Vertex Technology Acquisition Corporation (VTAC), a blank-cheque company owned by leading Singaporean VC firm Vertex Ventures, has inked a conditional sale and purchase agreement with live-streaming entertainment company 17LIVE Holding.

The combined entity will be listed on the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading (SGX-ST). VTAC will be renamed 17LIVE Group Limited after the proposed business combination.

Pursuant to the agreement, VTAC will acquire the entire issued and paid-up share capital of 17LIVE Holding for S$925.1 (US$676) million.

Also Read: How 5-year-old live-streaming app 17LIVE acquired 60M users globally

The proposed merger is expected to close before January 2024, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

Public listing on SGX-ST will fuel the live-streaming firm’s expansion into high-growth markets such as Southeast Asia and the US.

17LIVE Holding operates 17LIVE, a pure-play live-streaming platform in Japan and Taiwan with a presence in Hong Kong, Singapore, the US, the Philippines, India, and Malaysia. It connects users with live streamers who generate content of interest through AI-powered personalised search and recommendation.

According to Frost & Sullivan, 17LIVE commanded a market share (by revenue) of 20.8 per cent in Japan and 26.9 per cent in Taiwan as of 2022.

The firm reportedly generated a positive EBITDA of US$15 million in 2022 and has reportedly been profitable. Due to revaluation (loss/gain) on the financial liabilities at fair value through profit or loss (comprising preferred shares and warrants), its profit in 2021 was US$109.5 million, and the loss in 2022 was US$51 million.

For the first half of FY2023, 17LIVE had average monthly active users (MAU) of approximately 550,000 and 87,000 live streamers.

VTAC Executive Director and CEO Jiang Hong Hui said: “17LIVE has displayed synergies through its core capabilities and presents strong growth potential in both its core live streaming businesses and the new V-Liver business, and it has been profitable since FY2020. We see 17LIVE as a company at its inflexion point, backed by a strong management bench whose professional expertise and vision will help it navigate the dynamic ecosystem.”

Also Read: ‘SEA’s podcast market is ripe for adoption; we just need to educate the public’: Joseph Phua of M17

17LIVE Chairman and Co-Founder Joseph Phua added: “As a technology-driven live social entertainment platform, 17LIVE has made the extensive investment to enhance its R&D capabilities and scalable technology stacks in order to effectively innovate its product offerings and ensure content and data security. We have over time refined our core capabilities whilst harnessing the vision of a live streaming ecosystem to better connect people anytime, anywhere. VTAC, with their strong expertise in technology, has today, validated this vision as we take another step towards solidifying 17LIVE’s position as an innovative leader in the space. Listing on SGX-ST will allow 17LIVE to grow its businesses in Southeast Asia and globally.”

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At the recent Unlocking Capital for Sustainability 2023 event in Singapore last week, Richard Mattison, Vice Chair at S&P Global Trustcon, stressed that there are reasons to be optimistic about the prospect of energy transition from fossil fuel to a more sustainable alternative as part of an effort to curb the impact of the climate crisis.

“What I would say is that, in our best-case scenario, I would tell you that greenhouse gas emissions will fall by 25 per cent in 2050. This is not enough … but there are reasons to be optimistic. We are looking at huge increases in investment in renewables,” he said.

But as discussions surrounding energy transition become more intense, some questions remain: How exactly can we realise this transition from fossil fuel to renewable energy? How do we turn the promise into reality?

But before we can get into that, we must look at the hurdle that we are facing in the process.

According to Triple Pundit, some of the challenges for energy and industrial technology shifts include capital, development period, and the lack of history of “attractive” investment returns that are “traditionally produced” by other verticals.

However, “This limited history of attractive returns has shown some signs of improvement over the last few years. Climate tech exits reached at least US$114 billion in 2021 — with 104 US companies exiting, a 70 per cent year-over-year increase,” wrote Bill Lese.

Also Read: How Third Derivative assesses the impact of a potential climate tech investment

SPACs are seen as a good alternative for climate tech companies to secure resources, but it is not without limits.

“SPACs did unfortunately become part of an over-hyped cycle which resulted in multiple companies trading at unsustainable valuations and, ultimately, leading to significant losses. However, on the positive side, capital continues to flow in at all levels in support of climate tech companies,” Lese said.

