State-backed Penjana on track to close fund at US$285M in Q1 2022
Set up in July 2020 as part of the country’s national COVID economic relief strategy, the programme has already raised US$238M as of end-2021; Penjana will match US$142.8M of the capital raised by venture fund managers under the programme.

Quick commerce startup Astro raises US$27M Series A
Investors include Accel Partners, Sequoia India, AC Ventures, Global Founders Capital, Lightspeed Venture Partners, and Goodwater Capital; Astro delivers groceries and essentials such as snacks, drinks, milk and bread to customers within 15 minutes of placing the order.

Temasek leads US$70M Series B of Austria’s waterdrop
waterdrop encourages people to drink more water and less sugary beverages; It sells sugar-free tabs that customers can dissolve in water to add flavour; The firm will use the capital for global expansion.

Sayurbox, Eden Farm in talks to raise funding
While farm-to-table e-commerce startup Sayurbox is soon expected to close a funding round led by Northstar Group, Eden Farm is in initial discussions to raise capital by Q3 2022.

SPACs favour Singapore
SPACs have accounted for about 75% of the total listings and 98% of the total capital raised during January 22; Reportedly, SGX welcomed three SPAC IPOs, raising SGD520M during the month; The three IPOs were subscribed 7-36x reflects a strong investor sentiment.

Krungsri prepares US$212-242M for digital, innovation strategy
Krungsri will spend the capital this year on digital and innovations to expand digital banking services both in Thailand and regional markets; The plan has three core strategies: Asean enhancement and expansion, ecosystems and partnerships, and digital and innovation.

CoLearn attracts US$17M more to close Series A round at US$27M
Investors include TNB Aura, KTB Network, Binus Group, GSV Ventures, AC Ventures, Leo Capital, and January Capital; CoLearn provides children in Indonesia with an alternative to traditional offline tutoring with its live interactive classes.

How this startup is making NFTs more than a speculative investment and a status symbol
So-col is on a mission to make NFTs useful for everyone by harnessing its tech to transform the creator economy; It aims to build an all-in-one decentralised alternative to platforms like Twitch, Patreon, and Discord.

India to launch digital rupee by 2023
The move is likely to give an impetus to the participation of institutional players in the blockchain space; CBDCs will be a new form of digital cash intended to replace physical cash.

BNPL startup hoolah raises US$5.9M from ShopBack
This followed ShopBack acquisition of hoolah announced last year; Singapore-, Malaysia- and Hong Kong-based hoolah offers shoppers three interest-free instalment payments at over 2,000 merchant sites.

Social food ordering app Gobble secures US$1.3M seed capital
Investors are Beenext, Flash Ventures, Warren Tseng (formerly Uber APAC), and Siddharth Shanker (formerly Deliveroo); Gobble is tackling reduced social interaction among university students through its group ordering and food-gifting features.

Vegan ice cream firm Kind Kones scoops up US$1.1M in fresh funds
Investors include DSG Consumer Partners, Apricot Capital, Lam Soon, and Allianz Capital MD Andress Goh; Kind Kones serves all-natural vegan ice cream; The ingredients it uses in its frozen tubs include coconut, cashew, almond, and fruits.

Endeavor Indonesia unveils 10 startups selected for scale-up growth programme batch 2
The Endeavor participants, selected from 43 startups based in Indonesia/Singapore, have a minimum of US$2M+ in equity funding/annual revenue by 2021.

Thailand seeks to join the digital bank race in SEA
BOT is seeking feedback from the public for its plans for “Repositioning Thailand’s Financial Sector for a Sustainable Digital Economy” by 28 February 2022; The regulator is seeking to promote healthy competition between new fintech players and incumbent banks to drive innovation and better financial services.

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Agriculture in Southeast Asia is mostly made up of small farmers operating at subsistence levels. Exposed to inefficient, government-run marketing schemes and local markets dominated by middlemen, small farmers in this region struggle to find direct access to resources and markets.

According to Yasuo Taniguchi, CEO of LTID Co. (Long Term Industrial Development Company), alignment of buyer and farmer interests is a very important step for the agriculture sector to enhance productivity and quality, thereby leading to mutual prosperity for all stakeholders. The Japan-based startup develops digital applications that can effectively connect farmers to growing markets. The objective is to use technology to help small farmers improve their income while enabling consumers to buy products at a fair price.

Also read: Innovation and collaboration will lead Malaysia’s digital health scene into the future

LTID Co. is ramping up its investment in its current mission to build a digital ecosystem in Southeast Asia and its current focus is on the Philippine agricultural sector. Under the existing scenario, Filipino farmers are highly vulnerable to exploitative practices by middlemen, a problem common to many farming communities in Asia. Hampered by a lack of infrastructure to raise finance, transport agricultural produce, and undertake marketing activities, small farmers find it difficult and expensive to compete as they have to conduct banking and sales operations and run efficient transportation networks apart from cultivation and farming duties.

