The number of smartphone subscriptions worldwide now stands at more than six and a half billion. This figure is expected to increase by hundreds of millions in the next few years, according to Statista. I find this figure staggering and a massive overall percentage if we consider that the world’s population is approaching eight billion people.

Southeast Asia has over 400 million internet users, with the penetration rate at over 70 per cent in all countries in the region apart from Laos, Myanmar, and Timor-Leste. The number of smartphone users in Southeast Asia will reach 326.3 million in 2022 and will increase at a steady rate until the year 2026.

The unparalleled rise

The vast majority of these (almost nine out of ten) internet users in the region will use smartphones in 2022. Therefore, brands that have moved or are moving from offline to online have consumers in the palm of their hands, as geographical boundaries between customers and brands simply no longer exist.

Any user with internet access can now engage directly and in real-time with a brand through live streaming via its social media platforms or website.

I certainly think it’s true that such simple daily access to different and innovative technologies makes adopting them a foregone conclusion. Access to brands is now much more seamless, making the customer experience straightforward and more enjoyable.

In addition, live streaming allows brands to create entertaining, memorable, and meaningful content with the bonus of instant access and engagement for online users. It also helps a brand to look more honest and trustworthy in its customer’s eyes as it’s fully live.

Consumer data is key to building client profiles to detect a pattern of spending behaviour. If a consumer is inclined towards a particular price point or product, a brand’s marketing team can more easily target this individual with personalised messages as part of its marketing strategy.

Also Read: The rise of live commerce in Asia and adoption of BeLive by retailers

This is especially valuable if a brand is launching a new product to the market via live streaming. Customers who have shown prior loyalty to the brand have instant access to the new product and can also ask questions and have them answered to their satisfaction. This gives a new meaning to the term ‘first in line’.

If we look at live streaming e-commerce when compared to ‘traditional’ e-commerce, the two keywords that spring to mind are immediacy and interactivity. Live streaming is a valuable technology because it has the capacity to offer immediate feedback to questions posed by a consumer.

Interactive technologies such as surveys, trivia games, and polling allow brands to interact with consumers through a live stream with a possible added incentive of prizes for participants. These added layers expand the consumer experience, as they can be fun, relaxed, and informative. The interaction is therefore more memorable. This would not be possible through a traditional e-commerce store. 

E-commerce revolutionised

E-commerce has undoubtedly revolutionised the retail industry, particularly during the pandemic, as millions of people were confined indoors during lockdown periods. Live streaming technology allowed this to happen as consumers looked for ways to shop without leaving the comfort of their homes.

This was particularly the case for more introverted shoppers as no physical, social interaction, intimidating large crowds or sales assistants formed part of the process. The availability of various payment options also helped a boom in online sales.

Affordable prices and shipping costs, ease of search, and convenience all made shopping for brands online an attractive proposition. COVID-19 has proven a desire for live streaming solutions among people working remotely with companies investing more than ever in online platforms. 

E-commerce was one of five specified sectors (the others being financial services, online travel, online media & transport and food) in a 2021 report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company on Southeast Asia’s ‘economy’.

This highlighted that the region is on its way to becoming a $US 1 trillion digital economy by the decade’s end. Southeast Asia’s e-commerce market GMV is projected to reach US$142.70 billion in 2022. This is expected to exhibit a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 15.08 per cent in the next three years, meaning a projected market value of US$217.50 billion by 2025.

With the growth of e-commerce as an industry at such significantly high levels, several government bodies have begun to regulate laws and regulations to elevate e-commerce business. They have provided the right conditions to allow this to happen.

Also Read: Why live commerce is here to stay in Asia

A cross-border e-commerce initiative was launched in June 2022 by the Vietnam E-commerce and Digital Economy Agency under the Ministry of Industry and Trade. It intends to help the country to nurture an e-commerce workforce over the next five years to allow more export opportunities for local enterprises. 

Retention is the new acquisition

An appropriate industry saying for 2022 could be ‘Retention is the new acquisition’. Brands are finding it challenging to retain consumers in an era where access to virtually every possible brand is as convenient as clicking a button. The strategy of building a brand community then becomes key.

Through this, interaction and constant engagement to build loyalty become a de-facto strategy for many brands. The personification of a brand can also be amplified with content that is authentic as well as highly visual through the use of live streaming technology. 

