Techstars, in partnership with Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), has recently concluded pitch days for the two cohorts under the Founder Catalyst Program. 26 startups from the two cohorts — Cleantech and General (Global-scale), pitched to over 300 potential partners and investors during the virtual pitch day held last March 3 and 10, respectively. 

During the pitch days, startups met with potential investors, partners, and customers in a virtual networking event. While the virtual and remote setup has limited the networking opportunities for them, participating startups with e27 Pro accounts have continued to connect with potential investors on the e27 network after the pitch day. 

Providing opportunities to build investor networks

Since the launch, e27 Pro has facilitated over 10,000 connections between startups and investors through Investor Connect. Recently, e27 Pro member X0PA AI, an AI-powered hiring solutions company in Singapore, raised Series A funding in a round that included  XCEL NEXT, an investor they met through Investor Connect. 

Also Read: X0PA AI bags US$4.2M Series A to scale its SaaS recruitment solutions

e27’s Investor Connect has over 400 active and verified investors in the region which the startups from the two cohorts of the Founder Catalyst Program can connect and engage for fundraising matters. (Not a Pro member yet? Start here.)

e27 is used to organize offline events which connect regional ecosystem players. This brings opportunities to founders to build their networks. As we move towards the new normal, having a platform where you can connect with investors virtually is a big help to those who would normally meet investors in physical events. 

With e27 Pro, we’re going back to our roots and helping startups with their fundraising by providing a platform that allows not only discovery but a tool to begin conversations with investors and update them on their progress.

Meet the 26 startups from the Cleantech and Global Scale cohorts

Those who missed the pitch days and virtual networking can still connect with the startups through e27 Startup Connect. Startup Connect allows investors or potential business partners to connect directly with startups for collaborations, knowledge sharing, and investment opportunities.

Cleantech Cohort

1. Aonbarr Inc. – Founded by Shigetoshi Sakurai, who also acts as the company’s CEO, Aonbarr uses the magnesium collected in seawater to produce hydrogen. The company focuses mainly on the energy sector and is still at the pre-seed stages.
2. Acoustic Innovations Co., Ltd. – As part of the Autotech industry, Acoustic Innovations seeks to transform the driving experience by minimising noise in vehicles through vibration absorption technology. Apart from convenience, the business also highlights the effects of its services as possibly improving vehicle safety and prolonging the vehicle’s performance.
3. PJP Eye Ltd. – The business offers sustainable energy solutions by producing plant-based carbon batteries, called “Cambrian.” Such sustainable solutions will hopefully aid in the movement against climate change.
4. Water Design Japan – Water Design Japan makes use of UFB Dual technology, or technology that expedites cleaning, ensuring a mess-free and cost-saving process. The business is primarily in the Cleantech and sustainability sectors.
5. Hair Clinic Reve-21 Co., Ltd. – Hair Clinic Reve-21 offers everything to do with hair care but also goes beyond this to tackle issues of water purification and other health and Cleantech concerns.
6. Kyoto Fusioneering – Under the Cleantech and energy industries, Kyoto Fusioneering develops advanced technologies for commercial fusion reactors to produce tritium production and generate power.
7. Fermenstation – Focusing on sustainability, Fermenstation makes use of unused resources to produce functional cosmetic ingredients, animal feed, and fertilizer. The company is headed by its CEO, Lina Sakai and is currently at the Series A stage.
8. AC Biode – Two of the business products have already been mainstreamed in the market. These are CircuLite, which upcycles ash into antibacterial materials, and TRL9, which mainly focuses on waterless composting toilets. AC Biode has already sold around 3,000 of its waterless toilets in Asia.
9. Welltree inc. – Welltree’s biotechnology aims to deliver efficient service to users, particularly those in the healthcare industry. Welltree also expands its expertise to the wellness industries by allowing users to check their biome and order products from a centralised app.
10. Fast Space inc. – Fast Space addresses the cost-efficiency of wind turbines. Providing high-rise lightweight towers for wind turbines, the company is currently at the pre-seed stage and focuses on the energy sector.
11. C’s Techno Inc. – This energy-focused startup is breaking barriers in the production of graphene-based materials. Through its innovations, the company has great potential to transform the field of electronics, particularly its use of graphene materials.

