A closer look at customer service — the lifeblood of any business-to-consumer (B2C) model — and why we need to develop it more than ever

The service sectors in Southeast Asia are experiencing a major sprint, with transportation and e-commerce leading the charge. This is largely due to the high adoption rate of digital technologies by ASEAN consumers, having collectively penetrated nearly every aspect of daily life with 60% of the entire region’s population under 35 years old digitally glued in and willing to try new online services all the time.

According to a 2018 report by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, ASEAN has 200 million digital consumers, rising 50 percent in just one year — and showing no signs of stopping. Both the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia and mobile commerce have seen a significant increase, with 89 percent of ASEAN internet users using a smartphone as their primary device, aided by the expansion of 3G and 4G networks contributing to the popularity of mobile commerce.

Some countries in the region have established themselves as hubs for startup ecosystems such as Singapore and Malaysia. Others, on the other hand, are beginning to catch up.

As such, businesses have the opportunity to reach 647.45 million people in the ASEAN region, so striving to give SMEs and startups that chance makes plenty of business sense. SMEs comprise 96% of firms in ASEAN member states, according to a report by US-ASEAN Business Alliance for Competitive SMEs in 2015.

What about the customer?

However, in such a competitive environment, customer service often takes a backseat. In larger enterprises and companies, it is often given primacy, but SMEs and startups would often rather spend their money on other business needs. But customer service is the lifeblood that sustains any business-to-consumer (B2C) model and needs to be given an important seat.

Reliability and efficiency is truly key to providing good customer service and retaining customer satisfaction.

Given the many distinctions and complexities enshrined in what makes for good customer service, here, we tackle the tools out there that make the process of building and sustaining those relationships easier.

Customer service as a general concept is experiencing many big changes. According to Gartner, 85% of consumer interactions are expected to be “non-human” by 2020, which means that artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things (IoT) are becoming more common in customer experiences. Chatbots and self-search functions are also seeing a rise in popularity, and will become capable of creating personal customer engagements.

Understanding the importance of customer service

But before jumping right onto the AI bandwagon, it is imperative that we understand what the principles of great customer service are, and how businesses can create a satisfactory customer experience. Doing so helps people have an easier time, and is absolutely critical if a business wants to compete in any industry.

Research by Gartner has found that 89% of companies are expected to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience. Poor customer experiences can lead to serious consequences and majorly impact bottom lines. US Small Business Administration reports that 68% of customers leave because they are unhappy with the service they received. Or worst, unhappy customers may pose damaging risks to businesses by virtue of poor feedback.

1.) Listening to your customer:

Customers are often vocal about how they believe a product or service can be improved. Informing the customer that their complaint has been heard, and making relevant changes wherever possible will give customers the confidence that businesses are actively meeting their needs.

2.) Speed:

Response time has the highest impact on both customer satisfaction and dissatisfaction. The most common gripe one will probably make about customer service is being put on hold for hours on end, and even hung up on. Being quick and efficient when a customer is waiting for a response will provide a more satisfactory experience.

3.) Accessibility/Availability:

Customers value being able to get a problem fixed with as little fuss as possible, so giving them alternative outlets for solutions offers swift resolutions that allow people to get on with their days.

Meet the platform that covers all bases

Covering every base of customer service can seem overwhelming and intimidating, especially for an SME or a startup. But OpsCentral by Innovax Systems can provide businesses with the expertise and tools necessary to create a stellar customer experience.

Innovax Systems is an award-winning contact centre suite based in Singapore and Malaysia, and is the leading provider of systems development and integration of end-to-end solutions and web-based applications. Some of their customers include Verizon, Singtel, YTL Power Seraya, Del, Singapore Cancer Society, ViewQwest, and KPMG.

At a glance, here are the four major products that make up OpsCentral:

All of OpsCentral products provide reporting and analysis to give companies the best chance at doing better for their customers. They aim to create a more productive and efficient customer service, and empower contact centres to manage and administer all aspects of their operations at any time, with zero downtime and no on-site engineers required.

