Novelship, a Singapore-based online marketplace for limited-edition sneakers, streetwear, and collectibles, today announced that it has raised close to US$10 million in Series A funding round co-led by GSR Ventures and East Ventures, with the participation of K3 Ventures and iGlobe Partners.

In a press statement, the company said that it plans to use the funding to support its further expansion in the Asia Pacific (APAC) market, particularly in countries where they already have a presence. It claimed to already have a “stronghold” in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand and Taiwan.

Novelship also aims to continue to explore metaverse integration and brand partnership in the retail space.

Its entry into the Web3 space began when the company introduced the use of cryptocurrencies as an alternate payment option on its marketplace.

“Since the start of this pilot, Novelship were able to serve more high-value customers thus increasing the average order value per customer. Over US$200,000 worth of sneakers has been bought in digital tokens in this period,” the company said.

Also Read: Kra-Verse Food Hall where cloud kitchen meets metaverse

Founded in 2018, Novelship puts Generation Z as its core target audience as a marketplace. The company said that since its inception, it has been able to serve customers across APAC with the sales volume growing at a staggering rate of 5.3X in 2021.

Its marketplace sells products from leading fashion brands such as Nike, Air Jordan, Yeezy, and Supreme.

“The sneaker and streetwear market has a huge potential globally and Novelship is uniquely positioned to win not just in the region but across the globe: we have cracked the code in Asia and are building on this success to reach a global footprint. Street culture is one of the rare opportunities in retail that has a global community of loyalists and we intend to capitalise on this to fast-track expansion,” explained Novelship CEO Richard Xia.

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Image Credit: Novelship

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Startups in Southeast Asia raised a record $25.7 billion in funding in 2021 alone; this was more than double the previous year. While this means that investors see great potential in businesses in the region, this also means that the competition here is fierce and it is not easy to stand out amidst the competitive landscape. 

As such, in a bustling, highly competitive startup ecosystem like Southeast Asia’s, there is one golden question that haunts all founders and entrepreneurs. What do VCs want? 

To help answer this question, we spoke with Eko Kurniadi, Investment Partner at Alpha JWC — one of the leading VCs in the region. With offices in Indonesia and Singapore, Alpha JWC has a team that brings together some of the region’s pioneer tech investors and experienced serial entrepreneurs.

With companies like Indonesian F&B unicorn Kopi Kenangan, Singapore’s largest AI-driven used car marketplace Carro, and fintech unicorn Ajaib in their portfolio, Alpha JWC is constantly on the lookout for companies and entrepreneurs that have the potential to rise and make a legacy impact.

What do VCs in Southeast Asia want?

First things first, before delving deep into Alpha JWC’s unique expectations and experiences, we first try to understand what VCs and investors look for in companies in Southeast Asia.

Eko shares that VCs, especially international investors, generally have a prerequisite for various forms of validation and proof points before they make the final decision to invest in a company.

Commonly, they look for the following:

• Hockey stick growth patterns (hockey stick refers to sudden and extremely rapid growth after a long period of linear growth. The term is often used to describe what happens when a startup business finds its market niche and market conditions are positive). This means startups are experiencing a positive but unprecedented market reception spurred by unique trends that are favourable to the kind of products or services being offered by those companies.
• Market leadership, which can be evidenced through a solid historical track record in comparison to other similar players in the space, and with a significant preference from users and customers who choose and stick with the product/service.
• The presence of reputable investors in the cap table (A cap table, or capitalisation table, is a chart typically used by startups to show ownership stakes in the business). Through this, investors will be able to pinpoint which startups are entrusted by other legitimate and reputable investors who are likely to share their values.

Eko explains that these are important checkboxes. However the above might not be apparent in the early days, especially in the early-stage rounds. That is where the next segment comes into play too in identifying early-stage startups to invest in.

Fundraising 101: Alpha JWC’s guide

Elaborating on what factors are crucial for Alpha JWC when selecting founders or businesses to invest in, Eko shared that the three most important factors that they consider when looking to invest are founders, market and product, and the “X-factor”.

He explains that the founder should have a vision and should be able to execute plans to achieve that goal while having the acumen to build the right team. “It is important for the founder to have clarity on what they want to build in the long term and have the fortitude to see it to fruition,” Alpha JWC prefers founders who are capable of executing their plans, and demonstrate great leadership qualities — reflected in their ability to build and hire world-class teams, and are inspiring and uplifting.

Also read: Get to know the startups in the 2022 APT 5G Challenge

Market & product is another important element, Eko explained.  The company should be targeting a sizable market, addressing the right pain points with the right product-market fit. Here, an important factor worth considering is looking at proven business models in a more mature market. Startups can always learn from the more mature and advanced markets like China or India, to try and understand what works and what doesn’t, while being cognizant of some differences in macroeconomic situation and customer dynamics.

And, last but definitely not least, the “X factor” is what matters a lot to Alpha JWC — it makes visionaries stand out. The “X factor” can be a significant advantage the team has, and this is not limited to things like a strategic backer — this ranges from the founder’s unique expertise to the team’s industry experience and from solid historical traction to various monetisation channels and proprietary networks to an innovative business approach. The X factor is what ultimately sets them apart.

