Temasek buys stake in Grab, Robinhood Markets
Temasek also invested in fashion e-commerce platform Rent the Runway, restaurant payment company Toast, and sports betting firm DraftKings; At the same time, the fund sold all its shares in Uber, Coinbase and Tencent Music.

Bolttech buys Ava Insurance
The deal will help accelerate the deployment of Bolttech’s insurance exchange in Singapore, which aims to make it easier for insurers, distributors, and customers to connect with each other; It is also looking to simplify the process of buying and selling insurance.

Sony Ventures hits first close of US$217M Fund III
LPs include Mizuho Group, Daiwa Securities, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank, Mitsubishi Estate, and Sony Group; Sony Innovation Fund 3 invests in all stages of emerging tech companies and startups solving global environmental challenges.

Lazada co-founder backs US$20M round of Singapore recommerce marketplace Reebelo
Reebelo is a licensed online marketplace selling pre-owned electronic devices at affordable prices; Its marketplace houses 100+ vendors certified by Reebelo who list an array of products including mobile phones, laptops, tablets, drones and gaming hardware.

Taiwanese edutech firm AmazingTalker raises US$15.5M Series A
Investors include CDIB Capital, JAFCO Asia, and 500 Global; AmazingTalker runs a tutor-matching platform focused on language learning; The firm, which promises a better profit-sharing system for its instructors, also offers K-12 education services for children.

Animoca opens Japan unit, bags US$10M seed money
The capital came from MCP IPX One Fund, jointly launched by MCP Asset Management and Animoca Brands; Animoca Japan is building a blockchain platform to help IP holders build and expand fan communities via the issue of their own NFTs and fungible tokens.

Appboxo raises US$7M Series A for product development, global expansion
Investors include RTP Global, Antler, 500 Southeast Asia, SciFi VC, and Gradient Ventures; Appboxo owns Shopboxo, a platform that helps entrepreneurs, brands and SMEs create online stores to offer their goods and services directly to consumers.

VIZZIO rakes in US$6.7M from undisclosed investors
VIZZIO employs AI-powered geospatial, 3D virtualisation and Digital Twin solutions to enable users — from novices to digital experts — to access 3D-as-a-service offerings on-demand, helping them to co-create, virtualise and interact with digital realities.

NOBI raises US$4M in seed funding
Investors are AC Ventures, Appworks, Skystar Capital, Cakra Ventures, and GFC; As a platform, NOBI aims to help investors in diversifying their assets to crypto and help busy investors to manage crypto assets in a simpler manner.

Real Impact Matters Most Sustainability raises US$3M pre-Series A
Investors are Beenext and Mamoru Taniya; RIMM’s automated platform provides SMEs with simplified sustainability guidance and solutions; It also offers intelligent tools that enable sustainability management, reporting, and optimisation.

Go-Ventures leads seed round of job platform KitaLulus
KitaLulus enables users to take relevant courses and build professional networks before applying for jobs in its app; It claims it currently processes 1M job applications per month; Its clients include J&T Express, Hangry, and Apotek.

Semaai reaps US$1.3M from Beenext, Sequoia’s Surge
Semaai provides farmers with access to tools such as soil testing technology, as well as farming inputs such as seeds and fertilisers; Five months after its establishment, the firm’s gross merchandise value increased by 10x.

Health data verification firm Riverr bags US$1M in seed round
Investors include KSL Maritime Ventures and Seeds Capital; Singapore-based Riverr simplifies the verification of health data, including vaccination history, across organisations and governments.

YC-backed mental health startup MindFi raises US$2M in seed funding
Investors include M Venture Partners, GFC, Carousell’s Marcus Tan, and Carro’s Kenji Narushima; MindFi provides corporate employees with personalised mental health recommendations, self-care programs, and consultation sessions with coaches and therapists.

watchTowr raises US$2.25M to secure ‘attack surface for enterprises’
Investors include Wavemaker Partners and Vulcan Capital; watchTowr directly addresses the challenges organisations face in managing and securing their external attack surface.

