Initially, he wanted to build a solution to streamline the employee rewards process for his BPO employer based in the Philippines. With his minimal knowledge of creating no-code websites and the help of YouTube tutorials, Bo Discarga managed to launch the first version of the solution, MyRewards.

“But as the company started using the solution, internal demands to cater to a bigger audience emerged. We kept adding new functionalities to MyRewards, which paved the way for the birth of Betterteem,” he says.

Discarga (CEO) and Rey Leonard Dumasig (CTO) co-founded Betterteem in Metro Manila in 2021 with a mission to find out and define the specific drivers of employee experience in the BPO sector in Asia Pacific.

An amalgamation of various apps

Betterteem is a predictive workplace app focused on the overall employee journey. It uses machine learning to predict employee churn, provides on-demand mental health support to them, and is a digital community platform to influence their experience positively. Betterteem does this by sifting through volumes of data coming in and out of the app after its daily use by employees.

In simple words, Betterteem amalgamates the features of several HR apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, HRIS, SharePoint, and Intranet. This allows the app to collect usage data and create predictive analytics of a team member’s experience. It alerts people leaders/HR executives about their experience and attrition possibility using its predictive analytics.

Also Read: How machine learning really impacts us in our daily lives

Before founding Betterteem, Discarga spent ten-plus years managing employee engagement and experience in the Philippine BPO sector. In the past, he worked as an employee experience leader for Bank of America, Startek, Accenture, Quantrics, and JPMorgan.

His partner Dumasig is a tech strategist with over 15 years of experience developing and supervising system infrastructure, data security, and implementation of new technologies.

Betterteem targets industries such as telco, hospitality, and healthcare with its app. However, for the next two years, the focus is on the BPO industry in APAC, which accounts for about 38 per cent of the global outsourcing market.

“We realise that for us to be successful in APAC, we will need to start winning in the Philippines, the outsourcing capital of the region. The local BPO sector accounts for about 18 per cent of the global outsourcing market and about 30 per cent of the APAC market. So the focus will be on the local BPO industry for the next two years,” he shares.

If the app is a success in this market, then it will be taken to a market in the APAC region. The region’s total addressable market is estimated to be US$1.18 billion, with over 12.3 million employees as of 2021 and a projected CAGR of 8.5 per cent through 2028.

Betterteem, launched in December last year, currently runs a pilot with several organisations. It bills them per active employee on the platform (US$2.12 a month).

The app mainly competes with similar apps in North America with a presence in the region. “However,” he claims, “the flexibility of our system to integrate into the existing HR solutions of our clients makes us unique. This makes us work with any existing HR systems our clients may already have.”

Betterteem has just announced a US$500,000 fundraise from local angel fund Buko Ventures and IdeaSpace, a non-profit, local startup accelerator. “We have raised this capital to convert our minimum viable product into a billable product, which will allow us to onboard 10,000 users by the end of Q3 and generate an MRR of US$20,000.”

Data privacy regulation is a concern

The AI venture foresees specific challenges as it scales the business. The growing number of new data privacy regulations is one. “Since our business is heavily reliant on collecting data, navigating data compliance will continue to be a challenge for us. Compliance is more challenging because there are no general regulations to comply with, so we would have to tailor-fit our compliance per territory we are serving,” he notes.

Nevertheless, Discarga believes Betterteem’s AI-powered solutions will be the default expectation of the market it serves over the coming years. “This is based on our firm belief that digitalising HR is not just ‘nice to have’ but a necessity for organisations’ future growth and acceleration.”
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Product success is not accidental. It takes a lot of time, tools, and commitment before one can create excellent products with market success.

Creating the product itself is a huge milestone, but it’s just the beginning of the journey. It also takes commitment, dedication, and perseverance to successfully bring a product to life and get the desired ROI.

Here is what you should do to increase your odds of success in bringing your product idea to life.

Getting comfortable with being uncomfortable

You will not always feel comfortable pursuing your dreams. Challenges will emerge, making you doubt the process. Therefore, you need principles to guide you. 

First, you must firmly believe that the product is what you really want to work on. Ask yourself if you’re comfortable with not developing it.

If the thought of not working on it makes you feel sad, try to understand why and write it down. Your journey begins there. However, it is better to pull out from the start if you’re comfortable with leaving it. 

When you start, don’t be too hard on yourself. You will get it right sometimes, but other times, things may go wrong, especially with your first product. Thus, see the process as an experiment.

But then, having a contingency plan is crucial since putting all your eggs in one basket like regular investments is not helpful. Consider other ways to utilise the developed resources.

Have an exit strategy if things go south. Knowing how to repurpose your resources is nonnegotiable.

Having advisors with experience in the product field is a huge plus. Build trust with them because trust is the currency of business. They will always be close even in challenging times. Schedule meetings with them once or twice a month to share the progress and brainstorm.

Finally, you must learn to trust the process. Be open-minded at every stage. Knowing the process and what to expect next lets you stay ahead of the game. 

How to minimise losses if the product development doesn’t go as planned

At every stage of product development, developers must review their set milestones and evaluate the next step, such as an investment or involving a new partner. Ensure you set those milestones with measurable values to help with go/no go decisions.

If the results are deviating from the goals (and they may), you only have to take action in minimising losses. However, decide on a time.

You can reduce losses by selling resources to companies with your target audience. It is a smart way to cover your losses.

Also Read: 9 steps to create a successful product launch strategy

Similarly, you could repurpose your resources for other ventures or sell the idea on sites like Flippa. You could also share knowledge with others as a coach in the form of a course.

In essence, you must be able to think fast and learn to diversify. 

Useful tools to feel more confident

Developers need tools to develop their ideas better. You can get tons of information and resources online. Realizr, Notion, and Demand Metrics are vital tools. 

Every product developer preferably needs to acquire skills in CAD, Photoshop, etc. And if your idea relates to app development, you should learn basic JavaScript. However, we recommend a zero-code approach for testing MVP. Knowing the basics of 3D printing is also fantastic, alongside Calipers. 

The money issue

It’s okay not to have everything figured out at the beginning. You are in a marathon and not a sprint. The most practical step is to manage your income and see if you have monthly spare to invest in your idea. If you can get partners who love your idea, ask them to join you.

If the capital is insufficient, you can get in touch with investors and search for grants since you’re just starting. A conventional loan is the least preferred option, be careful with that.

Again, you should participate in pitch competitions. But ensure you repeatedly practice before attempting to convince sponsors. 

