As early stage venture investors in Southeast Asia, our team actively invests ahead of where technology is changing the future of work.

In 2020, three major employment-linked themes rapidly accelerated – remote work as the preferred way to collaborate, online commerce as the preferred way to shop for goods and on-demand meal, grocery and package delivery as the preferred way to purchase local services.

In fact, while Uber’s total rides decreased, the share of non-passenger trips in Q1 2020 increased in both absolute and relative terms by nine to 31 per cent compared to Q1 2019, according to data. In emerging markets, the same pattern emerged for gojek and Grab here in Southeast Asia and all signs point to these trends accelerating post-COVID.

On-demand freelancing is the next wave of the gig economy

If the 2010s unleashed the on-demand “gig” economy upon consumer services, the 2020s will expand this into the realm of businesses, a trend we consider to be the formalisation of blue-collar labour to meet B2B and B2B2C demand. Many jobs in logistics, supply chain and local services are well placed to benefit from being organised via software platforms, where real-time business demand can be met by short term supply of freelancers.

Globally, this is the natural extension of business process outsourcing, which is expected to generate US$230 billion in 2027, expanding at a CAGR of 5.2 per cent (post-COVID-19), according to data. In high growth emerging markets such as Southeast Asia, we expect this trend to grow even faster.

As an example, Indonesia, a country of 260 million people, 40 per cent of the regional population and over US$1 trillion of annual GDP output, is also the home market for gojek and other technology pioneers in the rapidly growing, on-demand market for consumer and business services.

In November, Indonesia passed the omnibus bill, a key element of President Jokowi’s policy focused on bolstering economic growth by making the Indonesian workforce more fluid and less hindered by bureaucratic hurdles. Previously, labour laws prevented employers from quickly hiring or rightsizing their workforces based on business needs, and also limited the number of functions that could be eligible for short term outsourcing.

Also Read: Why the future of work in Singapore is remote

President Jokowi has claimed that the bill intends to create “an additional million jobs a year”, many of which will come from expanding demand for short term, blue-collar by growing businesses that need labour on short notice.

Taking a page out of the ridesharing playbook

These tailwinds have spurred the growth of innovative workforce companies such as Sampingan, a software platform that connects businesses with trained freelancers for task-based jobs. In the company’s two-year history, it has provided over 300,000 workers with temporary employment, at an accelerated rate even during COVID-19.

The co-founding team, Wisnu Nugrahadi, Margana Mohamad and Dimas Putra previously led product and growth teams at Gojek and Palu, a BPO services business. Having witnessed first-hand the success of Gojek’s technology playbook for matching ride demand with ojek or drivers, Sampingan’s technology matches business demand for couriers, warehouse workers, canvassers, surveyors and other roles with blue-collar labour.

This market has to date been served by traditional “job shop” staffing agencies like ISS and Arina on the one end and desktop-era job boards such as Jobstreet and JobsDB or more recently, mobile optimised jobs classifieds apps like AdaKerja and Google Kormo on the other end.

Only now are on-demand platforms like Indonesia’s Sampingan, India’s Apna, Thailand-focused Workmate and Malaysia’s GoGet attempting to combine the quality assurance of integrated supply with the speed and cost of decentralised recruitment and advanced technology to manage and verify fulfilment. This is the future of organising the informal economy in the region.

Technology is the key enabler of recruitment speed and success

Our analysis of the market suggests that key success factors combine speed, reach and quality of recruitment with flexibility to substitute blue workers across different roles. Mobile technology is a critical enabling factor to ensure rapid fulfilment rates as well as a level of customisation that would otherwise require specialised training.

For example, a leading player in the payments industry partnered with Sampingan to recruit and deploy a short-term workforce in a matter of days, to onboard warung merchants in tier two and three cities onto their payment network. Sampingan was able to recruit rapidly and verify fulfilment real-time.

Also Read: Is the gig economy taking over?

A worker facing mobile app used geo-location and smart photos to verify activity and a merchant checklist to ensure a “handshake” had taken place.

Concurrently the customer was provided with real-time dashboards to track recruitment, deployment, completion and to review other measures of fulfilment quality across disparate tasks and vendors. Previously this would have to be done via first-party recruitment and training or engagement of a staffing agency, both of which would have been costlier and taken longer to execute.

Global trends suggest consolidation will occur in Southeast Asia

We’ve seen large companies built based on the use of technology for recruitment in other mature markets. For example, in the US, UpWork is an American freelancing platform that raised US$170 million from leading VCs such as KPCB, Benchmark, NEA before IPO-ing in 2018.

