Kickstarted in November last year, the Big Leap Roadshow is a collaborative event between e27 and CleverTap, the World’s number 1 Retention Cloud trusted by 2000 customers. Since then, the Roadshow has been touring major cities across Southeast Asia, the only platform of its kind for hundreds of business leaders, venture capitalists, entrepreneurs, and industry experts to come together and discuss the future of customer retention and engagement. 

On February 9th, 2023, the Big Leap roadshow is coming to Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, with the goal of sparking insightful discussions on actionable strategies and best practices for building strong customer relationships, reducing churn, and maximising customer lifetime value.

The event in Kuala Lumpur promises to be both informative and exciting, especially being the capital of one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-evolving and most prosperous business landscapes with a digital economy set to be worth US$35 billion (RM156. 1 billion) by 2025, and demonstrating unique customer demands for businesses in the country and nearby regions. 

Malaysia’s vibrant scenes in the digital economy

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, the push towards heightened digitalisation processes has accelerated in Malaysia, signalled by the Malaysian government’s incentive programmes to realise the national digitalisation objectives that include the launch of GovTech and MyGovCloud and its 5G network.

Malaysia has been ranked as the 2nd most digitally advanced country in Southeast Asia on Huawei’s Global Connectivity Index, being ahead of some developed economies such as Hong Kong and Singapore in some sectors such as banking and e-commerce. Moreover, many training sessions and digital literacy workshops are also offered through the Malaysia Digital initiative by the government for digital upskilling for all interested Malaysians.

Also read: Building resilience through the SAFE STEPS D-Tech Awards

As such, experts see Malaysia as an upcoming regional digital hub, attracting major global tech players, data centres, and digital infrastructure service providers to the country. According to CEO Mahadhir Aziz of Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), Malaysia expects the digital economy to contribute 25.5% to the country’s GDP by 2025, creating 500,000 new jobs and granting internet access to almost every household. With all these developments, businesses across the country have the unique opportunity to bolster their products and services. Moreover, they can explore ways to better engage their customers in ways that inspire loyalty and retention.

Additionally, thanks to the fast-growing digital infrastructure and ecosystem, Malaysian customers can enjoy better e-commerce services and complete access to an online learning environment. This is why initiatives such as the Big Leap roadshow that seeks to tackle important business challenges on customer retention and engagement are more important than ever.

Malaysian founders must harness leadership to drive business growth 

Nevertheless, to stay competitive in the digital world, business leaders face the need to have flexible leadership styles that address new responsibilities and growth challenges. In regular time, business leaders are typically those who set the organisations’ vision and mission, propose business strategies to meet their companies’ objectives, devise the processes and procedures to manage internal and external relationships, motivate and inspire the organisational members to go above and beyond and oversee the implementation of the initiatives.

To lead in the digital-first business landscape, the imperative for business leaders to spark digitalisation efforts has become even more critical. Businesses must adopt a holistic approach towards digital transformation in all aspects of the business, starting from processes, domains, business models, and other organisational transformations.

Throughout the whole process, leaders must act as an architect and catalyst to initiate and sustain digital transformation, taking advantage of newly arisen digital business processes and tools to enhance efficiency, appealing to technologically savvy young talents, and becoming attuned to leading in a virtually connected world.

A multi-channel approach to customer engagement

With digital transformation at the heart of the Malaysian startup ecosystem not only as a response to pandemic recovery but also as a longstanding commitment made well before COVID-19, Malaysian businesses must adopt a multi-channel approach to customer engagement, utilising technologies to improve customer experience and embracing new strategies to maximise customer lifetime value. 

For example, in the context of online purchasing, the customer journey has evolved to take place over multiple digital touchpoints, searching for purchase inspirations via social media applications, researching about the products from their mobile browsers, conducting the transactions digitally with cashless payment options, and having the products delivered to them right at their doors.

As such, businesses need to make it easier for customers to switch between different channels and platforms, both online and offline if they want to guide consumers across omni-channel platforms.

Also read: The future of sustainable growth according to Dagangan

Nevertheless, with the rise of digital technologies, there are also more tools at the business’s disposal that can help them gain more understanding of consumer behaviour, enabling them to design the most desirable products, services, and shopping experiences optimised for customer satisfaction.

