One of the Facebook Community Accelerator’s last cohort finalists from Indonesia Peri Kertas Nusantara Community launched their development plan projects and shared 2,000 free papercraft kits to celebrate Indonesia’s 77th Independence Day Celebrations.

Peri Kertas educates and promotes Indonesian culture through 3D model artwork. In this first phase, they serve up to 10 provinces in Indonesia: DKI Jakarta, West Java, Central Java, Yogyakarta, Bali, South Sulawesi, North Sulawesi, Papua, East Kalimantan, and NTT. 

Every package of the papercraft consists of landmarks, traditional closets, and traditional houses (rumah adat) from each of the provinces that can be crafted into a diorama. This series also includes information about the cultures of every papercraft they crafted. 

Peri Kertas Community is the biggest papercraft community in Indonesia, with more than 20,000 spread across 43 different regions all over Indonesia. Nusantara Papercraft Kit was one of the community’s initiatives in this region.

Also Read: Growth and changing landscape of 5G and data

Last year this Paper Craft Community was selected as one of the top 19 finalists of the Facebook Community Accelerator in the APAC region launched by Meta and run by e27 as the accelerator partner from 2020 to 2022. The program offers selected community leaders worldwide to turn their impactful ideas into action.

Peri Kertas’ launch event at Trans Studio Mall, Cibubur, on 17 Aug 2022 was patronised by the representatives from the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy, The Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, Ministry of Cooperatives and SMEs, Jakarta Library, Nusantara Nature School, RWYC (Reconnecting With Your Culture) Indonesia, and e27.

At the event, the attendees shared how papercrafts are impactful not only in promoting Indonesian culture but also in how creative economics can bring business values to the Indonesian economy. Based on the Ministry of Tourism and Creative Economy’s records, shared from the Kominfo page in 2019, the creative economy sub-sector of Indonesia contributed 7.3 per cent of the total Indonesian GDP in 2019.

Moving forward

A community cannot exist without collaboration. While each of the communities come with their own unique vision and mission. We start to see more and more exciting community collaborations that will happen not only between one community with each other but also between governments and corporations, spreading from one region to also across regions as well. 

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Jay Olos, who was ousted as the CFO of Y Combinator-backed PayMongo in May 2022, dismissed the allegations of financial irregularities and employee harassment against him, saying he never stole money from the fintech firm.

In a LinkedIn post, Olos, however, apologised for his remarks against female employees.

“Few days ago, my name was mentioned in an article which reported my departure from PayMongo some months ago. Several people reached out to ask about it and check if I am OK. I am OK guys. Still fighting albeit silently and away from spotlight. Though to be honest, it’s taking a toll on my mental health (sic),” he said in the post.

There are no financial irregularities, he added. It’s just that some don’t understand accounting, the scope of work, entitlement, and a CFO’s obligations to the shareholders. Also, governance policies and related internal control apply to all staffers regardless of their ranks and the stage of the business. “In my 17 years as a finance professional, I never stole from any company that I worked for because I value integrity so much.”

Also Read: Tinder founder’s JAM Fund invests in PayMongo’s US$31M Series B financing round

Regarding the allegations of harassment, he noted that he is a conversationalist, talks a lot and can be tactless at times. He asks a lot of questions, gives inputs and insights and jokes and makes fun of himself. “Sometimes, included in those jokes are green jokes or adult jokes that I only blurt for those people whom I think I am close to. It’s my way to build rapport in a remote work setting and to show the human side of me (as a finance guy, I am tough they say). Unfortunately, I learned that some female colleagues found it not funny particularly in a WFH set-up when calls and chats are subject to interpretation. A lesson learned for me, and I take responsibility for it. I apologise to those people whom I have offended. Rest assured that I continue to work on improving myself on that area (sic).”

Olos said he respects the privacy and confidentiality of the ongoing investigation at PayMongo.

PayMongo was recently in the spotlight when TechInAsia published a story about various issues in the company, including the fallout among top leaders, the firing of two co-founders, and allegations of questionable spending by co-founders and employee harassment. As per the TiA report, Co-Founder and CEO Francis Plaza allegedly splurged money on extensive trips to Europe and the US and bought a luxury Porsche car. Some of his business class flight trips and a company loan taken to finance a property rental in the Philippines are also under ongoing investigation.

The PayMongo board, chaired by co-founder Luis Sia, has opened a formal investigation against Plaza, who is also a board member.

Founded in 2019 by Plaza, Luis Sia, Jaime Hing, and Edwin Lacierda, PayMongo empowers online businesses to accept the full range of payment options, including credit cards, e-wallets, and over-the-counter payments. It provides an easy-to-integrate PayMongo API and e-commerce plugins. 

In addition, PayMongo Links and Pages products enable businesses to provide a simple digital checkout for their customers, even without a website.

Though the startup caters to businesses of all sizes, it emphasizes underserved small (and micro) and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) (account for 99 per cent of businesses in the Philippines).

In February this year, PayMongo secured US$31 million in a Series B round of financing from investors, including JAM Fund (founded by Tinder founder Justin Mateen) and local VCs ICCP-SBI Venture Partners and Kaya Founders. Previously, the fintech firm bagged US$12 million Series A led by Stripe in 2020 and US$2.7 million seed round from investors, including Y Combinator, in 2019.