The company is now valued at US$4.5 billion. Other companies have come hot on their heels in the on-demand staffing space, such as Wonolo, a Bain Capital and Sequoia portfolio company last valued at US$160 million; Shiftgig, a GGV Capital portfolio company last valued at $150 million and Instawork, a Google Ventures and Benchmark portfolio company that has raised over US$30 million, according to Pitchbook. Closer to home here in Asia, companies such as Betterplace in India and 51job.com in China have also raised substantial investment capital.

Finally, we expect that global leaders in the staffing industry will be increasingly acquisitive in Southeast Asia, looking to acquire technology businesses with key digital capabilities in workforce recruitment and management.

SEEK Group, an ASX-listed company valued at US$8 billion has acquired majority stakes in multiple employment marketplaces including JobsDB in 2010, JobStreet in 2014 GradConnection in 2019 and FutureLearn more recently.

We expect that as the region continues on its onward march of economic growth, more jobs will be created and in particular, short-term, blue-collar jobs for businesses that need tasks completed on demand.

This virtuous cycle will be supported by new businesses that match demand and supply and, crucially, ensure high-quality fulfilment in a flexible way, which is only scalable using technology. And with that will come the global growth and exit opportunities, driving wealth and value back into the regional economies here in Southeast Asia.

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This article was co-written by Huiting Koh.

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Technology is supposed to help us, but without a carefully balanced use, it can destroy our lives and society instead.

You’ll learn about:

– The current situation

– How it affects you

– How you can fight back

If you don’t see the Apple player above, click on a link below to listen directly!

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This article was first published on We Live To Build.

Image Credit: Michal Czyz on Unsplash

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COVID-19 has proven the well known proverb, “necessity is the mother of all invention” once again. Social distancing measures in response to COVID-19 have led to a remote working revolution and greatly accelerated digital transformation in the workplace. 

Organisations across Singapore and the world are reinventing themselves and adapting to the sudden shift in dynamics – and in recent months it has become evident that more needs to be done to better engage and support the overall wellbeing of staff who are adapting to unique and uncertain working conditions. 

While it’s generally acknowledged that businesses are doing their best to adapt to the ‘new normal’, employees still feel like they need more help to get through this state of flux. A recent survey on employment trends in 2021 found that 79 per cent of Singaporean small and medium enterprises (SMEs) said they still need more support from employers to achieve their 2021 career goals. 

It’s fair to say that in an already unsettled climate, the key to a successful business lies with the productivity of its employees. Unhappy workers who struggle to find stability and purpose can only contribute so much to an organisation before throwing in the towel.

In fact, our survey revealed that 36 per cent of Singaporeans cited a lack of mental health support as the main factor behind employee discontent, followed by financial support (33 per cent).

While working from home has several benefits – like more time with family and fewer hours spent commuting– the effects of the pandemic have triggered or exacerbated mental health issues, largely stemming from longer working hours and heavier workloads as the line between work and home diminishes.

Also Read: Looking beyond the crisis: Top 5 trends that will characterise work-life in 2021

Economic instability, budget restraints and pay cuts have also impacted employee wellbeing, leading to increased stress and anxiety that subsequently affects workplace efficiency and productivity. Whether its implementing blended working models or utilising technology to support employees remotely, employers must remain cognisant of employee wellbeing and needs as we move into the New Year. 

The good news is that there’s an upside to all this; the silver lining to this pandemic is a push for businesses to reassess the status quo and reevaluate employee engagement strategies for a new future of work. More employees are also becoming vocal about their needs, which is pushing organisations to equip themselves with resources that can help them live and work better. 

Here’s what our survey results suggests employers can do more of in 2021 to enhance the employee experience and boost engagement:

Be clear on expectations about working hours

Now that technology has enabled us to be connected at all times, it can be difficult for employees to feel like they are allowed to log off at the end of the work day. 

Our survey found that work-life balance continues to remain a key component of employee satisfaction and 51 per cent of employees agree this should be the most important value for employers to support in the coming year.

No surprises, but this sentiment was much higher for entry level employees (64 per cent) who want work-life balance to be a key priority for employers in 2021.

Employers must assist employees in finding a balance between work and rest, encouraging them to disconnect after work hours unless they receive any urgent requests.

Implement flexible work schedules and switch focus to achieving clear objectives

Flexible working arrangements have increasingly gained traction in Singapore and around the world, so it comes as no surprise that 48 per cent of Singaporeans surveyed indicated a desire for this in 2021.

Employers can also consider giving staff autonomy over their working hours, where possible, as this pandemic has shown all of us that the regular nine to six schedule is certainly not the only way to be productive. Focus on setting clear objectives then provide employees with the freedom to determine their most productive work schedule. 

Also Read: How to increase employee satisfaction for the long haul

Review salary cuts and budgeting

While it is understandable that companies may have a tighter grip around annual budgets, or carry out salary cuts to stay afloat during this time, it is also good to check in on employees who may need the financial assistance more than others.

