Last week, I had the privilege of having lunch with Chanel and Chin, both practitioners in the NFT space. Chanel had recently quit her job to run her own Tasty Toasties NFT collection, and Chin had just joined the NFT marketplace “X” to drive growth and global expansion. 

The conversation at lunch was delightful— we spoke about how Ghozali became a millionaire from selling his selfies, how Singaporean influencer Irene Zhao started her own DAO, and how there’s even a hybrid project of the two which raised 20.2 ETH. 

I was deeply humbled. Halfway through the conversation, I suddenly recalled that Kenneth, the founder of another NFT marketplace FormosArt, had gifted me a CryptoKitty NFT back in August 2019, which makes me an NFT Original Gangster (“OG”).

Never selling my CryptoKitty though.

What are NFTs?

NFTs only started gaining wider attention after digital artist Beeple auctioned off his artwork at Christie’s in March 2021. The piece sold for a massive US$69 million to a crypto whale in Singapore.

With the total sale of Bored Apes Yacht Club NFT collection (BAYC) recently surpassing US$1 billion, “non-fungible tokens” (NFTs) were hailed as one of the most hyped topics of 2021, with the trend likely to continue into 2022. 

Also Read: Demystifying NFTs and DeFi

Very recently, we also read news about the nine Singaporean companies that are exploring NFTs for their brands and businesses. Because of the vast media attention given to this phenomenon, some have labelled NFTs as “a speculative bubble” and some others have called for increased regulation.  

There are many types of NFTs, ranging from collectables, profile pictures (PFP) artwork, event tickets, gaming, virtual items, memes, and even Web 3.0 domain names.

In short, a secure network records the sale of the above items on a digital ledger (“the blockchain”), giving buyers proof of ownership and authenticity. 

Yet, with all these incredulous statistics, NFTs are not just temporary hype. Here’s why.

Reason #1: With NFTs, you are buying social clout, not the copyright

Some people think that NFTs infringe on creators’ copyrights and tend to disregard them. Frankly speaking, this sort of argument is misleading and is not consistent.

This is because it assumes that the fundamental element that gives market value to the NFT is the copyright of the artwork.

Instead, let me posit to you that the central element that gives the NFT value is social clout and not copyright. In other words, ownership of an NFT makes it verifiable that you are taking part in an innovative digital movement. It has nothing to do with stealing the rights of a creator. 

Now, the determination of the market value of NFTs, therefore, lies in the immutability and the verifiability of ownership.

Because there are now particular NFTs that are highly coveted, you become an important person in the community with verifiable social standing. People both inside and outside of the community will look up to you.

Think about it logically for PFP NFTs— the difference between simply right-clicking the BAYC .jpeg file, setting it as a profile picture, and actually owning it is simply being able to show it as a measurable fact, thus confirming that you are verifiably part of a movement. 

Also Read: The art of blockchain: What is the NFT craze all about?

Therefore, the NFT is not just a part of a .jpeg file. Human beings are meaning-fuelled creatures, which signifies that we intrinsically want to be part of something larger than ourselves. 

Are there parallels to this concept and the human desire to be part of something larger than ourselves? Of course!

Humans have always sought an existential approach to exploration, often pursuing meaning through religion, civil movements, celebrity worship, and contributing to different types of communities. NFTs just raised the bar.

Before NFTs came about, you simply couldn’t visibly and verifiably prove that you have X amount of social capital and power in a certain community. NFTs make this possible. 

Reason #2: NFT is a radical disruption to traditional business models for creators

Rendering games and creating artwork used to be skill sets that weren’t very financially rewarding for most. NFT changed this, by revolutionising the business models of these two industries.

I’d like to share an article here by Brian Fyre, titled “After Copyright: Pwning NFTs in a Clout Economy.”

In this article, Brian Fyre posits:

“But the NFT market suggests upfront investment could be a viable business model in areas other than the art market. If investors believe work is or will be important, and is underpriced relative to its expected future value, they’ll be delighted to invest in it, so long as there’s a resale market. And there it is.