Common missteps by founders: How not to turn off VCs

Indeed, “what do VCs want” is an important question to ponder on, but another question worth contemplating is “what don’t VCs want”. What are some common missteps that founders make at the time of pitching to VCs?

Eko shared that one of the most common challenges is actually a very fundamental one: not being able to articulate the big problem they want to solve, their clear solution, and how it is unique or different from other players in the field, as well as the vision or end-goal of the company.

In fact, according to a CB Insights report, the number one reason why startups fail was “no market need.” Hence, having clarity on what problem you want to solve should be key to startups seeking funds.

One great example of founders displaying clarity of thought and succeeding is Ajaib: an Indonesian fintech startup that allows its users to buy and sell stocks, ETFs, and mutual funds. The founders of this online brokerage startup were very focused on serving the underbanked and millennials in the country. And, with a clear objective at the core of the company, the founders were able to deliver a trading platform that is incredibly easy to use and onboard for retail investors. They continued to optimise and reiterate their product offerings for the increased benefit of users. As a result, today, they are one of the leading fintechs in the country and among the fastest to reach unicorn status in less than three years.

Also read: Sentient.io: Empowering businesses in the region by making AI adoption easy and affordable

Another misstep as shared by Eko is the gap between the founders’ expected valuation and the justified fundamentals of the company at that juncture. For example, many founders don’t understand that good early traction might not necessarily warrant a significantly high valuation. “Getting the highest possible valuation should not be the goal for early-stage founders. The priority should be finding the right partner who can help you achieve unicorn or even decacorn status,” says Eko.

Finally, lack of alignment and non-targeted discussions with too many investors is another major misstep. “Founders need to know the investor’s landscape, appetite, and value-adds that are relevant to their business. Talking to too many people will only create a distraction and potentially unnecessary noise in the market, Eko explained.

The ultimate rundown of tips for pitching and fundraising in Southeast Asia

Eko suggests that as long as startup founders focus on planning their cash flow and runway, layout key milestones, and hit each of those to show their execution capabilities, they will have a higher chance of securing funding.

He shared that founders should ask for a reasonable investment amount that can be justified. There is enough evidence to back this — one case in point is the infamous Quibi failure.

And, finally, it is crucial to LISTEN to investors’ feedback and criticisms, address those accordingly and come out stronger in the next meetings with them and/or other investors. This is simply because an investor brings in more strategic thinking where founders might sometimes be bogged down with everyday operations. An investor’s unique perspective with a more commercial inclination and the added advantage of experience from his many other investments is always something that founders can leverage for better decision-making.

Also read: PikoHANA: Helping Singapore startups scale through fractional finance

For acing the pitching game, Eko recommends that founders should kick off with a concise explanation of their mission and solution. “These need to be delivered with clarity and conviction,” he shared. Founders should have a powerful elevator pitch that will make an impression on a busy audience that hears numerous pitches on a daily basis. “To aid in their storytelling, founders should prepare materials to visualise key industry statistics, commercials, and future use of proceeds”, he added.

In a nutshell, fundraising and pitching don’t necessarily have to be painful and tedious. With the right approach and clear goals in mind, startup founders can thrive in a bustling ecosystem like Southeast Asia and eventually grow beyond international boundaries. 

To learn more about fundraising and pitching in Southeast Asia, watch out for the next ‘Alpha JWC Startup Series article.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Alpha JWC

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 past four years have been stellar for consumer growth in India, but the next five to 10 years will be even more interesting. This phase will see a slew of insurgents (now being called “challenger brands”) forcing larger incumbents to adapt.

The rise and growth

The rise in the consumer growth story will be supported by millions of first-time rural consumers and guided by the fourth industrial revolution. With increased data penetration, a rise in the per capita e-commerce spending, millennials’ willingness to consume more and the rise of inclusive insurgent brands, the consumer landscape in India will evolve.

A decade ago, insurgent brands were not part of your weekly or monthly shopping list. But, today, these same brands have been able to disrupt industries traditionally dominated by their larger counterparts.

They have done this by capturing a disproportionately high share of growth, delivering value by redefining the costing benchmarks for their category and, in some cases, disrupting the profit pool.

Incumbent (a term derived from politics) brands are established players in their category. They include both large multinationals and Indian corporations that have dominated the domestic consumer landscape for the past 30 years or more (e.g., Dabur, ITC, HUL, P&G, Coca Cola, Pepsi, etc.).

The aggressive pace of growth among the insurgent brands makes us think that these are no less than Davids to the incumbent Goliaths. Furthermore, it is the strategy of nichefication (identifying unserved gaps) of categories and delighting customers that aid these insurgents.

The Indian insurgent brands have two things in common. One, not only are they embedded with millennial culture in their DNA but are also driven by their consumption needs. They understand the needs, wants and problems of India’s rising middle class.

Also Read: How to set up your business processes for scaling your growth

Two, they can inspire consumer advocacy by delivering a competitive consumer proposition using eye-catching consumer-centric marketing campaigns that enhance the recall value of their brands. Their goal is to nudge the consumers to refer to their brand while addressing a product category.

