Singapore-based impact VC firm Wavemaker Impact has partnered with Bill Gates’s VC arm Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Temasek Holdings and its subsidiary GenZero to set up an agritech startup.

The goal is to bring together climate-tech, agri-food, and venture-building capabilities to accelerate rice decarbonisation in Southeast Asia and the rest of Asia.

The agritech startup plans to build a platform that will rapidly identify and implement the most effective strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in rice cultivation and the right economic incentives to drive the adoption of sustainable cultivation techniques.

Also Read: ‘The next generation of unicorns will be from greentech’: Wavemaker Impact’s Steve Melhuish

The four investment firms have also injected undisclosed seed funding into the startup, whose name is yet to be announced. The capital will be used for initial hiring and experimentation costs.

Rice is the greatest climate and food security challenge in the region. A staple crop for more than half of the world’s population, rice will see global demand increase by 50 per cent by 2050. Rice cultivation is the second-largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in agri-food due to methane-emitting bacteria generated from flooded rice paddy fields. It is responsible for up to 33 per cent of Southeast Asia’s methane emissions, with methane having over 80 times more global warming potential than carbon dioxide.

“90 per cent of rice is cultivated and consumed in Asia, so this is a climate challenge that needs an Asian solution and is exactly the kind of venture we set out to build at Wavemaker Impact,” said Steve Melhuish, Founding Partner of Wavemaker Impact.

While rice cultivation is a significant and growing source of emissions, it is highly fragmented. Across Asia, the livelihoods of 400 million people on 144 million smallholder farms depend on rice, with the average farm size ranging from 0.5 to 2 hectares. There are also significant yield gaps. Southeast Asia’s rice production per hectare lags behind high-producing countries by approximately 40 per cent.

Solutions to reduce rice cultivation emissions and increase yield are available. However, the adoption has lagged for various reasons, such as the difficulty of changing entrenched farming practices, lack of access to high-quality inputs and incentives, and infrastructure challenges.

Also Read: ‘There’s a mismatch of investment and entrepreneur focus in SEA’s climate tech’

“There is an urgent need for the global community to tackle methane emissions, which are far more harmful than CO2 due to the 81-83 times higher potency of methane on a 20-year basis. Rice produces 12 per cent of global methane. On a 20-year equivalence basis, rice cultivation is a top 10 contributor to climate change, with its GHG impact greater than the global aviation industry. Despite the magnitude of this problem, it has not gotten adequate attention from the global community.”

Founded by Bill Gates and backed by many of the world’s top business leaders, Breakthrough Energy Ventures is a purpose-built investment firm seeking to invest, launch and scale global companies that will eliminate GHG emissions throughout the economy as soon as possible. It has raised more than US$2 billion in committed capital to support cutting-edge companies leading the world to net-zero emissions.

GenZero is an investment platform that aims to accelerate decarbonisation for future generations towards a net zero world.

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Company Training. The two least exciting words to be joined together.

Nobody likes to spend two weeks in a training programme, coming out of it without any certification and feeling like you have not learnt anything. It’s a waste of time, especially when there are 101 other things on your to-do list.

And, even with the numerous training sessions (if any at all), many are left feeling unsupported at their workplace, with all that textbook theory at hand but having no clue how to put it into practice.

With globalisation, online, digital, virtual and borderless work, the local workforce now competes with a global talent pool. Singapore is respected for its high standards, and that is one way our local workforce can be differentiated globally. Singapore’s government has initiated, led and supported companies by providing grants and subsidies to beef up the workforce through skills’ development courses.

The road to being the best in the industry

Sales is an essential and evergreen function across all industries. We need sales trainers who have worked with various corporations, with real sales experience and track records to guide others. Apart from sales experience, they should also be professionally trained trainers and coaches.

But today, there is a lack of professionally trained sales trainers and coaches in the industry. Why so? For professional B2B sales, at least everyone from the ranks of sales professionals to account managers and customer success reps is involved. But the truth is, not all of them are good in the field, and they require experts and coaches with relevant specialisation experience.

APACMA’s sales industry-endorsed accredited certifications are aligned with current industry sales practices. The coaches are hand-picked across global industries according to their specialisations.

An organisation can tap into these resources as and when without having to invest in under-utilised full-time resources. The sales professional can then get back to the station, be coached, guided and return to the field at any time.

Adapting to the evolving needs of sales

The sales industry requires diverse specialisation requirements. Customer behaviours are unpredictable with a requirement for both online, offline and on-demand experience requirements. Templated sales methodologies do not apply to the current situation, and disparate sales tools are not helping customers with their stories.

