Japan-based entertainment company Akatsuki today announced the establishment of Emoote, a US$20 million fund that is focused on Web3 investment.

Based in Singapore, Emoote aims to invest in Asia which is considered as an important market for Web3 companies. However, the firm stated that it will continue to maintain a “global mindset.” It is also looking for Web3 companies that are able to collaborate with Japanese entertainment and media companies.

“We focus on early stage investing that includes seed capital, mainly in Asia (50 per cent) and the US (40 per cent), with the remainder in other regions (10 per cent),” the company stated.

Since September 2021, Emoote has invested in more than 20 projects that including STEPN (a move-to-earn lifestyle app that was one of the most-watched projects in 2022 with a fully diluted valuation of US$20 billion in April) and BreederDAO (a GameFi NFT factory that creates and sells NFTs to game guilds. It has counted Andreessen Horowitz and Delphi Digital as co-lead investors).

There are three focus areas that the firm is aiming for: Web3 applications of tokens, Web3 IP creation as well as NFT and digital fashion.

“We believe that digital fashion is likely to surpass physical fashion as a business as people increasingly spend more time in the virtual world – not only with entertainment that includes games, but also with other digital activities such as social media and metaverses – where physical constraints are removed,” it said.

Also Read: Demystifying NFTs and DeFi

Akatsuki is a maker of popular smartphone games based in Japan and Taiwan. With an emphasis on characters and stories, the company has developed games and other media such as comics and anime.

The establishment of Emoote was not the firm’s first foray into Web3. Through the AET Fund and Heart Driven Fund, it has invested in startups in the US, India, and Japan.

“An important keyword in Web3 is the incentive economy. This refers to an ecosystem that rewards contributors, as exemplified by the play-to-earn concept where users are contributors that earn by playing games,” it stated.

“We believe that NFT consumption, based on ’emotional values’ such as ‘likes’ and ’empathy,’ is a very important mechanism that will provide the motivation upon which tokenomics can grow soundly in order to achieve sustainable growth of the token-centered economic zone. Further, we believe that Web3 will lead to even greater growth of Entertainment and Creator, which has created characters and media works that are loved around the world.”

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Image Credit: Akatsuki

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In Southeast Asia, opportunities continue to grow for startups. Fostering innovation is instrumental to the growth of businesses and the broader startup ecosystem. Gaining access to local knowledge, regulatory know-how, and building relationships with local partners to efficiently scale are potential gains that can be achieved by being part of a startup hub.

The shift from business transactions to building communities

It is crucial for startups, enablers, and venture capitalists to be plugged into a community that allows them to thrive in the long run. This was why JTC, a government agency in charge of Singapore’s industrial development, started LaunchPad. The goal? To provide a space that encourages collaboration and partnerships between like-minded businesses in their various growth stages.

Located at one-north and Jurong Innovation District, LaunchPad offers a total of 60,000sqm of modular units of varying sizes to suit the requirements of startups. This includes those from industries like advanced manufacturing and engineering, agri-food technology, biomedical sciences, infocomm technology and media, and urban solutions.

Also read: Top 5G Startups in 2022 Announced

Besides reliable infrastructure, LaunchPad seeks to foster an atmosphere of vibrancy and community. There are multiple opportunities for partnerships, programming support through learning and networking events both offline and online, and various shared facilities.

“We not only aimed to develop hard infrastructure but also curate an ecosystem where startups can flourish,” explains Sophia Ng, Director of Infocomm Media and Startup Cluster at JTC. “Overall, our journey has evolved from providing space and a playground for ideas to creating purposeful connections.”

A strong track record of housing innovators

Prolific names such as Carousell, a leading second-hand goods marketplace, and ShopBack, a shopping and rewards platform, are some of the startups that got their start at LaunchPad.

Other startups that currently reside in LaunchPad @ one-north include Motional (previously known as nuTonomy), a game-changer in self-driving technology; and Igloocompany, a startup offering smart locks that work offline through unique PIN codes or Bluetooth.

But there’s space for more. “LaunchPad has the potential to house a wider variety of industries and ecosystem stakeholders going forward. Bigger VCs and startups may want to land in LaunchPad. This will promote more deal flows and better ideas with stronger collaborations between the relevant parties,” said James Tan, Chairman of the Action Community for Entrepreneurship (ACE), a trade association advocating startups’ interests and bridging communications between startups and the Singapore government.

Strengthening partnerships for startup support

Esco Aster, the first agri-tech and biotech accelerator in the country with a wet lab space, is one of the enablers at LaunchPad. It aims to help startups and SMEs in the region link up with partners that understand and fulfil their needs to scale up.

“The Southeast Asian ecosystem, in alignment with our Asian heritage, values relationships greatly in the conduct of business. The ecosystem is kept alive by the constant referral and networking of key players ranging from accelerators to early-stage angels, pre-seed and seed investors,” observes Xiangliang Lin, the founder, President and CEO of Esco Aster.

Also read: SAP expands innovation initiatives in Southeast Asia

He adds: “LaunchPad has done wondrously in building up a vibrant environment in this area, bringing tangibility to the ecosystem by housing startups and enablers in one location, making it an ideal place for investors to scout out their next unicorn.”

With market forces remaining fluid, agility and speed are of the essence for startups looking to capture opportunities. “Esco Aster would be in a perfect position to support these given our in-house expertise in process development… for us, proximity to the right startups is always welcome as collaboration is best when it can be done in a timely, face-to-face manner,” says Lin.

Paying it forward

Grab, Southeast Asia’s leading super app, is also part of the LaunchPad network.