When people invest in the NFT market, they are literally investing in the expected future value of the works they own. Or to look at it in another way, they’re investing in the careers of the authors who created those works.

They’re essentially buying a fractional interest in that author’s career, represented by an NFT of one of that author’s works.

This is great for authors because it means they get paid upfront, whether or not the works they create turn out to be successful. Copyright only ever rewards successful authors.

NFTs at least promise to reward any author people think might be successful. Moreover, they reduce the need for intermediaries.

Realising the value of work in the copyright market typically requires a distributor, who claims a substantial share of the revenue. The NFT market enables authors to connect directly with their investors.” 

After reading this paper, I was dumbfounded. Can you imagine investing in the future careers of young and driven young people through NFTs and upfront payment?

This is an incredibly empowering notion because it encourages people to experiment in any way they want or desire, without the fear of failure, since the project money would be handled upfront.

Also Read: NFTs provide new ways to handle IP management, empower content creators: Inmagine CEO Warren Leow

This is the beauty of decentralised projects because once your vision and mission are clearly articulated, fundraising tools can be easily and effectively utilized.

I’d like to share an insight from my Multiverse Labs colleague Jake, a young Korean chap in his mid-20s. He points out that the market value of any piece of artwork including music, movies, dramatisations, etc. not only comes from the activity of creation but from trading as well.

This links back to the idea of social clout and why art gallery owners earn more than single artists.  Since we can now vividly imagine the possibilities of this new business model working by looking at the solid data of successful NFT projects, what makes you think NFTs are simply going away? 

Reason #3: People dismiss intense discussions and things they don’t understand as “Hype”

As with all new technological innovations, there are bound to be intense and incredibly polarising discussions. There will inevitably be early adopters in any industry who will try to make a quick buck through unconventional processes.

Because of this, some observers label NFTs as scams/hype, and others associate NFT trading with money laundering. Sounds familiar? Because it is. People said the same thing about Bitcoin since its inception in 2009. 

Admittedly, a group of obscure VCs have recently been caught throwing liberal amounts of money at projects with the words “GameFi” and “NFT,” creating a false impression that the whole space is “all hype.”

It truly isn’t that difficult for founders of blockchain projects to get funding in the current business climate. And to that, let me just say that the public should do their own due diligence and research before investing any pocket change. 

The key takeaway here is this; just because something isn’t widely understood, it doesn’t mean that it won’t last. In the fast-moving blockchain world, we really don’t know what we don’t know! So perhaps it might be wise to rethink that assumption. 

If NFTs are here to stay, where do we go from here?

Practitioners like Chanel and Chin in the NFT space are impressive because of their strong personal convictions and grit.

Currently, I work as the Head of Ecosystem at Multiverse Labs, an open metaverse with a mission to empower promising individuals and groups to become leaders in new digital spaces.

I count my blessings daily because I get to interact frequently with passionate people like them, who are literally building the new era, one NFT at a time.

Also Read: Are digital art NFTs horrible for Mother Earth? BoT gearing up for digital currency test

Yet, because I work as Head of Ecosystem, people naturally assume that I’m also an “expert” in the NFT space. The truth is that I am new to learning like everyone else because the space is always rapidly evolving.

What I do have, however, is the conviction that NFTs are the key building blocks to the open metaverse. And since the “metaverse” is not hype (Meta is investing at least US$10 billion/year), by logical extension, NFTs are not hyped either. 

I encourage you to start participating with me in this space by minting NFTs in any projects that tickle your fancy. You’ll learn faster by having a growth mindset and taking action.

For example, as a pure experiment, we have created and minted some IKItties as NFTs on the Polygon blockchain network, and they look like this:

I’ll most likely be minting my first NFT on the ethereum blockchain from Zoofrenz soon, which looks like this:

I also warmly invite you to join us at Multiverse Labs in building the open metaverse together. Feel free to get connected and show us your NFT collections anytime! 🙂 

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Indonesian e-commerce enabler SIRCLO Group today announced that it has acquired new retail platform Warung Pintar for an undisclosed sum.

Following the acquisition, Warung Pintar will continue to operate as an integrated yet independent entity, as a new retail service under the SIRCLO Group umbrella.