Live streaming commerce is still in its relatively early stages. I would be confident that the technology behind it will continue to evolve while being successfully adopted by brands globally. It currently can collect key information about customers in real-time.

This dictates the kind of messaging the brand should get across during a live stream. This could be in the form of the type of product on offer, price, or what specifically needs to be shown to convert a casual ‘viewer’ into a ‘paying customer’.

I can undoubtedly see Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) technology having a strong influence on the sector. A potential customer having the ability to virtually ‘try on’ a product during live streaming is undoubtedly something we will witness in the near future.

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Fazz secures US$100M Series C to grow its lending services, expand team in SEA
The investors include Tiger Global, DST Investment, B Capital, Insignia, and Lendable; Fazz claims it saw US$10B in annualised transaction volumes over the past year and looks to double the volumes in the next 12 months.

Vietnamese proptech startup Propzy to shut down
In an internal email, co-founder and CEO John Le said that the company’s efforts to grow the business amid the pandemic resulted in significant losses that it could not recover due to continued lockdowns in Vietnam.

AC Ventures reaches first close of US$250M fund
The fund raised 65% of its capital target, but it has already invested in five startups; These include SkorLife’s US$2.2M round, Ideal’s US$3.8M fundraise, and Atma’s US$5M deal.

Sea to forgo leadership salaries amid cash flow struggles
This comes after Sea ended operations in four Latin American markets and trimmed staff across its divisions; The Singapore-based company has lost nearly US$170B in market value since peaking in October.

TikTok Shop has set SEA on fire within months
The short-video giant has moved quickly and aggressively in the region to roll out new features, offer incentives, and seal new partnerships with e-commerce enablers and logistics partners.

SG digibank Trust hits 100K customers within 2 weeks of launch
Backed by a partnership between Standard Chartered Bank and Fairprice Group, Trust offers a range of products and services, including credit cards, savings accounts, and family personal accident insurance.

Taiwan’s TNL Media acquires recipe-sharing social platform iCook
TNL Media looks to grow its readership, launch new products, and expand the group’s paid subscription business; With 7M monthly unique visitors, the integration with iCook will bring TNL’s total readership to 25M MUV and 100M monthly views.

Sequoia Surge backs US$14.3M series A of Vietnam’s Virtual Internships
The firm offers access to digital internships for individuals pursuing higher education across 100 countries; It also trains students before and during their work experiences.

Glife Technologies raises US$3M Series A+ from Tin Men Capital
Glife aggregates demand for food produce from restaurants and match it with suppliers; Glife will use the fresh funds to accelerate the launch and operations of its digital marketplace for F&B suppliers and merchants in Q42022.

Hybrid work technology startup FlexOS secures US$1M
The investors include Do Ventures, VIK Partners, Vulpes Ventures, Hustle Fund, and Play Ventures; FlexOS offers gamified office check-ins, desk and meeting room bookings, and up to 10 monthly events and activities tailored to employees’ unique interests.

Indonesian kids food startup Grouu raises funding
The investors include Teja Ventures, Arkana Ventures, and Javas Capital; Grouu delivers meals to users’ houses every day; It offers meals for kids between one to 10 years old; It has also added non-MSG options to its menu.

Web3

Arrest looms for Terraform Labs founder as Seoul court issues warrant
A court in Seoul issued a warrant against Do Kwon and five other individuals for violating South Korea’s capital markets laws; The warrant comes after the Terra crashed in May, resulting in global losses of over US$40B.

Indonesian crypto exchange Reku bags US$11M funding
The investors include AC Ventures, Coinbase Ventures, and Skystar Capital; Last year, crypto transactions in Indonesia reached US$60B, with Reku processing US$3B of the total amount.

Cake DeFi launches global research hub in Singapore
Called Birthday Research, the centre will focus on developing blockchain and digital-asset technologies; Cake DeFi has committed to investing US$50M into R&D over the next four years.

Blockchain data firm Thirdwave launches with US$7M raise
The investors include Framework Ventures, Animoca Brands, Play Ventures, and Shima Capital; Thirdwave provides Web3 companies, projects, protocols, and DAOs with blockchain data.

Multi-chain DeFi services platform Krystal raises US$6.6M led by Hashed
Krystal will add more blockchains and improve access to passive income by allowing users to securely do staking, manage liquidity pools, and yield farming.

