Developing economies need one resource above all else: electricity. Over recent decades the expansion and development of electrical infrastructure i.e., power grids, has resulted in the increased use and emissions of Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6), the world’s strongest greenhouse gas.

This is because of SF6’s common use in switchgear, grid-scale switches that are key hardware components found throughout the electrical infrastructure. However, soon this could be a thing of the past.

Electricity plays a vital role in both developing economies and improving living standards. We have seen this to a great extent in China and India, particularly in recent years.

Right now, more than half of global energy consumption takes place in the Asia-Pacific region, where around 85 per cent comes from fossil fuels. However, 10 per cent of the population across the region still lacks access to electricity, and many more rely on traditional biomass methods, such as wood combustion, for heating and cooking.

To address these problems, as well as those posed by rapid urbanisation and industrialisation, energy demand is rising. Because of this, I believe considerable opportunities exist to avoid the long-term lock-in of energy technologies and infrastructure which exacerbate the problem of climate change.

It is vitally important that rising electricity demand is met by renewable and low-emission energy sources. However, we should not overlook other factors such as the infrastructure used to transport that energy: transmission and distribution grids are two examples.

For energy transition to be truly successful, we need to ensure that the whole energy system is ‘green’ and not solely focus on energy generation itself.

Business not as usual

Young climate technology companies have a vital role to play as it is increasingly clear from a climate perspective that the ‘business as usual’ model is no longer viable. We need fresh thinking to develop innovative technologies that will help us reach an energy system free of harmful greenhouse gases.

Also Read: How carbon in the metaverse can help solve the real-world climate crisis

The energy sector is notoriously conservative. From my experience, established players tend to be sceptical of new ideas and technologies. This is where climate tech companies can demonstrate that sustainable innovation is not only important from a sustainability perspective but can also have a positive effect on a company’s bottom line.

When my daughter Matilda was born in 2015, I developed a much clearer life perspective. I wanted to see a future for her where the energy we use every day does not destroy our planet. This played an important role when I decided to join my Co-Founders in starting Nuventura five years ago.

My first in-depth encounter with sustainable energy generation was when I studied nuclear engineering at the technical universities in Aachen, Germany, and Gothenburg, Sweden. Surprisingly, fission, fusion and renewable energies were all bundled under ’alternative’ energy generation, even as recently as the early 2000s!

I realised that I did not believe fission to be a viable ‘bridging technology’ for the energy transition; renewable energies could be the only solution. I spent the next five years as a consultant, advising companies about capital efficiency in the renewable energy sector. I also consulted on energy efficiency optimisation in the heavy industries sector.

In 2014, I started my first company. It was not energy-related, but it wasn’t long before I missed working in that space. In 2017, I decided to hand over operations to a new management team, and joined my Co-Founders Manjunath Ramesh and Nikolaus Thomale, after they showed me how much impact we could have, particularly in helping to reduce the energy sector’s use of SF6 by developing switchgear technologies which replace the extremely potent greenhouse gas with dry air, essentially normal breathable air, without any moisture.

What is SF6?

Greenhouse gases are synonymous with any conversation surrounding the energy sector and climate change. Despite it not being very well known, Sulphur Hexafluoride (SF6) is the world’s strongest, with a global warming potential (GWP) of 25,200.

This means that one kg of SF6 is equivalent to 25,200 kg of CO2. The European Union banned SF6 for most applications in 2014, but this did not extend to the energy sector due to a lack of alternative options at the time.

More than 80 per cent of all SF6 produced is used in the energy industry as an insulating medium for gas-insulated switchgear (GIS). Switchgear is a key component found within all electrical infrastructure. They function like a grid-scale light switch – they turn different sections of the grid off and on.

SF6’s emissions are currently at an all-time high, with global annual emissions (close to 8,000 tons) equating to the yearly CO2 emissions produced by around 100 million cars. To make matters worse, in a business-as-usual scenario, the use of SF6 is expected to grow by more than 75 per cent by 2030.

Furthermore, though recycling of used SF6 is common, it is normally not destroyed because of the difficulty and cost associated with this destruction. Therefore, it can reasonably be expected that all SF6 that currently exist and that will be produced in the future will persist for thousands of years, whether in gas-insulated switchgear equipment or, ultimately, in our atmosphere.

Due to SF6’s environmental impact, regulators such as the European Commission and California Air Resource Board (CARB) are expected to phase out its use in the energy sector by 2031. The Chinese government has also begun an evaluation of SF6’s role in the energy sector. It’s for these reasons that sustainable alternatives are urgently needed.

Also Read: Climate tech is in a chicken-and-egg situation in Southeast Asia

Nuventura offers such an alternative. We have developed the world’s first medium voltage (up to 36 kV) GIS which replaces SF6 with dry air. We’ve done this while maintaining the qualities which make SF6-GIS attractive around the world, compact physical dimensions, high reliability, and low maintenance requirements.

Innovation challenge

Climate change is arguably the biggest innovation challenge humanity has faced. We have limited time to greatly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach net zero by 2050. ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) industries and climate tech will be vital in the development of current and future technologies to make this transformation possible.

For example, Indonesia plans to manufacture 600,000 electric vehicles and 2.45 million electric motorcycles by the year 2030, according to the ASEAN energy outlook for 2022. According to the same report, Southeast Asia’s energy requirements are expected to rise by 60 per cent by the year 2040. So, it is no surprise that companies in this space are attracting growing interest from investors.

As countries around the world continue to experience the negative effects of climate change, this is only likely to accelerate. The most recent Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report published earlier this year, repeated calls for drastic action. This was echoed in Glasgow’s COP26.

It cites a plan for countries and businesses to work closely together to accelerate the adoption of affordable climate technology around the world.

This increased focus on ESG in private markets is leading companies and investors to adapt their strategies, along with emerging regulations such as the European Union’s ‘Fit for 55’ plan, which targets reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 55 per cent by 2030.

Many companies have also made public commitments to net-zero and have set science-based targets. Moreover, multibillion-dollar mega-funds are increasingly being channelled into climate tech.

