I refuse to believe that we have passed the first month of 2023.

Perhaps this has something to do with the back-to-back public holidays that we had in January and the fact that we mostly spend the month planning and figuring things out. But I feel like time moves at an unnaturally fast speed, and we have just woken up after a long sleep –being made aware of all the things we need to catch up with.

So, how was the Southeast Asian tech startup ecosystem in January?

One notable thing is that we are still wary about the state of the world today. While borders have reopened and we are pushing back thoughts about the pandemic to the back of our heads, there are specific issues that we remain fixated on. One of them being the funding winter.

There are many reasons to worry, especially after last year’s waves of company layoffs. The string of bad news continues as we witness notable e-commerce companies such as China’s JD leaving the Indonesian market.

Also Read: Are startups neglecting the future middle-class population in Philippines?

But there are reasons to remain optimistic.

In January, we saw how several new funds were being launched for startups in SEA. The majority of them are focusing on bigger markets in SEA such as Indonesia, with a collaboration between MUFG and Danamon for a US$100 million fund and a first close of the latest fund for Northstar Group. For Singapore, two PEs have partnered to launch a US$700 million tech fund.

Companies also continued to announce their funding, and we noticed supply chain and agritech as popular sectors for the month.

Does this mean January is the month when we can feel slightly more optimistic about the future?

Even if it does, there are still many things that we have to do.

In a special feature that e27 published, we look at the possibilities of how Chinese VCs be a “potential wild card” for SEA during funding winter.

“China and the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have long enjoyed close economic ties. According to a Global Times report of last August, the two-way investment between the world’s second-largest economy and the ASEAN was US$340 billion as of July-end 2022,” our editor Sainul Abudheen K wrote.

Also Read: The tale of the have-yachts and the have-nots in the proptech sector

“The Chinese VCs are turning their focus to the ASEAN because of a slowing economy back on the home turf for many reasons, including a surge in COVID-19 infections and deaths and strict lockdowns … The question is: Is China stepping up its investment activities in the region during the Funding Winter, and how vital is the role of Chinese VCs in SEA?”

SEA investors came back with various responses to this. While some believe that China might provide an alternative, others such as Monk’s Hill Ventures’s Founding Partner Peng T. Ong and Tin Men Capital’s Murli Ravi are more careful.

“There won’t be any significant rise in activity [in terms of VC investments]. Our investors are basically from our region. So China is unlikely to play a significant role here,” Ong says.

So where can we find our beacon of hope in this challenging time? I personally believe that we should learn to be okay with saying that we do not have the answer yet and that this is a moment of exploration. We look at all the possibilities and prospects and work on the ones that seem plausible.

Time moves fast, but with the right attitude, we may have it on our side.

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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.

Image Credit: Redd F on Unsplash

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Koina, a data-driven farm-to-business agritech platform in Vietnam, has raised US$1 million as part of its seed extension round from VinaCapital, the technology investment vehicle of VinaCapital Group.

The new funding will be used to expand Koina’s sales channels so that the startup can absorb more volume from farmers, in addition to investing in technologies.

Thi Nguyen, Co-Founder and Chairman of Koina, said: “With the new investment, Koina will expand to more sales channels creating more volume to offtake from farms. We are also investing more in technologies to manage quality better and increase value-add for Vietnam’s agriculture products.”

Also Read: B2B embedded finance company CrediLinq.Ai extends its seed financing round

Koina was founded in 2021 by Khoa Luu and a group of former executives at Grab, VinID, and GiaoHangNhanh.

The Vietnamese startup’s vision is to build an efficient agri-ecosystem by working closely with local farmers and connecting them directly with financial institutions, input suppliers, and commercial retailers.

Koina helps communities with financing, providing fair and transparent pricing, and guiding farmers on best practices. Its goal is to grow, harvest and deliver fresh produce from farms to retailers with the highest quality at reasonable prices.

Trung D. Hoang, Partner at VinaCapital Ventures noted: “Agriculture is the backbone of Vietnam’s economy and society. Koina’s mission is to be the innovative hub of Vietnam’s agriculture sector and with the Vietnamese government promoting green, environmentally friendly agriculture, we hope to play a part in not just improving the supply chain but also the lives of Vietnam’s farmers.”

