e27 has been dedicated to nurturing a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurs since its inception. Our Contributor Programme offers a platform for sharing unique insights.

As part of our newly introduced ‘Contributor Spotlight’, we shine a weekly spotlight on an outstanding contributor and dive into the vastness of their knowledge and expertise.

This episode features Sana Ross, an accomplished performance coach with over 20 years of experience in finance and business leadership, coupled with a profound passion for neuroscience. A valued contributor, she became part of our community earlier this year and has authored 13 articles, accumulating over 5,000 content views.

Ross shares her personal and professional journey in this episode of Contributor Spotlight.

The driving force

With a history of managing complex investment projects and occupying C-level executive positions, Ross combines hands-on experience with neuroscience insights to enhance decision-making and cognitive functioning in professional settings. Joining the e27 Contributor Programme was driven by her eagerness to share a unique perspective at the intersection of business strategy and neuroscience.

“Through my contributions, I aim to provide knowledge to help others in their professional journeys, offering strategies and insights derived from my unique blend of expertise. Being part of e27 allows me to reach a wider audience, making a meaningful impact by guiding individuals and teams towards realising their full potential and achieving their goals more efficiently,” she said candidly.

Thoughts, goals, and journey

Ross began her industry journey over a decade ago as a CFO and mentor at a Venture Fund and Accelerator. During this time, she focused on mentoring and coaching startup founders. As a performance coach, Ross directs her attention to transforming individuals and teams into peak performers.

Also Read: 10x your results: The blueprint for building high-performing teams

Ross specialises in performance coaching, leveraging her practical experience in the business world and her educational background in neuroscience. “A significant development in my field is the growing acknowledgement of neuroscience’s ability to improve decision-making, cognitive abilities, and overall performance, which is especially important in high-stress settings like tech startups,” she shared.

Advice for budding thought leaders

In Ross’s perspective on becoming an impactful thought leader, she believes that to be an effective communicator, one must grasp the subject matter and consistently update their knowledge. Key elements include authenticity and the capacity to articulate complex ideas in simple terms.

Juggling too many things?

Balancing work, contributions, and personal life poses a challenge, but Ross approaches it by focusing on prioritisation and flexibility. She manages her time by setting clear boundaries and goals for each aspect of her life, ensuring dedicated and sufficient time without feeling overwhelmed.

“In essence, the key is to find a rhythm that works for you and allows you to excel in your professional life while still enjoying and valuing your time. It’s about making daily conscious choices that align with your overall goals and values,” she explained.

Staying in the loop

Staying abreast of the latest trends is crucial to Ross’s role as a performance coach. Her approach to staying abreast is multifaceted:

• Continuous learning: She actively engages in ongoing education, participating in specialised courses and training in neuroscience and leadership. This commitment ensures she remains at the forefront of new theories, techniques, and best practices.
• Professional networking: Ross connects with other professionals and experts globally, exchanging ideas and staying informed about emerging trends and diverse perspectives.
• Research and reading: Regularly reviewing scholarly articles and industry publications and attending conferences helps her stay in tune with the latest research and developments in her field.
• Practical application: Applying new knowledge in her coaching practice provides firsthand experience of its efficacy and relevance, which is vital for staying current and effective.
• Feedback and interaction: Engaging with clients and receiving feedback on the effectiveness of different strategies helps Ross understand the evolving needs and trends in the industry.

Also Read: Thriving under pressure: Navigating tech teams through stress

For those interested in performance coaching and the application of neuroscience in business, Ross suggests:

Books

• Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman: Offers deep insights into decision-making and cognitive biases
• Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink: Explores the psychology of motivation in the workplace
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck: Discusses the power of mindset in achieving personal and professional goals
• The Lean Startup by Eric Ries: Essential for understanding modern entrepreneurial strategies and startup dynamics
• Principles: Life and Work by Ray Dalio: Provides unique perspectives on personal and professional development

Websites

• Harvard Business Review: Offers a range of articles on business strategy and leadership
• Neuroscience News: Provides updates on the latest neuroscience research
• Inc.com: Features valuable content for entrepreneurs and business leaders

Podcasts

• The Tim Ferriss Show: Covers a wide range of topics, including business, neuroscience, and personal development.
• How I Built This with Guy Raz: Offers insights from entrepreneurs about building successful businesses.
• Hidden Brain by NPR: Explores the unconscious patterns that drive human behaviour

These resources provide knowledge and insights across the critical areas of Ross’s expertise and interests.

