Zilingo CEO Ankiti Bose weighs options to ‘gain back control’
She is exploring talks with new investors to buy out a majority stake of the fashion company; This comes as the board of Zilingo is set to meet to decide the fate of the company’s leadership changes.

Sea Group offered 10% stake in Indonesian digital bank Bank Mayora
Sea helped state-owned BNI transform Bank Mayora into a digital bank by providing services to develop its tech and business model; BNI recently acquired Bank Mayora by buying 1 billion new shares.

Biofourmis turns unicorn after US$300M Series D led by General Atlantic
To date, the medtech company has raised US$445M in total, counting SoftBank Vision Fund 2, Openspace Ventures, Sequoia Capital, and EDBI as backers; Biofourmis uses AI and ML-based solutions to enable personalised predictive care.

Openspace Ventures’s OSV+ closes growth-stage fund at US$200M
LPs include IDFC and unnamed institutional investors; OSV+ targets SEA-based firms in Series B and above, writing cheque sizes of US$20-25M per company; This means it will invest in 10 companies.

VN fintech firm Trusting Social bags US$65M Series C
The investor is Masan Group’s The Sherpa Company; It seeks to drive financial inclusion by generating credit insights from over a billion consumers; It provides this info to 170+ financial institutions across Vietnam, Indonesia, India, and the Philippines.

Neuron Mobility raises US$43.5M Series B
Investors include GSR Ventures, Square Peg, and EDBI; The capital will be used to manufacture more e-scooters and fuel its global expansion plans; The firm has grown its presence from seven cities in September 2020 to 26 cities today.

Social music creation platform BandLab adds US$12M more to close Series B at US$65M
Prosus Ventures is the new investor; BandLab’s cross-platform creative ecosystem comprises Mix Editor, a royalty-free Sounds library, Mastering, and AI-powered SongStarter; In December, it raised US$53M Series B, led by Vulcan Capital.

E-motorbike startup Dat Bike raises US$5.3M
Investors are Jungle Ventures and Wavemaker Partners; Dat Bike intends to use the new money to invest in technology, scale production, expand to metro and tier-I cities across the north, central and south Vietnam, and hire top talent.

Indonesian D2C eyewear brand Saturdays bags Series A funding
Investors include Altara Ventures and DSG Consumer Partners; Saturdays sells a range of affordable eyewear using an O2O approach; It currently operates a website, a dedicated app, and fifteen brick-and-mortar stores.

TheAsianparent acquires Vietnamese childcare platform Webtretho
Webtretho offers a platform for user-generated content covering parenthood, pregnancy, childcare, beauty, healthcare, and entertainment; It also operates Be Yeu, a social networking community for parents.

Indonesia’s Juragan Material raises US$4M seed led by Go-Ventures
Juragan operates a marketplace for construction materials and accessories and offers various payment methods and delivery options, supporting tax invoice provision.

Accel backs US$3M round of credit-scoring startup Finbots.AI
Finbots’s credit scorecard system ZScore helps banks and financial institutions process loan applications more efficiently and accurately; It has offices in Singapore, India, and the UAE.

Indonesian influencer marketplace BintanGo raises US$2.1M round
Investors include Investible, eWTP Tech Innovation Fund, Farquhar, Plug and Play, Aksara, and Redbadge Pacific; BintanGo’s SaaS-like platform provides productivity and monetisation tools and financial solutions for digital content creators.

Funding Societies enters neobanking space with investment in Indonesia’s Bank Index
Funding Societies allows MSMEs to apply for up to US$1.5M in working capital financing; In Feb, Funding Societies announced a US$294M funding led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2.

3moji aims to transform the way NFTs are used in metaverse with its composable avatars
The 3moji DApp allows users, brands and influencers to change the look of their avatars in the metaverse and across Web2 apps; It recently raised US$750K seed from Collab + Currency, Big Brain Holdings, Definitive Capital, and Gmoney.

Fintech unicorn Revolut gets MAS nod for crypto trading
The Revolut app will now support the buying, selling, and holding of cryptocurrencies, pushing the company a step closer to becoming a super app for financial services.

HK chatbot startup Ominichat bags US$1.8M to enter SEA
Investors’ names aren’t disclosed; Omnichat helps online sellers to centralise their conversations with customers from WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, Line, and WeChat into a single platform.

IFS Capital leads US$1.7M seed round of Malaysian EWA firm Payd
1982 Ventures, The Hive Southeast Asia, Delight Capital and Antler also co-invested; Payd is a B2B platform that allows employees to receive up to 50% of their salaries as they earn; It currently has over 20,000 employee sign-ups.

TikTok’s e-commerce arm sets up shop in Malaysia
Business owners in the country can start signing up to sell goods using their TikTok accounts; TikTok Shop aims to support small businesses that have not yet set up physical stores due to high investment costs.

