“We do not learn from experience… we learn from reflecting on experience.”

– John Doerr, author Measure What Matters.

If you are a founder, CXO, HR leader, or a venture partner, you are sure to have come across Objectives and Key Results (OKRs) and highly unlikely that you would ignore it. You probably may be thinking about the benefits of this superbly powerful framework, that when implemented well, can supercharge your growth strategy. At the same time, you may be wondering how to get started.

The good news, OKRs can magically seep into accelerating your business growth, without having another on the ‘To Do’ list. However, what it does need is baselining understanding on OKRs, crafting it right, discipline, focus and cadence not only among leaders but also your teams.

And, a great way to move from knowing OKRs to actually doing or practicing OKRs, is through OKR pilots!

All about OKRs

OKRs is a strategy execution framework, which requires an ongoing cadence, to pick measures that matter most to propel the organisation forward. OKRs forces teams to think about how to drive change, growth or innovation. Something is a variation of what or how we are currently doing.

Objectives are qualitative statements that give clarity on ‘What would we like to achieve?’ They must have business value.

Key results define ‘how we are going to measure success?’. They’re outcome-driven, measurable and stand the ‘Stretch Test’.

Tasks are the to-do lists, priorities, and activities that will help us achieve our OKRs.

Also Read: Global pandemics, trade wars: why OKRs are more vital than ever before

OKRs shift thinking from measuring inputs or tasks to outcomes. OKRs are agile, set for 90 days, and builds a muscle of cadence around metrics that matter most.

Here’s an example of an OKR.

Objective: Implement a kick-ass sales strategy to accelerate revenues

KR 1: Increase conversion rates from 15 to 30 per cent

KR 2: Reduce lead received to call back time from one hour to 10 minutes

KR 3: Increase enterprise customer proposals from four to 10 per month

How to run craft an OKR

The Socratic question

As you mull over how to get started with OKRs, ask yourself the Socratic question ‘Is my company ready for OKRs and what outcomes would we want to drive?’ OKRs being a strategy execution framework, rest on your company’s mission, vision, and strategy.

No sailing without the captain of the ship:

OKRs start with sponsorship, and that’s best done by the CEO alongside the Strategy Office. With a strong war cry around OKRs, you need to rally your team around the North Star or the big ‘why’.

Champion the implementation, get a common understanding of what OKRs are or aren’t, and don’t shy away from calling an OKR expert to give you a 101 primer on OKRs.

It starts with company OKRs

In all OKR pilots, what emerges as a constant is to start from the top. Build the virility around the framework, by setting company OKRs anchoring them to the company’s mission, vision and strategy.

As a Founder or CEO who is driving OKRs, invite your next level leadership team to contribute to company OKR crafting. Use OKR language in every meeting – Get tired of saying so, until everyone gets activated on the driving OKRs as a muscle.

Choose your pilot team well

Organisations have different ways of choosing a pilot team. For enterprises, it could be CXOs and next-level leaders, or a group driving Innovation projects.

Also Read: We recently implemented OKRs at e27; This is why every startup should do the same

For hyper-growth startups, it could be teams that need to drive outcomes through intensive collaboration. The success of your pilot team can be a role model for other teams.

Get the right anchors

It takes two to tango. But for OKRs, it’s a whole lot more. You need the right anchors to make sure the teams are sailing through every difficult situation without crashing or just running away from the challenges. Have a well-defined checklist to make sure your key role holders can increase your chances of a successful implementation.

Consider using an OKR software

With team sizes are more than 20, an OKR Software is a must-have to keep the momentum on. An OKR Software would help teams view real-time insights, flag KRs at risk, help teams capture check-ins, collaborate on progress, and guide them on writing high-quality OKRs.

According to the experience of Fitbots OKR management, an effective Check-In meeting is a secret sauce to getting OKR implementation right.  This may seem like the same old tune, but the fact remains, no leadership enthusiasm, no OKR success. Check-In meetings happen weekly by teams and during Leadership reviews.

With a view on OKR progress dashboards against company goals, leadership teams review, reset & remove constraints to get OKRs back on track!

Gather the learnings from the pilot and reset your process. Before going company-wide, it is better to know what works well given your company culture and growth focus.  Happy OKRing!

 –

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Image credit: Aron Visuals on Unsplash

This article was first published on September 1, 2020

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The post Clean cap tables, happy VCs: How SPVs streamline startup fundraising for future success appeared first on e27.

e27 has been dedicated to nurturing a supportive ecosystem for entrepreneurs since its inception. Our Contributor Programme offers a platform for sharing unique insights.

