In a recent fireside chat, Anndy Lian, an intergovernmental blockchain expert and author of the book Blockchain Revolution 2030, engaged in a profound discussion on real-world tokenisation. This engaging conversation, moderated by Faraj Abutalibov, Chief Commercial Officer of the Venom Foundation, provided a deep dive into the evolving landscape of tokenisation, offering insights that resonate with both seasoned professionals and those new to the blockchain space.

Lian’s journey into the world of blockchain began in 2013 with his first Bitcoin purchase. Beyond personal involvement, his extensive experience advising governments underscores the practical application of blockchain at the highest levels of governance.

His role as a blockchain advisor to an intergovernmental group further solidifies his expertise. As an investor and fund manager holding a CMS license in Singapore, Lian brings a multifaceted perspective, enriching the fireside chat with a wealth of practical insights.

Tokenisation overview

The discussion commences with Lian providing an overview of the evolving perception of tokenisation. He notes a substantial shift from initial scepticism, especially from governments, to the current scenario where significant players, including prominent banks and governments, actively advocate for the tokenisation of Real World Assets (RWA). Lian emphasises the technological readiness for tokenisation, underlining the momentum behind the RWA wave.

His assertion on the shift in perception echoes a broader transformation in the financial and regulatory landscape. The acknowledgement from major players, traditionally cautious about emerging technologies, signifies a turning point. The active endorsement of tokenisation by influential entities not only validates its legitimacy but also sets the stage for widespread adoption. The emphasis on technological readiness is crucial, highlighting that the infrastructure and tools required for efficient tokenisation are now more accessible and robust than ever before.

Also Read: I use strategies such as diversification to manage risks: Blockchain expert Anndy Lian

However, he introduces a critical concern that often goes unnoticed – the lack of a clear revenue model for companies engaged in tokenisation. Drawing from personal experience with a Registered Market Operator (RMO) investment, he highlights the complexities surrounding assets like properties, where achieving liquidity and establishing revenue models pose intricate challenges.

Lian’s insight into the revenue models of tokenisation ventures sheds light on a fundamental challenge in the industry. While the momentum for tokenising assets is palpable, the path to sustained profitability remains nebulous for many.

This observation prompts a critical examination of the business models associated with tokenisation, urging stakeholders to address this gap for long-term viability. His example involving a Registered Market Operator investment offers a tangible illustration, emphasising the need for innovative solutions to navigate complexities, particularly in traditionally illiquid markets like real estate.

Monetisation models

Lian delves into the monetisation models prevalent in the tokenisation space, distinguishing between established companies and startups. Larger companies with diverse income streams might find a more stable footing, but startups face hurdles in raising substantial funds due to uncertainties surrounding their revenue-generating capabilities. Here, he underscores the necessity for innovation among startups, citing examples such as the introduction of new ERC standards and novel approaches to tokenising assets.

The exploration of monetisation models unravels the varied landscape within the tokenisation space. Lian’s differentiation between established players and startups highlights the nuanced challenges each category faces. Larger companies equipped with diverse income streams possess a more resilient financial foundation.

In contrast, startups grapple with the intricacies of fundraising, compounded by uncertainties in proving their revenue-generating potential. Lian’s call for innovation becomes a rallying cry, emphasising the dynamic nature of the blockchain industry, where adaptability and novel approaches are prerequisites for success.

An interesting highlight is the success story of tokenising art, particularly through Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs). Lian points to the added value brought to physical artworks through NFTs, presenting a compelling case for the broader integration of tokenisation in the art world.

The success story of art tokenisation, especially through the lens of NFTs, accentuates the transformative power of blockchain in traditionally non-digital domains. Lian’s emphasis on the added value of physical artworks highlights a paradigm shift in how we perceive and interact with art.

The integration of NFTs not only unlocks new revenue streams for artists but also democratises art ownership, allowing a broader audience to participate in the art market. This success story becomes a beacon for exploring similar opportunities in other industries where tokenisation can bring about significant value addition.

Challenges of tokenisation

Transitioning to the challenges hindering the widespread adoption of tokenisation, Lian and Abutalibov identify two significant hurdles: regulatory complexities and the prevailing reality. The lack of standardisation across different asset classes and varying regulations in different jurisdictions present formidable obstacles.

