BRI Ventures, the corporate venture capital arm of Indonesia-based BRI Group, has announced the launch of a new accelerator programme, called Sembrani Wira, for embedded finance startups in Indonesia.

Fazz Financials (parent of fintech platform Payfazz) and local venture capital firm Prasetia Dwidharma are the operating partners for the first batch of the 8-week-long programme.

GajiGesa, Biteship, MYCL, CookLab, Gredu, Restock.id, Minapoli, Tumbasin and Brick.io are the eight startups comprising the first batch, where they will work with mentors and a network of investors under BRI Ventures’s new fund, Dana Ventura Sembrani Nusantara.

While all activities for the programme will be virtual, participating startups can engage in hybrid one-on-one meetings with mentors and investors from Singapore, Australia and the US.

In addition, participating startups will also get legal service assistance through digital legal platform Kontrak Hukum and other benefits including Amazon Web Services (AWS) credits.

At the opening event of Sembrani Wira, CEO of BRI Ventures Nicko Widjaja said: “Over the last decade, Indonesia’s startup ecosystem is growing even bigger, better and more sustainable despite the crisis of 2020.”

Also Read: How fintech can help reach the unbanked and underbanked in Southeast Asia

“The tech sector is the clear winner despite many industry downturns all over the world. Today’s founders are very much different from execution level to mindset level,” he added.

DailySocial is the media partner and provider for the accelerator platform.

“One of the important things on our agenda is to help founders not only to get product-market-fit but also go beyond. So we will discuss with the founders to see what is their goal and help them to draw back on what they have to do to reach that goal,” Widjaja added.

“This is the best time to run the accelerator programme. We saw during the pandemic, new accelerated sectors have emerged, such as embedded finance, logistics, new retail, and education. With the experience we have had for the last 10 years, we believe that we are ready to create new digital leaders for Indonesia,” opined William Gozali, Chief of Investment at BRI Ventures.

—

Image Credit: BRI

The post Meet the 8 embedded finance startups joining BRI Ventures’s new Sembrani Wira accelerator programme appeared first on e27.

Indonesia’s micro-retail tech startup Warung Pintar announced today it has acquired Bizzy Digital, an integrated logistics and distribution supply chain B2B platform, for US$45 million.

This is part of Warung Pintar’s push to solidify its position in Indonesia’s B2B e-commerce market, which it says is expected to grow to become at least thrice the size of its B2C cousin.

As per a press note, Bizzy Digital will still remain a separate entity as a brand and organisation.

Warung Pintar noted that the acquisition would give it access to a combined pool of 600 brands and serve 230,000 retailers in 65 cities across the archipelago. The combined companies would also boast a larger shareholder foundation to support growth going forward.

With Warung Pintar’s expertise residing in the demand side of micro retailers, its partnership with Bizzy Digital will enable it to tap on the latter’s supply side capabilities and create a full-stack supply chain platform that can tackle the large and fragmented FMCG market in Indonesia.

Last month, the micro-retail tech company launched an online platform for owners of mom-and-pop stores (knows as warungs) to conduct bulk shopping from distributors for supplies.

Also Read: Warung Pintar CEO: How my grandmother inspired our vision for Indonesian mom-and-pop shops

“Through this acquisition, we are hoping to change the digital distribution approach on the ground, which is historically heavily driven by promotions and discounts as a customer acquisition strategy, which is deeply opposed by many of our FMCG partners,” said Agung Bezharie, co-founder and CEO of Warung Pintar.

“Having Bizzy Digital as part of the bigger Warung Pintar ecosystem will enable us to guarantee product reliability, availability and fair pricing by working hand-in-hand with the brands’ distributors,” he added.

“As Bizzy Digital becomes part of Warung Pintar, there will be no other player as integrated up and down the supply chain. This combination will enable us to serve brands and distributors with unprecedented value-added, data-driven strategy at scale,” said Andrew Mawikere, CEO of Bizzy Digital.

“As a common shareholder in both companies, we find strong synergy and efficiency by combining the two companies. Warung Pintar comes from a demand-side platform and Bizzy Digital comes from a supply-side platform. Combined they will be able to serve both consumers, retailers and brands in the most effective way,” said Willson Cuaca, Co-founder of East Ventures.

—

Image Credit: East Ventures

The post Warung Pintar buys Bizzy Digital for US$45M to create full-stack supply chain platform for Indonesia’s mom-and-pop stores appeared first on e27.