As part of our ‘Contributor Spotlight’, we shine a spotlight on an outstanding contributor and dive into the vastness of their knowledge and expertise.

In this episode, we explore the journey of Reinis Simanovskis, Co-Founder and CTO of Finfra, as he works to establish embedded lending in Indonesia. Finfra provides the necessary infrastructure and seamless integration for technology companies in Southeast Asia to embed financial services from application to decision to operations.

Thoughts, goals, and journey

Before transitioning into fintech, Simanovskis worked as a management consultant, primarily collaborating with Telco and some banking clients across Europe and Africa. Upon visiting a friend from university, he decided to relocate and join him in founding Danabijak initially, and now they have co-founded Finfra together as well.

Simanovskis specialises in embedded lending, setting up full-scope loan management systems from scratch.

“In embedded lending, there’s a trend that this is the best avenue how to distribute Impact funds as you can target distribution channels that fit your impact criteria. In loan management systems, there’s been a significant shift over the last five years. There has been a huge switch from in-house-built systems to outsourced SaaS services, and the outsourced systems are getting better and cheaper each year. At first glance, it looks easier to set up lending systems. Also, the KYC, fraud and risk challenges are increasing — meaning your system needs are increasing as well,” Simanovskis noted.

The driving force

Simanovskis became part of the e27 contributor community in March last year. His articles, which delve into topics like embedded lending, lending as a service, AI, and more, have amassed over 3000 content views.

Also Read: Top 10 contributing startup founders shaping the tech industry

“I’m mostly a rather quiet guy and not necessarily jumping in the spotlight. I saw this as an opportunity to create some content based on the experience I’ve gathered in the industry and hopefully provide useful guidance to others,” he said candidly.

Advice for budding thought leaders

Simanovskis emphasises the importance of consistency when offering advice to aspiring thought leaders. “Consistency in communication and in your message is key,” he reflects. “Building your personal brand is achievable with a simple yet consistent message.”

Juggling too many things?

When discussing how he maintains work-life balance, Simanovskis highlights the importance of eliminating time-draining habits that don’t contribute to personal or professional goals. “Last year, I switched off all my social media except LinkedIn,” he shared. “This not only saved time but also freed up mental bandwidth. Whether your goals are in your career, family, or elsewhere, it’s crucial to conduct an internal audit to ensure your time and mental energy align with them.”

Staying in the loop

To stay updated and informed about the latest happenings and changes in his field, Simanovskis said, “Keeping a wide network both here in Indonesia and back in Europe with relevant peers. Luckily, in Latvia (where I’m from), there’s a huge number of global fintech lending founders and professionals, which makes it a lot easier for me to keep up with global trends!”

He recommends the Fintech Insider Podcast by 11:FS, hosted by one of the leading fintech consultancies globally. The podcast features great guests and covers excellent topics, keeping listeners up to date with global trends.

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Are you ready to join a vibrant community of entrepreneurs and industry experts? Do you have insights, experiences, and knowledge to share?

Join the e27 Contributor Programme and become a valuable voice in our ecosystem. 

The post Reinis Simanovskis: Building embedded lending infrastructure for SEA appeared first on e27.

NEWS

SEA startups got US$5.5B funding in 2023, lowest since 2018: report
It’s more than a 30% fall from US$8.4 billion in 2022, and is the lowest total capital raised since 2018, according to the January Capital report; SEA’s tech sector made 855 investment deals in 2023.

Startup salaries cool down in 2023, but job security remains intact: Report
The Southeast Asia Startup Talent Trends Report 2024 by Glints and Monk’s Hill revealed that despite layoffs and salaries cooling in Southeast Asia, demand for tech talent remains high across markets amid increased supply.

GudangAda denies report that it may shut down
DealStreetAsia recently reported that the board of the Indonesian B2B e-commerce firm is mulling options that include winding down operations; B2B ecommerce startups have struggled of late.

Drop in Tokopedia’s market share led to TikTok acquisition: GoTo chief
The “very intense” competition in the Indonesian e-commerce space also led to the deal; ‘Our competitors are large foreign companies with significant funding. To grow and survive, Tokopedia requires a very large investment,’ said Patrick Walujo.

PropertyGuru lays off 79 employees amid strategic shift
In a message to employees, CEO Hari V. Krishnan cited changing customer needs and a volatile market in Southeast Asia as the main factors for the strategic shift; PropertyGuru will shut down non-scalable businesses, including two branches in Vietnam.

SCBX acquires consumer finance firm Home Credit Vietnam for US$866M
Home Credit claimed to hold the second-largest market share in the country’s consumer finance, accounting for 14% of total market; The company has nearly 6,000 employees and 15 million customers in Vietnam.

