People and businesses have been communicating for years, mainly through face-to-face communication. But technology has changed all of that, including where and how people and businesses communicate. As the world grows more mobile-first, people’s expectations of businesses are also evolving.

Today, people want to engage with businesses not just face-to-face or over the phone, either via email and online, but also in their favourite messaging apps, with 50 per cent of customers saying that experience is more important to them now compared to a year ago. Additionally, seven out of 10 consumers report feeling closer to businesses they can message.

Business messaging brings businesses and people closer together – allowing people to have one-on-one personalised connections with businesses while helping businesses get the most out of their valuable conversations and drive business performance.

Globally, more than one billion people are connecting with a business account across Meta’s messaging services every week. And across Southeast Asia, research conducted by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and  Meta indicated that business messaging has become critical to consumers, with an average of nearly 70 per cent adoption rate across Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

Leveraging business messaging to increase your operational efficiency

Unfortunately, not all businesses are well equipped to meet the rising and ever-changing consumer demands. In recent years, businesses have been put under greater pressure than ever to balance better customer experience with the need for efficiency and measurable return on investment (ROI). 

Also Read: How to meet your customer expectations fluently with the power of business messaging

More than one-third of businesses say that it is important to know how each dollar they spend turns into profit.  Additionally, they are facing industry headwinds with changes in data policies and regulations, such as the elimination of third-party cookies, affecting their ability to create personal experiences. 4​3 per cent of marketers and 55 per cent of media agencies are concerned about the potential elimination of third-party cookies.

In this context, business messaging not only helps businesses interact more personally at scale via artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, but it is also the answer to effective digital marketing and a less dependent approach from cookies while bringing higher business performance. 

A study conducted by Forrester Consulting and Meta in December 2022 showed that Business Messaging products have a 61 per cent better impact compared to other communication channels previously used. For example, in terms of sales, the order value from customers is 22.1 per cent higher due to communication between sellers and buyers through business messaging.

As a result, more and more businesses are finding new reasons to expand their messaging strategies to not only create better customer journeys and drive loyalty but to drive business performance. 

Reducing friction, increasing ROI, and reaching customers at scale via AI 

AI has been an integral part of Meta’s DNA, and Meta Business Messaging is one of our suite of solutions that utilises AI as a business and creative partner, making it easier for marketers to augment and enhance what they are already doing.

Also Read: How small businesses can boost brand visibility via videos and messaging

Prior to AI automation, messaging via chatbots had to be manually created by typing in answers to commonly asked questions – which can be laborious and time-consuming. Now, with the power of AI, Meta Business Messaging is capable of delivering relevant chat with automated question-and-answer flows that feel natural and could significantly enhance your customer service experience. 

Additionally, the investments we are making in AI modelling are helping us improve ad formats like Lead Ads and ads that Click to Message. In fact, 40 per cent of our advertisers globally are already using Click to Message ads format, and within Southeast Asia (SEA), more than 90 per cent of advertisers in Singapore and Vietnam use Click to Message ads.

One such example is Vua Nem, a leading mattress and bedding retailer in Vietnam. Vua Nem wanted to attract more people with high purchase intent for its premium mattress products during its year-end sales promotion. They introduced a new campaign of ads that click to Messenger and set up an automated Messenger experience that offered people a unique promotion code when they messaged the business. The company saw a 54 per cent increase in new messaging connections and three times higher reach from ads that click to Messenger with an automated offer compared to usual ads that click to Messenger.

Additionally, in countries where WhatsApp is the main form of communication, ads that click to WhatsApp are making it even easier to start conversations. Take, for example, Anker Indonesia, a leading seller of portable charging technology and audio products. The company wanted to turn up the frequency of its digital marketing efforts to expand its reach beyond email or SMS campaigns.

They decided to develop a one-week campaign using WhatsApp to inform customers about a new flash sale on headphones. The open rates for messages in WhatsApp reached over 63 per cent, add-to-cart rates reached over 27 per cent, and the team saw a high 6.65 per cent sales conversion rate in one week (i.e., a significant number of customers opening messages through WhatsApp went on to purchase headphones).

How businesses can take their messaging strategies to the next level

To further accelerate their business growth, businesses need to focus on driving better ROI while making sure they are meeting consumer demand for richer brand engagement experiences.

At Meta, we are committed not only to enabling businesses of all sizes with our technologies and providing capabilities for accelerated reach but also to creating more personalised brand engagement experiences for consumers.

—

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

The image featured in the article has been generated utilising an AI-powered tool

The post The growth of business messaging: How it’s improving business performance in Southeast Asia appeared first on e27.

In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, it is crucial to approach the development and management of software with a product-centric mindset. While many organisations still treat digital initiatives as short-term projects, this approach often fails to address the unique challenges and requirements of digital products.

To achieve long-term success, it is essential to shift our thinking and treat digital products as products rather than projects.

In this article, we will explore why the project-centric approach falls short and discuss the key differences between project-centric and product-centric mindsets. We will also provide actionable advice on how to make this mindset shift and build better software products.

Why the project-centric approach falls short

The project-centric approach to digital initiatives often focuses on predefined requirements, fixed timelines, and rigid deliverables. While this approach might work for traditional projects, it fails to address the dynamic nature of digital products. Digital products require continuous iteration, adaptation, and improvement to remain competitive and meet evolving user needs.

The post How to embrace a product mindset for digital success appeared first on e27.

At e27, we foster the growth of visionary minds and offer a platform for exceptional individuals to share their expertise and unique perspectives. Our Contributor Programme serves as a gateway for passionate voices to join the dynamic dialogue on entrepreneurship, technology, and innovation.

Did you know about e27 Voices? It’s our prestigious annual Hall of Fame that recognises the top 50 contributors to our platform. Each year, we honour thought leaders from both the startup and corporate worlds who have shared their invaluable insights, experiences, and expertise. If you’re interested in learning more about these exceptional contributors and the wealth of knowledge they’ve brought to our platform, feel free to check out e27 Voices!

If you happened to miss our previous announcement, we would like to remind you that we are actively seeking your insights and feedback to further enhance our contributor platform. Your opinions are invaluable to us, and we welcome any input you might have here.

