Indonesia-based job marketplace for blue-collar workers Pintarnya announced that it had raised an additional US$8 million (IDR120 billion) in a seed funding round from East Ventures and Vertex Ventures SEA & India (VVSEAI). With this new addition, the company had raised a total of US$14.3 million in funding.

In May, the company announced a seed funding round from Sequoia Capital India, General Catalyst, and some angel investors.

Pintarnya will use the additional funding to support tech development and data capabilities to give an added value to the company in facilitating an efficient job search process for both employers and jobseekers. The company is also expanding its team across all business lines.

“We aim to become a preferred platform that facilitates job matching for both parties and provides access to better financial access to blue-collar workers through a stronger digital identity and verifiable resume,” said Pintarnya Co-Founder Henry Hendrawan in a press statement on Tuesday, July 19.

In addition to investing in the company, East Ventures Co-Founder dan Managing Partner Willson Cuaca joins Pintarnya as a board member.

Also Read: Non-revenue generating jobs tend to be more affected in the current downturn: Glints CEO

Cuaca said there is a massive opportunity to empower millions of blue-collar workers in this region who struggle to secure a better livelihood. These opportunities come with various challenges in its journey but he believes that Pintarnya is the right team to tackle this challenge.

“They have a proven experience building and leading the B2C market and various financial services products in Indonesia. They have made significant progress and we are looking forward to future achievements made by Pintarnya,” he said.

Managing Partner Vertex Ventures SEA & India Joo Hock Chua added that job-seeking for blue-collar workers in Indonesia is considered inefficient –if not outdated. Pintarnya aims to solve this problem by using data and tech to enable a cost-efficient and sophisticated job-seeking process.

The Pintarnya solutions

Pintarnya was launched in May by three former senior executives Nelly Nurmalasari, Henry Hendrawan, and Ghirish Pokardas. Pintarnya aims to help Indonesian workers find jobs, access job opportunities, and secure better financial services.

The company claimed to have connected over 6,000 users with more than 100,000 job-seekers in the F&B, retail, logistics, and hospitality industries.

The Pintarnya platform is available in the format of a desktop and mobile app. Their service is available only for users in Greater Jakarta Area and Bandung.

Also Read: Indonesia’s community-powered social job platform Atma nets US$5M pre-seed funding

The platform works by allowing job-seekers to sign up and create a profile before it uses the information to recommend a suitable job opportunity which considers various parameters –not limited to job requirements, location, or skills. This approach is believed to give access more jobs.

After that, Pintarnya will work with employers to verify and recruit said blue-collar workers. Apart from helping blue-collar workers secure jobs, verified digital identities and resume on the platform can help blue-collar workers to have access to better financial services through Pintarnya’s partner in the finance industry, helping them build a better life.

Though the company does not share further details about it, with its open finance platform, Pintarnya also intended to provide formal financial services for the workers to improve their livelihood.

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The article was written in Bahasa Indonesia by Marsya Nabila for DailySocial. English translation and editing by e27.

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With e-commerce sales across SEA set to reach around $90 billion this year, we spoke to Alex Lin, Managing Director of Lalamove Singapore, to discuss the company’s evolution over the years and explore how Lalamove is enabling businesses to manage their logistic processes smoothly and maximise productivity.

Offering same-day delivery for personal and business users

Founded in 2013 and launched in Singapore 2014, Lalamove has since impacted various industries such as e-commerce, retail, wholesale, events, and F&B. One of the key sectors where Lalamove helps merchants meet the ever-evolving consumer demands quickly and efficiently, is e-commerce.

According to a 2021 Facebook and Bain report, over 32 per cent of Southeast Asian consumers switched between online commerce websites to secure faster delivery time. “Consumer needs and expectations are constantly evolving, particularly in the post-pandemic world. Consumers nowadays expect faster and more reliable logistics support for their online purchases,” said Alex.

Also read: How Singapore startups explore opportunities in Japan—and vice versa

This is where Lalamove is stepping up to create a robust ecosystem of on-demand same-day delivery connecting thousands of merchants with millions of customers on the ground. With its various in-app features, Lalamove enables businesses to manage their logistic processes efficiently and aims at helping them maximise their productivity.

By leveraging Lalamove’s last-mile same-day deliveries, businesses can keep up with changing consumer demands and are thus able to build brand loyalty in the long run. With Lalamove as a partner, businesses can reduce high operational costs and fixed overheads such as vehicle purchases and employee payroll. This, in turn, allows forward-looking e-commerce companies looking to expand across the region the ability for faster business growth and scalability.

Emerging trends and increasing demands

Speaking on the current e-commerce and delivery landscape in Asia, Alex shares, “e-commerce is an ever-growing and rapidly changing industry. The industry emerged as a lifeline during the pandemic to help businesses stay afloat while also providing a platform for them to thrive and scale. Today, in the face of fierce competition, the delivery sector has become a make-or-break factor for businesses seeking to fulfil their services and win over customers.”

