Cars are often synonymous with mobility, social status, and most importantly, freedom. As a result, owning a car is both an aspiration and an expectation for many people. But that is often easier said than done, especially in Singapore.

High excise duties and Certificate of Entitlement (CoE) prices regularly see Singapore’s top global rankings for the highest car ownership costs. That is even before considering all the ancillaries of owning a car, such as insurance, tax, maintenance and more.

Ride and car-sharing services have emerged as popular alternatives to traditional car ownership, but the sheer mobility of having a personal vehicle remains unrivalled and highly coveted. In fact, last year, car ownership rose by four per cent even as people were driving less due to circuit breaker restrictions. To cater for this demand, it is important for stakeholders in the automotive ecosystem to work together and help drivers overcome the hurdles to car ownership.

Addressing the barriers to entry

Cost is the primary barrier to car ownership in Singapore. According to the Land Transport Authority, this year’s first round of CoE bidding saw prices rise as high as US$99,999. That is just for the right to own a car for 10 years.

Then there is the Additional Registration Fee, excise duty, GST and the price of the actual vehicle itself, not to mention fees for petrol, insurance, road taxes, maintenance and more. This often results in a staggering final bill.

Also Read: Exploring the future of connected vehicle technology and transportation industry trends with Geotab CEO Neil Cawse

The second hurdle is complexity. Aside from choosing the car model, a significant amount of paperwork must be completed for CoE bidding, loan and insurance applications, tax filings and so on. Second-hand car buyers also must do their research and inspections to avoid being saddled with a lemon.

The final step is usually the time-consuming ‘shopping around’ for the best prices on essential car services such as servicing and maintenance.

Last but certainly not least is flexibility. The astronomical fees associated with CoE bidding alone tend to mean that successful bidders are effectively ‘locked in’ to a car for at least 10 years. However, a driver might start a family or emigrate for work at that time, and their car needs may change.

After the CoE expires, car owners then face the dilemma of either renewing the CoE and paying higher road taxes or applying for a brand new one, both costly but necessary options.

Connection through collaboration

Much of what makes car ownership so onerous is the fragmented state of the automotive industry. Customers spend a lot of time and effort comparing prices and service packages. If players in the automotive ecosystem can collaborate to provide a more streamlined experience, this would greatly improve accessibility for drivers and boost the overall industry.

Car subscription is one example of a unified and connected automotive ecosystem. A typical car subscription package wraps the A-Z of car ownership up in a neat all-in-one package. Users sign up on a digital platform in minutes and get everything included for the duration they want with a single fixed monthly fee, car, insurance, maintenance and more. This also ensures dealers have a continuous stock rotation, while workshops and insurance providers have a steady stream of customers.

This solution also streamlines and simplifies the ownership process. Drivers no longer have to negotiate individually with different companies and navigate a maze of regulations that differ according to the various related industries. They have an easy benchmark to compare value between providers, which was more challenging in a fragmented landscape.

A connected ecosystem can have a positive impact on cost due to economies of scale. Partners in a car subscription package, for example, often gain access to a wider customer pool due to cross-promotion and greater audience reach. They can thus offer attractive deals such as brand-new cars, enhanced service offerings and full insurance coverage at more affordable prices, allowing drivers to tailor their car ownership to their changing needs, tastes and budget.

Also Read: How is smart cabin disrupting the automotive technology to glory

Drivers also become more receptive to new automotive technologies because of the reduced upfront investment and commitment required in such ecosystems. Using the car subscription example, platforms can offer electric or autonomous vehicles for customers to try out affordably and flexibly. Based on the customer feedback collected, ecosystem players could then create more advanced and efficient products and services.

Integrated for the future

Ultimately, car ownership is about access to mobility. However, the very concept of mobility is constantly evolving, especially as we step into a technologically-driven world, so the ecosystem must evolve alongside it to keep pace.

Meeting the driver’s needs must be at the forefront of the industry’s goal to achieve sustainability, which can only be holistically achieved through collaboration between all industry stakeholders.

The time is ripe for all players in the automotive sector to join forces in creating an integrated and seamlessly connected automotive ecosystem designed to serve drivers better. Our pursuit of a more mobile future depends on it.

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

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In the world of social media, wasting money, time, and resources is both easy and incredibly commonplace. When sites like Facebook have almost three billion users, and others like YouTube and TikTok aren’t far behind, regardless of the mistakes, it’s an essential industry to reach.

Revolutionising the way people interact

There are several key ways that social media has revolutionised the way people interact. News is now updated moment to moment and is always available, contact is possible anywhere, and with anyone, information is available for all topics and endless, and groups built on common grounds and interests are easier to find than ever.

This means that from region to region, country to country, group to group, social media has found a way to influence everyone. This puts a lot of power in each individual’s hands. Corporations spend infinite amounts of money increasing their audience and promoting their products through influencers.

A strong social media following will build loyalty and create a lot of buying power. On Facebook, only 4.2 per cent of those who view a post will engage with it in any way. Also, only 11 per cent of posts will even be spread to non-followers. These are numbers consistent with social media platforms at large.

Numbers like these make it hard for those with smaller audiences to make much of their platform. This is why growing one’s base and creating loyalty is far more important than attempts at blowing up in one post or trying to make quick money early. Promoted posts are how one makes money in large part, but too many too early will destroy audience trust.

Finding your audience

Keeping this all in mind, it’s essential to understand how to do this. For the process of finding your audience, there are several phases of interaction. The first phase is where one can work to set the groundwork. This phase has three significant aspects of the environment, foundation and sensitivities.

The environment is figuring out what’s going on in the market. Once one knows their content and if it’s entertaining, educational, or fulfilling any other market, they can work to fit that market better. The next step is building a foundation, collecting data, using a wide scope of content, and honing in on what works. This is where a lot of the hard physical work will take place.