Join us for our weekly presentation of carefully curated articles sourced from our esteemed Contributor Programme. From emerging trends to industry insights and groundbreaking ideas, these articles promise to broaden your horizons and stimulate your curiosity.

The growth of business messaging: How it’s improving business performance in Southeast Asia

“Today, people want to engage with businesses not just face-to-face or over the phone, either via email and online, but also in their favourite messaging apps, with 50 per cent of customers saying that experience is more important to them now compared to a year ago. Additionally, seven out of 10 consumers report feeling closer to businesses they can message. Business messaging brings businesses and people closer together – allowing people to have one-on-one personalised connections with businesses while helping businesses get the most out of their valuable conversations and drive business performance.”

Meta’s Vice President, Southeast Asia and Emerging Markets, Ben Joe’s article, delves into the remarkable rise of business messaging and its transformative effects on business performance across Southeast Asia. It explores the widespread adoption of this communication trend and its role in streamlining operations, improving customer engagement, and driving overall business success. The piece discusses the key strategies and tools employed by companies to leverage business messaging effectively.

How to embrace a product mindset for digital success

“By embracing a product-centric mindset and adopting continuous iteration, user-centricity, cross-functional collaboration, outcome-oriented metrics, and an agile approach, organisations can unlock the true potential of their digital products.”

Marketing expert at Morphosis and Seven Peaks Software, Sissada Siripongsaroj’s article offers valuable insights into the importance of adopting a product mindset in the digital realm. It emphasizes the need for businesses to prioritise customer-centric approaches and product-focused strategies to drive digital success. By understanding customer needs, iterating continuously, and fostering a culture of innovation, organisations can enhance their digital offerings and stay competitive in today’s ever-evolving market.

Exit thinking: One key mindset change to gear up and scale

“Having the exit in mind means that you now have a way to define what you want to achieve and to anticipate whatever strategic steps will need to be taken along the way.”

Business Coach and Co-Founder of Impactified, Antoine Martin’s article introduces the concept of “exit thinking” as a crucial mindset change for businesses aiming to scale and succeed. Adopting this mindset, entrepreneurs and startup founders can make informed decisions, align their goals with potential exit opportunities, and attract investors.

Also Read: Contributor corner: e27’s weekly roundup of the industry insights

How express delivery services can become a key differentiator for e-commerce businesses

“Express delivery services today are no longer a bonus feature but an expectation. This means that in order to meet customer expectations, a reliable logistics partner is crucial for optimising current processes and reducing operating costs.”

General Manager of Southeast Asia, Cainiao Group, Ricky Xue’s article talks about the vital role of fast and efficient delivery services in setting e-commerce businesses apart from their competitors. Examining successful case studies and industry trends, the article reveals how businesses can strategically implement express delivery services to enhance their value proposition, increase customer retention, and ultimately achieve a competitive edge in the fast-paced e-commerce landscape.

The GEAR: A new accelerator programme for early-stage startups in the built environment sector

“The future of work and life is brimming with innovation, and it will radically transform human experiences in the way we live and work through interactions with new technologies. While we all may have a different view on how the future of living and working looks Kajima Development, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kajima Corporation, aims to take on a mission to shape this future.”

Marketing and Ecosystem Lead at Rainmaking APAC, Isabel Ng, delves into the thriving ecosystem of a prominent environment innovation hub in Asia. It showcases how Kajima Development’s The GEAR fosters and accelerates the growth of startups in the construction and built environment sectors.

How to boost your pitch deck engagement with investors in 2023

“With our global experience aiding early startups and unicorns in their fundraising efforts, we have accumulated a list of fresh and increasingly more effective practices to captivate investor attention. Many disrupt the longstanding conventions of how pitch decks should be created, partly explaining their particular effectiveness in the current climate.”

Partner at Waveup, Olena Petrosyuk’s article offers valuable tips and strategies for entrepreneurs seeking to enhance their pitch deck presentations to investors. By incorporating compelling storytelling, impactful visuals, and data-driven insights, entrepreneurs can create pitch decks that stand out and leave a lasting impression on investors.

Embracing workplace flexibility: The new era begins

“Work becomes more fulfilling when employees can make decisions about their work, take ownership, and excel in their roles. This is achieved by setting goals and objectives with autonomy and empowering workers to do what is best for the customer.”

CEO of FlexOS, Daan van Rossum’s article explores the growing trend of workplace flexibility and its impact on modern organisations, delving into the changing dynamics of work arrangements, where remote work and flexible schedules are becoming increasingly prevalent.

Are you ready for Asia Pacific’s first AI-driven mega sales season?

“Shoppers, especially the younger generation, agree that planning ahead financially for the holiday season is more important than ever. Mega Sales Days (MSDs) are acting as catalysts, with their promise of delivering good bargains, entertainment and cultural relevance.”

Vice President of Asia Pacific for Meta, Dan Neary’s article explores how AI technology is revolutionising the way businesses approach sales and customer engagement during this significant season. By providing insights into the preparations and opportunities available for businesses, it aims to help companies gear up for this groundbreaking AI-driven mega sales season in the dynamic Asia Pacific market.

Also Read: Contributor corner: Weekly round-up of e27’s latest insights and perspectives

Financial literacy in Southeast Asia is set to match industry growth

“The future of the macro-regional financial ecosystem is closely connected with financially literate consumers, and the main focus for market development remains transparency, humanity and long-term relationships between customers and fintech businesses.”

Chief Executive Officer at Robocash Group, Natalya Ischenko’s article, sheds light on the increasing focus on financial literacy in the Southeast Asian region. It explores how the industry’s growth is accompanied by efforts to improve financial knowledge and awareness among individuals and businesses. Examining the positive correlation between financial literacy and industry growth, the article emphasizes the importance of empowering individuals with financial knowledge to foster economic development in Southeast Asia.

Defence is the best offence: Why startups should prioritise cybersecurity even when scaling their business

“A single data breach can cost a startup millions of dollars in lost revenue, damaged reputation, and legal fees. While some of these can be recuperated through cyber insurance, the reputational damage can be irreversible, especially for startups trying to establish their reputation and presence in a nascent market.”

Vice President of International Marketing at LogRhythm, Joanne Wong’s article highlights the critical importance of cybersecurity for startups during their scaling phase. It emphasizes that as businesses grow, they become more susceptible to cyber threats and attacks.

