Clearbot, a Hong Kong-based robot-as-a-service company focusing on the marine sector, has closed an undisclosed seed funding round with Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund and Gobi Ventures.

Earth Venture Capital, Asia Sustainability Angels, and CarbonX Capital also co-invested.

The startup will use the funds for product development and R&D to improve operational efficiency in different environmental conditions and expand further into Southeast Asia.

Also Read: ‘Climate tech: SEA needs more time to improve startup quality, attract capital’, says Earth VC’s Tien Nguyen

Clearbot will also invest in research to turn data into insights for clients in compliance with ESG standards, allowing them to optimise their business practices for sustainable development in the marine sector.

Established in 2020, Clearbot provides an AI-powered all-electric and self-driving robot which automates pollution recovery, surveillance and rescue, and goods delivery in urban waterways intelligently and without manpower.

The data obtained from Clearbot will help companies and governments identify potential areas of improvement within their operations and help them develop a deeper understanding of their current performance to make informed decisions on how to improve their business in the future.

Combining autonomous navigation with data analytics and on-demand solutions, the startup has developed the first autonomous electric vessel capable of operating autonomously across multiple waterways at unprecedented speed and efficiency.

The startup’s latest Clearbot Neo model, created with Razer Inc., is available in Hong Kong and India, with more than ten bots already operating in these regions.

Also Read: There’s a mismatch of investment and entrepreneur focus in SEA’s climate tech: Steve Melhuish

“Civilisation thrives aside the water flows, which are our resourceful rivers and oceans. But we are destroying and polluting them with millions of tons of plastics and garbage every year. As 95 per cent of plastic in our ocean is transported by ten major rivers, eight of which are in Asia. The war against climate change cannot miss the operations towards ocean technology,” Linh Nguyen, General Partner of Earth Venture Capital,” said Linh Nguyen, General Partner of Earth Venture Capital.

“As the founders are both Gen Z, Clearbot is truly created by and for the next generation, who will be at the frontier in our battle against climate change,” Nguyen added.

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In the first piece of this three-part series, I proposed areas of action that a business can focus on to kickstart its decarbonisation journey. However, if you can’t act because you haven’t found the perfect solutions to help your business “go green”, it may be time to switch from browsing to building mode.

First, stop waiting for the perfect find to roll around. It likely doesn’t exist, so don’t let “perfect” be the enemy of “good enough”. Expand your search criteria and get creative in the face of scarcity.

Are there no good options, or have you just not found them? So many tech solutions exist in the market today. Still, they may be marketed for a different industry, be in another geographical region, or have terrible SEO rendering them tough to find. 

If in doubt, ask an expert who understands the space, and often solutions will appear. When I ran an open innovation programme to decarbonise the shipping industry, we found exciting solutions in other sectors that could solve marine challenges but hadn’t even considered maritime as a target client base – now they have new product lines and investors because we showed them the potential use-case for shipping.

At SecondMuse, our team running The Incubation Network finds hidden-gem solutions to the plastic pollution problem in every Southeast Asian market we work in because we engage communities at the grassroots level, engage entrepreneur support organisations as partners, and understand that alone we don’t have the answers, but collectively we can see farther.

A hands-on approach for bottom-up solutions

If, even after broadening your horizons, the solutions you find still come up short, consider engaging the ones who come close and help them get over the line.

Also Read: How carbon in the metaverse can help solve the real-world climate crisis

At times, the technology is sound, but the business model doesn’t fit your needs, or there is some other (completely valid) barrier to adoption. We as a society have to invest in understanding and overcoming these adoption gaps just as much as we invest in developing new innovations and technology.

Regular businesses can play a huge role in bridging these gaps by becoming customers and partners of the best solutions and engaging with or advising the less ideal ones to make them more business-friendly.

Think of how powerful (and useful) it can be to give these climate solutions specific feedback, suggest other possibilities, and even brainstorm better ways forward. Simply saying “no” without any of these other steps doesn’t serve anyone: you still don’t have your solution, and the ones you’ve spent time finding + vetting have no clue how to get better.

Where are the climate solution gaps?

Having reviewed hundreds of startups and worked with close to a dozen corporations to craft partnerships that lower their carbon footprint, I have seen specific friction points come up again and again.

Yet they aren’t entirely impossible, so here are some common gaps I’ve seen and ideas for working through them:

Cost

The clean green solution is often more expensive than the status quo, a concept Bill Gates calls the green premium. How do you bring that down? It depends on what is driving the costs, but unless the problem is the technology (too early = unreliable or too expensive), there is often a way around it. 