It will offer a comprehensive omnichannel solution for principals or brands, distributors, business players, to end-consumers through its network of warungs (mom-and-pop stores).

At the management level, Brian Marshal will lead as CEO of SIRCLO Group, while Agung Bezharie as the Co-Founder and CEO of Warung Pintar will lead SIRCLO’s new business pillar under ‘New Retail’ services.

In addition to that, Danang Cahyono will take on a new position to lead SIRCLO’s ‘Enterprise Solutions’ pillar and Ferry Tenka will lead SIRCLO’s ‘Entrepreneur Solutions’ pillar.

Also Read: How Warung Pintar builds tech solutions to help warung owners embrace the future

“With more than eight years of experience in the B2B industry for enterprise brands and entrepreneurs, we realise that micro-retail (warung) and mom-and-pop stores also play a crucial role in the retail ecosystem, since they serve as the fulfilment hubs for the society’s daily needs. We need to improve key factors in their operations, such as product availability, the efficiency of the distribution channels, brands’ accessibility to reach partners and end-consumers, as well as its capability in contributing to the national economy. This is what prompted SIRCLO to also focus on the B2B2C business model by collaborating with Warung Pintar in our ecosystem,” said Marshal in a press statement.

SIRCLO Group said that it aimed to focus on three layers of solution pillars: solutions for Enterprises, solutions for Entrepreneurs and SMEs, and the New Retail business model (such as warung).

Through this latest acquisition, the company said that it now has

– A total of more than 150,000 brands served by the company (combined)
– More than 500,000 warung and mom-and-pop stores owners
– A reach of more than 25 million end-consumers
– More than 80 distribution points spread throughout Indonesia

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

Commenting on the acquisition, Bezharie said that the synergy between SIRCLO and Warung Pintar can help brands increase their visibility by penetrating into the warung ecosystem —as the largest distribution channel in Indonesia— so that principals or brands are able to reach more consumers.

He also believes that this move marks a great opportunity for the two entities to bring a wider impact on the retail ecosystem and the Indonesian economy, especially to prepare for constant dynamic changes in the sector.

In February last year, Warung Pintar acquired Bizzy Digital for US$45 million.

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US firm acquires Singapore’s email marketing platform Saleswhale

Singapore-based AI-driven email marketing platform Saleswhale has been acquired by US-based revenue-tech unicorn 6sense for an undisclosed amount.

By joining forces, 6sense will expand its engagement capabilities, allowing its customers to deliver personalised, relevant, and timely emails that convert qualified leads into opportunities.

The acquisition comes alongside 6sense’s US$200 million Series E round from investors, including MSD Partners, Blue Owl, SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Tiger Global, and Insight Partners.

Saleswhale will continue to operate as an independent entity.

Also Read: How Singaporean startup Xctuality helps creators, brands accelerate into metaverse

Under 6sense, Saleswhale will look to double its team and hire engineers, product designers, and product managers in Singapore and India. Saleswhale also plans to expand its business through product development and last-mile execution of its sales and marketing product.

Saleswhale is a company backed by Monk’s Hill Ventures and is also the first Y Combinator-backed company in Singapore to be acquired.

Thai omnichannel commerce startup Hatch acquired by PriceSpider

Bangkok-based omnichannel commerce solutions startup Hatch has been acquired by US-based brand commerce enabler PriceSpider.

Together, Hatch and PriceSpider, with a presence on all continents, will provide commerce enablement solutions and digital shelf analytics, helping brands better understand consumer buying patterns to optimise touchpoints globally.

Hatch connects brands directly with retailers, empowering a one-click shop from the brands’ website to direct buyers to a wide selection of over 2,000 retailers worldwide. As an omnichannel commerce solution, Hatch enables consumers to purchase a brand’s product from any point: social media, the website, phone, tablet, or computer.

Currently, the firm operates in over 80 countries worldwide.

PriceSpider’s Brand Commerce Platform — including Shoppable where-to-buy solutions, Digital Shelf Analytics and Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) technologies — protects brand integrity online by delivering deeper insights into how consumers shop and choose brands.