However, one alarming aspect we’ve experienced within the venture capital space, that should be highlighted, is that VCs remain trapped in fund structures and life cycles associated with Tech (Software) companies.

Climate and deep tech, especially hardware, can’t be assessed by the same KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) as software companies and consumer-oriented companies such as e-commerce.

VCs must be able to invest taking into account longer-term horizons. They should not demonise CAPEX (Capital Expenditure) as they do today and must accept that software alone will not save our planet. Many VCs are very vocal about this and repeatedly highlight it, but only a fraction of them act accordingly.

I plan to devote the rest of my professional life to fighting climate change. Part of my motivation is that I just love engineering! Being able to invent new technologies that solve real physical problems is a genuine privilege.

I also see climate change as the single biggest problem for most species (humans included) on our planet. So, if what I love to do can help to solve the many challenges posed by climate change, why not do it?

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Flash Coffee has recently closed another funding in the Series B1 round. A company representative confirmed this information when contacted by DailySocial; however, the company declined to mention further details. It is said that the closing of the B2 round will soon follow, potentially turning the coffee chain startup into a unicorn.

From the data that has been submitted to the regulator, a number of investors were involved in the B1 Flash Coffee round. The funds raised amounted to more than US$30 million, catapulting the company’s valuation to US$175 million and cementing them in the centaur ranks.

Previously, Flash Coffee secured a US$15 million Series A funding in 2021. White Star Capital led this funding, followed by a number of other investors, including DX Venture, Global Founders Capital, and Conny & Co.

Flash Coffee’s Founder & CEO David Brunier revealed back then that the company intended to expand to 10 countries in the Asia Pacific by targeting 300 new outlets or three new outlets every week.

Brunier considered the retail coffee outlet market in Indonesia as very attractive and has excellent room for growth. In addition to the high population, the upper-middle-class segment has a thirst to try new products; coffee consumption per capita also keeps increasing.

Also Read: Flash Coffee raises US$15M to take on the likes of Kopi Kenangan in SEA

Flash Coffee was founded in January 2020 and has outlets in Indonesia, Singapore, and Thailand. The company claimed that the majority of Flash Coffee outlets have been profitable, demonstrating the success of their business model.

Based on information on its website, there are currently around 82 Flash Coffee outlets spread across the Greater Jakarta Area. Flash Coffee remains attractive to coffee lovers even during the pandemic.

The growth of coffee tech

In the last two years, technology-enabled coffee shop platforms have received substantial funding. Starting from Fore Coffee, Janji Jiwa, Jago Coffee, and Kopi Kenangan.

Even though the F&B business has been under a lot of pressure during the pandemic, a technology-based (O2O) approach allows these coffee chain startups to survive and accelerate their business. One of them is the grab-and-go concept —using an application, users can place orders and make payments to be picked up at the nearest outlet. The platform is also taking advantage of the available food delivery service in the market to support its operations.

According to research (MIX, 2020), 40 per cent of young coffee customers in Indonesia are starting to switch to grab-and-go outlets. This demand is encouraged by the shifting behaviour from instant coffee consumption, as consumers want a higher quality drink –paired with complimentary snacks. The products sold on average are in the middle price range — below premium coffee, but above instant coffee.

Also Read: This made-in-Singapore robotic coffee barista will receive you at Japan’s train stations ahead of Olympics

The presence of the application is not solely for transactions but also as a medium to increase user retention through a series of loyalty-based promotional programmes and activities. Moreover, app traffic becomes useful data for studying user habits and trends to be later translated into product and service innovations.

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The article was written by Yenny Yusra for DailySocial.

Image Credit: Flash Coffee

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Unstoppable pioneers of Web3: 16 women spearheading the change
While men still dominate in the nascent metaverse, women creators in Web3 are now leading the path and rising to the top.

Singapore crypto exchange Bybit to cut up to 30% of workforce
The firm is “building smaller but more agile teams” to improve efficiency, with role and function reviews taking place starting this week; Bybit has grown its workforce by 300% since 2020, swelling its ranks to 2,000 employees.

Singapore’s crypto hedge fund 3AC considers asset sales, bailout
3AC invested about US$200M in Luna but the sum was effectively wiped out when TerraUSD and Luna both became worthless in mid-May; The two cryptocurrencies lost a total of US$60B in market capitalisation last month.

Crypto payments firm TripleA secures US$4M led by Razer’s VC arm
The MAS-licensed TripleA helps businesses increase their revenue by enabling crypto payments and payouts; Its clients include e-commerce merchants, retailers, game providers, PSPs, fintech, marketplaces and tech companies.

Crypto platform Finblox caps monthly withdrawals at US$1.5K amid 3AC turmoil
The firm has also paused reward distribution on its platform, including those for referrals and deposits. It has disabled creating crypto addresses for new users.

Kakao Games partners with blockchain-based Mythical Games for Asia push
The deal will see Mythical integrate Kakao’s affiliate Boranetwork, a Layer 2 and proprietary blockchain ecosystem, into its operations; US-based Mythical will also join Bora’s governance committee to boost P2E gaming in Asia.

Philippines, Vietnam study feasibility of CBDCs
The spread of Alipay, WeChat Pay and similar Chinese apps has raised monetary authorities’ interest in CBDCs; The Philippine and Vietnamese central banks’ partners in the feasibility studies will include Japan’s Soramitsu, which helped Cambodia develop Bakong.

Ampverse launches Web3 business division following Series A funding
In March, it raised US$12M Series A funding; Ampverse owns prominent e-sports teams in SEA, and it also operates a talent division and fan-driven products and gaming merchandise.

Zilingo founders propose to buy out shareholders, incorporate new entity
If the proposal goes through, it would mean that former CEO Bose – who was fired from Zilingo last month – will return to the company; The proposal comes ahead of a board meeting to decide the company’s future.

Singapore’s office design firm Space Matrix buys Indian B2B marketplace Pursuite
The acquisition will allow Space Matrix to offer a more seamless office design process by leveraging Pursuite’s e-commerce platform; It also plans to employ AI and ML technology to mine design data and provide insights for its future projects.

