Sea says it will add over 2,000 jobs in Malaysia
Accordingly, Sea plans to open a global cloud computing centre and a new warehouse for Shopee in Malaysia; It also looks to set up cloud services and data hosting and processing in the country.

Can Chinese VCs be a potential wild card for SEA during funding winter?
China’s matured economy and willingness to invest in the region could make it a major player in SEA startup funding in 2023, says a VC investor in SEA.

China’s JD.com to officially quit ID, TH
The moves mark JD’s retreat from the competitive e-commerce area in SEA, where the domination of regional champions, including Tokopedia and Shopee, has made it hard to expand its market share.

Indonesian agritech startup EdenFarm secures US$13.5M pre-Series B
The investors are TMI Ventures, AppWorks, AC Ventures, and Capria Ventures; EdenFarm claims it has over 5,500 farmer partners and 50,000 B2B customers and has seen almost 60X growth in the last 40 months.

Stripe may go public next year, allows exit for investors and employees
The plans come as restricted stock units of the payments major’s veteran employees are set to expire, which would see a major part of their compensation vanish if no action is taken.

Indonesian collectibe marketplace Kick Avenue scores US$2.39M Series A
The investors are Korean marketplace KREAM and Malaysia’s SneakersLAH; Kick Avenue offers a variety of mainly collectibe sneakers from international brands, such Adidas and Nike, as well as local brands.

Wavemaker, Seedstars invest in Thai SaaS insurtech startup Eazy Digital
Eazy Digital provides digital solutions to small and medium-sized insurance companies that lack the resources to digitise their processes and distribution.

Japan embraces Web3 as global regulators grow wary of crypto
With tight regulations already in place that helped insulate FTX Japan and its investors from heavy losses, Japan is working on policy and guidelines for stablecoins, NFTs and DAOs as it welcomes a crypto future.

Redefining metaverse: how to determine real utility in the Web3 world
Web3 has given us an incredible tool — the ability to create a ‘digital value economy’, whereby something can have value in and of itself online, without a trusted intermediary.

Amazon NFT initiative coming soon: Exclusive
Amazon has been shopping the digital collectibles effort to no shortage of power players in the industry, per multiple sources; There’s a focus on blockchain-based gaming and related NFT applications, as per sources.

Grab promotes Philipp Kandal to CPO
In his new role, Kandal will oversee the tech giant’s product, design, and analytics teams; He will also spearhead Grab’s product vision and strategy initiatives.

How to fortify yourself against the risky unknown
It’s important to have an experimental mindset in the digital age by exploring new tools, ways of doing, thinking and working.

Indonesia’s antivirus reliance: A cybersecurity blindspot
It’s crucial for individuals to understand that relying solely on antivirus software leaves them vulnerable to other types of cyber threats.

—

Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

The post Ecosystem Roundup: JD.com to quit Indonesia, Thailand; Sea to add 2K+ jobs in Malaysia; EdenFarm secures US$13.5M appeared first on e27.

Ten Series A startups are about to embark on the seventh edition of the Google for Startups (GFS) Accelerator for Southeast Asia and Pakistan.

Hailing from six countries, including Indonesia and Vietnam, and diverse sectors ranging from healthtech to edutech, these startups reflect the opportunities and challenges currently present in the region. 

All about edutech

In edutech, while we see investments in this sector starting to reduce due to the reopening of economies, there is still much headroom to reimagine the learning experience, particularly in the realms of levelling working professionals.

Since the start of the pandemic, there has been an approximately 30 per cent increase in jobs that require bilingual proficiency for business discussions, presentations and more.

This is why Bluente‘s approach is interesting. The Singapore-based company – one of the ten startups in this year’s GFS Accelerator for Southeast Asia and Pakistan – has developed a business language learning mobile app that delivers bite-size courses for working professionals. 

It is built for self-paced learning and offers personalised classes according to the user’s proficiency level. It uses attractive flashcards and real-life case studies in its lessons, allowing learners to retain words effectively.  

