Elwin Tan, Jason Chua, and Ben Chua were undecided about their next move as they finished their PhD studies in stem cell biology at the National University of Singapore and the Agency of Science Technology and Research (A*STAR).

As the trio started thinking deeply about the future, they saw the value of their academic research in stem cell differentiation.

After consulting various people, the threesome, with deep and relevant expertise in muscle and fat cell research, decided to apply their knowledge to develop a protein alternative. They were joined by Prof Teh Bin Tean, who holds multiple roles within Singapore’s research community.

“Food is a topic close to our hearts, and we felt our knowledge could help solve some pressing issues plaguing the world, such as food security, environmental degradation, and animal welfare,” Tan tells e27.

Also Read: Alt.Flex.Eat: Flexitarianism is the flavour of the SEAson

After further deliberations, they decided to build a venture in the cultivated meat domain. They were further encouraged by Singapore being the first country to approve cultivated meat sales in December 2020 and the emergence of a growing number of successful alternative protein companies globally and locally.

That was the beginning of Meatiply.

Incorporated in April 2021 in Singapore, Meatiply develops and produces cultivated meat cuts with a focus on Asian cuisines. An A*STAR spin-off, the startup obtains cells from livestock animals like chicken and uses regenerative biology to grow these cells into meat.

Meatiply (derived from the words ‘meat’ and ‘multiply’) unveiled three structured prototypes as its first proof of concept in September 2022 — kampong chicken yakitori, chicken katsu bites, and Asia’s first smoked duck breast.

These were made from a specific blend of plant-based components and a high percentage of meat cells.”The plant-based ingredient is a blend of components developed by our in-house food technologists. It works best with our cells to give the aroma, texture and taste to the products we are trying to mimic,” Tan explains.

The company plans to pursue a B2C strategy for cultivated meat products and a B2B strategy for meat-derived products. It envisions selling directly to customers and will likely tap into e-commerce platforms and distribution networks for conventional meat, such as supermarkets.

The company aims to launch the products in 2024.

Tan admits that the pricing of its products is currently astronomical compared to conventional meat. “We have R&D strategies to drive down costs and get closer to price parity in the next few years. We also envision adding value to our offerings to make them more enticing to consumers, and they would be prepared to pay a premium for it.”

Consumer perception is also another issue to overcome. “In Singapore and SEA, consumers are highly price-sensitive. In markets like the US and Europe, consumers are willing to pay a premium for foods better suited to their lifestyle and needs, such as sustainable and organic food.”

The meat market in SEA

Meat is a US$2 trillion industry in the region and is ripe for disruption, given the issues of animal welfare and the environmental impact of agriculture.

The founders see enormous opportunities in the region, given that Southeast Asia is at the epicentre of the most populous nations, such as China, India and Indonesia. In addition, SEA has a burgeoning middle-class growth, with chicken being the fastest-growing consumed meat in Asia.

“We want to establish our footprints in Singapore first. As we obtain regulatory approval, we plan to target other markets in Asia, such as China, India, Korea and Japan. We are also aware of the widespread Asian food influence in other parts of the world like the US and Europe and will target these markets in our second phase,” Tan reveals.

Also Read: No animals were harmed in the making of this ‘meat’ burger

Although small, Singapore has witnessed a spike in the birth of alt-protein companies in the last few years. Many companies are already operating in Singapore, including Shiok Meats, Next Gen Foods, TurtleTree, Growthwell Foods, Shiok Meats, Karana, Phuture Foods, Life3 Biotech, MAD Foods, and Float Foods. Players such as Shiok Meats and Net Gen are heavily funded and have already expanded their footprints into other categories or markets.

Tan says that Meatiply develops high-quality and highly complex products with a superior taste, texture, and aroma to its competitors. “We believe that the eventual market leaders in cultivated meat would be the ones that can deliver products with superior taste, texture, and aroma.”

The business is raising a seed round of funding to develop the critical areas of scaling production, cost optimisation, and exploring regulatory approval. Together, these will lay the foundation for its commercialisation plans. It also seeks partners to leverage new technologies in food safety and bioprocess development and further develop cultivated meat and cultivated meat-derived products.

Why bother when there are many plant-based alternatives?

“While plant-based meat greatly reduces conventional meat consumption, not everyone will be convinced to replace meat with plants. We believe that if we make a more realistic product, we’ll convert more people away from the many ills of conventional meat, thus saving more animals and the planet,” Tan concludes.

—

Image Credit: Meatiply

The post Singapore startup Meatiply develops cultivated meat products with a focus on Asian cuisines appeared first on e27.

Delysium, an AI-powered AAA Web3 game focusing on Southeast Asia, has secured a US$10 million strategic funding round led by US-based Anthos Capital.

Immutable, GSR, Blockchain Coinvestors, Leonis Capital, Antalpha Ventures (Bitmain’s venture arm), Perion, and Formless Capital also participated.

The funding will be used mainly to develop the content, enable unique AI-powered experiences, and build Delysium Multiverse, an open-source operating and publishing network on the blockchain.

“We will focus on making three things happen to build a strong community: a great game, a unique AI-powered experience, and an unprecedented, innovative business model based on the blockchain,” said Xiankun Wu, Co-Founder of rct AI, the parent of Delysium.

Also Read: Web3 games should aim to have sustainable tokenomics, ecosystems: Froyo Games’s Douglas Gan

rct AI is a company backed by Y Combinator, Makers Fund, and Galaxy Interactive. Its game Delysium is powered by Deterrence, an AI layer for powering intelligent NFTs. The startup has integrated technologies (AI yield farming, conversational AI, battle AI, and AI motion generation) to create cognitively aware virtual beings distributed to every corner of Delysium. Players can enjoy a more dynamic and personalised gaming experience by interacting with AI MetaBeings.

Born in the virtual world, these AI MetaBeings are native digital species capable of earning and holding their private assets by joining game modes with players, creating dynamically generated narratives for players, and learning and iterating from continuous interactions with players.

In Delysium Multiverse, each universe is operated by a separate Delysium Multiverse Operator (DMO). Not only can DMOs issue their own NFTs based on Delysium’s IP free of charge, but they can also create their own customised tokenomics or incentive system with their own tokens embedded into the game. Based on this innovative model, players can enjoy more diverse and rich content through community-based DMOs’ creation and operations.

Unix Gaming, one of the world’s largest gaming guilds with more than 200,000 players, has become the first DMO officially announced.

—

The post AI-powered AAA Web3 game Delysium nets US$10M strategic funding appeared first on e27.

One of the biggest challenges many online stores face is their inability to strike a chord with their customers.

The reason behind this is not far-fetched.

Most businesses do not have an effective customer strategy when marketing their products on the internet. This can be frustrating for both buyers and sellers. You need an excellent digital experience if you want your business to thrive in today’s world of e-commerce.

Websites are not well designed

A well-designed website is a crucial part of the online shopping experience. It should be simple, clean, and easy to navigate. Responsive across all platforms – desktop, laptop, and mobile device

This will make it easier for customers to find what they need on your site.

Product content is not good enough

Content is the heart of your online store. It’s what will make you stand out in the sea of competitors. To convince customers to buy from you and helps you rank better in search engines.

According to Shopify’s State of Ecommerce Report,

• 86 per cent of consumers take action after reading a company blog post or article
• 69 per cent of consumers report that they visit an online store because they were referred by another website or article

This means that if you want your store to be found on any search engine, you need good product content!

No focus on the customer buying experience

It’s not enough to create a good website. You need to build a great customer experience. Focus on making it easy for your customers to find what they want and feel like they are being listened to.

If you don’t take the time and effort right now, you will lose out in the long run.

Also Read: How e-commerce merchants can capture growth in international markets

Here are some key areas where you can improve:

Make your site mobile friendly

According to Statista, mobile internet usage stood at 4.32 billion in 2021!

So, if your site isn’t already optimised for this trend (i.e. doesn’t look good on mobile devices), then it’s falling behind the competition already.

Be open with your customers

Win over consumers’ hearts by being open about their products before and during purchase. Share details about shipping times or return policies. Do not let customers wonder what will happen next after placing their orders. Build trust levels.

Online stores do not use social media marketing strategically

You might be wondering how the heck social media marketing can help your online store. Well, it’s a relatively simple concept: Social media is an opportunity to reach a wider audience and build your brand.

Social media marketing can also help you share your company’s story with people who have already bought from you, in addition to introducing new customers to what makes you unique.

