In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have remained in remote setups, operating under this assumption: Working from home enables employees to better manage work-life balance. Instead of having to separate work from life, they could integrate the two, so they could take care of children and other domestic matters in between meetings and deliverables. Employees would have better mental health — at least in theory.

That theory has long gone unquestioned until a recent Gallup survey put it to the test. Gallup found that employees who were engaged on-site became more stressed at home (29 per cent to 32 per cent), those who were not engaged also became more stressed (38 per cent to 46 per cent), and those who were actively disengaged experienced no change at all in their stress levels (remaining at 52 per cent in both conditions).

This survey undermines the assumption that work-from-home is universally better for our mental health. While most businesses would look at this data as a location issue and immediately set in motion a back-to-office change management plan, this view is misguided. This data does not reveal a geographical issue, but a cultural one. 

Companies must address the fundamental challenge that comes with each type of employee.

Empower your engaged employees

For purposes of organisation, the Gallup survey and other similar initiatives had to categorise employees into three distinct groups. This categorisation may promote the false idea that these groupings are fixed and that engaged employees will always be engaged.

Also Read: Examining remote work trends: What it takes for businesses to do this successfully

Such, of course, could not be further from the truth. While certain employees may be engaged now, they may slip toward not being engaged or even actively disengaged. Employees in these other categories may manifest as quiet quitters and other performance issues.

To continue engaging them, you must support their professional growth. Do so by keeping an open line of conversation about their experience. Ask them what they like most about your organisation, why they stay, and, just as importantly, how you can improve. You may even want to keep an open door policy or office hours for these types of conversations. These highly engaged employees are a gold mine: You will learn the most about your culture from them.

Part ways with actively disengaged employees

Keeping these employees is bad for both parties. Employees who are actively disengaged but remain with an organisation remain removed from finding a company that they are passionate about. 

On the employer side, actively disengaged employees waste resources. Many organisations tend to fall into a sunk cost fallacy with these employees: Since they already invested so much time in training, education, and other activities, it only makes sense to continue trying to engage them. This view is full of false hope: No amount of work will get them invested.

It is best to part ways with these employees as soon as possible. Although this choice may be difficult to do – and tempting to stall with a PIP and other procedures — swift action is empathetic: They will be one step closer to finding the role that is right for them.

Study your quiet quitters

You need to identify your quiet quitters – the people doing the bare minimum required of their job — and find out what makes them tick. In many cases, their lack of engagement is due to issues with recognition or competition: They feel there is a disconnect between how they perceive the company and how it rewards performance.

Also Read: Examining global hybrid and remote work trends beyond the West

Companies will have their own unique problems. The important part is that you surface these issues through dialogue with your quiet quitters. With enough engagement, some of these quiet quitters may trend in a positive direction and become engaged employees, rather than slide into active disengagement. 

If you give them a voice to speak up, quiet quitters will not sit on the sidelines. Every employee wants to be heard. 

First steps 

To address the challenges associated with each employee type, business leaders and entrepreneurs must reframe the overarching problem. They do not have a location problem on their hands — it’s not an issue so much of where to work, but how.

Business leaders must continue dialogue with engaged employees, study employees who are not engaged for areas of improvement, and part ways with the actively disengaged employees. You could view these actions as a sort of triage: You are focusing on what needs the most attention, so that your business can not only survive, but thrive.

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Startup Terrace Kaohsiung (STK), proudly supported by the Ministry of Economic Affairs and renowned as the premier international startup hub in southern Taiwan, is thrilled to unveil its 2024 Soft-Landing Program.

Building on their successful track record since 2021 where 137 startups have been nurtured and business and investor connections have been facilitated, STK has collaborated with over 10 global accelerators and over 50 business partners, including Google, AWS, and Microsoft to synergise innovation and entrepreneurship internationally.

These startups have benefited from extensive support, facilitating valuable business connections and attracting significant investor interest. This ongoing commitment to fostering innovation and growth has solidified its reputation as a key player in the startup ecosystem.

Explore the dynamic Southern Taiwan market

The 2024 Soft-Landing Program invites global startups to experience firsthand the dynamic Southern Taiwan market. Participants will immerse themselves in the vibrant Taiwan business environment, gain insights into the entrepreneurship ecosystem, explore potential sales opportunities, and engage in targeted matchmaking with Taiwanese companies and venture capitalists during the one-month visit. Accommodation subsidies, co-working space and facilities, business match-making and more perks will be provided in this complimentary program. 

