In the past decade, the blockchain sector has emerged as a formidable element of the digital economy. This has led to a race by governments, institutions and businesses to incorporate the appropriate elements of these new technologies into their operations, to streamline performance and increase efficiency, as well as attract additional business opportunities. 

In 2020 and 2021, Singapore looks set to become one of the world’s largest digital asset hubs as a result of progressive government regulations such as the Payment Services Act—which has attracted large crypto businesses such as Binance into the country, as well as rumours of traditional institutions such as DBS implementing an exchange for digital assets.

However, a recent study showed that Singapore, alongside the US and UK, had the largest number of virtual asset service providers with weak ‘Know your Customer’ (KYC) processes—making it easier for nefarious actors to launder money. 

KYC processes are not only a legal requirement, but serve to allow organisations to detect and prevent criminal activities around the globe including money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The importance of KYC is highlighted by the expense which financial institutions go to fund appropriate measurements each year—with approximately US$25 billion spent every year on financial crime risk management—the majority of this budget going to KYC processes. 

It comes as no surprise that upholding KYC best practices is necessary for both the nascent digital assets industry and the traditional financial sector at large. This is especially important for a country like Singapore that is known for its progressive policies that allow institutions to explore innovations within the financial sector ranging from asset tokenisation to Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC).

Also Read: Legaltech on blockchain is set to be the next hot investment sector. Here’s why

‘Know your issues’ — The existing challenges in KYC processes

Despite the critical importance of KYC, current KYC methods are inefficient and plagued with manual, labour-intensive processes, thereby increasing the risks of duplication, human errors, and fraud. In fact, according to KMPG, it is estimated that up to 80 per cent of the efforts associated with KYC are dedicated to information gathering and processing, with only 20 per cent allocated to assessing and monitoring information for key insights. 

On the receiving end, prospective customers are often frustrated by the sheer amount of back and forth, repetitive questioning, and lengthy processing times which KYC entails. Onboarding new customers to buy, sell, and trade crypto is crucial for the budding digital asset industry to further develop, but inefficient KYC processes have the potential to chase prospects away as a result of drawn-out approval times and endless back and forth on paperwork. 

The good news is that emerging technologies such as permissioned enterprise blockchain platforms have the ability to solve existing KYC challenges not just for the digital asset space, but for the wider financial industry in Singapore. 

Greater customer experience through efficiency

Blockchain, originally known as the underlying technology for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, reduces exponentially the amount of manual data processing necessary for accurate and reliable KYC. Instead, it allows financial institutions to access real-time, up-to-date customer information through a platform that is transparent, secure and immutable. 

As the labour-intensive and time-consuming process of acquiring KYC information is reduced, financial institutions will benefit from increased operational efficiency, and resultantly become more profitable as manpower costs are reduced. A report by Goldman Sachs echoes this sentiment—stating that the banking sector can achieve a 10 per cent headcount reduction with the introduction of blockchain to KYC procedures.

Speeding up the customer onboarding process in a manner that is seamless and hassle-free also translates to a greater customer experience and satisfaction—as lengthy processing times become an issue of the past. 

Also Read: Blockchain for dummies: A 101 guide to the next hot fintech trend

Blockchain technology also allows financial organisations to put customer KYC details on a shared distributed ledger which can then be used by other accredited organisations—meaning customers will not have to start the KYC process from scratch when dealing with other financial companies.

As data stored on the blockchain is irreversible, transparent and secure, it would provide a single source of truth—reducing inefficiencies, errors and duplication of effort in information gathering between any financial organisations, as well as streamlining data gathering processes and providing relevant parties with secure access to customer data that is being updated in real-time. 

Privacy concerns

While customers may have concerns over their information being shared through a platform with other financial institutions with which they do not have a relationship, certain blockchain platforms—such as permissioned blockchain platforms—enable the sharing of information in a private manner on a need-to-know basis. 

With the increasing number of data hacks in Singapore in recent years—including local organisations such Singapore Red Cross, HIV registry, and SingHealth— it comes as no surprise that customers may have privacy concerns about the sharing of their personal and financial data. 

Permissioned blockchain platforms are ideal for such purposes as they allow organisations to transact directly and privately, with strict authentication requirements to access private information—dis-intermediating and decentralising information without sacrificing privacy or security. Its popularity is evident with even central banks such as the Hong Kong Monetary Authority opting to use a permissioned blockchain platform, like R3’s Corda, as it enables enterprises to reap all the benefits of blockchain technology, while allowing transactions to remain private and only available to permissioned parties.  