With the world yet to get out of the grip of COVID-19 and with travel restrictions yet to be eased, fundraising continues to be a challenge for startups. This is because VCs are unable to perform physical due diligence, an important part of the whole investment process. This is why many VCs have taken the ‘virtual route‘ to perform due diligence.

But is it easy to raise funding in the new normal? What you need to take into account while fundraising digitally?

In an attempt to get down to the nitty gritty of ‘digital fundraising’ in the new normal, e27 recently launched a new webinar series, titled ‘Fundraising Fundamentals (FF)’.

The first episode of the FF series featured Minh Vu Hong, an investment manager at Qualgro Ventures. Based in Singapore, Qualgro invests mainly in B2B companies in Big Data, SaaS and Artificial Intelligence to support talented entrepreneurs with regional or global growth ambitions.

In this article, Minh discusses the five most important questions founders should ask themselves before raising money in the new normal:

Why do I need external funding?

Before even starting, you should ask yourself: ‘why does your business need external fundraising? What are the key milestones that you are trying to achieve with extra capital, particularly with the VC support’.

Asking yourself these questions will allow you to take a step back and not necessarily rush into fundraising.

Also Read: Qualgro Partners: Southeast Asia is home to the next big B2B tech companies

First of all, ask yourself ‘do I want to accelerate on the existing business’, ‘do I want to expand to a new country’, or ‘do I just need capital in the beginning because I need to hire people to build my team’?

All these are good reasons to raise external money. But having them clear in your mind is the best way to set you on fire for fundraising.

When to start fundraising?

The timing is actually important for fundraising. People will tell you ‘you should not raise too late or not too early’. But usually a rule of thumb is that if you have capital left to run the business only for six months, you have to start the fundraising process now, before you run out of cash, because the process takes time.

It takes time to network to get to know investors to pitch your ideas. Investors take time to understand your business and analyse the financials.

So, six months is a good timeframe to start fundraising.

Of course, you will always hear stories of companies who have raised funding, say, in two weeks. They pitch their company today and get term-sheet in 48 hours, and then two weeks later, they get the money. This happens, it’s true. On the other side of the spectrum, sometimes it takes six months, if not more.

If you’re lucky, you’ll be in the first category. However, the vast majority of investments take at least two three months. So, giving yourself enough buffer to not run into a cash crunch is something quite important to keep in mind.

How much money do I want to raise?

Interestingly, a question which is not always well-addressed by founders is: ‘how much money do you want to raise and how much should I give away’

Of course, the valuation of the company is important. I have seen many companies reaching out to us for fundraising, who will have a range of US$1-2 million in mind.

It is okay  to have a range. But it cannot be too wide. The reason is for investors, it gives a signal of how much you know about your business and how much you know about your requirement, because raising money is about fuelling your business for success.

So if you tell me ‘I need to raise, maybe, between US$3 million and US$6 million’, it basically implies that you have only a rough idea of how much you need.

In my opinion, if you know your business well, giving a ballpark range to test the market is not a good signal.

Then, the second sub-question is ‘how much you’re ready to give away’. Let’s say, if it’s a US$1 million round and you give me 10 per cent equity, this means that your company is worth US$10 million.

So the shareholding that you give away to the investors — VCs, family offices, or even friends and families — is important to know because that is going to drive directly the valuation of your business.

Investors, of course, have other ways to evaluate your business and how much shareholding you’re ready to give away.

When you go into a pitch with a VC, you’re ready to negotiate but you should have a clear idea of how much holding you’re ready to give away against a certain amount of money.

And prepare yourself because as investors we usually do the math quite quickly and we know how much we want and you should be quite clear on the target that you’re trying to achieve.

Who to raise funding from?

There are two different types of ‘who’s in this case? One is, ‘what type of investor you want to raise money from?’ ‘Do you need VC money or angel money’, or ‘do you need debt from banks or venture capital?’

All of these types of fundings are going to bring money to your business and all of these factors are going to help you scale your company.

However, not every dollar is the same. Raising venture debt, for instance, is very different from raising VC money because in VC investment, investors take equity/shareholding of your company.

If you raise venture debt, you don’t give away the shareholding of your company. But you’re under the obligation of paying back your lender.

So it’s two different mindsets in the relationship that you’re going to have with whoever’s giving you money. Also different obligations that are going to follow up.

So you need to think what type of capital you want to raise. It will allow you to identify and narrow down the type of funding that you’re looking for.

