Earlier today, LiquidX, a Web3 venture capital studio for the metaverse, announced its acquisition of Anime Metaverse, a publishing and licensing company focused on building anime, manga, and dorama in Web3. This announcement has drawn our attention not only to the acquisition but also to LiquidX itself.

In its approach to investing in the Web3 sector, the company describes itself as the world’s first NFT projects aggregator that operates as both investor and operator.

It was founded under the awareness that an estimated 90 per cent of NFT projects fail before their first mint. This is why, to ensure the economic viability of its portfolio companies, LiquidX takes over entire departments and flows with its team of experts from blockchain development, tokenomics, and treasury management to even legal counsel and metaverse development.

As one of the players in the nascent Web3 sector, LiquidX says that it is the first in the market to implement this approach.

To understand more about LiquidX and the works that they are doing, e27 reaches out to Kendrick Wong, Co-Founder and Chairman of the company.

Having been featured on Forbes’ 30 under 30 lists, Wong is a prominent founder of companies that include N.Fungible, a launchpad and marketplace for fashion brands in the metaverse. He is also Managing Partner of Alpha CW, a US$200 million fund focused on blockchain, NFTs, and Southeast Asian startups.

In this interview, he speaks about what sets LiquidX apart from other organisations and what other big plans they have in store for the remaining of the year.

Also Read: How Web3 will revolutionise borderless banking in Southeast Asia

This is an edited excerpt of the interview.

I would like to understand more about the model that LiquidX is implementing. It seems to require you to be fully involved in a project. Can you explain why this is a better model? How did you come up with the models that work?

LiquidX places an M&A engine in front of infrastructure development for Web3.

We take direct execution positions in our portfolio companies, with the entire operational departments managed by our support teams. This includes blockchain development, tokenomics, treasury management, art, game, and human resources.

Currently, Web3 gaming companies and accelerators take minority stakes and offer portfolio companies consulting and operational light support. Conversely, some funds take large passive stakes.

But we take prominent positions and handle all the backend operations and admin work from our portfolio companies, enabling our founders to focus on growing the company’s core assets.

What challenges do you aim to solve with this concept? How will your solution solve these challenges?

From a business perspective, we see LiquidX as a superscalar for retail adoption into Web3.

Often, the founders of high-potential blockchain and NFT projects lack the resources and experience to achieve the ambitious roadmaps projected. This is where LiquidX bridges the gap from a commercial, operational, and economic standpoint.

These founders have the vision, and we help them achieve it.

Can you tell us how you review a potential investment? What is your investment strategy?

We make fundamental bets in the three directions mentioned above – gaming, infrastructure, and intellectual property.

Each of them is evaluated differently. For Anime Metaverse, the decision criteria came down to the team and their access to existing anime IP.

In addition, Anime Metaverse is relatively new but made several million US dollars in revenue. They had to build a team fast, and LiquidX could fill that gap instantly, making this transaction a simple decision.

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

What milestones have you made so far in solving this challenge?

Our treasury team already manages over US$50 million in funds across different yield platforms, currencies, and cryptocurrencies. Currently, LiquidX handles five fiat pools (EUR, USD, SGD, MYR, NZD) and three different crypto pools (USDC, Bitcoin, Ethereum).

Anime Metaverse and LiquidX are in the process of closing a joint transaction in the anime intellectual property industry to grow the brand further.

What is your big plan this year?

Anime Metaverse marks LiquidX’s first large acquisition, and we are processing a second within the coming weeks. In parallel, we are discussing acquiring an additional two or three seed-stage investments by the end of the year.

Despite the overall economic outlook, LiquidX will continue to invest and acquire in this space, particularly high-potential projects that will enable us to grow a portfolio across our focal pillars in the industry – Infrastructure, IP, and GameFi.

Beyond that, LiquidX is constantly looking to bring our exceptional capabilities to our acquisitions, accelerating their roadmaps with quality and speed to demonstrate our value proposition to more founders in the space.

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The startup scene in Singapore is booming, so much so that it recently secured its spot as the highest-ranked Asian country for startups. With the government’s continued investment in this growing ecosystem, Singapore has become a natural magnet for entrepreneurship.

However, startups in the little red dot now face strong headwinds. Hiring is becoming more challenging due to the ongoing global tech talent shortage, meaning startups face an uphill battle when competing with larger companies to attract and retain top talent.

Singapore’s startups require more than just tenacity to navigate these challenges. With limited resources, they need to be agile, flexible, and creative to deliver competitive and innovative products in an increasingly crowded environment. 