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Not everyone gets access to healthcare in Indonesia. The country only has 0.4 doctors for every 1000 residents. This problem is further complicated by the traffic jam in big cities like Jakarta and having to deliver healthcare to residents on over 17,000 islands across the country.

To address this challenge, Doddy Lukito founded Halodoc in 2016 together with his Co-Founder Jonathan Sudharta with the mission to simplify healthcare for Indonesians.

They’ve grown from 6 million patients per month in 2019 to serving over 20 million patients in Indonesia every single month in 2022. That is almost four times the size of Singapore’s population!

I had an enjoyable conversation with Lukito and was excited to learn how telemedicine technology can be used to set up drive-through vaccination centres during the COVID-19 pandemic, the biggest challenges when running a health tech platform, and valuable advice on how to deal with the ongoing tech winter.

Start with why: Focus on the problem you’re trying to solve

Lukito opened up about the biggest wake-up call he had while running Halodoc. A few years back, Halodoc launched a new product. The team built the product, prepared the operations team, and the launch was even covered by the media.

Yet, after all the effort and resources and waiting one entire month, there were only two users! This major setback made the team realise that they jumped directly into the solution without “thinking about whether the solution solves the pain point of the users”.

Also Read: Desperate times, desperate measures: How to extend cash runway by reducing cloud costs

Since then, for every new initiative, the team often starts by answering the question, “What is the pain point that we are solving”? They believe that with the focus on solving critical problems, the “product-market fit will be there, and business will flourish”.

Yet, the nature of the problems is often dynamic and influenced by changes in the world. In 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic first hit Indonesia, Halodoc used its technology to help Indonesians book COVID-19 tests and rolled out a drive-through COVID-19 testing service.

In the following year, when vaccinations were available in Indonesia, Halodoc expanded its appointment service and centres to help Indonesians book COVID-19 vaccinations.

The message is clear: If we are constantly solving real problems, we are generating value at work, and this translates into how relevant and valuable we are as businesses and tech workers. On the contrary, if we do not start with the why and fail to solve a problem, it does not set up for success.

Lukito’s advice on dealing with tech winter for the first-time entrepreneurs

Having been in the technology industry for more than 18 years, this was not his first tech winter, and he came from a place of experience.

When asked how Halodoc was dealing with it, Lukito shared that since their Series B round, they have already committed to investors that they have a roadmap to being a sustainable business. This means that every service that they launch needs to have a positive unit of economics.

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

I shared with him that there were some of my peers in their 20s and 30s who were experiencing a downturn for the first time. Their stock-based compensation dwindled, crypto savings crashed, and some of their friends in the industry had also been impacted by layoffs.

Lukito shared several actionable steps one could take to protect themselves.

One of his advice was to learn as much as possible and “don’t stay in your comfort zone”. This echoes Warren Buffet’s advice at the end of the Great Recession, where he shared that the best thing to do during those troubling economic times was for people to invest in themselves and learn new things.

He also emphasised twice on the importance of focusing on productivity. This advice echoes that of leaders at big tech companies like Meta and Google, who have highlighted the same to their workers.

Convincing others to adopt new ways of doing things?

When I asked Lukito about some of his biggest challenges running Halodoc, I was not expecting this answer. The biggest challenge is convincing stakeholders such as patients and healthcare providers that they could use telemedicine without sacrificing quality.

He shared that some Indonesians were initially not used to talking to doctors online and still believed that “If I am not being touched by my doctor, I can’t recover”. We all need to convince stakeholders at work and in our lives. Lukito shared three useful pointers on how we can win others over.

• Give proof that you can understand and solve their problems first.
• Change needs to be incremental. They started with one drive-through centre and added more over time once they proved the impact.
• Use data to your advantage. Gather the data, analyse it, and present it to demonstrate impact. Win trust and expand more facilities

Overall, I enjoyed the conversation with Lukito. Whether you work in tech or just started your own company, I am sure you would have a lot to learn from his story and lessons in running the largest healthtech startup in Indonesia.

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All the excitement of the Web3 movement reminded me of the 2010-2012 period in Southeast Asia. There were abundant opportunities in the region, and everyone was doing something interesting.

Every other meetup excites you and further motivates you to push harder in your own work areas. Startups are pitching not just to raise investments but honestly to share the excitement and the raw passion that they have in solving that problem with their proposed solution.

With an overall emerging market outlook, there was massive potential in many sectors for which entrepreneurs and founders are looking to create solutions. This statement is now true for the Web3 movement.

Caring for Web3

e27 has been starting to shift our content focus into Web3 since the start of 2022. The main reason is the idea that Web3 is a powerful and life-changing concept and definitely means more than crypto tokens and exchanges.

The promise of decentralisation and a community-first model seems to make perfect sense in a world of mixed opinions, capitalism and its zealous growth march, which are detrimental to its own environment. Thus, we are taking a closer look at this space to understand where the innovations are and how they could impact and assist our current tech community, which is made up of Web2 companies. 

Also Read: Web3 marketing: Building a cult-like community

For the past seven months, I have been spending time researching, speaking to new and old friends, learning the basics of the crypto jargon and what terms like “shilling” actually meant and going into multiple rabbit holes of NFTs and tons of discord channels. Dabbling with DeFi, I was also amazed by the number of projects that were attracting tons of money (before March).

Web3 events

As a community platform, events are part of our core, organising and attending events. 

One of the key events I’m looking forward to attending is Coinfest, which will happen next week in Bali. The Indonesian government has done much to encourage the growth of the digital nomads, and a portion of these communities are crypto and Web3 related.