The future of KYC

As KYC forms the backbone of the financial industry’s anti-money-laundering efforts, it is evident that blockchain will lead us to reimagine KYC processes as we know them—offering businesses increased operational efficiencies and reduced costs, and customers smooth onboarding procedures and secure transfer of data. 

At the same time, a blockchain-based KYC system could offer regulators greater clarity and understanding of how customers have been onboarded and the application of underlying KYC information—contributing to the development and legitimacy of the digital assets industry as it gains popularity.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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It is projected that the senior population of Thailand will reach 20 million by 2050, accounting for 35.8 percent of the country’s total population. With these estimates serving as proof that the country is entering the era of an aging society, coupled with the emergence of a global health crisis in the form of the COVID-19, the country’s healthtech sector is accelerating its plans to position Thailand as Asia’s medical hub.

Mr. Phongchai Petsanghan, Vice President of Thai Health Tech Association and CEO and Co-founder of Telehealth Platform, Dietz.asia, spoke about the overall Thai health tech in 2020, saying this year posed great challenges to the growth of Thai health tech startups. Some of them grew by leaps and bounds, such as telepharmacies, while others saw negative growth. “All in all, this year’s growth in the sector was a little bit sluggish,” he said.

However, there have been clear developments in several other healthtech sectors since the start of lockdown during which people were restricted from traveling to see doctors. Apart from the telepharmacy segment with exponentially growing businesses such as Pharmcare and Arincare, we also saw spurring growth in the telemedicine segment such as Chiiwii, OOca, doctor A to Z, the remote public health segment such as Dietz.asia, and the medical education segment such as Medic.

On the other hand, the battered health tech businesses such as private hospitals unable to cater to foreign customers due to state-enforced restrictions. Health tech businesses with corporate clients also had a hard time during the pandemic due to their clients’ delayed buying decisions.

Challenges in accelerating the country’s healthtech

 “The Thai startups’ technologies and business models as well as the size of the Thai market are second to none in Southeast Asia,” explained Petsanghan, however, he underscored that there are still important obstacles that need to be circumvented.

One key challenge is the limited access to capital for market expansion and less investments funneling in when compared with other countries. Petsanghan suggests that the Thai government needs to be more proactive in providing better investment support, such as by shortening the time it takes to process or assistance for the health tech startups.

Moreover, the Thai public sector needs to work with Thai startups more often. The problem is, based on Petsanghan’s observations, Thai organisations would rather create their own teams and technologies while their foreign counterparts tend to do otherwise.

At present, regulations or operational guidelines are also not yet conducive to development. For example, there are insufficient regulations on telemedicine, reimbursement, data integration, and disclosure of information. Petsanghan believes that “the Thai government should make more amendments to such regulations particularly concerning the issues of anonymous access to public health information, fund mobilisation, and the creation of an environment suitable for sandboxes.” He added, “lastly, Thai health tech startups still have a shortage of programmers or data scientists. Computer scientists and related occupations should therefore be promoted by the government to meet the demand of the startups.”

Also read: Thailand’s National Innovation Agency to gather support for Thai startups

Optimistic outlook

Despite the doom and gloom this year, 2021 is expected to be a good year for Thai health tech startups with growth projection of no less than 20%, all due to COVID-19 which has prompted changes in regulations as well as the recent easing of restrictions.

Apart from the pandemic, the key factors contributing to the growth of Thai health tech startups include the adoption of technology by the private and public sector with their medical services as they need to offset revenue loss with staffing cuts. The second key factor that benefits Thai health tech startups is the Medical Council of Thailand’s latest announcement on telemedicine, the Comptroller’s General Department’s announcement on civil servants’ medical expense reimbursement and private companies’ health insurances that provide higher coverage for online medical services. The third factor is the increase in health tech use by people in the working-age population and the senior citizens. Another factor is private businesses’ reduced subsidies for their employees’ medical bills with the use of medical service technology.

There have also been several developments in the funding space such as the case for Arincare, a provider of drugstore management systems and telepharmacy which has made it to Series A. Around two or three Thai health tech startups are also preparing to enter the Series A fund mobilisation, while some Thai health tech startups, such as Raksa, Doctor Anywhere, and Honestdoc have expanded their businesses by partnering with startups from Singapore and Indonesia.