IDG Capital Vietnam invests in blockchain firm Metain
Metain is a blockchain-empowered co-investment platform focusing on real estate; It makes investing in income-producing assets affordable, convenient, safe, and transparent for middle-income customers.

Sender nets US$4.5M led by Pantera Capital to expand its crypto wallet ecosystem
The investors include Pantera Capital, Crypto.com Capital, Jump Capital, SevenX Ventures, and D1 Ventures; Sender is a third-party wallet in the NEAR ecosystem with built-in functions such as staking, swap, and NFT showcase.

Ex-Binance exec’s Web3 platform Playground bags pre-seed capital
The lead investors are East Ventures and Mirana Ventures; On Playground, users can interactively discover all aspects of trusted Web3 entertainment projects and be kept abreast of updates and milestones for new and existing projects.

Features

FlyORO wants to decarbonise aviation with its last-mile sustainable fuel blending tech
FlyORO’s technology can be integrated with existing airport infrastructure so that airports can provide sustainable aviation blends readily to airlines.

How Moom taps into the power of community in product development, user acquisition
When asked about the role of its community in its customer acquisition strategy, Moom stresses the importance of putting itself in the mindset of customers.

What makes Bee Kheng Tay a remarkable leader
Bee Kheng Tay, President of Cisco Systems in ASEAN, looks at how she’s taking the enterprise technology industry to new heights.

Authored articles

How e-commerce brands can tap into US$600B social commerce market potential
As modern-day consumer becomes more reliant on their mobile devices, promptness is valued above all else when it comes to social commerce.

Avoiding costly mistakes: How cognitive biases can affect entrepreneurs
How exactly do cognitive biases and noise affect entrepreneurs, and how can we reduce decision-making errors within the business landscape?

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In the shadow of Singapore’s standing as 12th in the World Index of Health Care Innovation, pet healthcare remains a backwater. Despite a significant uptick in pet ownership in Singapore in recent times, pet owners’ knowledge of pet healthcare remains quite inadequate.

A local survey of more than 1,000 cat and dog owners showed that the concern that almost every owner had was chronic health issues with their pets. However, despite such a concern, “more than two-thirds of pet owners had little or no knowledge of key health issues such as parasite infestation, chronic kidney disease and heart disease that might affect their cats and dogs”.

When they did try to seek out information on their pets’ health, 35 per cent turned to the internet, while 26 per cent looked at YouTube and TikTok videos instead of turning to the real expert: a veterinarian!  

So, what is driving this phenomenon? And can technology provide some solutions? We explore these questions in this article.

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

As the old saying goes, ‘an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure’. This wisdom directly relates to the health care of our pets.

Let’s focus on dogs as an example. People often say that one year of a dog’s life equates to seven human years, but this is an oversimplification. The truth is, one calendar year for a dog may equal up to 15 human years, depending on the breed. Since dogs age faster than humans, they should see their doctor more often than we see ours. If they only visit their vet once a year, that is akin to us getting a general check-up every four-five years!

Dogs (even when healthy) should be examined by a veterinarian, preferably twice a year. As your dog ages, more frequent visits may be necessary as the rapid ageing process of dogs makes preventive healthcare even more important.

Also Read: Singapore’s MyPetGo wants to be the Apple of pet care technology

Hence, it is concerning to see that in the same survey, nearly 40 per cent of pet owners either prefer to self-diagnose based on internet research, delay vet visits until symptoms worsen or worse of all, not take their pets to a veterinarian at all. This can often aggravate health issues due to misinformation.

Addressing the problems

A big driver of the lack of veterinary visits is the existence of several pain points faced by traditional veterinary care providers, which in turn lead to pain points for pet owners seeking veterinary care. The corresponding spike in patient volumes at veterinary practices that have come with the rise in pet ownership in recent years has caused many clinics to be fully booked and oftentimes overwhelmed.

This is made worse by the shortage of labour in the industry. Consequently, veterinary practices find themselves having to turn down clinic appointments and being unable to provide after-hours care.

Serious lapses in care have also occurred, unfortunately. For pet parents, this means they often have to grapple with difficulty with getting an appointment, long waiting times and limited 24-hour and emergency vet services.