There is a lack of skilled talent pool in the industry. While there are associations dedicated to sales industry professional development, their courses require active engagement and participation for the whole industry to be lifted by the tide. There are opportunities for more talents to be developed throughout the industry, with double-endorsed professional certifications needed to overcome talent shortages in the field.

Also Read: Why ClavystBio believes in life science as a key driver of Singapore’s economy in the future

The only way to compete with a global workforce is through acquiring skills aligned with industry standards and requirements – to have global expert coaches and mentors’ guidance to acquire a diverse global experience.

The growth of sales: What the future will hold

Five years from now, customers will depend on advanced intelligence systems to help them decide which supplier or solution is right for them, without needing to talk to an actual human salesperson. Everything will be automated, and self-facilitated on-demand and customers want the autonomy to make self-made decisions.

With the ease of technological simplification, such as the evolution of low code, no code platforms and integration tools, companies will need ready-made tools to help them design their own customer experiences without depending on third parties.

That being said, while technology will be ruling the world, humans will still value interactions with other humans, and might reach out to a human for complex sales guidance, local facilitations and enterprise-wide engagement needs. Companies will, therefore, also need to invest in strategic sales and innovative products and solutions to differentiate themselves.

APACSMA has evolved with the times of customer changes, evolving learner needs, technology advancements, emerging rules in the sales industry and content changes. While we will continue to support and change with the times, we also foresee local language training becoming another core focus area in the coming years.

One thing in common across all these markets locally, regionally or globally is that there is still space and opportunities to drive more talents into considering sales as a professional career option. There’s a need to develop sales skills to meet industry needs and to educate the industry at large on the importance of ethical sales, leadership sales training, continuous development, industry engagement and industry-endorsed certifications.

APACSMA is well-positioned to serve the industry and the evolving nature of sales in the future. The on-demand industry endorses sales roles-based certifications, and training, and APACSMA is here to support organisations and sales professionals in achieving their pipeline and revenue goals.

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Bill Padfield is an Innovation Advisor with IPI Singapore’s Innovation Advisors Programme, which is tailored to help enterprises quicken their learning curve in tech and innovation to drive business growth. Bill has been involved in the tech and business development space for the past 30 years, with expertise in tech innovation, M&A, venture investments and digital transformation. He was formerly the global Senior Executive Vice President of Transformation and Platform Services at NTT Ltd, and global Chief Operating Officer of Dimension Data, among others.

This is what Bill Padfield has to say about the innovation landscape in Singapore.

Twenty-five years of steady progress

In the past 25 years in Singapore, I have seen a steady progress in technology companies from those that simply resell Silicon Valley products, to those that incrementally innovate those products through software or services, and now to pure innovation. Companies in Southeast Asia and, in particular, Singapore are truly creating new technologies that rival those of the Valley.

Companies such as Flexxon with their X-PHY products for cyber security and, in particular, the prevention of ransomware attacks, Transcelestial with their next-generation laser communications offers, and KoolLogix heat removal solutions for data centres. All of these offers will rival those from the West and yet are innovated right here in Singapore.

Also read: Investments in startups grew by more than 45% per annum in 2021

The tools of innovation have also evolved fast. The majority of innovation is focused on cloud-based software, particularly open software, microservices, and APIs. The speed at which developers can now bring together a cloud resident application calling on microservices (application sub-components) that have been developed by others anywhere in the world that can access various data sources through open RESTful APIs is staggering.

This development has enabled DevOps and DevSecOps to emerge, enabling the same team developing the apps to operate the services virtually simultaneously. It further enables the team to launch new services in the morning and, via such techniques as A/B testing, bring down or enhance the feature hours later based on real-time user feedback.

The global disparity between Southeast Asia and North America

Innovation in North America and Europe appears to focus more on X as a service (XaaS where X can be SaaS, PaaS, or other offers as a service) rather than point product development. The key difference is the seismic shift in the tech industry from capex deals to opex deals. Many of the most influential companies in the Valley provide subscription-based offers consumed at a price per user per month. It is a transition that companies here in Singapore are beginning to understand and adopt and why they are innovating.

A cloud-based offering can go to market fast with a low cost of acquisition by the client as it can be consumed directly from the cloud without a long and expensive sales cycle. This is also magic to the ears of VC funds as this can provide hyper-fast growth in portfolio companies and higher valuation to the founders due to the annuity income model. Subscription-based offers are also a stepping stone to consumption-based models that meter the user and only charge when the service is used, in the same way as your mobile phone.