If it’s the cost-per-unit, can you work with customers to produce in volumes they can afford or find like-minded businesses to join their adoption journey to reduce costs for all?

Also Read: How the ‘Paris agreement’ for plastic is accelerating climate justice in SEA

If it’s a CAPEX issue, could switching to a subscription model, getting a supplier with friendlier payment terms, or finding a financial partner that enables instalments/payment plans to help make this more affordable to adopt?

Convenience

Modern life has been optimised for making everything ready to use, always available, and easy to dispose of; it’s incredibly wasteful but straightforward, so more environmentally friendly options (e.g. reuse/refill models instead of single-use) can feel like too much effort by comparison.

How do you make it easy for businesses or consumers to adopt? Anything that reduces the steps required is reasonable.

In software, you see this with interoperability (instead of forcing customers to adopt new processes or dashboards, ingest the data they have as is and connect everything with APIs); with physical products or consumer choices, consider automatically latching the new desired behaviour onto an existing built-in habit/norm, changing the default choice to the one you want (so they need to opt-out instead of opting-in), or putting a small cost to the undesired behaviour (people take fewer plastic bags when they see they’re being charged 10 cents for one).

Context

Sometimes, engineers create technically marvellous products but are disconnected from the realities of operation. If you see a solution that technically solves the problem but doesn’t fit your commercial or operational models, it provides the context required to achieve a better design.

Many times, the founders you’ll work with are open to adjusting if they can see that working with you opens up a larger opportunity to work with many others in the same sector.

Final thoughts

These are just some of the gaps you’ll find in the market, and even though you work to address them, you may still find yourself falling short of sustainability targets. The climate crisis is one of great complexity: ultimately, we don’t just need better solutions; we need better systems.

In the final part of this three-piece series, I’ll explore how we can take bigger-picture climate action that transcends these steps at the individual or entrepreneurial level.

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

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41 VCs commit to invest US$1.5B in VN startups by 2025
The investors include Altara Ventures, Golden Gate, Antler, Beenext, Cocoon Capital, and VinaCapital; As per DealStreetAsia research, local firms raised US$2.5B in 2021 compared to nearly US$380M in 2020.

Singapore’s crypto firm Amber raises US$300M Series C
The investors include Fenbushi Capital, unnamed crypto-native investors and family offices; The funding comes after it was reported earlier this month that Amber Group laid off “hundreds” of staff.

Alibaba co-founder in talks to offload stake worth US$260M in firm
The shares are equal to nearly 8% of Joseph Tsai’s total assets in the Chinese firm; Tsai is the third-largest shareholder after Japanese investor SoftBank and Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma.

Amazon faces US$280M suit from Vietnamese manufacturer
Gilimex says the US tech giant has scaled back orders after it already boosted capacity; Gilimex says it had already invested an eight-digit US dollar amount into manufacturing facilities after sealing the deal with Amazon.

Filipino social commerce startup SariSuki raises US$12.7M
The investors include Kickstart Venture, Openspace Ventures, SIG, GFC, and Foxmont; SariSuki is a community group buying platform for daily essentials and groceries.

Digital health-science firm Aktivolabs scores US$10M Series A
The investors include Mitsui, Adaptive Capital, and SEEDS Capital; The firm harnesses real-time digital health data elements in a low-touch, cost-effective manner with measurable actuarial and actionable value to life and health insurers.

Indonesia’s sharia SME lending firm ALAMI raises funding
The investor is Beneva, an arm of beauty company ParagonCorp; ALAMI has over 111,000 P2P investors involved in almost 10,000 projects across the nation.

AI-powered self-driving robot Clearbot raises funding
The investors include Alibaba HK Entrepreneurs Fund, Gobi Ventures, and Earth VC; Clearbot automates pollution recovery, surveillance and rescue, and goods delivery in urban waterways intelligently and without manpower.

Payoneer secures approval to expand payment offerings in Singapore
Once received, the payment institution license from the MAS enables the company to offer services such as mass payout and card offerings for companies located in Singapore, according to a statement.

“Consolidation and explosion”: SEA’s investors reveal 2023 trends
Some 2022 trends will remain relevant, but there are different ways that SEA startup investors want to seize these opportunities.

