Machine learning (ML) is still quite an unknown to some of us, even though most of us have benefitted from it daily, especially if you are reading this article from your devices.

However, computer engineers (myself included) are not the best at explaining. Here is my attempt to break down how ML impacts us in our daily lives from Google Research 2021 blog.

More tasks can be automated better

The tasks that we do usually have a combination of text, voice, images and videos as inputs. We, as humans, take those inputs and process them based on what we are trained to do, and as a result, produce outputs.

For example, my husband was nagging me to order food for my cat (Lady Meow Meow), as her food was running out. With technology, my husband’s voice can be converted to be sent directly to our supplier. Or even better, the image of the cat food pack looks low in stock, and the order goes out automatically.

Tasks/computation can be done quicker

Advancements are made in both hardware and software to make the tedious computation work more efficient. (I am personally most excited about this, as it was my previous research area, but it is the most un-sexy trend for most.)

Also Read: How voice AI is revolutionising the fintech scene

Technology can help us live better

Our devices can help us take better pictures and videos, have clearer communication, write better and even drive more safely. There are also other interesting applications like your ML agents waiting on hold for you or screening calls automatically.

Good news for the poor photographers among us! ML can help rectify blurry pictures and safe-keep wonderful moments with loved ones. Of course, this is just one of the many applications.

The advances in computer vision help us forecast weather more accurately and provide a rapid damage assessment after natural disasters.

From the health perspective, ML can not only see the hidden characteristics of genomics data, it can also assist with diagnosis.

By optimising routing through Google maps, we can reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.

Build inclusive and unbiased societies

Existing ML models can be biased towards male and Western demographics because of the data that these models are trained with. This is the same problem that many medical studies face — and biases in the medical field can lead to misdiagnosis.

I hope these are helpful for you! Please feel free to reach out if you have any questions.

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Arkray’s Kyoto office

Arkray,  a Japanese company developing products that focus on diabetes testing and urinalysis, has launched a corporate venture capital (CVC) business through an affiliate in Singapore.

Named Arkray 4U, the JPY10 billion (US$87 million) fund aims to support startups in the healthcare and related sectors in Japan, Southeast Asia, India and Israel. Its goal is to invest in and support healthcare startups that can utilise the parent company’s assets/resources to scale and grow.

“We will invest in what we term the broader healthcare sector. For example, digital healthcare, medtech, biotech, AI, IoT medical devices, cloud pharmacies, medical diagnostics, personal wellness & self-care, pet-tech, medical and functional foodtech. Granted, functional foodtech is not exactly healthcare. Still, there is some relevance due to the close correlation between food and health,” according to Wei Cong SEAH, Senior Investment Associate (CVC) at Arkray.

The fund doesn’t have a minimum cheque size but it may invest up to JPY 300 million (US$2.6M) per company. It anticipates investing in a “fair number” of startups and is already conducting due diligence with a few.

Also Read: Is blockchain the future of medicine in creating a more secure healthcare?

Arkray 4U will provide extensive support for the growth of innovative businesses and technologies through tangible and intangible business assets owned by the Arkray Group worldwide. It uses global business assets to support startup companies’ rapid growth and accelerate their services through tangible and intangible business assets owned by the group worldwide.

According to the healthcare company, technological innovation is accelerating in the medical industry with the introduction of new testing methods and improved convenience using AI and digitisation. However, many startups seeking to develop innovative technologies and services must select and concentrate management resources for various reasons.

Arkray is a diabetes testing company that developed a “simple” glucose meter in 1970. Since then, it has provided diabetes treatment and guidance and improved patients’ QOL by developing a device that automates the measurement of HbA1c (haemoglobin A1c). The firm has 46 offices in 18 countries around the world, providing products to more than 80 countries and regions.

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PayMongo Co-Founders

Philippine fintech and online payments company PayMongo has secured US$31 million in a Series B round of financing from investors, including JAM Fund (founded by Tinder founder Justin Mateen) and local VCs ICCP-SBI Venture Partners and Kaya Founders.

Existing investors Global Founders Capital and SOMA Capital also co-invested in the round, alongside angels including founders of European fintech unicorns and startups Qonto, Viva Wallet, Billie and Scalable.

​​PayMongo will scale its operations with this capital by strengthening the current payments infrastructure and venturing into more financial services, such as disbursements, capital lending, ‘buy now pay later’, subscriptions, and recurring payments.

Using the Philippines as a springboard, the fintech startup also looks to explore opportunities in the digital transformation of financial services in other emerging markets, noted in the official statement.

“While payment acceptance is crucial, it is just one of the many services that entrepreneurs need to build a successful online business,” PayMongo Founder and CEO Francis Plaza. “Our goal is to create a one-stop-shop for all these financial needs in the broader Southeast Asian region, starting with the Philippines.”

