Our origin story started way back in 2003, and you could say it was quite serendipitous. I think nowadays people will say we manifested it!

Although we grew up in different environments and households, my co-founders Karl, Raymond and I are all huge foodies. We all agree that our earliest memories of eating food have always been around family.

For Karl, as a multi-generation pastry chef from Germany, food has always been a deep connection to his ancestors, and for Raymond and I, as typical Singaporeans, food has always been the highlight of our family gatherings. I think this feeling of warmth and joy that all three of us associate with food pushed us to start Foodedge Gourmet and the Melvados brand. 

We must go back to the beginning

In 1996, I started a company called TransFlorand with Raymond and another friend, and our main job was to do cold-chain logistics. We transported chilled and frozen goods imported from the region such as milk and ice cream from the airport to the warehouse.

While doing this, we noticed a lot of imports of foreign-made ice creams that dominated the Singapore premium ice cream market. A small number of imports of dips and cheeses, yoghurts and other artisanal food were also being sent to the hotels.

To put it into context, during this time there were no gourmet speciality stores like you see today, and definitely no cafes and artisanal bakeries like now. What we consider normal now was very exotic and expensive back then, and not many people had access to fine European pastries or traditionally made gelato and ice creams.

Seeing this, I really felt that there was a gap in the market, and our first thought was to become a distributor based here in Singapore to bring in and introduce more of these ‘western’ products to the mainstream market.

Also Read: Pipefy CEO on why founders should prepare for international expansion since Day One

We even tried bringing in a few items from Australia to limited success. But the costs in distribution were not viable without scale, and to achieve scale, we had to have many more customers so it became like a chicken and egg problem.

That’s when I started thinking about how we could manufacture here in Singapore instead. 

The brewing idea

While this idea was brewing, I was coincidentally introduced to Karl, who was the head Chef and production manager of a food factory at that time. We became fast friends, and decided, together with Raymond, to take the plunge and start our own manufacturing plant.

At first, we only made gelato, ice cream and brownies. But as we went out in the market and more customers demanded more products, we had to open more lines of work, and today we have eight departments including a bakery, pastry baking, pastry finishing, hot kitchen, cold kitchen, snacks, ice cream and packing.

Foodedge Gourmet is the parent company and what we started with. It is primarily an outsource manufacturer and we serve cafe chains, hotels, airlines, restaurants and even catering companies.  

Melvados is our retail brand that we started to go direct to consumers. We noticed through our own life experiences first by becoming husbands and then by becoming fathers, life could get so busy and realised how important convenience was to us.

So, Melvados was built to be an easy heat and eat solution for families, covering the full range of starters all the way to desserts. We also have different options for the different levels of cooks such as sauces and pestos, so one can be more inventive and creative in the kitchen with heat and eat meals that require no effort.

We are also known for our ice creams and brownies, which are made with the same quality of ingredients that you can get in Europe.

Another key aspect of Melvados that is very close to our hearts is affordability. All three of us love good food, but we all grew up in the lower-middle class, so we wanted to sell good food that was reasonably priced. This remains our ethos until today. We are very mindful of the balance that is creating delicious products while still being wallet-friendly, and a large part of our R&D is focused on this. 

Also Read: This founder’s story is the only optimism you need amidst the upcoming tech slowdown

I guess you could say how we manage Foodedge is a bit like a crew on a ship. Over the years we have had to constantly read the winds and pivot along. Most times, the tide has been on our side, smooth and steady, but sometimes the weather gets bad and we’ve had to brace ourselves.

Challenges and beyond

The most recent example of course is COVID-19, where our wholesale business dried up overnight as the lockdowns began. But on the flip side, Melvados sales soared as we served products that met the needs of staying at home perfectly.

Later this year, we will be opening our 9th outlet and the target is to have 15 in the next three years. We are also focusing on our snacks range and have introduced many new and unique flavours like our Gula Melaka Biscotti, Pisang Goreng Brittle and Ondeh Ondeh Brittle. In September, at the Food and Hotel Asia Exhibition, we will be unveiling our snack line for the first time on a global stage, and we are excited to see how we can break into this market as our third leg of business, not only through local distribution but through export as well. 

We continue to face challenges even though COVID-19 is subsiding such as the war in Ukraine which has severely affected supply chains and caused a huge spike in ingredient prices.

Manpower is also another big issue we continue to face as we try to grow. But we understand that this is part of business, so we are always finding solutions to keep moving forward. 

Often we get asked about investments and really super-charging the Melvados brand but overall I think our business is what you would call ‘old-fashioned’.

We move steadily and reinvest our profits to grow the business, and I think all three of us can agree that we have succeeded in our dream to finally own food business with the hard work of our own hands.

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The metaverse continues to be a hot topic worldwide, so much so that GlobalData revealed that 40 per cent more companies have mentioned ‘Metaverse’ in their company filings documents quarter-on-quarter.

Metaverse is expected to significantly transform the way businesses connect with their customers, how they engage with their employees and the way people interact with each other. While the main context of the metaverse continues to revolve around virtual avatars, improving experiences for remote employees, immersive customer engagement and new opportunities for commerce, this virtual world have the potential to create numerous new job opportunities and roles. 