As delivery is the final and most memorable physical touch point between a customer and a business, this is where an optimal business delivery service provider becomes vital.

Through Lalamove’s API integrations and e-commerce plug-ins, they have been helping businesses automate their delivery workflows and simplify ordering processes for merchants. This enables new businesses to launch their e-commerce stores seamlessly and effectively.

By providing a variety of business solutions such as a wide selection of vehicles, multi-stop delivery, API integration, real-time GPS tracking, and dedicated account managers to provide recommendations on the best route and services that are tailored to specific needs, businesses are emboldened to stay ahead and channel their efforts on an experience-led customer journey.

Emerging trends in the e-commerce and delivery industries: What’s next?

Lalamove believes that the e-commerce industry will continue to develop in the coming years, which is echoed by reports suggesting that the industry is poised to grow by almost $11 trillion between 2021 and 2025. As such, Alex believes that e-commerce may eventually supplant brick-and-mortar shopping as the primary default shopping method, with businesses that do not adapt to digital transformation possibly suffering long-term consequences.

Also read: Market Access Taiwan: Traversing the Taiwanese startup landscape

Alex shared that further down the road, we may also see more dedicated retail apps, cross-platform integrations, virtual assistants, and personalisation from sellers in the hopes of automating their processes to keep up with consumer demands.

With demands in the e-commerce space rising, demands for delivery services with customisation will also skyrocket. Given the shift in consumer behaviour, consumers are unlikely to give up the option to access their goods faster and more seamlessly, especially when already given access to the right kind of platform that bolsters this. Lalamove helps catalyse this by enabling businesses to work with their API integration systems to digitally transform brick-and-mortar SMEs, providing them with a faster, easier, and more seamless delivery experience.

Lalamove provides holistic logistic solutions for all businesses

As traditional businesses look for the most efficient way to move into e-commerce, they may face several challenges driven by global health pandemics and political tensions. This is where Lalamove can help. Clients will have the ability to adapt to shifts in consumer behaviour, creating an agile business environment that can accommodate different channels. For example, the Lalamove app comes with a route-optimisation function to help businesses intelligently improve their deliveries. By strategically batching delivery orders for multiple locations, the company can help deliver faster and more efficiently.

Lalamove seeks to establish itself as a one-stop solution for logistics in Southeast Asia. As such, the company offers a wide range of delivery vehicles- from motorcycles to lorries. This allows Lalamove to assist with all sorts of orders and to provide the manpower and vehicles for delivering goods of different sizes. For instance, if the business is delivering a small parcel, they would only require a car but if they’re moving furniture, appliances, and the like, Lalamove can provide a large lorry.

Additionally, Lalamove also provides cold-chain delivery for users that require it. This is an end-to-end delivery process that keeps the temperature of a package consistent. 

Helping businesses in Singapore and beyond

To help traditional businesses take the leap towards e-commerce, Lalamove has recently launched a regional campaign, ‘Make A Winning Move’. This campaign aims to encourage businesses in Singapore to use Lalamove’s variety of business solutions, which includes multi-stop delivery, API integration, and a wide range of vehicles for a faster, more efficient, and reliable delivery experience. With these business solutions, businesses are effectively able to save time and reduce operational costs.

Also read: From experts: Tips to improve operations and maximise ROI

Clients can also sign up for individual accounts and use coupon code LALAWIN to enjoy up to $15 off their first three orders in Lalamove vouchers. Alternatively, companies can choose to sign up for a business account and top up their e-wallet to receive up to 5% bonus credits. These offers are valid until 31st July 2022. Find out more information on the campaign here.

Lastly, with businesses in Singapore striding towards economic recovery in the post-pandemic world, Lalamove is currently onboarding more driver-partners and expanding its cold-chain operations to address the rise in demand for such delivery capabilities. Learn more at https://www.lalamove.com/en-sg/ 

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Lalamove

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.

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AnyMind Group, an end-to-end commerce enablement company, announced that it had raised JPY4 billion (approximately US$29.4 million) in its Series D funding round, with total funding to date approximating US$91.7 million.

The Series D funds were raised from new investors, including JIC Venture Growth Investments (JIC Venture Growth Fund I Investment Limited Partnership), Japan Post Investment Corporation (Japan Post Investment I, ILP), Nomura SPARX Investment (Japan Growth Capital Investment Corporation), and PROTO Ventures Inc. (PROTO Ventures 2 Investment Limited Partnership), along with existing investor Mitsubishi UFJ Capital (Mitsubishi UFJ Capital VII, Limited Partnership).

The funds will be used to strengthen the company’s advancement in the commerce enablement space and fund future acquisitions. It will be used to enhance further its AnyChat and AnyX platforms, which it launched this year, and strengthen its market share across its operating regions.