The company, which has become ubiquitous with ride-hailing, food delivery, digital payment and financial services in Singapore and the region, is headquartered in one-north. “This is where many of the high-growth startups and companies are based. We are very much a part of this community that’s constantly growing and innovating,” says Shawn Heng, Managing Director of Business Development at Grab.

Kaizen, a Japanese term that refers to the spirit of adaptability and continuous improvement, is an important part of Grab’s culture and has influenced how it innovates. “We recognise that we have a lot to learn from other startups. Being a part of the ecosystem ensures we stay plugged into the latest developments and trends, and we can inspire new thinking and partnerships. We have always believed in taking a partnership approach as opposed to doing everything on our own,” notes Heng.

Also read: How to build a business with scalability in Asia’s vibrant economy?

This explains why Grab is one of eight industry players throwing their weight behind LaunchPad Investor Network (LINK), a JTC-led initiative that connects LaunchPad’s startups with key corporate strategic partners, enabling opportunities for investment as well as regional and global expansion.

Heng adds: “Grab has benefitted from the startup ecosystem in Singapore and Southeast Asia. We want to contribute what we have learnt over the years back to the community. Being in one-north gives us easy access to startups in the LaunchPad community. Being part of the LINK programme formalises our intention to engage the community.”

If you are a startup, incubator, accelerator, or VC that wants to be part of a vibrant startup hub like LaunchPad, learn more here.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by JTC LaunchPad

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Six months from now, world leaders will gather to evaluate whether they can make good on their promises to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions.

Following the Glasgow Climate Change Conference (COP26), the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a report in February, asking businesses and regulators alike to act now or limit global heating to 1.5 degrees celsius will soon be both unattainable and impossible.

While politicians delay existing ways to solve the current crisis, the situation worsens. However, from the private sector, a new tool in the armoury could revolutionise the way we conceptualise, track, and mitigate carbon emissions across the globe.

Through blockchain technology, we have an opportunity to bring integrity to the carbon markets, align incentives across industries and countries, and enable unified action.

The (unequal) race to zero

Achieving meaningful emissions reductions has been painfully slow and difficult, necessitating a significant overhaul in the energy sector. The transition to renewables is a focus for many countries but far from straightforward.

Singapore’s Energy Market Authority points out that we have “no hydro resources, our wind speeds and mean tidal range are low, and geothermal energy is not economically viable”.

While solar energy is the most viable option, as the city-state sees an average annual solar irradiance of 1,580 kWh/m2/year, it still isn’t commercially viable for widespread use.

To mitigate this, Singapore has introduced a carbon taxation scheme to target high emitters and incentivise reduction, making it the first in Southeast Asia.

This year’s budget also noted that the tax would be progressively increased to hit SG$45 per tonne by 2026 to enable Singapore to reach its net-zero target by or around 2050.

Beyond renewables, what other solutions can such economies turn to? Carbon credits, of course. That being said, carbon credits are far from perfect, with criticisms arising around their viability and enablers for bad behaviour.

What mechanisms can be introduced to ensure their integrity while encouraging verifiably real climate action to challenge these claims?

From NFTs to NFDTs

Ask the average person on the street what a non-fungible token (NFT) is, and today, they’ll probably be able to define it. An NFT is a unique, hence non-fungible, digital certificate stored on a blockchain to produce an immutable, digital record of its ownership and provenance.

Think about how NFTs are being used in the traditional art world. NFTs can add a layer of certainty in proving the authenticity of a painting, that it belonged to a specific collector and was painted by a specific artist.

As a digital representation, this also introduces further opportunities for tokenisation, effectively enabling investors to take ownership of an asset, no matter how big or small.

Also Read: Why the Carbon tax is just a step forward and not a solution

How does this relate to carbon credits?

One type of carbon credit is Voluntary Emission Reduction (VER) which can be tied to sustainable or climate action projects and is sold on the voluntary carbon market (VCM). As of November 2021, the value of the VCM stood at US$1 billion, pointing to a growing appetite from businesses as they strengthen their ESG commitments.

By diverting capital to such initiatives, VERs can also drive greater optimisation and innovation, eventually lowering the costs of climate technologies. As you can imagine, an NFT tied to a VER would effectively assure a buyer or an investor that their VER is tied to a legitimate project.

At the same time, tokenisation could make investing in these projects much more accessible for even a retail audience interested in green finance opportunities.

However, as a technology, NFTs are fundamentally limited critically: They’re dead.

NFTs can only represent “non-living” assets. Let’s take the example of a building equipped with smart technologies to ensure its energy efficiency.

Throughout a given day, the amount of electricity that the building expends may differ depending on the internal temperature, the intensity of sunlight, and foot traffic. These can impact the amount of energy and, thus, carbon that a building has expended.

For a business, having a real-time, continuously updated representation of such an asset is critical to measuring its energy expenditure over time. Therefore, when used to represent the carbon credits produced by green projects (which are ever-changing over time), NFTs fall short.

Hence, we at Metaverse Green Exchange had to develop a patent-pending technology known as the Non-Fungible Digital Twin (NFDT). NFDTs combines the transparency, provenance, and auditability allowed for by NFTs with digital twin technologies.

Supported by the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, a digital twin is a virtual model that reflects a real-world physical object or process and changes within that system over time. When combined with NFTs, you can see how this addresses key challenges in today’s voluntary carbon credit market.

Why carbon has a ‘nationality’

When the Paris Agreement came into force in 2016, Nationally-Determined Contributions (NDCs) were at the cornerstone of the accord. Each signatory pledged to reduce its national carbon footprint to limit global warming to preferably 1.5 degrees Celsius compared to pre-industrial levels.