Teacher upskilling startup Akadasia US$550K funding
Investors are EduSpaze, Spiegels Future Family Fund, and former Meta director Andrew Hwang; Akadasia provides educators with professional development courses, digital tools to design lessons, and access to a network of teachers.

The post Ecosystem Roundup: Biofourmis turns unicorn, Ankiti Bose looking to gain back Zilingo’s control appeared first on e27.

Cryptocurrencies are seen by many as the future of money. These assets promote financial inclusion and provide a great way for people to send money across borders.

Over the years, digital assets have proven to be more than just a fad. Now, we’re seeing a wave of institutions even jumping into the crypto bandwagon and getting their piece of the crypto pie.

If you’re a beginner in the crypto market, it’s easy to get carried away by the multitude of assets you’re seeing almost on a daily basis. Coins themselves seem to always spring up, and knowing which to invest in can be tough.

One of the most important pieces of advice that anyone can get as a crypto investor is to look for new coins that have massive potential. With the world filled with new assets almost every day, finding one that has upside and investing while it’s in its early days will offer a lot of benefits for you as an investor.

Just imagine if you had bought Bitcoin when it was still worth less than US$100 or if you had invested in Solana or Binance coin by this time last year. With the right amount of capital, you’d be sitting on a goldmine right now.

There’s no point in examining missed opportunities. The truth remains that there will always be opportunities for you to invest in new coins and make money.

But, how do you find these new coins with massive upside? Here are a few things to note:

Functionality rules everything else

Regardless of whether it’s a new or an old coin, one thing you should always look out for when investing in crypto is functionality.

The functionality rule is simple, what does this coin have to offer that can attract investors? Once you can answer this question objectively, you’ve got your answer.

Assets like Solana and Binance coin were able to see surges because of their attraction to investors first. Solana is one of the most popular blockchains right now and a true contender for Ethereum’s title.

Binance coin powers Binance, the world’s largest and most liquid crypto exchange. If they didn’t have those working for them, their prices would be nowhere right now.

Also Read: Bitcoin and Ethereum simplified for a five-year-old

Before an asset can begin to get community approval, it is beyond important for it to start by having functionality and something that will always drive users.

Take Volt Inu for example. The asset was recently launched, and it is gaining massive traction because of its use case. Volt Inu focuses on building a multi-faceted investment strategy that can guarantee yields for investors. The asset’s developers are looking to invest in multiple areas of the market, including but not limited to staking yield farming, and mining nodes.

The point for Volt Inu is simple, by diversifying investment, the protocol can make money for everyone involved. So, for passive income investors, this asset makes the most sense.

A use case like this isn’t just solid, it’s practical. It ensures that even in a market downturn, investors will be able to return.

This is what makes an asset like Volt Inu so attractive. As an investor, remember to always examine the use case of a new coin before plunging funds into it.

Community support remains a major factor

Another thing you should keep in mind is community support. One of the reasons why meme coins are so great is that they get a lot of support from their communities and legions of adoring fans. Dogecoin managed to feed off that hype, and so did Shiba Inu.

Usually, the best way to approach new coins is to first figure out their use cases – and then work on building trust within the community.

Know what people are saying about the coin and the general sentiment surrounding it. From there, you have a relatively strong view of what it could look like when it launches.

Examine the asset’s tokenomics

No one always wants to do dirty research, but it is critical for you to do so. Tokenomics are critical for an asset’s growth prospects because they ensure that the asset will be resilient enough to weather some tough times.

When doing research, examine areas like deflation and token structure. An asset with a deflationary structure will be able to keep supply at manageable levels and maintain its price when a market downturn comes.

Demand will be able to grow, and so will the coin’s price. So, it is always recommended that you look out for the coin’s token structure.

Also Read: Why is there no crypto ETF yet in Singapore?

Examine how the coin’s developers plan to implement a burning strategy and what their roadmap for the asset is. This way, you understand their vision for the coin and can decide whether it’s a vision that you can also support.

Availability and future prospects

Finally, it’s also worth considering the coin’s availability and how easy it will be for you to find it.

These days, most assets that launch tend to do so on decentralised exchanges (DEXs) and wallet platforms. While this is great, there also needs to be a strategy for getting these assets on major exchange platforms.

At the end of the day, these centralised platforms are where the bulk of investors trade. If they can’t gain access to your desired coin from there, it will be difficult for the coin to gain the right traction.

While researching, look into the coin’s roadmap to know how its developers plan to get it on top exchanges and into the consciousness of the mainstream crypto market.

–

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image Credit: Canva Pro

The post How to find a good investment with new crypto tokens appeared first on e27.

The era of gaming as we know it is on the cusp of large-scale advancement. In one aspect, that involves Web3 games utilising the strengths of NFTs, ushering in a new dimension of having fun and creative ownership.

