Updates: This article has been updated with the corrected currency exchange number and statements from the company

Indonesian tech giant GoTo –the result of a high-profile merger between Gojek and Tokopedia– is aiming to raise at least IDR15.2 trillion (US$1.25 billion) in an initial public offering on Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX).

The company will list on the stock exchange on April 4, selling 52 billion shares or 4.35 per cent of total shares, priced at IDR316 to IDR346 per piece.

An international listing is also expected following the local one.

GoTo is the second Indonesian unicorn to get listed on the stock exchange, following Bukalapak’s IPO in August last year. This IPO is one of the most highly anticipated ones in the Southeast Asian tech startup ecosystem.

Prior to this, GoTo’s rival Grab has made their IPO on Nasdaq in December 2021.

GoTo plans to use the proceeds from the IPO, after deducting issuance costs, for working capital to support the Group’s growth strategy.

An initial offer (book building) will be executed between March 15-21 with a public offering period targeted for March 29-31.

Also Read: A horse of another: Here’s the complete list of Southeast Asia’s 28 unicorns

In a press statement, GoTo announced that it is planning to launch Gotong Royong Share Program which will provide its “most active, long-serving and loyal driver-partners, merchants and consumers, as well as employees, with the opportunity to benefit from the IPO.”

“Under the programme, all full-time employees have been made participants in the Group’s Long-Term Incentive Plan Program, long-serving driver-partners are set to receive grants, while the most loyal merchants and GoTo Group consumers will be eligible to purchase shares via a fixed allocation at IPO,” the company wrote.

GoTo raised a US$1.3 billion pre-IPO funding round in November 2021 led by Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).

The company counted big names such as Alibaba, SoftBank Vision Fund, Google, GIC, and Tencent as their largest investors.

In recent years, tech unicorns in SEA are in a race to get listed on various stock exchanges. While these companies may experience a sharp increase in their shares price when it was first issued,

Earlier this month, The Business Times reported that Grab’s shares price crashed 37.3 per cent as its net loss in Q4 “nearly doubles.”

For Bukalapak, its share price has fallen by more than -73 per cent since its debut. Starting out with an increase up to IDR1,110 per share, the price has slumped down to IDR276 by the time this article was written.

Also Read: The 27 Indonesian startups that have taken the ecosystem to next level this year

GoTo was expected to raise up to US$2 billion. However, according to a Dealstreet Asia report, experts had warned the company of “challenging” timing with the ongoing crisis in Ukraine.

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Image Credit: GoTo

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High inflation and low bank deposit rates have triggered a massive spike in worldwide crypto adoption, which reached over 880 per cent in 2021 alone. Emerging markets such as Vietnam, India, the Philippines, and Brazil ranked among the highest on the global crypto adoption index last year.

Yet, only a tiny fraction of the population in these markets has had exposure to cryptocurrencies.

Peter Hoang and Dmitriy Paunin sensed an opportunity there and started the crypto savings platform Finblox. The duo, who have years of experience dealing with crypto-assets in the past, also attracted an oversubscribed US$3.9 million seed financing for their four-month-old venture.

The capital came from strategic investors, including Dragonfly Capital, Sequoia Capital India, Three Arrows Capital, Saison Capital, MSA Capital, Coinfund, Venturra Discovery, Kyros Ventures, First Check Ventures, and Ratio Ventures. Coins. ph’s Founder Ron Hose, Xfers Founder Tianwei Liu, and other unnamed angel investors also co-invested.

Also Read: Web3 is going to redefine labour in Asia in a big way: Animoca Brands’s Yat Siu

Hong Kong-headquartered Finblox will use the funds for product development, as well as to accelerate its regulatory compliance processes, marketing and user education initiatives.

The beginning

“Dmitriy and I are very passionate about democratising wealth-building and have been fascinated with crypto-asset class, especially decentralised finance (DeFi),” CEO Hoang told e27. “I previously co-founded Gotrade, a zero-commission stock investment app, and Dmitriy was formerly CTO at Coins.ph. During our previous roles, we noted the onboarding experience into the DeFi is inconvenient, insecure, expensive and unsuitable for beginner investors. There was a big gap to be filled bridging users from Web2 base into Web3, and we decided to build Finblox to address that.”