General (Global Scale) Cohort

1. Onikle Inc. – Onikle has developed a search platform of the same name, offering easy access to aspiring Computer Science researchers. The search platform, built on Artificial Intelligence, will find papers, allow researchers to organize them in a library, and share these within their scientific community.
2. Vox Japan – The retail company Vox offers a personalized vending machine that gives easy access to daily essentials. The service allows retailers to install these products in customers’ homes for all-day access.
3. ListenField – ListenField aims to improve farming productivity with its crop modelling technology. Through constant monitoring of soil and climate conditions, the business technology will hopefully increase agricultural production and promote collaboration among all stakeholders.
4. Wayfarer – The hospitality industry could possibly see fewer costs and more efficient, decentralized operations through automation with Wayfarer. The company caters to hotel owners whose aim is to streamline their hotel management brand.
5. Tablecross Inc. – Tablecorss’ byFood is a food entertainment platform that promotes global connections through its bilingual offers. While the company started out as a food booking platform donating meals to schools, byFood has since grown in the travel and food industry.
6. IDDK Co., Ltd. – Developing a one-chip observation technology, IDDK focuses on developing microscopic observation devices for the technology industry.
7. Kyoto Meditation Center Co., Ltd. – The company’s SanZen application mixes Zen practice alongside the demands of everyday work. The app lets users enjoy short meditations while simulating a peaceful experience through relaxing videos.
8. Citadel AI Inc. – Citadel AI ensures users in the machine learning sector that their Artificial Intelligence operates at optimal performance. The company provides monitoring, testing, and governance tools to help users oversee the development of their own technology.
9. yocto Co.,Ltd – yocto aims for digital transformation in the wellness industry through the use of IoT technologies.
10. Cellid, Inc. – Cellid aims to improve UX by developing display modules using Artificial Intelligence and nanotechnology. The company is focused on the AR industry and is currently in the Series A stage.
11. Canaan Advisors, Inc. – ZeniHub is the company’s real estate investment platform. The platform allows real estate properties in emerging economies accessible and affordable for potential investors.
12. Isha Health – The business connects patients with care providers through its chatbot concierge. The platform allows users to have the best experience and be matched with the most appropriate care provider using digital health.
13. Younode, Inc. – With its PULP platform, Younode will allow users to share their music and discover new tracks organically. In this way, the business aims to provide a more collaborative form of social networking.
14. RUN.EDGE Limited – The business makes use of sports technology to provide a more interactive experience for users. Using its PITCHBASE and FL-UX for professional basketball and field sports respectively, the company has just concluded fundraising of pre-series B.
15. Archelis Inc. – Archelis offers a glimpse at the future of work through its development of an exoskeleton suit for workers and professionals who engage in work that requires standing for long hours. The business aims to address the strains that standing work entails.

Interested in connecting with these startups? Simply click their profiles in the companies mentioned section in the upper right corner of this page. Connecting with these startups is free and only requires an updated personal and company profile.

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The future of work is changing, faster than ever due to the disruption of technology, aggravated by the pandemic.

While this is hardly a surprise, one need that remains constant or possibly even greater, however, is the need for effective leadership in the workplace.

I share a guide for business leaders looking to maximise their leadership impact. A result that has come about after my work with leaders from nearly 40 countries, this guide is your essential companion to developing agile leadership in our volatile world.

Before any business leader or executive dives right into the guide, it is important to first consider the definition of agile leadership. In my book titled ‘8 Paradoxes of Leadership Agility’, leadership agility (aka agile leadership) was defined as ‘the ability to navigate uncertainties and complexities with a sense of ease and authenticity.

As you lead teams and your organisation, there’s a high chance that you are also leading change, so take this opportunity to self-evaluate.

How are you navigating complexities and approaching uncertainties? Do you inspire confidence in your team, or are you stressed out about having to provide answers that you don’t have at the moment?

Consider where you currently stand on this spectrum of “agile leadership” and dive into the guide below.

This guide is organised into five inner voices. The voices were crafted with the belief that to lead teams ‘out there’, change must begin ‘in here’.

Also Read: 3 leadership lessons for women in tech

Embracing these different voices and understanding their misconceptions help leaders develop an all-rounded leadership style that resonates with the diverse millennial and Gen Z workforce while also increasing their resilience, cultural leadership and overall innovativeness in the complex world.

Five voices of leadership

Captain

This voice guides leaders to know themselves first, as they focus on their own strengths and values before focusing on that of others. This helps leaders to change their perspectives from focusing on the gaps rather than celebrating the strengths of the team. 

Misconceptions: Some leaders think they are self-aware enough. However, the reality is that self-awareness is a lifelong journey.

One never stops developing it. Further, the people whom you work with will always be changing, and the best way to be others aware is to first be self-aware.

Visionary

This voice helps leaders to cast a compelling vision on their team. Rather than blindly repeating the same message and mistakes, leaders can learn to communicate important messages to their team once they develop empathy to address the team’s aspirations and visions.

The message matters, and being able to cast and align the team’s goals with that of the company is crucial.

Misconceptions:  Often, it’s not about having the end in the mind, because it might not be very possible these days. Think more of the impact and the values that undergird the purpose of the organisation.

Developer

This voice helps to ensure that younger employees who desire career progress, growth, and development achieve what they want in the agile organisation they work in. Whether it is through benefits and shifting visions, the developer’s voice helps leaders to reconsider the intangible rewards to share with their employees.

Misconceptions: Having the best intentions to help others grow is not enough. An effective leader in the VUCA world knows how to flex his style to suit the needs of his stakeholders. As the quote goes, “Teach me the way I want to be taught, not the way you want to teach me.”

Strategist

The voice of the strategist helps executives reflect on how they can help their organisation achieve and discover more with the diminishing resources available.

Working harder to deliver more is not sustainable, so the strategist considers how to meet increasing demands, retain talents by leveraging areas of the highest returns.

Misconceptions: This has little to do with working faster, but working smarter. It’s not thinking at the issue with the same level of consciousness. It’s also not a matter of IQ. Likewise, it’s a matter of reductionist thinking and stripping down the issue to the core, and reducing undesirable outcomes of diminishing returns despite working harder.

