The core tenet of customer service is that the customer is always right. In other words, “the customer is king”.

I like to take a more pragmatic view.

Whatever field you’re in, some of your customers are going to have unreasonable demands. Some will need a different product than the one you’re offering., With that in mind, the customer always needs to be heard.

All feedback is important if you can filter and interpret it correctly. And if you’re diligent in collecting information from your customers and clients, you can address most of their frustrations before they reach a boiling point.

This is a proactive, data-led approach to customer feedback. It builds lasting relationships. Some churn is an inevitable fact of life – but you can greatly reduce it if you pay attention to frustrations.

What are some common pain points?

There’s no one-size-fits-all solution to preventing and addressing customer frustrations. You need to be active in gauging your customer’s needs and priorities.

Nonetheless, there are a few issues that show up in every industry:

Complicated systems

It’s easy to lose sight of how an average person might experience your product or service. You and your team live and breathe your product, so everything about it seems self-explanatory after a while. The average customer might get overwhelmed or stuck in ways you can’t predict.

Commitment and pricing issues

Since the pandemic and the subsequent economic uncertainty, people and businesses have become more hesitant to enter long-term financial commitments of any kind.

Slow response times

Like it or not, customers expect immediate solutions. They don’t appreciate being “left on read”.

Lack of personal touch

This one might be even worse than customers feeling ignored. If they receive a response that seems generic and doesn’t address the crux of their issue, your customers will conclude that there’s no point in bringing up future problems with you. You alienate a loyal customer by being too inflexible, and you also lose out on a crucial data source.

What can you do to address these problems?

I work in customer feedback management. My company, Simplesat, is a survey tool that helps clients understand what their customers expect of them.

Also Read: 5 customer experience (CX) trends to consider in 2022

I’d like to share the main lessons my team, and I have learned across industries. To reduce frustration, you need to:

Be responsive 

In customer service, delays not only cause frustration but also cost time and money.

By being responsive to your customers’ needs, you show that you value them. This improves satisfaction and creates trust.

For example, my company employs an online fast-response system and a 24/7 human customer support team. We also keep updating our helpdesk with solutions to any new customer concerns we encounter.

But again, it’s not enough to just hear our customers out: we have to show that their input made a difference.

If a customer’s problem doesn’t have a clear solution (yet), do your best to find workarounds.  Consider keeping the customer’s information on file and email them as soon as you’re done implementing any relevant change to their concern.

Ask the right questions

You can’t improve your system unless you know what the problem is. But your customers aren’t always able to pinpoint all their issues in a way that’s convenient for you.

Put in the work necessary to improve communications.

Use customer surveys often and across different channels. Ask follow-up questions and open-ended questions to improve your understanding of customer frustrations. 

But don’t overwhelm them with an interrogation! Keep the focus on the issue at hand, and try to make the interaction fun, easy, and encouraging.

Keep things simple and offer choices

Minimising customer stress is key to reducing churn and building your reputation. With that in mind, it’s best to offer a few options to choose from.

For example, here’s how Simplesat addresses pricing concerns:

• We offer a flat rate, with a single price per tier of service
• There are no contracts or tie-ins to worry about
• It’s easy to move from one tier to another, and we’re upfront about the benefits of each
• Customers can leave any time they want with no penalty
• We only ask them to complete a form that explains why they’re leaving

Taking a straightforward approach makes it easier to predict churn rates and revenue growth.

But more importantly, your customers will appreciate having clear choices with no secret gotchas to worry about. Fostering integrity and transparency leads to great word-of-mouth referrals — and it helps you sleep at night!

Build on what customers already know

In the world of SaaS, in particular, customers want to work with tools they’re familiar with. 

Their goal is to keep their workflow simple. They don’t want to have to make decisions they don’t understand fully. Sometimes, their frustration comes from the fact that your tool is creating more questions than it solves.

Also Read: How to reduce churn: 5 essential customer retention strategies

Always remember that the customers might have a different experience than you and your team. They don’t understand the inner workings of your product, they just want a solution to their issue. Their convenience should be a priority at all times.

And most importantly

The best way to handle customer frustrations is to prevent them. 