How to enhance credit decision-making with technology

“Modern lending stands on speed, precision, and minimal friction. However, a lender’s core strength lies in constantly fine-tuning its underwriting models. Upgrading to automated transaction analysis is a sure-shot way to optimise and scale a credit product.”

Co-Founder & CEO of FinBox, Rajat Deshpande’s article, delves into the transformative role of technology in improving credit assessment processes. It explores the innovative tools and solutions that financial institutions can leverage to make more accurate and efficient credit decisions. Embracing technology such as AI, data analytics, and machine learning, lenders can gain deeper insights into borrowers’ creditworthiness, reduce risks, and streamline the overall credit evaluation process.

—

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Canva Pro

The post Voices of innovation: Showcasing e27’s top contributors of the week appeared first on e27.

It’s funny how entrepreneurs and people with big ideas that have the potential to change the world (and make money along the way) tend to think about how to make things happen. The goal is usually the same: you spend a lot of time on building a business and a team to run it, and so you expect to cash in down the road. Right? Right.

But how do you get there, exactly?

Long story short, you need to think about funding your development, which typically implies self-financing, debt raising, or equity funding. And to get there, you have to think long-term.

If you plan on self-funding everything, you have to think about cash flow and margin.

If you plan on raising debt, you have to think about cash flow (again) and repayment capacity (because bankers lend to those who can repay).

And if you plan on raising equity, you have to think about cash flow (still!) and return on investment (because investors want their equity investment back with a premium).

The common denominator here? Your best chance to get somewhere you want is to think about where you want to get a few years from now – which is called exit thinking.

Do entrepreneurs and business owners do it? Definitely not enough, and definitely not the right way either. And that’s because the topic is typically in a blind spot for most.

Exit thinking means planning to pass on

First angle

Business owners and entrepreneurs often keep their noses to the grindstone and focus on daily and operational routines. They focus on getting work done, and by the same token, they drop the long-term perspective every captain should keep in mind at all times.

Instead of building a system that progressively works for them, they keep doing ‘stuff’. Instead of focusing on how to pass on to the next leader, they hold on to what they have as hard as they can. Instead of showing that they are looking to let go, they show the business is worth nothing without them. And instead of inspiring partners and funders looking for sustainable projects to invest in, they give them the certitude that the business will never be able to roll on its own.

Also Read: It is important that founders see investors as their partners: Christina Teo of she1K

Exit thinking means anticipation and strategic thinking

Second angle

Having the exit in mind means that you now have a way to define what you want to achieve and to anticipate whatever strategic steps will need to be taken along the way.

Think about it this way: which type of business owner would you partner with?

The ones who have big dreams but no real sense of direction and achievement and no idea of how to leverage financial provisions? Or the ones who approach their development pragmatically and have a sensible idea of what money and partners they need to secure to obtain specific results five years from now because they think in terms of business planning and can come up with a reasonable business plan illustrating their thinking?

Some plan their next step(s) based on their exit plans, but most don’t.

No exit thinking means no vision and no funding

No exit thinking means no vision, no long-term thinking, no strategic thinking, a lot of randomness, and no funding prospects.

Why? Because exit thinking typically suggests that you have some basic business planning skills every partner expects to find. In case you’d want a pragmatic illustration of this, here is a basic mathematical translation of the point I’m making.

Consider that any investor will take ten per cent of your company in exchange for the money you ask for (typical situation).

• Option A: You have a five-year strategy with a five-year profit estimate that takes into account carefully anticipated development funding needs. You can, therefore, reasonably assume that your business could be worth a 10m paycheck – hence an investor would typically give you 1m for ten percent of the equity right now.
• Option B: You have no strategy and mostly focus on today and tomorrow. By the end of the year your business might make half a million in turnover (lucky scenario) but you have no clue about short-term profit estimates – let alone long-term!

Well, guess what? That’s what your business is worth. “No clue”. What is ten per cent of ‘no clue’?

Think exit

If you want to give your business a chance, exit thinking is key.

It will get you to build the vision you need, but it will also give you a strong basis to start thinking in terms of business planning.

—

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

The image featured in the article has been generated utilising an AI-powered tool

The post Exit thinking: One key mindset change to gear up and scale appeared first on e27.

Dear Pro member,

Elon Musk, whose obsession with X is famous, has replaced Twitter’s iconic logo with a stylised ‘X’.

The new brand name is the latest in a series of changes Musk has made (across the organisational and platform levels) since he acquired Twitter in 2022 and comes just a few weeks after Meta’s launch of Threads.

As per reports, the SpaceX founder has been working on transforming Twitter into an “everything app” along the lines of China’s WeChat. Just before its acquisition in October, Musk described the social networking platform as “an accelerant to creating X, the everything app”. After the deal was closed, he folded Twitter into an entity called X Corp. Early this month, Musk said he would form a new AI company called xAI.

Now, with Threads making waves in the social media world with new unique features, can Twitter continue its dominance, and does it have the X factor to beat it?

This is the highlight of today’s Ecosystem Roundup.

Take a look at the other headlines as well.

Sainul,
Editor.

---

Twitter has officially changed its logo to ‘X’
The company’s CEO Linda Yaccarino tweeted X will introduce features “centered in audio, video, messaging, payment/banking” and make it a “global marketplace for ideas, goods, services, and opportunities.”

Vietnamese earned wage access startup GIMO closes US$17.1M Series A
The investors include TNB Aura, Integra Partners, ThinkZone Ventures, and Genting Ventures; GIMO currently serves 500,000 workers from medium to large-sized multinational manufacturing companies.

Mirae Asset’s MAPS Capital eyes US$200M for Fund II
A first close of US$65M was completed last December from Mirae Asset and strategic investors; MAPS invests in global companies in frontier technologies and services that contribute to the upgrade of the consumption value chain.

Singaporean climate-tech startup Zuno Carbon raises US$2.5M
The investors are Wavemaker Partners, SEEDS Capital, and Blue InCube Ventures; Zuno’s ESG management platform Veridis analyses the data collected and generates sustainability reports based on global regulatory frameworks.