Agilist

The inner voice of the agilist helps leaders think in incremental steps. Instead of worrying about potential failures, the agilist voice informs the executive on how to navigate the next best way forward in any experiment with an objective perspective, changing course when needed.

Also Read: 6 leadership lessons I learned after we raised our seed round

Misconceptions: Again, it’s not about being fast. Sometimes, being an agilist means taking the slower path for now. It’s not about changing for the sake of change, but to have strong reasons why something needs to be stopped, taken away, or continued.

These voices might sound daunting, but there is something in common: everyone has the potential to grow their five inner voices. Being aware of the five voices helps executives and managers discern new ways to achieve their goals, whether it is at work or beyond.

Every leader might even have a dominant voice that they lean towards, and this can be discovered through my Agile Leadership Evaluator where you’ll get to measure your level of agility. Once you get to know your dominant voice, you’ll know your own preferences and motivations.

At the same time, you might also start seeing gaps. If you could consistently work on the other voices while reflecting on what others around you need, you might start seeing better results in future projects and experiments in your line of work. 

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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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This article is written as part of the Corporate Venture Launchpad programme. The SG$10 million pilot programme by EDB New Ventures aims to enable large, established companies new to corporate venturing to launch a new venture in Singapore within six months, supported by venture studios experienced in corporate venture building. Start your corporate venturing journey with us through the Corporate Venture Launchpad. Learn more here and connect with Rainmaking, an appointed venture studio of the programme here.

I am a father of an eight-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy. Being a parent puts me in several paradoxical situations; being friendly yet strict, critical yet supportive, adventurous yet cautious, and creative yet pragmatic. It all sums up in the age-old parenting paradox of holding tight and letting go.

As a corporate venture builder, I see corporates experience the same paradox of holding tight and letting go while building corporate ventures.

Step back and take a critical look at these two words in isolation: they are a contradiction.

At one end, we have corporates who are all about holding tight. They have a well-defined business model, a well-established set of business processes, a well-oiled method of deploying resources, and a well-evolved set of values and metrics that matter to the business.

On the other end, we have ventures who are all about letting go. By their very definition, ventures are amorphous, still discovering a business model, identifying the talent needed, defining their processes, and aligning on the metrics they should track.

How might we, the corporate venture builders, who transform an idea into an investable venture, bring these two universes together to create a strategically aligned corporate venture, a venture where the corporate is excited to invest its resources and can attract founders who are excited to invest their time and energy.

The keywords here are ‘strategically aligned.’ And therefore, the need for defining investability criteria.

Let us take screentime as an example. As a parent, I need to be strategic about how my children use screen time as it is inevitable.

I need to align with my partner on the objectives and boundaries for screentime while creating an environment for creativity, curiosity, and courage.

It is about us maintaining the paradox of holding tight while letting go because driving creativity, curiosity, and courage requires defining inspiring yet attainable objectives and outlining less constraining boundaries within the lines that we as parents are unwilling to cross.

Also Read: Why it maybe the opportune time to consider Corporate Venture Capital

Investability criterion is the paradox that corporate venture builders need to design and deploy from day one to ensure that the time, resources, and efforts are invested to focus on creating a strategically aligned corporate venture for the corporates and the founding team.

So, how should corporate venture builders think about investability criteria? It is a four-part process:

Step 1: Understand the stakeholders and their needs

As parents, we discussed why our children need screen time. We outlined the gives, gets, and risks and aligned them to our parenting values.

Invest time to deeply understand the corporate’s and founders’ needs across three dimensions: metrics, risk, and urgency.

Step 2: Define and align on the venture objectives

Think of this as setting the development objectives for the child. For us, the development objective of screen time was about triggering curiosity, learning new skills, and building self-control.

Think of objectives as the ultimate strategic and business goal the venture is designed to deliver. The objectives need to be SMART: specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic (therefore achievable), and time-bound.

Step 3: Define and align on the boundary conditions

Think of this as parents defining the rules and boundaries for the child. It is more than simply saying “No” or “Yes.” It is about creating the space for the child to explore, take risks, experiment, and build accountability.

For our children, the boundary conditions for screen time are listed below. And as a reward for self-control, our children get to watch a movie of their choice every Friday night.

Define the corporate venture’s boundary conditions across a matrix (below) of what the venture must, maybe, and must not do in terms of venture desirability, venture feasibility, and venture viability.

Step 4: Reference and iterate

Parenting is an ongoing process and requires continuous adjustments to reflect the interplay created by the objective and boundaries set.

The screen time criteria for our children have evolved since we set it because now my daughter is keen to get better at chess and wants to learn new songs to play using the guitar. At the same time, my son wants to learn about animals and learn the lyrics of his favourite songs.

Also Read: 5 things startups should know about Corporate Venture Capital

Similarly, investability criteria must be viewed as a line drawn in the sand and not as rules set in stone. And therefore, corporate venture builders must reference the investability criteria to inform the decisions taken during the formative stages of the venture and continuously review and shape them to reflect the new realities. It is not a one-time process.

Corporates, corporate venture builders, and founders must invest sufficient time in the first three steps to achieve maximum stakeholder alignment.