In 2021, Web3 gaming attracted over US$4 billion in investments from venture capitalists with over 1.4 million active wallets interacting with Web3-based games. According to DappRadar’s Blockchain Game Report 2021, NFT games accounted for 20 per cent of the total NFT trading volume last year.

One unique factor that has made Web3 gaming attractive to early adopters is the play-to-earn (P2E) gaming model. Users earn in-game items, as well as NFT assets that can translate to real-world value. While in traditional gaming, players have little to no control over their in-game content, the P2E model operates rather differently. Leveraging NFT technology, P2E gaming empowers players with more control over their gaming experience in terms of content ownership. Buying, selling and trading these NFT assets on global marketplaces is now more accessible than ever, as seen in the case of OpenSea’s 1.5 million active users.

As opposed to only playing for fun, Web3 gaming via P2E takes it one step further through game rewards that can be converted into local currency or other real-world value. Although the Web3 ecosystem allows players to earn more as they play, the high entry cost among many P2E platforms are posing major stumbling blocks.

Reducing entry barriers in play-to-earn games

P2E games have been a hit, no doubt. Major industry players have even touted it as the future of the gaming industry. However, for the next leg of mainstream growth, certain challenges must be addressed, one of which is the high upfront cost requirement for new players.

Reflecting on the current state of the P2E ecosystem, Meta Mike, Co-Founder of MetaDerby says, “Play-to-earn gaming has a lot to offer, which is why gamers are strongly inclined to have fun while they earn valuable rewards. However, most P2E games require players to purchase costly NFTs well before they can actually start earning.”

A majority of popular P2E games require users to purchase the game’s related NFTs, costing up to hundreds or even thousands of dollars. For instance, Axie Infinity, a pioneer in the P2E ecosystem, requires new players to purchase its characters known as Axies before getting started. A productive Axie can often be acquired at around US$300, a relatively hefty price tag for the average consumer.

Also Read: These are exciting times for Web3, and we want you to be part of this journey with us

Adding the initial cost component to gaming is not a fun experience. Fundamentally, if the relatively expensive cost factor is removed and players can truly get started for free, Web3 gaming can transition to become a whole lot more attractive.

Merging the best of free-to-play for Web3 gaming

The traditional gaming industry has been around for a while now and has stood the test of time over the years. One of the reasons for this has been the widespread push of free-to-play (F2P) models. Popular mobile games like Candy Crush, Fortnite, GTA V, Call of Duty mobile and countless more have successfully incorporated F2P models. Gamers simply download, get hands-on and spend hours of enjoyable gameplay. No need to risk spending a lot of money from the get-go.

This same model can be applied to Web3 gaming, especially within the fast-growing P2E industry. To attract more gamers, developers need to rethink how to combine familiar F2P elements into the evolving P2E environment.

One example integrating the F2P model for the existing play-to-earn ecosystem is MetaDerby, the first free-to-play horse racing game in the metaverse. New players are only required to complete a beginners task, in which they are then rewarded a free NFT horse to begin gameplay. In contrast with existing P2E games that require initial NFT purchases, MetaDerby takes a friendlier approach by simply eliminating the upfront cost barrier.

“Free-to-play models have consistently proven to attract and retain active gamers. Naturally, it makes sense for the P2E and F2P concepts to merge and encourage millions of new players into the burgeoning P2E ecosystem,” says Meta Mike.

More Web3-based titles such as Splinterlands and Gods Unchained are also enacting the free-to-play incentive in P2E. Better yet, the proven model can be easily infused into a variety of game genres including racing, RPGs, shooter games and the larger Metaverse realm.

Finding the right balance

Gaming is all about having fun, and earning rewards in parallel is even more enticing. Players that seek new revenue streams through P2E earnings are increasingly demanding games that eases the burden on their wallets. Having a blast, earning assets that retain real-world value, while being able to try new games with no upfront cost may perhaps be the right chemistry for the growth of Web3 gaming.

—

The article was first published by The Human & Machine.

Image Credit: The Human & Machine

The post Can free-to-play models ignite new player interest for Web3 gaming? appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based shared e-scooter and e-bike operator Neuron Mobility has raised US$43.5 million in Series B funding, co-led by GSR Ventures and Square Peg.

Singapore’s EDBI also invested in the round, bringing Neuron Mobility’s total funding raised to date to US$77.7 million.

The fresh capital will fuel Neuron’s international expansion strategy. It will also allow the startup to continue to design and manufacture its own safety-first e-scooters and develop and roll out a range of innovative technology at scale.

Since Neuron’s last funding round 19 months ago, the company claims to have more than tripled its operations, growing from seven cities in September 2020 to 26 cities today.

