Heartbreak Bear, a Singapore-based NFT (Non-Fungible Token) project by Revelation Marketing Group, recently announced the launch of its second season after selling out its genesis mint in just three hours.

Featuring its Gen 2 3D NFTs, the second season artworks were minted originally at 0.03 ETH with a limited supply of 1,888 HBBs. In a press statement, the project stated that its floor price has steadily risen to 0.074 ETH since its inception in October 2021. The total supply for Season 2’s NFTs will be limited to 7,089 3D Heartbreak Bears.

Season 2 holders will also gain priority access to more real-world utilities such as collectible figurines and customised merchandise.

Led by Ming Shuang Tan and Eugene Lim of Revelation Marketing Group, Heartbreak Break is a project that aims to provide artists with an avenue to showcase their craft and be acknowledged for their work in the digital space. The project described itself as “drawing parallels to the marginalised in the community” with an art concept that involves “strong imagery with some pop culture references to represent individuals battered down in society.”

Members of Heartbreak Bear communicate through an invite-only Discord group where they can access project development updates, upcoming collaborations, whitelists, Alpha information and many other exclusive benefits

“The existing OG community was small but extremely tight knitted. Daily nights of voice chat within Discord, meet-ups in real life, learning about crypto and NFT trading were just some of the many engagements that still exist till this day,” Tan says.

“After observing the (Crypto/NFT) space for some time we noticed that in order for Heartbreak Bear to progress and achieve more to benefit the holders of our NFT, we needed to treat Heartbreak Bear as a brand instead of a project. This is why we are constantly innovating ideas to bring real-world utility to our holders.”

Also Read: Demystifying NFTs and DeFi

In this interview, Tan shares to e27 the secrets behind growing a strong community to support an NFT project.

Starting with the bear necessities

The history of Heartbreak Bear began when Tan and Lim began to get drawn into the NFT space in 2021. By the time, there was great scepticism about the concept with many of their friends suspecting NFTs to be a scam. But both Tan and Lim have a strong belief in the idea, so they started Heartbreak Bear as a closed community to help Singaporeans learn about NFTs and how it works through a community

The idea of Heartbreak Bear itself came from one of their staff in the media production company.

“When we thought about what to draw, she said she wanted a cute bear from the Minion movie. It being a teddy bear kinda fit our cause of supporting mental health because when we relate to teddy bears, we thought about them being abandoned after the child grows up,” she explains.

Tan goes on to explain how every bear started out with “their hearts filled to the brim” with love and compassion, but then they have to go through many difficult and dark things.

“Heartbreak Bear was a representation of people who felt abandoned and neglected, and we wanted to be an all-inclusive community that was also the voice for the people who were bullied or left out in real life,” she stresses.

When asked about the strategy that they use to market this project, Tan says that marketing in the NFT world is “super different” from marketing in the real world. While the conventional marketing strategy might involve the use of social media influencers and SEO, the team soon discovered that this was not the case for their NFT project.

A lot of people accused the project of being a scam, but that was how they realised that marketing an NFT project and other products are “two separate entities.”

Also Read: To infinity and beyond: Why 2022 will be the year of Web3

“We wanted to engage people who were at least into NFT and crypto and not just any random influencer, but the pool was so small, maybe five to six people. In this small pool, even the celebrities and marketing agencies didn’t dare to take on any NFT promotion because of legality issues they were afraid of. We also had an influencer who shouted out for us on his own when he found the product interesting … but other influencers started saying that it was irresponsible for influencers to share about NFTs just because they like the project,” Tan elaborates.

“We wanted to go global but every time the Western communities came in, they felt they could not fit in with the time difference and local slangs. So it was hard, and we decided to stop marketing in the real world.”

Luckily, they finally found something that works.

“Now, the strategy is to grow more connections through collaborations and holding AMAs with other projects, where we are able to bring all the NFT communities together and grow together. In the NFT space, if you’re only going to run your project and ignore everyone, it’s going to be a lonely journey. So, why not grow and support other legitimate projects together! From there we caught the attention of several alpha groups that loved what we were doing and gave us their full support, and that was how we managed to gain more traction and sell out during our mint,” Tan continues.

This is why Tan believes that in NFTs, the community is everything.

“In the NFT space, a little FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) can easily cause a whole project to fail. Our community trusted us and supported us even through difficult times, and we had almost zero FUD, [even] when anyone even tried [to do so],” she stresses.

NFTs for tomorrow

When asked about the prospect of NFTs in Southeast Asia (SEA), Tan says that it is “definitely expanding”.

“We know of projects that are even planning and holding NFT exhibitions across SEA countries … it is something that is here to stay and it will thrive in the near future. I cannot 100 per cent say that it will take over FIAT, but from what I see, there is still so much potential and opportunities to bridge NFT and the real world together,” she explains. “I would say, even though the OG stages of NFTs have passed, it’s [still] not too late.”