To start making the most out of social media for your business, consider these five tips:

• Know your audience
• Determine what you want out of your social media marketing
• Set goals for each platform
• Strategise a content plan (and stick to it!)
• Don’t forget about customer support

Email marketing is under-utilised

Build your list and grow your audience through email marketing. Use it to bring customers back to your store, which will increase traffic, resulting in having them buy more from you.

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways for people to receive information about products and services they may be interested in purchasing.

Yet, many online retailers do not take advantage of this powerful tool because they do not know how or where to start their campaigns.

Online stores do not have a unified communication strategy

A unified communication strategy is crucial for any business that wants to communicate internally and externally. This involves the integration of all forms of communication channels.

Emails, social media, live chats, voice & video calls, screen sharing, smart and instant messaging, and video conferencing.

When these pieces are properly orchestrated, you can create a seamless experience for your customers and employees.

Provide a truly omnichannel experience enabling customers to interact with your store using their favourite channels.

Do you know your customer?

This is a crucial first step in any online marketing campaign. It gives you the ability to understand what they’re interested in and what would appeal to most of them.

Understanding your customer base can help improve customer experience, increase sales conversions, and create content that resonates with the target audience.

Also Read: Big wins for small businesses: Supercharging growth with online content

To gather information about your customers, look at their interests and preferences based on their shopping history.

You could use third-party data sources like Google Analytics or Facebook Insights, which provide valuable information on demographics such as age range and gender. It could also tell more about how best to reach them using digital channels such as social media.

There is no conversation with the customer

Customer service is the single most important aspect of running an online store. Simply put, if you don’t have good customer service, no one will buy from you.

But there are many ways to define good customer service. For example:

• It’s not just about answering questions. It’s also about listening to the customer and solving problems promptly.
• Customer support should be proactive. Reach out to start helping them with their issues.

The digital experience is not personalised

Personalisation is a customer service that is very important to customers. Customers want to feel like they are being listened to and cared for.

It’s no surprise that personalisation has become an important part of the online customer experience.

Customers want personalised experiences – from being greeted on every visit or receiving relevant offers based on what they have bought in the past to having access to live chat or 24/7 availability if they have any questions about your order.

Improve your online marketing strategy by following these methods

• Focus on the customer buying experience.
• Provide a live chat feature (web widget).
• Keep building your email list. Do this by using pop-ups, exit intent pages, or other forms of digital marketing methods to sign up.
• Unify communication channels. It’s important to understand where your customers are and what device they use to ensure that you send them relevant information — on desktop, mobile, or tablet.

Key to a successful online store

Find your niche. The more specific you can be, the more focused you will be on your audience, and the easier it will be for them to find what they’re looking for.

The best thing about online stores is that they are there 24/7, so people can shop whenever they want! As much as it’s important to have a brilliant website store, it’s highly recommended to provide them with an outstanding personalised service.

Today’s customers have high expectations for digital experiences online. Bridge them with communication tools that create amazing customer experiences, not only for the customer but for your team.

–

Join us at the Jakarta stop of the Big Leap roadshow

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Canva Pro

The post Why do most online stores fall flat and how you can improve it? appeared first on e27.

Pascale Wautelet, Avery Dennison’s VP for Global Research & Development and Sustainability, discusses the need to nurture startup companies and communities to expedite progress and see frontier innovations thrive.

In 1949, the patent for the barcode was filed by Joe Woodland. It wasn’t until 1974 in Troy, Ohio, that the first item at Marsh Supermarket was passed through the scanner and that now-familiar beep was heard. It eventually came to pass because IBM had invested in the innovation and the prototype process. Sadly, despite working for IBM at the time, Woodland wasn’t credited with the final UPC concept.

While the original intention was to speed up the checkout process in America’s grocery stores, the outcome was to revolutionise the supply chain. IBM’s support of innovation illustrates how groundbreaking ideas can languish for decades if they don’t have the necessary financial support or infrastructure required to bring innovation to life. In the case of the barcode, they also needed a succession of inventions — from infrared to improved printing practices — in order to support the outcome.

Also read: Gen Z is redefining global consumption. Can companies keep up?

More recently — 30 years ago actually — we saw the advent of Bluetooth technology as a result of collaboration between Dutch engineer Jaap Haartsen and Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson. Again, the concept of spread-spectrum radio technology had existed since the late 1930s when Austrian-born actress Hedy Lamarr found time between Hollywood movie shoots to develop the technology that would fail to evolve until a corporate enterprise saw its potential some 50 years later. 

Fast-forward to present day: in such a fast-paced evolution of new technology and highly dynamic market needs, the power of collaborating with external organisations is invaluable for businesses. Open Innovation has become a necessity today, and I see many advantages to making it part of your company’s Innovation Engine.

Supporting groundbreaking innovation

At Avery Dennison, we have established multiple paths within our innovation framework, and our AD Stretch accelerator programme, running alongside our Open Innovation Studio, is one of those. When we think about exploring new opportunities that are further from our core, we need to accept that we cannot be the master of everything. Partnering outside your company gives you access to a much broader pool of insights, ideas, and solutions from different sources that enables you to transform your business faster as you nurture and support innovative talents and ideas.

Also read: Going the extra mile in digital innovation for Singapore’s commuter experience

Another key aspect of open innovation and external collaboration is the ability to boost employee engagement. When organisations are collectively involved in solving the most challenging problems and implementing the best ideas, it fosters strong engagement and ownership and a stake in the company’s goals. Employees feel more connected to the strategy and invested in contributing to company success. Ultimately it is a win-win.

Helping innovators flourish alongside their ideas

As we saw with the barcode, a larger organisation investing in innovation is nothing new — it’s how we’ve progressed through successive industrial evolutions and into the Digital Age. Whereby innovations of old progressed yet the innovators themselves were left behind, today, we want to ensure that not only do the ideas flourish, but so do the ideators.

Also read: 25 years in Singapore: This industry veteran discusses innovation

And now more than ever, we need to come together to solve problems collectively. As history has demonstrated, inviting talented people to the table and supporting their concepts is one of the quickest ways to delivering solutions at scale and solving some of our industry’s most urgent challenges.

To know more about Avery Dennison’s accelerator program, visit ADStretch.com

– –

This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Avery Dennison.

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

The post We need to accelerate progress at the frontier of innovation appeared first on e27.

Southeast Asia is a melting pot of various ethnicities — Chinese, Indian, indigenous and western bubbling over four decades.  

However, the outside world doesn’t fully understand the region. People outside the region see SEA simply as a westerner (foreigner) or a local. Worse, most Southeast Asians only know their own country very well but very little about other countries.

The region needs to have a rich view of what’s happening inside to effectively influence policy to communicate outside Southeast Asia. 

A group of venture capitalists and former policymakers felt the need to have a foundational understanding and a shared understanding of the region’s prospects that go well beyond the investing community. 

With this goal in mind, they joined hands to launch a new non-profit.

Called the Angsana Council, the non-profit is committed to increasing the growth and prosperity of the societies and economies in the region. 

Built on strong personal and professional ties, the Angsana Council members have worked extensively in various government, business, education and community service spheres. Its founding members are Charles Ormiston (Founding Partner, Southeast Asia, Bain & Company), Peng T. Ong (Co-Founder and Managing Partner, Monk’s Hill Ventures), Gita Wirjawan (ex-Minister of Trade of the Republic of Indonesia, educator and entrepreneur), and George Yeo (ex-Singapore cabinet minister and visiting scholar at Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy and the National University of Singapore). 

Also Read: A stroll through Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park in Dubai

“The council is the coming together of a group of people that are excited about the growth prospects for Southeast Asia but don’t necessarily feel the world understands,” according to Ormiston, who stepped out of the equity world to be part of the council.

This group of changemakers advocate that technology-enabled disruption will be a vital contributor to the future of the thriving region. Each shares the same passion for the region and resonates strongly with the mission of getting the world to understand Southeast Asia.

 “We at Monk’s Hill thought it is a worthwhile mission to sponsor,” said Ong.

The council does not aim to be a prominent think tank but instead a cosy focus group that has open and transparent conversations about the policy about technology to foster growth in the SEA economy. 

“We expect to reach six or seven more people over the next year to join the council. We will look for people in Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand with similar backgrounds, such that they have been involved in problem-solving but are also intellectually accepted,” said Ormiston.

Understanding the region

Since the 1998-99 financial crisis, the world’s attention shifted to India and China. SEA as a region was sidelined, even though it houses 25 per cent of Asia’s population. Only recently have people started paying attention to the region thanks to tech innovation.

As the council members dug deep to gather data and information for their first report, they realised that not many spoke exclusively about the region. There were specific reports for certain sectors, but none looked at the region and explored its investment potential. 