As for the second type of ‘who’: let’s say you want to raise money from a VC fund. Not every VC is the same. Every VC fund has its own investment thesis. At Qualgro, for instance, we specialise in B2B software, AI and data. Then, there are VCs who are focusing on the B2C industry, consumer goods, or purely healthcare companies, so on and so forth.

And there are some who invest only in pre-Series A to Series B stages, while there are some who only invest at seed stage. There are also late-stage investors.

So all of these type of segmentation of funds you should be aware of because, depending on what stage you are in and what vertical and what type of business you are building, you can choose the investor you want to take money from.

Since fundraising is a very tiring process for founders, you need to focus on identifying the right funds that are going to understand your business faster. You should know who can support you to bring your business with more relevancy because they know the industry, have the right geographical coverage. All these things will save you a lot of time.

How do I approach investors?

This needs some planning. Having a clear plan on how you want to reach out to is crucial. Is it through a warm intro, or do you know some founders while reading their portfolio? Have you attended one of their sessions and then reached out to them as a follow-up?

Also Read: Get to know these 10 verified investors who are ready to connect today

The tactics of reaching out to investors is something that needs to be clearly planned, so that you don’t waste your time and energy sending cold e-mails. And even though we try to answer every single cold email, as you can imagine, we receive hundreds, if not thousands, on a yearly basis.

So having a clear plan to approach this is something that you want to take some time to think about.

Regarding the second type of ‘how’. Let’s assume you secured a meeting with an investor. Now, how will you drive the meetings? What type of information you want to share in the first meeting, second meeting and the third one? What do you want to show during the meeting?

There is little room for improvisation because usually VCs know quite clearly what they are looking for in the first meeting, then in the second one, and then in the third one.

Preparing yourself for each meeting by getting feedback from other founders who have pitched to the same firm or who have been through the fundraising process is going to help you a lot to prepare yourself for the meetings and to prepare the material and then to handle the whole process in relationship with the different visits. And, again, every visit is different.

—

Image Credit: Qualgro Ventures

The post Digital fundraising: Ask yourself these 5 questions before raising money in the new normal appeared first on e27.

Next Gen, a Singapore-headquartered plant-based foodtech startup, announced today it has closed a US$10 million seed round from a clutch of investors, including Temasek and K3 Ventures.

The New Ventures arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, NX Food, FEBE Ventures, and Blue Horizon also participated.

According to data from Pitchbook, this deal marks the largest-ever seed round raised for a plant-based foodtech company.

According to Next Gen, the fresh financing will be used for the global launch of its plant-based chicken consumer brand TiNDLE in Singapore, scheduled for March 2021. A portion of the capital will also go towards fuelling expansion efforts across Asia and supporting R&D of new plant-based products.

Next Gen was co-founded by Timo Recker and Andre Menezes in October 2020. The duo personally invested US$2.2 million into the company from the get-go. Recker is the founder and former CEO of German plant-based meat company LikeMeat while Menezes was the General Manager of Country Foods Singapore.

Also Read: Conscious consumption is driving the trend in foodtech: Study

The company said that roadmap for the next two years include raising Series A funding, diversifying its products and expanding into Europe and the US. It is already laying the groundwork in the latter by recruiting a Growth Director who will build a network of distributors, restaurants and chefs.

Next Gen’s first consumer product is TiNDLE Thy, a plant-based alternative to a chicken thigh. The startup claims the product has been created directly with chefs, offering high protein, high fibre and low carb. It is also free of genetically modified organisms (GMO) and natural cholesterol.

Plant-based meat has seen strong demand in the West and is now also gaining momentum in Asia. Alternative protein startups within the region raised US$230 million in 2020 alone, close to 4 times the amount raised in the preceding three years combined.

Last year, local cell-based crustacean meat company, Shiok Meats, raised US$12.6 million in its Series A round to build a first-of-its-kind commercial pilot plant, from which it plans to launch its minced shrimp product in 2022. Meanwhile, TurtleTree Labs closed its US$6.2 million pre-Series A round to accelerate the R&D of its cell-based human milk.

—

Image Credit: Next Gen

The post Next Gen, a 4-month-old plant-based meat startup, raises US$10M in one of the largest seed rounds appeared first on e27.

SATURDAYS, a D2C (direct-to-consumer) eyewear brand, announced today that it has raised undisclosed seed funding from VC firms JWC and Kynesis Group. Alto Partners also joined the round.

The company intends to use the new funding to expand its online and offline platforms across Indonesia, it said in a press statement.