In a nutshell, Finblox provides a “secure on-ramp” into stablecoins and popular crypto-assets such as Axie Infinity and Polygon. The platform allows users to earn a yield on their assets passively, with no limits on minimum balances or withdrawal periods. The services are available in over 100 countries.

Hoang claims Finblox offers one of the highest interest rates available in the digital asset space. Users can earn a 15 per cent annual percentage yield on USD Coin, a stablecoin pegged to the US dollar. It also offers up to 90 per cent yield on other major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana, Avalanche and Axie Infinity.

The returns are enabled through Finblox’s partnership with established crypto institutional borrowers and trusted DeFi protocols.

How the platform works

Users register, complete their identity verification and set up two-factor authentication within two minutes. They can then buy or deposit digital assets such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Polygon and start earning interest rewards the following day. The rewards are paid out daily, and users can withdraw the funds anytime without any lockups.

The company is working with regulated financial institutions to enable a smooth on-ramp from fiat into crypto via different payment methods

The assets available on Finblox are carefully vetted before being listed, claims Hoang. The user assets are insured by Fireblocks, an SOC 2 Type II-certified digital assets custodian with bank-grade security. In addition, the system is protected by the crypto-insurance platform Coincover.

As for monetisation, Finblox takes a small cut on the interests it earns by lending out the coins to its trusted institutional partners and a cut on the amount paid out to the users. The startup plans to introduce paid premium features on the platform in the future, such as commission-free swapping between the coins.

About 90 per cent of its registered users are from emerging economies, mainly Southeast Asia. Hoang declined to share the number of customers or the number of transactions it facilitates. “We’d prefer to announce the figures in the next round announcement (pre-Series A or Series A).”

“Southeast Asia has grown to be one of the most active markets over the past year, yet product infrastructure is still lacking to support the rapidly growing demand. We believe what Peter and Dmitriy are building at Finblox will make a meaningful contribution to Southeast Asia’s crypto ecosystem,” said Mia Deng, Partner at Dragonfly Capital.

On a global level, Finblox competes with crypto lending platforms Celsius Network (US) and Nexo (which claims to be managing assets for over 3.5 million users across 200 jurisdictions).

Also Read: ‘We want to facilitate organisations’ Web3 transition from bits to atoms’: Brinc CEO Manav Gupta

Despite the growing adoption of cryptocurrencies, many governments are yet to make crypto transactions legal. In Hoang’s view, more clarity on regulation is essential to enable wider adoption of crypto as an asset class. “We are actively looking to acquire licenses globally in the established jurisdictions where possible. We believe that crypto will become a number one asset class globally in the foreseeable future and regulation would bring a lot to the table in terms of taking it to the mainstream.”

Finblox also sees a significant opportunity to tap into the metaverse projects popular in the emerging markets, where users are getting onboarded into crypto for the first time through play-to-earn games. “We can empower them by offering yield on the crypto assets that they earn by playing NFT games like Axie Infinity,” Hoang said.

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McKinsey Global Institute finds that the number of people in the global labour force will reach 3.5 billion by 2030. This, combined with the mass move to remote work, is resulting in workplaces needing to accommodate a changing range of skills, attitudes, cultures, and behaviours.

I’ve been lucky enough to have led APAC-wide teams for several years and have seen shifts in leadership even prior to COVID-19. It’s easy to only consider globalisation, but we’re also working across different generations, a 20-year-old digital native in India is very different from a 60-year-old in India who started their career before the internet was born.

For a leader to thrive in today’s environment, they must be willing to exhibit and value core qualities of empathy, trust, and curiosity. When we’re able to truly make the most of a diverse team, when we’re more open to new ideas, we can significantly improve the employee experience and make the entire organisation stronger.

Soft skills: Empathy, trust, and curiosity

In the past, being a team leader or manager was about command and control. It was about being able to do every part of the job better than anyone and knowing every part of it.

Today, a true leader is one that helps employees discover untapped strengths and potential and can bring that into alignment with business goals. It’s about being very clear about what the destination is and understanding that everyone’s path to getting there may be different.

Empathy has never been more relevant than in the last two years. Whereas sympathy is ‘I feel sorry for you’, empathy is ‘I understand you’.