With the development of the metaverse having been substantially accelerated due to the pandemic, the transformation of how people work, where they work, to the jobs they can do, is well on the horizon.

As a result, new job roles, such as metaverse researcher, metaverse scientist, metaverse mentor, metaverse planet and ecosystem developer and even metaverse security expert are expected to emerge, as businesses gain access to their consumers’ metaverse through their devices.

In turn, this fuels the need for a varied range of talents in the metaverse, a topic Yellow.ai discusses in our recent Envision 3.0 web event.

The future of work in the metaverse

Although the metaverse is still an ambiguous concept, its main idea is rooted in science fiction which integrates the trio of physical, virtual and digital realities.

This is well demonstrated by Meta, which is reportedly already hiring close to 10,000 staff for their VR and AR hardware products and has also announced plans to create another 10,000 jobs in the European Union (EU) over the next five years.

The development of hardware, software and downstream services are expected to be spurred on by the Metaverse as businesses invest time, money and effort into developing a virtual presence.

Also Read: How the metaverse opens new opportunities for education

With platforms on the metaverse being utilised to collect and analyse insights on user behaviour, interactions and experiences, the very nature of work could be subjected to change, as the Metaverse plays into the future of hybrid workplaces, bridging the gap between in-person and remote working.

Employees would be able to work with geographically dispersed team members but feel as though these members are in the same room, sitting next to them and working on projects together.

For instance, with metaverse, employees could have beachside conversations with their colleagues, take meeting notes, or teleport from their office in London to New York, all without stepping outside their front door.

Already, we’re seeing work take steps towards this future, with numerous current workplace metaverse solutions requiring nothing more than a computer, a mouse and a keyboard. However, a VR-enabled headset will be required to experience the full 3D surround experience.

The metaverse will see existing job roles such as blockchain developers, AI experts, data scientists and more take on builder roles in its development. For the ‘first-movers’ of the metaverse, new jobs could also ensue as there will be roles in creating the metaverse’s applications from new industries, ranging from content creators, and interaction designers to experience designers and more.

Metaverse intensifying talent hunt

As AR and VR devices increasingly become more affordable and immersive experiences are made available for the masses, competition in the Metaverse space has also heated up.

In addition, due to the Metaverse requiring expertise in various types of emerging tech like VR, AR, mixed reality (MR), AI and more to build another ‘universe’ which is close to reality, there is a need for skilled talent which is not only difficult to find but also hard to retain.

With the metaverse’s continued evolution, the right recruitment strategy will depend on how well businesses can comprehend this new space, what it is capable and incapable of, and how businesses recruit or upskill talent to help grow this new reality as it matures in the future.

Skills in AR and VR will become imperative, and organisations will need to upskill their employees, particularly in the areas of AI application development, XR or MX (Extended or Mixed Reality) and NFT development.

Knowing how to code in C++, Java, Python, and R to build and deploy AI models will be crucial for those aiming to become Metaverse developers. They will also need to be proficient in big data technologies like Apache Spark Cassandra, Hadoop, and MongoDB.

For the builders of the metaverse, experience in developing AI frameworks like Caffe, PyTorch, TensorFlow, and Theano, along with skills in building deep learning (DL) algorithms like convolutional neural networks, generative adversarial networks, and recurrent neural networks, will be key skills which will give them an edge over other talents vying to become metaverse builders as well.

In constructing the metaverse, it will not be just talents from the tech industry that will bring value but also those from the marketing industry. Thus, it will not only be the tech companies who are headhunting but also consumer brands and the original pioneers of the metaverse from the gaming industry.

Also Read: Into the metaverse: How to extract real business value from the hype?

With the host of new roles expected to emerge as the metaverse develops, both companies and individuals will need to arm themselves with the knowledge and capabilities to cater to these newly formed roles across industries and functions.

The way forward

When hiring for the metaverse, companies can focus not only on bringing together the right skills and talents to create the metaverse’s capabilities but also on how users will access these capabilities safely?

Hiring dedicated teams which work towards emphasising safety and privacy will be crucial. Given that the Metaverse is slated to bring about a new generation of marketing and advertising opportunities, where brands and consumers come together to co-create, marketing and creator-aligned roles will become a prime focus.

The world of work is likely to reshape in four major ways: new immersive forms of team collaboration; the emergence of new digital, AI-enabled colleagues; the acceleration of learning and skills acquisition through virtualisation and gamified technologies; and the eventual rise of a metaverse economy with completely new enterprises and work roles.

As such, acquiring the right people and skills will be crucial for the success of the metaverse, whether it be the ‘universe’ or the business’s success in this new universe.

Watch Yellow.ai’s Envision 3.0 here, where we discuss various topics surrounding the Metaverse such as Conversational AI in the Metaverse, Redefining Brand Experiences for Digital Humans and more.

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Emotions are key in market psychology, and sometimes, it is difficult to be composed and rational when the market outlook is bleak. As we continue to feel the repercussions of the uncertainties over COVID-19 recovery, the Ukraine-Russia conflict, rising inflation, global interest rate hikes, and global supply chain disruptions, a global recession looks likely on our horizon.