The growth of insurgent brands has been possible due to a host of factors:

• The reliance on contract manufacturing and effective deployment of digital technology for micro-targeting consumers.
• The increased accessibility of venture capital.

These factors have contributed to reducing the barriers to entry and providing young brands with opportunities.

The further rise of insurgents will rest on five key growth drivers:

• India’s rising young middle class gives these brands a large consumer base keen to experiment and explore.
• The growth of the digital natives with increased data consumption and the e-commerce revolution allows brands to expand without relying on large, expensive above-the-line marketing campaigns.
• The behavioural impact of living a life using a smartphone.
• The third digital revolution will primarily be focused on rural India.
• The evolution of consumer attitudes as purchasing power parity and aspirations meet an equilibrium.

Redefining the way Indians consume

Though the rise of insurgent brands will redefine the way Indians consume, they might also be a catalyst for tackling India’s unemployment puzzle. Insurgent brands, with venture funding, tend to attract an experienced talent pool to tackle the incumbents.

Insurgent brands are also paving the way for growth by creating blue-collar jobs and setting the foundation for the development of the gig economy as Indian brands redefine the way they do business and achieve scale.

Also Read: How can design-thinking promote consumer trust in the digital world

Sales, warehouse operations, packaging, customer relationship management and support functions will employ a large section of the labour force that did not have access to these jobs in the past.

This being said, the incumbent brands are here to stay and will create value for their shareholders. But they need to understand and accept changes in the consumer. Being open to digital media, getting focused on e-commerce, stepping away from traditional marketing and achieving localised taste is critical.

Additionally, as insurgent brands emerge and engage consumers over the incumbent ones, the latter could employ mergers and acquisitions (M & M&A) activities to get a stronghold in a segment in which an insurgent might have secured a niche.

The synergy between incumbents and insurgents could be huge as leveraging a larger player’s distribution and marketing know-how could serve the insurgent very well.

However, the key question remains: Will David be able to give Goliath a tough fight in the coming decade? And will the incumbent brands be able to adapt to consumer tastes to retain the market share that the insurgent brands had disrupted?

Coca-Cola’s entry into jal jeera, Danone’s third India stint with the investment in Epigamia and the relaunch of HUL’s ayurvedic brand, Ayush, to counter Patanjali’s growth, along with its acquisition of the Indulekha hair care brand, show us how insurgents and incumbents are innovatively working towards increasing their market share.

The next few years will be a most exciting time in the consumer goods space in India. Entrepreneurs, investors, consumers, insurgents and incumbents will need to adapt and evolve quickly to capture the huge opportunity in rural and urban India.

This article first appeared in Hindustan Times.

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Indonesia-based digital investment app Bibit today announced that it has raised “more than” US$80 million in a funding round led by GIC, with the participation of Prosus Ventures and other existing investors.

This funding round followed a US$65 million funding round that the company announced in May 2021.

In a press statement, Bibit said that it will use the funding to support the launch of new products and services, develop its tech, acquire top talent from the
Indonesian market, and strengthen its financial education programmes –created to foster greater financial literacy in the country.

As one of the earlier robo-advisory investment apps in Indonesia, Bibit said that it has enabled millions of investors in 500 cities across the archipelago to build
investment portfolios based on their risk profiles and investment goals in a safe, simple and seamless way.

Also Read: Indonesian stock trading platform Stockbit to acquire local brokerage firm

The platform specifically targets mostly millennials and first-time investors.

Prior to launching Bibit in 2019, the company has been known for launching Stockbit, a platform for investors to share stock-investing ideas, news, and
information in real-time.

While the Bibit app focuses more on mutual funds and state securities, the Stockbit app focuses more on stocks.

The company has achieved several milestones in the past year, including the launch of Stockbit Sekuritas, an e-IPO feature that allows users to participate in a 100 per cent online IPO process. It has also launched Stockbit Academy which provides stock market education from experienced financial mentors for free and is appointed by the Ministry of Finance Republic of Indonesia as a Distribution Partner to sell the Government Securities (SBN) in early 2022.

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Image Credit: Bibit

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Have you recently visited a local automobile workshop to service your car?

Chances are that you may have recently discovered that your friendly local technician now proposes to repair a faulty component, instead of just replacing it with a brand-new OEM part.

Fixing as the only option

In the past decade before the emergence of China as the world’s factory, fixing was the only option available for budget-conscious consumers. Fixing itself is a time-consuming process that requires specific skill sets not available to the less-experienced labour.

These specialists in repair work tend to take the form of senior technicians who have dedicated their whole life to particular machinery and have well adapted to its demanding and uncompromising nature.

The years spent tinkering and troubleshooting with the same type of machinery are just part of the pure devotion given towards a fix. In short, it takes a whole lot of patience to achieve such mastery.

Besides that, machinery used in the past was most likely imported from the UK or US and was long-lasting, durable and obviously more reliable. One could imagine the cost of importing a new part from the UK or US back then, along with the host of communication challenges and extensive non-digital paperwork needed to clear the customs.

Hence, the pricing was kept high as the quality of parts was of a higher grade. Just imagine if a product part manufacturer based in the UK had to factor in returns for faulty goods back in the 80s to Singapore? It surely would take a long time and a whole lot of money just to get these parts replaced under warranty.