“My final advice to you readers would be to stay curious and open to learning. The journey to success is continuous and ever-evolving. I encourage everyone to remain curious, open-minded, and proactive in seeking and applying knowledge innovatively,” Ross concluded.

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Are you ready to join a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and industry experts? Do you have insights, experiences, and knowledge to share?

Join the e27 Contributor Programme and become a valuable voice in our ecosystem. 

The post Sana Ross: Elevating performance coaching and neuroscience in business appeared first on e27.

Pave Bank, a Singapore-based fully regulated commercial bank offering a platform for businesses to transact in stablecoins, Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), and tokenised Real World Assets (RWAs), has secured US$5.2 million in seed funding and has come out of stealth mode.

468 Capital led the round with participation from Quona Capital, FT Partners, BR Capital, w3.fund, Daedalus, and unnamed angels.

Also Read: Transforming an age-old industry: How audax assists banks in their digital transformation journey

The company has also obtained the approved digital banking licence from Georgia.

Pave Bank is a programmable bank founded by established banking executives-turned-fintech operators Salim Dhanani (CEO), Simon Vans-Colina (CTO), and Dmitry Bocharov (COO).

Programmable banking allows you to deploy JavaScript code rules that execute before and after every card transaction.

The fintech startup aims to reimagine how a bank is built, how it operates and how businesses interact with their bank. With the future of banking rooted in the convergence of traditional finance and digital assets, Pave Bank is building a new operating system or layer for how money or assets are linked globally.

Pave Bank provides customers with multi-currency operating accounts, global payment connectivity, and treasury management solutions. It also allows access to multi-asset custody, virtual International Bank Account Numbers (IBAN), safeguarding accounts and PaveNet (a multi-asset, always-instant and always-on-network of Pave Bank customers).

The Pave Bank team believes that as the traditional financial world transforms with digital assets and the decentralised space transforms with regulation, regulated financial institutions must adapt to continue offering their clients the most competitive products and services. This shift is not a user experience shift but a change like money and value, for which Pave Bank was built.

Also Read: Can Singapore truly become a cashless society with payment 3.0?

Salim Dhanani, Co-Founder and CEO, said: “We have set out to address limitations of today’s financial system that lacks transparency, remains restricted to certain time windows (clearing and settlement, for example) and is riddled with intermediaries. All of this increases costs and management complexity and also limits the products and services that can be accessed by the majority of businesses and especially those operating globally.”

“In parallel, we have seen a number of innovative products that have been created in the digital asset space, but sometimes with a lack of regulation and safety for users. We are championing a new path where Pave Bank customers will get access to the financial products that they are used to, but also a range of digital asset-enabled products which will help them bank more efficiently within a regulated and secure environment,” he added.

 

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ProfilePrint, a Singapore-based AI-driven ingredient quality detection company, has concluded its Series B funding round, led by Tai Partners.

Four of its existing shareholders also participated in the round, the size of which is undisclosed.

The funds raised will help the company expand its mission to “revolutionise” the agrifood sector through AI.

Also Read: Wake up and smell the coffee: Check your coffee beans’ quality using ProfilePrint’s AI tool

ProfilePrint’s AI-powered food fingerprint platform is powered by a patented digital food Identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) technology. It synthesises complex molecular data of ingredient samples into digital fingerprints, rapidly predicting its identity and quality, helping agribusinesses to buy and sell better.

The company’s solutions have been deployed in nearly 50 locations across six continents globally.

Starting with coffee detection technologies, ProfilePrint has moved into other verticals, such as cocoa, tea, juices, and edible oils, and will launch its latest flagship feature, Verify. This tool lets clients send digitalised sample reports through the ProfilePrint Platform and facilitates instant viewing and approval of sample quality, eliminating the cumbersome process of sending physical pre-shipment samples for evaluation. This enhances efficiency and significantly saves time and cost for all parties involved.

Early this year, ProfilePrint and Swiss farm-to-roaster coffee company Sucafina announced a co-investment in Brazilian image recognition company Csmart. A few months earlier, the Singaporean firm onboarded US-based global food supplier giant Cargill as a strategic investor.