Final thoughts

No entrepreneur becomes successful by doubting themselves. If you are not convinced about your products, how will you sell that idea to prospective investors and customers? Hence, it’s essential to get comfortable with yourself and your capabilities.

Trust will take you far in business. Ensure you deliver on your promises and watch yourself blossom. Good luck bringing your ideas to reality and solving the world’s problems. 

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More questions than answers as financial probe continues at Zilingo
As per DealStreetAsia, the key issues of contention include the way Zilingo recognised revenue on its books and a previously undisclosed hefty tax liability; Zilingo had not filed financial statements with Singapore’s ACRA.

Sequoia announces steps to tackle ‘willful fraud’
The new measures come in the wake of a few startups under Sequoia’s portfolio facing issues such as financial irregularities; Its portfolio firm Zilingo recently suspended its founder Ankiti Bose over allegations of financial discrepancies.

Ant Group acquires  2C2P
2C2P offers fintech services such as payment acceptance, issuing, and pay-out to merchants across verticals such as ecommerce, financial services, airlines, travel, hospitality, and retail; As part of the deal, 2C2P’s pool of merchants will be plugged into Alipay+.

Indonesian cloud kitchen Hangry raises US$22M to fuel expansion
Investors include Journey Capital, Orzon Ventures, Sassoon Investment, Alpha JWC, Genesis Alternative Ventures and InnoVen; Hangry has 70+ outlets and aims to open between 15-30 more outlets this year.

Filipino BNPL player BillEase secures US$20M debt facility from Lendable
The new funding adds to BillEase’s recent US$11M Series B equity raised from BurdaPrincipal, MDI Ventures, and KB Investment; In addition to BNPL, BillEase also offers personal loans, e-wallet top-ups and popular wallets like GCash, and PayMaya.

‘NFTs offer greater operational efficiencies in administering a membership programme than traditional systems’
Ryde CEO Terence Zou believes its “ride-to-earn” model of breeding new NFTs and gamifying rewards can turn each ride from a perfunctory activity into something rather fun and exciting.

Journey Capital Partners debut new VC fund
It targets Series A startups in SEA with a focus on Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand; From this new fund, Journey Capital has led an investment round into Indonesian foodtech startup Hangry.

Coins.ph names ex-Binance CFO as new chief exec
Wei Zhou brings with him 20 years of experience in the financial sector; A consortium he led recently purchased the Philippine-based digital wallet from Gojek for US$200M.

Society Pass spins off luxury e-tailer arm as Leflair Group
The Leflair Group will acquire e-commerce, lifestyle retail, and online advertising companies in a bid to expand from a single luxury fashion platform to a “lifestyle retail ecosystem” in SEA.

CyberAgent, VIC Partners invest in Vietnam proptech startup Reti
Reti follows an O2O distribution model that aims to bridge the gap between traditional and modern real estate distribution, improve the efficiency and professionalism of sales agents, and enhance the customer’s overall experience.

AirAsia parent Capital A to launch flying taxis in SEA
AirAsia Aviation Group signed an MoU in Feb to lease a minimum of 100 VX4 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft from Avolon; To launch the business, the air taxis will need type certificates, specialised aviation rules, and infra.

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The pandemic has been the source of much unintentional change for many businesses. It has led to many rolling out unplanned and reactive measures to adapt to their workforce’s challenges.

Organisations are embracing a culture of change like never before and are expected to continue to do so as they build the future workforce.

According to a survey by PwC, organisations with a distinctive culture were 80 per cent more likely to see an increase in employee satisfaction, illustrating how culture has grown and will continue to play a bigger role in organisations’ way forward. 

2022 will be the year of workplace reinvention, where initiatives and culture are intentionally implemented and built. As organisations take the wheel to shape their destiny purposely, how can they create a meaningful impact and positively make a difference in the lives of their employees?

Applying this lens is critical because organisations that can adapt well and accurately predict the needs of their people will also be best placed to adapt to the needs of their customers.

There has been a growing trend of employees switching jobs or leaving the workforce in droves in recent years. For many, the pandemic precipitated a shift in their priorities, bringing employee well-being, personal and employer values and social purpose to the top of their wishlist of ‘wants’ in a job.

A recent EY Global survey also found that more than half (54 per cent) of employees worldwide would consider leaving their jobs if they were not afforded flexibility in where and when they worked after the pandemic.

Organisations are now having to straddle new challenges with their workforce. They have to find ways to fine-tune their work culture to attract and retain talent while ensuring that their business performance boxes are ticked off. To ensure employees feel valued and engaged, employers will need to invest in building a people-first company and purpose-driven culture. 

Building connections to drive employee engagement

Connections take time. New employees may find it even harder to assimilate into their new workplace and connect with their colleagues in an uncertain environment, such as the ongoing pandemic, which has restricted social interactions and contact.

With their primary interactions being largely virtual and likely only with immediate team members, it would be challenging for new employees to fully experience a company’s culture and begin cultivating a sense of belonging. 

Therefore, it is vitally important for organisations to connect new employees to their company purpose, ensuring that, while they are perhaps not physically connected, they feel united behind the company’s vision and mission and their role within it.

This is equally true for organisations with teams based across different countries or regions. To mitigate the lack of business travel, leveraging technology and embracing a digital workplace is key to boosting productivity while enabling effective collaborations that help keep employees invested.

We do this in a number of ways at Gojek, through a range of virtual activities designed to engage employees, including monthly town halls with the company’s leaders, regular virtual workout sessions hosted every week as well as internal talks on different topics such as mental health, sustainable living and more.

Empowering employees through purposeful and meaningful work

The question that employers should ask themselves is, how much of the time their employees spend at work should go towards actually solving customer or product issues to help make lives better, more delightful, convenient or easier?

Also Read: The 5-part agile leadership guide that will make you a better business leader

Providing unique opportunities for employees to truly understand the thinking and conception behind the company’s products, and demonstrating to them how the products improve the lives of millions of people, can go a long way in helping to build empathy amongst the workforce and meaningfully connect them to the work that they do.

Employees who understand the purpose of their contribution may, in turn, be more inspired to create elevated and more impactful solutions down the road. 

As a mission-driven company, at Gojek, we want to ensure employees know and understand the value of their work, holding regular open sharing sessions with our employees to spotlight the real-world impact made.

Gojek’s regular “Impact Spotlight” segment in our monthly town halls showcases impactful case studies and stories of how our products have made a difference in the lives of our driver-partners and merchants.

We also invite driver-partners and merchants to these sessions to share their anecdotes first-hand with employees and help them understand how their work is genuinely making a difference in society. 