Also Read: Know thy customer: The only rule for startups looking to build trust on social media

Finally, as a part of the first phase, one must have sensitivities. An awareness of the needs and emotions of their audience will help to produce better content. If the demographic is seen to be primarily male or female, young or old, that changes what content will be received best. One can also work to change the audience if need be by being sensitive to that audience.

The next phase is characterised by tone and timing. This is where one has to go beyond looking at demographics and understand the attitude given by the content and how it comes across. This is the tone. Timing understands when one uses the basics of phase one to have more control and understanding of the timing of their content and audience reaction.

Finally, the last phase can be summed up with emotions. This is not the emotions of the audience, as that is covered primarily in phases one and two, but instead the emotions of the content creator. Learning to keep a calm and level head is an essential step in building a good audience.

This means no impulsive reactions to the audience and their potential criticisms or compliments. Instead, one should work to take in the audience responses and use the more common comments as a basis for micro improvements. At the end of the day, comments are not consistent, but the data is.

It’s through the use of these few phases that someone can start to garner a solid and, importantly, reliable audience. Anyone can get lucky with a big hit and have a good idea, but it’s the measured and tactical approach to creating content that will lead to real success.

This is a plan for success that is universal, applying to content from all countries and areas. And while there are other little tips that can help, things like using less formal language, not relying on clickbait, not overdoing paid posts, etc. These aren’t what separates the successful creator from the unsuccessful.

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It has been a busy period for Accelerating Asia, the regional network of startup programmes and an early-stage venture capital fund headquartered in Singapore. In addition to actively fundraising for its latest fund, the programme is also recruiting its seventh cohort, which is set to begin in October.

In an interview with e27, Accelerating Asia Co-Founder and General Partner Amra Naidoo shares her excitement for the upcoming cohort. “I was happy when we got our first cohort, and now we’re on to seventh,” she says. “Every cohort is a milestone [for us].”

The regional tech startup ecosystem might recognise Accelerating Asia as a programme that focuses on the Pre-Series A stage companies, defined as those with a level of traction, revenue, and active customers. These companies may have also had investors abroad; they join the programme with the goal of “taking things to the next level.”

Accelerating Asia is also known for making milestones such as having 40 per cent of the companies in its cohorts led by female founders.

“We would never drop that standard or change the criteria for anyone,” Naidoo says. “When we talk about that 40 per cent number, a lot of work has been done in the backend to create a culture where, hopefully, female founders would think of Accelerating Asia as a good investor they want to work with. It comes down to things like our Code of Conduct.”

Every individual – from mentor to founder to investor– who is working with the organisation has to follow this code of conduct religiously. “We’re strict about blacklisting people, not engaging them to work with us again. It is about being upfront with our values. I think that helps to create this kind of environment where, hopefully, lots of different types of people feel comfortable coming to us,” Naidoo elaborates.

In this feature article, she explains in detail the kind of company culture that Accelerating Asia built to support its mission. We divided the article into three parts:

1. Saving the world, one startup at a time — where we focus on the history of the organisation and how it came up with its structure and mission
2. Enabling innovation — a focus on the values that they implement and how they are using them to run their operations
3. Supporting the ecosystem — a look into what the organisation offers to its portfolio companies, including how they measure performance

Also Read: Meet the first batch of startups that received investment from Accelerating Asia’s US$20M Fund II

Saving the world, one startup at a time

The journey of Accelerating Asia began in 2018. At the time, Naidoo and co-founder Craig Bristol Dixon were running an accelerator programme for a corporate when they found out that it was shutting down, and they had to figure out what to do next.

“We felt that there was a need for an independent accelerator programme that has high quality and that is serving a specific stage of a company. It is what we have been doing with the corporate accelerator, but not in the fullest sense. So that’s essentially how we started thinking about Accelerating Asia,” she explains.

When they first began, one of the first things that they needed to figure out was the revenue model of the business. “In the early days, we gave ourselves a little timeline to see if we could get something off the ground. We consulted a lot of industry professionals. We spoke to the Singapore government to other VCs. We spoke to the JFDI team, who is infamous in the region for their work starting up that accelerator programme, just to see what we needed to do to make this sustainable on its own. As I’m sure you’re aware, it’s just really difficult to have an independent programme.”

Following the research, the co-founders came up with three business lines:

1. The accelerator
2. The consulting/partnership arm
3. The venture arm

These three business lines enable Accelerating Asia to balance the commercial and idealistic sides of the business. When starting up Accelerating Asia, the co-founders knew their passion lies in working with startups. Still, they were aware of the challenge that they were facing: how to remain financially independent and sustainable as it is “really hard” to charge the startups “enough money to continue a high-quality programme.”

“That is where the second part of our business came in, which is essentially a consulting or a partnerships arm. We run startup programmes for partners, be it governments, universities, or multinationals. That is the early revenue stream for Accelerating Asia before it evolved into a fund,” says Naidoo.

“We naturally started thinking, ‘Well, if we are working with all these startups, we should invest in them too.’ That’s essentially how Accelerating Asia ventures, the third part of what we do, was set up. Looking back on it now, it all made sense to do it the way we did. But we essentially started three businesses around the same time, and it was a lot of work.”

Naidoo admits that running these three businesses can be quite challenging. “They can be competing in terms of how much time it takes you. But we found that they all create a really strong ecosystem, and they all feed into each other.”

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

Despite its importance, the commercial side of the business was not the only thing that Naidoo and Dixon set up at the beginning of their journey. Beyond that, Naidoo and Dixon also figured out the values they wanted to promote through Accelerating Asia.

The co-founders believe that entrepreneurs are one of humanity’s greatest catalysts for positive change –this becomes the guiding principle for the organisation.

“Craig was the one who put it down into such a beautiful sentence. And then … our marketing team had a go at it and made it even better. It embodies everything that we’re trying to do at Accelerating Asia … for [Dixon], he’s spoken a lot about how there are some entrepreneurs out there that could be working on some incredible things. If they just had the resources and the support, they could make [their impact] a reality and change the world,” Naidoo elaborates.