‘Focus on your north-star vision’: 30 startups speak of their learnings in 2022
What these Southeast Asian companies did do to weather the many crises that defined the year 2022 and remain relevant?

Hong Kong rolls out Asia’s first crypto ETFs
Its new ETFs CSOP Bitcoin Futures and CSOP Ether Futures track cash-settled Bitcoin futures contracts and Ether futures contracts traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Web2 vs Web3 people: Disruption amid decentralisation as blockchain goes mainstream
Mainstream adoption has resulted in professionals and experts from different industries wanting to transition to Web3.

How great leaders embrace uncertainty and ambiguity
Repeated exposure to high levels of uncertainty can throw entrepreneurs on an emotional rollercoaster, potentially impacting their mental and physical health.

How to combat festive season fraud with ease
The effects of fraud can be devastating for businesses, from reputational costs to loss in revenue, says Nick Stipp, VP and GM (Asia Pacific) for Ekata, a Mastercard company.

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Singapore-headquartered healthtech company Doctor Anywhere (DA) has acquired Catalist-listed integrated healthcare provider Asian Healthcare Specialists (SGX:1J3).

Asian Healthcare Specialists (AHS) is a group of 14 medical specialists with a patient-first approach and vision to make specialised care accessible to all. Its 12 specialist clinics across multidisciplinary specialities comprise orthopaedics, ophthalmology, dermatology, urology, gastroenterology, otorhinolaryngology, anaesthesia, family medicine and rehabilitation.

A statement said the acquisition will enable Doctor Anywhere to deliver more holistic healthcare and meet the rising demand for complex, specialised treatment across Southeast Asia.

Doctor Anywhere has also announced a US$38.8 million Series C1 financing round led by international life science investor Novo Holdings. Existing shareholders also participated, including Asia Partners, Kamet Capital, Square Peg, IHH Healthcare, EDBI, and OSK-SBI Venture Partners.

The funding will be used to accelerate growth and partly fund the acquisition of AHS.

Also Read: How telehealth startup Doctor Anywhere stepped up to the COVID-19 challenge

The latest round comes just over a year after Doctor Anywhere raised a US$65.7 million Series C. This brings the total capital raised by the firm to nearly US$140 million.

“With consumers across the region seeking higher quality and more personalised care, acquiring AHS strengthens our capabilities beyond our successful primary care services. This will enable us to deliver more integrated, holistic care and greater value for our users,” said Lim Wai Mun, Founder and CEO of Doctor Anywhere.

“We continue looking for synergistic opportunities and targeted acquisitions of critical healthcare assets across the region,” added Wai Mun.

Launched in 2017, Doctor Anywhere is an omnichannel healthcare company that aims to make healthcare accessible and efficient for everyone. Its digital platform bridges gaps in the healthcare ecosystem through technology and innovation, enabling users to manage their health effectively through its mobile app.

In November 2021, Doctor Anywhere acquired the Thai telemedicine platform Doctor Raksa to deepen its presence in the Kingdom by expanding its medication delivery services.

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Singapore is the ninth most targeted country for crypto fraud, with four hacks and breaches worth US$14.6 million since 2011, new research by CoinJournal finds.

The US is the most commonly targeted country, with 13 hacks and breaches.

CoinJournal looked at available data around major breaches and fraud since 2011 to reveal which countries had experienced the most violations and how crypto fraud has seen a record number of incidents in 2022. The research considered the most costly cases of crypto scams, the most commonly stolen coins, the most common method of scams, the most targeted countries, and how much crypto scams have increased.

The ten most targeted countries for crypto fraud:

With 120 incidents, 2022 was the worst for crypto fraud and breaches. This was 26 more than the previous year.

The year 2021 saw the biggest rise (over 200 per cent) in incidents from 2020. There were 94 incidents during 2021, and the total funds lost were the highest in the last ten years, at US$4.6 billion.

Also Read: Cryptocurrency regulations should evolve: Mistletoe Singapore MD Atsushi Taira

With 31 incidents, the third-highest number of crypto breaches was in 2020. This was an increase of just under 20 per cent of the 26 accumulated during the previous year. Just under US$1.5 billion was lost during these 31 incidents.

The costliest crypto scam in 2022 was by Plus Token, where almost US$3 billion worth of Bitcoin and Ethereum was stolen. Plus Token was a Ponzi scheme disguised as an investment programme.

The Thodex scam came in second. A police report revealed the Thodex CEO had allegedly fled from Turkey with US$2 billion worth of cryptocurrency, leaving its 700,000 users scammed.