Also Read: Neuron Mobility extends Series A by US$12M to accelerate e-scooter expansion globally

Neuron Mobility designs and manufactures its own e-scooters for safety and sustainable operations. It launched a battery swappable e-scooter in 2018 for greener operations. In the same year, it rolled out a full suite of geofencing to control where and how e-scooters are ridden.

In early 2020, the startup launched an app-controlled helmet lock which integrates a helmet to every e-scooter.

Neuron Mobility expanded into Canada in May 2021 and has since gained permits to operate in over 30 per cent of all available cities. It has secured permits in five Canadian cities, including Ottawa, Calgary, Red Deer, Lethbridge, and Vernon.

It operates in 18 cities across Australia and New Zealand. The company also increased its global footprint with city launches in the UK and South Korea.

Zachary Wang, Neuron Mobility’s CEO, said: “We think our vertically integrated approach, designing and building our own e-scooters and the systems that run them, gives us a unique advantage. Proprietary technologies, like our ‘e-scooter brain’ and a range of AI innovations, are a real differentiator and help us integrate into cities in the best possible way.”

—

The post Shared e-bike operator Neuron Mobility secures US$43.5M Series B appeared first on e27.

According to the World Bank, 1.7 billion adults are still unbanked today in 2022, this is close to one-fourth of the world’s population. In 2014, the figure was two billion, proving that change is happening, but more needs to be done. 

Several countries in Southeast Asia rank high on the list of unbanked populations. In the Philippines, 71 per cent of the adult population is unbanked, and 40 million adults remain unbanked in Myanmar.

Bangladesh, Mexico, Nigeria and Pakistan are high on the list too. By their sheer size, China and India have a vast unbanked population despite having relatively high account ownership. 

But behind these statistical perspectives, there are human stories that reveal everyday sacrifices and struggles faced by populations in the rural areas who would, at times, travel for two days just to reach a bank.

This was the reality that inspired Ragu Senthil Kumar and me to establish on one of our annual road trips.

A road trip that led to a startup genesis

Both Ragu and I have a unique method of ideation. While driving through the countryside of India during the journey, we outlined our strategic plans for the year to follow. 

On one of our annual road trips, this time through the countryside of India, we found ourselves depleted of cash. In search of an ATM between the southern Indian towns of Ooty and Mysore, we finally found one near the small municipality town of Gundlupet, but not until we realised that we had travelled a good 100 kilometres just to withdraw cash. 

Silence followed for the rest of the drive as we imagined what the local community must be going through on a daily basis to access a bank, especially in case of emergencies. We wanted to dive deeper. 

Through our interactions with locals, we understood that lack of documentation became a barrier to opening bank accounts. This also leads to a lack of credit scores, forcing people to take out loans from moneylenders at exorbitant interest rates, which they struggle to repay and face running into massive debt. 

For the banks, profitability and the investments needed for physical branches became huge barriers. They are also bogged down by outdated legacy systems, time-consuming processes, overcrowding in branches and staff-training costs. 

Turning divides into dividends

From then on, we realised the need to revolutionise banking access through digitisation.

Also Read: Deconstructing digital banking – How it can cater to the underserved in Malaysia

Bank-Genie was initially founded to bridge technology to banks and microfinance institutions by offering a comprehensive suite of digital banking features, aimed at banking experiences at a low cost.

This solves one main problem by helping banks break the traditional approaches in banking with technologies that will eventually lead to branchless banking.

Ultimately, our approach would ease the entire customer journey experience in banking and turn pre-digital divides into impactful digital dividends.

In 2019, we launched BanqIn, an instant all-in-one digital core banking platform that provides banks with instant access to field-based data capture, mobile money integration, SMS communication with clients and automated credit check features to change the way they serve customers.   

Not only that, we continuously innovate banking solutions to serve the unbanked who reside in remote areas, including a suite of products that enable the opening of accounts and the processing of transactions through seamless processes. 

When purpose meets passion, success is inevitable

While our startup journey officially began in Africa, we have managed to further our footprint to help even more unbanked populations in the Philippines, Myanmar, Central Asia and India.

And seven years since its inception, we are glad to have partnered with over 30 banks, including banks in the Philippines (BDO, EastWest, Unionbank), Nepal (NMB Bank), Ghana (Calbank, CBG), Sierra Leone (SLCB), and many others, in their transformational journey towards digitisation.

But no transformational journey, especially at this scale, is without challenges. From the onset, we have met with resistance to change that still persists within financial institutions, and this will, unfortunately, continue to be a hurdle.  

Nevertheless, our goal remains intact, with a vision set to change the lives of the unprivileged with access to banking.

Witnessing first-hand how technology and innovation can augment the roles in people’s lives, generating additional income, channelling their savings, turning it into investments and building assets, fostering education, allowing for insurance and help amidst uncertainties.

–

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image Credit: Canva Pro

The post The startup grind: Convincing traditional banks to change their ways appeared first on e27.

