On the first day of Echelon X, notable investors and entrepreneurs from the Philippines spoke about why the country is the next big thing in the regional tech startup ecosystem, starting from the progress that it has made recently.

The startup ecosystem in the Philippines has shown signs of reaching maturity, especially when compared to seven to 10 years ago, with more corporations trusting startups to be their vendors or suppliers.

“We have set the groundwork for a lot of companies to thrive,” said Caela Tanjangco, Director of Endeavor Catalyst, Endeavor, at a panel discussion on Growth Stage.

To complement that, Vince Yamat, Managing Director at 917Ventures, highlighted the role that social media plays driving the success of tech platforms in the Philippines. More than a decade ago, social networking site Multiply even had to pivot to social commerce after more and more Filipinos used the platform to sell and buy things, instead of social networking activities.

Echelon X was held on May 15-16 at Singapore Expo Hall 2. The event aims to empower startups, investors, corporates, SMEs, government institutions, and other ecosystem stakeholders with tools and insights. This year, it features 150 speakers and four stages.

Also Read: How Tyme Group plans to further strengthen its position in the Philippines—and Southeast Asia

The panel discussion on the Philippines and its prospects featured speakers such as Wirin Eiamphoklarp (Vice President at Gentree Fund); Yamat, Tanjangco, and Iannis Hanen (CEO of iScale Solutions).

It was held following e27‘s announcement of an upcoming Echelon Philippines event in Manila in September

Popular sectors in the Philippines

When asked about popular and promising sectors in the Philippines and the Southeast Asian (SEA) region, Tanjangco said that SEA is the only region in the world where the B2C sector performs better, compared to anywhere else in the world where the unicorns tend to be B2B companies.

“We are in the beta phase where it is very easy for startups to create consumer brands and companies,” said Tanjangco.

Interestingly, the population’s social media savvy-ness plays a crucial role in helping these B2C companies reach out to their audiences and grow their business.

“Because Filipinos can now afford to be monetisable, we are seeing a lot more companies being built, because it is a lot easier now for people to build these types of companies. It’s very easy for them to find a payment gateway for their products and utilise social media to market their products. So. I would say, the Philippines specifically are very positive on consumer-facing companies,” she said.

Yamat mentioned popular sectors such as healthcare that he viewed as ready for disruption. But based on his personal observation, Filipinos would support a startup or company that they trust. “For example, when we entered the fintech space, we knew that we should leverage on Globe, the largest mboile operator in the country,” he said.

“Therefore, we built G-Cash on top of that one, and right now, you can literally accelerate to more than 90 million users and expanding into its adjacencies.”

The post More fun in the Philippines: How its social media savvy population delivers growth for the tech startup ecosystem appeared first on e27.

GovTech Edu is a private organisation aiming to make an impact in Indonesia by building user-centred, high-quality technology. It partners with the government to develop and deliver solutions to transform various industries, starting with the education sector.

According to GovTech Edu, it goes beyond mere feature development and brings findings and recommendations for appropriate technology interventions based on an in-depth understanding of the problem space. The goal is to holistically improve the archipelago’s education system, which impacts millions of students, teachers, schools, and universities.

In this interview with e27, GovTech Edu COO Kevin Emeraldi and CPO Prayudi Utomo share insights into the organisation’s working model, long-term objectives, and the impact it has made in the education sector.

Excerpts:

Can you provide examples of how GovTech Edu has partnered with the Indonesian government to develop and deliver technology solutions for nationwide transformation in the education sector?

Emeraldi:

1. Mindset changing: Becoming a tech development partner for the government is not just about developing the tech/platform itself but building and sharing an understanding of the importance of a user-centric mindset and delivering the tech properly. We need to change the Ministry’s mindset in building tech products by inviting them to understand the needs of their users instead of directly executing the Ministry’s requests. We want to become a thinking partner, not a feature factory.
2. Iterative process: We transform the working process from a linear process to an iterative process — Discover, Deliver, Distribute:

• Discover: We gather insights into the problem through various methodologies and user research. This process informs the initial design of the product, ensuring its relevance to the users’ needs. For example, during the development of one of our platforms, Rapor Pendidikan, a dedicated Design & Research team is responsible for feedback from the field directly with the school principals, teachers, and operators, using these insights as a foundation for product and feature development with the Ministry team.
• Deliver: After discovering the actual needs of our users in the field, we work closely with the Ministry team to develop and build the product based on the agreed scope and workflow. We also iteratively manage the content production process and quality control to ensure quality and scalability.
• Distribute: After the public launch, the product will be monitored continuously to anticipate the need for improvement. We oversee content contributors, curate materials, and engage with local government and user communities as part of our retention strategy to maximise socialisation and implementation in the field.