With this acquisition, PriceSpider and Hatch will serve more than 2,000 of the world’s most renowned brands across the globe.

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When the horse chariots were going out of vogue with the advent of the automobile, the farmers that had shunned farming to move to cities earlier as chariot drivers had two options in front of them– either reskill to become chauffeurs or give up their dream of city life and go back to their villages and farming (in a hope that at least that will not change).

Lessons to take away:

• Cliche but true – the only thing constant in this world is change
• Big dreams and progress demand new learning – constantly
• Soft skills, self-awareness, and critical or ab initio (first principle) thinking are a must, and
• The need to be adaptable and resilient

The common thread in the lessons is learning. And not everything can be learnt by oneself, for instance, thermite welding. Societies should provide upskilling and cross-skilling options to the willing, and at a competitive or affordable cost; and build institutions well equipped to train the workforce for the future.

Well-equipped here means the facility is technically adequate and the trainers have the right training skills, are passionate about their subject, and sport an uncompromising attitude.

We need to get this right; here we are talking about the learning needs of a normal person on the street and not necessarily a genius or an inventor. Most often the latter are the ones whose hyper innovations disrupt the current way of living and necessitate reskilling.

Also Read: Monk’s Hill Ventures head of talent’s guide to startup jobs search in Singapore

This era of hyper innovation where technology innovations and startups are encouraged like never before, paving the way to singularity (first coined by John von Neumann) faster than expected. This means that the disruptions to the way we live are going to be more frequent and profound.

And the consequent rapidly evolving situation leaves us with the only option of reskilling more often than ever before if only to stay relevant.

As it is difficult to predict future technologies, no disrespect to technology futurists like Ray Kurzweil (whom I religiously follow), the average person on the street will require to be a lot more adaptable and need a reliable place to turn to for reskilling.

This presents a great opportunity for the skills-development agencies in countries with vibrant economies and industries. The skills-development agencies, irrespective of whether they are public or privately run, require agility to add contemporary facilities and skill up their own instructors.

The instructors themselves have to learn from either the inventors or early adopters who develop the training content and run the T3P (Train the Trainer) Program for the accurate flow of knowledge downstream.

A typical skills acquisition chain would be as follows: Inventors/early adopters develop instruction manuals or train the trainer programs > Skill and knowledge upgrade of trainers > Students and practising engineers get trained by the trainers

Also Read: Why there is no better time to upskill than this COVID-19 crisis

Governments all over are encouraging entrepreneurship and innovation by creating mechanisms aligned to their specific economic environments that can contribute through the primary revenue sectors to the GDP.

For innovation to thrive it needs a functional learning ecosystem, and the governments are racing to create a robust framework involving multiple stakeholders, from government skilling agencies to private organisations, schools of lower and higher education, and partnering with technology giants.

Within the technology space where the innovations pace faster, the trainers and the training institutions need to continuously match the rate of upskilling their own teaching staff. In cases where the need for physical infrastructure is minimal, say a laptop and a good internet connection, the skilling entities should equip themselves to provide online courses and exams.

This could save a considerable amount of commute time, as well as reduce inconvenience and costs, and make those learning more productive. Online training is one of the positive fallouts of the ongoing pandemic. Early trends show a nine-fold increase for learners accessing online learning through government programs in certain countries.

The pandemic has also laid bare the lack of mechanisms to support workers through mid-career transitions and to ensure worker well-being and livelihoods amidst disruptions. Possibly a fundamental reform, in the way education and training systems operate today, and in how they interact with labour market policies and business approaches to reskilling, is needed.

It is interesting to note how certain countries are quickly and effectively responding to the unfolding situation. For instance, the Danish Ministry of Employment has introduced several measures aimed at providing additional opportunities for upskilling and job-focused education to workers laid off due to the pandemic.

Also Read: Workers are switching jobs now more than ever. Why upskilling matters most post-pandemic

Under this scheme, both skilled and unskilled workers who pursue a vocational education are being provided with 110 per cent of their usual unemployment benefits. France responded by creating individual skills account with an integrated mobile application dedicated to vocational training and lifelong learning.

