In today’s business world, technology is like the engine pushing companies into a future where everything is about digital advancements and improvements. However, this also results in a formidable challenge — the staggering accumulation of 420.3 million tonnes of e-waste globally, which primarily comes from the disposal of obsolete IT equipment.

Here in Malaysia, we also grapple with our own e-waste challenges, generating approximately 365,000 tonnes of e-waste annually. Clearly, tackling this electronic waste problem is a matter of immediate urgency.

While commendable efforts such as the Environmental Quality (Scheduled Waste) Regulations and even a national e-waste collection day exist, they primarily address the disposal of existing e-waste. What we need more of are proactive measures designed to curtail e-waste at its source, and businesses — as major contributors of e-waste — must recognise their role as catalysts for positive change. Simple operational changes can pave the way for a more sustainable business landscape.

Integrating digital mindfulness into business purchasing decisions

A foundational step in sustainable e-waste management is adopting a mindful approach to purchasing electronic equipment. Many organisations face redundancy issues as different teams independently acquire similar gadgets, leading to the accumulation of surplus electronic devices and eventual e-waste. To address this, businesses should actively seek out electronics manufacturers prioritising Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) principles.

Also Read: Growing and transforming global greentechs for sustainability

In the ambit of the 12th Malaysia Plan, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has spearheaded the proactive implementation of EPR. From a business-to-business (B2B) standpoint, collaboration with such manufacturers becomes crucial, ensuring that products are not only efficient but also designed with sustainability in mind.

It ensures alignment with environmental goals, regulatory compliance, and corporate social responsibility, fostering a responsible and sustainable business ecosystem that contributes to the nation’s environmental agenda.

Eliminating waste through digital subscriptions to daily software and devices

While responsible purchasing, EPR, and repairs are crucial, a groundbreaking solution gaining prominence is the Device-as-a-Service (DaaS) model. Recognising the shortcomings of our linear economy, where goods are produced, used, and discarded without consideration for consequences, the DaaS model aligns seamlessly with the emerging circular economy. As the global rental market is already growing by a significant 30 per cent, DaaS emerges as a game-changer in acquiring and managing electronic devices sustainably.

DaaS allows businesses to subscribe to devices instead of making outright purchases. This aligns with a circular economy mindset, reducing long-term commitments and ensuring responsible device management.

Complete Human Network (CHN),  as an enterprise mobility company, actively contributes to reducing e-waste through the DaaS model, collaborating with industry leaders and various ecosystem partners. The scalability and flexibility of DaaS make it accessible for businesses of all sizes, empowering them to contribute to a more sustainable future.

The CHN DaaS methodology has showcased proven success through widespread adoption across diverse sectors, including financial services, banking and insurance, aviation, government, education, and POS retail. This adoption has been substantial and impactful.

Businesses are urged to move beyond waste disposal and work towards waste elimination. By adopting a circular economy mindset, supporting innovative models like DaaS, and making environmentally conscious choices, every business, regardless of size, can play a vital role in creating a sustainable future.

After all, why settle for waste disposal when we can work towards eliminating it altogether?

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Dear reader,

The US House of Representatives’ passing of a bill targeting TikTok’s owner, ByteDance, represents a significant development in the ongoing saga between the social media platform and US lawmakers.

The bill, which received overwhelming support in the House, mandates ByteDance to divest from TikTok within 165 days or face a total ban in the United States. This move underscores growing concerns over national security and potential data privacy issues associated with Chinese ownership of popular social media platforms.

TikTok’s CEO, Shou Zi Chew, expressed disappointment at the decision, emphasising the company’s commitment to data security and the platform’s independence from external influences. Chew warned of the bill’s potential repercussions, including job losses and limitations on free expression.

The bill’s fate in the Senate remains uncertain, with some Democrats raising concerns about freedom of speech implications and advocating for broader measures to address foreign influence in social media. Nevertheless, the White House has signalled its support for the legislation, underscoring the administration’s stance on national security issues related to Chinese-owned tech companies.

While the bill primarily targets TikTok, its implications extend to other China-owned platforms operating in the US, potentially impacting companies like Tencent’s WeChat. As the debate unfolds, stakeholders on both sides continue to advocate for their positions, setting the stage for further deliberation and potential legislative action.

Sainul,
Editor.

—

NEWS

Shiok Meats CEO Sandhya Sriram to step down after merger with Umami Bioworks
The Shiok Meats brand will be retained, and its employees will join Umami Bioworks; The new entity’s initial market launch will likely involve hybrid products, combining cultivated fish cells with plant-based ingredients.

