Jesse Bouman and Nesha Aurea Hanzdima, both creators and entrepreneurs, believe the future of entrepreneurship starts with content creation. Globally, more and more creators are using the audience they built through content to launch their own businesses.

“However, in Indonesia, it’s far more difficult for most content creators to achieve this dream of starting own businesses,” says Bouman. “We felt that if we could automate this process, we’d unlock money for more creators to go full-time and build the businesses of their dreams.”

This led the duo to start Slice Group.

Slice was launched in January 2022 by Bouman (CEO) and Hanzdima (COO). Bouman was previously Head of Technology and Innovation at Mindshare, a global media agency, while Hanzdima is a serial entrepreneur and has built more than six companies since graduation.

A creator management solution, Slice helps agencies and brands manage creator relationships. Its integrated creator relationship management (CRM) platform simplifies reporting, payments, and relationships for sponsored brand content.

Also Read: Intudo Ventures, Arise back Indonesian influencer marketing startup Slice Group

“In layman’s terms, we help brands and agencies aggregate influencer performance data for campaign reporting and crunch the data so they can determine which creators to work with in the long term,” he elaborates. “We’re able to do this because our content creators sign up to Slice and connect their social media accounts so they can share their reporting data directly with us. All our data is verified, and we eliminate the manual screenshots and PowerPoints that plague the industry.”

In turn, Slice offers creators different tools to help them grow. It currently provides dynamic media kits for creators to share their rate cards, analytics, and audience demographics with brands and agencies without constantly updating a PDF like they typically do now.

A SaaS tool, Slice charges a monthly subscription. As the company expands its product line, it will include transactional revenue with its financial products.

The startup has worked with various agencies, brands, and startups, including Shopee, Nivea, Koinworks, Populix, Erha, and OMD/PHD.

While Slice plans to expand to new countries in Southeast Asia in the future, the current focus remains Indonesia.

“Indonesia is the largest market in the region, and we are firm believers in the economic growth opportunities the country presents over the next few decades,” he adds. “Secondly, Indonesians are uniquely positioned for success in the growing creator economy. The country has one of the world’s highest social media usage rates. They love creating and consuming content. Additionally, it’s a very entrepreneurial country.”

There are about 62 million SMEs, and in his opinion, the next generation of Indonesian entrepreneurs will start by simply creating content on their mobile phones.

Bouman also informs that Slice is now working on embedded finance features. “While Indonesia and SEA are quickly digitising their financial services, everything is still a one-size fits all model. The content creators and agencies that we work with have specific financial needs. Integrated financing and payments in our platform are areas where we feel we can expedite the flow of money and boost the businesses of both our agencies and content creators. ”

Also Read: How can influencer marketing help the travel industry in a post-pandemic world

On Wednesday, the startup announced the completion of a US$645,000 seed round of financing led by Intudo Ventures and Arise. “I’m a firm believer in product-led growth. We’re investing heavily in our engineering and design teams. We’ve brought all our development and design in-house. We focus on building an intuitive and impactful product while iterating quickly based on customer feedback,” he explains.

Globally, social media users touched 4.6 billion, shaping a US$100-billion creator economy. This growing number, coupled with the novel ways of starting a business globally, presents a massive opportunity for Slice to build a billion-dollar business. And Bouman and Hanzdima have only made baby steps, and they have a long way to go.

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Singapore-based construction planning simulation and optimisation startup Frontline Industrial Software has raised US$700,000 in a seed funding round led by Cocoon Capital.

Frontline, founded by Luis Martinez and Ruiqi Ding, enables construction companies, operators and contractors to quickly identify best-in-class construction plans with optimal activity sequencing and resource allocation. The software uses Artificial Intelligence to identify the most efficient and cost-effective construction plans for complex infrastructure, civil, energy, industrial and residential projects.

With Frontline, construction teams can simulate thousands of options and find the most cost and time-effective solutions. According to the founders, this is a significant improvement compared to existing construction planning tools that offer limited options for optimisation.

“Frontline’s ‘plug-and-play’ solution seamlessly integrates into the existing work processes of construction companies and uses existing data to deliver insights that were simply not available before,” said Martinez.

Also Read: Sirclo banks US$10.5M to expand in Indonesia

Frontline’s software is already used by international construction companies in the infrastructure, energy and residential sectors. Customers have seen project timeline savings of up to three months and a six per cent cost reduction, which is significant in a slim-margin business.

“With the estimated US$26 billion global construction technology market by 2027 and the widespread adoption of digital productivity solutions by over 80 per cent of construction companies, a substantial market gap awaits smart software that optimises project execution”, said Will Klippgen, Managing Partner of Cocoon Capital.

A survey by KPMG found that 91 per cent of construction industry executives believe digital transformation is important for their business, while only 19 per cent have a digital strategy in place. Frontline’s technology addresses the productivity challenges faced by the industry, making it a timely and extremely cost-efficient solution.