Also Read: From potential to prosperity: Blockchain’s role in reshaping Southeast Asian economies

The identification of regulatory complexities and the prevailing reality as significant hurdles offer a sobering reflection on the impediments to the widespread adoption of tokenisation. Lian and Abutalibov’s emphasis on the lack of standardisation across asset classes signals the need for a unified regulatory framework that accommodates the diverse nature of tokenised assets.

The jurisdictional variations compound the challenges, requiring a concerted effort from global stakeholders to streamline regulations and foster a conducive environment for tokenisation to flourish.

Lian expands on the scepticism that still exists around the necessity of tokenisation. He observes that despite technological advancements, a sizable portion of the population questions the practical utility of tokenisation, slowing down its accelerated adoption.

Lian’s exploration of scepticism unveils a crucial aspect of the adoption curve for tokenisation. Despite the undeniable technological advancements, a segment of the population remains unconvinced about the practical utility of tokenisation.

This scepticism, rooted in a lack of understanding or clarity, becomes a barrier that extends beyond regulatory challenges. Lian’s observation underscores the importance of comprehensive education and awareness campaigns to demystify tokenisation, fostering a more inclusive and informed approach to its adoption.

Potential tokenisation use cases

The conversation explores potential use cases beyond traditional assets. Lian expresses optimism about the tokenisation of carbon credits, emphasising the traceability benefits it can bring to this sector. Additionally, he notes the increasing recognition of stablecoins by government bodies, especially in the context of Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).

The exploration of potential use cases propels the conversation beyond the realms of traditional assets, opening up new vistas for tokenisation. His optimism about tokenising carbon credits underscores the broader environmental and sustainability applications of blockchain. The emphasis on traceability aligns with the growing demand for transparent and accountable solutions in sectors crucial for global well-being.

Furthermore, stablecoins and their recognition by government bodies signal a shift in the perception of digital currencies, with central banks exploring their own digital versions. This recognition not only validates the concept of stablecoins but also marks a step toward mainstream acceptance of blockchain-based financial instruments.

Future impacts on the financial industry

Looking ahead, Lian speculates on the transformative impact of tokenisation on the financial industry. Envisioning increased efficiency in transactions, he anticipates faster and cheaper money transfers if tokenisation is embraced on a large scale. Lian underscores the importance of translating technological potential into practical applications to realise these transformative benefits.

Also Read: Understanding the role of fintech, blockchain in transitioning to net zero

Lian’s foresight into the future impact on the financial industry offers a glimpse into the transformative potential of tokenisation. The anticipation of increased efficiency in transactions aligns with the fundamental promise of blockchain technology.

Faster and cheaper money transfers emerge as tangible benefits, resonating with the ongoing quest for streamlined financial processes. His emphasis on translating technological potential into practical applications becomes a rallying cry for stakeholders to bridge the gap between innovation and real-world implementation, unlocking the full spectrum of transformative benefits.

Drivers of mass adoption

Considering the drivers of mass adoption, Lian emphasises the crucial role of everyday people using crypto. He envisions a “wow” moment when the retail investor base grows substantially, contributing to the next surge in crypto adoption. Drawing parallels to China’s widespread adoption of digital payments, he hopes for a similar scenario where people seamlessly use crypto for everyday transactions more effectively and economically.

His reflection on the drivers of mass adoption shifts the focus to the end-users – everyday people using crypto. The anticipation of a “wow” moment parallels the disruptive shifts witnessed in other technological revolutions. The envisaged growth in the retail investor base becomes a pivotal catalyst for the next surge in crypto adoption.

His comparison to China’s embrace of digital payments underscores the transformative power of widespread user acceptance. The aspiration for seamless crypto integration into everyday transactions highlights the need for user-friendly interfaces and widespread accessibility, laying the groundwork for a more inclusive crypto landscape.

The role of NFTs in tokenisation

Lian concludes the conversation by referencing his book, “NFT from Zero to Hero,” born out of a desire to guide friends away from potential scams in the NFT space. He aims to simplify the tokenisation of loyalty programs for companies. Contrary to the notion that NFTs are losing relevance, Lian points to successful projects like Oracle Red Bull Racing’s NFTs as evidence of the continued vitality of the NFT space.

Also Read: Tether under scrutiny: A deep dive into cryptocurrency crime allegations

His conclusion encapsulates the multifaceted role of NFTs in tokenisation. His book not only reflects a personal commitment to guiding others but also underscores the need for education in navigating the dynamic NFT space. The simplification of tokenising loyalty programs emerges as a practical application of NFTs in the corporate realm, showcasing their versatility beyond the art and gaming sectors.