Why OpsCentral is especially effective in ASEAN service industry

45% of the ASEAN region is made up of millennials, people who are extremely tech-savvy and keen on innovation. This means that businesses need to embrace technological advances in the customer service industry, alongside more traditional methods. Mobile-friendly service options such as chatbots and self-service functions are key. OpsCentral can help businesses bridge the gap between traditional methods and new technology to provide a more well-rounded service.

According to Zendesks’ Customer Experience Trends Report 2019, customer service in Southeast Asia is generally quite low in terms of satisfaction, with Indonesia scoring the lowest in the region. However, customer expectations are getting higher as we move towards a more digitally-focused business environment. More transactions are being performed online and more services are offered over the Internet, rendering a more digitally inclined customer service experience.

A collaborative platform that helps businesses manage customer data across multiple channels, devices, and requests from a single touch-point creates a more seamless customer service.  OpsCentral is exactly this platform, being able to give businesses the tools necessary to improve their customer support and products.

Businesses can use OpsCentral products in a flexible manner. All OpsCentral products work independently, allowing businesses to address individual needs no matter what size the company is. They also offer integrated suites for businesses who need a more 360-degree approach to customer support, since every product works together seamlessly.

The integrated suites come in three tiers that cover the requirements of any business at any point in growth — whether it’s startups looking to set up a new call centre to handle its transactions, or an SME that is experiencing rapid growth.

1.) The Essential package for each offering gives businesses 2 to 5 seats, and they get all the features necessary to start building up an efficient and professional call centre such as Call Scripting, Call Recording, Real-Time Statistics, Skill-Based Routing, and Reports.

2.) The Professional package offers more advanced features for scaling businesses, with up to 49 seats. These include all Essential tier features, with Predictive Dialer, API for CRM integration, Fibre Connectivity, 99.8% Uptime SLA and others.

3.) The Enterprise package covers 50 seats and above and includes all Essential and Professional tier features, as well as 24/7 technical support from Innovax.

Immediately, small companies can fully utilise OpsCentral’s features to improve both their product and their customer support in tandem. Businesses that currently use OpsCentral have said that the solution significantly improves the quality of customer experiences, attesting to how Innovax is a reliable and stable company that responds to what a business needs with experience and intuition.

Innovax is built on unparalleled expertise in the customer care and service space. President and Director Patrick Tan founded Innovax Systems in 1998, having previously worked in the marketing and M&A areas of building and oil & gas industries. Innovax Chairman Mark Narita has worked with major Japanese corporations including Nissan and Toshiba, before starting his own software and consulting firm, ISD-Japan. Alex Koh, the company’s Chief Technology Officer, is fueled with a passion for research and development and is constantly looking to update older products to ensure they are relevant to today’s businesses.

Innovax’s continuous innovation is well-suited for businesses that need to keep up with the changing digital landscape to meet customer expectations, which are rising year after year.

Having a scalable platform like OpsCentral takes care of this, lifting a huge weight off a business’ shoulders, and giving them the opportunity to focus on improving and innovating their products and services, without sacrificing customer happiness.

Innovax’s OpsCentral aims to keep businesses thriving in the customer service space by providing solutions to changing needs on a rolling basis.

Find out more about OpsCentral pricing, terms, and engagement by contacting them. Visit their site or call +65 6701 1888.

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Coworking solutions provider, UPGen is one of only a few home-grown workspace operators to be pursuing regional expansion

Vietnam’s largest flexible and custom workspace solutions provider UPGen, announced its expansion into Southeast Asia with new locations in Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur. The new centres will open in the fourth quarter of this year and span nearly 10,000 sq. mts. The continued expansion follows a significant equity investment by Northstar Group in 2018 and a Series B fundraising that is currently underway.

In addition to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, UPGen is also strengthening its market-leading position in Vietnam by rolling out another 50,000 sg. mts. of space in the country. Nam Do, Co-Founder of the Hanoi-based UPGen, said: “We offer a solution to the real pain points which hinder growth in the Vietnamese cities that we operate in and see great potential for our approach and services in other, comparable, Southeast Asian cities. For us, it is about being a platform for growth for our clients and helping them achieve the success they aspire to.”