Also read: Journey to the top: From developer to CEO

Part of the work I have been doing for the past twelve months has been helping local tech companies understand this seismic shift in how tech is consumed and delivered. Through IPI’s Innovation Advisors Programme, my work with KoolLogix has been focused on bringing their exciting data centre heat removal technology to the market in a way that can impact greenfield and brownfield data centres using not only the traditional CAPEX models but new XaaS opportunities. There was a similar focus in the discussions with Flexxon for their cyber security offerings to bring them to market not simply as a product but also as a service.

Similar work is also underway with several other Singapore-based tech companies to enable them to adjust to the new innovative ways IT is purchased and consumed.

Universities are pumping out graduates who use these tools and see them as normal, whereas to some of us industry veterans, it is still seen as some form of magic! The role of education here is to ensure that their graduates no longer think outside the box but have a view that there is no longer any box at all. This level and speed of innovation will continue to accelerate, limited only by the imagination.

Exciting time for venture capitalists

Of course, innovation teams have to keep both eyes on the ability to monetise their innovation. Otherwise, as exciting as their ideas and developments may be, they may also be short-lived.

Linking to money, the Venture Capital world in Singapore is also exciting. I currently act as an advisor to a couple of VC funds and, as a result, see numerous pitch decks daily. This is critical to developing and monetising your ideas but forces the founders to talk commercially or risk failing to impress a fund. This is where advisors with expertise in financials can help too. I am currently working on a number of companies’ pitch decks helping them to tell their story in the way that analysts and GPs will want to see and at what stage, seed, Series A, Series B etc. It’s also important to have experts look over the tech company’s existing financials, as adjustments may be needed before any level of VC fund due diligence can be done.

So, the magic of innovation happens when people, ideas, and money converge. If you have only one or two of the requirements, you will most likely fall short. This is where governments can help, and the government of Singapore does help.

Also read: How can we create new urgency for a green recovery?

Good universities that are producing talent in the right areas, an open environment that allows young companies to hire the talent they need from anywhere on the planet, and grants that encourage these new teams to push harder and faster in areas that align with the government’s strategy. The speed at which a NewCo can be set up in Singapore is also impressive. I would, however, advocate more help in training these new tech companies in the world of fundraising, as currently, there are significant gaps of knowledge in several startup teams on how to go about this effectively. Again, an area where advisors can and do help.

Due to COVID-19 travel restrictions over the past few years have forced me to dig deeper into the tech companies in Singapore, which has been incredibly rewarding. It is exciting to see so many companies collaborating worldwide and creating genuinely new offers to the market.

I was very privileged to lead a company in Singapore that we grew to a US$ billion business (and beyond!), and I’m convinced there will be more provided we keep the people, ideas and money flowing.

SWITCH 2022

Find out how Singapore’s innovation infrastructure can help you grow your business at SWITCH 2022! Network with Research Institutes, Institutes of Higher Learning, industry experts and global delegates at our exhibition hall, and join us for curated tours of innovation labs around Singapore, to visit labs at the Singapore Science Park, JTC, Aquaculture Innovation Centre, Environmental & Water Technology Centre of Innovation and more!

Get your tickets to SWITCH 2022 here.

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Contributed blog by Bill Padfield, IPI Innovation Advisor

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Photo by ThisIsEngineering via Pexels

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

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At e27, we have kickstarted a new articles series called work-life balance to learn more about tech enablers and executives and their lives beyond working hours.

Surbhi Agarwal is a seasoned technology leader with over 20 years of experience in startups and large enterprises such as McAfee, Intel and Google. At Google, she managed over US$1B of Cloud Data and AI product portfolio.

She currently heads the marketing division of Yellow.ai. She has built a high-performing global organisation to lead all critical go-to-market functions, such as product marketing, demand generation, content strategy, revenue operations, brand, SEO, website, AR, and PR.

Agarwal has an MBA from UC Berkeley and is an Electrical Engineer who has been recognised in the Women in Tech and Women in AI communities for the business impact made in the technology field. She is a DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion) Advocate and a sponsor of the Girls Who Code programme. 

She has been regularly contributing article for e27 (you can read her thought leadership articles here). 

In this candid interview, Agarwal talks about her personal and professional life.

How would you explain what you do to a five-year-old?

We want to save time and make the world a smarter place! Hence, we make computers as smart as people to help us with everything, from online shopping, finding our lost toy package, returning something we didn’t like, to even scheduling doctor appointments!

