Singapore-based Fundnel Group, an online marketplace for alternative assets in Southeast Asia, has partnered with BRI Ventures to launch the BVI-Fundnel Secondaries Fund targeting growth-stage startups in Indonesia.

The new aims to build a portfolio of high-growth companies through a non-traditional route of investment which will directly support founders, employees and early backers.

Under this collaboration, global investors will be able to invest in Indonesia’s growth-stage startups.

Fundnel and BVI will also work with startups to find structured and standardised processes for employees to find secondary liquidity for their stock options.

Also Read: Tokocrypto, BRI Ventures launch blockchain accelerator programme

The BVI-Fundnel Secondaries Fund expects to attract investments of at least US$50 million.

Indonesia’s digital economy is expected to grow 18.9 per cent from US$44 billion in 2020 to US$124 billion in 2025, bolstered by increasing smartphone adoption, mobile-first development and expansion of technology, media and telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas.

Over the past three years, Fundnel has received a total of US$22 billion in secondary (bid-ask) transactions across more than 1,000 orders. In line with creating access and liquidity in the market, Fundnel is looking to explore tokenisation of the Fund on Hg Exchange to provide further liquidity for investors.

With tokenisation, a valuable channel may be opened for investors to tap on liquidity on the HGX, and it is intended to allow new investors to access high growth companies in the region with a minimum ticket size of US$10,000, a small fraction of the customary US$200,000 ticket.

Nicko Widjaja, CEO of BRI Ventures, said, “Exit environment has been more challenging due to various unfavourable macro conditions that lead to a supply crunch. Through this exclusive partnership with Fundnel Group, BRI Ventures is thrilled to make growth capital investments in private late-stage Indonesian companies to help provide liquidity in the market. With BRI Ventures’ strong track record of investments and huge ecosystem and Fundnel’s extensive pipeline of secondary opportunities, this partnership will also serve as an attractive entry point for larger foreign funds to enter Indonesian growing tech startups.”

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Brainsparks has partnered with e27 to connect the startups in its incubation program with investors in the region and foster possible collaborations. The partnership now brings a tremendous opportunity for the startups of Brainsparks 20 to expand their network and gain valuable connections with startups and investors that are part of the e27 ecosystem. 

Members of the Brainsparks 20 are some of the top startup companies in the Philippines. These startups come from different fields and niches which include Software As A Service, Finance, Education, Energy, and more.

Each of the Brainsparks 20 is accomplished in a variety of ways such as receiving multiple awards, securing high-profile partnerships, and gaining momentum and traction in their respective fields. Aside from that, the group has managed to garner more than US$10 Million worth of funding both from local and foreign investors.

Enabling partners to help startups build networks

Recently, TA, a startup ecosystem connector based in Taiwan has partnered with e27 to tap into e27’s network for their X-Pitch Investor Matching Program. The partnership provided the TOP150 startups with e27 Pro membership allowing them to connect with 400+ active and verified investors in the region.

As we continue to build partnerships in the region, we are excited to provide the same opportunity to startups in the Philippines through Brainsparks 20. This partnership with Brainsparks aims to help the 20 Filipino startups build networks in Southeast Asia’s startup community.

Meet the Brainsparks 20 startups from the Philippines

1. 1Export – 1Export is a tech-enabled exporting company that provides a one-stop end-to-end exporting platform that provides services to any and all trading businesses around the world.
2. BizKit Technologies Inc. – BizKit Technologies Inc. is an IT services and solutions company, specializing in ERP, RPA, web applications and consulting. We enable our clients to navigate through their digital transformation and transform their businesses for tomorrow.
3. Burket – Burket empowers local companies by providing accessible, affordable, and scalable digital solutions for business-to-business (B2B) sales and procurement transactions.
4. Cropital – Cropital is a crowdfunding platform that connects anyone to help finance our farmers.
5. Digiteer – Digiteer is a proven and trusted technology solutions provider that specializes in Custom Software Development focusing on commerce, automation, transparency, and blockchain technology.
6. Dorxata – Dorxata is a digital transformation agency that aims to help companies transition away from traditional processes by digitizing and optimizing every aspect of the business.
7. Edukasyon.PH – Edukasyon.PH is the leading education technology platform in the Philippines. We aim to empower more than 20 million Filipino Gen Z youth to make self-aware education decisions that lead to a fulfilling careers and life.
8. Exora – Exora is an end-to-end energy solutions platform that aims to lower energy costs through the use of technology and digitalization.
9. Lyon Software Technologies – We turn creators into businesses and businesses into creators. Lyon is an all-in-one community platform where people can monetize their audiences and create loyal customers.
10. MedHyve – MedHyve is a digital platform for any healthcare institution to find the right companies for their medical product needs, leveraging on synergies within the network of merchant and medical institutions to introduce innovative healthcare products to developing countries in the region at the right price.
11. Nextpay – A better alternative to bank accounts for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Philippines. Collect customer payments, manage company finances, and pay for their expenses to any bank or E-Wallet, all on one digital platform.
12. Nexplay – Blockchain-powered online arcade that bridges the next billion gamers and big brands into the metaverse through hyper-casual games and dynamic rewards.
13. Onewatt – OneWatt literally listens to your machine’s problems. Using AI and Machine Audition, it can non-invasively understand your machinery performance and detects faults in industrial plants to prevent unplanned downtime, revenue losses, and unproductive maintenance.
14. Proper Digital Agency – We’re made of people who strategize and create – focusing on producing insightful work and performing to deliver notable results. Proper maximizes the rise and ripple of the digital landscape and integrates it into our practices.
15. Wiremo – Wiremo is a cross-border payments platform for businesses in the Philippines. We empower Filipino companies to transact with the world.