The growing anxiety around the unpredictable market outlook raises concerns that investors may make knee-jerk, emotionally-charged reactions to market turbulence, such as pulling out of portfolios central to their long-term investment strategy.

Emotional investing is using different emotions to make investment decisions, relying more on one’s reaction to the market trends than investing fundamentals such as technical analysis. We have seen that emotional investing is more common among those who manage their own portfolios, rather than those who engage with a financial consultant.

According to a survey conducted by Magnify Money in 2021, roughly 50 per cent of those who manage their portfolios said that it was a struggle to keep emotions out of investment decisions, and 40 per cent have lost sleep over the stock market.

Also Read: The rise of startup diplomacy: How this new breed of ambassadors attracts investors

We have also seen that the fear of missing out on investment opportunities generated by hype through avenues such as social media, has become a trigger for emotional investment decisions. With the growing influence of social media in the financial education space, we have seen the emergence of some bad actors in the industry. It is important that investors are not caught on the wrong side of their emotions.

During their investment journeys, investors may go through a rollercoaster of emotions, also known as the emotional cycle of investing. Riding the rollercoaster is not easy, and as human beings, it is natural for us to feel some form of emotion when we look at the performance of our assets, from jubilation in a bull market to disappointment in a bear market, and make decisions based on these emotions.

When an investor makes an emotion-based decision to respond to market events, it can create an illusion of control over both his assets and his emotions. However, these reactionary decisions may not be the right decision, especially in the long term. The most common impact is buying or selling remorse.

In the same study conducted by Magnify Money, two-thirds of investor responders expressed regret over making impulsive or emotionally-driven investment decisions, with a higher proportion of Gen Zers (85 per cent) and millennials (73 per cent) expressing buying or selling remorse.

Investing with trust, rather than emotions

Fundamentally, the key to combatting this emotional investing is trusting your investments and investment strategy. An investment strategy is predicated on an individual’s investment goals and objectives, as well as their risk appetite. Building a good investment strategy, with a diversified portfolio, can mitigate the impact of short-term shocks in the market.

For example, one of the strategies that investors can adopt would be the strategy of dollar-cost averaging, which is investing the same amount of money in a particular stock or stocks on a regular basis, regardless of the share price.

We also advocate for investors to incorporate a variety of different asset types into their portfolios so that the performance of one asset or asset class does not affect the entire portfolio. Diversification also allows investors to combine assets of different risk levels into their portfolio, to safeguard against any sudden shocks in the market.

Overall, it is important to invest in products that cover these rewards, as well as to understand the associated risks, so that an investor is not taken by surprise by market turbulence.

Employing technology to make better decisions

Part of the strategy for building a solid portfolio is to partner with a financial brokerage that you can trust. It is important for brokerages to continue to evolve, by keeping up-to-date with the latest developments in Fintech, AI and Big Data, to optimise the best solutions for their clients.

At PhillipCapital, we have made it a part of our ethos to look at how technological advancements in our industry can help enable us to serve our clients better. However, it is also important that brokerages continue to maintain the human touch, so as to provide ample reassurance and build trust with their clients. This trust can help clients when they have doubts about their investments.

Our objective is to build a relationship with our clients and work with them on their investment journeys, through a hi-tech, hi-touch approach. A fundamental part of this relationship relies on aligning our clients’ needs with our capabilities.

Also Read: How is the Russia-Ukraine war changing the talk in ESG investing?

Beyond stockbroking, we are an integrated financial house with a comprehensive suite of financial products and services including unit trusts, contracts for difference, exchange-traded funds, fund management, managed accounts, insurance planning, regular savings plan, and investment research, equity financing and property consultancy.

We take the time and effort to understand our clients’ needs, so as to build tailor-made investment strategies with their financial objectives and risk appetite in mind.

In recent times, we have also seen the growth of robo services which are digital platforms that provide algorithm-driven financial planning services that automate the process of allocating, managing, and optimising assets based on a customer’s investment strategy.

For example, PhillipCapital’s SMART Portfolio is a robo investment service that matches a best-fit portfolio based on clients’ risk analysis. The SMART Portfolio epitomises our hi-tech, hi-touch approach.

Employing a unique Cyborg methodology and periodic portfolio rebalancing in managing portfolios, SMART Portfolio invests in Unit Trusts across geographic regions, thematic sectors, and asset classes.

Cyborg methodology is a proprietary algorithm built in-house by the Principal Data Scientist to digest more than 1000 data points daily, at a breadth and depth that cannot be simply interpreted at a human level, picking up on robust and actionable signals. The information guides our Chief Investment Officer and Investment Team to select funds to form diversified portfolios for our clients.

Technological advancements enable us to innovate and develop solutions, like the SMART Portfolio, to serve our clients more efficiently and effectively. We can stay on the pulse of the market developments, and employ our knowledge and experience, to make the right decisions at the right time. It also allows us to give clients more reassurance on their portfolios.