We must also dedicate time to step four throughout the venture building process. Achieving strategic alignment is like tightrope walking. Corporate venture builders need to be mindful to strike the right balance between aligning the corporate’s and founders’ aspirations and constraints.

Ultimately, as with the parenting paradox, objectives and boundaries must enable the founding team to take risks, fail often, and eventually thrive. And like parenting, this is an iterative process.

It is these paradoxes that make parenting and corporate venture building so challenging yet so rewarding. So the question is, how can you “hold tight and let go” in your organization?

To learn more about these steps, please watch this short video.

This article is written as part of the Corporate Venture Launchpad programme. The S$10 million (US$7.5 million) pilot programme by EDB New Ventures aims to enable large, established companies to launch a new venture in Singapore within six months.

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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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Indonesia’s GoTo aims to raise US$1.11B in IPO
GoTo is the second Indonesian unicorn to get listed on the stock exchange, following Bukalapak’s IPO last year; Prior to this, GoTo’s rival Grab has made their IPO on Nasdaq in December 2021.

FinAccel, VPC Impact Acquisition terminate merger agreement
This comes on the backdrop of the volatility in the US market, triggered mostly by geopolitical tensions and rate-hike concerns; Following the mutual decision, VPC Impact is leading a US$145M investment in FinAccel.

Webuy acquires Indonesian social commerce rival Chilibeli
Under the share-swap deal, the company will take control of all of Chilibeli’s assets, including its brand, database, software, agents, and customers; Chilibeli mainly sells fresh fruits and vegetables as well as household items.

PropertyGuru public offer sees 59% SPAC redemption rate
SPAC redemptions allow shareholders to redeem their shares at the original IPO price, potentially leaving the combined company with less money for its future operations; A high redemption rate signals low confidence in a merger

Carsome acquires majority stake in Singapore’s CarTimes Automobile
CarTimes offers a suite of auto solutions ranging from new and used car retail, rental, financing, insurance to repair, maintenance and workshops; This deal follows Carsome’s recent announcement of completing its acquisition of iCar Asia.

Rainforest acquires baby care brand NatureBond 
Rainforest CEO JJ Chai said it was a 100 per cent acquisition and its parent company Millenium Enterprises for a significant seven-figure amount; Rainforest will support the brand’s marketing, pricing, supply chain, sourcing, product development.

SG’s smart lock maker igloocompany banks US$12M Series B1 to expand its footprint in US, Europe
Investors are Purpose Venture Capital, Kickstart Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, and Insignia Ventures; In July 2021, igloocompany set up an office in the US, where it aims to deploy 1M devices, garner 400 enterprise partnerships, and achieve 2.5x growth over the past 18 months.

Indonesia’s fintech UangTeman loses online lending license
The news comes amid the fintech startup’s struggle to find a white knight who can save it from collapse; UangTeman had stopped paying salaries and even disbursing loans from the end of 2020, as it dealt with the fallout of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earned wage access startup wagely nets US$8.3M pre-Series A to grow in Bangladesh
Investors include East Ventures (Growth Fund), Integra Partners, GFC, Trihill Capital, and Blauwpark Partners; wagely also disclosed that it secured the backing of Central Capital Ventura, the VC arm of Indonesia’s Bank Central Asia

‘As workplaces rapidly change post-pandemic, the way people getting paid changes too’: wagely CEO
In this interview, he discusses how wagely solves the problems faced by lower- and middle-income workers struggling with unexpected financial expenses between paycheques.

How crypto savings startup Finblox attracted US$3.9M capital within just 4 months of launching
Investors include Dragonfly Capital, Sequoia India, Three Arrows Capital, Saison Capital, MSA Capital, and Coinfund; Finblox allows users to earn a yield on their assets passively, with no limits on minimum balances or withdrawal periods

Datature raises US$2.7M from Openspace to allow companies build breakthrough AI capabilities
Investors are Openspace Ventures and January Capital; Datature’s full suite of solutions provides teams with the ability to annotate, augment, train and deploy computer vision models, all without a single line of code.

SiCepat apologises for wrongful layoff procedure
The Indonesian logistics firm said there was a wrongful procedure in its recent layoff of 366 employees; Instead of dismissal letters, the company gave them resignation letters; In the last two years, SiCepat raised US$170M in investments.

Grab confirms Vietnam country head Nguyen Thai Hai Van’s departure
She stepped down to pursue a new career opportunity; The superapp didn’t disclose who will take over the role; Van joined Grab VN in Nov 2019 and was promoted to the position of country manager in Feb 2020.

Funding Societies launches US$16M ESOP buyback programme
Under the buyback, all eligible workers will have the option of selling their shares at no discount to Funding Societies at its series C+ preference share price; This is its 4th such programme, with its employees previously cashing out a total of US$3.5M in ESOPs.

Antler, Iterative back Indonesian B2B logistics firm Envio
Envio provides logistics solutions for the B2B segment; It currently has 35 air and marine transportation modes, 5,000 land vehicles, and 50 warehouses across the archipelago.

SG fintech firm Digital Treasures Center (DTC) gets regulatory nod for crypto services
With a license to offer digital payment token services, DTC can provide fiat-to-crypto pairing, which enables merchants to accept cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Tether – and convert them into fiat currency.