So the Angsana Council’s first major work is a report. The report — Southeast Asia’s Pursuit of the Emerging Markets Growth Crown: How four factors could step up Southeast Asian growth — highlights the growth potential in SEA despite global economic headwinds.

According to Ormiston, the report attempts to share a data-driven understanding of the region to contribute to its growth.

With this report, the council decodes the question: Why Southeast Asia? Will it talk about different types of technology and how it impacts various parts of the region?

Also Read: The thesis for cross-border e-commerce in Southeast Asia

It is a concrete analysis to showcase why Southeast Asia has been one of the world’s most stable places to invest in the last 25 years. Backed with data and meticulously fact-checked, the report gives fund managers, investors, and VCs worldwide a solid understanding of the region. 

As the council also has former policymakers as members, the report hopes to bag the attention of the government that could enable tech to move faster in Southeast Asia. The report and the council’s work are a starting point for a dialogue between technology-enabled disruptors, tech startups and governments to see how they can collaboratively increase the region’s productivity.

The report forecasts the SEA economy to grow by four to five per cent annually over the next ten years, with Vietnam leading the charge at a projected growth of five to seven per cent. The report’s optimism is centred around two critical sources of additional growth: 

• The growing impact of tech-enabled entrepreneurs (TEDs) on investment, productivity and economic inclusion
• That SEA’s largest trading relationships are with China, and SEA grows as China grows

The report provides deeper insights into factors such as pro-growth policies, stable macroeconomics, vibrant demographics of SEA, the impact of TEDs driving growth and the benefits of remaining neutral amidst geopolitical headwinds.

The council aims to tackle one topic every quarter and dig deep into discussions with experts and research to map out the potential of SEA. Innovation stories of Air Asia and what it did to the aviation sectors of ASEAN countries and local players like Shopee superseding Amazon and Grab are testimony that the region can employ deep tech and novel business models based on a thorough understanding of the people.

“And those are the stories we want to understand and help the world understand better. So that they look at Southeast Asia differently and see the opportunities to invest in this in what we call Tetra Tech-enabled disruptors,” said Ormiston.

—

Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

The post The Angsana Council is here to explain SEA to global investors appeared first on e27.

We live in a world of overlayed realities and times. Being pursued by the past, we are striving for the future. The physical world is not the only world where our mind exists and evolves. And what I mean has nothing to do with esoterism or meditation. 

Modern minds simultaneously exist in virtual reality and live a second life there. While parents try to limit their kids’ time on laptops and mobiles, the inevitable reality is that humankind is being “digitized” more with each generation. 

The birth of the metaverse is the natural continuation of the modern world and the technology that addresses the emerging demands of our society. It’s a virtual environment where travel to different epochs and destinations is not a big issue. It’s a world of mixed realities and times, bypassing many limitations of the existing communication tech, online interactions, and business. 

But seriously, what does the metaverse mean? Are we entering the times described in The Matrix movie? It seems that Bill Gates has been heading there for many years.

A buzzword with many definitions

In the broadest terms, the metaverse is an integrated network of 3D virtual worlds that are always on and co-exist in one environment. It’s a virtual space where people can meet, work, shop, club, and do other things they would do in a physical world but with much broader opportunities.

It has three common elements – avatars, a VR interface, and digital ownership, but none of them is essential to the main idea.

Also Read: Will your next dentist appointment be in the metaverse?

There is another definition that explains the significance of the metaverse. Instead of the future, it looks into the past and everyday technologies like mobile phones and the Internet.

The venture capitalist Matthew Ball describes the metaverse as “a sort of successor state to the mobile internet,” assuming that the metaverse will replace smartphones and other means of communication, as we will be able to socialise in a much more exciting reality.

Just like smartphones dozens of years ago, the metaverse is poised to revolutionise our social interactions, economy, and even lifestyles.

The metaverse is not as new as you may think

Is the metaverse new? Briefly, no. Most say that the concept has fallen out of the pages of the cyberpunk novel Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson where he used the term to describe the imagined future world far back in 1992. 

As the unnamed theory of the future, the metaverse has existed in the corporate visions of many companies. In the ’90s, U.K. grocery chain Sainsbury’s created a VR shopping demo that is very similar to a video released by Walmart in 2017. Besides marketing pieces, several metaverse-like projects were created quite some time ago. 

The first and closest to the metaverse project is an online multimedia platform, “Second Life”, launched in 2003. It’s a virtual world with its own in-game economy and currency that can be traded for real money.

Users are presented by their avatars there. It’s the virtual space where people enjoy immersive real-world experiences, produce their own content, create and trade services, and more. Many call Second Life a “textbook to the metaverse” since this game reflects all the main ideas of the metaverse.

Who does rule the metaverse?

Even though metaverses are mostly built as anarchic, community-driven environments that operate on the principle of civility, there is a place for the law aimed to eliminate risks coming from malefactors. Just like in any other world, there is the good, the bad, and the law that regulates it.  

At the given moment, the creator of every single metaverse controls it and states its own laws in terms of service you must read and accept before entering the space. Besides standard law applied to the entire metaverse, there can be specific rules developed for each virtual district, and it’s the user’s responsibility to explore them and follow them.

Since the industry is very new, there is no unified law for all metaverses. However, it’s definitely on the way. The metaverse lawyer will become one of the most prestigious professions soon. The more people will buy a virtual property and integrate their businesses into a new virtual world, the greater will be the demand for legal regulations.

The expansion of life

Real estate

Hanging out with avatars and playing in virtual spaces is not the only reason this development is so interesting.

The digital hills of the metaverse have gold ‘bonanza’ veins.

Also Read: Fostering emotional companionship in the metaverse

Right now, we’re amid a virtual land grab. Thousands of people are buying and building virtual parcels. Some of them are just holding them to trade them to the highest bidder later. This is what speculators will be banking on. 

Business

More entrepreneurs are becoming interested in expanding their businesses to the metaverse, as it opens endless opportunities for reaching broader audiences, immersive marketing/shopping experiences, and eliminating geolocation restrictions. 

Furthermore, the metaverse is a versatile space offering extra monetisation opportunities for many businesses and industries.

In January 2022, Samsung launched its first metaverse store in Decentraland. Coca-Cola launched a collection of branded NFTs that can be used across the universe for avatars, and that was won at the bidding amount of over US$575,000. We will see many more examples soon. 

Personalisation

Another speculative market is personalisation which refers to everything related to users’ avatars and their neighbourhoods, starting from clothes, interior design, and animations to digital art and more.

Users will spend on it as much as they care about what others think of them in the metaverse. And the significance of self-expression in the metaverse will surely grow, starting from wealthier and tech-savvier social classes and expanding further, becoming more accessible for everyone over time. 

Socialisation

The way we socialise has changed a lot after the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdowns. Skype birthdays and FaceTime drinks have become the norm. Kids are being brought up on apps like TikTok, Snapchat, and Instagram.

Virtual socialisation has become very common, and it’s another aspect the metaverse is revolutionising too. In this new techno-utopian world, you can feel like an individual and an organic part of an impressive environment simultaneously. There is no judgement for your self-expression and free speech, as you can remain anonymous. 

Whether you are attending virtual concerts with favourite celebrities, NFT exhibitions of famous artists, escape rooms, or even group meditations – the metaverse empowers us to socialise and acquire new experiences that have been previously impossible. 

Music, entertainment, finance, fashion, travel, e-commerce, and other industries are moving toward the metaverse to collaboratively build a more inclusive and democratic environment that will allow average users to interact, shop, and learn at a whole new level. They are building a second Life.

–

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: Willow Xk via Unsplash

The post “See you in the metaverse” – Yours, life appeared first on e27.

Last Friday (October 28), I had the privilege to share the stage at Echelon Asia 2022 with distinguished peers – Rishi Randhawa, Head of Web3 Innovation, Enjinstarter; Xander van der Heijden CEO, UNL; and Shaun Heng, Head of Spartan Labs. The panel was moderated by Rachael De Foe, Managing Director and Founder of Redefy. 

Over a 45-minute conversation, we explored the implications, challenges and opportunities for Web2 companies to take this leap to Web3. As the latter values openness, transparency, composability, and participation, how could companies establish plans in the face of crypto market volatility?

The following were four takeaways from the discussion:

Web2 and Web3 will co-exist with each other

When e-commerce first emerged (Amazon and eBay in the US and Lazada in Southeast Asia), the narrative was centred around how “physical retail was dead”, and e-commerce would reign supreme.