Lian’s debunking of the notion that NFTs are losing relevance becomes a testament to their enduring impact, with successful projects like Oracle Red Bull Racing’s NFTs serving as proof of concept. Far from losing vitality, the NFT space continues to evolve and find new applications, contributing to the ever-expanding narrative of tokenisation.

In conclusion 

In this fireside chat, Lian provides a nuanced perspective on the current state and future possibilities of real-world tokenisation. The challenges and opportunities discussed paint a comprehensive picture of an industry on the cusp of significant developments.

As the conversation delves into potential applications, regulatory hurdles, and the transformative impact on the financial sector, it becomes clear that real-world tokenisation is a dynamic space with immense potential yet to be fully realised.

His perspective emerges as a guiding light for industry stakeholders navigating the intricate landscape of real-world tokenisation. The challenges outlined serve as waypoints for strategic considerations, urging a proactive approach to address impediments. Simultaneously, the opportunities highlighted become beacons for innovation, signalling the untapped potential awaiting exploration.

The fireside chat, rich with insights and foresight, positions Lian as a key influencer in shaping the trajectory of real-world tokenisation, inspiring a collective journey towards unlocking its transformative power.

World Tokenisation Summit was held on the 21st of November, 2023, in Dubai. More information on the fireside chat can be found here.

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On January 16, venture capital (VC) firm 1337 Ventures announced the launch of its women-focused pre-accelerator programme, Alpha Startups for Women.

By participating in the programme, women-founded startups will have the opportunity to receive VC funding of up to MYR50,000 (US$10,500) for the top two teams. These startups will also receive mentoring sessions with seasoned female founders and MYR20,000 (US$4,200) in digital credits to amp up their infrastructure.

The four-week programme is open to women-led startups in the idea and MVP stage, particularly those based in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.

Held as a virtual and in-person session in Kuala Lumpur, the programme is available for free and will close its registration on February 19 and start on February 27.

In the Alpha Startups pre-accelerator programme, new and aspiring entrepreneurs will go through an intensive boot camp to learn about starting a business. Selected teams of entrepreneurs, developers and designers will get to work together to test and validate their scalable product or startup idea. There will also be daily deliverables and mentorship available.

Also Read: Manis Leting, Triphie win 1337 Ventures’s Alpha Startups pre-accelerator programme in MY

In an email interview with e27, 1337 Ventures said that the programme will provide the same materials as its usual accelerator programme, but this one will provide more opportunities for female founders to learn.

For 1337 Ventures, both men and women in the startup ecosystem face the same challenges. However, as investors, they believe in playing a role in promoting diversity and providing equal opportunity for all.

“We do see an increase of events and programmes in the direction of women empowerment. We are looking to provide everyone despite their gender, race, religion, and location, the same equal opportunity of accessibility to be able to learn the basic knowledge of starting a startup so they can take this and build their startup. We also have an online Pitch Tuesday session where we listen to all the pitches (with minimal filtering), so they all get equal opportunity to pitch to us as a local homegrown VC,” the firm said.

“This is our first time doing an all-exclusive women batch, and depending on the outcome, it might be a once-in-a-blue-moon thing. As all our other accelerators provide equal opportunity, we’re doing this batch mainly to encourage more female founders to join simultaneously; it is more exclusive for them.”

1337 Ventures recently hosted an online panel discussion featuring Nadia Ismadi (Co-Founder of Pod), Anabelle Co-Martinent (Co-Founder of La Juiceria Superfoods), and Parmeet Kaur (Founder of Joyed Consulting), with journalist and author Freda Liu as moderator.

Also Read: 1337 Ventures partners with Malaysia’s central bank to launch fintech accelerator programme

Liu revealed that according to the Department of Statistics in Malaysia, in 2016, 20 per cent of businesses in the country were owned by women, and the government aims to get more women in decision-making roles.

This is especially urgent considering only less than 18 per cent of funding in Southeast Asia are raised by women founders, according to DealStreetAsia.

In the panel discussion, the female founders spoke about how they were inspired by the impact that they could create by creating a business.