Also Read: You’re not really diversifying your investments by buying altcoins

As a woman in the NFT space, Tan admits that the space used to be extremely male-dominated, but the good news is that more and more women are joining the space. For women interested in giving NFTs a try, she advises them to never feel as if they are not equal.

In line with the community spirit of NFT, she also put emphasis on the importance of helping and supporting each other.

“Recently when one of our friend’s projects –Soulz– has some issue with their contract, we jumped in and shared our resources and developer to help save the entire contract from failing. Of course … the rest is up to them, but in the NFT space, always be kind and always help others since you already know how hard is it to run an NFT project,” Tan says. “It doesn’t hurt to be nice and we will never paint other projects in a bad light because it has happened to us before –and we never want anyone to feel that way ever. Unless it’s a scam then … we will alert our members.”

Lastly, she would like to remind women to not be intimidated –especially since most people in the community are willing to help.

“If you’re a female trying to start a project, go for it. But you also have to know the commitments behind it. Never give up and know that it’s okay to ask for help.”

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Image Credit: Heartbreak Bear

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Lack of climate change education, governmental support and entrepreneurial culture contribute to the shortage of climate tech companies in Southeast Asia, said Tien Nguyen, General Partner of Earth Venture Capital.

However, with the growing awareness and initiatives in the region, it is just a matter of time before highly qualified climate tech startups emerged in various sub-sectors of climate tech.

“Entrepreneurship and venture investment develop through the history of economy, education and culture. Southeast Asia needs more time to improve startup quality and attract more relevant capital,” he said. “The region, however, has possessed the potential of a large and young population, a growing source of tech talents and a supportive government in terms of climate change.

Founded by Tien Nguyen and Linh Nguyen (not related), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-based Earth Venture is a VC fund investing in early-stage digital solutions tackling climate change. The debut fund — closed a few days ago — seeks to support pre-seed to Series A-stage companies with a potential to expand globally.

The VC firm invests in startups in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, computer vision, and the Internet of Things that serve the goals of switching to renewable energy, abandoning fuel and diesel and planting more trees.

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

Fund I aims to back 10-12 startups, with ticket sizes ranging from US$500,000 to US$3 million. Earth Venture Capital’s LPs include unnamed global institutional investors with a strong focus on climate change.

According to Tien Nguyen, the Vietnamese ecosystem has excellent potential, but it is still nascent and investing in the country is risky. It, therefore, applies a venture studio model in the market.

Earth Venture Studio is an institutional co-founder that invests and works closely with local startups — from ideation to the product-market-fit — in a scientifically systematic entrepreneurial sequence. After a year in the studio, the best startup will receive investment from the VC firm.

As founding investors, we co-build Earth startups, and we stick around for the entire mission, including the pre-and post-launch phases. We help turn an idea into a product, see it in action, and launch it for the world to experience it,” he said, sharing the details.

The VC firm also runs Earth Venture Foundation. This not-for-profit unit provides grants and sponsorship to academic and scientific initiatives/research/inventions that add value to the climate change preventing battle.

Tien Nguyen stressed that climate change is a global issue that needs to be addressed on a global scale. “There should be more education about climate change and entrepreneurship to develop more feasible initiatives in the cleantech industries. More capital commitment and involvement are needed from governments, think tanks and institutions to empower innovative entrepreneurship. Besides, the partnership with global organisations for climate change initiatives and ideas sharing is also an essential factor for Southeast Asia to keep up with the world trends.

“Our region is severely affected by climate change. Our startups, therefore, have an opportunity to test their products right on the battlefield with real issues. The complex consequence of climate change pushes our communities to react faster and more critically. The advantages that may differentiate Southeast Asia from the rest of the world are the outstanding talent in the region and the lessons we can learn from the mistakes of other regions in terms of climate tech,” he concluded.

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Watching  NFTs break into the mainstream last year, I’ve pretty much been able to create a scorecard that gives me a good idea of whether a project will succeed or not.

Of course, only time will tell because it’s not exactly foolproof. But it’s helped filter out which projects to keep my eye on for my mental health, especially with hundreds of minting every week. 

The term derivative may not be such a bad word in this industry, but sometimes when I review a new project’s roadmap or whitepaper,  I catch myself  saying, “I’ve seen this before.” 

Sadly, after some time, the space can become monotonous. And then, of course, there’s also the speculation, rug pulls and scams. Sometimes you need to step away from it all. 

After all the shilling is said and done, could there be an NFT project that’s downright good for the soul?

I say yes. As a more diverse crowd enters the space, I’ve witnessed exciting projects that tell me that we’ve only seen the beginning of what NFTs can do.

Shifting away from art to phygital impact

Rather than artists being the centre of a project, I’ve seen founders use the most basic artwork as a key to unlock valuable utility.

OddFutur3, for example, attaches the following benefits to their 200 wordart-esque access token GIFs: exclusive community, minter and collector tools, VIP whitelists, membership to a DAO, IRL meetups and experiences, early content, and much more.