Yet statistics prove otherwise, almost two decades into the e-commerce boom – online retail sales in Southeast Asia account for no more than 20 per cent of total volume at best, and mature markets like the USA fare only slightly better at 30 per cent. 

In a similar vein, the emergence of Web3 has led to attention-grabbing headlines of how “Web3 will disrupt and replace Web2”, yet history is likely to repeat itself. Just as physical retail and e-commerce co-exist today, Web2 and Web3 are likely to co-exist.

Also Read: Echelon 2022: Moving into Web3, why now is the right time?

As shared by Heng, “It’s not about moving from Web2 to Web3 entirely. It’s about combining the best of Web2 and Web3 to build better business models, expanding your playbook to complement each other.”

2025 might be the golden year for Web3

The journey for Web3 to co-exist alongside Web2 has only begun, and when asked when we can expect Web3 to hit mass market adoption, the consensus among the panel was two-three years from today, thus indicating 2025 as the golden year for Web3. 

Randhawa shares, “Two to three years is a realistic timeline to shift to Web3 as governments continue to figure out their roles in Web3. There’s going to be a shift as more people naturally get a wallet.”

This sentiment is echoed by Heijden, who said that “Eventually, we won’t even know we’re using blockchain. We’ve made a lot of progress since two years ago, and that will only accelerate moving forward.”

Web3 is everywhere; get immersed today to learn about tomorrow

As an increasing number of Web2 companies seek to dip their toes into Web3, De Foe asked the panellists what the most effective ways to learn about Web3 might be. The answer was unanimous – learn by doing (or more raucously, trial by fire). 

Heijden shares, “There are so many resources online. On YouTube, there are channels like SuperDAO. There are also collectives like Safary Club. It’s all out there you’ve just got to find it”.

Heng also advised what companies and organisations can do, “Start small with a group of people who are passionate and interested in the space. There’s no need to abandon your business in pursuit of Web3.”

This resonates strongly with Saison Capital, as we kickstarted the 2to3 Product Managers community to encourage Web2 product managers to immerse themselves in Web3 conversations.

With a thriving community of 300+ product managers, we learnt that the most effective way to grasp web3 concepts is through immersion – creating a wallet, receiving proof of attendance protocol (POAP) NFT, and even purchasing cryptocurrency for the first time. 

No Web3 experts exist…yet

At the closing of the Echelon 2022 panel, De Foe then prompted the panellists to share how Web2 companies can prepare themselves for the Web3 paradigm shift on the people and talent front.

Heijden shared that finding talent in Web2 is already challenging, especially in technical roles, and the war for talent in Web3 would even be more intense. Yet founders should avoid falling into the trap of searching for the “Web3 expert”, given the nascency of the space.

Also Read: Should Southeast Asian startups look to transition from Web2 to Web3?

Instead, the focus should be on soft skills. “We tend to hire entrepreneurs who are really good at what they do in Web2, but have a strong desire to learn more about Web3”, says Heng.

Randhawa affirms this lookout for curiosity by sharing, “First and foremost is attitude. You need to be proactive in this space”. 

Rounding up the conversation, I then also shared my observations from Web2 (building Glints, Southeast Asia’s largest talent platform) and Web3 (investing in early-stage Web3 founders in Southeast Asia), “Find someone relentlessly resourceful who can figure things out and learn on their own persistently. These are two qualities that will never go out of style”. 

This piece was co-authored by Joash Lee, an Intern at Saison Capital.

–

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

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

The post Web2 founders, get ready for Web3 before 2025 – Insights from Echelon 2022 appeared first on e27.

PasarMIKRO, an Indonesia-based agri commodity trade platform, has secured US$2.5 million in an oversubscribed seed funding round led by Trihill Capital and Resolution Ventures.

Genting Ventures, 1982 Ventures and other unnamed investors also joined

The fresh funds will help PasarMIKRO grow its user base, expand product offerings, and enter new markets.

The new round comes nine months after PasarMIKRO’s pre-seed round led by 1982 Ventures.

Started in early 2022, PasarMIKRO is a mobile-based commodity trading and trade finance desk service for agri players, revolving around farmers, suppliers and traders.

Also Read: 1982 Ventures closes debut US$20M seed-stage fintech fund

It connects farmers and traders for daily activities, such as bookkeeping, working capital, and marketplace transactions to sell their products. The company is going after Indonesia’s US$130 billion agriculture, forestry and fishing market (over 13 per cent of GDP according to the World Bank ) by empowering smallholder farmers, traders and the entire value chain.

PasarMIKRO launched a pilot in the Blitar province focused on eggs and has quickly expanded to all major provinces with over ten commodities on its platform. The firm is projected to hit over US$300 million annualised gross transaction value and 10,000 users by the end of 2023.

Dien Wong, CEO and Co-Founder of PasarMIKRO, said: “PasarMIKRO gives farmers and traders a real-time trading platform that provides reliability, transparency and frictionless transactions. Connecting the agriculture value chain has a direct, immediate and positive impact on the income of Indonesian farmers and traders.”

Co-Founder Hugo Verwayen added, “PasarMIKRO is solving a huge bottleneck in the agri value chain by enabling the existing traders, aggregators and farmers with digitisation and access to working capital. We have scaled into new commodity segments and provinces while keeping costs low and managing our burn.”

—

The post Indonesia-based agri commodity trade platform PasarMIKRO bags US$2.5M seed capital appeared first on e27.

As part of its Project AsiaForward initiative, Alibaba Cloud has teamed up with tech ecosystem partners to celebrate the diverse achievements of tech-driven entities in Southeast Asia.

Known as AsiaStar 10×10, the initiative gives recognition to 100 companies, communities, and projects in ten categories across the region. Ten awardees were chosen for each category. The categories are:

1. Trailblazers are Series B to pre-IPO companies that have played an essential role in driving technological innovation in the region.
2. Gamechangers made moves that set precedents or broke records in Southeast Asia.
3. Growth includes early-stage startups that are developing unique and innovative products and solutions, and have raised funds up to Series B.
4. Enablers are SaaS companies that provide crucial support to enterprises of every stripe.
5. Explorers are Chinese startups that have successfully ventured into the region and established a strong presence.
6. Open Source highlights projects that have accelerated the region’s digitalisation by giving other entities the tools they need to build new applications.
7. Frontiers includes startups that are developing deeply technical products, such as quantum computing, biotech and medical advancements, space tech, and more.
8. Impact comprises startups that have brought about significant grassroots-level advancements where they operate.
9. Investors are the equity firms that provide the fuel startups need to grow, and are evaluated for the impact they showcase.
10. Launchpads are educational institutions, incubators, and accelerators that have provided safe environments to nurture great startups.

The awardees were selected from the list of final nominees curated by representatives of Alibaba Cloud, government agencies, investors, industry experts, and media outlets. They considered a variety of factors, such as revenue, funding, impact, uniqueness, potential, and more. The full list can be viewed here: https://asiastar10x10.kr-asia.com/awardees-2022/.

These are the final awardees for each category:

• Trailblazers

Series B to pre-IPO companies that have played an essential role in driving technological innovation in the region

1. Aerodyne — A DT3 (Drone tech, data tech, and digital transformation) solutions provider, Aerodyne has operations in 35 countries and manages the infrastructure assets of over 300,000 clients, making it the world’s second-largest drone service company.
2. Kumu —  Not only the first Filipino app to be the top-grossing social app in the Philippines according to App Annie, Kumu is also one of the highest-grossing social apps in the world, ranking among the top ten in multiple markets including Canada, Australia, the Middle East, Europe, Hong Kong, and Singapore app stores. This social media platform gives users the chance to win cash in various game shows and campaign engagements, as well as helps content creators convert engagement into income via e-commerce, virtual gifting, and advertising.
3. NinjaVan — NinjaVan’s well-established end-to-end logistics network spans Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, and the Philippines, connecting over 1.5 million active shippers with close to 100 million recipients. It is the only last-mile courier with almost 100% service coverage in Southeast Asia, from tier-1 cities to almost all remote villages.
4. ShopBack — ShopBack provides shoppers with cashback services from online stores, serving over 30 million shoppers in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Taiwan, Vietnam, Australia, and South Korea. The company matches brands with customers wanting to receive cashback rewards and other types of discounts.
5. Sunday — Sunday adopts AI and machine learning technology to underwrite its motor insurance and employee health benefits product, including dynamic data models to automate pricing and scale its underwriting process for complex risks. Originally based in Bangkok, Thailand, Sunday has now expanded into Indonesia.
6. GrowSari — GrowSari is digitising small physical retail stores, called sarisari, with features like pricing tools, inventory management, and working capital loans. In addition to providing affordable, on-demand inventory as well as working capital loans, GrowSari’s platform also generates crucial data and insights into the operations of these stores for manufacturers and distributors to build their strategies and campaigns upon.
7. eFishery — eFishery offers an integrated end-to-end platform providing fish and shrimp farmers access to technology, feed, financing, and markets. The company started out by offering fish and shrimp farmers in Indonesia a digitally-controlled ‘smart feeder’ which offers automatic feeding coinciding with a mobile app where farmers can input variables such as fish and shrimp type, feed quantity and pellet size, feeding frequency, and feeding schedule.
8. MoMo — MoMo focuses on open banking and application programming interface development. The company’s primary product includes a mobile app that allows customers to conduct transactions directly from their mobile devices for payments at schools, hospitals, gas stations, and other vendors.
9. Kopi Kenangan — An Indonesian coffee chain, Kopi Kenangan serves affordable brews made with local ingredients and recipes. The company, which employs a ‘Grab & Go’ model, delivers most orders through its app, making it a convenient alternative to traditional coffee houses.
10. Jirnexu — Jirnexu develops digital acquisition and lifecycle management solutions for banks, insurance companies, and service providers. Solutions developed by Jirnexu are known to offer expansive reach, lower acquisition costs, and added convenience for customers.