House votes to force TikTok owner ByteDance to divest or face US ban
The vote was a landslide, with 352 Congress members voting in favour and only 65 against; The bill gives China-based ByteDance 165 days to divest from TikTok; The CEO says vote is ‘disappointing’ and that it will do all it can to protect the platform.

AwanTunai bags US$27.5M, hits positive EBITDA
The investors include Norfund, MUFG Innovation, and OP Finnfund; It will use the money to expand its lending capital facilities to cover over US$2B worth of annualised inventory purchase financing by year-end.

Cash returns still ‘elusive’ for VC, PE investors in SEA startups: report
While VC deals in Southeast Asia tripled between 2015 and 2021, exits have been hard to come by, challenging both investors and mature startups in the region, according to a new report by US-based research firm PitchBook.

Funding into SEA’s female-led startups falls 42% to US$480.8M in 2023: Tracxn
In Southeast Asia, Singapore dominates the female-led startup landscape, with US$3 billion raised across 380 rounds to date.

Choco Up, Atlas Growth Fund to provide US$15M capital to F&B firms in Singapore
The first 100 F&B businesses that qualify will get SGD10,000 (US$7,500) pre-approved funding and a 6-month subscription to core Atlas products, including online storefronts with delivery capabilities and payment gateway.

Animoca Brands expands MENA footprint with investment in UAE gaming firm
Param Labs is a game development company specializing in multiplayer blockchain games and AAA design, which refers to high-budget games distributed by high-profile publishers.

SG gaming studio Lives Interactive secures US$3M
The investors include Mechanism Capital, Sfermion, 3Commas Capital, and Momentum 6; An independent gaming studio, 9 Lives will use the funds to develop its debut game, a cat-themed hero shooter called Nyan Heroes.

OKX Ventures invests in Bitcoin DeFi protocol DLC.Link
DLC.Link aims to bring the power and innovation of DeFi to the Bitcoin ecosystem without compromising on security, decentralisation or user experience; It partners with institutions (called dlcBTC Merchants) to mint dlcBTC, a decentralised wrapped Bitcoin.

Indonesia may block several foreign-owned OTAs this week
Booking.com, Expedia, Klook, and Trivago are not yet on not registered with the registry; They were given five working days to register – otherwise, they may be subject to punitive measures including a block.

OKX gets in-principle approval for digital token services in Singapore
The licence allows OKX to provide digital payment tokens and cross-border money transfer services in the city-state; The company looks to build a locally tailored suite of products and services.

Paytm secures the license it needs to survive
Paytm can participate in the payments ecosystem as a third-party application provider; The license won’t restore several of the perks Paytm enjoyed before but will allow the Noida-headquartered firm to operate similarly to Google Pay.

Singapore’s digital behaviour aggregator Sqreem acquires Trade Indy
Trade Indy is an outcome-focused data analyst and programmatic trader; Sqreeem develops AI solutions that match online behaviours with brands and publishers, identifying clients’ most valuable groups of customers and their behaviours.

Carsome appoints ex-Jardine exec to COO post as it eyes IPO
Eric Chan brings with him three decades of experience in the automotive industry across Singapore and Malaysia; He was earlier MD at Jardine Cycle & Carriage’s Singapore subsidiary and chairman for a Malaysian unit that operates Mercedes-Benz dealerships.

Xendit expands to Thailand, names co-founder as country CEO
In Thailand, the payment gateway firm will compete with incumbents such as TrueMoney and Rabbit Line Pay; Xendit already operates in Malaysia, the Philippines, and its home country of Indonesia.

FEATURES & INTERVIEWS

10 highest-funded female-led startups in Southeast Asia
Of the 1,700 female-led startups, 657 have raised investments so far, of which 14.3% have progressed to Series A and 1.8% to Series C or beyond; Singapore, with US$3B raised across 380 rounds to date, dominates the region.

How Fave founder’s new VC firm helps Malaysian entrepreneurs make their First Move
First Move has backed ten ventures in the inaugural year, prioritising diversity and innovation in Malaysia’s startup ecosystem; 35% of the founders it has supported so far are women.

The solopreneur boom: How Finna is empowering the future of work
Finna is an all-in-one solution that streamlines workflows by facilitating customer management, proposal creation, and payment processing, offering a comprehensive solution to the complexities of solo business management.

Why Soul Ventures Founder seeks founders with a vision “so big it seems impossible”
Soul Ventures has invested in notable names such as OpenAI and SpaceX; But what opportunities is it looking for in Southeast Asia?