Taniguchi believes that technology can help farmers become more efficient via techniques such as dynamic pricing and credit assessment mechanisms using the power of Artificial Intelligence. “While there is a constant need for financing in the Philippine agricultural sector, the traditional business model of banks is expensive and difficult to meet especially in developing countries like the Philippines,” explained Taniguchi. “We felt that there was room for growth and a need to improve efficiency,” added Taniguchi.

Can digital platforms empower farmers in Southeast Asia?

The digital apps and services that LTID Co. is creating are built to maximise the potential efficiency in the agriculture sector, thereby increasing farmer incomes, and empowering small farmers for a better future.

AgriDrive is an online transport matching service through which farmers can easily find available drivers to help them fulfil delivery orders of agricultural products. “We are providing free smartphone application that implements fintech by providing dynamic pricing to streamline the food value chain. It uses AI algorithms to match likely sendees (farmers, etc.) with drivers easily and quickly, at low cost.”

Also read: What opportunities await global startups that are expanding to Japan

While farmers will benefit from a convenient and affordable solution to their transportation needs, drivers are expected to get more delivery orders through this application too”, said Taniguchi. Security measures are implemented such as verification through photos taken on delivery and arrival to ensure there is no scope of fraud. Additional features include reputation scoring of drivers, messaging between senders, drivers, and recipients, along with a touchless and easy to use payment system.

Their second app in development is Agri Uber, “which has the functionality to let farmers form a digital agricultural cooperative”, Taniguchi explained. Cooperative farming refers to an organisation in which each member-farmer pools together their land and labor resources so that cultivation can be done jointly. Cooperative farming can help farmers benefit from economies of scale by lowering the cost of inputs or hiring services such as storage and transport. An agricultural cooperative system enables farmers to improve product and service quality and reduce risks.

Empowering farmers through cooperatives

Taniguchi believes cooperatives hold the key to a more efficient sector and wants to help the ASEAN agriculture market become more developed by introducing the Agri Uber app that empowers farmers to digitally form agricultural cooperatives. “This will increase the income of farmers and enable consumers to buy vegetables at a fair price,” said the LTID Co. CEO.

Taniguchi believes these digital platforms can have a deep impact on agricultural markets in the Southeast Asian region. While LTID Co. believes in helping farmers, they also realise that their digital platforms need to provide value to both buyers and sellers. “The revenue produced by this platform will be shared with the farmers and we will aim for mutual prosperity while standing on the side of the farmers,” remarked Taniguchi.

Also read: 26 Japan startups eye business growth with the help of Techstars

LTID Co. has laid out ambitious goals along with the determination to continuously produce benefits to the region and bring in long term industrial development. Taniguchi announced his goal for LTID: “In 10 years, the goal is to secure a 10% share of the agricultural market, introduce agricultural cooperative services to farmers in Southeast Asia, and raise their income levels to that of developed countries. “We will aim to improve the efficiency of agriculture in Southeast Asia in one fell swoop,” Taniguchi proudly announced as the mission of LTID.

As they embark on their plan to launch their services across the region to aid their expansion in the Philippines and other countries, LTID Co. has been granted subsidies by the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries of Japan. In addition, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) is assisting the startup by introducing them to networking and business opportunities in the Southeast Asian markets.

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Endeavor Indonesia today announced the ten startups participating in its ScaleUp Growth Program Batch 2.

The participants, selected from 43 startups headquartered in Indonesia/Singapore (with Indonesia as the main market), have a minimum of US$2M+ in equity funding/annual revenue by 2021.

A non-dilutive accelerator programme, Endeavor ScaleUp Growth Program is an additional stage of its existing programme that supports high-impact and scale-up companies (those in the growth stage and post-Series B fundraising).

The batch 2 startups are:

1. ALAMI (financial services)

2. CoLearn (edutech)

3. Esensi Solusi Buana (enterprise software and services)

4. Finantier (financial services)

5. GajiGesa (financial services)

6. Jala Tech (aquaculture technology)

7. Nalagenetics (healthcare)

8. Raena (commerce – retail and consumer tech)

9. SATURDAYS (commerce – retail and consumer tech)

10. Sekolah.mu (edutech)

The first batch of the programme consisted of 12 startups, including Sampingan, Flip, Logisly, Evermos, and Buttonscarves.