Also read: Reimagining customer experience with Sendbird

• Gamechangers

Company moves that set precedents or broke records in Southeast Asia

1. Grab’s IPO — Grab went public on NASDAQ in a USD 40 billion SPAC deal in December 2021, allowing the ride-hailing company to raise USD 4.5 billion in cash proceeds. Grab’s listing is the largest U.S. listing so far by a Southeast Asian company. As the first SPAC merger of an SEA unicorn, this marks an inspirational and mind-blowing event in the region.
2. Bukalapak’s IPO — At the time of its listing, Bukalapak claimed the largest IPO in IDX’s history. It is Indonesia’s first tech unicorn that got listed on the stock exchange, raising USD 1.5 billion in August 2021. Bukalapak’s stock price rose almost 25% only minutes after the market was opened on its debut day. The rise boosted the company’s valuation to around USD 7.5 billion.
3. Merger deal between Gojek and Tokopedia — Grab’s biggest competitor in ID merged with ecommerce provider Tokopedia in May 2021 to allow for a move to become a super app in the biggest merger deal in Indonesia. The company debuted on IDX in Apr 2022, raising USD 1.1 billion. As an entity, GoTo contributes 2% to the country’s GDP, more than USD 1.8 billion in transactions, and has over 100 million monthly active users.
4. GCash’s explosive growth — With COVID-19 accelerating the demand for online payment options, Mynt’s payment app GCash has grown rapidly. In November 2021, GCash raised USD 300 million at a valuation of USD 2 billion. This effectively made Mynt a double unicorn based in the Philippines. As of May 2022, the e-wallet company managed to have 55 million registered users and 4.5 million partner merchants on its network.
5. Avant Meats’s Series A funding round — Avant Meats is China’s first meat cultivation biotechnology firm. It is the only company in Asia to develop cultivated meat for food, skin care, and cosmetics using its proprietary technology that produces zero-residue protein directly from fish cells, according to DealStreetAsia. In June 2022, the cell-based seafood firm raised USD 10.8 million in a series A funding round.
6. TiNDLE’s global expansion — Launched in October 2020, Singapore-headquartered food tech startup Next Gen has been making waves in the plant-based business environment. Next Gen’s plant-based chicken consumer brand TiNDLE has enjoyed success in a number of international markets including the United States, UK, Hong Kong, Amsterdam, and Dubai. TiNDLE is now available in over 500 restaurants on four continents.
7. 2C2P acquired by Ant Financial — 2C2P is a full-suite payment platform helping the world’s leading enterprises securely accept and make payments through one point of integration. Through the strategic partnership announced in April 2022, 2C2P’s extensive pool of merchants—inclusive of global and regional brands—will be connected with Alipay+, extending its current 250 payment options to include even more e-wallets and local payment methods.
8. VinFast EVs’s expansion into North America — In July 2021, VinFast began operations in the US, Canada, France, Germany, and the Netherlands in preparation for its launch in those markets, moving closer towards its goal of becoming a global smart electric car company.
9. Society Pass’s listing on NASDAQ — Society Pass (Nasdaq: SOPA) is a loyalty and data marketing ecosystem in Vietnam that operates multiple e-commerce and lifestyle platforms across its key markets, including Singapore, Vietnam, Philippines, and Indonesia. It raised USD 26 million in its IPO.
10. PropertyGuru’s listing on NYSE — On March 18, 2022, PropertyGuru was listed via the completion of a business combination with the SPAC Bridgetown 2 backed by billionaires Peter Thiel and Richard Li. The company opens the door to increased opportunities across Southeast Asia’s fast-growing property market and will also enable global investors to access this high-growth market.

• Growth

Early-stage startups that are developing unique and innovative products and solutions, and have raised funds up to Series B

1. ProfilePrint — ProfilePrint is a food ingredient search engine platform powered by a patented AI fingerprint technology. It can predict the quality and profile of a food sample within seconds by enabling sellers and buyers to ascertain the agreed quality of a food ingredient in an online transaction without the need for physical samples.
2. SariSuki — SariSuki acts as a consolidator of grocery items for their “KaSari” (community leaders) who in turn own virtual “sari-sari stores” that sell the goods to consumers. SariSuki commits to an under-15-minute grocery delivery service within its covered areas. It has served more than 60,000 consumers through its growing number of community leaders, with operations extending across Greater Metro Manila Area, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and some parts of both Rizal and Pampanga in the Philippines.
3. AiTreat — AiTreat developed a robot called EMMA, which stands for “expert manipulative massage automation.” It provides soft tissue therapeutic treatment to patients. EMMA is equipped with sensors to measure muscle stiffness and uses 3D vision technology to analyse the patient’s body.
4. Rovula — Rovula is a subsea robotics developer building new machines for subsea inspection, repair, and maintenance. While conventional methods of subsea inspection and maintenance are costly in terms of money and time, Rovula’s products, including unmanned vessels and a data platform, can cut those costs by 50%.
5. Duckie Land — Duckie Land is a multiplatform GameFi project built for a VR experience with multiplayer mode. Duckie Land gives gamers ownership of in-game assets and allows them to increase their value by actively playing the game. By participating in the in-game economy, players will receive rewards and create more value for other users and the ecosystem.
6. Eatcosys — Eatcosys is an F&B and retail technology solution provider to help businesses transform and reinvent their business models. It offers over ten services and solutions including catering and event venue booking, food delivery, loyalty and retail management solutions, food search insights, venture capital, and money lending to local businesses. Examples of their solutions include FoodAdvisor, MyCookingStory, and FeedMyGuest.
7. GlobalTrack Smart Logistics — GlobalTrack Smart Logistics is a platform that aims to help SMEs to track and manage their fleet operations safely and effectively through remote GPS monitoring. Its delivery management and fleet telematics systems are able to help fleet owners to monitor their logistic operations, fleet vehicles, and drivers in real-time, minimising vehicle downtime and ensuring timely maintenance for the avoidance of potential malfunctions.
8. PolicyStreet — PolicyStreet offers a digital platform that allows consumers and businesses to purchase insurance products and services in a more affordable and accessible manner. It currently has 40 insurance partners, served more than 250,000 people, and empowered them with more than 50,000 insurance policies.
9. Speedwork Autocare — Speedwork Autocare is a platform that serves as a one-stop center for auto parts and vehicle maintenance services while connecting online consumers with workshop operators. The company aims to bridge the gap between online purchasing and offline repairing work, with an emphasis on customer relationship management.
10. KAMEREO — With its digital platform, KAMEREO connects farmers and B2B merchants directly. As a result, they help increase income for farmers, offer better prices for B2B merchants, and lower food wastage that occurs in the supply chain. The company currently has around 200 members and has seen its business scaled up ten times YoY.