Riding the wave of emotions

Investing based on emotions is not a new phenomenon, but an effervescent concern that bubbles to the surface with the markets’ rising and falling tides. In this, investors will need to ride the turbulence and the waves, stick to their investment strategy, and remember their investment objectives and goals.

One of the best ways for clients to avoid emotional investing is to build an investment strategy with a financial house they trust. Financial consultants, robo services, and financial institutions in general, function to not only make discerning decisions on investments but to alleviate the stress and anxiety of clients, by guiding them along in their investment journeys.

As I always tell my dealers and traders, “Keep calm when investing.”

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Experts project that the Metaverse landscape will rise to US$38.5 billion by the end of 2022 and aim to reach US$678.80 billion by 2030. But is the Metaverse truly going to resemble the current world we live in, in terms of virtual interactions? Well, that really depends on how users can utilise the virtual space. It also hinges on whether everyday users are in fact really interested in the so-called Metaverse.

Latest trends show that only 50,000 users across the globe are fully vested in Web3 virtual worlds. This number is quite low, compared to the five billion internet users today. Fortunately, digital collectibles, dubbed NFTs, stand the chance in opening the Metaverse space to millions of users, especially if they embody real-world use cases beyond their intrinsic and artistic value.

Digital collectibles in the gaming industry

The gaming industry is leading in the adoption of digital collectibles, which can represent in-game content including characters, virtual land or even power-up items. A recent survey shows that 17 per cent of internet users aged between 18 and 34 are likely to play video games that feature earning digital collectibles as part of the main incentive. Moreover, the percentage of overall internet users playing this game is likely to rise from six per cent to 15 per cent by the end of 2022, thanks to the increasing consumer awareness that’s reimagining how gaming experiences can be monetised.

Surprisingly, users still want to have fun with digital collectibles, even if they come at a steep price or learning curve. For instance, playing the most famous NFT game, Axie Infinity, can incur you an upfront cost of up to US$100. That’s if you are able to snag a relatively affordable Axie in the competitive markets. Axie Infinity has a self-contained ecosystem that attracts nearly 2.5 million daily active users – a booming sign for the play to earn industry.

What’s missing for the playable metaverse?

Many users are willing to do what it takes to sail with this new trend of NFT gaming, including spending hundreds of dollars just to gain entry. However, this interest might fade in a matter of time without more innovation in how digital collectibles are influencing gamer perception.

Also Read: How Chronicle taps into fan economy to bridge between NFT and the entertainment industry

Playing and earning are rewarding as it bolsters user-driven economies. However, this is largely based on external market forces, which can be disadvantageous in many ways. For instance, players can earn and leave the ecosystem just as quickly, channelling the earned rewards to uninterested gamers in the long run. Short-term hype can lead to unhealthy profit-taking incentives, hurting the community who are truly vested in the game’s ecosystem.

At the same time, experts suggest that digital assets could be the gateway to real mainstream adoption for the Metaverse. But how can this be possible if popular digital collectibles limit players to specific ecosystems? The rise and monumental impact of social media, where users can seamlessly switch from one platform to another, points to major hints that the Metaverse can adopt. “The industry needs an open API that facilitates seamless digital assets utility across multiple games and Metaverse ecosystems without necessarily bridging, cloning, or generating a compatible digital collectible copy,” says Chris Li, Founder of PEPO Paradise.

Removing virtual boundaries in the multi-metaverse

Just like in traditional gaming, NFT games bring together players of different caliber and backgrounds connected throughout multiple networks. However, most digital assets are limiting players to specific networks, reducing opportunities to access limitless rewards and experiences offered by distinct Metaverse ecosystems.

“We are envisioning a future where digital collectibles will be easy to access, and deeply utilised across multiple Metaverse platforms. This will likely redefine how people interact in virtual communities and enhance the value of digital experiences, including the collectibles themselves,” says Li.

A digital collectible that features a standard multi-chain protocol can be used across numerous blockchain-based games and Metaverse ecosystems. For example, CyberKongz, a popular 2D/3D Social Avatars and NFT project partnered with The Sandbox, is now being powered up as playable characters in PEPO Paradise. Cross-collaboration initiatives, such as in the case of CyberKongz and PEPO Paradise, are allowing new sources of creativity for the Metaverse users to explore. “By partnering with multiple Metaverse platforms, we can create more of these unique and custom experiences and reward holders such as yield distribution,” says Sebssss, Core Member of CyberKongz.

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

The next phase of the Web3 internet is now finding its roots to nurture cross-platform cooperation among hundreds, if not thousands of different teams. Expanding digital assets utility in the Metaverse goes beyond enhancing the experience of everyday users. This is what the industry needs if it’s going to make the multi-metaverse as we envision it a reality. In a bid to foster virtual worlds that empower users with real content ownership and autonomy, new systems of interoperable Metaverse standards will be a crucial element of success.

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This content was first published by The Human & Machine.

Image Credit: The Human & Machine

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Indonesia-based job marketplace for blue-collar workers Pintarnya announced that it had raised an additional US$8 million (IDR120 billion) in a seed funding round from East Ventures and Vertex Ventures SEA & India (VVSEAI). With this new addition, the company had raised a total of US$14.3 million in funding.

