The entertainment industry has always been the entry point for the Web3 space, as we can see in the case of the popular game Axie Infinity and how it is able to popularise the concept of play-to-earn in Southeast Asia –to the point where some players are even using the game as the primary income.

But there continue to be untapped opportunities that overlap between the entertainment industries and the Web3 space. This is where companies such as Chronicle step in.

In a statement, the company listed down the problems in the NFT space that it aims to solve with its solutions, and these problems range from the “chaotic, jumbled, standardless” NFT space and the copyright and license issues that come with it; environmental concerns; and particularly the unfamiliarity of major entertainment companies with the technology.

As an NFT marketplace, it sets itself apart by working together with major studios such as Universal, NBC Universal, and Amblin Entertainment to produce licensed digital collectibles of their top film franchises. An example of their works included one that they have done for the popular magic show Penn & Teller Fool Us which allows fans to purchase digital collectibles and gain access to exclusive content such as behind-the-scenes.

“Basically providing a service for brands to be able to get their IP into a platform where they know that it is basically controlled,” explains co-founder Tim Glover in a call with e27.

It also aims to bring an NFT experience that is easier to use, enabling the wider audience to tap into the technology. Its app included features such as email sign-up and USD onboarding via payment integration partners such as Stripe and PayPal.

“One of the points of differentiation for us and some of the other marketplaces … is that we are a marketplace that is user-friendly, makes it easy for somebody to buy an NFT and to sell in US dollars. It is credit card-based; you don’t have to have a crypto wallet. And that was something that brands really responded to,” explains Chronicle CMO Doug Neil in the same interview.

Also Read: NFTs: The future musicians were promised is finally here

Chronicling the journey

The story of Chronicle began just last year, exactly as the concept of NFTs began to peak in society. Prior to founding the company, co-founders Glover and Jim Jin have had experience in both the entertainment and blockchain industries. Glover used to handle marketing and franchise consultant for Universal and Amblin’s Jurassic World franchise, creating immersive digital content, while Jin has invested in blockchain projects since 2016.

As CMO, Neil is a senior entertainment executive with over 10 years of experience in digital marketing at Universal Pictures.

“We came up with the idea of Chronicle about late Q1 of last year and got the team together in Q2. At that time, the NFT boom had just happened,” Glover says.

“We saw an opportunity to do two things: we wanted to make the purchasing of NFTs as easy as possible for both the fans and the beloved entertainment brands. For anyone that is not really familiar with an NFT, we wanted to make that journey as easy as possible for them … if you do not have to have a crypto wallet, you could use a credit card, and you log into your account and your collectibles are there in your account. The same thing goes for brands who are also navigating the NFT space, like the established entertainment brands, who do not know much about this technology.”

Chronicle is divided into three different business units. In addition to the blockchain unit that provides NFT-as-a-service to entertainment companies, it also runs a 3D animation studio that works on digital marketing campaigns for clients, including campaigns for the recently released Jurassic World.

“It has been great for Chronicle because it provides us a revenue stream for doing animation services. It is also allowing us to show off the quality of our work,” explains Glover.

The company is run by a fully remote team of nine who are based in various countries from the US to Australia.

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

On the future of NFT and the entertainment industry

Since its launch in September, Chronicle said that it has gathered more than 15,000 registered users, providing access to officially licensed NFTs to global fans.

For the company, this is certainly not the end of its journey as they intend to continue on expanding its offerings.

“We are continuing to expand our offerings and brands are very receptive to that … as we are executing our plan, we are finding out what is working and wanting to lean into that as we are developing and broadening our relationships,” says Neil.

When asked about the future of NFTs, and how the company plans to seize the existing opportunities, Glover believes we are going to see more exciting use cases built around utility and community.

“It’s probably fair to say that it’s just about scalability and whether a game with already a million users introduce NFTs into it … I think a lot more NFT projects are coming and they have the backing of the NFT and crypto blockchain community. [But the big question here is] what does that represent in the real world? It is probably only one to five per cent [of all the fans],” he says, stressing the importance of NFT projects to reach out to the wider public.

