Singapore-based F&B tech company Chope has made a US$720,000 strategic investment into F&B digital payments provider Getz Group.

Per a statement, this partnership will enable diners to order and pay at restaurants across Singapore with their Chope app.

Singapore-based Getz is an ordering solution for F&B merchants that powers online food delivery, in-store table ordering solutions, and POS systems. Together, they can provide end-to-end modules covering all aspects of an F&B merchant’s needs.

Getz claims its systems process tens of millions of dollars in mobile payments.

Also Read: Chope secures US$15M as part of a strategic partnership with Ant Group

Both companies are actively working with restaurant partners to cater to new customer behaviours by consolidating touchpoints across the diner journey, such as discovery, restaurant marketing, ordering for on-premise, pick-up and delivery, among others.

Since the easing of COVID-19 restrictions, Chope’s markets have reported sales increases that exceed pre-pandemic times. Singapore takes the lead in this demand surge with double the diners seated in June 2022 than last year.

The Getz deal comes after local hawker SaaS and delivery vendor WhyQ raised US$360,000 from Chope as part of its Series A2 in November last year.

Steve Wah, Founder and CEO of Getz Group, said, “Chope and Getz bring together the best of both worlds for the F&B business to connect diners to restaurants and vice versa. The result of this partnership will empower F&B businesses to take control of its digital transformation while leveraging incremental traffic driven by Chope.”

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The economic downturn is here, and it’s not going away anytime soon. You can’t ignore it and assume that things will get back to normal eventually; you have to start acting now.

In this article, we’ll show you how to survive the economic downturn by using a few basic business principles that have been around for years but are just as relevant today as they were then:

Prioritise your topline

• Focus on what’s most important.
• Prioritise your top line.
• Remember that everyone can’t be number one in everything.
• Focus on what you can control, not the external factors that are beyond your control (and don’t matter).

Innovate and create new things

Innovation is the key to survival. It doesn’t matter if you’re a business or an individual, innovation is something that will help you get through these tough economic times. Innovation does not only mean technology; it can also be in the form of new products and services or even business models.

Innovation is a continuous process that starts from within yourself and then moves to your team members and then finally outside into the marketplace. It’s not just about creating something new; it’s also about making your existing business processes more efficient so they run faster while still meeting customer needs at an affordable price point (if possible).

Put your people first

Your people are the most important asset of your company. They are your brand, culture, customers, investors and even your future. In this economy, you can’t afford to be without them.

Because everyone is looking for new job opportunities or leaving their current ones behind in search of greener pastures (or just because they don’t have a choice), it’s more important than ever that you keep your best employees around and make sure they’re happy with their jobs so they stay put and convince other people to join too!

It’s also crucial that you focus on building an amazing team that will do great things together as one unit rather than trying to accomplish everything yourself by yourself all day every day with no help from anyone else at all except maybe some interns who showed up last minute because they saw the job posting online late at night while drunk browsing sites like Monster or Zillow after having spent hours playing video games instead of studying for finals like normal college students should’ve done but didn’t because life sucks sometimes so why bother doing anything productive when there’s Netflix available 24/7 waiting for us?

Use technology to your advantage

• Use technology to your advantage.
• Improve efficiency, communication and security in your business.
• Create an improved customer experience.

Optimise your spending, but not at the cost of innovation

The most obvious way to survive the recession is to optimise your spending. In this case, “optimise” means that you focus on spending money on the things that matter the most and give up spending any on those that don’t.

Also Read: Winter for tech startups is here? Here’s how to deal with it

For example, if you’re a restaurant owner and you notice that your profit margins are declining, then it would make sense for you to cut back on advertising or marketing efforts until business improves again.

However, there’s another side of this equation as well, in order to optimise your spending and keep costs in check while still being able to grow during these difficult times, you need innovation.

The key here is understanding where exactly your company stands right now and what exactly it needs at this point in time. You should look at all expenditures as investments; much like with investing funds into stocks or bonds (or whatever), it’s important not only when but how much money gets invested into something before determining whether or not those investments were worthwhile ones!

