In this episode we are excited to welcome Elius Hussain, co-founder and former CEO of Pathao, a Bangladeshi super app that offers ride-sharing, food delivery, and content streaming, among other services.

In our conversation Elius shares more about the Bangladeshi market, the importance of building a solid local team that knows the market better than HQ do, and empowering them to make important decisions, and how to think global day one, purposely building the company to work in multiple markets and transcend borders.

This episode is sponsored by our partner, ZEDRA. Learn more about how the ZEDRA team can support you in expanding to new markets.

Find our entire podcast episode library here and learn more about our forthcoming book on global business growth here.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news: Bangladesh’s Pathao is said to merge with SureCash

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The article was first published on Global Class.

Image Credit: Global Class

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The pandemic has pushed many beyond their limits from social isolation, resulting in potential long-term mental health issues. This could be a result of, fears over job security, the challenges of working from home or the tragic consequences of the pandemic taking a loved one.

This is a global issue, as we are seeing a rise in mental health conditions. This is further exacerbated by the need for remote work, which is often accompanied by higher risks of poor work-life balance, burnout, and isolation from colleagues at the workplace.

This has sparked a new phenomenon coined as ‘Coronastress’, stress occurring due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Malaysia is seeing similar trends as one in three Malaysians suffer from a mental health condition. Despite the high prevalence, more than 80 per cent of workers with a mental health condition choose not to seek professional help, owing to a lack of resources and the fear of potentially being seen as “unprofessional” in a work environment. 

This has an adverse effect on both their personal and professional lives. More than 60 per cent of respondents surveyed globally, said they were losing at least one to two hours a day in productivity due to  COVID-19—related stress.

Employers are beginning to notice and are starting to emphasise a healthier work environment while ensuring that the support for their employees’ mental health goes beyond acknowledging the issues or allowing a ‘mental health day’. 

However, is enough being done and can Malaysian businesses keep up with the issues caused by the MCOs and “coronastress”?

Also Read: How to foster mental wellness in the workplace and boost performance

Understanding the impact and addressing the real issues

Identifying the actual issue is critical before developing any potential solutions. While not everything will be within your purview to manage from an organisational standpoint, knowing the various struggles of your employees would enable you to create better processes and ideas that are more empathetic. 

As with most crises or significant challenges, it weighs down our mental defences. For employees in Malaysia, it is likely that many are feeling the pinch from battling feelings of loneliness exacerbated by lockdown regulations and social isolation, financial stress, to poor work-life balance.

While not all these struggles can be deemed purely ‘work-related’, employers and leaders can help mitigate potential stressors. 

During the multiple MCOs, many employees complained about back-to-back virtual meetings and the pressure to continue working or responding to messages past their work hours.

As 63 per cent of Malaysians struggle with work-life balance while working from home, boundaries need to be introduced and respected by both parties. 

Additionally, the problem lies with communication and feeling supported by management. Too often, employees feel burnt out due to unclear requirements from their bosses and managers.

There’s a level of frustration as instructions change with little notice and ambiguous explanations while they’re expected to comply with the changes without knowing the actual expectation. This uncertainty with their work performance often breeds worry and stress about their work performance. 

Dealing with mental health needs to be normalised in Malaysia’s workplace

According to the World Health Organisation, mental health refers to a state of well-being in which individuals realize their abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life,  work productively, and contribute to their community. 

With the mental health conversation gaining ground, some leaders have already started implementing various measures and policies to aid and support their employees.

Also Read: Why Khailee Ng puts mental healthcare support as key to successful founders-investors relationship

These may be small changes such as implementing simple boundaries such as “no work correspondences after 5pm on weekdays” or providing access and compensation to seek professional help.

However, these initiatives, while a step in the right direction, are not enough. Employers need to step up to enact real cultural change. This can be achieved through a multitude of several ways though most would include the act of changing some processes within your existing workflow. 

This can be in the form of establishing clarity on job expectations, by improving the communication between managers and their individual team members. This can help manage or remove stress factors caused by WFH or uncertainty in your evolving job role.

By implementing practices such as Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) into your team’s workflow, it helps to align everyone and ensures that clear expectations are set so that employees don’t have to stress about what they’re working towards. 

Additionally, OKRs are better able to boost their productivity and develop positive habits and a growth mindset which helps in alleviating negative self-talk, thus improving their mental health. 

When businesses and their employees have clear shared goals they have set together, it allows them to distinguish and prioritise their work tasks easily and helps employees alleviate their stress as they’re better able to manage their time and tasks.

Adding to this,  it is also essential to have frequent check-ins amongst team members to keep everyone on track. Develop and encourage meaningful conversations and understand employee needs, you will be able to identify any potential issues early on and implement solutions before they escalate.