For instance, thanks to the availability of big data and data analytics, businesses can obtain unique insights such as customers’ journeys, their gratification points and pain points, purchasing habits and preferences to keep them engaged and motivate their decision-making process. Another scheme to maximise customer lifetime value is through a loyalty programme which rewards customers loyal to the business. The loyalty programmes become even more valuable as they are provided digitally, enabling customers to communicate openly with the businesses, keep track of their earned points, and access their benefits.

Hear it straight from experts at ‘The Big Leap’ Roadshow in Malaysia

With much excitement over the thrilling business landscape in Malaysia, CleverTap’s Big Leap Roadshow is poised to provide valuable advice from competent experts and growth leaders. These industry insiders will be providing key insights into building strong customer relationships and maximising customer lifetime value.

From understanding customer needs in the digital era, to creating a strong customer experience, and even using data analytics and loyalty programmes, the Big Leap Roadshow Malaysia’s central theme: ‟Retention Playbook Malaysia: How to engage and retain customers in a rapidly evolving market‟ will cover all the key elements of successful customer retention, customer engagement, and monetisation.

Also read: Airwallex: making business transactions easier than ever with physical cards launch

Whether you are a small business owner or a marketing professional, the Retention Playbook Malaysia will be an essential resource for building valuable, long-term relationships with your customers in today’s competitive market.

Learn from industry experts across various sectors on how they have created magnetic experiences to grow customer retention and go from good to great.

To sign up for the event, click here. 

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

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

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In a world where convenience rules, providing easy access to interactive entertainment is a growing trend. In November, the streaming giant Netflix launched Triviaverse.

After playing Triviaverse it was easy to understand the mass appeal of such a simple but entertaining format.  Players must correctly answer as many questions as possible within a time frame of three minutes using their mobile phones. 

This casual access to well-known skills games from the comfort of our living rooms could catapult the gaming market into the hands of every generation. However, this new Netflix focus is not surprising. In 2022 VP of  Gaming at Netflix Mike Perdu revealed that they were exploring Cloud Gaming at Techcrunch Disrupt. 

The global Hyper Casual Gaming market size was valued at US$15600.0 million in 2021 and is expected to expand at a CAGR of 7.96 per cent during the forecast period, reaching US$24700.0 million by 2027. 

A look into the history

Skills games date back centuries before the screens became an intrinsic part of our everyday lives. Remember how we used our imaginations to devise games like charades, guess who, and poker to entertain each other? These are games that require some level of physical or mental skill to win the game.

Also Read: 7 trends changing the reality of immersive gaming

Solitaire, Chess, Sudoku, Wordplay and Pictionary are examples that date back to a time when people used physical coordination, balance, and physical skills to win games. Clever mobile game developers have taken this popular game type from carnivals and arcades to create captivating games that require basic skills but endless fun. 

Why do people enjoy mobile games?

Every form of game gives some sort of relief from everyday life and provides a welcome spot of entertainment. Some like a challenge, some enjoy playing against people from around the world, and some use games to pass the time or relieve stress. The fact that mobile games are easily accessible allows them to be played at any time and in any venue. Often they are free to download, and with over 7.33 billion mobile phone users worldwide, it makes gaming applications just a click away and mobile gaming attainable to a massive pool of potential gamers. 

However, are those gamers that spend a vast portion of their free time using these applications receiving any long-term benefits or revenue? This is where blockchain technology could play a crucial role in the future of gaming. 

Blockchain games offer hyper interactivity

Tiny World, Alien Worlds, Splinterlands, and Upland consistently rank in the top blockchain games in the DappRadar game rankings. These games have common traits that allow them to tap into a new world of entertainment.

From in-game object marketplaces to community DAO’s to transparent ecosystems where gamers now have a wider say in future gameplay, each of the top-ranking blockchain games makes it easy for gamers to engage with their communities.

Upland founder Dirk Leuth recently revealed Upland as the Metaverse Super-App at Davos 2023. He stresses that “the winning metaverse is going to be the platform which figures out the social-media aspect, upland has started empowering our communities with chat, and it’s only the beginning.”

Another game changer for the casual mobile gaming arena was the introduction of Sorare, the sports player NFT trading game that easily allows you to build your fantasy team. Their key to success has been to provide an easy on-ramp for new users and partner with major sports leagues like the NBA to drive fan engagement. Fandom, mobile, gaming, and the earning potential from blockchain technology make a very interesting combination of factors for gaming studios. 

Also Read: NFT gaming startup Metastrike closes US$3.3M funding round

In an interview with Gamesbeat, Michael Meltzer, Head of Business Development at Sorare said, “Our fantasy sports entertainment product leverages blockchain to bring ownership to the game. And we think that’s completely different than anything that’s been on the market, particularly with the NBA, whether in Web three or elsewhere.”

