While building GPay at Google, software veterans Piet Walraven, Meiwin Fu, and Zihui Chen looked into how people discovered restaurants. It struck them that almost everyone ‘liked’ to save places but dealt with severe discovery overload.

“We’d ask people to show us their places, and they’d often chuckle. Besides a select few diligent restaurant list keepers, most would start scrolling screenshots, notes, social apps, direct messages, or open tabs, scanning for discoveries that got buried by other things worth remembering,” Walraven says. “We realised that the discovery overload will only worsen as we spend more time online. That’s when we decided to quit our jobs to build Drigmo.”

Drigmo — an anagram of Grimod de la Reynière, who wrote the world’s first restaurant guide L’Almanach des Gourmands, during the reign of Napoleon in 1803 — is a new social food app for people to save their places.

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The app was developed by Walraven, Meiwin Fu, and Zihui Chen — who built and sold their previous startup ‘Pie’ to Google before joining the search engine giant.

A social app built around people’s restaurant lists, Drigmo enables users to organise their places with custom tags and bring their lists to life by adding personal memories through notes, pictures, and videos.

As users grow their lists, their friends can see their activities and save discoveries from each other (like re-pinning on Pinterest). They can also explore their friends’ spots on a map to see what nearby places they visited or have on their ‘to-try’ list.

“When we studied hundreds of restaurant lists from passionate foodies, we found that the personal and social aspect of list-keeping makes people add mostly the places they love and recommend. This makes restaurant lists positive and truthful by default. We thought if restaurant lists are social, expressive, and positive, why not build an app around them? That’s how Drigmo happened,” Walraven says.

As the user base grew with the number of restaurants and memories saved on the platform, Drigmo evolved into a community of diners, helping other diners discover great places.

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The app doesn’t offer a ‘restaurant ratings’ feature; instead, it shows ‘who has saved this place’ and highlights the memories of their friends. The users find it a more efficient way of deciding if a place is for them, Walraven says.

Since its soft launch in Singapore in March this year, over 45,000 places have been saved and 15,000 tags created on the platform.

The app also integrated AI into the platform to provide place summaries based on all available reviews on the web and structuring its own community-generated data to make it even more helpful.

While there are editorial sites like Daniel Food Diary or players like Grab Food that offer reviews, Walraven doesn’t see them as competitors. “GrabFood, GoJek, Chope, etc. are an opportunity as they rely on reviews and place data to improve conversion and average order size.”

Although Drigmo is currently free to use, the company is exploring several monetisation models — such as offering its rich places data as an API and enabling restaurants to offer their guests a loyalty program that integrates deeply with the app experience.

The co-founders have already managed to raise a strategic round of funding from a handful of Singapore’s most experienced and well-respected investors.

In Walraven’s opinion, although all the social media apps in the market were launched with tall promises of bringing the world closer together, it turned out to be one of tech’s biggest fallacies. If anything, these apps have divided people.

“The next wave of social will be different. It has to be positive by design and a healthy, worthwhile place to hang out. We believe food is a great vertical to build in not only because it’s the last thing you can’t download but also because food has always done what big social screwed up; it connects people,” Walraven concluded.

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Image Credit: Drigmo.

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When it comes to the prospect of quantum tech in Southeast Asia, Singapore remains the most promising hub in the region with potentials in terms of talents, investments, and IPs.

In an interview with e27, Denis Kalinin, Asia Business Development Manager, Runa Capital, explains how government support allows quantum tech ecosystem to flourish in the country. There is also a strong emphasis on R&D, leading to investors flocking in to the space.

But this does not mean that running a quantum tech company in Singapore is not without challenge.

“Most of them still lack the commercial traction. Basically, it is [a matter of] scalability because most of the startups that we see in Singapore in the quantum tech space are Series A companies, not many of them actually reached even Series B and managed to get meaningful commercial traction,” he says.

“Another concern with Singaporean quantum tech startups is that they usually remain Singaporean. They struggled quite a lot with expanding to other markets.”

This is something that Kalinin believes can be solved by having the support of global investors that can help them with their international expansion journey.

“It’s a fundamental challenge of … nurturing those intrapreneurial skills, because many of the Singaporean deep tech founders, they are first and foremost scientists, not intrapreneurs.”

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Global expansion with a focus

Headquartered in Luxembourg, Runa Capital has a presence in major tech hubs such the US, the UK, France, and Germany. Having been around since 2010, the company’s uniqueness lies in their expertise and focus on the following fields: Deep tech, particularly in cloud infrastructure and the Future of Computing; enterprise SaaS, which nowadays tend to focus more on AI-enabled automation; and fintech infrastructure, especially in core banking infrastructure.