This emphasis on nationality effectively makes it such that the carbon liability belongs to the country it originated. Countries are faced with a dilemma: open up their sustainable projects and, by extension, the corresponding carbon credits, to foreign or external investors, or create barriers to protect accurate reporting and reduce the threat of double-counting?

When taken in aggregate, what MVGX offers is its Green Earth MetaVerse. This digital world holds digital representations of carbon assets and liabilities, effectively bridging the real world to the metaverse.

Backed by its proprietary, patent-pending NFDT^TM technology, each digital representation comes in the form of our Carbon Neutrality Token (CNT^TM), which is then listed on our digital asset exchange.

Through MVGX’s licence from the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), these digital assets have integrity both in the metaverse and within existing carbon markets. These tokens are thus asset-backed securities regulated by MAS, which institutional and accredited investors can buy into.

Each CNT^TM is tied to an avatar backed by our NFDT^TM technology which assures the provenance, traceability, and quality of the associated VER.

In taking this approach, our carbon registry is designed first to represent the real-world carbon assets in the metaverse, as an NFDT or avatar, before the carbon credit or the VER is even issued. By listing this token on our licenced exchange, buyers are assured that the integrity of the asset is safeguarded, all the while being backed by a regulated entity.

Also Read: What COVID-19 taught us about sustainable choices and climate change

In the end, what you have is a system that bridges real-world carbon exchanges with virtual ones, and MVGX can ensure that businesses and governments ultimately gain a robust and universal understanding of how carbon is being emitted and mitigated in a transparent, verifiable way.

Making greener gains

Last year, Asia was the fastest-growing market for ESG debt issuance, tripling to US$346.5 billion compared to the year before.

Climate-aligned investing is growing in popularity. After all, the financial risks are significantly more pronounced in a region set to bear the brunt of a worsening climate. With this in mind, having the right technologies to ensure the integrity of such investments is key.

As the race to reach net-zero intensifies, traditional financial players have a key role in levelling the financial playing field for projects striving to do good.

With NFTs and blockchain now so firmly entrenched in mainstream consciousness, it’s clear that the technologies to enable meaningful, verifiable climate action at scale are already here. We all need to take the first step.

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Protecting and restoring biodiversity is the greatest challenge of our lifetimes. And it represents an incredible opportunity globally, including in Southeast Asia.

However, biodiversity receives little attention or funding.

A Singapore-based family office is on a mission to protect and restore biodiversity, starting with Southeast Asia. It has launched a biodiversity accelerator to support startups tackling the crisis. And the service is pro bono.

Also Read: ‘We hope to see more material science, heavy industry firms coming out of SEA to address climate change’

“Society has made big strides towards a ‘net-zero’ mindset, but we would love to see us collectively take one step further towards a nature-positive one,” said Kelvin Chiu, Founder and Principal at Silverstrand Capital. Biodiversity is a more holistic indicator of well-functioning ecosystems, whereas using carbon as a particular sustainability metric may not reflect nature’s inherent and inspiring complexity.”

The Biodiversity Accelerator+, launched late last month, is a three-month online programme. It consists of extensive group sessions and discussions with its core coaches, tailored one-on-one coaching, and fireside chats with entrepreneurs and industry experts — all offered for no fee or equity.

The accelerator aims to support businesses with market-based solutions in conservation and restoration, or what it calls “biodiversity-positive” companies.

They are:

• Regenerative agriculture/aquaculture opportunities across the value chain: Examples include companies selling sustainable agri-inputs (biodiverse seeds, seaweed-based bio fertilisers) or value-added products (food, textiles, cosmetics, medicine) from unconventional crops
• Ecosystem restoration technologies for forests, mangroves, and coral reefs: Examples include seed planting drones and reef tiles (software management systems for managing the cash flows of forest restoration against the success of replanting efforts)
• Measurement technologies for biodiversity or ecosystem health: Environmental DNA, acoustic- or hyperspectral-based IoT sensors, or remote sensing algorithms.
• Sustainable travel-related companies (eco-lodge operators or travel booking platforms)
• Enforcement technologies for conservation areas (technologies that can detect illegal logging or forest fires in real-time).

The Biodiversity Accelerator+ targets eight companies for the first cohort. Preference will be given to companies based/with operations in Southeast Asia or interested in expanding to the region. “Southeast Asia is a biocultural hotspot with an enormous variety of beautiful, natural habitats. I feel it is our duty and responsibility to protect what is left and restore what was once there,” he said.

At the end of the programme, participants can unlock investments of up to US$250,000 each and access a vast network of impact investors.

“We want to build the stack of ‘biodiversity-positive’ investible opportunities for ourselves and other investors. We have met with many passionate and talented entrepreneurs who we feel could benefit from a holistic and comprehensive programme covering their businesses’ financial, social, and environmental aspects. We want to help these founders upskill and help their early-stage companies become more investment-ready,” he elaborated.

Also Read: 5 reasons why impact investing is becoming mainstream investing

The partners of Biodiversity Accelerator+ are Temasek Foundation, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), Mandai Nature, UBS Optimus Foundation, Conservation International Ventures, Wavemaker Impact, REAPRA, NUS Centre for Nature-based Climate Solutions, the Meloy Fund, Be The Earth Foundation, Systemiq, Beanstalk, Cell VC, Shook Lin & Bok, and Kindrik Partners.

These partners will help the accelerator with shortlisting and selecting the companies, leading group sessions, and being mentors to the founders of companies. They would potentially be co-investing with Silverstrand at the end.