So think carefully about how valuable each dollar spent actually was! If a particular expenditure didn’t deliver results out of proportion with its cost then maybe we shouldn’t have spent so much money there after all.

Focus on cash flow and balance sheet management

• Focus on cash flow and balance sheet management
• Manage cash flow and inventory
• Use technology to improve cash flow
• Use technology to improve inventory management
• Use technology to improve your financial reporting
• Use technology to improve your credit management

Do what you can do the best to survive the economic downturn

• Focus on your strengths
• Have a strong team
• Keep your costs down
• Be flexible in the face of change and uncertainty; if you don’t know what to do, just keep doing what you’re doing for now (or go back to school)
• Have a plan for when things get better again

Final thoughts

To sum up, the only way to survive an economic downturn is to focus on your strengths and do what you do best.

If you’re an expert at something, make sure that your company does it well. If you have good people working for you, keep them happy and productive. Remember that just because times are hard doesn’t mean they always will be, so don’t give up on your dreams!

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Singapore-based impact investor Circulate Capital has announced the third close of Circulate Capital Ocean Fund I-B (CCOF I-B), bringing its total commitments to US$53 million.

International Finance Corporation invested US$10 million in CCOF I-B , while Proparco, a subsidiary of Agence Française de Développement (AFD) devoted to private-sector financing, injected US$5.6 million. IFC’s investment includes an equity commitment of US$5 million from the Finland-IFC Blended Finance for Climate Change Program.

The latest close brings Circulate Capital’s total assets under management to US$165 million. This comes more than seven months after it announced a US$25 million second close of CCOF I-B. The fund was launched in June 2021.

Also Read: Lack of visibility, track record deter VCs from investing in firms combating plastic pollution: Rob Kaplan of Circulate Capital

CCOF I-B invests in companies across the plastic recycling and waste-management value chains. It also supports early-stage firms working on new delivery models, advanced recycling technologies, and new alternatives to single-use plastic.

“The race to unlock the investment potential of the circular economy is heating up,” said Rob Kaplan, CEO and Founder of Circulate Capital. “With institutional investors like IFC and Proparco jumping in alongside global corporations, foundations, and family offices, and several of our portfolio companies achieving significant milestones, it’s clear that the time to invest in the circular economy is now.”

CCOF I-B is also backed by a number of international investors, including Align Impact, Builders Vision, Benjamin Duncan Group, DF Impact Capital, Eden Impact, Huang Chen Foundation, Jebsen & Jessen, Minderoo Foundation, Rumah Group, North-East Family Office, SK2 Fund, Twynam Investments, the Woodcock Foundation, and Neil Yeoh of OnePointFive.

In April 2022, Circulate Capital announced an expected commitment to be made later this year by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which will invest up to US$20 million in CCOF I-B.

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

William Sonneborn, IFC’s Senior Director of Disruptive Technologies and Funds, said: “The fund will help address plastic pollution and climate change through critical investments in recycling, waste management, and innovations in alternate materials and advanced recycling technologies. It will also increase access to much-needed capital for the small and medium-sized enterprises delivering these important solutions.”

Circulate Capital aims to deploy catalytic capital in partnership with leading corporations and investors to scale solutions that advance the circular economy and prevent the flow of plastic waste into the ocean in South and Southeast Asia. Launched in October 2018, the impact VC firm formed Circulate Capital Ocean Fund (CCOF) with US$106 million raised from several large corporate partners and Limited Partners, including PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, Danone, Dow, P&G, and Unilever, and backed by USAID.

Circulate Capital has invested more than US$50 million in over a dozen companies, including Tridi Oasis, ACE Green Recycling, and Reciki.

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With supply chain disruption set to continue, harnessing technology is crucial in ensuring results-oriented risk management. In the Asia Pacific, at least 66 per cent of CEOs are concerned about their supply chains and rank it as their top threat to business growth.