Also Read: What you can learn from Carsome about championing mental health for employees

By improving the working conditions and putting practices in place to drive better employee wellbeing, organisations are better able to achieve a high-performance culture that’s able to successfully attract and retain their talents.

In fact, one of the key reasons why companies such as Google and Netflix are deemed as such great places to work is because they understand employee wellbeing and are able to effectively engage them. 

Coronastress doesn’t seem to be going away anytime soon. As offices begin to open up again, it’s important to ensure that your employees are feeling great physically and mentally.

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As the pandemic crisis persists, “Zoom fatigue” continues to pose challenges to the online learning/education industry (Zoom fatigue” is a sense of exhaustion and boredom caused by attending too many meetings, classes, or seminars). As a result, teachers keep facing overworking problems and students increasingly drop out from classes (online, offline or hybrid), adding to the “retention crisis” of the industry.

The pandemic has also widened the inequality and digital divide across different income segments, with those with limited household income/savings dropping out of school altogether. As attested by ErudiFi CEO Naga Tan, many of the edutech firm’s school partners saw a corresponding drop in enrollment rates and an increase in student attrition during the pandemic.

Even before the emergence of the pandemic, online courses consistently recorded higher dropout rates (5 per cent to 35 per cent) than physical classes, research showed. 

To address this, edutech startups, which consider Zoom fatigue a short-term symptom, strive to make the e-learning experience a fun and more engaging journey for educators and learners.

Over the past years, many edutech startups came up with different innovative solutions — such as continuous assessment of individual performance, improved learning management systems, tailored courses to strengthen the knowledge absorption capacity, and gamified interactive learning design. 

Among them, two approaches stood out — data analytics and study-to-earn — evincing interests among educators with their capabilities to cope with the looming “retention crisis”.

Data analytics 

Singapore-based ErudiFi aims to address the 10-15 per cent annual school dropout rates by providing its partner educators with data-driven financing solutions that support student recruitment and retention. The firm helps track tuition fee disbursements and offers real-time analytics for dropped students.

But the approach that mushroomed in the recent past is personalised/adaptive learning, which stands alone as the most buzzworthy data-based method to raise engagement and secure desirable retention rates.

With the support of technology, human intervention, curriculum design, or pathway, and most likely a mixture of these, personalised learning tailors instruction to the skills, understanding, progress, and preferences of an individual learner for the better.

A typical model is to leverage analytics and technology to identify areas where students or teachers are weak and recommend the necessary lessons. 

For example, Singapore-based LingoAce employs multimedia, gamification features and AI-powered tools to assess the teaching quality and finetune the curriculum and learning experience after a lesson is conducted. It later leverages live one-on-one and small-group classes with teachers to provide real-time feedback and interaction.

Noodle Factory, another startup, takes a step ahead and utilises natural language processing (NLP) to automate the creation, preparation, and grading of exams and assessments. It uses AI to provide human-like lessons, creating a personalised learning experience that provides direct instruction and feedback to learners.

While human teachers only teach one way of solving a problem, Noodle Factory’s AI tutors claim to learn and develop different methods and remember new approaches that students may have.

However, industry insiders have questioned these technologies’ true ability to raise the retention rate as they believe human interaction should be the core of a personalised engagement. For instance, Learner Net conducts small group courses with a smaller teacher-student ratio. It enables teachers to use different techniques and methodologies to work on students’ weaknesses in a targeted manner that is supposed to engage students more efficiently. 

In response, Noodle Factory CEO Yvonne Soh still believes that technology helps free up valuable time so that students and educators can spend more time on meaningful interactions instead of being replaced by machines. 

“Technology is great for facts and memorisation,” said Soh. “[With the help of technology], we are actually solving workload challenges for educators.”

Study-to-earn

With cryptocurrencies and blockchain becoming popular, the edutech industry, too, has started adopting the technology. The initial discussions of blockchain in education focus primarily on verifying certifications and accepting crypto for tuition fee payment. 

Another exciting development is happening — a reward system to encourage learning on online platforms and simultaneously raise the retention rate.

“Educators are willing to pay five to ten per cent of revenue for loyalty,” added Quang Mai, Director of Vietnam-based edutech accelerator Topica Founder Institute, adding that most profits in the education come from repeat transactions of loyal users/students.

By giving points for every course purchased or learning activity performed, educators allow students to use these reward points to buy more courses or unlock specific functions. Learner Net, for instance, is working with third-party merchants with whom students can use these reward points.

“We have also looked at NFTs [non-fungible tokens] to reward users,” Learner Net Founder Joe Ngoi told e27. “‘Study-to-earn’ concept is a blockchain take on the traditional gamified learning experience, with open-loop rewards instead of closed-loop rewards.”