The selection of finalists will be conducted jointly by the Silverstrand investment committee and the external experts on its shortlisting committee, including Kavita Prakash-Mani, CEO of Mandai Nature, and Peter Kennedy, Partner at the Meloy Fund.

Silverstrand has a network of experienced coaches and speakers from different backgrounds to help the startups with traditional accelerator aspects (fundraising, financial modelling and branding) and impact aspects (understanding the science of biodiversity and how to work with local communities).

“We want our participating companies to use the knowledge gained to guide better their business and financial planning and their approach to the ecosystems and communities in which they operate. Ultimately, we want our companies to achieve a ‘triple bottom line’ of financial, social and environmental returns,” Chiu remarked.

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Beyond the COVID-19 pandemic, there is a seemingly simple but consequential health problem that our community is dealing with –that can actually be prevented with a simple diet or lifestyle change. However, there is not enough attention given to these issues, according to OSbiome Co-Founder & CEO Ian Chong.

“Every year, about 25 million people die globally due to chronic conditions that are preventable with simple diet or lifestyle changes. That’s every year. For context, COVID-19 amounted to about six million deaths cumulative. Why aren’t we handling lifestyle-related deaths with the same urgency?” he asks in an email interview with e27.

Through his interaction with customers at OSbiome and his previous company, Chong discovered that this abandonment seems to be fuelled by two reasons.

“We have a conflicted relationship between having good health and money. Health often comes with a higher price tag with salads being more expensive than fast food, or requires sacrifice for us to be more ‘successful’ by working overtime [and implementing] the #hustlelife, sacrificing sleep,” he says.

In addition to that, he adds that customers are “overloaded with overly generic information of what is healthy” by chasing the next superfood or getting on the next hyped fitness class.

This is why OSbiome provides customers with bespoke lifestyle and diet recommendations generated from highly complex algorithms, into a form of fun, gamified & bite-sized ‘quests’ that they can easily integrate into their daily lives. These tasks are generated by normalising data points from thousands of peer-reviewed clinical trials, layering them with localised population references and making them highly personalised.

The company’s solution included the provision of a gut health test kit that helps customers easily learn about the diet and lifestyle changes that they need to perform. With this, OSbiome aims to create a five per cent impact globally and complete a mission to help save 1.5 million lives every year.

Also Read: A beginner’s guide into the world of NFTs

“Since we started, we have been able to acquire our initial group of customers who have been amazing in helping us shape the product and our bio-AI. Through machine learning, discovered proprietary bio-signatures within the local population on what a healthy profile is as a benchmark,” Chong says.

It has also achieved other milestones such as building out and upgrading its application to allow customers to track a wide myriad of wellness activities such as sleep and water intake. But one of the most exciting milestones that the company is achieving is its foray into the Web3 space.

Introducing health-to-earn

In discovering how the addition of Web3 elements in their service can make a difference, OSbiome learns that its value lies within its ability to encourage users through rewards. For Chong, this means they can finally re-align the direction of health and money –the challenge that he has mentioned as the background of the problem that OSbiome is trying to solve.

“Web3 is the perfect platform for bringing our vision to fruition. The ability to reward the members within the ecosystem for participating will finally re-align the directions of health and money. Users can now be rewarded for completing tasks such as recording their habits and completing their health quests,” he says.

“Tangible incentives are now completely aligned with their health and wellness [goals]. The healthier you are, the more incentives you can receive. We firmly believe that this dynamic will complete reimagine our relationship with health and bring adoption of our platform into hypergrowth. Other recent projects similar to our health-to-earn model had shown real potential in impacting positive change in people’s lifestyles.”

OSbiome launches its first 3D NFT collection Ome | Pioneer Generation in May, made of 8,888 unique Omes. The characters will have “cute traits that are hand-sculpted” by up-and-coming Singaporean 3D artist @ningthebun.

“The purpose of this collection is to gather like-minded people within the ecosystem who believe in our vision and would want to help us actualise it. We’re mainly getting exposure through grassroots thought leaders in the blockchain space, influencers and communities for now and the interest has been really positive. What’s unique about this collection is that the utility is deep. Owners of these Omes can unlock special earning rates for completing quests, rent them to other players, receive future airdrops for tokens and be the first to access the newest features,” Chong elaborates.

Also Read: Matrixport betting big on NFTs, blockchain gaming to expand its cryptocurrency financial services

Towards the future

The story of OSbiome began when Chong and Dr Corlianò met in the venture accelerator programme Entrepreneur First. The co-founders had very different backgrounds that seemed to complement well with their work at OSbiome.

“Maria left academia in the pursuit of utilising her award-winning expertise in the field of gut microbiology on creating solutions to help people. I had recently exited a real foods e-commerce business jumping overnight from baking in a kitchen to building our bio-AI,” Chong explains.

“We met other potential partners during the programme, but instantly knew we needed to start something together when we realised our vision for the future is eerily similar –a world where health is personalised and accessible to all. Since then, we’ve progressed from running the company from her apartment to now our office with a rockstar team who are deeply passionate about their craft and invested in our vision as well,” he continues.

The company is currently run by a remote team of 10 people that are based in SEA, Europe, and India. It has also raised pre-seed funding from different institutions and angel investors alike.

“We have been very fortunate to have received the trust from both institutions such as Entrepreneur First and Next Humanity Ventures and angel investors alike. Fun fact, our angels were our customers as well!” Chong says.

With the support of its team and investors, OSbiome is ready to run the next parts of its plan. In addition to running its Ome NFT projects and bringing its health-to-earn model to life, it is also looking forward to partnering with national healthcare initiatives in the region to promote healthy living and chronic illness prevention.