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BetterPlace, an India-based workforce management platform, has expanded into Southeast Asia by acquiring a majority stake in Indonesia’s blue-collar workforce fulfilment company MyRobin.

The transaction details remain undisclosed.

As per a statement, this deal is part of a series of investments being made by BetterPlace to expand into Southeast Asia. Soon, it plans to expand into Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines through organic and inorganic strategies.

“Driven by the vision to optimise frontline workforce management for enterprises, a combination of consolidation and innovation was the right way to go about building the world’s most comprehensive workforce management platform that exists today. With our technology and MyRobin’s expertise in operating in Indonesia, we could introduce equitable opportunities for the frontline segment,” said Pravin Agarwala, Co-founder and Group CEO at BetterPlace.

Founded in 2015, Bengaluru-based BetterPlace provides a SaaS and frontline workforce management platform. It caters to the entire value chain of workforce management — from verification, discovery, hiring, and onboarding to upskilling, productivity management and benefits transfer.

Also Read: How to scale talent in Southeast Asia during unprecedented times

BetterPlace’s B2C platform Rocket has partnered with enterprises to upskill frontline workers free of cost.

The company claims it has over 30 million workers on the platform and over 1,100 clients.

In December 2022, BetterPlace raised US$40 million as part of its extended Series C round from Macquarie Capital, Jungle Ventures, Unitus, BII, Capria, and 3one4 Capital.

Launched in 2020 in Indonesia, MyRobin is a workforce-as-a-service platform that provides enterprises with on-demand, pre-screened, blue-collar workers. It provides a solution for businesses with recruitment, documentation, attendance, performance, and workers’ payments all processed on the platform. For workers, MyRobin provides an online job portal, financial services, and training.

The firm claims it has an outreach to more than three million workers across around 270 cities in Indonesia.

The company claims to have recorded a 7x growth in 2022. Its clients include Shopee, Astro, Sicepat, E-Fishery, and Kopi Kenangan.

MyRobin is backed by Antler, SOSV, Accion Venture Lab, and Investible.

Ardy Satria Hasanuddin, Co-founder and CTO at MyRobin, said: “As the next chapter of our growth, we would like to take our vision and expertise to more geographies, and BetterPlace is the perfect partner who will enable us to achieve this goal.”

Southeast Asia has close to 200 million frontline workforce management and a market size of US$280 billion.

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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.

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Kickstarted in November last year, the Big Leap Roadshow is a collaborative event between e27 and CleverTap, the World’s number 1 Retention Cloud trusted by 2000 customers. Since then, the Roadshow has been touring major cities across Southeast Asia, the only platform of its kind for hundreds of business leaders, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to come together and discuss the future of customer retention and engagement. 

On February 9th, 2023, the Big Leap roadshow is coming to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with the goal of sparking insightful discussions on actionable strategies and best practices for building strong customer relationships, reducing churn, and maximising customer lifetime value.

The event in Kuala Lumpur promises to be both informative and exciting, especially being the capital of one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-evolving and most prosperous business landscapes with a digital economy set to be worth US$35 billion (RM156. 1 billion) by 2025, and demonstrating unique customer demands for businesses in the country and nearby regions. 

Malaysia’s vibrant scenes in the digital economy

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the push towards heightened digitalisation processes has accelerated in Malaysia, signalled by the Malaysian government’s incentive programmes to realise the national digitalisation objectives that include the launch of GovTech and MyGovCloud and its 5G network.

Malaysia has been ranked as the 2nd most digitally advanced country in Southeast Asia on Huawei’s Global Connectivity Index, being ahead of some developed economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore in some sectors such as banking and e-commerce. Moreover, many training sessions and digital literacy workshops are also offered through the Malaysia Digital initiative by the government for digital upskilling for all interested Malaysians.

Also read: Building resilience through the SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards

As such, experts see Malaysia as an upcoming regional digital hub, attracting major global tech players, data centres, and digital infrastructure service providers to the country. According to CEO Mahadhir Aziz of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia expects the digital economy to contribute 25.5% to the country’s GDP by 2025, creating 500,000 new jobs and granting internet access to almost every household. With all these developments, businesses across the country have the unique opportunity to bolster their products and services. Moreover, they can explore ways to better engage their customers in ways that inspire loyalty and retention.