The company’s expertise in the deep tech and related spaces begin with its co-founders Ilya Zubarev, who founded global cybersecurity company Acronis (US$3.5 billion valuation in the recent round led by Blackrock) and virtualisation software provider Parallels (acquired by Corel), among the few; and Dmitry Chikhachev, who led global M&A and greenfield projects at Ritzio Entertainment Group, grew vending operator Uvenco (acquired by Montagu Group) as CEO/COO from scratch to US$25 million revenues and managed HR at Ericsson across seven countries.

In selecting a potential investment, Runa Capital puts heavy emphasis on strong products.

“We really like companies that are product-driven, rather than marketing-driven which can be capital intensive, so we sometimes invest really early on. That is when you can basically identify the product, analyse it and see that it can actually scale,” Kalinin says.

“We analyse the product’s sophistication; how defensible it is. Like, how many developers can copy this product? Is this product competitive enough with large corporations? Because once the area becomes hot enough, the question would be whether it can be reproduced by Google or Amazon or Apple. So, the product complexity and defensibility is one of the most important factors. The team is of course [is also a factor] which is partly related to the product and the team’s ability to execute.”

Runa Capital also puts an emphasis on having a global orientation. This is important especially in Asia, where startups tend to confine in their own regions, such as the case with unicorns such as Gojek and Grab.

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What Runa Capital can offer is an opportunity to enter global markets such as Europe, which he sees as a strength for the firm.

“Deep tech in Europe is growing really fast in terms of scientific research and government support. For example, for photonic investments and semiconductors. There are lots of talents including scientists and developers. For deep tech companies, in some aspects, Europe might be even more interesting than the US market.”

The firm is currently raising and deploying its fourth fund with the target size of US$250-300 million for seed and Series A stage companies.

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Image Credit: Runa Capital

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Tech startups based in Singapore secured a total of US$121 million over 12 rounds of investments in September 2023, as per a Tracxn report.

This amount is a 4.31 per cent increase over August 2023 and about a 22 per cent decrease over September 2022.

The top deals of September 2023 were bolttech’s US$50 million, Chitose Bio Evolution’s US$21 million, AWAK’s US$20 million, Novelship’s US$9.5 million, and Mythic Protocol’s US$6.5 million.

Saison Capital, Alpha JWC, Vickers Venture Partners, and Hashkey Capital were the most active investors last month.

See the infographic for more details:

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Philippine startup Kita Agritech has secured US$3 million in an “oversubscribed” seed funding round co-led by Gentree Fund and Altara Ventures.

Kita plans to use the money to digitalise the agriculture supply chain using big data and AI technologies.

Kita was launched in 2022 as a supplier of fruits and vegetables for restaurants in Metro Manila. The company supported local farmers by financing their agricultural inputs and directly procuring their goods for distribution to various enterprises, such as hotels, restaurants, and food manufacturers.

According to the company, this approach eliminated the expenses linked to conventional supply chain systems, ensuring profitability for farmers, and delivering the freshest, top-quality produce and ingredients to clients.

Also Read: Altara Ventures hits the final close of inaugural fund oversubscribed at US$130M

As an agricultural economy, the Philippines plays a significant role in the regional agricultural supply chain market, accounting for US$30 billion in trading volume, about 10 per cent of its GDP, and employing over 20 per cent of its population. The country is Southeast Asia’s second-largest producer of fresh vegetables, yielding over 5 million tons annually, following Vietnam.

As of October 2023, Kita operates three warehouses and a fleet of cold chain-enabled delivery trucks, serving major restaurant and hotel chains in the Philippines.

“Much of the initial growth and success in Kita can be attributed to having a very good team in place and focus on cash flow and profitability,” said Marc Concio, Founder and CEO of Kita.

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Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

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Singapore-based e-commerce aggregator Rainforest has raised US$21.5 million in a convertible note round from existing investors, including Canopy Tropics, Monks Hill Ventures, Insignia Venture Partners, and January Capital.

This brings the company’s total funding (debt and equity) to over US$100 million.

Also Read: Navigating the e-commerce jungle: Rainforest’s tech-driven journey in brand aggregation

Rainforest plans to use the funds to acquire new e-commerce brands, improve the platform capabilities to accelerate channel expansion, and for geographical expansion and product development.

Along with this, the startup also reported a revenue of US$37.5 million for the financial year 2022. This represents a 9x growth over US$4.2 million in the same period last year.

This was achieved by acquiring six brands in 2022 and also though organic growth of its previously acquired brands. Net loss for FY2022 was US$10 million compared to US$2.1 million in the prior year, as the company continued to invest in its team and technology platform to operate and grow its portfolio of brands.

