Singapore-based startup Right-Hand Cybersecurity has received US$5 million Series A funding from former PayPal executive Jack Selby and his venture capital firm AZ-VC.

The startup will use the money to expand its operations across Asia and the US while investing heavily in its human risk management (HRM) platform.

Right-Hand aims to expand its platform integrations with commonly adopted technologies to improve employee behaviours and lower risk tendencies.

Also Read: ‘From a cybersecurity perspective, the Asian market still uses legacy tools’

Right-Hand aims to improve employee behaviours in real-time that are otherwise prone to cascade, potentially devastating cybersecurity breaches. Its HRM platform consolidates employee security behaviours and alerts in real-time from the platform and other security technologies like endpoint detection & response (EDR), email security, and identity and access management (IAM) technologies.

It assigns a risk score to different behaviours that stakeholders can interpret easily, providing visibility into employee risk in plain business terms.

The platform then analyses the collated employee data to generate real-time interactive and adaptive training that enables individuals to master cybersecurity behaviours that keep their organisations and themselves safer online.

Also Read: watchTowr can tell an organisation in real-time if it can get compromised

“What differentiates Right-Hand is that we go beyond just ‘checking the box’ for improving user behaviours to reduce cybersecurity risks,” said Founder and CEO Theo Nasser. “We tailor learning materials to individual behaviours and monitor employee risk profiles, reducing security alerts for the security operation centre – a radical departure from the ‘one size fits all’ security model that is commonly used.”

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 brings together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups can pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like connecting with investors, visibility through the e27platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

The post Right-Hand Cybersecurity raises US$5M Series A for Asia, US expansion appeared first on e27.

Registration for TOP100 is now open and we are looking forward to seeing your startup on the list!

TOP100 Program gives you the one golden chance to connect with hundreds of investors, showcase your startup at Echelon, pitch on the TOP100 stage, and access special programs. Find out what’s new in TOP100 and join here: https://bit.ly/TOP100_2023

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Now that Echelon Asia Summit is coming back in full swing, e27 is determined to make one of its key features, the TOP100, one of the best yet!

The TOP100 program is an annual initiative organised by e27 to showcase and recognise the most promising startups in the Asia-Pacific region.

The program is open to exciting new startups from the Asia-Pacific region with innovative ideas that break barriers across different industries. The selection of the TOP100 involves a rigorous screening process, including an evaluation of the startup’s product or service, team, market potential, and traction.

Also read: Tokyo’s bid to be the world’s number one startup city with City-Tech.Tokyo

The selected startups are given the opportunity to pitch their business ideas at the Echelon Asia Summit this June 14-15, 2023, at the Singapore Expo. The program also provides exposure to investors, mentors, and potential partners, enabling growth among participating startups and helping them expand their networks across the larger global tech ecosystem.

The TOP100 program has become one of the most prestigious startup competitions in the region, attracting thousands of applicants each year and providing valuable visibility and support to the most promising startups in the region.

15 startups closer to competing at this year’s TOP100

Being a frontrunner refers to startups close to making it to this year’s TOP100 program.

With all the amazing startups sprouting across the Asia-Pacific region’s vibrant tech startup ecosystem, we now present you with 15 frontrunners closer to competing at this year’s TOP100. Get to know them here!

TemanTrip

TemanTrip is an Indonesian open trip sharing platform that connects travelers with local trip leaders. The platform aims to provide a hassle-free and cost-effective way for travelers to explore Indonesia’s diverse cultures and natural beauty.

One of TemanTrip’s unique selling propositions is that anyone can register as a trip leader, creating a diverse and authentic selection of trips for travelers. TemanTrip provides standardization for trip leaders by ensuring that all registered leaders have met specific requirements and have a verified profile.

Nextpay

Nextpay is the first all-in-one banking suite for small businesses in the Philippines. Entrepreneurs and small businesses can use Nextpay to receive payments via digital invoices and manage their finances.