You want to know what’s bothering your customers, and you need that information before the snag develops into a full-blown grievance. But discovering these issues takes some finesse.

Semi-satisfied customers don’t always give great feedback. They want to avoid rocking the boat, or they simply can’t be bothered to file a report. 

So, what can you do to get the information you need?

In my experience, quarterly NPS surveys are the best way to identify potential points of dissatisfaction. As these surveys describe a general user experience, your clients will be more willing to be objective (for example, they can complain about customer service without feeling like they’re getting someone in trouble). 

Remember: you can’t afford to rely only on information from closed tickets (surveys sent out after a problem has been identified). Keep a close eye on your customers’ heartbeats even when everything seems fine. With good enough surveys, you won’t have to worry about any secret frustrations.

Your company’s future depends on getting this right (no pressure!)

When customers think they’re not being heard, it creates a sense of disappointment and helplessness.

What do they do next? Well, they complain about it on Twitter.

Ignoring customer frustrations negatively affects your brand image and online persona. This leads to a cascading effect of increased churn, decreased interest, and damaged professional relationships.

Your future customers buy into real-time customer reviews and feedback. Make sure to show them that you care.

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Join us at the Jakarta stop of the Big Leap roadshow

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On the second day of Echelon 2022 at Resorts World Sentosa in Singapore, October 28, Steve Melhuish, Founding Partner at Wavemaker Impact, reminded the audience how 2018 was the year when many climate change-related records were broken. From forest fires to drought, the level of destruction we saw that year was devastating, providing a wake-up call for every party.

“There is no single biggest issue here [that dominates the conversation on climate change],” he explained. “But if you think of it from an entrepreneurial point of view, there’s no single biggest opportunity either.”

This indicates that the opportunities the climate tech sector provides are limitless. However, fellow panellist Grace Sai, Co-Founder of Unravel Carbon, warned of the possible challenges that climate tech startups might face, especially when they are reaching out to potential investors.

She spoke of when her company pitched for pre-seed and seed funding rounds from top global VC firms such as Sequoia.

“We were the first climate tech platform investment for many of these funds,” she said. “That was interesting to note because part of the pitch was also to educate our investors … because they were so new to this field and formed their thesis based on what they knew before, like software and everything else. But the climate crisis was new to a lot of people.”

Also Read: Amasia introduces impact assessment framework for climate tech companies

The two speakers were part of a panel titled “The state of climate tech in 2022: How we can create new urgency for green recovery”. Moderated by Robyn Tan, Managing Director of KrAsia, this panel aimed to look at how startups and investors can maximise their impact as a greater awareness of climate tech grows.

On the accessibility factor of climate tech solutions

Before we get to the point of understanding how climate tech startups in Southeast Asia (SEA) can move forward in making their impact on society, we need to understand what makes a “good” climate tech startup.

According to Angela Noronha, Director of Growth at Asia Second Muse, there is no significant difference from conventional businesses.

“I don’t think there is a need to rehash the definition because … a good company is a good company. The business fundamentals are the same. It’s more about what purpose are you pointing towards. Does it help to reduce or remove emissions?” she stressed.

It is also important to note that there are functions in climate tech that do not even have to be performed by a stand-alone company; there are many data platforms and tools that enable business owners to perform these functions without having the need to work with a third party.

For climate tech startups, success in growing their business can begin by understanding the potential hurdles customers might face when accessing climate-friendly products and services.

Also Read: How Third Derivative assesses the impact of a potential climate tech investment

As in any conversation regarding accessibility, the price range was one of the top hurdles customers might face. Melhuish highlighted in his presentation how the green label often puts products and services in the luxury category. “We fundamentally disregard that. We don’t believe that is the way because how would you get adoption if you’re expecting to pay extra for it?”

This matter of pricing and accessibility is also something that Sai touched upon. She shared that fewer than 10,000 companies operating in the global market are measuring their carbon profiles. She found the number “unacceptable”, but it was also important to understand that this did not always stem from ignorance: getting your carbon emission measured can be quite costly for businesses.

This is yet another proof that price points can be a barrier to accessibility. “Because if you don’t measure it, then you can’t manage it to begin with,” she stressed.