One size no longer fits all

It is safe to say that hybrid work is here to stay. Providing employees with flexibility and choice is crucial to workplace happiness.

While the physical workplace and office aren’t going away, employers will need to find a fresh, new approach to manage the post-pandemic expectations of their employees. After all, while some roles require an on-ground presence, not everything requires employees to be onsite.

Organisations will need to find the right balance between allowing their workforce to have the option to work from wherever helps them do their best work and encouraging their presence in the office to foster collaboration and nurture working relationships. 

At the same time, places of work would need to evolve and transform to better cater to a hybrid workforce. Some will look to the office space for social interaction and collaboration, while for others, it will remain an environment for deep, focused work.

Organisations must think about how their office environments can be reworked to maximise employee well-being and enable them to perform at their best when serving customers and deliver results for the business.

A bottom-up approach helps to build an inclusive workplace

Creating a culture where people are respected, valued, and heard is essential and cannot take a back seat in the current climate.

Also Read: Finding strength in adversity: How COVID-19 can shape a resilient workforce

Organisations will need to open up channels of communication for employees to share their views and any concerns they may have and for their voices to be heard, no matter which level they are at. By ensuring employees feel that their voices are heard in the organisation, they can feel more fulfilled and more empowered in how they can help shape the environment they work in.

This also means that after gathering views from employees, companies must ensure that they take action to address the feedback and then close the communication loop with employees by sharing the steps that have been taken.

At Gojek, we introduced an anonymous virtual Q&A platform called “AskGojek”, where employees can ask questions directly to the management team. Similar Q&A sessions are held during every town hall.

We also hold an annual Employee Engagement survey, which helps us better understand our employees’ thoughts on their work experience and how we can improve it. Being more experimentation-oriented and trying out iterations of the existing ways of working can result in an aligned approach that works best for both the organisations and employees.

2022: The year of intentional transformation in the workplace

This year will be the year of organisational change as businesses overcome the enduring challenges of the past two years.

No matter the organisation, employers will need to understand the importance of building an intentional culture that also aligns with its values and beliefs while supporting its business goals. This, in turn, helps to ensure that organisations are attracting the right talent aligned to their purpose while retaining their existing employees.

With employee expectations already intensifying before the pandemic, organisations will also have to be more authentic and transparent with their people while offering greater work flexibility and creating a profound sense of purpose and meaning in work to remain ahead of their competitors.

By shifting from being aspirational to purposeful, from efficient to impactful, and cultivating people-centred cultures that are healthy and inclusive, organisations can build and nurture an engaged workforce, reaping wider benefits for the business and its customers and allowing the organisation to thrive in the long-term. 

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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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Going by the tremendous amount of activities in — and the capital flowing into — the sector, it is clear that Web3 is no longer a fad. It is, in fact, the present and the future!

From multinationals to young startups, everyone is jumping on the Web3 and metaverse bandwagon. Facebook (Meta) has already announced its arrival. Spotify, Twitter, Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, and Shopify have either started or are planning to adopt it shortly. 

The popularity of metaverse games has added to this excitement. Vietnamese unicorn Sky Mavis is killing it in Southeast Asia with its popular play-to-earn game Axie Infinity. The company grew to a billion-dollar company in the blink of an eye. 

New Web3 companies and games sprout almost every day. Across Greater Southeast Asia, there are over a hundred startups operating in various verticals — asset management, NFT, DAO, infrastructure, DeFi, mining, exchange, gaming, and wallet. The names include YGG, Sipher, and GuildFi, which have earned their respective places in the Web3 world. We have also seen various initiatives by organisations that aim to promote the use of this technology to the wider public, especially those who have never been exposed to it, such as the community of local artists.

Taking a leaf out of the success of these ventures and projects, startups operating in other non-related areas have also started joining the Web3 race.

For instance, Singapore’s ride-hailing company Ryde recently announced its entry into the NFTs space. We have also started seeing more innovative use cases for NFTs as organisations have begun to utilise them to fundraise for various causes –including a war fund.

As traditional investors start giving more attention to the space, we also see the rise of Web3-focussed investors, such as Binance Labs, Cake DeFi and Luno Expeditions.

Also Read: ‘I have seen the future, and it works.’ But is it Web3?

All this points to a growing euphoria around the web3 world.

As Web3 started proliferating sometime last year, we at e27 determined to make the most of it — not by introducing our own NFTs/collectibles/digital merchandise (although we don’t dismiss the possibilities) but by extensively covering the space.

The foundation stone was laid in Q1 2022; we gave coverage to many great startups and entrepreneurs and spoke to some of the brightest minds in the vertical, such as Animoca Brands’s Yat Siu.

It is now time for us to build on this foundation. We will continue to cover new Web3 companies and projects throughout this quarter. We have interviews lined up with security experts in the cryptocurrency space and plan to introduce and profile some of the most active investors in the space. 

We want our readers to be part of this journey; you can suggest what you think are the best companies in the domain. We will consider them for publication.

Watch this space, and stay tuned.

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The year 2021 was a truly transformative one for the mobile app industry. In light of multiple lockdowns, as well as wholesale privacy changes affecting user acquisition on iOS, consumer habits and user behaviour patterns have undergone immense change and impressive growth. But how have these challenges affected the app marketing ecosystem?

Mobile app trends 2022 report from Adjust provides expert industry analysis of the global and regional developments of the mobile marketing economy over the past year. Using data from the top 2,500 apps, the report sheds light on top trends and benchmarks across fintech, e-commerce, and gaming verticals, equipping advertisers with actionable insights to drive app growth in 2022.

Also read: Massive gains for global startups in China’s robust market

The report analyses trends in installs, sessions, ATT opt-in rates, retention, re-attribution, and more to help you better understand your audience and the current state of the app economy. Adjust’s report reveals impressive growth across key metrics, showing that highly engaged users are coming in droves.

Along with massive improvements, the analysis also shines a spotlight on a somewhat lagging retention performance, emphasising the importance of ensuring that the same attention is paid to retention and LTV as it is to UA. 

Key findings from the report

Also read: 6 fintech startups you should keep an eye out for

Some of the important findings revealed based on the report are:

• Installs grew year-on-year in 2021 in all verticals and regions tracked, with fintech up by 35%, e-commerce by 12%, and gaming by 32%. 
• Stock trading and crypto apps grew significantly and have highly engaged user bases. While they make up 7% and 2% of all fintech app installs, respectively, they account for 17% and 6% of sessions. 
• Hyper casual games make up the highest share of installs within the gaming vertical (27%), but it’s an action that accounts for the largest proportion of sessions (30%). 
• Marketplace apps have significantly better retention rates than the averages for the rest of the e-commerce vertical (day 1 27% vs. 19% and day 30 10% vs. 7).
• Fintech, e-commerce, and gaming all had their highest in-app revenue months on record in 2021, according to Adjust data. 