Soft skills, learning ability becoming important for hiring managers
A staggering 88 per cent of employers have observed substantial changes in the skills and qualifications they prioritise in job candidates due to the pervasive impact of AI and automation in their industries, says a LinkedIn report.

Singapore’s cybersecurity startup Silence Lab raises US$4.1M
Investors include Pi Ventures and Kira Studio; Silence Laboratories aims to create a global privacy-compliant collaboration infrastructure, eliminating single points of failure for enterprises.

Achmad Zaky, 500 Global invest in Indonesian e-commerce enabler Komerce
Komerce offers remote team development, shipping aggregators, e-fulfilment, omnichannel SaaS, and CRM; It claims that 25K SMEs are registered and transacting on its platform, with over 2M transactions recorded in 2023.

Bootstrapped baby e-commerce brand KeaBabies hits US$58M in 2023 revenue
It is an increase from US$37M of revenue in 2022; The Singaporean firm continued to be profitable in 2023 with double-digit net profit margins; The firm first turned a profit in its sixth month of operations.

Singapore-based B2B payments firm Fluid bags US$5.2M
Insignia Ventures Partners is the lead investor; The company enables businesses to get paid faster and offers flexible payment options to their customers; By using Fluid, suppliers no longer need to engage with debt providers and undergo credit checks for buyers.

Animoca Brands invests in SG Web3 entertainment startup Imaginary Ones
Imaginary Ones has launched a Web3 gaming series titled Bubble Rider and Bubble Rangers, which it claims has garnered 6 million plays in three weeks; The games were designed in collaboration with international fashion brand Hugo Boss.

Ex-Googlers raise US$1.25M for text-free social app Yolk.fm
Investors include Forge Ventures, Sequoia’s Scout Fund, and investors from DST Global and Temasek; Yolk.fm lets users post images, and then react with AI-generated stickers of their face (or other things).

Farquhar, Korea’s S&S Lab collaborate to support biotech, foodtech startups
S&S Lab and Farquhar will collaborate on exchanging innovation ecosystem insights and mutually supporting each other’s biopharma/foodtech portfolio companies.

Web3 development tools startup BuildBear Labs nets US$1.9M funding
Investors include Superscrypt, Tribe Capital, 1kx, Iterative, Plug-N-Play; BuildBear offers developers the ability to craft customised Private Testnet sandboxes across multiple EVM and EVM-compatible blockchain networks.

Unified contact centre platform K-LINK nets funding for SEA expansion
Investors include Indelible Ventures, A2D Ventures, and Accelerating Asia; The capital will enable K-LINK to accelerate its expansion plans into Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

Protégé Ventures backs food order, delivery automation startup ZOLO
ZOLO’s solution integrates WhatsApp order details, transforming unstructured text messages into structured purchase orders and incorporating them into back-office ERP systems.

Ex-Funding Societies CTO launches YC-backed e-commerce AI startup
Branch AI, founded by Ishan Agrawal, is an ecommerce-focused platform that uses large language models and other related tech; Branch AI provides several tools, including those that enhance the quality of tail queries, boost search relevance, and analyse search queries.

FEATURES & INTERVIEWS

A paradigm shift on the Z axis: How Gen Z is shaping the new work culture
Gen Z, armed with digital prowess and a vision for a brighter future, is forging new paths by prioritising personal happiness over tradition.

Toki aims to bring transparency, trust to the collectible e-commerce space
Toki, a social commerce platform for collectibles, encompasses the features of a marketplace and livestream auction and offers 70K authentic items.

NBA star Jeremy Lin-backed BINAR aims to reach profitability through new innovations
BINAR is an edutech company that provides digital skills training through experiential, flipped, project/problem-based and collaborative learning methods; BINAR says it has trained more than 130,000 students and involved more than 850 facilitators.

Prefer develops climate-friendly beanless coffee for the masses
After Singapore, Prefer looks forward to expanding to the Philippines and other Asian coffee markets, including Indonesia, Korea, and Japan. It is also looking forward to exploring other products, including cacao.

CONTRIBUTORY ARTICLES

What are the possible investment strategies after ETH spot approval?
There are various investment avenues in the cryptocurrency post-spot ETF approval to potentially profit from ETH market movements.

Why startup founders should look for sharks as mentors
Mentors could be useful if they are the right ones — they can add real value; The wrong mentor will waste your time.

Driving innovation: How cutting-edge software startups are attracting Asian investors
For startups outside Asia to benefit from the region’s growth, leaders must grasp how to appeal to the desires of Asian financiers.