Also Read: Rainforest acquires baby care brand NatureBond to grow its portfolio of cross-border brands

Rainforest was launched in January 2021. The company acquires consumer e-commerce brands, providing entrepreneurs with a healthy exit. It also invests in the acquired brands to grow them globally. Rainforest leverages its proprietary technology to improve inventory management, cost optimisations, and expansions to new marketplaces and channels for these brands – mainly in home goods, mother & kids, personal care, and pet categories. 

The firm now operates a portfolio of 16 brands, mainly in the parents and kids categories. Some notable brands include Babbleroo (diaper backpack, Lilly’s Love (toy storage), Comfy Bumpy (baby furniture), and Baby Deedee (baby sleepwear). It expects to make further acquisitions before the year’s close, including brands with more omnichannel distribution channels.

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In a month marked by dynamic growth in the Southeast Asian startup scene, a diverse range of companies secured substantial funding rounds in September 2023.

From biotech and fintech to healthtech and aquaculture, these startups showcased the region’s entrepreneurial prowess.

Automera revolutionised therapeutic approaches, Kiddocare offered childcare solutions, and NexMind empowered multilingual digital marketing. Meanwhile, platforms like Funding Societies and CrossFund transformed finance and equity financing. With billions in business financing and innovative solutions, these startups are poised to drive the region’s tech ecosystem forward.

Automera

Automera is an early-stage company focused on developing a novel therapeutic approach via autophagy-based targeted protein degradation. The biotech startup aims to leverage its understanding of autophagy, drug development capabilities, access to quantum chemistry, and generative Al-enabled insights to enhance its drug development programmes.

Automera’s autophagy-targeting chimaera small molecules (AUTAC) platform has broad potential across cancer and other disease areas, with oncology being the initial lead programme.

It raised US$16 million in a Series A round of investment co-led by Accelerator Life Science Partners and Temasek-backed ClavystBio. Other investors are EDBI and Xora Innovation.

Kiddocare

Founded in 2019 by Nadira Yusoff and Muhaini Mahmud, Kiddocare is an online platform connecting parents with verified childcare providers based on their preferences for time and location. These caregivers undergo rigorous screening and training before being onboarded. The platform primarily caters to urban millennial mothers, who wield substantial purchasing power and seek reliable childcare solutions.

Kiddocare offers the potential for weekly earnings of up to RM1,500 (US$318), affording women the flexibility to navigate motherhood and education. The Kiddocare Academy further provides opportunities for career advancement through specialised training programmes for carers, such as counselling, eldercare, tutoring and entrepreneurship.

The startup secured an undisclosed sum from Artem Ventures, Gobi Partners, MSW Ventures Asia Fund X, and ScaleUp Malaysia.

NexMind

Founded in 2019 by Francis Lui (CEO), Bernie Law (CPO), and Pattrine Hong (CFO), NexMind is an AI-powered multilingual digital marketing platform. It empowers professionals across industries with advanced SEO tools to create search-optimised content in 17 languages, with no technical SEO expertise required. Its SEO content generation tools simplify and streamline how brands create multilingual content that ranks on search engines like Google and Bing and e-commerce marketplaces like Amazon, Lazada, and Shopee.

Among the languages supported currently are Bahasa Indonesia, Bahasa Malaysia, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Tagalog, Thai, and Vietnamese.

The firm received an undisclosed seed funding from 500 Global.

Funding Societies

Licensed and registered in Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia and operating in Vietnam, Funding Societies is an SME digital finance platform. In addition, it offers payments and collections intending to solve SMEs’ cashflow management challenges.

Funding Societies says it has achieved over US$3.2 billion in business financing, processing over 5 million transactions and serving about 100,000 SMEs across the region.

It scored US$27 million in debt funding led by AlteriQ Global, with participation from Aument Capital Partners and Orange Bloom.

CrossFund

Founded in 2021 by Ben Cardarelli and Davide Cali, CrossFund is an equity financing tool for early-stage startups in Southeast Asia and Africa. Investors can own equity in international startups with as little as US$5,000.

CrossFund leverages data to match its investors with startups based on sector, stage, geography, areas of expertise, and other more granular factors. The platform also accepts investments in crypto, leveraging third-party providers. It is soon launching a secondary market to foster liquidity for investors and founders.

It secured US$1.5M from undisclosed investors at a US$47 million valuation.

Gene Solutions

Established in 2017 by Vietnamese scientists, Gene Solutions has developed triSureFirst, a noninvasive prenatal test (NIPT) for detecting abnormalities of chromosome numbers in the fetus, such as Down Syndrome, Edwards, and Patau.