Animoca shuts down F1-based P2E game
The Hong Kong-based unicorn said it will replace the F1 Delta Time assets of current owners with NFTs for other games in its Revv Motorsport ecosystem, including MotoGP Ignition, Formula E: High Voltage, Revv Racing, and Torque Drift.

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Malaysia-headquartered integrated car e-commerce unicorn Carsome Group has acquired a 51 per cent stake in Singapore-based auto solutions company CarTimes Automobile.

The transaction details remain undisclosed.

This follows Carsome’s recent announcement of completing its acquisition of iCar Asia.

Commenting on the new deal, Carsome Co-Founder and Group CEO Eric Cheng said: “This partnership will enable us to deepen our footprint in the Singapore auto market and augment our ability to bring trust, choice, and transparency together to customers.”

According to CarTimes Founder and Managing Director Eddie Loo, this partnership is crucial in assisting it in serving customers better and providing them with the resources to digitise and improve the two-decade-old relationship they have with their customers.

Also Read: Carsome completes acquisition of ASX-listed content automotive platform iCar Asia

Established in 2001, CarTimes offers a suite of auto solutions ranging from new and used car retail, rental, financing, insurance to repair, maintenance and workshops. It has retail showrooms and after-sales service centres across Singapore.

Carsome is one of the largest integrated car e-commerce platforms in Southeast Asia. It provides end-to-end solutions to consumers and used car dealers, from car inspection to ownership transfer to financing.

The company currently has more than 3,000 employees and has operations across Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand and Singapore.

In 2020, Carsome acquired an all-equity stake in Universal Collection, a Jakarta-based car and motorcycle auction service. This came a few months after it secured US$290 million in a Series E financing round, bringing its valuation to approximately US$1.7 billion.

In a September 2021 report, Reuters hinted that Carsome’s profitability on an operational level was set to be realised in 2022. 

The Southeast Asia automobiles trading value reached an estimated US$55 billion annually, according to Momentum Works Southeast Asia Used Cars Report 2020.

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The very term femtech was recently brought to prominence by the founder of a fertility app in reaction to her struggles in finding male venture capital investors who would find it difficult in understanding the specifics of her product.

However, with the industry forecast to total US$75 billion in value by 2025, there are plenty of indications that VCs are waking up to the potential of femtech. 

In Silicon Valley, there have been clear developments in the level of VC investment in women’s digital health since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The United States, in particular, has played host to a rise in the level of VC funds dedicated solely to investing in female founders and into startups focussed on addressing women’s needs. 

One of the most important factors behind the growth of femtech is the realization of the industry’s significant potential.

According to a report by the non-profit organization, FemTech Focus, the potential of the femtech market can total US$1 trillion, based on the fact that the 3.8 billion women around the world have a combined spending power of US$20 trillion per year whilst controlling around 85 per cent of daily household spending and making more than 80 per cent of healthcare decisions.

The report also noted that exits by female-founded firms increased 16 per cent year-over-year between 2019 and 2020, whilst male-founded exits fell by 2 per cent over the same timeframe. 

The femtech market is expected to grow at an exponential rate. As we can see from the chart above, North America and Europe are set to drive the market, whilst treatment-based technology appears set to dominate the industry alongside diagnostics. 

“The global femtech market was worth US$40.2 billion in 2020 and is projected to grow at an average of 13.3 per cent per annum from 2020 to 2025 to reach US$75.1 billion,” said Maxim Manturov, head of investment advice at Freedom Finance Europe.

“North America is the undisputed leader. Comprising almost 55 per cent of femtech companies, it far surpasses other regions. Europe is second with 25 per cent, followed by Asia with 8 per cent and MENA countries with 7 per cent.

“The US and the UK are the two countries with the largest number of femtech companies. Despite growing interest in recent years, the industry remains undervalued and has high growth potential.”

Battling under-representation in healthcare

The rise of femtech could bring far greater improvements for women’s health than the development of dedicated tech. The industry could generate a far better level of representation for women when it comes to gender-based variations in healthcare. 

Also Read: Breaking the glass ceiling: These 6 women are making their marks in deep tech field

Literature like Invisible Women (Penguin Random House, March 2019), Doing Harm (HarperOne, March 2019), and Sex Matters (Hachette Book Group, June 2021), modern medicine was developed around male physiology, with women often underrepresented. 

There’s also a widespread predisposition to the male body type within the field of medical training, diagnoses, and therapeutic development, which has impacted how physicians and scientists work on understanding the human body. As a result, women can often have very different health outcomes from men when undergoing treatments. 

Although this isn’t always the result of gender bias, for instance, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advised against “premenopausal female[s] capable of becoming pregnant” being included in phase 1 and early phase 2 clinical studies, but it’s led to an increased need for women to gain better representation when it comes to health matters. 

Signs of market growth

The femtech industry has recently received a boost as German health startup Wellster Healthtech Group closed a US$20 million funding extension, which has brought the total level of funds raised to US$60 million. 