Taiwan’s technology industry is a leader in the telecom space as a major manufacturing hub for 5G chipsets, supplying global industry leaders such as Qualcomm, Samsung, and Apple. Added to that, 5G adoption in Taiwan represents over 30 per cent of the market and is gaining stronger momentum. 

With the 5G market maturing fast, there is a need to bridge the gaps and meet the rising industrial demand for innovative solutions. 

2022 is a crucial year for 5G as widespread availability begins to eradicate barriers to access, bandwidth, performance, and latency on connectivity. However, to deliver on its potential to enable revolutionary new applications and business models, the 5G journey will require intelligent solutions at every step. 

With Taiwan actively seeking cooperation with foreign companies through projects like the Asia Pacific Telecom (APT) 5G Challenge Accelerator Programme, there are lots of opportunities for startups to collaborate with Taiwanese telecom hardware suppliers as the 5G solutions market develops.

The Asia Pacific Telecom 5G Accelerator 2022

The Asia Pacific Telecom 5G Accelerator programme (APT 5G) returns this year to expand international recruitment and bring entrepreneurs closer to industry needs. 

The goals of the accelerator are simple: connecting foreign Telecoms to domestic startups and introducing outstanding foreign startups to Taiwan. The programme is expected to attract a strong roster of global startups that can help catalyse the future of 5G in the Asia Pacific region.

Also read: Three leading B2B digital disruptors win 2021 Fast Forward with HPE

Asia Pacific Telecom (APT) is a wireless telecom leader and the first telco to bring 5G services to Taiwan. Organised in partnership with the Philippines’ largest telco, PLDT, and Singapore based venture capital firms, Qualgro and KKFund, the APT 5G Accelerator 2022 aims to promote innovation and international exchange of ideas as well as inject creative talent into the industry. 

The programme will make venture investments and match businesses with the goal of applying new ideas by incubating startup ventures that tap new 5G business opportunities.

A launchpad for startups creating solutions for the 5G era

APT believes that the era of telecom network competition has passed with the advent of 5G technology. The 5G era will be an era of application services competition, which will require cross-industry alliances and collaboration to introduce new services and capabilities across industries. 

In order to facilitate the future development of Taiwan’s 5G infrastructure and associated applications, the APT 5G Accelerator is focused on strengthening startup acceleration and creating successful partnerships with enterprises. 

By introducing venture capital funds and resources to outstanding entrepreneurial teams the accelerator is an ideal launchpad for deeptech startups creating 5G solutions using technologies such as VR, IoT, AI, Cloud and Big data. It also opens up opportunities for the startups to demonstrate their 5G solutions and undertake proof-of-concept testing and verification using infrastructures provided by APT and its foreign telecom partners.

Selected startups will receive guidance in establishing international partnerships and market expansion initiatives. With 5G+AIoT as the central theme, the programme is looking for teams innovating in sectors including but not limited to entertainment, medical care, and transportation. 

Also read: In the age of e-commerce, complete and accurate data analytics is key

Further criteria for participating startups are to incorporate an entity in Taiwan within 2 months upon selection into the programme. Startups are required to meet the criteria as a Taiwan SME and register as a corporate. Startups are recommended to set up base in the new Linkou Venture Park and take advantage of the entrepreneurial environment.

With application registration closing last 25 April, applicants are subjected to the following selection criteria:

• Innovation and market feasibility of 5G products and services [40%]
• Startup company strategy and marketing strategy [20%]
• Professional and executive ability of startups [30%]
• New venture company economics, financial planning, and risk management [10%]

What can participating startups expect?

Selected startups get the chance to showcase their product and pitch their solutions to a panel of judges that include the region’s top telco companies and investor – with the aim of having a minimum of 3 startups winning investment deals from participating partners.

Apart from that, winning startups stand to win as much as NT$250,000 as well as a slew of other benefits that include Taiwan expansion assistance, showcase opportunities at domestic and foreign exhibitions, and access to a 5G lab to further develop their solutions. A special telecommunications award is given to the highest scoring startup selected by foreign telecommunications companies.

APT 5G Accelerator: bringing innovations to the market

In the previous edition of the 5G accelerator, 15 startups were selected from about 300 applicants. Seven local teams and eight overseas startups from countries like Singapore and Indonesia made up the participants.

Minimo Tech, a Smart IoT-powered retail platform that offers brands and companies a merged online and offline solution, won the Special Award from APT.

Participating startups in previous years have brought to market highly innovative products that include: 

Hyper Immersion Technology that provides VR 360 panoramic video production technology with a proprietary VR360 real-time stitching software.

Cheng Jie Technology which has invented the “Witspal Smart Pen” and “Witspal Smart Case” — devices that link up via IoT in helping address nearsightedness among children, by combining computer vision with speech.