Also Read: GajiGesa raises US$6.6M pre-Series A to provide earned wage access to underserved workers, SMEs

Founded in 1997, Endeavor is a community of high-impact entrepreneurs. Today, Endeavor’s network spans nearly 40 countries and supports more than 2,100 entrepreneurs, whose companies generate combined revenues of over US$28 billion, have created more than 3.9 million jobs, and, in 2020, raised over US$4 billion in funding.

Since starting in Indonesia in 2012, it has selected and supported 70 entrepreneurs leading 51 companies, namely founders and CEO of Zilingo, Kopi Kenangan, Kitabisa.com, eFishery, Shipper, Female Daily Network, Waresix, Cottonink, Indonesia Bike Works, Waresix, and Kargo.

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Jakarta-based CoLearn, an online K-12 live learning and homework help platform, has secured an additional US$17 million as part of its Series A follow-on funding from TNB Aura, KTB Network (Korea), and Indonesian university Binus Group.

Existing investors AWI, Sequoia Surge, GSV Ventures, AC Ventures, Leo Capital, and January Capital also co-invested.

This round brings CoLearn’s total funding raised since inception to US$34 million. The new capital will be deployed to strengthen its go-to-market strategy, enabling it to expand its paid user base in Indonesia.

Founded in 2020 by Abhay Saboo, Marc Irawan, and Sandeep Devaram, CoLearn provides children in Indonesia with an alternative to traditional offline tutoring with its live interactive classes. Students can master their STEM questions from the convenience of their homes while saving themselves time.

Also Read: How edutech is solving the global teacher’s crisis

For students struggling to understand the concepts taught at school, CoLearn provides access to the “best teachers” in the country through live interactive classes. The platform claims it offers quality video solutions with clear, concise explanations.

Since its launch, CoLearn claims to have amassed over 4.8 million users, with over 85 million questions asked to date. In 2021, the number of questions asked grew 5x with its AI-powered problem-solving platform.

CoLearn has a technology team operating out of India and UAE. The company is actively looking at expanding its team size and recruiting for data science, product, and engineering roles in these countries.

Abhay Saboo, Co-Founder & CEO of CoLearn, said: “CoLearn is not only helping students build a strong foundation in STEM subjects but also has an immediate impact, as over 80 per cent of our subscribed students have seen an improvement in their grades. With a consistent NPS (Net Promoter Score) of over 70 for our live classes and 90 per cent organic traffic of our AI-powered homework help feature, we are actively working towards changing the mindset around online tutoring with our offering that blends AI and interactivity.”

Before raising US$17 million, CoLearn raised US$10M in Series A funding from Alpha Wave Incubation, GSV Ventures and Sequoia Surge and AC Ventures.

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Since the pandemic, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have constantly been coming up with creative solutions to remain afloat and keep pace with the rapidly changing business environment. While it has been an uphill battle for some, the extended period of uncertainty in the past two years have prepared most SMEs to stay agile and innovative to weather what 2022 might bring.

75 per cent of SME leaders believe that the changes in business operations made in the past year to cope with COVID-19 will bring long term benefits, as they anticipate future consumer trends and expectations to grow their businesses. This includes the move towards digitalisation and streamlining operations, among others. 

While trial-and-error learning and adaptation have been fruitful in navigating through the pandemic, here are some trends SMEs should be honing to build resilience for what is to come or risk sinking should they choose to overlook. 

The Rise of Metaverse and NFTs

A side effect of the pandemic that is here to stay for the long run is the drastic change in corporate and personal spending habits. The fast-changing consumer behaviour requires SMEs to constantly leverage available resources to update trends and information.

It also requires brands to adapt their communication strategies quickly to convey their standings and game plan. Whether online shopping, social and environmental consciousness, the transition between work-from-home and work-from-office or even the trending Netflix series, SMEs have to remain informed and updated in the changing consumer patterns.

The rise of the metaverse and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) has confirmed a revolting concept of the digital world being a parallel life to real-world experiences and is here to stay. This has even called for sportswear giants such as Adidas to include both digital and physical items in their new collection.

For example, Singapore’s Central Asia & South East Asia Business Chamber (CASEA-BC) is building a gamified user experience with the first-ever metaverse-commerce, based on real-world maps, that combines VR/AR/MR gaming with online -commerce for SMEs and digital asset ownership powered by NFTs like virtual land and shops. This is something exciting to watch out for. 

Data security and data ownership revolution

With consumer needs and sentiments constantly transforming, big data provides an in-depth understanding of changing trends and predicts patterns moving forward and has grown to become an arsenal for business operations, especially sales and marketing.

As SMEs, in general, are agile and able to act relatively quickly on data-driven insights, adapting the right type of data can transform a brand to be more relevant to its target audience and stand out among its competitors. 