For a complete analysis into the app marketing industry, download Mobile app trends 2022: A global benchmark of app performance.

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

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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Celebrities, from Hollywood actors to top musicians are embracing NFTs right now as the next big thing to connect with fans and take back control from industry moguls.

Grabbing the attention of social media recently on US TV ‘Tonight Show’ clip of Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon discussing their Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, joining other celebs including Reese Witherspoon to musician Eminem who’ve taken a shine to NFTs.

Certainly, NFTs seem to be gaining traction and possibly altering the music industry. After famous rapper Snoop Dogg recently bought Death Row Records to turn it into an NFT label, the musician underlined this point about their disruptive power, “If anything is constant, it’s that the music industry will always be changing. Blockchain tech has the power to change everything again and tip the table in favour of the artists and the fans.”

But there’s also controversy about how aspects of the current boom in NFT sales from leading figures within the crypto community. Last week in Time magazine Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin focused his wrath on the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. Rather than his vision of Ethereum as the launchpad for everything from a fairer voting system to urban planning, he’s worried it’s become a plaything of the celeb obsessed world.

“The peril is you have these US$3 million monkeys, and it becomes a different kind of gambling,” he told Time. “One silver lining of the situation in the last three weeks is that it has reminded a lot of people in the crypto space that ultimately the goal of crypto is not to play games with million-dollar pictures of monkeys, it’s to do things that accomplish meaningful effects in the real world,” Buterin added.

From a creative perspective, what do NFTs bring to the world of artists and fans, that’s about establishing a real connection, that does deliver those “meaningful effects”?

The growth of NFTs

The news in late 2021 that Coinbase is entering the NFT market added further momentum, coupled with FTX launching a Solana-based NFT marketplace.

While the current dominant NFT marketplace OpenSea has seen up to 80,000 transactions a day its browser-based wallet is not super easy to use at times, and there have been security issues that have put people off.

Also Read: How are NFTs contributing in creating a social impact?

That said in August 2021, OpenSea exceeded US$1 billion in gross market volume year-to-date for the first time. By late 2021, it had grown so much that it processed US$3.2 billion in volume in the month of December alone.

In 2022 competition for the NFT market hotted up when LooksRare launched, offering their minted platform tokens, $LOOKS, as airdrops to OpenSea users based on their spending on the platform.

Certainly, the Coinbase emphasis on usability, from initial minting to the discovery of new and exciting NFTs, is a sign of the growing accessibility of the NFT market.

And following Twitter’s rollout of profile NFTs, TikTok launched its first creator-led NFT collection, TikTok Top Moments, further underlining the power of the NFT market and the role of celebs including the likes of Lil Nas X through to Gary Vaynerchuk.

In another sign of the demand world’s most famous sports brand, Nike applied for a series of NFT trademark applications in November and followed it up with a collaboration with Roblox to create Nikeland, an online world, and the acquisition of virtual sneaker company RTFKT.

How are NFTs transforming the music industry in 2022?

Due to the growing popularity of NFTs, the emergence of decentralised streaming services such as Audius is gaining traction. Several musicians, including Deadmau5, Weezer, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, and 3LAU have chosen to collaborate and contribute to the Audius music platform.

The growing number of musical artists who have joined the platforms shows the potential of NFTs in the music industry. 3LAU, an electronic music producer, issued the world’s first tokenized record album, raking in more than US$3.6 million, which was a collection of NFTs representing his best-selling album, with just 33 made.

In addition, Shakira recently collaborated with BossLogic to release her own NFT. This shows that NFTs in the music industry go way beyond music, which signifies where the music industry is headed.

Shortly after acquiring the Death Row record label, famous rapper Snoop Dogg released his latest album Bacc on Death Row (BODR) as a stash box of NFTs. Each of the 25,000 stash boxes costs US$5000. Each stash box includes 17 NFTs, one for each track on the album; collecting all 17 NFTs would entitle fans to benefits from the Rapper, like the opportunity to party at Snoop’s LA mansion.

In a recent interview, the rapper said, “Death Row will be an NFT label, we will be putting out artists through the metaverse […] Just like when we broke the industry when we were the first independent [record label] to be major, I want to be the first major in the metaverse.”

As more celebrities and artists resort to NFTs, digital collectibles are becoming a significant money source for musicians, particularly as the world recovers from a global pandemic.

To tackle the subject in more depth BigONE talked with Australia-based Dalton Grant, head of staff at Animal Concerts, which specializes in metaverse-based concerts, designing and minting NFTs, and working with artists recently including Busta Rhymes, Alicia Keys and Snoop Dogg.

Grant said that previously artists ended up with a small slice of the sales revenue, with the majority going to their record label.

Also Read: Making sound NFT bets: Think before you mint; ruminate before you ape

With NFTs the biggest difference is that artists can not only create their own music but also release it directly to fans, bypassing major record labels, he said, “For the fans, this allows them direct contact with actual artists, which gives them a unique piece of their favourite artists, which creates a unique connection with the actual artist. For artists using a metaverse platform they can have an audience of two or three million, with artists from both Japan and New York.”

The last concert for Alicia Keys in Miami was also recorded in 3D to allow streaming in the metaverse, Grant added.

What are the risks for artists and fans?

The ever threat of scams and market manipulation has been with crypto from the start so it’s worth considering how this may impact the relationship between artists and fans, as NFTs are increasingly part of the relationship, the emotional bonding process if you like!

The subject got a pretty got going over on The Atlantic article from Amanda Mull ‘Celebrities and NFTs Are a Match Made in Hell’ which looked at the downside to celebrity endorsement. “Whether the technology itself will have more useful applications in the future is presently unclear. This is all speculative for now, in several senses of the word.”

While CoinDesk described the recent flutter of celebrity NFT activity and its questionable motivations as “perverse deal-making.”

Grant agreed it is important for celebrities, from Hollywood celebrities to sports stars, to take care to honour their fans, not merely pocket the money from NFT projects, “I heard about a story the other day of a footballer who ran off with fan’s money without delivering anything, and to be frank I think that’s really disgusting. If everyone is to benefit, and you do the right thing, and that community is supported by supporting you, then having integrity is very important and it is important to create something that lasts.”