This opens up the possibilities for creators to focus on developing sustainable business models similar to that of Web2 social enterprises. 

On February 27, 2022, CryptoKittens, Sussy Sharks, Chillin Chameleons, Honey Bee Club, Ocean Bandits, and Cyclo Turtles organised #NFTCLEANUPDAY. Their respective communities banded together to do a beach cleanup at the Santa Monica Pier.

While assets, the NFT, may be digital, the reach may be more tangible and lasting, straddling both Metaverse and the physical world as we know it. 

In their mechanics, even those who couldn’t join physically had a way to enter the contest, blurring the physical and digital lines.

To me, that’s exactly what the Metaverse is, not just the platforms we know of. It’s an inclusive community coming together in a virtual space interacting in increasingly immersive ways.

Creators combine lessons and concepts learnt from previous PFP (profile picture ) projects like gamification, community involvement, and merchandise giveaways and apply them to sustainable development goal problems.

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

In effect, they’re hacking the theory of cultural change with NFTs by making it possible, easy, normative, and rewarding to do good.

Cool collective capital

In the Web2 space, the common route startups and social enterprises would follow pursuing venture capital or incubation programmes. They would have to perfect their pitches to secure make-or-break funding. NFTs have changed the game by democratising how capital is secured. 

If you think about it, minting is essentially a fundraising exercise, where the stakes aren’t as high for both founders and investors. To quote the tagline of one project, Not Essential, “Individuals cannot do much, but individuals together can do a lot.”

For illustration purposes, let’s consider the Luckies project by OddFutur3. A successful mint will raise 789.25 Eth or US$21,167,471.75 as of writing, less marketing costs, of course. This gives a pretty lengthy runway to execute on their roadmap, aiming to promote Asian culture from the perspective of second-generation immigrants in North America. 

Imagine what it would take to do that using Web2 methodologies. 

In Web3, fundraising in this manner empowers the community in two very specific ways.

It gives individuals the ability to earn like an angel investor with the minimal resources they may have.

Secondly, unlike pitching to a VC, the business model is not fully fleshed out. The community is highly involved in deciding the direction of a project. Decisions are made together, which tells me that more nuanced solutions can be created.

In light of recent events, we’ve seen how certain projects are using their clout to raise funds yet again for social good.

Jungle Freaks is raffling off 1 Genesis Jungle Freak, 5 “Allow List” spots each for JFMC and Fallout Freak to those who donate to the United Help Ukraine charity. Andrew Wang and other NFT influencers aren’t sitting this one out either.

They launched RELI3F, where 100 per cent of the funds from the primary sale will go towards relief efforts, and royalties from secondary sales will go back to the 27 Ukrainian artists in the collective. 

Business savvy for creating value

However, what is common between Web2 and Web3 funding is the importance of the founding team and their ability to deliver on their promises.

Call it really good marketing, but time and time again, I’ve seen projects that are super hyped up until mint.

Also Read: How indigenous artists could preserve their own culture with NFT

After which, the project fizzles out. I’m of the opinion that great projects that deliver value to their community will always be a success. Floor prices should be indicative of the confidence in that value. Concretely, Zoofrenz, for example, currently averages at about 0.55E, holding steady one month after minting.

I don’t think the jump from its initial price of 0.15E would be the case if it weren’t for Zombot Studios, a game art agency behind the project.

When they say they will deliver a game as part of the roadmap, we can rest easy that they can make it happen.

For OddFutur3, which helps offline businesses go online, their deep expertise in knowing their client’s customers enables them to build meaningful Web3 solutions.

OddFutur3’s founders have been behind generating billions of dollars in value for their businesses and that of their clientele. I’d be wary of projects that don’t have a strong founding team, especially when they’re entrusted with that much funding, decentralised or not.

Final thoughts

It may be only a matter of time for the bubble to burst on PFP projects or even collectibles.

For me, however, I’m still extremely bullish. We’ve yet to explore what NFTs can do, and the positive impact Web3 projects can have on the world.

If you’re a creator wanting to enter the Web3 space, my advice is to make social good your jumping point. Ask yourself the question,s “What would you do to make the world a better place?”

And then find a community that shares your why.

If you’re an investor, consider projects that go beyond the collectible use case. Find projects that have utility impacting real lives phygitally.

In this fast-paced world of NFTs,  it may be in projects that promote social good that you find what you’re looking for beyond the next 10x return.

I’ve always believed that there is a demand for good, and there will never be an oversupply. That is something you cannot hype.

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On Friday, February 18^th, Singapore announced that it was raising its carbon tax rate from SG$5 per tonne of emissions to SG$25 per tonne by 2024 and eventually between SG$50 and SG$80 by 2030.

This represents a significant step forward, giving climate impact a tangible cost and forcing companies and consumers to reflect upon and fiscally compensate for their carbon footprint.

A recent report by PwC and World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that an internationally agreed minimum carbon price could cut emissions by 12 per cent with little cost to economies.