From the consumer standpoint, it is not a question of why, but why not get be incentivised for the time you invest when playing these games? If you spend two hours sitting in an airport playing multiplayer solitaire and you crush the competition every time, should you be rewarded for your level of skill? The founders of the gaming platform CoinClash believe that the key is in fun. They are taking our love for arcade games into Web3 and believe it is the most exciting new development in the mobile gaming space. 

“The beauty of skills games is that they are easily accessible in any location, any time. All you need is a mobile phone. Before you put a game into the hands of gamers, you have to be a fan of the game yourself. This is why the old school games work, and some gaming studios have lost sight of the fun five minutes you can take each day to switch off with a great game,” says Piotr Blazewicz, Co-Founder and CEO of Coinclash. 

The opportunities for blockchain technology to support interactive entertainment models will flourish in 2023. Trivia is just one of many ways that viewers can begin to participate. Sitting down to play trivia from the comfort of my very own couch without the need to switch on a console or go through a rigorous search process was both enticing and intriguing. 

Getting rewards for your level of skill or effort is already happening and has been happening for centuries. However, as more for-profit companies and gaming studios sought to develop highly complex games, the focus on the rewards moved away from the end user to the profits of a few high-level executives and the development of traditional company structures rather than remaining true to the arcade style of gaming. 

Game developers are returning to that basic idea of mixing pleasure and performance to allow participants to earn rewards. However, instead of receiving Teddy bears with your winning tickets at the funfair, you will receive utility tokens, accumulating crypto rewards over time as the player continues to engage with the platform. 

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The AI revolution is here.

But it’s not just about whether we can build machines that can think like humans; it’s also about how we use those machines to improve our lives. We need to ensure that the outcomes for humanity are positive as well as revolutionary, and this will require us to engage in a much broader conversation about what AI means for our future.

AI is only as smart as we are

AI is only as smart as we are. AI can’t replace humans, but it can help us do things better, faster and more efficiently. This is why many companies are looking to integrate AI into their business processes —it enables them to improve the quality of their products, reduce costs and increase revenue by giving them access to data they never had before (such as customer preferences).

AI will not replace creativity or innovation. Instead, it will enable both in ways that have never been possible before — because now there are more tools at our disposal than ever before!

AI gives us access to huge amounts of data from which we can make informed decisions about future plans, but these decisions still need human input in order for them to be effective.

Also Read: Will China lead the Artificial Intelligence game by 2030?

The key point here is this: AI isn’t just about being able to make predictions based on past events anymore — it’s about being able to explore new possibilities based on those predictions!

AI can do repetitive tasks better than we ever could

AI can do repetitive tasks better than we ever could. It’s programmed to do exactly what it’s told, and it doesn’t get tired or bored of doing that same task over and over again. In fact, AI is often programmed to do only one thing — and it does that one thing extremely well.

For example: let’s say you’re trying to teach your dog how to sit on command by rewarding him with treats every time he obeys your command. It will take a lot more time before he learns this trick than if you were using an AI-powered robot instead! Why? Because dogs learn through experience, they don’t understand why we give them food when they do something right (they just know that we always give them food).

Robots are different, though. They can be programmed with specific rules about how things work in order for them not only to learn faster but also to remember everything forever!

This makes them ideal candidates for repetitive tasks such as manufacturing or cleaning houses since there won’t be any need for rest breaks every now and then as humans would require after working nonstop for hours straight without break time breaks during which we might forget some important details about what needs doing next.

Also Read: How to fortify yourself against the risky unknown

AI is only capable of doing what they’re programmed to do

AI is only as smart as we are. AI can do repetitive tasks better than we ever could, but it still needs help from humans to innovate new ideas and concepts.

AI still needs help from humans to innovate new ideas

While AI can be used to do things that humans cannot, such as creating new ideas or coming up with innovative solutions to problems, it still needs human guidance. By providing this guidance in the form of data, you can help guide AI toward innovation and creativity.

AI will make us more competitive

AI will make us more competitive and can help us focus on other tasks.

AI is a tool that can help us get more done. For example, it can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up time so we can focus on other things. The technology also allows us to coordinate with others across the globe to accomplish goals faster than ever before — a benefit for any business looking to increase its competitive edge in a global market.