Ismade spoke about how her financial education platform allows users to learn how to save money and achieve their goals. “We could have built something simpler like an e-commerce platform, but it wouldn’t have an impact like we did,” she said.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) has emerged as a game-changer in mobile advertising, enabling advertisers to craft more relevant, targeted, and engaging ads. Leveraging AI allows for a refined approach to ad design, placement, and targeting, enhancing the overall impact of advertising campaigns.

AI’s multi-faceted benefits in advertising

AI’s power extends beyond creating superior ads; it reduces costs and boosts conversions. Industry reports from eMarketer reveal that AI has led to a 27 per cent decrease in customer acquisition costs. Furthermore, Epsilon’s research found that AI-driven Personalisation Images influenced 80 per cent of consumers to purchase. These findings underscore AI’s potential to enhance ad reach and efficacy.

Another significant advantage is AI’s ability to generate and optimise ad creatives based on audience preferences, behaviours, and emotions. It facilitates experimentation with various ad elements, such as copies, images, colours, and layouts, enabling advertisers to choose the best-performing ones. AI also determines mobile ads’ optimal placement and frequency, considering the ad’s content.

The future landscape and ethical considerations

The future of digital advertising is intertwined with AI and machine learning. Their adoption for creating personalised, engaging consumer ads will empower advertisers to optimise campaigns, measure ad performance, and analyse data for deeper insights. Social media and influencer marketing have also revolutionised consumer outreach, with user-generated content and social proof amplifying ad appeal and credibility.

Also Read: Evolution of advertising industry with the rise of OpenAI’s ChatGPT

Cutting-edge technologies like Augmented Reality (AR), Virtual Reality (VR), voice search, and interactive videos redefine ad experiences, offering immersive and memorable ways to showcase products and services. AI tools such as chatbots, voice assistants, and sentiment analysis enhance customer service and outreach in e-commerce. 

AI’s influence is also evident in growing sectors like travel, where specialised apps cater to diverse traveller segments by understanding their unique needs and preferences. This understanding allows for targeted promotions during off-seasons, ensuring a consistent business flow.

Mobile trends in 2023 significantly influenced consumer behaviour and advertiser strategy. Platforms like TikTok pioneered short-form video advertising, and mobile gaming and in-app ads experienced substantial growth. However, integrating shopping features within social media apps raised privacy concerns, necessitating advertisers to devise strategies to address these issues while ensuring user data safety.

In 2024, advertisers are expected to embrace immersive and cohesive ad formats, creating a holistic advertising experience. The shift towards a more automated, data-centric, and integrated advertising experience is anticipated.

AI’s primary advantage is its ability to minimise human intervention and manual work, leading to faster, more accurate results and substantial cost savings. Marketing companies even utilise AI-powered dashboards for real-time analytics and reporting, providing timely insights on campaign performance and enabling informed decision-making.

Regarding data privacy, companies must ensure ethical data usage, transparency in AI usage, and allow consumers to opt out of data collection systems. Data should be anonymised or aggregated to prevent individual identification. 

While traditional advertising methods retain relevance for specific demographics, the trend is unmistakably toward more targeted, data-driven advertising, promising more precise and accurate marketing.

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BlokID, a next-generation developer of privacy protection solutions for the digital advertising industry, has completed its US$1.25 million seed round of financing led by Ascend Vietnam Ventures and AppWorks.

The Vietnamese startup will use the capital to accelerate product development, focus on user acquisition, and initiate market expansion, with an outlook to launch by Q2 2024.

The company plans to roll out Google Analytics plug-ins and Financial Identity features to empower users further and safeguard their information.

Also Read: Bitcoin and Ethereum simplified for a five-year-old

Founded in July 2023, BlokID leverages blockchain technology to bring an independent, immutable source of truth to digital advertising. Using BlokID, advertisers can verify ads, conduct attribution audits, and guarantee privacy with bonded privacy insurance through one-click campaigns integrated with Google, Facebook, DV360, Xander, and The Trade Desk.

BlokID solves three key problems:

Ad attribution: allowing clients to verify attribution of ad conversion and detect variances against data reported,

Privacy insurance: utilising blockchain timestamping to notify clients of any third-party access of information immediately,

GA4 transparency: moving to GA4 away from Universal Analytics to offer event transparency to all Google Analytics users for free.

Following major privacy violations and litigation cases in recent years, brands understand the severity and the high costs of data breaches as major threats to business reputation and user loyalty, requiring them to allocate a significant portion of their budget to brand safety.