Connect with Brainsparks

Brainsparks is the first and only founder-focused startup incubator in the Philippines founded in 2014. The organisation’s flagship programs include: the Brainsparks 20 Incubation Program, IGNITE Innovation Conference, and Shell LiveWIRE Accelerator Program for Startups and Community Enterprises. 

e27 members can directly connect with Brainsparks or their investment arm First Asia Venture Capital. e27 Pro membership is required when connecting with their investment arm. You may try e27 Pro for free here.

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It has been just over a year since the iconic sale of Beeple’s NFT piece, Everydays: the First 5000 Days, was bought for US$69.3 million by Singapore-based entrepreneur, MetaKovan on 11 March 2021. That momentous sale became the catalyst for the NFT space and has paved the way for NFT trading to enjoy a 21,000 per cent jump from US$82 million in 2020 to US$17.6 billion in 2021. 

The staggering transaction amounts have been a key driving factor that has made NFTs a regular part of news cycles for the last few months. But with so many developments happening in a short time, will NFTs be a cornerstone for Web3, or a trend that is waiting to pull the rug on everyone involved?

Let us take a closer look at the condensed timeline, and check out the good, the bad, and the possible future of NFTs.

The good: Honeymoon period and earlier days

Riding the wave of the Beeple sale, we had savvy local artists who saw the potential for the NFT space to garner a wider audience for their style, and a space to push their artistic expressions beyond image-based NFTs. This push led me to be part of Singapore’s first-ever cross-border NFT arts exhibition “Broken Capitalism”, along with Bulgarian artist, Mihov.

NFTs were also a means to bolster the income of artists during the pandemic. A CNA report shared how local artist Hafiiz Karim, known as The Next Most Famous Artist went from averaging SG$1,000 a month from physical prints of his digital work to selling 100 NFTs in a day for US$100,000.

MetaKovan pressed his momentum to launch his B2.0 flagship project. The project involves 20 of Beeple’s single-edition pieces designed and turned into displays in a virtual museum accompanied by an original soundscape. The digital assets were fractionalised and sold as B.20 tokens, giving greater accessibility for individuals to have a stake in the project. 

NFTs had sparked collaborations beyond artists and their audiences, towards associations and the government. The Blockchain Association Singapore (BAS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NTUC-U Care Fund to use blockchain technology for fundraising purposes and jointly held the Blockchain for Good Event Night 2021, Singapore’s first NFT Charity Auction that raised SG$401,211. The result exceeded the original target of SG$250,000 and featured photos contributed by Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, Minister Tan Chuan-Jin.

Also Read: The power of paid communities and NFTs

The honeymoon period saw many highs for NFTs, and it was a period of profit and experimentation.

The bad: Red flags and present day

Putting together the infancy of the NFT space and the large amounts of money transacted in such a short span of time have made it a prime target for scams and malicious attacks.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), known as one of the most prominent NFT collections fell victim to an Instagram phishing attack that happened on the one-year anniversary of BAYC’s launch on 25 April. Singaporean rapper, Yung Raja lost close to SG$100k worth of NFTs through a fraudulent Twitter link.

Axie Infinity, one of the top NFT games, suffered a hack that resulted in the loss of over US$600 million. The attack was revealed by Axie/Ronin, the company behind the network on 29 March, which happened to be a banner day for the company, and a full six days after the hacker ran away with the money.