InnovArt Design — Its product, CarWink is an interactive internet-on-vehicle (IoV) consumer electronic gadget designed to reduce road rage, improve communication between vehicles, reduce cable mess, and personalise vehicle styles.

Also read: B2B tips: Doing business with large enterprises

OSENSE whose world-leading indoor positioning technology leverages image processing, computer vision, artificial intelligence, and augmented reality to provide indoor positioning and navigation with no GPS signals.

GranDen, which developed the VR music game “I’m ready to Fly”, and AR and location-based services social mobile game, AliGala.

Lichen Ads, a company offering mobile out-of-home digital advertising services leveraging the gig economy.

Ficus Data — an AIoT powered handwashing analysis that aims to help hospitals, clinics, schools, and other medical institutions maintain consistent hygiene standards and decrease the risk of infection.

Fonebud IoT, a mobile sharing assistant that integrates with WiFi hotspots, language translators, power banks, and up-to-date travel information to address usual travellers’ challenges.

Fleetroot which is a platform that enables businesses to rapidly deploy last-mile logistics, mobility, and fleet management solutions at scale.

For more information on programme details, registration criteria, and requirements, visit the APT 5G Challenge website.

– –

Photo by Timo Volz

– –

This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Asia IOA

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

The post 5G tech? All eyes on Taiwan appeared first on e27.

Expanding into new markets can always be a challenge for startups as they work to navigate new challenges, find their target audience, and more.

According to the Startup Genome report on why startups fail, it was identified that 74 per cent of startups fail because they scaled prematurely. However, waiting too long to scale can also result in startups missing out on key opportunities that could lead them to success.

In this article, we highlight five signs that startups can evaluate to determine if they are ready to expand or not.

You have met or exceeded your goals

One of the biggest signs that you are ready to expand your startup is through your current status in your roadmap. When you are finding yourself in a position to meet your goals and milestones quickly, or you are repeatedly exceeding expectations, then the chances are that you are ready to expand.

When we talk about goals, we refer specifically to goals around customer growth, product validation, projected revenue and profit. When these areas and other goals specific to your industry and company are easily met, it could be time to explore the next steps.

You have experienced long-term profit

Profit is a key indicator of the health of your startup. If you are seeing sustained profitability over a long time, then this is a clear indicator that you have a sound business model and are doing things right!

This places your startup in a solid position to explore expansion as it will already be in a stable enough position to take risks with new markets and invest in market expansion.

Customer demand is increasing in other geographies

Seeing an increase in demand is always a positive sign; however, if you are looking for a key indicator to expand to a new market, take note of where this demand is coming from. If you are starting to see an increase in demand in a different geography, it would be strategic to consider that market as your next step for expansion.

Also Read: Scaleup Success: How can startups tackle the challenges of international expansion?

This could also be fueled by existing customers wanting to expand their use of your service in other regions, which could also help propel you into a new market as you would be able to prove your business model through them.

Your industry is growing and gaining traction

Another key indicator that your startup is ready to expand would be to look at your industry. You must understand your industry trends and use them to guide you in the direction you should go.

If you are to consider expansion, take a look at your industry in the different markets and garner key information that can inform your next move. This includes market saturation, potential customer base, potential market share, and more.

Another area to keep an eye on would be your competitors. If they are also growing, they too would be considering expansion and may indicate that the industry is gaining enough traction for you to explore other markets.

You have a strong, reliable, and stable team

Your startup’s team is important as the foundation of your business. Suppose you have seen stability in your team for an extended period, seen their strength in how the day-to-day elements of your business are run, and you have the confidence that they would be able to support you successfully as you enter a new market. In that case, you have a team in place for expansion.

Usually, your team should be people you can count on and passionate about your goals and committed to your success as much as you are if you can trust them to handle things while away, you are a step closer to expanding.

Final thoughts

These five signs have been valuable to us in identifying if startups are ready to enter new markets. If you are prepared to explore market entry, you have a few next steps to take:

• Start your market research and discovery and build up your reputation to approach your new target market.
• Find a partner in your target market that you could collaborate with for your market entry. This could be a local startup, a corporate, or another ecosystem player.

If you are interested in de-risking and accelerating this process, finding an accelerator or market entry program that focuses on your target market can support both steps above and save you time and improve your chance for success.

Interested in a new generation of accelerator programs? Explore Rainmaking Expand as they build modular and customised programs for the startups in their programs to tailor their market entry.

–

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.

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image Credit: Rainmaking

The post 5 signs it is time for your startup to expand appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based social music platform BandLab announced the closing of its Series B financing round at US$65 million with a post-money valuation of US$315 million. Prosus Ventures, the venture arm of Netherlands-listed Prosus, is the new investor in the round.