Under this scheme, 28 million eligible full- and part-time workers, based on the skill levels, will receive between EUR500 to EUR8,000 annually to spend on upskilling and continuous learning. And Singapore responded by enhancing their Training Support Package – ETSP.

Contrary to the belief that the ongoing digitalisation and automation will take away jobs, most of the surveys show that there will be a net increase to the tune of 10 to 12 per cent job opportunities.

Remember when the horse carts went out of vogue, there wasn’t a decline, but rather more high paying jobs got created in the transportation space. We will witness a similar huge upsurge in need for newer skills with higher compensation, thus improving the wealth generation opportunities for the initiated.

While automation is going to increase and machines will prove more efficient in repetitive kind of job, they are at least a few years away from catching up, if at all they do, with the following:

• Critical / analytical thinking and innovation
• Reasoning and complex problem-solving
• Resilience and adaptability
• Creativity, curiosity, and initiative for innovation
• Emotional intelligence, leadership and social influence
• Technology innovation, programming, etc.

This clearly means humans will continue playing a key role while the machines take away the drudgery of repetitive, low value add tasks. It is imperative for people to also skill themselves up in some of the above areas, apart from learning and adapting to the new world order of man-machine interaction. Harnessing and adopting innovations through continuous learning remains the only constant.

Stay tuned for part two to learn which job fields are on the rise and jobs likely on a downtrend in terms of demand.

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

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The surge in internet-related crimes has become a cause for concern for businesses and individuals, and rightfully so. But with the right tools in place, everyone can play a part in fighting cybercrime.

Phishing and ransomware attacks rose in Singapore in the last two years as more people shifted online during the pandemic. Last year, the Cyber Security Agency said that it detected more than 40,000 unique phishing URLs and 85 cases of ransomware attacks in 2020.

What is phishing?

Phishing refers to a tactic commonly used by cybercriminals to gather personal information through deceiving emails and messages. The goal is usually for the target to click a link and give up their details, thereby giving attackers access to assets like bank accounts, or downloading a document planting malware into a computer system.

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

What is ransomware?

Ransomware refers to a type of malicious software designed to block access to data, documents, and systems until the victim pays up. Attackers usually use encryption to block access, leading to network breakdowns that may result in financial losses or expose sensitive documents that can cause reputational damage.

It takes a village to nurture a healthy online environment, as cliche as that may sound. Good data hygiene starts with nobody but you. With the right tools, integrating data protection habits into our daily lives can be smooth sailing.

Here’s how:

• Encryption

Encryption is a method of securing digital data by encoding its original representation into a cryptic format that only authorised parties or key-holders can decipher. Imagine converting all your sensitive files into cryptic texts. How would a hacker gather any information about yourself despite intruding on your computer or phone?

Encryption software like the U-Hide provides safe encryption of frequently accessed files that can only be accessed by you, the key-holder. The key is secured by a physical cryptosecurity device and authenticator known as the Hugware^TM.

• Backup

Backing up your files or duplicating them for storage in a separate network helps you quickly recover your files in the event of loss or device damage. But what some don’t realise is that backing up your folder can also protect you from losses caused by ransomware attacks.

Imagine being locked out of your system by a cyberattacker demanding ransom. With your backup, you can simply disregard the attack and reset your system and go on with your life like it never happened.

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

It is best to fortify your data with encryption wherever you store your backup. The U-Archive application will allow encryption of data backed up on the cloud (e.g. Dropbox and Google Drive) and accessible only by the Hugware authentication device holder.

• What else can you do?

If you are still concerned about the risk of falling victim to cyberattacks, you may want to consider something called Self-Sovereign Identity, or SSI. It can be regarded as an advanced personal digital security framework involving decentralised identifiers, or DIDs, that can potentially be used in two-factor authentication processes instead of SMSes.

With all of these tools and modes of protection, you can sleep soundly knowing that your important data aren’t being accessed by malicious elements.