Also read: SAFE STEPS: 8 disaster tech startups wow at Echelon X

Startup Terrace Kaohsiung is located at the largest 5G demonstration field in Taiwan, focusing on 5G and AIoT. STK’s 2024 Soft-landing Program aims to attract startups in these fields as well as smart manufacturing, smart harbour, and greentech development & transformation. The program offers a comprehensive training agenda designed to provide tailored support and opportunities for selected startups. 

Tailored support and opportunities for STK participants

Selected startups can expect the following experiences and benefits:

• Guidance to the Southern Taiwan market
• Real-site visits & business tours
• Targeted matchmaking, linking with VC, accelerators
• Participation in startup events

Additionally, participants will receive:

• Accommodation Subsidy (Kaohsiung only): USD50 per day (limit < 30 days)
• 1-month free use of co-working space and facilities
• Free participation in the Soft-Landing Program
• 1-on-1 business matchmaking service
• Participation in the 2024 Meet Greater South Expo and Pitch event
• Certificate upon completion of the Soft-Landing Program, becoming global startup ambassadors of Startup Terrace Kaohsiung

Also read: Check out these key highlights from Echelon X!

Application is open until June 28th.2024 

For more information, visit Startup Terrace Kaohsiung (yawan-startup.tw) or contact STK’s representative, Ms. Vanessa Lee, at: vanessalee@vnrc.tw

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This article was produced by ACE SG and published by e27.

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Last week, a diverse group of investment firms supported promising startups across Southeast Asia and India. From established giants like Temasek with billions under management to early-stage champions like 100Unicorns, these investors represent a range of focus areas, from fintech and healthcare to AI and sustainability.

Let’s delve into the investment landscape and discover the firms shaping the future of these dynamic regions.

B Capital Group

B Capital is a multi-stage global investment firm with US$6+ billion in assets under management across multiple funds. The VC firm focuses on seed to late-stage venture growth investments, primarily in the technology, healthcare and climate sectors.

Founded in 2015 by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin, B Capital leverages an integrated team across nine locations in the US and Asia, as well as a strategic partnership with BCG, to provide the value-added support entrepreneurs need to scale fast and efficiently, expand into new markets and build exceptional companies.

British International Investment (BII)

Established in 1948, BII is the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor with a mission to help solve the biggest global development challenges by investing patient, flexible capital to support private sector growth and innovation.

It invests in creating more productive, sustainable and inclusive economies in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean, enabling people in those countries to build better lives for themselves and their communities. It invests every year in green infrastructure, technology and other sectors that need our capital the most.

BII currently partners with over 1,500 businesses in emerging economies and has a total assets of £8.1 billion.

Quona Capital

Quona Capital is a global venture firm focused on inclusive fintech. It invests in startups that expand consumers’ access to financial services and grow businesses in India, Southeast Asia, Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.

It focuses on markets that are massively underserved by the legacy finance infrastructure, where it sees the biggest opportunity for transformation into more equitable financial systems.

Beyond pure-play fintech, Quona also invests in startups solving broader economic and social challenges, where embedded financial solutions can serve as a catalyst—from supply chain and agtech platforms to e-commerce, proptech and health.

Since 2015, it has invested in emerging markets while simultaneously measuring its impact on financial inclusion at the company and portfolio level.

Last week, B Capital, British International Investment, Quona Capital, and Stellaris Venture Partners invested in Turno, which offers financing solutions to SMEs, distributors, logistics firms, and e-commerce operators that plan to buy commercial three-wheeler electric vehicles.

Stellaris Venture Partners

Stellaris is an early-stage, technology-focused, sector-agnostic investment firm. It started its first fund in early 2017 and is currently investing from its second fund (US$225 million).

It prefers to partner at the ground floor level and is typically the first or the second institutional investor in companies that it partners with.

Stellaris has partnered with 30+ businesses across various sectors, including SaaS, financial services, B2B commerce, consumer brands, social commerce, education, electric vehicles, healthcare, and others.

9unicorns

9unicorns (now 100Unicorns) is an India-based accelerator VC. The fund operates uniquely as an accelerator and invests in very early-stage startups. It aims to disrupt idea-stage funding in India by backing founders with early access to capital with mentorship.

100Unicorns has funded 145 startups, including ShipRocket, VideoVerse, Zypp Electric, Renee Cosmetics, Assiduus, IGP – Join Ventures, Homeville, Alo Fruit, TruNativ, Rezolv.AI, OTO Capital, Klub, Wiom, BluSmart, DrinkPrime, LeverageEdu, Prescinto, and Rooter.