The area where I’m personally interested is going deeper into DAOs and Web2.5 models and concepts. Web2.5 is a small movement where innovative concepts and technologies are created to bridge the ever-dividing gap between the Web2 and 3 models.

There’s plenty to learn more from the agenda with two separate tracks targeting the Web3 natives and the learning general technologists, startup founders and businesses that are attending the event next week.

I’m most looking forward to sessions on how Web2 companies transition to Web3 and how to build Web3 companies. I’ve spent a few months studying this trend and would like to hear from others in the ecosystem on how they think this transition will come about. What are the practical applications of Web3 beyond crypto, and how can conventional Web2 companies embrace the new world order?

Coinfest Asia has a stellar set of speakers from the key well-known exchanges, L1 blockchain representations, banks and investors and most importantly, key support from the Indonesia Ministry of Trade, with Vice Minister Jerry Sambuaga officiating the opening ceremony for the event. Check out the entire agenda and speakers and get involved here. 

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We all communicate with everyone based on our acquired or ingrained philosophies and worldviews. Nonetheless, in a diverse organisational setting, we must tap into our capacity for empathy and be mindful of our language. Vocabulary that may seem innocent to some may be abhorrent and isolating to others. 

From personal experience, I can say any institution can leverage all the advantages of its diverse crew with an inclusive environment that encourages people to bring their knowledge, experience, opinions, and mindsets to the workplace. 

What is inclusive communication?

Inclusive communication uses words or terms that avoid vernacular, biases, expressions, and slang that discriminate against people or groups based on age, race, gender, socioeconomic status, and ability. 

Inclusive communication is not just restricted to daily dialogues but also amplifies the message to more people, making a blog post, job description, or website copy more accessible than before.

Principles of inclusive language

People first: We are more than our descriptors

Use people-centric language that reflects people’s individuality and doesn’t stereotype somebody based on their association or identity with a group or culture. 

Mentioning of personal attributes or characteristics like gender, sexual orientation, religion, racial group, or ability should be context and relevancy based.

Example: Instead of “It’s not that black and white”, use “It’s not that clear.” 

Medical conditions and ability terms: Recognise and be sensitive toward 

“Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)”, “Bipolar,” “PTSD,” and “ADHD” are real-world mental health issues. Spreading ableist language (Ableism is discrimination or social prejudice against people with disabilities based on the belief that common abilities are superior) or using such words interchangeably describing day-to-day behaviours undermines the impact of someone’s experiences with a mental disorder. 

Example: Avoid using derogatory terms relatable to mental health issues, like “crazy.” Instead, use “outrageous” or “unheard of.”

Universal phrases: Results in transparent communication

Acronyms, idioms, jargon, and even colloquial expressions or metaphors specific to just one culture or class have become part of most companies’ vocabulary. These can be alienating and impede effective communication for new joiners, candidates, or global teams. 

Example: Working majorly with startups that need quick results, I often use the term “Low hanging fruit”.  Instead, I am consciously practising using “executing easy things that can help make progress toward an objective.”

Gender-neutral language: The most obvious, but is it? 

Let’s take a step back first, Sex and gender are dissimilar. Sex is given at birth, while gender is how an individual identifies. Gender is a broad spectrum.

Now, the most basic way to avoid gendered language in English is by employing gender-neutral phrases when addressing groups of people, their professional titles or when talking about family members to prevent heteronormative language.

Also Read: Why we cannot talk of diversity without inclusion

Example: Instead of “a woman entrepreneur,” use “a woman who is an entrepreneur” or replace “Husband/wife” with “spouse” and Good Morning, Everyone/team/people!” instead of “Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen!”. When unsure, you can always be respectful, introduce yourself and the pronouns you are comfortable with, and ask the same to make whoever you are communicating with feel welcome.

Not sure? Ask around

Inclusive language is subtle. The nuances can be confusing at the least and offensive at worst. The following questions have often helped me be neutral and inclusive:

• Is it essential to refer to a person or group’s inherent characteristics? 
• If so, are the references to personal characteristics couched in inclusive terms? 
• Do the framed considerations reflect the diversity of the audience? 
• If so, is the material accessible to the intended audience? 
• Are you, by any chance, excluding people in the design and delivery of your communication?

Image Courtesy: Inclusive Language for powerful communication by KarmaV

Conclusion

We are all constantly learning. So I’d say there are two key things to remember when practising inclusivity in communications:

First, anyone can make a mistake, no point in harping over it. Rather, sincerely apologise, correct yourself, make a mental note for future reference and move on. 

Second, the underrepresented are not obligated to explain the context behind their pronouns, how they perform their gender or the nuances of their sexuality. They shouldn’t be considered a token of their diverse community. I reckon the best approach is to ask questions you would consider answering without any discomfort.  

For me, inclusive language is not about alarming the ‘woke-meter’, encroaching on freedom of speech, or even being politically correct; it is about respectfully conveying your message. 

Verbiage is fluid. The intention and connotations of words can alter rapidly. It just needs one to be mindful of showcasing value, be inclusive, and empower all audience members.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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FOMO Pay raises US$13M in Series A funding round to accelerate growth
FOMO Pay aims to diversify product offerings following the crypto adoption curve, including working with regulators on CBDC projects. It will also strengthen research and development capabilities

Graas acquires Shoptimize, SELLinALL following US$40M Series A funding round
Singapore-based Graas was founded by serial entrepreneurs and martech veterans Prem Bhatia and Ashwin Puri. It has revealed its plan to expand further into Southeast Asia and India following this funding round.