The funds raised will be used for future acquisitions in Japan and internationally. To date, AnyMind Group has acquired seven companies from various parts of the region, including Japan, Hong Kong, Thailand and India. The reasons to make these acquisitions were either to acqui-hire a company’s leadership, expand into new businesses or regions, acquire additional sales channels, or all three.

In addition to the Series D funding round, the company has secured a JPY1 billion (US$7.2 million) credit facility from Mizuho Bank for future use.

Also Read: News Roundup: AnyMind Group acquires Indian mobile ads startup POKKT

“Despite COVID-19 and geopolitical situations impacting the world, we have still achieved solid growth as a business. On the other hand, we see economies across Asia, including our operating markets of ASEAN and India, rapidly regaining growth momentum. We will continue to grow our business at a pace that matches our ambitions, look towards expanding our capabilities through M&A, and strengthen our investment and profit structure for growth as we continue to become the next-generation infrastructure for commerce in Asia,” says AnyMind Group CEO & Co-Founder Kosuke Sogo.

“We will continue to make it exciting for everyone to do business by enhancing and expanding our innovations that form the infrastructure for the next generation of commerce. Over the years, we have developed platforms across the end-to-end spectrum of commerce that can be used individually and can now also be used as part of an integrated suite of tools to deliver more effective and efficient commerce for businesses. We are just at the start of our journey, as we power some of the most exciting enterprises and forward-thinking publishers and influencers in this part of the world,” he continued.

Previously, AnyMind Group’s Series C stock was issued for the acquisition of cross-border marketing company ENGAWA in January 2021.

AnyMind Group was founded in Singapore in 2016 and expanded into Southeast Asia, East Asia, India and the Middle East. In 2019, the company shifted its headquarters to Tokyo, Japan. At present, AnyMind Group operates out of 17 offices across 13 markets, with over 1,000 staff from 27 nationalities.

Before the launch of AnyChat, the company had developed and launched the manufacturing platform AnyFactory and logistics management platform AnyLogi. The company started in the marketing technology industry with platforms for advertising and influencer marketing and, after that, expanded into the publisher technology and creator technology space.

Also Read: Afternoon News Roundup: Singaporean tech entertainment firm AnyMind raises US$26.4M Series B

The moves over the past two years were made as AnyMind Group created and enhanced its suite of tools, which look to form the backbone of businesses in the future. This future will be one where business can be done through a single platform, is borderless and open, and data can be utilised and maximised freely across traditionally siloed business functions. The company terms this “next-generation commerce.”

In 2021, AnyMind Group saw revenues of US$174 million with a compound annual growth rate (2017-2021) of 62 per cent.

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Image Credit: AnyMind Group

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Advance Intelligence Group acquires Jewel Paymentech to expand Web3, fraud and risk management capabilities
Advance Intelligence Group is behind BNPL platform Atome, SaaS provider ADVANCE.AI, and omnichannel e-commerce merchant services Ginee.

Australia’s Investible plans US$200M growth fund, hits first close of climate tech vehicle
The fund will have a global mandate focusing on the Asia Pacific. It has invested in nine companies in Southeast Asia in the last four years.

Indonesian social commerce firm raises US$20M in fresh funds
Founded in 2020 by Prateek Chaturvedi, Ivana Tjandra, Gopal Rathore, and Subhash Bishnoi, KitaBeli’s social commerce platform focuses on FMCG products. InnoVen Capital joined the round as a new investor while existing backers AC Ventures and Go-Ventures also participated, Tech In Asia wrote.

India: Investors flock to launch debut vehicles amidst funding slowdown
Last year, PE and VC firms garnered US$479 million across 14 first-time funds. Of all the debut vehicles raised this year, only a few are sector-specific.

Bank Islam launches cloud-native digital bank
In a statement, the bank said this first-of-its-kind technology stack, the cloud-native solution, is anticipated to be the cornerstone of all upcoming digital banks to be introduced in Malaysia.

Fintech startup OneCard is India’s newest unicorn after raising US$100M led by Temasek
The fundraising valued the startup at over US$1.4 billion and turned it into the 104th entrant in the country’s unicorn club. Earlier this year, the company said it had amassed over 250,000 customers spending about US$60 million with its monthly cards.

China’s 01VC hits first close of USD Fund III at over US$60M, targets US$100M hard cap
The fund will target opportunities in the enterprise SaaS, supply chain, logistics, automation and robotics, and cross-border businesses.

Is Singapore overly cautious and losing its appeal as a global crypto hub?
At the time, countries like the US and UK seemed to be clamping down on crypto trading, while Russia and China had banned it altogether. Singapore was primed to become one of the foremost destinations for blockchain companies to set up shop.