“I’m approaching it from a different perspective. I was working for UN Women for quite a while, working with a lot of social entrepreneurs. I got to see so many different business models and thought that if we could make these more scalable and sustainable and use technology as a tool to do that … The change and the impact that you could make could be amazing. So, we arrived at the same thing around the same time, but just different ways of getting there.”

I asked Naidoo how far along does she think they are in this journey of fulfilling their mission? As a response, she believes they are still at the “very beginning” of their journey. In our conversation, she also mentions how she was inspired by the works of other organisations in the industries –and the challenges faced by the community.

“The tech and investment space is not exactly known for its diversity or inclusiveness. We want to be different or even more than that, to set a standard for what it could be in this region and what it could look like.”

Enabling innovation

With the level of complexity that their operations can have, there is a need for Accelerating Asia to be methodical in how they are running things. The organisation believes that it can achieve this by implementing a culture that promotes the values they live by. Those three values are:

1. Flexibility
2. Trust in disagreement
3. Clarity

The first value they implement is flexibility. “We’ve always been quite flexible regarding where and how you work and how many hours you work. We don’t have any set office hours in the organisation. We do have team meetings and things like that; as long as you make it to those team meetings [then it is fine]. If you’re a night person and want to work in the evening, go ahead. If you’re a super early morning bird, you can do that too,” Naidoo elaborates.

An example of an initiative they implement is a Flexi Friday, where team members are not allowed to host meetings or events during the day. They would also be freed from the expectation to answer messages immediately on Fridays, enabling them to travel for the weekend and return to the office on Mondays.

“All of this is based on trust. The whole idea is that work should be something that you enjoy coming to; hopefully, you can thrive and find your flow … that’s the kind of environment we wanted to create.”

When the COVID-19 pandemic strikes, this flexibility that the team has implemented allows them to adjust and transition to remote working smoothly –they would even attribute their survival during the crisis to their ability to be flexible. 

Also Read: Accelerating Asia to launch Fund II in H2, ups investment size to US$250K

Another value that they implement is related to handling conflict and disagreement in the team.

“We have a disagree-and-move-on policy. Everybody in the organisation can be very opinionated. That’s why we hire people … to have their opinions about certain things. But there has to be a point where we just have to decide. And so, even if you disagree with something, the decisions must be made, and then you move on,” Naidoo says. “There are so many different things we’ve tried to implement; we’re constantly testing different things and frameworks.”

Another aspect I am curious about is how the team members work with each other, as some companies in the startup ecosystem are known to have a unique approach to it. Some are more project-oriented, while some are more team-oriented. In the case of Accelerating Asia, the first thing that one needs to know is that the company is being divided into three divisions that work on the different aspects of the business: The accelerator, the fund management, and the partnerships.

The accelerator is certainly the core of the activities in the company. Still, there is the fund management division that works closely with the LPs and the partnership division, which works on business development relationships and partner programme executions.

Despite these divisions, Naidoo points out that there are team members whose role sits across these three different areas. “For example, I’m more on the operational and administration sides, but much of my work also sits across the fund as the general partner. Whereas Craig is more on the portfolio and the startups as well as sitting across the fund.”

The team managed the role of its members using a matrix approach or swim lane diagram, which Naidoo sees as helpful in clarifying who is responsible for what, especially when many projects are happening with competing levels of priorities.

“We have just started testing out something called the DICE framework. When you’re running a project, who is the Decider? Who are the people that just need to be Informed of the project but don’t need to be actively involved in it? And then who are you bringing into the team to Consult on certain things, from marketing to legal? And then who are the team members Executing?” she explains each acronym.

“That helped us get some clarity internally, especially when you’ve got lots of different people doing lots of different things.”

In terms of the tools that they are using, Accelerating Asia relies on “the classics” such as Slack and Google Drive.

Supporting the ecosystem

So, what kind of support does Accelerating Asia give to its startups? Naidoo gives the answers by explaining what sets them apart from a similar organisations.

Also Read: A snapshot of the 11 startups joining Accelerating Asia’s 4th cohort

“Our accelerated programme is not the typical theory-based programme. We are very hands-on. We’re probably better described as hands-on investors rather than an accelerator programme because people just have preconceived ideas about what accelerator programmes are. So, our team are there for the startups.”

In the three months that a startup is involved with Accelerating Asia, the organisation assists them in hiring, restructuring the company, and legal matters such as contracts and agreements. They also assist the startups in marketing. fundraising, and even storytelling.

“We tend to work very closely with the founders themselves. But we have also worked with some of the smaller teams with the senior leadership team because that’s just as important at that stage,” says Naidoo.

As investors, Accelerating Asia does not set specific performance targets for its portfolio companies. However, they still expect to see growth. To ensure this, following graduation from the programme, they will catch up with the startups through phone calls every six months to see if they can help with anything.

“During the programme, we’re much more hands-on, and the feedback circle is quicker than six months. We’re seeing them almost every day, so it’s about creating an environment where they can trust you with any problems that they’re having. If there is a slowdown in growth, we can see why and what’s going on there and help them as appropriate.”

But what happens if a portfolio company fails to perform? What actions will the organisation take to prevent and handle that? To answer these big questions, Naidoo begins by explaining the qualitative and quantitative aspects of measuring a portfolio company’s performance. 

“The quantitative side is easier. We look at the company before they apply for the programme, and we have a certain set of metrics that we look at, things like monthly recurring revenue, user retention, and growth rates. We track them for every month of the programme until graduation and then every six months after that to see growth,” she elaborates.

“The qualitative aspect includes things like new partnerships or media coverage that they have, or growth of the founders themselves. Several founders were recently announced as Forbes 30 under 30. So, it is the other things that signal growth in the company and of the founders themselves,” she adds.

With all that they get to offer to startups, how does Accelerating Asia promote their works to the startup ecosystem? 

The organisation’s website is certainly the starting point for learning about its mission and how to apply to its programmes, but Accelerating Asia also runs webinars and events to help promote its activities, such as a monthly open house session at the Draper Startup House in Singapore. 