“We need to get past all of these issues of copyright infringement or stolen wallets, all of these problems that the NFT and crypto industry are experiencing, which is the reason why Chronicle exists in the first place. If we are able to get through that, you will start to see adoption as some of these legacy companies will start to look at entities a bit closer.”

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Image Credit: Chronicle

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Nearly everyone in the tech ecosystem is familiar with the idea of fundraising for a startup. Some of us also know the ins and outs of raising for a particular fund, where investors pool capital from other investors who believe in their particular thesis.

Comparatively less known is the concept of investor relations for an entire country. I like to call this startup diplomacy.

These ambassadors, if you will, bridge markets, nations, or regions with a much broader, macro-level goal: To connect the investors in one part of the world with the entrepreneurs in need of capital in another.

These cross-border investments ultimately come through particular startups or funds, but the larger mission is to promote the particular market as a whole. It’s waving the flag for an ecosystem.

Fundraising for the Philippines

One such startup ambassador is Emil Banno. As the founder and CEO of consultancy JCash, which has offices in Tokyo and Manila, he attracts Japanese investors into the Philippines.

Also Read: Understanding the traction metrics that investors are looking for in an early-stage startup

While fundraising at the startup level is often digitally enabled, including everything from deal flow origination to term sheet signing, country-level investor relations are surprisingly more hands-on.

Banno frequently travels back and forth between Japan and the Philippines, sometimes alternating between the two every other month, making good use of his fluency in both Filipino and Japanese. Banno said such is necessary for relationship-building. 

“These investors are usually very seasoned regarding local investments, but they may have less knowledge of other markets. A cold email won’t do in this case. You need to meet with them in person to build trust. In this way, you can make the opportunity profile of your home market fully real and attractive,” he said. 

This kind of work is done across both formal and casual settings. In some instances, Banno visits Japan as part of an official delegation, such as for the Japan Cryptocurrency Forum in 2018, where other fintech leaders joined him in the Philippines, such as Ron Hose, the founder of Coins.ph and Justo Ortiz, the chairman of the board for Unionbank, among many others.

Banno is more commonly pursuing Japanese investors on his own, at their offices, coffee shops, or other informal venues. He emphasised his goal is not just to raise capital; even as one of the more nascent markets in Southeast Asia, the Philippines already has enough of that available within its borders. Instead, Banno argued that information exchange is the most important.

“The capital is secondary. Cross-border investment is important because the investors often have domain expertise that can help the companies they fund scale. In my case, for example, our Filipino companies have benefited from the expertise of our Japanese investors in technology, design, and operations,” said Banno.

Banno has helped attract investment into Filipino businesses across various industries, from agriculture and retail to fintech and e-commerce. He makes most of his living at these exchanges.

In some cases, he co-invests, and in others, he provides consulting to the Japanese companies about the best way to structure the deal, or even technology partners, such as in his recent selection of BLX for any Japanese business needs blockchain or web3 tech in the Philippines. 

Though it may sound counter-productive, he often has no vested interest in the deal, venture, or fund in many cases. Such is the nature of faith in this type of ambassadorship.

The core belief of Banno and others like him is that a rising tide lifts all ships, and helping the ecosystem in some small way now will eventually pay dividends in the form of future business or investment opportunities, or even more abstractly, the availability of better products and services at home in the Philippines. This faith is rooted in a kind of techno-patriotism.

Also Read: A shoutout to the unsung heroes in tech, the connectors

“What I love about my work is that it is indeed a kind of ambassadorship. Only instead of connecting nations, I’m negotiating resources between two business ecosystems. This collaboration results in a better Philippines and even a better brand: We communicate to investors and entrepreneurs alike that you can build anything here,” said Banno.

Shrinking Asia Pacific through linkages

During his work, Banno has met others like him with backgrounds in entrepreneurship, investing, finance, and consulting. He encouraged more people in the ecosystem to consider this kind of work.

While it occurs at the periphery, often behind the scenes and far away from tech headlines, there is arguably no more important work than connecting entire ecosystems.

For people interested in this line of work, he advised them to go farther, quite literally. 