WoToken was another Ponzi scheme which defrauded US$1 billion from more than 700,000 users. WoToken was dubbed ‘Plus Token 2.0’ by the media due to its similarities with the Plus Token scam. It was also revealed that one of the members of WoToken was part of the Plus Token scam.

With 50 incidents, BSC was the most stolen coin in 2022. The second most commonly stolen coin was ETH (33 times).

The most stolen cryptocurrency is Bitcoin (BTC) — stolen in 94 crypto scams. Despite it being the most popular and valuable cryptocurrency, BTC was only stolen three times in 2022.

Also Read: What lessons can crypto investors draw from the Luna, UST episode?

Ethereum (ETH) was the second most common cryptocurrency stolen (84 times). Ethereum was also the second most stolen currency in 2022 (stolen 33 times).

The most common crypto attack was DeFi breaches (167 incidents), with almost US$4 million lost. They were also the most common type of breaches during 2022, with 80 DeFi breaches in 2022 alone.

The second most common type of crypto attack was breaches. Within the 123 breaches, over US$3 million was stolen or lost. Breaches appear to have become less common in 2022, with just four attacks happening out of the 122.

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The holiday season is approaching, and scammers have been busy impersonating and seeking means to dampen their festive mood.

In 2021, Americans lost over US$6.9 billion to fraudsters, including US$337 million in online shopping and non-delivery scams, according to the FBI.

In Singapore, the police have warned the public about phishing scams involving emails, texts and phone calls from scammers impersonating staff from e-commerce marketplaces. Singaporeans lost US$764,000 in one month alone, in September 2021, to non-banking-related phishing scams.

This year, small businesses feeling the post-pandemic squeeze are likely to see less of a holiday shopping frenzy. Retailers counting on key sales moments towards the end of the year must manage their inventory, revamp websites with seasonal promotions and get ready to capitalise on the spikes in consumer demand.

Convenience remains key for online retailers. Research shows that seven of every ten customers who add an item to their shopping cart leave without completing the purchase. That’s why a secure and seamless shopping experience is crucial for any merchant to minimise cart abandonment and win more customers during the shopping mayhem.

Holiday shopping, primarily via frequent online transactions, makes customers vulnerable as cybercrimes and scams surge during the holiday season. Because there is a larger pool of targets than any other time of year, merchants should revisit their cybersecurity measures to ensure secure and frictionless checkouts, with neither attribute compromised for the other.

A non-negotiable: Enhanced security plan to mitigate scamming risks

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, more than 2,700 e-commerce scam cases were reported in 2021, with about US$5.8 million in losses. They have become one of the most prevalent types of scams in Singapore, posing risks to consumers and retailers alike.

Also Read: How to tackle cybersecurity threats during the holidays

Phishing is one of the most reported scams during holiday seasons, with shoppers often duped into buying fake goods such as counterfeit watches, “miracle” cures and other holiday-branded goods.

E-commerce more broadly can suffer as a result, as one loss from a scam can lead to a total erosion of the trust consumers have towards all things digital, undermining the efforts of e-commerce businesses and governments that have invested heavily in creating digital infrastructure to increase access and ease to their services.

Therefore, setting up a holistic security plan to manage these risks is non-negotiable.

A dilemma: Choosing between security and seamlessness

A dilemma exists when adding security measures introduces friction in consumers’ shopping experiences.

Points of friction come in three common forms.

First, with identification, shoppers must constantly verify their identity across different sites and platforms offered by the same merchant, such as their website and mobile app.

Second, authentication measures like passwords and logins may require multiple steps, such as 2FA, filling out CAPTCHA boxes, or waiting to receive OTP pins.

Third, during the checkout process, when the customers make the payment, the last authorisation step asks shoppers to confirm their card or bank. By this point, ample opportunities have been introduced for cart abandonment.

So, the question is, how to find the right balance between security and a great shopping experience?

A joint effort: Finding the right balance

The online business environment is intrinsically not built with security in mind. Thankfully, the fight against cybercrimes in e-commerce involves government bodies, businesses, and the public.

The Cyber Security Agency (CSA) of Singapore has introduced multiple measures targeting small businesses and end consumers.

For example, the Cybersecurity Labelling Scheme has been introduced for consumers to know before they buy the security levels of the smart devices they bring in their homes and use daily for various purposes, including but not limited to performing e-commerce transactions.