The company announced that it intended to use the revenue to launch a brand specifically within the realm of femtech, which is set to focus on developing software designed to aid insights into fertility solutions, menstrual tracking, pregnancy, and nursing care among other aspects of women’s health. 

“The funding comes at a key moment in our development,” said Co-Founder Dr. Manuel Nothelfer in a statement. “It reinforces our goal to be the leader in the European market and our offerings for personalized healthcare services to expand.”

Wellster’s impressive funding comes as the latest indicator of an industry that’s ready for exponential growth. The company’s shift towards the femtech sector illustrates the sheer volume of opportunities that companies can access in providing women with the healthcare solutions that they’ve been deprived of throughout their lives. 

With a projected market share of more than US$75 billion forecast by 2025, the firms that opt to expand into femtech are likely to be rewarded by sustained and ever-increasing custom from a market that currently spans some 3.8 billion people. 

With this in mind, venture capitalist interest may hold the key to a brand new frontier for women’s health. Although barriers still remain in a largely male-dominated industry, the future certainly looks bright for femtech and the companies that are working to serve their female audience.

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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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Airwallex and MongoDB aim to get engaged with the community and provide the companies on e27 the opportunity for advisory, partnerships, and collaborations, sharing of insights, or simply to expand the network. 

Over the past couple of months, we have facilitated over 10,000 connections between startups and investors through e27 Pro’s Connect feature. This time, startups on the platform are now able to network with other companies. Airwallex and MongoDB are on the e27 platform to discover up-and-coming companies in the region. 

e27 has initiated a lot of offline events in the past, and as organisers, we knew the value of physical events for companies. When we launched Startup Connect, this was exactly what we had in mind. In this new normal, wouldn’t it be better to have a visible tool to explore opportunities with companies out there? Our Startup List is all about discovering technology companies with enhanced filtering capabilities to provide you with what you are looking for. 

Why connect with Airwallex and MongoDB?

Our partners have committed to engaging with startups that qualify for their program offerings. If you’re looking for technology partners to help you grow and scale your startups, these e27 partners can help you address your current challenges. These companies have established expertise in their fields and have worked with countless startups in the past. 

Meet our partners

Airwallex is a global payments platform with a mission to empower businesses of all sizes to grow without borders, and by doing so, contribute to the global economy. With technology at its core, Airwallex has built a financial infrastructure and platform to help businesses manage online payments, treasury, and payout globally, without the constraints of the traditional financial system. Airwallex has raised over US$800 million since it was established in 2015 and is backed by world-leading investors. Today, the business operates with a team of over 1,000 employees across 19 locations globally.

MongoDB is the leading modern, general-purpose database platform empowering innovators to create, transform, and disrupt industries by unleashing the power of software and data. Headquartered in New York, MongoDB has more than 33,000 customers in over 100 countries. The MongoDB database platform has been downloaded over 210 million times and there have been more than 1.5 million registrations for MongoDB University courses.

We are thrilled to announce this partnership and as part of e27’s mission to empower entrepreneurs with the tools to build and grow their companies, we will continuously work with companies to bring more opportunities for our members. 

How to get started?

The Connect button is available in the upper right corner of this page. Before you hit Connect, make sure to edit your company profile. Our partners will look into your profile to check any potential opportunities.

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igloocompany, a smart locker company in Singapore, has banked US$12 million in its Series B1 funding round from Purpose Venture Capital and existing investors Kickstart Ventures, Wavemaker Partners, and Insignia Ventures Partners.

The amount brings the startup’s total funding raised to date to US$32 million.

The new infusion will enable igloocompany to advance its footprint in the US and European markets through broad-market adoption and fuel developmental efforts in the enterprise segment.

Anthony Chow, Co-Founder and CEO, said, “When igloocompany first started, we were smart-lock makers. Six years on, we have fully-integrated solutions for enterprises on top of our premium consumer offerings.”

“We are now focused on growing our ecosystem of symbiotic partnerships and meaningful integrations to deliver powerful customer experiences. Our strategy has gained traction, with over 1,000 integrations completed in the past 18 months, and looks set to grow,” he added.

Also Read: igloohome raises US$15M afresh to expand its smart access solutions to real estate

The startup was established in July 2015 by Chow and Kelvin Ho as igloohome, a that made smart locks and lockboxes. Since then, it has grown to include an enterprise-focused vertical, iglooworks, which focuses on large-scale access management.

In October 2020, igloocompany was announced as the holding entity of igloohome and iglooworks.

igloohome creates keyless access solutions for smarter living and smarter cities. Users can remotely grant time-sensitive access to their properties or assets with these smart locks. The device uses unique technology – algoPINTM- that enables their solutions to be highly secure and operate remotely without WiFi connectivity.

iglooworks is an enterprise-focused line offering and a suite of smart access solutions for remote monitoring and management of access for infrastructure providers, facilities managers, and smart city developers.

In July 2021, the firm set up an office in Austin in the US, where it aims to deploy one million devices, garner 400 enterprise partnerships, and achieve 2.5x growth over the past 18 months.

igloohome also announced a partnership with ShowingTime, an integrated showing management provider, and launched iglooconnect to enable users to integrate igloohome locks with third-party service providers. ShowingTime currently serves over 950,000 realtors.

igloocompany has 135 employees with ten regional offices worldwide.