Many senior citizens in the present age may well understand the cost implications in the past and perhaps this is why they may tend to always consider repairing something when it breaks down rather than replacing it.

However, the younger generation may assume that such emotions are all pure sentimental or to a certain extent suggest that they are having a borderline hoarder mentality especially when the older generation clings on to broken down machines despite having a new replacement unit at home.

The assumptions based on my research point to their past experiences in purchasing behaviour and after-sales challenges which tend to give them this different approach towards fixes if compared to the current generation.

Also Read: Asia-led global supply chain needs to reinvent itself to address climate change

Even my own parents had just in the past week requested to repair our 10-year-old branded washing machine at home without even knowing that the cost to replace it with a new lesser-known brand was just about the same.

The rise of the world’s factory

Since the dawn of the new millennium, a cheap brand-new OEM part from China has become the best plug-and-play solution that supposedly “fixes” the issue at hand at a relatively affordable pricing point.

Even technicians during the peak of the just-replace-it era when consulted would rather nod their heads in agreement to convince you that you would be better off by just replacing a broken part rather than fixing it.

The winning argument, such parts do come with their own limited warranty which extends your peace of mind, and labour costs for installation would be lesser. Furthermore, such parts were relatively cheap, reliable for a minimum of one to two years and were available instantly due to the proximity of China.

So yes, when your local automobile technician suddenly proposes a fix rather than a replacement, this is a sign of changing times. The reality we are facing as we enter a new norm is that global procurement and also shipping lines are greatly affected due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Such extreme lockdown measures are taken by the world’s factory severely impacts supply chains, causing long delays in the sourcing of new parts and shipping them to your local automobile workshop.

Furthermore, the rise of labour costs in China has also impacted the prices of goods sold which no longer provides the benefit of being cheaper. With such a dilemma in hand, the new breed of technicians is now forced to learn again how to fix things and undertake repair work, thus ditching their just-replace-it mindset, perhaps temporarily until the situation improves.

Embracing the circular economy

The silver lining in the cloud, actual repair work and the awareness of preventive maintenance are on the rise again. The significance of this is that eventually, it will reduce consumption and unnecessary wastage of resources.

The world would see a huge drop in waste production and unnecessary industrial pollution with the reduction in the manufacturing of these cheap OEM goods. The recycling industry would also potentially see lesser volume over time.

Also Read: Base.vn founder’s new SaaS startup True Platform attracts US$3.5M seed funding

In line with the adoption of a new circular economy model being embraced by our current generation, perhaps this shift could mark a new era with the reopening of workshops dedicated to repairing work including consumer electronics, automobiles, fashion ware and even furniture repairs (IKEA 2.0).

No more cheap consumer goods with inferior parts, perhaps signalling the end of fast fashion. Cars that were once meant to last a decade (or a lifetime) would possibly also return back to showrooms. You can read more about the TESLA million-mile battery here.

Increase in higher quality products

By moving away from this just-replace-it mentality, I believe that consumers would demand better quality products in future while corporations are also forced to reduce their huge margins by providing more value in the products sold, but at the same price.

Ideally, businesses that once thrived with brand loyalty by selling overpriced but subpar goods should certainly take the cue in increasing their quality of goods. This includes the replacements for single-use plastics.

As an advocate of fixing and tinkering with machinery since my early childhood and my devotion towards engineering maintenance over the past decade, I gathered some preliminary research on the industry before embarking on launching Rezpon.com as a tool that promotes faster response to maintenance issues.

My endeavours partly stemmed out of curiosity to understand more about cost-cutting measures taken by industries and facility managers in adopting a new preventive maintenance strategy.

This change in approach to prioritise preventive maintenance will ultimately reduce unscheduled breakdowns, predict system malfunction and prevent system outages beforehand to ensure zero downtime in operations.

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Blockchain has a diversity problem, globally. Women are significantly under-represented in the industry, with few females holding key roles, especially in Asia.

To take this problem head-on, a group of multi-talented individuals with experience in blockchain, fintech, design, banking, and market development came together and launched a non-profit.

Titled Women In Blockchain Asia (WIBA), the Kuala Lumpur-based organisation is led by Ida Mok (President), Poesy Liang (VP), Jasmine Ng, Surina Shukri (former MDEC CEO), Farah Jaafar, Ivy Fung, Chezka Gonzales, Belinda Lim, and George Wong.

Also Read: The 27 Web3 startups in Singapore that show crypto is more than Terra Luna and stablecoins

The WIBA aims to open a new chapter in the development and participation of women in digital technology, with a specific focus on blockchain development, curation of Web3 solutions, and expanding the understanding of distributed ledger technology.

e27 spoke to Jasmine Ng, Co-Founder of the WIBA, Founder of Wahine Capital and the former CRO of iPay88.

Edited Excerpts:

What was the motivation to launch the WIBA? What are the key objectives of the organisation?

There is a “conscious lack” of Asian female talent in the space. We believe there is a lot of misconception about the industry amongst women.

Our vision is to be part of the movement that creates an inclusive new economy with women in Asia as leaders in the blockchain industry and a force for change and social good.