Also Read: ProfilePrint predicts quality of food sample ‘within seconds’, closes Series A financing

Previously, ProfilePrint closed two rounds of financing, including a Series A round in February 2022 from Louis Dreyfus Company (Netherlands), Olam Food Ingredients (an operating group of Olam International Limited, Singapore), Sucafina (Switzerland), a Southeast Asian agrifood conglomerate (Indonesia), Greenwillow Capital (Singapore), and Real Tech Global Fund (Japan). In 2021, it closed a pre-series A from Glocalink Singapore, Leave-a-Nest, and SEEDS Capital.

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AnyMind Group, a Tokyo-based e-commerce enabler, has announced its expansion into Saudi Arabia by opening an office in Riyadh.

Rubeena Singh, Country Manager (India and MENA), will lead the group’s operations in Saudi Arabia alongside its existing ventures in Dubai and India.

Founded in 2016 in Singapore by Kosuke Sogo and Otohiko Kozutsumi, AnyMind Group offers software and solutions for end-to-end commerce enablement in the business supply chain. It operates across Southeast Asia, East Asia, India, and the Middle East.

The company is initiating its Saudi entry by introducing its influencer marketing platform, AnyTag, which is designed for marketers to discover, activate, manage, track, and attribute influencer marketing campaigns across the marketing funnel.

It will also launch its mobile marketing platform, POKKT, specialising in rewarded video ads in mobile games, in-app video ads, rich media innovations, and app performance marketing.

Also Read: Bridging continents: Lessons learned from Singapore and Estonia’s tech journeys

Following this initial phase, the group plans to extend its suite of platforms to cater to enterprises, publishers, and creators in Saudi Arabia. It will also establish a team of in-market specialists to assist these entities in maximising the utilisation of its offerings.

AnyMind Group’s other products include e-commerce management and analysis, e-commerce enablement, customer engagement, logistics management, web and app publisher monetisation and user growth, and creator monetisation and analytics.

Publishers and creators can also access offerings within the Brand Commerce segment.

In 2020, AnyMind Group extended its reach to the Middle East, opening operations in Dubai to serve marketers in the GCC and the Middle East. This marks the group’s second venture into the Middle East, constituting its 15th market and 22nd office worldwide.

The firm recently made its public debut on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Growth market earlier this year.

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Image credit: AnyMind Group

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Since its launch in Singapore back in January 2022, Airwallex has gained unprecedented traction that indicates a strong product offering amid a competitive global payments market. Its remarkable growth and achievements can be attributed to its talented and diversified team, its product market fit, and the ability to form key strategic partnerships. 

With the continued promise of frictionless global payments and financial operations, Airwallex celebrates its success and growth as it closes out in 2023. This puts the company in a remarkable position to continue to scale and build lasting impact among its partners. 

Strong financial growth in an increasingly competitive global market

Airwallex Singapore’s strong growth momentum saw 13x growth (1,213%) in year-on-year revenue and more than 11x growth (1,015%) in total transaction volume. The Australia-founded fintech company shared that Singapore is one of its fastest-growing markets to date and is named as the site of its global headquarters. Ranked as the number one country in Asia with the most promising startup ecosystem, Singapore has become a springboard market to Southeast Asia and the Asia-Pacific region.

Kai Wu, Airwallex’s chief revenue officer and Asia-Pacific (APAC) executive general manager, cites the city-state as a gateway for the company into the Southeast Asia region, and as the business continues to strengthen its presence in its core markets, as well as consider future expansion across the APAC region.

Also read: 16 youth ambassadors championing sustainability in e-waste

Airwallex has been able to stay competitive in an increasingly crowded payment space by offering a comprehensive and tailored suite of products and offerings designed for expanding businesses ranging from small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to larger enterprise customers. The payment platform’s solutions encompass online payment acceptance, global accounts, borderless cards, and various application programming interfaces (APIs). The high adoption rate is largely spurred by Singapore’s continuous recovery from the pandemic and reopening of the world. Their clients are also affected by this boost, as ads in digital software, e-commerce, travel and business services are also experiencing a post-pandemic resurgence.

Strategic customer and partnership wins cement Airwallex’s status as a leading provider

Airwallex has been able to attract strategic customers and partnerships because of its ability to customise and tailor solutions to the needs of the business. One of its recent milestones is being chosen as a partner by Kris+, the lifestyle and loyalty app of Singapore Airlines and one of the largest marquee local brands in Singapore.  