Will climate change force us to re-imagine travel in the future?
The metaverse offers a taste of a place, a culture, and a set of values that may otherwise be foreign to us; Virtual landscapes exist to be explored but also to be designed.

GB Helios: Empowering SMEs with tailored and innovative financial solutions
How GB Helios empowers Small-Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with tailored financing solutions backed by a legacy of success in Singapore.

CONTRIBUTOR SPOTLIGHT

Reinis Simanovskis: Building embedded lending infrastructure for SEA
Explore how Simanovskis is transforming embedded lending in Southeast Asia and shaping the fintech landscape with Finfra.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Dynamic content in the era of machine learning
Each variation is automatically crafted for the individual consumer, and decisions are made based on the consumer’s unique tastes and interests.

8 productivity hacks to streamline your work-life
Bjorn Lee says his main productivity rule is that it’s not about more time, but more attention; his preferred byword for discipline, willpower, focus, and concentration.

What I learned about procrastination while scaling my startup to 4.2M users
The reasons we avoid completing a task are extremely personal; The commonly touted “productivity hacks” don’t always cut it.

Save yourselves and stop making these pitch deck mistakes
Іt’s а cold wоrld оut thеrе, and sometimes you’ll get a little frosty too. So make sure you are prepared. Starting from your pitch deck.

How the UGC economy is shaping the next era of creative game development
As the gaming industry embraces UGC, players become both creators and contributors to the game’s ecosystem.

Neuroscience-backed productivity tips every tech founder should adopt
What if the key to boosting productivity isn’t just working harder, but rather understanding the intricacies of how your brain operates?

Founding a startup: You think you’re ready, but are you really ready?
According to the Lean Startup methodology, many startups fail to take off simply because founders never take the time to speak to their potential customers about their needs, and how the product can help fulfill these needs.

—

The post Ecosystem Roundup: Startup investments in SEA in 2023 hit a 5-year low | GudangAda denies it is shutting down appeared first on e27.

Despite the lingering challenges of the tech industry, Southeast Asian startups are forging ahead with remarkable resilience, as evidenced by the recent influx of funding. From fintech to e-commerce enablers, these ventures are attracting investments to fuel their growth and innovation.

Below are the list and profiles of startups that announced investments this week:

ProCredit

Country: The Philippines
Funding: US$4.1 million
Round: Pre-seed
Investors: Menardo Jimenez Family Office, M Venture Partners, Cento Ventures, Gobi-Core Philippine Fund, and angels

ProCredit is a tech-enabled SME lender in the Philippines started by a founding team that has held senior lending roles at Citigroup, Standard Chartered, ANZ, and the Asian Development Bank. The startup employs credit-first client engagements, a rules-based underwriting and portfolio management architecture, and flexible product offerings incorporating risk-based pricing. It claims to reduce operating costs and expenses while improving customer experience.

1Long

Country: Vietnam
Funding: US$500K
Round: Pre-seed
Investors: Iterative, Monk’s Hill Ventures, R2VP, Orionis Capital

1Long is a wealth management platform. Founded by a team of former investment banking and Y Combinator-backed veterans, 1Long enables individuals to start with as little as 10,000 VND (approximately less than US$1).

It offers two principal savings products, 1Safe and 1Term, designed for flexible savings with annual returns of up to 6.6 per cent and the possibility of earning rewards up to 9 per cent for long-term deposits. The platform allows daily transfers and withdrawals without fees, thus removing barriers to accessing funds.

The new capital will be channelled into technology development, partnerships with asset managers and financial institutions, and strategic team expansion.

K-LINK

Country: Singapore
Funding: Undisclosed
Round: Not specified
Investors: Indelible Ventures, A2D Ventures, Accelerating Asia, angels

K-LINK provides a unified contact centre platform. It aims to simplify enterprises’ customer service operations with its single, omnichannel contact centre platform, eliminating the need for complex telecom infrastructure and costly hardware. Organisations can manage their telephony, social media channels, SMS, email, video calls, tickets, and CRM in one dashboard.

Also Read: Unified contact centre platform K-LINK nets funding for SEA expansion

The capital will fuel K-LINK’s expansion in Southeast Asia.

Refy

Country: Singapore
Funding: US$525K
Round: Pre-seed 
Investor: Wavemaker Impact

Refy is an AI-powered green asset fintech financier in Southeast Asia. Refy aims to de-risk smaller green assets for investors by offering asset-based financing solutions. By prioritising decarbonisation, Refy aims to eliminate barriers to project deployment stemming from issues related to bankability.