The test, based on detecting cell-free DNA of the placenta, is released into the mother’s blood to assess the risk of the fetus suffering from birth defects due to chromosomal number abnormalities.

The company claims that triSureFirst’s positive predictive value is 94 per cent for all three syndromes.

Since 2018, Gene Solutions claims to have made accurate tests accessible to over 500,000 pregnant women, helping over 65,000 pregnant women avoid unnecessary amniocentesis.

It secured US$21M from Mekong Capital.

Evo Commerce

Evo Commerce is a direct-to-consumer health & beauty startup based in Singapore. It aims to reshape the landscape of health & beauty products in the region by bridging the accessibility gap and “empowering Asian consumers with top-quality products”. The company owns two brands: back (focusing on post-party recovery aids and daily supplements) and Stryv (specialising in the affordable luxury segment for personal care electronics).

The startup claims to have achieved 25x growth in the past 18 months. It aims to achieve EBITDA profitability within the next six months of operations.

It banked US$2.8M in equity and debt financing from IJK Capital, Carousell Co-Founder and CEO Quek Siu Rui, Fave Co-Founder Joel Neoh, and Tipsy Collective.

Kora

Founded in 2022 by Dian Prayogi Susanto, Kora is an agritech startup focused on innovations in the post-harvest maize sector in Indonesia. It aims to elevate the quality and output of post-harvest maize, a crop selected for its pivotal role in Indonesia’s agricultural supply chain and its impact on animal feed costs. Strategically, the startup aims to disrupt the conventional maize supply chain by uniting all parties involved — from farmers to middlemen — under a streamlined B2B model.

Beginning with partnerships involving 30 farmers, Kora has expanded that number to approximately 130.

It bagged US$400,000 in a pre-seed funding round from Antler and eFishery founder and CEO Gibran Huzaifah.

Novelship

Founded in 2018, Novelship is an online marketplace for buyers and sellers to trade 100 per cent authentic sneakers, limited-edition apparel, and exclusive physical and digital collectibles. Novelship said it has rapidly expanded in recent years, with a compound annual growth rate of 37 per cent in revenue and 55 per cent in transactions.

Following the brand’s recent collaboration with Snoop Dogg to expand its collection, Novelship recently launched new in-house products, including Novelship branded T-shirts, socks, shoelaces, and Shoe Sole Protectors.

It raised US$9.5M in funding from East Ventures, iGlobe Partners, and GSR Ventures.

Parallax

‍Parallax is a Blockchain-powered money remittance startup based in the Philippines. Founded by Mika Reyes (CEO) and Alex Kuang (CTO), Parallax aims to provide “fast and cheap ways” to move money globally. It leverages blockchain technology to provide near-instant and cheaper (claims to save 83 per cent in fees) international payments.

It is currently focused on providing freelancers, remote workers and other global professionals with better payments for their recurring payroll, invoices and salaries.

The startup netted US$4.5M from Dragonfly Capital, Circle Ventures, General Catalyst, gumi Cryptos Capital, and others.

Manuva

Manuva is an Indonesian startup helping SME manufacturers produce ready-made, custom-made packaging and semi-branded goods. Founded in 2018 by Anggara Pranaspati, Raffisal Damanhuri, and Hasandi Patriawan, Manuva (formerly Tjetak) provides merchants and online sellers with various types of packaging, from cardboard and snack boxes to paper bags and plastic cups. Through more than 100 manufacturing partners, Manuva is producing more than 300 different packaging SKUs under its six private label brands for more than 7,000 retailers and 100 enterprise customers.

The startup also provides modern digitisation tools that enable players in their ecosystem to improve their logistics, procurement, inventory and sales processes.

It received US$8M from Tin Men Capital and undisclosed investors.

ERTH

Electronic Recycling Through Heroes (ERTH) is a Malaysian company focusing on e-waste recycling. In addition to facilitating responsible e-waste disposal, it also rewards contributors with cash incentives or vouchers. According to the company, this approach fosters a community-driven commitment to environmental preservation while providing economic compensation.

ERTH aims to achieve its goal by employing a gig-economy workforce of over 1,000 freelancers. These Heroes collect obsolete, faulty, and discarded electronics, such as laptops, smartphones, printers, televisions, and various devices, directly from households and businesses.

It secured funding from Gobi Partners and L8 Ventures.

Saladin

Founded in 2021, Saladin is an online platform that utilises a multi-channel distribution system to provide a single destination for personalised insurance solutions.

Saladin claims it has integrated traditional insurance processes with modern technology and a user-friendly design. This includes using API integration, modular design principles, and the harnessing of big data intelligence to recommend tailored and cost-effective insurance solutions.

It closed its Series A funding round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures, with participation from Peak XV Partners, Venturra Capital, and Patamar Capital.