SATURDAYS was co-founded in 2016 by CEO Rama Suparta and Andrew Kandolha to make designer-quality eyewear affordable for people. Its eyeglasses are made in-house with premium materials like Italian acetate and ultra-lightweight Japanese titanium for consumers in Asia.

Aside from having physical stores across Indonesia SATURDAYS also launched an app to make it easy for customers to try out eyewear virtually. The app will also include features such as vision test booking conducted by licensed opticians at home. Customers will also be able to pick a try-on date at home with 10 frames of their choice and a specialty coffee for free. 

Also Read: Online eyewear retailer Lenskart raises US$21M in Series C funding

“We also want to provide an unmatched experience for customers, who have been accustomed to shopping for eyewear in dull, conventional manners. We will keep innovating our products and services to become the dominant market leader in Indonesia,” added Suparta.

The brand currently operates eight stores in the Greater Jakarta Area and had managed to add three more stores to its list of stores despite the pandemic. 

SATURDAYS is one of the latest non-tech companies that Alpha JWC Ventures have invested in. In the past, the firm has been investing in non-tech companies that are undergoing a digital transformation by combining offline presence with digital tech.

Examples of such companies in Alpha JWC’s portfolio include Kopi Kenangan, Goola, and Bobobox.

According to BlueWeave Consulting, the  Asia Pacific Eyewear Market is expected to be USD$114.4 billion by 2026 from USD 63.8 billion in 2019, at a CAGR of 8.7 per cent from 2020 to 2026.

–

Image Credit: Axle Adamos

 

 

The post SATURDAYS closes seed funding from Alpha JWC, others to scale its eyewear brand in Indonesia appeared first on e27.

Updates: This article has been updated with more details on the platform as communicated by co-founder Naga Tan

ErudiFi, a startup that provides access to affordable education financing in Southeast Asia, has raised US$5 million in Series B capital, co-led by Monk’s Hill Ventures and Qualgro.

The Indonesia-based startup will use the capital to make key hires across product and engineering, marketing and operations, business development, and data functions.

The company also has plans to scale its services, deepen its footprint in its existing markets (Indonesia and the Philippines), and accelerate product innovation.

Founded in 2017, ErudiFi is a tech-enabled platform that helps financially underserved students get access to quality education centres with its “Study Now, Pay Later model”.

What makes ErudiFi different from other similar players in the market is its B2B2C approach, unlike other platforms that have a sole focus either on B2B or B2C.

ErudiFi operates in the name of Danacita in Indonesia and Bukas in the Philippines.

Also Read: Meet the 7 startups from edutech accelerator EduSpaze’s second cohort

Aside from not being able to enroll in higher learning, student retention is also a challenge in Southeast Asia. Many schools experience a 10-15 per cent dropout rate annually, largely due to financial difficulties faced by families.

To address these challenges, ErudiFi has launched a service that provides partner schools with a way to track disbursements and provide real-time analytics for dropped students.

So far, the startup claims to have onboarded over 50 leading universities and vocational schools in Indonesia and the Philippines, including President University, UNTAR, IT PLN, Wall Street English, PHINMA Education, Far Eastern University, Adamson University, and Mapua University.

“Access to affordable tertiary education remains a huge pain point in Southeast Asia where the cost is nearly double than the average GDP per capita. ErudiFi is tackling an underserved market that is plagued with high-interest rates by traditional financial institutions and limited reach from peer-to-peer lending companies,” said Peng T. Ong, co-founder and Managing Partner of Monk’s Hill Ventures.

“By taking a first-principles approach, Naga and his team have been laser-focused on bringing a tech-enabled and data-driven solution that provides students with access to education,” Ong added.

On being asked how the pandemic has affected the startup, co-founder Naga Tan told e27 that the pandemic has only widened the inequality across different income segments, as those with limited household income/savings drop out of school altogether.

“Many of our current school partners have seen a corresponding drop in enrollment rates and an increase in student attrition as a result. This means that our financing solution is even more critical in this environment in providing support to schools and ensuring their continued viability,” he said.

According to HolonIQ, edutech is a growing sector in Southeast Asia and the region has managed to raise a total of US$480 million in investment for startups operating in this sector over the last 5 years.

In Southeast Asia, there are many edutech startups such as Topica (Vietnam), Taamkru (Thailand), Ruangguru (Indonesia), and Classruum (Malaysia) that are helping plug the educational gap by increasing the quality or access to education.