The objective is to raise a generation of Asian female leaders, builders, thought leaders and decision-makers in the space, focusing on talent, skills, education, resource and support. We initiate and deploy this through three pillars — projects, education and skills applications.

Blockchain has a diversity problem and is painfully homogenous. According to a global Quartz survey, of the 378 VCs-backed cryptocurrency startups founded between 2012 and 2018, only 8.5 per cent had a female founder or co-founder. Why so?

Women in technology are already highly under-represented, and the situation is worse in blockchain. We believe this is because women feel the subject matter is too geeky and technical for them.

Many women hold a view that it is a prerequisite to know coding and programming — at the minimum, to be able to script and blog. This misconception is entirely inaccurate and untrue, and we aim to correct and reset it.

Studies show women are more risk-averse than men in behavioural science studies. Is it also a reason for this lack of diversity?

It is a fact that women are generally cautious, which is actually our strength which should be translated and transferred to the blockchain space. The space is so wild west and scammy partly because people are not thinking logically and using proper thought processes in assessing investments.

Do men also play a role in keeping women away from blockchain?

Some men do, but not all.

Indeed, a growing majority of people now realise that diversity and inclusion are a must. At Women In Blockchain Asia, we believe in this, which is why male-allyship is welcomed. The Women in Blockchain Asia has men participating in the founding team. So, while some men may still be misogynistic in their approach, the progressive ones are creating a more inclusive and safe space for greater adoption and acceptance of the technology.

What are the different initiatives taken by WIBA to inspire and encourage more women to come out and embrace blockchain?

1) Enabling through projects: initiating and collaborating on blockchain-related projects where women can participate and work on under the Women In Blockchain Asia.

Also Read: ‘I have seen the future, and it works.’ But is it Web3?

2) Educate: partnering with protocols starting with Algorand and local universities to teach smart contract coding to raise a generation of competent developers in Asia and, from there, build and raise a generation of female developers and coders in the blockchain. Through all these activities, encourage more women thought leaders in the space.

3) Enable with skills application: partnering with blockchain protocol providers and solutions and services through an internship, mentoring and support within the industry.

What is the situation outside of Asia, particularly the west? Does it also have a diversity problem?

It is better in comparison, but the struggle is still the same. Recognition and opportunities are not readily available. Women still need to fight for it. Investing in women is still low, yet adoption of the crypto element is rising amongst female participants.

Who are WIBA’s key partner organisations? What are the roles of the Algorand Foundation and others here?

We partner with protocols, universities, enterprises, VCs, blockchain projects and more to create the community and ecosystem around encouraging women’s participation in the blockchain industry.

We have been very fortunate to have universities ready to explore a training partnership with the Women In Blockchain Asia for more diversity in their students’ learning experiences. One of our early partners, the Algorand Foundation, already runs a programme suited for quick deployment and applicability. It fulfils the second and third pillars that we spoke of earlier.

We will start our Educate pillar initiatives with the deployment of this programme that increases the students’ hire-ability rate.

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The Taiwan-based Asia Pacific Telecom 5G (APT 5G) Accelerator programme expands towards an international outlook in 2022. APT believes that mutual promotion and international exchanges have long overtaken network competition. In line with this, cross-industry connections and collaborations are vital to creating innovations in industries. The APT 5G Challenge will allow startups from across the globe to observe each other and broaden their network. The programme aims to ultimately create new opportunities for 5G through innovative business models and business ventures. 

Expanding Tech Innovations in the Asia Pacific

By linking up local startups to international investors—and vice versa—the connections built through the Accelerator programme are expected to build up towards a robust 5G industry in the Asia Pacific region. Among the technologies being looked into this year are Virtual Reality (VR), Internet of Things (IoT), Cloud software, and Big Data, in industries like entertainment, education, and gaming. 

Also read: Sentient.io: Empowering businesses in the region by making AI adoption easy and affordable

All of these technologies are based on 5G innovative application services which move across and challenge traditional knowledge of tech and how it can operate in businesses and in our daily lives. The range of the selected startups will hopefully diversify the tech landscape in the region and introduce new technologies that will generate even more innovation. 

Introducing the startup Participants 

Here are the seven judges for the APT 5G Challenge 2022 — Mark Cheng, APT 5G Startup Project Manager at  APT 5G Accelerator, Melvin Jeffrey C. Chan, VP and Head of Enterprise Innovations and IoT Business Development at PLDT, Bookyung Kim, Associate at KK Fund, Jeremy Soh, Investment Associate at Qualgro VC, Kevin Wu, Chief Operations Officer at NuMiner, Jack Yang, Business Development Director of Greater China at TMY Technology Inc. and Jeff Chuang, Investment Manager at AVA Angels.

On the demo day, May 26, 2022, the following startups will be pitching to these top Telcos and Venture Capitals in the region. 