Sparking innovations

 We have seen some successes not only in terms of general business growth and funding, but also when it comes to innovations both in tech as well as general system overhauls with the help of public sectors.

In the deep tech segment, more successful use cases have occurred, including Perceptra’s use of AI to help physicians read X-ray images of patients with lung inflammation. The company’s solution is an innovation developed by Thai people with the potential to compete in the global market. Another successful case is PharmaSee’s use of AI to recognise different type of medications using images as well as its face recognition system for hospitals.

In addition, we have seen more cooperation between large organisations, the government, and startups such as partnerships between IBM, CAT, and CovidTracker.asia to facilitate Alternative State Quarantine facilities in Thailand, a telehealth against Covid-19 project by the Thai health tech association with support from the National Innovation Agency (NIA), cooperation between Pharma Safe and Phayathai Hospitals Group, and the project ‘Journey to Success 2020’ by the Thailand Center of Excellence for Life Sciences (TCELs) — all to promote Thai health startups and improve the overall healthcare outlook for the country, among others.

Also read: Startup Thailand x Innovation Thailand Expo 2020: a catalyst for innovation

Onward to the future of healthtech

On the future of Thai health tech startups, Petsanghan said: “We will see Thai health tech startups join hands with large corporations such as listed companies, banks, and hospitals to further develop or expand their services. Over the past 2-3 years, large corporations proved that innovating something by themselves resulted in slow growth due to a trial and error process and the employees’ lack of a sense of ownership.”

While discussing the importance of cross-sector partnerships, he added “when large corporations work with startups which have their own products, services, and markets, having learned lessons from trial and error, there will be more collaborations at the international level. Thailand is also Southeast Asia’s hub of smart city. More takeovers and mergers could be on the horizon. Technology-wise, we will see higher adoption of deep tech with the use of AI in various fields and development of a system based on standardised data sets.”

Albeit the better outlook for Thai health tech startups next year, they still need assistance from the government on many aspects. As the vice chairman of the Thai health tech association, Petsanghan emphasised the need to develop new deep tech digital services based on medical data and the use of Thailand’s strengths such as herbal products and medicines, medical cannabis, Thai food, and healthy food.

Presently, there are around 56 Thai health tech startups in the ecosystem with the establishment of the Thai Health tech association and activities to promote entrepreneurs and networking of stakeholders. The development of systems and strategies for Thai health tech startups is expected to take place in 2021. Petsanghan urges the government to act as a bridge to connect foreign investors with the Thai startups, expand domestic and international markets and promote the strengthening of health and medical startup networks in Southeast Asia.

To view the live programme of the Startup Thailand Marketplace, you may visit the official site here or watch on the official Facebook page of Startup Thailand.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by the National Innovation Agency of Thailand.

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

The post Bolstering healthtech: Thailand’s bid to become Asia’s medical hub appeared first on e27.

Speedoc, a Singapore-based digital health app, has raised S$6.7 million (US$5 million) in a Series A funding round, led by Vertex Ventures.

Other investors in the round include Decacorn Capital and Global Grand Leisure.

As per a press note, the fresh funds will be used to bankroll Speedoc’s technological advancement initiatives in Singapore to drive faster adoption of digital health services locally.

The initiatives include rolling out virtual hospital schemes and working with industry partners for clinical validation of proprietary clinical pathways.

The capital will also enable it to enhance its proprietary Chronic Disease Home Management service and aid in its plans to expand to other markets in Southeast Asia.

Additionally, it will leverage Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to create personalised treatment plans.

Also Read: The changing face of healthcare in a post pandemic world

Founded in 2017, Speedoc operates as a platform that combines offline and online services to provide healthcare to patients in their homes. Its services include house call doctors, telemedicine and remote health monitoring among others.

“We believe in Speedoc’s vision to make healthcare accessible and affordable for patients through digital means. With the enduring effect of the pandemic, we see immense potential for such innovative digital healthcare services to address the medical needs of many populations,” said Carmen Yuen, Partner of Vertex Ventures SEA & India.

“As Singapore’s population ages, there will be an overall increase in the need for medical services. Speedoc is looking to solve this gap by advancing digitally accessible healthcare services. We are looking to enable any home to mirror the facilities of a hospital room, with tools like continuous remote monitoring, telemedicine, and blended clinical pathways; empowering both patients and medical professionals alike,” added Dr Shravan Verma, Founder and CEO of Speedoc.