How does GovTech Edu go beyond feature development to bring findings and recommendations for appropriate technology interventions, and how does this approach contribute to solving complex problems in the education space?

Emeraldi:

The scope of the problems handled by the ministry is always on a national scale, involving millions of people: here, it is about three to four million education actors, from teachers to school principals and local governments with diverse backgrounds. Meanwhile, the nature of regulation development is top-down, where a ministry will create a regulation based on its consolidated vision.

Also Read: From gold rush jeans to digital skills: Edutech’s Levi Strauss moment

This is where a user-centric mindset, bringing findings and recommendations from direct users, becomes important to fill the gap between the top-down regulation from the ministry and the bottom-up needs of the user.

For example, the evolution of Platform Merdeka Mengajar (PMM) — a mobile app aiming to empower K-12 teachers — triggered hockey-stick adoption. In the early age of PMM development, we found that teachers’ nature in upskilling themselves is by learning from their peers/community-driven. Hence, we grew the platform from a prescriptive to a collaborative platform. We experienced a drastic growth by considering users’ feedback and adding more relevant features. As of today, PMM has been used by 3.5 million teachers and 3 million monthly active users and supports over 100k organic learning communities organised by teachers on the platform.

Another example is the development of the Rapor Pendidikan platform, which provides a data-driven report and recommendations for the government, school principals, and teachers. When our research team conducted research and a visual audit together with the users, we found a gap in the school principals’ ability to read and analyse data. This insight changed the design strategy from the original brief to creating a data visualisation for national assessment to providing school improvement recommendations that triggered real action.

What are GovTech Edu’s future plans and initiatives for further enhancing the education system in Indonesia through technology, and how does it continue making a positive impact on millions of students, teachers, and educational institutions?

Emeraldi:

Currently, we focus on providing more access to quality training and teaching materials so that teachers can share their best practices in the classroom with peers.

User adoption is growing not only for teachers in the first-tier city but also for teachers in rural areas. The tech platform also helps to open access to quality training, teaching materials, and peer learning.

Earlier this year, we integrated all those functions with teacher’s career development and progression. Previously, a teacher’s career progression, especially the teachers with civil servant status, was a bureaucratic process. This new function will help to simplify the bureaucracy and improve the fairness of their career advancement process with its online nature. We need to ensure that all the activities in the platform that help teachers become better teachers integrate into the teacher’s career development and progression, so not only that the platform helps them to access quality teaching materials, but also to document their improvements and contribute to their career progression, as well as help them to get the appreciation they deserve.

What specific methodologies does GovTech Edu employ to conduct field research across Indonesia and gain a deep understanding of the challenges faced by users in the education system?

Utomo:

We focus on having a first-principle understanding of the problem faced by citizens (our users) and the Ministry (as the regulator).

As Emeraldi pointed out, we are the ministry’s thought and development partner. Thus, the main methodologies are conversations and joining the echelons and their teams to understand the problems they face. This defines the Ministry’s strategic vision and mission.

Also Read: Bold moves: Capitalising on market dips in edutech

For citizens, we use design research methodologies such as design sprints, qualitative interviews, and quantitative surveys to really understand our users. We encourage everyone on our team to participate to gain direct exposure to our user problems and challenges. User-centricity is the core value and mindset we want every team to have.

Could you elaborate on the co-design process GovTech Edu undertakes with relevant stakeholders to ensure that its products meet the diverse needs of the Indonesian education ecosystem?

Utomo: We believe that users’ presence is essential in the product design process, as they provide insight into what they really need and what works best for them. An example of the co-design process was during the development of the Rapor Pendidikan (the education report card) platform, which aims to provide school principals and teachers with an action-oriented report on schools’ literacy, numeracy, character traits, and school environment.

The brief, research, and findings: There was a gap between the regulation and the ministry’s request regarding the condition on the ground. This was proven when our team conducted the research with direct users before developing Rapor Pendidikan. They found a gap in the school principals’ ability to read and analyse data, which changed the design strategy from the original brief (to create a data visualisation for national assessment) to school improvement recommendations that triggered real action.

The co-design process or visual audit with the Ministry’s counterpart: After evaluating school principals’ ability to read and analyse data, we mapped out which visuals are familiar and can aid in the absorption of information and data through our product together with. The process includes determining which colours are needed to use their language within the platform so that the platform can be more easily understood by them, especially when they want to evaluate the school’s condition and make improvements in the future.