Also read: Coworking space or coffee shops: where to work on the go

UPGen offers two main solutions to clients; UPBase– shared workspaces with the flexibility and room to grow or downsize as needed one month to the next and UPScale– custom spaces for companies unique to their corporate style, look and feel. Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) make up more than 98% of total enterprises in Thailand and Malaysia and influence about 40% of the GDP (collectively). UPGen’s flexible workspaces provide a low-cost solution for businesses with fast-growth in headcount or looking for better space in prime locations.

Started in 2016, UPGen is one of only a few home-grown workspace operators to be pursuing regional expansion. Its partners include Tiki, Vietnam’s largest e-commerce retailer, ride-hailing firm Be Group, dynamic media company Yeah1 and Standard Chartered, among others. UPGen also counts Vietnam’s VPBank as a strategic partner.

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Served in a restaurant called Hawkee, the robochef was built with the goal to help the F&B industry through automation, robotics, and training

At a glance, the Hokkien mee dish in the picture above looks like any other food commonly found in hawker food centres across Singapore.

But there is one special thing about the one I had today: It was made by a robot-chef (robochef).

On Tuesday, September 24, e27 attended an event hosted by Singapore-based robotics startup EPIC Food & Beverage at Frasers Tower, to see their new robochef in action.

Operating in a restaurant called Hawkee, the robochef was built with the goal to help the F&B industry through automation, robotics, and training.

Also Read: [In Photos] Singapore to welcome 300 LionsBot auto cleaning robots

“We want to use the art of robotic cooking and artificial intelligence to preserve the art of hawker culture and uphold the recipe, consistency, and ultimately the art form of hawker cooking,” said CEO and Co-Founder Jaromel Gee.

With the help of a robot named DIANA, the restaurant offers 18 menu items typically found in hawker centres, from Hokkien mee to mala xiang guo.

The cooking process goes like this:

First, a human chef adds selected ingredients to inside DIANA. This is the only part of the cooking process that requires most human intervention.

The Hokkien mee ingredients are being placed inside a type of plastic bowl

Once he is done inputting the ingredients into the robot, the human chef can adjust the setting with the customer’s preference, such as spiciness level.

The human chef puts the ingredients into the robot

Also Read: This robotic startup can make custom furniture on demand within few hours of getting your order

After that, DIANA will start doing the work.

In developing its menu, Hawkee also has a partnership with the likes of Lee Do Restaurant and Woh Hup Food Industries to develop exclusive dishes.

The restaurant has 10 robots built and installed with a venue that is able to seat 90 patrons. Prices on the menu start from S$6 (US$4.3).

So, how does a dish made by robots taste like? Just as good as one made by a human chef.

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The new end-to-end SaaS is for raising capital, accessing investors, engaging in question and answers, managing and tracking investor interest

Wholesale Investors, Australasia-based investment platform, announces the launch of its new SaaS capital raising admin platform CRIISP in the Southeast Asia region. CRIISP stands for Capital Raising Intelligent Investment Secondary Platform.

In preparation for CRIISP’s reveal in Southeast Asia, Wholesale Investors and e27 have signed an MoU in June 2019, committed to creating more opportunities for cross border investment and company expansion between Southeast Asia and Australia.

Available on both desktop and mobile, CRIISP will be able to facilitate capital raising, investors accessing, questions and answers engagement, investor interest tracking and management, as well as an investment deal room operations and transaction completion.

The launch of CRIISP, Wholesale Investors noted, is the result that comes after more than 18 months of working with investors and founders, to collaborate and create a software platform to remove friction from the capital raising process for investors, founders, and advisors.

CRIISP is going to utilise Wholesale Investor’s existing infrastructure with the option to access a network of 24,200+ high-net-worth investors and professional investment groups (Venture Capital, Private Equity, Funds, Family Offices, and international investors).

