Forging corporate-startup partnerships provide meaningful opportunities to engage in the innovation process, creating win-win scenarios that end up benefiting the ecosystem as a whole. Deeply entrenched in its ethos is to appreciate the value of partnerships in driving growth, rather than trying to internalise all processes and doing everything on your own. 

From the corporate perspective, corporate-startup partnerships help stakeholders bring faster innovation to an increasingly competitive landscape and in turn help accelerate product development. From the startup side, collaborations like this bring a deeper understanding of the market landscape and industry. There is also the upside of helping startups gain access to the larger partner’s market. Multiple ways of collaboration have popped up in recent years, with each one premised on featuring an ecosystem-centric approach.

SAP and XS APAC: leading the charge for corporate-startup collaborations

An example of this ecosystem-centric design is SAP’s expanded innovation initiatives. In a conversation with e27, Morikawa Hakaru, Vice President and Head of Industry and Customer Advisory shared key insights on SAP’s strategy in scaling win-win partnerships and SAP’s priorities in Asia, particularly in expanding its innovation footprint. This is illustrated by the frequency of its partner webinars and roundtable discussions with various stakeholders, culminating in an insightful discussion at Echelon 2022. SAP has been active in its commitment to nurturing innovation through the decades, and the company is quickly adapting to the changing times.

SAP shares and reiterates the relevance of the corporate-startup alliances in terms of opportunities. “From our point of view, corporate and startup collaborations can help corporates operate in a far more agile manner and can quickly adapt when any disruption happens.”

Also read: DigitalOcean: One of the world’s fastest-growing cloud computing platforms will be at Echelon!

In this spirit of partnerships and collaborations, SAP has teamed up with XS APAC, a growth advisory whose mandate is to take a critical view of business strategies and cascade that to implementable corporate initiatives, identify and pursue feasible sources of growth capital, and finally bring onboard their extended network spanning industry captains, major corporations, governments and collaborative ecosystems, to bring businesses to regional markets.

SAP and XS APAC’s partnership on a series of engagements highlights this commitment such as with the series of webinars entitled “Let’s make a deal: How to do Business with Large Enterprises?” and “How to manage your digital offerings to drive growth and cut costs”; their virtual talk on creating value within one’s investment portfolio entitled “Value Creation: Portfolio – Virtual Roundtable”; and their roundtable discussion held at last year’s Echelon Asia Summit, entitled “How can startups scale sustainably and enter new markets through corporate partnerships?”

Corporate-startup collaborations are evolving at a clear path moving forward

There is a lot of development in how strategic partnerships between corporations and startups are formed, stemming from the visible impact that these collaborations entail. Corporations can engage startups in multiple ways — from product diversification to market access, acceleration, and technology integration. Working with startups ensures that corporations remain relevant and that they do not get disrupted. 

At the Value Creation: Portfolio – Virtual Roundtable, where Herston Elton Powers, Co-founder and Managing Partner of 1982 Ventures served as one of the panellists, he explained that “We expect more corporate-VC collaborations as specialist VC funds, like 1982 Ventures, can provide more than strong financial returns. Corporates can leverage our expertise in fintech and access to the early-stage startup ecosystem to achieve their strategic objectives.”

1982 Ventures is a fintech-focused VC fund that corporates have been partnering with to accelerate their digitisation journey, their entry into fintech, and embolden their corporate VC activities. Herston further explained, “Our corporate limited partners (LPs) invested in our fund to gain access to co-investments into fast-growing fintech startups and innovative tech solutions. We support our corporate LPs in identifying fintech and B2B solutions that will benefit their underlying business and customers. 1982 Ventures supports our corporate LPs to create win-win partnerships with the next generation of fintech champions in Southeast Asia.”

Also read: Opportunities abound for Hong Kong’s largest I&T Career Expo

This emphasises the various ways in which corporate-startup collaborations can help materially impact the mission of both stakeholders. Setting as a great example for the broader ecosystem, these partnerships are why many startups are inclined to network and engage with corporates seeking out joint ventures.