Also Read: Accelerating Asian IPO markets: How long can the initial public offering boom last?

“When we do travel around the region, we also have several startup events that we run. We’re always hopping around so they can get in contact with us. When we are in a recruitment cycle as we are right now, and applications are open, this is the best time to approach us. Just come and talk to us, drop by the office and things like that,” Naidoo says.

“Outside the recruitment cycle, it’s better [for startups] to put themselves down in the pre-application. Because they can start the application process, we can keep tabs on them and keep in contact with them.”

Last words

In an ecosystem where most accelerator programmes are affiliated with a corporate –from telco companies to banks– an independent programme has an opportunity to stand out and provide a unique experience for its participating startups. Most importantly, to stand out from the rest, an independent accelerator programme has to have a mission. 

As explained by Naidoo at the beginning of her conversation with e27, there is a certain “homework” that Accelerating Asia needs to do when setting up its organisation. It had to figure out a way to support itself and be sustainable as a business. In addition to that, they have to set up a system that can help support its mission. 

So far, if we look at the organisation’s portfolio companies, many of them are imbued with missions that align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), from quality healthcare and education to employment and economic growth. While many of their companies, including Dana and Waitrr, may not secure unicorn status yet, they are experiencing steady growth. They are working in a field that creates an impact –in addition to making money.

This is not the first time that values such as flexibility and the willingness to disagree come out as key values that enable an organisation to stay resilient and grow. These are some of the traits that are often associated with the startup ecosystem. Still, it is always fascinating to see how each organisation implements it in their unique flavour.

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Image Credit: Accelerating Asia

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Indonesian e-commerce firm Blibli inches closer to IPO
The firm looks to raise US$400M in IPO later this month or early Sept 2022; As part of the plan, Blibli and Tiket.com will merge and conduct the IPO together as one group.

Insignia Ventures raises US$516M for its funds; bullish about web3, climate-tech, healthcare in SEA
The VC firm says its enterprise value is over US$46B on US$304.9M of invested capital, with a loss ratio of less than 2 per cent; It has backed 50+ companies, including Carro, Ajaib, Appier, and GoTo.

A new set of founders will emerge in Indonesia amid funding winter: Vertex Ventures
Senior exec Joshua Agusta said investors may be selective in their investments and have adjusted their expectations of the returns; A lot of growth-stage startups will need longer time to fundraise and that too at moderate valuations.

Botsync’s automatic mobile robots want to lift APAC’s logistics sector to the next level
Botsync’s MAG AMRs can autonomously navigate the operating site to transfer loads of up to 1,500 kg, utilising the base map and multiple integrated sensors.

Jack Ma may let go of Ant Group control
He controls 50.52% of the company’s shares through an entity called Hangzhou Yunbo Investment Consultancy; The business tycoon may cede control by transferring some of his voting powers to Ant executives, including CEO Eric Jing.

B Capital was the top investor in troubled crypto exchange Zipmex
The Thai startup has so far raised a total of US$65.3 million from investors across four rounds; Last week, Zipmex briefly suspended withdrawals following its US$53M exposure to the troubled crypto lenders Babel Finance and Celsius.

SG-founded cybersecurity firm Acronis secures US$250M funding
BlackRock is reportedly one of the backers; The firm offers cyber protection solutions covering backups and protection; Acronis is currently HQed in Switzerland with 34 offices worldwide, catering to 750K businesses across 150+ countries.

SG’s scion Kiat Lim’s Towerhill buys Vulcan Post parent Grvty Media
The acquisition comes as Grvty Media is still recovering from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic; The deal will give the media firm access to services from Kiat’s portfolio companies.

Creador leads US$11M round of Filipino digital bank player UnoAsia
UnoAsia aims to serve 45 million underbanked people in the Philippines; It also plans to set up digital banks in other countries in South and Southeast Asia, making the firm a regional player in the next few years.

Axie Infinity head moved millions in game tokens before transaction freeze
Axie Infinity developer Sky Mavis confirmed Bloomberg’s analysis of public data that linked the wallet of CEO, Trung Nguyen, to a large transaction of about US$3M in Axie’s AXS tokens to crypto exchange Binance.

SG DeFi firm OrBit Markets raises US$4.6M in Matrixport-led round
Investors include Matrixport, Brevan Howard Digital, New Form Capital, Maven 11, and Westridge Markets; OrBit designs quantitative models and risk engines to create crypto-based financial solutions.

Packworks bags US$2M to launch m-ERP platform for Filipino sari-sari stores
Investors include Fast Group, CVC Capital, ADB Ventures, Arise, Techstars, and IdeaSpace Foundation; Packworks enables store owners to process their business inventory, bookkeeping, and data collection through The Pack: SuperStore App.

Insitor Partners leads Cambodian agritech startup’s pre-series A round
Azaylla provides supply chain solutions for farmers, helping them process and distribute fresh produce worldwide; It also plans to launch an online B2B platform that incorporates consumer insights, market data, and curation.

The post Ecosystem Roundup: Blibli inches closer to IPO, Insignia raises US$516M for Fund III, Jack Ma may let go of Ant Group control appeared first on e27.

The world of startups is a high-stakes game, further perpetuated by increased uncertainty. Of the number of enterprises that launch, 90% eventually fail within the first 10 years.

There are many lessons to learn from the creme de la creme that make it through. These strong enterprises have invested in the right priorities, especially in tough times. Extending internal cash ways and focusing on operational efficiencies while continuing to deliver great customer value are key factors to stand out.

While there are headwinds that come with abrupt change and macro market challenges, there are also tailwinds to be harnessed with the increased digital adoption among consumers. What comes with constraints are opportunities to exercise creativity and harness the power of “and” versus “either-or” thinking. The right tools need to be in place for people and processes in the company to work efficiently and continue to drive growth, save money and reduce risk.