It’s not about being nice, it’s about taking the time to fully be with the person you’re with and truly listening to them. Doing so can dramatically change how people relate to each other, building trust and enjoyment in their working environment.

Also Read: Emotional leadership in a post-COVID-19 business world

Within my work, I’ve also seen the power of not only having an empathetic leadership style but encouraging this mode of relatedness between people. I’d go as far as to say that today, soft skills can spell the difference between success and failure between workers and their employer, and in the time of the great resignation, that impact is critical.

And that’s why more businesses are recognising the role of empathy in the workplace. A whitepaper by the Centre of Creative Leadership, based on a global survey, found that empathy is positively correlated to job performance.

Managers who show more empathy toward their teams are viewed as better performers in their job by their bosses. Additionally, empathic emotion, as rated by employees, positively predicts job performance ratings from the leader’s boss.

This whitepaper also highlighted a fact that I’ve found to be true in my own experience: that empathy can be learned. Leaders can develop and enhance their skills in this space through coaching, training, or developmental opportunities and initiatives. Self-awareness is critical to this development.

Grant Thornton’s 2021 International Business Report research highlights the emergence of empathy as a valued leadership trait.

Among mid-market business leaders who grew their staff numbers by at least 5 per cent in 2020, empathy was more consistently important than the global average, with 25 per cent citing it as a key leadership skill.

It also scored well with those who grew exports and revenues during the height of the pandemic. For the APAC region, 21 per cent of respondents cited empathy as one of the most important traits in leaders.

It would be remiss not to mention other core qualities that I feel are hugely important as a leader: trust and curiosity.

Curiosity in a leader helps you to understand your team, to ask the right questions and always be engaged in critical thinking. When it comes to trust you need to be as open as you can, even if you can’t share everything. When you trust people, they trust you back.

When you’re accountable, your people are more likely to reciprocate and be accountable right back. Give them control, celebrate achievement and balance being confident and vulnerable.

Empathy in action: An insight into Cloudera

My team was already working remotely prior to COVID-19 so we didn’t experience a dramatic shift in this respect once the virus hit but everyone has been impacted in very personal and real ways.

At Cloudera, we operate on the basis that people are the heart of our company and are always investing in ways to make our teams feel valued and heard. This became even more critical during the height of the pandemic.

Also Read: Be credible and reliable: Key tips for startup communication in the new normal

Engaging in empathetic leadership can consist of simple practises.

For instance, it can be actively listening when on a video call, with the camera turned on and minimising potential distractions. It can be as simple as reaching out over Slack or Instant Messenger to check-in.

It can be taking the time to remember and acknowledge celebrations or milestones, whether that’s a birthday, a child’s birthday, work anniversary or the anniversary of a loved one’s passing.

During lockdowns finding reasons to celebrate certainly helped to lift the spirits of those around us at Cloudera.

We also frequently underestimate the role of technology in aiding our leaders to be more tuned in and empathetic. For example, data is helping both Cloudera and our customers to create better, healthier and more open relationships with employees.

One of our customers, Indonesia’s Bank Mandiri uses data to track employee health. The bank used its data lake to feed a real-time dashboard that tracked employee health which led to better support for employees.

With information on staff working locations and health status across all branches and regions, the bank was able to ensure employee safety as well as business continuity.

Of course, this highlights a more physical health perspective, but it accentuates how data can be used to build a greater understanding of how employees are doing. This lends itself to establishing or extending health and wellbeing initiatives, or even simply, opening conversations.

Goal setting in a pandemic

We’ve also found that during the last two years it’s been easier to lose track of goals.

Also Read: A continuous learning culture is essential to effective teamwork and management

At Cloudera we’ve become much better at setting and tracking both personal and shared business goals. We’ll talk to our people and ask them what their plans are for the future, where they want to be in the coming year or two and what matters to them in their work.

We can then align this to the broader business goals to empower our workforce. Goal setting is one way we deliberately build gratitude and a sense of service within the team and have that human touch and conversation.

At Cloudera we’re also big on leading by example. Acknowledging failure is not a core part of many Asian cultures, so as a leader in the APAC region, it’s important to recognise failure and learnings in an honest way and create a safe place to do so, especially when encouraging innovation.