In fact, 41  per cent of respondents have demanded more financial support to meet the rising cost of living and working amidst the pandemic-induced volatility. Perhaps a salary evaluation or an exception can be made on a case-by-case basis for employees who need the aid. This can help to assure and support employees during these uncertain times. 

Don’t forget to reward and recognise

Thirty-three per cent of Singaporean employees want to work for an organisation that rewards and recognises their efforts. Some ways to reward and recognise your employees in the digital workspace include making regular team announcements about any new achievements, recognising milestones and encouraging peer-to-peer shoutouts.

Making time for performance reviews and goal setting regularly with individual employees can also motivate and encourage.

Make time to connect

Recreating the same interactions you would experience in a physical office can be difficult to do online, but not impossible. Plan ahead for weekly or monthly online sessions where your team can bond and put work aside for a bit to get together virtually and have fun.

Also, the best way to find out if current processes are actually helping your employees feel motivated and engaged is to put in place a feedback system in place. Consider setting up a monthly survey where you can receive genuine feedback to find out what works or what doesn’t in your workplace.

Managers should also be checking-in with each of their reports for 1:1 coaching sessions. We recommend check-ins occur weekly or fortnightly particularly while employees are working remotely. 

Place more importance on your virtual on boarding

First impressions count. Bringing onboard new hires in the new normal is going to be a fairly common occurrence, and organisations now have to adapt to introducing employees into their culture and work processes digitally.

Also Read: Ecosystem Roundup: How challenger banks can succeed in SEA; Singapore SMEs digitalise at higher rates than global peers amid crisis

Our survey shows employees are realistic in anticipating the changes that may arise in 2021 due to remote working, but while 69 per cent of employees indicated they feel prepared for these changes, entry-level employees feel somewhat unsure or unprepared (24 per cent) about the upcoming changes – stressing the need and importance for a robust on boarding process in times of uncertainty.

In such unprecedented times, it’s important to look at how you can create the same welcoming atmosphere as in real life, and also have a structured on boarding process to ensure new hires are clearly aligned with their new role, responsibilities and workplace culture. 

The workplace of the future will look vastly different from what we might have expected pre-pandemic, and the confidence that employees have in their organisations will be determined by how well employers adapt.

Technology has become an inextricable part of human experience and maintaining employee satisfaction and engagement will rely heavily on the digitalisation of processes and systems that simply makes more sense of today’s business and employee needs.

Through implementing better and more efficient ways of working, we can be confident that the future of work will be brighter for both organisation and employee.

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We are hearing a lot about how the COVID-19 pandemic is accelerating the shift to digital payment trends. And, truth be told, the evidence is clear on this; for example, Worldpay from FIS’ recent global survey, Generation Pay, found that almost half in Singapore are now using digital wallets or cashless payments and 74 per cent of respondents find contactless payments are making their lives easier.

These trends have led to a number of think-pieces about the looming inevitability of a cashless society. However, there are still significant obstacles on the course to a cash-free payments landscape in Singapore, making the prospect still decades away.

With more than half of the population making some change to their payment methods amidst the pandemic, the cashless future that the fintech industry has been building towards seems more of a reality than ever.

However, the fact of the matter is that significant challenges remain, and I’ve highlighted below three reasons why we won’t be a completely cashless society anytime soon.

Implications for the underbanked

One of the most important issues when we consider a cashless society is that going cashless impacts people differently based on their access to financial services.

Going cashless wouldn’t just inconvenience those who still prefer cash, it could alienate groups like the underbanked or the elderly who rely heavily on cash and are otherwise unable to make transactions.

A report by Bain & Company found that two in five adults in Singapore are underbanked or unbanked. This means they do not have a bank account, or they may have limited access to mainstream banking services like credit cards or loans.

While we could see widespread adoption to cash-free transactions sooner than expected, to abandon cash completely is still unfeasible without disenfranchising a segment of our population. The government has ramped up efforts in recent months to encourage digitalisation, and there are new initiatives to help seniors go cashless.

However, businesses can also address the challenge by providing flexible payment methods that include both cash and digital payments.

Also Read: JazzyPay raises US$500K from Cocoon Capital to help businesses adopt cashless payments amid COVID-19

Existing infrastructure

Another problem is that there’s a lot of infrastructure in place to make cash work, and those things will take time to phase out. Consider ATMs: there are still thousands of ATMs in Singapore, and in recent years part of the over-the-counter consumer transactions have been migrated to next-generation ATMs.

Serving as “mini branches”, these ATMs can help fulfil common functions such as cash deposits, or account and card related requests without customers having to wait in line at a branch. Even as people move away from cash, it will still be quite sometime away before ATMs become obsolete.