In addition to price point, Sai also highlighted the importance of “keeping things simple” for customers.

Take the example of plastic bags, which have been widely known for their negative environmental impact. Many businesses and customers opted to replace them with tote bags. Still, it is later revealed that one needs to use them 1,500 times to replace the impact of a common plastic bag –a piece of information that might haunt and overwhelm anyone.

“I feel it’s on experts and businesses to create better alternatives that simplify these decisions for big or small companies and consumers. That’s why something like Unravel exists to take all the data and simplify and point the way for a corporation to be like, ‘Okay, these are the three things that I need to do to reduce my emissions by 60 per cent.’”

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Singapore-based climate tech venture builder Wavemaker Impact has announced the first close of its debut fund.

The details remain undisclosed.

At the time of its launch in October 2021, Wavemaker Impact said it targeted raising US$25 million for its first fund. 

Its Limited Partners include Pavilion Capital, JG Digital Equity Ventures (the VC arm of the Philippine’s JG Summit Holdings), Kajima Ventures, US-based Grantham Foundation, and many family offices and high net-worth investors in Asia and Europe.

Wavemaker Impact is a climate tech venture builder that co-founds sustainability-focused businesses in Southeast Asia with proven entrepreneurs. Central to its investment thesis is the idea that successful climate tech companies must focus on value creation for their customers, not just emissions reduction.

Also Read: ‘The next generation of unicorns will be from greentech’: Wavemaker Impact’s Steve Melhuish

The VC firm has grown its presence in three key markets in Southeast Asia (Singapore, Indonesia, and Vietnam) and launched four new companies through its venture-building methodology. It plans to launch another eight to 12 new companies in the next two years, funding them from launch to Series A and, in some cases, Series B.

The company also stated that EDB New Ventures, the venture-building arm of the Singapore Economic Development Board, has supported Wavemaker Impact as a new strategic partner. Previously, Wavemaker Impact signed strategic partnerships with Enterprise Singapore (to help it grow its venture-building programme in Singapore) and the United Nations Development Programme (to assist it in stage-appropriate impact measurement).

Last month, Wavemaker Impact, along with Bill Gates’s Breakthrough Energy Ventures, GenZero, and Temasek, launched an agritech startup that brings together climate tech, agri-food, and venture-building capabilities to accelerate rice decarbonisation in Asia.

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Filipino circular economy startup Humble Sustainability has raised US$750,000 in an oversubscribed seed round led by Seedstars International Ventures.

US-based early-stage VC firm iSeed Ventures; angel investors, including Alan Wong, Co-Founder of Jakarta-based B2B marketplace Ula; and Sagar Achanta, ex-Product Leader at Amazon, participated.

Top Filipino investors and entrepreneurs Paco Sandejas and Richard Eldridge also joined.

Humble will use the funding to expand its network of partners and buyers and grow its team, including hiring department heads. The company also plans to bring its tech development fully in-house and start work on long-term initiatives like a carbon footprint tracker.

Also Read: Cloud communications firm Toku nets US$5M Series A+ for APAC expansion

The startup was founded in 2021 by CEO Josef Werker and COO Niña Opida, who used their combined years of experience growing and scaling companies in the past to build Humble as a means to create a more sustainable Philippines.

It was started with a vision to create a community where any item can be brought back into circularity. Humble’s advocacy of “circular living” reduces waste from both ends by preventing items from being disposed of and decreasing demand for the production of new ones.

Humble helps some of the largest e-commerce, logistics, and retail companies in the Philippines make their returns and excess inventory the hero while extracting high value from the items for their clients.

As Humble continues to grow, it hopes to become a leader in circular economy and sustainability in the Philippines, with initiatives in mind like carbon footprint tracking, innovation grants, and raw materials extraction.

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Phyx44, a biotech-enabled food science startup based in Bengaluru, India, has secured US$1.2 million in seed capital led by Better Bite Ventures.

Ahimsa VC, PeerCapital, Spectrum Impact, Rohit Gulati (MD & Partner at Boston Consulting Group), Sandhya Sriram (CEO, Shiok Meats), Big Idea Ventures, and Humane Society International also participated.

The startup will use the money to accelerate R&D, expand the team and work on the co-development of product formulation with key partners.