Also Read: How Noodle Factory addresses educator burnout with its AI-powered teaching assistants

Meanwhile, Wela School System, a startup headquartered in the Philippines, has built an end-to-end school system where students (and their parents) can easily view grades, announcements and billing statements through a mobile app.

OOOLAB from Vietnam, on the other hand, has developed an online e-learning platform to support education organisations by providing an all-in-one, low-code learning infrastructure for K-12s, universities, tutoring centres, corporates, and even fellow edutech startups.

Healthtech in all its glory

Healthtech is another nascent but growing sector in Southeast Asia, where startups are increasingly focused on addressing challenges like poor access to healthcare and rising healthcare costs, which are prevalent in many countries, including Indonesia, the Philippines and Vietnam. Opportunities in the well-being space also abound for HealthTech founders, with mental care becoming more top of mind among people in the region. 

Healthtech startups have their work cut out for them as they are working to transform an established, traditional sector that is healthcare. What they need most are partnerships and support from government agencies and policymakers to help drive the adoption of their solutions, which accelerator programs can help provide. Notably, the four healthtech startups in this year’s GFS Accelerator for Southeast Asia and Pakistan are working to improve access to quality medical attention in the region. 

Vietnam-based Docosan, for instance, is a platform that lets people book doctor appointments and tests online and order medication to be delivered to their doorsteps. HonestDocs from Thailand is a healthcare and surgery marketplace that works with over 1,000 healthcare providers, while Elfie, a Singapore startup, aims to reduce the burden of chronic diseases by rewarding patients for self-monitoring through a mobile app. In Indonesia, Mindtera supports companies by using data-driven insights to increase the performance, productivity and well-being of employees.

Over in Pakistan, logistic startup Rider is looking to level up the country’s burgeoning e-commerce sector, which includes solving problems like items getting lost or damaged in the delivery process, which is largely caused by a disjointed logistics infrastructure. Rider has built a modern logistics platform to support online sellers and, to date, is working with over 1,000 online sellers across 60 cities in Pakistan. 

Also Read: It is costly to develop and sell insurance products in Indonesia: PasarPolis CEO

Finally, we are seeing a lot of buzz and action in the startup scene in Indonesia. Noice, a local audio platform that offers podcasts, audio series, live audio and radio streaming services, is actively championing the local online audio creator community.

PasarMikro, which has built an agri-commodity trade platform, is tackling a bottleneck in the agricultural value chain by enabling existing traders, aggregators and farmers to easily access working capital and digitalisation services.

Come February, these ten startups will begin the GFS Accelerator program and receive mentorship from Googlers and industry experts in multiple areas, which include product development, engineering best practices, leadership and team development, and marketing.

We look forward to meeting the founders and mentors from across Southeast Asia and Pakistan and helping them build successful businesses.

–

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

The post How startups in SEA and Pakistan are solving the region’s problems appeared first on e27.

Secai Marche, a Japanese startup providing a B2B farm-to-table fulfilment platform in Malaysia, has announced a JPY210 million (US$1.6 million) Series A fundraising.

The investors, who participated in the round, are The Agribusiness Investment & Consultation, Spiral Ventures Asia Fund I, and existing backer Beyond Next Ventures.

This round takes the farm-tech company’s total funding raised to date to US$4.5 million.

The startup will use the new capital to develop its own demand forecast system and optimise truck routing.

Also Read: Can Chinese VCs be a potential wild card for SEA during funding winter?

Established by Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Ami Sugiyama and Shusaku Hayakawa, Secai Marche connects farmers with F&B businesses to purchase high-quality products at competitive prices from the farm directly. It sources over 4,000 items (fresh vegetables, fruit, eggs, and chilled seafood, among others) directly from farmers in Southeast Asia and Japan.

The online grocery platform claims to have partnered with over 500 retailers and HORECA customers.

Secai Marche has built a warehouse management and fulfilment system for perishables and established a cold chain. “The warehouse management and fulfilment system is designed to optimise the supply chain and maintain the lowest wastage rate of less than 1 per cent,” said Sugiyama. “Now, We are ready to accelerate our expansion in SEA to service more farmers and consumers.”