In May, the company announced a seed funding round from Sequoia Capital India, General Catalyst, and some angel investors.

Pintarnya will use the additional funding to support tech development and data capabilities to give an added value to the company in facilitating an efficient job search process for both employers and jobseekers. The company is also expanding its team across all business lines.

“We aim to become a preferred platform that facilitates job matching for both parties and provides access to better financial access to blue-collar workers through a stronger digital identity and verifiable resume,” said Pintarnya Co-Founder Henry Hendrawan in a press statement on Tuesday, July 19.

In addition to investing in the company, East Ventures Co-Founder dan Managing Partner Willson Cuaca joins Pintarnya as a board member.

Also Read: Non-revenue generating jobs tend to be more affected in the current downturn: Glints CEO

Cuaca said there is a massive opportunity to empower millions of blue-collar workers in this region who struggle to secure a better livelihood. These opportunities come with various challenges in its journey but he believes that Pintarnya is the right team to tackle this challenge.

“They have a proven experience building and leading the B2C market and various financial services products in Indonesia. They have made significant progress and we are looking forward to future achievements made by Pintarnya,” he said.

Managing Partner Vertex Ventures SEA & India Joo Hock Chua added that job-seeking for blue-collar workers in Indonesia is considered inefficient –if not outdated. Pintarnya aims to solve this problem by using data and tech to enable a cost-efficient and sophisticated job-seeking process.

The Pintarnya solutions

Pintarnya was launched in May by three former senior executives Nelly Nurmalasari, Henry Hendrawan, and Ghirish Pokardas. Pintarnya aims to help Indonesian workers find jobs, access job opportunities, and secure better financial services.

The company claimed to have connected over 6,000 users with more than 100,000 job-seekers in the F&B, retail, logistics, and hospitality industries.

The Pintarnya platform is available in the format of a desktop and mobile app. Their service is available only for users in Greater Jakarta Area and Bandung.

Also Read: Indonesia’s community-powered social job platform Atma nets US$5M pre-seed funding

The platform works by allowing job-seekers to sign up and create a profile before it uses the information to recommend a suitable job opportunity which considers various parameters –not limited to job requirements, location, or skills. This approach is believed to give access more jobs.

After that, Pintarnya will work with employers to verify and recruit said blue-collar workers. Apart from helping blue-collar workers secure jobs, verified digital identities and resume on the platform can help blue-collar workers to have access to better financial services through Pintarnya’s partner in the finance industry, helping them build a better life.

Though the company does not share further details about it, with its open finance platform, Pintarnya also intended to provide formal financial services for the workers to improve their livelihood.

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

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With e-commerce sales across SEA set to reach around $90 billion this year, we spoke to Alex Lin, Managing Director of Lalamove Singapore, to discuss the company’s evolution over the years and explore how Lalamove is enabling businesses to manage their logistic processes smoothly and maximise productivity.

Offering same-day delivery for personal and business users

Founded in 2013 and launched in Singapore 2014, Lalamove has since impacted various industries such as e-commerce, retail, wholesale, events, and F&B. One of the key sectors where Lalamove helps merchants meet the ever-evolving consumer demands quickly and efficiently, is e-commerce.

According to a 2021 Facebook and Bain report, over 32 per cent of Southeast Asian consumers switched between online commerce websites to secure faster delivery time. “Consumer needs and expectations are constantly evolving, particularly in the post-pandemic world. Consumers nowadays expect faster and more reliable logistics support for their online purchases,” said Alex.

Also read: How Singapore startups explore opportunities in Japan—and vice versa

This is where Lalamove is stepping up to create a robust ecosystem of on-demand same-day delivery connecting thousands of merchants with millions of customers on the ground. With its various in-app features, Lalamove enables businesses to manage their logistic processes efficiently and aims at helping them maximise their productivity.

By leveraging Lalamove’s last-mile same-day deliveries, businesses can keep up with changing consumer demands and are thus able to build brand loyalty in the long run. With Lalamove as a partner, businesses can reduce high operational costs and fixed overheads such as vehicle purchases and employee payroll. This, in turn, allows forward-looking e-commerce companies looking to expand across the region the ability for faster business growth and scalability.

Emerging trends and increasing demands

Speaking on the current e-commerce and delivery landscape in Asia, Alex shares, “e-commerce is an ever-growing and rapidly changing industry. The industry emerged as a lifeline during the pandemic to help businesses stay afloat while also providing a platform for them to thrive and scale. Today, in the face of fierce competition, the delivery sector has become a make-or-break factor for businesses seeking to fulfil their services and win over customers.”

As delivery is the final and most memorable physical touch point between a customer and a business, this is where an optimal business delivery service provider becomes vital.

Through Lalamove’s API integrations and e-commerce plug-ins, they have been helping businesses automate their delivery workflows and simplify ordering processes for merchants. This enables new businesses to launch their e-commerce stores seamlessly and effectively.

By providing a variety of business solutions such as a wide selection of vehicles, multi-stop delivery, API integration, real-time GPS tracking, and dedicated account managers to provide recommendations on the best route and services that are tailored to specific needs, businesses are emboldened to stay ahead and channel their efforts on an experience-led customer journey.