The implementation and product refinement: From these processes, we understand that data should not only be presented comprehensively but also require a specific narrative and curation so that school principals know what action recommendations need to be taken for school improvements. The next step was to iteratively design the product and produce the platform to find the right model to present the national assessment results that would trigger real action on the ground. In the process of finding the right product solution, we ensure close alignment with Minsitry’s counterpart, too.

The result: Rapor Pendidikan has released its second version due to this iterative process and is now available to the general public (as the previous version was only available for school principals). Additionally, the platform has become the single source of truth for discussing school improvements and triggering actionable steps. School principals can now engage in discussions with local governments and other institutions to support improvements within their schools using Rapor Pendidikan data.

Can you explain how GovTech Edu develops a robust adoption strategy for its technology solutions and what factors are considered to ensure successful implementation and usage?

Utomo:

a) When we release a product, we ensure that our users will have support from a holistic ecosystem, such as the community and customer ops team. The goal is to assist them so they can experience the product’s benefits in their daily lives.

For example, we provide:
Local and grassroots community activation: For context, K-12 education is under the purview of the local government with a high level of variation from one state to another. To ensure meaningful implementation by regularly socialising with local government and direct users such as teachers, school principals and operators. We believe that clear communication can reduce the learning curve. Therefore, we make sure that we use the right language in communicating any material related to our platforms, such as the benefits of the technology, how to use it, address any concerns or questions that arise from users, etc. The communication team also has a pre-mortem session with the customer operations team to mitigate any potential misconceptions & risks during the implementation process.

Responsive customer operations system with proper SLA (customer’s issues are responded to within four hours and resolved before 12 hours) to serve or answer feedback, questions, and complaints from nationwide users. We want to make sure that our system can address user’s feedback and complaints in a timely and satisfactory manner, improving user experience and satisfaction.

Alignment and coordination with the policy and transformation team to ensure that relevant regulations are aligned with the development of tech solutions. They also oversee the socialisation process to ensure that users and stakeholders understand our innovation and its compliance with regulations.

Also Read: Following investment from NBA star Jeremy Lin, BINAR aims to reach profitability through new innovations

b) Numbers and beyond: Numbers are inevitably one of the necessary factors in measuring a successful implementation; for example, Play Store rating—Platform Merdeka Mengajar was rated 4.9, the highest rating amongst Indonesian government apps. One of the resulting examples of our holistic adoption strategy is when we improved the Platform Merdeka Mengajar (super app for teachers) based on direct feedback.

By adding learning community features in the app, teachers can now connect with over 100,000 cross-regional communities across nations through PMM, allowing them to seek inspiration and share best practices not only with teachers in their own areas but also nationwide.

However, we don’t see our users merely as statistics; instead, we focus on the transformative journey or paradigm shift that serves as a testament to Indonesia’s commitment to fostering a robust foundation.

One of the real examples would be the rise of the self-learning culture amongst active PMM users: where upskilling activities used to be limited and a top-down instruction, now it’s accessible for everyone, everywhere, and the active users are choosing their learning materials at their own pace. Another example is a shift in how school principals plan school improvements—which used to be based on assumptions, and now it’s based on valid data from Rapor Pendidikan.

How does GovTech Edu ensure the impact of its technology solutions on improving student learning outcomes, teaching capabilities, and career growth opportunities within the Indonesian education system?

Utomo:

Inclusive access: Prioritising inclusive access to quality education would thereby unlock the potential of millions of teachers previously marginalised by bureaucratic barriers.

Inclusive access is very important because previously, teacher training was centralised only in the big cities and Java island, and reached only 20 per cent of all teachers in Indonesia.  This was because of Indonesia’s vast demographics, resulting in very limited access to training from the central government.

Now, training participation has increased 7x or reached 80 per cent of all teachers in Indonesia with our technology (through the Merdeka Mengajar Platform) compared to 2019. High-quality teacher training can now be easily conducted online and can be tailored to the needs of each teacher and school.

Promotion of lifelong learning: After the learning access is opened and more equal, we empower educators to be lifelong learners by providing what their needs are through our tech, so the usage of our platform becomes more natural and sustainable.  On the other side of the same coin, we use technology to reduce the administration and reporting of our educators by doing business process transformation, through simplification of business processes, improvement of user interface, and automation of the processes.

Policy and technology that complement each other: The long-term goal is for policy and technology to work side by side, even influencing each other. Thus, when there is a paradigm or cultural shift, the system and regulations can also change to become more relevant to users to support irreversible transformation through tech.