Certainly, the recent headline that porn star Lana Rhoades has made off with US$1.5 million in an apparent NFT scam, after complaining about her “negative and rude” community is the mirror opposite of the kind of integrity required to sustain a viable NFT marketplace.

Another worry has been the recent US$320 monster hack of Wormhole, the bridge between Ethereum and Solana, which allows for cheaper minting of NFTs than using Ethereum directly. There’s also been controversy over the legal battle involving CryptoPunks, sparked by an issue with the original version of the code.

Clearly, with such innovative technology, there are going to be some mistakes made along the way so it’s good to hear of solutions helping creatives make good use of NFTs. One neat solution to the threat posed by bridging hacks to NFT transactions was unveiled last month by Ethereum-based platform Harmony, with a Bored Ape Yacht Club Passport.

The advantage of their bridge solution is that it does not move assets, instead, it confirms the asset ownership, and it enables artists and creators, put off from participating due to high gas fees to mint and collect NFTs as a result.

An exciting future for NFTs

When you think about it, it makes sense that NFTs will disrupt the existing trajectory of the music industry through personalisation and deeper connections. Joining the expert discussion Ben Appleby, founder of The Cake, said he looked back to the musician Prince, who changed his name to get closer to his fans and to distance himself from the record company.

Also Read: NFTs for fundraising: What you need to know before jumping on the bandwagon

“Now with financial freedom and blockchain and Bitcoin that removes those middlemen allowed financial freedom to do things with money that they hadn’t been able to do before because of these third-party counterparties. The artists are free to connect with audiences. They can sell and auction their own art in their own way. They don’t have to compromise on what they’re doing and the messages that are out there.”

BigONE Chairman, Anndy Lian said, “It’s important to honour the relationship between fans and celebrities if NFTs are going to make a real contribution to both. What I think we’ll increasingly see is the use of NFTs to build closer relationships between top fans and celebrities.”

Lian added, “Celebrities must choose the right channels to distribute their NFT IPs. For example, I think Mike Tyson’s NFT launch on Binance NFT Marketplace is a good choice. Redbull’s F1 Team signed with Bybit NFT Marketplace is also a good choice. This technology allows this kind of engagement to happen both at scale, across global communities, and at a very individual granular level, which I believe is exciting. We are just getting warmed up.”

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The Singapore Budget is prepared by the Singapore government for each financial year commencing on the first of April and ending on 31 March the following year. It includes the revised government revenue and expenditure projections for the current financial year, as well as the planned government revenue and expenditure for the upcoming financial year.

The latest Singapore Budget (Budget 2022) was released on 18 February 2022. It is relevant to businesses looking for financial support from the Singapore government, particularly in a post-pandemic world, and affects other aspects of doing business in Singapore including employment and tax regimes.

This article summarises the key takeaways from Budget 2022 applicable to businesses in Singapore. The information in this article is provided as of the date of publication for general information only and does not constitute legal advice.

Enhanced financial support

• Jobs and Business Support Package (JBSP)

JBSP supports businesses in slow-recovering sectors most affected by the COVID-19 safe management measures in 2021, namely food and beverage, hawker centres, markets, coffee shops, food courts and canteens, retail, performing arts and arts education, sports, cinema operators, museums, art galleries and historical sites, indoor playgrounds and other family entertainment centres, and tourism, hospitality, conventions and exhibitions (eligible sectors).

JBSP comprises the following:

• Small Business Recovery Grant (SBRG)

• SG$1,000 one-off payout to eligible firms for each Singapore citizen or permanent resident (“local”) employee with mandatory Central Provident Fund (“CPF”) contributions from 1 November 2021 to 31 December 2021, up to a cap of S$10,000 per firm.
• SG$1,000 one-off payout to sole proprietorships and partnerships that do not hire local employees and are run by at least one local registered business owner who earns a net trade income of no more than S$100,000 filed with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”) in the year of assessment 2021 by 31 December 2021.

To qualify for SBRG, the firm must be a live business entity in one of the Eligible Sectors physically present in Singapore and registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA) by 31 December 2021 as at the point of payout, and either have an annual operating revenue less than SG$100 million filed with IRAS in the year of assessment 2021 by 31 December 2021, or employ fewer than 200 employees as of 31 December 2021. The firm must also meet any additional criteria applicable to each Eligible Sector, such as having valid licences to operate.

• Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI)

JGI was introduced in August 2020 to encourage local hiring by providing salary support to employers for new local hires during qualifying phases, the latest phase being new local hires from October 2021 to March 2022 (Phase three) which currently provides the following payouts:

• For local workers aged below 40: up to 15 per cent of the first SG$5,000 of gross monthly wages for six months.
• For local workers aged 40 and above (mature workers) or local workers who have disabilities or are ex-offenders (vulnerable workers): up to 50 per cent of the first SG$6,000 of gross monthly wages for 12 months.

Budget 2022 extends JGI by six months to September 2022, but only for new local hires from April 2022 to September 2022 (Phase four) who are mature workers that have been unemployed for at least six months or vulnerable workers.

For such new local hires, JGI will provide payouts of up to 40 per cent of the first SG$6,000 of gross monthly wages for the first six months and up to 20 per cent of the first SG$6,000 of gross monthly wages for the next six months.

Also Read: Why Singapore’s traditional sectors need a digital makeover

To qualify for JGI, there must be an increase in overall local workforce size, as well as an increase in local workforce size earning at least S$1,400 per month, compared to September 2021 local workforce (for Phase three) and March 2022 local workforce (for Phase four), i.e. the baseline headcount.

The employer should also be established by 23 September 2021 (for Phase three) and 17 February 2022 (for Phase four), and should remain eligible throughout the relevant payout period in order to receive support for the full duration.

The JGI payout will be adjusted downwards if any existing local workers (in the employer’s employ as at the baseline headcount) leave the employer thereafter. No application is required as IRAS will notify eligible firms of the amount of JGI payout payable to them.

• Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS)

PWCS has been introduced in Budget 2022 to provide transitional wage support for employers to adjust to upcoming mandatory wage increases for lower-wage local workers and voluntarily raise wages of lower-wage local workers.

Under the PWCS, the Singapore government will co-fund the wage increases of eligible lower-wage local workers between 2022 and 2026 as follows:

• For workers with gross monthly wages up to SG$2,500: 50 per cent in 2022 and 2023, 30 per cent in 2024 and 2025, and 15 per cent in 2026.
• For workers with gross monthly wages above SG$2,500 and up to SG$3,000: 30 per cent in 2022 and 2023, and 15 per cent in 2024.