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Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

Image Credit: OSbiome

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Fintech innovations have developed significantly in Southeast Asia, allowing for the enhancement of Web3 to dawn upon the adaptable region. And these days, the hype on this side of the world is not about surfing the internet but about creating content and monetising it.

Web3 is the next phase of the internet, which is more decentralised through artificial intelligence, blockchain, smart contracts, metaverse and machine learning technology. With decentralisation being the word of the decade and Southeast Asia being a resilient nation, it is no wonder that the latest web sensation is accelerating in the region.

With many being put under ‘unbanked’ within the conventional financial system and many not on board yet with modern-day finance innovations, Southeast Asia still proves to be a large niche market for innovations, with an average of 440 million total online population.

As a whole, it boasts one of the youngest, most digitally active cohorts globally. Moreover, Southeast Asia’s internet economy is to peak at US$1 trillion by 2030 as the region witnessed an additional 60 million new users at the beginning of the pandemic.

Southeast Asia embraces Web3

Governments in the region and globally have acknowledged this growth and are supporting the digitisation of economies by means of monetary support, servicing and simplifying traditional processes.

For example, the ICA in Singapore has announced the issuing of digital birth certificates as part of their ongoing efforts to streamline and digitalise services for Singaporeans.

Also Read: These 21 Web3 startups prove why Vietnam is the world’s most surprising crypto hotspot

Opportunities such as this will continue to speak for themselves in the region as Web3 was built with the promise of offering users utility, value and empowerment, and we’ve already seen this play out in Southeast Asia. 

New economies and structures have been created in the region through the deployment of Web3. Play-to-earn games, for instance, have boomed in the Philippines and have helped keep many afloat during the pandemic.

Play-to-earn is a business model that works on blockchain technology, allowing players to play and earn cryptocurrency. Axie Infinity, one such game in the Philippines, followed this concept of allowing players to earn non-fungible tokens (NFTs), which bridged the financial inclusion gap in the country, mainly during the pandemic. 

Similarly, cryptocurrency has opened doors to financial inclusion in Indonesia, with seven million users in the country and 21 million across the region. We’ve seen how cryptocurrency has helped address common financial challenges such as the inability to reach far-flung areas, the lack of access to secure financial services, and the high cost of digital transactions.

Governments are taking crypto seriously and are working to find a balance in regulating these for a Web3 Future. Also monitored by the Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency (CFTC) under the Ministry of Commerce of Indonesia, CFTC plans to present a crypto exchange to encourage a better ecosystem.

Jerry Sambuaga, Vice Minister of Commerce, stated that “The potential of crypto assets as a commodity is huge given a large amount of trade value. There will be changes in the behaviour of investors and traders in the near future, especially among young people who are starting to see crypto as a promising new space.”

Southeast Asia is also home to the highest NFT adopters globally, with many Asian artists gaining popularity and embracing the freedom to create through Web3. Compared to digital artwork, artists find blockchain a more convenient way of creating, selling and distributing NFTs.

There is no need for special treatment to store their artwork, and digital storage helps mitigate the problems that come with physical storage spaces. The use of blockchain technology has also helped artists reclaim ownership of their work.

The big challenge for Web3

Despite the many use cases discussed above, it is still early days for Web3 in the region. Experts often cite hype as a reason for Web3’s growing success. This advancement also requires investing in new technologies and infrastructure, something companies in less developed countries in the region may struggle with.

Also Read: Meet the 22 Web3 investors that are ready to rock the future with your startup

Without funding, companies won’t be able to take their technologies to the next level – they won’t be able to grow their business, hire the right talent, and expand into new markets. If these factors are not considered in great detail, Web3 will see short-term growth and remain ‘a fad’ as experts say.

Funding to us was one of the biggest hindrances in the continuous growth of Southeast Asia’s Web3 space. This is why as the domain expert, we teamed up with Finch Asia and Indogen Capital to launch the Cydonia Fund.

The fund focuses solely on emerging Southeast Asia Web3 projects in their pre-seed and series B stage. Through the fund, we hope to discover new and emerging technologies and support the development of more innovative and disruptive Web3 focused projects and companies in Southeast Asia.

Thriving in a Web3 future

To ensure that Web3’s bright future remains long-term, it is essential to strengthen and internalise university students, communities and enthusiasts with the knowledge of Web3.

As the next generation to nurture and optimise Web3 adoption, initiating a public-private partnership between universities and the blockchain industry for us is key.

Identify your resources and reach out to the right people for Web3 startups looking to make a name for yourselves in Southeast Asia.

Seeking out the right funding and partnering with the right organisations is also crucial in setting up your business for success. 

Networking with experts is another great tool to abide by to enhance your industry knowledge and build a strong community. Not only will they advocate for your products and services, but they will also provide you with a 360 feedback approach to thrive in the business landscape.

While it’s still early days for Web3, we’ve seen the power its technologies hold, and we’re excited to see the change it’ll bring about in Southeast Asia.

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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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Eurazeo, a leading global investment company based in Paris, has launched a EUR 200 million (US$213 million) insurtech fund as it expands its presence in Southeast Asia.

The VC firm has named Albert Shyy as Managing Director (Venture), who will lead the fund from its Singapore office. Shyy previously held various key roles at Burda Principal, STRIVE (formerly GREE Ventures), and Lazada Group.

In Southeast Asia, Eurazeo invests in Series B and Series C stage companies. It recently led a US$65 million Series B round of Qoala.