NextPay offers a fast, simple, and affordable set of business banking services where business owners can easily sign up and start collecting money (e.g. send invoices, accept payments, etc.), manage their money (e.g. real-time reporting, integration with HRIS and accounting systems), and send money (e.g. salary payouts, supplier payments, and bills payments). There are no setup fees, maintaining balances, or ridiculous requirements either, making it accessible to even the solo entrepreneur.

Pin’J

Pin’J is a B2B closed-loop working capital financing fintech for workers in the gig economy. Their aim is to help individual gig economy workers secure their livelihood by optimising their income opportunities and working with gig economy businesses to fulfil their operation needs.

Pin’J’s closed-loop model is an embedded lending ecosystem that integrates inventory financing with end users to disburse credit from merchants onboarded as partners into the Pin’J platform. Through their B2B partner, Pin’J’s credit engine incorporates data analytics that is provided by partner companies to build a proprietary driver data model. Funds are disbursed by this engine.

GetSpaces

GetSpaces radically improves the commercial leasing journey by connecting spaces with businesses. The company wants to redefine traditional boundaries of space and time to enable everyone in Asia access to property on their own terms. Simply put, everyone should be able to access space based on their needs rather than be constrained by supply. That is why at GetSpaces, they offer the most flexible commercial lease solution in the market where businesses can rent a space for as short as an hour to as long as a few years.

Lokein

Lokein is a full-suite social commerce platform that helps easily digitise and digitalise business owners, brand owners, and MSMEs including second-hand goods merchants, while at the same time, helping them manage their business easily anytime, anywhere. With Lokein’s solution, MSMEs can simply digitalise and digitise their business with a no-code omni-channel social selling software that enables MSMEs to sell seamlessly and manage their businesses efficiently.

The software includes an e-commerce storefront, full-suite seller dashboard, custom landing page builder, built-in marketing tools with AI assistant, Bahasa Melayu Chatbot AI assistant, affiliate system, and e-POS manager. The solution is a lightweight, fast, responsive e-commerce software that comes with a pre-fixed template where users can set up their store in just seven minutes.

PETSKITA

PETSKITA is the first pet parenting app in Indonesia — a one-stop solution platform offering pet supplies and services with personalised “pet profile” features, transforming the way pet parents shop.

72% of Indonesian households own a pet. But, the pet industry in Indonesia and Southeast Asia is still very fragmented and under-penetrated. Some of the major problems being the hassle that pet parents face with having to navigate through many different platforms. It’s also hard to access trusted and quality products and services, which makes the overall buying experience for pet products inconvenient. PETSKITA is solving those problems by building a one-stop solution platform offering pet supplies and services with personalized “pet profile” features – transforming the way pet parents shop.

SMARTR

SMARTR is an enterprise software that leverages advanced data visualization and automation technologies to help organisations effectively discover, manage, and develop their talents. SMARTR’s mission is to empower young professionals to excel at what they do best.

They enable professional HR and business owners to make data-driven decisions for their training programs, help industry experts, trainers, and training centres to be worry-free through their partnership programs and focus on sharing their knowledge. They also help enable working professionals to reach their full potential through learning and competency development.

TABLE (Thailand) Co. Ltd.

TABLE is Thailand’s newest booking platform for lifestyle and beyond. They offer quick and convenient online table reservations, event discovery/booking as well as exclusive value-for-money deals and unforgettable experiences.

Since restarting activities in November 2022 (post-Covid), the company has grown from 0 to 100s of bookings per month — all organic (no paid ads) and branched out from Bangkok to add Koh Samui, Koh Phangan, Phuket, and Pattaya.

A step closer to the 2023 TOP100

After a rigorous screening process, these startups are a step closer to qualifying for this year’s TOP100.

If you are one of the founders of the startups above, a representative from e27 will be reaching out to you soon to discuss with you the next step in your application process. Feel free to get in touch with us for any inquiries.

Also read: Check out these 15 startups closer to conquering the 2023 TOP100

If you have an exciting startup with innovative ideas that can eclipse the best and the brightest in the region, join the 2023 TOP100 and stand a chance to pitch your ideas to some of the top investors in the Asia-Pacific at this year’s Echelon Asia Summit. Register for TOP100 here.