To qualify for PWCS, the firm must be registered in Singapore and must give wage increases to local employees who received CPF contributions from a single employer for at least three calendar months in the preceding year, have been on the firm’s payroll (i.e. the firm must have paid employee CPF contributions) for at least three calendar months in the qualifying year, and have an average gross monthly wage increase of at least SG$100 in the qualifying year.

The increase in wages in each qualifying year will be co-funded for two years, provided that such wage increase is sustained. No application is required as IRAS will notify eligible firms of the amount of PWCS payout payable to them for each qualifying year.

• Advanced Digital Solutions (ADS)

ADS was introduced in March 2020 to help businesses adopt advanced technologies (such as robotics and the Internet of Things) and advanced integrated solutions (such as B2B solutions that integrate inventory management, e-invoicing and e-payments).

ADS provides up to 80 per cent funding support for qualifying costs of these digital solutions, including hardware, software, infrastructure, connectivity, cybersecurity, integration, development, enhancement and project management, as well as the cost of deploying these solutions.

Budget 2022 expands ADS from 1 April 2022 to include digital solutions that leverage artificial intelligence and cloud technologies, providing up to 70 per cent funding support for qualifying costs of these solutions.

To qualify for ADS, a business entity must be registered and operating in Singapore and have a minimum of 30 per cent local shareholding, with either a group sales turnover of less than SG$100 million per annum or group employment of fewer than 200 employees.

• Grow Digital (GD)

GD was launched in June 2020 to help SMEs access overseas markets digitally without the need for physical presence by participating in pre-approved B2B and B2C e-commerce platforms with global or regional reach. GD provides up to 70 per cent funding support for SMEs to adopt such platforms.

Budget 2022 expands GD from 1 April 2022 to include more pre-approved digital platforms so that more SMEs can internationalise.

To qualify for GD, a business entity must be registered and operating in Singapore and have a minimum of 30 per cent local shareholding, with either a group sales turnover of less than SG$100 million per annum or group employment of fewer than 200 employees.

• Skills Future Enterprise Credit (SFEC)

SFEC was introduced in April 2020 to encourage employers to invest in enhancing the skills of their employees by providing additional subsidies alongside other grants in the form of up to a one-off SG$10,000 credit until 30 June 2023 to cover up to 90 per cent of out-of-pocket expenses on qualifying costs for SFEC-supportable programmes.

Budget 2022 expands the coverage of SFEC for the qualifying period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 by waiving the eligibility criterion for employers to have contributed at least SG$750 Skills Development Levy over the qualifying period. However, employers with inactive ACRA status during the qualification process and that have defaulted on their Skills Development Levy payment during the qualifying period will be excluded.

To qualify for SFEC, employers now need only satisfy the remaining eligibility criteria of having employed at least three local employees every month over the same period, and not having been qualified at any earlier qualifying period.

• Temporary Bridging Loan Programme (TBLP)

TBLP was introduced in March 2020 to provide businesses with access to working capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. TBLP offers loans of up to SG$3 million per borrower for up to five years at an interest rate of up to five per cent per annum, subject to an overall borrower group limit of SG$20 million and an overall loan exposure limit of SG$50 million per borrower group across all facilities. The Singapore government participates in a 70 per cent risk-sharing of the TBLP loans.

Also Read: Can Singapore truly become a cashless society with payment 3.0?

Budget 2022 extends TBLP by six months from 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022 but lowers the maximum loan quantum to SG$1 million per borrower while increasing the maximum interest rate to 5.5 per cent per annum for such an extended period.

To qualify for TBLP, the borrower must be a business entity physically present in Singapore and registered with ACRA, with at least 30 per cent of its equity held directly or indirectly by local(s), determined by the ultimate individual ownership.

• Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS)

In October 2019, Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore government agency championing enterprise development, streamlined its existing financing schemes into one umbrella scheme called EFS, offering seven types of loans ranging from SG$300,000 to SG$50 million as follows:

• Green (to finance green growth projects).
• SME Working Capital Loan (to finance daily operational cashflow needs).
• SME Fixed Assets Loan (to finance the investment of domestic and overseas fixed assets).
• Venture Debt Loan (to finance the growth of innovative enterprises using venture debt and warrants).
• Trade Loan (to finance trade needs), which was enhanced in April 2020 to provide enterprises with better access to trade financing amidst slower business activities and longer payment cycles due to COVID-19 (“EFS-TL”).
• Project Loan (to finance the fulfilment of secured overseas projects), which was enhanced in January 2021 to support domestic construction projects amidst the challenges of COVID-19 (“EFS-PL”).
• Mergers and Acquisitions Loan (to finance the acquisition of target enterprises with the intent of internationalisation) (“EFS-M&A”).

Budget 2022 extends the enhancements to EFS-TL for six months to 30 September 2022 and EFS-PL for another year to 31 March 2023. Budget 2022 also expands EFS-M&A for four years from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2026 to include domestic merger and acquisition activities, including venturing into complementary businesses and emerging sectors.

To qualify for EFS, the borrower must be a business entity physically present in Singapore and registered with ACRA, with at least 30 per cent of its equity held directly or indirectly by local(s), determined by the ultimate individual ownership, and have a group annual sales turnover of not more than SG$500 million. The borrower must also meet any additional criteria applicable to each type of EFS loan.

Changes to Foreign Workforce Policies

• Employment Pass (EP)

The minimum qualifying salary for EP holders will be raised from SG$4,500 to SG$5,000 (and from SG$5,000 to SG$5,500 for the financial services sector) for new applications from 1 September 2022 and renewal applications from 1 September 2023.

• S Pass

The minimum qualifying salary for S Pass holders will be raised from SG$2,500 to SG$3,000 (and SG$2,500 to SG$3,500 for the financial services sector) for new applications from 1 September 2022 and renewal applications from 1 September 2023.

Thereafter, such salary will be progressively raised from 1 September 2023 and from 1 September 2025 by at least S$150 each time, with the finalised values to be announced closer to the implementation date.

The tier one S Pass Foreign Worker Levy rate (i.e. for a dependency ratio ceiling (“DRC”) of ten per cent or less, being the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company in a stipulated sector is allowed to hire) will be progressively raised from SG$330 to SG$650 by 2025 as follows: SG$450 from 1 September 2022, SG$550 from 1 September 2023, and SG$650 from 1 September 2025.