However, the first-movers have the disadvantage: they have to invest money in educating the incumbents as blockchain, and its associated technologies are relatively new in the education space.

To break these barriers, Mai and his team are on track to launch MetaStudy; it is a central playground operated as a private blockchain for all educators to do loyalty driven by “study-to-earn” (a concept evolving from the “play-to-earn” frenzy). The mechanism, which Binance founder Changpeng Zhao mentioned in a tweet, helps increase students’ engagement and drive the retention rate up dramatically.

In essence, Meta Study network has a common token named MTS, which is used with all educators and allows them to issue their rewarding tokens backed by MTS to reward users/students. Their students can redeem, swap, exchange tokens in Meta Study’s exchange and a common marketplace for NFTs, products/services, or join Meta Study’s events and challenges to earn more.

“In traditional reward systems, those rewarding points are only usable in that specific education institution and could not be added together from a group of people such as family members who study in different places and levels, not to mention the burden of inventory management of gifts,” said Mai.

Though it is similar to loyalty platforms, such as what Urbox or Society Pass provide, with Meta Study network, educators can keep their brands with their rewarding tokens in the network and incentivise learners for better engagement and flexible learning options throughout their lives.

“Study-to-earn can be an appropriate incentive for learners, with the right tokenomics and as a part of a larger ecosystem,” Ngoi commented.

However, Alex Ng, Managing Director of EduSpaze, a Singapore-based edutech accelerator, is doubtful about the sustainability and long-term effects of “study-to-earn”, especially for younger learners.

“My view is that this can be useful if it’s well designed to encourage and motivate learners and not excessively used,” said Ng.

Students stay longer, but do they learn more effectively? 

Insiders say that current technologies’ data for personalised learning still tend to group students into generic categories. This may impact students’ learning efficiency as it cannot include their unique characters, personalities and traits.

“As competition stiffens, we are likely to see consolidation in this market as the bigger players aim to acquire more data,” said Ngoi.

That is why a sector-specific accelerator like EduSpaze aims to dive a lot deeper into creating the right community and ecosystem, maximising the leverage for these edutech startups.

“If more learning organisations and schools can share relevant, anonymised learning data, that will help the ecosystem move forward faster,” noted Ng.

Fortunately, the ecosystem stakeholders agree on the value of human interaction as the core of any intention to retain students and improve learning quality. For online learning to succeed, it requires not only a reliable platform but also a willing learner and a dedicated teacher.

Technology should help to improve learning outcomes and support teachers’ role as a form of reinforcement and not a replacement. It can help motivate learners with money or rewards, but only students who have an inner passion can do more and make a difference.

“Incentives can have benefits, especially when used to drive certain behaviours, but incentives alone will not help students to learn,” said Soh of Noddle Factory. “I do believe there needs to be intrinsic motivation for a student to perform well truly.” 

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With the growing need for more pioneering solutions to modern-day problems, a few startups are stepping up to fill the niche. Plusman LLC, a Japanese engineering company specialising in medical imaging AI, teams up with the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) to expand its services in Southeast Asia.

JETRO’s goal as an organisation is to help link Japan and the rest of the world through mutual trade and investment. Through its partnership with JETRO, Plusman is looking to explore what other opportunities are in store in the rest of Asia. With a successful expansion, Plusman’s latest technology, the Plus.Lung.Nodule could be one of the biggest developments to hit the region in terms of medical advancement.

About Plusman LLC and its developments

 Though fairly new, Plusman’s work in the industry is certainly formidable. Apart from medical imaging, the company aims to develop solutions in pharmaceuticals, artificial intelligence, and cryptography research. While Plus.Lung.Nodule is the company’s biggest product to date, Plusman LLC has also done extensive research on deep learning and real-world data analysis, further setting the bar for the company’s credibility.

In 2020, Plusman LLC presented in the Radiology Society of North America (RSNA), highlighting its work on computer-aided detection (CAD) for pulmonary nodules and lymph nodes. Part of this underlies Plus.Lung.Nodule’s technology, a medical device that could be beneficial for those working in radiology and lung cancer research, among other lung-related diseases.

Also read: Online threats? Protect yourself with these tools

The Plus.Lung.Nodule analyses CT images to detect lung nodules and lymph nodes, the process of which Plusman LLC calls CT AI. It also examines chest photographs to detect black and white shadows, which is called CXR AI. What makes Plusman’s technology so ground-breaking is that it can be done with a simple smartphone.