• Asiania – This startup offers a quick one-stop shop for all event organising-related matters. The platform is able to host events and guide organisers through the process, with a long-term goal of becoming more integrated with digital through VR/AR in the future.
• MyWay Tech – The company offers a number of services to improve business decision-making and system integration. Among these include thermal devices, AI line bot integration, app development, and face recognition technology. Easily customisable, MyWay Tech’s offerings offer seamless integration for users and clients.
• Tenderdigi – Inspired by the use of brainwaves in technology, Tenderdigi’s founders seek to help regulate emotional and psychological troubles in children and adults alike, including children with hyperactivity, and adults having difficulty with sleep.
• Findcompany – T-Leap offers technology that allows telepresence. Even if you’re geographically far from clients or your businesses, stay connected through this technology. Composed of a speaker, microphone, and a 360-degree camera, T-Leap allows users to stay present despite the distance.
• Mishkan Limited – Focusing on handling and managing artists’ image in the digital age, Mishkan provides a data-driven approach that cuts across multiple online platforms. Apart from sentiment analysis and social listening, the company also allows artists or their managers to promote organically overseas through all-in-one campaign management. However, at the moment, this function is still only available to Chinese-speaking regions.

Also read: PikoHANA: Helping Singapore startups scale through fractional finance

• It’s Alive Studio – This CGI studio and IT research team aims to produce diverse and high-quality animated digital humans and clothing. It’s Alive Studio is bridging the gap between reality and the metaverse by introducing realistic AI-generated images in a more cost-effective manner. The startup eyes gaming, advertising and art, and B2C communication among its target markets.
• Fantopy – Established in 2013, Fantopy promotes itself as the only multi-league fantasy game in Southeast Asia, and the first blockchain-powered football fantasy game in the region. The play-to-earn game provides a simple step-by-step overview of how to get started, mainly focusing on Thai and Indonesian Football Leagues at first, but aims to expand to the rest of Southeast Asia later on.
• Quest Edtech – At the heart of Quest Edtech/duPhonics is the concept of providing telenannies for children in the new normal. The startup acknowledges the hectic lives of new normal parents and provides them with some space to both care for their child and themselves through a telenanny. Through its goal of empowering parenthood in Southeast Asia, duPhonics’ goal is to see revenue of USD3 million by 2023.
• Seashore Networks – With IoT expanding at increasing speed, companies need to keep up. Seashore Networks provides a solution through increased connectivity and security in its services. Their software is also easily upgradeable and has a larger coverage area than WiFi. Through this, the company has penetrated the Top 30 spot in the India 5G Hackathon.

To know more information about the APT 5G Challenge 2022, visit the official website here.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Asia IOA

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 pandemic has shown us how we can clean up the planet. Many climate activists and governmental bodies like the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warned that we must reduce emissions so that global warming is limited to 1.5°C.

But actions to limit warming have fallen short of this goal. However, there is hope. In the first half of 2020, global CO2 emissions actually dropped enough to put us on this path, declining by 17 per cent in April 2020.

Unfortunately, experts are expecting that we will reach pre-pandemic levels of emissions once again, putting us back on the path of three or more degrees of warming.

Here’s one example that awaits us in the post-pandemic world, revenge travel, sparked by the pent-up demand of many to finally board a plane again. With the first lockdowns, air travel dropped by around 40 per cent, preventing 915 million tonnes of carbon from being emitted.

As borders reopen, spending on tourism and quick-fire flight bookings surge as people try to make up for the perceived lost time. Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority is receiving about 6,000 passport applications daily, triple the daily average of 2,000 from just two years ago.

At Amasia, the venture capital firm where I am a partner, we strongly believe that we don’t have to bound back to our old behaviours. There is immense, under-recognised potential for bottom-up behaviour change that will help us fight this climate crisis.

How we got here

Lockdowns due to the pandemic have led to an unprecedented “digital migration” in every aspect of life, work, entertainment, learning, and shopping. When people stayed home and bought less, our seemingly unachievable climate goals were suddenly not so remote.

Also Read: Climate tech is in a chicken-and-egg situation in Southeast Asia

Research supports this seemingly simple observation. But as we proceed into the new normal, how can we ensure that we are not bringing our most destructive habits back from the dead, too?

First, we need to know what spurs these bad habits in the first place.

“Mimetic desire,” or making decisions based on the desires of the people around us, has led to runaway overconsumption and the ravaging of the planet. We want more not because we need more, but rather because we are heavily influenced by our social environment.

This is fuelling an unfulfilling and damaging behavioural cycle of wanting to own, yet being less satisfied while owning more things.

The rise of new digital media and hyper-targeted advertising techniques further reinforce the idea that well-being comes from material wealth and from owning the latest products. This mindset has to change and that needs to happen now.

At the onset of the pandemic, we saw that dramatic behaviour change with a positive impact on the environment is, in fact, possible. So what if we strive to not return to pre-COVID-19 habits and instead retain some of that more environmentally-friendly life of the past two years?

Take the revenge travel example. Instead of immediately taking the next travel opportunity, consumers can be more aware of their impulses and try to moderate them to avoid further damage to the environment. The potential impact is massive.

Mass consumer behaviour change has accomplished far more in less time than international agreements, corporate pledges, or political legislation alone could ever hope to achieve. One could argue that the behaviour during the pandemic was the result of mandatory policies that confined people at home and closed businesses.