However, access to data can prove costly for SMEs and keeping consumer data safe and secure; especially privacy data, can be challenging and risky. With demand for data protection on the rise, a new trend that relies on decentralising user data is fast catching on.

Self-Sovereign Identity (SSI) aims to put the data ownership and control back into the hands of the users and even allows users to monetise their data. This is a massive revolution in the data space. It enables data owners to control their data instead of relying on the traditional centralised organisation.

This reduces the cost and the risk of maintaining a large centralised database of users’ data for the organisation while minimising the chances of data breaches commonly found in today’s centralised systems.

Also Read: Digital transformation for SMEs, Part 1: A matter of ‘When’, not ‘If’

To curb the challenges that come with big data security, Singapore’s UKISS Security Ecosystem has launched next-generation state-of-the-art SSI technology that protects all sensitive data conveniently, by the user, for the user, making it easier for SMEs to integrate data effectively without compromising on safety.

UKISS’s patented Hugware digital wallet technology does the job of securing a user’s ID, privacy data, digital assets and even data files easy and convenient, allowing a mass-market adoption of digital security for the average consumer.

Ramp up digitalisation

The pandemic-driven digital transformation businesses went through in 2020, and 2021 is expected to continue in the coming years.

While it is no surprise that most organisations embrace a digital-first approach, SMEs are to look into more avenues to deepen their investment in digitalisation further to stay ahead of the competition in the evolving digital landscape of gamify, meta-commerce and NFTs. 

Blockchain evangelists are confident that the technology will power the next wave of digital transformation across industries. The distributed, encrypted database model has the potential to be the game-changer in the automation of business operations which includes logistics, supply chain management, data store, e-commerce and sharing as well as transaction processing.

The adoption of blockchain technology has gained momentum in the last couple of years beyond cryptocurrencies. Solution providers such as IBD Technology (Singapore) and its partners are committed to helping SMEs bridge the digital gap to bring about further growth opportunities.

On top of that, decentralised infrastructure developers such as DEER Network are also building futuristic one-stop high speed and low-cost decentralised data storage infrastructure to power the next generation of digitalisation that bridges blockchain and metaverse applications. Together, these breed of new generation technology providers can help SMEs worldwide to latch on to the fast-moving digitalisation train, which may be crucial for survival in the post-pandemic era.

The adaptiveness of SMEs in the face of challenge is by and large the core strength to hone, not only to survive 2022 but to revive back stronger.

Whether it is the changing consumer trends and sentiments or evolving technological adoption, SMEs can adapt and implement the new principle more effectively if they are flexible and open to changes.

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Social food ordering platform ‘Gobble’ has raised US$1.3 million in a seed round of investment co-led by Beenext and Flash Ventures.

Notable angels, who have backed Gobble in this round, include Warren Tseng (former RGM, Uber APAC), Siddharth Shanker (former General Manager at Deliveroo Singapore), and Abhishek Sahay (Regional Director, Foodpanda).

Gobble will use the funds to launch its platform across colleges and expand its tech and product team to scale.

The startup was founded in 2021 by Ashwin Purushottam (Founder and CEO) and Domenico Tan (Co-Founder and COO). Purushottam was previously General Manager (Special Projects) at Deliveroo, whereas Tan worked Travis Kalanik’s CloudKitchens before joining Gobble as a co-founder.

Also Read: AI foodtech startup Easy Eat rakes in funding from ex-Uber CPO, Silicon Valley veterans to ramp up Malaysia ops

Gobble is a group ordering and food-gifting platform. The app boasts a couple of unique features, including Food Feed, which lets people view and order what their friends ordered instead of scrolling endlessly through delivery apps. It also allows the user to gift food to anyone with a cheeky message. In addition, the app enables students to create a ‘Gobble Party’ and invite their friends to group-buy discounted meals.

“Through Gobble, we are building APAC’s first social food ordering platform built around food and friends. We benefit not only the end-users but also our restaurant partners through group orders,” said CEO Purushottam.

Dirk van Quaquebeke, Managing Partner at Beenext, said: “Gobble is addressing a unique market opportunity. By using highly scalable technology, Gobble will bring millions together through food. We are thrilled to partner with the team on their journey to grow and expand to new markets.”

Lorenzo Franzi, Founding Partner, Flash Ventures, added: “The team is bringing a very human and local angle to food ordering and gifting while offering a completely new experience compared to the existing food platforms.”

In a survey conducted by the Gobble team among about 100 students from NTU, NUS and SMU, it was found that 96 per cent already gift food to friends.

The social-food ordering market is expected to grow to US$4.5 billion in Southeast Asia by 2025.