Also Read: Safeguarding digital assets through cybersecurity innovations

At the same time, e-commerce merchants are striving to improve security solutions among their many operational priorities, such as logistics and inventory. Since most of them do not have the subject matter expertise and technologies available in-house, a retailer may choose to partner with PayPal.

PayPal’s behaviour analytics tracks behaviour patterns against established baselines and introduces extra checks when a user or device’s behaviour seems anomalous. Additionally, PayPal introduced Passkeys to replace passwords and allow seamless consumer logins across devices and platforms. This allows easier online checkout for buyers and removes checkout friction for merchants.

Practical tips to stay competitive this holiday season

What can businesses do from a practical standpoint to best capitalise on this holiday season? Here are three tips to consider:

First, personalise your products and services. Does the shop offer any customisation service such as name engraving to give a little personal touch? Customer expectations are constantly evolving, and the trick is to listen to what each shopper is looking for and what they would enjoy the most.

According to PayPal’s Borderless Commerce Report 2022, 46 per cent of online shoppers said they’re more likely to buy from retailers that offer virtual or digital experiences.

Therefore, introducing interactive elements to the shopping experience, such as providing a virtual makeup service or offering 3D tours, might appeal to shoppers. Optimising on-site content with holiday-specific keywords also helps personalise the holiday shopping experience.

Second, optimise the checkout process. This is one of the most effective ways to maximise holiday sales. The month of December experiences the highest cart abandonment rates as; people spend more time deliberating on gift options for their loved ones.

Creating a frictionless and flexible shopping experience by offering guest checkout and diversified payment options could translate to higher conversion rates.

Third, create peace of mind. Communication touchpoints between merchant and consumer are vulnerable to malicious attacks, especially at the payment transaction level.

Ensuring sufficient security measures, using a trusted payments provider, and providing buyers with options to contact you will greatly help merchants gain consumers’ trust, maximise authorisation, and minimise losses.

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

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At e27, we have kickstarted a new article series called work-life balance to learn more about tech enablers and executives and their lives beyond working hours.

Kenneth Tan is the Co-Founder and CEO of BeLive Technology. Tan grew up in Singapore and has diverse interests, including video games, concept art creation and DJ-ing.

He was Director of Strategy for the Japanese company DeNa when he was first introduced to live-streaming and decided to start BeLive Technology soon after. 

Initially, he focused on offering a platform that was likened to “virtual busking”, but over time he realised this was not the ideal model. After partnering with Japan’s most popular e-commerce platform Rakuten, Tan felt BeLive found its beat by offering live-streaming solutions to retailers and big companies.

Today, BeLive has partnered with clients in various sectors, including e-commerce, retail, electronics, beauty and social media. As of 2021, BeLive has streamed over 55 hours of live content.

He is a regular contributor of articles for e27 (you can read his thought leadership articles here). 

In this candid interview, Tan talks about his personal and professional life.

How would you explain what you do to a five-year-old?

With the rise of global video platforms like TikTok/YouTube and the high exposure rate to digital natives, it makes explaining to children a little easier. I would tell them that we help everyone connect online via videos and easily buy things online while also liking and commenting on the product, all at the same time.

What has been the biggest highlight/challenge of your career so far?

It would be seeing the company’s growth over the years. We started with a four-person team, and now we are proud to work alongside our 50 teammates serving the largest brands in the world and becoming a household name in live and video streaming solutions. We have proven that we can continue to help enterprise clients with groundbreaking and scalable solutions for their business needs.

Also Read: Try to look at the world through a beginner’s eyes: Joey Alarilla of Playfix.io

The journey has been challenging yet exciting, with us making many difficult decisions to ensure business continuity. One of the difficult decisions we made was in 2017 when we pivoted from a B2C platform to a B2B solutions provider. There were countless factors to consider, but we are proud to say it was one of the best decisions we have made in our business.

Today, we are proud to say we power the best global brands with our live and video commerce solutions.

How do you envision the next five years of your career?

I would say it will only continue to be very exciting as we are experiencing good growth within the live-streaming space. As video continues to take centre stage and the world inevitably adopts video as its primary content consumption medium, BeLive Technology will continue to grow exponentially. Working alongside my teammates and partnering with them to build the future of video streaming is incredibly exciting and is a key focus for me.

What are some of your favourite work tools?

Other than the usual MS Office suspects, some not-so-common tools I use include Photoshop, Notability, and Overcast.