Shifts in consumer trends

Amidst the challenges, there are great opportunities for Asia’s startup ecosystem. A big chunk of consumers is changing their purchasing behaviour and shifting to digital. This presents a plethora of entry points for enterprises to provide value in this space, as well as be able to optimise operations, by working with digital platforms.

There are many ways of tapping business efficiency. One of these is to invest in systems that pay off in the long run. An opportunity to build this efficiency into your enterprise is to incorporate an agile go-to-market model and make your website work for you, get the right audience, and focus on deals that you can win. Aligning internal functions and uniting sales and marketing around your customer is crucial.

Also read: How AlphaJWC Ventures built Indonesia’s largest early-stage fund

Freshworks (NASDAQ: FRSH), a leading software company that empowers businesses in delighting both their customers and their employees, has cloud-based sales and support solutions that help businesses improve the experience of their customers and respective market segments. Their services facilitate connectivity within internal teams and enable them to interact and engage customers and realise the efficiency of various operational processes through technology

Freshworks has enabled over 50,000 small and big companies across the globe to exceed customer and employee expectations. 

For Freshworks, customer engagement is key

In the Southeast Asian region, Zalora is a Freshworks customer, enabling the leading e-commerce fashion retailer to increase its customer agent response time and enhance personalisation to its 50 million customers online. 7-Eleven in the Philippines is also benefitting from improvements in its omnichannel customer experience through Freshworks’ solutions. They are able to automate and optimise their customer resolution processes, delivering great conveniences to both their in-store and online customers, across their 3000 24-hour convenience stores.

Freshworks also has solid representation and support in Southeast Asia, with its regional headquarters in Singapore. With its increasing growth in the region impacting the operational improvement of many businesses, it is committed to delivering customer needs, strengthening partner ecosystems, and sustaining the build-up of these ecosystems.

Also read: Alibaba Cloud launches AsiaStar 10×10 campaign for SEA startups

Your startup is better with Freshworks. You can leverage key features such as automation, multiple-channel support, and AI tools, which are all available on the Freshworks Customer Engagement Solutions suite. They provide tailored cloud-based solutions that suit specific needs, native collaboration to improve workflow efficiency, and intuitive interfaces that enable quick training & transition.

Freshworks has catered to various enterprises globally amidst a range of sizes, also offering solutions for small and medium-scale businesses, entrepreneurs, and business professionals. They offer the flexibility of their solutions to enable efficiencies, such as omnichannel customer service software, customer support software, customer messaging software, contact centre solutions, sales software, customer relationship management for sales and marketing teams, marketing automation software, IT service management software, and human resources software.

The benefits you get with Freshworks

As a startup, you are eligible to avail of the Freshworks suite of solutions through their Freshworks for Startups program. The perks include $10,000 worth of credits across products. With an allocation of $1,250 per product, your team is guided through a white glove onboarding process.

To add to that, you are also able to engage with a built-in community of mentors and founders and access useful resources for startup founders, including Youtube playlists, webinars, and playbooks.

Also read: Four takeaways from companies actively building ventures in Singapore

Freshsales Suite (all-in-one CRM), Freshdesk (helpdesk software) and Freshchat (live chat software) are some of the loved Freshworks products, other Freshworks customers include Klarna, Fiverr, and Delivery Hero.

Boost your startup journey with leading customer and employee engagement solutions from Freshworks now, with a simple, cost-effective setup and user process, and comes equipped with powerful automation. Sign up here.

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

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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Small and mid-size enterprises (SMEs) in Southeast Asia have long been an integral part of economic growth and a segment that will receive strong support for post-pandemic recovery. This makes the entrepreneurial path an exciting avenue for people from all walks of life to follow their passion.

In particular, entrepreneurism is a growing trend among young people, who have demonstrated remarkable resiliency and agility to thrive amidst the challenges faced during the pandemic. The findings from our Herbalife Nutrition Asia Pacific (APAC) Young Entrepreneur Survey have also mirrored this uptake, with seven in 10 Gen Zs and Millennials saying they aspire to start a business of their own.

Opportunities in health and wellness

While there is a wide range of industries to explore and consider as an entrepreneur, there is no denying that the health and nutrition segments are popular choices, driven by consumer demand.

Our survey on Changing Health Priorities found that 86 per cent of consumers have taken steps to improve their health in the past year, with over half of respondents saying that they have been eating healthier and supplementing their diet with vitamins and minerals. The bigger picture looks promising too, with market studies projecting a CAGR of 13.2 per cent between 2021-2027 for personalised nutrition in APAC.

At the same time, the region’s ageing population is on the rise and with it, the increase in national-level health promotion programmes to boost healthy life expectancy. These efforts appear to be working. Herbalife Nutrition’s survey showed there is a strong awareness of healthy ageing among consumers, with 73 per cent saying they have taken actions like making better nutrition choices and taking supplements. The combination of these nutrition healthy active lifestyle trends amidst diverse demographics provides a rich environment for new ideas and businesses to flourish.

In general, entrepreneurship can be a rewarding pursuit that allows for flexible schedules, control over decision-making, and the expansion of business networks. Here are some building blocks to success that we share with our independent distributors in the region to help them thrive and grow their businesses.

Getting the basics right

Many entrepreneurs start their businesses to escape the roadblocks of large companies. Along with the freedom to be one’s own boss, there is often a desire to free themselves of endless planning sessions.

Also Read: How accelerator programmes can help entrepreneurs bring their vision to life

However, every business, large or small, benefits from a plan. Take time to write down goals for the business and tangible actions to achieve those goals. Review it on a quarterly basis to measure progress.

For example, was there a way to cut costs or streamline processes? Did client services improve with more technology solutions?

Remember that we are making progress on all fronts, and sometimes just progress, however small, can be enough. Entrepreneurs can continue to find new ways to conduct their business. Ask what customers need and how to best deliver that product, information, or service.

As providers of nutritional and wellness products, we know that consumers worldwide are seeking healthy solutions now more than ever. Our independent distributors host online webinars, and outdoor exercise sessions and provide valuable health information via emails and newsletters.