While every successful business needs a clear vision, a killer product and a willing audience, open source software represents a golden opportunity to help significantly lower the barriers to entrepreneurship. That’s because it accelerates growth and innovation in almost every way, boosts collaboration, enhances security, optimises software reliability, and inevitably, improves the quality of services.

Open source has built the modern world, and much of that software lives on GitHub. Central to this is the incredible community of open-source developers.

In fact, GitHub is now home to over 83 million developers and growing. Entrepreneurs looking to go from idea to IPO can build their startup on GitHub and gain access to the world’s largest open source registry. In short, open source democratises technology and offers access to a global pool of developer talent.

If you’re not already convinced, here’s why Singapore’s startups should embrace open source as a route to innovation and a surefire way to develop extraordinary software and services.

Accelerate innovation

Open source gives startups access to technology at their fingertips, empowering companies to stand on the shoulders of giants and compete with established players in the market.

With open source, entrepreneurs could have an app created hours after imagining an idea. That’s because open source is rooted in the principle that software should be available for anyone to download and modify.

Also Read: SMEs and startups must make open source security a collective responsibility

Instead of creating products from scratch, development teams can leverage tried and tested code and build on existing ideas to ship quality software that enables companies to provide better services and products that meet the needs of their customers.

Scale securely

There’s another critical reason why startups should embrace an open source strategy, and that’s its ability to bolster software security. Red Hat’s 2022 State of Enterprise Open Source report revealed that 89 per cent of IT leaders see enterprise open source as more secure or as secure as proprietary software.

The collaborative way open source software is created means that security is a community responsibility. With more eyes inspecting code, vulnerabilities are discovered and fixed continuously throughout the entire development process. 

While open source offers major security advantages, startups can take an even more progressive approach to integrate security into open source development and increase their speed of innovation in the process.

Implementing a “DevSecOps” strategy for software development bakes security into every process, essentially shifting security testing and reviews left by making all parties involved in the application lifecycle responsible for security.

The easiest place to start in your DevSecOps journey is choosing partners that offer advanced tools that your development and security teams actually trust. The knock-on impact is more reliable software that’s shipped more quickly.

Help startups access the talent they need

Unlike multinational companies with an established presence worldwide, hiring global talent can be a stumbling block for startups due to the complexity and need for additional investment.

Also Read: How open source fostered the community spirit in the tech world

Implementing an open source strategy helps level the playing field by giving startups access to developer talent from every corner of the globe. That’s because open-source developers can contribute from anywhere and everywhere, meaning restrictive boundaries are removed.

But the benefits on offer are so much more than simply geographic. Open source puts the developer experience front and centre and constantly evolves to help developers increase speed and productivity.

This means developers at the top of their game want to work with open source and will seek out roles that enable them to do so. In fact, Singapore’s Government Technology Agency (GovTech) recommends organisations adopt open source to make hiring easier.

Critically, developer experience is about much more than speed and productivity. It relies on collaboration and culture. The successful adoption of open source in an organisation indicates its progressive nature and willingness to support and inspire developers, which is what top developers will be looking for during their job search.

At the end of the day, an organisation that embraces open development is where open source thrives, and that progressive culture inspires and motivates developers to do their best work. Startups have a ripe opportunity to embed this culture into the fabric of their organisation from the onset. Doing so will attract up-and-coming developers who want to be part of a wider open source community focused on delivering technological change.

As any startup CEO will tell you, access to tech and the speed with which you can harness it to secure your competitive advantage is often the difference between success and failure. This could not be more true for Singapore’s startups that are trying to thrive against a backdrop of increasing competition and a tech talent shortage that shows no sign of abating.

Luckily, open source represents a golden opportunity, one that offers the ability to supercharge growth and innovation, allowing these companies to compete with even the most established players in the market.

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Despite being a country with abundant agricultural resources, Indonesia is facing a threat to its food security.

The archipelago loses up to 48 million metric tonnes of food annually primarily due to inefficient processing, storage, transportation, and selling of food crops. It also faces a very high risk of soil erosion. The lack of organic content in the soil harms yields and leads to malnutrition.

Growing food loss, contamination, and undernourishment due to complex supply chains, climate change, and deteriorating lands — all pose a massive threat to the country’s food security.

Geraldi Tjoa and Erwin Gunawan, two entrepreneurs at heart, wanted to do something about this.

So, in 2019, they set up GREENS with a mission to eliminate unnecessary food loss and nourish people.