The DRC will be reduced from 87.5 per cent to 83.3 per cent for the construction and process sectors from 1 January 2024

• Work Permit

The Foreign Worker Levy rates for Work Permit holders in the construction and process sectors will be adjusted as follows:

• For higher-skilled workers in the construction sector: SG$500 for non-traditional sources (i.e. Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand), SG$300 for Malaysia, North Asian sources (i.e. Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and Taiwan) and PRC, and SG$250 for off-site.
• For basic-skilled workers in the construction sector: SG$900 for non-traditional sources, SG$700 for Malaysia, North Asian sources and PRC, and SG$350 for off-site.
• For higher-skilled workers in the process sector: SG$300 for non-traditional sources, and SG$200 for Malaysia, North Asian sources and PRC.
• For basic-skilled workers in the process sector: SG$650 for non-traditional sources, and SG$450 for Malaysia, North Asian sources and PRC.

Wage and CPF Increases

• Progressive Wage Model (PWM)

PWM was introduced in 2012 to uplift local lower-wage workers in sectors vulnerable to cheap-sourcing through a skills-based ladder of pay by setting out sector-specific salary floors and clear progression pathways for such workers to earn higher wages as they become more skilled, more productive and take on higher job responsibilities. PWM currently covers the cleaning, security and landscape sectors.

Budget 2022 extends PWM to more sectors and occupations, namely the retail, food services, and waste management sectors from 1 September 2022, 1 March 2023 and 1 July 2023 respectively, in-house cleaners, security officers and landscape maintenance workers from 1 September 2022, and administrators and drivers from 1 March 2023.

In addition, from 1 September 2022, firms hiring foreigners (i.e. EP, S Pass and Work Permit holders) will need to pay their local workers progressive wages under the PWM (if applicable) and at least the local qualifying salary of SG$1,400 per month (pro-rated for part-time work and increased for every hour of overtime work).

Also Read: These two Singapore startups lending a helping hand to Ukrainians displaced by Russian invasion

Budget 2022 also introduces the Progressive Wage Mark (“PW Mark”) accreditation in the later part of 2022 to recognise firms that pay progressive wages and the local qualifying salary to local lower-wage workers. This will enable consumers and corporate buyers to easily identify and support such firms. Contracted suppliers of the Singapore government must be accredited with the PW Mark from March 2023.

• CPF for senior workers

From 1 January 2022, CPF contribution rates have been increased for local senior workers aged above 55 to 70 as follows:

• For employees aged above 55 to 60 and above 60 to 65: Two per cent increase of the contribution rate, comprising a one per cent increase on both the employer’s and employee’s sides.
• For employees aged above 65 to 70: One and a half per cent increase of the contribution rate, comprising a 0.5 per cent increase on the employer’s side and a one per cent increase on the employee’s side.

From 1 January 2023, CPF contribution rates will be further increased for local senior workers aged above 55 to 70 as follows:

• For employees aged above 55 to 60 and above 65 to 70: 1.5 per cent increase of the contribution rate, comprising a 0.5 per cent increase on the employer’s side and a one per cent increase on the employee’s side.
• For employees aged above 60 to 65: Two per cent increase of the contribution rate, comprising a one per cent increase on both the employer’s and employee’s sides.

For each of the above 2022 and 2023 increases, employers will automatically receive a one-year CPF Transition Offset equivalent to half of the increase in employer CPF contribution rates for every local senior worker aged above 55 to 70.

Tax Increases

• Corporate Income Tax

To align the Singapore tax system with global tax developments relating to the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting 2.0 initiative, IRAS will explore a top-up tax called the Minimum Effective Tax Rate (METR) to top up the effective corporate income tax rate for multinational enterprise groups in Singapore to 15 per cent.

IRAS will study this further and consult the industry on the design of METR before making any decisions on the METR.

• Goods and Services Tax (GST)

In 2018, the Singapore government announced its plan to increase GST from seven per cent to nine per cent.

Budget 2022 delays and staggers the GST increase such that GST will be increased from seven per cent to eight per cent on 1 January 2023, and from eight per cent to nine per cent on 1 January 2024.

To cushion the impact of the GST increase, there will be no increase in government fees and charges for one year from 1 January 2023, including fees charged on all government-provided public services such as school fees, parking charges for carparks maintained by the Housing & Development Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and licence fees such as driving licences. The Singapore government will also continue to absorb GST for publicly-subsidised healthcare and education.

• Carbon Tax

The carbon tax was introduced in 2019 at a low tax rate of SG$5 per tonne of emissions to give businesses time to adjust.

Budget 2022 increases carbon tax to SG$25 per tonne of emissions in 2024 and 2025, and SG$45 per tonne of emissions in 2026 and 2027, with a view to reaching SG$50 to SG$80 per tonne of emissions by 2030.

From 2024, businesses will be allowed to use high-quality, international carbon credits to offset up to five per cent of their taxable emissions, in lieu of paying the carbon tax.

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As the world is grappling to face the threat of climate change, investment in the climate tech and sustainability space has become more urgent. Despite its slow and steady pace, especially when compared to investments in other popular spaces such as fintech and Web3, the Southeast Asian region has begun to see more money flowing into the space.

But how does an investor in the climate tech and sustainability space assess a potential investment? What does their decision-making process look like? More importantly, considering the significance of impact for startups in the space, is there any difference in the way investors are assessing them?

For investors in the space, profitability is not the only factor that they consider when investing in a climate tech and sustainability startup. They look into how these startups are creating an impact; more precisely, how their solutions can make a change in the society by helping it face the threat of climate change. Beyond that, these investors also consider how significant the impact of the solutions is.

In March, Third Derivative, the venture capital and accelerator programme that aims to accelerate climate innovations, published an article that explains how the organisation assesses the impact of a potential investment in the climate tech and sustainability space. The article details the thought process behind the key criteria that they use; it gives us an insider look into their decision-making process.

To help us get a deeper understanding of their method, e27 speaks to Chetan Krishna, Transportation Investments and Research at Third Derivative and the lead author of the article.

Also Read: COVID-19, the environment, and the tech ecosystem: what opportunity is available out there for us?

Behind the method

Krishna begins by explaining the thought process behind the development of this method, which Third Derivative uses to assess a potential investment’s impact on mitigating the risks of climate change. Every year, the organisation receives hundreds of applications for its programme from startups across different sectors and geographies. This is why they need a standardised process to help compare the potential climate impact of these different startups.