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Image Credit: Speedoc

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Since we launched e27 Pro, we have 300 investors and counting on our Connect feature, which allows Pro members to directly connect with investors on our platform for fundraising opportunities, mentorship, or advice.

We recently announced new investors joining Connect who are ready to engage with you (see them here, here, and here). Here are more:

DivisionX Global
Stages: Seed, Pre-Series A/Bridge, Series A
Verticals: Architecture & Construction, Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain, Cleantech, Cybersecurity, Education, Govtech, Energy, and various other
Investment range: Not specified
Straight from DivisionX Global: DivisionX Global is a network of front-end work winning specialists helping transform Industry 4.0 by growing extraordinary early-stage businesses. We invest our time, energy and sweat to help startups win more work. We are mission-focused. Whether you are reimagining relationships, disrupting traditional services or digitally transforming an industry, we are focused on achieving your mission and getting you there faster.
Connect with them

Mosaic Venture Lab
Stages: Seed, Series A
Verticals: Transportation
Investment range: Not specified
Straight from Mosaic Venture Lab: Mosaic Venture Lab, powered by Yushan Ventures, Inc., is a product development-focused accelerator based in Taiwan. We are currently sponsored by one of the German OEMs and granted by the Taiwanese government. We have a strong focus on smart mobility — Mobility Services, Electrification, Human-Centric / New-data Driven Services, Sustainability, etc.
Connect with them

Partech Partners
Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C, and above
Verticals: All
Investment range: USD 100K to USD 60M
Straight from Partech Partners: Partech is a global investment platform for tech and digital companies, led by ex-entrepreneurs and operators of the industry spread across offices in San Francisco, Paris, Berlin and Dakar. The firm brings together capital and resources to support entrepreneurs at all stages in Europe and North America, with a growing presence in Africa and Asia.
Connect with them

Also read: Reimagining anti-money laundering processes with blockchain technology

Rhino Ventures Asia
Stages: Angel/Pre-Seed, Seed, Pre-Series A/Bridge, Series A, Venture Debt
Verticals: Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Cleantech, E-Commerce, Healthtech, Finance, Smart Cities, and various other
Investment range: USD 500K to USD 3M
Straight from Rhino Ventures Asia: We create sustainable ventures that coexist with the world around us. Our experienced team explores new horizons, self-ideates compelling products, and has the expertise to plan, launch, and scale each venture we decide to build, without the need for constant fundraising and exaggerated valuations. We are currently looking to expand our portfolio in the region, by supporting early-stage ventures that have synergy with our social impact criteria.
Connect with them

Sayris Capital
Stages: Series A, Series B, Series C and above
Verticals: Agritech, Food & Beverage, Healthtech, Medtech
Investment range: USD 500K to USD 5M
Straight from Sayris Capital: We commit to innovate healthcare and food security systems towards a responsible circular economy. Initiated by a group of sustainability enthusiasts, we drive a thematic investment and operational approach creating positive environmental and community impact. Our strategic insights and contextual intelligence in collaboration with capital markets partners empower participation in the future of food, health & healthcare, fourth industrial revolution actively.
Connect with them

SeaX Ventures
Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C & above
Verticals: Advertising, Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Biotech, Blockchain, Cybersecurity, Finance, Food & Beverage, ICT, Robotics
Investment range: Not specified
Straight from SeaX Ventures: We deliver unique access to a highly selective group of innovative companies from around the globe. We combine our strong entrepreneurial, investing, and scientific background with extensive professional networks across Asia and the US to identify the best investment opportunities. Most importantly, we aim to achieve both financial returns and strategic advantages for our investors.
Connect with them

Also read: Kalpha raises six-figure funding to allow P2P exchange of knowledge, skills, experiences on its platform

SeedersClub
Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B, Series C and above
Verticals: All
Investment range: USD 50K to USD 500K
Straight from SeedersClub: We are a family & friends office based in Bangkok, looking at early stage investments. We will invest, advise and connect promising startups, particularly those involved in Thailand & South East Asia.
Connect with them

Venturecapital Holdings
Stages: Seed, Series A, Series B
Verticals: All
Investment range: USD 100K to USD 1M
Straight from Venturecapital Holdings: We engage in a strategic partnership with great companies and young entrepreneurs. We invest in seed stage to expansion while guiding and mentoring these companies along the way. We focus on the growth of our partners. We do this by making sure that our partners are connected to the global market. We utilize our access to an international network of affiliates in order to provide our investee companies better solutions for their businesses.
Connect with them