GREENS is a hyperlocal meta-farming company (meta farming is a way to farm virtually from anywhere, including metaverse, and consume and monetise their harvests in the real world).

“Our vision is to build hyperlocal gastronomy in every neighbourhood,” says Tjoa.

Also Read: East Ventures backs GREENS, which builds hyperlocal food ecosystem using AI, Web3

GREENS is led by CEO Andi Sie and Co-Founders Tjoa (CPO) and Erwin Gunawan (CBO).

Sie and Gunawan hold Bachelor’s degrees in Science from The Ohio State University. While Sie has over 15 years of building tech startups in the US and Indonesia with multiple exits, Gunawan has equal years of experience in the supply chain, F&B, and distribution and is also blockchain certified.

Tjoa, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Pelita Harapan University, has expertise in food production and automation with a robotics background.

Building a hyperlocal food ecosystem

In a nutshell, GREENS aims to build a hyperlocal food ecosystem in Indonesia, leveraging AI and Web3 technologies.

The Jakarta-headquartered company has created a fully integrated seed-to-meal dine-in platform (GREENS station), indoor growing chambers (GREENS pods), and farming as a service so that anyone can eat well and participate in growing food in their community.

GREENS stations will be distributed in every community to help decentralise food sources and increase access to food equity for all people. Each GREENS station is powered by one or more GREENS pods. GREENS pods automatically use AI to cultivate every crop with minimal human-to-plant interactions. It uses IoT to fulfil the growing needs (like water, temperatures, and others) of different crop varieties.

“Hyperlocal food ecosystem is where food is grown, processed, and harvested in the same location. We build this ecosystem using our proprietary indoor cultivation system with a controlled environment called GREENS pod. Each GREENS pod is integrated into our dine-in facilities called GREENS stations. We grow high-nutrient food sources like microGREENS using up to 90 per cent less water and 70 per cent less land inside every GREENS pod and serve the harvests as delicious meals in a GREENS station where the GREENS pod is located,” shares Tjoa.

“Blockchain in GREENS provides traceability and transparency of every crop we harvest. Blockchain also enables us to enter the Web3 ecosystem toward the decentralisation of food production. Our objective is to provide a way for ordinary people to participate in better food production by enabling them to grow food together with us,” explains Sie.

With GREENS’s farming as a service technology and service offerings, people with zero experience in agriculture could virtually farm in metaverse from anywhere and consume and monetise their harvests in the real world.

Also Read: Kra-Verse Food Hall where cloud kitchen meets metaverse

According to CBO Gunawan, the startup aims to empower 240 million non-farmers in the archipelago. Currently, Indonesia, with a population of over 270 million, has an estimated 33 million farmers. These farmers want to participate in growing a variety of high nutrients foods like microGREENS that are hard to grow traditionally. “We plan to bring GREENS stations to as many communities as possible across Indonesia and beyond.”

The startup recently secured an undisclosed amount of pre-seed funding led by East Ventures, with participation from other unnamed investors.

GREENS now has plans to raise seed funding for metaverse integrations and to deploy GREENS stations in a minimum of 100 communities within the next three years.

But the market and investor awareness and education remain a great challenge in its path to achieving this mission.

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Image Credit: GREENS

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Superkul, an Indonesian startup providing cold chain and chiller-based last-mile delivery services, has closed an undisclosed seed funding round led by East Ventures.

The startup stated that it would use the capital to scale the operation by adding operation fleets, hiring people, and enhancing its digital platforms. It will also develop the cold chain mid-mile business.

“With the big potential of the cold chain logistics industry in Indonesia, which was also accelerated by the shifting behavior of the market due to the pandemic, we are confident to seize the ongoing needs and momentum to bring more empowerment to the overall growth of the society,” said Co-Founder and CEO Cathrine Susilowati Prajitno.

Superkul was launched in 2020 by Prajitno and Felix Sutanto (CFO), Chris Wiranata (CTO), and Eunike Yvonne Hanata (Marketing Manager).

The startup offers a fleet of motorcycles equipped with refrigerated boxes, called Superkul boxes, that can carry -22॰C to 10॰C. These containers provide constant delivery temperature with a same-day delivery method to ensure the quality of prime goods and improve food safety and hygiene.

Also Read: Ex-Tokopedia AVP’s Astro attracts US$4.5M to expand ’15-min e-commerce delivery’ service in Jakarta

The firm also eliminates the need for extra packaging and single-use thermafreeze for delivery. This helps business owners and customers save money and avoid the expensive delivery cost.

Currently, Superkul operates mainly in Jakarta and Bandung and claims to have served more than 231 clients.