Another example is committing to ‘unplugged days’ where my fellow managers and I leave our computers and phones off to take time for ourselves.

We actively encourage our team to do the same. Within our leadership team, we’re always focused on exhibiting empathy, curiosity, trust and vulnerability to create a powerful reference point for our teams.

In conclusion

With more people experiencing personal hardship, mental health issues, ambiguity and reconsidering their life, this year requires more leaders to step up and become a mentor, guides and inspirations to those around them.

We do this by being honest and vulnerable ourselves and living core qualities and soft skills through key touchpoints. We will be able to move through this time and engage in growth and innovation by putting people first and being delighted by the rich rewards.

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Heartbreak Bear, a Singapore-based NFT (Non-Fungible Token) project by Revelation Marketing Group, recently announced the launch of its second season after selling out its genesis mint in just three hours.

Featuring its Gen 2 3D NFTs, the second season artworks were minted originally at 0.03 ETH with a limited supply of 1,888 HBBs. In a press statement, the project stated that its floor price has steadily risen to 0.074 ETH since its inception in October 2021. The total supply for Season 2’s NFTs will be limited to 7,089 3D Heartbreak Bears.

Season 2 holders will also gain priority access to more real-world utilities such as collectible figurines and customised merchandise.

Led by Ming Shuang Tan and Eugene Lim of Revelation Marketing Group, Heartbreak Break is a project that aims to provide artists with an avenue to showcase their craft and be acknowledged for their work in the digital space. The project described itself as “drawing parallels to the marginalised in the community” with an art concept that involves “strong imagery with some pop culture references to represent individuals battered down in society.”

Members of Heartbreak Bear communicate through an invite-only Discord group where they can access project development updates, upcoming collaborations, whitelists, Alpha information and many other exclusive benefits

“The existing OG community was small but extremely tight knitted. Daily nights of voice chat within Discord, meet-ups in real life, learning about crypto and NFT trading were just some of the many engagements that still exist till this day,” Tan says.

“After observing the (Crypto/NFT) space for some time we noticed that in order for Heartbreak Bear to progress and achieve more to benefit the holders of our NFT, we needed to treat Heartbreak Bear as a brand instead of a project. This is why we are constantly innovating ideas to bring real-world utility to our holders.”

Also Read: Demystifying NFTs and DeFi

In this interview, Tan shares to e27 the secrets behind growing a strong community to support an NFT project.

Starting with the bear necessities

The history of Heartbreak Bear began when Tan and Lim began to get drawn into the NFT space in 2021. By the time, there was great scepticism about the concept with many of their friends suspecting NFTs to be a scam. But both Tan and Lim have a strong belief in the idea, so they started Heartbreak Bear as a closed community to help Singaporeans learn about NFTs and how it works through a community

The idea of Heartbreak Bear itself came from one of their staff in the media production company.

“When we thought about what to draw, she said she wanted a cute bear from the Minion movie. It being a teddy bear kinda fit our cause of supporting mental health because when we relate to teddy bears, we thought about them being abandoned after the child grows up,” she explains.

Tan goes on to explain how every bear started out with “their hearts filled to the brim” with love and compassion, but then they have to go through many difficult and dark things.

“Heartbreak Bear was a representation of people who felt abandoned and neglected, and we wanted to be an all-inclusive community that was also the voice for the people who were bullied or left out in real life,” she stresses.

When asked about the strategy that they use to market this project, Tan says that marketing in the NFT world is “super different” from marketing in the real world. While the conventional marketing strategy might involve the use of social media influencers and SEO, the team soon discovered that this was not the case for their NFT project.

A lot of people accused the project of being a scam, but that was how they realised that marketing an NFT project and other products are “two separate entities.”

Also Read: To infinity and beyond: Why 2022 will be the year of Web3

“We wanted to engage people who were at least into NFT and crypto and not just any random influencer, but the pool was so small, maybe five to six people. In this small pool, even the celebrities and marketing agencies didn’t dare to take on any NFT promotion because of legality issues they were afraid of. We also had an influencer who shouted out for us on his own when he found the product interesting … but other influencers started saying that it was irresponsible for influencers to share about NFTs just because they like the project,” Tan elaborates.