Can you share any challenges GovTech Edu has encountered during its end-to-end development process and how these challenges were addressed to ensure the success of its products?

Utomo:

An old legacy system that has been deeply rooted for years: Previously, working with the government involved a top-down culture within the policy-maker in designing solutions, therefore we actively engage in the ideation process right from the start, ensuring that our developments align with the ministry’s objectives rather than just adhering to specifications, as well as to influence the systemic changes while still pursuing quick wins that must be achieved.

Massive and diverse ecosystem: Indonesia has a massive educational ecosystem with approximately 3.5 million teachers and 400,000 schools scattered nationwide, with a wide distribution and varying geographical conditions and technological readiness. Another significant challenge is the persistently low educational quality due to the limitation of infrastructure and inequality of access, which hinders improvement. These challenges require the technology team to deliver inclusive and reliable technology products in most circumstances.

For example, the size of the teacher’s super app, Platform Merdeka Mengajar, is only around 6 MB, and it has become an inclusive product for teachers in a diverse environment.

Also Read: Empowering education with AI: Practical use cases from Solve Education!

Decentralised regulation spanning 38 provinces and 514 cities and regencies: The nation’s decentralised regulation presents a huge challenge in tech implementation. For example, when we launched the Talent Management feature in Platform Merdeka Mengajar, one of the main challenges was that every local government had their own application to manage teachers’ teaching performance in the region, hence presenting greater resistance to the use of the integrated system we offer on the platform.

Therefore, we have a dedicated team that works closely with both the central and local governments, involving them during the iterative process to close the gap between top-down regulation and bottom-up solutions. This helps them better understand the benefits of our platform compared to previous applications.

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Singapore’s leading VC firm, Golden Gate Ventures, has announced the first close of its inaugural MENA (Middle East and North Africa) fund at US$20 million.

The anchor investor is Al Khor Holding. Other Limited Partners are Al Attiya Group and former Qatar Prime Minister Sheikh Jassim Bin Jabor Al Thani.

The US$100-million Golden Gate Ventures MENA Fund I will focus on powering startups in key sectors such as alternative energy, greentech, B2B artificial intelligence, and energy-related deep tech, on top of fintech, healthtech, and edtech.

Also Read: Innovation on the rise: Southeast Asian startups secure impressive funding rounds

It is the first international VC fund to be established and managed in Qatar. Partner Michael Lints, who has moved there, will lead the operations of Golden Gate Ventures MENA Fund I.

In recent years, Qatar has been building its startup ecosystem with a supportive government, a strong push for economic diversification, a pro-business environment, and heavy investment in the startup space.

“MENA is emerging as a growing innovation hub, with Qatar rising as a beacon of progress. We see a real opportunity to drive a golden corridor of growth between Southeast Asia and MENA to help startups scale from one region to the other,” said Vinnie Lauria, Founding Partner at Golden Gate Ventures.

SEA has seen tremendous growth across these sectors and has launched several high-profile IPOs in the last decade. MENA’s trajectory is expected to follow that of SEA’s, and the connection of both regions is expected to have a multiplier effect on their growth.

Some high-profile startups in Golden Gate Ventures’s portfolio, namely CodaPay, Stripe, and Multiplier, have expanded to the Gulf.

Golden Gate Ventures’s SEA-MENA connection was established in the early days with QInvest, a Qatar-linked state fund as an LP in its Asia fund. Looking ahead, the firm expects to see more activity between the regions as the SEA ecosystem matures and the MENA ecosystem levels up as a global contender.

“Golden Gate Ventures has spent close to a decade curating our networks in MENA and building up our long-term strategy for the region – with the view of growing both SEA and MENA together – synergistically. We have connected the SEA and MENA startup ecosystems and hope to increase this manifold. There are opportunities for startups to scale between the regions and so many common areas of growth like climate tech, health tech and edtech,” said Lints.

Also Read: ‘Want VC funding? Your startup needs to be valued at least US$700M in 10 years’: Jeffrey Paine

At the announcement of the Golden Gate Ventures MENA Fund I, the firm also announced the launch of its Qatar startup ecosystem primer entitled ‘Qatar Rising: Where Ambition and Capital Converge’. It provides an insightful look at how different factors – its robust economic policy, investment landscape, startup ecosystem, talent pool and cultural influence – have converged in the last decade to position the Gulf state as a progressive global economy.