For the region’s businesses, these hurdles can be overcome with effective investments and holistic management in technologies that improve traceability, develop collaboration and ensure faster, more cost-effective product delivery.

Overcoming risks via transparency

Blockchain is a secure decentralised database that has become a vital tool to ensure critical and sensitive data is protected. This unique network enhances accountability and trust among partners as data stored on the blockchain is immutable, which means it cannot be controlled or managed by a single source.

A shining example of its real-world use case would be its deployment in Thailand’s food and agriculture sectors. With digitalisation high on its agenda, the Thai government adopted blockchain technology to support, TraceThai.

The national traceability system was developed to ensure that organic foods were traded sustainably and transparently. Encrypted by blockchain to maintain data privacy and falsification, consumer confidence in the nation’s organic food sectors.

Enhanced visibility for decision making

Decision-makers need to access real-time information to assess their approach to service levels and demand.  The need to know about the current state of a business supply chain is critical especially when disruptions are happening in the market. Having the right data at their disposal allows for accurate and effective decisions that help manoeuvre unexpected situations.

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

For instance, the supply chain that is set to be revamped by blockchain is the food supply chain, especially the distribution of fresh produce. One of the costliest parts of food distribution is the recalls and it has been a major burden for the industry.

However, with the use of blockchain, businesses can use to increase the visibility and traceability of their products. For instance, animal feed supply chains can be tracked with blockchain from farm to store in real-time. Besides that, its function can also be used to monitor and control the spread of diseases in the animal feed which will reduce the financial impact of recalls.

Customer-centric supply chain

For businesses today, success hinges on effective supply chain management. The customer-facing downstream supply chain demand is now edging upwards, which forces upstream players like distributors, manufacturers and shippers to play catch up with the demand downstream.

Today, logistics has evolved into an important element of the overall brand experience and making it a more efficient and transparent process is imperative. Consumer demands for faster delivery and high availability have resulted in a greater focus on consumer-facing experiences in supply chain management.

A joint report by Facebook and Bain & Co. revealed that this was a key factor in customer retention for 32 per cent of the region’s consumers. These trends point to the fact that businesses cannot afford to neglect their customers and should build a customer-first supply chain.

How, then, should businesses, especially upstream supply chain players, adapt accordingly?

The answer lies in digitisation, specifically, harnessing blockchain to do away with unnecessary manual processes that impede traceability and transactions more generally.

With solutions that automatically collect data from multiple tiers of the supplier network, blockchain streamlines communication and validation between supply chain parties. This enables customer needs to be met in a timely fashion and ensures businesses are lean and cost-efficient by ensuring real-time assessment throughout the supply chain.

With the authentication of multi-party transactions crucial in the age of complex supply chains and disruption, dynamism and agility are business’ best bet for the future.

As the Asia Pacific continues down the path of digitalisation, it is high time that the region’s ports and shippers, too, embrace these efforts. Simply put, traditional supply chain management does not cut it, due to its limitations on simultaneous transportation of information with goods.

On the other hand, digitising trade via disruptive technology like blockchain will simplify procurement by streamlining data to save costs, reduce the working capital cycle and manage risk more effectively and efficiently.

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Singapore-based fintech startup SuperAtom has raised US$22 million in Series C financing led by Malaysia-based digital investment fund Nue 3 Capital.

The startup will use the funding to expand its global digital banking and credit products, starting with Mexico and the greater Latin America region.

Scarlett Xiao, Founder and CEO of SuperAtom, said: “In the coming months, we will begin establishing a local presence in these countries by hiring local talent, applying for local financial licenses, and focusing on new product development.”

Also Read: ‘Asia’s BNPL sector has great potential’, says Akulaku CEO William Li

Founded in 2018 by Cheetah Mobile Co-Founder Scarlett Xiao, SuperAtom has developed UangMe, a credit platform providing access to low-cost financing in Indonesia. UangMe claims to have attracted millions of users and disbursed hundreds of millions of dollars in loans since launching in 2018.