Emerging trends in the e-commerce and delivery industries: What’s next?

Lalamove believes that the e-commerce industry will continue to develop in the coming years, which is echoed by reports suggesting that the industry is poised to grow by almost $11 trillion between 2021 and 2025. As such, Alex believes that e-commerce may eventually supplant brick-and-mortar shopping as the primary default shopping method, with businesses that do not adapt to digital transformation possibly suffering long-term consequences.

Also read: Market Access Taiwan: Traversing the Taiwanese startup landscape

Alex shared that further down the road, we may also see more dedicated retail apps, cross-platform integrations, virtual assistants, and personalisation from sellers in the hopes of automating their processes to keep up with consumer demands.

With demands in the e-commerce space rising, demands for delivery services with customisation will also skyrocket. Given the shift in consumer behaviour, consumers are unlikely to give up the option to access their goods faster and more seamlessly, especially when already given access to the right kind of platform that bolsters this. Lalamove helps catalyse this by enabling businesses to work with their API integration systems to digitally transform brick-and-mortar SMEs, providing them with a faster, easier, and more seamless delivery experience.

Lalamove provides holistic logistic solutions for all businesses

As traditional businesses look for the most efficient way to move into e-commerce, they may face several challenges driven by global health pandemics and political tensions. This is where Lalamove can help. Clients will have the ability to adapt to shifts in consumer behaviour, creating an agile business environment that can accommodate different channels. For example, the Lalamove app comes with a route-optimisation function to help businesses intelligently improve their deliveries. By strategically batching delivery orders for multiple locations, the company can help deliver faster and more efficiently.

Lalamove seeks to establish itself as a one-stop solution for logistics in Southeast Asia. As such, the company offers a wide range of delivery vehicles- from motorcycles to lorries. This allows Lalamove to assist with all sorts of orders and to provide the manpower and vehicles for delivering goods of different sizes. For instance, if the business is delivering a small parcel, they would only require a car but if they’re moving furniture, appliances, and the like, Lalamove can provide a large lorry.

Additionally, Lalamove also provides cold-chain delivery for users that require it. This is an end-to-end delivery process that keeps the temperature of a package consistent. 

Helping businesses in Singapore and beyond

To help traditional businesses take the leap towards e-commerce, Lalamove has recently launched a regional campaign, ‘Make A Winning Move’. This campaign aims to encourage businesses in Singapore to use Lalamove’s variety of business solutions, which includes multi-stop delivery, API integration, and a wide range of vehicles for a faster, more efficient, and reliable delivery experience. With these business solutions, businesses are effectively able to save time and reduce operational costs.

Also read: From experts: Tips to improve operations and maximise ROI

Clients can also sign up for individual accounts and use coupon code LALAWIN to enjoy up to $15 off their first three orders in Lalamove vouchers. Alternatively, companies can choose to sign up for a business account and top up their e-wallet to receive up to 5% bonus credits. These offers are valid until 31st July 2022. Find out more information on the campaign here.

Lastly, with businesses in Singapore striding towards economic recovery in the post-pandemic world, Lalamove is currently onboarding more driver-partners and expanding its cold-chain operations to address the rise in demand for such delivery capabilities. Learn more at https://www.lalamove.com/en-sg/ 

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

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AnyMind Group, an end-to-end commerce enablement company, announced that it had raised JPY4 billion (approximately US$29.4 million) in its Series D funding round, with total funding to date approximating US$91.7 million.

The Series D funds were raised from new investors, including JIC Venture Growth Investments (JIC Venture Growth Fund I Investment Limited Partnership), Japan Post Investment Corporation (Japan Post Investment I, ILP), Nomura SPARX Investment (Japan Growth Capital Investment Corporation), and PROTO Ventures Inc. (PROTO Ventures 2 Investment Limited Partnership), along with existing investor Mitsubishi UFJ Capital (Mitsubishi UFJ Capital VII, Limited Partnership).

The funds will be used to strengthen the company’s advancement in the commerce enablement space and fund future acquisitions. It will be used to enhance further its AnyChat and AnyX platforms, which it launched this year, and strengthen its market share across its operating regions.

The funds raised will be used for future acquisitions in Japan and internationally. To date, AnyMind Group has acquired seven companies from various parts of the region, including Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and India. The reasons to make these acquisitions were either to acqui-hire a company’s leadership, expand into new businesses or regions, acquire additional sales channels, or all three.

In addition to the Series D funding round, the company has secured a JPY1 billion (US$7.2 million) credit facility from Mizuho Bank for future use.

Also Read: News Roundup: AnyMind Group acquires Indian mobile ads startup POKKT

“Despite COVID-19 and geopolitical situations impacting the world, we have still achieved solid growth as a business. On the other hand, we see economies across Asia, including our operating markets of ASEAN and India, rapidly regaining growth momentum. We will continue to grow our business at a pace that matches our ambitions, look towards expanding our capabilities through M&A, and strengthen our investment and profit structure for growth as we continue to become the next-generation infrastructure for commerce in Asia,” says AnyMind Group CEO & Co-Founder Kosuke Sogo.