—

Image Credit: ErudiFi

The post [Updated] ErudiFi raises US$5M Series A to grow its ‘study now, pay later’ model in Indonesia, Philippines appeared first on e27.

Filmplace raises US$220,000 to help influencers, media houses shoot content in unique rented spaces

Investors: New York’s Admiralty Holdings.

What the funding will be used for: Bolster infrastructure, marketing capabilities and tech solutions to expand further into Southeast Asia.

About Filmplace: Based in Singapore, Filmplace is a platform that connects brands and the media production industry with unique locations to shoot. It helps film companies and influencers secure a location within a short period of time at an affordable rate.

More about the story: Lincoln Lin founded the company when he experienced the difficulty of sourcing for locations while working as a director in the film industry.

“Currently, production companies need to hire a location manager which costs US$300-US$500 per day to nail down a couple of locations. The companies will then need to receive the locations, so it is very labor-intensive and manual,” Lin said.

“Traditionally, the location manager takes four to seven days to scout a location. On top of that, there is no fixed price, the catalogs are outdated, and multiple risks such as unsecured payment transactions are involved,” he added.

Filmplace has branch offices in Malaysia, Taiwan, South Korea and India.

Rephrase.ai, a mail-chimp like startup for videos, nets US$1.5M seed funding

The story: Rephrase.ai, a synthetic media production platform, has raised US$1.5 million in seed funding

Investors: Lightspeed Ventures and AV8 Ventures.

What the funding will be used for: To scale its platform, strengthen its presence in North America, and hire across engineering and research roles.

About Rephrase.ai: An AI-powered platform that helps businesses create personalised, customisable video content for sales and marketing.

More about the story: Rephrase.ai was founded in 2018 by three Indian Institution of Technology graduates — Ashray Malhotra, Shivam Mangla, and Nisheeth Lahoti.

“Our goal at Rephrase.ai is to reimagine how we communicate to better match our visual culture,” Malhotra said.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: Philippines set to take rare top spot for IPOs in SEA; Why Robert Downey invested in a Singapore startup

“Now, enterprises can create high-quality video content for targeted sales and marketing initiatives while saving time and money. This technology will change the way we think about video production, both for business communication today and filmmaking in the future,” he added.

Line Financial, Mizuho Bank invest US$112M into their online bank

The story: Line Financial and Mizuho Bank have invested US$112 million into their planned internet bank, Line Bank.

The aim: The companies said in a joint statement that the necessary steps are being taken as they proceed to establish a user-friendly online bank connected to the LINE app in Japan by 2022.

More about the story: To further strengthen cooperation between LINE Financial and Mizuho Bank, a co-CEO management structure will also be introduced.

As opposed to the current CEO headed by LINE Financial, a co-CEO will now be appointed by Mizuho Bank.

—

Image Credit: Filmplace

The post In brief: India’s Rephrase.ai, Singapore’s Filmplace raise capital appeared first on e27.

The worst-kept secret in venture capital? VCs love software-as-a-service (SaaS) startups.

With SaaS startups bringing in predictable and recurring revenue, often at more or less the same fixed costs, the upsides to their businesses make them an attractive investment. Besides, unlike their consumer counterparts, SaaS companies can scale globally right from the get-go.

Despite the promising proposition, SaaS startups within Southeast Asia have not enjoyed as much success as their European and American counterparts. Compared to the West, success stories have been few and far between in the region.

However, Akshay Bhushan, Partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners, remains optimistic about the sector. He believes the large concentration of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within Southeast Asia, coupled with the push towards digitalisation, would make the region a fertile breeding ground for SaaS companies.

e27 sat with Bhushan to dig deep into the region’s SaaS industry. Below are the edited excerpts from the interview:

What are some aspects of the SaaS model that have made it a favourable vertical for investors to invest in?

When it comes to SaaS, investors are most interested when the startup has early product-market-fit with enterprises. At that point, the risk for the investor is more on execution rather than the business model or product. This attractive risk-reward perspective makes it alluring to investors.

The other attraction is the inherent nature of SaaS products such that they can be developed anywhere and built for global markets.

For instance, the SaaS solutions of our portfolio companies Yellow Messenger and Darwinbox were first developed outside of Southeast Asia. However, their current clientele chiefly comprises enterprises operating across the world, including several customers in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: 5 things Saleswhale learned about building a global SaaS platform from Southeast Asia

Due to the pandemic, enterprises have gotten more comfortable with remote sales, making it easier for SaaS companies to scale their business. Besides, many enterprises were forced to digitise, even in sectors that were previously resistant to change.