But despite this, if we are to have a chance of reaching net-zero by 2030, companies cannot simply wait for the government to impose penalties from above, but rather must make proactive choices themselves, not simply reducing but also working to offset their carbon emissions.

The logic behind this is simple. Recent research suggests that humans have already emitted around 2500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide since 1850, burning through over 86 per cent of the allotted carbon budget needed to stay under the 1.5C of warming pledged under the Paris Agreement.

While a carbon tax might encourage companies to make greener choices, adopting new technologies or swapping fuels, simply reducing emissions without offsetting them is unlikely to do enough to salvage the carbon budget.

Not only this but lauding a carbon tax as the pinnacle point in the effort to redress climate change brings with it the concomitant risk that businesses will simply pay their carbon tax and be done, investing no further money in green initiatives or actions.

Creating a carbon trading centre

The fact that Singapore is reported to be considering buying carbon credits and allowing businesses to buy international carbon credits to offset up to 5 per cent of their taxable emissions from 2024, is further evidence of the increasing recognition that reaching net-zero will require a dependency on alternatives other than a carbon tax.

Singapore is moving in the right direction with such initiatives, priming itself to become a centre for carbon trading.

Also Read: 13 cleantech startups to watch in Asia

Under the “Green Economy” pillar of the Green Plan, the creation of a carbon trading and services hub will encompass “green finance, sustainability, verification, credits trading and risk management.”

Singapore has established itself as a global leader in efforts to create a “carbon economy” and the introduction of a carbon tax in 2019 is evidence of this.

However, it is crucial that corporations do not see a carbon tax as a reason to deny taking proactive action. A carbon tax is not the final solution, but a positive first step.

This is why solutions like our Carbon Neutrality Token (CNT) are key in addressing the urgent climate crisis.

Not only do we currently provide the only platform that facilitates international carbon credits trading, but our CNT also allows access to authenticated carbon credits, which enables companies to actively go above and beyond balancing out their carbon emissions and thus solidify their commitment to salvaging the environment.

We know that as carbon offsetting becomes increasingly key in the fight against climate change, and as regulation tightens around such schemes, it is important for institutional investors to have absolute confidence in the quality of the exchange they choose.

MetaVerse Green Exchange’s CNT token solves the problem of ‘double-counting’ in the voluntary carbon markets by preventing the carbon emission reduction from being counted as part of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in both the host country as well as the carbon credit investor’s country.

Investors can thus be sure that their efforts are legitimate, protected against charges of ‘green-washing’, and that the carbon credits they purchase are of high-quality, therefore ensuring carbon reduction integrity.

While a carbon tax represents a positive first step in the fight against climate change, reaching our net-zero target as soon as possible will require us to not simply reduce but also offset our emissions. We encourage companies to affirm the MVGX mission and start making a proactive effort today.

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Indonesia’s long-stay rental provider Rukita has announced the official acquisition of Infokost.id, a local search site for boarding houses.

The deal size has not been disclosed.

Infokost.id was owned by GDP Venture, a Djarum Group financing company. In December 2020, GDP Venture announced the closure and termination of Infokost’s operations. Rukita then took it over and revitalised the business with a series of innovations. Currently, Infokost.id offers one million rooms on its property listing platform and serves 50,000 property owners.

Consumers who want to find a boarding house can go to the Infokost site and register using their mobile phone number. Then, consumers can search and instantly make reservations at properties on its verified list by filling out the form and directly connecting with the Infokost.id team, which will forward the request to the property owner.

Also Read: How Rukita turned the pandemic into an opportunity to grow its co-living business

At the same time, boarding house owners who want to partner with Infokost.id can register their properties at Infokost.id.

“With this acquisition, we can serve more consumers and property owners across Indonesia through Infokost.id. This is one of several Rukita business expansions planned for 2022,” said Xu-Zonne Ho, Co-Founder and CTO of Rukita.

A Sequoia Surge startup, Rukita seeks to provide a hassle-free living experience for residents and property owners. The firm said in a press release that it won a total of 13 million website users since its first launch in mid-2019.

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In 2021, startups in the Philippines raised a total of US$1.03 billion in funding which is a significant increase from the 2020 number of US$369 million, according to a report released by Foxmont Capital Partners and Boston Consulting Group.

Related to funding in the startup ecosystem, the report further detailed that from 2019 to 2021, the Philippine startup ecosystem has grown in both deal value and volume. Within the first half of the year, startups in the country raised US$437.5 million. It dubbed 2021 as a “watershed year” with total deals hitting a record of 92 and numerous startups getting into Series A, B, and C.

The report also stated that fintech, as well as media and entertainment, exhibited the largest funding growth in 2021. The number for the fintech vertical was primarily driven by the funding rounds raised by Mynt (which emerged as the country’s first double unicorn with their latest raise) while the media and entertainment vertical were driven by Kumu.

