutions, businesses will better leverage intelligent data to create impactful decisions, cultivate opportunities for growth, and address gaps in the market.

Also read: How Thai food supply chain startup Freshket weathered through the pandemic

These four startups will be pitching at the 9Unicorns Venture Catalysts demo day with 12 other up-and-coming startups offering their own unique products and services. Join them on August 11 and 12 to connect with some of the most promising young startups in a virtual networking session. To learn more, visit their official page here.

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Photo by Vijit Bagh from Pexels

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by 9Unicorns.

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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This article  is a collaboration with Makan For Hope, a non-profit initiative by Asia Startup Network. The Makan For Hope Festival brings notable mentors and aspiring entrepreneurs in 30 meaningful virtual conversations over food to raise S$125,000 for Fei-Yue to support the children and seniors from low-income families.

I want to share some of my thoughts after multiple discussions with executives who have led different market launches and of course, after the virtual session at the Makan for Hope festival with Henry Chan, Co-Founder and CEO at Shopback and other participants of the roundtable discussion. 

Chan led his team, expanding throughout most of Asia Pacific and is definitely one of the most impressive entrepreneurs in the region, having led the company to expand to nine countries in years. In our conversation and sharing during the roundtable, I have learnt a lot about how Shopback thinks about market expansion. I hope in sharing some of the learnings, you will as well. 

Key takeaways from the session

• Expand by market size and what’s winnable and not because it’s always easy and convenient 
• Look for synergies in growth as opposed to satisfying ego
• Market Launcher’s role is to replicate culture
• Locals will intuitively know nuances of the land
• Leverage each country’s strength for regional functions 
• Expand as slow as the market and competition allows you to
• Be on the ground, often

Choose big and winnable markets

China and Indonesia are very large markets that get investors and entrepreneurs salivating. They are large and fast-growing.

If one can only take one per cent of the market, they would be minted. Of course, things never work out that way. Target markets where you have a strategic advantage, and where the competitive and market dynamics are in your favour.

Also Read: In brief: ‘Makan For Hope’ to raise US$125K for SG’s vulnerable communities

What you should do

• Analyse what made your product successful 
• Do the market dynamics in the new market allow you to replicate that success?
• How crowded is the space in the new market? Are there dominant competitors? Why will you win?

The Shopback case

The TAM (target markets) has not only been large but the market dynamics and competition dynamics have been conducive for them too. In the Shopback case, it means operating in a landscape with multiple retailers across different categories such as e-commerce, travel, services and more

Look for synergies in expansion

You expand out of your own home market because you need to grow, but at the same time, if you’re able to strengthen your moat because you’re growing, you can defend by attacking.

One example is that a company such as Airbnb increases its supply of homes when it expands and increases its value because short vacation stays inherently have a cross border element where the value increases, the more countries that you’re in

What you should do

Evaluate which portion of your business would benefit from 

• Network effects 
• Economies of scale
• Access to new supply/demand 

The Shopback case

As ShopBack expands, its ability to serve multiple markets across the Asia Pacific gives it more relevance to global brands who seek regional reach. This gives Shopback an advantage over global brands, versus single-market competitors.

Launcher’s role is to replicate culture

This works by choosing the right person to lead the expansion, hiring the first three to five people that will fit the company’s culture and training them to replicate the company’s culture.

Also Read: Online booking startup Chope acquires Indonesian counterpart MakanLuar

Some companies choose to hire a local country manager and let that person build out the team. What tends to happen in this case, is that a separate culture forms and is left to develop on its own. When the local team is not thinking the same way as HQ, the differences will inevitably tear the company apart.

What you should do

• Pick a launcher that is culturally immersed with the company 
• Set the KPI for this launcher to hire and train the new country manager and functional leads on HQ’s practises 
• Ensure the launcher doesn’t get caught up in the nuts and bolts of the operations unless absolutely necessary, point 2 is the priority

The Shopback case

Shopback’s launch team consists of their founding Singapore GM and the two founders who ensure that they have the best team possible to replicate the culture in their new markets 

Locals intuitively know the nuances

Two advantages that startups have over large companies is focus and speed. Focus means that you can customise your product to your customer as much as possible without having to worry about conflicting priorities within a large global organisation and speed meaning that you can move faster than a large company that has to go through multiple layers.