With that, he acknowledged that there is no quick answer to the question of how to promote energy transition. In fact, there is an exhaustive list of the steps that we need to take here, starting from getting the technical roadmap right to developing multiple exit strategies.

How SEA should approach climate tech investment

With the need to approach climate tech investment through a long-term lens, this might lead us to a different question: How should the Southeast Asian (SEA) tech startup ecosystem look at the problem?

Having observed the ecosystem for close to a decade, I learned that it might be best for the ecosystem to look at it the same way as deep tech investment.

Also Read: Preference for green jobs is the “most exciting” climate tech development: Lightspeed

With deep tech investment, there is a common understanding that returns do not happen overnight. At least, it’s not as quick as investment in other consumer-facing verticals. There is also a heavy emphasis on research and development in the process of building climate tech solutions and the need for a deep technical understanding of the matters of climate science and related aspects.

This might give a solution that investing in climate tech is not everyone.

And that is okay.

As the regional startup ecosystem, we are slowly recovering from a bad habit of burning money and acting based on FOMO, hurriedly searching from one trending vertical to the next. Perhaps this long-term approach is what it takes for us to be more meticulous and to be more considerate in our decision-making process. This might give an image that the lucrative sector is not open for everyone, but considering the importance of tackling the climate crisis, perhaps it is best to leave it to the hands of the selected few.

After all, not everyone gets to be a hero.

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Image Credit: RunwayML

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Gobi Partners has made an undisclosed investment in agritech startup BoomGrow’s as part its pre-Series A funding round.

The investment has been made through the Khazanah Nasional Berhad-backed Gobi Dana Impak Ventures (GDIV) fund.

With this latest funding round, BoomGrow aims to expand operations across Southeast Asia.

Founded by Murali Krishnamurthy, Jay Desan and Shan Palani in 2015, BoomGrow aims to bring healthy, nutritious food within reach by focusing on densely populated urban areas where traditional farming is scarce and affected by long supply chains.

The startup has turned repurposed shipping containers into what it calls ‘machine farms,’ where they can be located in situ, growing pesticide-free vegetables with a significantly reduced carbon footprint.

Also Read: BoomGrow has converted old containers to ‘machine farms’ to grow pesticide-free vegetables in Malaysia

A key feature of the machine farm is the ability to grow close to consumers as well as serve remote areas. Compared to traditional outdoor farms, these farms use 95 per cent less land, water and labour. This capability is pivotal in areas with limited access to fresh, clean and traceable produce.

BoomGrow also offers Farm OS, a remote management platform that integrates hardware and software. It uses machine vision and machine learning to optimise operations and performance across all farms based on data.

Currently, BoomGrow can produce a wide range of leafy greens, microgreens, and herbs. It also plans to expand into a wider range of produce like fruiting and vine crops.

The company mainly supplies hotels, restaurants and grocers and offers additional subscription packages for direct-to-home delivery through their website.

CEO Krishnamurthy said: “BoomGrow is enabling access to better-quality fresh food by focusing on our ESG principles. Our commercial-scale solutions are backed by a data-driven approach which is key to resilience and agile decision-making. Ultimately, we are unlocking the future of food whilst having a transformative impact on the environment and our communities.”

BoomGrow operates Machine Farms in Malaysia and is in the process of expanding. It recently expanded into Manila, the Philippines.

The startup’s initial grant came from SME Corp, US-based Big Sky Capital, and angels.

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Royston Tay co-founded Zopim in Singapore in 2007 with Wenxiang Wu, Yang Bin Kwok, Qing Ru Lim, and Julian Low, who all met while studying abroad at Stanford University through the National University of Singapore Overseas College program.

Having caught the entrepreneurial bug, they worked on several ideas before settling on their most promising one, Zopim, a Live Chat product for the many small businesses just coming online. After graduating, they lived a Spartan lifestyle for more than two years, subsisting on US$410 per month as they tried to develop the product. When the co-founders decided to switch to a freemium model, they were surprised by how many of their existing customers converted to the paid product. Within a few years, Zopim was used by 120,000 websites in over 100 countries.