On the other end of the spectrum is the technology required for contactless to work, which offers a faster, more frictionless payment experience that’s more convenient compared to cash payments. For example, contactless cards were first introduced in the early 2000s, but have only recently become a norm for newly issued cards in Singapore.

According to Visa, mobile contactless payments grew by 12 per cent in Singapore in 2019. Contactless card payments continue to be the most popular option, with 84 per cent of Singapore respondents using this mode of payment.

Additionally, 32 per cent of Singapore respondents to the Worldpay from FIS’ Generation Pay study said that they are yet to receive a contactless-enabled credit or debit card by their bank.

Cash is still king

We should also be careful not to overestimate the stickiness of behavioural change in the pandemic, and the inevitability of a cashless society. In fact, 71 per cent of respondents to the Generation Pay research in Singapore are still using cash, and 76 per cent said they feel more comfortable using the payment methods they have always used such as cash, check, and/or credit and debit cards. Cash management is also a concern as more than half agree that not using cash makes it easier to lose control of spending.

Also Read: Fave raises funding from Pine Labs to expand cashless payment solutions to SMEs

And consider the many instances where we rely upon cash, such as when we give red or green packets during festive seasons such as Chinese New Year and Hari Raya. Or when we are buying groceries at a wet market. Eliminating cash poses logistical hurdles and ultimately requires behavioural and mindset shifts, none of which have reached a critical mass.

As of today, there are no truly cashless societies, though it should be noted that China is well on its way to becoming one. The longer the pandemic lasts, the closer we will get to a cashless society, but with these hurdles, the old adage rings true in Singapore: cash really is still king, even if consumers are making unprecedented changes to their spending habits.

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Waste management — an unromantic topic — is often a neglected but critical environmental service.

Organisations and smart cities collect and analyse waste and recycling data to improve their service performance and profitability. Many of them have invested million of dollars in waste management technologies, such as sensor technologies, radio frequency identification (RFID) and software systems, which help in collecting operational data.

However, there still remains a gap in analysing and extracting actionable insights from this data and using it to improve waste collection, recycling, pricing, performance and sustainability.

Two Singapore-based entrepreneurs Vladimir Chuchkin and Dr. Elias Willemse are determined to bridge this gap using new-age tech tools.

“Waste Labs runs a proprietary Artificial Intelligence platform that helps waste management companies and cities to build and operate sustainable waste collection and recycling,” said Chuchkin.

Both Chuchkin and Willemse have many years of working experience in the waste management industry.

Willemse spent 12 years doing his R&D in advanced analytical methods (Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Optimisation Modelling) to improve waste management. Chuchkin, on the other hand, had hands-on experience structuring and implementing complex energy projects including waste-to-energy plants.

Also Read: One man’s trash is another’s gold: How Tridi Oasis plans to transform plastic waste management

The two met at Entrepreneurs First, a programme that helps entrepreneurs find co-founders, in Singapore. They spent hours discussing how their experience could be turned into a scalable and sustainable business, and eventually conceptualised Waste Labs.

How Waste Labs works

The startup uses data and AI to address the four main elements of waste collection:

1. Identifying and analysing new customers (waste producers), 
2. Selecting optimal resources and scenarios to collect their waste, 
3. Analysing performance and profitability of existing waste collection operations, 
4. Improving resources and routes to gain maximum cost efficiency for the collection business.

“We start with building a ‘Digital Twin’ of the area. In a sense, it is a digital map of all the city’s waste and waste infrastructure. You can use it for visualising and modelling many different activities around waste management and recycling,” Chuchkin explained. 

For instance, in Singapore, the startup combined over 20 different datasets to identify and map all the waste and recyclable producers, population attributes, infrastructure relevant to the waste management, road networks, etc. 

“The next step is that we run our AI to calculate what we will need to collect the waste or recyclables in a new area. Our platform will advise on the number of routes, type of trucks and number of crew to service that particular area in a cost-effective manner,” he added.

Chuchkin further said it takes only a few minutes for Waste Labs to generate a collection scenario for more than 100,000 service points. “Such speed allows us to generate and test over 100 collection scenarios within a week. The Digital Twin is helpful to imagine how the future system will perform in real time.”

Waste Labs’s planning, he went on, is “13x faster” in comparison to the traditional pen-and-paper routing and typically allows you to use at least 10 per cent less resources.

Once the collection of waste and recyclables commence, the collector can further use the online platform to analyse and improve the collection performance. The collector is not required to install any special devices, but rely on their GPS records which are already available.

“We use AI again to decode and visualise how exactly they collect the waste, build the benchmarks and spot early operational inefficiencies. With these insights, the waste management or recycling company may opt to fine-tune their collection plan with the help of our platform and improve their efficiency and profits,” he elucidated.