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According to a study by Finn Partners Asia, healthcare is set to become a USD 2.2 trillion market by 2026. In Bain & Company’s Asia-Pacific Front Line of Healthcare Survey, over 91 per cent of respondents said they would use digital health apps and services if the costs were covered by an employer or insurance provider.

The digital health market that covers a broad scope of technologies, including mobile health apps, connected wearable devices, and telemedicine, has been on the rise for almost a decade now. The coronavirus pandemic also acts as a catalyst to lead the surge of digital health adoption across Asia and beyond. Amidst extended movement limitations and physical interaction restrictions, digital health continues to remain a permanent fixture and people are becoming more aware of remote monitoring and self-care.

In Malaysia, medical startups such as Nexuses, GetDoc, QueueMed, and Beli Ubat are leading the industry. These startups offer a range of medical products and services from digital healthcare ecosystems to medical product e-commerce platforms and everything in between.

Furthermore, to help curb the pandemic and contact trace, the government launched a medical-driven app called MySejahtera. The app eventually evolved into a multi-function platform that covers medical appointments, mobile live queues, and virtual health among others.

Bringing key industry stakeholders together to explore the scope of digital health

The Malaysian Global Innovation and Creativity Centre (MaGIC), in collaboration with Human Inc recently concluded a Digital Health & Wellness Roundtable event exploring the rise of medical startups in Malaysia, a surge in voluntary public adoption of wellness startups, industry pain points and barriers to further innovation, such as fragmented legacy systems, difficulties in showing values and at times, a disconnection with patient needs. The event was attended by key stakeholders and industry leaders, including corporates, startups, investors, and government agencies.

Also read: What opportunities await global startups that are expanding to Japan

Speaking on the inspiration or objective behind the event, MaGIC Acting Chief Executive Officer (ACEO) Khalid Yashaiya shared that the main goal was to bring together different players and to obtain insights on the Digital Health & Wellness industry trends, innovation outlook, and investment opportunities, facilitate idea exchange and identify collaborative opportunities within the innovation ecosystem through this engagement. Such initiative is especially pivotal as we continue to brace the ongoing challenges and unpredictability of the pandemic.

Human Inc. Senior Consultant Alif Latif added “Living through a pandemic, health & wellness has taken centre stage in all of our lives, not just in our fight against COVID-19, but also in making sure we keep ourselves healthy both mentally and physically. When MaGIC mooted the idea of a collaboration for a Digital Health & Wellness Roundtable, we jumped on to this opportunity. Leveraging our expertise in facilitation and innovation together with MaGIC’s extensive reach in the startup community, we co-created a roundtable with the aim of engaging participants from different organisations which may not normally be in the same space to have insightful conversations around industry trends, challenges and potential collaborations.”

Discovering industry trends, current challenges and scope of digital health in Malaysia and beyond

Human Inc’s Alif Latif shared, “We wanted to obtain a consensus on the trends relevant to the Malaysian landscape and uncover new potential areas of collaboration that can work across the industry and traditional boundaries.”

During the session, it was discussed that according to the Malaysian Science and Technology Information Centre (MASTIC)’s National Survey of Research and Development (R&D), medical and healthcare forms about 9 per cent (RM135 million) of the total gross domestic expenditure on research and development (GERD) for Malaysia, which is estimated at RM1.5 billion in 2018. However, despite growing demand and potential, the medtech ecosystem in Malaysia’s “economics of medtech innovation” still poses so many opportunities for the industry to take the next level not only regionally but globally.

Reports tend to agree with this observation. For instance, in this report, The Star elaborates that challenges still exist in adopting readily available technologies in Malaysia, and how the medical system is still somewhat struggling with the necessary adaptation to the health information ecosystem. This study by Galen Centre explores challenges, such as lack of regulatory frameworks or guidelines, capacity, clinical leadership and accessibility issues for those who are technologically illiterate, lack access to electronic devices, internet and electricity. The study further states that investing in digital solutions could dramatically improve productivity and efficiency, with benefits in both patient outcomes and cost.

Leveraging technology for innovation and collaboration in the digital health landscape

The industry leaders at the MaGIC Digital Health & Wellness Roundtable denote the importance of innovation and how it has been a beacon through many of the world’s darkest periods, and will be a guiding light as we navigate our way to restore lives and livelihoods in a post-pandemic future. 

Another important point highlighted during the discussion was the importance of collaboration moving forward. “For this reason, Malaysia’s newly launched agency, the Malaysian Research Accelerator for Technology and Innovation (MRANTI) will be driven by Speed, Scalability, Synergy which are interlinked — and when enabled, will help take Society forward – for our collective wealth and well-being, through med-tech and a host,” said Khalid, ACEO of MaGIC.