Even if they can get an appointment, they often have to deal with the lack of pet-friendly travel options, not to mention the stress of travelling to and being at the clinic for their pets are subjected to. All these pain points discourage pet parents from taking their pet to see the veterinarian as regularly as they should.

An all-in-one digital solution

Now, imagine an all-in-one digital platform where veterinarians can connect with their clients and patients online anytime, anywhere, enabling them to extend care beyond the physical limitations of their clinics. Moreover, if telemedicine is unsuitable for a pet’s condition, they can refer the case to a clinic for a physical examination.

They can also digitally issue and deliver prescriptions to pet parents (instead of having unnecessary human traffic in their practice from medication top-ups). Veterinary practices can receive and organise physical appointment requests online, which, aside from offering pet parents a lot of conveniences, eases the administrative burden on their staff.

Taken together, the platform enables them to handle a large volume of cases digitally rather than having every single case – big or small – come into the clinic. This allows clinics to focus on complex cases in person, which undoubtedly maximises their in-clinic capacity.

Most importantly, such a platform enables veterinarians to be the first responder and advise on the best course of action whenever pet owners face a health situation with their pets. No more having to turn down appointments and say hello to round-the-clock veterinary care! 

For pet parents, instead of having trouble accessing expert advice and turning to the internet for the wrong answers, they can now simply consult a veterinarian online anytime, anywhere. When their pets’ condition is unsuitable for telemedicine, they are seamlessly referred to a clinic for a physical consultation. They can also book an appointment online for an in-clinic consultation directly (instead of the archaic way of calling the clinic).

Also Read: What telemedicine and Health Tech holds across SEA amidst COVID-19

Following each consultation, they are issued digital prescriptions for their pets and simply get them filled and delivered via the platform (no more trips to the veterinary clinic just to top up long-term medications, too!).

Last but not least, owners can now store and update electronic health records of their pets in a single complete digital platform (versus receiving a loose copy of the medical report for each veterinary visit). All-in-all, this eliminates all the hassle of seeing a vet the traditional way.

Such convenience should encourage pet parents to practise preventive healthcare by increasing the frequency of check-ups for their pets, boosting their chances of survival when illnesses are diagnosed early on. 

Telemedicine has been commonly practised in healthcare for humans, but adopting such technology for pets is still relatively new. As with human telemedicine, telemedicine for pets is not intended to replace physical in-clinic care but rather complement it by providing on-demand access to veterinary care for pets with non-emergency conditions such as minor concerns, surgical reviews, palliative care or behavioural changes, etc.

However, amazing as it is, telemedicine as a standalone service is inadequate as access to in-clinic care is important when telemedicine is insufficient for a pet’s condition. More importantly, when there is a need for any teleconsultation to be referred to a vet clinic, there must be continuity of care such that the in-clinic veterinarian receiving the referral can access beforehand the medical history of the patient and be prepared to provide the necessary diagnostic or treatment plan. Thus, this requires a centralised digital depository of pets’ medical records. 

As both pet parents and veterinary medicine providers, all the considerations set out above were of utmost priority when we were developing Pawlyclinic, a complete pet healthcare platform that comprises two portals: the Owner Portal and the Vet Portal, in a unified ecosystem.

The motivation to start Pawlyclinic was crystallised after seeing first-hand the pain points for both pet parents and veterinary care providers in the traditional veterinary practice. We believe technology and innovation can systematically address these pain points and make veterinary care omnipresent, simple and efficient for all pet parents. 

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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

The post How telemedicine can revolutionise the veterinary world? appeared first on e27.

SerMorpheus, an Indonesia-based Web3 brand-retailer enabler, has announced the completion of a US$2.5 million seed round of financing led by Intudo Ventures.

500 Global, Febe Ventures, AlphaLab Capital, BRI Ventures, and Caballeros Capital also participated.

The company will use the funds to build infrastructure to bridge the gap between Web3 and Indonesian brands and consumers. It will also expand the team.

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

Launched in January 2022 by Kenneth Tali and Budi Sukmana, SerMorpheus is a Web3 enablement platform. It empowers brands and creators to develop NFTs and manage utilities that allow them to engage directly with customers and communities, unlocking brand value through ultra-personalised shopping experiences.

Through its online-to-offline bridge, NFT holders can earn real-life benefits at events held by brands and retailers and claim/mint branded NFTs in real-life through offline activities, such as concerts, movies, and branded events.