To take advantage of this during market expansion, your local team is going to need full autonomy to operate. Any additional layer, communication and approval process is a reduction in speed. The local team will intuitively understand what is needed to customise in the market without too much discussion or compromise. 

What you should do

• Hire the right people 
• Set the direction and give them autonomy to reach their goals
• Get out of the way 

The Shopback case 

As Henry puts it, they see themselves as ‘more of an operating VC’, where HQ/senior management provides oversight and gives the local team full autonomy and ownership. They even give early employees in the new market co-founder titles 

Leverage each country’s strength for regional functions

The advantage of being regional is that you have access to talent in multiple countries. Given that each country tends to have specialised talent and comparative advantages, in our remote and distributed world, it would make sense to explore placing different functions in different countries.

Also Read: Here are 5 reasons to expand your business to the Philippines

What you should do

• Identify which countries you are expanding into and where you can shift functions to
• Weigh out if it’s core for your company to keep that function in HQ 

The Shopback case

Their regional team is spread out by function in different countries. 

Expand slow

This is probably highly dependent on your industry, but in short, if your competitors are not fast-growing companies that are raising large amounts of capital to capture market share globally, it might be worth considering expanding in a more sustainable manner.

What that means is that you don’t raise a ton of cash and hire so fast and make market entry decisions that you need to make compromises. 

The benefit of expanding at a pace that’s sustainable is that you are able to hire the team right and control your cash burn.

What you should do

• Resist the urge to expand fast for the sake of doing it 
• Ensure the market and competitive dynamics are right before you enter a market 

Be on the ground often

Not for the sake of micromanaging, but for the opportunity to inculcate the company’s culture and values to the local team. The best way to do this is through osmosis and being there to create an environment that is in line with the company culture. 

Strong culture, be it the military, schools or companies aren’t formed in a virtual environment. 

What you should do

• Be on the ground often
• Communicate with the local team and make sure they are the right cultural fit before handing over full reigns 

The Shopback case 

Henry, Joel and Josi each flew more than 100x a year when they were expanding.

Makan for Hope will be on till July 30,  join us for many similar sessions where you can learn from the leaders of the startup and technology industry. Click here for more info and use promo code Partner_MFH2021 for 33 per cent discount.

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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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In leadership, it can be said that experience is the best teacher. In the startup world, in particular, I realised that there is no other way to learn how to be a startup founder than to actually have a startup.

As some in my network already know, I have had the pleasure to build a career at the intersection of startups and large corporates for most of my career, either as a venture capitalist, accelerator manager, corporate innovation lead or digital transformation executive.

All have the mandates to either invest or partner with disruptive startup companies. In late 2019, 10 years post-graduation, I reconnected with my classmate at Stanford, Kevin Gabayan, who was doing his machine learning PhD as I was completing my MBA. We realised that we both had the same vision of disrupting financial services in emerging markets.

After this, we decided to leave our jobs and start Plentina, our vision of the future that data and strategic partnership can unlock credit for billions in emerging markets. Of course, we did not know a pandemic will set in a few months after.

Leadership as a startup founder means a roller coaster ride with weekly highs and lows and many “near-death” experiences as a company. One week, it might be amazing since you close a critical partnership, and the next week, rejected by 10 venture capitalist investors. It is hard, and even when I always have supportive co-founders, there is no substitute in learning about startups other than actually being a founder.

Two weeks before we closed Plentina’s US$2.2 million seed round, I found out that Plentina got accepted to the Nasdaq Milestone Makers programme, a prestigious programme that selects 12 global startups between seed and Series A that have the potential to impact inclusive growth. We were the only one that focused on Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Emotional leadership in a post-COVID-19 business world

Three months later, before our graduation highlighted by the feature in the Nasdaq Tower, Times Square, New York City, the programme manager asked us to reflect: What were the major lessons I learned after closing the seed round?

How was the transition from being a co-founder of a company of eight? What happens after you raised your seed round? I outlined my top learnings on the transition from a pre-seed founder into a venture-funded startup at the seed stage.

And I want to share them with you.

Startup hiring is HARD

It is definitely way harder than when I was in the corporate world.  Even if you “raised” money and can give away equity, we realised that this is not enough to really attract top talent. We had many rejections from folks that went through the entire process but ended up not accepting our offer for reasons of stability or corporate brand. Some even said that our equity is not guaranteed.