In May 2021, Secai Marche received ~US$1.5 million in a pre-Series A round from Rakuten Ventures and Beyond Next Ventures. A few months earlier, it secured US$1 million in a funding round from Beyond Next Ventures, Monex Ventures, and unnamed angels.

—

Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

The post Malaysian B2B farm-to-table fulfilment platform Secai Marche bags US$1.6M in Series A appeared first on e27.

The metaverse is a rapidly developing technology that has the potential to revolutionise how we live, interact, and work. It is a virtual world, an immersive environment shaping the digital world’s future in ways we never thought possible.

It is a digital universe that is expected to significantly impact various sectors of the economy, including entertainment and gaming.

One technology that intersects with the metaverse is blockchain technology. Together, blockchain and the metaverse have the potential to impact these sectors significantly. These impacts have ramifications across many other industries, not just entertainment and gaming.

Retail, e-commerce, supply chain and manufacturing processes can be radically transformed. Innovations in healthcare and education will not only create economic value, but they may also improve well-being and the human condition.

This article will explore the intersection of cutting-edge technologies shaping the digital world’s future — blockchain technology and the metaverse — and the potential Impact of the metaverse on these sectors.

Technologies involved in the metaverse

The metaverse is a virtual world, an immersive environment, and a rapidly developing technology with the potential to revolutionise how we live, interact and work. It allows for real-time interactions and experiences across large distances from social interactions, shared experience, trading, currency, tokenized assets, and property ownership. Users can interact and engage with each other and with virtual objects.

Also Read: Into the metaverse: When Web3 and virtual worlds collide

In a digital world, several technologies come into play in the metaverse development. The metaverse combined mixed reality—virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), 3D real-time rendering and modelling, and blockchain technology.

How does blockchain enhance the capability of the metaverse?

Blockchain technology serves as the foundation for the metaverse, as many applications within it run on blockchain systems.

This technology offers decentralisation, transparency, digital collectability, and value transfer, which are crucial for the metaverse to function correctly. Other functions of blockchain in the metaverse include verification of digital ownership, accessibility, and interoperability.

Decentralisation allows for the distribution of data and controls across a network of computers rather than being controlled by a single entity. This ensures that any organisation or group does not control the metaverse and that all users have equal access.

It provides a transparent and tamper-proof record of all transactions within the metaverse. This allows for greater trust and security within the metaverse.

In addition, it enables the transfer of value within the metaverse, allowing users to buy and sell goods and services using cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency is a crucial technology used in the metaverse. It enables users to convert their real-world currencies to digital form before using them to carry out any transaction in the metaverse.

It allows the user to transact within the metaverse and enable cross-border transactions. It is used to purchase resources such as NFTs, digital real estate, and in-game items. It is a vital aspect of the metaverse, allowing for secure, fast, and cost-effective transactions.

The potential impact of the metaverse on different sectors of the economy

In a report by the global provider of consulting and advisory services, Deloitte, the concept of a “metaverse,” once considered science fiction, is now a reality as millions of people are already using it on platforms like Roblox, Decentraland, Fortnite, Sandbox, and Zepeto for gaming, socialising, attending virtual events, and making purchases. At the same time, governments in Asian countries have included the metaverse in their economic plans.

According to the report, the potential Impact of the metaverse on GDP in Asia could be between US$0.8 trillion and US$1.4 trillion per year by 2035, or roughly 1.3–2.4 per cent of overall GDP.

In his report on how businesses can explore the metaverse, JP Morgan compared the hype with reality, saying, “The metaverse will likely infiltrate every sector in some way in the coming years, with the market opportunity estimated at over $1 trillion in yearly revenues.”

Sectoral impact of the metaverse across industries (adapted from Deloitte)

Entertainment and gaming

The metaverse has the potential to revolutionise the entertainment and gaming industries by providing a more immersive and interactive experience for users. Virtual reality and blockchain technology can enhance the user experience by allowing players to interact with each other and with virtual objects more realistically and seamlessly.