BandLab earlier announced a US$53 million Series B, led by Vulcan Capital, in December last year. Other investors in the round are Caldecott Music Group and K3 Ventures.

The funds will allow BandLab to expand its team and grow its offerings to music creators and aspiring artists worldwide.

Launched in 2015, BandLab is a next-generation social music creation platform, which aims to support creators of all kinds, from first-time creators to Grammy-winning producers.

Its cross-platform creative ecosystem comprises Mix Editor, a royalty-free Sounds library, Mastering, and a newly announced AI-powered SongStarter.

Also Read: Singapore music collab platform BandLab acquires music live-streaming service Chew

Beyond creation tools, it also offers artist services like distribution and direct fan subscriptions. The upcoming integration of its recently acquired independent artist services platform ReverbNation into BandLab will further expand the suite of services available to independent artists.

Its parent BandLab Technologies also runs the professional-level digital audio workstation, Cakewalk.

“BandLab has built a next-generation platform democratising music creation for creators globally,” said Sachin Bhanot, Head of Southeast Asia Investments for Prosus Ventures. “The company has experienced impressive growth while generating solid user engagement.”

—

The post Social music creation platform BandLab closes US$65M Series B round appeared first on e27.

When we are talking about innovation, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Technology, Sales, NFT, Accelerator, Hackathons, Blockchain.

It is hard to think about one specific thing when thinking about innovation. It somehow evolves its meaning to everything and nothing simultaneously, and more often than not, it costs a lot of money.

So what is innovation?

A recent study by Delloite shared that innovation is not only wholly new; successful innovation must be both new (but not necessarily new-to-world) and improved (as measured financially).

So, in other words, innovation is not only super new and unmeasurable, but in fact, it’s the improvement of something that exists and making it better.

“Innovation is taking two things that exist and putting them together in a new way.” – said Tom Freston, Co-founder of MTV. 

Why innovation is important, and how to unlock it?

When you see history through the ages, we can see that innovation has come in waves and is, in fact, directly responsible for massive economic growth and value creation in its time.

Starting from the investigation of steam engines and the first industrial revolutions to mobile phones and social media. Founders need to understand these general trends to capture the first waves of opportunities that come with innovation.

Then, the next question is how do we unlock those tremendous opportunities. Stay ahead in the game and create the proper strategy to accelerate other new innovative ways and market entry strategies for your company.

Also Read: The next fintech innovation will be a customer-led phenomenon

Five general tips to plan your innovation initiatives:

• Start with demands: A study showed that demand-driven innovative initiatives in which efforts are focused on identified customer and market opportunities have more likelihood of success. Start with getting to know areas of improvement, conduct proper surveys for your organisations, check which areas to improve, and identify key customers and their correlating market opportunities.
• Say goodbye to PoC: If you are doing corporate innovation or doing business with large enterprises, you will face the term POC. The problem is POC customers aren’t actual customers. Of course, your innovation initiatives are not fully commercialised yet but to garner real customers; you need to deliver its real value to your potential customers.
• Start quietly and be loud once you have product-market fit: measuring financial outcomes too soon, risk premature decisions that will impact your innovation journey, try sandboxing your ideas and build based on what works. And once you have that product-market fit, showcase your result and engage with strategic partners across the regions.
• Look to the past for clues about the future; it’s not always about the newest invention: History always repeats itself, even if the past patterns don’t always apply to the end. Companies such as OVO and Shopee are among the few that started late, but both can thrive and become successful.
• Harness the power of partnerships, leverage their asset and reduce risk: Test assumptions of your innovation strategy, whether you start with implementing new features for your product, to even having new ventures for your company, garner different perspectives with existing partners, reducing the risk of failure, and validate those assumptions fast.

Final thoughts

At the end of the day, whether you are just starting your company or managing a big corporation, everyone will always need to grow and innovate themselves.

If you are in Asia, Asia has become one of the hotbeds of innovation over recent years, with one of the most dynamic startup scenes anywhere. With its venture deals, with record highs in 2021. Funding was up 89 per cent from the 2020 mark. Starting any innovation journey in Asia will be very exciting in the following years.

So start with demands, engage clients directly but quietly, learn insightful clues from past initiatives and leverage key partnerships to achieve sustainable results for your innovation initiatives. 

–

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.

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image Credit: Matt Ridley

The post 5 tips to plan your innovation initiatives appeared first on e27.

Global edge-to-cloud company Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) recently culminated the 2021 run of Fast Forward with HPE — an initiative designed to identify, support, co-innovate, and go-to-market with the next generation of digital disruptors in the Asia Pacific startup ecosystem.

Three B2B startups were chosen as winners among over 200 aspirants in the third episode’s “Pitch Day”, presenting an astounding opportunity for these top digital disruptors to collaborate with the technology heavyweight. The opportunity also grants them access to strategic partnerships with HPE to scale business growth and leverage go-to-market access as they shape the digital future, from the Asia Pacific to the world.