MiyaHealth raises additional Pre-Series A funding to expand global footprint
The funding would be used to drive MiyaHealth’s aggressive growth strategy in product development, hiring and expansion of operations globally. MiyaHealth is also planning to kick off its Series A fundraise in the next six months to develop its product suite further.

Exclusive: Bukalapak founders’ fund backs early round of Indonesian coding test firm
Founded in 2021 by Elfino Sitompul and Melinda Wardiman, Algobash offers a tool that helps employers filter top-quality programmers through coding test solutions and pre-employment assessments, according to Tech In Asia.

East Ventures leads Indonesian sustainable proptech firm’s seed round
Founded in 2020 by its CEO Fred Moeis, Kabina simplifies the building process through prefabrication and modular construction. It also uses wood from sustainable sources as its main material, writes Tech In Asia.

Quona Capital secures capital commitments worth US$308M so far for its third fund.
DealstreetAsia reports that the fundraising only reflects the amount raised from US investors.

How the pandemic inspires Natural Trace to create a food supply chain traceability solution
What Natural Trace is offering is believed to be a better solution because, in addition to being food-grade, it is also tamper-proof.

How to venture into blockchain during a recession
Despite the market’s current doom-and-gloom outlook, blockchain as an agent of change remains key to the world’s digital and financial future. Investors should gather their wits and start shopping now, during this market correction.

How to never waste a good a crisis and survive the recession
At the end of the day, opportunity is greatest during times of volatility and this is a great time to build for those with that attitude. So this is how we can grow stronger during the recession.

Is the crypto market dead again?
Given how compelling the principle of decentralising is, it’s not a surprise that people aren’t ready to give up on crypto yet.

Early days of the Indonesian VC landscape and why VCs are like music labels
Southeast Asia is the centre of opportunity, and Indonesia is going to be the centre of development and engineering. But is there a shortage of money in the market?

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Image Credit: © inspirestock, 123RF Free Images

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From plummeting prices to high-profile layoffs and bankruptcies, the crypto bear has fully emerged from hibernation amid high summer. Yet one sector remains bullish, the blockchain gaming industry is, in fact, experiencing explosive growth and thriving in the proverbial crypto winter.

According to a report by DappRadar, in the first quarter of 2022 alone, investors have poured US$2.5 billion into blockchain games, a significant and substantial increase from the US$4 billion raised in the whole of 2021. 

This corroborates strongly with the view from many experts that gaming is truly the best use case for crypto, and blockchain gaming activity has surged 2,000 percent in the last year. 

This isn’t too surprising as the gaming industry is known to be very resilient and, in some ways, “recession-proof”. The idea is that during a recession, people will spend more time at home, seeking inexpensive forms of entertainment or generally look for video games that operate on a longer-tail business model, representing good value for money. 

But with such a meteoric rise comes the question of sustainability. How can game developers efficiently scale up to effectively meet the rising demand for new blockchain gaming experiences, and ensure that their ecosystem is effectively future-proofed?

While demand for blockchain gaming is surging, there remain many challenges that hinder the long-term viability of the space. To drive mainstream adoption, the user experience must be good.

Security and legitimacy are also important considerations due to an evolving business model which challenges who really holds the value in blockchain games. Scams, hacks, and misleading projects are rampant and discredit the good work that has been ongoing to upgrade gaming infrastructure.

We have seen high-profile cases, such as what has been dubbed the “largest exploit” in the history of the space, when popular blockchain game Axie Infinity’s Ronin network suffered an eye-watering loss of US$625 million earlier this year. This presents a huge roadblock to onboarding users. 

Game developers are also well aware of these challenges. For many long-standing AAA publishers from traditional gaming, they will have to manage their reputations, as well as protect their intellectual property (IP), so they have understandably been hesitant about diving headfirst into blockchain technology. 

Fun first

Beyond the barriers of entry, however, a significant pain point to address revolves around the actual gaming experience, and whether it provides something simple, yet seemingly elusive according to critics: fun. 

Too many blockchain-based game developers and publishers today tunnel vision on their monetisation models, project tokenomics or emphasise a play-to-earn model with game mechanics geared heavily towards earning rather than playing.

Also Read: Why the Web3-enabled gaming world still has hope

It’s simply not scalable. Focusing on monetary rewards without prioritising gameplay does not motivate users to continue playing the game. The attempt to financialise gaming without regard for the spirit of why we play games simply turns a fun, recreational activity into a job. It causes the fractionalisation of a player base, turning a community driven by gameplay into one where users are seen as mere market participants. 

This is the fundamental reason why there is still so much apprehension from conventional gamers and gaming platforms, who view blockchain gaming as a cash grab and the antithesis of everything they stand for. 

As it currently stands, games on the blockchain are generally not fun. This is not necessarily down to the aspiring and well-meaning game developers, but perhaps the limitations of current blockchain architecture.

This is very simply how games are judged to be “fun” or “good” in the blockchain. Nobody wants to pay high gas fees to execute actions within a gaming metaverse or wait for 15-seconds to five minutes for a transaction to be confirmed. 