Paresh Subramaniyam, Founder and CEO of FitXcapes Sdn Bhd, said, “As service providers in this industry, it is increasingly important that we constantly learn from each other, have each other’s backs, and grow the industry together.” 

FitXcapes is a one-stop wellness solutions provider that customises and executes small to large scale corporate wellness programs. The FitXcapes ENGAGE platform is designed to be as simple as possible and can be used by all generations in the corporate world, thus addressing the generational tech divide. “We gather user input and improve the platform on a quarterly basis. Our platform makes it easy for HR to manage reports, send reminders, and promote participation. Email marketing and posters are also provided by our team,” Paresh elaborated.

Also read: 26 Japan startups eye business growth with the help of Techstars

He shared that the Digital Health & Wellness roundtable was a great opportunity with the coming together of parties, such as MOH, MDEC, MaGIC, corporate sector representatives, investors and other industry players. “Sitting together as one to discuss the industry as a whole, policy, privacy and data security opened up many opportunities for us to find more ways to work together and ensure the best for our people and the industry,” he added

Another participant, Rajifah Ramli Co-founder & CEO, Data8 Sdn Bhd agrees. She said, “during the Health & Wellness roundtable, we learnt that there’s a lot of space for collaborations among the players in the industry. So, each one of us can really focus on what we do best, and through collaborations, we can provide more holistic services to the consumers.” 

DATA8 Sdn Bhd develops cHEART, a personalised healthcare app that allows users/patients to track, monitor, share and transfer their health/medical data securely in order to make important decisions throughout their health journey and well-being. DATA8 believes that sufficient home work to be able to offer tailored solutions is crucial. 

Rajifah shared, “When we worked with Hospital Kuala Lumpur(HKL) and Hospital Sungai Buloh (HSgB) to implement cHEART for post-discharge patients, we found that having buy-in up and down the organisation helps a lot.  Once we gained the ‘greenlight’ from the management, we worked closely with the operational team; understanding their needs, what they want to achieve, the ideal outcomes so that we can develop a platform that matches with the needs.”

Increasing awareness and better adoption rates post-pandemic

In the aftermath of the pandemic, there is now more openness towards digital healthcare avenues. This is complemented by trends where Malaysians are becoming more open to technology. Khor Kang Xiang, Managing Director and co-founder of Techcare Innovation shared, “I have learned that the emergence of digital technology in healthcare is getting more  acceptable by the Malaysian community with the increasing adoption of the digital  economy.” 

Studies support Xiang observation. As per Statista, as of the third quarter of 2020, the average daily time spent using the internet by people in Malaysia was around 9.17 hours. In comparison, they spent around 3.01 hours on social media every day. This definitely encourages the adoption of digital health technology that potentially further streamline and optimise the process of getting quality care services without physical constraint.

Techcare Innovation is a human technology company that develops and delivers smart rehabilitation devices to bring a better life for people through exercising. Xiang further shared that since the Movement Controller Order (MCO) last year, Techcare started implementing telerobotic training to provide robots at home together with the combination of telerehabilitation training by trained therapists for rehabilitation. “We are seeing positive results and experiences from patients whereby stroke patients can access advanced technology for intensive training together with guidance from a therapist without geographical constraint. And we foresee the future of rehabilitation will continue to have more adoption and combination of using digital technology for the more optimal result of the patient’s recovery,” he added.

Also read: Modern solutions to modern problems: How Plusman LLC innovates healthcare

Rapid technological advancements coupled with the impact of the recent pandemic on consumers’ health, has given rise to multiple market gaps and provided an impetus for stakeholders to adopt a radical change through the transformation of current products and services or the pursuit of new market opportunities. In response to the ecosystem’s challenges and increased conviction to drive innovation, there is a dire need to remove silos and to problem solve as an ecosystem, enabling innovation through rewards and boosting customer experiences through a better understanding of user needs as key courses of action that will move the industry forward.

“To ensure that we do not get left behind, moving with speed is absolutely essential. To do this, we need to streamline our processes, get rid of any overlap or ‘legacy’ inefficiencies, and utilise technology to automate or digitalise, and through MRANTI, we can do this,” concluded MaGIC’s ACEO Khalid. “While we look to harvest more medtech inventions at the end of the funnel, we also need to expand our supply pipeline of ideas. This calls for multiple parties to work in concert – the enculturation of innovation, to foster the growth of early-stage technology and innovation companies, and provide the necessary support to mature their products into viable solutions for the market,” he added.

Learn more about MaGIC at https://www.mymagic.my and find out more about Human Inc at https://www.humaninc.co. You can also access their full study here.