Heliconia Capital invests digital assets launchpad 2MR Labs
Other backers are Plug and Play APAC, The Assembly Place, and LucidBlue Ventures; 2MR Labs has also announced brand partnerships with Plug and Play APAC, The Assembly Place, PG, MetaOne, and UKISS Technology.

SG’s NxtGen Capital unveils inaugural fund targeting US
Called NxtGen Capital Fund 1, it aims to deploy capital into VC funds that have a small fund size; The firm will mainly look for funds that are less than US$150M in size.

Indian deeptech startup Ethereal Machines raises US$7.3M
The investors are Surge and Blume Ventures; Ethereal uses proprietary Computer Numerical Control machines, such as drills and mills, to produce precision engineering components for aerospace, automobile, and healthcare use.

East Ventures invests in Aevice Health
Aevice Health is a Singapore-based respiratory monitoring firm that aims to help the roughly 48.5M people in Southeast Asia who have chronic respiratory diseases.

TikTok Shop signs deal with BNPL major Atome in Malaysia
This will allow consumers to defer payment for their purchases over three or six months; Atome is operated by Singapore-based Advance Intelligence Group, which raised US$80M from Warburg Pincus and Northstar Group.

NextBillion.ai posts 28% revenue growth in 2022, losses widen to US$7.1M
Net cash flow used for operations also grew 100% year on year to roughly US$7M; The revenue growth was mostly driven by expansion efforts in North America.

Sam Altman’s Worldcoin eyeball-scanning crypto project launches
Worldcoin is expected to help build a reliable solution for “distinguishing humans from AI online,” enable “global democratic processes” and “drastically increase economic opportunity.”

Binance, OKX to list OpenAI founder’s Worldcoin
Deposits were enabled earlier today on both platforms, while withdrawals are tentatively set for tomorrow. Huobi and Bybit are among the other exchanges supporting the token.

Features
========

‘Climate investment is still viewed as a philanthropic agenda, not commercially viable’
‘It takes time for a founder to convince investors that climate solutions enable cost saving or reduction and/or additional value and profit’.

Following fund completion, Eurazeo aims to support up-and-coming leaders in climate tech
The new Eurazeo fund is dedicated to digital innovation for sustainable cities, targeting the key sectors of the low-carbon economy.

Guest posts
===========

The growth of business messaging: How it’s improving business performance in Southeast Asia
Business messaging fosters personalised one-on-one connections, enhancing valuable conversations and driving business performance.

How to embrace a product mindset for digital success
Digital products require continuous iteration, adaptation, and improvement to remain competitive and meet evolving user needs.

The post Ecosystem Roundup: GIMO closes US$17.1M Series A; Twitter bird is replaced with ‘X’ appeared first on e27.

It’s always interesting to look at the trends from Meta’s Seasonal Holidays Study, and one thing to note this year is how carefully and how far in advance people are planning for end-of-year purchases.

Shoppers, especially the younger generation, agree that planning ahead financially for the holiday season is more important than ever. Mega Sales Days (MSDs) are acting as catalysts, with their promise of delivering good bargains, entertainment and cultural relevance.

Clearly, MSDs are here to stay, as the Asia Pacific (APAC) region recorded the highest MSD participation rate last year.  Our survey showed that a whopping 83 per cent of year-end shoppers in APAC made a purchase during an MSD compared to the global average of 70 per cent (in partnership with YouGov, we surveyed 14,009 people aged 18+ in December 2022 across 12 APAC markets). APAC also saw the largest increase in MSD spending at US$382 per person, which amounts to a 13 per cent increase vs the global average, which is a five per cent increase.

It’s interesting to note that APAC shoppers are still spending despite caution around global economic headwinds; they’re more open to discovering new products and services during the MSD season. This means businesses will need to rely on supercharging discovery more than ever.

AI-powered social discovery

Our survey shows that more shoppers are leaning towards social platforms for discovery and inspiration during the year-end shopping season, with reliance on in-store, search and store websites falling compared to previous years.

This was even starker when it came to purchases, with offline purchasing dropping six percentage points to 56 per cent compared to 62 per cent in 2022. Meanwhile, online purchasing increased to 87 per cent in 2022, compared to 81 per cent in 2021.

In fact, 67 per cent of APAC shoppers agreed that brands and products discovered on Meta technologies during the sales season are more relevant than those discovered on other platforms. Short-form videos emerged as powerful brand awareness drivers during the sales season, with 57 per cent of those surveyed saying they discovered new brands and products through short-form videos on social platforms.

This behaviour is especially pronounced in Gen Z and Millennials, with over 70 per cent saying they are always browsing online for shopping inspiration with a clear preference for short videos as discovery tools.

Also Read: The growth of business messaging: How it’s improving business performance in Southeast Asia

Our survey also uncovered some stark differences between Gen Z and Millennials. Gen Z shoppers appear to be more impulsive; 46 per cent of Gen Z shoppers took immediate action after discovering a brand/product by adding it to their carts, whereas for over half of Millennials (52 per cent), the online discovery led them to do more online research.

AI-driven mega sales

As we all know, something feels new this year, and that is the massive opportunity businesses have to use AI to build powerful connections with the growing ranks of Asia’s mega-sale shoppers.

So just as shoppers are planning early, marketers need to do the same if they are to offer customers value and remain competitive in a tight market. AI can help businesses automate campaigns or analyse performance and compare what works best at scale, and drive more efficient use of resources.

This is where our mature AI targeting technologies come into play, connecting businesses with valuable audiences at scale while respecting people’s choices on how their data is used. Meta Advantage is our suite of ad automation tools that help businesses maximise the performance benefits of AI to deliver superior campaign results.

Meta Advantage does this by allowing businesses to automate any or all of their campaigns. We invest in AI to help advertisers find, convert and keep customers through a variety of business objectives in a diversity of creative formats that flex to achieve outcomes that matter most to specific business growth. Put simply, AI can drive better performance by enabling brands to surprise and delight customers by intuitively serving up products they love – even before they’d even considered them.

Take the example of Pomelo, the Thai digital fashion platform that worked with us to automate some of its processes. They tested a Meta Advantage+ shopping campaign which uses machine learning to help brands reach audiences who are most likely to engage and convert.