Also Read: e27 partners with Wholesale Investor to help startups raise funds

Managing Director and Co-Founder of Wholesale Investor and CRIISP, Steve Torso said:​ “We believe that if we can help Founders, Investors, and Industry participants save time, money, and improve efficiency, the ecosystem wins. More than that, we noticed that as the ecosystem had grown, it had become more and more fragmented, and this was the case for emerging companies going global. With this in mind, it has become substantially more difficult for Investors and companies alike.”

Torso further added that over the last 18 months, Wholesale Investors has increased its presence in Southeast Asia, which led to the launching of CRIISP in the region.

CRIISP digitises the process of getting in front of the investors, allowing companies to manage the relationships between its founder and potential prospective investor, with the founder in the position of control, even from across borders.

The key features of CRIISP include:

• A simplified documentation structure and storage
• Access to an HNW investor marketplace,l
• The ability to promote deal rooms to interest investors
• Investor activity tracking
• Question and answer features and direct messaging
• The ability to issue share certificates
• Multi-party digital signature completion

“For our team, empowering the founder and removing success fees means we can play a role in growing the technologies of the future quicker, and to a greater scale. CRIISP kills the problem of founders paying the equivalent to a salary of a decent techie in success fees, stunting their scalability,” said Torso.
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Photo by Taylor Simpson on Unsplash

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Serial entrepreneur turning angel investor turned VC, Carman Chan is one of the top women in tech in Asia

Click Ventures Founder and Managing Partner Carman Chan

The venture capital market has more than doubled in size over the past five years says a research by Prequin. And Asia is not too far from all the VC action. Hong Kong’s Click Ventures is named by Preqin as the ‘Most Consistently Top performing VC fund globally’.  And empowering women in tech and finance, founder of Click Ventures Carman Chan is the only female fund founder from the five funds selected globally.

Top-performing VC fund managers by Preqin

A veteran in the technology industry, Carman Chan started out as a tech columnist and is now a globally recognized venture capitalist. She founded Click Ventures, a global early-stage venture capital firm in 2015, after a successful series of entrepreneurial ventures and three exits. Click Ventures provides seed or series A funding to startups in the internet or mobile sectors. Her investments include Spotify (ipo), Docusign(ipo), Palantir, Memebox, MeetUp, and Youappi.

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India-based Avataar Capital’s launch of a new US$300M fund is the other major development of the day

Strategic Ventures Fund II launches US$50M growth accelerator fund [press release]

Delhi-based Strategic Ventures Fund (SVF) II has launched a US$50 million growth accelerator early-stage fund to engage with entrepreneurs and startups in the Indo-ASEAN area.

SVFII is the brainchild of four seasoned investors who have been entrepreneurs themselves and have a long history of mutual association.

Atim Kabra, Director of Strategic Ventures Fund II said, “The fund targets a portfolio of hundred companies over the next 48 months. The focus would be a risk-assessed, disciplined, early-stage investing in curated high traction startups. Investment targets would be technology-driven, technology-enabled, technology-differentiated companies across industries which can scale up significantly with the assistance of accelerants SVF II intends to provide.”

Avataar Capital launches US$300M fund in India  [press release]

India-based Avataar Capital Management has announced the launch of a new fund Avataar Venture Partners I.

The fund will focus on making US$10-30 million in growth-stage B2B and SaaS companies that have at least US$15 million of annual recurring revenues and are looking to scale globally.

Avataar will work with companies and their leadership teams to deliver on critical initiatives that will help scale their businesses. Avataar will be led by Mohan Kumar, former Partner at Norwest Venture Partners India, and Nishant Rao, former COO of Freshworks.

Also Read: Women in tech: Carman Chan’s Click Ventures is one of the most consistent VC funds globally

At the closing of the fund, Avataar has acquired stakes in six B2B SaaS companies Appnomic, Capillary, CRMNext, ElasticRun, Manthan and Zenoti from Norwest Venture Partners.

Fintech startup Flowcast raises US$3M in Series A funding [press release]

Flowcast, a fintech startup that specialises in smart credit decisioning, has closed US$3 million of Series A funding, co-led by ING Ventures and Bitrock Capital, with additional funding from existing investors including Katalyst Ventures and Alpana Ventures.