For example, virtual reality games can provide players with a more realistic and immersive experience. At the same time, blockchain technology can create virtual marketplaces where players can buy and sell virtual goods, thus leading to a new revenue stream for the gaming industry.

Retail and e-commerce

Retail and e-commerce are also sectors poised to see a significant impact from the metaverse. The metaverse can change how we shop and purchase goods by providing a more immersive and interactive shopping experience. The use of AI can automate customer service experiences in the metaverse.

One example of virtual stores is virtual reality technology, which allows customers to walk through a virtual store and interact with products, while blockchain technology can create virtual marketplaces. This can significantly impact brick-and-mortar retail and online shopping and create new revenue streams for retailers.

Manufacturing and supply chain

The metaverse can be used in manufacturing processes to improve product design and testing. Virtual reality can be used to create prototypes of products and test them in virtual environments. This can lead to a more efficient and cost-effective product design process and improved product quality. Additionally, blockchain technology can create a more transparent and efficient supply chain by providing real-time tracking and traceability of products.

Metaverse technologies could lead to better real-time monitoring of supply chains, operational effectiveness, and collaboration between stakeholders.

Health care and education

The implementation of immersive technologies has the potential to improve the delivery and quality of education by creating more interactive educational content and curriculum and making it available to a larger audience, including those with disabilities.

Also Read: Singapore’s ageing population: Tech and new scientific discoveries may calm the silver tsunami

Virtual reality and blockchain technology are being used to create new ways of delivering healthcare services, such as virtual consultations and remote surgeries, to provide patients with more convenient and accessible healthcare services.

In addition, it creates new ways of delivering education, such as virtual classrooms and remote learning, as well as new opportunities in medical education and training to provide medical students and professionals with a more immersive and interactive learning experience.

This can significantly impact access to education and the democratisation of knowledge. It is significant not only in terms of monetary value but also in terms of improving well-being and the human condition.

Final thoughts

In conclusion, the metaverse and blockchain technology are shaping the digital world’s future in ways we never thought possible. The potential Impact of the metaverse on various sectors of the economy is significant, and it has ramifications across many sectors, not just entertainment and gaming.

Retail, e-commerce, and manufacturing processes can be radically transformed, and healthcare and education innovations will create economic value and improve well-being and the human condition.

Future developments and research in the field are necessary to understand the full potential and the challenges of implementing the metaverse and blockchain technology.

–

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 the metaverse and blockchain accelerates economic development appeared first on e27.

Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group subsidiaries, MUFG Innovation Partners and MUFG Bank, have established a US$100 million fund in partnership with Indonesia’s commercial bank Danamon.

The fund, MUFG Innovation Partners Garuda No. 1 Limited Investment Partnership, will make strategic investments in Indonesian companies that are expected to have synergies with Danamon.

Danamon was acquired by MUFG and MUFG Bank as a consolidated subsidiary in April 2019.

With this partnership, Danamon aims to enhance its product competitiveness, promote digitalisation and attract new customers through the customer contacts of the investees.

Also Read: Mitsubishi arm injects US$200M investment into digital finance platform Akulaku

This is MUIP’s third fund, in which MUFG Bank will have an 89.9 per cent stake while Danamon will own 10 per cent. MUIP will have 0.1 per cent equity in the MUFG Innovation Partners Garuda No. 1 Limited Investment Partnership.

In January 2019, MUFG established MUIP, a fund management company, to strengthen open innovation through business alliances between the group companies and startups in Japan and overseas. MUIP has invested over JPY 40 billion (US$307 million) in companies globally.

Headquartered in Tokyo, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group is one of the world’s leading financial groups, with a presence in approximately 2,100 locations in more than 50 countries. The group offers commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.

Danamon is the sixth-largest commercial bank in Indonesia in terms of assets. It provides consumer finance, investment, asset management, and other financial products and services to individual consumers, SMEs, and large corporations through 864 domestic branches.

—

The post MUFG partners with Danamon to launch US$100M startup fund in Indonesia appeared first on e27.