About UKISS Technology

Founded and incorporated in Singapore in 2021, UKISS Technology is dedicated to building an ecosystem of decentralised identity and cybersecurity solutions. Learn more about our hardware and software solutions and other exciting plans on our website, ukiss.io.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by UKISS Technology

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Singapore-based HR-tech platform Darwinbox has bagged US$72 million in a new funding round led by Technology Crossover Ventures (TCV) at over US$1 billion valuation.

The round also saw participation from existing investors Salesforce Ventures, Sequoia, Lightspeed, SCB 10X, JGDEV, Endiya Partners and 3One4Capital.

This round takes the company’s total funding raised to date to US$110 million.

Darwinbox will use the capital for global expansion, accelerate technology, and strengthen its product, engineering and customer success teams. It also plans to scale its go-to-market presence in multiple geographies.

The company intends to triple its team within a year, adding more than 100 team members in Southeast Asia across its Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Jakarta, Manila and Bangkok offices.

Also Read: DarwinBox bags US$15M to expand its enterprise HR-tech platform in SEA

Since its last fundraise from Salesforce Ventures a year ago, Darwinbox has grown 300 per cent in Southeast Asia.

Founded in late 2015, Darwinbox is cloud-based human capital management (HCM) platform catering to HR needs across the employee lifecycle, including recruitment, onboarding, core transactions (leaves, attendance, directory), payroll, travel and expenses, employee engagement, performance management, rewards & recognition and people analytics.

The firm said in a press note that its product is powering digital HR for more than 1.5 million employees from 650-plus enterprises worldwide. Its clients are Zilingo, Zalora, Carousell, Tokopedia, MatchMove, Funding Societies, Mitra Adiperkasa, and JG Summit Holdings, to name a few.

Founded in 1995, TCV has invested over US$16 billion across 350 investments of varying structures, including mid-stage, late-stage and public company investments. Its investments include Airbnb, Believe, Brex, Dream Sports, FarEye, HireVue, Mollie, Nubank, Razorpay, Nerdy, RELEX Solutions, Revolut, RMS, Sportradar, Spotify, Trade Republic, The Pracuj Group, and Zepz.

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Many months ago, I felt super uninspired. I have time for my morning routine, work that I love doing, can eat all the delicious food around Bali, have routine yoga and meditation sessions, sunbathing and sunset every day, in short: I have a beautiful life every single day.

But looks like, I’ve made my life too easy and predictable. I literally get burnt out from stacking pleasure!

I didn’t know what was wrong with me at first until I came across a thread shared on Twitter by a quite well-known VC’s LP that sounds similar to my ‘symptoms’. I followed down the rabbit hole of the newfound suspect of my vanilla life to YouTube, and spend a few hours watching podcast after podcast by Andrew Huberman.

Turned out I was trapped in a situation called: dopamine addiction. I kept giving myself more and more rewards and stimulation every time without even needing to try hard (late-night TikTok scroll is one of them). And now that I feel numb to all of the pleasure I’ve built in my life, I need to stop and do dopamine fast.

Dopamine fast is when you stop giving yourself constant predictable rewards/pleasure for a while. Think silent retreat, not using your social media for a while, fasting, etc.

Also Read: For your mind only: How to deal with founder’s burnout

The key is to be mindful and be present. This is also a good time to practice meditation, journaling, enjoy quality time with your loved ones without gadgets, etc.

I’ve learned that we also get burned out if we can’t see the immediate results of what we’re doing. I break goals in small chunks (I have OKR even for my personal life). I make it a habit to create a daily intention and checklist that will show my progress on that day.

I notice and celebrate my micro-progress and write it down in my gratitude journal. I also celebrate progress with my team/best friends.

Give random rewards to yourself. The anticipation of pleasure is what releases dopamine. Pause, reflect and recognise that you’re doing something positive. A well-known stoic practice is to journal the answer to these questions:

“What went well today? What did I do to contribute to that outcome?”

Last but not least, take joy in the pursuit. We’re always getting there and it’s fun!

Enjoy the first half of January 2022!

Ps: To increase my dopamine level, I’m stepping up my game and organise a conference for Remote Skills Academy with 35 speakers from Indonesia and around the world. Check out Remote Skills Summit Indonesia 2022

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Startup Genome returned with its new The Global Startup Ecosystem Report: Cleantech Edition. The report named Singapore and Sri Lanka as the two promising cleantech startup ecosystems for Asia.