In addition to this, SuperAtom also offers a Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) feature.

SuperAtom sees comprehensive financial services for emerging market users as an essential move to win market share. It said that its lending and BNPL businesses have paved the way to serve consumers better and build trust with commercial partners, while other add-on features would gain significant consumer adoption.

In the future, the firm plans to introduce wealthtech products.

In September 2019, SuperAtom raised US$24 million from Gobi Partners and a consortium of investors.

According to research by Bain & Company, over six in ten Southeast Asians remain underbanked or unbanked today with limited access to credit, and an even larger portion of the population is unfamiliar with wealth management.

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DART, a Manila-based quick commerce startup, has announced a pre-seed funding round of US$1.3 million led by Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc. and existing investor Kaya Founders.

The startup, which currently serves Makati and Mandaluyong, will use the funds to expand to new cities shortly.

DART was founded in early 2022 by Harm-Julian Schumacher (CEO) and Tommy Campos (COO).

Schumacher was formerly deputy GM (Germany) European Q-commerce major Gorillas and previously worked with Bain & Company and Rocket Internet. Campos has built up his operational expertise at delivery behemoths Uber and Postmates.

DART promises grocery delivery within 15 minutes of placing an order. It provides various goods, including popular snacks, drinks, fresh produce, dry and frozen goods, and local partnership brands.

Also Read: The future of social and quick commerce for developing countries

The firm plans to tap the underserved online grocery market to grow its presence in the Philippines. With its 110 million people and an annual grocery spend of above US$50 billion, the country represents one of the most attractive markets in Southeast Asia for quick delivery service companies, it said.

The Q-commerce firm has also entered into an operational and supply partnership with Robinsons Supermarket. “This partnership provides an extreme value to our business, from the access to a large assortment, advantageous prices as well as leveraging Robinsons existing supply chain infrastructure,” Schumacher said.

Campos added, “We have tested many orders in the last months to understand our customers and operations better and fine-tune our offering. We have seen that 99 per cent of our orders are getting delivered within 15 minutes and are now confident to scale our business to more customers.

According to the e-Conomy study by Google, Bain & Company and Temasek, the penetration level is only 2 per cent compared to 25 per cent in the non-grocery space.

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Redundancy, the ability to scale to meet large traffic demands and expand globally has never been more important for companies, from content publishers to ed-tech platforms, app discovery platforms, and even sports organisations, especially in an increasingly digital economy where online users’ patience is at an all-time low and churn rate translates to missed opportunities for brands.

Evidently so, IDC recently found that 68.7 per cent of enterprises view application delivery services as relevant to their organisation’s edge strategy with 75 per cent of these enterprises expecting less than five ms latency.

As such, how can organisations minimise latency or sluggish site movements to deliver an optimal user experience in the modern digital era?

One solution is to implement a multi-CDN strategy.

What’s a multi-CDN?

A Content Delivery Network is a system of geographically dispersed servers that facilitates the delivery of digital content with high performance and high availability. The idea behind a CDN is to move content much closer to end users.

Also Read: Diversity and inclusion marketing campaigns: Everyone, everyday, forever

Instead of centralising digital content, such as web applications, web objects, files, downloadable media and streaming media, on a relatively small number of servers, the content is cached across many servers distributed around the globe.

End-users now retrieve the content they’re looking for from the closest Content Delivery Network edge server, rather than going all the way back to the origin to retrieve it. A website empowered by a CDN can see up to 30 per cent more organic traffic, 200 per cent higher conversions, 60 per cent lower bounce rates, and a 40 per cent lift in revenue.

A CDN can also instantly create a TV broadcast-quality experience while converting live streams on-the-fly into the right device formats. This results in much better performance (lower latency) for your customers. It also avoids overloading your origin and allows your audience to scale.

What are the benefits of a multi-CDN?