The proceeds of this round will be used to fund the acceleration of Flowcast’s go-to-market strategy, global market expansion, and the continuing product development and improvement.

Flowcast is an AI platform to power smarter credit decisions for financial institutions and corporates. Flowcast’s API-based Machine Learning platform harnesses alternative data to unlock credit at scale. This empowers lenders and corporations to extend and monitor credit that is historically unavailable with conventional lending and credit scoring methods.

Axinan expands into the Philippines, to launch mobile phone insurance solutions [press release]

Singapore-based insurtech firm Axinan announced today its entry into the Philippines, starting with its strategic partnership with leading non-life insurer Mercantile Insurance.

Underwritten by Mercantile, the insurance solutions introduced will be in the area of mobile phone protection through Axinan’s consumer brand igloo. Axinan will offer its proprietary tech capabilities while Mercantile’s niche in non-life insurance gives both parties a competitive edge through this collaboration.

According to the International Data Corporation’s report in 2018, there has been a shift in the Philippines smartphone market, where Filipinos are moving towards mobile phones with higher specifications and better features. In the same study, it was revealed that this trend is coupled with higher average selling prices of mobile phones, with a 13 per cent year-on-year increase in 2017.

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Cultivating an individual identity is more important than following guided rules on leadership

TV shows, movies, media and blogs all portray a certain kind of image of a good leader.

Yet the greatest leaders of all times are all different from one another. While they may have one or two similar qualities, each have their own individuality which sets them apart from the rest.

To be or not to be

Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest icons in football history is not just a phenomenal player but also an inspiring leader.

One of the greatest examples of his leadership came out in Euro 2016 when Joao Moutinho refused to take a penalty kick because of his previous experience of missing the penalty shot in 2012.

In an inspiring video that went viral on YouTube, his coach tried to convince the player to take the shot but he blatantly refused.

Then came Ronaldo who magically uttered a few words of motivation to the player after which he made the perfect shot landing Portugal to victory.

The few words Ronaldo had said were “Come. You hit them well! If we lose then f*** it! Be strong, come on, be strong. You hit them well, come on!, it’s in God’s hands now“

The player listened to his fellow teammate rather than the coach, what can be a greater example of his influence on his team.

There are many more examples of how Ronaldo has motivated his teammates to victory in many cases.

And yet, Ronaldo also stands to be known as one of the most hated players in football, due to his lack of humility.

Image Source: Carl Recine/Action Images via Reuters

On the other hand, there is Abraham Lincoln, one of the greatest presidents of all time.

In his biography Team of Rivals by Dorothy Kearns, he is frequently regarded as a lover of poetry (his favourite being Mortality by William Knox) and a president who spent most of his days in melancholy.

As the title of the book suggests with his exceptional leadership skills he befriended the men who were supposed to be his enemies and together achieved freedom for all slaves throughout the nation creating history for generations to come, something that was thought of as an impossible feat.

His humility is evident when he appointed Stanton as Secretary of War, despite the man previously ridiculing him as a ‘long-armed ape’.

By putting his ego aside, he created such an incredible harmony between the people who were never supposed to be his friends and colleagues in the first place.

An extraordinarily inhuman feat.

President Lincoln was gentle, humble and extremely honourable and yet died as a result of assassination.

Image Source: HULTON ARCHIVE/GETTY IMAGES

Finally, there was the great Genghis Khan (translated as universal leader), one of the most notable successful military conquerors the world has ever known.

He rose from being the son of a chieftain (who was later killed) into becoming the ruler of the largest land empire in the world.

A leader who led his people to conquer more territories in 25 years than the Roman army could in 400 years. Not only was Genghis Khan known for his brutality, but he was also known for forging friendships and alliances.

Apart from his military conquests, he was also widely known for his style of leadership which favoured merit rather than status. So much that even today the Mongols disregard race, ethnicity, and class creating a society on meritocracy where individuals are rewarded based on their talents. This can also be traced back to when Khan established a legal system ‘Yassa’, a form of unified punishment created in order to build a combined society which abided by the same laws.

Khan was of a complex nature being obscenely clever, strong and believed in equality while also being extremely brutal and a sadist who was entertained when his enemies were stripped off of power.