Also Read: Expert speak (Part I): The biggest disruption in blockchains and cryptocurrencies is yet to come

BlokID prevents breaches from occurring and sends immediate notifications to clients of any third-party access to their information, providing control and security to help brands and agencies build and maintain trust with their customers.

“In an era where digital advertising faces unprecedented challenges, BlokID aims to be a beacon of hope. They are not just solving complex problems of ad attribution but are also navigating the intricate landscape of privacy regulations,” said Binh Tran, General Partner, AVV.

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Singapore-based impact investor Silverstrand Capital has invested in a funding round of California-based water technology company Porifera.

The money will be used to accelerate its growth into new sub-sectors within the food & beverage category.

With its membrane processing equipment, Porifera enables beverage and ingredient manufacturers to remove water efficiently and retain all the components of their products to create high-value concentrates with a smaller environmental footprint. Porifera also helps customers efficiently reuse water in their industrial processes.

Also Read: Singapore’s Silverstrand invests US$10M in Carbon Growth Partners’s fund II

Porifera claims it has delivered significant distribution and warehousing savings for top global F&B companies through commercial pilots with reduced environmental impact. Its technologies can potentially reduce over 2 million MT of CO2e in the orange juice segment alone. The technology is also used to concentrate beer, coffee, tea, juice, world-class wine, and many other beverages and ingredients.

“Today, an excessive volume of water is transported thousands of miles away from its source,” said Kelvin Chiu, Founder and Principal of Silverstrand Capital. “Shipping fruits from drought-prone regions to make juice in areas where water is plentiful, for example, is not only ecologically damaging for already stressed water basins – it also results in huge greenhouse gas emissions from transportation and refrigeration. Porifera’s unique technology addresses these issues, and is aligned with our mission to protect nature.”

Also Read: How Meals In Minutes tackles food waste with ready-to-cook meal kits

“Our customers come in as skeptics and leave as converts after tasting the samples we produce,” said Olgica Bakajin, Porifera’s Founder and CEO. “They are surprised that a beer reconstituted from 6x concentrate, tastes just like the brand we start from, even after being stored for more than 12 months, or when 65 Brix watermelon concentrate looks, smells and tastes like freshly cut watermelon.”

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Despite its popularity and increasingly widespread use, there is a problem of cultural gap that can be found in today’s most popular AI tools, such as ChatGPT. Since 40 per cent of the existing models in the market today are produced by US-based companies, they are more aligned to Western culture, creating a distance for users in markets such as Southeast Asia (SEA).

AI Singapore aims to tackle this challenge through SEA-LION, its first open-sourced SEA Large Language Model (LLM) that is catered specifically for regional use cases, industries, languages, and contexts.

According to the organisation’s statement, unlike many current models, SEA-LION will confer users the benefits of the ability to understand nuances in native languages and demonstrate greater awareness of cultural context specific to the region.

“This lowers the bar for adoption by governments, enterprises, and academia while effectively expanding the SEA languages and cultural representation in the mainstream LLMs, which are currently dominated by models predominantly trained on a corpus of English data from the western, developed world.”

In a presentation at the National University of Singapore on January 24, Dr Leslie Teo, Senior Director of AI Products at AI Singapore, explained that the project does not intend to compete with the big producers of AI tools such as OpenAI. “Instead, we want to complement the existing tools,” he stressed.

Also Read: How Transparently.AI uses Artificial Intelligence to detect accounting manipulation, fraud

At its beginning in November 2023, the SEA-LION project initially focused on the developer side, but then it began receiving business queries. This led to the project to create a public infrastructure that is necessary in the AI space.

SEA-LION works through a partnership of different institutions, where each contributes to the data and metrics required to develop the technology. SEA LION works with non-copyrighted (“kosher”) materials in putting together data.

“The data used for pre-training the model was primarily sourced from the internet, specifically the CommonCrawl Dataset, which is publicly available. This data is downloaded, cleaned, and pre-processed for use in pre-training SEA-LION. The proportion of various SEA languages in the pre-training dataset was also adjusted to reflect the distribution of languages more accurately in our region,” the project stated.

In a demo that e27 witnessed, SEA-LION was placed side-by-side with popular LLMs such as OpenAI, Llama, and SEA LLM. All the tools were given the same questions in regional languages such as Bahasa Indonesia and Thai to answer, and the differences are interesting to see.