Singapore e-commerce roll-up firm Rainforest bags US$45M
Investors include Canopy Tropics, Monk’s Hill Ventures, Insignia Venture Partners, and January Capital; Rainforest’s annual revenue climbed over US$30 million in its first year of operations, and the firm said it will be profitable by the end of 2022.

Indonesian virtual restaurant firm Dailybox raises US$24M
Investors include Northstar Group, Vertex Growth, and Vertex Ventures SEA & India; Dailybox has over 150 outlets in more than 20 cities; The firm will use the money to expand across the country and add more F&B brands.

Govt-backed Startup Studio Indonesia alumni snag US$22.7M funding
Since its launch in 2020, 65 startups have joined the SSI programme; About 30-40% of participants in each batch receive seed or pre-seed capital following the completion of the programme.

Nium’s SOCASH acquisition valued at US$12.5M
The deal provides an indirect exit to SOCASH investors, who will get to own Nium shares; The SOCASH SPV is 38.4% owned by Vertex Ventures SEA & India; Other shareholders include Glory Ltd, SC Ventures, and SPH Ventures.

Flash Coffee raises Series B1 round
The funds raised amounted to US$30M+ catapulting the company’s valuation to US$175M; Data shows a number of investors participated in the round; It operates around 82 outlets in the Greater Jakarta Area.

Indonesian social commerce enabler Desty raises funds in Square Peg-led round
The undisclosed raise followed a US$5M pre-Series A round held in November 2021; Desty helps creators, influencers, and merchants promote and sell their products.

F&N leads F&B automation startup ROSS Digital’s US$3M Series A+ round
ROSS Digital will use the money to accelerate product enhancements, expand into Thailand and Malaysia, and scale the team; It will partner with F&N to implement and distribute its suite of robotic, automation, digital and AI solutions in SEA.

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Social and copy trading tools are relatively new in the cryptocurrency scene. Basically, their trades are reflected in your account. Their profits are your profits and their losses are your losses.

Such tools are simple to use and have all the features that any trader will need. How would DeFi and social trading work together? Let’s look into it now.

Community-powered DeFi protocol Pollen aims to shake up the asset management industry with its bold attempt to really put the community in the driving seat, led by top-performing traders that emerge from the community.

As the first really tangible step to making that happen after two years’ development and several months of testing involving 7,000+ beta users, Pollen has now launched its trading simulation product after 99 per cent backing in a 100K strong community vote in line with Pollen’s merit-based DAO structure.

But in a growing market for social trading globally how does it stack up against existing startups in the space, such as eToro and League of Traders?

The mainnet launch is designed to create a community of crypto traders, so-called ‘Pollinators’ which in turn will identify a talent pool of the top performers. These users will provide the trading insights to power the asset-backed Pollen Indexes.

How it works is that Pollen Virtual enables traders to try out their trading strategies in a safe sandbox environment, based on staked tokens, in a portfolio composed of assets available on Pollen with the ability to rebalance the proportion of each asset to improve performance in real-time.

In turn, this encourages traders to compete in a leaderboard to earn reputation points and PLNs. Those less willing to risk their tokens can delegate them to the best performers for an 80% share of the trading profits.

Pollen’s social model fits a post-Terra DeFi world, where the trust is put in the decentralised community rather than the founders. Of course, the downside is the gains are not going to be crazy DeFi gains where you stake a dollar and have a million in your wallet in a couple of days!

Instead, as Agova explained, the aim of Pollen is to bring some much-needed balance to DeFi and reduce the risk, reduce the volatility through indexes. “DeFi for grownups. It’s DeFi if you’re not necessarily crypto savvy, but an average person with some disposable income that wants to get into DeFi but can’t get into DeFi.”

The virtual assets users allocate in their Pollen Virtual portfolio (with the protocol based on the Avalanche and Ethereum ecosystem) represent real assets, meaning that they rise and fall depending on each asset’s performance in real life.

Also Read: What lessons can crypto investors draw from the Luna, UST episode?

However, there is no exposure to the underlying assets in the Pollen Virtual portfolio: they are purely simulations, with only PLN earned or burned depending on the portfolio’s performance. The Pollen Virtual protocol actually has two tokens available to users, the PLN is the native token, and vePLN is what they call the “voter escrow token” which users obtain when they lock their PLN.

While you can earn PLN as a reward you cannot earn vePLN, as a locked token, it simply allows you to earn rewards up to 20 per cent more. However, to add a gamification element you can lose vePLN as a result of poor performance of your trading activity.

How eToro compares

In comparison one of the market leaders eToro offers is the ability to see how other investors and traders manage their crypto portfolios which allows you to take advantage of their tactics.

In addition, eToro provides a service called copy trading which automates the copying of the best-performing investors. A third layer of social trading is access to forums where traders can discuss their strategies.

In a way similar to Pollen eToro also offers a virtual trading account. However, a key difference is that you don’t need to buy eToro’s own token to participate, instead, you use US$100,000 in fake money so the quality of the learning is probably not as great as with Pollen where you can lose PLN and reputation ranking for poor performance.

Bethany Garner of Forbes Advisor in reviewing eToro confirmed that it lets users buy and sell more than 60 crypto assets and offers its own crypto wallet for users to store their tokens.

Plus, as well as the social trading tools. “Anyone, even those who aren’t users, can visit eToro and gain access to lessons on investment terms, interpreting the markets, and different types of assets through the eToro Academy.”

That educational support is certainly lacking from Pollen currently, but no doubt will be something they’ll want to develop once the asset management service launches later in the year.

Gamifying trading

A neat twist on the social trading concept is the leading social trading service in Asia League of Traders, a crypto app that runs a leaderboard similar to Pollen, where the best performers are rewarded.

League of Traders has ‘doubled down’ on social trading by gamifying crypto trading with features including real-time leaderboards, monthly competitions, and trader profiles, transforming trading into a social, competitive experience. Each user’s profile includes a growth chart, token distribution pie chart, volatility risk assessment and current positions which allows speedy insight into one’s portfolio’s strength.