Refy sees a significant opportunity to increase the bankability of these smaller green assets by supporting high-potential green asset project developers in two main ways:

1- by providing innovative and flexible financing solutions to developers tailored to the nature and risk of the assets,

2- by offering an AI-enabled technology platform that streamlines due diligence and project evaluation processes.

This funding will allow Refy to execute secured pilot projects, develop its technical platform, and assemble a specialised team with experience in green assets and industrial projects.

Komerce

Country: Indonesia
Funding: Undisclosed 
Round: Not specified
Investors: Achmad Zaky, 500 Global

Komerce is an e-commerce enabler for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia. Founded in 2020 by Darmawan, Syaefullah Syeif (COO), and Satriyo Budi Utomo (CTO), Komerce offers remote team development, shipping aggregators, e-fulfilment, omnichannel SaaS, and customer relationship management. Headquartered in Purbalingga, Central Java, the startup serves SMEs looking to start and expand their e-commerce business, especially those facing operational efficiency challenges.

Also Read: Achmad Zaky, 500 Global invest in Indonesian e-commerce enabler Komerce

The funding will allow Komerce to accelerate product development and customer acquisition.

ZOLO

Country: Singapore
Funding: US$25K
Round: pre-seed
Investors: Protégé Ventures

ZOLO is an AI-powered B2B software company started by two alums from two Singapore universities. Founded in 2023, ZOLO is designed to simplify orders, payments and deliveries for food suppliers.

In response to the growing trend of restaurants utilising messaging apps like WhatsApp for B2B orders with food suppliers, ZOLO first starts with addressing the challenges posed by text-based orders for food suppliers, which are time-consuming and error-prone (e.g., spelling mistakes, language variations, incorrect interpretation of acronyms). The solution integrates WhatsApp order details, transforming unstructured text messages into structured purchase orders and incorporating them into back-office enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The three-layer AI technology helps suppliers reduce errors, save time, and minimise cost and wastage associated with inefficiencies of manual order processing.

With the solution, suppliers can easily automate and streamline their orders from WhatsApp to ERP in seconds.

Silence Laboratories

Country: Singapore
Funding: US$4.1 million 
Round: Not specified
Investors: Pi Ventures, Kira Studio, angels

Silence Laboratories is a cybersecurity startup focusing on Web3 technologies. Founded in 2021 by Dr Jay Prakash, Dr Andrei Bytes, and Dr Tony Quek, Silence Laboratories focuses on privacy-enhancing technologies through a fusion of cryptography and security engineering for enterprises. It aims to create a global infrastructure that enables privacy-compliant collaboration and exchange, eliminating single points of failure.

The fresh funds will be used to scale the company’s tech and business teams and enrich the company’s R&D pipeline.

BuildBear Labs

Country: Singapore
Funding: US$1.9 million
Round: Not specified
Investors: Superscrypt, Tribe Capital, 1kx, Iterative, Plug-N-Play, angels

BuildBear Labs is an innovator in Web3 development tools. Founded by Dipesh Sukhani and Emmanuel Antony, BuildBear Labs is building an automated and continuous testing engine (ACTE) inspired by tools like BrowserStack that goes beyond standard testing to address the unique complexities of the Web3 landscape.

The capital will be used to accelerate the development of BuildBear Labs’s flagship platform.

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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.

The post SEA startups get a funding boost in latest investment wave appeared first on e27.

Have you ever wondered if there is a convenient and accurate way to screen your business’ trading partners on their sustainability practices? Fear not; this is the solution that climate tech startup Givvable offers their clients.

The company builds an AI-powered platform for supplier sustainability that automates identifying and monitoring supplier sustainability and ESG data.

“In the past, organisations have used self-reported data and questionnaires to get information on the sustainability profile of their partners, but now, with regulatory and reporting requirements, organisations must have data-backed evidence of their claims, which can’t be satisfied through self-reported data,” explains Givvable COO Naomi Vowels in an email to e27.

“Givvable captures and tracks the sustainability profile of trading partners through 100 per cent verified data (i.e. no self-reported data). You can instantly look up the sustainability profile of a trading partner or have your entire supplier pool screened in bulk. We also provide tools for suppliers to self-register, complete modules, and improve their visibility to potential buyers, which are provided to suppliers for free.”

The platform also maps the sustainability profile of a supplier to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and corporate sustainability targets, making it easy for users to identify how a particular trading partner aligns with their sustainability goals.

Also Read: AC Ventures: Investors put more focus on ESG, but Indonesian startups seem ‘well-positioned’ for this shift

In developing the solutions, Givvable co-founders Naomi and Frances Vowels spent the first nine months undertaking more than 230 interviews with corporate and government officials to understand the problem they face with sustainability reporting.