• Enablers

SaaS companies that provide crucial support to enterprises of every stripe

1. aCommerce — aCommerce is an end-to-end enabler that helps to scale online businesses. The platform has 100+ APIs from world-class technology partners and 170+ e-commerce clients, and is trusted by 13 of the top 100 global brands. Since commencing operations, aCommerce has connected e-commerce clients with over 11.6 million end-consumers.
2. AI — ADVANCE.AI is an AI company helping to solve digital transformation, fraud prevention, and process automation for enterprise clients. The company has over 1,000 enterprise clients across banking, financial services, fintech, payment, retail, and e-commerce sectors. Key clients include Standard Chartered, Bank BTPN, KEB Hana Bank, Bank Jago, Shopee, and Indonesia’s GoTo group.
3. Dropee — Dropee hosts over 80,000 SME businesses procured wholesale inventories in its marketplace, annually totaling more than USD 100 million in transaction value. In the five years since its launch, Dropee has established itself as one of the fastest-growing B2B wholesale SaaS-enabled marketplaces in Southeast Asia with a market presence in Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.
4. Mekari — An Indonesia-based SaaS startup, the company has more than 35,000 clients and 800,000 active users. Mekari is the parent brand of Talenta, Jurnal, Qontak, Klikpajak, and Flex. The company has recorded 11x growth between 2018 and 2022.
5. NexMind — NexMind provides cloud-based and algorithmic solutions based on artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing (NLP), and deep learning. The company has served over 350 clients, including notable companies such as Panasonic, Sogo, Volkswagen, OCBC Bank, UOB, Zurich Insurance, and more.
6. PatSnap — PatSnap is used by more than 10,000 customers in over 40 countries around the world to access market, technology, competitive intelligence, as well as patent insights needed to take products from ideation to commercialisation. Its clients include Tesla, Dyson, Spotify, Oxford University Innovation, and The Dow Chemical Company.
7. Peddlr — Peddlr helps small businesses manage their sales, inventory, accounting, and reports through their mobile devices. The company’s app has seen more than 350,000 downloads across the Apple, Google, and Huawei app stores via just word-of-mouth.
8. Sprout Solutions — Sprout Solutions is a software company that automates payroll, HR, and recruitment processes for businesses in the Philippines. The company has more than 1,000 clients across various industries, including Dole, TOA Global, Canva, IQVIA, MiraMed, KMC, Incenter Technology, and Intellicare.
9. ai— Wiz.ai, a humanised voice AI technology provider, currently has 200 clients across banking, insurance, fintech, telecommunications, e-commerce, healthcare, and the public sector. The company has offices in Singapore, Nanjing, and Jakarta. Wiz.ai is set to grow its revenue and customers 10x in 2022, with plans for global expansion to Australia, America, and Mexico as the next step.
10. Xendit — Xendit is a payment infrastructure platform that supports businesses of all sizes in Southeast Asia, from individual sellers all the way to growth-stage startups and large enterprises. It currently has more than 3,000 customers, including Traveloka, Transferwise, and Grab. Xendit has been growing fast, with its revenue having grown at an annual rate of 700% over the past five years.

Also read: We need to accelerate progress at the frontier of innovation

• Explorers

Chinese startups that have successfully ventured into the region and established a strong presence

1. PingCAP — Backed by the open-source community and public cloud facility, PingCAP creates a business ecosystem that knows no boundaries. Since 2019, the company has landed its service in the United States, Japan, Europe, and Southeast Asia, counting top-notch enterprises in every market as its clientele. PingCAP is on its way to establishing itself as an open-source infrastructure provider that boosts digital transformation for global businesses.
2. Cyclone — Founded in 2015, Cyclone integrates AI, NLP, and other technologies to launch its RPA robotics solution that includes a software automation platform, a cloud-native platform, and digital transformation services. In the past three years, Cyclone has expanded its footprint not only to the Greater China region but also to Japan and Southeast Asia.
3. Dianxiaomi — Dianxiaomi has built a SaaS product matrix that integrates functions such as enterprise resource planning, third-party warehousing, customer service, and logistics tracking, providing a variety of tools for cross-border e-commerce sellers on various platforms. Dianxiaomi collaborates with more than 50 e-commerce platforms, connecting over 1,600 logistics providers, and 80 overseas warehouses.
4. Agora — Founded in 2014, Agora is the leading pioneer of the global Real-Time Interactive RTE-PaaS Cloud. Its global audio and video communication services span more than 20 sectors, enabling enterprises from social live streaming, online education, games, VR/AR/IoT, insurance, telehealth, and team collaboration to use their business solutions in over 200 application scenarios.
5. J&T Express — J&T Express started in the Southeast Asia market in 2015, before it evolved into a comprehensive logistics service operator in just seven years. Not only does J&T Express lead the pack in the fast-growing Southeast Asian market and in the massive Chinese market, its express delivery network now has a global presence in the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
6. SUNMI — Based on the quality products and advanced business model developed in its domestic market, SUNMI, the smart IoT devices and digital solutions provider, leverages its capability to digitise local economies overseas. As of 2022, SUNMI has set up branches in 15 countries, with over 3 million monthly active devices in more than 200 countries and regions.
7. Hago — Hago is a multiplayer social interactive product that enhances the metaverse and 3D avatar interactive socialisation applications. The company pioneers a variety of social gameplay such as livestreaming, interactive games, and multiplayer voice chat. In April 2018, Hago was launched in 33 countries and quickly became popular among the younger local generation.
8. Mobvista — Since its establishment in 2013, Mobvista has been providing advertising and marketing technology services for customers from gaming, e-commerce, social networking, and local lifestyle services. Its ecosystem of SaaS tools helps clients create, promote, and monetise their businesses and manage data generated through consumer traffic.
9. 37GAMES — 37GAMES is a publicly listed game company that has published a variety of games for players in more than 200 countries and regions including Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, and Southeast Asia. The company has been moving up in the rankings of overseas revenue earned by Chinese game enterprises, securing the #3 spot in 2021.
10. TapTap — TapTap helps gamers around the world discover new games. The company allows gamers to identify and select interesting new games, which are then shared with the rest of the gaming community. As of June 2022, TapTap has an average of 9 million monthly active users from over 170 countries and regions.

• Open Source

Projects that have accelerated the region’s digitalisation by giving other entities the tools they need to build new applications

1. ABYRES — ABYRES Group has developed strategic alliances with partners in hardware and software information technology solutions to provide customers with a comprehensive product and services portfolio. These relationships benefit customers through the ability to serve specific needs from a broad base of targeted products and/or service capabilities.
2. Bluzelle — Bluzelle is a blockchain for the gamification of finance (GameFi). It helps to produce high-quality games, protect players’ NFTs, and leverage DeFi yields with its 10,000 TPS cosmos-based blockchain. It has launched the world’s first Data Delivery Network, taking on global market leaders to meet the increasing demand for data delivery.
3. LottieFiles — LottieFiles simplifies the workflow for creating animation in software like Adobe After Effects by allowing app designers to preview how their animation looks in the app and then ship it without hours of coding. LottieFiles has been used by animation and motion designers at 150,000 companies, including Google, TikTok, Disney, Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix.
4. MAPID — MAPID is a geographic information system platform that connects various kinds of location data from trusted sources, and connects all users through real-time mapping collaboration. The company’s products have been used by more than 20 different industries, including transit-oriented development, logistics, citizen journalism, healthcare distribution, and public policy.
5. NukeViet — NukeViet is the first open source Content Management System (CMS) in Vietnam. The latest version, NukeViet 3.0, provides ground-up coding support for the latest web technologies, including xHTML, CSS 3, XTemplate, jQuery, and Ajax. It enables users to build websites and online applications rapidly, as well as provides packing features that allow users to share modules with the web community.
6. Somleng — Somleng is a collection of open-source tools that provide a full-stack cloud communications platform. Carriers can use Somleng to offer programmable voice and SMS services to their customers. It is being used in an early warning system in Cambodia.
7. SpaceChain — Based in Singapore, SpaceChain is building an open and neutral infrastructure for the New Space Economy by integrating space and blockchain technologies. It established the first satellite platform to provide secure custody, transact digital assets, deploy smart contracts, and facilitate Decentralised Finance Infrastructure (DFI) on space nodes.
8. Supabase — Supabase bills itself as an open-source alternative to services like Google’s Firebase. Its service offers many of the core features that developers need to get started, including a database, storage, and authentication services. The company saw rapid growth in 2021 with a community that has now grown to more than 80,000 developers and the creation of over 100,000 databases on the service.
9. Unicorn — Unicorn is a lightweight multi-platform, multi-architecture CPU emulator framework. It has been used by 125 products, such as Qiling (a cross-platform, multi-architecture lightweight sandbox), UniDOS (a Microsoft DOS emulator), and Pwndbg (a Python plugin of GDB to assist exploit development).
10. UniKey — UniKey is the most popular keyboard program for the Vietnamese language, and can be found on almost every Windows PC used by Vietnamese people. The core engine UniKey Vietnamese Input Method is open source and was first released as a part of the x-unikey Vietnamese keyboard for Linux in 2001. Since then, the engine has been integrated with input methods for different software frameworks, including all iOS devices that have Vietnamese input functions.