The post 8 startup frontrunners vying for a spot in the 2023 TOP100 appeared first on e27.

Labviva, a Singapore- and US-based AI-driven life sciences digital marketplace, has secured US$20 million in Series A financing led by Biospring Partners.

Existing investors Senator Investment Group, B Capital, and Glasswing Ventures co-invested.

The Series A funding brings the total amount raised since inception to US$30 million.

The startup will use the funding to accelerate the deployment of Labviva’s platform at several global pharmaceutical and academic customers. It will also expand its global footprint and launch new and complementary product lines.

Labviva’s SaaS marketplace unifies the interface for product discovery and procurement and connects suppliers and purchasers, allowing scientists to make better purchasing decisions.

Also Read: From automation to hyper-personalisation: Leveraging AI for smarter marketing

The B2B platform enables life sciences and research organisations to manage corporate purchasing and procurement to accelerate life science research.

Driven by Artificial Intelligence, Labviva’s platform integrates directly with leading procurement systems, such as SAP Ariba, JAGGAER, Oracle Procurement Cloud, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and Coupa, to shorten implementation times and reduce the risk of research delays.

“Labviva helps manage a company’s spending, giving customers back control, with real-time purchasing insights to realize significant hard cost savings while providing the scientific and technical staff with the product content and scientific insight to improve the speed and quality of their product selection process,” said Siamak Baharloo, CEO and Co-Founder, Labviva.

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 brings together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups can pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like connecting with investors, visibility through the e27platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

The post B2B life sciences marketplace Labviva secures US$20M Series A appeared first on e27.

Chronic diseases remain a problem in Southeast Asia, where 116 million people have hypertension and 99 million are diabetic or pre-diabetic. This situation is worsened by the inability of patients to maintain their treatment due to high costs, poor accessibility, and inconvenience.

To solve this problem, Common Health launched its e-commerce platform in Myanmar on March 20 to make products and services for people with chronic diseases more affordable, accessible, and conveniently available.

The company provides services that range from an e-commerce platform that allows users to access essential medication at low prices to a convenient home delivery service. Apart from the e-commerce service, it also provided telemedicine support, including a family medicine doctor matched to each household and 24-hour on-call service. These services are available through websites, Facebook, Viber, and a phone line, and are currently available for customers in Yangon and Bago.

Originating from the US, Common Health was founded in 2019 by Matthew Guilford and began its operations in Myanmar in 2021. It supports primary care, medicine delivery, and financial assistance for more than 30,000 clients through a partnership with UNICEF. In less than two years, Common Health said its platform had been used to provide more than 140,000 high-quality telemedicine consultations and deliver more than 17,000 orders for essential medicines.

“We are excited to launch this new service as a first step in helping families across Southeast Asia save money and achieve better outcomes when it comes to chronic diseases,” Guilford said in a statement on the launch of its e-commerce service.

“And we look forward to incorporating new offerings like diagnostics and inpatient insurance to make Common Health the first port of call for people with diabetes, hypertension, and other health needs.”

Also Read: ‘It will take another 5-10 years to rebuild the Myanmarese startup ecosystem’

In an email interview with e27, Guilford explains that the focus of Common Health lies in saving money and achieving better health for families with chronic diseases.

“We think that the combination of immediate value, long-term impact, and focus is pretty special,” he says.

“We have aligned our business model around delivering low prices for customers. For example, when we start collecting service fees it will be a flat amount per order, not a percentage of the order value. And we are constantly working with pharmacies, distributors, and manufacturers to leverage economies of scale and pass those savings on to customers.”

He further explains that the company focuses on people with chronic diseases because it is an area where they can deliver “real, positive impact on health over the long term.”

“Every one of our customers gets matched with a family medicine doctor, who uses telemedicine consultations to help get the customer’s health condition under control. We do home delivery not only because it is convenient, but because it makes it easier for people to adhere to their therapy. We are committed to world-class standards for quality, which is particularly important when handling cold chain items like insulin,” Guilford says.