“We created prototypes using Figma and other software to test the solution with three early adopters, who continue to be clients today, and did not build a single piece of tech or software until we were comfortable with the direction and roadmap,” Vowels says.

The co-founders both come from a financial services background and have seen many data challenges related to the ability to track the ESG profile of companies.

When they started investigating the space, they learned that this information was being captured in many organisations’ MS Excel, emails, and attachments. They are not systematically tracked or refreshed, quickly becoming out of date.

Further expansion in Asia

Within eight months of its launch, Vowels says that Givvable was able to secure its first international clients and has since expanded to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, the Philippines, India, the EU, and the UK.

It also became the first sustainability tech platform selected to be displayed in the Microsoft Singapore Experience Centre.

Also Read: SaaS startup Pantas champions efficient ESG metric management, expands presence across SEA

“Our direct users are the sustainability and procurement teams of corporates and governments that must capture, track and report on the sustainability profile of their suppliers or trading partners. Many have set specific targets, such as all suppliers reporting emissions and disclosing actions to manage modern slavery risks, or have set social or local procurement or diversity targets. Or, they are responding to current or soon-to-be-implemented regulations, such as CSRD, that require reporting on the sustainability actions or profile of their value chain,” Vowels explains.

“Our indirect users access our data via partners, such as e-procurement, financial services companies, and e-commerce merchants.”

These clients can access Givvable’s quick search tool on a per-user-per-month fee. They can also access bulk screening tools on an annual subscription basis.

The Givvable team consists of 12 people who are split between three work streams: Sustainability, Data, and Dev/Product. The company has offices in Singapore, Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane.

In addition to securing grants and prizes, Givvable has raised a pre-seed funding round in June 2022.

In 2024, the company plans to grow distribution through data partners and expand client coverage in Malaysia, Singapore and India.

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Image Credit: Givvable

The post Givvable uses AI to automate supplier sustainability and ESG Monitoring appeared first on e27.

Visit Echelon X to learn more about the program. Get your tickets here!

Building partnerships and collaborations are crucial in the tech startup ecosystem, especially in Southeast Asia, due to the region’s diverse and rapidly evolving market dynamics. Partnerships offer startups access to resources, expertise, and networks that are essential for navigating complex challenges and accelerating growth.

In a region characterised by diverse cultures, languages, and regulatory landscapes, partnerships provide startups with local insights and market knowledge, enabling them to tailor their products and strategies effectively. Moreover, collaborations with established corporations, industry players, and government agencies can open doors to funding opportunities, distribution channels, and mentorship programs, fostering a supportive ecosystem conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship.

By collaborating with complementary stakeholders, startups can leverage each other’s strengths, whether it’s technological expertise, customer base, or market reach, to create value-added solutions and gain a competitive edge. Strategic alliances enable startups to pool resources, share risks, and explore new market opportunities that may be challenging to pursue independently. Furthermore, partnerships facilitate knowledge exchange and skill transfer, allowing startups to tap into diverse talent pools and stay at the forefront of technological advancements.

Also read: Exploring emerging tech at the Future Stage in Echelon X

Ultimately, building strong partnerships and collaborations is not only essential for individual startup success but also contributes to the overall growth and resilience of the tech ecosystem in Southeast Asia.

As such, by its very definition, Forge does not only stand for the coming together of multiple elements. Forge means to create something out of those elements. With this ethos in mind, Echelon X, happening on 15-16 May at the Singapore EXPO, proudly presents the Forge Stage, a platform dedicated to partnership-driven topics and discussions.

Echelon X to catalyse partnerships and collaborations

Echelon X is the 10th edition of the Echelon Asia Summit. At the heart of the summit is our mission as an ecosystem enabler to push for growth and innovation among the Asian startup ecosystem by providing a dynamic platform for collaboration, networking, and knowledge-sharing.

We believe in empowering entrepreneurs, startups, investors, and industry stakeholders to connect, learn, and thrive in a rapidly evolving digital landscape. Through our events, including the flagship Echelon Asia Summit, we aim to foster a vibrant community where ideas are nurtured, partnerships are forged, and breakthrough innovations are born. By bringing together diverse talents, perspectives, and resources, we strive to fuel the next generation of disruptive startups that will drive economic growth, create jobs, and shape the future of technology in Asia and beyond.