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Hong Kong-based children’s clothing resale platform Retykle has closed a new round of pre-Series A funding, bringing its total funding to US$2.2 million.

The latest round was led by Singapore’s early to-growth stage VC firm Pine Venture Partners, with participation from undisclosed angels.

The company plans to utilise the new funds to build a senior leadership team, develop new resale-as-a-service technology, and expand into new markets.  

Founded in 2016 by Sarah Garner, Retykle is an online consignment store for buying and selling designer baby, children’s and maternity fashion, gear and toys. Its mission is to make trading high-quality pre-loved items as easy and convenient as buying new ones.

Also Read: Why we need to stop calling them ‘mumpreneurs’

The US$400-billion global childrenswear market presents a substantial opportunity for resale. In 2022 the global resale market grew by 28 per cent and is expected to double in size by 2027, reaching US$350 billion. Resale outpaces traditional retail threefold and will account for 10 per cent of the global fashion market by 2024. Resale is revolutionising traditional retail and fundamentally changing consumer purchasing habits as they seek greater value and less environmental impact.

“The fashion industry is ripe for disruption, and advancing circular consumption is a clear win for sustainability and for all players in the fashion industry. Retykle provides a much-needed service for mothers of children while reducing our carbon footprint, and that is something fully aligned with Pine Venture Partners’ investment philosophy,” says Hyuk-tae Kwon, Co-Founder and CEO at Pine Venture Partners.

Retykle allows buyers to browse thousands of used and new past-season items from over 2,000 leading children’s designer clothing brands, saving 50-90 per cent off original retail prices.

Since its launch, Retykle has recirculated over 150,000 items, with tens of thousands of parents joining the platform to build a sharing economy online, saving temporary-use clothing from being sent to landfill.

“With only two per cent of VC capital directed to female-led companies, we are grateful to have the backing of Pine Ventures, who see the blue ocean of opportunity in circular consumption”, says Garner.

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Image credit: Retykle

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Anichess, an upcoming decentralised chess-inspired game by Animoca Brands, has completed an oversubscribed US$1.5 million seed financing round from GameFi Ventures, The Operating Group, Koda Capital, Bing Ventures, 708 Capital, Asymmetry Capital, and others.

The startup will use the funding to continue the development of its innovative decentralised chess game, expand its team, and grow its community.

Launched in 2024, Anichess develops and advances decentralised chess in partnership with Play Magnus Group (PMG) and its Champions Chess Tour. It modernises and tokenises the game to take advantage of opportunities presented by Web3 technologies and communities.

Also Read: Web3 is going to redefine labour in Asia in a big way: Animoca Brands’s Yat Siu

Anichess offers a free-to-play game that combines the core values of traditional chess with an additional layer of strategy provided by new features, including an innovative spell mechanic.

The Alpha version of the game is expected to launch in Q1 2024.

Following the acquisition of PMG by Chess.com in December 2022, which has expanded the reach of the Champions Chess Tour even further, Anichess will be presented to millions of chess fans to deliver innovative experiences, grow the global chess community, and empower players through decentralisation.

Yat Siu, Co-Founder and Executive Chairman of Animoca Brands, commented: “Partnering with Chess.com is an incredible opportunity to work with some of the leading chess players and influencers across the world and to bring chess into the open metaverse.”

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In today’s world, more and more people are relying on technology to stay connected. As such, new businesses in the digital space are cropping up left and right while traditional brick-and-mortar enterprises are looking to digitalise, considering digital transformation no longer a luxury but a necessity.

According to a survey by Gartner, over 90% of businesses reported having implemented some form of digital applications in their organisations and made digital transformation their main priority. Moreover, 56% of surveyed CEOs claimed that the digitalisation process has had positive impacts on their operation, increasing profitability and customer satisfaction.

Additionally, the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the move towards digitalisation around the world as businesses and governments spent billions of dollars on building robust digital infrastructures to address social distancing and remote working measures, paving the way for seamlessness in communication and collaboration.  

It is also worth noting that for business owners, this transition towards an increasingly digital world not only means keeping up with the ongoing industry trends but also opens new opportunities for growth. With digital infrastructure automating processes and digitalising end-to-end user experiences, businesses can mostly eliminate geographical boundaries and reach out to potential customers across continents — ultimately opening their doors to fresh markets.

The rising demand for tech talents and hiring challenges in the sector

As a result of the overwhelming need for digital transformation, the demand for hiring software engineers and related professionals has been on the rise in the past years. Software developers can work with businesses to facilitate their digitalisation process, building and incorporating digital tools, catalysing changes at a more rapid pace, and shaping the future business landscape.