Indian Angel Network

Indian Angel Network is a leading network of angel investors keen to invest in early-stage businesses with the potential to create disproportionate value. The members of the network are leaders in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, having strong operational experience as CEOs or a background in creating new and successful ventures.

IAN is an angel investor network with over 500 investors across 10 countries. Over 80 per cent of its investors are actively investing, leading, etc.

IAN has invested in 200 companies spanning various sectors, including education, healthcare, QSR, e-commerce, gaming, semiconductors, robotics, and manufacturing.

Last week, 9unicorns, IAN, and Venture Catalysts invested in India-based Zypp Electric, which plans to expand into Southeast Asia.

Venture Catalysts

Established in 2016, Venture Catalysts++ is a multi-stage VC in India. It has a presence in 50+ cities in countries such as the UAE, the USA, the UK, Singapore, Luxembourg, Thailand, Canada, Eastern Africa, Zimbabwe, Hong Kong, and Southern Africa. It has US$700 million syndicated across 300+ portfolio startups. Besides making seed-stage and Series A investments for startups, Venture Catalysts is known for its startup-building capability, strategic guidance, generating business leads, leveraging its network across the globe through its partners and providing phenomenal returns to its investors.

Wavemaker Partners

Wavemaker Partners invests in a broad range of technology-driven companies in the US and Southeast Asia. The Singapore-based VC firm invests in angel, seed, pre-Series A, and Series A-stage startups across Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, the US, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei, Myanmar, Cambodia, and Laos. The average investment size is US$250,000 to US$5 million.

Last week, it invested in Beppo, which automates accounting and tax compliance for Filipino businesses and the self-employed.

Hitseries Capital

Hitseries Capital provides growth-as-a-service (GaaS) to its portfolio. The firm invests in artificial intelligence/machine learning, vertical SaaS applications, connected IoT, healthcare, mobility, fintech, and the marketplace across Asia Pacific.

Last week, the VC firm invested in WeSale, a proptech platform connecting partners, individuals and organisations to project owners and developers.

Temasek

Incorporated in 1974, Temasek is an investment company headquartered in Singapore. Supported by 13 offices internationally, Temasek had a net portfolio value of US$287 billion as of 31 March 2023. It aims to build a forward-looking and resilient portfolio that delivers sustainable returns over the long term.

Temasek deploys capital to catalyse solutions that can enable the transition to a low-carbon economy, tap into opportunities to build future growth sectors, and lead enterprises through our efforts in innovation.

Last week, Temasek invested in Marketnode, a digital market infrastructure operator aiming to develop a multi-asset ecosystem starting in Asia Pacific.

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Indonesia’s aquaculture company eFishery has received US$30 million in green and social loan from leading lender HSBC Indonesia.

The aquatech startup will use the money to accelerate the utilisation of its automatic feeding product for small-holder farmers, eFeeder, which speeds up the crop cycle by up to 74 days.

Also Read: eFishery banks US$200M, targets to engage 1M+ aquaculture ponds by 2025

According to founder and CEO Gibran Huzaifah, the eFeeder penetration will empower small-scale fish and shrimp farmers with the technology and resources needed to be more productive and sustainable.

As per the agreement, HSBC Indonesia will act as Sustainable Finance Coordinator for eFishery to support the implementation of ESG principles.

Founded in 2013, eFishery is one of Indonesia’s largest digital co-operatives for fish and shrimp farmers. It offers an integrated aquaculture ecosystem that provides access to technology, supporting over 70,000 fish and shrimp farmers in 280 cities across Indonesia.

Its solutions also include access to financial institutions worth more than US$40 million and a platform to sell fish and shrimp crops.

The company has three main objectives: to address food security through aquaculture, to overcome fundamental challenges in the aquaculture industry by providing affordable technology, and to reduce social and economic inequality through an inclusive digital economy.

The company looks to expand the eFishery farming community, targeting to engage over one million aquaculture ponds in Indonesia by 2025 and increasing the transactions of fish feed and fresh fish on the platform. The goal is to export fully traceable, chemical-free and antibiotic-free shrimp to international markets.

Also Read: eFishery will look to expand across Asia, Middle East: CEO Gibran Huzaifah

Three months ago, eFishery acquired AI-powered IoT startup DycodeX to its AI initiatives, including the launch of an upcoming brand, eFishery.ai.