Since its inception in May 2020, Waste Labs has implemented projects with a few major industry players in Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia. One of its first clients was ALBA W&H Smart City — a joint venture of the German ALBA Group that provides waste collection and recycling services around the world. 

As per Chuchkin, over 40 per cent of the world’s waste and recyclables are not collected, and it ends up polluting environment. Besides, the increasing scale and complexity of collection operations are slashing profit margins of the service providers. Waste management companies and cities strive to build data-driven operations but are limited in tools to extract actionable insight from their data.

Waste Labs’s services can be used by governments, municipalities and private companies, or anyone looking to understand their waste infrastructure better, analyse their performance, innovate and improve their waste processes, minimise carbon footprint, or reduce costs associated with waste collection.

“Today”, he maintained, “it goes beyond the traditional waste management companies; even businesses and manufacturers are forced to focus on end-of-life of their goods.”

Globally, the total addressable market (TAM) for waste management is US$4.7 billion. The Southeast Asian portion of it is approximately US$2 billion.

When quizzed about the company’s geographical expansion plans, he remarked that it aims to take the business to other parts of Southeast Asia.

“Of course, since Waste Labs was founded in Singapore, we are focusing on the markets that surround us. But the best part about our solution is that it can work anywhere. It doesn’t matter whether it’s the world’s most advanced economy, or one of the poorest/remote provinces of Southeast Asia, our platform can produce equally great results for any part of the world,” he said.

It also works for different types of waste — plastic, food, electronic or the most common municipal waste. What matters is the focus of the client on operational efficiency and sustainability.

“One of our aspirations is to be able to help countries, which are struggling to establish proper waste collection systems, plan comprehensive full-cycle projects where waste is collected and recycled or turned into electricity. From our experience, for this to happen, it’s not the technology but is the Data that is the Holy Grail,” he shared. 

A lean team, Waste Labs currently employs only four people, including the founders.

Also Read: Can the new waste disposal app bail out Bali from its waste problem?

Although the company was founded in the midst of the COVID-19 crisis, the pandemic had no impact on the startup’s initial growth. However, several challenges remain, one being the long sales cycle.

As for the revenue models, the company banks on several streams, including subscription and one-time fee. The fees range depending on the territory covered and the fleet size. 

“We believe we have a robust technology, so we received positive reactions from the market very early in the journey, which resulted in our ability to generate revenues starting from the third month of our operations. Currently, the scope of our initial contracts keeps expanding, and we are looking to get the funding to further accelerate that trend,” he said.

A bootstrapped venture, Waste Labs is now working to close its seed round to fuel its product and sales growth. Chuchkin revealed that the startup has already received commitments from some investors and is looking for one or two more.

“Meanwhile, we are always looking for like-minded data scientists and software engineers to join us on a mission to shape a sustainable environment and make the smart cities’ waste management systems more efficient,” he concluded.

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Image Credit: Waste Labs

 

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Updates: Changes have been made on the no. of teams, location based and some details have been removed as requested by LongHash.

LongHash Ventures, a global blockchain accelerator and VC fund headquartered in Singapore, has announced the 10 startups that will take the virtual stage for  Algorand Asia Accelerator’s demo day on Jan 22nd.

Out of the 10 startups, 3 are from Singapore while the remaining teams come from Australia, Europe and USA.

Algorand Asia Accelerator is a 3-month programme that provides selected startups with US$15,000 in seed funding. In addition, the startups were provided with end-to-end support in strategy formulation, go-to-market execution, as well as subject matter guidance across technology, mentorship, token economics, marketing and fundraising.

The primary objective of the accelerator is to accelerate the vision of Finance 3.0 to a much wider audience. For the uninitiated, Finance 3.o is the name given to an open financial system, which provides more control to users and reduces or eliminates middlemen, fees, charges, penalty, etc.

According to a LinkedIn post written by a company spokesperson, the startups have raised US$2.5 million in funding prior to demo day.

In 2019, LongHash Ventures kickstarted LongHash Hatch, a programme designed for blockchain startups. It saw participation from industry leaders, such as Fenbushi Capital, HashKey Capital, Kenetic Capital, and Dragonfly Capital, with Ethereum Foundation, Maker, Synthetix, and InstaDApp.

Also Read: Blockchain accelerator LongHash Ventures unveils 7 startups in its fourth cohort

Below are brief profiles of the Singaporean startups that will be showcasing on the demo day, and the remaining teams can be found on their demo day website:

DEXTF

An on-chain, non-custodial asset management protocol, which allows the creation of a digital fund in a matter of minutes where investors from around the world can invest in.