Of COVID-19 and funding winter: Why these 2 VC firms are bullish about SEA amid back-to-back crises
Intudo Ventures and Altara Ventures discuss how they view the recent crises and what to expect in the long term, and whether unicorns are to be celebrated

Indonesia urges tech platforms to sign up for new licensing rules or risk being blocked
As of Monday, more than 5,900 domestic and 108 foreign companies registered, including short-video app TikTok and music streaming firm Spotify.

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Image Credit: dookdui, 123RF Free Images

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Imagine a central control room where, with a few clicks, ‘bots’ are deployed at scale to handle different business processes automatically. This is no longer theoretical. Financial services institutions are already using this technology to manage key processes.

The transformation, part of what has been labelled the fourth industrial revolution or ‘Industry 4.0’, driven by waves of automation and connectivity, has been picking up speed in the last couple of years in the financial industries as new technologies and the expertise to implement them become more readily available.

Even in this futuristic-sounding scenario, humans still do most of the work. This hybrid workforce approach integrates automation capabilities (or bots) provided by robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence platforms to handle part of the workload.

Financial institutions must build an efficient process optimisation programme to take advantage of this shift toward hybrid workforces. Let’s get deeper into how to get started from an organisational perspective.

Organisational setup

An enterprise process optimisation programme is best driven by a central team, or Centre of Excellence (CoE), which shares many of the characteristics of an enterprise data team, a more established part of financial institutions.

In my view, three key roles drive the central teamteam’scess:

Commercialisation lead

Process mining platforms, which use process data to help identify process inefficiencies and how to mend them, can help generate a pipeline of ‘to-‘e-optimised’ processes. However, they are only one way to identify potential areas of improvement.

Also Read: Why robotics is just entering its prime phase

A programme should also be in place to encourage and collect feedback from staff, especially those who are themselves operating processes. This should be managed centrally by a ‘commercialisation lead’ who not only organises the collection of such ideas but, more importantly, calculates their ROI and prioritises the improvement pipeline.

This role represents the business side of the programme.

Automation expert

The industry lacks a standardised automation platform. Therefore, an automation expert must showcase the optimal way to deliver automation, either by leveraging existing IT infrastructure or by working in conjunction with external vendors and platforms.

This person will be deeply familiar with the strengths and limitations of the technologies available in the market and will work closely with the commercialisation to lead to prioritising improvements.

Not all processes needing improvement are worthy candidates for automation, and it is important to look at potential improvements from other angles. Digitalising the process, e.g. adopting an optical character recognition (OCR) solution at the beginning of a loan application process, can banish physical documents from the entire process and remove both the manual inputting step and the checking step.

This role represents the technology side of the programme.

Change management lead

Whatever the strategy for automation, bots, digitalisation or a combination of both, there will be changes to existing processes. An efficient and good communicator is therefore required to manage the change. This person should work closely with the HR department to re-skill and, sometimes, re-deploy staff. It is, of course, best to plan and communicate early with the staff that may be affected.

These three roles form the foundation of any process optimisation CoE; however, there are other important roles to consider, such as the overall CoE lead, who looks after aspects such as performance management of the CoE and reports to the COO.

With the CoE set up, its mission should be to fiercely consolidate operations by looking for ways to improve existing processes’ efficiency radically.

Preparing for future operations

The hybrid workforce becomes no longer a question of if but when financial industry leaders must put teams in place to help them embrace it sooner rather than later.

While the pace of industry transformation is quickening, this is still a time of first-mover advantage. We expect to see more financial institutions stepping into this space and then executing more and more systematically, with the help of a well-organised central team.

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Vietnam-based financial service app MFast announced that it had raised US$2.5 million in a funding round led by Ascend Vietnam Ventures with participation from Wavemaker and two other existing investors, Do Ventures and JAFCO Asia, bringing its total capital funding to US$4 million.

With the fresh funding, MFast is actively looking to hire talent across various areas (including technology, marketing, and sales), upgrade its platform, expand its agent network, and deploy new business models.

This new capital will also be used to develop technology and data analysis systems to generate consumer credit ratings. The company is also looking to expand to Southeast Asian countries such as the Philippines and Thailand.

In a statement, MFast said it was born after its founders, Phan Thanh Long and Phan Thanh Vinh, observed a huge problem in Vietnam’s rural areas. Nearly 70 per cent of the Vietnamese population in the rural areas have limited or no access to banking, insurance, and credit-related services.

“Due to the lack of financial literacy and credit history, this population faces numerous challenges accessing financial services. It is often victims of predatory services from the grey and black markets. Products such as insurance, despite existing in Vietnam for more than 20 years, are still perceived in rural areas as a waste of money or perceived as catalysts for bad luck,” the company wrote.