What are the common challenges faced by SaaS companies in their early stages of operations?

For SaaS products, the iteration and testing cycles are typically longer than other types of startups. Hence, achieving a product-market-fit takes longer.

This is because the process of getting feedback from enterprise users (which often spans multiple individuals across multiple types of organisations) is longer relative to a consumer startup that can directly monitor user behaviour and speak to them and make direct inferences.

How do you see SaaS as a vertical grow within Southeast Asia in the next one to three years?

We are optimistic about the prospect of SaaS in the region, especially in leading markets such as Singapore, Indonesia and Malaysia. These countries have very prominent SME sectors in which many enterprises are seeking to adopt digital solutions.

Certain countries, like Singapore, are also strategic launchpads for SaaS companies in the region. It is a gateway to Southeast Asia for regional and international corporates who base themselves out of there and an ideal hunting ground for customers early on.

With two of your portfolio companies (Chilibeli and Ula) focused on working with SMEs, what were some initial challenges faced getting warung owners to digitalise and how did both companies overcome these?

Chilibeli and Ula are unique in the way that they’ve lasered their focus to one particular SME segment — microbusinesses, which in countries like Indonesia, are mostly known as warungs. SME digitalisation is already a challenge in itself, but it is more pronounced for microbusiness owners as their needs are more nuanced.

Also Read: How BukuWarung is changing the back alleys of Indonesia

Microbusinesses typically have less capital to invest in software and may not be as digitally literate as larger enterprises. Hence, solutions geared for this segment need to meet ‘must have’ needs’ rather than ‘nice to have’ needs.

More often than not, the biggest question an SME owner asks is: “How can the product either make me more money or save a substantial amount of money?” Hence, the value proposition for the owner has to be clear from the beginning.

Does the rise of SPACs interested in acquiring Southeast Asian tech startups bode well for the startup ecosystem as a whole?

Essentially, anything that helps drive liquidity is good for the startup ecosystem. SPACs are just another vehicle to help stakeholders generate more value through liquidity.

Also Read: What does Peter Thiel-backed Bridgetown’s IPO mean for SEA’s startup ecosystem?

While SPACs aren’t new, we are cognizant of how it is trending as a channel for liquidity, so it’s something that Lightspeed has been tracking very closely.

With the increased attention on SPACs and the value they provide for companies in helping them go public, could we see a scenario where companies rush their public exit and list prematurely (without strong fundamentals and a sustainable business)?

There’s a possibility of companies reacting this way. However, companies would generally choose the avenue they think is most beneficial. This means that this selection would happen on a case-to-case basis, and is highly dependent on the company itself and the specific situation it is in.

What are some sectors you are looking at within Southeast Asia that have great potential to grow in the near future?

Southeast Asia is rife with opportunities and there are many sectors primed for growth. We believe that the ‘foundational’ sectors are very interesting. These include sectors that power the infrastructure of the digital economy such as fintech (payments), logistics-tech and commerce use cases.

Another very interesting area is in the consumer sector — namely, the rise of the creator economy. We’ve observed that there’s tremendous growth in online social behaviour in fast-growing markets like Indonesia and Vietnam. This rise has also contributed to the growing influence of new-age content creators.

As such, Lightspeed has been looking closely at next-gen commerce models leverage such influencers. The current generation — pioneered by social selling and video-based influencer selling — represents the tip of the iceberg when it comes to commerce penetration.

We believe that, as the role of online creators grows, there will be many new models of commerce which will get unlocked.

—

Image Credit: Lightspeed

The post Value proposition of SaaS for SMEs has to be clear from the beginning: Akshay Bhushan of Lightspeed appeared first on e27.

The past month has been interesting for the Philippine startup ecosystem — with a report on the massive capital raise by a startup, an update on the prospectives offered by the archipelago’s digital banking sector, a news report about an edutech startup‘s acceptance into Y-Combinator and another on the regional expansion plan announced by a fintech company.

But the one who stole the show in the past few days was Robbie Antonio, who was forced to resign from real estate developer Century Properties following allegations of scandals involving its property-tech platform Revolution Precrafted (RP).

Let us take a little trip down memory lane. In 2017, RP made headlines by becoming the first unicorn to originate from the Philippines. But things turned rocky for RP when leading media publications such as The Ken and Dealstreet Asia exposed the slow — if not disappointing — executions of its various projects.