“We will continue to make it exciting for everyone to do business by enhancing and expanding our innovations that form the infrastructure for the next generation of commerce. Over the years, we have developed platforms across the end-to-end spectrum of commerce that can be used individually and can now also be used as part of an integrated suite of tools to deliver more effective and efficient commerce for businesses. We are just at the start of our journey, as we power some of the most exciting enterprises and forward-thinking publishers and influencers in this part of the world,” he continued.

Previously, AnyMind Group’s Series C stock was issued for the acquisition of cross-border marketing company ENGAWA in January 2021.

AnyMind Group was founded in Singapore in 2016 and expanded into Southeast Asia, East Asia, India and the Middle East. In 2019, the company shifted its headquarters to Tokyo, Japan. At present, AnyMind Group operates out of 17 offices across 13 markets, with over 1,000 staff from 27 nationalities.

Before the launch of AnyChat, the company had developed and launched the manufacturing platform AnyFactory and logistics management platform AnyLogi. The company started in the marketing technology industry with platforms for advertising and influencer marketing and, after that, expanded into the publisher technology and creator technology space.

Also Read: Afternoon News Roundup: Singaporean tech entertainment firm AnyMind raises US$26.4M Series B

The moves over the past two years were made as AnyMind Group created and enhanced its suite of tools, which look to form the backbone of businesses in the future. This future will be one where business can be done through a single platform, is borderless and open, and data can be utilised and maximised freely across traditionally siloed business functions. The company terms this “next-generation commerce.”

In 2021, AnyMind Group saw revenues of US$174 million with a compound annual growth rate (2017-2021) of 62 per cent.

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Image Credit: AnyMind Group

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Advance Intelligence Group acquires Jewel Paymentech to expand Web3, fraud and risk management capabilities
Advance Intelligence Group is behind BNPL platform Atome, SaaS provider ADVANCE.AI, and omnichannel e-commerce merchant services Ginee.

Australia’s Investible plans US$200M growth fund, hits first close of climate tech vehicle
The fund will have a global mandate focusing on the Asia Pacific. It has invested in nine companies in Southeast Asia in the last four years.

Indonesian social commerce firm raises US$20M in fresh funds
Founded in 2020 by Prateek Chaturvedi, Ivana Tjandra, Gopal Rathore, and Subhash Bishnoi, KitaBeli’s social commerce platform focuses on FMCG products. InnoVen Capital joined the round as a new investor while existing backers AC Ventures and Go-Ventures also participated, Tech In Asia wrote.

India: Investors flock to launch debut vehicles amidst funding slowdown
Last year, PE and VC firms garnered US$479 million across 14 first-time funds. Of all the debut vehicles raised this year, only a few are sector-specific.

Bank Islam launches cloud-native digital bank
In a statement, the bank said this first-of-its-kind technology stack, the cloud-native solution, is anticipated to be the cornerstone of all upcoming digital banks to be introduced in Malaysia.

Fintech startup OneCard is India’s newest unicorn after raising US$100M led by Temasek
The fundraising valued the startup at over US$1.4 billion and turned it into the 104th entrant in the country’s unicorn club. Earlier this year, the company said it had amassed over 250,000 customers spending about US$60 million with its monthly cards.

China’s 01VC hits first close of USD Fund III at over US$60M, targets US$100M hard cap
The fund will target opportunities in the enterprise SaaS, supply chain, logistics, automation and robotics, and cross-border businesses.

Is Singapore overly cautious and losing its appeal as a global crypto hub?
At the time, countries like the US and UK seemed to be clamping down on crypto trading, while Russia and China had banned it altogether. Singapore was primed to become one of the foremost destinations for blockchain companies to set up shop.

Of COVID-19 and funding winter: Why these 2 VC firms are bullish about SEA amid back-to-back crises
Intudo Ventures and Altara Ventures discuss how they view the recent crises and what to expect in the long term, and whether unicorns are to be celebrated

Indonesia urges tech platforms to sign up for new licensing rules or risk being blocked
As of Monday, more than 5,900 domestic and 108 foreign companies registered, including short-video app TikTok and music streaming firm Spotify.

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Imagine a central control room where, with a few clicks, ‘bots’ are deployed at scale to handle different business processes automatically. This is no longer theoretical. Financial services institutions are already using this technology to manage key processes.

The transformation, part of what has been labelled the fourth industrial revolution or ‘Industry 4.0’, driven by waves of automation and connectivity, has been picking up speed in the last couple of years in the financial industries as new technologies and the expertise to implement them become more readily available.

Even in this futuristic-sounding scenario, humans still do most of the work. This hybrid workforce approach integrates automation capabilities (or bots) provided by robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence platforms to handle part of the workload.

Financial institutions must build an efficient process optimisation programme to take advantage of this shift toward hybrid workforces. Let’s get deeper into how to get started from an organisational perspective.

Organisational setup

An enterprise process optimisation programme is best driven by a central team, or Centre of Excellence (CoE), which shares many of the characteristics of an enterprise data team, a more established part of financial institutions.