It aims to operate 100 fleets in H1 2023 and will open its operations in other major cities in the archipelago, providing last-mile delivery, middle-mile aggregator, and cross docks services.

“Cold-chain logistics is a huge industry in Indonesia, and we believe the right integration of digital solutions provided by Superkul will help millions of Indonesians to scale their businesses. We are glad to welcome Superkul into the East Ventures family, and excited to experience more growth and impacts brought by Superkul to the logistics industry in Indonesia,” said Devina Halim, Principal of East Ventures.

According to the statement, Indonesia’s cold chain logistics market is worth US$4.97 billion in 2021. With a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2 per cent, it is expected to reach US$12.59 billion in the next decade.

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Too many companies fail to see the impact that quality customer support can have on the bottom line, and that mistake can often be very costly. That especially comes to light when a dramatic event threatens the company’s fortunes.

Every company claims to care about its customers, yet sometimes there is a breakdown of trust. It happens even to big brands. Volkswagen lost a gigantic amount of money after reports surfaced that the company systematically cheated on diesel emission tests.

The automaker was fined a whopping US$18 million while also losing more than 20 per cent of its stock market valuation. Another car company saw its shares drop by nearly 30 per cent in 2019 when Tesla Motors (owned by Elon Musk) faced problems with batteries in its Model S car that resulted in a few vehicles catching fire.

Failures of this kind are not limited to the auto industry or multinational brands and can be found in practically every line of business. The real question is how to avoid them.

Let’s step back and consider what constitutes a customer relations crisis and how a company can respond to it. In today’s world, people have high expectations from their favourite brands, and the competition is relentless.

Also Read: How Shopee uses AI, data to build a marketing strategy that suits changes in user behaviour

Not only that, customers expect to receive information directly from the source through various interactive channels, particularly when something important happens. Whenever the company receives some bad press from an external source, customers (and investors) will look for reassurance to remain loyal. How a company responds in the immediate aftermath of a crisis can largely determine whether any damage sustained in the process will remain permanently.

Fortunately, there are some very good strategies that can be used to this end. The first step is to acknowledge the issue and reach out to customers, trying to own up to the (possible) mistake and outline the steps forward. Repairing the actual damage is very important.

Volkswagen ended up committing another €6.5 billion towards service costs for any customers who were affected by the scandal, but Tesla Motors’ example demonstrates that repairing public trust is just as important.

The message of responsibility needs to be broadcasted very clearly through multiple platforms and backed up with a firm recovery plan. Timing is essential since it doesn’t take long for the ominous rumours to spread across the globe and inflict serious damage on company valuation and long-term revenues.

As 9listed.com told, social networks offer a lot of tools that can help to extinguish, or even better, prevent any negative publicity. Some of the measures that can help in this sense include investing in a good customer support solution and building a strong online profile before any crises.

When you are keeping the communication channels open, you are much better prepared to react if something unforeseen comes up. You need to pay good attention to customer feedback and try to build your strategy based on key points found through research. 

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Just a decade back, enterprise flexibility was deemed as a bonus feature for most businesses. While the flexibility element gave enterprises a competitive edge over their competitors, it was not a priority for survival. However, fast forward to 2022, and this status quo has most certainly changed. Flexibility today is not a mere bonus but an imperative for survival.

A distributed workforce is a permanent fixture for enterprises today, and flexibility is a core ingredient in making this a reality. But what is the implication of this evolution?

Today’s increasingly remote and hybrid workforces have created new, novel issues for IT teams, who are already under immense pressure to ensure that enterprise networks remain reliable, secure, scalable, and compliant. The importance of a resilient network has never been more paramount.

In fact, according to Deloitte, these new networking demands are one of the key factors driving the need for more flexible consumption models from IT services providers. Their findings conclude that the pandemic has accelerated a shift towards as-a-service offerings. Three out of four of the IT leaders surveyed shared that they were running half of their enterprise IT-as-a-service.

Aruba’s recent research findings further validate this surge toward new service models. The report featuring insights from 580 IT leaders across South East Asia, Taiwan and Hong Kong (SEATH) shows how enterprises are adjusting to increased flexibility needs and why Network-as-a-Service (NaaS) may well become the consumption model of choice.

What are the trends in the adoption of Network-as-a-Service?

As we dive head-first into the post-pandemic era, IT leaders driving digital transformation within their enterprises are leaning towards more agile and adaptable network models.