Also Read: Meet the 22 notable startups that have brightened up the Filipino tech ecosystem

The following is a list of the top five verticals that have secured funding in the Philippines in 2021:

For the e-commerce vertical, there is a 77 per cent increase in online shopping growth from 2020 to 2021 –the COVID-19 pandemic and related safety measures certainly contributed to this number. The Department of Trade and Industry even expects the e-commerce vertical to contribute US$17 billion to the domestic economy in 2021 and US$24 billion in the succeeding year.

Food and beverage (F&B) tech are also another vertical that was accelerated by the prolonged stay-at-home; the total value of the online food delivery market reached US$247.2 million.

What is next for startups in the Philippines

In this report, Foxmont Capital Partners also noted the progress that startups in the Philippines have made in 2022. Within the first two months of 2022, funds raised by local startups reached US$310 million, outpacing the same period in the last two years.

This indicated a “clear sign of continuous growth” in the ecosystem, according to the VC firm.

It is also seen as a sign that the ecosystem has begun to show signs of maturity with six out of eight deals in 2022 being Series B and C deals.

Also Read: A horse of another: Here’s the complete list of Southeast Asia’s 28 unicorns

The country has also become increasingly popular as a startup hub.

According to Foxmont Capital Partners in a press statement, the 2022 Philippine Venture Capital report was created as an avenue to foster the ethos of collaboration between key players in the local startup landscape.

Established in 2018, Foxmont Capital Partners described itself as the Philippines’ only independent, country-focused venture capital fund that invests in scalable startups in rapidly digitizing areas. The firm has announced over 26 investments thus far, with recent additions to its portfolio being social commerce platform SariSuki, export enabler 1Export, digital ledger and point-of-sales app Peddlr.

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Filipino loyalty and e-commerce platform ZAP has secured an undisclosed amount in Series A funding from True Digital Group (TDG), the digital arm of Thai telco True Corporation.

ZAP will use the capital to become a one-stop shop that captures every interaction between customers and merchants, adding value through various tools and services offered.

“To help close the gap in consumer’s digital journey, we see a very hopeful opportunity with ZAP as the local market expert. We believe that together, we will be able to deliver an exciting experience for consumers in the Philippines,” said Dindo Marzan, True Digital Group Country Head in the Philippines.

Started in 2013, ZAP has developed a platform primarily to help bring F&B merchants of any size online. During the pandemic, the company pivoted and launched E-Store service in June 2020. Since then, its business has grown 5x, from supporting 75 stores in August 2021 to 483 F&B companies.

Also Read: Meet the VC: Philippines’s Kickstart Ventures on becoming the country’s gatekeeper for startup ecosystem scale-up

ZAP currently works with over four million users and 2,000 stores.

“Our initial investment in ZAP was backed by the belief that their platform could digitise the Filipino consumer and enterprise experience,” said Minette Navarrete, President of Kickstart Ventures. “Over the last decade and through a pandemic, they’ve continued to prove the value of their unified data and analytics platform that has provided enterprises with a strategic advantage to develop and promote consumer products.”

ZAP was a part of Kickstart Ventures’s inaugural batch of portfolio companies in 2012. Kickstart, the corporate VC arm of Globe, invests in early to early growth-stage tech startups in the Philippines and globally, including startups in major innovation hubs like Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Canada, the United States, and Israel.

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Ahmed Nizar and I started Casa Mia Coliving a couple of years ago. During the earlier stages of our careers, we had the opportunity to work across the globe, from New Delhi to Seattle and Toronto to London.

When we rented our homes, we had the knack to always end up in the “wrong” neighbourhood for too long; we didn’t seem to have the luck to find the right “strangers” to be our flatmates and hunting for that perfect house was a mammoth task. It was not a living and working overseas experience that we envisioned.

We learned a lot from these international experiences, and we decided to take these learnings and capitalise them into Casa Mia Coliving.

If the concept had existed when we needed them earlier in our careers, our young professional life in those cities would have been a better experience. Still, Casa Mia Coliving would not exist today.

Launching a co-living startup during COVID-19 was a challenge when the business was so reliant heavily on movement between borders. We took the challenge in our stride because we saw an opportunity even with the presence of a global pandemic. 

Today, we have 150 bedrooms in central Singapore across popular neighbourhoods such as River Valley, Tiong Bahru and Orchard. We have reached an annualised revenue of US$2.5 million, and we continue to experience fast growth.

How did the pandemic affect Casa Mia Coliving?

Most businesses went into “survival mode” when the pandemic struck. We took the opportunity to accelerate our business by focusing on what was essential for Casa Mia Coliving. One of these was digital transformation.

Also Read: Most Singaporeans pay too much for their mortgage. Here’s how innovation can fix that

Back in 2019,  when Casa Mia Coliving was just launched, we relied heavily on virtual tours of our homes where our prospects could easily use the tool to check out the rooms they wanted to rent. 