Also read: 2022: Making the year of the tiger a roaring success for payments

The round comes a year and a half after PayMongo raised US$12 million Series A led by Stripe in 2020. The firm earlier raised US$2.7 million seed round from investors, including Y Combinator.

Founded in 2019 by Plaza, Luis Sia (CPO), Jaime Hing (CTO) and Edwin Lacierda (COO), PayMongo empowers online businesses to accept the full range of payment options, including credit cards, e-wallets, and over-the-counter payments. It provides an easy-to-integrate PayMongo API and e-commerce plugins. 

In addition, PayMongo Links and Pages products enable businesses to provide a simple digital checkout for their customers, even without a website.

Though the startup caters to businesses of all sizes, it emphasizes underserved small (and micro) and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (account for 99 per cent of businesses in the Philippines).

Since closing Series A, PayMongo claims to have achieved 3x growth in merchant base and a 4x growth in monthly transaction volumes.

According to a report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company, the Philippine digital economy is slated to grow to US$40 billion by 2025, having registered the fastest growth rate in Southeast Asia throughout the pandemic. The growth has been fueled by the wide adoption of digital products and services driven by the e-commerce boom in the country.

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Image Credit: PayMongo

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The Farquhar team

Hong Kong-based StockViva, an online platform to connect retail investors with the key opinion leaders in the industry, has received US$3 million in additional funding to close the ongoing Series A round at US$5 million.

The new tranche came from Farquhar VC (Singapore), Kharis Capital (Luxembourg), Hong Huan Group, Angelhub, and individual investors from Hong Kong.

StockViva previously raised US$2 million from Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, K3 Ventures, and individual investors across Asia.

Launched in 2018, StockViva has developed a mobile app to provide real-time online education services to individual investors by financial KOLs. In addition, it connects retail investors with different financial institutions in Asia, covering a wide range of financial products such as US, Hong Kong and Taiwan stocks, along with FX and derivatives.

Also Read: How to smartly balance crypto investments with stocks

It has built a community of retail investors and financial KOLs. While retail investors gain knowledge from the financial KOLs, the latter build their fan base and reputation in Asia.

StockViva further leverages its own technology to build its real-time data streaming platform that captures and aggregates investment insights from stock markets and sentiment data in its social community.

StockViva has adopted a scientific and data-driven approach to run its operations to grow its business quickly. The firm startup has operations in China, Taiwan, Singapore and New Zealand.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, StockViva claims to have achieved over 122 per cent revenue growth and 932 per cent growth in trading volume in 2021.

“If you read a financial newspaper in the morning, it doesn’t help you make any investment decisions in the afternoon, as the market has already changed and the information is outdated,” says Samuel Wan, Co-Founder and Chairman of StockViva. “Financial education and analysis have to be in real-time. This is the reason why we built a technology platform where retail investors will be able to find an appropriate financial KOL online for real-time education and analysis during trading hours.”

According to the annual reports published by various stock exchanges in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, the total number of retail investors is growing. Between 2014 and 2020, the total number of retail investors is growing at an average rate of 21 per cent annually, reaching over 27 million in 2020. The total number of retail investors is expected to further grow to 42 million in 2030. If we further consider other parts of Asia, retail investors will be over 100 million.
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We are witnessing the unique indigenous cultures, mother tongue, paintings that represent life, traditional arts and crafts, ancient songs and stories, and so on are disappearing. Have you ever wondered whether there is any way that we can save and keep those invaluable cultures?

What if there is a way we could save these valuable indigenous cultures and art forms and lead them to advance into the technological world? Perhaps the blockchain and NFTs technologies are the answer, making it easier for us to spread and inherit the legacy.

What is a blockchain? Why is blockchain an excellent channel to preserve culture?

Blockchain is a technology that realises trust decentralisation through a consensus algorithm. You have the power to control your asset; there is no third party to restrict you from using them.

The data stored on the blockchain is permanent and transparent; you can verify or check it at any time, no one can tamper with the data.

Also, decentralising the authentication process into an open ledger (blockchain) means that people can trust strangers to buy and sell assets. The value is no longer based on individual sales but on the art itself.

What is NFT?

NFTs are tokens that we can use to represent ownership of unique items. It allows us to tokenise anything from art collectibles to real estate.

It is secured on the blockchain— meaning no one can modify ownership records or copy/paste new NFTs.

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

Traditionally it can be challenging to verify the original provenance in the art market; the beauty of NFTs is that no matter how many times the art has been traded, you can still trace the original creator.

Use NFTs to preserve the indigenous culture

• Allowing collectors to join special traditional celebrations
• Meeting the creators
• The digital ID of physical artwork
• Unique event access
• Service through the integration of virtual and real

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