The way to attract amazing talent is to focus on the vision of the company and hiring for people that have a mission alignment. It is hard to convince people that are not bought into your vision to join you and will negotiate more on the money rather than the role.

Hire people that are “general athletes” and can bring their “whole self” into the company

We want to focus on people who can do major functions such as HR, finance, and data science, but we also want to be sure we hire people who could contribute to Plentina in other ways. For example, we got a business development person who used to head marketing at a fintech company. We also got someone who was a customer service associate who had helped out grant writing and impact investing in a previous role. We realise that startups want good people that bring their previous experiences to the company while looking at how they could contribute to our own company.

You realise that you have to continue to adapt your plan based on the learning in the market

We saw that when we spoke to our investors and showed them our hiring plan. He said, “You are a B2C company, where is your growth marketer?” Instantly, we created a job requisition for a growth marketer and posted it on LinkedIn the same day.

A lot of the discussion with the executive coach is about how to grow as a founder and build a growth mindset

I realised that even with many years of experience in leadership, building a company is a unique and completely different experience from anything that you have had before. So, it is important to always be curious, ask questions, and understand if you have self-limiting behaviours that will limit the growth of the company.

Sometimes, timing on hiring is more important than plans

We were able to partner with an amazing team in Vietnam. We were still planning to go to Vietnam in Q4 or Q1 2022, but we were introduced to our now Country GM last month. We ended up pulling the trigger on the collaboration and it has been an amazing ride ever since.

Also Read: 3 leadership lessons for women in tech

What got you here will not get you to the next stage

At each stage of the business, your own leadership capacity has to evolve and how you prioritise your time has to evolve. For the seed stage, a lot of the time is spent figuring it out by yourself and focusing on getting some form of MVP and traction. Speed is important in this stage.

For the next phase of growing the company from eight to 30 people over the next quarter, we have to evolve. Hiring, coaching and creating systems are equally important as figuring things out.

Being a startup founder is a constant evolution. As fast as a startup has to grow and scale to attract venture funding, you too have to evolve as a leader in order to achieve your own vision and build a company that will last for generations.

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My current role as Head of Talent at Monk’s Hill Ventures means further immersion in the increasingly vibrant local tech startup scene. If you want to understand the current Singapore tech landscape —including the stages and specific companies hiring and growing here— read on.

I have specialised in leadership and technical recruiting for VC-backed startups and founders (Uber, Houzz, Github, Instacart, Strava, Clever, Groupon, etc.) over the last ten years. Relocating from San Francisco to Singapore in 2019 meant researching and interviewing for jobs remotely, and landing at regional super-app Grab to step back into Southeast Asia.

I break down the main categories of tech companies into:

1) Early-stage startups

2) Homegrown Asian unicorns, and

3) Well-known tech brands beyond the FAANG group

The list is meant as a starting point, and by no means comprehensive or exhaustive. I will update it over time and hope it can serve as a useful guide to anyone interested in tech roles in the little red dot.

Also Read: impress.ai raises US$3M to make hiring less tiring for recruiters

Option 1: Early-stage startups

There are now an estimated 4,000 tech-enabled startups in Singapore alone (source: PwC), and an estimated 18,000 jobs created by them in 2019 (source: Worldbank). Over US$4 billion of funding flowed into Singapore startups in 2020 despite COVID-19 challenges — three times that of 2015.

This is the higher risk and (potentially) higher reward set of companies: Seed stage (ideation to first steps), Series A (clear business plan/minimum viable product built), or Series B+ (clear product-market fit, expansion mode).

This can be a tough segment to navigate as there is no single source of truth that centralises these job opportunities. So it does require more research and thought to figure out which ones to look at.

There are job boards on AngelList, Glints, and Tech in Asia and many lists on Google to get you started, highlighting interesting companies.

At Monk’s Hill Ventures, we have a centralised jobs board that allows you to easily search for open roles at our portfolio companies, spanning edutech/healthtech/fintech/logistics/AI — with many open to hiring remotely.