There are several reasons to consider a multi-CDN strategy:

Availability

While an outage may not rise to the level of global notoriety, it’s likely just as devastating for your business. As the Internet has become more critical to every aspect of business, minutes of downtime can impact your bottom line and damage customer relationships. Multi-CDN can minimise single points of failure by providing alternate delivery options in the event of an outage.

Performance

Whether delivering online video, web content, or software over the Internet, poor performance results in abandonment, customer frustration and a negative impact on your brand. It’s unlikely that any single CDN delivers the best performance for all traffic types, in all regions, all of the time.

By intelligently balancing your content delivery needs across multiple CDN providers, you can mitigate the impact of the performance glitches of specific providers, in specific regions, for specific traffic types.

Capacity

Large-scale content delivery events may create choke points in individual CDN providers or in certain locations. Multi-CDN alleviates these bottlenecks by distributing the data load amongst multiple CDNs rather than from a centralised location.

For large live events such as the Olympics, rapid scaling is a critical function of CDNs. If a match is tied near the end of regulation time, there are usually massive spikes with fans logging in to watch the final minutes.

Security

Internet security is an increasing concern globally. In fact, cybercrime represents the fastest growing cause of data centre outages. If a CDN is compromised it could negatively impact the ability of customers trying to access your digital content or their experience in accessing that content.

Also Read: How cloud computing is helping startups navigate the new normal

Having multiple CDN providers allows you to minimise exposure, or bypass compromised CDNs altogether, in the event of a cyberattack.

Is Multi-CDN right for you?

Multi-CDN has some compelling benefits, but it is not necessarily for everyone. Ask yourself these questions when considering if a multi-CDN strategy is right for you.

What is the impact of an outage on your business? Can you afford minutes or hours of downtime? The less tolerant your business is of an outage, the more advantageous a multi-CDN strategy will be

How much traffic does your digital content generate? Do you exceed usage limits or have traffic spikes that could be alleviated with an overflow capability to other CDNs? The more traffic, the greater potential benefit derives from multiple CDNs.

How performance-sensitive are your digital content delivery needs? Performance is really important in some applications, e.g. video streaming, but may not be as important in others, e.g. downloading software patches. Multi-CDN is likely to have greater benefits in performance-sensitive cases.

How big is your audience and where are they located? The larger, and more distributed the audience, the greater the need for multiple CDNs.

How is content being stored? Is your digital content stored in the CDN or outside of it? Storing your content in the CDN should result in performance and cost benefits, but it will mean replicating your content when using multiple CDNs or picking a CDN that allows origin access from other CDNs.

How will you switch traffic between multiple CDNs? There are a number of methods as previously discussed, but which makes the most sense for your business? Do you have the time to manage manual DNS approaches, or the expertise to tune performance methods?

What performance metrics are most important for your business? Does the performance-based switching solution you’re considering support the metrics most important to your specific content delivery application, e.g. rebuffer ratios, bit rate, availability, throughput, and response time?

How many CDNs will you deploy? There is a point of diminishing returns as more CDNs are added. Adding CDNs introduces a measure of complexity because each CDN has its own user interface, set of APIs, billing methodology, functional capabilities etc. Your development and operations teams will need to understand and manage these differences. Is your audience distributed across the globe?

If your answer is yes to these questions, multi-CDN may be most beneficial to your organisation.

Selecting the right CDN partner

Once you have determined that adding a CDN to your content delivery environment makes sense, the next question becomes which partner to select. Here are some important factors to consider:

Geographic coverage

Important questions to consider: where are your users located? Where are you looking to expand? Look for a partner that has a presence in the regions or countries where most of your users are located. When considering your global traffic distribution, it’s also important to think about future growth.

Also Read: How can lean startups build a resilient cybersecurity posture

If you expect to see increased traffic coming from emerging markets like India for example, a factor that into your decision now to avoid having to renegotiate your CDN contract or prematurely move CDN providers. Look for a partner that has a presence in places where most of your current and future users are located.