Kris+ will use Airwallex’s Payments for Platforms offering in Australia, which empowers the lifestyle brand to collect card payments at their physical points of sale through QR code scans. Through Airwallex, Kris+ will also be able to seamlessly facilitate payouts to its partner merchants in Australia, including popular brands Benjamin Barker, The Ugg Shop, D1 Store and 124 shoes. Users are encouraged to download the Kris+ app to earn points from both domestic and international flights and redeem miles at a range of cafes, restaurants, and retailers.

This year, Airwallex also announced its collaboration with GoCorp (Gojek for Business) in Singapore. Companies will be able to better track their employee’s business travel spending through the Airwallex Borderless Cards, which can help streamline the process of expensing and reimbursing corporate ride-share claims. Issuing borderless cards to employees aims to simplify claims and increase management visibility and control. Merchants who sign up to be a customer of Airwallex and GoCorp can stand to receive up to 10% off — with a limit of $200 per month — in cashback and vouchers.

Also read: Bridging Taiwan and Southeast Asia through innovation and tech

With the gradual recovery of the tourism industry, Airwallex has also supported a number of travel agencies and operators, including EU Holidays, one of the largest travel agencies in Singapore. Co-founder Alan Ang launched EU Holidays in 2010 and built its reputation as Singapore’s only Europe-specialised travel agency. Through their openness to adopting new technology, EU Holidays grew from an initial team of 5 to a robust 150+ employees. They also expanded their offerings with package tours to East Asia, the Middle East and Africa.

EU Holidays’ innovation strategy includes onboarding financial technology to boost profit margins, which is achieved using Airwallex for global payments. Through the Airwallex multi-currency account and partnership with local payment rails in 110+ countries, agencies like EU Holidays can pay like a local. This includes paying overseas suppliers in their local currencies, which helps them avoid SWIFT fees that typically come with cross-border transactions. Airwallex’s favourable foreign exchange rates and ability to pay like a local boosted profit margins by an impressive 30 points.

EU Holidays also benefitted from streamlined expenses with multi-currency Borderless Cards. This translates to 60% of the time saved on accounting and manual reconciliation by issuing Airwallex Borderless Cards to employees and setting custom spending limits and control to avoid unnecessary spending, creating a seamless end-to-end payment experience for users. In addition to the Borderless Cards, EU Holidays also leverages Airwallex’s end-to-end solutions through its payment links and Bill Pay offering which allows them to upload, approve, pay and reconcile their local and international bills all through Airwallex’s single platform.

As the company continues to experience tremendous growth momentum in Singapore, Airwallex also continues to grow internationally. It recently announced its planned acquisition of MexPago and expansion into Latin America, with several key partnership wins in the U.S. and EMEA, including Brex, Public, and OurCrowd, and the launch of its ‘Airwallex for Startups’ program in Hong Kong.

Airwallex’s dedicated team recognised by HR Asia’s ‘Best Companies to Work For in Asia 2023’

Their growing team is the driving force behind these achievements. Airwallex caps off a strong end to the year by being named in HR Asia’s list of ‘Best Companies to Work For in Asia 2023’ in Singapore. Companies were ranked by their employees on metrics ranging from workplace happiness and team cohesion to employee advocacy and continued job motivation. The top 50 companies who made the cut-off point this year are then named to the list. 

This comes off the back of Airwallex recently launching its new Operating Principles, designed to bring out the best in their work, their interactions with each other, and their customers and partners so they can continue to build a generational company.

Also read: Advancing startups with impact: Insights from the DBS BusinessClass foundED Event 2023

Airwallex’s growth story in Singapore exemplifies the transformative potential of fintech innovation when coupled with a customer-centric approach. The company’s success underscores its ability to meet the evolving needs of businesses in an increasingly competitive global market. Airwallex’s commitment to providing tailored solutions positions the company as a key player in facilitating seamless financial transactions in Southeast Asia and beyond.

About Airwallex

Airwallex is a leading global financial platform for modern businesses, offering trusted solutions to manage everything from payments, treasury, and spending management to embedded finance.

With its proprietary infrastructure, Airwallex takes the friction out of global payments and financial operations, empowering businesses of all sizes to unlock new opportunities and grow beyond borders. Proudly founded in Melbourne, Airwallex supports over 100,000 businesses globally and is trusted by brands such as Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN, and many more.

Airwallex empowers businesses to grow beyond borders, affirming their commitment to excellence in every facet of their business. For more information, visit https://www.airwallex.com.

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

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