In April of 2014, Zendesk acquired Zopim for US$29.8 million, partially in cash and the rest in common stock. Tay was absorbed into Zendesk as general manager of Chat, and Zendesk had an initial public offering on the New York Stock Exchange just one month after the acquisition in May of 2014. Tay worked at Zendesk for more than three years before leaving in late 2017. Today, he’s an active angel investor and startup mentor in the Southeast Asia startup scene.

Gracy Fernandez: You happened to meet your co-founders during the NUS Overseas College Program. What formative experiences did you have together while abroad that would later inform your thinking around Zopim?

Royston Tay: The NUS Overseas Colleges [NOC] program has created a steady stream of entrepreneurs who went on to create household names, like Carousell, Shopback, 99.co, and MoneySmart. It’s no exaggeration to say this program changed all our life trajectories from ordinary undergraduates to passionate, determined entrepreneurs.

Also Read: UangTeman raises first tranche of US$10M Series B led by Tim Draper’s fund; to acquire a P2P startup

Zopim’s story is no different. Before NOC, I was en route to graduating with honors in engineering, before joining my friends in engineering or consulting jobs. In 2005, I was accepted into NOC and headed out to Silicon Valley for a year. It started off badly. I interned at a decent startup, but my job as QA engineer was dead boring. I did get really good at playing ping-pong. I signed up for extra classes at Stanford, which I was neither hard-working nor clever enough to excel in.

But there was this other group of NOC students who barely talked about work or school. Every night, instead of heading home, they were out there attending events and meetups, and networking, organizing, pitching their startup ideas, and pretending to be startup founders. “That’s better than pretending to be a QA engineer,” I thought.

I joined the group’s leadership team. Everyone got fancy titles. I was the VP of Mentorship. Armed with our fancy personas, we hosted events and meetups where established founders or early employees of red-hot startups like Facebook and YouTube shared their experiences with us wannabe entrepreneurs. It was intoxicating to finally feel part of the hallowed scene. NOC also gifted me my co-founders, who were already brilliant coders and hustlers. I was the least accomplished of the lot. Somehow we clicked and spent weekends dreaming up ideas and developing prototypes. We would pitch them and invariably get shot down. Upon returning to Singapore, it seemed natural that we would continue doing that together. Of all the mostly crappy ideas we had, only one didn’t get shot down as much. That was how Zopim started.

On reflection, one lesson stood out—entrepreneurs aren’t made overnight. Unlike many other professions, there isn’t a career ladder leading there. Especially for young inexperienced founders, pretending to be an entrepreneur while finishing up a degree, or working a second job to keep the lights on is a necessary rite of passage. It’s tiring, exhausting, and demoralizing to have ideas and prototypes ridiculed by others. But if you can’t stomach that, or somehow see the sadistic thrill of it, you won’t be able to embrace all the crazier challenges that comes after.

Fernandez: Can you share the experience of doing a literal “elevator pitch” to famed venture capitalist Tim Draper?

Tay: Tim happened to be in Singapore, and someone organized a closed-door pitching session for him. We weren’t cool enough to be invited, but we were shameless enough to show up. He was larger than life, living up to his reputation by breaking out into an impromptu rendition of a song he wrote for startups. Thankfully, he’s much better at his actual day job as a VC.

Also Read: Online investment platform CapBridge raises US$2.9M from SGX, Tim Draper

The pitch was in a speed-dating format, a handful of entrepreneurs had about five minutes to pitch their ideas to him before another group was rotated in. It was Tinder on steroids, if he liked the idea, we could follow up for the next date. There were two of us at that event—Wenxiang, one of my co-founders, and me. We had several ideas at that point, so to maximize our chances, he pitched Zopim, and I pitched something else. I don’t recall Tim listening much to the other pitches, but he really liked Zopim and wanted to see our prototype. We had written exactly zero lines of code at that point but confidently promised to show him something “soon.” A couple of emails later with his PA, our second date was set two months later.

Fernandez: How did you and your co-founders manage to build a prototype in as little as two months? What did Zopim look like at this time? What features did it have, and which did it lack?

Tay: Right from day one, we wanted Zopim to be an easy way for anyone with a website to easily chat with customers on it. “Why would you not want to chat with every hot lead?” was the thinking.

It wasn’t a new idea. “Live chat” had been around for a while, but it was very expensive and complicated to set up. Only Fortune 500 companies with large IT and support teams could afford to use it. Riding on the wave of emerging web technologies at that time, we believed two radical improvements would disrupt the industry, making “live chat” available to all.