In 2023, the new job openings for programmers and software developers increased by 25% compared to 2021 with flexible options for on-premise, remote, and hybrid positions. Coupled with the chronic skill shortages in tech sectors, this increase in demand means an even more competitive recruitment war for the top talents.

Also read: Unlocking potential: The evolving role of corporate accelerators

Indeed, hiring and retaining top talents in the tech sector is very challenging for several reasons. In the first place, the turnover rate in the technology sector is among the highest compared to other industries, staying at 13.2% according to a survey by LinkedIn, posing a lot of risks, especially for startups due to potential disruption to their operation and high associated costs. Moreover, many companies are willing to significantly raise the salary and compensation packages to attract desirable talents, making the hiring market become even fiercer.

Second, technical skills and requirements for corresponding positions change constantly as new skills and tools emerge frequently, disrupting the existing industry incumbents. Hence, both tech talents and employers have to continuously adapt and acquire new skills to stay in the game. The recruitment process has also become trickier since recruiters must act fast to win the deal but still maintain the appropriate candidate qualities.

How WAOHire fills in the talent gap and empowers both developers and businesses

Based in Vietnam, WAOHire, a leading HR solution provider with an international reach, offers a range of services to help companies find and retain top talents with special expertise in the IT industry. With over 8 years of experience in the market and a team of more than 60 talented members who have years of experience in the IT sector, WAOHire has successfully consulted and built offshore development teams for more than 15 leading global clients. It has also actively founded or contributed to the local tech communities to develop competence and networking opportunities and collaborated with various educational institutions and universities to support and mentor students.

Through these initiatives, WAOHire can help address the talent gap and equip job seekers and employees with the technical and soft skills necessary for their jobs. 

WAOHire currently provides two main services that can be customised to the specific needs and preferences of the clients. First, Talent Sourcing & Recruiting Services are designed for employers who need help finding qualified candidates for open positions in their organisation. The service includes job postings on multiple platforms, extensive candidate sourcing and screening process among WAOHire’s vast pool of talents, and effective testing and interviewing process to find the candidates with the right skills and culture fit.

On average, clients start receiving candidate CVs after 5 days, alleviating their burden of sourcing and selecting candidates and enabling them to focus their efforts on day-to-day business operations. Moreover, thanks to WAOHire’s strategic vetting process and industry connections, its pool of candidates covers all major technological stacks including the latest and most sought-after skills such as blockchain and data analytics.

Also read: Challenging periods are the best time to invest—here’s why you need to get the word out

In addition, the second service offered by WAOHire is HR E2E Service which provides end-to-end HR solutions that streamline the entire employee lifecycle management from onboarding new hires, managing all legal paperwork, engaging them during their employment period, to terminating the employment. This includes payroll processing, attendance tracking, performance reviews, benefits administration, etc. WAOHire also goes to great lengths to ensure legal compliance in accordance with both Vietnamese and international laws.

WAOHire’s HR E2E service can help companies save up to 50% in costs compared to establishing a legal entity and hiring an in-house HR team. Their team of experts will take care of all HR needs, from recruiting top talent to managing teams and ensuring compliance with local laws and regulations. WAOHire’s end-to-end HR services offer unparalleled flexibility, allowing businesses to effortlessly scale their teams up or down as needed, without being burdened by legal complications and administrative woes, enabling companies to concentrate on their core strengths: driving business growth and accomplishing long-term goals.

Additionally, WAOHire’s pricing scheme is very competitive, with charges made based on actual successful hiring. With its innovative HR solutions, WAOHire hopes to empower both businesses and developers, matching the right talents with the right employers in the shortest possible time — ultimately enabling them to focus on cutting-edge technologies and meaningful projects.

To learn more about WAOHire and its services, you may visit their official website.  

About WAOHire

Founded by Phat Nguyen and Van Nguyen, a team dedicated to providing exceptional HR services to tech companies, WAOHire is a leading HR solution provider that offers a range of services to help companies find and retain top talent. WAOHire prides itself on taking a humanised approach to hiring and working with developers. Their services include Talent Sourcing & Recruiting Services that guarantee results after 5 days of kick-off and HR E2E Services.

Also read: Wrap Up: Highlights of Echelon Asia Summit 2023

Phat Nguyen has previously worked as a freelancer for numerous startups with global clients, putting him in the unique position of understanding the challenges faced by tech companies today. Moreover, he is able to offer a wide range of tech-focused services, from managing development teams to recruiting top tech talent. On the other hand, Van Nguyen has extensive experience in building communities and organising events, with her own community being one of the largest in the industry.

With Phat Nguyen’s wealth of technical expertise and project management skills and Van Nguyen’s deep knowledge of HR skills and talent acquisition, the duo provides an invaluable asset to WAOHire’s suite of tech services, enabling them to solidify their commitment to providing the best possible HR services.

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

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