Mohan Belani, CEO of e27, adds “The outlook for corporate-startup collaborations is very positive. For corporations to be effectively working with these startups, it shows forward thinking. Working with startups helps provide corporates with an edge by seeing new opportunities that they might have previously missed. It also helps to work with very smart and talented people solving problems at scale.”

It is also especially important in today’s ecosystem where things are moving very quickly. Corporations are now dealing with competition from multiple different geographies and stages of organisations, and an effective way to mitigate these risks is to accelerate innovation through successful strategic partnerships.

Success in corporate-startup collaboration

Siddharth, Director of Strategic Accounts & Partnerships at VersaFleet strongly believes that partnerships will help accelerate the company’s business growth, especially in terms of having customer base access and resources from corporates. 

To name a few important case studies, VersaFleet is also working with McKinsey’s Singapore Digital Capability Centre. As the next steps, VersaFleet has integrated its solution with McKinsey’s Model Factory in a Box (MFIB) and is now available for showcasing. 

VersaFleet is also actively working with Industry 4.0 Human Capital Initiative, the first programme in Singapore dedicated to helping companies prepare and implement successful Industry 4.0 transformation. 

The Industry 4.0 Human Capital Initiative (IHCI), a programme by the Singapore Business Federation and Workforce Singapore, is the first of its kind in Singapore to equip companies with people management and job redesign skills required for successful Industry 4.0 transformation. Through the programme, companies will develop the technology and workforce transformation roadmap that includes strategic HR/manpower planning and change the management plan to support future implementation. Companies that completed the programme have successfully managed to increase revenue through increased output, improved productivity, and improved machine effectiveness. 

Driving the vision of innovation in 2023

In the 21st century, the fastest companies that convert big ideas into business outcomes are the winners. The only way this is possible is with a culture of innovation that encourages organisations to stay ahead of technology trends, and for SAP, this means working with startups that provide value to their customers. The programmes remain stage and industry agnostic with their approach. SAP also ensures diversity in its innovation programmes, empowering underrepresented founders to kickstart growth within the company.

Also read: Bringing global insights straight to you with Regional Meetup 2023

Innovation in 2023 will also see an increase in collaboration efforts, not just in quantity but also in quality. “If you look at the early days of the ecosystem, it started mainly with startups pitching to corporates and doing a demo. It then evolved to [becoming] a corporate-driven accelerator programme. And now it’s gotten into venture building, where corporates themselves work with organisations to build internal companies and spin them off into new startups that corporates take a stake in.”

What’s next for corporate-startup collaboration?

During the panel discussion in Echelon 2022,  Aaron encouraged startups to never stop innovating and to always share solutions that can help startup founders manage various situations, including the good, bad, and ugly. 

The real value of SAP lies in its support towards startup growth illustrated in two ways: by being a technical partner or by being a consumer of SAP’s tech solutions. SAP focuses on the value that startups bring, and how they disrupt markets and differentiate themselves through their products and innovations. “Startups can develop their IP, integrate with SAP solutions, and make their IP sellable”, Aaron shared. With this, startups that become tech partners of SAP can tap 440,000 customers across 180 countries.

If you’re a startup in the Southeast Asian region looking to tap into its global network, join SAP’s global ecosystem and get unparalleled access, curated mentorship, and technical guidance. To learn more, visit https://www.sap.com/sea/index.html and https://sap.io/startup-programmes/.

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Photo by Ketut Subiyanto via Pexels

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

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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Indonesian tech-enabled fitness startup Fit Hub has raised US$ 6.5 million in a new financing round.

The investors include Global Founders Capital, Trihill Capital, Goodwater, Wavemaker Partners, East Ventures, Gentree, and BAce Capital.