Also Read: Singapore’s crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital looking for a bailout: Report

And unlike Pollen, which works as a closed ecosystem, or eToro which aims to make money from your crypto purchases, using the app you can link your portfolios across different exchanges to see their performance aggregated in one place. Like eToro however you can also click on the profile of top traders to check out their portfolio, with the option to copy another account.

Barrister and Attorney at Law at BlockchainLex.io, Brian Sanya Mondoh, said, “In my view, the delegation of tokens to make profits by delegators is likely to interact with the Howey Test, as there is an investment of money in a common enterprise with a reasonable expectation of profits to be derived from the efforts of others.”

Mondoh added that crypto regulation is rapidly underway with many DeFi protocols presented as real risks to consumers, businesses, national security, and the financial system. The recent Terra collapse is still fresh in our minds and has further highlighted the need for appropriate regulation to help mitigate consumer, market integrity and financial stability risks,” he added.

Anndy Lian, Chairman of BigONE Exchange said Pollen was a great example of what DeFi can offer following the Terra collapse. “The risky returns offered by Terra’s Anchor Protocol proved that you need to base DeFi on sound first principles, a decentralised offering which empowers users rather than encouraging them to take unsustainable risks.

“I’m impressed by Pollen’s careful stepped approach to their social offering driven by community-led adoption and testing to get it right. I particularly like the fact that anyone can create their own asset pools, and then turn successful indexes public, and earn tokens. But of course, for the newcomer, a service like eToro or League of Traders has a lot to offer where you can learn from the best traders.

“And while eToro like Pollen wants you to stick to its ecosystem I like the flexibility of League of Traders, aggregating your traders under one roof, while also gamifying the experience through the regular trading competitions. Clearly, the social trading market in crypto is only going to grow further in the future, as Web3 is the perfect architecture for a networked decentralised people-led approach to trading and investing.”

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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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In 2017, Bartolome Bordallo struggled with his cryptocurrency portfolio owing to a lack of trading knowledge. But he quickly realised he was not alone in facing this situation. It occurred to him that a platform connecting users with expert investors could address this problem.

That was the starting point for Zignaly, an online platform that connects everyday consumers with the world’s top, proven crypto investors in a trusted, facilitated system.

“We started with a bare-bone ‘signal providing platform’ aiming to turn signals into trading actions. This concept caught on, with several investors and expert traders signing up on the platform, giving birth to a passionate and thriving community,” Bordallo told e27.

Founded in 2017 by Bordallo (CEO), David Rodríguez (CMO), and Rafay Gadit (CFO), Zignaly is an expert-managed social investing marketplace. It allows consumers to reap the expertise, leverage, and scale of top traders and funds handling their trading in return for a portion of shared profits.

Also Read: The way of the DAO could be the future of work

“The platform has evolved and innovated the social investment space, initially with the copy trading solution and further refining it with a profit-sharing solution (built upon the Binance broker programme),” he added.

Anyone can sign up on Zignaly.com, connect to one of its top traders, and earn staking rewards on their ZIG token holdings in a few clicks.

The startup claims the platform provides “unprecedented” access to new sources of funds and followers for professional traders and funds.

According to the company, over 300 professional traders currently serve over 430,000 users on the platform who have allocated over US$125 million in crypto assets.

Limitless opportunities in SEA

Southeast Asia is one of the world’s most poverty-stricken and underdeveloped regions, which means unequal opportunities for millions of people. Zignaly sees tremendous opportunities to effect a change here.

“We envision a world with financial freedom for all, and in this regard, Southeast Asia is one of the most important markets for us, and we continue to work on expanding there,” Bordallo stated.

“The idea is to get the word out to regional investors on how they can avail multiple streams of passive income from Zignaly. Whether leveraging on our profit-sharing service providers, earning those staking yields on the Zignaly vault, or one of the other products, Zignaly can help elevate the people living with financial constraints,” he explained.

The firm has onboarded several ambassadors from Southeast Asia who will soon share their stories with the community.

Launching ZIG DAO

Close on the heels of its US$50 million funding from Luxembourg-based GEM Global in March, Zignaly announced its foray into DeFi (decentralised finance) with the launch of ZIG DAO (decentralised autonomous organisation).

With ZIG DAO, said Bordallo, Zignaly unlocks the power of its platform and community to extend the range of Web3 investments available to include crypto investing without the constraint of centralised exchanges, NFTs, metaverse real estate, DeFi staking and LPs.

“Why stick to just trading when money managers can help you get the best of yields, make a killing in NFTs or turn up a profit on those S&P500 synths? All that is achievable only if we venture into DeFi, and here we are taking our first step towards our vision to remove boundaries from your investment portfolio,” he shared.

Moreover, the company has always taken community feedback seriously; most of its products are thoroughly vetted and tested by its power users before reaching the community. “Community-driven governance has always been at the forefront of our strategy since the ZIG coin was launched. With the ZignalyDAO, we empower the ZIG token holders with their say in project governance,” he maintained.

Also Read: The Shark Tank of Web3: How this DAO is bridging the funding gap for women founders

He also added that combining new DeFi features with a community-driven roadmap will enable new forms of social value exchanges between people, groups and organisations (large and small). It will empower self-formed hedge funds, decentralised marketplaces, and crypto & Web3 investment consulting.

“Imagine creating your own hedge fund with friends. ZIG DAO allows that. Also, it enables you to participate in a decentralised marketplace curated by expert traders, fund managers, and crypto investors with transparent reputation stats and track records. Plus, people can collaborate freely around a passive investing model where both sides are incentivised to share the profits,” he went on.

“Other than this, if you’re good at crypto investing, now you can offer your expertise to Zignaly’s community members without creating your solution for managing the accounting of what belongs to who or having to market your services,” he said.

Bartolome has set a growth target of US$10 billion in total value locked (TVL) and 100 million+ monthly transactions by Q4 2023. He believes that the ZIG.DAO, utilising the ZIG token, will generate US$3 billion or 30 per cent in returns from the targeted TVL annually. “This projection stems from Zignaly’s plans to expand investment options far beyond just trading. Zignaly will integrate many vehicles such as DEXs, yield farms, NFT market platforms, and lending/borrowing platforms.”