Current consensus mechanisms are geared so much towards decentralisation, security, and privacy that they can come at the expense of speed, performance, and cost. For blockchain-powered solutions to be attractive to game developers and succeed in winning the hearts and minds of players, they need to be highly scalable with high transaction speeds and low/zero gas fees for users. They must have a well-designed user interface, be fully optimised for performance, and be interoperable between various multiverses. 

Bridging two worlds

Another issue for the flagging interest in blockchain gaming is that there has been very little buy-in from major gaming brands, developers, and studios from the traditional gaming world thus far. The process of IP development for blockchain games is complex, and major IP holders are right to be concerned about how their brands are deployed, monetized, and used on a blockchain. 

When we examine how traditional IPs are created, they are usually a derivative of mass-consumed media. For example, Mickey Mouse was popularised by the Steamboat Willie movie, and Gundam mechas have pretty much defined a genre since their debut in the Mobile Suit Gundam TV series.

However, in the Web3 world, without the long-established credibility and brands such as Disney and Bandai Namco, IP conceptualisation begins with creation for a limited number of people, using NFTs as a limited-edition product.

Also Read: Exploring the creator economy in gaming

This means that many NFT developers are spending big on branding to increase the value of their collections rather than investing in-game mechanics, functionality and interfaces in the hopes that their husk of a game will move on to join the mass market.

It is clear that for blockchain gaming to succeed, it cannot do so alone. Rather it must acknowledge its limitations and embrace the value and expertise that traditional gaming brands can offer. 

What we’re seeing now is more and more buy-in from traditional game developers and gaming companies, who are now realising the tremendous value that blockchain gaming offers to players and developers alike.

For instance, the Oasys project, which was just only announced this year, has already been backed by the likes of Bandai Namco, Ubisoft and SEGA – huge brands and stalwarts of the traditional gaming industry, and some of the biggest game companies in the world.

Not one single company holds the key to surmounting the aforementioned problems. Rather, an ecosystem approach is necessary.  Just as more institutional investment legitimised crypto over the years, the interest and participation of traditional gaming company brands will also help accelerate the growth of blockchain gaming.

The Oasys project has quickly recognised this paradigm and quickly brought in as many partners, validators and investors across a wide range of Web2 and Web3 leaders. Aside from working with the aforementioned gaming developers, Oasys also recently partnered with ConsenSys to produce an industry-first, gaming-optimised wallet for players, as well as announced a collaboration with Mythical Games, a leading crypto-native games developer, to serve as an initial validator.

By leveraging the strengths of different stakeholders, there is a more efficient use of resources and industry expertise to propel growth. The time is now for all of us collectively in the blockchain gaming industry to dig deeper and build a robust gaming architecture that can not only ride out winter but also emerge from it stronger.

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With Malaysia being one of many countries that are highly vulnerable to global shocks affecting its food supply chains, both consumers and producers have been hard hit. Often, food consumers have to contend with limitations in supply volume and options, as well as the quality of goods.

On the supplier side, a lack of insight into the volume of demand for certain ingredients arising from market access challenges makes it difficult to plan, and order management and fulfilment are often done manually. Other factors influence these conditions, such as fragmented stakeholder linkages across the supply chain and rudimentary supply and demand monitoring, making it a challenge to see opportunities for optimisation quickly. Efforts to streamline food supply chain processes come at an opportune moment, presenting efficiencies, resource sustainability, and cost savings for both business buyers and farm producers.

One such solution is spearheaded by Secai Marche, a cloud-based farm-to-table B2B platform that links farmers and food businesses by building more economically viable and sustainable operations of small-scale farms as well as F&B retailers, hotels, restaurants, and cafes through improved access to good & delicious food. This is done through streamlining agricultural logistics, realising cost efficiency and product bundling across farmer suppliers that unlock more options for fresh food ingredients, through a process that enables transparency and optimised product value.

Bolstering the food supply chain

Headquartered in Japan with Malaysia as its first global branch, Secai Marche co-founders Ami Sugiyama and Shusaku Hayakawa have had personal experience in food supply chain pain points, running retail food shops and farms themselves for over a decade. In the past four years, they have built the company to address the pain points of scale challenges for farm operations through full-stack tech solutions from online marketplaces, order management, logistics and fulfilment, which also broadens the array of food options and SKUs that are available to hotels, restaurants, and cafes to choose from as their raw ingredients for their food offerings.

Also read: On a mission to reform and simplify cross-border supply chains

While they started as an online marketplace between food producers and food and beverage retailers, they have since expanded to include order fulfilment as that is what is lacking in current market solutions. Through a marketplace SaaS model, Secai Marche is also the first provider in the region to offer this solution, including cold storage, thereby mitigating food waste challenges in the current supply chain conditions of the region. Their key focus is to enable optimisation, making things efficient for businesses, lessening produce wastage for the farmers, and working with existing warehousing and logistics providers to enable this.

Using technology also generates information that can be used to further optimise the farm-to-table process, realising operational efficiency and greater convenience that benefits farmers, food businesses, and consumers. It also generates positive impacts on sustainability via mitigating the occurrence of food waste. Their data shows that the platform has minimised food loss and waste among their customers’ current supply chain by as much as 75 per cent.

B2B e-commerce for F&B retailers

To address market access and sales channel challenges for farmers, Secai Marche has its B2B online platform where F&B retailers can directly connect with them, much like an online grocery shopping experience for hotels, restaurants, and cafes. It further enables efficiency by providing order management and processing solutions, including streamlining payment collections, thereby addressing multiple collections and variable payment term cycles across buyers.