In July 2019, the company announced a US$15 million Series B round, led by Insignia Ventures. A year earlier, it bagged US$4 million led by the same investor.

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Gaming has gone a long way from the arcade to mobile. In video gaming alone, there are an estimated three billion new users expected to join from across the world. The Asia Pacific region is a haven for video gamers, contributing to nearly half this number. The gaming industry’s revenue has not only significantly grown in the past years, and its increasingly mobile nature has also made gaming a social activity, one that links people worldwide.

Crunching the numbers, it appears that gamers spend at least one and a half hours a day using their consoles. This shows that more and more people may spend time on their screens but connect with each other through games. Users are at the heart of gaming, and it’s with this mindset that gaming developers are bound to gear their innovations.

On providing agile solutions to complex problems

In the webinar, “Game on with MongoDB,” MongoDB APAC Senior Solutions Architect, William Tan, and Tech Lead at gaming company Uptivistic, Dam Le, shared their experiences in the constantly evolving gaming landscape. Both speakers presented their takes on the changes in the gaming industry, particularly on the emergence of NFT gaming, the necessary shift of companies’ focus from databases to game development, and the user-centric approach to games.

In his presentation, Tan explained MongoDB’s three main assets for gaming companies, namely, agility, availability, and scalability. Working with MongoDB allows developers to get their products to the market faster and scale quickly. It helps the gamers to play both offline and online giving them a world-class gaming experience. This is especially true for mobile gaming, which often requires good Wi-Fi and a stable network. MongoDB Realm, allows users to store their gaming info in their mobile device so that they can pick up where they left off when they’re back online.

 MongoDB provides the application data platform that game developers are looking for–an intuitive way of writing game code that supports all data formats available. The company’s Atlas Cloud offers sophisticated security and simplified data architecture, perfectly complementing blockchain technology when it comes to powering NFT gaming.

NFT gaming and beyond

Today, NFTs have become so pivotal in the gaming industry, Uptivistic’s Dam Le noted, is part of their innovative offering to users. From the more traditional paywall gatekeeping games from players, NFT gaming now offers a play-to-earn setup that puts users at the forefront of the gaming industry. Le provided a diagram tracing the relationship between core games, “tokenomics,” and NFT assets, basically highlighting the potential of NFT gaming to attract both gamers who are in it for the game, and traders and holders who just plan on investing in their token. 

Despite its growing popularity, both Tan and Le surmised during the webinar’s panel discussion that NFT is not the only hot topic in the gaming industry today. Tan mentioned that more and more gaming elements are cropping up in non-gaming companies for greater interactivity with users and clients, while Le cited the Metaverse as an attractive potential for companies to keep an eye on.

Skipping the innovation tax for tech businesses

However, perhaps more importantly, beyond building databases, MongoDB allows developers and companies to focus on what they do best–building games. Simply put, MongoDB aims to ease the heavy lifting of constantly refining their database from developers and lets them focus on game development.

needless complex data architecture takes a toll on resources that could otherwise have been used productively. That complexity is ultimately a tax on innovation — the Data and Innovation Recurring Tax, or DIRT. or the cost of managing multiple technologies which leads to the cost of retaining, re-training, and persuading developers which also hampers the developers’ experience and impacts the overall productivity. 

But the innovation tax is more than just an unsatisfied workforce. Structurally, it’s also the efficiency of the company’s databases and how these won’t overwhelm developers and engineers. The solution to outdated tech is to replace them with more agile solutions, which is the work that MongoDB does for its clients. In partnership with MongoDB, for example, Le said that Uptivistic saw an exponential growth of concurrent users, from 10,000 to 200,000 through the company’s optimisation of Uptivistic’s database and tech, allowing Uptivistic to focus instead on developing their product and the game.

 The underlying thrust is that gaming companies and developers should focus on investing time in building games, not databases. While databases are a supporting component of any business, start-ups should be careful not to mistake this as their end goal, nor should they be pouring too much time into streamlining these processes when they should be focused on innovating their products.

MongoDB provides an enterprise-class, mission-critical application data platform. A cohesive, integrated suite of offerings capable of managing modern data requirements across even the most sprawling digital estates, and scaling to meet the level of any company’s ambition, without sacrificing speed or security. 

Watch the webinar discussion here.

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Photo by Lucie Liz from Pexels

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

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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The startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia is booming. Some term it the “golden era” for startups here. Notwithstanding the pandemic, startups within the region saw a record number of 393 investments in H1 2021, with a total of US$4.4 billion raised, eclipsing the 327 investments made in the same period last year.

Not only is the region seeing substantial investment in startups, but it is also seeing several of its startups become large fledgling companies. In 2021 alone, the region saw 21 unicorns, bringing its total to 40 unicorns, and counting.

Broadly speaking, Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem has been driven by a top-down approach, with strong government support. In Singapore, the government has taken the lead in fostering entrepreneurship by encouraging entrepreneurship programmes at the university level and supporting the creation of a strong investment ecosystem.

In other words, the government is an active stakeholder in the ecosystem. Accelerator and incubator programmes set up by industry associations and companies have helped develop a community of startup founders, angel investors, venture capital investors and private equity firms. 