Additionally, thanks to the fast-growing digital infrastructure and ecosystem, Malaysian customers can enjoy better e-commerce services and complete access to an online learning environment. This is why initiatives such as the Big Leap roadshow that seeks to tackle important business challenges on customer retention and engagement are more important than ever.

Malaysian founders must harness leadership to drive business growth 

Nevertheless, to stay competitive in the digital world, business leaders face the need to have flexible leadership styles that address new responsibilities and growth challenges. In regular time, business leaders are typically those who set the organisations’ vision and mission, propose business strategies to meet their companies’ objectives, devise the processes and procedures to manage internal and external relationships, motivate and inspire the organisational members to go above and beyond and oversee the implementation of the initiatives.

To lead in the digital-first business landscape, the imperative for business leaders to spark digitalisation efforts has become even more critical. Businesses must adopt a holistic approach towards digital transformation in all aspects of the business, starting from processes, domains, business models, and other organisational transformations.

Throughout the whole process, leaders must act as an architect and catalyst to initiate and sustain digital transformation, taking advantage of newly arisen digital business processes and tools to enhance efficiency, appealing to technologically savvy young talents, and becoming attuned to leading in a virtually connected world.

A multi-channel approach to customer engagement

With digital transformation at the heart of the Malaysian startup ecosystem not only as a response to pandemic recovery but also as a longstanding commitment made well before COVID-19, Malaysian businesses must adopt a multi-channel approach to customer engagement, utilising technologies to improve customer experience and embracing new strategies to maximise customer lifetime value. 

For example, in the context of online purchasing, the customer journey has evolved to take place over multiple digital touchpoints, searching for purchase inspirations via social media applications, researching about the products from their mobile browsers, conducting the transactions digitally with cashless payment options, and having the products delivered to them right at their doors.

As such, businesses need to make it easier for customers to switch between different channels and platforms, both online and offline if they want to guide consumers across omni-channel platforms.

Also read: The future of sustainable growth according to Dagangan

Nevertheless, with the rise of digital technologies, there are also more tools at the business’s disposal that can help them gain more understanding of consumer behaviour, enabling them to design the most desirable products, services, and shopping experiences optimised for customer satisfaction.

For instance, thanks to the availability of big data and data analytics, businesses can obtain unique insights such as customers’ journeys, their gratification points and pain points, purchasing habits and preferences to keep them engaged and motivate their decision-making process. Another scheme to maximise customer lifetime value is through a loyalty programme which rewards customers loyal to the business. The loyalty programmes become even more valuable as they are provided digitally, enabling customers to communicate openly with the businesses, keep track of their earned points, and access their benefits.

Hear it straight from experts at ‘The Big Leap’ Roadshow in Malaysia

With much excitement over the thrilling business landscape in Malaysia, CleverTap’s Big Leap Roadshow is poised to provide valuable advice from competent experts and growth leaders. These industry insiders will be providing key insights into building strong customer relationships and maximising customer lifetime value.

From understanding customer needs in the digital era, to creating a strong customer experience, and even using data analytics and loyalty programmes, the Big Leap Roadshow Malaysia’s central theme: ‟Retention Playbook Malaysia: How to engage and retain customers in a rapidly evolving market‟ will cover all the key elements of successful customer retention, customer engagement, and monetisation.

Also read: Airwallex: making business transactions easier than ever with physical cards launch

Whether you are a small business owner or a marketing professional, the Retention Playbook Malaysia will be an essential resource for building valuable, long-term relationships with your customers in today’s competitive market.

Learn from industry experts across various sectors on how they have created magnetic experiences to grow customer retention and go from good to great.

To sign up for the event, click here. 

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

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.

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In a world where convenience rules, providing easy access to interactive entertainment is a growing trend. In November, the streaming giant Netflix launched Triviaverse.

After playing Triviaverse it was easy to understand the mass appeal of such a simple but entertaining format.  Players must correctly answer as many questions as possible within a time frame of three minutes using their mobile phones. 

This casual access to well-known skills games from the comfort of our living rooms could catapult the gaming market into the hands of every generation. However, this new Netflix focus is not surprising. In 2022 VP of  Gaming at Netflix Mike Perdu revealed that they were exploring Cloud Gaming at Techcrunch Disrupt. 