Founded in early 2021, Phyx44 develops animal-free milk proteins and fats for use in dairy products. It bets on microbial fermentation as the best way to replicate dairy. This technology teaches microbes to do what a cow or buffalo would do inside its cells.

Unleashing the power of these microbes will be instrumental in reducing animal suffering, land and water use, and greenhouse gas emissions from dairy production globally.

Also Read: Better Bite Ventures launches US$15M fund for early-stage alt-protein startups in Asia

The team at Phyx44 has already made whey and casein proteins (found in traditional milk) at the lab scale.

Phyx44’s products can be used in various applications, including ice cream, cheese, and baked goods, advancing the alternative dairy sector across dimensions of taste, functionality, and accessibility.

The company’s first product is expected to launch in 2024 in Singapore and India.

“We’re one of the very few companies working on key fat components alongside key dairy proteins because we believe this will go a long way in our ability to create a superior product,” said Bharath Bakaraju, Founder of Phyx44.

“The intersection of India being an agrarian economy, the largest producer and consumer of dairy, and a huge pharma producer provides a massive opportunity for Phyx44 to serve global demand for dairy ingredients and products sustainably,” said Jinesh Shah, Chief Investment Officer at Ahima VC.

“We believe that Phyx44 will leverage the base in India and provide affordable, sustainable dairy proteins and fats to partners and consumers globally. With its biotech infrastructure and talent pool, India can be the smart protein factory of the world,” said Michal Klar, Founding Partner at Better Bite Ventures.

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Speedoc, a virtual clinic and healthcare solutions platform that brings advanced medical care to homes in Singapore and Malaysia, has announced closing its US$28 million pre-series B funding round.

New investors Bertelsmann Investments, Shinhan Venture investment, Mars Growth, and returning backer Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India invested in the round.

“With this investment, we look forward to expanding our collaborations with private and public healthcare players to bring hospital-level care into every home and for every person. This would further empower patients and caregivers by providing them with an alternative to recover at home whilst providing them with adequate cost savings. The thrust towards virtual hospitals will complement and ensure better hospital utilisation rates, enabling medical personnel to attend to life-threatening conditions more efficiently,” said Dr Shravan Verma, CEO and Co-Founder of Speedoc.

Also Read: How home-based care is changing the face of the health sector

Founded in 2017, Speedoc is a virtual clinic and healthcare solutions platform enabling users access to home-based medical care and services. It aims to drive medical care needs out of hospitals and clinics by delivering a full suite of healthcare services to homes. These services include home visits by doctors and nurses, video consultations, allergy and health screenings, virtual hospital wards, and remote health monitoring.

The platform is available in nine cities across Singapore and Malaysia and serves patients and caregivers across both countries.

Speedoc is currently working with hospital partners, such as the National University Health System, the Singapore General Hospital, and Khoo Teck Puat Hospital.

The healthtech startup will also look to expand its H-Ward virtual hospital programme, an integrated platform monitored by a dedicated 24×7 patient-care team that standardises and combines different services needed for hospital care at home.

In 2020, Speedoc secured US$5 million in Series A funding led by Vertex Ventures.

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e27 and CleverTap, trusted by 10,000+ mobile brands and a pioneer in helping brands engage and retain their users, have joined forces to bring you The Big Leap.

Over the next six months, we will bring exclusive interviews, content, roadshows, networking events, and informal meet-ups with Southeast Asia’s leading tech leaders in multiple countries – Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

Our first stop will be Indonesia, where we will host the first edition of SEA’s The Big Leap Roadshow at The Raffles Hotel Jakarta on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at 5.30 PM Jakarta time.

In this event, we will touch on the Retention Playbook – GEN Z and Unexpected Segments in the New Normal with our distinguished speakers:

– Timothius Martin – CMO of Pintu
– Felicia Kawilarang – CMO of Halodoc
– Mediko Azwar, ACC – CMO of Blue Bird Group
– Marc-Antoine Hager – SEA Regional Vice President, Sales of Clevertap
– Mohan Belani – CEO of e27 (moderator)

The following list includes the names of growth leaders and their companies ready to take the leap and gather in the Jakarta roadshow.