Also read: The first 27 key innovation leaders who will speak at Echelon X

At Echelon Asia Summit, we are committed to supporting the aspirations and endeavours of startups as they embark on their journey to transform industries, solve complex challenges, and make a meaningful impact on society, and we believe that a surefire way to achieve all these things is by opening discussions where ecosystem stakeholders can learn about how to forge meaningful partnerships.

At the Forge Stage, participants can look forward to in-depth discussions and actionable insights on developing relationships with key players such as government, corporates, and VC firms, among others.

Our key industry leaders who will be sharing their insights will spotlight topics ranging from VC 2.0, enabling participants to decode the future of VCs in Southeast Asia, to engineering as an effective go-to-market strategy for the Southeast Asia markets today, to strategies on how founders can smoothly transition out of current startups and make their next move.

These topics are vital to helping ecosystem stakeholders explore opportunities not only for cross-organisational collaborations but also for co-creating innovative solutions that respond to today’s most pressing challenges.

Join us at Echelon X!

Echelon X embodies e27’s commitment to fostering a dynamic and inclusive ecosystem that empowers startups to thrive, investors to find promising opportunities, and stakeholders to contribute to the region’s overall growth.

Get ready for the ultimate tech and innovation conference as Echelon X kicks off on May 15th and 16th, 2024, at the Singapore EXPO. This dynamic event will bring together industry leaders, visionary entrepreneurs, and groundbreaking startups from all corners of the region for two packed days.

Also read: The first 26 trailblazing startups of the TOP100 Growth Program 2024

Whether you’re eager to expand your knowledge, network with key players from the tech startup scene, or showcase your innovative ideas, Echelon X offers an unparalleled experience. Join us as a participant or an official partner by securing your spot now on our official page. Together, let’s embark on a journey to shape the future and create a lasting impact.

Join us at Echelon 2024, where innovation knows no limits, and the possibilities are boundless!

The post Echelon X: A platform where partnerships are forged appeared first on e27.

I just finished reading Burn the business plan, Everything we believe that works for startups, does not work. Business planning, enterprise support, ecosystems, mentoring, etc.

Wikipedia

Mentoring has been on my mind. Decided to look up what mentoring means. According to Wikipedia, mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. Apparently, it stemmed from ancient Greek and was inspired by the character of Mentor in Homer’s Odyssey.

Issues

I have some issues with mentoring. It might have to do with my own experiences with mentors, mentor schemes and business using mentors. Most mentors I know of are unemployed consultants or retired managers of big organisations. Most wouldn’t know much about entrepreneurship or small business and as a result, cannot add much value.

Smallbusinesscan

Which was one of the reasons we created www.smallbusinesscan.com, (now www.business-achievers.com) so businesses can interact with other companies and get help from people who have been there and bought the T-shirt?

Also read: 5 lessons “Shark Tank” viewers can apply to business

KPMG

It is what KPMG is now doing with the CEO and SME roundtables. Good old eyeball-to-eyeball conversations amongst owner-managers, CEOs and entrepreneurs, sharing lessons, insight and learning. No social media allowed.

Mismatch

There appears to be a massive mismatch between the business that really need resolved and the capabilities of an assigned mentor. As a result, a huge amount of time is wasted. What can an ex-banker tell you about social media? How can a retired CFO help you with your sales?

Lucky

The truth is also that many entrepreneurs got lucky and would not be able to repeat their success. Luck is not transferable. Always look for the serial entrepreneur who got lucky a few times.

Hands-on

Would you prefer a sales mentor that talks about it or somebody that actually sells for you? Do you want somebody to talk about finance or do you want somebody that can pitch to banks and investors with you? Do you prefer a mentor or a team member?

Non-commital

Which brings me to my biggest issue with mentoring is the non-committal nature. It is too soft, too fluffy and with no accountability for the results. My preference is for an advisory board to which a CEO, founder or entrepreneurs reports on a regular basis. A board filled people that create the creative tension and grit (blood on the boardroom wall) necessary to move a business forward. Swimming with the sharks.

Create a mentor job spec

If you decide to go for a mentor make sure you know who and what you are looking for. Have a problem definition and be clear on the expectations. Write a job spec. Be prepared to say “no” to the mentors that are on offer. Be also prepared to fire the mentor once they have outlasted their usefulness.

Also Read: SEA tech founders playbook: A to Z of becoming a fundraising legend (Part 1)

Get a shark

What I am saying is that mentors could be useful if they are the right ones, can add real value. The wrong mentor will waste your time. Get a shark, not a bunny. Even better, get a shark tank full of piranhas or what the author of Burn the business plan calls a cold circle.

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Recently, Indonesia-based BINAR secured an undisclosed funding round from international strategic investors, including Blue7, JN Capital & Growth Advisory, Scala Group, DGS, MD Capital, and NBA star Jeremy Lin.