SLEEK EV

Singapore-headquartered SLEEK EV offers affordable and sustainable mobility solutions.
Founded in 2019 by Kantinan Tunveenukoon and Zhang Quan (ZQ) Ong, SLEEK EV aims to establish electric vehicles as the standard rather than the exception in urban mobility. They address the issue of high travel expenses in Southeast Asia, where transportation costs can be over 30 per cent of income. Motorcycles offer an affordable alternative, and the founders are leveraging industry connections to promote cleaner and cheaper mobility through electrification.

SLEEK EV’s initial focus is on Thailand, a market worth over US$2.6 billion annually, where electric two-wheelers currently account for less than one per cent of the market share.

Since its launch, SLEEK EV has successfully sold over 1,000 of their EVs through a network of established dealerships across the country.

It secured an undisclosed Pre-Series A funding round led by ORZON Ventures, a VC firm backed by OR and 500 TukTuks.

DELOS

DELOS is an aquaculture-tech company in Indonesia. Founded in 2021 by Guntur Mallarangeng, Aris Noerhadi, Alexander Farthing, and Bobby Indra Gunawan Wibisono, DELOS aims to jumpstart what it calls the ‘Blue Revolution’. The vision is to propel Indonesia into a global aquaculture seafood producer within a decade, revolutionising and modernising the US$2.5 billion Indonesian aquaculture industry for seamless integration into the global seafood supply chain.

DELOS announced the completion of an undisclosed Series A funding round led by Monk’s Hill Ventures.

WhiteCoat

Launched in 2018, WhiteCoat is a B2B2C healthtech company aiming to be the first and single touchpoint for all healthcare needs of its users – from seeing a doctor and receiving medications to accessing their medical records. The platform allows users to choose the practitioner they want to consult from its in-house team of doctors (general practitioners and specialists) and a partner network of healthcare and allied care providers.

WhiteCoat closed a tranche of its Series B fundraising round to fuel its regional expansion.

TANGGapp

TANGGapp is a P2P mobile remittance app targetting Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs).
Founded in 2020 by Filipina-Dutch and American Harvard graduate Rebecca Kersch, TANGGapp enables customers in the Philippines to connect with local banks and e-wallets for transactions. It wants to be the international ‘Venmo’ across the seas for the 1.5 billion unbanked globally and migrant workers, starting with the Philippines.

Users can send money from TANGGapp without fees, regardless of the amount sent. Receivers can then link their bank account or e-wallet like GCash to directly receive money into their account in minutes.

The company claims the transfers can be done within seconds. The app allows the users to send as low as US$5. It also easily transfers money from a user’s US bank account to his Philippines bank account or e-wallet. It also has a feature to schedule auto transfers.

It closed a US$2.5M seed round from TEN13, Goodwater Capital, North Fifth Asia, Foxmont Capital, and angels from the Manila Angel Investors’ Network (MAIN).

Grouu

Grouu is an Indonesian startup working on the nutritional needs of infants and toddlers. Founded in August 2020, Grouu focuses on meeting the nutritional needs of infants and toddlers from six months and above. The development process of its products and menu involves parents as consumers and a team of experts comprising nutritionists, food scientists, chefs, and paediatricians to ensure complete and balanced nutrition.

According to the firm, its products and menu items are produced in facilities that meet hygiene standards set by the Department of Health and the National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) and are Halal certified.

It secured an undisclosed amount in additional investments from Singapore-based VC firm Teja Ventures.

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Copyright: rastudio

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Innovations in blockchain technology have opened up opportunities in various industries, including gaming. But how exactly will this revolutionise the technology?

To answer this question, Marc Mercuri, Chief Blockchain Officer at Shrapnel, begins by explaining how players have been purchasing digital assets in games for a while, but there is not much use of these items outside of the game ecosystem itself.

“It’s a really interesting space because people have been buying whatever digital currency [in games] for a while, but that currency has been locked almost exclusively to the game. They bought items that they didn’t really own,” Mercuri explains.

“Sometimes a game would retire them, and players could not use them from version to version, or they have to rebuy them, and things like that. If you had these items, you really just do not have the agency to use them however you would like. That is one challenge from the gamers’ perspective.”

Shrapnel is an AAA first-person extraction shooter with a creator ecosystem that aims to empower players to own their creations and shape the future of the game.

Also Read: iFarmer uses technology as an agricultural game-changer

It is being developed by a BAFTA and Emmy award-winning team of game industry veterans with experience in transmedia, virtual production, gaming-as-a-service, and blockchain production. As a spin-off from HBO Interactive, the team has enjoyed past successes with leading game companies, including Xbox, Electronic Arts, HBO, LucasFilm, Irrational, and Zombie Ent, working on titles such as Halo, Call of Duty, and Star Wars.