Of all the LLMs, SEALION, SEA LLM and OpenAI were the ones who were able to generate answers in Bahasa Indonesia and Thai.

SEA LION and OpenAI tended to give straightforward answers that were tailored for the chatbox. While OpenAI was slower in generating its answer, it was able to have a better understanding of context. In terms of accuracy, these two LLMs were also the most accurate.

Also Read: AI in mobile advertising: Transforming relevance, efficiency, and immersive experiences

What is next for SEA LION

When it comes to its practical, day-to-day use, SEA-LION aims to help enterprises in SEA incorporate AI into their workflows. For example, it can be used to enable customer service chatbots that have the capacity to capture local nuances in SEA languages, enhance fraud detection on online marketplaces in SEA, and enable more accurate translation and summarisation of information in regional languages.

In his presentation, Dr Teo also mentioned a use case where SEA-LION is used to help with legal advice.

For the development of SEA-LION, AI Singapore collaborated with companies such as Amazon Web Services and Google Research. It also partnered with communities such as SEACrowd to build a diverse data corpus in native languages.

The model is set to be piloted by enterprise users such as NCS and Tokopedia. Additionally, SEA-LION has garnered interest from regional government-linked entities such as KORIKA in Indonesia, which is pioneering the use of SEA-LION for various applications.

SEA-LION is publicly accessible on platforms such as Huggingface and Github. In the near future, it will also be available on AWS Jumpstart and Bedrock, as well as Google’s Model Garden. The model is free, encouraging research and commercial use to stimulate innovation and applications across various industries, languages, and contexts.

Also Read: In the age of AI, which human skills increasingly stand out?

SEA-LION initially prioritises commonly used languages in SEA, including Bahasa Indonesia, Malay, Thai, and Vietnamese, with plans to expand its coverage to other Southeast Asian languages such as Burmese and Lao in the future.

In an interview with e27, Dr Teo highlighted that despite its commercial use cases, SEA LION was not built as a commercial project. Instead, the project aims to build a public infrastructure.

“If we are successful, then we will see commercial things happening … Hopefully, because of that, we will be able to keep investing in the data and metrics because language changes–everything has to be continuously updated.”

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Indonesian digital ecosystem giant GoTo Group has announced the completion of its merger with TikTok Indonesia, the e-commerce arm of the global entertainment platform TikTok.

Tokopedia and TikTok Shop Indonesia’s businesses are now officially combined under Tokopedia, jointly owned by GoTo and TikTok as strategic partners in Indonesia, with TikTok holding a controlling stake.

As part of the deal, TikTok will invest over US$1.5 billion in the enlarged entity over time to provide future funding the business requires without additional dilution to GoTo. The group benefits from the growth of the enlarged entity. It remains an ecosystem partner to Tokopedia through its digital financial services via GoTo Financial and on-demand services via Gojek.

Also Read: The evolution and regulation of social commerce in Indonesia: The TikTok Shop ban

In addition, GoTo Group claims to have achieved positive adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter while exceeding the top end of its full-year adjusted EBITDA guidance range.

GoTo Group CEO Patrick Walujo said: “Having reached positive adjusted EBITDA for the fourth quarter of 2023, we can now look forward to accelerating our progress, driven in part by supportive ecosystem partners. As our profitability and cash flow continue to improve, we will optimize our capital usage in line with a newly developed capital allocation plan, which may include a share buyback initiative, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.”

GoTo also receives an ongoing revenue stream in the form of an e-commerce service fee from Tokopedia commensurate with its scale and growth.

TikTok and Tokopedia have initiated an MSME empowerment programme through the #MelokalDenganBatik campaign, involving hundreds of local batik entrepreneurs in Solo and Yogyakarta. This initiative aims to support small businesses by providing them with production support technology, including advanced production tools, insights on trends and inventory management.

These initiatives are part of a broader strategy to transform Indonesia’s e-commerce sector, creating millions of new job opportunities over the next five years, particularly in the MSME sector.

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Companies around the world have been impacted by a chain of catastrophic market events over the past few years. From the COVID-19 pandemic to the US banking crisis, ‘black swan events’ have been thrust into the spotlight. Popularised by economist Nassim Nicholas Taleb, the term black swan events describes unpredictable one-off events with severe consequences.