Founded in 2017, the startup has been funded by LuneX Ventures and SGInnovate and has been awarded the Financial Sector Technology Proof of Concept Grant by the MAS (Monetary Authority of Singapore) twice.

EasternBlu

A decentralised registry of music copyrights that brings transparency and efficiency to royalty ownerships and payments.

The platform currently has over 15,000 songs registered in its platform. The company also claims to be the “first micropayments and blockchain-based music registry” in China.

MugglePay

A consumer to business (C2B) payment solution enabling global, instant and low-cost settlements via cryptocurrency.

Founded in 2018, the company’s partners include OKEx, Shopify, WHMCs, PARSIQ, Celo and TRON.

You can sign up for the demo day here.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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Geniebook, a Singapore-based edutech startup that identifies students’ strengths and weaknesses using Artificial Intelligence, announced today it has expanded its operations into Vietnam.

The expansion marks Geniebook’s third office internationally, with its headquarters located in Singapore, and another office in Indonesia.

Additionally, the company claims it achieved US$10 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), along with maintaining profitability and positive cash flow, thanks to a strong financial year in 2020.

Launched in 2017, Geniebook uses AI and Machine Learning to personalise learning by recommending assessment concepts and questions based on each student’s strengths and challenges.

Also Read: Singapore edtech startup Geniebook secures US$1.1M Pre-Series A funding

With students made to stay home for months due to COVID-19 safety measures, home-based learning has become a big part of 2020. Geniebook claims it has experienced accelerated growth, with an increase of about 10x in overseas users over the course of the pandemic.

The company also shared that its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) hit US$2 million in 2020, while its global user base has grown 100x since its launch in 2017.

“The challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 has brought for us in 2020 have not only propelled us to find ways to strengthen our business model but have also proven that our method works in all circumstances,” said Neo Zhizhong, CEO and Co-founder of Geniebook.

Also Read: Why digital capabilities aren’t fully deployed in the education sector

“As the predictability of the pandemic worsens, and home-based learning continues to be an important part of children’s lives, we see huge potential in digitalising and personalising learning in the world and in the region, with the growing Vietnamese market as our next step,” he added.

With close to 40 per cent of the Vietnamese population below the age of 24, Geniebook shared there is huge potential in Vietnam’s education sector to develop in the coming years.

According to the firm, Vietnamese parents are also investing more money and time into bettering their child’s learning, while students have been harbouring greater desires in recent years to expand their academic knowledge as well.

With a current staff strength of 200, the startup is looking to expand its team by hiring domestically and internationally to further “invest and scale” its online learning technologies.

In May 2019, Geniebook raised US$1.1 million in its pre-Series A funding led by led by Apricot Capital.

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Image Credit: Geniebook

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Grab’s fintech arm GFG raises US$300M Series A led by Hanwha Asset Management; GFG claims its total revenues have increased by over 40% y-o-y in 2020, and expects to have a full revenue potential of US$60B by 2025; Its consortium with Singtel recently obtained a digital bank license in Singapore. More here

Sea Group acquires Indonesia’s Bank BKE; The group aims to ultimately transform the lender into a digital bank; The deal can be seen as part of NYSE-listed Sea’s ongoing plan to increase customer retention on its e-commerce platform Shopee by doubling down on its payments app ShopeePay. More here

Indian IPOs thriving despite COVID pandemic; A total of 14 Indian companies saw their stocks listed on the BSE and the National Stock Exchange during 2020; The 4 Indian unicorns that are expected to launch IPOs this year are Flipkart, Zomato, Delhivery and Policybazaar. More here

The next Xiaomi: How Realme became the world’s fastest smartphone brand to reach 50M sales; While it may not be a popular brand yet, Realme has shipped 10M phones globally in the first 14 months of its founding, a mighty feat for a young company; The Chinese smartphone company was founded in May 2018 by Sky Li, former VPO of Oppo. More here

Vietnam’s payments app Momo raises Series D; Lead investors are Warburg Princus, Goodwater Capital; As per reports, the size of the funding is US$100M+; Momo aims to become a super-app and kickstart its own investment arm, Innovation Ventures, to back local startups that can be integrated into its app. More here

Indonesian sharia-based P2P lending platform ALAMI raises US$20M+ in equity and debt funding; Lead investors are AC Ventures and Golden Gate Ventures; Last September, Nikkei Asia reported that despite COVID-19, Islamic finance thrived in Indonesia as banks and fintech companies “rushed” to seize opportunities in the market. More here

Indonesia’s book-keeping app BukuKas secures US$10M Series A, acquires smaller rival Catatan Keuangan Harian; Backers are Sequoia India (lead), Saison Capital, January Capital, Founderbank Capital; BukuKas claims to have a registered user base of 3.5M small merchants and retailers and has crossed 1.8M MAUs. More here