Final thoughts

There is no doubt that AI will be a big part of our future. It has the potential to change our lives in many ways, but it’s up to us as humans to make sure that we use this technology for good. AI can help us become more competitive and focus on other tasks, but if we don’t use it wisely, then it could end up hurting more than helping us.

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As the dreary funding winter continues to soar, at e27, we are kickstarting a new article series called: Line of Hire to understand the company culture and hiring philosophies of an organisation to empower tech workers with the right growth tools and enable business owners to attract talent.

Kim Nguyen is the co-founder of Recruitery, which provides headhunting and payroll solutions for remote teams. It helps organisations hire, pay, and manage payroll, tax, and compliance globally.

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Given the growing threat of fraud and malicious activities, companies need to take extra precautions to protect their customers and watch their bottom line this year.

Digitalisation has transformed the way commerce and financial services are being delivered and adopted across the globe, even before the pandemic.

However, as everything from banking, paying and working to shopping and entertainment have moved steadily online, the number of data points and gaps for hackers and fraudsters to exploit has risen exponentially.

With businesses becoming increasingly reliant on digital onboarding and having interactions without ever meeting their customers face-to-face, they face a greater risk of fraud that could result in significant financial, operational and reputational loss.

Given this backdrop, here are three key ways businesses can protect themselves in 2023.

Protect against the growing threat of synthetic fraud

Among various types of fraud, social engineering and synthetic identity fraud are becoming increasingly urgent challenges for companies.

Also Read: Safeguarding digital assets through cybersecurity innovations

Synthetic identity fraud is a tactic where fraudsters combine real information, such as a national ID number bought from the Dark Web, with a fake name and birthdate to create fake identities and open accounts.

In Southeast Asia, data breaches in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia last year have resulted in the personal data of millions of customers being sold online.

Using this data and exploiting weaknesses in insecure networks and lax customer verification and onboarding procedures, syndicates can easily create synthetic identities at scale, defrauding retailers, government agencies and financial institutions.

Synthetic fraud is particularly challenging to detect as the fake identities are developed over months or even years, just like a Frankenstein monster that is sewn together and built over time. 

These synthetic identities appear like genuine accounts with routine, normal transactions until they “bust out”, for example, by taking out a huge loan or making a very big purchase with no intention of paying back.

When detected, the loan or purchase cannot be traced back to a specific victim because the identity is fictional. 

According to Worldpay’s Payment Risk Survey, 61 per cent of merchants in the Asia-Pacific region have reported experiencing synthetic identity fraud, the highest percentage among global regions.

In the US alone, US$20 billion was lost to synthetic identity fraud in 2020.

Implement a robust but balanced risk management framework

As losses from insecure systems continue to mount, robust identity verification and fraud detection will become imperative for businesses.

There are two main approaches for identity verification for companies doing business digitally: user-centric, which leverages AI methods including optical character recognition and liveness detection to validate documents like passports or driving licenses and verify users; and data-centric, which validates users with information from credible, third-party databases such as credit bureaus.

Also Read: Indonesia’s antivirus reliance: A cybersecurity blindspot

Combined, they comprise one aspect of Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures: the Customer Identity Programme (CIP).

Other due diligence and ongoing detection and monitoring of risks are also part of a company’s KYC and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance programme, including ongoing customer rescreening.

However, over-complicating compliance adds friction to the onboarding process, which can lead to drop-offs or abandonment, which is not optimal either. 

Ultimately, companies must balance the cost of compliance against their risk, which is what the regulatory industry calls a risk-based approach.

There is no shortage of solutions available in the market today, but figuring out what and where to implement without increasing user friction is important to mitigating customer acquisition costs. 

Thus, it is important to be able to leverage a platform that can orchestrate the many API solutions in the market today to target specific solutions necessary for each task. 

That task could be identifying fraud signals from emails or phone numbers as a part of “pre-KYC”, implementing identity proofing using facial biometrics or AML name screening and then compiling all of those into a single customer view for the operations team to investigate. 

Use compliance and regulation as a strategic business advantage

The recent collapse of FTX and other well-known crypto lenders and exchanges highlights the importance of compliance and regulatory frameworks in an increasingly digital economy.

Regulators are likely to focus on stricter standards for KYC, customer due diligence (CDD) and transaction monitoring, as well as AML or combating the financing of terrorism (CFT).

Regionally, the Financial Action Task Force continues to make their rounds auditing countries for compliance and enforcement of AML/CFT policies. 