I like to brainstorm by sketching and quickly prototyping, and Photoshop/Notability is perfect. Overcast (Podcast app) saves my long commutes by allowing me to take a breather and learn from the best in the industry. I recommend the 20VC and How I Built This podcasts.

What’s something about you or your job that would surprise us?

The amount of hard labour and sheer hours put into building relationships with partners, colleagues, and stakeholders. This effort has to be intentional, tracked, and followed up upon.

Do you prefer WFH or WFO, or hybrid?

I firmly believe in in-person interactions and the water cooler conversations we were sorely missing during the pandemic.

Also Read: Your identity should not be limited to what you do at work: Sheryl Chen of Qualgro

However, I’m all for a hybrid work model if managers can hold their teams accountable.

What would you tell your younger self?

Destroy your enemies by making them your friends. In business and life, partnerships are always better than rivalries.

Can you describe yourself in three words?

Inquisitive, self-aware, and lucky.

Firstly, I’m fortunate to be able to help provide for my colleagues and their families. I’m also ridiculously lucky to have a loving and supportive wife, son, and mother. Being self-aware of my weaknesses, admitting when I’m not doing things right, and seeking the right answers, asking for help has always been a big part of my life.

What are you most likely to be doing if not working?

I’m with the family. My three-year-old son is an absolute riot now, and I love spending time with him and the missus.

What are you currently reading/listening to/watching?

I’m revisiting Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. My first read-through was so enjoyable that I blazed through it. Of course, I have been going back to a few of my favourite chapters during a weekend afternoon with a hot coffee.

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Join the e27 contributor community of thought leaders and share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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Quqo, an asset-light B2B distribution platform that connects buyers, suppliers and end-consumers in the FMCG sector in Vietnam, has secured US$1 million in seed funding from Touchstone Partners. 

The funds will enable Quqo to grow its team and customer base and expand its distribution network across the country.

Quqo is an online platform aiming to unlock the full potential of local mom-and-pop store (tap hoa) owners, FMCG suppliers and distributor partners via a broad offering of digital products and services. Its B2B platform and SaaS tool enable store owners to browse for the best product offer through a “simplified and accelerated procurement process”.

The startup entered Vietnam in 2020 and has onboarded over 40 distributors, supporting over 5,000 stores across Ho Chi Minh City. It claims to have grown 11x in GMV since the start of 2022. 

Also Read: Touchstone Partners launches ‘no-frills’ incubation programme in Vietnam

The team plans to expand its reach to Da Nang, Ha Noi, and other major cities in Vietnam in 2023.

Jaime Roldan, CEO and Co-Founder of Quqo, said: “Vietnam’s traditional retail supply chain is made up of over 1.4 million stores. We noticed that distribution in Vietnam’s FMCG sector currently comes at different levels, from manufacturers to retailers, and is overly complex and manual. Our platform connects suppliers and buyers through digitalisation.”

Bobby Liu, Director of EiR at Touchstone Partners, commented: “The tap hoa and local pharmacies are ubiquitous in neighbourhoods in cities and towns across Vietnam. Quqo’s solution gives these small, locally owned businesses an easy-to-use tool to connect them with a network of suppliers and efficiently purchase and manage inventory. Tools like Quqo’s are critical for these small businesses to compete effectively against bigger chain stores and continue to be important cornerstones in their local communities.”

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One of the most notable things about unicorn tech companies in Southeast Asia (SEA) is that their number grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Take a look at Indonesia. As reported by Channel News Asia, while the country’s first generation of unicorns appeared before 2020, their number expanded rapidly at the height of the pandemic in mid-2020 and early 2021. Despite challenges here and there, leading tech companies in Indonesia and the rest of the region continued to raise funding, with more companies inching closer towards securing a unicorn status –proudly claiming the label ‘soonicorn‘.

But these soonicorns are facing a different challenge than their predecessors. While funding continues to stream down to SEA, various global crises have caused investors to be more cautious in allocating their investments. There is also a higher expectation for businesses to perform well in generating revenue. In this new era, they are no longer expected to implement the “growth at all cost” mindset, as they take more deliberate but impactful steps to grow the business. Cash burning is no longer the rule of this game. Together with different players in the regional startup ecosystem, the soonicorns are marching into a different tune in achieving their version of success.