We were one of the few coliving spaces having the feature in Singapore, and now, the trend has picked up among our competitors. Although we must say that it’s becoming a common feature to host virtual tours, it is still not executed well and professionally.

Rethinking our obstacles

Many opportunities could be found during the last year. For us, we don’t need global borders to open to growing our community of coliving members.

We have a substantial number of untapped young professional ex-pats in Singapore who are seeking to find their “perfect” place and flatmates.

It is a great opportunity, and we stay focused on building our brand name, our member community and targeting the professionals already in Singapore. The effort paid off, and we grew our business by 100 per cent.

Leverage during the ‘downtime’

The ‘downtime’ that the pandemic brought was the perfect time to build. As we mentioned earlier, not in the physical sense, but we focus on building up our digital transformation.

We came up with ColivHQ, a software that brings together customer support, property management and content management and billing system for the whole team. It has increased efficiency for the team and created a better understanding of the status of our homes and members. 

The COVID ‘downtime’ has enabled us to be one of the few operators here to have a proprietary software platform to manage coliving operations end-to-end. The pandemic highlighted that an outdated and inflexible business model was not the way forward. It was an excellent opportunity for change.

Also Read: Why your next tech startup should be in the real estate industry

Looking into the future

I believe that the future is bright for coliving space. This year, we aim to double our Singapore business and launch a second city in the coming months.

We are breaking even and intend to keep being profitable as we continue to grow, as we do not believe in growth at all costs. Coliving is a business where scale is significant.

We have strong unit economics with a 10x LTV/CAC ratio, but that’s possible only by focusing on the right real estate partners and assets. We can run a profitable business at our scale with our unit economics. 

 We also intend to build a customer-centric culture and focus on the end-user. And we do not forget to also focus on talent, the young professionals we have in Singapore.

If you are in a traditional industry, such as real estate, focus on accelerating the transformation to digital by bringing in tech-savvy talent from adjacent sectors.

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For Asian startups with growth plans, international expansion is certainly one of the key priorities. Most businesses tend to look at China or the US due to the sheer size of the market but Japan is often overlooked. As the third-largest market in the world, Japan represents a significant opportunity. Not only is it a highly stable economy with enormous purchasing power — a population of 127 million with a per capita GDP of around $41,000 — the Japanese economy is also expected to pose a healthy 4% growth in 2021, showing signs of strong post-pandemic recovery.

Overseas companies have traditionally had concerns around cultural and language differences that have made them averse to building a presence in Japan. Companies have also found it hard to hire Japanese talent with international experience in the past since Japanese entrepreneurs predominantly stuck to business within Japan. However, things have changed significantly over the last decade or so.

Japan has always been a hotbed for tech and innovation with the many legacy brands that dominated in automotive, electronics, and industrial hardware. As a society, the Japanese people are technologically advanced and receptive to innovations. With the use of AI becoming increasingly common, Japan is poised to once again be a tech leader thanks to its advanced expertise in deep tech manufacturing and robotics. Particularly noteworthy sectors in Japan’s innovation ecosystem are manufacturing & robotics where Japan is producing over half of the world’s robots and fintech where Tokyo ranks amongst the world’s most competitive financial centres.

Why Japan is a great market to build your company’s presence

Faced with an ageing, declining population, the Japanese government has laid out its vision to become the first country to prove that it is possible to develop and grow your economy through innovation. Japan is committed to building what it calls “Society 5.0” — a new ultra-smart society where all things will be connected through IoT technology and all technologies will be integrated. To realise this vision the Government of Japan knows that various players including startups, SMEs and enterprises, will all need to contribute and create new innovative solutions such as intelligent robots or digital agriculture.

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Japan recognises that it will need international collaboration if they are to become a leader in the next wave of technological innovation and digital transformation. “The Japanese large corporates — while they have strength in certain areas — require and are looking for collaborations with foreign startups with certain technologies that Japanese corporates are lacking in expertise,” explained Khoo Kiewai, Director for JETRO’s Business Dev & PR. She added that these collaborations can also be brought to a third country for global expansions.

The willingness of Japanese companies to consider international solutions is now much higher than before, as the country shifts from the old mentality of trying to build everything in-house. For startups operating in Asia today, the opportunities to form strategic partnerships with Japanese companies represents a significant avenue for international expansion.

JETRO: making collaboration with Japanese companies possible

Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO) is a government arm working to support overseas companies looking to form partnerships and collaborations in Japan for innovation. There is a wide variety of support that the organisation offers global startups, covering all levels of tech and with varying stages of maturity. This includes ​​introducing startups to potential investors and clients, providing translators and local experts when needed, promoting companies in media, as well as connecting them to conferences and workshops.

“JETRO provides many opportunities for startups to present their products and technologies to Japanese corporates, either through webinars, pitching events, or direct one-to-one business matchings,” discussed Khoo Kiewai. “We have many free supporting services by providing market information, professional consultations by legal and tax experts, different business matching or pitching events for participation, connections to regional governmental bodies for incentives, among others.”

