Singapore robotics firm LionsBot scores US$17M Series A
The investors are TransLink Capital, Superteam APAC, and Freny Firoze Irani; LionsBot develops cleaning robots for commercial applications; Its main offering LeoBot can vacuum, scrub and interact.
Jack Ma to give up control of Ant Group
Ma controls Ant through his investment arm Hangzhou Yunbo; On Jan 7, he agreed to restructure Hangzhou Yunbo into two separate entities and transferred some of his ownership to other executives of Ant Group and Alibaba.
IDX mulls new rules to facilitate listing of overseas tech giants
Only a company with a legal entity in Indonesia can list on the exchange; Foreign firms can currently list on the IDX either by forming a listed subsidiary or acquiring a locally listed company.
SG healthcare firm Qritive raises US$7.5M funding
The investors include MassMutual Ventures, Seeds Capital, and Exfinity; Qritive uses AI to provide interpretations of whole-slide images used in pathology within seconds, reducing treatment time and increasing cancer care accuracy.
Crypto lender Genesis lays off over 60 employees amid liquidity issues
The US-based firm currently has 145 employees following the layoffs; Genesis is facing “hundreds of millions in losses” from its exposure to Three Arrows Capital and Babel Finance; Genesis’s parent firm is backed by GIC.
Indonesian checkout solution startup Flik bags US$1.1M
The investors are East Ventures, Init 6, GMO Venture Partners, and Saison Capital; Flik helps brands strengthen their direct-to-consumer transactions by unifying the checkout experience across different sales channels.
Tencent-backed WeDoctor may file for IPO by April
The firm tried to list its shares in Hong Kong in 2021; However, the application lapsed due to China’s strict regulatory crackdown on private companies, including those that handle sensitive data such as medical information.
Indonesian manufacturing hub platform Imajin raises funding
The investors are Init-6, East Ventures, and 500 SEA; Imajin connects local manufacturers with potential customers; As of July 2022, the startup had 400+ local factory partners and 80 customers.
Grab inks partnership with ZaloPay in Vietnam
The digital wallet will be available for Grab’s services, including transportation, food, grocery, and parcel delivery; Grab also supports cash and other cashless solutions through its e-wallet Moca and payments through linked cards.
SEA’s IPO market fares relatively well amid global downturn: EY report
There were 137 IPOs that raised US$6.5B in the region in 2022, compared to 134 at US$13.2B in 2021; Indonesia led with 60 listings that raked in US$2.2B, followed by Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore.
Audi-backed startup Holoride is bringing VR to the car
Holoride, launching in the US at CES 2023, uses AI to analyse the car’s motion in real time, combining that with the head movements of the wearer to smooth out the experience and ensure any barf bags stay in the seat-back pocket.
What are generative art NFTs & are they worth collecting?
Generative art is a term used to refer to art created using software; The programme randomly creates shapes, patterns, and colours arranged into an artistically enjoyable piece of digital art.
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It has not been a good year for the technology sector. At the time of writing, we’re experiencing what we call the tech winter.
Trillions of dollars of value have been erased from publicly listed tech giants such as Google, Meta and Amazon.
Globally, 1003 technology companies laid off over 152,000 employees this year, per data from layoff.fyi, a platform collating data on firings by tech companies. This has surpassed the tech layoffs during the 2008-2009 recession.
I don’t think we are at the bottom of this yet. I expect more startups to lay off and close down due to cash reserves running out.
I have been following this closely since February. It matters to me as I am a tech worker who works in the SaaS sector. I also work with many startups and venture capital firms in my day job. Tech winter impacts both myself and my customers.
In times of crisis, I always think about two things “How can I turn this into an opportunity?” and “How can I set myself up for long-term success?”
This is my game plan.
Have 12-18 months of emergency funds
Many startups have been advised to keep at least 24 months of runway to stay afloat during this period of time. The same applies to employees. We should be thinking, “If I lose my job tomorrow, how many months can I survive?”
During these times, it is important to have emergency funds. Here is how to calculate your emergency funds: Monthly expenses, including income tax, mortgage, insurance, etc. x 12 -18 months.
Emergency funds can be cash or short-term fixed deposits (six months) if the total sum is 12-18 months within a year.
While some have chosen only to have a six-month buffer, I have personally chosen to keep a buffer of 12-18 months.
Firstly, we tend to underestimate how much we might spend. Unpredictable life situations could happen after we get laid off. We want to ensure we have ‘dry powder’ ready for circumstances like these.
Also, it is not wise to rush to get a new job. When you are desperately looking, you are in a worse position to negotiate and may even take a job that does not pay you as well. That may impact your future earnings.
Having 12-18 months of emergency funds has given me a lot of psychological safety. If I were so unfortunate to be laid off, I know I would have a huge buffer to cushion the impact.
雪中送炭: Focus on impact
I pay attention to key trends, anticipate them and constantly ask myself, “How can I 借东风? (Borrow the easterly winds)”.
This mindset is influenced by my Taoist beliefs 無為(wu wei). This means riding the wave of change, moving with it and not against it, and using its tremendous power.