Those operating in the financial services space have a duty to ensure their KYC is in line with best practices and keeps fraudsters out of their platform. 

Additionally, consumer and public education regarding digital identity hygiene are essential, particularly in emerging markets where a significant digital divide and knowledge gap still exist.

However, protecting users is not solely the responsibility of the government; businesses also have a duty and obligation to comply with changing regulatory standards while ensuring customer safety and security.

Preventing fraud risks not only helps companies avert reputational and revenue losses but also gives them a strategic edge over their competitors. 

Companies that excel in this aspect not only meet their customer acquisition targets quickly and enjoy higher conversion rates but also enjoy peace of mind knowing their platforms are not being misused by criminal syndicates.

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

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Gobi Superseed II Fund (Gobi SSII Fund), operated by Malaysia and Hong Kong-based Gobi Partners, has announced investments in four Malaysian startups.

They are the Islamic-themed streaming service Durioo+, Lapasar, Paywatch, and pitchIN.

A sneak peek at the four companies:

Durioo+

The Islamic-themed subscription-based streaming service Durioo+ was launched in February 2022 to showcase high-quality Islamic and kid-friendly content. It showcases Durioo+ Originals, Islamic cartoons and kid-friendly content worldwide.

In ten months, the platform claims to have gained over 20,000 subscribed users and is airing more than 1,600 episodes of content thus far.

In the next five years, the company plans to enter the global market – specifically the US, the UK, MENA, Indonesia, Europe and South Asia countries.

Also Read: Why Gobi Partners believes it is the right time to invest in Pakistan

Durioo+ aims to collaborate with other local and foreign animation studios, production houses and game companies to produce more content and games.

Lapasar

Launched in 2018, the B2B e-commerce marketplace distributes fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) for general trade. It has served over 10,000 SMEs nationwide through its warehousing, distribution and financial services capabilities.

Lapasar transformed into a wholesale procurement platform for small retailers in June 2020, and it grew 172 per cent year-on-year in 2021 and above 100x since its first funding round.

Paywatch

An earned-wage access (EWA) solution, Paywatch helps employees bridge cash flow gaps between paychecks.

Its EWA service is being used by notable companies in Malaysia, such as Lotus’s, KFC, Pizza Hut, QSR Brands, Wilmar and Kenny Hills Bakers.

Also Read: Malaysian earned wage access startup Paywatch bags US$9M for Philippines, HK expansion

Paywatch has grown its product offerings and strengthened its presence in Malaysia, South Korea, and Hong Kong. It also accelerates expansion efforts into new Southeast Asian markets, including Indonesia and the Philippines.

pitchIN

It is an online investing platform established in 2016. To date, it has raised over US$65 million (RM280 million) on its equity crowdfunding (ECF) platform from over 7,600 individual investments made by retail and sophisticated investors to help fund 154 of Malaysia’s fast-growing companies.

pitchIN will launch its Secondary Market and Initial Exchange Offering (IEO) platforms this year following the Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) approval in 2022. It also received approval from SC to list Shariah-compliant campaigns on the ECF platform.

The Gobi Superseed II Fund targets early-stage (seed, pre-Series A and Series A) technology-enabled local startups operating in segments such as AI, Big Data, cloud, e-commerce, fintech, IoT, and Halal economy.

Since its launch in late 2020, it has also invested in four other Malaysian startups: Sunway Innovation Labs, TechNode, Speedhome and PolicyStreet.

Gobi’s Malaysia Managing Partner Jamaludin Bujang said: “We continue our efforts to help spur the growth of entrepreneurs, especially startups and SMEs, in the local ecosystem during a challenging time for the Malaysian economy, as evidenced by our latest investment into these four companies under the Gobi SSII Fund.”

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Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

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BandLab Technologies announced on Wednesday the acquisition of beat marketplace Airbit for an undisclosed sum.

As the parent company of social music creation platform BandLab, digital audio workstation Cakewalk, and artist services platform ReverbNation, BandLab Technologies aims to expand its full-service creator toolset with the acquisition.

This will enable the company to provide “seamless access to all major elements of music creation, promotion, and distribution.” Its toolset currently includes free, mobile-first cross-platform DAW and the AI musical idea generator SongStarter.

Following the acquisition, Airbit users will continue to enjoy uninterrupted services and can expect a seamless integration of Airbit’s features into BandLab’s creator platform in the near future. As part of the deal, all current employees will be retained and Airbit CEO Wasim Khamlichi will step down after a transition period.