Zignaly vs DEX

On the difference between investing via Zignaly and via a decentralised exchange (DEX), Bordallo said that while the former allows crypto investors to leverage the expertise of pro traders, a DEX has no pro traders for users to look up to.

“There is always someone to look after your financial interests at Zignaly. At the same time, you’re on your own on a DEX. On a DEX, only the fittest survive, and the weak are liquidated. On the other hand, the fittest lead at Zignaly, while those not well-versed with investments follow them,” he elucidated.

In addition, Zignaly provides a one-window solution to a user’s investment needs. “While DEXs cater to the users’ need to swap tokens or add liquidity to pools, Zignaly goes above and beyond,” he said. “Be it portfolio management via the marketplace, staking on Zignaly vault, NFT whitelist raffles, or investing in IDOs on the ZIGPad, we cover it all, with the ZIG token empowering our products.”

Besides, he added, Zignaly is more secure than DEXes. It has multiple layers of security; users do not have to worry about hacked wallets and honey pot schemes on Zignaly.

Zignaly has a global team with over 35 members across 15 different countries. It has users from around the globe, including Turkey, Europe, Brazil, Southeast Asia, and the subcontinent.

“Our mission has always been about more than just broadening access to alternative assets; it’s about a passive income revolution for everyday investors. Rather than agonising over every trade or consulting so-called ‘crypto influencers’ for help reading the tea leaves, Zignaly empowers everyone to profit off the investment moves made by experts with transparent performance histories,” Bordallo concluded.

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There is a revolution in the e-commerce market: Direct-to-Consumer (DTC). Without knowing what DTC means, you might have already been aware of one or more DTC brands. Within the Asia Pacific, Omnidesk in Singapore and Benithem in Malaysia are prime examples.

DTC refers to merchants that sell directly to their customers instead of going through wholesalers, marketplaces or retailers, and it is growing at a pace like never before.

We are looking at DTC e-commerce sales in the US projected to reach US$175 billion by 2023, a 56 per cent growth from 2020. In India, the market is forecasted to multiply three-fold from 2020 to 2025, reaching a projected US$100 billion in sales.

There is a very good reason why DTC is growing so quickly. DTC players sell directly to the end consumer, bypassing third-party retailers, offering a slew of benefits that make it very attractive and lucrative for both ‘well-established’ and upcoming retailers operating in SEA.

This provides larger profit margins, greater control over the brand image, and the ability to tailor payment solutions specifically to the preferences of the unique and local markets they operate in, thereby improving consumers’ shopping experience.

As the e-commerce landscape in Southeast Asia heats up with 75 per cent of the population going online and a digital economy set to double to US$363 billion by 2025, the time is ripe for local merchants to look beyond their borders and expand into the wider region.

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

Bearing that merchants are playing in a crowded marketplace, those looking to grow their business must move fast and embrace new ways of operating to stay ahead of the curve, and payments are an integral part of the plan.

Challenges to tackle

DTC merchants fresh to the game face unique challenges, unlike unestablished brands when expanding into new markets. Given economies of scale, the high transactional and FX fees, and complexities in sending and receiving payments in multiple foreign currencies, they may not have the resources to manage multi-currencies.

Delving deeper into the specific regional challenge of transacting within each unique market, risk and regulations is another area where merchants must grapple with unexpected and foreign challenges and compliance.

When expanding into new markets and tailoring specific payment solutions to the preferences of their target audience, they have to consider offering local payment methods to cater for their new market growth and encourage customer conversions.

Lastly, as with any new business starting out, a major challenge would be access to working capital. It not only acts as a float when supporting daily operations but also enables businesses to capture fast-moving opportunities in a highly dynamic space.

This includes advertising to a wider audience, venturing into new markets and scaling the business further, all of which require funds.

Unifying commerce by consolidating payment

Shaping a growth plan for a DTC business involves expanding into all digital and in-person channels that customers frequent.

Underscoring this plan is the inclusion of a holistic payments strategy that not only provides customers with choice at checkout but also enables the business to: enable cross-border selling (i.e., local payment methods, multi-currency accounts, language capabilities); achieve consistent payment experience across channels; consolidating funds across the marketplace and direct sales channels; and above all, ensure seamless integration of the payments solution with their channel or e-commerce platforms.

Powering payments, then growth

It may prove to be overwhelming to a business that is starting, so having the option to partner with an established payments provider can help these businesses tackle the initial challenges, such as making mass payouts at scale to their sellers, freelancers and suppliers all over the world in the currency and payment method of their payee’s choice.

Also Read: Why smart businesses will prioritise smart payments acceptance

Ideally, payment processes such as cross-border mass payouts, receiving funds and making payments to suppliers, multi-currency accounts, FX optimisation, payment acceptance for direct-to-consumer, and accessing working capital can be synced on a secure single platform for a snapshot view of all their monies.

In all, the empowerment of a payments provider is integral in future-proofing the business to connect in the global digital economy and ensure a customisable, integrated and seamless payments experience.

A prime example of a DTC player optimising a partnership to deliver solutions by embracing a streamlined and unifying process to manage payments is Shoplazza.

They recently announced a partnership to integrate checkout solutions into their web stores to start accepting payments directly from customers worldwide, consolidate their funds across its marketplace and direct sales channel, and use their funds to pay for business expenses such as digital advertising.

This collaboration in the financial solutions space has created greater financial inclusion by removing barriers and complexities to entry to cross-border digital payments for merchants and consumers.

Getting payments right is a pivotal step to empowering independent brands in the region to capitalise on evolving consumer habits in a post-pandemic world and drive business agility.

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In recent years, the Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ) region made remarkable strides in accelerating Industry 4.0 adoption.

In fact, according to GSMA Intelligence, a definitive source of mobile industry insights, forecasts and research used around the world, “countries in the Asia Pacific have established frameworks on a national level, recognising the potential of Industry 4.0 to help prepare economic structures for greater productivity and resilience” with dedicated official task forces in various markets including Japan, Korea and Singapore.