In February 2022, I chanced upon a deck by a growth stage founder. He shared that there has been >50 per cent compression in public SaaS multiples since Nov 2021. This will persist so long as inflation and interest rates remain high. He shared with his leadership team that having a longer horizon for using funds will be key.
I knew a storm was coming and gave a lot of thought about the implications on the industry and how I wanted to position myself.
There is this saying in mandarin 锦上添花易 , 雪中送炭难 which means it is easy to add flowers to a brocade but hard to deliver charcoal in the snow.
I wanted not to be a fair-weathered friend who was only there during good times but rather to be the person who helps others in crisis. So, I started thinking about how to adjust myself to add value and contribute to others during this time.
One of the key risks I took was to leave my previous company after only 10 months and join a new one which will empower me to bring more immediate value during the tech winter.
For the past few months, I’ve been able to deliver a huge impact to many of our customers via my job at Spot.io.
Many startups are doing great work by solving key problems in our society and improving the lives of their customers. If they fail during this winter, it will be a huge loss to the founders and everyone else.
By optimising and automating their cloud infrastructure, saving up to 60 per cent on compute costs, we’ve been able to help them free up budget and manpower, which they can dedicate to their strategic priorities.
Through this experience, I hope to add as much value as possible, save some peoples’ jobs, collect good karma and build lasting relationships.
Please connect with me if you are keen to reduce your SaaS and cloud infrastructure spending.
Deepen and build work relationships
Since February, I have focused on building up existing industry relationships and new ones. This was advice from one of my previous bosses and also a Bazi master, and it has worked out pretty well.
I started being super active in attending conferences, events and dinners. As I tend to do better in small groups, I have also reached out to interesting people on LinkedIn to ask them to meet and organise my events.
I have also made it a point to talk to every recruiter who calls my mobile, even though I am not looking for a new job now. I would try to point them in the right direction by matching them with a friend who is looking. The idea is to build two relationships – with the recruiter and the person I am helping.
Meeting new people and building relationships in the industry is still quite an intimidating process for me. This is especially so in an industry that is so male-dominated.
I still face self-doubt, feel shy at times and wonder if people might sometimes take advantage of my generosity and trusting nature.
However, I gradually learned there is a lot I cannot control, so I can only focus on my attitude. These are the principles I will abide by:
诚信赢天下: There is no direct translation for 诚信, and the idea is to treat others with sincerity, honesty, gratitude and in good faith. A relationship has value only if it is genuine. I try to be vulnerable, show up authentically, give first and open my heart. I hope that others can be real and sincere to me in return.
Think win-win and long term: Try to add value to others by sharing knowledge and budget and making introductions and resources. Sometimes, people may not be kind to us or able to help us at all because of various factors such as level of maturity or that they are going through a bad time in their own lives. Have empathy, extend your hand to help first and think long-term.
Increase your surface area of luck: Each new person you meet expands your luck surface area. Several new connections I made were made through cold emails, and taking the first step to connect at parties and conferences. Like attracts like. If you have similar values as others, they will connect you with other like-minded folks. That is how you build your tribe.
Upskill, upskill, upskill
I listened to a podcast during the COVID-19 period, and one of Zenyum’s Co-Founder shared a quote I still remember today: “When Fishermen cannot go out to sea, they repair their nets”.
The idea here is to double down and focus on your growth and learning.
Here is what I did in 2022:
In my new role, I had to work with many VCs and growth equity companies. I took a venture capital course to learn how they think, speak their language, and add value to the partners I work with.
I also doubled down on my core skill set by learning from one of Salesforce’s top-performing individual contributors.
To prepare for my next step, I also spoke with several SaaS leaders to learn about leadership principles, to hire, running a team, building a GTM strategy, etc.
When I encounter exciting books, concepts and ideas, I share them on my Instagram, LinkedIn and newsletter.
I have yet to define a learning agenda for the first half of 2023. This will involve reflecting on my 2023 priorities and identifying potential gaps.
Invest consistently
Topics like fixed deposits and savings bonds are increasingly popular in personal finance. I see them covered extensively by many creators and publications.
However, if one neglects equities now, it could be a missed opportunity. After all, recessions do not last forever. I’ve been through a bear market in 2018, March 2020 and again in 2022.
Each time when I look back, I wish I had invested more. Thus, I know that the best time to invest is now.
I keep the advice from Warren Buffet and Charlies Munger close to my heart: “Be greedy when other people are fearful” and “The first rule of compounding: Never interrupt it unnecessarily”.
As tech stock values plunged throughout the year, private equity firms such as Thoma Bravo began hunting to acquire smaller ones. They saw companies with lots of upsides being vastly undervalued in the brutal market conditions of 2022.
I did not reduce my position during this period and continued to invest consistently in companies in my portfolio, S&P 500, funds and unit trusts.
I also started learning about alternative investments and private markets in late 2022. This is an area I wish to continue learning more about in 2023.
Jeremy Au and Jeraldine Phneah discussing Tech Winter
We cannot change a lot of things which happen. However, we can take steps to prepare ourselves for it. What I feel is important is not just taking steps to prepare ourselves for the crisis but also maintaining conviction in the path we’ve chosen for ourselves.