Then, how can we now encourage people to voluntarily adopt more sustainable consumer behaviours to get closer to the 1.5°C targets?

What this means for us

There are a few solutions here. NGOs and governments need to meet consumers where they currently are and help make sustainable living an easier, “no-brainer” choice.

Also Read: There’s a mismatch of investment and entrepreneur focus in SEA’s climate tech: Steve Melhuish

Brands must be held accountable for leading customers astray and for pursuing practices that run against a healthy amount of consumption. For politicians and decision-makers, now is the opportunity to implement bipartisan measures which will more organically encourage more sustainable behaviours, even if these imply higher costs.

For example, Singapore has committed to achieving net-zero emissions by or around mid-century, and it is currently on track to reach its 2030 targets, promoting green technologies and alternative low-carbon solutions.

Change is predominantly needed in affluent nations, with the top 10 per cent accounting for 52 per cent of carbon emissions. The rich serve as role models, so it is essential for them to moderate their consumption first. We’re not asking people to live in huts, but rather to eliminate the more astounding aspects of their exorbitant lifestyles.

Policy interventions such as raising carbon taxes can deter businesses and individuals from overconsumption, encouraging them to take actions to moderate their emissions. With Singapore toughening on its carbon tax, with a view to reaching SG$50 (US$36.35) to SG$80 (US$58.17) per tonne by 2030, those with the highest carbon usage will be taxed commensurately to their output.

We need a dramatically different vision for this world and our society if we are to save our planet. The world we are aiming for is one in which we engage in much less business travel and have fewer things that last a long time.

It’s a world in which our homes and cars have been “right-sized” and where we eat less and waste less food. In this world, most things that can be digitised are digitised, and we realise that physical proximity is no longer the key requirement to getting to know people in faraway lands. It’s a world in which we spend more time in our own locality, neighbourhood, or city.

Our role models are folks who want to build this kind of world. We need to get there if we are to avoid climate catastrophe.

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The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced on Friday the 11 maritime tech startups that have received the Maritime Innovation and Technology (MINT)-STARTUP grant for prototype development and test-bedding, bringing the total number of grant recipients to 50 and the total funding disbursed since 2017 to over S$2.45 million (US$1.78 million).

These startups are collaborating with maritime corporate partners from PIER71 –the result of a collaboration between MPA and NUS Enterprise– on pilot projects that focus on the use of smart sensors, vision and data analytics, artificial intelligence and wearables amongst others.

The companies are:

EcoWorth Tech

A project that builds an enhanced oil removal solution to provide better marine oil spill response. According to a statement, the project aims to develop a prototype that would put Carbon Fibre Aerogel (CFA) material into the optimal form that is suited for the industrial needs in the maritime industry. This would allow validation of CFA in comparison to other competitive products in the market. Based on laboratory tests, the CFA is at least 100 per cent more absorbent on a per weight basis than traditional single-use absorbents.

EnvironSens

A project that builds technology for robust testing and monitoring of drinking water quality onboard vessels. The current manual process requires human expertise and interference in the steps of filtration, staining and colorimetric analysis, which is not feasible for vessel usage. This technology aims to automate the manual processes of their current bacterial monitoring sensor system.

Eupnoos

A technology to enable lung function test for occupational disease by allowing shipyard workers to check for the first signs of lung disease by blowing into the
microphone of their device. The AI model will identify symptoms associated with disease and flag the results to the user. It can be used as a tool to support smoking cessation efforts.

Also Read: Greywing attracts US$2.5M seed funding to tackle maritime industry’s carbon impact

eyeGauge

A non-invasive online condition monitoring for high-speed passenger ferries in real-time. It will extract and digitise analogue signals from the main engine, electrical generators, and other onboard equipment to guide maintenance activities for the ferries and improve asset availability for utilisation.

FlexoSense

FlexoSense developed a patent-pending pressure sensor technology for insoles to promote worker safety and productivity. Through the project, the company aims to enhance and tweak their smart in-sole for the maritime and marine and offshore sector to detect Slips, Trips and Falls (STF).

ITAAS

A product to monitor and provide early detection of health conditions.

The startup aims to redesign its current in-ear wearable technology to aid in the detection of cardiovascular-related health conditions to enable early intervention in a marine environment. The solution will also provide supervisors with real-time visibility of their crew’s health conditions.

MAGES Studio

Building games to facilitate seafarer’s onboarding training. In this level-based game, the boat will be travelling from point A to B and the player will face multiple emergency situations along the way. The player must resolve the emergency situations by performing the correct actions in the right order and ensuring smooth sailing throughout the journey.

MagicPort Digital

Procurement and collaboration platform for ship supplies and services. It includes a digital marketplace and collaboration platform for ship owners and ship
managers; a comprehensive directory that provides information on ports, suppliers and services providers, vessels, and owners; and work on the Request For Quotation processor which can help ship suppliers automate the process of preparing the quotations.

Also Read: How Signal Ventures aims to sail towards new opportunities in global maritime tech scene

Temus

Detection and prevention of near-miss workplace fall injuries without Vision Analytics. To leverage on their existing Connected Worker System (CWS) platform suite, which consists of TAGU and NaviSafe and enhance their wearable device so that it can detect Slips, Trips & Falls (STFs) or Fall From height (FFH) accurately. TAGU is an IoT wearable device, while NaviSafe is a software application hosted on the cloud.