Ajaib, a mobile-first investment platform for millennials in Indonesia, raises US$25M; Lead investors are Horizons Ventures, Alpha JWC; Indonesia has a low penetration rate for stock investments, with only 1.6M capital market investors in the country, which is less than 1% of its population of 273M. More here

Singapore cybersecurity firm MicroSec raises an undisclosed amount in Series A; MassMutual Ventures is the lead investor; The company’s enterprise-grade security capabilities for IoT devices include an anomaly detection system that provides intelligent detection of tampering and misuse of devices. More here

SG’s digital assets exchange Zipmex raises US$6M in oversubscribed funding led by US VC Jump Capital; It plans to diversify product offerings, including the expansion of its interest-bearing product ZipUp and its new native token ZMT; Zipmex claims it has transacted over US$650M in gross transaction volume so far and has 100K+ users. More here

On-demand blue-collar workforce app Sampingan raises US$5M Series A; Investors include Altara Ventures (lead), Golden Gate, Antler, Access Ventures; Sampingan claims it has 850K+ workers in 80 cities connected through the platform and is serving 100+ Indonesian enterprises. More here

Korea’s content discovery platform Dable raises US$12M Series C; Backers are SV Investment, KB Investment, K2 Investment; It plans to accelerate international expansion into Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, China, Australia, Turkey in 2021. More here

Malaysia’s Islamic and conventional P2P microfinancing platform microLEAP raises US$3.3M; Investor is MAA Group; microLEAP serves micro-enterprises that may find it difficult to borrow money via traditional means; It claims to have grown 1,000%+ within just 5 months of its launch in April 2020. More here

Singapore-based Crown Technologies raises funding from East Japan Railway’s subsidiary; The investment will accelerate the rollout of ELLA, the AI-powered robotic barista; ELLA will be deployed across East Japan Railway’s network of 1,657 train stations that serve an average of 17M passengers daily ahead of Tokyo Olympics 2020. More here

SG’s foodtech startup Advantir raises seed funding; Investors include Raging Bull Investments, she1K Global, Expara Asia Ventures, Azerus; Advantir’s capsule dessert machine Swirl.GO creates four types of soft-serve desserts: ice cream, gelato, sorbet and frozen yoghurt; It operates with Swirl Pods, which are individual disposable capsules. More here

B2B FMGG marketplace GudangAda appoints ex-Grab Engineering Head Huan Yang as CTO; His appointment is key as GudangAda seeks to develop its warehousing and logistics offerings and move into new product categories beyond the FMCG industry; The news comes shortly after GudangAda successfully amassed a total of US$30M. More here

BNPL heats up in Singapore with Grab, Mastercard entering the scene; While the model first started out in countries such as Sweden, the trend is picking up steam across the world; The service is bucking the trend in Singapore where three-quarters of the population own a credit card. More here

Be Group ties up with VPBank to launch digital bank ‘Cake’ in Vietnam; With services hosted on the Be app through VPBank’s digital banking license, Be claims Cake will have access to over 10M customers, nearly a third of the country’s ride-hailing market. More here

Indonesia’s gamified learning and remote micro lessons startup Titik Pintar raises funding; Investor is Indonesia Women Empowerment Fund (IWEF); Titik Pintar claims it has more than 15K users across Indonesia. More here

Here’s what the world of business travel will look like in 2021; Travel management startup Navisteps expects a permanent decrease of absolute global business travel volume anywhere between 15-25% over the long-term; Given the travel restrictions and low consumer confidence, inter-state and intra-state business travel will be the most viable option for business travel in 2021. More here

WhatsApp takes a U-turn in its data privacy. Is it time to switch to alternative platforms?; The new privacy means Whatsapp will now be able to monitor the kinds of links of products/other things that you send your friends and families and use them to send it to other ads companies/brands. More here

Blockchain in agrifood: A great opportunity disguised as a trend?; Blockchain’s characteristics of immutability and transparency are used to improve coordination among supply chain players by increasing the visibility of info and, as a consequence, the effectiveness of the whole supply chain. More here

KONE joins CapitaLand-led Smart Urban Co-Innovation Lab; The lab brings together leaders in the smart cities to co-create and test innovations at CapitaLand’s 5G-enabled Singapore Science Park; The lab will serve as an open platform where diverse industry players come together to tackle today’s pressing issues such as smart mobility, intelligent urban development, sustainability among others. More here

Experts see role for Singapore in spurring sustainability in region; According to Associate Professor Simon Tay, chairman of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs, the city-state can drive efforts in the region through bilateral agreements, funding clean energy and investing in incentive schemes like carbon markets. More here

Malaysia is increasingly becoming a tech hub for international founders; It is currently ranked as the 11th best startup destination in the world; The government reliefs during COVID-19, such as Technology Start-ups Funding Relief Facility, and National PENJANA Fund, and other initiatives such as National Technology & Innovation Sandbox, etc have created a good impression among foreign founders. More here

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Next Billion Ventures (NBV), a US-based VC firm focused on global emerging markets, announced today it has appointed Tiang Lim Foo as its Venture Partner for the Southeast Asia region.