YSS Capital Management
Stages: Seed, Series A
Verticals: Enterprise Solution, Gaming, Smart Cities
Investment range: USD 50K to USD 500K
Straight from YSS Capital Management: We are a family office with investments spreading across Rubber Manufacturing, Art Collection, Venture Capital, Real Estate Investments and Financial Investments.
Connect with them

Also read: Epsilo raises US$2M to expand its SaaS e-commerce marketing platform across Asia

SparkLabs
Stages: Angel/Pre-Seed, See, Pre-Series A/Bridge
Verticals: E-Commerce, Gaming, Healthtech, Media, Mobile
Investment range: Not specified
Straight from SparkLabs: SparkLabs is a business incubation company providing investment solutions and mentoring for startups who wish to expand to the global market. The company offers its services to entrepreneurs who are looking to expand their business ventures into foreign countries such as USA, China, and Japan.
Connect with them

Watch out for more announcements of new investors (yes, there is more!) that you can directly connect with through e27 Pro Connect.

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Photo by Ketut Subiyanto from Pexels

The post Here are ten more investors you can connect with on e27 appeared first on e27.

When the circuit-breaker rolled out in April of 2020, most of us were focused on short-term response and course correction. Since then, the global economy has witnessed several changes, and employers adapted in tandem.

However, the lessons from the pandemic remain as pertinent as ever, informing the way forward for years to come. It has changed what an employee expects from the workplace, also rejigging the definition of “good” performance and productivity. In this climate, it is clear that we cannot take employee engagement for granted.

In 2021, could we expect a swift return to BAU? Or, should HR practitioners treat the pandemic as a watershed period, completely reshaping the future of work? Industry experts suggest that the answer – without a doubt – is the latter. Here are five ways the changes brought on by COVID-19 will determine the future of work.

Hybrid workplaces will continue to soar, not stall, in 2021

Remote working was already beginning to be a popular working model prior to the pandemic. Now, it is the default for any desk job. UOB had already announced instituting a two-day work-from-home policy post-COVID 19. Singapore’s largest bank will give its 29,000 employees the option to work remotely up to 40 per cent of the time.

A few months ago, EngageRocket held a digital summit titled PeopleFirst 2020, and every expert highlighted hybrid workplace as a priority for HR next year. “Whether it is the rise of the gig economy, or choosing to work from home, there will continue to be a new version of culture and collaboration, because we are just not in the same place, all the time, together,” said Chin Yin Ong, Head of People at Grab. 

We have now opened our minds to the possibilities of flexible work arrangements, opening the door to a more diverse workforce by redesigning jobs and introducing new practices. Multiple biases will be diminished in favour of a more diverse workforce, enabling previously untapped talent to contribute to the economy.

Also Read: Work from home risks every employer needs to be aware of

That’s why HR will need to support structured processes that allow employees freedom to navigate a complex environment. The key to this freedom lies in three elements: leadership, technology, and clarity. Managers must be flexible enough to support productivity as per the timelines and locations of tier preference.

Technology can complement this by enabling synchronous and asynchronous communication between teams. Finally, setting clear and achievable milestones, such as deadlines or targets, will give remote staff the information they need to manage their performance effectively. 

A sense of purpose must cut through labour force disillusionment

Purpose and a shared vision are essential, even in the best of times, to bind a team together and keep team members motivated. As companies reacted to the circuit-breaker and scrambled to restructure their people management processes, it was easy to lose sight of this core “purpose.”

Several companies made the mistake of prioritising hour-based productivity and traditional targets instead of providing inspiration during these complex times. This has left a significant portion of the labour force feeling disillusioned and un-empowered. 

In 2021, progressive employers must leverage purpose to their advantage by attaching meaning to every activity beyond just making up the numbers. To achieve this, it is first necessary to train managers to act as mentors and help them develop a strong sense of empathy.

Purpose applies to internal and external communication equally. In 2021, HR should consider job descriptions that present an attractive and meaningful work experience. Organisations will have to think about the emotional outcome for employees and help them feel more engaged.

Prepare to enable work-life integration (vs balance)

The endless days of WFH have forced us to find our individualised work-life dynamics, which didn’t necessarily mean drawing concrete lines between the two. Some employees might prefer work-life integration as opposed to work-life balance, and managers must adapt accordingly. 