The global Hyper Casual Gaming market size was valued at US$15600.0 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.96 per cent during the forecast period, reaching US$24700.0 million by 2027. 

A look into the history

Skills games date back centuries before the screens became an intrinsic part of our everyday lives. Remember how we used our imaginations to devise games like charades, guess who, and poker to entertain each other? These are games that require some level of physical or mental skill to win the game.

Also Read: 7 trends changing the reality of immersive gaming

Solitaire, Chess, Sudoku, Wordplay and Pictionary are examples that date back to a time when people used physical coordination, balance, and physical skills to win games. Clever mobile game developers have taken this popular game type from carnivals and arcades to create captivating games that require basic skills but endless fun. 

Why do people enjoy mobile games?

Every form of game gives some sort of relief from everyday life and provides a welcome spot of entertainment. Some like a challenge, some enjoy playing against people from around the world, and some use games to pass the time or relieve stress. The fact that mobile games are easily accessible allows them to be played at any time and in any venue. Often they are free to download, and with over 7.33 billion mobile phone users worldwide, it makes gaming applications just a click away and mobile gaming attainable to a massive pool of potential gamers. 

However, are those gamers that spend a vast portion of their free time using these applications receiving any long-term benefits or revenue? This is where blockchain technology could play a crucial role in the future of gaming. 

Blockchain games offer hyper interactivity

Tiny World, Alien Worlds, Splinterlands, and Upland consistently rank in the top blockchain games in the DappRadar game rankings. These games have common traits that allow them to tap into a new world of entertainment.

From in-game object marketplaces to community DAO’s to transparent ecosystems where gamers now have a wider say in future gameplay, each of the top-ranking blockchain games makes it easy for gamers to engage with their communities.

Upland founder Dirk Leuth recently revealed Upland as the Metaverse Super-App at Davos 2023. He stresses that “the winning metaverse is going to be the platform which figures out the social-media aspect, upland has started empowering our communities with chat, and it’s only the beginning.”

Another game changer for the casual mobile gaming arena was the introduction of Sorare, the sports player NFT trading game that easily allows you to build your fantasy team. Their key to success has been to provide an easy on-ramp for new users and partner with major sports leagues like the NBA to drive fan engagement. Fandom, mobile, gaming, and the earning potential from blockchain technology make a very interesting combination of factors for gaming studios. 

Also Read: NFT gaming startup Metastrike closes US$3.3M funding round

In an interview with Gamesbeat, Michael Meltzer, Head of Business Development at Sorare said, “Our fantasy sports entertainment product leverages blockchain to bring ownership to the game. And we think that’s completely different than anything that’s been on the market, particularly with the NBA, whether in Web three or elsewhere.”

From the consumer standpoint, it is not a question of why, but why not get be incentivised for the time you invest when playing these games? If you spend two hours sitting in an airport playing multiplayer solitaire and you crush the competition every time, should you be rewarded for your level of skill? The founders of the gaming platform CoinClash believe that the key is in fun. They are taking our love for arcade games into Web3 and believe it is the most exciting new development in the mobile gaming space. 

“The beauty of skills games is that they are easily accessible in any location, any time. All you need is a mobile phone. Before you put a game into the hands of gamers, you have to be a fan of the game yourself. This is why the old school games work, and some gaming studios have lost sight of the fun five minutes you can take each day to switch off with a great game,” says Piotr Blazewicz, Co-Founder and CEO of Coinclash. 

The opportunities for blockchain technology to support interactive entertainment models will flourish in 2023. Trivia is just one of many ways that viewers can begin to participate. Sitting down to play trivia from the comfort of my very own couch without the need to switch on a console or go through a rigorous search process was both enticing and intriguing. 

Getting rewards for your level of skill or effort is already happening and has been happening for centuries. However, as more for-profit companies and gaming studios sought to develop highly complex games, the focus on the rewards moved away from the end user to the profits of a few high-level executives and the development of traditional company structures rather than remaining true to the arcade style of gaming. 

Game developers are returning to that basic idea of mixing pleasure and performance to allow participants to earn rewards. However, instead of receiving Teddy bears with your winning tickets at the funfair, you will receive utility tokens, accumulating crypto rewards over time as the player continues to engage with the platform. 

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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The AI revolution is here.