The bottom line

There are thousands of books written on leadership, articles are written every day on the qualities of a good leader. And even as we close our eyes and think about the perfect leader, there is an image created by the mass of what a good leader should look like or be.

But the truth is there is no perfection to being the best leader because there are no right or wrong rules of being one.

Everyone is different and must find their own leadership style that is in harmony with their innermost qualities. There will always be downsides but at least there will be an individuality that will be established.

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Image Credit: Mahesh Patel

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The e-commerce trends change based on the way we shop, buy, and how we respond to products that are being marketed by businesses

In over last decade, a lot of new e-commerce trends have emerged to have a major influence on e-tailing businesses and their models of operation.

That’s why most of the business owner reach E-commerce development company to build their E-commerce site. With the biggest of global e-tailers such as Amazon have been adopting and reaping the rewards of these trends, we would like to sum up a few of these trends that will gain importance in 2019:

Speedy shipping and efficient delivery logistics

With Amazon offering one-hour delivery service with its ‘Amazon Now’ and the plans to expand the services further in the coming few years, the focus has been on drastically decreasing the time between the click and delivery.

Also Read: Five trends in crowdfunding to watch in 2019

The key competitive advantage the e-commerce businesses have been striving for. Leveraging the emerging technologies, including the driverless freight, the logistical improvements are set to take place this year.

AI and machine learning integration

The e-commerce businesses are bringing about the intelligent algorithm to deal with the key challenges to segment the customers and identify the patterns effectively based on their browsing history for enabling personalisation and automation.

Such intelligent strategies have resulted in visible sales conversions and gains and are therefore going to be widely adopted with the integration of AI and machine learning

Augmented Reality inches closer to the mainstream market

With major brands such as Apple and Google introducing tools to enable product visualisation with the help of augmented reality, this trend is highly likely to catch on in 2019 with the use of AR/VR enabled sensible devices

Mobile checkout and IoT growth

Mobile payment is witnessing dramatic innovations enabling the people who shop frequently and more conveniently.

Also Read: 4 hottest HR trends to watch out in 2019

With many different mobile payment platforms available today the mobile payment market has been growing and with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin.and the proprietary offerings from banks such as Chase and Softbank, the new trend in 2019 is set to move us further away from cash and closer to mobile payment systems.

The growing popularity of ROPO

In line with the growing shopping habit of a typical consumer, that of ‘Research Online, Purchase Offline’ (ROPO), which is driven mainly by the thrifty and bargain-seeking consumers, 2019 is going to be a year of the e-commerce options and business models that more enable and support the ROPO trend.

The world of e-commerce around us is ever-changing and can solely grow more considerably in 2019. All the latest technologies have been enabling these emerging trends to evolve and get adapted at a wider level with ease.

As an e-commerce business owner, you need to identify and embrace the trends that best suit your specific business needs and goals, enabling you to provide consumers with the best value possible.

The key is to understand that the better the user experience you offer, the better will be your sales.

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Image Credit: rupixen

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Bitkub founders want to build a blockchain ecosystem that provides a one-stop service for retail investors and enterprises in Thailand

With the objective to bridge the gap between blockchain, cryptocurrency services and non-tech users Biktub wants to be the most trusted and easy-to-use cryptocurrency exchange in Thailand.

They have successfully closed an additional THB50 million (US$ 1.67 million) pre-series A round at THB750m (US$25m) valuation from an undisclosed investor.

The funds were used for maintenance of high-end services as they are a customer-centric, and easing use, transaction speed and convenience are their top priorities.

Biktub’s cryptocurrency exchange platform provides multi-cryptocurrency wallets, user-friendly technical analysis tools, and alternative cash-out options for businesses willing to improve their payment processing systems.

One of their main goals is to accelerate cryptocurrency adoption in Thailand and the pre-series A round was used to develop infrastructures and applications, compliance program (AML/KYC), automation of workflows as well as the acquisition of additional necessary licenses. A proportion of the funds was allocated to strengthen product knowledge and talent.