“We don’t need people who can bridge Malaysia, Singapore, or Australia and New Zealand. We need business leaders who can connect markets geographically far from one another and substantially different in culture, economy, and society. In tapping these extremes, we can find the complementary resources necessary to entrepreneurship,” said Banno.

Banno, of course, is not alone. Individuals, organisations, and even governments all over the Asia Pacific strive to draw linkages, connections, and collaborations between different markets. These efforts are diverse in execution. 

Some individuals, like Banno, set up consultancies to operationalise their cross-cultural work. Some organisations create programmes that help investors become more comfortable with investing in a particular market and sometimes make outright introductions to investable businesses.

Some governments provide financial incentives and, more importantly, market education to better attract investors.

Though these efforts may be diverse, they are united by a common but inspiring conceit: the Asia Pacific is a truly dynamic, interconnected economic region whose full value we can unlock by seeing past our differences and making connections that transcend culture.

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Indonesia-based waste treatment company Octopus has announced it has secured US$5 million in a funding round led by Openspace Ventures and SOSV.

The startup will use the capital to expand its services to new cities and strengthen its ecosystem. The plan is to onboard 100,000 waste collectors by 2024. It will also look to acquire over one million users.

Also Read: How Gringgo leverages AI to help improve existing waste management system in Indonesia

Octopus was established in 2021 by Mohammad Ichsan, Hamish Daud, Niko Adi Nugroho, Rizki Mardian and Dimas Ario. The company connects users to local waste collectors that will buy and pick up their post-consumer products. The wastes range from plastic and electronic appliances.

The waste collectors are provided with smartphones to help make picking up orders and setting prices easier. In addition, Octopus also gives them access to its own digital wallet.

According to the firm, it currently has 150,000 monthly active users and more than 60,000 waste collectors on its platform. It currently operates five sorting facilities and 1,700 checkpoints in Jakarta, Bandung, Bali and Makassar. These facilities together handle 380 tonnes of waste a month.

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

It has also joined hands with 20 firms to help them with Extended Producer Responsibility compliance.

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Indonesia-based early wage access (EWA) platform Kini announced that it has raised a US$4.3 million (IDR64 billion) seed funding round led by East Ventures with the participation of Ten13, OurCrowd, K50 Ventures, dan Goodwater Capital.

Interestingly, this is the second portfolio of East Ventures that is working in the EWA vertical, following its investment in wagely in March.

Kini plans to use the new funding to build a new range of HR tech products, expand partnerships, and add HR technology to strengthen its fintech offering through one API.

“We are excited to partner with East Ventures and all of our investors. Their support is crucial in accelerating our mission to create a better life for 99 per cent of workers in Indonesia, especially those who live from paycheck to paycheck,” said Kini Co-Founder & CEO Jordan Fain in a press statement on Thursday, July 7.

Kini was founded in 2021 by Fain and CTO Sidnei Budiman, a veteran in the local fintech industry. Thanks to his experience during his time at Uber, Fain realised that tightening the payment cycle helps improve retention and acquisition. Because of this, he believes that Kini can help in empowering businesses especially in managing large-scale blue-collar workers.

Also Read: Resolution Ventures makes first close of US$20M fintech fund, targets early stage startups

In Southeast Asia, particularly in Indonesia, there are millions of underbanked blue-collar workers who live paycheck to paycheck. They have limited access to credit, making them vulnerable to predatory loan practices.

“The need for financial inclusion for Indonesians has become more urgent than before. We believe in Kini’s mission to revolute the way millions of workers manage their finance to achieve greater financial freedom. We are certain that the Kini team will be a valuable partner for many companies in Indonesia,” said East ventures Partner Melisa Irene.

Kini claimed to be able to achieve growth in its monthly transaction volume by 70 per cent with more than 50 companies teaming up with them. Some of its notable users included Ismaya Group, Asaba, DOKU, and several publicly listed companies. These companies are also integrated into their HRIS (Human Resources Information System).

Kini is being run by a team of 10 people.

The EWA business model

Like many other players in the EWA fields, Kini provides an on-demand salary service (EWA) to help employees of partner companies manage their finances. This fast liquidation process enables employees to pay bills and purchase micro-insurance.