Also Read: Social music creation platform BandLab closes US$65M Series B round

According to a statement, to date, artists have earned over US$50 million on Airbit with over two million beats sold. The platform boasts a catalogue of more than a million beats from notable producers around the world, as well as emerging beatmakers, providing services for musicians to build sustainable communities and careers.

The acquisition expands the audience for current Airbit producers to millions of new customers around the world.

“We are thrilled to bring Airbit’s community to BandLab. We are continually looking for opportunities to support BandLab artists in their creative process, and this has been one of our communities’ most requested features,” says Meng Ru Kuok, CEO & Founder of BandLab Technologies.

“Thanks to companies like Airbit, self-serve beat marketplaces have become an exciting route for creators to find and purchase high-quality beats to kickstart their creative process. We’re excited to improve the user experience for our creators and introduce new ways for them to earn a living.”

Airbit CEO Wasim Khamlichi said, “Airbit shares BandLab’s ethos of allowing music makers every opportunity to find success. Airbit was started with the intent to empower creators as artists and entrepreneurs through new technologies and forward-thinking music monetization tools. Since Airbit was founded in 2009, it has grown to become a powerful platform for hundreds and thousands of creators. BandLab is best positioned to take it to the next level.”

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Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

Image Credit: BandLab

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PayMongo receives demand to investigate board chairman
‘As concerned employees of the company, we are worried and disappointed that Luis Sia continues to be involved in the board of PayMongo’, an anonymous person claiming to be a PayMongo employee filed the complaint via email.

MUFG partners with Danamon to launch US$100M startup fund in Indonesia
The fund, MUFG Innovation Partners Garuda No. 1, will invest in Indonesian companies that are expected to have synergies with Danamon; Danamon was acquired by MUFG and MUFG Bank in April 2019.

Investments in SEA slam the brakes in January
Based on data from Tech in Asia, there were only 47 funding deals in January, totaling US$220M; This is down from the 53 deals worth US$840M recorded in December 2022.

Philippine VC firm Foxmont Capital closes US$21.3M Fund II
The investors are Pavilion Capital, AppWorks, and Netherlands-based Orient Growth; To date, Foxmont Capital has invested in 31 startups, including Kumu, edamama, Colourette, Ztock, and Peddlr.

PayPal to shed 2,000 jobs globally
This accounts for nearly 7% of the company’s total headcount; PayPal now joins the growing list of global tech giants announcing layoffs, including Amazon, Meta, and Alphabet.

Bangladeshi B2B e-commerce platform ShopUp bags US$30M debt financing
The funding consists of US$20M from Lendable and US$10M from The City Bank; ShopUp will use the funds for expansion, strengthening supply chain operations, and helping address the food waste problem in Bangladesh.

E-scooter rental startup WeMo nets US$15M for Thailand, Indonesia expansion
The investors include AppWorks and Taiwan National Development Fund; WeMo is partnering with governments, investors, businesses, and transportation providers throughout Southeast Asia.

Freight rate management platform Freightify raises US$12M Series A
The investors are Sequoia India, TMV, and Alteria Capital; Freightify provides white-labelled rate automation solutions to digitise freight forwarders’ rate procurement, rate management and quotation processes.

Gobi Superseed II Fund invests in Durioo+, Lapasar, Paywatch, pitchIN
Gobi Superseed II Fund targets early-stage tech-enabled Malaysian startups operating in AI, Big Data, cloud, e-commerce, fintech, IoT, and Halal economy.

Healthtech firm WhiteCoat grows revenue 3x US$7.7M in 2022
The Singaporean firm targets profitability in its home market by the end of the year; The firm also aims to reach profitability in Indonesia and Vietnam within four years.

Malaysian farmtech startup Secai Marche bags US$1.6M Series A
The investors are Agribusiness Investment & Consultation, Spiral Ventures, and Beyond Next Ventures; Secai Marche will use the new capital to develop its own demand forecast system and optimise truck routing.

Indonesian cybersecurity startup Peris.ai raises funding
The investors are East Ventures and Magic Fund; Peris.ai will use the money to build its cybersecurity platform, train AI/ML capabilities, and nurture the ethical hacker community.

Fund managers have their task cut out right now: Edward Tay
VCs have to relook at their portfolio companies’ valuations as part of the fiduciary role as a fund manager, says ex-Sistema Asia CEO; There’s been an increased tendency to focus on sustainability-related investments in 2023.