Other macro trends have been critical in bringing us where we are. Digital adoption in the region has been phenomenal, especially in terms of mobile-first. The adoption of digital capabilities is exceptional and still growing in countries like Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Developments in markets with robust data collection frameworks and strong privacy laws, such as Singapore and the Philippines, have helped fuel the adoption of digital in Southeast Asia. And while COVID-19 has accelerated digital adoption across the board, it has been a boon for three specific sectors, e-commerce, gaming and fintech, in particular. 

Most importantly, however, in just about a decade, the risk appetite of founders and investors in the region has grown dramatically.

There’s positivity in the startup community, young graduates are eager to set up their own ventures, and we are also seeing ex-employees of large regional unicorns such as Grab starting on their own as we’ve seen in Silicon Valley, or investing in other innovative startups. This has provided a strong boost to the angel investment ecosystem.

Also Read: All in the family: How to build a community that accelerates business.

In short, there’s a buzz around startups and startups investing in Southeast Asia. This is excellent news for investors because we see deepening and broadening investment opportunities. 

The ecosystem isn’t without its challenges, however. One key challenge in Southeast Asia is the insufficiency of talent. Startups often find it challenging to get the right people with specific skill sets to plug holes in their teams.

However, the pandemic has inadvertently helped alleviate some of these challenges, especially as it has normalised remote work. Startups are increasingly acknowledging that hiring people from different time zones is not as much a challenge as it was once made out to be. If anything, it can even allow for more timely service delivery.  

Driving change

I’m often asked about the importance of investing in positive change. I like to respond to that by saying that every startup, company or business exists to provide a solution to a problem or to eliminate specific pain points. By virtue of that itself, every startup is driving positive change in some form or another. 

But additionally, some startups go that one step further to offer solutions that help drive sustainability or provide products and solutions that help poorer or marginalised sections of society. This does not mean these startups want to be commercially unviable. And instead, they want to play a part in driving positive change while remaining profitable. 

In this respect, startups in Singapore have support from the government. Under its recently announced Enterprise Sustainability Programme, the Singapore government has come forward to develop, strengthen and foster sustainability capabilities among businesses in Singapore, especially SMEs.

Further strengthening its commitment towards a greener Singapore, the government has also launched the Enterprise Financing Scheme, Green, promising to risk-share 70 per cent of the capital needed by startups, focused on technologies and solutions that aim to reduce waste resources use or greenhouse gas emissions.

This outlook is also carried over to the upcoming generation of startup founders. It was very encouraging at a recent startup competition to see that almost nine in ten pitches focused on solving severe environmental or economic issues such as food insecurity, climate change, or poverty.

So, I believe what we’re seeing is greater awareness among young entrepreneurs about the scale and the severity of some of the challenges our world faces.

In some ways, these developments result in the lines blurring between what we see as traditional startups on the one hand and social ventures on the other. It’s almost an awakening of sorts that it is possible to have purpose and make profits simultaneously.

Also Read: 6 notable accelerators and incubators in Southeast Asia for startups of all sizes

These developments resonate well with the investor community, which has been making the right noises around ESG investing, with a particular focus on challenges related to the climate and the environment.

Increasingly, many limited partners incorporate stringent ESG criteria in determining what funds to commit capital to. This naturally has a trickle-down impact on venture capital funds to make the “right” kind of investment. 

Owing to these developments, it is a great time to be an investor in the region because the diversity of meaningful investment opportunities has not been seen before.

Accelerator programmes

Good accelerator programmes have also been an effective tool in catalysing the development of a strong startup ecosystem in the region. Large global ones provide essential platforms for startups to network and exchange ideas with peers from around the world.

Startups use these as a vehicle to bring change. Large global accelerators also act as catalysts to drive conversations around stigmatic or less openly discussed topics such as mental health among startup founders and investors.

It is difficult to underscore the importance of accelerators in this global exchange of ideas and criticisms and the osmosis of thoughts and conversations.

I’m fortunate to be associated with early-stage startups that are part of or have emerged from accelerator programmes such as Y-Combinator, Antler, Accelerating Asia, and SuperCharger.

These programmes all serve different requirements of startups and help strengthen the startup ecosystem in several ways, ranging from funding to fresh ideas and everything in between.

Also Read: This is the era of virtual accelerators. Are you ready?

These accelerators and the startups that have come through them provide me with enough confidence as an investor that we’re witnessing something different in Southeast Asia than we have ever before. 

A golden era?

Many have asked me. Is this a golden era for startups in Southeast Asia? Indeed, it is not just for startups but also investors in startups.

This is an ideal time from a founder’s perspective because the appetite for risk among families and society more broadly is much higher today than earlier. And similarly, capital is readily available today. Raising money to the tune of SG$250,000 to SG$500,000 in Singapore has never been easier.

As investors, the range of investable opportunities is greater than ever before. And that’s a good thing. 

But I believe we still need a bit of a mindset change in some respects. Given the seeming ease with which founders are raising capital, I believe many are setting up ventures solely with the view to making a quick return and exiting the market in a few years.

I believe this: founders must be passionate about the problems they are trying to solve, whether for purpose or profitability, or both.

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