The value of NFTs has been put to question with Jack Dorsey’s first Tweet as an NFT that transacted for US$2.9 million in 2021 being offered under US$30k as of date. Crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi who owns the NFT mentioned that he may never sell following the low bids.

Presently, we see security issues, and the inherent values of NFTs forming the main challenges of the NFT space.

The future: Confidence, utility, connection

Security concerns have to be addressed above all else. In the case of the Axie Infinity, the team developed the Ronin sidechain and introduced their own digital token to avoid high transaction fees on Ethereum, the most popular blockchain used by play-to-earn games.

Experts have commented that the risk of a hack “grows exponentially” with such a move. Criticisms have been levelled at the company for prioritizing speed and usability over security and announcing the hack six days after it occurred.

The lapses in security, volatility of the NFT and cryptocurrency space, and the gaps in knowledge have made the Singapore government take active steps to regulate the space. 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a statement discouraging cryptocurrency trading for the general public and implemented an NFT tax. Additional measures to the Travel Rule were implemented for cryptocurrency transactions for greater transparency.

Moving forward, there needs to be a balance where institutions have to keep their security measures up to speed, and users have to take responsibility on their end as well. The level of education of the space has to be picked up for everyone; for the individuals in the space to navigate safely with confidence, and for the public to have a base understanding to not be left completely in the dark.

Closing the knowledge gap will enable the NFT space to grow healthier, and for any future regulations to be well thought out, nuanced, and less reactive.

Despite the current setbacks, I feel they were necessary to bring the conversation about NFTs away from hypes and price bubbles. For NFTs to stay relevant creators have to provide utility and tie-ins for their projects.

Roadmaps with clear, achievable goals are starting to become a standard for reputable NFT projects. Knowing what the community wants for the project, offering something unique, and future developments for holders are parts of a good roadmap.

Also Read: Second generation NFT mints: It’s not all about the money

Singaporean NFT collection TTTreasures shared a roadmap with in-person events, and educational resources made available to holders. The roadmap reveals a strong emphasis on voting rights for holders to have a say regarding the partnerships with other businesses, and collaborations with other projects to steer the direction of their community.

In the context of a business and industry, the CryptoBaristas’ project elevates the coffee experience for NFT holders at their cafe, while giving avenues for sustainable production, and empowering those involved in the process. 

For charities, the success of the Blockchain for Good event in 2021 has opened the doors to a second NFT charity event in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Just as MetaKovan’s purchase of Beeple’s NFT for US$69.3 million was the initial catalyst for the space, each roadblock encountered has served as a catalyst that scrutinizes and matures the space, bringing a little more to the table each time. 

I believe that as NFT projects strive to offer more, we will see stronger communities with a drive towards utility and unique functions. NFTs can potentially become the hub that bridges Web3, Web2, and the real world.

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On April 29, Malaysia’s central bank, the BNM, unveiled the consortiums that were awarded digital banking licences in the country. The KAF Investment Bank-led consortium, where local remittance company MoneyMatch is a member, was one of the awardees. This consortium secured the licence under the Islamic Financial Services Act (IFSA) 2013.

According to MoneyMatch Co-Founder Naysan Munusamy, digital banks will usher in a new era in the banking sector in the country.

In this interview, Munusamy shares insights into how digital banks will transform the banking industry in Malaysia, what the licence means for MoneyMatch, its customers, and the market, and how the emergence of new-age technologies such as DeFi impact digital banking.

Below are the edited excerpts from the interview:

Malaysia introduced digital-only banking before the emergence of COVID-19 but the banking industry and user behaviour have transformed since then. What does this change mean for the digital-only banking space in the country?

Over the past two years, the pandemic has undoubtedly changed the user behaviours towards banking and financial services in general in terms of the user’s acceptance and comfort with using fully online channels, even for large and vital financial transactions.

These changes bode well and are positive for digital banking players because some traditional barriers, such as a lack of trust to conduct financial transactions online, have now eroded further. The country has emerged more digitally savvy than before the pandemic.

It was Singapore that introduced the digital-only bank first in the region. How are Malaysia’s digital-only banks different from that of Singapore? Are there any fundamental differences?

Yes, there are a few major fundamental differences. One, while there may be four digital bank licences awarded in Singapore, only two are allowed to serve the retail and corporate customers as full digital banks. The other two are wholesale banks and are only allowed to serve corporates. Therefore, for the ordinary Singaporeans on the street, they would soon have two more additional choices for banking.

In Malaysia, all five digital banking licensees are allowed to serve retail and corporate customers. Two of them are focused on Islamic products but all market segments. Therefore, the Malaysian customer will now have five new banking choices once launched.