In an interview with e27, Plusman LLC Managing Partner Yusuke Nakamura explains that CXR AI can read a chest radiograph image taken with a phone and allow hospitals or clinics without proper infrastructure to work with what they have without sacrificing the quality of their service to patients. At present, Plus.Lung.Nodule is available for clinical use only in Japan, though this may soon change with JETRO’s intervention. At the same time, Plusman’s expansion into Southeast Asia brings much-needed innovation into the region.

A profile of the Southeast Asian market

According to a report published by the Global Cancer Observatory (Globocan) lung cancer is among the most prevalent cancers in the Southeast Asian region, next to breast and cervix cancers. The same report notes that there were about 7.6% new cases of lung cancer among the population in Southeast Asia in 2020. More recent studies also note that pneumonia, tuberculosis, illnesses caused by air pollution, and the more recent coronavirus disease, are also among the top respiratory diseases in the region. These numbers, along with the emergence of other serious illnesses, could impede the progress of one of the most digitally connected and fastest-growing economies in the world.

Nielsen notes that Southeast Asia as a region is particularly lucrative because it is home to more than 8% of the world’s population. Southeast Asia’s young demographic and increasing spending power contribute to this outlook. The region’s GDP growth has remained stable for the past years, indicating a level of steadiness and maturity that is coveted in other more unpredictable economies.

Also read: Putting the Tech in Textile: D-Plus Trading reinvents the textile scene

From 2016 to 2018, consumer confidence among the Southeast Asian nations also unanimously increased, even among the developing countries in the region. Despite the region’s diverse social and cultural landscape, it is quite predictable and undivided in its economic growth. This makes the region a worthwhile investment, and a profitable market to penetrate.

At the same time, the region is not without its challenges. In terms of healthcare, many countries in Southeast Asia still grapple with inequitable health systems and poor infrastructure. As such, this aggravates any pre-existing conditions among the Southeast Asian population. This is where technologies such as Plusman’s could act as a game changer in an otherwise struggling health system.

Plusman’s contribution to medical advancement through tech

Nakamura tells e27 that Plusman’s Plus.Lung.Nodule as a medical device aims to help the increasing number of lung cancer patients in Southeast Asia. On Plusman’s end, the Southeast Asian market is also attractive because of its growth and stability. The strategy the company seeks to employ is the use of CT AI in the more developed nations in the region. On the other hand, CXR AI appears more plausible for developing nations whose medical infrastructure may not be up-to-date or able to support the equipment required for the use of more advanced technologies. The idea is that for its Southeast Asian consumers, Plus.Lung.Nodule will be deployed in the cloud. However, Nakamura clarifies that the same concept of convenience in using something like a smartphone to use the device still applies.

Also read: The most successful AI-Voice B2B SAAS from Japan is now expanding to build a unicorn in Southeast Asia

Nakamura hopes that through JETRO, Plusman will be able to gain a deeper understanding of the Southeast Asian market and successfully launch Plus.Lung.Nodule in the region.

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

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Gajiku, an on-demand payroll and people management solution startup in Indonesia, has bagged a US$1.1 million seed financing round led by AC Ventures.

Agung Ventures, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Sampoerna, and other unnamed Indonesian entrepreneurs and angels also co-invested.

Gaijku will use the funds for product development, expanding the team, and accelerating sales and business development focusing on large enterprises in the Indonesian market.

Also read: Human capital is the biggest enabler of digital transformation. Here’s how to enhance it

Gajiku was established in January 2021 by CEO Sherman Tanuwidjaja and CTO Herry Gunawan, who served as Head of Engineering at Ruangguru and Lead Engineer at Tokopedia.

The startup offers workers earned wage access (EWA) and other financial services. On the other hand, for employers, it assists in digitising their human resource and accounting operations by offering a full suite of employee management processes for attendance, payroll disbursal, and KPI tracking.

These businesses can also utilise Gajiku’s on-demand payroll services to provide their employees with a lifeline, helping them relieve financial pressure and reduce employee turnover.

Gajiku stated that its platform is most commonly used by labour-intensive businesses that employ thousands of blue-collar workers, most of whom are unbanked and may work in shady situations.

“Indonesia’s blue-collar workforce is filled with immense potential, given the right tools and opportunity to thrive. With more businesses looking to Indonesia as part of the global supply chain, we are working with employers to improve employee management, while also ensuring that their employees are in the best financial position for success,” said Gajiku Co-Founder and CEO Sherman Tanuwidjaja.

Gajiku counts Indonesian retail and manufacturing companies among its clients, with an average of more than 1,500 employees per client.

As per a press statement, through collaborations with Indonesian conglomerates and companies, 90 per cent of Gajiku’s registered employees trade at least once a month.

Over the past year, the archipelago has witnessed several fintech startups tapping into EWA solutions, including Paywatch,  wagely, and GajiGesa.

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Image Credit: Gajiku

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