Our research found that when it comes to network management goals, businesses are prioritising the need to scale up quickly, as well as the desire to align network and business needs better. Additionally, 73 per cent of respondents in the SEATH region indicated access to new technology as one of the top four drivers for network investment.

Also Read: How can lean startups build a resilient cybersecurity posture

However, this desire to adopt new technologies and better flex and align the network comes at a certain price. It will require both IT talents that have the capabilities to lead these changes, as well as a network that can support this. The solution to this is NaaS.

Our research revealed that 100 per cent of the respondents are not only familiar with NaaS as a term, but 92 per cent of this group are also discussing implementation in some capacity within their enterprise. Unsurprising, given the benefits NaaS can bring to their operations.

It all comes back to flexibility

As companies continue to transition in and out of lockdowns, one of the main factors driving the spike in conversations around NaaS is having the flexibility to scale the network based on business needs, with 83 per cent of companies stating this has triggered their interest in the model.

The appetite for NaaS adoption is also underpinned by the expectation that NaaS can free up IT team time for innovation and strategic initiatives, as well as reduce operational costs.

Indeed, NaaS enables companies to own, operate, and manage a network and its associated services without actually buying the infrastructure. For companies struggling to keep up with the associated costs around ever-changing technologies, choosing NaaS could be an effective and viable solution.

The ability for enterprises to approach infrastructure as an operational expense provides certain balance sheet advantages as well. With budgets most likely strained after two years of unprecedented turbulence, the outright purchase of networking technology might not be an option.

NaaS is delivered, via subscription, through a cloud model to offer a high level of choice in terms of the services offered, pricing, availability, and features, among other benefits. When companies experience a surge in user base or services, they can easily scale up their network resources to meet these demands. Essentially, the NaaS paradigm addresses the need to pivot quickly, a concrete requirement of the next decade.

You’re only as strong as your weakest link

Our research suggests that security has also been driving the increased appetite for NaaS, with 64 per cent of IT leaders surveyed believing it will help them enhance their abilities in this area. Indeed, NaaS is a good way to guarantee tighter integrations between networking resources and network security.

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

The outsourcing aspect of the NaaS model allows companies to offload their security responsibilities for more secure NaaS services. NaaS adoption will also mean that IT teams no longer have to use network management tools and outdated hardware, instead challenging their provider to ensure they have the most up-to-date solutions serving their business.

What’s more, NaaS makes it possible for a single provider to offer both networking services and security services like firewalls. For businesses failing to keep pace with ever-evolving cyber threats, switching to NaaS can ensure their threat defence is in safe hands.

Despite the clear benefits, our research also showed that barriers to implementation still remain. While there is widespread recognition of NaaS as a concept, only two out of three technology leaders said that they truly understand it. It is unsurprising then that only 36 per cent of leaders see it as an established and viable option for businesses today.

But NaaS can provide lower entry costs and greater flexibility and offer easier customisation to one’s needs. It can also deliver improved IT staff resilience, agility, line of business support, faster access to the latest technologies and better quality of service.

However, we need to bridge the gap between awareness and knowledge, unlocking the true potential of NaaS. Closing this gap would be an essential step that enterprises need to take in their journey towards network resiliency.

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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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The Web3 gaming industry is at an inflexion point.

The transformative Web3 technology is coming soon and could open the doors for more business use cases in 2023. There is a constant flux of innovation due to the COVID-19 pandemic that led to blockchain businesses developing better-personalised user experiences faster in the past two years.

“We will see these innovative Web3 technologies come to light in 2023 as decentralised alternatives become more desirable and Web3 services become ready for market launch,” says Douglas Gan, Co-Founder of Froyo Games. “One of the immediate ready markets would be in the usage of gaming.”

Gan, a serial entrepreneur and founder of  OhGenki, PureHosting.net and Global Wiz Internet Solutions, launched Froyo Games to provide quality digital asset games with intrinsic value and utility.

In this interview, Gan shares his thoughts on the Web3 gaming landscape.

Excerpts:

The past year has witnessed a spurt in Web3 gaming in Southeast Asia and globally. However, the likes of Axie Infinity have seen a downward trend of late. What does this trend indicate?

The declining trend may indicate negative attitudes and perceptions towards NFT games with token and NFT values that have crashed. This could be due to myriad factors, from games becoming stale due to repetitive gameplay to development teams lacking long-term vision.

However, we need to understand that many Web3 games were built haphazardly within the last two to three years to cash in on the blockchain gaming hype quickly. This trend could change as the quality of games improve across the industry.