Performance metrics

Performance is a complex topic because it’s unique to different content delivery environments and workloads. It is fundamental to take into consideration the types of content you’re delivering and what performance metrics are most important to your customers’ experience.

Performance measurement

There are several performance monitoring tools commercially available, however, in many cases, results can be misleading. The best approach to evaluate performance is to do a trial or proof of concept with one or more CDNs, using your actual workload in the geographical regions that are most important to you.

Service and support

In times of need, excellent customer support can make all the difference. Consider how important it is for you to have access to live customer support. Will that support be available outside of business hours? What kind of support is offered in your region? Is the support free or is there a premium charged for this service? If you deliver live events what relevant experience does the partner have and are they willing to participate on a bridge before or during the event? Is the CDN vendor able to assist with onboarding or migrating from another CDN?

Content storage

Choices about content storage have a direct impact on workflow, total cost, and access speed. Poorly integrated storage can make it much more difficult to manage a large content library. You will have to consider whether there is a need to offload your content origin to a CDN and if so, how important is the performance of the CDN storage or mid-tier cache solution? Does the CDN storage solution support multi-CDN environments, and if so, how will the CDN storage solution you select to operate in a multi-CDN environment?

Final thoughts

Using multiple CDNs to deliver these digital content experiences promises even greater levels of availability and performance. By leveraging the right combination of providers, and enterprises you can simultaneously improve end-user quality of experience while lowering costs.

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Malaysia-based TNG Digital, the owner and operator of Touch’ n Go eWallet, has secured RM 750 (US$168.3) million in its latest equity financing round.

Lazada Group led this round and is joined by TNG Digital’s parent company Touch’ n Go Sdn. Bhd.

This round of funding brings the total amount raised by TNG Digital over the last 18 months to over RM 1 billion (US$224 million).

In addition to Touch’ n Go and Lazada, other shareholders of TNG Digital include Ant Group, insurers AIA Group and US-based venture fund BowWave Capital.

Also Read: The future of fintech: The latest trends in the industry

“We feel this collaboration will bring next-level value propositions to users and merchant bases across the Lazada and Touch’ n Go ecosystem. I look forward to seeing the teams roll out these exciting collaboration opportunities to our users,” said Effendy Shahul Hamid, Group CEO of Touch’ n Go Group. “We will continue expanding in all digital financial services areas.”

Alan Chan, CEO of Lazada Malaysia, added: “We see digital payment services as a critical bolt-on to bring the best customer experience on Lazada. Lazada is fully committed to providing a seamless customer journey and being a catalyst to stimulate capacity building among our sellers, primarily local SMEs and MSMEs.”

Started in 1997, Touch’ n Go is one of the early companies that led the digital transformation within Malaysia’s mobility ecosystem.

In 2021, TNG Digital expanded its cross-border payments capability to Singapore, led by the e-wallet’s acceptance at ComfortDelGro taxis.

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According to the most recent Glassdoor data, it took 40.8 days for companies to hire a software developer. To add more, software developers were contacted by recruiters four times per week.

So if your company has managed to employ the right remote software engineers for your openings (You have done a great job!), please don’t let your guard down just yet. It’s time to focus on how to retain them in your team.

Here are the five ways that help companies to manage their remote software engineers effectively, as proven by research.

Work should be judged by the ability to meet goals, not hours

Companies have changed the way they measure their employees’ work performance. Considering a software engineer a hero because (s)he has pulled an all-nighter to work is all in the past. Rather than evaluating employees’ work based on their daily activities where work hours are typically used, organizations have switched to focusing on results.

More employers are allowing workers to set their work schedules as they have shown they are trusted to get the job done during their chosen hours. Firms adopting flexible working have experienced employee loyalty, engagement, and higher job satisfaction. “The effects for us have been overwhelmingly positive,” says the UK recruitment agency Austin Fraser.