From the creators’ perspective, the democratisation of professional game development tools via blockchain is making AAA-level quality accessible to a broader range of creators.

“If you look at what is happening right now in the world, there is a renaissance of user-generated content. What we have seen with our creator tools is that people are just amazingly creative if you give them tools to do that. But there is no great way for creators to make a living off the stuff that they do,” Mercuri says.

He gives an example of a skin or sticker creator within the game, which might be limited to creating assets that can only be used on one platform. But with Shrapnel and its infusion of blockchain technology, creators are even able to tap into “missed opportunities”, such as tracking asset creation and the development of a hierarchical royalty system.

“I can allow someone to incorporate my things into something else; they can create something new with that. So, you have multiple levels of creativity and making sure that people are getting paid. Those are things you are not really seeing in gaming today.”

Also Read: ‘There is strong reaction against the P2E gaming genre’: BITKRAFT Asia Partner Jin Oh

Building with blockchain in mind

Mercuri is not a new face in the tech industry, with 29 years of experience, 26 issues and pending patents, and four published books. Prior to joining Shrapnel, he spent 18 years at Microsoft, where he held senior roles in product, strategy (cloud, architecture, platform), evangelism, innovation, and incubation.

Mercuri led and launched multiple pro code and low code blockchain APIs and developer tools at both Microsoft and ConsenSys.

When asked about developing games that are infused with blockchain technology, he believes that the core of it lies in great storytelling execution and player engagement.

“If you look at gaming in Web3, you have seen lots of games that are not particularly fun to play. They were interesting experiments around technology and patterns and things like that, but they are not fun games. So, I think the key thing for this to move forward is you have to start with a great game,” he stresses.

The game creation process at Shrapnel itself begins with the team discussing about what they want to enable creators and players to do in this game. Mercuri gives an example of implementing skill trees for characters, enabling them to level up their skills. The team will look at how they can infuse blockchain in this aspect of the game.

“The other thing is that, depending on the type of game you have, you have to make sure that you are really cognisant of the regulatory environment,” he says.

“Another challenge is that if you want to do a free-to-play game, that can be really expensive if you want to have heavy interaction with the Blockchain. So what they will do is that … they will only update the NFTs if you ask them to.”

Also Read: The future of gaming is female and mobile

Something for everybody

It is important to note that Mercuri does not see blockchain gaming as a replacement or competitor to the existing AAA titles.

“It is not necessarily about competing with other games out there; it is sort of proving that the model can be done. And it is not just the technical model … the Web3 mechanics have to be incorporated in a way that is intuitive and natural for both players and creators,” he says.

“People who are building AAA games, franchises such as MARVEL and Star Wars, they are making billions of dollars, and they are very protective of their IP–they are not necessarily willing to try out new models with them. They are more than happy to have someone else do that.”

In promoting the game, there is a need to bring different types of players together, both Web3 enthusiasts and those who are there just to have fun. Mercuri finds that transmedia marketing works well for this; in promoting their works, Shrapnel tackles different fronts, from promoting collectible NFTs to live-action game trailers.

“There is a lot of collaboration that we are doing on the Web3 front that is pretty interesting. Then, there is also [the aspect of] just getting it out there and letting people see and play the game and have fun … It is a mixture of traditional and Web3 marketing, and making sure that we talk to each audience about what they care about,” Mercuri closes.

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Image Credit: Shrapnel

 

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In an age dominated by digital interactions and the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI), the world is grappling with a crisis of trust. Trust, a foundational element of any society, has come under siege due to a plethora of fraudulent activities made possible by technological advancements. From deepfake scams that utilise AI-generated images and voices to reseller scams plaguing online marketplaces, the erosion of trust has profound implications for both individuals and organisations.

To that end, digital trust is critical in navigating this evolving landscape. Now, more than ever, data protection and cybersecurity also call for the authentication of digital identities and credentials. This article explores the challenges posed by the crisis of trust, the shifting paradigm of digital trust, and the promising role of verifiable technology in restoring and strengthening trust in our digital interactions.

The crisis of trust

Rise of deepfake scams

One of the most concerning facets of the trust crisis is the worldwide proliferation of deepfake scams. More recently, a fraud syndicate in Hong Kong shocked the world by using AI-generated images of individuals whose identity cards were stolen to obtain bank loans. This marked a watershed moment in the use of deepfake technology for criminal purposes.

Closer to home in Singapore, fraudsters have exploited AI to create fake legal practising licenses, and we continue to observe a rise in reseller scams. In particular, popular platforms like Carousell have become breeding grounds for unscrupulous individuals who sell counterfeit tickets, such as tickets to a Taylor Swift concert.