I believe AAA games will make a huge difference in reversing this trend. Games like Grand Theft Auto, Diablo, Warcraft and Final Fantasy as examples.

Are Web3 games popular only because of the NFT aspect? Will a possible regulation of NFTs impact the future of Web3 gaming? Do you think NFTs need to be regulated like cryptocurrency?

Web3 games were popular due to the association with play-to-earn (P2E), where people were motivated to earn and profit from trading and selling a valuable game NFT or converting in-game earnings into other cryptocurrencies or cash.

However, there has been a paradigm shift towards P2E, with the “play” aspect emphasising gameplay that engages and entertains.

So while NFTs are here to stay in Web3 games, games should aim to have sustainable tokenomics and ecosystems, where token value is maintained with healthy trading volumes. Most importantly, the longer-term game plays with sustainable user economics, as seen in AAA game franchises.

Also Read: UST, Luna crashes: Can regulation alone restore investors’ confidence in cryptocurrencies?

Regulation would undoubtedly pose challenges to the future of Web3 gaming. A good case study would be the banning of StepN in China when the Web3 game couldn’t comply with the new IP and GPS regulations in June of this year.

Aside from games, NFTs have also been used as a disguise for real estate tokenisation and other real-world assets, which means “securities” in traditional terms.

NFT regulation could help with adoption as digital assets are deemed safer to own due to regulatory oversight requirements.

There has been a massive infusion of funds into Web3 gaming in the past few months at unreasonable valuations. Is this another bubble in the making? Do you foresee a course correction in the recent future?

The COVID-19-led crypto bull run in the past two years contributes to today’s sky-high valuations.

I believe many Web3 projects will cease to exist without a long-term strategy and prudent financial management. The few that do will emerge better than ever and become pillars of the Web3 space in the coming decade.

How have the UST and Luna crashes and plummeting popular cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin affected the overall Web3 sentiment? How is it playing out?

I have personally lost millions directly related to the UST and Luna crashes. Its widespread impact on Web3 projects like Three Arrows Capital, Hodlnaut, Celcius, etc. has created a partial bear market accelerated by the US Fed policies.

Also Read: What the fall of Terra Luna and the Asian financial crisis have in common

Web3 projects have many applications outside the finance industry that make them more resilient in a bear market. Web3 has exciting possibilities for social, authentication and other real-world solutions, with gaming taking the quick lead in bringing NFTs and blockchain games into a cohesive environment primed for innovation and growth.

Regarding crypto regulations, do you think the vague legislation introduced by several countries is enough to curb possible misuse and scams? What is an ideal way of regulating cryptos?

Innovation almost always happens because of regulations. I believe the approach would be to educate and address the market on identifying misuse and scams versus emphasising regulatory authorities implementing time-to-market regulations.

Investment DAOs are gaining momentum. How will this affect the overall Web3 gaming investment landscape?

Investment DAOs are all about inclusivity as opposed to traditional VCs. You and I can both invest in an investment DAO and help push for such projects.

This will significantly impact how investments will be made in the future and how an average consumer can now appreciate double-digit returns compared to handing that mandate to a VC and having multiple parties share those returns.

Can you talk about Froyo Games? How is it different from other web3 games?

We play an active role in developing and curating Web3 gaming content and explore new exciting ways to implement gamified finance (GameFi) into existing and new games via a mixture of in-house development or co-development with partners from established games development studios.

Also Read: The 27 Web3 startups in Singapore that show crypto is more than Terra Luna and stablecoins

As a Web3 games publisher, we have a strategic partnership with the Australia-listed firm iCandy Interactive, which lends access to a consortium of award-winning game studios (and Web 3 game development capabilities) across Europe, Australia and Southeast Asia.

Two of our studio partners are:

Lemon Sky Studios: It has provided game art and animation solutions for a long list of AAA game titles, including Call of Duty, Final Fantasy, Diablo II, The Last of Us II, Marvel’s Spiderman, and Mortal Kombat.

Flying Sheep Studios: It has in-house HTML5 developer capabilities for cross-platform and accessible video games. It has since successfully delivered over 200 cross-platform games to world-renowned clients, including DreamWorks Animation and Lego Group.

What is the future of web3 gaming? Where do you see this space five years down the line?

We have only scratched the surface of the fantastic potential Web3 gaming can bring. Post Grand Theft Auto’s announcement on its new game foray into Web3, I foresee other major studios, including the recent Blizzard-Microsoft acquisition, to bear fruit to a significant rise in Web3 games.

This is a similar inflexion point like the gaming console to PC and PC to mobile gaming.