These services support startups of all different business stages, from the initial market research stage to the final incorporation stage. JETRO also continues to support them after incorporation, on their further expansion in Japan to other regions of the country.

Below we look at three cases where JETRO support has resulted in strong collaborations and alliances in Japan for overseas startups.

SWAT Mobility: bringing smart mobility solutions to Japan

A recent Proof of Concept (PoC) has applied international routing technology to freight delivery in Japan. SWAT Mobility was selected for the HIKYAKU LABO Accelerator 2021 program run by Sagawa Express Co. Ltd. Applying its proprietary routing technology, SWAT Mobility developed a freight dispatch route optimisation service for Sagawa. The cargoes collected and delivered by Sagawa Express in Tokyo were dispatched using SWAT’s route generator and driver app to perform vehicle allocation, route generation and driver navigation for the deliveries.

The project has confirmed the potential for a significant reduction of the number of vehicles and costs through maximisation of the floor area usage by vehicles. SWAT’s routing technology localised for the Japanese market has built-in Zenrin’s highly accurate and fresh road network data which is complete with complex road regulation information specific to Japan, such as intricate narrow roads and one-way/time zone regulations. The technology will also derive the optimum driving speed for each time zone and each road, through machine learning using vehicle GPS data.

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Masashi Suehiro, SWAT Mobility Country Manager (Japan) says that Japan’s ageing population has made it expensive to maintain public transportation, increasing the need for sustainable transportation solutions in low ridership areas. “Many organisations in Japan have a sustainability or digital transformation/innovation agenda and want to implement smart mobility solutions that help to reduce the number of vehicles on the road,” he remarked on why Japan was a promising market for their technology.

Suehiro described the challenges in working in Japan: “the unique road conditions in Japan “made it challenging for us to integrate road information and provide accurate routing in Japan. JETRO has supported us greatly by connecting us with relevant municipal governments that may require our system. For example, JETRO introduced us to the Kitakyushu city government, with whom we are working on a trial right now. JETRO also provided a platform for us by organising online events where we presented our services to city governments.” The potential for Japanese cities to optimise bus services is a major target market for SWAT.

Crown Digital: world’s first robotic barista

Keith Tan, CEO and Founder of Crown Digital is a wealth manager turned entrepreneur who started Crown Digital in Singapore as a team of baristas and coffee lovers. With their first product — ELLA the robot barista – it pivoted to a technology company that addresses the challenges of high rent, inconsistent quality, and labour shortages for the retail coffee market in Japan.

Tan says that ELLA proved that technology can reinvent user experience, as they began with the goal of delivering a gourmet experience to the world’s growing community of grab-and-go commuters. In the ongoing pandemic, their mobile ordering and contactless solution allow the business to operate without compromising the health and safety of people.

Speaking of their entry into Japan, Tan says it was a proud moment to launch ELLA outside of Singapore: “We are delighted to partner with JR East on this exciting test marketing collaboration and be the first foreign company to integrate the SUICA payment system into our offering. ELLA is serving quick and efficient cups of coffee to the time-pressed commuters at  Tokyo and Yokohama Stations – this is a huge milestone for Crown Digital.” As ELLA deploys across major Asian transit hubs, Crown Digital is implementing solid expansion plans backed up by sector leaders such as JRE and Stellar Lifestyle.

Tan believes the support from JETRO was key to their expansion into Japan, saying:  “Japan is an innovation powerhouse however, it’s not easy for foreign companies to enter the market largely due to barriers such as culture and language. It’s all about working with the right partners and getting a foothold in Japan. JETRO played a vital role in introducing us to JRE and played the role of a catalyst in this partnership. JETRO assisted us to overcome the cultural challenges and maximise this partnership.”

Brain Pool Tech: assessing the risk of natural disaster

Brain Pool Tech provides an easy-to-use software-as-a-service product that integrates drones and satellites to assess location risk for natural disasters. Derived from high-resolution geolocated map data, environmental sensors, and movement patterns of assets on the ground. Dr Cullen Owens, Chief Business Officer and co-founder, started the company with Dr Voges in 2019. Through unique artificial intelligence, algorithms to provide real-time insights their technology can assess the risk of locations from natural disasters. 

Japan’s geography leaves the country highly prone to natural disasters making Japan, a natural go-to-market for expansion for BrainPool tech. Dr Owens feels that while language is a major barrier, “specific differences in cultural and business expectations were also sometimes conflicting. We have learned to be patient and thoughtful as we continue to gain traction in Japan.”

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JETRO has been an important partner in their journey:  “JETRO has done everything from introducing us to potential investors and clients to providing translators when needed to the promotion of our company both in media as well as through conferences and workshops. Our CEO, Dr Kai Voges was featured as a speaker at the geospatial conference which resulted in several new, international partnerships thanks to JETRO,” explained Dr Owens.