Also Read: ‘Vietnam can be an excellent launchpad for regional, global startups’: says Eddie Thai

In September 2020, MFast was launched to tackle this pain point by connecting reputable financial and insurance institutions to its nationwide agent network of MFast users. MFast agents serve as the middlemen in introducing, educating, and distributing financial and insurance products to the end customers in rural areas.

Any Mfast users can sign up to become agents and participate in one or several sales stages from customer acquisition, loan and insurance package consultation, customer support in opening bank accounts, e-wallets, and credit cards, to post-sales services. The Mfast app also equipped agents with all the necessary knowledge sources and tools to do their jobs.

MFast also aims to digitalise the entire working process by replacing cumbersome paperwork and procedures associated with banking and shortening the approval and disbursement window.

“With a nationwide agent network, MFast reaches underserved populations, helping them overcome challenges in accessing financial services and breaking down prejudice towards insurance – a crucial aspect of a developed society. At the same time, we create benefits for our agents and partners. MFast provides agents opportunities to earn extra income while helping partners expand the insurance and financial services in the peripheral and rural areas,” said Phan Thanh Long, CEO and Co-founder of MFast.

After two years of operations, MFast said it has helped more than 600,000 people (with nearly 80 per cent living in rural areas) in gaining access to financial and insurance service packages and provided job opportunities for more than 92,000 agents across 63 provinces and cities nationwide.

Also Read: Ascend Vietnam Ventures’s early-stage fund AVV Alpha exceeds US$50M target

Thao Nguyen, Senior Investment Manager at Ascend Vietnam Ventures, said: “The market potential, MFast team’s great execution capabilities, and its significant social impact are the reasons we are keen to support MFast in putting its mission into reality. Throughout its agent banking model, MFast promotes financial inclusion in the peripheral and rural areas of Vietnam, contributing a great part to the sustainable development of the country’s financial system.”

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Image Credit: MFast

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The Singaporean business landscape proves to be continuously thriving due to the number of tech companies and startups in the country encouraged by pro-business policies. But due to the relatively small population that equals limited market size (despite the high spending power of Singaporeans), there is a need to diversify business options for growth and profit. Tapping into a bigger arena would contribute to improving this potential, meaning Singaporean businesses should start considering expanding into the international market. 

Japan is a possible market these businesses can look into, as the country’s consumer market is among the largest in the world. According to the International Trade Administration, Japan is the third-largest economy in the world next to the US and China, making it an exciting place for business.

Specific contexts in the country also make Japan a lucrative hub for developing certain technologies like pharmaceuticals and robotics. At the same time, the Japanese market is diverse in terms of industries. In 2018, Japan covered a broad range of local startups with a market worth of USD3.7 billion. 

Expanding ambitions from Singapore to Japan

The ​​Singapore Economic Development Board and Enterprise Singapore’s Global Innovation Alliance (GIA) is one programme that offers an opportunity for the most innovative and ambitious Singaporean startups to expand to markets like Japan. As an established network of Singaporean and overseas partners specialising in crucial demand markets, GIA opens opportunities for startups to exchange knowledge, technology, and skills to create an international community of innovation. 

For its Japan network, GIA’s partner is Leave a Nest, an innovator among deep tech platforms in the Southeast Asian region. Leave a Nest, in partnership with Enterprise Singapore, screens and guides successful applicants in the process of expanding and establishing their startup in Japan, particularly in Tokyo.

Also read: Market Access Taiwan: Traversing the Taiwanese startup landscape

GIA will walk participants through a visit to the host country, exposing them to potential partner companies, the investor, as well as the research institute during the third month of the programme. This gives startups ample time to make up their minds and strategise on how to gain a foothold in the market. 

The programme’s graduates have become notable across most fields. For example, Wavescan, which was among the first startups to participate in GIA, had been mentioned by Singapore Deputy Prime Minister Heng Swee Keat for its success in the Japanese market. Another programme alumni, Sentient.io, has managed to gain a foothold in the Asia Pacific market through investments from Real Tech and SEEDS capital, the investment arm of Enterprise Singapore. The two startups present just a few of the possibilities for potential participants upon coming out of the programme.

→For application to the “Enter to Japan Market” programme, please apply HERE

Singapore as Japan’s entry into Southeast Asian markets

Another ingenious component of GIA is its reciprocity of opportunities. For instance, it’s not just Singaporean startups that are encouraged to expand to Japan; Japanese startups are also very welcome to explore business opportunities in Singapore. Japanese startups will find that Singapore has a strategic location to be an entry point and PoC to the ASEAN market.

For reasons already mentioned, this would be beneficial for both inbound and outbound companies given Singapore and Japan’s track records and consumer trends, once again contributing to building a global innovation network. Aside from their economic similarities, however, both Japan and Singapore face similar kinds of issues, particularly in terms of their ageing society, making the sharing of technologies between Japan and Singapore a welcome exchange.