Also read: How accessible robotic solutions enable business efficiency

The platform also streamlines anticipated market demand, enabling feedback loops for food producers. It streamlines logistics and distribution as well by covering the fulfilment function from farm-to-restaurant through the pick-up goods, quality check, washing of goods, repacking, sorting, picking, and last-mile delivery to restaurants by combining goods with other products and bundling them into one order. Especially for perishables, Secai Marche has been focusing on operational excellence in cold chain facilities to ensure its produce does not lose the required standards — something which many players in the market find challenging to execute.

Through this end-to-end service, restaurants enjoy more product variety and freshness with lesser minimum order quantity requirements, being able to choose products through the online platform, receiving one invoice, and paying everything together, instead of dealing with multiple suppliers and invoices.

Formidable track record

What differentiates Secai Marche is its ability to power a shared supply chain with precision where the delivery needs of various food suppliers can be catered to. To date, they are working with 300 food producers in Japan and Southeast Asia, as well as 400 hotels, restaurants, and cafes, *processing monthly transactions of over USD100,000 (*as of publishing. The current monthly transaction ranges between USD200,000 as of August 2022).

The startup has since raised a total of 2.5M USD from its previous funding rounds to focus on growth by building out its technology stack further, bolstering its talent pool, and expanding its reach to more countries in Southeast Asia. Rakuten is an investor and serves as their strategic partner as well, being the biggest e-commerce company in Japan. Their experience in the field can accelerate Secai Marche’s journey to expansion.

Also read: Strengthening cybersecurity measures in the face of Web 3.0

The Secai Marche team is keen to engage with strategic partners to further accelerate their growth and impact in the markets that they serve, with Singapore as its next target country for expansion, followed by Thailand and Indonesia, and with possibilities of engaging more farmers across the region to source produce.

The startup is also gearing up for its series A raise, expanding its service key units to 3,000 products with transparency in sourcing, serving a growing number of consumers who are more conscious of food product sources. Secai Marche is bullish on its mission to build a better supply chain that connects producers and end users most efficiently, maximising value for them through new direct channels and fulfilment.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Secai Marche

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Yes, you read that right. Historically, crypto has repeatedly undergone cycles of dramatic rises and abrupt falls. At one point in 2017-18, Bitcoin slumped by an astonishing 84 per cent after attaining a peak of US$20,000. And now, we have experienced another major crypto collapse.

First came the devastating Terra Luna crash. Then, major crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital was assuaged with major liquidity issues. This double whammy consequently led to a massive sell-off in crypto assets, causing crypto to enter a bear market territory, with Bitcoin (BTC) slipping by more than 65 per cent and Ethereum (ETH) by 75 per cent. 

“Crypto winter is here”, so the word goes on the streets. Some investors are even predicting that the slump could persist for at least two years.

But the present situation doesn’t spell the beginning of the end for crypto. The cogs are already shifting, poised to introduce a wave of change that will positively transform and strengthen the crypto ecosystem. Furthermore, major crypto companies Binance, Kraken, and Polygon are actually accelerating their hiring efforts with over 3,000 open jobs amidst the madness of layoffs and selloffs. 

To understand why crypto remains firmly entrenched in the fintech ecosystem, let’s go back to the fundamentals of why crypto was created.

The guiding principle of crypto

The year was 2008. The world was reeling from the shock of the Global Financial Crisis, which triggered several bank failures and caused many economies worldwide to slow down. 

Crypto was created on the coattails of this disaster, as people began to question and doubt centralised institutions like banks and their involvement in the financial system. Bitcoin was the first cryptocurrency to be created, serving as a means for people to directly control their money without relying on said central authorities. 

Herein lies the key draw of crypto: it is decentralised. It speaks to and encourages the notion of a free world where power is returned to the users, allowing payments to be made swiftly and securely without being hampered by regulatory roadblocks. The 21st-century version of ‘Power to the People’, so to speak.

Also Read: Are we prepared to embrace the possibilities of Web3 beyond crypto?

Let’s not forget this even as crypto nosedives into its current bear market situation. As with every other market that carries some measure of risk, crypto’s core values remain unchanged despite its ups and downs.

And it is these very core values that have spurred crypto to develop interesting use cases beyond just being a vehicle for investments. These use cases ensure that crypto endures well into the future. As more use cases are devised as answers to new problems, the longevity of crypto will be further prolonged.

Without further ado, let’s move on to examine some of the known use cases of crypto.

The use cases of crypto

While it’s easy to write crypto off as just an asset and occasional payment method, the reality is that it’s more than that: it has been used for other innovative purposes, ranging from lending platforms to non-fungible tokens (NFTs). Let’s consider three distinct use cases of crypto below:

Lending

Crypto lending is one of the more popular DeFi use cases that have been around in the market for years, with billions of dollars of crypto assets secured across various lending platforms. Decentralised lending protocols like AAVE and Compound Finance allow users to lend, borrow and earn interest on crypto assets without the requirement of a third party or an intermediary. 

While crypto lending started out as a vehicle for crypto users operating in the decentralised space, both AAVE and Compound Finance have launched products to drive more institution adoption into the DeFi ecosystem. Known as AAVE Arc and Compound Treasury, respectively, these products serve as conduits for financial institutions and non-crypto native businesses to directly access decentralised markets.