What has been the biggest highlight/challenge of your career so far?

I was fortunate enough to see the birth of AI ten years ago when it was still so nascent. I became fascinated by how it could be used as a catalyst to enable high-growth systems in all industries.

I developed a deep passion for it and created a new category by building a new Deep Learning Accelerator that scaled high-performance computing workloads by 150x. At Google Cloud, I enabled the full power of AI by laying the data foundation and owned the product portfolio of Data and AI, where I led the launch of Cloud TPUs and AutoML.

Also Read: ‘Don’t chase titles; chase curiosity and let it lead you’: Bernadette Cho of Entrepreneur First

With this, I embarked on an AI mission to help businesses solve real-world problems more efficiently and faster. At Yellow.ai, I continue on my AI path with Conversational AI to help enterprises, their customers and employees deliver actionable outcomes daily in every conversation.

How do you envision the next five years of your career?

I believe that building teams that make great products, which in turn make high-growth companies is the future that every leader should invest in. 

Over the next five years, I want to empower this journey by driving organisational efficiency by building high-performing teams across multiple functions which bring forward diverse perspectives and solve business challenges.

What’s something about you or your job that would surprise us?

I have lived and worked on four out of seven continents early in my career, which brought me immense exposure to global cultures.

At 23, I had to live in a small town in Taiwan for six months for a work assignment. As a vegetarian and non-language speaker with no acquaintances was quite hard. It pushed me out of my comfort zone every day and made me adaptable as I had to adjust, learn and integrate into a new culture.

I accepted eating only plain white rice for lunch every workday with my clients. I accepted getting haircuts from someone who couldn’t understand what I was looking for. I accepted talking to local Taiwanese children who wanted to hear a few sentences in English. I accepted the changes around me, and the changes accepted me.

These early experiences have shaped me into a person who takes on new challenges, respects others’ perspectives, and leaps forward with change.

At Intel, I have led corporate retention programmes to build diverse teams. At Google, I led the “I am remarkable” programme to make every voice be heard, and every perspective valued.

What are some of your favourite work tools?

Google Workspace. I cannot imagine my life without it! My organisation spans multiple time zones and operates with a flexible-hybrid model. 

Google Workspace keeps me connected with everything big and small happening every minute of the day. From collaborating with my team and connecting with my customers to keeping my schedule on track and ensuring focus time, Google Ecosystem is a core part of my every day!

Also Read: Failure makes you wiser in your next attempt: Endowus CPO Vinod Raman

Do you prefer WFH or WFO, or hybrid?

Flexible hybrid because it brings the best of both the digital and physical worlds. But flexibility adds another layer of empathy. I like collaborating with my team as much as possible, and the hybrid experience allows that. At the same time, I believe in and support every team member’s flexible choice.

What would you tell your younger self?

Not every aspect of life can be planned to the last iota because life happens when we are busy planning! And the future belongs to those who are passionate about dreaming and believe in their dreams. So dream loud, dream big and dream now!

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Charismatic, visionary, and empathetic.

What are you most likely to be doing if not working?

Listening to relaxing music while lying in my hammock under the redwood trees.

What are you currently reading/listening to/ watching?

I enjoy reading books about astronauts and planets to my four-year-old!

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Early-stage VC firm Winacore Capital has announced an undisclosed financial investment into BayaPay, a fleet fuel expense management startup in Malaysia.

The firm provides BayaFuel, a card that enables businesses to make secure payments within set limits and controls across all fleet-related expense management, such as fuel, travel, lodging, repairs, maintenance, road tax, insurance, tolls, and parking.

Using BayaFuel, commercial vehicle operators can save at least 20 per cent in fuel costs, the fintech startup claimed.

The fintech startup will soon launch the next-generation fleet fuel payment and expense management solution BayaFuel cards. It is a programmable SME payment card with credit facilities to pay for fuel and fleet-related expenses.

Also Read: How iPrice Group navigates the seven SEAs

BayaPay is currently pre-live on pitchIN to raise funds of up to RM3 million (US$635,000). Within a week of the campaign launch, BayaPay said it has received pledges surpassing its minimum fundraising target of RM500,000.

BayaPay hopes to close out the funding round by November 2022.

The company will use the funds to complete and launch the go-to-market fleet fuel payment card, expected by Q1 2023, to build traction in the market and structure credit funding.

Winacore Capital is a seed and debt fund with the primary goal of investing in and supporting Malaysian startups.

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