But it’s not just about whether we can build machines that can think like humans; it’s also about how we use those machines to improve our lives. We need to ensure that the outcomes for humanity are positive as well as revolutionary, and this will require us to engage in a much broader conversation about what AI means for our future.

AI is only as smart as we are

AI is only as smart as we are. AI can’t replace humans, but it can help us do things better, faster and more efficiently. This is why many companies are looking to integrate AI into their business processes —it enables them to improve the quality of their products, reduce costs and increase revenue by giving them access to data they never had before (such as customer preferences).

AI will not replace creativity or innovation. Instead, it will enable both in ways that have never been possible before — because now there are more tools at our disposal than ever before!

AI gives us access to huge amounts of data from which we can make informed decisions about future plans, but these decisions still need human input in order for them to be effective.

Also Read: Will China lead the Artificial Intelligence game by 2030?

The key point here is this: AI isn’t just about being able to make predictions based on past events anymore — it’s about being able to explore new possibilities based on those predictions!

AI can do repetitive tasks better than we ever could

AI can do repetitive tasks better than we ever could. It’s programmed to do exactly what it’s told, and it doesn’t get tired or bored of doing that same task over and over again. In fact, AI is often programmed to do only one thing — and it does that one thing extremely well.

For example: let’s say you’re trying to teach your dog how to sit on command by rewarding him with treats every time he obeys your command. It will take a lot more time before he learns this trick than if you were using an AI-powered robot instead! Why? Because dogs learn through experience, they don’t understand why we give them food when they do something right (they just know that we always give them food).

Robots are different, though. They can be programmed with specific rules about how things work in order for them not only to learn faster but also to remember everything forever!

This makes them ideal candidates for repetitive tasks such as manufacturing or cleaning houses since there won’t be any need for rest breaks every now and then as humans would require after working nonstop for hours straight without break time breaks during which we might forget some important details about what needs doing next.

Also Read: How to fortify yourself against the risky unknown

AI is only capable of doing what they’re programmed to do

AI is only as smart as we are. AI can do repetitive tasks better than we ever could, but it still needs help from humans to innovate new ideas and concepts.

AI still needs help from humans to innovate new ideas

While AI can be used to do things that humans cannot, such as creating new ideas or coming up with innovative solutions to problems, it still needs human guidance. By providing this guidance in the form of data, you can help guide AI toward innovation and creativity.

AI will make us more competitive

AI will make us more competitive and can help us focus on other tasks.

AI is a tool that can help us get more done. For example, it can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time so we can focus on other things. The technology also allows us to coordinate with others across the globe to accomplish goals faster than ever before — a benefit for any business looking to increase its competitive edge in a global market.

Final thoughts

There is no doubt that AI will be a big part of our future. It has the potential to change our lives in many ways, but it’s up to us as humans to make sure that we use this technology for good. AI can help us become more competitive and focus on other tasks, but if we don’t use it wisely, then it could end up hurting more than helping us.

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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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As the dreary funding winter continues to soar, at e27, we are kickstarting a new article series called: Line of Hire to understand the company culture and hiring philosophies of an organisation to empower tech workers with the right growth tools and enable business owners to attract talent.

Kim Nguyen is the co-founder of Recruitery, which provides headhunting and payroll solutions for remote teams. It helps organisations hire, pay, and manage payroll, tax, and compliance globally.

The post A tech worker should be all about improving customer experience: Kim Nguyen of Recruitery appeared first on e27.

Given the growing threat of fraud and malicious activities, companies need to take extra precautions to protect their customers and watch their bottom line this year.

Digitalisation has transformed the way commerce and financial services are being delivered and adopted across the globe, even before the pandemic.

However, as everything from banking, paying and working to shopping and entertainment have moved steadily online, the number of data points and gaps for hackers and fraudsters to exploit has risen exponentially.

With businesses becoming increasingly reliant on digital onboarding and having interactions without ever meeting their customers face-to-face, they face a greater risk of fraud that could result in significant financial, operational and reputational loss.

Given this backdrop, here are three key ways businesses can protect themselves in 2023.

Protect against the growing threat of synthetic fraud

Among various types of fraud, social engineering and synthetic identity fraud are becoming increasingly urgent challenges for companies.

Also Read: Safeguarding digital assets through cybersecurity innovations

Synthetic identity fraud is a tactic where fraudsters combine real information, such as a national ID number bought from the Dark Web, with a fake name and birthdate to create fake identities and open accounts.