The capital raise will help Fit Hub expand its offline and online presence, offering free workout content and e-commerce for healthy foods, apparel, workout equipment, and supplements. The startup also plans to open 100 clubs by year-end.

Fit Hub digitises the fitness experience and develops community-driven fitness centres, catering to the rising middle class seeking quality equipment, accessible facilities, and a welcoming atmosphere.

Also Read: Fitness marketplace ClassPass becomes Unicorn with its latest US$285M fundraise

Since its launch in August 2020, it has expanded to 60 clubs across 14 cities in Indonesia, attracting over 50,000 paying members, half being first-time gym-goers. With an affordable of US$17/month, the startup aims to address a significant gap in the Indonesian fitness market where the average gym membership costs US$50/month.

B. Paul Santos, Managing Partner at Wavemaker Partners, said: “Fit Hub aims to address the increasing obesity rates in Indonesia, specifically among middle- to low-income households by democratising fitness. Their market positioning is distinctive, providing hyperlocal gyms that are both high-quality and 50 per cent more affordable than other options.”

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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 platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

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e27’s Regional MeetUp 2023 seeks to gather regional disruptors and innovators and bring the latest insights on the regional tech startup ecosystem straight into their respective homes — and we’re heading first to Malaysia.

It’s happening at the WeWork Equatorial Plaza, Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, 12 April. What to expect, you might ask?

The e27 MeetUp in Malaysia features a panel discussion with the topic “Southeast Growth Series: How can the Malaysia’s tech ecosystem grow sustainably and where are future growth drivers”, with our panelists Aaron Sarma, General Partner at ScaleUp Malaysia; Harmender Singh, Vice President Strategic Planning & SUPER PMO at Cradle Fund; Shian Lee, CEO at Alphaswift; and Mohan Belani, Co-Founder and CEO at e27.

Also read: Bringing global insights straight to you with Regional Meetup 2023

This event is an excellent opportunity to connect with the local tech startup community at Kuala Lumpur, share insights with experts and your peers, and potentially get free tickets to Echelon Asia Summit happening in June 14-15 at Singapore.

The e27 MeetUp is also a great opportunity to explore how you can work with the e27 community – and e27 – to help you achieve your goals.

This is an invite-only event. If you would like to be a part of it, leave us your details in this form.

This event is brought to you by e27, in partnership with WeWork and WebEngage.

The post Why you should cancel your plans and MeetUp with us in Kuala Lumpur appeared first on e27.

After months of submissions and hundreds of applications, we’re happy to share with you the these 10 startups who will be pitching their innovative solutions at the SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards Virtual Pitch on 13 April 2023.

Click here to join the virtual pitch.

The 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards has been launched to find, fund and support innovative tech solutions that can help protect and save lives, before, during and after disasters. The program is created by Prudence Foundation and supported by humanitarian partner: IFRC, technology partner: AWS, and strategic partner: e27, for its 2023 edition.

The SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards recognises the crucial role of technology in enhancing disaster preparedness, recovery, and resilience. Climate change has led to more frequent and intense disasters worldwide, particularly in the Asia-Pacific region, where half of these events occur, resulting in staggering economic costs and human lives lost. Despite the pressing need for solutions, financial and non-financial support is lacking, hindering their potential for maximum impact.

Now in its third edition, the Awards looks to continue its work in catalysing a network of support, raising awareness of the sector, and helping the remarkable companies that operate in this space grow and scale.

The first 10 who will take part in the Virtual Pitch

LivingWaters Systems

LivingWaters Systems, or LivingWaters for short, is a social enterprise that specialises in assisting humanitarian organisations to serve refugees and off-grid settlements with renewable clean water, by providing them with an affordable, durable, and rapidly deployable means of provisioning clean water.

Its core innovation is a first-to-world portable rain catchment unit, through which by leveraging the world’s most abundant natural source of clean water — rainwater — LivingWaters can contribute to reducing 30-50% of an organisation’s water provisioning costs in the first five years of a refugee settlement’s operation, and then 60-80% of its annual operating costs thereafter.