Dr Owens said the company is ready to “launch our MVP software ecosystem to our first client in Q2 of this year. We also look to capitalise on an opportunity with the World Accelerating Tomorrow Challenge with Tokio Marine and potentially other large Japanese Multinationals through the Plug and Play Japan accelerator. Finally, we are currently raising seed money to incorporate in Japan and Australia and to carry us into a ‘scale-up’ company status through multiple recurring revenue contracts in Japan, Australia, and now potentially the United States.”

Interested in finding out how you can expand to Japan, what support is available to you, and what opportunities await you? Schedule an exclusive one-on-one consultation with JETRO!

Please leave your details in the form so we can facilitate.

*Note that there will be pre-screening to check your match with JETRO and updates will be sent via email.

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Photo by Ben Cheung from Pexels

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

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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All it takes is an idea.

This is the line so often used to encourage innovators to come up with problem-solving, game-changing solutions to the world’s problems. But it is rarely – if ever – as simple as that.

Ideas need to be explored and tested before they can become actual solutions. Scientific research, in particular, plays an important role in manufacturing knowledge that drives innovation and progress that spills over to society and the economy.

But most of the time, ideas don’t leave the idea stage because the people who have them are not able to explore and test them. This is especially true for young researchers who do not have the opportunity to work on their own ideas due to lack of resources and support.

Research grants from various institutions help address this, though generally their criteria are stringent and are geared towards specific solutions as a result.

In 2009, Leave a Nest launched the LNest Grant with the aim of supporting passionate early career researchers to pursue their own ideas and projects. Since then, the LNest grant has offered close to 200 independent grants to over 360 researchers.

Nurturing explorations

The LNest Grant began as a brainstorm of Leave a Nest members when they first earned profit as a company: how can they use the money for something good?

Staying true to their vision of “Advancing Science and Technology for Global Happiness,” Leave a Nest launched the LNest Grant to help bring potentially world-changing ideas from the minds of researchers out into where it could be accessed by key industry players that can help nurture those ideas into actionable solutions.

Fuelled by their own profit, the LNest Grant aimed to support passionate young researchers to pursue ideas or projects that fascinate them. It was designed to give them access to financial resources that would offer the opportunity to explore their ideas and accelerate the research process.

Also read: Japan is looking for deep tech startups to collaborate with

Over the years, Leave a Nest has expanded the grant by working with various companies like  Panasonic, Yoshinoya, Sony, and Fujifilm to offer grants to young researchers.

Recently, they worked with Delightex, a research and venture creation company that seeks to create new services around creating delightful moments with naturally occurring substances.

Through this partnership, Leave a Nest was able to offer a grant to anthropology researchers to explore the potential of building new solutions around traditional medicines, herbs, and rituals.

Seeding ideas

What makes LNest Grant stand out is that unlike other grants, researchers are free to work on a broad variety of topics.

The first grant awardee in the United Kingdom, for example, is Ruiz Gonzalez Antonio Rafael, a PhD student researching the development of deep-learning diagnostics for depression based on non-invasive wearable potassium biosensors. The LNest Grant called for applications for “any research in Science,” and received applications with topics ranging from astrophysics, material science, and more.

Apart from that, Leave a Nest and their partners do not make any Intellectual Property (IP) claims on the research and the results, nor do they require researchers to be able to create new business as a result.

This really highlights the real purpose of the LNest Grant to help researchers kickstart their projects and build on their ideas. With the pressure of creating business or profit taken out of the equation, researchers can focus on pursuing avenues in their research that may not immediately lead to business but may create more opportunities for discovering world-changing solutions.

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Even with grants provided in partnership with large corporations, creation of new business is not the main goal; rather, it is to provide a platform for companies to discover ideas they previously did not have access to, that they could work on with the researchers to potentially develop into a business at a later time.

Essentially, Leave a Nest and the companies they partner with for the grant are investing in and enabling researchers to fully focus on developing and accelerating research on their ideas: manufacturing knowledge and exploring potential world-changing ideas, without the pressure of immediate business application

Leave a Nest Global Challenge Grant

As Leave a Nest celebrates its 20th anniversary this year, they aim to stay true to their roots and keep contributing to the advancement of knowledge through academic research.

They believe that in a post-COVID-19 era, academic research would play a more important role in solving the issues the world is facing, as well as in designing the future of humanity.

Aligned with this, Leave a Nest is announcing the launch of the LNest Global Challenge Grant.

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The LNest Global Challenge Grant is calling for grant proposals from young researchers who have ideas on or are working on research that can potentially contribute to solving issues that the world is facing today.

Any research from young scholars related, but not limited to, healthcare, environment, agriculture and food, nature, society, and education are welcome.

They will be selecting 5 young researchers from Singapore, who will each receive a grant of SGD 5,000 to aid in accelerating their research process.

Click here to apply.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Leave a Nest

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.

The post Seeding ideas, nurturing explorations with Leave a Nest Grant appeared first on e27.