The company works directly with Indonesian and global businesses, brands and creators to develop NFT products and features to improve community engagement and unlock utility.

For users, SerMorpheus eliminates onboarding friction by directly connecting with global NFT marketplaces on their behalf and allowing transactions to be made in Indonesian currency (IDR) with just an email address and phone number, simplifying the process of entering the new digital economy.

The brands using SerMorpheus include Indonesia Comic Con, professional football club PERSITA Tangerang, Jogjarockarta music festival, Indonesian actress and singer Prilly Latuconsina, and Visinema Pictures-produced film Mencuri Raden Saleh, among others.

Also Read: Why ‘Indonesia-only’ Intudo Ventures believes SEA as one cohesive market is a fallacy

The company is developing creator tools, including a self-service drag-and-drop NFT builder, which allows users to mint and release NFTs quickly with zero technical knowledge required.

SerMorpheus will also provide analytical tools to help creators track their collection and user base.

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Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon.

The 2022 Echelon edition will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

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The end of August was an exciting time for crypto enthusiasts –and proponents of the Web3 space in general– in Indonesia. There were at least two major events happening that allows them to meet up and share insights about the future of the industry.

I had the opportunity to attend sessions at the NXC International Summit where Deputy Trade Minister Jerry Sambuaga announced the country’s plan to establish a crypto stock exchange by the end of 2022. In his presentation, Sambuaga explained that the exchange will list companies in the crypto industry (that have been granted licences by the country’s financial watchdog).

The introduction of the exchange itself is a means to protect consumers.

This update is not the only want that makes us feel optimistic about the Indonesian government embracing crypto –and Web3 innovation in general. In a recent interview with e27, Steven Suhadi, Founder of Standard Alpha and Indonesia Crypto Network (ICN), detailed the potential of the Indonesian crypto scene.

“We already have regulations about crypto in Indonesia, while some other markets in the region don’t have clear regulations yet,” Suhadi says. “So we see the cryptocurrency scene is growing rapidly. For example, before the regulation was introduced, there were only two exchanges when we started Standard Alpha and ICN. And now, we have 25 registered exchanges … We’re also speaking to a lot of institutions. Not only a lot of Web2 companies are starting to say, ‘Okay, how do we get into Web3’, but many institutions from traditional finance are also saying, ‘We need to participate in this.’”

Also Read: We’re still in the dot-com phase of Web3: Steven Suhadi of Standard Alpha

He also explains why tech hub such as Bali is the right breeding ground for it.

“All the regulations happen in Jakarta, the capital city, but Bali has a thriving community. And even the Jakarta players start to have offices in Bali either to give their teams a work-life balance or they want to tap into the local community here — expert developers or different sorts of conceptual thinking, people experimenting. They want to merge that and fuse that with the knowledge and bring that relevant skills back to Jakarta.

What Indonesia needs to do

When we look at the details of the situation on the ground, and the promises of what is coming next, it does look like Indonesia has a great future in the Web3 sector. It has all the elements of a supportive ecosystem from a close-knit community to initiative that keep up with the changes in society.

But there is always something to improve on. In this matter, we can boil them down into one major concern: Consumer protection and the willingness to move swiftly to ensure it.

“As a result, Elliptic expects consumer protection will be the major regulatory focus issue of 2022, and consumer protection authorities will become major forces shaping the crypto space,” writes David Carlisle, Vice President of Policy and Regulatory Affairs at Elliptic, in a blog post.

Also Read: How to scale voluntary carbon markets with DeFi and Web3

With the upcoming launch of the crypto exchange, and the licensing that the government is giving to existing companies in the crypto industry, we can see that there is already a commitment to ensure consumer protection.

However, whenever Something Bad Happened, the public has to be ensured that the government will be there for them –and honestly, the precedent is not always great.

The public may have strong reasons to be concerned following a recent incident where hacker Bjorka claimed to have breached state cybersecurity defenses. This move resulted in the compromise of billions of pieces of citizens’ personal data.

Critics have been dubbing the government’s response as ‘lacking’, as reported by The Jakarta Post.

If our intention is to build a strong ecosystem for the Web3 industry, then building trust should remain a priority in the government’s mind. We already have a good plan set on paper; let us make sure that the practice will be just as good.

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