Even amid the crypto bear market, lending continues to be a popular use case in the world of crypto. Recently in May 2022, Siam Commercial Bank (SCB) entered the DeFi space via its digital venture arm SCB 10X, where it will use Compound Treasury for conversions between USD and the USDC stablecoin.

According to Mukaya Tai Panich, chief investment officer at SCB 10X, this is a key step in the right direction for SCB 10X’s institutional DeFi efforts. Despite the recent events, Panich believes that the accelerated education of regulators, board members, and top-level management has helped to mitigate panic reactions.

SCB 10X isn’t the only financial institution to venture into the DeFi space too. Crypto custody firm Fireblocks’ CEO, Michael Shaulov, noted that more high-end institutional clients are exploring DeFi, with AAVE Arc and Compound Treasury helping to ease their transition into this space.

Commodity storage

Centralised cloud storage services are a fantastic idea and have enabled businesses and digital services to scale effectively and efficiently. They store users’ data on the cloud, freeing them from the shackles of external hard drives.

However, this service often comes with a caveat: cloud services are monopolised by a few companies, who control prices, legislation, and even those who use these services.

Enter decentralised storage networks like Filecoin. These systems work to eliminate bad monopoly practices by incentivising storage providers to securely and transparently store their clients’ files. Now, this system may not sound feasible at first, but it actually works. 

For Filecoin, it rewards storage providers with Filecoins when they store data securely. Filecoin verifies such good practices via cryptographic methods. By earning these Filecoins over time, storage providers stand to benefit from block rewards doled out by Filecoin.

Non-fungible tokens (NFTs)

And now we come to our last but most probably best-known use case, non-fungible tokens. You’ve probably seen these around on Instagram and Twitter, with owners and notable celebrities showing off their NFTs (ranging from Pudgy Penguins to Bored Apes) by using them as profile pictures. And NFTs are closely intertwined with crypto. 

Digital assets that represent real-world objects like art, music, in-game items, fashion and videos, NFTs operate on the same blockchains that host crypto. Also known as Layer 1 platforms, these blockchains serve as ecosystems that cryptographically secure NFTs. 

Also Read: Where is the future of NFTs and metaverse heading towards?

Of all the blockchains that NFTs operate on, Ethereum is the best known. It pioneered the ERC-721 token standard, which is currently the most commonly used standard for NFTs. 

While NFTs are typically used for art collectability, their potential doesn’t start and end there. Looking ahead, NFTs can be evolved for business use. This boils down to their ability to serve as immutable proof of ownership. Beyond art and games, NFTs could potentially be used to tie house ownership or even university applications to you. 

Furthermore, a key feature of NFTs is that they are transparent, which means you can track their full journey when you get involved in any transaction. Couple this with the encrypted nature of NFTs and the risk of identity theft and other identity-related risks are greatly reduced.

Regulating the unregulated

Although the manifold use cases of crypto point towards its survival into the future, we mustn’t overlook the white elephant in the room: the lack of appropriate regulation. This might seem ironic since crypto was conceived to be unregulated. 

Yet we can’t turn a blind eye to recent events that made it remarkably clear that some regulation is necessary; it’s pretty much a necessary evil. After all, during the Terra implosion, reports of people losing their entire life savings began to surface, causing them to rapidly lose faith. 

At present, the material value of crypto is impaired by the abuse of a lax system, alongside the wider lack of trust that the public has in it. Hence, when I talk about regulation for crypto, I’m really looking at putting up robust safeguards that regulatory authorities manage to make the overall environment safe for all stakeholders involved. 

Such regulation would theoretically serve as a safety net for investors when the wider crypto market undergoes an unfavourable downturn. This is especially important for less sophisticated investors or investors who have devoted a substantial sum of money towards crypto.

At the same time, we should use this opportunity to hold open talks with relevant stakeholders, educate users, and refocus the conversation on the intrinsic benefits that crypto provides.

It’s also helpful to remember that crypto has a history of being highly volatile, going through steep climbs and sudden slumps throughout its intense 13-year life cycle. 

While seasoned investors would be unfazed by the volatility, the same cannot be said of inexperienced retail investors who were banking on a quick buck.

Singapore’s measures

Project Guardian

Singapore is taking the lead in piloting a project to explore viable methods of regulating the crypto market without being overly intrusive. Dubbed Project Guardian, this initiative is a collaborative effort between the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the financial industry to explore the economic potential, harness the benefit of DeFi and value-adding use cases of tokenisation.

Under Project Guardian, a key objective is to manage risks to financial stability and integrity, precisely the core concern that arose following the Terra Luna crash. While nothing is set in stone yet, Project Guardian symbolises an enormous step in the right direction for the broader crypto ecosystem. 

Currently, crypto is risky precisely because of the absence of tangible safety barriers to protect investors from losing their investments. 

Also Read: Cryptocurrency, money laundering and KYC: Why are regulations important?

With initiatives like Project Guardian in place, we could potentially see the crypto ecosystem becoming less speculative and more secure for DeFi participants.

Tighter regulatory measures

At the same time, the MAS has also recently pledged to be “brutal and unrelentingly hard” on bad practices in the crypto industry. While this move has been called out for “not being friendly” by many crypto companies, I think it is, in fact, a step in the right direction. 