Jeff Bezos’s second investment in Indonesia is SME-focused firm Lummo
This is Bezos Expedition’s second investment among Indonesian startups, following its participation in the Series B round of Ula; Lummo runs has two apps: e-commerce enabler solution LummoShop and BukuKas.

Monit, the ‘Brex’ of Indonesia’, attracts funding led by 1982 Ventures
Monit focuses on supporting SMEs to pay bills, manage reimbursements and disbursements, and issue corporate credit cards; The startup is also backed by Init 6, the VC firm founded by Bukalapak co-founders Achmad Zaky and Nugroho Herucahyono.

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Amid the NFT (non-fungible token) frenzy, you might hear people talk about a digital artwork worth millions of dollars, a virtual piece of land being sold at a record price, and brands building their own retail stores on those online properties — things that haven’t physically existed.

“It is still early days for the metaverse,” Janine Yorio, Managing Director at Republic Realm, told e27. “However, we believe a convergence of fundamental shifts in technology, society, socialisation, gaming, and retail will provide significant tailwinds for mass metaverse adoption and development”.

The retail industry, in particular, is quickly catching on in a “retail metaverse”, blurring the boundary between our physical world and the future virtual society.

Disrupting retail metaverse with hyperlocal mapping solutions

Brands are expanding from their physical stores into the metaverse that allows customers to experience physical goods in the virtual world. Gucci, Vans, Adidas, and L’Oreal are all taking their baby steps into this space and creating brand awareness among younger users.

“This generation grows up doing things just like we interact on Zoom. They’re more accustomed to immersive experiences when they use the Internet,” said Yorio. “The companies that fail to adapt will be left behind because the next generation of consumers is going to expect to find new products and their favourite old products in these immersive environments.”

Imagine purchasing a couch in your metaverse store, and it is linked with a physical warehouse and a carrier that will deliver the product to your doorstep within hours. This sounds like a shopping experience in e-commerce. 

But with the retail metaverse, instead of watching things through a screen and being frustrated with the real product’s quality that doesn’t match with how it is described on the e-commerce platform, you can step into the immersive 3D store and try things out without actually moving from your house.

Also Read: Demystifying NFTs and DeFi

Case in point, the app that helps you plan a room layout and design with the exact size and feel of furniture via the support of AR/VR can be considered the initial version of this retail metaverse. What you are looking at on the app is just a few steps away from experience in the virtual twin of our actual world.

This no-boundary future will be made available with tons of complex technologies moving forward. Hyperlocal mapping solutions, with their ability to uniquely map out and address spaces with precision, hold the potential to enable direct interaction with physical places.

“You need to have a real-world metaverse, a replica of the planet because products and people still need to move from A to B,” said Xander van der Heijden, Co-Founder and CEO of UNL, a Singaporean startup providing micro-location and mapping technology. “Digitising locations, creating an infrastructure to interact with these places — what we’re creating is the real-world metaverse through the Internet of Places.”

Founded in 2018, UNL offers a library of plug-and-play geospatial solutions to help businesses build scalable, hyper-local services and applications. UNL enables direct interaction with physical locations by giving unique digital addresses to every geolocation and accurately linking data to locations to contextually represent real-world situations and events.

In simple words, its technology pixelises the physical world into a multi-resolution smart grid to give any location a digital and verifiable address — UNL geoID — similar to an IP address. UNL geoIDs uniquely map out and address spaces with up to 1×1 cm2 precision, covering outdoor, indoor and elevation.

On top of that, UNL goes beyond street names and postal codes to what it calls the “Internet of Places”. They are developing location domain name services to interface with these locations without using the initial numeric geoIDs. 

For example, Starbucks at Orchard will still be named Starbucks in the digital world, corresponding with its location in the real world.

It, therefore, helps mobility companies engage with their workforce, vehicles, customers and products by validating precise addresses and locations where they need to pick up people or drop packages. The solution can also be plugged into any step of the retail industry’s supply chain, supporting the greater movement of goods from supplier to vendor to end-user, providing clients with delivery and navigation even within large buildings.