In my view, three key roles drive the central teamteam’scess:

Commercialisation lead

Process mining platforms, which use process data to help identify process inefficiencies and how to mend them, can help generate a pipeline of ‘to-‘e-optimised’ processes. However, they are only one way to identify potential areas of improvement.

Also Read: Why robotics is just entering its prime phase

A programme should also be in place to encourage and collect feedback from staff, especially those who are themselves operating processes. This should be managed centrally by a ‘commercialisation lead’ who not only organises the collection of such ideas but, more importantly, calculates their ROI and prioritises the improvement pipeline.

This role represents the business side of the programme.

Automation expert

The industry lacks a standardised automation platform. Therefore, an automation expert must showcase the optimal way to deliver automation, either by leveraging existing IT infrastructure or by working in conjunction with external vendors and platforms.

This person will be deeply familiar with the strengths and limitations of the technologies available in the market and will work closely with the commercialisation to lead to prioritising improvements.

Not all processes needing improvement are worthy candidates for automation, and it is important to look at potential improvements from other angles. Digitalising the process, e.g. adopting an optical character recognition (OCR) solution at the beginning of a loan application process, can banish physical documents from the entire process and remove both the manual inputting step and the checking step.

This role represents the technology side of the programme.

Change management lead

Whatever the strategy for automation, bots, digitalisation or a combination of both, there will be changes to existing processes. An efficient and good communicator is therefore required to manage the change. This person should work closely with the HR department to re-skill and, sometimes, re-deploy staff. It is, of course, best to plan and communicate early with the staff that may be affected.

These three roles form the foundation of any process optimisation CoE; however, there are other important roles to consider, such as the overall CoE lead, who looks after aspects such as performance management of the CoE and reports to the COO.

With the CoE set up, its mission should be to fiercely consolidate operations by looking for ways to improve existing processes’ efficiency radically.

Preparing for future operations

The hybrid workforce becomes no longer a question of if but when financial industry leaders must put teams in place to help them embrace it sooner rather than later.

While the pace of industry transformation is quickening, this is still a time of first-mover advantage. We expect to see more financial institutions stepping into this space and then executing more and more systematically, with the help of a well-organised central team.

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Vietnam-based financial service app MFast announced that it had raised US$2.5 million in a funding round led by Ascend Vietnam Ventures with participation from Wavemaker and two other existing investors, Do Ventures and JAFCO Asia, bringing its total capital funding to US$4 million.

With the fresh funding, MFast is actively looking to hire talent across various areas (including technology, marketing, and sales), upgrade its platform, expand its agent network, and deploy new business models.

This new capital will also be used to develop technology and data analysis systems to generate consumer credit ratings. The company is also looking to expand to Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Thailand.

In a statement, MFast said it was born after its founders, Phan Thanh Long and Phan Thanh Vinh, observed a huge problem in Vietnam’s rural areas. Nearly 70 per cent of the Vietnamese population in the rural areas have limited or no access to banking, insurance, and credit-related services.

“Due to the lack of financial literacy and credit history, this population faces numerous challenges accessing financial services. It is often victims of predatory services from the grey and black markets. Products such as insurance, despite existing in Vietnam for more than 20 years, are still perceived in rural areas as a waste of money or perceived as catalysts for bad luck,” the company wrote.

Also Read: ‘Vietnam can be an excellent launchpad for regional, global startups’: says Eddie Thai

In September 2020, MFast was launched to tackle this pain point by connecting reputable financial and insurance institutions to its nationwide agent network of MFast users. MFast agents serve as the middlemen in introducing, educating, and distributing financial and insurance products to the end customers in rural areas.

Any Mfast users can sign up to become agents and participate in one or several sales stages from customer acquisition, loan and insurance package consultation, customer support in opening bank accounts, e-wallets, and credit cards, to post-sales services. The Mfast app also equipped agents with all the necessary knowledge sources and tools to do their jobs.

MFast also aims to digitalise the entire working process by replacing cumbersome paperwork and procedures associated with banking and shortening the approval and disbursement window.

“With a nationwide agent network, MFast reaches underserved populations, helping them overcome challenges in accessing financial services and breaking down prejudice towards insurance – a crucial aspect of a developed society. At the same time, we create benefits for our agents and partners. MFast provides agents opportunities to earn extra income while helping partners expand the insurance and financial services in the peripheral and rural areas,” said Phan Thanh Long, CEO and Co-founder of MFast.

After two years of operations, MFast said it has helped more than 600,000 people (with nearly 80 per cent living in rural areas) in gaining access to financial and insurance service packages and provided job opportunities for more than 92,000 agents across 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

Also Read: Ascend Vietnam Ventures’s early-stage fund AVV Alpha exceeds US$50M target

Thao Nguyen, Senior Investment Manager at Ascend Vietnam Ventures, said: “The market potential, MFast team’s great execution capabilities, and its significant social impact are the reasons we are keen to support MFast in putting its mission into reality. Throughout its agent banking model, MFast promotes financial inclusion in the peripheral and rural areas of Vietnam, contributing a great part to the sustainable development of the country’s financial system.”

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