The participation of these international investors from Singapore, Japan, and the US will push the company’s network, expertise, technology, and business prowess to a higher level as it expands further in the highly promising Indonesian market.

“We plan to use the funding to reorganise the company to reach profitability by innovating new services and products,” says BINAR Co-Founder and CEO Alamanda Shantika in an email interview with e27, stressing that this year, the company plans to focus on innovating in new services and products.

Founded in 2017, BINAR is an edutech company that provides digital skills training through experiential, flipped, project/problem-based and collaborative learning methods. It also teaches students relevant soft skills such as social awareness, critical thinking, creative thinking, leveraging diversity, and collaboration which are increasingly sought after in the tech industry today.

It also included other programmes and services such as bootcamp, digital talent accelerators, digital transformation accelerators for businesses, and talent placement.

Also Read: Singapore Budget 2024: For startups, talents and funding remain key challenges this year

By 2022, BINAR says it has trained more than 130,000 students and involved more than 850 facilitators. Through its BINAR Job Connect service, by 2023, the company says that it has worked with more than 120 employer partners.

In considering the impact that BINAR has made in the lives of tech talents in Indonesia, Shantika points out that despite the high demand, Indonesian tech talents tend to have lower salaries than their Southeast Asian counterparts.

“This is why BINAR aims to improve the standard of Indonesian tech talents by continuously developing world-class curriculum and learning methods. We also perform link-and-match services to companies in Indonesia, Singapore, and the US looking for tech talents. This allows talents to work remotely with sufficient capabilities. This aligns with our goals to turn Indonesia into a global tech talent hub,” she says.

From Jeremy Lin to Indonesian tech talents

One of the highlights of this funding round is the involvement of NBA star Jeremy Lin, known for his performance at leading basketball teams such as the New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, LA Lakers, and Toronto Raptors.

He invested in BINAR through JLIN Capital Studio, an investment entity focusing on impact investing in Asia and the US. The firm invests in Southeast Asia’s education, financial services, housing, and agricultural sectors.

Also Read: Future-proofing businesses and talent through technology

Commenting on his involvement in the funding round, Lin shares his vision about equal opportunities. “I believe that empowerment can be achieved through collaborative efforts,” he says. “Everybody deserves the same opportunity to succeed, and I wish to provide more opportunities for Indonesians to build a career in the digital sector.”

BINAR’s connection with Lin began when JLIN Capital Studio Managing Director Robert Kim contacted co-founder Dita Aisyah. The firm recognises the shared vision that the two organisations have.

“Apart from investing in the company, Lin also plays the role of an inspiration for tech talents in Indonesia due to his success in international sports. His story is evidence that one’s background should not prevent one from achieving success; this aligns with BINAR students’ journey in establishing success by working in global tech companies and improving their livelihood. We are making this effort to work with Indonesia’s demographic bonus, improving our employability level, strengthening our identity and positions in the global community,” Shantika says.

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Image Credit: Binar

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Silence Laboratories, a Singapore-based cybersecurity startup focusing on Web3 technologies, has secured an additional US$4.1 million in funding.

The round was led by Pi Ventures and Kira Studio, along with contributions from several prominent angel investors.

The fresh funds will be used to scale the company’s tech and business teams and enrich the company’s R&D pipeline.

Founded in 2021 by Dr Jay Prakash, Dr Andrei Bytes, and Dr Tony Quek, Silence Laboratories focuses on privacy-enhancing technologies through a fusion of cryptography and security engineering for enterprises. It aims to create a global infrastructure that enables privacy-compliant collaboration and exchange, eliminating single points of failure.

Also Read: Protégé Ventures backs food order, delivery automation startup ZOLO

The company’s product offerings, leveraging multi-party computation (MPC) as their core cryptographic primitives, consist of:

• Silent Shard: Empowers enterprises and users to safeguard sensitive private keys and establish advanced authorisation rules.
• Silent Compute: Facilitates collaborative information processing among organisations without exposing their secrets to third parties, enhancing insights while maintaining compliance and trust.

The growing global demand for privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), with a compound annual growth rate of 26.6 per cent, highlights the increasing need for Silence Laboratories’ offerings. These solutions provide mathematical assurances for techno-legal expectations, enabling secure data collaboration across sectors with minimised risk.

“With this new injection of funds, Silence Laboratories is poised to redefine privacy by enabling businesses to fully embrace the power of AI while rigorously protecting their most vital asset — customer trust,” said Prakash, CEO and Founder.

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Image credit: Silence Laboratories

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