Also Read: 5 inevitable changes to the workplace that are here to stay

This integration will also require special support for those most likely to face work-life stress, such as parents with young children, team leaders, new employees, etc. 

To address this, HR can take a variety of steps, from special benefits to targeted resources. Special benefits include four-day workweeks, flexible time off, etc., to help employees plan around their personal obligations. 

Underneath all of this, must lie a culture of anti-presenteeism – actively encouraged by HR – that prioritises outcomes, not an employee’s availability.

HR will influence business decisions even after the pandemic

Several functions that were previously seen as ancillary, such as IT, customer service, and HR, got a seat at the C-table during the pandemic. Business leaders recognised how critical HR is to market outcomes. HR will continue to retain its role in decision-making even after the pandemic, signalling a new era of employee centricity. 

Importantly, this indicates specific upskilling requirements for HR. Being able to speak the language of business is such a critical skill for HR, even in the past and it’s going to be even more critical as the demands on the role of HR increases over time. 

This has two implications. First, HR practitioners must be able to see the “big picture” of where a business is heading, the threats and opportunities on the way, and how its workforce plays a role. Second, HR must leverage analytics to quantify people management issues and potentials, even if they have a “gut feeling” or informed intuition.

We will rethink what it means to “compensate” for work

Finally, our compensation models require a comprehensive overhaul, moving away from outmoded systems that are based on work hours, non-vocational degrees, subjective opinion, and other inaccurate indicators. The crisis highlighted that employee contribution can make a difference in unexpected ways – from a manager who takes time on weekends to hear what an employee has to say, to a new employee who comes up with a disruptive idea completely unrelated to their job role. 

Also Read: Ethical dilemmas at the workplace: what to do?

Companies must ask themselves one critical question: is my compensation model agile enough for this new future of work? 

Companies industry-wide and region-wide need to improve recognition and sense of fairness of rewards. This can manifest itself in a number of changes that are predicted in compensation models. 

Non-monetary tactics like immediate recognition from managers or an informal pat-on-the-back by a peer will become more popular. Regular performance management with nimble goals will replace cyclical, rigid structures, that leave very little room for flexibility.

The organisational performance management system could also transform on similar lines, gathering performance feedback from an employee’s 360-degree network instead of the traditional single rater system.  The result is a workplace that listens to and acts on the voice of the employee, offering reassurance and driving confidence.

These five trends will characterise work-life and the HR landscape in 2021. The forces that sparked off this year will take root in new and surprising ways, shaping a more inclusive and human-driven workplace.

Companies that embrace – and not only adapt to – this new normal, armed with accurate analytics insights to make decisions, will stand to gain a competitive advantage. 

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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

Image Credit: Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

The post Looking beyond the crisis: Top 5 trends that will characterise work-life in 2021 appeared first on e27.

Singapore-headquartered TurtleTree Labs, a biotech startup producing milk using cell-based technology, announced today it has closed an US$6.2 million in an oversubscribed pre-Series A round of funding.

Both existing and new investors, including Green Monday Ventures, Eat Beyond Global, KBW Ventures, and Verso Capital, joined the round.

As per a press note, the startup will use the funds to accelerate research and production of functional, bioactive proteins and complex sugars found in human milk. These high-value components have potential benefits in gut and brain health, which can be applied to both infant and senior nutrition.

The company has also announced that Prince Khaled bin Alwaleed bin Talal Al Saud, a prominent global investor in the alternative protein sector through KBW Ventures, will join TurtleTree as an Advisor.

In this role, Prince Khaled will shape new market growth plans, lend his expertise in the alternative protein and food tech spheres, and liaise closely with the founding team on other areas of the business.

Also Read: Startup of the Month, January: Singapore-based biotech startup TurtleTree

Founded in 2019, TurtleTree, which also has an office in San Francisco, uses its proprietary technology to produce full milk in clean production facilities from mammary cells.

“The vision of TurtleTree Labs is to create a truly sustainable and cruelty-free food system,” said Max Rye, Chief Strategist of TurtleTree Labs.

“TurtleTree’s technology is able to significantly reduce our carbon footprint and address food resilience in the long term. This is a win-win for our planet and for communities,” said Lim Hock Chuan, CEO, Temasek Foundation Ecosperity.