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

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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Despite being Singaporean, I had never lived in Singapore until National Service. After NS, I left Singapore again to study and work in the US, but after seven years, I decided to move back to Singapore to spend time with family and be an entrepreneur. I started Rocket Academy to give back to Singapore and help more Singaporeans start businesses.

When I moved back to Singapore in 2017, I would often get questions such as, “Why did you come back from Silicon Valley [where salaries are higher]?” “Why do you want to be an entrepreneur [and forego a safe, lucrative career]?” “Why not work at another company [to learn about Singapore and develop your business idea] before working full-time on your own?”

I moved back from Silicon Valley to spend time with family, and I felt that I should get to know Singapore better as a Singaporean. I wanted to be an entrepreneur because I wanted Singapore and Southeast Asia to have more homegrown multinational companies to help us “stand up” globally.

The best way to learn entrepreneurship is to do it; It would be a long journey, I would have more obligations with age, and I felt inspired by the young entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley.

Three years to find an idea

It took me almost three years to find the idea for Rocket Academy. My original idea was in senior care, an app to help family members coordinate care for their loved ones. I spent over a year iterating on this idea and learned valuable lessons about business and how societies care for their seniors.

It turned out that being a caregiver for anyone is hard, and the biggest need caregivers have is physical care for their loved ones, not a coordination tool, not even a community of caregivers.

Also Read: 27 Singapore tech startups that have made us proud this year

When I realised what the market required (medical care) was not something I could provide, I decided to move on.

After leaving senior care in mid-2018, I moved to Jakarta to join a friend’s student loans company Dana Cita; a startup recently graduated from Y Combinator that aimed to help Indonesians access education. I still had entrepreneurial ambition but needed to reset and develop new ideas.

Dana Cita’s team and mission excited me, and it would allow me to learn about Indonesia, the largest market in SEA and a centre of Malay culture. It was an incredible experience, and after one year, I decided to resume my entrepreneurial journey.

I continued living in Jakarta for six months after Dana Cita and met over 100 investors, prospective co-founders and industry experts.

I explored e-commerce logistics, e-commerce marketplace aggregation, an English-language tutoring marketplace, smartphone leasing, and even on-demand fried chicken. None of the initial ideas worked out, but many investors later invested in Rocket Academy.

After many failed attempts, I stumbled upon an innovative online coding boot camp in the US called Lambda School.

There was a large opportunity in online vocational coding education in SEA, and I happened to have the perfect background as a software engineer and former teacher.

Starting something from nothing in Singapore

The pandemic helped Rocket Academy by driving people to code online, but we still faced many challenges building the business.

Rocket Academy struggled to enrol our first batch of students. I had moved back to Singapore (again) in late 2019 created a company logo and website, but I had zero students and zero track record. As a novice entrepreneur, paid advertising did not cross my mind, and I focused on reaching out to coding interest groups and friends of friends.

Also Read: Why a Singapore coding school founder is funding a startup in Kazakhstan

After a month, I connected with 10 prospective students, of which six met me in person and three enrolled in Rocket’s pilot boot camp batch in January 2020. Those students later joined GovTech, Xfers and Glints after graduating from Rocket.

Rocket Academy’s biggest setback in 2020 was a miscommunication with government regulators, causing Rocket to stop teaching from April to September 2020. Pandemic restrictions prolonged the miscommunication, and I found myself taking long walks in the park, brainstorming other business models Rocket could pursue besides training software engineers.

I thought about quitting more than once. Luckily, Rocket and the regulators resolved the miscommunication in September and our team resumed teaching.

Rocket Academy’s next big challenge was developing course content to provide students with study material and standardised instruction. Rocket’s early team member Akira led these efforts with aplomb, burning the midnight oil for months to complete the first version of Rocket’s content while teaching. We even bought a portable air-con at one point because the air-con at our coworking space shut off at 6 PM, making the office otherwise unbearable at night.

2021 brought new challenges for Rocket Academy as we scaled. Our student numbers were almost 10x, we raised US$1.1 million, grew our team from two to 10 full-timers, and suddenly we faced challenges meeting student demand and managing the team.

In 2022, Rocket will continue to improve our student and instructor resources to empower students and software engineers to learn and teach at Rocket. I am also excited to improve as a manager, helping bring out the best in every member of our team.

Support for entrepreneurs

I have two suggestions for anyone starting a business post-pandemic.

Choose a market that is growing despite the pandemic. Examples include almost everything online, including online shopping, gaming, education, productivity and wellness.

Also Read: We are a coding and robotics school. This is how we prepare for the COVID-19 outbreak

Choose a problem to solve that you are passionate about. Only then will you persevere through the inevitable setbacks.