The VC fund also has offices in New York, London, Frankfurt, Berlin, Milan, Madrid, Luxembourg, Shanghai, Seoul, and Sao Paulo.

e27 had a quick chat with Shyy about the VC fund’s plans in Southeast Asia.

Excerpts:

Why did Eurazeo decide to expand to Southeast Asia, although the EU region presents excellent opportunities and remains largely untapped?

Eurazeo has a long track record across Europe and will continue to invest in that market across multiple stages and asset classes.

However, the firm is also seeking to internationalise, particularly in the US and Asia, to double AUM to US$60 billion in the next five to seven years.

Southeast Asia has seen tremendous growth over the past few years, and we are excited to look for more investment opportunities in this region as the market expands.

There are already a few investors focusing on the insurtech vertical in the region. Why does it need another fund? What opportunities does it present to Eurazeo?

I think we can complement many of the existing funds that are active in this sector, which tend to be more focused on the earlier stages. We see more insurtech companies in this region grow beyond Series A, which feeds into our target as growth investors.

It can also bring broader access to international markets from having our base in Europe and potentially additional pools of capital from within the Eurazeo platform down the road.

Also Read: Why Asia’s insurance industry is poised for collaborative disruption

Also, this fund will have a greater focus on the insurance sector than most funds, which tend to have broader mandates. It will also let us build deeper connections within the industry, including our Limited Partner, a global insurer interested in this region.

I believe there will undoubtedly be opportunities for more commercial or strategic partnerships with industry players through this fund.

Can you share more details about the fund — the philosophy, number of investments planned, the average ticket size, etc. Have you identified any startups for investments yet?

We are looking at growth stage opportunities (Series B and C), with a typical cheque size of US$10-20 million+. We have the flexibility to lead or co-invest. We have made the first investment into Qoala, where we led its Series B round.

Does the regional fund plan to invest in startups across APAC or SEA?

The fund can invest across APAC, but the primary focus is on SEA. Ideally, about two-thirds of the investments would be made in this region

How is the overall insurtech industry growing in SEA? Where is it headed?

While the sector is already sizeable (over US$100 billion gross written premium), insurance penetration rates are still low across most of this region, especially Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam (less than 3 per cent in each market, as per a report by BCG and ZA Tech last year).

At the same time, we are seeing digitalisation accelerate growth/adoption as in many industries (more data to inform risk/pricing/product creation, ability to access more consumers faster and more efficiently, including within more rural areas, etc.). The latest Temasek-Google-Bain report predicts the digital insurance market to reach US$9 billion by 2025 from US$3 billion currently, so we see rapid market expansion in the digital/tech segment as well.

There are multiple insurtech models in the region. Do you see a bright future for any models here? Why?

It’s a bit early for me to say as I would like to dig deeper into each segment. However, since penetration and awareness are still so low in most markets here, I think products that can build awareness/trial (such as micro-insurance) or those make the whole customer journey much easier (D2C, agents, embedded models) can make a significant impact.

Do you foresee potential applications for crypto/blockchain/web3 in the insurtech vertical?

It is tricky because of the high volatility and limited oversight/regulation. But I think the demand is certainly there, and companies will figure out smarter ways to price and cover risk in this space.

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The concept of consumer credit at point-of-sale has existed for many years. What started out as merchant loans, originally to farmers,  later evolved into bank lending and credit cards.

In recent years there have been further evolutions to how consumer credit is offered and structured, transformed mainly by the advent of big data, digital identities and smartphones.

Technology like this enables fintech companies to easily gather customer profiles and user behaviour, allowing them to approve loans in just a few seconds. The result is that non-bank credit providers have become more competitive than ever, giving traditional banks a run for their money.

Buy now, pay later, or BNPL is a short-term finance solution that enables consumers to pay for goods and services in (usually) interest-free instalments.

With BNPL players like Klarna marketing to young people, with a little help from Snoop Dogg, the service has quickly become commonplace amongst millennials and Gen Zs to keep up with peers and quickly access the latest trends in an instant.

In Southeast Asia alone, US$92 billion in transactions are expected to be reached by 2025, and in Singapore specifically, the Government has recognised the growth of BNPL in neighbouring markets. A working group has been launched to develop a code of conduct for all BNPL providers.

This signifies burgeoning regulatory attention towards BNPL and the potential of the payment method gaining even further ground.

Changing consumer spending and purchasing habits

Following Klarna’s success footsteps, more and more fintech companies and merchants are expanding. Onboarding this instalment financing onto their payment mix, with BNPL now being a popular payment method globally with Atome, hoolah,  Rely, and now Grab, getting in on the act with Grab PayLater being one of the most popular players in Singapore.

It is no secret that the onset of the pandemic saw a decline in consumer spending across the globe. Still, even before then, BNPL served as a budgeting tool for consumers, allowing them to delay payments and spread costs, gratifying their needs and wishes almost instantaneously.

The massive shift of commerce to e-commerce then created the perfect environment for BNPL to thrive online.

Also Read: Why the Buy Now Pay Later concept makes sense for the Southeast Asian market

BNPL offers a gateway to materialise big-ticket items or necessary purchases over staggered payments for millennials who are just kickstarting their career or have less spending power. Millennials also prefer this “no-strings convenience” and feeling of control that BNPL offers, unlike traditional credit, which is often accompanied by high-interest rates and fees. If Snoop Dogg endorses it, why not try it!

An experience-driven economy and a sense of agency

This has led to innovation in the sector. What started as a method for online payments has evolved into an option at in-store checkouts, not just in clothing and physical goods retailers but also in bars, restaurants, cafés and even healthcare providers like dentists and wellness services.