Professional growth and the willingness to learn are crucial to thriving in a business. In our latest 2022 Entrepreneur Survey, respondents reported that it took an average of two failed business ideas before they found one that worked.

While failing is difficult and discouraging, entrepreneurs shared that making mistakes helped them learn, grow, and succeed in their future endeavours. Almost 90 per cent of small business owners said they learnt valuable lessons from each unsuccessful venture.

The importance of learning to be more productive is also high on the list of lessons. Four out of 10 small business owners said that productivity was critical to their success. Many entrepreneurs previously worked for companies where deadlines were set for them by others.

Suddenly becoming a boss can be daunting for owners, and many find themselves overwhelmed with work and less productive at first. The adage “one step at a time” applies to productivity. Set attainable goals and see each task through to completion.

Nurturing ambitions

Southeast Asia has a promising talent pool of aspiring entrepreneurs that can be nurtured to think bigger and find their place in the global markets. Besides macro policies that support better financing options, wider market access, and the use of technology and innovation, there are some equally important support systems needed to create a conducive and inclusive environment.

Social support

All entrepreneurs require advice, guidance and mentoring at some point in their journey to help them succeed. This can come from an array of social connections, including business partners, financial advisers, government services, and even formal entrepreneur networks.

Another aspect includes promoting emotional support in families and homes. Young entrepreneurs are often discouraged from entering the start-up ecosystem by societal and familial pressure. Building a supportive and significant system where younger entrepreneurs can voice their passion, try new ideas, and be guided on their journey is vital.

Diversity matters

Overall, the Asia Pacific region stands to gain 70 per cent in per capita income within roughly two generations by eliminating gender disparities in employment, including in the area of entrepreneurship. Stronger encouragement and support for women entrepreneurs, especially to enter markets that are driven by emerging opportunities, is important as these businesses are more likely to grow and expand.

Also Read: Is raising money becoming a soul-destroying experience for entrepreneurs?

This creates a positive feedback loop, as the next generation of women builds on the gains made by the current generation, empowering them to break out of social and cultural norms and lay the foundation for more inclusive economic growth.

Diversity also boosts innovation: a growing body of research shows how gender-diverse teams have better productivity and are more innovative, as diverse teams can look at problems from different perspectives.

Being part of a circular economy

One of our latest surveys revealed that younger Asian consumers not only see sustainability as a core value that influences their purchase decisions, but they are also expecting companies and governments to play their part.

Entrepreneurs need to interpret what this means to their business in a holistic way, and this is where governments can provide incentives and upskilling to enable more widespread and innovative sustainable practices. While the implementation might vary across industries, it can contribute significantly to better livelihoods, communities, and economies.

Concluding thoughts

Today, entrepreneurship is more than a job-creating mechanism, it acts as a positive influence on economic growth by serving as the link between innovation and the market. Given the strong consumer trends, the health and wellness space can offer exciting opportunities for new ideas and offerings.

Successful entrepreneurs are the ones who identify and access the right mix of social, business and ecosystem support. More importantly, success comes from believing in continuing education as the secret sauce to staying on top of the game.

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

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In today’s competitive market space, delivering great experiences for customers — from awareness all the way to post-purchase engagement — is crucial to getting ahead of the competition. In building and scaling up startups, understanding ways to continuously improve products and services in order to deliver constant customer delight is not really straightforward. With broader market conditions of inflation and its implications on fundraising, startups have to strike a balance between managing business and operational priorities and product/service innovation.  

Based on a number of recent studies, the need for constant alignment of customer insights into product improvement and internal stakeholder efficiency is a key component to staying ahead of the pack and sustaining business growth.

Also read: Freshworks bolsters startups with cloud-based sales and support solutions

As such, SAP and e27 organised a webinar to unearth insights from startup founders and customer experience experts on their strategies when it comes to extending runways to drive growth in current economic environments.

The panellists included Harish Agarwal, Head of Customer Experience Strategy for Qualtrics in Southeast Asia; Siddharth Upadhyaya, Lead for Product Discovery & Supply Chain at Versafleet; and Ashley Uy, Product Manager at Plentina, moderated by Selma Ayuanshari from e27. These thought leaders shared their insights about managing the digital offerings of an enterprise to be more effective and customer-centric.

Experts shared their experiences

In this webinar, speakers shared their experiences as insiders and founders, as well as thoughts on the current technology landscape and its challenges. The panel explored insights on how to improve enterprise digital offerings, including best practices and techniques on how to accelerate growth, scale without funding through product efficiency and using SaaS in supporting fast scaling experimentation while leveraging open source technologies.

Other topics that were covered included finding ways to choose which product and product marketing to prioritise, learning how to leverage data that can help you personalise your digital offering to your key customers, finding a path to profitability, and transforming your company into a sustainable growth-stage startup.

Also read: How AlphaJWC Ventures built Indonesia’s largest early-stage fund

Harish Agarwal, Head of Customer Experience Strategy for Qualtrics in Southeast Asia, a co-panellist for the webinar, provided rich insight as a customer experience practitioner. Harish has scaled customer experience programmes and enabled businesses to derive more value at leading organisations across the region. He discussed how incorporating feedback from customers can help meet the objective of building great products and services. The value lies in bringing both structured and unstructured feedback and signals from millions of data points and making sense of it through big data analytics, enabling you to identify delight points and pain points across the customer journey, and then using technology to address those points by acting with empathy at speed and scale.

When asked about his insights on the challenges for startups, Harish mentioned finding product-market fit as the main objective, especially in determining key differentiation and establishing value proposition in a competitive market. Also, continuously improving your value proposition to stay ahead of customer expectations. This is where the importance of understanding consumers and their needs better comes in.