A few general tips:

• What resonates with you: Research and narrow down the domains you are personally most interested in: what problems do you want to help solve? (fintech and logistics are currently the most active verticals) > overlay this with the stage of company > deep dive to identify 10–20 relevant companies and see which ones resonate. There are many useful reports out there on specific sectors, eg: Fintech News Singapore and Oliver Wyman on the Singapore Fintech landscape, Nic Milanovic’s fintech newsletter. (I’ll write a longer piece on the art of applying to startup jobs).
• Follow the money: Look up the investors funding your target companies, reach out to the Talent folks at the relevant VC firms, and pitch them your skillset, as they know what their portfolio companies are looking for.
• Network: Get out of your comfort zone to request intros and referrals to companies and individuals. Talking to people in the industries and companies that intrigue you is an excellent way to figure out what you really want. For introverts, a very effective way of networking and branding yourself is to put pen to paper and write some thought pieces you can share with the community.

If you’re also interested in learning more about the latest trends and data on compensation for early-stage tech startups, do take a look also at our latest tech talent report, The Southeast Asia Tech Talent Compensation Report.

Also Read: From our community: Hiring tips from Glints’ CTO, 4-day work week, the rise of slow fashion and more….

Home-grown unicorns (and unicorns-in-waiting)

Of the companies in Southeast Asia that have reached more than US$1 billion valuations, Monk’s Hill Ventures noted that four are currently Singapore-based and headquartered (Grab, Sea, Razer, Lazada).

According to a report by Temasek, Google and Bain, there are nearly 70 companies valued between US$100 million and US$1 billion in SEA. Many more will join their ranks in the coming years. The vast majority are still private, so plenty of upside in an exit event.

• Grab: All over the news recently with its upcoming US$40 billion SPAC deal. The time I spent at Grab was great exposure to a wide range of leadership styles, products, and countries given its super-app reach. Still hiring, though not at the levels seen in 2018.
• Sea: Currently the most valuable tech company in the region, a public company with a market valuation of US$130 billion, and lately the best performing stock in the world. The group has three core outfits: Video games (Garena), e-commerce (Shopee), and fintech (SeaMoney). Aggressively hiring.
• Lazada: E-commerce platform acquired by Alibaba in 2016, and the company has since gone through a number of leadership changes and acquired a more Chinese character.
• Razer: a public company with a significant market share of the global gaming business. Razer was founded way back in 1998 and now has dual HQs in Singapore and the US.
• Trax: Founded and incorporated in Singapore, this retail analytics and execution company recently raised US$640 million in Series E funding, but most of its R&D is done out of Israel.
• Patsnap: short for “patents in a snap”. A newly minted unicorn providing data and analytics on IP. Though founded in Singapore, their expansion is now focused entirely on China and the US, so remote work is the only option if you are in Singapore.
• Ninja Van — leading logistics and courier service provider that’s been a beneficiary of the regional e-commerce boom. The company has raised US$400 million to date (full disclosure: the company I work at, Monk’s Hill Ventures, is an early investor in Ninjavan).
• PropertyGuru: A leading property classified business in Southeast Asia that has raised US$740 million to date.
• Carousell — a consumer marketplace for buying and selling secondhand goods. Raised US$263 million in total to date.
• Biofourmis — Singapore-born AI-powered health analytics. Raised US$144 million to date.
• Zilingo — more than just an online shopping site, it positions itself as an end-to-end cloud platform that connects everyone along the supply chain. Raised US$308 million to date.
• Stashaway: Series C digital wealth manager that recently crossed having over US$1 billion in assets under management.
• Indonesian unicorns: limited presence and open roles in Singapore for the likes of Gojek, Tokopedia (these two are now merged), Bukalapak, and Traveloka.

We at Monk’s Hill Ventures see that Chinese companies are in a league of their own, as they have been hiring aggressively in Singapore and often paying over the market in exchange for more intense work culture. These include Bytedance/Tik Tok, Tencent, and Alibaba.

Also Read: Eliminating hiring on gut feeling: How Pulsifi bridges data and hiring

Option 3: The international names

FAANG — The big five: Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, Google

The tech behemoths continue to hire in sizeable numbers in Singapore. At the time of writing, open positions in Singapore at the top five performing American public tech companies were: Facebook (180 open roles), Amazon (348), Apple (150), Netflix (28), Google (192).

Great brand names though there are fewer senior leadership positions relative to headquarters, and more limited options for technical roles (engineering and product).

Netflix for example currently has 700 employees in Asia, representing 10 per cent of its global workforce, the majority of which is based in Los Gatos, US. It currently has no engineering or product teams in Singapore, apart from a few systems engineers.