Trust Bank aims to become Singapore’s fourth-largest bank with new product innovations
Trust Bank, a JV between Standard Chartered and FairPrice Group, is a digital bank whose customer base has grown to over 700K (14% of Singapore’s bankable population), with deposits grown to US$1.4B.

CONTRIBUTORY ARTICLES

Want to keep your best employees from quitting? Facebook execs and Adam Grant tells you how
Employees become attracted to their work when they’re connected with the meaning behind the job; You can help remind them what the work means in terms of end result impact for the company and the people it serves.

Building resilience against cyber attacks in ASEAN through data
The average annual cost of cybercrime is rising, expected to increase from US$8.4T in 2022 to more than US$23T in 20271; APAC is particularly vulnerable when compared to its global counterparts, accounting for 31% of all incidents remediated worldwide.

Buy from her: Elevating women’s entrepreneurship
Supporting women-led businesses offers access to quality products and services and fosters diversity and inclusivity in the business ecosystem.

Beyond the draft: Why AI won’t save fiction authors (yet)
We need to find ways to leverage the massive potential of AI for solutions that take fiction works from inception to market fruition.

Beyond apps and telehealth: The power of the Village approach for mental well-being
The village offers a platform for genuine conversations, creating a safe space to share challenges and find support in overcoming them.

SPOTLIGHT

Daniel Tan: Finding opportunity in crisis and market inefficiency
Explore how Tan identifies and addresses a loan industry problem, creating efficient connections between borrowers and lenders.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Why a customer-centric digital marketing strategy is the way to go?
Being customer-centric doesn’t at all mean that you’ll be losing business at the expense of making your customers happy.

Is voice the next revolution in fintech?
Most people in Asia still associate voice with low-level commands: You can ask your voice assistant to play a song for you on Spotify, research basic queries through Google and recite them back to you, or check your schedule on your online calendar.

10 unarguable things that great leaders do
To be a great leader you don’t just need followers and employees, you need a whole team of leaders under you; Think Warren Buffett, Berkshire Hathaway, and all of their companies.

Globalise your strategy, localise your conversations: the key to nailing native in new markets
Knowing what can make an impact now, and what to prepare for moving forward, for each local region, a balance can be established for marketers and advertisers.

11 easy strategies that are important for every startup to succeed
All start-ups need financial support; Securing the first round of funding is not going to be easy as you are starting from ground zero; You need good ideas with a reasonable go-to-market strategy.

Why trust is the biggest barrier to entrepreneurship and innovation
It is a basic principle in economics that in order for a trade to happen, the involved parties need to trust in their mutual gain from it; Trust enables value creation, and this makes it everyone’s most valuable asset.

—

X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

Want more from your Echelon experience? Be an Echelon X sponsor or exhibitor. Send enquiry here.

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You came up with an idea, nurtured it into an enterprise, planted your feet firmly in the domestic market, and now envision tapping the foreign markets. What are the next steps you must take?

Naturally, you require capital to make capital. Once you have secured the necessary amount of funding, where do you invest the sum, how, and how much at a time? 

These are some of the questions among a million other concerns that play out in the head of all entrepreneurs seeking to wade into international commercial waters. The decision, after all, is daring, the prospect is daunting, but this does not mean that the execution needs to be nerve-wracking.  

For any vision to be realized to perfection, the efforts must be driven on the back of a robust strategic framework. The following, then, are some of the key points that growth-minded leaders need to keep in mind when planning to go global:

1. Think global, act local 

While it is important to develop a global vision, it is imperative to keep awareness of the ground realities and stay rooted in the present.

For, it is only after you have registered significant growth domestically and mustered enough commercial momentum that you are encouraged to expand internationally.

The prospect presents itself so naturally that the decision might look like a small, albeit significant, step to you but when you delve into the pragmatics involved, you realize how giant a leap it is for the organization.

Therefore, in order to ensure a secure and reliable passage into this brave new world, you must first be confident that your operations are effectively resolving the pertinent pain points in your local market.    

2. Have a concise and well-thought-through plan of action 

In order to make it big in the global market, you must first aspire to become the industry leader on your home turf. For this, you need to inculcate agile thinking and learn to strike the right balance between prudence and recklessness.

While the tendency to make short-term strategies that yield quick results might help you bag several small victories, you will realize that this stance will not serve you well in your struggle to realize your overarching vision in the long haul. Conversely, directing your entire focus on winning a war waged on the frontiers while ignoring battles closer to home will amount to self-sabotage. 