The same report provides a summary of Industry 4.0 visions in several nations, listed below:

• Australia has instituted an Industry 4.0 Taskforce that works through its Testlabs initiative to collaborate with the industry to improve the competitiveness of the manufacturing industry.
• Japan’s Society 5.0 focuses on mobility, healthcare and caregiving, manufacturing, agriculture, food, disaster prevention, and energy.
• Malaysia’s Industry 4.0 policy framework focuses on labour productivity growth, manufacturing contribution to the economy, innovation capacity, and high-skilled jobs.
• Singapore’s key strategies include transforming facilities and operations, R&D partnerships to develop new talent, and collaborating with manufacturing communities.

Evident in many of the national Industry 4.0 priorities stated above, the manufacturing industry across the region is poised to benefit significantly from the Industry 4.0 vision, which places a great emphasis on innovation-driven manufacturing.

To efficiently capitalise on what Industry 4.0 technologies offer, design and manufacturing enterprises across the region are beginning to move away from legacy systems and traditional processes to take advantage of next-gen technology to automate, improve and streamline processes.

A study by Deloitte supports this transition, reporting that digitally mature companies enjoy a wide range of specific benefits from their digital transformations that go well beyond the bottom line.

As a substantiation, Deloitte’s 2020’s digital transformation study found that companies with higher digital transformation maturity reported 45 per cent net revenue growth.

Elevating performance in core manufacturing workloads

Cost, product quality, and productivity are the three core pillars in the manufacturing industry; greater efficiency across all three pillars will be a never-ending journey. Advanced technologies and services can have a transformative effect across all three pillars, substantially increasing the bottom line for manufacturing companies.

Also Read: Making smart manufacturing a cost-efficient reality for SMEs

In a general sense, manufacturing firms are turning to High-Performance Computing to support various workloads within the manufacturing domain, including Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE), Electronic Design Automation (EDA) and Finite Element Analysis (FEA) workloads.

High-performance computing can help manufacturers at every stage of product development, from running advanced design simulations to automating processes and predicting maintenance issues. There are multiple solutions with different capabilities to suit very specific workloads.

In AMD alone, customers can choose from our EPYC processor family, our Ryzen Threadripper PRO family, and the AMD EPYC 7003 processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology.

Data centres powered by AMD EPYC processors help deliver incomparable performance and scalability for CAE and EDA workloads of virtually any size. AMD EPYC processors are designed to increase the computing throughput of engineering simulation workloads such as CAE and EDA by reducing latency impacting design cycle time and contributing to better, higher-quality product designs.

AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO processors deliver up to 64 cores for multithreaded simulation and rendering, with the advantage of high-frequency capable cores for lightly threaded workloads, helping organisations rip through the most demanding design projects.

The best is only getting better with the launch of the AMD EPYC 7003 Processors with AMD 3D V-Cache technology, raising the bar once more for breakthrough performance on targeted technical computing workloads relevant in the manufacturing industry such as FEA  and computational fluid dynamics (CFD):

• CFD workload (analyses fluid dynamics faster): Up to 82 per cent maximum speedup on computational fluid dynamics with Ansys Fluent.
• FEA workload (Finite Element Analysis): The 64-core, AMD EPYC 7773X processor can deliver, on average, 44 per cent more performance on Altair Radioss simulation applications compared to the competition’s top-of-stack processor.

That being said, to find the most optimal balance between cost, product quality and productivity, it is essential for business leaders to identify the various workloads in your specific manufacturing process, evaluate the extent to which each workload is used and invest in workload-specific tools.

However, as mentioned earlier, with a great many solutions and products out there, business leaders can easily be flummoxed as to what specific tool would be ideal for their unique business needs.

Evaluating the extent to which each workload is used in the organisation would enable business leaders to identify the right workload-specific tool to enhance overall business operations. This is where expert consultants would be an investment with significant ROI.

Other considerations

While the afore-mentioned points delved into the technical aspects of the manufacturing industry and the role of technology in elevating multiple workloads, various other considerations could lead to a better cost-quality-productivity balance, including energy efficiency and security considerations.

Reduced Power

The reduction of power is a key consideration with a significant long-term positive impact not just on the environment but also on the organisation’s Total Cost of Ownership (TCO).

Also Read: Get to know these movers and shakers in India’s logistics industry

To illustrate, AMD EPYC 7003 Series processors with AMD 3D V-Cache use up to 30 per cent less power. They will enable you to save an estimated 123.53 Metric Tons of CO2 which is estimated equivalent carbon sequestration of 49 acres of US forests annually.

Not just that, the power efficiency provided by the AMD EPYC 7003 Series processors with AMD 3D V-Cache, uses up to 30 per cent fewer servers and reduces three-year TCO by up to 30 per cent compared to servers without V-Cache technology.

Security

Enhancing security is an ever-evolving venture with no finish line, especially for the manufacturing industry. As smart factory initiatives continue to proliferate across the global footprint of manufacturers, cyber risks are expected to continue to increase.

In fact, according to a study by Deloitte and the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI), forty-eight per cent of manufacturers surveyed identified operational risks, which include cybersecurity, as the greatest danger to smart factory initiatives.

The study also states that many manufacturing companies are seeing an increase in cyber-related incidents associated with the control systems used to manage industrial operations.

Since many smart factory use cases are still in the planning and early stages, now is the time to harmonise these projects with cyber risk programmes. Design and include the appropriate end-to-end security controls, and start from the processor level. Identifying the right security solution without performance compromise is key.

Built-in at the silicon level, AMD Infinity Guard offers the advanced capabilities required to help defend against internal and external threats and help keep your data safe with virtually zero impact on system performance.

Final thoughts

The COVID-19 pandemic initially slowed digitisation efforts not just in APAC, but on a global scale. About 38 per cent of manufacturers surveyed by Deloitte pressed pause on smart factory investments as of August 2020.

Nevertheless, by 2021, 80 per cent of manufacturers reported that smart factories are key to their future success, according to a Plex report.