Kini also adds other features that are meant to support the works of the HR department, including instant incentive liquidation, discount vouchers, telecommunication, salary services, API integration, integrated HR information, and a time-tracking feature.

Unlike lending fintech platforms that uses interest rates as a revenue stream, EWA uses a different approach. For salary liquidation service, they are charging a flat tariff for a certain nominal, i.e IDR30,000 admin fee for every IDR1.2 million that is liquidated.

Apart from that, as a startup that is targeting the B2B segment, EWA platforms also have other revenue streams, including fees from HR tech platforms, API, and payments.

Also Read: Vietnamese fintech startups Finhay nets US$25M Series B, Anfin bags US$4.8M pre-Series A

VC funding for EWA platforms

Apart from Kini, there is already a number of startups in Indonesia that working on a similar concept, including GajiGesa, wagely, Gigacover, GajiKoin by KoinWorks, Vinmo, Mekari Flex, Halogaji from Halofina, GetPaid, and Gajiku. The majority of these players have already been supported by VC funding.

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The article was written by Marsya Nabila in Bahasa Indonesia for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

Image Credit: Kini

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e27 and Market Access present the Market Access Series — designed to help companies expand to markets in Southeast Asia. As each country has its own regulations, culture, challenges, and opportunities, this webinar series shares invaluable insights through industry experts from each country to help you figure out the best way to get started.

Each live episode in the series will focus on a specific country and features panellists from government agencies, VCs, and global employment platform Globalization Partners discussing business and fundraising opportunities, challenges, considerations in expansion, tips, best practices, and available support.

Moderated by Dennis Poh, CEO of Legatcy, the panellists for the Market Access: Thailand episode were Woraphot Kingkawkantong, VC Investment Head at Beacon Venture Capital; Pariwat Wongsamran, Director of Entrepreneur and Enterprise and Director of Startup Thailand at the National Innovation Agency; and Charles Ferguson, General Manager – Asia Pacific at Globalization Partners.

Reasons your startup should expand to Thailand

The webinar started with a discussion on why companies should consider expanding to Thailand. Wongsamran explained that Thailand is most suited as a test market lab for companies looking to expand to Southeast Asia. “We have many people here who like to be early adopters like in the B2B and fintech sectors and we have many corporates who would like to work together with startups. Thailand is a very good test market for startups to make sure that they develop the product-market fit and are ready to expand to the rest of Southeast Asia,” he remarked.

“We have a market of about 70 million people to make sure that we can fulfil industry needs. The government wants to develop infrastructure to help foreign startups operate here and we have set up Global Startup Hubs in Bangkok and Chiang Mai. Thailand is a strategic location and strategic market in Southeast Asia. Many foreign companies would like to land here but they don’t know about the local market well so we try to provide consultancy and help connect them to the local networks free of charge,” he added.

Also read: Looking back and moving forward: Leave a Nest at 20

Charles Ferguson, General Manager of Globalization Partners, added that it’s important to understand the Thai people’s impressive work ethic. “The people of Thailand have shown they have an innovative spirit and desire to progress their ambition. The incredibly well-educated population is remarkably talented across a whole spectrum of indicators.”

The latest e-Conomy SEA 2021 report valued the Thai technology industry market opportunity at 30 billion US dollars. In 2021, 1.1 billion US dollars was raised across 31 deals versus 500 million across 27 in 2020 which points to a significant amount of growth happening in Thailand.

Under the World Bank’s rating of easiest places in the world for doing business, Thailand is ranked 21st. This illustrates a well-designed infrastructure for global startups to plug themselves in and scale. This is also why if you ask any startup looking to scale, it is very rare for a company to consider expansion plans in Southeast Asia while counting out Thailand as a possible global destination.

The Board of investments in Thailand has also built tax incentives, support services, import duty exemptions, and reductions for investment costs, helping mitigate a lot of risks — all to streamline investments going in. On top of that, the country is also a generally nice place to live in which is an important variable, especially because when you’re dealing with resiliency and mental health, various structures are needed in place to support businesses and the people that run them to achieve a great balance in their lives.