Entrepreneurship has been tough yet rewarding and would not be possible without the help of countless others. If I can ever be helpful to your journey, please reach out!

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Singapore-based e-commerce aggregator Una Brands today announced the acquisition of homegrown ergonomic furniture brands ErgoTune and EverDesk+ in a deal worth over eight-figure USD.

Una Brands will expand them into new regional and international markets. The brands have already been launched in Australia, where they contributed to 15+ per cent of overall revenue in Q4 2021 alone.

Further, Una Brands’ growth strategy will see the brands launch onto additional e-commerce platforms in the coming months, including Amazon in H1 2022, and further their O2O offering with a showroom in Sydney from April where customers can experience both ErgoTune and EverDesk+ products.

Also Read: Ex-CEO of Rocket Internet Asia launches new e-commerce venture Una Brands with a US$40M seed round

EverDesk+ and ErgoTune were founded in 2017 by former schoolmates Joshua Chan, Lye Yi Hao and Tan Jun Kiat shortly after they graduated.

The brands provide “affordable and high-quality” ergonomic furniture. They grew exponentially against the backdrop of the work-from-home requirements during the pandemic and the subsequent shift to hybrid working arrangements fuelling and sustaining demand for ergonomic furniture.

Their flagship products include the ErgoTune Classic and the ErgoTune Supreme Chair. They sold nearly 20,000 units in 2021 alone, grew 150 per cent, and tripled their revenue to over SGD13 (US$10) million.

Lye Yi Hao, Co-Founder of ErgoTune and EverDesk+, said: “With Una Brands’s financial backing and operational expertise, we are poised to grow our brands in various regional marketplaces and enter new markets at an accelerated timeline.”

Kiren Tanna, Co-Founder and CEO of Una Brands, said: “We aspire to grow ErgoTune and EverDesk+ into the region’s best-selling ergonomic chairs and desks in the next three years.”

Una Brands was established in 2020 by Tanna, the former CEO of Rocket Internet Asia and founder of foodpanda and ZEN Rooms. Its other co-founders are Adrian Johnston, Kushal Patel, Tobias Heusch, and Srinivasan Shridharan.

Una Brands acquires brands selling across multiple e-commerce channels such as Shopify, Shopee, Lazada, Tokopedia, Amazon. It mainly primarily focuses on profitable independent brands with revenue between US$1 million and US$50 million.

So far, Una Brands has acquired over 15 brands. These brands, which generate between U$1 million to US$15 million revenues, operate in categories of home & living, baby & pets, and personal care. They are based in Singapore, Australia, China, and Taiwan.

Also Read: Una Brands nets US$15M Series A to acquire new e-commerce brands in Asia

Una Brands has worked with some of the biggest companies in the world, with its offices spanning the Asia-Pacific region with a presence in Singapore, Australia, India, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Korea, and Japan.

Since its launch in early 2021, Una Brands has raised US$55 million, including a US$15 million Series A financing round led by White Star Capital and Alpha JWC in November 2021. Its other investors are 500 Startups, 468 Capital, Claret Capital Partners, and Ninja Van co-founder Alvin Teo.

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Singapore-based logistics-tech company Inteluck has announced the completion of its US$15 million Series B financing round led by Creo Capital, a Hong Kong-based investment firm under New World Group.

The round also saw participation from East Ventures and Headline Asia. 

Inteluck intends to utilise the funds to expand its footprint across Southeast Asia. The firm anticipates tremendous growth in the region in the coming years.

In April 2020, the startup reportedly raised more than US$5 million as part of the Series B round led by Asia investment firm MindWorks Capital, with participation from Lalamove and Infinity Ventures.

Also read: How the logistics partner can make or break the online shopping experience

Founded in 2014 by CEO Kevin Zhang, Inteluck employs data analytics to provide a logistics platform that helps customers and supplier partners optimises resources, lower logistics costs and maximise logistics efficiency.

Tapping into the US$300 billion third-party logistics (3PL) market, Inteluck’s services include full truckload transportation, warehouse management, freight forwarding, and other bespoke supply chain services. 

The startup claims to have served over 250 companies across telecom, FMCG, manufacturing, e-commerce, express, and others. 

Inteluck said it helps alleviate cash flow pressure for over 5,000 firms by boosting the number of orders they receive for carrier partners.

Despite pandemic headwinds, Inteluck boasts of increasing revenues by 512 per cent in the last three years. 

The company has made a presence in six Southeast Asian countries, including Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam.

According to Data Bridge Market Research, the Southeast Asia third-party logistics industry is predicted to develop at a CAGR of 4.7 per cent from 2021 to 2028, with a total value of US$115.6 billion.

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Image Credit: Inteluck

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