One such example is the financial aftermath of the pandemic. Despite a lengthy three-year recovery period,  Asia’s growth is expected to decline to 4.2 per cent in 2024  — the lowest in the past two decades (apart from 2020).

With increasingly frequent macroeconomic shocks, companies must prepare for disruption to be part and parcel of everyday operations. Considering the high-interest rates and the slowdown of two of the world’s largest economies, China and the United States, 2024 may turn out to be another year of market turbulence.

It’s time for businesses to consider black swan events as something to be expected. In 2024, small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and large enterprises must consider how they can strengthen their business resilience and navigate the era of a poly-crisis world.

Building a borderless workforce

For companies to thrive and scale in this new era of business, companies and their leaders that shift away from traditional business models and embrace a global mindset will be better set to capitalise on future growth opportunities. According to recent survey findings, 66 per cent of leaders worldwide stated having employees in multiple countries is part of their business strategy, including 28 per cent who say it is central to that strategy.

Also Read: The growth of business messaging: How it’s improving business performance in Southeast Asia

In an increasingly volatile world, tapping into global talent pools is not only a way to increase diversity but also a survival strategy.  An ‘anywhere workforce’ means businesses can reduce over-reliance on a specific type of talent and have better access to the skill sets they need, regardless of location.

When employees are equipped with a broader range of skills and work across multiple locations, businesses are no longer confined to a specific market and become more resilient against frequent business disruptions.

The same survey also found that employees prefer to work in global teams — 93 per cent of Singaporean employees want to work for a global company, and 90 per cent believe that global companies offer more opportunities for their career growth.

Furthermore, it can help increase cost savings and revenue growth; APAC-based pharmaceutical company Amoy Diagnostics (AmoyDX) was able to achieve a revenue of US$13.8 million by the end of 2022 after expanding its talent pool internationally.

Regular scenario planning is imperative

Scenario planning is a strategic tool for businesses to analyse alternate future events and create flexible long-term plans. Against the backdrop of wildly unpredictable and more frequent black swan events, effective scenario planning is increasingly complicated and should be a regular exercise for businesses so they are well-equipped to mitigate risks from potential uncertainties.

Also Read: Financial literacy in Southeast Asia is set to match industry growth

Instead of relying on traditional scenario planning, leaders can turn towards leveraging artificial intelligence technologies as a viable solution to consider possible hypothetical scenarios, evaluate their potential impact on the business, and identify ‘fail-safe’ critical decisions that will spur the business’s growth trajectory.

Forming the right strategic partnerships

Staying ahead of the competition often means accelerating speed to market in today’s business landscape. Navigating and adhering to unique expansion and employment compliance laws and regulations in individual markets can be complicated and time-consuming. In fact, 32 per cent of leaders are deterred from recruiting and hiring in international job markets due to regulatory complexities.

Employment of Record (EOR) partners can support businesses in building global teams and streamline cumbersome and time-consuming processes when entering new international markets. This speeds up the compliance process, allowing businesses to remove entity requirements and overcome different employment regulations.

By tapping a strategic global growth partner with HR, compliance, and legal experts in the region, businesses can better tackle ongoing challenges and accelerate global growth strategies. Through a collaborative approach, businesses can focus more on scalability and expanding their workforce.

Charging full steam ahead

In a globally interconnected world, encountering another black swan event is not ‘if’ but ‘when’. Building a global workforce, prioritising contingency planning, and expanding strategic partnerships are all essential strategies to circumvent everyday business disruptions and build the resiliency needed for long-term success.

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In 2022, Artem Ventures closed the TIM Ventures fund from multinational insurance company FWD Group. Over its first year of deployment in 2023, the fund achieved key milestones, including curating and investing in 12 startups actively working on social impact and financial inclusion issues.

It also created and ran value creation programmes for startups and the wider ecosystem aimed at capacity building and sustainability development.

“We draw from our corporate venture fund and fund-of-funds backgrounds to invest in promising startups at a nimble pace while incorporating high standards of governance in overseeing our startups and operating our funds. Being cognizant of our corporate LPs’ interests allows us to invest with a view of marrying their financial and strategic objectives through startup investments,” Artem Ventures Managing Partner Low Zhen Hui says in an email interview with e27.

“We are also likely the only, or one of the only, VC firms that adopt International Private Equity and Venture Capital guidelines in valuing our investees according to their liquidation rights, financial performance, and market comparable movements.