“When we were looking for a way to do this, we realised that there are not too many methodologies out there, but we are not the first entity to try and create such a methodology. What we did was that we leveraged a lot of great prior work by our peers in the ecosystem … when we surveyed their works, we decided to take a first-principles approach to categorise climate impact, identify the parameters of interest and outcomes that we wanted to achieve from an assessment. Then, we took what was already there, added our own thinking to it, and modified it to get a method that helps us quantify and do the apple-to-apple comparison across geographies and sectors,” he elaborates.

First and foremost, as an investor, Third Derivative will certainly look at the commercial strengths of the startup’s solution. According to Krishna, it needs to be compelling for customers and able to capture market share.

But this leads to another question: does having a high impact always equal having high profitability? The short answer will be yes, says Krishna, as it typically means a large revenue opportunity.

“We try to prioritise climate impact. So, every company needs to meet a minimum impact threshold. After a company has met that threshold, we still do an independent assessment of its commercial strength. We try to find companies that are scalable, profitable, and sustainable; that is where our resources will go to.”

The three steps

We finally get to the part where we are going to take a look at the method that Third Derivative uses to assess the impact of a climate tech startup. It consists of three steps:

Step 1: Defining the type of climate impact

There are two types of startups that the firm is looking for: Direct Mitigation Measures and Enablers.

Direct Mitigation Measures (DMMs) are solutions that help replace legacy, GHG-intensive anthropogenic forcers with more benign alternatives, the firm explains. They give the example of electric vehicles that replace internal combustion engine vehicles, or solutions that aim to “heal” some of the damage done by removing carbon from the atmosphere. An example of this solution will be direct air capture technologies.

Also Read: How consumers are prioritising sustainability beyond the single lens of eco-friendly products

On the other hand, Enablers are startups that create indirect impact through key complementary technologies and solutions, such as charging infrastructure for EVs or project financing platform technology that speeds the adoption of rooftop solar.

For Third Derivative, companies in both categories play a critical role in achieving decarbonisation “at the speed and scale the world needs.”

Step 2: Setting thresholds for climate impact potential

According to the firm, given the scale of the annual global GHG emissions today, what the community needs are a “gigaton-scale drawdown effects from new innovations that are typically global in origin and scope.” These innovations also need to span sectors such as industry, transportation, power, the built environment, and agriculture and land use.

In determining climate impact threshold values for DMMs and Enabler companies, Third Derivative tested and calibrated against its current portfolio, which was selected after reviewing more than 1,000 startup applications to the programme.

“We also took a top-down approach assuming a portfolio of 100 startups, with the knowledge that some will fail but others may be wildly successful. Altogether, we wanted the potential impact of our portfolio to be commensurate (at least the same order of magnitude) with the climate problem. For example, 25 successful startups, each with the potential to mitigate 0.25–1 Gt CO2e/year, would yield a total reduction of 6–25 Gt CO2e/year. We can then add the GHG reduction potential of startups focused on carbon removal through our First Gigaton Captured initiative launching in summer 2022,” the firm elaborates.

Step 3: Conduct a quantitative assessment of climate impact potential

Once Third Derivative identified the type of impact and set thresholds for high-potential solutions, it can quantitatively assess a startup’s impact against those thresholds.

“We deliberately avoid making assumptions about a solution’s scaling trajectory or the possible impacts of changing policy incentives or barriers on scaling (i.e. fulfilled potential in the future). The emergence of future CSEs and DEEs can help speed that adoption as well. We also avoid choosing winners between multiple low-carbon technologies attacking the same problem (e.g. between direct air capture and nature-based solutions that both remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere),” the firm writes.

“This approach is analogous to comparing the total addressable market (TAM) between startups as opposed to projecting their revenues and cash flows. It means that our method does not project the yearly carbon abatement attributable to a solution as it scales.”

What lies in the future for Third Derivative

In developing this method, Third Derivative is not ashamed to admit that there are certain limitations –and they are looking forward to continuously improving this method to its finest form.

Also Read: How Gunung Capital CEO puts sustainability agenda at the forefront of an age-old industry

What kind of improvements do they have in mind, and how can this method be better?

“Even when we were developing this methodology, we wanted to be inclusive of startups who are operating in countries where the countries themselves have lower responsibility towards global emissions than, say, a region such as the US or the EU, who have historically produced large polluters … This could include companies in countries such as Singapore or Southeast Asia in general, where the overall emissions are low. But these countries will develop and their emissions will increase. Solutions in these places also need to create a climate-resilient future for these geographies,” Krishna explains.

“In order to be inclusive of such companies, we modified our climate impact criteria, and we did this even while it was being developed. So it was active learning on our part, as we were developing.”

The firm already has some ideas on how they want to further develop the method in the future. For example, they would like to be able to accommodate companies that can provide spillover effects. One example of such companies will be Tesla. In addition to helping decarbonisation attempt, it has helped to increase consumer acceptability for electric vehicles.

They would also like to develop their method beyond screenings.

“In the future, we also want to track the climate impact that our companies are creating over the course of the programme and beyond,” Krishna closes.

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Singapore-headquartered Believe, a direct-to-consumer products company serving the global Muslim audience, has raised US$55 million in Series C funding led by Venturi Partners.

Jungle Ventures, Accel, Alteria Capital and Genesis Alternative Ventures returned to invest in the round. IIFL AMC is also participating in the round, bringing 3-year-old Believe’s total raise to over US$80 million.

According to a press note, this raise will catalyse consolidating market share in Bangladesh and India (via strategic acquisitions) while deepening reach in GCC and Southeast Asia (through both organic and inorganic growth).

The startup’s Series A and Series B rounds were led by Accel Partners and Jungle Ventures, with participation from Middle East-based Wamda Capital.

Also Read: How blockchain can enhance sustainability in fashion

Launched in mid-2019, Believe offers a slew of in-house fashion products spanning skincare, fragrances, make-up and hair care under the in-house brands, including Lafz, ZM and Dr. Rhazes. (Lafz is the flagship premium brand crafted with traditional ingredients, whereas ZM is a vegan, cruelty-free, single-ingredient brand)

The products are sold in over eight countries and are manufactured across the globe, including countries like South Korea, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the UAE. Most of its business comes from Bangladesh and India, with a growing base in GCC countries.

Ankit Mahajan, CEO of Believe, said, “We have received tremendous consumer love from launching our first product in 2019 to witnessing 2.5x growth in last year.”

Venturi Partners is a Singapore-based investment platform founded by veteran consumer investor Nicholas Cator. Believe is Venturi’s second investment.

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