On unregulated marketplaces such as Instagram, Facebook, and Carousell, fraudulent sellers impersonate official brands and deceive buyers into making payments via mobile transactions. Imposters don’t deliver purchased products, leaving the consumer with empty hands whilst severely undermining the trust in brands and purchasing experiences on such digital platforms.

Digital data exchange and erosion of trust

Reseller scams not only betray the trust of consumers but also tarnish the reputation of legitimate resellers and organisations themselves. The erosion of trust in online marketplaces and interactions with businesses has far-reaching consequences, impacting the willingness of users to engage in digital transactions.

With these incidents being recent occurrences, they highlight the rapid evolution of technology in the realm of fraud and underscore the urgency of addressing the trust deficit in digital transactions. The shift from physical to digital data exchange and social interactions on the internet has created an extensive repository of audio, video, and image rendering for fraudulent activities.

Also Read: The state of cybersecurity in 2023: How APAC organisations can stay ahead of the curve

This has led to an erosion of trust in the authenticity of information exchanged digitally, with individuals and organisations left questioning the veracity of the data they encounter online.

The evolution of digital trust

In response to the crisis of trust, however, a fundamental shift is occurring within the realm of digital trust. Digital trust is no longer confined to safeguarding data and cybersecurity but is now centred around the authenticity of digital identity, transactions, and interactions. The big question now is: how can people and organisations trust that the data they receive digitally is not fake?

The shift towards identity and data verification is also reflected in the budget and effort that businesses are now investing in. According to a McKinsey survey, companies that prioritise establishing trust in their products and experiences are more likely to experience an annual growth rate of at least 10 per cent in their top and bottom lines compared to those that do not. Around US$49 billion a day is spent by organisations globally on discovering and implementing ways to augment digital trust in their systems and brands.

The trade-off between accessibility and security

However, traditional methods of achieving digital trust, including legacy systems and data protection policies, are often cumbersome, expensive, and time-consuming. One of the enduring challenges in the digital trust landscape is the trade-off between accessibility and security.

Enhancing accessibility to personal and organisational data often necessitates relaxing security measures, creating vulnerabilities that malicious actors can exploit. Striking the right balance between accessibility and security has always been a perpetual challenge.

So, how can companies quickly keep up with the growing demand for digital trust now that it is no longer a good-to-have but a must-have in this new era of AI?

Verifiable technology: A solution for the digital trust deficit

In the quest to meet the growing demand for digital trust, emerging technologies are coming to the forefront. Blockchain-driven verifiable technology is positioned as a powerful solution with a cloud-based approach. It offers an additional layer of security that can be seamlessly integrated into an organisation’s existing digital technology infrastructure, making it a quick and affordable solution to adopt.

Accredify’s TrustTech, for example, enables organisations to create and issue instantly verifiable, tamper-proof digital documents and credentials through a simple QR code scan. These verifiable documents carry four key points of verification: they have not been tampered with, they are issued by a recognised institution, they have been issued, and they have not expired or been revoked.

In the process of issuing a document to an individual or organisation, Accredify encrypts all data within the document issued to the blockchain – a process known as hashing. This makes recipients the sole owners of the information within the documents issued to them, creating full data ownership and allowing recipients to become a medium for trusted data distribution.

Applications of verifiable technology are industry-agnostic and are already in use by government bodies in Singapore – a market leader in the adoption and implementation of emerging technologies for digital transformation.

For instance, the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) employs verifiable technology for various purposes. This means that every time a company is created, it is issued a verifiable business certificate and profile that can be traced back to ACRA’s database.

For traders in the finance industry, this technology allows them to save on unnecessary expenses associated with buying a new business certificate whenever they have to confirm the shareholders – now, they receive an automatic update whenever the business certificate and profile have been changed. It also allows stakeholders in other countries to perform instant cross-border verification of a business’s information for KYC purposes, further establishing Singapore as a trusted business hub.

Singapore’s Ministry of Health and Ministry of Manpower have also utilised verifiable technology effectively to manage the population’s health during the COVID-19 pandemic when travellers were buying their COVID-19 vaccination certificates off a global black market.

Today, even regulators or the Ministry of Law can adopt the use of verifiable technology to issue verifiable reseller certificates and valid legal practising licenses, vastly minimising and potentially totally preventing any aforementioned issues related to counterfeit documents.

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

Another application of verifiable technology is its potential to help unregulated marketplaces such as Facebook and Instagram incorporate verifiable seller certificates into a user’s profile. The process could be as follows: verifiable credentials issued by the seller’s bank provide crucial information, including the seller’s name, social media URL, physical address, as well as payment details.