Also Read: 5 video marketing trends that marketers can leverage in 2022

Are you ready to follow in their footsteps?

99 Group
– Firman Pamungkas Putra (AVP Marketing)
– Bharat Buxani (Senior VP Marketing)

99 Group is a leading real estate technology company that operates real estate portals across South East Asia, specialising in digital property advertising. Headquartered in Singapore, it is currently operational in Singapore and Indonesia and employs over 350 employees.

Agate
– Vincentius Ismawan (VP Marketing & Sales)

Agate is an Indonesian video game development company based in Bandung, West Java. It was founded on April 1, 2009. It has worked with publishers such as Square Enix and Electronic Arts.

Akseleran
– Andri Madian (Chief Marketing Officer)

Akeseleran is an Indonesia-based P2P lending crowdfunding platform that connects MSMEs to potential lenders to expand their businesses.

Bank Jago
– Elissa Vananda (Growth Manager)

Indonesia-based Bank Jago primarily offers digital banking services. It is also one of Indonesia’s most valuable publicly traded companies, with a market cap at the moment of around US$10 billion, according to The Diplomat.

Bibit
– Olivia Budiono (Product Marketing Lead)

Bibit is an Indonesia-based app that allows automated mutual funds investment, allowing users to allocate their funds easily and smartly.

Also Read: We can no longer adopt a cookie-cutter approach to marketing: Gunalan Ram of CINNOX

Binance
– Ferry Setiawan (Growth Marketing Manager)

Binance operates the world’s biggest Bitcoin exchange and altcoin crypto exchange in the world by volume.

fivejack
– Maresa Sumardi (VP Business & Marketing)

fivejack is the company behind the itemku platform. The company provides the biggest marketplace for virtual goods for gaming, entertainment and hobbyist in Indonesia.

Glints
– Ghea Religia (Growth Marketing Manager)
– Candraditia Daryanto (Sr. Growth Analyst)

Headquartered in Singapore, Glints was founded in August 2013 by Oswald Yeo, Looi Qin En and Seah Ying Cong. It allows users to apply for internships, full-time, part-time or project-based positions with partnered companies in its platform.

Gojek
– Ardhika Setyo (Product Marketing Manager)

A leading Indonesia-based on-demand multi-service platform and digital payment technology group. Gojek was first established in Indonesia in 2009 as a call centre to connect consumers to courier delivery and two-wheeled ride-hailing services.

Gudang Ada
– Satrio Legowo (VP Campaign & Trade Marketing)
– Benaya Adiguna (Digital Marketing Manager)

An Indonesia-based online groceries platform that allows MSMEs to expand their businesses more easily.

Also Read: 3 stages of marketing for your startup that can drive effective results

Hukumonline.com
– Ramos Pandia (COO)

An integrated and trusted online platform for legal products and services in Indonesia.

IDN Media
– Audi Eka Prasetyo (Senior Marketing Manager – GGWP.ID)

An Indonesia-based leading media platform for Millennials and Gen-Z that aims to democratise information and positively impact society.

Investree
– Kevin Lovis (Marketing Manager)
– Feby Inas (Digital Marketing Manager)

Investree is an Indonesia-based online marketplace of financial products and services, particularly lending.

JD.ID
– Maneesha Bhusal (Director CX)

JD.ID is the Indonesian operations of Chinese tech giant JD. The company started operations in Indonesia in 2015.

Lemonilo
– Johannes Ardiant (Co-Founder, CTO/COO)
– Andita Rasyid (VP Marketing and Innovation)

An Indonesian e-commerce platform that focuses on healthy and natural food products.

PasarPolis
– Nadya Chandradewi (VP of Marketing Communications)
– Jauza Stamboel (Senior Corporate Communications Associate)

Founded in 2015, PasarPolis is now one of the leading insurtech platforms in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Pre-launch marketing is a tease that works, how to get it right?

Travelio
– Hendry Rusli (President Director)

The Indonesia-based startup works with individual apartment owners and property dealers to enable potential tenants to find and rent apartments.

Traveloka
– Andri Muljadi (Vice President)

An Indonesian technology company focused on travel and ticketing. It is active in six countries and, in 2022, remained the largest online travel app in Southeast Asia.