“Overall, we believe in the adage that ‘what gets measured gets managed.’ That’s why in addition to tracking commercial metrics, we place an equal focus on clinical indicators like HbA1c for people with diabetes and blood pressure for people with hypertension. We don’t see many platforms that are doing both of these things in a serious way.”

In terms of funding, Common Health plans to bootstrap until it achieves product-market fit.

Also Read: Myanmar startup Better HR secures 6-digit bridge funding for Asia expansion

“Initially we funded operations out of personal savings (which were not enormous), and then we received a B2B contract to design and deliver services for families with children in Myanmar. Instead of taking a profit margin from this work, we reinvested in developing our offering for people with chronic diseases. We now have 52 people in the business and based on our piloting over the past few months, we are confident that we have achieved product-market fit,” Guilford says.

From Myanmar to SEA

Common Health started working in Myanmar in 2019. The company sees it as an “attractive market” where it can make “a positive impact” with its 53 million population, 114 per cent smartphone adoption, and the consumer-driven healthcare system. It also has high rates of chronic diseases and challenges with healthcare access and affordability, according to Guilford.

But what about the recent political situation in the country?

“The political situation has, of course, created a more complex operating environment. But that hasn’t changed the fundamentals that make Myanmar a compelling place to work and to have an impact. Now, more than ever, families need help in accessing quality health products and services at an affordable cost,” the founder says.

Myanmar is definitely not the last destination for Common Health. It plans to expand to other SEA countries where chronic diseases remain challenging.

“There are 151 million people in Southeast Asia with diabetes, prediabetes, or hypertension – not counting
other conditions like chronic kidney disease, cancers, and mental health. Every country has its own unique health system and differences in consumer behaviour. At the same time, we believe that our value proposition of saving money and achieving better health is relevant to anyone with a chronic disease. We aim to be serving customers in our second market by this time next year,” Guilford says.

Common Health has experimented with various approaches in acquiring its users and discovered that its best leads come via word-of-mouth from existing customers.

Also Read: Razer co-founder Lim Kaling to sell his stake in Myanmarese military-linked Virginia Tobacco Co.

“We see a lot of cases where a customer will refer us to a friend or a family member who also has a chronic disease, and we have strong conversion rates from those leads. Our focus is on building long-term relationships with customers who will order from us on a regular basis and make full use of the family medicine doctor service. That gives us the resources – and the need – to invest in finding the right customers,” Guilford explains.

For the next year, Common Health has plans to expand its business further.

“We have an ambitious roadmap for 2023 across all aspects of the business. We will expand our home delivery infrastructure from Yangon and Bago to a total of 20 cities, ensuring that customers across the country can have home delivery of insulin and other critical medications,” Guilford closes.

“The number one product-related request from customers is that we include diagnostics like HbA1c and lipid profile tests in our platform, so we will work with laboratories to pilot this. We will begin to build more proprietary technology assets, particularly around logistics. And we have already started due diligence for our second country. It will be a busy nine months!”

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 is bringing together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups get the chance to pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like a chance to connect with investors, visibility through e27 platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

Image Credit: Common Health

The post How Common Health aims to make chronic diseases treatments more accessible in Myanmar appeared first on e27.

Customer retention is crucial for businesses of any size or industry. Keeping customers happy helps ensure their loyalty, leading to long-term success and cost savings from reduced marketing expenses. However, businesses must understand customer needs, preferences, and market trends to offer effective solutions and gain their trust.

As an industry leader taking the initiative to address this challenge, CleverTap recently held The Big Leap Roadshow Vietnam with the theme, “Retention Playbook Vietnam: Mapping Personalised Customer Journeys”on February 22nd, 2023. The event was attended by over 100 growth leaders, entrepreneurs, investors, and other key industry stakeholders from Vietnam’s dynamic tech startup scene.