Other global tech companies in Singapore

Microsoft: yes, it is a huge company. It also remains a major and innovative software player and has invested strategically in the likes of Grab and Bukalapak.

Stripe: Currently the most valuable private startup in the US. Stripe has steadily built out a presence in Singapore, with about 10 per cent of their global staff based in Asia— there are more technical opportunities here, as they do have an Asia head of engineering and sizeable tech team. Fourty-seven open roles as of press time. Big on remote work.

Shopify: Canadian-headquartered, Asia is a major area of growth for them, with an office in Singapore since 2018. They’ve announced plans to double their engineering team in 2021 by hiring 2,021 new roles, and they are fully remote. Started off as a platform for independent merchants to start and manage their online business, now expanding into financing as well.

TransferWise: Following its rebranding in March (formerly known as Wise), this UK-based cross-border payments network announced it will hire over 70 people in Singapore in 2021 for roles including expansion, engineering, product, and operations.

Coinbase: Took the public listing route in April, current market cap: US$58 billion. Coinbase is a major crypto player by providing an easy way to exchange Bitcoins and other digital currencies. Recently hiring for a country manager in Singapore to expand the team.

Twilio: San Francisco-based cloud communications platform is hiring for a number of technical (largely support and network engineers) and GTM roles in Singapore.

Zoom: Announced its intention to build an R&D centre in Singapore to hire hundreds of engineering staff, and double the capacity of its data centre (here since 2019). At the time of writing, 14 open roles in Singapore, mostly technical.

Twitter: Fifteen open roles in Singapore over different functions. It announced last year setting up an Asia-Pacific engineering centre in Singapore.

Spotify: Stockholm-based Spotify recently announced an expansion in international footprint across 85 new markets (though it is already present in most of the Southeast Asian countries).

Also Read: Monk’s Hill Ventures’s Peng T. Ong on how to get your startup ready for the new normal

A smattering of sales and marketing roles in Singapore for now — but they appear to be big proponents of remote work so it is worth checking out jobs in other locations.

We live in an increasingly borderless world, remote work is common now, and even small startups are hiring distributed teams. At Monk’s Hill Ventures, we believe that this trend will continue, so there’s no need to limit yourself to companies with an on-the-ground presence.

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The popularity of social media platforms has skyrocketed over the past decade and it has a rising significance in our daily lives. This significance includes the rise of digital influencers as the trendsetters and tastemakers of today.

They are everyday people who love sharing about their passion and daily lives on social media – whether that be cooking, fashion, comedy or gaming, the possibilities are endless.

Also known as key opinion leaders (KOL), influencers are seen to be experts in one subject that can exert impact on their audience through blog posts, pictures, videos, tweets and more.

Twitter users are reported to have increased their purchase intent by 5.2 times when exposed to promotional content from influencers, while 49 per cent of people say they rely on recommendations from influencers to guide their purchasing decisions.

After more than a year of ongoing lockdowns, the pandemic has intensified the impact influencers have on purchasing behaviours due to restrictions limiting shopping in stores.

The power of influencers can be seen through the success of China’s social media influencer Austin Lee (also known as “King of Lipstick”). He managed to generate over US$145 million in sales during his live streaming session on Taobao on 11.11 (also known as Single’s Day) in 2019.

The growing importance of digital influence has garnered interest from brands and organisations as customers tend to trust product recommendations from their favourite influencers. Increasingly, traditional methods such as banners and pop-up advertisements are lesser employed as customers see them as intrusive.

From a cost standpoint, it benefits brands as these types of traditional media requires heavy investing in printing, space, and may not be as effective in terms of engagement for the money spent on it.

Also Read: Is influencer marketing the future of marketing?

From mom-and-pop stores to conglomerates, countless brands have allocated expenditure towards influencer marketing activities to drive brand awareness and increase customer engagement. In an internet survey done by influencer marketing agency Takumi in 2020, it found that 73 per cent of marketers surveyed have allocated more resources to influencer marketing.

Perhaps one of the best examples of brands leveraging on influencer marketing is Swedish watch brand Daniel Wellington. They focused on reaching out to smaller micro-influencers rather than big celebrities.

Aside from providing a free watch, they provided each influencer with a unique promo code which gave 15 per cent off to their followers on social media platforms. This helped track the engagement rate and effective sales a KOL was bringing in.