Buy now, pay later has evolved into live now, pay later (LNPL),  a way to unlock more intangible services like experiences and modes of self-improvement – letting people live now and worry about the cost later.

This evolution is no accident. To appeal to this generation, tech players have gone to great lengths to understand what makes young people tick.

With the last two years keeping most of the world’s population at home during the pandemic, now more than ever, there is a notable shift in consumer behaviour whereby the youth of today value experiences over material possessions, especially as global travel resumes.

Meanwhile, having a sense of control and agency over key aspects of their lives is highly important to this demographic, and financial independence is essential.

LNPL enables young people to have the freedom to purchase desired experiences and items while downplaying the concerns of not having enough funds upfront, out of sight, out of mind.

LNPL becomes the enabler of living in the moment and casting financial worries aside; perhaps this is something the regulators noticed. Hence the current attention is focused on the industry.

Is live now, pay later here to stay?

Where healthcare services in many parts of the world are deemed unaffordable and out of reach, LNPL could enable consumers to access the healthcare they need by paying in instalments, such as accessing dental treatments when required or even when required therapy or more specialist treatments.

Also Read: The rising era of buy now, pay later in APAC

It could also be extended to educational or vocational courses to help young people improve their career prospects or upskill. This is beneficial to consumers, but it also enables merchants to open up to new consumer audiences for the first time, including those just starting in their careers.

It is worth noting that BNPL has, over recent years, received a lot of criticism from those who think it is encouraging young people to spend beyond their means, shop impulsively, and sign up for payments at a later date that they cannot keep up with, resulting in debt and poor credit ratings.

But its latest evolution, LNPL, has great utility in being a force for good amongst wellness-conscious and experience-driven consumers. For the large part, LNPL and BNPL fintech have taken on the responsibility to ensure their consumers do not overburden themselves with debt.

However, more regulation may be required to ensure a standardised approach to this new form of lending, but that is a discussion for another time.

In summary, buy now, pay later and its cousin,  live now, pay later, bring endless opportunities for consumers and merchants alike, continuing to transform how we prefer to pay for things and who can experience them, and when these experiences can happen.

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The post Buy now, pay later 2.0 has arrived: Live now, pay later appeared first on e27.

In the industry vertical of 5G and broader information and communications technology, it is integral to expand and strengthen networks and connections, not only for bolstering infrastructure but also for leveraging talent. As part of its endeavour to continue collaborating with the next cohort of 5G innovators, Taiwan-based Asia Pacific Telecom 5G (APT 5G) Accelerator returns in 2022 and recently concluded their demo day last May 26.

This edition’s APT 5G Accelerator demo day featured a diverse range of startups, from B2B solution providers to face recognition technology. These startups represent some of the most exciting new players, ushering in a new era of innovation not only within the Taiwan startup ecosystem but as well as across the Asia Pacific and beyond.

Also read: How to build a business with scalability in Asia’s vibrant economy?

The first prize-winning startup has received NTD250,000 (USD8,500), a trophy, and a certificate. Four other startup teams received a POC Verify prize for their 5G artificial intelligence of things application, receiving NTD50,000 (USD1,700), a trophy, and a certificate, per team.

Asia Pacific Telecom 5G Accelerator winners

Below are the five winning teams for this cohort:

First prize: Tenderdigi is building a solution to assist in regulating emotional and psychological challenges in children and adults, specifically those who have issues with hyperactivity and difficulty in sleeping, through the sensing of brainwaves.

The other startups that made it into the top five are:

Seashore Networks is a B2B startup providing solutions that offer better connectivity and security through their software. Compared to the more mainstreamed WiFi technology, their solution is easily upgradeable with broader coverage.

Asiania is building a full-stack platform for event organising that can host events and guide event organisers throughout the process, incorporating the use of augmented and virtual reality in its technology roadmap for a higher fidelity event experience.

Yunpin offers technology with better telepresence, allowing for higher quality cross-border communications for businesses to stay connected by way of 360-degree cameras, on top of the usual speaker and microphone.

MyWay Tech offers seamless integration for its clients and users, through face recognition technology, AI bot integration, application development and thermal technology. It provides customizability to its clients, improving business decision-making and integration of systems processes.

Also read: The future of infrastructure is in tech innovation

Everyone’s a winner with access to resources

The other startups that pitched in the demo day event are Mishkan Limited, It’s Alive Studio, Fantopy and Quest Edtech. Details on the other pitching startups can be found here.

As in its support to winning startups in 2021, the winners of this cohort get the opportunity to access APT 5G Accelerator resources such as a 5G lab to further develop their solutions, connection opportunities with partners, and digital platform resources to market their products, as well as support to expand in Taiwan including cash bonuses up to NT$250,000.

These startups are receiving guidance in establishing international partnerships and market expansion initiatives. With 5G+AIoT as the central theme, the interrelated tech focus areas for this competition are virtual reality (VR), cloud software, Internet of Things (IoT), and big data, across industry applications in education, entertainment and gaming. 

The judges for the 2022 APT 5G Accelerator demo day are 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.

Also read: oVice, a virtual office platform, uses innovative technology to redefine remote work

Several organisations have made the support and progress of the APT 5G Accelerator possible. Asia Pacific Telecom (APT) is a wireless telecom leader and the first telco to bring 5G services to Taiwan. They have partnered with the Philippines’ largest telco, PLDT, and Singapore based venture capital firms, Qualgro and KKFund.