Vilota

The startup builds a 3D vision-based solution for Rebars Distance Management, leveraging their proprietary 360-degree vision-based sensor and developing a prototype to provide recognition and counting with high accuracy, a diameter measurement of rebars, and information for automated tallying within a port environment.

WeavAir

A loss prevention platform that aims to create value for ship owners, ship managers and marine insurers by developing a digital portal which can improve benchmarking, accelerate decisions, improve forecasting, and risk rating. The digital portal will help ship owners and ship managers simplify the data collection process for marine incidents that required by marine insurers.

In the same event, MPA and NUS Enterprise also announced the launch of Smart Port Challenge (SPC) 2022 under Port Innovation Ecosystem Reimagined
@ BLOCK71 (PIER71).

Tech startups based in Singapore or abroad are invited to submit proposals on solutions to any of the challenge statements spanning across the 15 areas or in other areas related to the maritime sector in an Open Category. The closing date for the submission of proposals is July 8.

Shortlisted startups will be mentored under the PIER71 Accelerate programme and might be eligible for a MINT-STARTUP grant of up to S$50,000 (US$36,000)

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Image Credit: PIER71

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Your employees are just starting their journey with your organisation. They are just as excited as you to embark on their new journey as you are to welcome them to be part of the remote team.

Before the pandemic, your new hires will come to the office for their first day and finally meet their colleagues for the first time, get introduced to the whole department, and have a little tour of the office before they get to know their role better on the training.

But it’s not like that to onboard your remote team. You are probably not even in the same time zone as your new hires. And most likely, your whole remote teams are all in different time zones.

However, onboarding is crucial to guide the new hires to navigate within the organisation regardless of their prior professional experience. According to CareerBuilder and Silkroad Technology, up 10 per cent of the employees are leaving due to poor onboarding experience.

Onboarding is very important that even Amazon emphasizes it as part of their company culture called Day one. Day one is about being constantly curious, nimble, and experimental. A lack of guidance and direction during the first few days of a new job can be frustrating and disheartening.

What is included in the onboarding process?

Each company will tailor its onboarding process depending on its needs and culture. However, it generally consists of new hire document collection and introduction to the company.

Also Read: Why HR tech will make Asia’s next unicorns

If your company does not have one, creating a thorough onboarding process will benefit your company and new hires. Here are some of the must-have onboarding items that need to be checked after sending away the offer letter to the candidate.

Introduction to the company and culture

Every company has a different working culture, and it is essential to let your new hires understand on the get-go. Sending away a culture playbook will help your new hires know what to expect and how to act upon the company’s culture properly.

Understanding the company’s value, vision, and mission will guide your new hires to align their vision and mission with the company. To replace the traditional office tour and colleagues’ introduction in person, it is important to provide a document where they can find a certain material or who they can reach out to for a certain issue in virtual onboarding. In this session, you can provide the hierarchical structure within the company.

Introduction to the company’s communication channel and management tool should be included in this session. Be sure to explain this part as clearly as possible.

Otherwise, your remote new hires’ productivity might be in jeopardy due to the confusion in navigating their way through the remote workspace.

Product/service introduction

Not often do your new hires come from similar industry backgrounds to your company. Therefore, your product might be completely foreign to them.

Even if they come from similar industry backgrounds, it doesn’t guarantee that they know about your products/services already. Failing to educate your new hires about the product/service might result in frustrations and miscommunications.

This might result in your new hires not being able to optimally perform their roles and responsibilities aligned with the product’s growth direction.

Whether or not the new hires’ position is closely related to the development of the product/service, this part of the training should not be missed!

Legal document collection

It is necessary to collect some legal documents to proceed with the employment process. These often include personal identification, employment contract, social security number, work permits, tax forms, and other legal documents.

Authenticating these documents can also be an issue when it comes to remote hiring. What type of documents to collect varies in every country according to each country’s local labour law.

Also Read: Top 3 signs your business will need a remote tech team

Failing to collect the right documents and not promptly might result in putting your new hires’ employment status at risk and on hold. They will handle this section for you if you are hiring through the Employer of Record (EOR) service. It will save your company time and hassle when outsourcing this particular process to a staffing agency.

Legally speaking, your new hires are not officially hired unless this process is completed.

Slasify supports your company to onboard candidates within 15-30 days and will directly collect all the legal documents from the candidates and provide them with all the company’s benefits such as social contributions package and insurance.

How to conduct the onboarding process for your remote team?

Time should not be an issue because these onboarding items can be delivered in a group meeting, one-on-one meeting, or a written (pdf, ppt, printed booklet, etc.) document for the new hires to review on their own.

If time is the essence of your team, you can combine written documents with virtual meetings. However, it’s not suggested to replace the virtual meetings with only written documents completely.

Whether you are a small or big company, creating a solid onboarding plan is a great investment to build a strong and sustainable team. If you are thinking of expanding your team globally, start building your virtual onboarding program, and playbooks will be a great start for your remote workforce.

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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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