The funding news comes fresh off TurtleTree’s win at the Entrepreneurship World Cup, where it secured US$500,000 in cash prize.

Earlier this year, the startup had raised pre-seed funding round from investors such as KBW Ventures, Lever VC and K2 Global.

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Image Credit: TurtleTree Labs

The post TurtleTree Labs closes US$6.2M pre-Series A round to accelerate R&D of cell-based human milk appeared first on e27.

Comparing yourself to others is dangerous in many ways, so in this episode we talk about:

• Why it’s dangerous to compare yourself to others
• How it affects you
• (and) What you should do instead

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

The post Entrepreneurs, comparing yourself to others will only lead to a path of destruction appeared first on e27.

Gone were the days where deliveries took days to fulfil. Today, speed is of the essence with advancements in technology to streamline delivery processes.

Enter quick commerce (q-commerce), the third evolution of e-commerce.

Delivery giant foodpanda is one of the first in Southeast Asia to implement q-commerce, which aims to reduce delivery times to minutes, and the brains behind this is CTO Benjamin Mann.

In the first part of the interview with e27, Mann shares his experience in dealing with the multiple challenges thrown at his tech teams during the pandemic, how he sets them up to deal with them and the importance of balancing customer feedback and data.

Edited excerpts:

How has foodpanda responded to changes brought about by the pandemic from a tech perspective?

Food delivery platforms are incredibly tech-intensive and a lot goes on behind the scenes — from placing your order to receiving it. If you look at the volume of steps that need to be taken in perfect sequence for someone to get food delivered within 25 to 30 minutes on a global scale as we operate, it’s a beautiful and elegant puzzle.

What we did prior to the pandemic which we are doing more now is that we’re constantly running many A/B tests to aid us in adjusting our tech solutions to the constant micro-changes in user behaviour.

Also Read: Asia’s food delivery potential is set to unlock post-COVID-19. Here’s why

With the volatile situation of the pandemic, it often requires us to make micro-adjustments in a particular vertical, framework or country. So we run numerous tests and evaluate the metrics that come out of it.

We are also trying to see how we can take an idea which was successful in country A to implement in country B by conducting small controlled tests on the local population.

Has the pandemic presented any new challenges for the tech team to deal with?

The pandemic has certainly thrown us numerous curveballs. For example, more customers are preferring contactless payments due to hygiene concerns triggered by the pandemic. Therefore, COVID-19 has certainly accelerated trends like that and we were forced to quickly adapt.

Other issues involved are the onboarding of merchants onto our platform virtually and ensuring this remained a smooth process for them. We have dedicated a whole team to work on making the process as seamless as possible by exploring how we can introduce certain features to reduce the steps required.

Our riders were also facing issues. Overnight, places were getting shut down and curfews were imposed. The remote working trend has resulted in certain areas having a higher demand now as they have become residential areas. On the other hand, office areas are seeing a drop in demand.

How do you set up your teams to deal with the large magnitude of changes?

Food delivery is a complex business consisting of many moving parts that are often out of your control. For example, if it’s raining in Singapore or there is a parade somewhere in Thailand that blocks all the roads of the restaurant that you want to order, how does the rider make an on-time delivery in such circumstances?

Therefore, even before the pandemic, we had operated in a volatile and constantly changing environment. What the pandemic has done is that it has put some of these changes on steroids!

Also Read: It is all about survival of the most adaptable, says PatSnap’s Jeffrey Tiong

As a team, we are set out in a way that allows us to quickly move people from one focus area to another. From a technical point of view, what we needed to do is quickly adjust certain parts of our systems to deal with the increased demand.

For example, you would be seeing things like high spikes in demand right before the curfew starts because everyone wants their food delivered before riders can no longer go out. I often refer to such spikes as “micro-seasonality”, which had existed before the pandemic however they are greater now.

How has the multitude of changes altered how your teams operate?

It required our engineering and product teams to rethink how can we scale up and down quickly to cope with the increase and fall in demand. It has also forced us to fundamentally rethink how we are building our architecture.

Fortunately, we didn’t have to overhaul our architecture overnight or do rewrites as we were fast to adapt to the changing demands as our teams operate in a relatively autonomous way and changes are responded to quickly.

Our engineering and product teams have the liberty to erase their road map and prioritise what they feel is more important. This way, we can stay agile and make small changes and adapt instead making delayed decisions that would have necessitated an overhaul of our systems.