• According to data from Owl Labs’ state of remote work report, companies that allow remote work have 25 per cent lower employee turnover than those that don’t.
• 76 per cent of workers would be more willing to stay with their current employer if they could work flexible hours.
• Fractl’s survey also found that after health insurance, employees attach the most to flexible hours and the work-from-home option, which are relatively low-cost for employers.

Structured daily check-in setups

Set up regular calls so your remote software engineers understand their questions and concerns will be heard. While one-on-one meetings suit folks that work more independently from each other, team catch-ups go well with highly collaborative employees.

Be emotionally supportive of your remote software engineers

Research on emotional intelligence emphasizes that emotional contagion significantly influences individual-level attitudes and group processes. A leader’s responses to sudden changes are likely to be adopted by his employees. So be aware of the way you react in such circumstances.

While feeling stressed and anxious is inevitable, leaders may provide support and affirmation for confidence to their teams. Assure the employees that you acknowledge the tough situation, yet you know your team can handle it. With this approach, your remote software engineers are more likely to have a sense of purpose in taking up the challenge.

Also Read: How remote work has changed the salary scale in Taiwan

Also, be sure you frequently catch up with your remote software engineers. We cannot stress enough how important it is for organizations to communicate, especially through uncertainty. People tend to open up to those they feel trusted and empathized.

Listen to employees’ stress and concerns. Let them know their opinions matter to the organisations. Data from Harvard Business Review, SHRM, Great Place to Work, Accenture, Gallup, and Trust Edge have demonstrated that when employees trust their employers, they are much more likely to work together towards achieving the same ultimate business goals.

• Video conferencing helps reduce the sense of isolation among teams and is also useful for complicating or sensitive conversations. So for weekly team meetings, one-on-one performance reviews, and frequent catch-ups, this option may do better than written or audio-only communication.
• Mobile-enabled individual messaging functionality tools are usually used where simpler, less formal conversations and time-sensitive collaboration are preferred.
• Fix the frequency, means, and timing of the team’s communication. For example, Zoom video call for daily check-in meetings and Telegram for instant messaging on urgent updates.

Get the help you need for your remote software engineers

Making sure your remote software engineers stay focused and happy requires great investment in the company’s money and effort.

You need people to be in charge of the remote software engineers’ instant support daily and their well-being. More importantly, those people need to know what they are doing: what aligns with the remote software engineers’ cultural preferences and what doesn’t.

Thus, more companies find it more optimal to partner with tech recruitment teams that possess local intelligence and solid experience in the field to attract and retain remote software engineers for them.

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Singapore-based HR automation platform Omni HR has announced closing an oversubscribed pre-seed funding round of US$2.4 million co-led by Alpha JWC Ventures and Picus Capital.

FEBE Ventures, Basis Set Ventures, Ratio Ventures, Frances Kang at Horizons Ventures, and several prominent angel investors, including former executives at Namely and Ultimate Software, also participated.

With the new funding, Omni HR will further enhance its all-in-one product offering, including launching a recruitment module by Q3 and a performance management module by Q4. 

Founded in 2021 by Brian Ip and YC Chan, Omni HR provides a system that helps companies digitise and automate the end-to-end employee lifecycle on a single platform. It enables organisations to digitise employee records, automate administrative tasks, and interact employee data across different systems. 

Also Read: Human capital is the biggest enabler of digital transformation. Here’s how to enhance it

Omni HR believes that with the ongoing digital transformation and software adoption trends in Southeast Asia, its platform will ultimately become an important piece of software infrastructure for the region. 

The company is ready to expand across Southeast Asia, starting with Singapore and Indonesia.

“Most companies in Southeast Asia are currently using local HR software that supports only basic admin functions, leaving many HR processes to be done manually. Meanwhile, HR software is one of the software categories that require the most localisation due to the differing employment rules in different countries. This effectively creates a unique opportunity for local players to build a modern, scalable employee management platform based out of Southeast Asia,” said Co-Founder Ip.

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