Wateroam

Wateroam is a social enterprise which provides honest water solutions for a better world. Their vision to end global thirst is being accomplished by producing efficient and affordable water treatment products that are used for emergency relief and rural development. Specifically, their solution is The ROAMfilter Plus 2, a community water filtration system that is simple to operate, long-lasting, lightweight and cost-effective. The system’s hand pump operation requires no electricity, making it an ideal and immediate solution for rural and disaster-hit regions. With the ROAMfilter Plus 2, a person becomes a mobile water station which can produce safe drinking water quickly for 100 people.

Founded in 2014, the company has partnered with over 60 humanitarian organisations like the Red Cross and World Vision to tackle pressing water issues in emergency and long-term development settings in over 40 countries. They are also the UN Young Leader for SDG6: Clean Water for All.

StratifiCare

StratifiCare is a next-generation, ESG-focused (SDG 3, 5, 11, 12 and 13) medical diagnostic company that provides insights into the body through proteins. Their vision is to build a world where patients know in advance whether their medical treatments are beneficial to them. They achieve this by marrying predictive protein diagnostics with artificial intelligence. StratifiCare prides itself on the social impact they bring to patients, their families, and society; their gender, age, and nationality-diverse team; and that they are currently supported by Asia Development Bank Ventures and DBS Foundation.

StratifiCare has developed the world’s first severe Dengue prediction test, StratifiDen, which predicts severe Dengue with 97% sensitivity and 92% specificity. Doctors can make more informed decisions on whether to hospitalise the patient (most patients can be safely managed as outpatients). This frees up more hospital beds and limited healthcare resources for other patients who will develop severe Dengue, and for other patients who truly require hospital care.

QUICKBLOCK®️

QUICKBLOCK®️ enables anyone to build anything, anywhere. Made from 100% recycled plastic, their rapid assembly building system allows for complete structures to be assembled in a matter of minutes. Its simplicity is the key, stacking as simply as children’s building blocks, the QUICKBLOCK system requires no tools, skilled labour, or additional materials.

The QUICKBLOCK Shelter project aims to develop a full turnkey solution that arrives on a single pallet — including the structure, the roof, windows, doors, and flooring. They aim to support displaced peoples that have found themselves without a permanent dwelling as a result of fleeing their homes due to environmental disaster, conflict, or persecution.

A.B. Data Consultant

A.B. Data Consultant is a startup that specialises in flood disaster management, flood early warning systems, and tailored consulting for flood-related issues in Nepal. Their team of experienced environmental engineers, hydrologists, and software developers provide customised solutions to better understand flood risks, develop effective early warning systems, and prepare for and mitigate the effects of floods.

Their solution is FloodInsight, a service that develops flood susceptibility, hazard, inundation maps, and flood simulation videos. When required, FloodInsight provides physical installation of water-level sensors and rainfall measurement sensors.  An integrated website combined with real-time sensors and flood-related visualisation is used to disseminate information to relevant stakeholders. In the context of Nepal, the Government of Nepal is working on a national-scale flood map, but A.B. Data Consultant is focusing on tailored local flood consulting services at the municipal level which is in contrast, far more accurate and reliable.

Kacific Broadband Satellites Group

Kacific Broadband Satellites Group is a next-generation satellite operator providing affordable, reliable, high-speed broadband services. Its first Ka-band HTS satellite, Kacific1, was launched in 2019, covering over 600 million people across 25 nations in Asia Pacific. Kacific’s services foster greater internet usage, fuels economic growth, and drive positive social outcomes. Today Kacific connects over 2,000 educational and healthcare facilities.