Last July, the startup secured US$200 million in its Series D funding round led by Abu Dhabi-based global fund manager 42XFund. Malaysian public sector pension fund, Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP), Switzerland-based asset manager responsAbility, 500 Global, Northstar, Temasek, and SoftBank also co-invested.

According to a Tech In Asia report, eFishery secured a US$32 million loan from DBS Bank Indonesia in October 2022.

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There has been a significant slowdown in the early-stage funding ecosystem in Southeast Asia, with fewer startups getting funded and fewer funds being created. I’ve seen a few comments that have tried to explain why it is slowing down, so I thought that I’d add some colour to the discussion.

There’s no doubt that there’s been some frustration on the part of LPs with how slowly existing GPs have been returning capital from their funds. I would hazard a guess that this is because the TVPI (Total Value-to-Paid In capital) multiples aren’t what they are advertised to be and if they were realised, there would be a prodigious amount of shrinkage.

The funds don’t want this reality because to do so would likely expose the fact that their total returns are lower than the S&P500 with less liquidity, which would beg the question — why would anyone invest with them again?

TVPI reflects the current value of the portfolio as compared to the capital that has been given to it. As investments are realised, the Distributed-to-Paid in the capital will start to increase, and the Residual Value-to-Paid in the capital will decrease. Put another way TVPI = DPI + RVPI.

TVPI vs DPI

Currently, I would guess that there are a lot of funds that are holding their investments at an elevated valuation on their balance sheets. Let’s say that they are marking them at 5x TVPI. This would be great if they were able to realise their 5x TVPI and convert it into the DPI.

However, this valuation is based on the last round, which is problematic because venture rounds are typically priced according to the dilution that is appropriate for the level of funding as opposed to the financial value of the discounted cash flows.

Also Read: Funding frenzy in SEA: Fintech, proptech, EV startups secure millions

To realise the 5x TVPI, the fund manager would likely need to accept a discount unless they are able to achieve an IPO or some kind of exemplary trade sale — which are few and far between in Southeast Asia.

A worked example

What is more likely is that the 5x TVPI that they are carrying is sitting pretty far back in the cap stack, as liquidity preferences from later rounds have diluted the actual value. To give an example of this, if a company did a round of funding and raised US$1 million from Fund A at a US$10 million post-money valuation, the fund would own 10 per cent of the company. The company subsequently raised US$10 million at a US$50 million post-money valuation with preference shares that carried a 3x liquidity preference.

Arguably, Fund A would own eight per cent of the company (10 per cent less 20 per cent dilution, assuming the pro-rata wasn’t taken up). As mentioned above, the valuation that a private company can raise money at likely isn’t the same price that the same company would trade at in a secondary market.

Continuing from the above example, if the company was then sold for US$35 million a year later, what would Fund A’s position be worth? On their books, Fund A would have marked up their investment by 4-5x (50m/10m post-money valuations, the lower end taking into consideration dilution).

However, when they actually exit the business, the second funding round would first get paid their US$30 million (3x liquidity preference x $10m investment), leaving US$5 million for the remaining investors. Fund A’s 8 per cent position would now be worth US$400k (8 per cent of US$5 million), which is less than they had invested. It’s likely that they received preference shares, so they would get their investment back, but it’s still a far cry from the $5m that they said it was worth to their investors.

This is an extreme example but shows how there could be a significant difference between the TVPI and DPI when push comes to shove because of the positioning of the cap stacks. What looked like a 4-5x TVPI was something closer to a 1x DPI when realised (depending on whether it was a participating preferred).

The DPI dip

There are likely a lot of funds in this situation, where they might not have done the cap table calculations and instead relied on the movement of the share price to guide their internal valuations with no regard for their position in the preference stack.

Also Read: Southeast Asia startups secure funding for logistics, anime, sustainability and more!

When they look at exiting their positions, they realise that they need to win the lottery with an irrational buyer stepping in and paying above the odds for the business so they can realise the TVPI that they have been marketing. Faced with that conundrum, they would obviously prefer to let the investment ride in the hopes of some windfall in the future rather than accept the reality that their DPI will never get anywhere near their current TVPI.

Final thoughts

This results in funds holding onto positions longer and being unwilling to return capital to investors. If they were to return capital, their Internal Rates of Return (IRRs) would start to converge and potentially dip below those that an investor could have achieved by investing in the S&P500 but with a significant amount of additional liquidity.

Those investors are frustrated with the current situation, and they don’t have any capital to recycle back into new funds. This leaves us in the present predicament that we face with fewer investors deploying into funds, fewer funds being deployed, and fewer startups raising capital to grow and expand.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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