Balancing revenue, impact is social impact startups’ top challenge
SoundEye, The Posture Lab, and ACKTEC Technologies reveal the challenges that they are going through and how Sustainable Impact Accelerator can help them tackle them.

Be hungrier and bolder to explore a variety of industries: Sharina Khan of Thoughtworks
The Lead Consultant and Experience Designer at Thoughtworks talks about plunging into the risk of switching careers while juggling motherhood.

Web4, a vision of an intelligent, decentralised web
AI and the Symbiotic Web are key technologies that will drive the development of Web4; Web4 aims to provide a more secure and private web, where users have more control over their data and how it’s used.

How the metaverse and blockchain accelerate economic development
Blockchain technology serves as the foundation for the metaverse, as many applications within it run on blockchain systems.

Genesis bankruptcy: Luno Malaysia assures funds are safe
Luno is Genesis’ sister company and lending partner; In Nov 2022, Luno took steps to ensure its customers had access to their savings wallets after Genesis decided to suspend redemptions and loan origination temporarily.

Year of the rabbit: Leaping into a bumper year for digital payments
Where innovation grows, it is vital that regulation must follow, particularly in the payments industry where trust is of paramount importance.

3 success tips to help e-commerce businesses unlock online success
The full potential of the APAC region remains untapped, and there is a great opportunity for growth and funding in the e-commerce space.

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Businesses in the ASEAN region face an interesting situation this year with the implementation of near-sourcing strategies to overcome supply chain issues in China, presenting opportunities for local manufacturers. On the other hand, interest rate hikes both here and in other regions will impact the liquidity of trade finance institutions.

How organisations implement their digital transformation strategies will play a huge part in whether they will turn the uncertain economic climate across the region and the world to their advantage.

To guide ASEAN decision-makers in navigating 2023, I share five key trends that are expected to have a significant impact on their businesses:

Continued transition to “just-in-case” strategies

Many businesses have reverted to this model as a response to pandemic-related supply chain issues in previous years. We can expect more organisations to follow suit as more challenges crop up while existing ones persist this year.

According to EY, ASEAN companies that opt to do so: supply chain visibility, intelligence, traceability, supply chain resiliency and sustainability, and digital enablement. Blockchain technology is a key enabler of this, as it allows all parties to a transaction to have visibility. At the same time, each transaction’s record is immutable, eliminating fraud and assuring all parties involved of its accuracy and reliability.

Greater emphasis on sustainability

With global shipping alone accounting for three per cent of all greenhouse gases, regulations and customer expectations are driving companies to reduce their carbon footprints across their supply chains.

Blockchain-enabled traceability and visibility can help organisations track down their products’ and shipments’ carbon footprints from end to end, enabling decision-makers to identify where they can work to reduce greenhouse emissions and raw material consumption.

Renewed focus on working capital management

With central banks in the region following the US Federal Reserve in raising rates, there will be a renewed focus on working capital management. Decision-makers will look for ways to improve cash flows and make processes more efficient.

Also Read: ‘Trade & supply chain sector is set to witness unprecedented blockchain adoption’: #dltledgers

Blockchain technology assures financial institutions that transactions are free from fraud, increasing confidence and allowing for more funding.

Blockchain implementation at scale

With blockchain viability and application becoming increasingly apparent, it will be implemented at scale for supply chains. Instead of being used between several companies across a supply chain, governments will deploy blockchain solutions for use in specific trade corridors.

Companies transporting goods between two ports or airports in any of the aforementioned trade corridors will have to use a blockchain platform to record and update their transactions. There will also be more use cases outside of shipping, such as tracing counterfeit products and parts, financial transactions, and maintaining sensitive data such as patient health records.

The blockchain-driven transformation will further drive Web3 transformation

As more companies, industries, and sectors adopt blockchain tech, even more applications and use cases will be discovered, leading to an upward spiral in blockchain tech and, hopefully, a breakthrough in Web3 becoming a reality. In general, Web3 will dramatically change how data is stored, secured, and consumed.

From the central servers of a few organisations, data will be owned and managed securely by millions of users using blockchain platforms. Using the same technology, businesses can connect with each other with a single source of truth, helping them make timely and informed decisions.

Final thoughts

Digitising supply chain processes and operations is the key to turning the current economic climate from a challenge into an opportunity. Blockchain, in particular, has tremendous applications ranging from automating processes, securing cross-border transactions, combatting trade finance fraud, and sustainability.