Kacific has designed a disaster communication system, the CommsBox, for civil defence and emergency relief personnel. The CommsBox container is made of aluminium alloy and is salt, water, and fire-resistant. It is designed to be airlifted or shipped into disaster zones and provide instant connectivity. The unit is solar-powered and includes a user tablet for easy communication. The antenna has been designed with an auto-tracking feature and can provide connectivity at the touch of a button. The CommsBox is designed to be transportable, with four wheels fixed underneath, making it an all-in-one connectivity solution. The system is also equipped with high-speed data transfer and priority data, ensuring that the users have a first-priority connection with high speeds of up to 55Mbps. The CommsBox is durable enough to operate in the most difficult environments and can power up independently of electrical supplies, ensuring that the system will always be functional.

SI Analytics (SIA)

SI Analytics (SIA) provides the solution and platform for satellite image analytics based on artificial intelligence to domain experts in every nation and organisation to utilise their GEO assets with maximum efficiency and with wiser insights. SIA was established in Daejeon, South Korea in 2018 and has since grown to employ over 100 professionals. Their parent company, Setrac Initiative, is involved in satellite manufacturing, while SIA specialises in analysing high-resolution satellite images.

Today, the world is witnessing a multitude of natural disasters which require timely monitoring to minimise their impact. This is where satellites come in as they can provide real-time information about the location and magnitude of such calamities. Moreover, by employing deep learning-based techniques, SIA can predict the occurrence of such disasters beforehand and also evaluate the situation post-disaster.

H3 Dynamics

H3 Dynamics is a group of companies founded in 2015. H3 Dynamics is a multi-award-winning company and a fast-growing leader in the autonomous and sustainable aerial mobility market, using drone technology, hydrogen, artificial intelligence, machine learning, and robotics to deliver innovative solutions and high-value applications to a large number of industry verticals.

H3 Dynamics’ Autonomous Drone-in-a-box System has an open system architecture that enables third-party software and hardware integration such as command and control, UAV, and UAV charging. This enables totally autonomous UAV flights for multiple types of surveillance and inspection applications.

The Autonomous Drone-in-a-box System can be used to provide the first line of sight during critical situations. This can help customers/end-user detect, plan, and monitor the disaster situation.

Castomize

Castomize is making healthcare more accessible, effective, and less invasive through the creation of medical devices made with proprietary 4D-printing techniques.

Formed as a new spinoff from the Singapore University of Technology and Design, Castomize is now embarking to commercialise its first product, a series of 4D-printed orthopaedic casts, which has won multiple invention awards from organisations in the Asia Pacific region.

Castomize’s 4D-printed casts can be deployed in disaster situations easily, requiring minimal tools, time, and proficiency to apply effectively. They aim to quickly address fractures of disaster victims as quickly and accurately as possible, preventing any long-term healing complications and ensuring a smooth, full recovery.

Yayasan Plan International Indonesia (YPII)

Plan Indonesia develops a feedback dashboard to promote accountability to affected people during disasters. The dashboard is expected to be used as a channel for people to convey their issues and problem to be solved, responded to, and closed by relevant government agencies as well as non-government organisations.

Their programs aim to improve the fulfilment of rights for all children, which includes providing gender-responsive disaster preparedness and humanitarian response, which become one of our priority sectors for Country Strategy 5 (FY 23- FY 27). The Gender-responsive Disaster Preparedness and Humanitarian Response Program is divided into several sub-thematic focuses, i.e. Child Protection in Emergencies (CPiE), Education in Emergencies (EiE) and WASH in Emergencies (WASHiE). The programme’s goal is to meet the rights of the most affected children, adolescents, and youth (CAY) and their families affected by disaster and refugee crises through gender-responsive disaster preparedness and humanitarian response in a relevant and timely manner.

The 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards

The startups taking part in the 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards Virtual Pitch stand a chance to win 150,000 USD in cash prizes, AWS product credit worth 55,000 USD, and access to investor networks and mentorship. Finalists will be able to showcase at the Echelon Asia Summit 2023 at the Singapore EXPO on 14-15 June 2023.