The investment will likely continue to pour into the sector, and it is time now, more than ever, to invest in the right tools and resources to elevate the manufacturing sector in line with Industry 4.0 goals.

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Spurred on by a flourishing community of users, gaming today is far from isolating. Gaming has become a social experience, with a new breed of creators transforming how games are made, played, and monetised.

Growth in the gaming market

The gaming industry is riding a growth wave. In 2022, global revenues from consumer spending are likely to reach US$203.1 billion, a 5.4 per cent rise over the previous year. Player numbers are seeing an uptick and could breach the three-billion mark by year-end.

Moreover, gaming is no longer a solitary pursuit. Users today are not only playing video games but also interacting with each other. Although the socialisation possibilities have been around for a while, the pandemic lockdowns gave them a timely nudge.

Confined at home, people discovered they could connect with the like-minded through their favourite video games. The virtual interactions became a habit that stuck.

Engaged users drive the creator economy

Gamers do more than just play games: Users participate in or follow game streams.

They converse with other gaming enthusiasts on forums. They also create games, avatars, gifts, and entire virtual worlds. User-generated content (UGC) is a space worth watching and is gaining traction among enthusiasts.

In the traditional business model, gaming companies exercised full control over new game releases, from content and production to the final distribution phase. But the rise of UGC has opened up the creative process, and big legacy publishers are no longer holding the reins.

Consider the case of indie games. Developed by smaller game studios and individual creators, indie games have no major funding from big publishers and hardly any marketing outlays.

Yet, despite their low budgets, indies are having a moment. The year 2020 witnessed the release of 9,722 indie games, marking a 25.6 per cent increase over the 7,740 games announced in 2019.

Professional game designers and developers are just one part of the creator economy. Also in the mix are regular users who play and share games, sell virtual products like avatars and skins, host and moderate gaming tournaments, and develop vibrant creator communities.

All of this engagement goes above and beyond the mere passive consumption of a video game. And game publishers and platforms are rewarding these users by offering monetisation opportunities.

Role of gaming platforms

Gaming platforms are where enthusiasts go to play. Furthermore, these platforms provide creation tools whereby users can build themes, games, and game elements for sale. Any revenues are shared among the developer, creator, and gaming platform.

The latest innovations feature the use of blockchain-based digital currencies such as Bitcoin and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) too.

Also Read: All hands on deck: How Iron Sail strengthens blockchain gaming ecosystem through collaboration

It is worth noting that fans have been creating games and game elements for many years, usually with no expectation of financial gain. But in recent times, game publishers have realised the value of rewarding UGC with cash.

Talent has long been a bottleneck for gaming companies. But the outsourcing opportunities provided by the creator economy minimise the need to locate the right people for the job. The people they need are already here.

Creators in the gaming industry generate content that creates value for their followers. While they aren’t looking for a nine-to-five position, they certainly appreciate the chance to make money through their love for gaming. Helping them achieve this goal are platforms like ours at EsportsXO.

To support the creator economy, we collaborate with two types of creators: first, the creators who are already doing well and with large followings across social media; second, the creators with smaller followings who have great content sense. EsportsXO manages over 100 creators at present.

When partnering with creators, we provide comprehensive hardware support as well as guidance to shape their channels and grow their fanbase in the best possible way. Some of our creators have gained over a million followers within a very short period.

The creator economy is finding its footing

Creators in the gaming industry perform many essential functions: They compile listings of popular games, recommend new releases, share their experiences, and make it easier for users to discover and play more games.

Developers can connect directly with players and tweak their products to generate more revenue. Influencers can build communities and groups where fans can come together to play and socialise.

Since gaming professionals and fans are eager to create, gaming platforms must provide them with the tools and monetisation opportunities to do so. This would open up the gaming market to an engaged community of creators and enable scaling of the design process.

Who wins here? Everybody does. Gaming companies and creators get a new revenue stream when the creator economy expands. And this also works out perfectly for players, who gain access to a much wider selection of games.

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Malaysia-based ethical investment and social finance platform operator Ethis Group has partnered with renowned VC firm Gobi Partners to launch a US$20 million Shariah-compliant seed fund.

Once launched, the joint fund will invest in Shariah-compliant startups globally with an initial geographic focus in the MENA (the Middle East and North Africa) and ASEAN regions.

The partnership aims to capture the growth of startups in the Halal economy, where startups adhere to Shariah law, and thus their products are built to serve a large Muslim community.

Furthermore, the fund’s focus on the broader ethical investment agenda resonates well with the post-pandemic emphasis on environmental, social, governance and sustainable investments that also stretch beyond the Muslim community.

The fund aims to make the first close by the end of this year.

Also Read: Ethis Global closes US$1.7M Pre-Series A funding round to accelerate global expansion effort

This is Ethis Group’s first move into the venture investment space and Gobi’s first-ever fully Shariah-compliant fund. The collaboration combines the venture guiding acumen of Gobi Partners (which has US$1.5 billion of assets under management across North Asia, South Asia and ASEAN) with Ethis’s growing fintech investment and crowdfunding platforms in Indonesia, Malaysia and Oman.

“Establishing this joint fund will allow us to channel investments into tech startups driving change and making an impact. Venture capital is in high demand and suitable for ethical investment,” said Mohamed Shehzad Bin Mohamed Islam, CEO of Ethis Investment Platform.

Founded in 2002, Gobi Partners (dual-headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and Hong Kong) supports entrepreneurs from the early to growth stages and focuses on emerging and underserved markets. It has raised 15 funds, invested in over 320 startups and nurtured nine unicorns, including Carsome.

In 2016, Gobi launched its TaqwaTech vertical, which focuses on investments in Islamic ventures and the global Muslim economy.

“Muslim consumers represent a US$2.2 trillion market opportunity, and the Muslim community is anticipated to make up more than 31 per cent of the world’s population by 2060. However, the community’s digital needs are largely unmet or underserved. Through this partnership with Ethis and the creation of this dedicated fund, we will now be able to fund, nurture and support even more Muslim entrepreneurs,” said Gobi Co-Founder Thomas Tsao.