Yuna & Co.
– Winzendy Tedja (CEO)

Yuna & Co is an Indonesian fashion platform that helps women with personal styling.

LINE Bank
– Bryan Karunachandra (Data Scientist)

LINE Bank is a digital banking application in Indonesia that was born from the collaboration between Hana Indonesia (Hana Bank) with LINE Corporation and LINE Financial Asia.

Also Read: How can influencer marketing help the travel industry in a post pandemic world

GoTo
– Muhammad Izzul Haq (Content Operations Merchant Development Associate)

GoTo is the result of a merger between two Indonesian unicorns –Gojek and Tokopedia– in 2021.

Smartfren
– Satyadev Sarvaiya (Head of Customer Life Cycle Management)

A wireless network operator headquartered in Central Jakarta that is owned by Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas, under the company PT Sinar Mas Komunikasi Teknologi.

Tokopedia
– Chaisar Ahmad (Senior Operations Partnership)

One of the leading e-commerce companies in Indonesia. It merged with Gojek, a fellow Indonesian unicorn, in 2021.

ruparupa.com (Kawan Lama Group)
– Jessica Natania (Customer Engagement Lead)
– Khalifardi Utama (Channel Performance Lead)

ruparupa.com is the e-commerce platform of Kawan Lama Group, an Indonesian family office that works in the Commercial & Industrial, Consumer Retail, Food & Beverage, Property & Hospitality, Commercial Technology, and Manufacturing & Engineering sectors.

Shipper
– Jessica Hendrawidjaja (Chief Marketing Officer)

Shipper is an Indonesia-based logistics aggregator that provides shipping services for businesses and individuals.

Tanamduit
– Benedick Karuna (Digital Marketing Manager)
– Alwine Chitra Japardi (Data Analyst tanamduit)

Indonesian wealth tech platform that helps customers comprehensively in financial planning.

UpBanx / VCGamers
– Wafa Taftazani (Founder & CEO / Co-Founder & Chairman)

An Indonesian social commerce platform for gamers to trade, connect, interact, share gaming experiences, and discover new games with millions of gamers.

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Want to be part of this amazing opportunity? There is time for you to sign up for The Big Leap in Jakarta! See you on November 9 at The Raffles Hotel.

Image Credit: saksit054

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I’m sure that almost everyone has, at some point, experienced issues with fintech payment processors – frozen accounts, high hidden fees, and fraud. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 16.6 per cent of the fraud reports involved a payment app or service like Paypal in 2020.

More recently, Paypal updated its terms of service agreement that allows a US$2,500 deduction from a user’s account simply by posting anything the company deems as ‘misinformation’.

This received massive backlash on Twitter, which Paypal claimed to be an error, but only to add it back to its terms of service after the criticisms died down.

Imagine having your savings deducted for what the company deems as ‘offensive’. Or worse, to the extent of losing access to your entire savings without any reason, like the case with Monzo – where 1,392 complaints were made against Monzo for freezing accounts without warning in 2020.

These incidents remind us that fintech payment processors have the authority to deny you access to your money and may reflect a growing shift in attitudes against fintech payment processors/neobanks.

Financial censorship threatens the free and open society that we are progressing towards. We need a better alternative which can ensure that we are in control of our own money.

A new breed of fintech payment

As many businesses reconsider or even close their accounts with fintech payment processors like PayPal, many are turning instead to a new breed of payment fintech: crypto payment apps.

Crypto payments can be used to make cross-border payments without going through costly and time-consuming bank transfers. Unlike traditional payment processors like PayPal or credit card companies, cryptocurrency offers a direct P2P payment system without any intermediary to process transactions – making it cheaper and faster. This has revolutionised online payments, which makes crypto payments
attractive to businesses, especially those operating internationally.

Also Read: Crypto adoption steadies in South Asia, soars in the Southeast

On top of that, crypto payments are becoming increasingly popular with the rise of stablecoins. According to Request Finance, USD-denominated stablecoins account for 60 per cent of the crypto payments made in September 2022.