Compared to manually created ads, Advantage+ shopping campaigns require fewer inputs during campaign creation, simplify audience options, and streamline the ad creative process. Pomelo relied on Meta’s powerful machine-learning technology to determine the best budget split to reach new and existing audiences. They achieve 2.1 times higher return on ad spend compared to the usual campaign setup.

Businesses can also use Meta Advantage for strategic targeting of segments to improve engagement and personalisation. Take the segment of ‘influencer followers’ that we identified. For this segment, creators have a stronger impact than brands when it comes to product awareness, consideration and purchase.

Among the subset of shoppers who follow creators, 79 per cent said they participated in MSD as they saw a promotion by a creator. Overall, 53 per cent agreed they look for creator/influencer recommendations to make holiday shopping decisions.

AI-assisted business messaging

One in two year-end shoppers also used Meta’s business messaging tools for inquiries, updates, tracking orders, returns and refunds management, payment/in-app checkout, and to access FAQs via chat automation or a chatbot.

Also Read: Future-proofing businesses and talent through technology

In Hong Kong, IKEA has implemented a Messenger-powered automated experience and promoted its automated care via Messenger Ads. Since doing so, IKEA Hong Kong has successfully improved the quality of its customer service and seen 300 per cent growth for Messenger as a customer care channel over a two-year period.

We are also seeing more businesses leveraging AI chatbots to provide instant customer support, guide users in purchasing decisions, and even upsell or cross-sell products, and this is all only set to grow.

AI-powered solutions and strategies

• Start early: Build enthusiasm early by setting earlier promotions or planning to launch new products to gain momentum. Leverage AI-driven solutions to hyper-personalise discoveries for shoppers that encourage conversion.
• Partner with creators: Collaborate with creators who align with your brand values and leverage co-branded marketing channels to spread the word.
• Harness AI to personalise at scale: With key segments in mind, increase your target audience by looking for new customers. Tap into AI, machine learning and business messaging to find the right audience at the right time at the best price.

To learn more about our solutions, click here.

—

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Meta

The post Are you ready for Asia Pacific’s first AI-driven mega sales season? appeared first on e27.

The past years have seen an unprecedented migration of transactions and interactions from offline to digital-first platforms, fueling the rise of a new wave of startups. In this landscape, startups have become especially vulnerable to cyber-attacks. As they expand their digital footprint through increased online transactions, data storage, and communication, they inadvertently create more entry points for potential attacks.

Case in point: Carousell, one of Singapore’s most well-known digital-first startups, announced last year that it suffered a personal data security breach which saw information from 2.6 million accounts being sold on the Dark Web and hacking forums. In a similar incident, Indonesia fintech Cermati was reported to have 2.9 million of its users’ data leaked and sold.

A single data breach can cost a startup millions of dollars in lost revenue, damaged reputation, and legal fees. While some of these can be recuperated through cyber insurance, the reputational damage can be irreversible, especially for startups trying to establish their reputation and presence in a nascent market.

That’s why it’s so important for startups to scale their cybersecurity along with the business at an early stage. By doing so, startups can build an unfair advantage over their competitors.

The benefits of cybersecurity

Having a strong cybersecurity posture can protect your organisation from cyberattacks. This can help to prevent data breaches, financial losses, and other damage. While you may be inclined to think that startups are not attractive to bad actors, that is not the case in practice. Due to the limited resources and lack of expertise, startups are more likely to be targeted by cyberattacks simply because they are seen as easy targets.

Aside from protection, ensuring that you have the right cybersecurity controls in place can also help your company stand out from your competitors. In industries that require them, attaining the right cybersecurity compliances can give you the edge that brings in the deals.

Also Read: Lessons from Echelon: Make cybersecurity a priority from day one of the business planning

Even in industries that do not require regulatory compliance, showing that you’ve achieved certain cybersecurity certifications, like ISO 27001, can help you build trust with your customers and investors. In fact, 73 per cent of APAC companies admitted that they had lost deals due to low confidence in their security strategy.

Taking the first steps

Founders do not need to hire an entire security team right at the start. Knowing the unique environment in which startups run, it’s important to focus on other functions like product, operations, and marketing. However, that doesn’t mean cybersecurity should be out of the picture.

Here are some steps you can take to begin your cybersecurity maturity journey:

• Start with a strong foundation. This includes having a clear understanding of your cybersecurity risks and developing a comprehensive cybersecurity plan. By having a security strategy in place, you’ll be able to understand your risks, what you need to protect, and which tools or services to procure to ensure its protection.
• Educate employees about cybersecurity: Employees should be educated about cybersecurity risks and how to protect themselves and their credentials from being stolen. Most cyberattacks start from a successful breach into an employee’s account through social engineering or phishing before moving laterally and accessing the company’s entire network. Building the ‘human firewall’ is essential in lowering your organisation’s risk.
• Have a plan for responding to cyberattacks: Often overlooked, startups should have a plan for responding to cyberattacks. In this plan, what counts as an ‘incident’ is defined, the incident response team from threat recovery to communications is defined, and your process of dealing with a successful attack is outlined. This document will show your company’s preparedness and provide clear SOPs when an incident occurs.

How to scale cybersecurity

As your organisation grows, cybersecurity needs to then scale accordingly. This means that they need to invest in new security technologies, hire security staff, and develop new security procedures.

Also Read: The future of cybersecurity: A plan to fill the workforce gap and protect the world

Here, depending on the size of your company and requirements, you can choose from the following:

• Hiring a Managed Services Provider (MSP): For companies without high requirements and would just like to have peace of mind over their network, an MSP may be the way to go. MSPs can provide startups with a comprehensive set of cybersecurity services, including threat monitoring, incident response, and security consulting.
• Using SaaS cybersecurity solutions: If you have a security team, a good option is to look into cloud-native cybersecurity tools and solutions for them to perform their jobs effectively without the need for high hardware investments.
• Building your dedicated Security Operations Centre (SOC): This is the costliest option, as it requires you to hire a team and procure both hardware and software for your cybersecurity. This allows you the most control over your network, and some organisations may require this right from the start, such as those operating in regulated industries that require your network to be on-prem.

This is not a one-fixed-path situation; you could start with an MSP and transition into an in-house SOC over the course of the years as your security needs grow and change. As such, it’s not as important to pick the ‘right’ solution but to pick the ‘best-fit’ solution and implement it early enough to be a part of your operational culture.