How do you balance data and customer feedback when building a product?

At foodpanda, we are extremely obsessed with metrics. We have dozens of dashboards in real-time or near real-time where teams can see the impact of smallest changes to the customer behaviour of a certain segment.

Therefore, customers sharing their feedback manually through our channels means we are too late in identifying their concerns. Instead, we should observe these metrics and identify changes in customer behaviour and decide on how we should respond.

If the metrics are moving in the right direction, it signals that we are doing the right thing and should continue. However, if it’s moving in the wrong direction, that’s when we need to analyse the data, run tests within control groups to identify the root cause of the issue and resolve it.

Also Read: Treat your customers like humans, not data

We try to focus more on data instead of relying purely on customer feedback. Feedback remains important because it does come from areas where we don’t have the right metrics to measure them. This is the space where we would value feedback instead.

In areas where we have the right metrics, we want to know that something is negatively impacting the customer before they tell us.

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Image Credit: Foodpanda

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Info Edge Ventures, an early-stage venture capital fund backed by India online classifieds company Info Edge, has raised US$50 million from Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek Holdings.

This brings the total corpus of Info Edge Ventures to US$100 million, according to a press release.

Also Read: Scalability lessons from Indian tech startups for enterprises in SEA

Launched in January 2020, Info Edge Ventures focuses on India-based early-stage tech startups with the potential to scale into a large and sustainable business.

Since its establishment, the fund has already invested in nine startups in e-commerce, digital media, fintech, edutech, healthtech, gaming and SaaS. These companies are DotPe, Bulbul, Qyuki, Fanclash, Truemeds, Rusk Media, FirstHive, Polymerize, and Udayy.

“With Info Edge and Temasek as limited partners (LPs), we have patient capital and a global network to back tech entrepreneurs who are building innovative businesses. We look forward to leveraging their decades of experience in building large technology companies that have fundamentally changed industries,” said Kitty Agarwal, Partner at Info Edge Ventures.

“This decade shall be an exciting time for startups as the pace of technology adoption increases dramatically in India,” added Amit Behl, Partner at Info Edge Ventures.

In addition to backing market leaders like Zomato and Policybazaar as the first institutional investor, the Info Edge Ventures team in its earlier avatar had also invested in category companies, including Shopkirana, Bijnis, Shipsy, Ustraa, Gramophone, and Adda247.

Also Read: How can India leapfrog into the league of the most innovative countries within the next five years?

This follows recent investments by Temasek in China foodtech fund Bits x Bites and EV Growth’s US$250 million Indonesian-focused fund last year.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

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gojek announced today that it has invested in Bank Jago, an Indonesia-listed tech-based bank, as part of a strategic partnership that aims to accelerate financial inclusion in Indonesia.

As per the deal, gojek will hold 22 per cent of Bank Jago. Other details of the transaction were not disclosed.

The deal however doesn’t alter the control of Jago, as Metamorfosis Ekosistem Indonesia and Wealth Track Technology (WTT) will continue to hold a combined 51 per cent in the tech giant.

“Our partnership with Jago marks the latest milestone in our drive to reduce daily friction for users and improve their lives through technology. It is a key part of our strategy and will underpin the growth and sustainability of our business in the long term. Jago’s tech-based banking solutions will supercharge gojek’s ecosystem offerings and facilitate access to banking services for the mass market, thereby supporting our common vision to accelerate financial inclusion in Indonesia,” said gojek co-CEO Andre Soelistyo.

Also Read: gojek, Warung Pintar investors buy a local bank. This is why we are excited

Founded in 1992, PT Bank Jago Tbk — previously known as PT Bank Artos Indonesia — is an innovative technology-based bank that delivers digital banking services for the SME, consumer and mass-market segments in Indonesia.

In 2019, Bank Jago made headlines when gojek investor Patrick Walujo invested in the bank through WTT. The investment has led to speculation that gojek was going to invest in Bank Jago, which was then denied by the company.

“We believe that this strategic collaboration between a tech-based bank like Bank Jago and a super app like gojek is the first of its kind in Indonesia and Southeast Asia and represents a new way to spur growth in digital economies. As a bank designed with an open API, we will go on to work with multiple digital ecosystems to reach a wider audience and drive our aspiration to enhance the finances of millions of people through digital financial solutions,” said Bank Jago’s President Director, Kharim Siregar.

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Image Credit: gojek

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