Lim Foo has over a decade of experience in the venture investment industry within the region. He currently serves as Partner at Singapore-based early-stage VC firm SeedPlus and his portfolio includes early investments in companies including Qoala, Rukita, Homage and CardUp.

He will focus his efforts on identifying the next generation of high-growth, high-impact startups in Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Singapore.

Also Read: How did emerging markets in Southeast Asia fare in 2020?

“We invest in geographies with sizeable populations who are now meaningfully entering the digital economy. As a multi-market investor, we differentiate by picking the most compelling, ubiquitous problems that technology is addressing across emerging markets while recognising the localisation that is necessary for these businesses to succeed,” said Ken Toyoda, Co-founder and Managing Partner at NBV.

NBV’s current portfolio in Southeast Asia includes Vietnamese proptech startup Propzy, Philippine-based Advance (fintech) and Sprout (HR tech), and Indonesia’s GajiGesa (financial wellness app). This is complemented by similar investments in Latin America and the Middle East.

Co-founded in 2018 by Toyoda, Ruzgar Barisik and Christopher Schroeder, the Washington-based VC firm invests in tech startups that serve the “next billion digital consumers and small businesses” in emerging markets across Southeast Asia, Latin America and the MENA region.

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Image Credit: Next Billion Ventures

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Updates: This article has been updated with more details on the digital banking platform.

Standard Chartered announced today it has formed a strategic partnership with Indonesian e-commerce giant Bukalapak, to launch “innovative offerings” as part of efforts to advance its focus on digital banking.

Hosted on the nexus platform – a banking-as-a-service solution by the bank’s innovation and venture arm SC Ventures, the partnership will see Standard Chartered provide digital financial services to Bukalapak’s customer base of more than 100 million users and 13.5 million sellers.

According to Diana Mudadalam, Head of Corporate Affairs, Standard Chartered Bank Indonesia, the nexus platform offers banking-as-a-service feature similar to a white label banking service which partners can offer under their own brand.

“By embedding nexus in the partner’s ecosystem, partners like e-commerce, hailing app, etcetera, can offer banking services and products in their offering line up, allowing greater customer engagement and ecosystem stickiness without having customers move around apps to do activities such as shopping, and do financial transaction,” she wrote in a message to e27.

She also added that commercial partnership in the context of the bank’s ventures is always separate and distinct from any investments they commit in SC Ventures and the bank.

As per a press release, the collaboration aims to boost financial inclusion in Indonesia and further support the country’s digital economic growth.

A recent survey by Standard Chartered revealed the pandemic has acted as a catalyst for the growth of online financial activity, with over half of global respondents using more online services in a post-pandemic world. Additionally, 80 per cent of Indonesians also expect the country to go fully cashless by 2025.

Also Read: Don’t break the bank: Enabling financial inclusion and equity through tech

This represents a large growth market for embedded finance, which Standard Chartered and Bukalapak aim to jointly capture through their digital finance solutions.

“Our inaugural partnership with Bukalapak reaffirms Standard Chartered Bank’s commitment to growing our footprint locally. We are confident that our partnership with Bukalapak will enable us to co-create a solution that drives financial inclusion in Indonesia,” said Andrew Chia, Cluster CEO, Indonesia & ASEAN Markets for Standard Chartered.

“Commerce and financial services are crucial aspects of the well-being of society, thus, the partnership increases our spirit to create A Fair Economy in Indonesia. With a global banking network, Standard Chartered participation in Bukalapak will further strengthen our current strong group of shareholders and strategic partners,” said Rachmat Kaimuddin, CEO Bukalapak.

This comes as part of Standard Chartered’s push to experiment with new business models to meet the evolving needs of its clients. The bank recently announced the official launch of Mox, its new virtual bank in Hong Kong, created in partnership with PCCW, HKT and Trip.com.

It also commercially launched digital open platform, Solv, to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India and other markets grow by providing access to financial and business services.

Bukalapak itself has been making moves in the fintech scene, starting with the launch of services such as mutual funds and gold transactions.

The news followed recent updates from Indonesian unicorn gojek which had recently invested in Bank Jago as part of its foray into fintech, particularly digital banking services.

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Anisa Menur Maulani also contributed to this story.

Image Credits: Standard Chartered

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