Sri Lanka was named as in the Ecosystems To Watch list due to the availability of affordable talents in the country. Top verticals in the market included cleantech, agritech, and foodtech.

Meanwhile, Singapore is noted for the strength of its funding and general startup ecosystem performance. In the market, the top verticals included fintech, cleantech, agritech, and foodtech.

In general, the top cleantech startup ecosystem in the world is still being dominated by startup hubs in North America and Europe with the top five being Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, Stockholm, London, and Los Angeles.

One factor that Singapore and Sri Lanka have in common, that had pushed them to become a promising cleantech startup ecosystem, is the amount of government support and startup-friendly regulations that these two markets have.

In terms of funding, the report noted the decline of Series A funding in Asia in recent years. But it also noted that despite the decline, it recorded a two-times increase in total late stage investments (Series B+) in 2020, from US$1.17 billion in 2019 to US$2.47 billion, driven in part by several huge investments in EV companies.

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

In general, cleantech companies have the highest age at transaction of any sub-sector, with the average company taking 3.8 years to reach Series A and 5.5 years to reach Series B – almost eight months and 11 months longer than for tech startups across sectors.

What it takes to scale a cleantech startup

In the report, JF Gauthier, Founder & CEO of Startup Genome also named the common problem that cleantech startups are facing globally: the so-called “scale up gap.”

“If we could scale all of the cleantech innovations we currently possess, we might be halfway or —-who knows-— all the way to a net-zero economy. Sadly though, cleantech startups often run up against significant barriers when bringing their solutions to global markets. And while more capital than ever has been raised and invested recently by VCs, investors also poured money into cleantech startups 15 years ago and saw very few results. More capital
alone will not solve the scaleup gap,” he explained.

He further elaborated that historically, many of the world’s most successful startups have been in the software business, and for good reasons.

“Software startups offer solutions that have an inherent and large cost advantage, replacing labour with high variable costs with software that has a near-zero marginal cost. Cleantech companies, however, invest vast amounts of time, money, and technical skill to develop solutions that then start out with a big cost disadvantage, sometimes to the order of 100 times. These solutions compete against traditional technologies with huge economies of scale, fully depreciated production assets, and decades of production experience. It’s no wonder cleantech startups are far harder to scale than software-based businesses,” Gauthier stressed.

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

He offered the following as possible solutions to help build a thriving ecosystem:

– Creating demand-side policies
– Mobilising early stage capital with global industry expertise and customer relationships
– Bringing scaling skills and business experience to passionate cleantech entrepreneurs
– Combining venture investors with foundations and government funds to create larger and more patient capital

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Singapore-based mental health startup Intellect has secured US$10 million in a Series A financing round led by US-based HOF Capital.

Other institutional backers are Headline, East Ventures, MS&AD Ventures, DG Daiwa Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners and Pioneer Fund.

The round also saw participation from a string of angels, including Henry Chan of Shopback, Rajive Keshup of Cathay Innovation, Neel Palrecha (former VP of Engineering at Headspace), Samvit Ramadurgam of Forge, Sagi Shorrer of Peak, Anubhav Nayyar of Snap, Gaurav Girotra of Tinder, along with family office funds of billionaire founders.

Intellect will spend the capital on expanding its footprint in Asia and increasing its product, engineering, and commercial headcounts.

Besides, the company also intends to level up its product offerings to include the whole spectrum of mental health care, ranging from self-care to live counselling, coaching, to crisis management.

The round comes five months after Intellect’s US$2.2 million pre-Series A round led by Insignia Ventures Partners, alongside new investors Y Combinator and XA Network.

Also read: How to tackle employee mental health to build a resilient workforce

Launched in 2020, Intellect aims to make mental healthcare and wellbeing support accessible for everyone through its end-to-end, 24×7 mental healthcare system in a single app.

The pandemic has boosted the demand for mental health support in the last two years. According to the World Health Organisation, new depressive and anxiety disorder diagnoses spiked 400 per cent in 2021.