Delivering products with a much more holistic understanding of the customers’ experience enables your business to become more effective and drive faster growth with confidence and precision. This can be done on the product side, go-to-market side, and for any channel that you are using to fulfil the customer journey — through digital, physical, or hybrid channels — by understanding the experience delivered to consumers as a core asset. There are often visibility challenges on customer feedback when building startups, and this may result in broken delivery experiences.

Discovering gaps in customer experience

Every type of organisation stands to benefit from improved experiences, and Qualtrics works across all levels of business, academia, and government to help them find and keep customers, cultivate loyalty, and optimise go-to-market strategies through great experiences. This includes acquisition and onboarding journeys, customer service, loyalty programmes, and the broader value chains.

Delivering a good customer experience is crucial to driving brand equity. Consumers across industries have a lot of choices, and staying ahead of competitors entails a constant connection and understanding of consumer needs. Beyond being cost-competitive, maintaining great customer experiences is key.

The panellists also explained that startup investors can also leverage the customer experience visibility of potential investees as well as startups in their existing portfolios. Whereas traditional research is often used to identify the best investments as part of the due diligence process, research done by Qualtrics can offer agility in terms of providing deep insight into the product-market fit of a startup, as well as gaining a better understanding of the green space in the market.

Also read: Alibaba Cloud launches AsiaStar 10×10 campaign for SEA startups

It can be an opportunity to perform portfolio monitoring beyond financial outcomes and ensure continuous improvement in customer experiences for their portfolio companies. 

The continued growth of Qualtrics is proof of the value organisations are finding in driving business outcomes through better experiences. Qualtrics has increasingly scaled its operations across the Asia Pacific and Japan in response to increasing demand from customers looking to deliver incredible customer experiences.

Over the last year, Qualtrics has made its technologies available through local AWS Cloud Infrastructures in Singapore and Japan, ensuring all local organisations can benefit from its technology. In partnership with SAP and the Singapore Economic Development Board, Qualtrics also recently launched a centre of excellence focused on developing customer experience capabilities and communities in the region to help drive local and global innovation and growth.

To listen to the webinar, visit: https://e27co.e27.co/bnQYLH

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

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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Singapore Straits Time states that in the first three months of 2022, around 93 victims lost about US$56.2 million because of business e-mail compromise (BEC) scams. The victims didn’t know that these emails are sent by scammers, because it looks like ordinary emails from their business contacts. It turns out that the scammers already hacked into the emails of these business contacts from spoofed email addresses.

The victim had been tricked into making several large transactions totalling US$14 million to bank accounts held by email addresses spoofed to appear as if they were from the victim’s client. Read more about BEC here.

This time the hacker has become very smart and always seizes even a small opportunity to bribe their victims. We need to be smarter than them and be careful with emails that might look safe. Here, I want to share some characteristics of email phishing.

The email sounds like unrealistic threats or demands

Hackers usually intimidate their victims when they’re doing phishing scams. They like to use phrases that push the victims to do something like, “urgent action required” and “account closed” are common. These unrealistic threats and demands are associated with phishing messages. 

Also Read: How can lean startups build a resilient cybersecurity posture

There is a catch

In most cases of email phishing, scammers will do a catch like asking the victims to send some money for expenses or fees. If you caught this kind of message, then you should realise that it is an indication of email fraud.

Poor spelling and writing

Most of the social engineering emails will pretend to be a reputable company to fraud their victims. However, these types of emails are often delivered with grammatical and spelling mistakes. Multi-billion dollar companies don’t distribute emails coherently, and this is a sign of fraudulent email.

An inconsistent or faulty URL

The ABS study found that 30 per cent of people still click links in untrusted emails even though they know they are likely to be malicious. If you want to know if a link embedded in an email is trustworthy, you can hover your mouse over it. If the hyperlink address doesn’t match the embedded link, it’s most likely a malicious link leading to a phishing website.

You will be required to provide confidential data

Regardless of the sender, we should be more cautious when receiving emails requesting the disclosure of sensitive personal information such as credit card numbers, bank account numbers, passwords, etc. 

Most recent reports indicate that spear phishing emails impersonating Bank of America employees were attempting to extract sensitive information from bank users. Any email that asks you to send data that could be compromised is most likely fraudulent and someone trying to steal sensitive data.

When we are working with the internet, let’s be smart users. Don’t let the scammers get into us and take everything. We could secure our data with a security management tool that is both reliable and capable of covering both detection and response. Stay safe!

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

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

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A recession can be harsh for many people. Job cuts, companies shutting down or downsizing, countries in turmoil and many projects coming to a halt are just some of the devasting effects of a recession.

During the Asian Financial crisis, US$9.7 billion of GDP was lost in the ASEAN region and thousands of jobs were lost as countries were battling the recession. Similarly, during the recession of 2008, the solvency of over-leveraged banks and financial institutions caused the collapse and bailout of many major financial institutions resulting in the IMF bailing out countries and thousands of jobs cut.

But not all is doom and gloom. A recession can be a time for reflection, rebuilding and reframing the conversation to better position yourself or your company when the market picks up.

Reflections for a better ecosystem

Often recession is a byproduct of a flaw or abuse within an ecosystem, and a trigger event will collapse the system. The 2008 recession started with the subprime mortgage crisis in 2006 and spiralled into a recession when the subprime borrowers started defaulting while the housing bubble burst as the Fed raised rates. This resulted in the recession in 2008, where banks and financial institutions required a government bailout.

With the experience of the recession in 2008, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision came up with Basel III to improve the banks’ ability to handle shocks from financial stress and to strengthen their transparency and disclosure. This reflection from the financial community to identify and close the gaps will help to build a better ecosystem to handle future situations.

Reshuffling of leaders

With each recession, there are bound to be industry leaders who will bite the dust, and new leaders will emerge among those who survived the recession. While it can devastate the affected players, it could also be good for the industry with an injection of new blood and vision for the upcoming stars.

Also Read: How small companies can prepare for recession

During the recession in 2008, it forced giant automobile makers such as General Motors and Chrysler to go under or get a bailout by the Government. A reshuffle within the automobile industry leader board gave the industry a new lease of blood and moved to better innovation, process and even the rise of EV cars.