Sellers can share their verifiable credentials via a unique QR with buyers, allowing consumers to use their banking app to instantly verify the seller’s identity, ensuring a secure transaction process.

Against this backdrop, verifiable data and documents can be seamlessly shared across an organisation’s existing data silos, between entities, and even across international borders. Individuals become the conduits for the exchange and transfer of information, granting them full ownership and data portability. This interconnected web of verifiable data creates a global village where trust is no longer an abstract concept but an inherent attribute of all shared data.

A trustless future and transition to a verifiable data ecosystem

The world needs to embrace the next stage of digital innovation. From physical documents to digital documents, verifiable documents and data represent the upcoming wave of digital transformation. More importantly, the invention of verifiable technology heralds a new normal in the medium by which we exchange information with each other.

But verifiable technology is just an enabler – what is necessary is for all stakeholders such as banks, digital platforms, and individuals, to collaborate and use this technology to restore trust and transparency in online transactions.

In a world besieged by the crisis of trust, the adoption of verifiable technology offers a pathway to a trustless future – one where the concept of trust no longer exists because any data shared between entities is naturally true-to-source and authentic.

Verifiable technology holds the potential to reshape our digital interactions for the better, allowing us to benefit from AI technology whilst maintaining protective measures against their malicious use. By leveraging these technologies for good, we can create a future where trust is a given in our digital landscape, not an elusive aspiration.

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MADCash, a fintech startup focused on providing zero-interest micro funds to women entrepreneurs in Malaysia, has completed its MYR 5 million (US$1.1 million) pre-series A funding round led by Artem Ventures.

MSW Ventures and ScaleUp Founders Fund also co-invested.

The startup will use the funds to enhance its online platform using AI technology, cover operational and marketing expenses, and explore expansion opportunities within Southeast Asia.

In addition, MADCash has also appointed Musyrifah Malek as a Co-Founder in line with this growth. With her extensive legal background, she will be pivotal in advancing the company’s corporate governance policy.

Also Read: BoomGrow: Transforming Malaysia’s food landscape with hyperlocal indoor farming

Based in Kuala Lumpur, MADCash (which stands for Multiply, Assist, Donate cash) funds and grows unbanked and underbanked female entrepreneurs, aiming to create an alternative credit scoring to increase their future bankability.

The company runs on a proprietary technological platform that allows donors to contribute and see whom their funds are helping at any time.

By the end of this year, MADCash is set to have extended its support to over 800 women. Among its partners are Hong Leong Islamic Bank and PayNet.

Tunku Omar Asraf, Principal of Artem Ventures, said: “By offering financial inclusion and capacity building to these groups of women entrepreneurs, MADCash is a platform that helps underserved entrepreneurs to build their credit scoring and sharpen their entrepreneurship skills. MADCash recognises the importance of financial inclusion for closing the gap of poverty and gender inequality, which can lead to better economic growth in the SEA region.”

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GoTo Group has announced that it has received US$150 million from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, and private investment firm Franke & Company, to boost financial inclusion and sustainability across Indonesia.

The parties will collaborate on driving financial inclusion in Indonesia, where 97 million adults remain unbanked, and strengthen and refine GoTo’s ESG execution strategy.

The partnership with the IFC also includes non-financial support to help the company transition its fleet of driver-partners and delivery partners to electric vehicles, improving operational efficiency and integrating more sustainable business practices to achieve carbon neutrality.

Also Read: GoTo Q1 loss narrows 41% to US$265M on higher revenues, lower marketing spend

Patrick Walujo, GoTo Group CEO, said: “This partnership will provide additional support for our business as we seek to improve life for our customers, including consumers, driver partners and merchants, enabling them to achieve their financial goals and dreams.”

In its approach to the ESG issues most material to the company and ecosystem, GoTo has established the Three Zeros commitments – Zero Emissions, Zero Waste, and Zero Barriers by 2030.

As per a press release, significant progress has been made to date, including an ongoing electric vehicle trial in South Jakarta, shifting to renewable energy for its direct operations, reduction in excessive packaging and single-use waste from on-demand and e-commerce services, and initiatives to facilitate financial inclusion and sustainable livelihoods for its driver-partners and merchants, among others.

GoTo Group is one of the largest digital ecosystems in Indonesia. The ecosystem consists of on-demand services (mobility, food delivery, and logistics), e-commerce (third-party marketplaces + official stores, instant commerce, interactive commerce, and rural commerce), fintech (payments, financial services, and technology solutions for merchants) and logistics (fulfilment and delivery) through the Gojek, Tokopedia, GoTo Financial and GoTo Logistics platforms.

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