Also read: From experts: Tips to improve operations and maximise ROI

For the “Enter SG Market‘‘ programme, Leave a Nest will recruit high-calibre early- to mid-stage startups in the field of deep tech and applied tech to seek business opportunities in Singapore. This process leverages the EntrePass Scheme to penetrate other Southeast Asian countries using Singapore as a base. 

→For application to the “Enter to SG Market” programme, please apply HERE

A customised process for startups

The conduct of the GIA programme is interesting in that it’s customised for all participating startups. Through a series of training over the course of four months, startups who pass the screening are mentored to understand their needs. The businesses are then pitched in one-on-one sessions with Singapore partners to see what works best for them. 

The same process is replicated for Singaporean startups looking to enter the Japanese market, with a focus on finding manufacturing partners in Japan for these companies. A small cohort of participants are selected from the pool of applicants and the process is highly customised to cater to their needs, noting where they currently are and what aspect of the market they can best connect to. The result is evident in the success rate of the GIA programme. Apart from Wavescan and Sentient.io’s successes, other programme alumni have found their niche in their respective target markets. Crown Digital and Profile Print, both dealing with artificial intelligence, are among the startups that have found investors for their business. 

Prototype manufacturing partnerships for startups

In the past, Leave a Nest ran a successful project specifically geared for ASEAN startups looking for state-of-the-art manufacturing partners in Japan. Dubbed as the Prototype Manufacturing Project (otherwise known as the Ota City Program), the project helped match startups with corresponding partner manufacturers in Ota City, which is home to several specialised factories that take care of the prototyping needs of different companies.

Also read: Looking to scale your company? Hong Kong is open for business!

With its reputable track record of building partnerships and connecting ecosystem players, Leave a Nest is partnering with Enterprise Singapore to once again offer the Prototype Manufacturing Project. Startups’ need for precise manufacturing can be challenging to find in Southeast Asia. Even in Japan, where GIA participants’ target market would be, one major challenge to establishing a partnership with a manufacturer would be the language and knowledge barrier. It would be best to work within an existing network like the Prototype Manufacturing Project and GIA to ensure an ideal outcome for startups and manufacturers alike.

To get an idea of how well the Ota City Program has worked for GIA startups, one needs to look no further. In 2018, three startups from Southeast Asia successfully entered the Ota City Program’s pilot run, paired with major Japanese firms to move to the next stage of their entry into the Japanese market. For 2022, another call for applicants has been released, especially for companies who are keen to work with Japanese manufacturers for their startups.    

→For application to the “Manufacturing Program,” please apply HERE.

→For application to the “Enter to Japan Market” programme, please apply HERE

→For application to the “Enter to SG Market” programme, please apply HERE

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Leave a Nest

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This article is published as a part of a partnership with Recruitery. Recruitery is an all-in-one hiring platform that provides headhunt, payroll, taxes, and compliance solutions for remote teams in SEA.

Talents are the determining element in the success or failure of a business; hence every leader wants to recruit them. 

Elon Musk, the millionaire CEO of Tesla, does not depend on credentials and schooling to locate people, as do other leaders. Instead, he thinks that talents are far more essential. 

And most recently, Musk continues to polarise the global HR community with his assertion that a degree, even a PhD, is unimportant!

Why doesn’t the degree matter for Elon Musk?

In a 2014 interview, Elon Musk said, “The selected candidate does not need a college degree or even a high school diploma.” A degree from a prestigious institution indicates that a person can accomplish great things, but that is not all. 

The billionaire also said that getting into Tesla, degrees, and education are not as significant as a tweet, “PhD is not required. I could care less whether you completed high school or not.” 

However, this does not imply that anybody, from interns to directors, may be accepted into his enterprises. Although each application is identical, there are three crucial aspects to consider when applying.

These are the personnel taken by this company: They must show their originality by acts rather than words if they are passionate about improving the world and expressing their personality. 

Elon Musk, a millionaire, developed Tesla to expedite the adoption of sustainable transportation by electric cars and popularise it as quickly as possible. Therefore, applicants must demonstrate their commitment to the purpose to confirm that they are an excellent match for our organisation. 

Also Read: Why Musk’s remote-work policy at Tesla does not apply to tech startups

There are four guiding principles at Tesla: originality, direction, collaboration, and reliability. Therefore, possessing unique abilities will be advantageous when applying to this organisation. Moreover, applicants must have a comprehensive knowledge of artificial intelligence.

The world increasingly requires genuine skill as opposed to degrees

In April, the official jobless rate for Chinese employees aged 16 to 24 reached an all-time high of 18.2 per cent. 

In the first six months of the year, the average unemployment claims in the United States fall below 200,000. However, the average number of jobless claims has grown to 232,500 over the last four weeks. 