Influencer marketing-focused platforms and agencies can be seen flooding into this space in efforts to simplify the process for both brands and influencers. These trends were further accelerated by COVID19 as people now spend substantially more time online than ever.

Influencer marketing has matured as an industry. Recently released figures have shown that the market size has more than doubled between 2019 and 2021, increasing from US$6.5 billion to US$13.8 billion in the three years alone.

Certainly, influencers have become vital intermediaries for brands to connect and engage with consumers on social media through the follower base the influencer has built.

Different types of influencers have flourished, with KOLs filling every plausible category of interest ranging from beauty, travel, and gaming to name a few. But how much do we know about the trustworthiness of these influencers when authenticity becomes a commodity?

The highly resonant and original content that influencers produce is what attracts the audience and thus grows their social influence. The best influencers create content that inspires, connects and engages with the audience in the context of the influencer’s life and lifestyle.

Key to influencer content includes being honest and personable, and most importantly understanding their audience and what engages them.

Also Read: Ex-Grabbers’ startup Evo raises seed funding to help influencers, live-streamers optimise back-office ops

However, content delivered by most influencers today is no longer about sharing honest reviews or promoting brands they like. Instead, it is filled with marketing campaigns driven by ROI and echoing the message the brands want to convey to their targeted audience. As influencers increasingly turn their profiles into advertising tools, people are exhausted by overly features-heavy and upfront product placements.

This distorts the concept behind influencer marketing that was built on credibility and trust as fans relied on influencers for truthful opinions. Often now, it is hard to tell when an endorsement is genuine or if a review is coming from an undisclosed partnership.

The perception of ‘easy income’ from monetising influencers’ efforts on social media has encouraged regular individuals to capitalise on this opportunity.

When producing authentic content appears to be a profession with standards and fierce competition, most are ready to pay for fame and followers in order to capture the attention of brands and big money. Brands can end up overspending on influencer marketing without achieving the desired results.

According to a recent report from an influencer marketing analytics company Instascreener, brands in the US and Canada have spent a total of US$1.9 billion in 2019, of which US$1.5 billion was spent on Instagram influencers alone.

What’s interesting is they have found that US$255 million was spent on influencers with fake engagement and followers. Among brands that were revealed to be spending too much for minimal results included Clarins, Crocs and Kroger.

With growing concerns revolved around the transparency of social media posts, Instagram rolled out branded content features that allows influencers to create branded partnerships with businesses and tag the brand in the content that they have been sponsored.

This was significant in helping maintain user trust in both the brand and influencer since the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) was cracking down on influencers and brands that were not properly disclosing sponsored content.

Also Read: How the influencer voice can be a powerful force for change

Finding the right balance to maintain honesty, integrity, and effective marketing strategies remains crucial to marketers, all while finding the right influencers to raise their brands.

It will be interesting to keep an eye out on how influencer marketing and consumer perception will evolve over time as digital marketing is here to stay.

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Back in 2014, Southeast Asia had only three unicorns: VNG, Garena (now ‘Sea’), and Razer.

Fast forward to today, the region has 20 unicorns. This stupendous growth can partly be attributed to the region’s growing number of internet users. It also demonstrates a tremendous opportunity — evident from the fact that US$19 billion was invested into tech startups in the region in H1 2021.

According to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain, the digital economy in Southeast Asia is projected to hit US$300 billion by 2025. This could also mean the region is going to add more companies into the billion-dollar club.

As a tribute to entrepreneurs who put Southeast Asia on the map, e27 has compiled a list of all the 20 unicorns that are an inspiration for millions of to-be entrepreneurs.

Bukalapak

Founded by three friends, Bukalapak is one of the biggest success startup stories from Indonesia. Bukalapak, which means ‘open a stall’ in Bahasa Indonesia, helps millions of local small mom-and-pop stores to sell their goods online.

The e-commerce unicorn plans to get listed on the Indonesian Stock Exchange on August 6. The firm, which counts the likes of GIC and Microsoft among its backers, is now set to create history by launching the biggest local listing in 13 years and the largest ever by a startup in the region.

Founding year: 2010

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$784 million

Unicorn date: Jan 10, 2018

Carro

Started originally as an online marketplace for cars, Carro has registered significant growth. In 2021 alone, the firm posted a 2.5x revenue growth and it continues to be EBITDA-positive for the second year running. The startup also has plans to launch an initial public offering (IPO) in the next 18-24 months.