Their stable prices are ideal as opposed to volatile cryptocurrencies, especially in the current macroeconomic situation with rising interest rates and inflation. Stablecoins also open up access to DeFi platforms like AAVE, which delivers higher returns to corporate treasuries as compared
to traditional bank deposits.

More importantly, businesses have full control over their own private keys and cryptocurrencies. This alone makes crypto payment apps superior.

Making crypto safe for enterprises

Despite the advantages of crypto payments, there is a lack of consumer protection against invoice fraud or transferring money to the wrong wallet. Barclays recently reported that invoice fraud accounts for 55 per cent of money small businesses lose to scammers.

“Another savvy move may be asking for a payment request before transferring money. By confirming where to send the funds, users may avoid payments going to the wrong accounts,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer advocate in the U.S. PIRG.

Fortunately, Request Finance offers tools to fight invoice fraud in crypto. For instance, their “Invoice Me” feature allows enterprises to send their contractors a QR code or link to automatically create an invoice already pre-filled with their business information. Teammates can also be cc-ed on invoices sent to clients, allowing finance teams to check with relevant parties whether the invoice is legitimate.

As businesses embark on their journey into the new crypto payment space, applications like Request Finance help to make this journey a safe and easy one.

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

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

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WriterZen, a Singapore-based AI-powered SEO content creation startup, has announced a US$1.35 million seed funding round led by Wavemaker Partners.

With this new round, the SaaS company will focus on expanding its product features and penetrating strategic markets such as the US, the UK, and Australia in 2023.

WriterZen will also continue investing in cutting-edge technologies, including the next generation of search engine intelligence platforms, to help businesses gain data-driven insights and make more well-informed marketing decisions to optimise conversions.

The company will also double down on the courses offered by its newly launched WriterZen Academy, a free e-learning platform designed specifically for digital content marketers.

Also Read: Understanding SEO and website hacks with Kevin Geary

Founded in May 2021, WriterZen offers tools for digital content creators to streamline their search engine optimisation (SEO) workflow and produce content efficiently and competitively.

WriterZen currently serves more than 12,000 customers globally, including major industry players, such as MediaCom from GroupM.

“Google searches are one of the most important datasets ever collected in human history, yet they are severely underutilised by brands and businesses across all industries worldwide. Our mission is to help businesses capture these untapped demands with better efficiency and higher precision,” Daniel Nguyen, CEO of WriterZen, stated.

Phuong Tran, VP of Investments and Head of Vietnam at Wavemaker, said, “The global SEO market stands at US$52 billion today and is projected to grow to US$122 billion by 2028. WriterZen is best placed to capture a sizable portion of this market as it urgently addresses global clients’ need for a holistic and well-designed SEO toolset that can fuel their growth.”

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The Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH) last 25-28 October was back this year to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, innovators, and industry players to elevate the global-Asia innovation ecosystem. 

Focusing on deep tech applications, it provides opportunities for closer collaboration and knowledge-sharing among startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, investors, corporate and innovation departments, research and development organisations, and local and international government bodies. 

Last year, more than 15,000 participants from 42 countries gathered at SWITCH. This year, SWITCH is back bigger as an entirely in-person conference, comprising innovation programmes including a Sectoral Thought Leadership Stage, Market Access Sessions, and Industry Exhibition Showcases and Roundtable sessions. 

One of its much-anticipated events is the SLINGSHOT 2022 Startup Pitching Sector Finals and Grand Finals, organised by Enterprise SG in collaboration with AWS to provide extra support to participating startups. Returning for its sixth edition this year, SLINGSHOT 2022 gave global startups a chance to immerse in Singapore’s innovative business landscape and explore opportunities to grow and expand within the region’s vibrant market. 

SLINGSHOT2022 was open to global startups currently working on either one of the five emerging challenge domains: Transformative Digital Technologies; Environment, Energy, and Green Technology; Consumer Media, Goods, and Services; Health and Biomedical; Manufacturing, Trade, and Connectivity. The Top 50 startups will receive a sponsored trip to Singapore for the grand finals during SWITCH, to showcase and pitch their startups for a chance to win SGD 1.2 million worth of prizes. 