As of December 2021, the Centre for Economic Monitoring of India (CMIE) reports that this South Asian nation has around 53 million jobless individuals. Over 10 million individuals lost employment with the second wave of COVID-19 infections alone.

In February 2022, the unemployment rate in India increased to 8.1 per cent, CMIE said. Previously, the unemployment rate in India had fallen to 6.6 per cent in January from 7.9 per cent in December. 

Notably, the majority of jobless people possess degrees. For example, a few days after the government of the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India announced the recruitment of 15 jobs for housekeeper, driver, and security guard posts at the end of last year, 11,000 young people from Madhya Pradesh and nearby states registered. Although most positions need a high school diploma, many candidates possess bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and even engineering and legal certificates. 

These are all numbers that speak! 

According to the 2018 Freelancing in America poll, freelancers put more importance on skill development: Among freelancers with a four-year college degree, 93 per cent believe skills training is beneficial, compared to just 79 per cent who think their college education is relevant to the work they do today.

In addition, 70 per cent of full-time freelancers had attended skills training in the last six months, compared to 49 per cent of full-time freelancers. 

Rapid technological progress and growing educational expenditures have rendered the old higher education system obsolete and hazardous in the present day. 

Too often, a degree is still seen as a permanent mark of professional skill. They perpetuate the notion that activity and the information it needs are static. It is impossible. 

For instance, according to a 2016 study by the World Economic Forum, “in many sectors and nations, the most in-demand jobs or majors did not exist ten or even five years ago, and this pace is poised to accelerate.” 

At our company, what workers can accomplish is considerably more significant than where they went to college; therefore, we often question candidates about their years of experience, talents, and managing difficult situations.

In reality, applicants with more excellent experience do better than those without experience. Therefore, we do not exclude people with strong academic credentials but prefer those with job experience.

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The post Elon Musk doesn’t look at credentials when recruiting. Is that silly or disruptive? appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based unicorn Advance Intelligence Group announced the acquisition of Jewel Paymentech, a financial risk technology company specialising in merchant due diligence and fraud and risk management solutions for the financial services and payments industry.

Acquired for an undisclosed sum, the addition of Jewel Paymentech is aimed to strengthen Advance Intelligence Group’s capabilities in the Web3, fraud and risk management space.

Following the acquisition, Jewel’s 30-member team (including its leadership team) will join the group.

In a press statement, the companies stated that Jewel would remain an independent business entity under the group’s enterprise business unit ADVANCE.AI with CEO Sean Lam, co-founders Lee Wooi Siang and Sandra Cheim, and CIO Goh Ser Yoong joining its senior leadership team.

“Being part of the broader Advance Intelligence Group ecosystem will not only serve our current clients better but will allow us to tap on deep investor relationships, capital and technology base. Our staff will also be able to develop their career journey further, so this coming together of our two companies is a win-win for both our existing team and client base,” Jewel Paymentech CEO Sean Lam said.

Also Read: Artificial intelligence has been flourishing incredibly in these 5 Southeast Asia technology hubs

Based in Singapore and Malaysia, Jewel said it has an established track record of onboarding businesses and monitoring fraudulent transactions, specifically in Know Your Business (KYB) and Know Your Transaction (KYT) monitoring.

Founded eight years ago, it also provides automated solutions to large merchants such as marketplaces to identify illegal and counterfeit goods as part of their KYC process. Its technology is used by regional banks, fintech companies, and payment networks.

Advance Intelligence Group was founded in 2016 and considered itself one of the largest independent technology startups headquartered in Singapore.

It has built an ecosystem of AI-powered, credit-enabled products and services, including Asia’s leading Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) platform Atome, SaaS enterprise solutions provider ADVANCE.AI, and omnichannel e-commerce merchant services platform Ginee.

The company raised a US$400 million Series D funding round from SoftBank and Warburg Pincus in September 2021.

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Image Credit: Advance Intelligence Group

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Taiwan is a growing powerhouse of startups in the Asia Pacific region, and investors and aspiring entrepreneurs are taking notice. The 2021 Taiwan Startup Ecosystem Survey conducted by PwC and the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research shows that there are high hopes for entrepreneurship in Taiwan, with two-thirds of the survey’s respondents from the startup ecosystem composed of first-time founders. As such, while some have expressed their concerns about language and cultural barriers, the environment is leaning more towards encouraging growth rather than hostility for small to medium businesses, especially for those in tech. 

These concerns and opportunities, among other topics, were discussed in the Taiwan leg of the Market Access Series in partnership with Globalization Partners. Three panellists — Jun Wakabayashi, Associate and Investor at AppWorks; Kuan-Yu Lin, International Business Development Director of NiEA; and Charles Ferguson, Asia Pacific General Manager at Globalization Partners — discussed their takes on the Taiwanese startup ecosystem, its market, and how to get started. 