Also Read: Metaverse is around the corner and you should play a role in it 

Besides, its maps possess self-healing features that automatically collect data from different data sources (IoT, satellite, cars, smartphones, or end-user contributions), compare these data, choose the highest quality of data, and publish that.

Mounting demand in Southeast Asia

UNL is one of the first successful ventures from the Netherlands-based venturerock studio, a venture builder where Heijden also serves as a General Partner. However, the team decided to emphasise the Southeast Asia market as it recognised the biggest problems in the region are addressing and digital infrastructure.

“You’re talking about billions and billions in loss because of inaccurate addresses that result from the lack of last-mile information and data,” said Heijden. “We saw a huge potential in Southeast Asia, especially during the pandemic when companies can leapfrog existing stack and old legacy systems by adopting new innovative digital platforms, hence, move faster forward into the future of logistics.”

When the address is not accurate, the deliveryman starts calling the person to deliver the package. This costs them a lot of time and efficiency, which translates into a huge loss in revenue and profits.

These issues in the delivery space have already sparked demand from regional giants such as Grab or Gojek. These companies need to work with multiple third-party mapping providers as one often doesn’t provide 100 per cent accuracy. They then build their own internal mapping teams to combine these data and create their own data sets.

In addition, this kind of hyperlocal tech infrastructure can go beyond retail to support interactions in the whole economy covering various industries from entertainment to F&B and manufacturing.

The gaming sector, for instance, can utilise this immersive hyperlocal mapping to improve the player experience, a next level from what we did with Pokémon Go in 2016. For advertising and F&B, by creating an augmented reality, they can navigate people to collect tokens on locations, create 3D text sprinting around them, and then navigate them through to a restaurant to spend these tokens in exchange for coffee.

And suppose you still remember the “omniverse” that manufacturing giants BMW Group and NVIDIA are creating with its virtual factory planning. In that case, this technology will help engineers from all aspects of factory design collaborate in a shared virtual space. The entire factory can be simulated with hyperlocal details.

It’s not competition, it’s decentralisation

Now that the technology is said to accurately link data to locations to represent real-world situations and events contextually, how is this different from and better than an upgrade version of Google or Apple’s Maps?

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

“When you generate data on top of the Google infrastructure, they own your data,” stressed Heijden. “If you contribute data to our infrastructure, you keep ownership of that data, and we enable stakeholders to monetise on those data.”

With this business model, UNL can create an underlining infrastructure for companies, consumers, and governments to create virtual private maps and public maps, contribute data, and then be rewarded for that.

“We don’t see Google as a competitor. We are just focusing on a different market,” he added.

This virtual private mapping architecture of UNL is also associated with the whole story of decentralisation, which will serve as a huge pushback against big players getting involved in the space.

Remember Republic Realm announced the launch of its shopping mall Metajuku on the Decentraland metaverse? Yorio said these elaborate virtual malls are being built in the metaverse and opening a window to a nascent industry called ‘de-commerce’ (decentralised e-commerce).

Kevin Indig, Director of the e-commerce giant Shopify, echoed this viewpoint. He believes that the metaverse will most likely encourage the decentralisation of e-commerce, which gives brands the ability to escape from uniform marketplace formats to virtualise their customers’ shopping experience.

Hence, the development of this industry hinges on every agent’s participation and engagement in the retail metaverse, not in the hand of any big-pocket players.

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As more event organisers choose virtual venues to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19, data privacy and compliance with regulations such as the European General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) is a top priority for any organisation that collects data on individuals from the European Union and European Economic area.

GDPR is a legal framework enforced by the European Union in 2018 which sets out mandatory rules on how companies can use EU citizens’ data. Any company that collects data from EU citizens is legally obliged to comply with GDPR, no matter where in the world that company is located.