Carro is a subscription-based service that allows customers to drive a car without the hassle of owning it. It also provides a range of services that offer car owners everything they need, including an in-house financing solution, after-sales services, and a flexible car ownership experience with Singapore’s car subscription service.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$589.5 million

Unicorn date: June 15, 2021

Carsome

Carsome is the only unicorn that emerged from Malaysian so far and is valued at over US$1 billion. With operations across Indonesia, Thailand, and Singapore, besides Malaysia, the firm claims to have an annualised revenue of US$800 million with plans to achieve US$1 billion this year.

The company provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers — from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing. Every car that transacts on the platform goes through a comprehensive 175-point inspection, and every car purchase is backed up with an extended warranty and a money-back guarantee, it said in a statement.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Malaysia

Total funding raised: US$107.4 million

Unicorn date: July 13, 2021

Flash Group

After recently raising US$150 million from a slew of investors, Flash Group is the only Thai company to make it into the billion-dollar club. Already placed in a competitive market, Flash Group is confident to dominate and intends to increase its domestic market share to over US$16 billion.

FlashGroup provides e-commerce logistics services and delivery services to Southeast Asian e-commerce platforms.

Founding year: 2017

Headquarters: Thailand

Total funding raised: Undisclosed

Unicorn date: Jan 2, 2021

Gojek

The only company to have the status of a decacorn in Indonesia, Gojek has reached a position which many startups can only dream of.

Started as a ride-hailing service with only 20 motorcycle riders, called “ojek”, Gojek has now grown to a fleet of over one million drivers today. The company has also widened its products and services, from courier delivery, food, and shopping services, to fintech. Its app is also deemed by many to be the most popular and most used in the region.

Also Read:  Ecosystem Roundup: Will the likes of Grab, GoTo crush competition in SEA?

Founding year: 2010

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$5.3 billion

Unicorn date: August 5, 2016

Grab

Grab is one of Singapore’s most-valued super apps that offers not just ride-hailing services but also food delivery and logistics services through its app.

As of now, Grab has a footprint across Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, and Cambodia, and is valued at US$40 billion in 2020 following its SPAC deal.

Founding year: 2012

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$10 billion

Unicorn date: May, 2015

J&T Express

Valued at US$7.8 billion, J&T Express has grown massively and is predicted by some to have the potential to compete with Chinese logistics companies.

A logistics delivery company, it is also the shipping partner for many notable brands, including OPPO, Tokopedia, Lazada, Shopee, and Bukalapak.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$2.2 billion

Unicorn date: April 16, 2021

Lazada

Lazada is a company that reached its unicorn status only after it was bought by Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba for US$1 billion.

As of today, it is a major player in online shopping and selling. Lazada has a presence in six countries in the Southeast Asia region including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$4.2 billion

Unicorn date: April 12, 2016

Founding year: 2012

Nium

It is the latest to enter the unicorn club. Nium achieved US$1 billion+ valuation following a recent US$200 million Series D investment round led by US-based Riverwood Capital.

Also Read: Nium adds US$200M more to its war chest to become Southeast Asia’s latest unicorn

Nium is a global payments platform that enables businesses to send, spend, and receive money from anywhere in the world, in addition to empowering them to develop their own products that simplify cross-border payments. The firm issues approximately 30 million physical and virtual cards today and is licensed in 11 jurisdictions, including direct card issuing capabilities in 24 countries and in 40 currencies.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$280 million

Unicorn date: May 12, 2020

Online Pajak

With a valuation of  US$1.7 billion, the Jakarta-based startup has several notable investors backing the company including Sequoia Capital India, Warburg Pincus, and Altos Ventures.

The company was founded to combat the tiresome tax system in Indonesia. To make it easier, its platform integrates web-based data that can be used by taxpayers to calculate, deposit, and report taxes in one platform. Users can also manage taxes for free with additional premium features such as invoicing and payroll.

Its services are now used by companies such as Tokopedia, Gojek, Garuda Indonesia, PT Astra Otoparts Tbk, Huawei Tech Investment, Jasa Marga and more.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$41 million

Unicorn date: July 15, 2021

OVO

OVO is Indonesia’s fifth unicorn and is currently valued at over US$2.9 billion. It serves over 110 million people spread across 300 Indonesian cities and claims to serve 98 per cent of the adult population in the region.