Also Read: Web2 founders, get ready for Web3 before 2025 – Insights from Echelon 2022

So, how exactly can soonicorns get there? What are the alternatives for these hopeful, fresh-faced players? More importantly, what can we do to support them in becoming more sustainable?

To respond to this arising need in the ecosystem, e27 is bringing back Echelon in 2023. 

After a successful comeback in October 2022, we are set to return to Singapore next year. This time, we put the spotlight on soonicorns and their journey to become a strong, sustainable business. We aim to identify and highlight relevant companies, creating a conversation on this topic in public and private settings.

We will also look at how different ecosystem players can work together to achieve greater growth in 2023 and beyond. In addition, this event will be a chance to understand up-and-coming trends such as climate tech and Web3 and how to best tap opportunities in these exciting sectors.

As a member of the regional tech startup ecosystem, we believe that you would like to be part of this conversation.  Your organisation can be part of the effort to achieve greater heights for these soonicorns, bringing home the glory for the companies and your organisation.

Please reach out to Justin Chin at engage@e27.co to see how you can be part of this movement –and how we can build a stronger, more sustainable startup ecosystem, together.

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The rise of technological innovations in recent years has made it possible to perform tasks more conveniently and flexibly. From the office to the home, technology, like apps, systems and gadgets, has evolved to provide smarter features that make daily living easier.

In the same way, these breakthroughs have revolutionised the recruitment process, including how we advertise jobs, track applicants, engage with them, and interview them.

That being said, it is critical to understand the needs that drive such innovations and to keep that resolve to take action toward advancements.

Starting with a purpose

After spending about seven years in the banking sector, I decided to take a break and explore a new industry. Having always been a people person, starting conversations and making introductions came naturally. It’s no surprise that these skills led to many job referrals for friends who needed jobs in the banking industry.

Fast forward to my 15 years onboard the Human Resources industry, I realised the challenges faced by recruiters are primarily comprised of repetitive administrative tasks. I know many hours are spent manually identifying and contacting potential candidates. This time could have been used for more productive tasks that ensure the recruitment of quality applicants.

At the same time, I also observed that young candidates constantly struggled with deciding what to pursue and ended up job hopping very often, much to the dismay of both the candidates and their employers.

Also Read: How Recruitery plans to help people who affected by tech layoff

Then, I decided I could use my experience to develop something to help address these needs.

The development of OppTy

Understanding how headhunting can be very tedious, I knew that the key was to digitise the process to help cut costs and save time. This is where the value of AI came in, and more than a decade-long experience led to a vision of the OppTy chatbot.

To answer such needs, it was also clear that a platform must be developed to help young individuals identify their career paths at an earlier stage. This would subsequently give them more stability and a better idea of the industry and career path that suits them.

The software algorithm was then strategically designed by collaborating with seasoned HR professionals who contributed valuable insights and understood insightful feedback and who also understood the process changes that had to be made.

Putting it all together

As a two-way talent management platform, OppTy offers multiple tools for both job seekers and recruiters.

For those searching for jobs, the platform provides extensive guidance in resume creation and portfolio maintenance. Oppty’s AI algorithms will recommend relevant skill sets, qualifications, and accomplishments to be included in their Curriculum Vitae (CV).

OppTy also offers a Career Roadmap Assistance – a feature that thoroughly depicts careers candidates can explore based on their current qualifications, skill sets and interests.

Through our Career Compatibility Test, candidates can determine their areas of strengths and weaknesses to determine well-matched careers. The platform also runs passive searches in the background and suggests the best job opportunities in the chosen industry.

On the other hand, talent hunters can manage their entire hiring workflow on OppTy: from candidate search to interviews, hiring, and onboarding. Features such as the automatic interview scheduler and job templates help streamline recruitment. By cutting back on long hours spent on admin work, it is estimated that companies can save up to 90 per cent on their annual hiring costs.

In addition, a Smart Candidate Selection tool is offered to help pool relevant candidates for job openings. Meanwhile, the Potential Candidates Pool allows companies to optimise their talent pipeline so they can hire as needed.

Staying ahead with OppTy

Ultimately, the recruitment process is changing, and OppTy seeks to pioneer this transformation. By tapping into various technologies to smoothen the process for many more recruiters and job seekers, OppTy has made a positive difference for job hunters and hiring managers.

Watch out for more upcoming developments in the next few months as we continue to grow into the thriving smart career ecosystem we envisioned OppTy to be.

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The post How OppTy aims to save time and change the recruitment game forever appeared first on e27.