But complying with GDPR is challenging to event organisers who aren’t as familiar with global data privacy laws. Large-scale events such as conferences, summits, exhibitions, product launches, trade, and jobs fairs have confirmed their continued existence and allowed a seamless and engaging experience, on par with their physical counterparts.

What organisations need to remember, however, is the implications of collecting a vast array of rich, valuable, and sensitive data from participating attendees and businesses.

Virtual and hybrid events platforms draw data from areas that include the number of logins and a breakdown of new and active users. This data also covers sessions, providing metrics on the number of total unique views, video replays, total unique replays, how many users liked each session, and how many made notes per session.

It records how many registrations each session has, how many chats engagements took place, how many impressions the Q&As delivered, and more. Ultimately, this data enhances the virtual and hybrid event experience for attendees and helps organisers form strategies that drive ROI and the risk of non-compliance.

Failing to handle such data ethically and safely can potentially tarnish an organisation’s reputation, leading to difficulties in attracting new business and repeated transactions from loyal customers.

Also Read: There is a concerning lack of cybersecurity talent. Here’s how to tackle it

Additionally, the financial consequences can prove catastrophic.  Companies found to be non-compliant can be fined up to GBP20 million (US$20 million) or 4 per cent of annual global turnover (whichever is greater).

To this day, there have been 281,000 data breach notifications, and GBP45.3 million (US$332.16 million) of fines imposed for a wide range of infringements across all European Union member states, with Germany and the Netherlands topping the table, closely followed by the UK.

Across many EU countries and the UK, the money collected from non-compliance fines is brought back to the community and used to fund public services, just like tax revenues.

On top of this, new data protection regulations are coming into effect on a global level, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA), Brazil’s Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGPD), and South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information (POPI).

Maintaining compliance with regulations around virtual events is, therefore, a complex undertaking, and there are a few key areas that businesses need to consider.

Here’s a list of GDPR issues that event planners need to be aware of to remain in compliance with the regulations:

Attendee consent

It’s crucial that organisers actively seek consent before collecting any attendee data. The agreement should be easy to access and as simple to understand as possible for attendees.

Event registration

Capturing data in the event registration form helps build a database of all event attendees. Under GDPR, organisers need to keep EU attendees’ Right to Privacy and be selective about the information the form asks for.

Data sharing

Event planners are obligated to disclose to attendees where their data is being shared for what purposes. They must also provide access to personal data for any attendee that requests it and fulfil any attendee’s request to transfer it to another data controller.

Data breaches

Cybercrime is an escalating issue, with stories of breaches regularly featured in the news cycle. If event data is breached, the organisers must notify the relevant authorities and affected attendees within 72 hours of becoming aware of it.

Opt-outs

Under the ‘Right to be Forgotten’ event, attendees have the power to opt out of marketing activities that use their data and can request that it be wiped from every database. Planners must honour these requests.

Also Read: How companies can manage data privacy in hybrid and multi-cloud work environments

Essential GDPR security measures

In the age of GDPR, there are three essential security measures event organisers should consider:

• Regular security system checks and updates: Checking and applying software updates to security systems as regularly as possible will help to ensure vulnerabilities are mitigated and the chances of a data breach are minimised.
• Regular audits and certifications: ISO 27001 certification helps ensure that your IT systems are standardised and secure, making compliance much easier to achieve. Storing and processing data requires any business to follow other standards too. Each system you use to work with event data must adhere to these standards and comply with audits.
• Upgrading security systems: While we’ve already covered the importance of keeping security systems updated, event planners should also consider upgrading to the newest and most technologically advanced security systems when the budget allows. This means you will have access to get the latest and greatest protection to help with compliance.

Looking ahead

While virtual events were initially integrated out of necessity due to Covid-19, a long-term online trend has emerged as businesses have recognised its value in a post-pandemic world.

As the events industry adapts to these virtual and hybrid models, potential data regulation hurdles and processes can be eased by following the above considerations and three steps to better security, alongside choosing a platform with high-security standards, built-in data collection, analysis, and management capabilities.

While setting a budget and auditing the security process may be time-consuming, the investment is considerably less than the risks to reputation, fines, and non-compliance.