Firstly, we believed it was possible to build a chat widget that anyone with no coding knowledge could install on any website. Secondly, it was possible to build a fully web-based chat application, so businesses no longer had to download any software. They could chat with customers on any computer with a web browser.

Today, these are industry standards, but back in 2007, these were big technical challenges. A good chunk of the two months went into deep research, showing up for end-of-semester exams and general procrastination.

Also Read: Tim Draper took his first Go-Jek ride as Indonesia leapfrogs into innovation

Two weeks before, we finally holed ourselves in a dark dingy room to code day and night. Being engineers, our first eureka! moment was when we finally managed to send the first message from our experimental widget to our experimental web application, and back.

We had cracked huge technical challenges under the hood, but other than that, Zopim had none of the features that eventually made it commercially successful. It was also ugly as hell. We spent our last few days frantically slapping lipstick on the proverbial pig, coding up till minutes before our second date with Tim. Junliang —another co-founder, who was still in Silicon Valley— was waiting outside Tim’s office when we finally released the demo to him.

Needless to say, we bombed it. Tim politely spent fifteen minutes with us and said, “Come back when you have more traction.”

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This story has been excerpted by courtesy of the publisher from Asian Founders at Work by Ezra Ferraz and Gracy Fernandez (Apress, 2020).

To purchase the book, please visit Amazon.

Image Credit: Thomas Drouault on Unsplash

The article was first published on January 22, 2020.

The post Book Excerpt: How I survived an elevator pitch session with Tim Draper appeared first on e27.

This prestigious startup competition X-PITCH has earned its reputation as one of the most challenging pitching competitions in the world. The program serves as a dynamic arena where visionary entrepreneurs battle it out for recognition, accolades, and investments that can help shape the future of their respective companies. From the adrenaline-charged intensity of 15-second pitches to the artful precision of 60-second presentations and the comprehensive mastery of 3-minute showcases, every moment is an opportunity for participants to capture the attention and the interest of prospect investors and other ecosystem stakeholders.

In the past iterations of X-PITCH, the 60-second showdown has been held in the most unconventional settings including TAIPEI 101’s high-speed elevator, self-driving car and even MRT, whisking contenders skyward as they delivered their game-changing concepts.

This year, X-PITCH is transcending boundaries, making its triumphant debut in the vibrant cityscape of Singapore, one of Southeast Asia’s most sought-after hotspots for startup tech entrepreneurship. In the 2023 edition of the program, the pitching competition finds its unique stage aboard Singapore’s iconic bumboats, drifting past the gaze of a thousand city lights.

Also read: Engage your peers in roundtable discussions at Flux Series

Throbbing at the heart of this year’s X-PITCH is its theme, “Accelerating Deeptech”. In the wake of the pandemic, this theme resonates across the globe, inspiring innovators and thinkers committed to tackling challenges and shaping a future marked by positive societal impact and sustainable progress. Participating startups have a clear goal: to leverage the potential of technology in four key categories: sustainability (clean energy, cleantech, and circular economy projects), advanced manufacturing (robotics, automation, digital twins, AI, and machine learning-driven manufacturing), healthcare, and the digital economy (cybersecurity, Web3 technology, computer vision, and more).

X-PITCH believes that emerging technologies supporting and operating in these key areas help open up a world of possibilities that extend far beyond this competition. Essentially, participants who excel in these areas are already pioneers, ready to influence the digital landscape of tomorrow.

Exciting startups to expect from X-PITCH 2023

It brings together outstanding startups, all under a decade old, hailing from Asia and beyond, encompassing those in the seed to series B funding stages. Over time, the event has transformed into a global stage for investment opportunities and fruitful collaborations. Staying true to its vision, X-PITCH presents a diverse group of high-calibre startups who will be competing in Singapore.

The numbers underscore the widespread international participation and varied backgrounds of participating startups who made it to the TOP100. A majority of the semi-finalists, totalling 88%, hail from Asia, while the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa collectively account for the remaining 12%. These startups exhibit a range of development stages, with 53% in Seed/Pre-A, 40% in Pre-Seed, and 7% in Series A/B. In terms of focus areas, they mirror the urgent concerns of today’s world, with 39% dedicated to Digital Economy, 29% to Sustainability, 20% to Healthcare, and 12% to Advanced Manufacturing.