Site for a Lucrative Business Expansion

Before companies expand to Taiwan, they need to have a solid reason to do so. Kuan-Yu addresses this by noting that Taiwan produces quality engineering talent yearly, which is in line with rapid global deployment. Despite this, what makes the talent in Taiwan truly remarkable is most of its talents’ willingness to take risks in smaller companies. Kuan-Yu connects this with the notion that most talents prefer to see their workplace as their own, and not just function as a cog in a bigger corporation. 

Adding to that, the Taiwanese government has several key policies encouraging work on the Internet of Things, Green Energy, and Artificial Intelligence. The tech manufacturing industry in particular has seen quite some growth despite the COVID-19 pandemic due to the demand to carry forward digital transformation on a larger scale. Because of this, the government has been looking at collaborating with startups in these areas.

Also read: Looking to scale your company? Hong Kong is open for business!

At the same time, blue-chip companies aren’t blindsided by the resources available in Taiwan. On his end, Wakabayashi shared that Taiwan is like the “Wakanda of Asia,” a small and hidden, yet incredibly resource-plenty part of the world. He noted that big conglomerates have also set up their R&D hubs in Taiwan due to Taiwan’s rich technological landscape. Wakabayashi explained that Taiwan is one of the biggest markets with a GDP rivalling that of Indonesia in Southeast Asia. 

Business and fundraising considerations

Given these reasons, one may feel more at ease in placing their bets on Taiwan. Still, certain considerations need to be made, particularly in terms of business and fundraising opportunities for startups. When asked about this, Ferguson outlined a few of the advantages of setting up a company in Taiwan including its strategic location in the entirety of the Asia Pacific region, and its incredible connectivity within its city and provinces, as well as with the rest of the region and the world.

Ferguson also shared that Taiwan’s policies, both through its economic partnerships and agreements and its recent New Southbound policy which has made it more connected to 18 countries, including the 10 ASEAN member-states and 8 other countries in South Asia and Australasia, have made it easier to secure preferential arrangements in terms of trade. 

In terms of fundraising, Wakabayashi gave an honest picture of the situation. Although Taiwan struggled in 2010 back when startups were still finding their way into the mainstream, its startup system has since grown tremendously. Certain paradigm shifts have placed Taiwan in the global limelight, attracting a pool of global investors, especially for industries such as AI and blockchain. 

Scaling quickly and effectively

All three panellists agreed that scaling can be effectively done by teaming up with a local partner. Ferguson takes this a step further by explaining that gaining the trust of a local partner would lessen or even completely remove certain cultural and language barriers that make startups second guess Taiwan as one of their destinations. To do this, startups must be able to foster smart and genuine relationships by offering value from their works to these partners. Kuan-Yu builds on this by noting that as in any expansion, a local partner or team is necessary.

Also read: Here’s why startups should consider South Korea for business expansion

Regarding the anxiety of setting foot in uncharted waters for some startups expanding to Taiwan for the first time, Ferguson added that logistical concerns should be the least of entrepreneurs’ worries. As Taiwan is an extremely business-friendly climate, startups should focus on more practical concerns, such as looking at product-market fit, tapping into the local talent pool, and finding the appropriate entry points for business.

The key is also to focus on areas where one’s business would have the most impact and gain the most traction in a “post-pandemic” world. Ferguson calls this TTV––time to value––and commented on how fast startups can infiltrate their chosen market to make a difference if they were more circumspect. 

Challenges to market access and tech’s role

This doesn’t completely remove a few considerations for investors and entrepreneurs alike. One of the questions that had been raised during the open forum of the panel was regarding the tensions between mainland China and Taiwan. Ferguson responded to this, explaining that putting politics aside, the two are not necessarily on opposite sides of the fence in terms of economic goals. 

Also read: Looking to expand your business? Head down to the Philippines!

Pointing to other apprehensions about going to an unfamiliar market with possibly different demands that may pose a challenge to a new startup in Taiwan, Wakabayashi draws attention to technology as a point of leverage. He explained that technology allows entrepreneurs to probe the market without necessarily setting foot in it first, noting that this has been a strategy of some of the startups they’ve worked with out of Taiwan.

Technology allows remote basic market validation and the conduct of online surveys. Afterwards, startups can get a product-market fit or hire an engineer or a local team there.  

Final words of advice

To cap off the discussion, the panellists shared a few final words of wisdom. While the panellists acknowledged that doing a startup can be a long journey especially if they are expanding to foreign territory, it was also noted that for Taiwan specifically, the government has plenty of resources to assist even foreign startups. There are also mergers and acquisitions in the local landscape, and, as Ferguson explained, if the talent pool in Taiwan is deep enough for blue-chip companies to invest in, startups could also learn a thing or two by looking in that direction.

To learn more, view the webinar here.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Globalization Partners

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