In conclusion, cybersecurity is essential for startups of all sizes. By scaling their cybersecurity along with the business at an early stage, startups can build an unfair advantage over their competitors as they’re able to lower risks, comply with regulations, and build trust with customers and investors.

—

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

The image featured in the article has been generated utilising an AI-powered tool

The post Defence is the best offence: Why startups should prioritise cybersecurity even when scaling their business appeared first on e27.

Immuno Cure bags US$12M, gears up for IPO

Hong Kong-based Immuno Cure BioTech closed the US$12 million tranche of its US$27 million Series A fundraising round, led by Gobi Partners-managed AEF Greater Bay Area Fund.

The biotech company will use the capital to accelerate the development of DNA vaccines and antibodies besides preparing for an IPO in Hong Kong.

Immuno Cure focuses on R&D of immunotherapies for cancers, inflammatory and infectious diseases based on its patented “PD-1-enhanced DNA Vaccine Platform” and “Anti-Δ42PD1 Antibody Platform” with two DNA vaccine candidates, ICVAX and ICCOV, currently in clinical trials.

GoodMorning Global secures US$4.4M via ECF

GoodMorning Global Group, a provider of “affordable” plant-based balanced nutrition for Malaysia and global communities, secured a record RM20 million (US$4.4 million) from over 1,000 investors in an equity crowdfunding (ECF) campaign.

The company will use the funds to accelerate biotechnology and food technology research while supporting its prospective IPO listing over the next two years.

Established in 2008, GoodMorning Global is a nutritional multigrain and biotechnology company. It engages in research and production of plant-based protein and multi-grain products.

Sunrate nets fresh funding

Sunrate, a cross-border payment platform for businesses, raised an extended Series D (D2) funding round from Sequoia Capital Southeast Asia (now known as Peak XV Partners).

Saudi Aramco-owned Prosperity7 Ventures and Softbank Ventures Asia co-invested.

Last month, Sunrate secured an undisclosed sum in its Series D1 led by Prosperity7 Ventures.

The startup will use the fresh funds to accelerate growth in emerging markets, such as Southeast Asia and India, and continue to onboard new customers globally. In addition, it will look to hire employees.

Peeba debuts in Southeast Asia

Y Combinator-backed Peeba announced the setting up its office in Indonesia, marking the first step of its Southeast Asia (SEA) expansion journey.

The online B2B wholesale marketplace wants to change the game for small retailers by enabling them to compete on the same footing as larger retailers through online and offline channels. The company aims to implement a “sell first, pay later” model for small retailers.

In a press statement, Peeba says it allows retail stores across Indonesia to buy products from thousands of curated global and local brands on consignment, so they can pay for goods they can sell and return the rest to Peeba. According to the company, this means that small retailers do not need to incur hefty upfront payments, allowing them to stock high-quality products in their stores.

Mirxes lands US$50M

Singapore-headquartered RNA technology company, Mirxes Holding, completed its Series D funding round, securing US$50 million.

The round is anchored by existing and new investors, including Beijing Fupu, EDBI, Mitsui & Co., NHH Venture Fund, and the Agency for Science, Technology and Research.

Mirxes Holding will use the capital to scale the adoption and penetration of its stomach cancer blood test, GASTROClear, in major Asia-Pacific markets, including Southeast Asia, China, and Japan.

A portion of the funds will be used to accelerate the development and commercialisation of Mirxes’s maturing clinical pipeline, including a blood-based colorectal cancer screening test and the multi-cancer early detection test under Project CADENCE. Project CADENCE is a project to develop a single blood test for the early detection of nine high-mortality cancers powered by the company’s RNA technology and other complementary biomarker technologies.

Resolution Ventures Fund I hits final close

Singapore-based venture capital firm Resolution Ventures made the final close of its first fintech fund.

An international community of fintech-interested institutions, unnamed family offices, finance executives and entrepreneurs invested.

With Resolution Fintech Fund I, the VC firm aims to invest in Southeast Asia’s founders developing solutions that have local, regional, and international applications.

The fund seeks to back pre-seed and seed-stage firms. The ticket size ranges between US$250,000 and US$750,000.

Bunker secures US$5M

Singapore-based startup Bunker, which provides a modern financial analytics platform for SMEs, secured over US$5 million over two funding rounds.

The investors include January Capital, Alpha JWC, GFC, Northstar Group, Money Forward, Alpine Ventures, and Patamar Capital.

Angel investors, namely Chris Lin, Rosemary DeAaragon, Tiger Fang, Gaurav Gupta, Christian Sutardi, Warren Tseng, Jonathan Wong, Nakul Malhotra, and Shaun Hon, also participated.

Bunker was founded in 2021 by CEO Shivom Sinha, formerly VP (strategic finance) at Gojek and Senior Associate (Strategic Finance) at Uber.

Bunker is an intuitive platform that gives executives “deep financial visibility” by turning the thousands of overlooked rows in the general ledger into actionable insights.

GIMO closes US$17.1M Series A

GIMO, a Vietnam-based startup providing flexible pay and financial well-being solutions for underbanked workers, raised an undisclosed sum in Series A funding to close the round at US$17.1 million.

TNB Aura led the round and saw participation from existing backers Integra Partners, Resolution Ventures, Blauwpark Partners, ThinkZone Ventures, and Y Combinator.

Genting Ventures, TKG Taekwang, George Kent, and Asia-focused private credit financier AlteriQ Global also joined.

The final closing, comprising equity and debt financing, came five months after GIMO secured US$5.1 million in the first close.

2MR Labs secures funding, announces strategic partnerships

2MR Labs (Tomorrow Labs), an Asia-based digital assets launchpad co-founded and funded by Temasek-owned Heliconia Capital, raised an undisclosed sum in a new funding round from Plug and Play APAC, The Assembly Place, PG, and LucidBlue Ventures.

The additional cash injection will enable 2MR Labs to support businesses transitioning into Web3. The firm looks to build its first phygital economy and bring digital assets into the forefront of the Asia consumer landscape, driving widespread adoption and redefining how businesses operate in a new digital era.