Catch these amazing startups and more at the 2023 SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards virtual pitch! For more information, visit the official page here.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Prudence Foundation

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

The post Meet these 10 startups that are saving lives appeared first on e27.

In March, Malaysia-based Islamic fintech company du-it announced a crowdfunding campaign in collaboration with global Islamic crowdfunding platform Ethis Malaysia.

The campaign is meant to support the development of its B2B BNPL platform, which is dedicated to providing interest-free instalment solutions to businesses, particularly small and micro-sized enterprises (SMEs/MSMEs). It aims to raise a maximum total of MYR3 million (US$679,000) over the course of 90 days.

“With the funds raised through the campaign, we aim to bring our platform to more businesses in Malaysia, further develop our platform as well as expand our team across core business-growth roles, helping businesses access on-demand interest-free credit terms, and solving the pain points of today’s SMEs,” says Shafik Ali, Founder and CEO, du-it.

In an email to e27, Ali explains why the company decides to take the route of crowdfunding to support its mission.

“We have recently closed our fundraising round with several VCs and HNWIs. To further expand our core team and to scale in Malaysia we are raising via ECF, where we give the opportunity for the retail investors to join our journey at the same valuation at which our VC partners came in for,” Ali says.

Also Read: Innovation meets piety: How Netverse sets itself apart as a sharia-compliant metaverse

du-it for SMEs

du-it describes itself as a BNPL platform designed as a solution-based platform for SMEs and MSMEs in Malaysia, with a primary focus on their dealings with other businesses that require flexible payment options for their purchases, whether for capital expenditures (CAPEX) or operational expenditures (OPEX). The platform offers a credit limit of up to MYR50,000 (US$11,300) based on the client’s risk profiling and allows businesses to obtain approval within minutes.

According to Ali, currently, there are no similar platforms in Malaysia which apply the BNPL concept to B2B payments.

“However, if compared to other alternative SME financing platforms, we differentiate from the rest by not charging the SMEs any interest and also we offer a revolving credit which the SMEs could use as an on-demand credit line and when they need for their OPEX and CAPEX purchases.”

du-it is backed by Artem Ventures, 1337 Ventures, and individual investors from the Middle East and Malaysia.

The company implements a revenue model that works by this system: For every invoice submitted and approved via the du-it platform, it pasy the suppliers upfront minus a certain MDR (Merchant Discount Rate). Du-it then collects back from the SMEs at monthly intervals the original invoice amount via equal and interest-free instalments at the chosen duration.

Also Read: OUCH! secures funding to become a Shariah-compliant digital insurer in Malaysia

BNPL, halal version

For the uninitiated, one might wonder how a Shariah-based BNPL differs from a conventional one.

“Ultimately, a Shariah-based B2B BNPL strengthens the concept of BNPL further by not charging the SMEs who use our service any interest, which is strictly prohibited in Islam. Apart from that, in Shariah-based B2B BNPL also it is not allowed to charge unreasonable and compounding interest or charges for any late payments, which could further burden the SMEs,” Ali explains.

How does implementing this approach make a difference in how du-it is growing its business?

“First of all, the Islamic finance industry is growing rapidly and we look to capture this market with our unique offering by focusing on this niche. At launch, we would be the first Shariah-compliant B2B BNPL in the world and our future plans are to further expand into the Middle East market which has recently seen rapid growth with regards to their startup ecosystem and financial services,” Ali says.

Last but not least, the uniqueness of a Shariah-compliant fintech platform lies in its adherence to the Maqasid Shariah or the objective of Shariah.

“This can be defined as ‘the attainment of good, welfare, advantage, benefits and warding off evil, injury and loss for the people, planet and the community.’ Islamic fintech fundamentally needs to keep in mind that not only monetary growth is important, but also its business conduct must be aligned with these principles which set it apart from its conventional peers when it comes to making an impact and growing the startup,” Ali closes.

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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: du-it

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