In the last two years, Golden Gate Ventures has expanded its presence by establishing its Vietnam operations in 2022, launching an office in Saudi Arabia in 2023 to tap into opportunities in the Middle East—Southeast Asia corridor, and adding a New York presence in recent months.

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At Creative for More, our digital marketing agency offers services ranging from social media marketing to content creation. Recognising the power of collaboration, we have actively expanded our network of partner agencies over the past two years to encompass areas outside our core expertise.

This strategy allows us to refer projects that don’t align with our specialities, ensuring clients receive the best possible service while we benefit from commissions through a structured referral system. This approach has not only broadened our service offerings but also redefined potential competitors as valuable collaborators, creating a sustainable advantage for all involved.

Initiating and strengthening the partnership

Our partnerships began with targeted cold outreach, followed by securing face-to-face meetings essential for building trust. We made a point of referring clients first to demonstrate our commitment to mutual success rather than just seeking benefits for ourselves.

We support our partners through regular communications, promoting both their services and ours via emails and social media. The primary challenges lay in establishing trust and ensuring consistent, open lines of communication—key factors in any successful partnership.

Key terms of our partnership agreements

Our partnership agreements are centred on mutual benefits: we negotiate commission rates for referrals and collaborate on marketing initiatives. These terms ensure that both sides are invested in each other’s success, fostering deeper commitment and enhancing collaborative efforts. We regularly review and adjust these terms to respond to changing market conditions and capabilities, keeping the partnerships dynamic and relevant.

Importance of partnerships in driving innovation and growth

Collaborative efforts allow for the sharing of knowledge and processes, which leads to mutual growth and innovation. This not only improves our offerings but also stimulates industry-wide advancement. In a field as dynamic as digital marketing, the ability to rapidly adapt and integrate new ideas is crucial, and collaborations facilitate this. 

A key takeaway has been the importance of seeing similar businesses as potential partners rather than competitors. This shift in perspective helps foster a positive internal culture and opens up new business opportunities. It has taught us the value of a flexible, open approach, which is vital for developing enduring collaborations. These experiences have encouraged us to actively seek and embrace new partnership opportunities, including with former team members who have started their own agencies.

Advice for startups based on our experience

• Begin with proactive outreach—identify and connect with companies that complement your services. 
• Personalise your communication to demonstrate a clear understanding and interest in their business. 
• Following initial contact, prioritise arranging a face-to-face meeting to solidify the relationship. 
• Demonstrating your commitment through actions, such as making the first referral, can lay a strong foundation for a successful partnership.

By leveraging these strategies, we have not only expanded our capabilities but also cultivated an ecosystem of mutual support and innovation, essential for sustained impact in our industry.

For startups looking to thrive in today’s dynamic markets, embracing such collaborations can be a decisive factor in achieving long-term success. This philosophy of openness and proactive partnership is not merely a strategy but a fundamental business practice that propels both our agency and our partners forward.

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Singapore-based online bookkeeping and accounting firm Osome has closed its over US$17 million Series B funding round from new and existing investors, including Illuminate, Ratio, Constructor Capital, and AltaIR.

With the new funding, Osome will enhance its product offerings for modern financial challenges, focusing on automation and AI components to better serve its customer base. The funds will also support marketing, customer service, and go-to-market efforts.

Founded in Singapore in 2017 by Victor Lysenko, Konstantin Lange, and Anton Roslo, Osome offers a full-fledged service that integrates software with the expertise of accountants, tax specialists, and corporate secretaries to handle financial administration. This way, it aims to disrupt the fragmented accounting and corporate services industry.

Also Read: Osome rakes in US$25M Series B to grow its accounting solutions beyond SG

The company claims to have increased its 2023 revenues while reducing its burn rate, moving closer to profitability. Osome reports commercial growth, serving over 13,000 SME customers and employing more than 400 staff across Singapore, Hong Kong, the UK, the Netherlands, the Philippines, and Malaysia. In 2023 alone, it claims to have helped over 2,500 new businesses go to market.

Lysenko, CEO and co-founder of Osome, said, “Asia’s seeing a funding winter, with companies carrying out mass layoff exercises and a much more challenging job environment. This means we’re seeing a record number of individuals turning to entrepreneurship. Osome truly believes the current downturn has catalysed more founders and entrepreneurs to realise their dreams of running their own businesses, and that’s what we are here for.”

In December 2022, the company raised US$25 million in a Series B round from investors, including Illuminate Financial, AFG Partners, and Winter Capital. This latest round brings Osome’s total funding since its 2017 founding to US$83 million.

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Image credit: Osome

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