The event featured a multitude of activities designed to provide attendees with valuable knowledge and insights into customer retention strategies. The interactive format included presentations, panel discussions, Q&A sessions, and networking opportunities. Industry leaders from reputable companies such as Sky Mavis, Central Retail, and Piktina in Vietnam shared their best practices and expertise, which helped inspire engaging conversations about customer retention, sustainable growth, and expansion strategies. The event’s goal was to equip attendees with practical solutions to navigate the challenges of the ever-changing business landscape.

Also read: 8 startup frontrunners vying for a spot in the 2023 TOP100

Participants also got to share their ideas on strategies to convert potential buyers into actual customers, keeping them engaged, and ultimately turning them into active brand ambassadors. 

Here is a recap of some of the exciting insights brought up during the event:

Combining gamification and personalised customer journey mapping

One incredibly valuable tool for customer retention is personalised customer journey mapping, which enables businesses to gain insight into their customers’ experiences and learn how customers interact with their brands at different touch points. Sky Mavis has taken this a step further by introducing gamification elements such as points systems, rewards, and leaderboards into the user experience which encourages customers to remain engaged with a product or service over time.

By understanding customers’ motivators, we try to reproduce the experience for them as fast as we can for the succeeding encounters. As a Web3-based game provider, we have a unique comparative advantage of gamification capability. We used this to gamify the entire user journey process to retain our users and make them stay,” shared Quinn Campbell of Sky Mavis.

Data-driven omni-channel approach to customer engagement and retention

In highly competitive segments like food retailing, Gail Sarintip Satitsatian of Central Retail highlighted the value proposition of its seamless online-to-offline omni-channel focus to ensure a smooth customer journey as a unique selling point to retain customers. In fact, e-retailing has become a vital shopping channel for Vietnamese consumers with total revenue for the sector growing by 20% to reach $16.4 billion in 2022 — a trend further reinforced by the COVID-19 pandemic. Central Retail offers online ordering for offline pickup or delivery to accommodate the growing popularity of online shopping. This incentivises customers to continue engaging with the brand, even when they cannot visit physical stores due to their busy schedules.

Also read: Tokyo’s bid to be the world’s number one startup city with City-Tech.Tokyo

Moreover, with digital tools, the company can easily track behaviours, gather data, and analyse customer patterns, leveraging the insights to improve customer experience and make personalised offers for each individual shopper. Data analytics also facilitates customer segmentation, enabling businesses to categorise their customers, develop in-depth knowledge of each customer group, and customise the products/ services accordingly. More importantly, businesses can leverage predictive data analytics tools such as machine learning algorithms to forecast future trends based on past behaviour patterns across different channels to future-proof their success and maintain long-term relationships with their user base going forward!

Unlock the brand power for customer loyalty and retention

Customer loyalty has declined over the past decade, with the pandemic further exacerbating the trend, with 75% of American customers trying new shopping behaviours and switching brands during the pandemic. Huyen Trinh, Co-founder of Piktina, believes that building customer loyalty is still possible, but requires new approaches. Simply offering great prices and vouchers is no longer enough. Brands must create an attractive environment and provide superior customer value to stand out and retain customers.

Also read: Echelon Asia Summit is back! Get to know our PR partner

“Loyalty has drastically dipped in the past 10 years. It’s in part due to companies relying on monetary incentives to retain their customers. At Piktina, we want customers to be loyal to us and who we are as a brand, not the coupons. We believe that the best consumer retention and expansion strategy is to turn customers into our brand ambassadors,” shared Huyen.

Entering the marketing landscape in 2023

In sum, Retention Playbook Vietnam touched on big ideas and major changes that are taking place in the regional marketing landscape in 2023. The event called for businesses to prioritise customer retention through more innovative tactics, as customer retention is projected to become even more important than ever before. As such, companies should strive not only to focus on short-term gains but also consider investing resources into ongoing learnings so they are best prepared when faced with any unexpected developments along their journey ahead!

The post Get creative in your customer retention strategies with these insider insights! appeared first on e27.