On a macro level, we see 2023 as the year where blockchain makes a breakthrough in terms of becoming universally accepted as something that is here to stay and will radically change the way we do things, not just in supply chains. 

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In January, Singapore-based startup Smthgood launched their social commerce platform that combines user-generated “lookbooks” with a fashion marketplace that is focused on ‘conscious fashion’ brands –defined as fashion brands with positive environmental and social impact in their mission and operations.

The user journey on the Smthgood platform begins with a quiz that helps set up the algorithm to tailor to users’ tastes and preferences in fashion. It allows them to browse through the collections and create a personalised Lookbook using a virtual styling editor. After that, users can publish their Lookbook and have other users purchase the products directly from these lookbooks.

“Creators are rewarded with Smthgood coins, exchangeable for shopping cashback whenever a purchase is made from their Lookbooks. All these create a discovery-led and gamified shopping experience where users can both inspire and get inspired,” the company explains.

The platform features small- and medium-sized fashion brands from across the Asia Pacific, from Thailand to Australia, with price tags that range from US$20 to US$200.

“All brands on the platform have been carefully curated to align with Smthgood’s values based on three factors: what the item is made of, how the item is made, and the impact of the finished item on the environment. Smthgood aims to provide more personalised user experiences with fashion AI tagging and uplift the conscious brands on its platform,” the company says.

It is one of the startups in the region that aims to cater for the needs of today’s customers, who are becoming increasingly aware of the negative impact of consumerism–and actively looking for a better alternative.

Also Read: Slow fashion is back: How environmental sustainability becomes the hottest trend this season

A different way to purchase

Smthgood targets women aged 16 to 44 as its users, and the creation of the platform is in line with notable changes in user behaviour in the global market today. These changes have become more prevalent in recent years, providing new opportunities for businesses.

In an interview with e27, Smthgood Founding Director Tony K Tan points out the three major trends that the company aims to capture, based on research by leading institutions:

– Sixty per cent of today’s customers are driven by discovery-led inspiration and are looking out for new purchasing experiences (Meta and Bain)
– The market for sustainable products is growing at a much higher speed at 2.7 times (NYU Stern School of Business)
– The year 2022 was the first time purpose-driven buying trumps price-driven buying at 44 per cent to 37 per cent (IBM Institute for Business Value)

These are the opportunities that Smthgood aims to pursue.

“The way we are looking at this is that we are telling a story, not just to people who are already into the conscious [lifestyle], but also to people who are curious, just thinking about it, or hearing about it, but may not know where to start,” Tan explains.

The company believes that it can help promote conscious fashion brands through the way the platform works. By having user-generated lookbooks, instead of one created or curated by fashion editors, they can help build trust in users’ minds that conscious fashion brands can also look good.

But how about fast fashion itself? Does Smthgood see it as a competitor?

“To be honest, fast fashion will always be there. There’s no way to eradicate fast fashion. It’s all about co-existence,” Tan says.

Also Read: How blockchain can enhance sustainability in fashion

Fashionably sustainable

Prior to founding Smthgood, Tan had close to 20 years of business experience across core divisions in an investment bank, including corporate finance, global markets and wealth management.

A lifelong passion for businesses that combine profits and social impact, combines with the opportunity for self-reflection that the pandemic provides, led him to start Smthgood.

When asked about how his background affects how he is running a startup, Tan says that it has definitely influenced his approach.

“In a sense, my experience as a banker allows me a lot of interaction with business owners and companies,” he says.

He lays down the three points that he believes are keys to building a “good business”. The founders have to:

– Have a good understanding of the global trend, where the world is going to
– Build a product that the costumers actually need, instead of what founders believe to be a good product
– Secure the right team members to execute the vision of the products

“By having that understanding of where the world is moving to, it’s the starting point from a macro perspective. Then, if I pull it down to the second level, it’s about what you’re building. Are you building the things that are your product? Are you building something that you would consume?” he explains.

“Ultimately, when everything is out in the market, it’s about iteration. It’s about getting that feedback, and evolving things nimbly using data points.”

Also Read: How the tech-enabled second-hand fashion resale market is growing in Asia

Operating from its base in Singapore, Smthgood is currently fully bootstrapped. While Tan acknowledges that raising external funding can help a business expand, he believes that being bootstrapped also allowed them to focus on launching the product that they envision.

“We are not distracted … It allows us to focus on the vision of what I think this app can be,” he closes.

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Image Credit: Smthgood

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