Opening doors for startups in ASEAN

SLINGSHOT, organised by Enterprise SG, has made it possible for the top startups to experience an eye-opening immersion in Singapore’s business and innovation industry. Enterprise SG sought to encourage startups to realise their potential and design solutions to accelerate their growth in the region and beyond through this initiative. 

Enterprise SG has collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to enable the SLINGSHOT 2022 participating startups to access important tools and services that can help them realise plans for their products.

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AWS has supported the SLINGSHOT finalists by lending its cloud computing expertise and providing mentorship. Through the AWS Public Sector Startup Ramp, a programme meant to guide early-stage startups in building and launching solutions in different sectors including health, digital government, agriculture, smart cities, and space technology, the finalists gained access to AWS’s global community of startup members and partners, relevant training, and AWS credits.  

AWS also supported startups through AWS Activate, which provided tools, resources, content, and expert support to help startups build, accelerate, and scale at every stage.

Samuel Harris, Public Sector Startup Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan at AWS, said, “AWS is committed to supporting all startups with the tools, guidance, and mentorship they need to transform industries. We are happy to collaborate with Enterprise SG on SLINGSHOT 2022 to inspire startups to build and innovate on AWS Cloud, and help to accelerate and scale businesses that drive societal benefits and economic development.”

Building global networks with the AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes

The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes were held globally in three Amazon offices: San Francisco (September 16), London (September 20), and Hyderabad (September 23). The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes are intended for startups to learn more about that programmes and resources which can be leveraged to build and scale innovative solutions on AWS, as well as how they could accelerate growth via Enterprise Singapore to expand their businesses to Singapore and the region.

The three locations were chosen as they were startup hotspots and had an influx of registrations for SLINGSHOT. AWS and ESG jointly organised these sessions – inviting startups within their networks to join the sessions and tapping on their ecosystem partners to share their experiences on innovating and expanding.

The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes hosted SLINGSHOT fellows in a series of technical and networking sessions that allowed them to meet and connect with local startup founders and industry leaders.

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The sessions were designed to educate participants about the different AWS programmes and resources they can leverage to help them experiment with their ideas, develop existing products, and scale their innovative solutions according to their desired markets. The sessions also enabled participants to tap Enterprise SG for support to help them accelerate and grow their foothold across Singapore and the region.

The panel discussion was held on the topic, “Innovation as a Driver for International Expansion.” Guest panelists included Vinayak Ganapuram (Vice President, Head of Engineering, Crayon Data) who helped provide the startup perspective on the processes and challenges in growth and expansion; Zaran Bhagwagar (Principal, Anthill Ventures) who expounded on their successful ventures and the investor’s perspective in enabling the startup ecosystem; and Enterprise Singapore Regional Directors who shared about programmes and initiatives that Enterprise Singapore is running to spur innovation in the respective geographical locations.

Immersion Day in Singapore

In the lead-up to the Grand Finals of SWITCH 2022, AWS hosted SLINGSHOT’s Top 50 Global Startups on October 21 at the AWS office in Singapore as part of the immersion programme. During this session, the participating startups learned more about how organisations leverage AWS to innovate, and participated in a workshop on AWS Amplify — a complete solution which allows developers to accelerate full-stack web and mobile app development.

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The startups also learned first-hand through a sharing session by Samuel Harris (Public Sector Startup Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan, AWS), Tuan Nguyen (Public Sector Startup Business Development Manager, AWS), Andre Low (Public Sector Technical Program Manager, AWS), and Richard Goh (Public Sector Business Development and CIC Leader, Singapore, AWS) on how they work with AWS to build and scale innovative solutions.

Innovation through partnerships

The collaboration among AWS, SWITCH, SLINGSHOT, and Enterprise SG aims to redefine the startup industry. It shows the power that collaboration brings to every area of a startup business in today’s digital world. Asia is driving growth globally, and Singapore lies at the heart of the action. While competition is tough, collaboration makes businesses more robust and resilient.

To learn more about AWS Start Up Ramp, visit https://aws.amazon.com/government-education/startups/public-sector-startup-ramp/

About ESG: Enterprise SG is a government agency working with companies to innovate, internationalise, build capabilities, and promote enterprise development. It strives to accelerate Singapore’s growth as a hub for global trading and startups.

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

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