As it incubates startup ventures in the 5G space, the program also matches 5G startups with businesses and investors to promote innovation and cross-border exchange of ideas and creative talent, thereby expanding opportunities in the industry. This makes the accelerator an ideal springboard for deep tech startups to demonstrate their 5G solutions and execute their proof-of-concept testing and verification, through the resources provided by APT and its international organisational partners.

APT has continued to open regional opportunities for startups in the 5G space, fortifying collaboration among innovators and pushing technological frontiers forward. Learn more about the APT 5G accelerator through their official website.

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

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The post Top 5G Startups in 2022 Announced appeared first on e27.

Blibli plans to raise US$500M in imminent Indonesia IPO
The Djarum Group-backed company plans to raise at US$4B pre-money valuation; The potential listing could take place in June-July; As part of the plan, Blibli and Ticket.com will merge and conduct the IPO together as one group.

Malaysia’s services marketplace Kaodim shutters operations
The prolonged lockdowns during the pandemic and the resulting operational disruptions, labour shortages, and higher running costs significantly impacted the business; Its backers include 500 Startups, East Ventures, and Venturra.

Grab backer Eurazeo sets aside US$215M for SEA insurtech fund
The fund is targeting growth-stage startups at their series B or C rounds with cheque sizes of US$10-20M; Indonesia and Thailand are some of the fund’s priority countries.

MoEngage nets US$77M Series E led by Goldman Sachs, B Capital
MoEngage will use the capital to deepen its geographic footprint in the US, the UK, and Asia and explore strategic acquisitions; In the last 12 months, MoEngage claims to have grown ARR by 105%+, added 500 new customers.

Binance VC arm closes US$500M fund for Web3 projects
Investors include DST Global and Breyer Capital; Binance Labs has invested in over 100 projects, spanning 25 countries, since 2018; Axie Infinity, Elrond, Polygon, and The Sandbox are among its portfolio.

Indonesia’s social commerce startup Super banks US$70M Series C led by NEA
Other investors in the round include Insignia, SoftBank Asia, DST Global, Amasia, B Capital, and TNB Aura; Super will use the money to develop new FMCG private-label brands in the next several years and launch cosmetics products.

SG family office Silverstrand Capital launches biodiversity accelerator
At the end of The Biodiversity Accelerator+’s three-month online programme, participants can unlock investments of up to US$250K each; The firm targets eight companies for the first cohort.

Japans’s Akatsuki launches US$20M Web3 fund
The Emoote fund will focus on early-stage investing that includes seed capital, mainly in Asia (50 per cent) and the US (40 per cent); Emoote has invested in more than 20 projects so far.

Matrixport betting big on NFTs, blockchain gaming to expand its cryptocurrency financial services
Matrixport provides services, including Cactus Custody, spot OTC, fixed income, structured products, lending, and asset management.

500 Global opens doors for 2022 Taiwan accelerator
The accelerator program has openings for 20 tech startups, with registrations scheduled to run from June 1 to July 1 this year; The programme seeks tech-focused or tech-enabled startups at the pre-seed or seed stage.

HitPay raises US$15.75M Series A to expand its payment gateway biz in SEA
Investors include Tiger Global, Global Founders Capital and HOF Capital; HitPay provides solutions such as local and cross-border payment acceptance and payouts, an online store platform, POS software, plugins, and payment links.

Indonesia’s social ecommerce platform Dagangan bags US$6.6M funding
Investors include BTPN Syariah and a subsidiary of Sumitomo Mitsui Banking; The firm will use the money to expand its presence in more rural areas across Java, and also enhance its product development as it looks to offer products beyond physical goods.

Singapore crypto firm Cloudwall bags US$6.3M in seed round
Lead investors are LocalGlobe and Illuminate Financial; Cloudwall’s Serenity provides institutional investors with the risk management insights to effectively build portfolios and manage risks inherent in digital assets.

Privyr raises US$6M Series A to help B2C firms convert leads right from their phones
Investors are MassMutual Ventures, Vulcan Capital, and Wavemaker Partners; Privyr is a mobile-first sales productivity and workflow management tool which is used by 45K sales professionals across 75+ countries.

Ringkas raises US$2.3M pre-seed round to create 100M new homeowners in SEA
Investors include 500 Global, Iterative Capital, Creative Gorilla Capital, Teja Ventures, and Init-6; Ringkas aims to solve the housing problem by digitising the value chain and creating an intelligent platform that would simplify the process.

Coins.Ph Co-Founder Ron Hose’s new NFT rental marketplace Playdex nets US$2M
Investors are PDAX, OrangeDAO, Buko Ventures, Justin Mateen, and others; On Playdex, metaverse gamers can play and earn immediately without buying expensive NFTs.

Singapore co-working firm Found8 to exit Malaysia
ts KL Sentral location, which opened in the fourth quarter of 2019, was Found8’s first venture outside Singapore; The co-working sector in Malaysia has been hit especially hard by the country’s prolonged movement control orders.

Ex-Gojek, Oyo execs’ agritech startup Eratani bags US$1.6M in pre-seed
Investors include Trihill Capital, Kopital Network and Kenangan Fund; The Indonesian startup helps farmers improve land efficiency, acquire farming supplies, manage their harvest, and get access to loans.

HK think tank’s edutech venture Gift.ed bags US$1M in pre-seed round
The investor is IMC Pan Asia Alliance; It will incorporate the think tank’s existing publications and executive education curriculum, which is based on 15 years of leadership programmes and workshops.

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The post Ecosystem Roundup: Blibli plans to raise US$500M in IPO; Eurazeo launches US$215M insurtech fund for SEA; Kaodim shuts down appeared first on e27.