In addition, 2MR Labs has also announced a series of strategic investments and brand partnerships. With a focus on building a robust Phygital (physical plus digital) economy, these alliances aim to drive widespread adoption of Web3 technologies and strategies.

Zuno Carbon raises US$2.5M

Singapore-headquartered climate-tech startup Zuno Carbon secured US$2.5 million in seed funding led by Wavemaker Partners.

SEEDS Capital and Blue InCube Ventures also participated.

This brings the total funds raised by Zuno Carbon in the past 12 months to over US$3 million and follows a pre-seed round in June last year.

The money will be used to ramp up Zuno Carbon’s sales and marketing efforts, launch new features to simplify compliance and catalyse decarbonisation with real, tangible actions.

Founded in 2020, Zuno Carbon provides decarbonisation solutions for organisations of all sizes to reduce their environmental impact.

—

The image in the picture was generated using an Artificial Intelligence tool.

The post Top news stories e27 published this week appeared first on e27.

What does it take to know if a borrower is good for the money?

While credit scores may be the most obvious answer, there’s another simple way to assess creditworthiness: bank statements. The day-to-day transactions of a borrower can tell a lot about one’s financial health—from their income to spending patterns.

When combined with a robust underwriting strategy, bank statements can give lenders a holistic picture of borrowers’ finances. 

Transaction analysis, however, isn’t new—lenders have been assessing borrowers based on their bank statements for a while now. But thanks to digitisation, they can now be leveraged for better and more holistic underwriting.

The process is now automated, making it faster and more accurate, with zero human intervention. Today, bank statement analysis for digital lending happens in three ways:

• PDF upload: Much like the traditional submission of bank statements, borrowers are asked to upload their bank statements during their application/onboarding. These PDFs are then vetted for authenticity and transactions to determine the borrower’s creditworthiness. 
• Net banking:  Borrowers are requested to log in to their net banking account, from which bank statements are extracted for analysis.
• OTP-based consent to access borrower data from account aggregator: Thanks to RBI green-lighting the Account Aggregator framework in September 2021, bank statement analysis—and in the process, onboarding—has become a lot more efficient. Now, lenders can extract transactions of users with their consent with a simple OTP authentication.  

Decoding the financials of borrowers

Thanks to data analytics, automated bank statement analysers can assess the financial health of borrowers by classifying transactions and detecting patterns. This data can further be used in the underwriting process to determine the eligibility of customers and set price-based rates of interest.

Also Read: Is fintech in SEA changing its focus for further development?

Here are some of the metrics that can be used from transactions:

• Liabilities of the borrowers: Financial statement analysers look for bulk withdrawals, or patterns of withdrawals at regular intervals to determine the obligations of borrowers. When combined with credit scores, this can give a lender a clear picture of a borrower’s liabilities. And in new-to-credit cases, these liabilities can help lenders determine the affordability of the borrower, enabling them to extend an optimum credit amount. 
• Income: Bank statements are reliable proof of borrowers’ monthly income. Automated analysers can detect salaries and any other regular income that the borrower may have. Analysers can also check for the average bank balance each month to determine income-spending habits. 
• Merchant categorisation: Automated transaction analysis can also give lenders a clear picture of the borrower’s spending habits by categorising transactions from merchants. These categorisations can also help lenders check for the financial prudence of the borrowers. For example, timely payment of loans and utility bills.  

Apart from detecting transaction trends, analysers can also help flag malicious activity like tampered bank statements, wrong updation of statements, and more.

These analyses, while they sound like a lot of work, happen quietly in the background during onboarding and may simply take minutes, if not seconds!

The building blocks for modern, scalable lending

Thanks to deep data analytics, AI, and ML, lenders can disburse credit faster, at scale, and across contexts. And leveraging automated transaction analysis plays a crucial role in this endeavour too. Here’s how advancement in bank statement analysis has helped lenders scale their business digitally:

• Error-free decision-making: Automated bank statement analysers need zero human intervention, leaving less room for errors. Lenders can rely on these analysers for better decisions. 
• Lightning-fast speed: Transaction analysers can process statements in a matter of seconds. An efficient bank statement analyser, when integrated with a lender’s workflow, can help disburse credit to customers in minutes. 
• Optimal loan pricing: Bank statement analysers give lenders a holistic view of a borrower’s financial health, enabling lenders to categorise borrowers based on risk profiles. This helps set optimal disbursal amounts at optimal rates of interest.

Modern lending stands on speed, precision, and minimal friction. However, a lender’s core strength lies in constantly fine-tuning its underwriting models. Upgrading to automated transaction analysis is a sure-shot way to optimise and scale a credit product. 

—

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

The image featured in the article has been generated utilising an AI-powered tool

The post How to enhance credit decision making with technology appeared first on e27.

This article was first published on September 1, 2022.

Noodle Factory leverages AI to automate the creation, preparation, and grading of exams and assessments. While human teachers only teach one way of solving a problem, Noodle Factory’s AI tutors claim to learn and develop different methods and remember new approaches that students may have. It creates a personalised learning experience that gives direct instruction and feedback to learners.

The Singaporean startup, founded in 2018 by Yvonne Soh and Jim Wagstaff, serves higher education, K-12 and corporate learning institutions in Australia, Asia and the UK. In August 2021, the startup raised US$500,000 in seed funding, supported by edutech accelerators EduSpaze and SuperCharger Ventures and a consortium of angels.

Soh believes that technology helps free up valuable time so that students and educators can spend more time on meaningful interactions instead of being replaced by machines. 

At the AWS Public Sector Summit in October 2022, Soh said that the edutech platform would like to scale what educators do in order to give personalised attention to each student.

In this interview, Soh speaks about the prevalent problem of burnout in educators and the gap in the market as edutech solutions are typically student-focused. 

Edited excerpts:

Tell us about your background and its relevance to your current line of work.

I’ve always been in tech since I started work (many years ago!), although I majored in philosophy in my past life at university. I’ve done various roles in different tech companies, but they primarily focused on product management, marketing and technical sales.

I enjoy working closely with customers to understand their needs and see how tech can help make things better.

Can you talk about the moment you came up with the idea for this business?

About 13 years ago, my Co-Founder and I got into education, specifically adult education. My area of focus was developing complementary learning technologies to make the learning ‘sticky’ for learners.