• Frontiers

Startups that are developing deeply technical products, such as quantum computing, biotech and medical advancements, space tech, and more

1. Baiya Phytopharm — Baiya Phytopharm is a plant-based pharmaceutical company utilising BaiyaPharming protein expression platform to produce recombinant molecular proteins from tobacco leaves. The platform has the flexibility to produce biopharmaceutical products within weeks rather than months or years, which results in faster results and fewer costs in R&D. These biological products of interest can be active ingredients in cosmetics, diagnostic test kits, drugs, or even vaccines.
2. Cortical Labs — Cortical Labs grows biological computer chips by incorporating human neurons in processors. Named Dishbrain, this “brain on a chip” is meant to eventually take over tasks that can be automated. Dishbrain may also have applications in the robotics field, with its ability to process the vast amounts of input data that a robot may encounter in real-life scenarios.
3. EyRIS — EyRIS uses an AI deep learning system to detect eye diseases. Its first DLS solution, SELENA+, performs automated image analysis for eye diseases such as diabetes retinopathy, with add-ons for glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. The company can also provide tele-ophthalmology services.
4. Gero — Gero uses AI to develop new drugs that can slow down aging and cure diseases. Its AI technology can identify rare mutations sufficiently affecting health from real-world big clinical, genetic, and molecular data. It then suggests druggable targets and uses drugs to reduce or minimise the effect of the mutation to treat the disease.
5. MiRXES — MiRXES pioneered a highly sensitive, specific, and robust detection technology for microRNA (miRNA) in the early 2000s. The company brought its technology from laboratory to clinic. In 2019, MiRXES launched GASTROClear, the world’s first microRNA blood test for the early detection of gastric cancer. The technology platform invented by MiRXES covers the entire workflow, from product design to manufacturing and clinical.
6. Nusantics — Nusantics analyses microbiomes to create biomedical solutions that fulfill consumer needs. It is the only genome tech startup in Indonesia. The startup first introduced its technology to the beauty industry. Its Nusantics Hub performs a facial swab test for consumers to assess and score the skin’s microbiome diversity.
7. SpeQtral — SpeQtral is developing space-based quantum systems for the global delivery of secure encryption keys. The SpeQtral team is known for being the first and only team in the world that has demonstrated a miniaturised source of entangled photons in space.
8. Transcelestial — Transcelestial is a laser communications startup that provides a point-to-point wireless communication network. Its infrastructure, requiring zero spectrum costs or right-of-way, combines 10 Gbps speed with the security of fiber optic cables. With a space laser network, it can potentially replace wireless networks and deliver high-speed internet anywhere on earth, potentially benefiting four billion people globally who do not have internet access.
9. WIR Group — WIR Group aims to enhance the metaverse for everyone through developing Web 3.0 software solutions using digital reality technology (AR, VR, AI). It provides creative advertising services using AR technology to interact with consumers and provides a virtual retail store network to facilitate offline retail outlets.
10. Yobite — Yobite uses Freeze Dried Technology to produce dried yogurt, and is the first company in Vietnam to successfully do so. It utilises a few technologies such as fermenting technology, food technology, and freeze-dried technology. The company participated in Startup Wheel 2022 and emerged in the top ten.

Also read: Gen Z is redefining global consumption. Can companies keep up?

• Impact

Startups that have brought about significant grassroots-level advancements where they operate

1. Agrabah Ventures — Agrabah Ventures creates better opportunities for Filipino farmers and fishermen by providing a stable market channel that connects them directly with consumers and ensures that their produce is purchased at a fair price. It arranges the delivery of agricultural produce from farming communities to enterprises through a seamless digital experience of automated logistics bookings.
2. Amaan — Amaan aims to empower women microentrepreneurs across Indonesia by providing them with an integrated sharia digital platform. The platform offers aid via both financial and non-financial solutions, such as access to loans and savings accounts, learning content, health consultations, bookkeeping tools, and everything needed to manage both a business and a household.
3. Bidanku — Bidanku, which translates to “My Midwife” in Bahasa Indonesia, empowers and supports midwives and mothers in rural Indonesia through AI. Midwives are key providers of maternal and child health services in Indonesia’s small towns and rural communities, providing care and support for women during pregnancy and labor.
4. Magorium — Magorium is a deep-tech startup with a solution to the world’s plastic waste problem. Through advanced processes and equipment, their technology converts plastic waste into an innovative synthetic material, NEWBitumen. So far, Magorium has recycled 4,500 kg of plastic waste into NEWBitumen to build roads, and has reduced more than 1,000 kg of natural resources consumed for road construction.
5. Mio — Mio is a group buying platform that focuses on selling fresh produce and groceries in Tier 2 and 3 cities in Vietnam. Its mission is to bring financial independence to women in lower-tier cities and rural areas by enabling them to become micro-entrepreneurs by acting as sales partners in community trade.
6. Saora Industries — Saora Industries utilises affordable and green technology without compromising the environment, and making a positive impact on underprivileged and marginalised communities. According to Saora, it has purified 11,388,00 liters of water and helped 5200 beneficiaries across 42 initiatives and 24 project sites.
7. Sati App — Sati App is an on-demand peer support mental health app with the mission to create an army of empathetic listeners who are available around the clock for their users. The application links users to a trained volunteer listener as soon as one is needed. With a limited number of mental health professionals available, Sati App is tackling the lack of accessibility and affordability for mental health care in a low-resource setting.
8. Super — Super works with local communities to address challenges in conventional retail and supply chain management in lower-tiered cities and rural areas, especially in East Java. Low purchasing power and a small transaction volume per household, combined with deficient infrastructure, cause prices to be higher in rural areas.
9. Umitron — Umitron is a Singapore and Japan-based deep tech company aiming to solve worldwide food and environmental problems by empowering aquaculture with technology to achieve a more sustainable footprint. Over the past few years, they have developed products exclusively for the aquaculture industry using a combination of IoT, satellite remote sensing, and AI technology.
10. Zennya — Zennya is a digital health and wellness platform that delivers on-demand or scheduled clinical-grade healthcare and wellness services, including corporate health management. It makes use of a mobile app booking system to provide users with easy access to its extensive list of digital health services from its own providers.

• Launchpads

Educational institutions, incubators, and accelerators that have provided safe environments to nurture great startups

1. BLOCK71 (NUS) — An initiative by NUS Enterprise in partnership with government and corporate organisations, BLOCK71 is a community-based incubation program that provides mentorship and growth opportunities in local and global markets. Each startup is provided a unique experience, optimised based on the research capabilities and technologies of the university, and the investment and business acumen of its partners.
2. CU Innovation Hub — Chulalongkorn University’s Innovation Hub organises competitions and events to encourage and develop the creativity, critical thinking, and entrepreneurial skills of its students and staff. These include the Chula Innovation Club, which was opened in August 2022, and the Chimnovate Hackathon, which connects startups with industry experts and resources in the context of real-world challenges.
3. Draper Startup House — Draper Startup House positions itself as a digital innovation studio and a members’ club for startups, offering funding opportunities for startups of all stages. It is host to a diverse pool of global angel investors, syndicates, VCs, and other startup investors.
4. IMDA Innovation Team — The IMDA (Infocomm Media Development Authority) Innovation Team comprises both IMDA Pixel and IMDA Open Innovation Platform. PIXEL is an innovation space for corporates and start-ups to learn about the latest technology, and ideate, experiment, and build user-centric digital products.
5. Indigo — Created and run by Telkom Indonesia, Indigo is a startup incubator and accelerator that offers startups co-working spaces, funding of up to IDR 2 billion, and mentoring support from a pool of over 50 notable local and global mentors. Its Indigo Game Startup Incubation program is the first game industry incubator in Indonesia, offering game startups mentorship and support from the pre-production to pre-alpha testing stage.
6. QBO Innovation Hub — QBO offers Philippine startups the opportunities to explore synergies with corporates, government, the academe, and other ecosystem stakeholders in awareness and education initiatives, as well as customised innovation programs. Via its incubation program INQBATION, startups gain access to capital, resources, mentorship, and opportunities to connect with investors.
7. ScaleUp Malaysia — Scaleup Malaysia is an accelerator for companies looking to scale and grow, offering an MYR 200,000 (USD 42,185) investment for startups selected to take part in ScaleUp’s acceleration programs. ScaleUp educates founders and entrepreneurs that are building businesses with high revenue growth and helps them identify a path to profitability.
8. SMU Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (SMU IIE) — SMU IIE provides incubatees with access to state-backed equity-free grants, mentorship support, and access to masterclasses and office hours organised by SMU IIE. SMU IIE also runs the Business Innovations Generator (BIG), a four-month coaching program designed to help early-stage founders validate their products and get ready for seed-stage investment.
9. UEH Institute of Innovation (UEH UII) — UEH UII organises training courses and programs for entrepreneurship and innovation, suited for startup projects, small and medium enterprises, and organisations in general. The company also runs an innovation lab for research and tech transfer projects. UEH UII organises incubation programs that last six months each, where incubatees are connected with a network of mentors and experts and provided with one-on-one training.
10. UPSCALE Innovation Hub — UPSCALE is both an incubator and an accelerator. It runs three programs: UP Enterprise for pre-revenue startups, Ignite Innovation Lab for market-driven industry collaborations and product developments, and entreLEAD, a program to help venture-backed startups with traction to scale up. UPSCALE’s programs are co-run with the support of partners, including USAID and Deloitte.