Amit Gupta (CEO & Founder, Ecosystm), Santhosh Viswanathan (Vice President & Managing Director, Sales Marketing & Communications Group, APJ Territory, Intel Corporation) and Suchitra Narayan Director, Advanced Manufacturing & Venture Building, SGInnovate served as judges for the 3rd and final episode. They challenged the top four startups from episode two on their business fundamentals and growth strategies. In the end, Cloudpick, H3 Dynamics, and Transcelestial emerged as the top 3 startups of the competition.

Cloudpick

Cloudpick is a technology startup founded in 2017 that provides smart retail and artificial intelligence solutions enabling AI-powered autonomous stores through computer vision, sensor fusion, and deep learning. It demonstrates its competitive advantage in delivering digital transformation to the retail sector, especially with increasing consumer acceptance of retail technologies. Cloudpick’s technology is currently used in more than 160 locations in 12 countries across North America and Asia.

The organisation has since received investment funding from reputable investors such as Cathay Innovation and Intel Capital. When asked about the adoption potential of the retail sector on manpower requirement shifts in retail towards more automation as a future trend, Mark Perry, Global Business Director at Cloudpick, elaborated how their solution enables a reshaping of the culture of retail where clients are able to benefit from 3 core value propositions: innovative branding, astounding customer experience, and increased profitability.

Also read: In the age of e-commerce, complete and accurate data analytics is key

This is made possible through being able to process more transactions at peak hours, having automated restock notifications and planning powered by AI, as well as the enablement of personalised dynamic marketing. The key hurdle to overcome is the expansion of client education. Additionally, Perry noted that the solution is not about cutting manpower but about bringing people into more value-adding aspects of the business.

H3 Dynamics

H3 Dynamics, an automation and drones service company founded in 2015, offers remote sensing, inspection, machine learning, condition monitoring, security and safety services, among others. H3 Dynamics is on a mission to decarbonise aviation with a unique solution focused on distributed hydrogen-electric propulsion. It has 80 employees across 3 regional headquarters in Singapore, Austin, and Paris, and have raised multiple funding rounds from a full range of investors including Mirai Creation Fund, backed by Toyota Motor and SMBC, and Ascent Hydrogen Fund.

When asked about growth plans across the business units of H3 Dynamics, Eric Feddal, Chief Revenue Officer, elaborated how the company is gearing up to raise its Series C round. As a software-as-a-service company in the field of autonomous cargo, it is their strategic priority to ensure commercial viability across their business lines involving AI use cases in non-urban environments such as dams and mines where drones are used and where weather challenges present human risks that can be mitigated through technology.

Also read: B2B tips: Doing business with large enterprises

Furthermore, one of its key focus is its emerging business vertical in aerial technology with its hydrogen-electric propulsion solution. Because of their diversified interests, they are seeking an end-to-end collaboration with HPE, having demonstrated autonomous cargo at scale.

Transcelestial

Transcelestial, a Singapore-based company founded in 2016 is building the future of Superfast Global Internet Distribution, enabling last-mile internet access that aims to boost internet penetration through affordable 5G deployment.

Their proprietary wireless laser communication technology named CENTAURI uses a space laser network in delivering high-speed affordable internet. This means that wireless distribution is possible, and right-of-way issues and digging costs are unnecessary. The shoe-box sized technology also has a built-in automatic alignment feature which makes deployment seamless. It is backed by investors such as Airbus Ventures and Wavemaker Partners.

Also read: Mobile app trends 2022: A global benchmark of app performance

When asked about the commercial scalability and mass adoption of the company’s technology, Rohit Jha, CEO & Co-Founder of Transcelestial, talks about how the organisation considers the fact that it’s being developed outside the US market as a factor of success. Specifically, a substantial market opportunity presents itself in areas where last-mile connectivity is a pervasive challenge, and Transcelestial is well poised to address this. With the amalgamation of both fibre optics and wireless technology, it can deliver internet connectivity and add further value to both consumers and businesses in the last mile. The next product optimisation goal is to provide connectivity of 100gbps along a 5km radius through a space network. Besides this, they have gained validation from the US market as well, being able to service clients in urban settings too.

HPE’s roles in nurturing these startups

HPE helps businesses manage their data and applications wherever they live, transforming insights into outcomes at the speed required to thrive in today’s complex world.

Fast Forward with HPE is on the lookout for the next set of digital disruptors to support and co-innovate with for its 2022 cohort. If you run a B2B digital startup in the APAC region with ready go-to-market solutions, have received prior investor funding, have industry vertical-led offerings, and have B2B-focused solutions or services, you can submit your interest to their official page.

– –

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

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

The post Three leading B2B digital disruptors win 2021 Fast Forward with HPE appeared first on e27.