Considering the ubiquity of virtual events now and into the future because of the benefits and convenience of offering a remote option confers, the sooner organisations codify their security standards with event planners, the easier it will be to protect organisations from data breaches and privacy violations.

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Animoca Brands, a Hong Kong-based games publisher and VC firm focused on open metaverse, has completed the 100 per cent acquisition of Melbourne-based indie motorsports game developer Grease Monkey Games.

The deal size hasn’t been disclosed. It will allow Animoca Brands to benefit from Grease Monkey’s significant game development capabilities and expertise. So far, Grease Monkey has logged 45 million downloads across both mobile and PC worldwide.

The current management of Grease Monkey Games will continue to operate the company after the arrangement, stated in the official announcement.

Its team will work closely with Animoca Brands to align efforts relating to blockchain integration, fungible tokens, non-fungible tokens, play-to-earn (P2E) capabilities, synergy opportunities, and product launches. Animoca Brands owns the REVV Motorsport ecosystem, whose all tiles are based around the concept of P2E.

Also read: How play-to-earn is fueling the next wave of blockchain adoption

Founded in 2014 by Yat Siu, Animoca Brands has a growing portfolio of more than 150 investments in NFT-related companies and decentralised projects contributing to building the open metaverse. Its investments include Axie Infinity, OpenSea, Dapper Labs (NBA Top Shot), Yield Guild Games, Harmony, Alien Worlds, and Star Atlas.

Animoca Brands also owns multiple subsidiaries, including The Sandbox, Blowfish Studios, Quidd, GAMEE, nWay, Pixowl, Bondly, and Lympo.

Launched in 2013 by Arran Potter, a veteran of the video visual effects industry, Grease Monkey Games develops motorsports games, connecting video game enthusiasts and motorsport fans worldwide. The driving game Torque Burnout and drifting game Torque Drift are its prominent original IP gaming titles.

Grease Monkey Games said it has an extensive portfolio of licensed partnerships with vehicle manufacturers including Nissan, Toyota, Ford, and BMW, and aftermarket parts manufacturers including Link ECU, Wilwood, and Mishimoto.

This February, Animoca Brands announced its partnership with global venture accelerator Brinc to launch Guild Accelerator Programme, aiming to enable millions of people worldwide to generate income by participating in the P2E gaming ecosystem.

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Thailand-based startup Primo World Company Limited (PRIMO), which provides omnichannel marketing platform for large enterprises, today announced an undisclosed Pre-Series A funding round from Fuchsia VC and Beacon VC.

Leading VC firm SOSV and Infinity Technologies VC, who contributed to the company’s pre-seed funding round in 2018, also took part in this funding round.

In a press statement, PRIMO detailed the key activities that the funding will support:

– Increasing the capability of the omnichannel marketing platform, the capacity of its artificial intelligence, and engagement modes to support more ways in which customers can interact with a brand

– Expanding personnel in both Bangkok and Phuket to accommodate a larger client base in all departments, particularly business development, product development, software development, engineering, and customer support

– Testing new products and business ventures to prepare PRIMO Omnichannel Marketing Platform as a customer-data infrastructure of choice for all companies in Thailand, while raising awareness of how to collect and leverage customer data systematically for the purpose of building the best customer experience.

Also Read: Atomionics raises seed funding to make navigation easy in areas where GPS doesn’t work

PRIMO claimed twofold growth year on year on average over the past three years. The company also said that it has grown its team from 18 in 2019 to 108 in 2021.

It is also working with clients in the retail, fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) as well as banking, finance, and insurance sectors.

“Omnichannel marketing platforms have grown remarkably well despite COVID-19 [pandemic],” said Vee Sirasoontorn, Co-founder and CEO of PRIMO. “There is still much more room for growth, as all large enterprises seek omnichannel marketing tools that facilitate consolidating customer data from the whole spectrum of channels. Processing them serves as a basis from which to devise seamless experiences for segment-based engagement.”

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