In Southeast Asia, data breaches in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia last year have resulted in the personal data of millions of customers being sold online.

Using this data and exploiting weaknesses in insecure networks and lax customer verification and onboarding procedures, syndicates can easily create synthetic identities at scale, defrauding retailers, government agencies and financial institutions.

Synthetic fraud is particularly challenging to detect as the fake identities are developed over months or even years, just like a Frankenstein monster that is sewn together and built over time. 

These synthetic identities appear like genuine accounts with routine, normal transactions until they “bust out”, for example, by taking out a huge loan or making a very big purchase with no intention of paying back.

When detected, the loan or purchase cannot be traced back to a specific victim because the identity is fictional. 

According to Worldpay’s Payment Risk Survey, 61 per cent of merchants in the Asia-Pacific region have reported experiencing synthetic identity fraud, the highest percentage among global regions.

In the US alone, US$20 billion was lost to synthetic identity fraud in 2020.

Implement a robust but balanced risk management framework

As losses from insecure systems continue to mount, robust identity verification and fraud detection will become imperative for businesses.

There are two main approaches for identity verification for companies doing business digitally: user-centric, which leverages AI methods including optical character recognition and liveness detection to validate documents like passports or driving licenses and verify users; and data-centric, which validates users with information from credible, third-party databases such as credit bureaus.

Also Read: Indonesia’s antivirus reliance: A cybersecurity blindspot

Combined, they comprise one aspect of Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures: the Customer Identity Programme (CIP).

Other due diligence and ongoing detection and monitoring of risks are also part of a company’s KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programme, including ongoing customer rescreening.

However, over-complicating compliance adds friction to the onboarding process, which can lead to drop-offs or abandonment, which is not optimal either. 

Ultimately, companies must balance the cost of compliance against their risk, which is what the regulatory industry calls a risk-based approach.

There is no shortage of solutions available in the market today, but figuring out what and where to implement without increasing user friction is important to mitigating customer acquisition costs. 

Thus, it is important to be able to leverage a platform that can orchestrate the many API solutions in the market today to target specific solutions necessary for each task. 

That task could be identifying fraud signals from emails or phone numbers as a part of “pre-KYC”, implementing identity proofing using facial biometrics or AML name screening and then compiling all of those into a single customer view for the operations team to investigate. 

Use compliance and regulation as a strategic business advantage

The recent collapse of FTX and other well-known crypto lenders and exchanges highlights the importance of compliance and regulatory frameworks in an increasingly digital economy.

Regulators are likely to focus on stricter standards for KYC, customer due diligence (CDD) and transaction monitoring, as well as AML or combating the financing of terrorism (CFT).

Regionally, the Financial Action Task Force continues to make their rounds auditing countries for compliance and enforcement of AML/CFT policies. 

Those operating in the financial services space have a duty to ensure their KYC is in line with best practices and keeps fraudsters out of their platform. 

Additionally, consumer and public education regarding digital identity hygiene are essential, particularly in emerging markets where a significant digital divide and knowledge gap still exist.

However, protecting users is not solely the responsibility of the government; businesses also have a duty and obligation to comply with changing regulatory standards while ensuring customer safety and security.

Preventing fraud risks not only helps companies avert reputational and revenue losses but also gives them a strategic edge over their competitors. 

Companies that excel in this aspect not only meet their customer acquisition targets quickly and enjoy higher conversion rates but also enjoy peace of mind knowing their platforms are not being misused by criminal syndicates.

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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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Gobi Superseed II Fund (Gobi SSII Fund), operated by Malaysia and Hong Kong-based Gobi Partners, has announced investments in four Malaysian startups.

They are the Islamic-themed streaming service Durioo+, Lapasar, Paywatch, and pitchIN.

A sneak peek at the four companies:

Durioo+

The Islamic-themed subscription-based streaming service Durioo+ was launched in February 2022 to showcase high-quality Islamic and kid-friendly content. It showcases Durioo+ Originals, Islamic cartoons and kid-friendly content worldwide.

In ten months, the platform claims to have gained over 20,000 subscribed users and is airing more than 1,600 episodes of content thus far.