Artem Ventures is a VC fund management company currently managing a fund in partnership with FWD Group that invests in early-stage fintech and insurtech companies.

Also Read: Malaysia gets US$10.2M fund TIM Ventures to invest in insurtech, Islamic fintech startups

In selecting a potential investment, the company looks at factors such as the startup’s ability to deploy or adopt a strategy to drive impact towards the environment, society, and governance. Artem Ventures has vetted more than 750 companies and helped its portfolio secure further funding, market access, mentors, and advisors.

The company’s principles and approach to its investee companies focus on enhancing their capacity and capabilities to ensure the business can be sustainable and founders can adapt to any business cycle quickly. In this interview, Low explains exciting insights about the Malaysian startup ecosystem and the opportunities that Artem Ventures aims to seize.

The following is an edited excerpt of the interview:

What insight about the Malaysian startup ecosystem can you share with us?

Malaysian founders embody entrepreneurship passion coupled with strong resilience. If you re-examine past investment trends, Malaysia has never received the same fervent attention that markets like Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam have at various times.

This meant that our ecosystem is largely funded by local investors while foreign capital passed us by, forcing our startups to make every Ringgit work harder to achieve their goals.

What challenges are faced by startups in Malaysia? And how do you support your portfolio companies in getting through it?

One of the challenges that Malaysian startups generally face is insufficient capital to scale outside the country.

Also Read: How climate tech companies in Asia measure the impact of their work

While Malaysia is a fantastic starter market for startups (high internet connectivity, strong awareness of digital platforms, diverse population, large talent pool, and good ecosystem support), startups that have primarily raised funds within Malaysia eventually run into a chicken-and-egg issue around the Series A or B stages: they need capital to scale across the region, but their growth plan or traction is not convincing enough for foreign investors to put money behind.

Aside from our network of investors outside Malaysia, we aim to solve this innate issue by helping our founders develop a growth plan focused on regional expansion to land an attractive exit eventually.

What will be the most important trend in Malaysia this year? How do you plan to tap into the opportunity it provides?

We are still eyeing the fintech space as issues such as financial inclusion remain largely unaddressed. Embedded fintech will be an important tool for companies with market access to underserved communities and robust data collection and analytics capabilities to assess thin-credit users better.

What major plan do you have for Malaysian startups in 2024?

We are working on our next fund to invest in more tech and also non-tech sectors. We aim to inject more growth capital into the market and extend hands-on capacity building to more startups within our ecosystem.

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Image Credit: Artem Ventures

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Singapore-based chronic disease management startup Mesh Bio has raised US$3.5 million in Series A financing led by East Ventures.

Elev8, Seed Capital, and other existing shareholders also co-invested.

The funding will allow Mesh Bio to offer its digital twin technologies to healthcare providers and scale the deployment of these solutions across Hong Kong and Southeast Asia, mainly Indonesia and the Philippines.

Also Read: Mesh Bio raises US$1.8M seed to help doctors predict diseases before they occur

Dr. Andrew Wu, Co-Founder and CEO of Mesh Bio, said: “Southeast Asia presents myriad unmet healthcare needs, and our focus is to address these gaps effectively.”

The high prevalence of chronic diseases, from diabetes to heart disease, in Southeast Asia has pushed more general practitioners who lack specialist training in endocrinology to manage patients with chronic diseases.

Founded in 2018 by Wu and Arsen Batagov (CTO), Mesh Bio delivers digital solutions to help healthcare providers with patient management. Its solutions offer patient data and predictive analytics that equip doctors with information and intelligence about their patients and the diseases they live with.

The company develops clinical decision support analytics and automation solutions for managing chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease. Its DARA Health Intelligence Platform enables data-driven care delivery, which improves patient engagement and health outcomes. It has been used by more than 120 medical centres across Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia for preventive health screening.

Also Read: WhiteCoat closes a tranche of Series B round, poised to break even in Singapore

This new investment comes three months after the startup received approval from Singapore’s Health Sciences Authority (HSA) to market its HealthVector Diabetes as a Software Medical Device (SaMD). A chronic disease management solution, HealthVector Diabetes is currently used in an implementation pilot at Singapore General Hospital (SGH), Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH), and selected polyclinics for potential clinical adoption.

Mesh Bio previously raised a US$1.8 million seed funding round in October 2021.

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