Investor Matching on e27’s Pro Connect

As the official investor relations partner, e27 will be facilitating the investor matching program through Pro Connect. Pro Connect is one of the e27 Pro membership plans that gives its members access to 500+ active and verified investors and tools to assist startups in discovering and connecting with the right investors for their fundraising goals.

Also read: How PriyoShop is revolutionising the B2B procurement process

For X-PITCH Investor Matching Program, the startups will be given complimentary access to Pro Connect to access a list of X-PITCH’s investment partners. They will be able to connect directly with the investors, schedule meetings, and manage the deal status for each investor. 

After the investor matching program, the startups will be able to continue their fundraising journey on their own and connect with more investors from e27’s 500+ active and verified investors in the region.

The X-PITCH challenge

At the X Games for Startups, X-PITCH contestants navigate through 15-second, 60-second, and 3-minute pitches in pursuit of coveted awards and investments. This year, after a rigorous application screening process, the top 100 teams will embark on the exhilarating X Journey.

While the Semi-finals will be hosted on the charming bumboats of Singapore River Cruise, the elite 10 teams advancing to the Finals will grace the illustrious stage of the National Gallery Singapore. Here, they will vie for a remarkable US$1 million capital injection from X-PITCH Investment Partners, to be awarded to the Top 3 Winners. Additionally, the 15-second Number Pitch remains a highly valuable voluntary side event for participants seeking an extra edge.

Being a part of X-PITCH offers a wealth of remarkable advantages for aspiring entrepreneurs. It not only grants access to prime resources and markets but also serves as a platform for participants to acquire invaluable skills and hands-on expertise.

Also read: 5 common challenges marketing professionals face today

The TOP100 startups for X-PITCH will go through a series of activities encompassing a diverse range of formats and mediums, including seminars for accessing the Asian market, pitch training, hands-on workshops, opportunities for corporate connections, and facilitated investor matchmaking. Each of these activities is meticulously curated to provide participants with a learning experience guided by seasoned experts, investors, and peers. This environment fosters dynamic networking opportunities with like-minded individuals exploring various industries or similar ventures. Additionally, participants gain crucial insights into prevailing market trends, equipping them to make informed decisions when launching or expanding their enterprises.

The X-PITCH 2023 Finals: Accelerating Deeptech will happen on 9 November 2023 from 2 PM to 4:30 PM SGT at the National Gallery Singapore where the top 10 startups selected from semi-finals will advance to the grand finals. The awarding ceremony will follow whereby participating startups will be awarded Deeptech Startup of the Year for Gold, Silver, and Bronze. Other awards include Best Advanced Manufacturing Startup, Best Sustainability Startup, Best Digital Economy Startup, Number Pitch – Champion, and Number Pitch – People’s Choice.

About X-PITCH

Since its inception in 2021, X-PITCH has not only gained global traction but has also expanded its reach to over 50 countries, engaging with a staggering 8,000+ startups and involving more than 100,000 participants. This competition has played a pivotal role in securing a total of US$2 million in investment prizes and facilitating over $38 million in funding for its accomplished winners. Beyond the competition, X-PITCH’s esteemed global partners are dedicated to offering an array of value-added activities to greatly benefit the TOP100 startups. These activities encompass market access seminars, comprehensive pitch training, hands-on workshops, investor matching sessions, and a host of other enriching initiatives.

Made possible through the collaborative efforts of XCEL NEXT and e27, X-PITCH 2023 stands on the strong foundation of support from Enterprise Singapore and A*StartCentral. Additionally, it enjoys the co-organization of leading entities from ten thriving Asian economies, including Block71 Singapore, BSSC, Cool Japan Fund, DOST-PCIEERD, HKSTP, HUB.ID, KOVA, MDEC, TA, TINVA, TusStar, and VITTBI. The event is further bolstered by the generous sponsorship of AIOX Apex Angel Fund, Foxconn Technology, Media OutReach Newswire, Quanding Enterprise, and Yulon Motor.

To check out the complete TOP100 list, you may visit https://www.xpitch.io/top100.html. If you’re interested in attending the finals at the summit, you may register through the official event page here.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by X-PITCH

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