• Investors 

Equity firms that provide the fuel startups need to grow, and are evaluated for the impact they showcase

1. Alpha JWC — Alpha JWC Ventures is an Indonesia-based venture capital firm that invests in early-to-growth stage startups in Southeast Asia. It is one of the region’s largest and best-performing early-stage funds, with its AUM estimated to be worth USD 650 million. The firm invests in early-stage—or pre-seed, seed, and pre-Series A—and is often the first institutional investor on a startup’s cap table.
2. East Ventures — East Ventures provides multi-stage investment for over 200 companies in Southeast Asia, recording more than USD 86 billion of annualised gross merchandise value in aggregate by its portfolio. East Ventures has had 48 exits according to Crunchbase, the most notable being Mercari, RedMart, and Kite.
3. Gobi Partners — Headquartered in Kuala Lumpur and Shanghai, Gobi Partners has USD 1.5 billion in AUM to date, supporting entrepreneurs from the early to growth stages. It has raised 15 funds to date and has invested in over 320 startups. Gobi has also nurtured nine unicorns, namely Animoca, Amber, Prenetics, Carsome, AutoX, WeLab, GoGoX, Airwallex, and Esign.
4. iGlobe Partners — Founded in Silicon Valley in 1999, iGlobe Partners now has its headquarters in Singapore. Since its founding, the firm has managed funds exceeding USD 500 million for its investors. iGlobe’s panel of partners and advisors collectively bring decades of technology investment experience through multiple economic cycles.
5. Kickstart — Kickstart is a wholly-owned corporate venture capital firm of Globe Telecom, the Philippines’ leading mobile operator. Today, Kickstart advises the Ayala Corporation Technology Innovation Venture (ACTIVE) Fund, the largest venture capital fund coming out of the Philippines at USD180 million.
6. Quest Ventures — Quest Ventures is headquartered in Singapore, with locations in China, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam, South Korea, and the USA. It has invested in over 100 startups that operate in more than 150 cities across Asia, including 2 unicorns Carousell and Carro. Quest Ventures provides accelerator solutions, communities, mentoring, and talent recruitment to its portfolio companies.
7. ThinkZone Ventures — ThinkZone Ventures focuses on Seed to Series A tech startups from diverse verticals, with investment sizes of up to USD 3 million. The company also invests in accelerator-stage startups with investment sizes ranging from USD 50,000 to USD 100,000. ThinkZone provides startups with support via ThinkZone Accelerator, which has the largest scale of support value in Vietnam.
8. Venturra Capital — Venturra Capital focuses on Indonesia and Southeast Asia, and invests in early growth stage consumer technology-enabled companies, covering eCommerce, financial services, healthcare, and education sectors. It has raised a total of USD 150 million in a single venture fund, Venturra Capital Venture Fund, which was launched in 2015.
9. Vertex Ventures SEAI — Vertex Ventures SEAI has over USD 7 million in assets under management, with which it invests in startups at seed and series A or B rounds. It has made 81 investments and 12 exits so far, the most notable exits being Grab, Yatra, and GlowRoad. Vertex Ventures SEAI has also invested in five unicorns, namely Grab, Patsnap, FirstCry, Xpressbees, and Nium.
10. Vietnam Silicon Valley (VSV) Capital — The first Vietnamese accelerator and early-stage VC firm, VSV Capital has USD 7 million AUM. Since its inception, VSV Capital has made over 80 investment deals from pre-seed to Series B and had five exits including Base and CyHome. The company takes a hands-on approach and works with startups in all aspects of their businesses, including product development, financial modeling and customer development, talent recruitment, corporate governance, and fundraising.

The awardees will receive their accolades at the Apsara Conference, to be held on November 4, in China, Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia.

– –

This article was produced by Alibaba Cloud Project AsiaForward and distributed by e27

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

The post Meet the 100 nominees for Alibaba’s AsiaStar 10×10 campaign appeared first on e27.

Entrepreneur First to discontinue Singapore programme
Entrepreneur First will now focus on a smaller number of hubs where the size of the local talent pool positions it to scale to running multiple vertical programmes concurrently.

Crypto.com passes 70M users, hits over US$1B in revenue this year
Crypto.com offers an exchange platform, e-wallet, and other services; In March last year, it launched a US$200M fund called Crypto.com Capital to invest in early-stage crypto startups.

MAS commits US$106M to develop Singapore financial sector
The government has provided two rounds of funding to the Financial Sector Technology and Innovation Scheme; The first was US$70M, granted to 500 projects while the second is a US$141M to support 1,000+ projects.

Ex-Binance Labs exec’s Web3 VC fund nets US$20M
Lingfeng Innovation Fund, led by ex-Binance Labs Executive Director Nicole Zhang, plans to raise a total of US$30M; The money will be invested in crypto startups worldwide.

SG gene therapy startup Nuevocor raised US$11.6M funding
The investors include EDBI, Zora Innovations, SEEDS Capital, and BIVF; The startup focuses on developing Adeno-Associate Virus gene therapy for the treatment of genetically defined cardiac diseases.

Indonesian agritech firm PasarMikro rakes in US$2.5M
The investors are Trihill Capital, Resolution Ventures, Genting Ventures, and 1982 Ventures; PasarMikro, which provides a platform for traders and farmers to carry out transactions, will use the fresh capital to roll out new products.

Singapore completes first foreign exchange with tokenised currency
DBS Bank, JP Morgan, and SBI Digital Asset conducted foreign exchange using tokenised yen, SGD, Japanese government bonds, and SG government security bonds as liquidity pools to leverage the cross-currency transaction.

Web2 founders, get ready for Web3 before 2025 – Insights from Echelon
The best way to move forward is by combining the best of Web2 and Web3 to build better business models and expanding playbooks to complement each other.

Binance mulls buying a bank, says CEO
Binance founder and CEO Changpeng Zhao is looking into potentially buying banks as a way of bridging the gap between the worlds of traditional finance and crypto.

Mastercard announces new batch of Web3 engagement programme
Start Path Crypto is Web3 engagement programme that helps blockchain, crypto, and digital asset startups scale; 7 startups from around the world will get access to Mastercard’s channels and customers, mentorship, and tech collaboration.

“See you in the metaverse” – Yours, life
The new and flourishing metaverse industry will expand life opportunities – socialisation, entertainment, business, finance, and science.

‘Early-stage VCs should take advantage of adverse market conditions’
Gobi’s Thomas Tsao says as a global recession looms, investors are sitting on billions of dollars worth of unallocated capital; Fundraising for startups in India and SEA hit a 7-quarter low in Q3 2022.

‘Internet penetration won’t be enough to bring everyone online’
Rohit Jha of Transcelestial said At the heart of the internet distribution problem is the need to provide affordable, high-speed internet to everyone; Transcelestial removes the need to lay expensive fibre to bring internet.

The Angsana Council is here to explain SEA to global investors
Angasana Council has come up with an analysis to showcase why SEA has been one of the world’s most stable places to invest in the last 25 years.

We can no longer adopt a cookie-cutter approach to marketing: Gunalan Ram of CINNOX
CINNOX’s Strategy Marketeer Gunalan Ram talks about the art of executing tasks through teamwork and guided decision-making.

Why most online stores fall flat and how you can improve it?
Today’s customers have high expectations; customer service is the single most important aspect of running an online store.

How this startup is facilitating change within the rental market in SEA
Cove is putting renters at the centre of home rental experience, making it easier, faster, and more flexible to rent homes at honest prices.

—

The post Ecosystem Roundup: EF halts Singapore program, Binance mulls buying a bank, MAS commits US$106M to develop SG financial sector appeared first on e27.