Also Read: MoneyMatch to expand to S’pore with US$4.4M Series A, confirms bid for digital bank licence in MY

What does a digital banking license mean for MoneyMatch and its existing customers? How is this going to change the way people do banking?

It’s a great evolution for MoneyMatch as we keep scaling new heights. As a consortium partner, our customers will now have access to the digital bank’s larger suite of products, such as deposits, lending, and investments, besides the cross-border payments service.

The digital bank allows us to be our customers’ primary banker rather than an alternative financial service provider. It essentially sets off a paradigm shift in the way people do banking as they no longer have to visit any physical branches from the beginning to the end. Thus, it opens up the competition, eventually benefiting the consumer.

How many companies are there in your consortium? What exactly are the roles of MoneyMatch and other parties? How does this partnership work?

KAF Investment Bank is the primary lead in the consortium. The equity members of the consortium include MoneyMatch, Jirnrexu and Carsome.

All the partners have significant roles to play, from building up specific segments of the digital bank to ramping up business development through our partnerships.

You obtained a licence under IFS Act 2013. What exactly does this licence mean? What all products can you sell under this act? How is this different from existing Islamic bank products?

I’m afraid I can’t go into details of our planned Islamic products yet. Nevertheless, it’s a combination of digitising existing Islamic products with better margins for the consumer and innovating new Islamic financial products to be launched in the market subject to regulatory approvals.

How is digital banking poised to change the banking industry in Malaysia? How will the emergence of DeFi and blockchain impact the sector? Will they make traditional banks irrelevant?

There won’t be an overnight impact. According to Malaysia’s digital banking framework, there’s a certain step-up period with an asset threshold of up to MYR 3 billion (US$685 million) by the fifth year.

Therefore the combined impact of all five at MYR 15 billion (US$3.4 billion) is still considered minor and not too significant as all the major banks in Malaysia have assets in the hundreds of billions each.

Also Read: 25 notable startups in Malaysia that have taken off in 2021

However, the paradigm shift in how a general consumer approaches banking and financial services will ultimately change the industry fundamentally over the coming decades.

DeFi and blockchain are more of a booster towards digitising the sector rather than having any fundamental impact in the short term.

Digital banking and DeFi will certainly not make traditional banking irrelevant in the short term. We could potentially say that digital banking and DeFi could make traditional banks much less relevant over the coming few decades. But even then, there will still be a strong need for wholesale banking, and we will see traditional banking morph more and more into wholesale banking.

Digital banks are intended to achieve financial inclusion. Do you have a roadmap at MoneyMatch to achieve this goal?

Yes, we certainly do, together with our digital banking consortium partners. However, I’m afraid we can’t reveal the details of the roadmap.

What we can reveal, though, is that the three startup partners (Carsome, Jirnrexu, and MoneyMatch) have already been actively working towards serving more and more of the underserved communities here in Malaysia. Therefore, this is essentially a boost to our work in the underserved sector.

As per a press release, MoneyMatch is in talks for a Series B round. Can you share the names of the potential investors? Are your existing investors participating? What are your plans with the capital being raised?

Yes, we are raising our Series B right now, and we do have a potential lead. However, we are keeping it confidential for the time being as the deal is still being executed. We’ll, however, reveal and announce it soon.

The digital banking licence win unlocks a vast range of new opportunities for us. We will build new product suites and segments of the digital bank’s core technologies in a digital banking service model. This is above our core business (the cross-border payments), which has grown rapidly throughout the pandemic and serves as a base for our regional expansion.

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Southeast Asia’s population is ageing rapidly. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), the proportion of people aged 60 or above is expected to increase from 9.8 per cent in 2017 to 13.7 per cent and 20.3 per cent by 2030 and 2050, respectively.

As the number of elderly increases, demand for health services will increase. Though the COVID-19 pandemic was a major accelerant for technology adoption across acute care environments, more needs to be done across all healthcare services and departments.

In Zebra Technologies’ latest Global Healthcare Vision Study, 85 per cent of decision-makers surveyed reported that their hospital accelerated the use of technology due to the pandemic and is increasing investments in mobility, location, and automation solutions.

This underscores the need for the healthcare sector to accelerate digital transformation efforts to maintain quality of care and alleviate the burden on the healthcare system.

As pointed out by my colleague, Rikki Jennings, Chief Nursing Informatics Officer, Zebra Technologies, the goal is to develop smarter, more connected hospitals to encourage enhanced communication, agility, transparency, and resiliency to succeed even in times of uncertainty.