I don’t disagree that such tight regulations may hamper the operations of crypto companies. But if the Terra Luna crash has taught us anything, it is that without a clearer regulatory environment, it inadvertently gives space to bad practices that will actually be more harmful to the development of the crypto industry in the long run.

The MAS’ recent stance may be harsh, but it bears mentioning that this is consistent with its opinion that crypto is not for retail investors. While accredited investors are armed with a robust understanding of market volatilities and how to respond to them, retail investors often lack this fundamental knowledge.

I, therefore, believe that the MAS’ crackdown on bad practices will mould the crypto industry to be a better and safer environment for all participants.

Crypto is not dead

While crypto’s bear market situation is undoubtedly a cause for concern, we shouldn’t mistake it as a sign that spells the end for the broader crypto-universe. Key stakeholders are already in conversation to work out viable solutions to better manage the system for everyone. 

It’s also worth remembering crypto’s key selling point as a tool designed to empower the user. Swift and transparent, crypto transactions are not bound to the whims of a central authority; they are instead authenticated by the user. 

That’s why crypto isn’t dead. Given how compelling its principle of decentralising and freeing the financial ecosystem is, it’s hardly any surprise that people aren’t quite ready to give up on it.

That said, crypto is going through a rough spot that could persist for years. While I can’t say for sure when things will pick up again, the crypto community continues to believe in HODL (holding on for dear life) and maintaining diamond hands (refraining from selling crypto investments despite downturns). To this, I’ll add a caveat: only do so if you’re financially able to!

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The Masters of Cashflow Podcast is hosted by Andrew Senduk, and is all about venture capital in South East Asia. He interviews the leading investors in South East Asia, from prolific angel investors, upcoming VCs, and leading CVCs in the game.

Andrew Senduk is a serial venture builder, who raised $ millions of venture capital for his ventures, and is currently the Managing Director at Workmate, Indonesia. Workmate’s vision is to help companies simplify the hiring and management of their blue-collar workforce and by doing so make an impact on the millions of blue-collar workers across SEA. Senduk has built multiple high-growth companies from scratch since 2009 and is a global keynote speaker and author of Ignite Millennial Leadership (2018).

Nicko Widjaja is the CEO of BRI Ventures, the venture capital arm of Bank BRI, the biggest bank in Indonesia based on assets that launched its’ first US$250+ million venture fund. In November 2020, its second fund, called Sembrani Nusantara (SN), was launched, which is a mix of equity and venture debt funds.

Widjaja is an early tech investment pioneer, his career spans over 15 years in venture capital, corporate transformation, and startup ecosystem. He was formerly the CEO of MDI Ventures, a Telkom Indonesia-backed venture capital with investments in over ten countries. Under his leadership, MDI Ventures has become one of the most profitable venture capital firms in the region, with two international IPOs (ASX and TSE) and four trade exits in just four years since inception. 

Indonesia’s ever-growing stature

“Silicon Valley is the centre of innovation, South East Asia is the centre of opportunity, and Indonesia is going to be the centre of development and engineering.”

This is Indonesia’s 11th year of the tech ecosystem, and there weren’t a lot of “pearls” back then. There weren’t any “US$100 million funding” headlines or guaranteed unicorns in the making. Sure an angel check or seed round here and there, but nothing spectacular. It’s amazing to see how the ecosystem has evolved into the eight unicorns Indonesia counts at the moment (2022) and the massive value creation that is produced by homegrown companies.

Investment funds usually have a three-four year investment period and a five-six year harvesting period. This means the first full investment cycle has been completed. In other words, it’s the moment of truth for the ecosystem, and several homegrown startups have “made it” to the big league, unicorn status. On the day of the recording of this podcast, Grab went IPO via a SPAC with a valuation of US$40 billion. A major milestone for SEA’s tech ecosystem.

Corporate venture capital (CVC) vs traditional venture capital (VC)

CVCs differentiate because they follow a strict investment thesis and, therefore, usually are not agnostic. There should be synergy with the core business, and before CVCs invest, they usually ask questions like:

• Does the startup fall in the category of investment? 
• What stage are they in? 
• What market are they serving?
• What is the synergy with the core business?

Is it strange that a company like Grab can double the valuation in 18 months? 

Also Read: How AlphaJWC Ventures built Indonesia’s largest early-stage fund

No, because most companies are still undervalued. Compared to companies like SEA, many homegrown companies have not shown their full potential yet. Even though the pandemic has accelerated growth and digital adoption for many tech companies, there is still much room for growth.

Is there a shortage of money?

Money is overflowing in the region, it’s becoming a commodity instead. Money is not the challenge. The challenge is more on the founder’s side, from who will they accept the money? Investors are increasingly thinking about how they can convince founders to accept their money.

The myth of being an investor is that any startup will take their money. But if that’s the case, you’re not a good investor, because clearly, you’re fishing in the wrong startup pond. Investors need to create stories and make sure they work for startups, and not the other way around.

Role of (hyper) growth nowadays

Growth is not a matter of metrics anymore, it’s about the founder’s vision. Will they stick with the old playbook, or can they evolve into a multiple-arm strategy? Look at how Gojek or Bukalapak have evolved into mini conglomerates.

Comparison between the investment space and the music space

• Investors are the record label
• Startups are the artists
• Verticals (i.e. e-commerce, logistics, fintech, edutech) are the genres

It’s the investor’s goal to make their artist into top-selling artists!

Listen to the full podcast episode here. Check out the podcast on Spotify and Apple.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Canva Pro

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