In the next five years, the company plans to enter the global market – specifically the US, the UK, MENA, Indonesia, Europe and South Asia countries.

Also Read: Why Gobi Partners believes it is the right time to invest in Pakistan

Durioo+ aims to collaborate with other local and foreign animation studios, production houses and game companies to produce more content and games.

Lapasar

Launched in 2018, the B2B e-commerce marketplace distributes fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) for general trade. It has served over 10,000 SMEs nationwide through its warehousing, distribution and financial services capabilities.

Lapasar transformed into a wholesale procurement platform for small retailers in June 2020, and it grew 172 per cent year-on-year in 2021 and above 100x since its first funding round.

Paywatch

An earned-wage access (EWA) solution, Paywatch helps employees bridge cash flow gaps between paychecks.

Its EWA service is being used by notable companies in Malaysia, such as Lotus’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, QSR Brands, Wilmar and Kenny Hills Bakers.

Also Read: Malaysian earned wage access startup Paywatch bags US$9M for Philippines, HK expansion

Paywatch has grown its product offerings and strengthened its presence in Malaysia, South Korea, and Hong Kong. It also accelerates expansion efforts into new Southeast Asian markets, including Indonesia and the Philippines.

pitchIN

It is an online investing platform established in 2016. To date, it has raised over US$65 million (RM280 million) on its equity crowdfunding (ECF) platform from over 7,600 individual investments made by retail and sophisticated investors to help fund 154 of Malaysia’s fast-growing companies.

pitchIN will launch its Secondary Market and Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) platforms this year following the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) approval in 2022. It also received approval from SC to list Shariah-compliant campaigns on the ECF platform.

The Gobi Superseed II Fund targets early-stage (seed, pre-Series A and Series A) technology-enabled local startups operating in segments such as AI, Big Data, cloud, e-commerce, fintech, IoT, and Halal economy.

Since its launch in late 2020, it has also invested in four other Malaysian startups: Sunway Innovation Labs, TechNode, Speedhome and PolicyStreet.

Gobi’s Malaysia Managing Partner Jamaludin Bujang said: “We continue our efforts to help spur the growth of entrepreneurs, especially startups and SMEs, in the local ecosystem during a challenging time for the Malaysian economy, as evidenced by our latest investment into these four companies under the Gobi SSII Fund.”

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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.

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BandLab Technologies announced on Wednesday the acquisition of beat marketplace Airbit for an undisclosed sum.

As the parent company of social music creation platform BandLab, digital audio workstation Cakewalk, and artist services platform ReverbNation, BandLab Technologies aims to expand its full-service creator toolset with the acquisition.

This will enable the company to provide “seamless access to all major elements of music creation, promotion, and distribution.” Its toolset currently includes free, mobile-first cross-platform DAW and the AI musical idea generator SongStarter.

Following the acquisition, Airbit users will continue to enjoy uninterrupted services and can expect a seamless integration of Airbit’s features into BandLab’s creator platform in the near future. As part of the deal, all current employees will be retained and Airbit CEO Wasim Khamlichi will step down after a transition period.

Also Read: Social music creation platform BandLab closes US$65M Series B round

According to a statement, to date, artists have earned over US$50 million on Airbit with over two million beats sold. The platform boasts a catalogue of more than a million beats from notable producers around the world, as well as emerging beatmakers, providing services for musicians to build sustainable communities and careers.

The acquisition expands the audience for current Airbit producers to millions of new customers around the world.

“We are thrilled to bring Airbit’s community to BandLab. We are continually looking for opportunities to support BandLab artists in their creative process, and this has been one of our communities’ most requested features,” says Meng Ru Kuok, CEO & Founder of BandLab Technologies.

“Thanks to companies like Airbit, self-serve beat marketplaces have become an exciting route for creators to find and purchase high-quality beats to kickstart their creative process. We’re excited to improve the user experience for our creators and introduce new ways for them to earn a living.”

Airbit CEO Wasim Khamlichi said, “Airbit shares BandLab’s ethos of allowing music makers every opportunity to find success. Airbit was started with the intent to empower creators as artists and entrepreneurs through new technologies and forward-thinking music monetization tools. Since Airbit was founded in 2009, it has grown to become a powerful platform for hundreds and thousands of creators. BandLab is best positioned to take it to the next level.”

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Image Credit: BandLab

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