Despite the winter, I am bullish on the tech sector and Southeast Asia. I believe in the long-term growth of this industry and this market and will continue to build my career on it.
This is not the first bear market or tech winter that the industry can see. Neither will it be our last. There could be worse ones in the future even after we recover from this.
This is an opportunity to build resilience and adaptability and maximise what gains we can get.
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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.
[L-R] Alterpacks Co-Founders Herbin Chia (CFO), Karen Cheah (CEO), and Steven Tan (COO)
During her travels, Karen Cheah witnessed people choking under the weight of food waste and litter from plastic containers. She sniffed a multi-million opportunity there.
“I sensed that we could create eco-friendly food containers that could replace plastic disposables. This way, we can contain this throw-away culture that has become ubiquitous with plastics,” Cheah tells e27.
This was the genesis of Alterpacks.
Established in 2019, Singapore-based Alterpacks was created to combat the problem of single-use plastics.
The team has over 20 years of complementary skillsets in marketing, finance, manufacturing and R&D with global experience. The founding team members Cheah (CEO) and Herbin Chia (CFO) were classmates at Singapore Management University, and Steven Tan (COO) joined them after a distinguished career in the Singapore Navy.
The greentech startup converts food grains into containers that can be moulded into any shape. Thus, it upcycles food loss in manufacturing to create a biodegradable and home-compostable material. Cheah claims that Alterpacks containers are 100 per cent organic.
Alterpacks works with F&B businesses, converters, and manufacturers to create tailor-made, sustainable packaging solutions.
Last year, the company piloted its food containers at the Motor GP Event in Mandalika, Indonesia. It also collaborated with the UN Development Programme to combat plastic pollution in Indonesia.
In Vietnam, Alterpacks piloted its eco-friendly products with the popular F&B brand Pizza 4P’s.
In addition to bio-degradable containers, the startup also creates bio-pellets to replace petroleum-based resins used in standard manufacturing machines and changes the raw material with other forms of agricultural waste. It has also started the production of various cutlery, including coffee cups and cup covers.
Alterpacks products are priced competitively against other similar environmentally friendly solutions. “We target a price point on par with petroleum-based products.”
While there are rigid food containers, other eco-friendly alternatives, and bio-plastics, the mass usage of such products is yet to pick up the pace. Their mass pickup primarily depends on the price and performance of the products.
“Eco-containers compete with plastics that have had a head-start of over 100 years in production processes and economies of scale. Moreover, the current eco-containers in the market have been challenged with dents and leaks,” Cheah shares.
“What sets Alterpacks apart from competitors is the performance of our material made using side streams from food manufacturing. We create products that meet the performance specifications of business at a competitive price point,” she adds.
In terms of performance, Alterpacks containers can go from freezer to microwave, hold wet and oily foods, and keep their shape and form. “Addressing the price points and performance expectations are the two areas for the mass take-up. Because our containers are also home-compostable, they have become the go-to alternative in countries that have already started looking at banning the use of virgin pulp and plastic coatings in paper products as well.”
In her view, government legislation and increasing consumer awareness about eco-alternatives could take bio-degradable products to the next level.
Last week, Alterpacks closed its US$1 million pre-seed funding round with lead investor Plug and Play APAC and co-investors SEEDS Capital and Earth Venture Capital. The company will use the money to ramp up production and supply across key markets in Asia, Australia, and Europe.
“Like all startups, this round is only the beginning. So we will move ahead with a seed Round as we scale up our manufacturing and R&D. This is already in the works,” she says.
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Singapore-based parenting network Supermom has closed its “oversubscribed” SG$8 (US$6) million Series A fundraising round, led by Qualgro, with participation from AC Ventures.
The startup will use the money to enhance its data and product capabilities and accelerate regional expansion.
Luke Lim, Founder and Chairman of Supermom, said: “The funding and support will allow us to serve more parents in Southeast Asia and connect them with the brands they love by building new AI and data-driven tools and hiring tech and engineering talent.”
Supermom was established by Joan Ong, Luke Lim, Lynn Yeoh, and Rebecca Koh. It aims to allow parents to discover valuable crowdsourced parenting tips, best practices, and reliable product reviews for their children.
This is facilitated by its communities, which help parents connect with each other. Supermom also collects opinions and insights from their parents and shares this information across their network.
Parents join communities befitting their parenting needs and interests via Supermom’s website and app. The company also partners with other private social parent communities (across Facebook, WhatsApp, Telegram etc.).
Today, Supermom has a network of 20 million parents from over 1,000 social communities across Southeast Asian countries.
Supermom provides data and consumer insights for over 200 consumer brands across multiple industries, including mother & child, education, FMCG, fashion, and beauty. Its clients include Kimberly Clark, P&G, and Philips. With Supermom, brands can engage parents and, with their permission, acquire accurate, reliable first-party data and insights for marketing, lead generation, and user research.
“With a growing population of 250 million parents, Southeast Asia is starting to be noticed by global and national brands. Supermom’s growth and customer retention give us confidence that the platform is serving a long-term trend in the region,” said Adrian Li, Founder and Managing Partner of AC Ventures.
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