Ethis Group operates crowd-investment platforms approved by regulators in Indonesia, Malaysia and Oman. Its platforms serve ordinary people, high-net-worth individuals, corporates, and government entities.

It recently launched EthisX, a cross-border ethical private capital market platform. EthisX aims to address the lack of availability of Shariah-compliant and ethical alternative funding and financing in emerging and developed non-Muslim countries with sizeable enough Muslim populations.

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Funding winter: “Focus on corporate funds from developed countries”
For companies currently fund-raising, it’s best to raise for a minimum of 24 months runway, say VCs; It is risky for them to raise for a 12-18 months runway; Funds from developed countries such as the US will likely flow into Southeast Asia.

Singapore-based neobanking firm Stashfin bags US$270M in Series C
Lead investors are Uncorrelated Ventures, Fasanara Capital, and Abstract Ventures; With nearly 10 million registered users, Stashfin operates in India and Southeast Asia.

Zilingo Philippines delays salaries amid company’s uncertain future
Staff at the beleaguered company have not been paid salaries for nearly two months now; Its HR team said that it plans to sell office assets and production equipment as an alternative means to pay salaries should the delay continue.

Carsome hits brakes on US, Singapore listing plans
Carsome has reportedly suspended work on the offerings and will resume the plans next year if market conditions improve; The decision was made due to concerns that deteriorating macroeconomic conditions could affect the company’s valuation.

Ekta secures US$60M to build infra for connecting blockchain with the physical world
The investor is US-based GEM Digital; Ekta builds an NFT marketplace, a hybrid exchange, and NFTs backed by the real-world utility to improve lives and communities.

D2C social e-commerce firm RPG Commerce raises US$29M Series B
Investors are East Ventures, UOB Venture Management, Vertex Ventures SEA & India, and RHL Ventures; RPG is a multi-brand D2C company that launches and operates a suite of e-commerce brands via a ‘shared backend infrastructure’ approach.

Vietnam’s fintech startup Finhay secures US$25M in Openspace, VIG-led round
Finhay allows users to make micro-investments in financial products starting from US$2.15; The platform currently has 2.7M+ registered users; Finhay has also acquired local securities brokerage firm VinaSecurities.

Ethis Group, Gobi Partners to launch Shariah-compliant US$20M seed fund
Once launched, the joint fund will invest in startups globally with an initial geographic focus in the MENA and ASEAN regions; The fund aims to make the first close by the end of this year.

Tiger Global leads US$8M round of HK social commerce firm SleekFlow
SleekFlow plans to use the fresh capital for product development and expanding its presence in SEA; SleekFlow aims to streamline communications for firms; It serves 5K+ businesses, including brands like Nars Cosmetics, Bossini, Lalamove.

Openspace leads Philippine fintech firm Lista’s US$5.1M round
Lista aims to help Filipino merchants and individuals better manage, save, and grow their finances; The app lets users track the flow of their money and see their profits and savings in real-time.

Used-car marketplace Carro to expand to Japan
It already has a strong presence in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Taiwan; The firm is backed by SoftBank and other Japanese investors who can help Carro grow and accelerate penetration there.

Helicap raises US$5M from Tikehau Capital, PhillipCapital
Helicap is a fintech-driven investment firm specialising in the alternative lending space in Southeast Asia and Australia; Since its founding, the Singaporean firm claims to have arranged US$150M in volume in over 300 completed deals.

Y Combinator leads Vietnam fintech startup Afin’s US$4.8M round
Angel investor Clement Benoit also participated; Using tech-enabled profiling and risk assessment tools, Anfin will provide a platform that allows credible investors to share ideas, strategies, and trades.

Tokopedia injects US$3.9M into its subsidiary investments subsidiary
About US$1.2M of the amount was channelled into ASL, the company that runs a fulfilment service named TitipAja; TitipAja is a JV between Tokopedia subsidiary Roda Bangun Selaras and publicly listed transportation company Adi Sarana Armada.

Sequoia’s Surge raises funding ceiling to US$3M
The current range is US$1-2 million; The increase is aimed at making the accelerator accessible to more founders, including those who have already raised seed funding.

Delivery Hero Ventures backs SG data management firm Staple’s seed round
Staple helps businesses automate document processing using AI; The firm currently serves a diverse set of enterprises – financial institutions, online grocery retailers, and professional services firms.

Singapore approves 3 crypto licenses
While MAS did not name the awardees, Crypto.com said that it was one of the recipients. The two other recipients are reportedly Sparrow Exchange and Genesis.

PH startup makes bold bid to provide satellite-based Internet to remote areas
Quicksilver Satcom Ventures said it wants to work with local governments as well as private clients to set up service areas, and then help leverage Internet connectivity into greater economic development.

Bukalapak founder’s VC backs Indonesian edutech firm Dibimbing
Dibimbing provides digital skills training and career acceleration services for job seekers through a solution called school of career; The startup said it works with 450 hiring partners and companies, including edutech platform Zenius.

Web3 browsers are a gateway to the decentralised world
Web3 browsers allow for more functionality by granting a window into a plethora of interconnected services that aren’t siloed by exclusive or centralized technologies, says Jorgen Arnesen, the VP of Web3 at Opera.

Tencent’s WeChat wants no more talk of cryptocurrency and NFTs
China’s ban on cryptocurrency mining – and general dislike of any form of blockchain-based assets – has seen web giant Tencent clamp down on discussion of the subjects on its massive WeChat and Weixin messaging platforms.

Scams in GameFi: How to identify toxic NFT gaming projects
When choosing a GameFi project, it is worth considering the marketing and technological component: How actively the project is promoted, and what benefits the project’s token bestows upon its participants.

Web3 and the future of medicine
With how Web3 promises to connect users in secure, online, real-time environments, patients would easily and securely gain access to healthcare options from all around the world.

Zuckerberg details his plan to move your digital items across the metaverse
Facebook Pay has officially become Meta Pay; With this, it’s working on something that will let users manage their identities, items, and payment methods while making their way through the digital world that Meta bets will be the future.

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