Here we will see Web3 games materialising in the next five years, infused with finance like an injection needle, boosting the entire gaming ecosystem.

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Globally, startups, particularly late-stage ones, are facing many challenges. Growth has been disrupted (owing to various macro-economic factors, including the Russia-Ukrain war and inflation), and VC investments have depleted, forcing companies to cut costs by firing employees and scaling back operations.

As the crisis unfolds, survival has become a top priority for startups, but how to navigate the rough sea and salvage the business is the question lingering in their mind. They struggle to find and connect with the right people and get the right advice on survival strategies.

Late-stage startups may have enough ammunition and experience to tide over the crisis, but early-stage startups, particularly those with limited resources, may not have such a luxury.

This is where startup events like Echelon become crucial.

Echelon, e27‘s flagship event, is staging a comeback after a three-year hiatus –the last event was held in 2019, just months before the pandemic hit. With over a decade of experience organising one of Southeast Asia’s most prominent tech events, Echelon is back in a new avatar to serve startups in the region and help them navigate the rough sea. The two-day event will be held at Resorts World Sentosa from October 27-28.

The attendees get countless opportunities to meet and connect with investors, corporates, governments, and entrepreneurs. They can seek partners to collaborate and build productive relationships with 500 of the most influential decision-makers and industry leaders from the Southeast Asia tech and startup ecosystem.

Besides, they can gain insights through discussion sessions featuring veteran and upcoming entrepreneurs and ecosystem enablers to shed light on today’s tech landscape and the future of startups in the region.

What to expect on Day 1

The Echelon agenda is being designed to suit the journey that a company may have to go through to grow.

We begin the first day of Echelon by exploring the state of the Southeast Asian tech startup ecosystem today. Through a panel discussion, we will look at fundraising trends and changes in customer behaviour that may affect how companies should approach their growth strategies. This panel aims to answer the big questions: What kind of opportunities are available in the market? What are the possible hurdles?

After that, we will go deeper into the different aspects of fundraising. We will learn from notable founders about their fundraising experience, especially during tough times like a pandemic or recession. We will also learn more about maintaining investor relations and how the pandemic has changed; this will include information on the platform that we can use to supercharge this process. And lastly, we will also look at the alternatives to VC funding available in the market.

Now, what happens after a company has successfully secured a funding round? That is when companies are executing their plans to grow.

This is why the next sessions will focus on Market Access. Here, we will learn the difference between Grab and Gojek’s models of scaling and growth. Should you look for regional Tier 1 city expansion or go deep into one market?

You will also learn about breaking away from the cash-burning model and setting up a presence in a foreign market –one of the most popular ways to grow in the region.

On Day 1, we will also hear from our sponsors about the role of payment services and finance in helping companies expand regionally.

At the end of Day 1, hopefully, you will be more equipped to get on the next part of your entrepreneurship journey. We are very excited to welcome you back to Echelon 2022.

Stay tuned!

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Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focussed discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon.

The 2022 Echelon edition will be colocated with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa on 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here 

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Indian edutech company BrightCHAMPS has acquired Schola, a live-learning platform for kids to master communication and English skills focused on the Southeast Asian market, in a US$15-million cash and stock deal.

The deal comes on BrightCHAMP’s June US$100 million investment war-chest announcement.

Ravi Bhushan, Founder and CEO of BrightCHAMPS, said: “The ability to communicate confidently, coherently, and creatively is a crucial life skill for kids and a prerequisite for success as an adult. Given Schola’s profitability and sustainable growth approach with low cash burn, we already know great synergy exists between the two companies’ operating models. The Schola acquisition will help us deepen our presence in the 30+ countries we’re already operational in and introduce us to many other parts of the world.”

Also Read: In this age of digitalisation, is edutech a bane or boon for educators?

Schola was founded in 2019 by former senior Facebook executives Aditya Gupta and Nhu Tran Le Thanh. The company offers a variety of courses in a live, 1-on-1 class model for kids from four to 15 years of age to build important capabilities for successful global careers tomorrow. These skills include communications, public speaking, leadership presentation, confidence-building, and several others.

Additionally, Schola courses have been designed keeping in mind the particular needs of kids who are first-generation English speakers, with an emphasis on learning through the real-life practice of spoken English.

Schola’s interactive and immersive curriculum is delivered by teachers with TEFL or TESOL teaching certificates with native-level or equivalent English proficiency. The company currently offers classes to students from 12 countries, including Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, Japan, Malaysia, and others.