“Existing mental health benefits and mental healthcare systems are under-equipped to service this surging need at scale,” stated Intellect CEO and Co-Founder Theodoric Chew. “Intellect goes beyond supporting workforces, going deeper into our broader vision of building an entirely new mental healthcare system tailored specifically for Asia.”

For companies, Intellect’s mental health benefits solution includes clinically-based digital therapy programmes and telehealth services, which connect employees to a panel of professional coaches and clinical therapists within minutes.

The app’s consumer version offers an introductory mental well-being platform with self-guided skill-building lessons and bite-sized “rescue sessions” to deal with stressful emotions.

As of last August, Intellect claims to have clocked over 2.5 million users and 20 enterprise clients globally, covering 12 countries and 11 languages.

In 2021, the startup claimed to have recorded a y-o-y revenue surge by over 20 fold. It involved a significant uptick in enterprise clients signing on to its corporate mental health benefits solution — such as online ordering and food delivery platform foodpanda and digital loyalty and e-commerce platform Shopback.

Intellect also partners with insurers and global benefits brokers across Asia to offer mental health solutions on a much larger scale.

The startup has over ten clinical studies underway in collaboration with leading universities and institutions, namely the National University of Singapore (NUS), King’s College London, University of Queensland and the Singapore General Hospital. 

According to Statista, the digital health industry in Singapore is estimated to increase at a 6.94 per cent annual rate (CAGR 2022-2025), resulting in a projected market volume of US$2,8 billion by 2025.

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Image Credit: Intellect

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Surge, a Sequoia Capital-operated scale-up programme for startups in India and Southeast Asia, has announced the 20 new startups graduating from its sixth cohort. 

Of the total 20 startups, 17 have already received US$60 million funding from Sequoia and other investors. Surge stated in an announcement that the sixth batch comprises the largest number of software startups, with more than half building and providing cloud infrastructure, developer tools, data protection, and SaaS. Other startups belong to the categories: cybersecurity, fintech, agritech, e-commerce, direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands, and edutech. 

“As many products and services continue to move online, we’re starting to see greater diversity in the types of SaaS startups applying to and taking part in Surge,” noted the programme. “Sixty per cent of Surge 06 companies are building solutions for global markets from day one.”

For the first time, Surge also has onboarded startups from Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan, besides India, which is home to 50 per cent of participants. 

Below is a snapshot of the five startups based out of Southeast Asia:

• Grupin is an Indonesia-based social commerce platform offering an interactive, community-based shopping experience to consumers, along with the benefit of large discounts on bulk consumer products.
• Infina is a retail investment software that allows young, tech-savvy Vietnamese to start investing with little sum and lower risk.
• IIIMMPACT is a Malaysia-based fintech firm that provides a full suite of APIs ranging from mobile top-ups, utility bills, government services, insurance and travel under one umbrella.
• Manatal is a Thailand-based SaaS platform for end-to-end recruiting and onboarding.
• HelloMida is a Vietnam-located DTC fashion brand that allows Southeast Asia’s digitally native GenZ customers to express and celebrate their uniqueness through a real-time retail model.

Also read: Startup funding rounds: A handbook from seed to exit

Launched in 2019 by Sequoia India, Surge has evaluated over 10,000 companies for its accelerator programme and has grown to a network of 112 startups and 246 founders. 

Upon joining each cohort, startups will receive a seed investment of around US$1 million to US$2 million. The four-month programme also provides training, global immersion tours, and assistance from a network of extraordinary mentors coming from successful companies such as Gojek, Google, Uber, WhatsApp, Zilingo, and more. 

Surge focuses on early-stage projects, which mean that participant could be someone with an idea and a slide deck or an early-stage founding team that already has the product-market fit and a round of seed funding.

The programme’s goal is to supercharge these projects and give them an unfair advantage to scale and grow, form a team, make smart business model choices right from the get-go, and raise a Series A round soon after. At the end of Surge, founders will have the opportunity to raise capital during an “UpSurge” week from a curated list of angels, seed funds and VCs. 

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Image Credit: Surge

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