Through OVO users can get access to payments, transfers, cash-in/out, rewards, asset management, and investments.

Founding year: 2017

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: Undisclosed

Unicorn date: October 8, 2019

Patsnap

PatSnap began in 2007 as a patents analytics startup in Singapore and grew rapidly after it set up base in China through the NUS Suzhou Research Institute (NUSRI) and BLOCK71 by NUS Enterprise (the entrepreneurial arm of NUS). It currently provides R&D intelligence and IP intelligence platforms for brands and enterprises

The company raised Series E financing from the likes of Tencent and Softbank placing it into the unicorn club, with a valuation of US$1.35 billion.

Founding year: 2007

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$351.6 million

Unicorn date: March 17, 2021

Razer

Founded 16 years ago, Razer is one of the oldest unicorns in SEA. Dually headquartered in Singapore and the US, it is also one of the first to sponsor professional e-sports players in the world. Razer is the only Southeast Asian company to be publically listed in Hong Kong.

Its early business was the production of gaming devices (such as mice and keyboards) but since then has expanded into mobile phones as well as payments.

Founding year: 2005

Headquarters: Singapore/US

Total funding raised: US$200 million

Unicorn date: October 2014

Revolution Precrafted

Revolution Precrafted made headlines when it became the first unicorn company to emerge from the Philippines. However, the startup recently faced allegations of hooking several businessmen into schemes and running away with PHP150 million (US$3.1 million) in suspicious deals.

Founded six years ago, the company is a developer of prefabricated designer homes.

Founding year: 2015

Headquarters: Philippines

Total funding raised: Undisclosed

Unicorn date: October 23, 2017

Sea

Formerly known as Garena, Sea is a leading Singaporean gaming and e-commerce company known for launching one of the most successful IPOs in the US. The company also owns Shopee, one of the region’s largest and most popular e-commerce platforms, and AirPay, a digital payment service with a presence in three countries

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: Grab’s delayed listing and SEA’s SPAC euphoria

Founding year: 2009

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$2.6 billion

Unicorn date: Unidentified date, 2014

Tokopedia

One of the earliest unicorns from Indonesia, the company is now merging with Gojek to create a multi-billion dollar tech company called GoTo.

Tokopedia is an e-commerce giant that aims to build a super ecosystem where anyone can start and discover anything. Today it works with various marketplaces, logistics, payments, and financial technology businesses, while also providing more than 500,000 payment points across Indonesia.

Founding year: 2009

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$2.8 billion

Unicorn date: November 22, 2018

Traveloka

Founded by ex-Silicon Valley engineers, Traveloka provides access for users to discover and purchase a wide range of transportation, accommodation, lifestyle, and financial services products. The company claims that its app has been downloaded more than 60 million times.

As of July last year, Traveloka has a total of US$1.2 billion in its pocket.

Founding year: 2012

Headquarters: Indonesia

Total funding raised: US$12 billion

Unicorn date: March 16, 2018

Trax

With customers in over 90 countries, Trax provides customers with data science solutions that transform how in-store retail data is being collected, viewed, and analysed. With Trax, manufacturers and retailers can improve product availability, reduce distribution gaps, identify category opportunities and increase their sales.

Founding year: 2010

Headquarters: Singapore

Total funding raised: US$1 billion

Unicorn date: July 22, 2019

VNG

VNG is Vietnam’s first unicorn with a valuation that has surged more than 50 percent since it gained its unicorn status.

Its products and services are categorised into four business units — online games, payment, Zalo (video call), and VNG Cloud.

Founding year: 2004

Headquarters: Vietnam

Total funding raised: Undisclosed

Unicorn date: Unidentified date, 2014

VNPay

VNPay has recently joined the ranks of VN Corp to become the second unicorn to be valued at US$1 billion. The company was given the title under a report known as e-Conomy SEA 2020 by tech giant Google and its partners. The report further stated that VNPay was one of the startups that attracted the highest investments in the Southeast Asian fintech industry last year.

The payment company has over 15 million monthly users who access its app to transfer money, pay utility bills and buy bus tickets.

Founding year: 2007

Headquarters: Vietnam

Total funding raised: US$300 million

Unicorn date: December 7, 2020

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The post A horse of another: Here’s the full list of Southeast Asia’s 20 unicorns appeared first on e27.