Hospitals in the region can look at effectively harnessing technologies to increase operational visibility, real-time intelligence, expanded clinical mobility, and virtual collaboration in a modern healthcare delivery system.

Equipping clinicians with real-time intelligence

In a fast-paced hospital environment, every minute counts.

For clinicians to keep up with increased demand without compromising the quality of patient care, clinicians must have the ability to access healthcare assets and patient data anytime, anywhere.

Also Read: How these five startups are changing the game in health and well-being

As the Internet of Things (IoT) continues to develop, technologies that were once considered too complicated, like radio frequency identification (RFID) and real-time location systems (RTLS), are becoming more accessible.

75 per cent of decision-makers surveyed plan to implement location technologies to track the movement of staff, patients, and equipment, along with the availability of rooms and supplies, to achieve an optimised information ecosystem in the hospital.

This will improve operating room and emergency room orchestration, automate patient flow according to needs, and free up staff to provide quality and optimised care for each patient.

Enhanced mobility for better support

Clinicians need powerful devices in hand to share patient data and to connect with care team members within and outside of the hospital. 55 per cent of clinicians surveyed in Zebra’s study say connecting hospital systems for better communication between workers is a top challenge.

Enhanced mobility could be the solution to facilitating smoother and more efficient communication, with 87 per cent of clinicians and executives surveyed agreeing that the quality of patient care will improve with access to collaboration tools and healthcare applications.

This allows all clinical staff to be almost equally equipped to support patients across all hospital operations and healthcare delivery levels.

Hospital leaders understand that every staff member must be reachable, responsive, and able to report the status of their tasks if hospitals want to manage the supply chain better, orchestrate room turnover logistics, ensure accurate billing, and more.

At least seven in 10 executives say they plan to extend mobile device implementations to nearly every department in the next year, including IT, housekeeping, patient transport, supply chain/inventory management and food services. Employees will be provided with hospital-owned devices specifically for clinical environments with healthcare applications.

This will be welcomed news for employees, as mobile devices purpose-built for healthcare give clinical and non-clinical staff the necessary functionality to tackle the task without compromising cybersecurity or patient privacy.

These devices can also withstand the constant cleaning and disinfecting required to help reduce the risk of diseases, which is a concern among clinicians and hospital executives.

The age of virtual collaboration and communication

The disruptive nature of the pandemic made it clear that everyone in the global healthcare community needs a way to communicate with those inside and outside the four walls effectively. They must also be able to coordinate actions across disparate care teams.

For example, physicians and nurses must be able to consult with other clinicians who are physically distanced, update more electronic health charts, issue more prescriptions and process more lab tests while providing quality care to each patient.

Also Read: The emergence of telehealth in post-COVID-19 Southeast Asia

Team communication plays a key role in inpatient care. Equipping each front-line staff member with a clinical mobile device is the first step in pursuing a new level of efficient inpatient care.

Forward-thinking hospital decision-makers are also exploring ways to make operations more predictive rather than reactive by turning to innovative technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) and prescriptive analytics.

For example, AI-powered health devices can help staff remotely monitor and react to patients by checking and reporting vitals regularly and sending alerts to clinicians’ mobile devices immediately when something is wrong.

Singapore is one of the countries in Southeast Asia actively exploring AI in the healthcare sector under the National Artificial Intelligence Strategy, with a vision to apply AI to disease predictions and care plans by 2030.

As reported in Zebra’s study, improving patient communication also remains a top goal of many hospitals, focusing on the growth of telehealth and remote patient tracking systems.

Particularly in Southeast Asia, telehealth demand has surged during the pandemic and is expected to rise further as consumers and providers seek ways to safely access and deliver healthcare. The online health sector in the region is expected to grow 10 times by 2025, with Indonesia and Singapore as the main markets, accounting for 50 per cent to 60 per cent of the growth.

Smarter, more connected hospitals are the future of healthcare. Unexpected global developments such as the pandemic have only accelerated the evolution of healthcare ecosystems.

As hospitals embrace technological innovations, they must ensure they are plugged into the right information systems, connected, and working together as a cohesive ecosystem to better manage their resources, especially given the demand to automate the orchestration of high traffic areas in hospitals.

More data-led intelligence and streamlined workflows will enable nurses, doctors, and non-clinical staff on the front lines to deliver quality patient care while allowing hospital operations to be more straightforward and intuitive.

Check out this space to learn more about the technology strategies and solutions that can help hospitals become more intelligent, automated, agile, and resilient.

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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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

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