During that time, I realised that one of the most significant issues in education is that educators are overworked, and it isn’t easy to scale what they do. That is when we started exploring the use of AI to automate educator tasks and engage learners better.

One of the things we thought was that “wouldn’t it be nice if we could create an AI version of ourselves (educators) so we can engage our students more and be there whenever they need us?” And that is how Noodle Factory was born!

Is there any personal experience that influences the founding of Noodle Factory?

Having personally been in education, we met many fellow educators. We realised how dedicated educators were and that many were in the profession because they genuinely wanted to make an impact.

However, they are also often neglected when it comes to educator-focused technologies and solutions. And because there is so much that educators need to do, many are burnt out and leave the profession. We then wanted to create an educator-first solution, a solution created by educators for educators.

What is the one problem you aim to solve with Noodle Factory? Why is this significant to the market/audience you cater to?

Educator burnout. We strongly believe that good teachers make great students, and we need to empower and support teachers as much as we can.

Describe your offering. What makes it unique?

We are an AI-powered teaching assistant platform. What makes us unique is that we use AI practically, the way it was intended to assist humans, in this case, teachers.

We empower teachers with simple-to-use AI to provide personalised learning experiences for their students. They can do this at scale as repetitive tasks (like marking and tutoring) are automated.

Can you tell us about the product development process? What has been the most challenging part of developing your product? How did you overcome it?

We believe in working closely with our customers to refine our product further. One of our fundamental design principles is that the product must be so easy to use that it takes only a few minutes (just like making a cup of instant noodles!).

Also Read: The future of education is AI: Here’s how it will look

One of the most challenging parts of developing the product is the user experience. Often (and we are guilty of this ourselves), we get wrapped up in trying to develop many ‘cool’ features, but they are not usable if no one knows what to do with them.

So, it’s always important to test the user interface, talk to users, and get feedback. There will be bad feedback, which sometimes does hurt if I’m being honest, as the product is like my baby. However, it’s essential to remember that we are building a product for our customers, not ourselves!

What challenges did you have to overcome when starting Noodle Factory?

Edutech is not something that is ‘sexy’, and when we started the company in 2018 (before the pandemic), there was little focus on Edutech. Being a B2B business, we needed institutions to want to invest in Edutech, and that was also difficult.

Many schools were not that open to new technology, and school budget cycles tended to be quite slow. The pandemic brought more attention to the importance of Edutech, more importantly, how overworked teachers were.

Although it is a fairly long sales cycle, it is gratifying when your product/technology can make a positive impact.

Can you tell us about your funding history? What is your plan with the latest funding?

We were bootstrapping for about three years, and in August 2021, we closed our seed round of funding with different angel investors and accelerators.

Since closing our seed round, we have grown the company in terms of our learning success team and our user base more than three times in the last nine months. We currently are running pilots with 25 institutions across several countries. We do have plans to extend our funding round so that we can expand into new markets.

Do you have any tips for fundraising companies?

Don’t give up! It can be quite discouraging at times as you will face many rejections. It takes time to build relationships and find the right partner. Don’t just chase the money; look for a long-term partner to help you grow the business.

Also, with every meeting, even if you get rejected, listening to the feedback and absorbing as much learning as possible is essential. There’s always room for improvement.

Who are your key competitors? How are you setting yourself apart from them?

We don’t have a lot of direct competitors as this is a relatively new area. However, we have met with competitors like Google’s teaching assistant, IBM Watson, and Antares. One of the key ways we set ourselves apart is to focus on providing simple-to-use AI. We can onboard our customers in just a few days, which is something not a lot of competitors can say.

What was the most challenging time that the company had gone through? How did you handle it? What lessons did you learn from it?

It’s always hard (haha!). I think a difficult time was when we worked hard on a large opportunity and had the deal fall through. It was disappointing and scary as we depended on it for our livelihood! But we learnt to be agile, adapt, and quickly refocus to get back on track.

How did the pandemic impact your organisation?

We’d always had work from anywhere culture, so the lockdowns did not really affect how we worked as we were already used to it.

From a business standpoint, we found that there was more attention on the need for edutech, and even now, post-pandemic, there is a lot of focus on leveraging Edutech to improve education.

How do you envision the next five years for your company?

I think you will see Walter, the name of our platform, in many more schools, industries and countries across the globe, supporting multiple languages. We plan to expand our footprint and establish a presence in some of our key markets.

Also Read: Why GoImpact believes that education is the key to promoting ESG investment

We also see a lot of potential for partnerships with complementary solution providers. Being early in the market, we also hope to be a market leader and well-known AI teaching assistant platform in the next few years.

What important milestones have you made so far?

We are currently running pilots with several renowned educational institutions and have tripled our user base in less than a year. Also, we have successfully expanded into our target markets: the US, UK and Australia.

Tell us about your company culture. What would be the best reason to join your company?

I always say we are a small but strong team. One of the best reasons is that we only work on what we are passionate about. We have a very flexible company culture. All of us can work from anywhere and on our own time. We also have an unlimited leave policy. We trust each other and it’s worked out well so far.

Any person, incident or philosophy that inspires your company culture?

I would say that (again, eons ago!), when I worked in the corporate world, I would often get Monday blues. And it felt meaningless to me that I spent such a large percentage of my time doing something that I somehow dread.

I realised it wasn’t that I didn’t like the work but was conflicted as I needed to manage my personal life too. So that is one thing we always believe in, which is to give our employees the flexibility to manage their time so they can be fulfilled both personally and professionally.

What is the funniest thing a team member/investor/client ever said about your company? Do you have any memorable story or incident from your journey so far (in this organisation)?

As you can imagine, we are often mistaken for a literal factory that makes noodles (because of our company name). It’s often the first thing anyone asks us.

I remember the first few times I did a sales presentation and worked hard to deliver a good presentation. When someone raised their hand to ask a question, I was waiting anxiously to answer it, wondering if it would be a difficult question, and they asked: “Why are you called Noodle Factory?”

I’m used to that now. I often receive promotional emails providing me with market information about the pasta market.

–

Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

The post (Updated) How Noodle Factory addresses educator burnout with its AI-powered teaching assistants appeared first on e27.