Therefore, work on a plan with clearly identified goals for the next 30 days, the next 3 months, and the next 3 years. Gone are the days when long-term would imply vague aspirations for 10 years down the line. On a long enough timeline, everyone would be dead, so it’s important to have a shorter turnaround time for measurable goals.

3. Technology is your best friend

New-age leaders need to learn to prioritize technology from the get-go without fixating on the perfect product. You also need to stay abreast of technological advancements that are occurring at the speed of light.

Figuring out which innovation can be plugged into your business infrastructure can help you maximize the quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of your offering. This, along with incorporating the necessary changes based on user feedback, is the only proven way forward. Keep pivoting and experimenting, but never lose focus on the MVP.

4. Evolve with your customer base

No amount of marketing histrionics will yield the right results unless you listen to your customers. Learn to integrate customer feedback at every stage to make your product resolve a real-world problem, instead of the other way around – the sooner the better.

Also Read: Is Taiwan ready to become a global innovation hub?

Building a product first and trying to create an audience for it later is the quickest way to the business graveyard. Solving real-life problems, and doing it effectively, will get you all the traction you need to stay on the winning side of the court. It will also get you further in the game on the back of enthusiastic word-of-mouth referrals.

5. Don’t obsess over competitors, but don’t ignore them either

Keep your rivals within your radar just enough for you to learn from their mistakes. However, do not look to them in the hope of chancing upon a way forward.

Your goal should be to build a better company by creating original differentiation, not ape the ones already existing in the market.

6. Execution is key

An idea is only as strong as its execution. Examine ventures outside your immediate industry niche that have a similar user behaviour, business model, etc. for out-of-the-box inspiration.

Supplementing your strategies with innovative work models will enable you to arrive at unique solutions to existing problems. Above all, never be afraid to fail. Fail fast, fail better. Learn from your mistakes, and get back to the drawing board every single time.

7. Sustainability trumps everything

Treat external funding not as an end goal, but as a means to an end. Ultimately, everything will boil down to whether you are able to create value for everyone involved – be it your clients, your employees, and other stakeholders, or yourself.

Also Read: Creating an employee engagement strategy that works

When you have checked all of these boxes and then some, consider yourself prepared to spearhead an effective expansion drive overseas.

While no amount of preparation can eliminate 100 per cent of the problems that you may face, a strategy-backed execution will help tide over the challenges with relative ease. After all, never has a sailor conquered a sea without setting sail.

And so, bon voyage!  

–

Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

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Image Credit: Brett Zeck

This article was first published on October 1, 2019

The post Creating a global market for your business and what it takes to grow one  appeared first on e27.

9 Lives Interactive, an independent game studio, has secured US$3 million in a funding round led by Mechanism Capital.

Delphi Digital, Sfermion, 3Commas Capital, Momentum 6, Kosmos Ventures, Devmons GG, and CSP DAO also joined.

The investment will be used to develop 9 Lives Interactive’s debut title, Nyan Heroes, a next-generation hero shooter game and cat-inspired IP to drive mass adoption.

Also Read: How the right ecosystem partners can propel Web3 games in the next market cycle

Founded in 2021 by industry veterans from leading studios, including EA, Bungie, and Ubisoft, 9 Lives Interactive utilises cutting-edge Unreal Engine 5 and blockchain technology to revolutionise the gaming industry.

Its debut title Nyan Heroes is a team-based, objective hero-shooter featuring quirky cats who pilot powerful mechs in competitive battles to save the world. Players select from eight guardian classes and use unique abilities and agile, feline-inspired movement to secure objectives and defeat opponents.

Mechs are customisable via an innovative “augment weapon” system, providing a wide range of play styles and opportunities to express high skill levels.

Currently, in pre-alpha, Nyan Heroes claims to have seen over 13,000 signups following its recent announcement of its early access launch.

Also Read: Web3 games should aim to have sustainable tokenomics, ecosystems: Froyo Games’s Douglas Gan

“Nyan Heroes features bleeding-edge technology, including the capabilities of the Unreal 5 engine and blockchain, to support true asset ownership in a thriving creator economy. We believe that this is the next evolution, where cute cat heroes give this genre mass appeal, which will lead to both Web2 and Web3 player adoption,” said Max Fu, Creative Director and CEO of 9 Lives Interactive.

—

X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

Want more from your Echelon experience? Be an Echelon X sponsor or exhibitor. Send enquiry here.

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