The episode hit a nadir last Thursday (February 18) when ABS-CBN reported that National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) of the Philippines has opened an investigation into RP’s “questionable” deals, forcing Antonio to put down his papers.

The report detailed that nine contractors and suppliers filed a complaint, claiming that they were lured into different contracts by RP. During the process, they were informed that they would win the contracts in RP’s real estate development projects if they pay 10 per cent of the contract’s value.

These contractors claimed the contracts to be “dubious” as RP was said to have failed to secure permits for the projects.

Those who follow the ‘RP saga’ may feel a sense of déjà vu: two years ago, co-working space giant WeWork’s failed IPO triggered a conversation about financial sustainability for startups — and accountability.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: Filipino fintech Mynt nears unicorn status; EVs in Singapore: how much is just hype?

When the unicorns step out of the lanes

It is not that the unicorns of Southeast Asia (SEA) have never been involved in any kind of troubles/scandals. In fact, if you look at e27‘s past news coverages of major companies such as Grab and gojek, there is bound to be at least one story that is borderline scandalous. Think of how gojek had to fight against regulators when they tried to ban ride-hailing services in Indonesia years ago, or when Grab (and Uber) was fined by the Singapore competition watchdog for their merger.

But at some point, there is a need to address the gap between expectation and reality.

For investors, investing in a company means having a set of expectations that they would demand the company to deliver, in exchange for the financial commitment.

On the other hand, for customers, the value of using a platform goes beyond monetary investment; it is also the promise of solving a pain point that has been bugging them for a while.

Meeting these expectations is more significant than attaining and being the product of unicorn status. Having said that, a company is not solely responsible for its faults. In all its honesty, everyone — from the media to government agencies — is equally responsible for a startup’s fault because they, too, are in search of the next unicorn to put them under the spotlight, often disregarding what really matters at these companies.

It was like we are telling startups that becoming a unicorn is enough and that having a high valuation is all it is cracked up to be — until Something Big occurs and we realised that the party is over (if there has ever been one).

Chances for redemption

So, how should we view what RP is going through at the moment?

I recently saw a tattoo on Instagram that was so beautiful I just cannot get it out of mind. It was an image of the word “relapse” but the “lapse” part was crossed out with red lines — and the artist added “start” on top of it. So I took that the meaning of the tattoo was that relapsing (or making any mistake) is actually an opportunity to restart.

When unicorns go bad, the first priority would be to demand and deliver accountability. This would not be easy for everyone involved, particularly when we add the elements of shame into the equation. But this is the moment for us to clear the air and focus on the work that really matters.

Last year, when the world came to a standstill thanks to the restrictions imposed in many countries, we were given a chance to rethink our direction. For those who had managed to go through this process with patience and a good sense of responsibility, the reward is the promise of a better day.

Will RP be able to get out of this crisis? Will customers and partners be able to take back what is theirs? We can only wait and see in the next days.

The ball is in their court now.

—

Image Credit: Rosalind Chang on Unsplash

The post What to do when your unicorn loses its sheen appeared first on e27.

Korean retailer Shinsegae Group invests in Grab; As per DealStreetAsia sources, the funding has been routed through the group’s newly-formed corporate VC arm Signet Partners; The retailer continues to spot significant opportunities in Grab’s mobile platform adoption. More here

Fast pace of digital adoption spurs Beenext to ramp up early-stage investments in Vietnam; Beenext will target startup that serve industries contributing to VN’s growth story such as industrial development, real estate and consumption themes; It typically invests in the range of US$500K-US$1mn. More here

Why ‘Iron Man’ star Robert Downey Jr. places his bet on Singapore’s RWDC Industries; RWDC develops cost-effective biopolymer material solutions, which are naturally produced by bacterial fermentation of plant-based oils or sugar; To date, the biodegradable plastic startup has raised nearly US$170M from a clutch of investors such as Vickers Venture and Downey’s fund FootPrint Coalition. More here

Transcelestial raises US$2mn from Ayala-backed Kickstart Ventures, enters Philippines; Its Centauri device provides a wireless distribution network between buildings, traditional cell towers, street-level poles and other physical infrastructure; Transcelestial is building what it claims to be a space laser network to “deliver a step-change in internet connectivity globally”. More here

Dole Asia launches US$2mn “Sunshine for All” fund; It’s part of its larger “Dole Promise” initiative launched in 2020; The fund aims to accomplish goals including providing access to sustainable nutrition for 1bn people by 2025, having zero fossil-based plastic packaging by 2025, and net-zero carbon emissions in operations by 2030. More here

Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam have huge potential in APAC for neobank growth: A UnaFinancial study says the 4 SEA countries have approximately the same degree of attractiveness as India and Singapore; Australia is the most attractive country for online banking. More here

China just 55th on e-commerce index due to low internet access; Despite being home to some of the world’s largest e-commerce companies, the country received a lower score than Ukraine and Oman on the latest B2C e-commerce index published on Wednesday, which measures an economy’s online shopping support. More here

Meet the 23 startups accepted into SMU Business Innovations Generator’s maiden programme; An equity-free and industry-agnostic programme, it leans slightly towards digital and sustainable urban technologies; The 4-month-old programme will provide startups with financial support, mentorship, access to community events, masterclasses, the Greenhouse workspace, and credits from corporate partners. More here

Why disaster-tech in Asia holds great potential, and how to scale the field; Despite increasing sophistication in delivering response, relief, and recovery efforts, solutions on the ground are far from reaching their full potential; In assessing funding strategies into disaster assistance, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) and Candid found that only 2% was allocated for building resilience and 4% towards disaster preparedness in 2018. More here

How HappyPlus app is helping corporates measure the happiness index of employees; The Indian startup focuses on creating and developing happy and healthy habits for working professionals; The app has six parameters across which people can rate their happiness — timescale, our being, achievements, relationships, work-life, and meaningfulness. More here

AI social media influencers on the rise in Singapore; The number of virtual influencers on the market is likely still in its double digits compared to real human influencers, but they have already begun competing with human influencers for partnerships with brands. More here

Philippines set to take rare top spot for IPOs in SEA; Investors and bankers say consumer retailers and real estate investment trusts are lining up record fundraisings that could top US$4bn in 2021, more than the combined tally of the last seven years, according to Refinitiv data. More here

Why logistics startup Pickupp built an e-commerce arm to support home-based businesses in S’pore; Pickupp’s flexible delivery windows and handy scheduling feature enable customers to be nimble and capitalise on business opportunities; The startup also uses a hybrid of freelancers and in-house delivery fleet to cater to fluctuating levels of demand. More here

Indonesian tech startups consider going public; Tech companies might see the prospect of going public in Indonesia as a gamble because local retail investors are yet to truly understand the business model of tech companies; By going public, these tech companies can familiarise regulators about their business models to encourage further relaxations for the sector. More here

How Thai VC SCB 10X is helping to build the future of blockchain financial solutions; The firm invests in early-stage startups — up to series C rounds — from all over the world and also helps with building technologies in some cases; It establishes joint ventures and partnerships with selected growth-stage startups as well. More here

Singapore sets aside US$760mn to co-fund digital solutions with businesses; A new Emerging Technology Programme will co-fund the costs of trials and the adoption of frontier technologies such as 5G and AI, which will help companies commercialise their innovations. More here

Indonesian banking regulator says Sea Group’s Shopee has acquired Bank BKE; The aim is to transform it into a digital bank; Shopee has yet to make an official application with the banking regulators to transform Bank BKE into a digital institution, but they are “currently preparing the infrastructure to do so.” More here

Asia’s cloud kitchens expect delivery boom to outlast COVID-19; Cloud kitchens and food deliveries have not only become wildly popular during the pandemic but they have also negated the need for prime locations; Big names like Jollibee Foods, Grab and Central Restaurants Group are making massive investments in the sector. More here

Thai government is banking onbio-, circular and green (BCG) model to propel recovery; Based on Thailand’s strengths in agriculture, rich natural resources and diversity of biological resources and physical geography, the BCG strategy will focus on promoting four industries: farm and food, healthcare and medical services, energy and biochemicals, and tourism and the creative economy. More here

Malaysia set to roll out 5G by the year-end; Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin said the country will emerge as one of the first in this region to build a 5G ecosystem using Internet and cloud services in real-time to enable instant sharing of information; A total of US$3.7bn will be invested over a period of 10 years for the implementation of 5G nationwide. More here

Personal finance firm CompareAsiaGroup rebrands as Hyphen Group; The personal finance firm also said it tracked an over 80% revenue growth in 2020, driven by over 650K financial product applications; Last year, Hyphen acquired Seedly from Shopback as a measure to capture the millennial demographic. More here

—

Photo by Eugenio Pastoralon Unsplash

The post Ecosystem Roundup: Philippines set to take rare top spot for IPOs in SEA; Why Robert Downey invested in a Singapore startup appeared first on e27.