Also read: How Thailand is making strides to mold Bangkok into a global startup destination

Co-founded by Topp Jirayut Srupsrisop– Thailand’s leading crypto expert, ex-Goldman employee Atichanan Pulges, and owner of Thailand’s largest bitcoin club– Sakolkorn Sakavee; Biktub currently has about 25,000 users per day want to raise an A round to expand globally.

Bitkub Capital Group Holdings Co., Ltd. consists of four main business units –Bitkub Online for the digital asset exchange platform, Bitkub Blockchain provides ICO advisory services, Bitkub Blockchain Academy works for blockchain education and Bitkub Capital acting as a venture capital firm taking care of investments.

The founders said they want to build a blockchain ecosystem that provides a one-stop service for retail investors as well as enterprises to learn, invest, and integrate blockchain technologies into their own infrastructure. They envision a tokenised world that will create an unprecedented level of financial access, privacy, and security. All these will be made viable with Bitkub acting as a thought leader in financial innovation.

Ever since their SEC license in January, they have joined hands with other blockchain and cryptocurrency entities in Asia such as Asia Blockchain Review, Finansia, and OKex to reach out more crypto enthusiasts. They also have a trading platform for Thais and partnered with Swaple to pay for products with the Dragon Siam in Bangkok.

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Image credit: Jakob Owens on Unsplash

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In Tokyo, it already offers selected local experience to Taiwanese visitors and also introduces an instant booking application for entertainment to local people

FunNow, an instant booking app for entertainment and leisure activities in Taiwan, has raised an undisclosed sum in Series A+ funding from CSV Venture Fund II.

CSV Venture Fund is managed jointly by Japan’s NEC Capital Solutions and Venture Labo Investment. 

This is CSV’s first investment in Taiwan.

The new round comes just over a year after FunNow secured US$5 million in Series A led by Alibaba Entrepreneur Fund.

“We are very honoured to have been recognised by NEC. We also think highly of the entertainment industry in Japan,” says Mic Hsieh, General Manager of FunNow Japan.

“More than 1,000 overseas merchants are now working with us to provide city entertainments for the locals in Tokyo, Okinawa, Hong Kong, and Kuala Lumpur,” said FunNow CEO TK Chen. 

“With the Series A+ round funding, we are going to expand our team and merchant supplies and continue our efforts into connecting life circles in different East Asian cities. At the same time, we are aiming to serve travellers to Tokyo for 2020 Tokyo Olympic,” Chen added.

Also Read: The perfect leader in an imperfect world: how these leaders embraced their unusual traits to lead

Launched in November 2015, FunNow allows people to book entertainment activities instantly. Its search engine and algorithm of real-time availability calculation, combined with the geolocation technology, allows customers to get a glance of all the available slots within their perimeter almost instantly. Through a few clicks, a user can make a reservation for activities such as body massage, bars or fun experiences, or a short getaway to the neighbouring cities without planning.

As of today, FunNow has around one million users and 3,000 merchants. The team has grown from 25 people in 2018 to approximately 70 this year. 

FunNow has around 1,000 merchant partners in overseas markets and continues to expand its territory to build East Asia entertainment ecosystem.

Having gained the experience from its success in Taiwan in the last four years, FunNow is expanding the business to other markets, setting foot in Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur. 

In Tokyo where it launched in July, it offers selected local experience to Taiwanese visitors to the city and also introduces an instant booking application for entertainment to residents. So far, FunNow has partnered with 300 merchants in Tokyo and Okinawa, and the number is expected to reach 500 by the end of 2019.

Kuala Lumpur is another focus for FunNow in its great entertainment ecosystem blueprint. Following the Malaysian government’s Digital Economy policies, FunNow has assisted 200-plus local massage merchants, including the largest massage chain in the nation, Healthland, to digitize their reservation process. 

Along with the expansion, the company is establishing partnerships with other brands. “This year, we also partnered with different brands, including Michelin and GQ, to hold different campaigns and try to offer diverse fun activities to our users,” said Szu-Chi Lee, CMO of FunNow. 

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Image Credit: FunNow

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