Business and fundraising opportunities for startups in the Thailand market

The fundraising landscape in the Thai market shows that a majority of capital raised by startups in Thailand — 70 to 80 per cent — comes from corporate venture capital firms. “That signifies the willingness that bigger corporates are willing to work with startups unlike other countries,” said Kingkawkantong.

He added, “the more formal channel would be through the NIA or other agencies who are looking to act as a door opener for foreign businesses. So I would say either go through the formal channels or just try to reach out to different corporates or even to startups, because they would have experiences working with the bigger corporates and can refer you to the partners already working with them.”

Wongsamran said that if a startup would like to expand but is not ready to set up the company yet, Thailand has several visa options. “We work together with BOI to give the SMART visa before you execute the company — you can get the smart visa also for talent and spouses/children. We would like to let foreign startups easily penetrate the market and understand the market first before setting up here. We also have incubation programmes in vertical industries, with the first one for food technology.”

Also read: Startup scaling and the woes of corporate financing: How PikoHANA fills the gap

Kingkawkantong said that “[For] series A onwards, there are a ton of choices for you because a lot of corporates have their innovation funds or VCs. Whichever industry you’re in, there are VCs that are eager to discuss with you. Besides the corporate and financial venture capital, there are a lot of investors as well looking to invest in great companies and help you succeed in the Thai market.”

“For early-stage capital, the landscape is very active as well, and there are a lot of successful and big angel investor networks out there,” he added. Ferguson said that companies that are pre-Series A can also start looking around at accelerators and incubator programmes. “There are some phenomenally cool accelerators and innovation programmes funded by corporates in different segments like agritech and of course, fintech and NFTs/blockchain, etc.”

How can companies effectively scale in Thailand?

The discussion also included strategies on how companies can scale in Thailand quickly and effectively. What competitive advantages does Thailand’s tech talent workforce provide and how can startups leverage technology to their advantage? 

Kingkawkantong feels the best way to grow isn’t to start cold and to try to invent everything by yourself. “A lot of corporates are eager and desire to collaborate with different startups to help boost their business as well, and that means there is a ton of opportunity to grow together with businesses such as banks, construction, or property sectors. There is room to build synergy and partnership,” he pointed out. 

Ferguson suggested that startups should prepare an appropriate pre-departure checklist before expanding to Thailand. “Do your homework and understand the legal aspects of expansion. For example, there are ownership restrictions around businesses so foreign investors opening a Thai limited company are limited to a maximum of 49 per cent ownership. 

With entity setup and infrastructure deployment, there are several things to consider. Getting work permits, appointing shareholders, taxes — all these different things can be challenging, remarked Ferguson. “So I want to advocate for people to consider alternative ways and means by which you test a market before you go all in.”

He continued: “From a talent point of view, you want to be able to navigate the cultural nuances and be able to plug into local partner networks.

How technology plays a part in helping companies get a headstart

Ferguson remarked that countries like Thailand have had access to free or low-cost open-source software in the last 20 years. He explained how this led to the proliferation of innovative, technology-driven startups, which also fostered a rich talent pool. “You’ve got access to incredibly talented engineers in these markets which don’t necessarily exist in high volume in the more mature markets, so I would advocate that companies look for talent in these markets.”

Speaking of leveraging technology solutions, Ferguson said that in terms of speed, his number one key performance indicator is the time to value (TTV). Technology can have a great streamlining effect, but it depends on how you utilise it to get a strategic advantage. “When technology is deployed with a strategic partner who knows how to maximise the impact of that technology in the market, that’s where the time to value comes in,” said Ferguson.

Also read: oVice releases its biggest interface update

Technology solutions like Globalization Partners’ Global Employment Platform are already localised and ready for the Thai market with compliant labour contracts, access to benefits, and payroll specific to the Thai market so you can hire local talent quickly and compliantly. To learn more, you can schedule a demo here.

In the Q&A session that followed, more tips were offered as the panellists shared insights on the potential for Web3 startups, how startups can tap into available grants from the NIA, and how to navigate tech talent hiring in Thailand.

To learn more, view the webinar here.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Globalization Partners

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