Sometimes the impact doesn’t just affect companies but the whole industry as well. After the 2008 crisis, financial institutions have become more prudent in their loans and lending, especially with the implementation of Basel III.

More stringent background and credit checks are implemented to ensure that loans are given out with proper due diligence and this, in turn, helps to strengthen the whole ecosystem to handle similar stress in the future.

Reexamine priorities in life

On a personal and career level, a recession can be an opportune time to reexamine one’s priorities, career aspirations and life goals. Often during the bull markets, we are filled with endless meetings, projects, and sales pitches that we lose track of the why or things that matter to us.

When a recession hits, it forces us to slow down our pace (whether voluntarily or forced) and, in turn, gives us time to reflect and reexamine our life priorities and career paths.

In Singapore, during the COVID-19 pandemic, where several industries such as aviation and hospitality were severely affected, it forced many to switch careers in other sectors such as transportation or finance. During the same period, many reexamined their life priorities, and now conversations with companies have been reframing into how they can strike a balance between work-life culture.

Reframing the conversation

With the recent crypto winter, it’s prime time to reframe the conversion around crypto from speculative gains to intrinsic value. Singapore is leading the way with MAS Chief Fintech Officer Sopnendu Mohanty asking how crypto projects drive value.

Many companies have proven crypto can be used to solve real-life problems.

For example, Digital Treasures Centre (DTC), a licenced payment company based in Singapore, embraces crypto as an alternative form of payment to help reduce settlement time and foreign transaction fees.

Zilliqa aims to solve blockchain platforms’ scalability problems by using sharing technology. STEPN is a walk-to-earn project that promotes movement and healthier lifestyles.

Coming out stronger

A recession can devastate countries, companies and individuals, but it is not the end of the road. With each recession, lessons will be learnt, priorities will be rearranged, and paths will be reconsidered.

But no doubt, if one keeps a positive mindset to grind it through after each recession, you will often find yourself coming out of recession stronger and better.

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

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

Image credit: Canva Pro

The post How to survive a recession and thrive afterward appeared first on e27.

In 2016, during one of his official trips to Uganda, Alan Lai came across a group of chia seed farmers who harvested their crops under the parching sun.

Lai, who was working in the investment industry, bought some at a fraction of the price sold at the retail stores but wasn’t sure of the quality. Despite the rapid digitalisation globally, there was no easy and quick way to check the seeds’ quality.

“Being an artificial intelligence enthusiast, I saw an opportunity to leverage AI to rapidly ascertain the quality of the seeds conveniently so that farmers can be paid better and consumers pay less,” says Lai, who went on to start a food ingredient search engine.

That was the beginning of ProfilePrint, an AI-driven predictive and prescriptive profiler.

Established in July 2017, Singapore-based ProfilePrint provides users with accessible, affordable, and portable solutions to ascertain and predict the quality and profile of a food ingredient at the point of use “within seconds”. Its combination of sensor technology and SaaS platform can be used across the whole supply chain.

“The AI technology takes a molecular snapshot of a food ingredient (seeds, coffee, cocoa beans or rice grains) and allows users across the supply chain to access the digital ingredient signature and ascertain the suitability,” says Lai.

ProfilePrint has deployed its solution globally to Europe, Africa, Latin America, China, Japan, Sri Lanka and Indonesia.

Also Read: ProfilePrint’s AI tool predicts quality profile of a food sample “within seconds”, raises funding

The startup first unveiled its fingerprint prediction technology in June 2021 in the Singapore Coffee Association auction, where it predicted the Q-grading score, taste parameters and critical attributes such as moisture and density for all the auctioned coffee beans. It currently serves some of the world’s largest food conglomerates, such as Louis Dreyfus, Olam, Sucafina, as well as mid-sizes traders, local cooperatives and farmers.

Seeks to replace traditional methods

There are several traditional ways to physically grade food samples across multiple stages of the global supply chain. They vary from laboratory testing, which is expensive and time-consuming, to human tasters, which is onerous and can be subjective.

Crops are often visually graded at the farm level, and farmers are paid based on volume, regardless of the crop quality, which does not incentivise them to improve farming methods. Farmers don’t get the benefits despite the increasing demand for premium quality and the availability of crop quality improvement methods.

“This is where our solution becomes crucial. It uncovers molecular patterns in the ingredient signature and big data, such as origin, weather, altitude, to generate insights and predictions,” explains Lai. “We offer sellers and buyers an unbiased reference point, expediting existing quality assessment processes — from the farm to the buyers.”

The firm follows a subscription model where clients lease its analyser with access to the modules available on its online platform.

It also provides an AI grading service, where cooperatives and farmers send their crops to the firm for assessment. The reports will be uploaded online (ProfilePrint Hub) much faster and more affordable than existing sensory grading methods.

Driving sustainability

Beyond the immediate operating efficiencies and cost savings, the firm claims it also drives sustainability significantly. Its technology provides traceability features allowing end buyers to access the digital signatures and geographical and harvest records of the ingredient they consume.

Lai believes it alleviates farmer poverty by ensuring that they are paid more fairly based on quality and ultimately providing more transparency and objectivity in the industry.

What are the current challenges? “People, people, people,” Lai replies. “We need more people in the industry seeing the transformative value of digitalising the ingredient supply chain, more people at the farms to benefit from this transformation and more People aligned in skillsets and core values to join our pursuit in this company.”

In February this year, ProfilePrint announced an undisclosed sum in the Series A round. The capital came from food ingredient conglomerates, including Louis Dreyfus Company (Netherlands), Olam Food Ingredients, Sucafina (Switzerland), a Southeast Asian agrifood conglomerate (Indonesia), Greenwillow Capital Management (Singapore) and Real Tech Global Fund (Japan).

That round came a year after the startup secured pre-series A raised from Glocalink Singapore, Leave-a-Nest, and Seeds Capital.

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