Aditya Gupta, Co-Founder and CEO of Schola, said, “Far too many kids from countries and families that don’t speak English as their first language end up getting overlooked for higher education or career opportunities despite being perfectly qualified in every other way. Our goal is that lack of English proficiency should never again come in the way of a child’s dreams once Schola touches them.

“We hope that the combination of BrightCHAMPS’ brand equity and our subject-matter expertise will help Schola lead the world in the communications live-learning space. We look forward to expanding our presence beyond the 12 countries we are currently operational in the coming months,” Gupta added.

Also Read: Edutech in a post-pandemic world: Where do we go from here?

Launched in 2020, BrightCHAMPS delivers students worldwide access to real learning skills. The company aims to bridge the gap between school education and children’s real learning needs. It aims to empower students to be technologically, financially, and socially smart by leveraging Invisible Learning to nurture the inner potential of every child. Its methodology relies on play-based learning and includes features like customised learning journeys, quizzing and parental dashboards.

It employs thousands of educators delivering 300,000 classes monthly across its coding, financial literacy, and robotics verticals for kids between six to 16 years of age to help them become future-ready and thrive in a modern world.

BrightCHAMPS is currently operational in 30+ countries, including the US, Canada, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Nigeria, and many others.

BrightCHAMPS is valued at US$650 million after raising US$63 million from marquee names across geographies, such as GSV Ventures, BEENEXT, and Premji Invest, besides Flipkart Co-Founder Binny Bansal-backed 021 Capital.

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MetaverseGo, a Web3 mobile gaming platform that onboards new players via a mobile phone login, has raised US$4.2 million in seed capital led by New York-based VC fund Galaxy Interactive.

The round has also been joined by Delphi Digital, Dragonfly Capital, Mechanism Capital, Infinity Ventures Crypto (IVC), Shima Capital, Com2uS, Akatsuki, Ascensive Assets, BitScale Capital, Yield Guild Games (YGG), BreederDAO, Mentha Partners and Emfarsis.

MetaverseGo will use the money for ​​software development, partnerships with telecommunication providers, and strategic hires.

Over the past year, Web3 gaming has seen remarkable adoption, with gaming DApps now driving 52 per cent of all blockchain activity. However, the long, complex, and risk-laden processes of onboarding new users to blockchain-based platforms remains a barrier for would-be players.

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

To accelerate adoption with mainstream markets and non-crypto natives, MetaverseGo provides access to Web3 games without the usual prerequisite of understanding how to use cryptocurrencies.

Established by Ash Mandhyan, Jake San Diego and JC Velasquez, MetaverseGo is a network and discovery platform for play-and-earn games and game assets.

Mandhyan (CEO) has more than 15 years of digital retail experience, having held leadership positions at Lazada Philippines (VP), Facebook and Bytedance. San Diego (CBO) has previously built The founder of Artphorce, a creative freelancing marketplace, and he also has more than 15 years of experience in the gaming industry, including roles at Level Up! and PlayPark Games, and most recently at Globe, the Philippines’ leading telecommunications company.

Velasquez (CTO) has 20 years of experience building software and 12 years building technology teams for high-growth startups. He is also the founder of Smartwave Studios, a Philippines-based mobile software consulting and engineering firm, and co-founder of Partyphile, a nightlife app in Asia, and Chatbot PH, a chatbot developer.

MetaverseGo enables users to discover and play a range of NFT games while earning MetaverseGo credits using only their mobile phone number and upon validation by a verification code. They can use these credits on mobile data, utility bills, and shopping vouchers.

Also Read: How the multi-metaverse can flourish by eradicating virtual boundaries

“Crypto has always been hard, and blockchain games are even harder since there are significant upfront costs to buy the NFTs needed to play. Play-to-earn only took off in 2021 after scholarships popularised the idea of renting those NFTs so that NFT ownership wasn’t a requirement to get started. Since then, we’ve seen rapid adoption worldwide, but as long as crypto onboarding is as arduous as it is today, that growth can only go so far. MetaverseGo is solving this by making Web3 games accessible via a technology everyone knows how to use — a mobile phone number,” said Mandhyan.

“Digital ownership not only deployed blockchain technology at scale, but it also unlocked new gaming audiences. However, significant friction exists at the initial stages of the user experience to tap into this growth in the interactive sector. MetaverseGo helps to democratise blockchain gaming with an accessible Web3 platform that simplifies the onboarding, discovery, learning, and payout processes needed to foster meaningful connections and realise commerce gains around quality content,” said Richard Kim, General Partner at Galaxy Interactive.

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