“We wanted to go global but every time the Western communities came in, they felt they could not fit in with the time difference and local slangs. So it was hard, and we decided to stop marketing in the real world.”

Luckily, they finally found something that works.

“Now, the strategy is to grow more connections through collaborations and holding AMAs with other projects, where we are able to bring all the NFT communities together and grow together. In the NFT space, if you’re only going to run your project and ignore everyone, it’s going to be a lonely journey. So, why not grow and support other legitimate projects together! From there we caught the attention of several alpha groups that loved what we were doing and gave us their full support, and that was how we managed to gain more traction and sell out during our mint,” Tan continues.

This is why Tan believes that in NFTs, the community is everything.

“In the NFT space, a little FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt) can easily cause a whole project to fail. Our community trusted us and supported us even through difficult times, and we had almost zero FUD, [even] when anyone even tried [to do so],” she stresses.

NFTs for tomorrow

When asked about the prospect of NFTs in Southeast Asia (SEA), Tan says that it is “definitely expanding”.

“We know of projects that are even planning and holding NFT exhibitions across SEA countries … it is something that is here to stay and it will thrive in the near future. I cannot 100 per cent say that it will take over FIAT, but from what I see, there is still so much potential and opportunities to bridge NFT and the real world together,” she explains. “I would say, even though the OG stages of NFTs have passed, it’s [still] not too late.”

Also Read: You’re not really diversifying your investments by buying altcoins

As a woman in the NFT space, Tan admits that the space used to be extremely male-dominated, but the good news is that more and more women are joining the space. For women interested in giving NFTs a try, she advises them to never feel as if they are not equal.

In line with the community spirit of NFT, she also put emphasis on the importance of helping and supporting each other.

“Recently when one of our friend’s projects –Soulz– has some issue with their contract, we jumped in and shared our resources and developer to help save the entire contract from failing. Of course … the rest is up to them, but in the NFT space, always be kind and always help others since you already know how hard is it to run an NFT project,” Tan says. “It doesn’t hurt to be nice and we will never paint other projects in a bad light because it has happened to us before –and we never want anyone to feel that way ever. Unless it’s a scam then … we will alert our members.”

Lastly, she would like to remind women to not be intimidated –especially since most people in the community are willing to help.

“If you’re a female trying to start a project, go for it. But you also have to know the commitments behind it. Never give up and know that it’s okay to ask for help.”

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Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

Image Credit: Heartbreak Bear

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Indonesia’s FinAccel, which runs the buy now pay later (BNPL) platform Kredivo, and VPC Impact Acquisition Holdings II, a publicly traded special purpose acquisition company in the US, have terminated their merger agreement announced earlier.

The termination comes on the backdrop of the volatility in the US market, “triggered mostly by geopolitical tensions and rate-hike concerns”, as per a Reuters report.

The merger between FinAccel and VPC was first announced in August 2021.

Gordon Watson, Co-CEO of VPCB and Partner at VPC, said: “Unfortunately, unfavourable public market conditions and process delays outside of our and Kredivo’s control have affected our transaction timeline. They made it infeasible to close the transaction under the terms of the business combination agreement.”

Following the mutual decision, VPC is leading a US$145 million investment in FinAccel. VPC had earlier provided a US$100 million credit facility to FinAccel in July 2020 and injected another US$100 million a year later. FinAccel is also backed by Mirae Asset, Naver, Square Peg Capital, MDI Ventures, and Jungle Ventures.

VPCB is now considering future options, including seeking an alternative business combination. In the event of a VPCB liquidation, Kredivo will allow the SPAC to acquire a stake equal to 3.5 per cent of the fully diluted equity securities of the fintech firm.

Also Read: FinAccel names Akshay Garg as new group CEO, Umang Rustagi as CEO of Kredivo

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in Chicago, VPC invests in large companies as well as emerging business segments in various industries in the US and the world, which often lack access to traditional sources of capital.

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Watching  NFTs break into the mainstream last year, I’ve pretty much been able to create a scorecard that gives me a good idea of whether a project will succeed or not.

Of course, only time will tell because it’s not exactly foolproof. But it’s helped filter out which projects to keep my eye on for my mental health, especially with hundreds of minting every week. 

The term derivative may not be such a bad word in this industry, but sometimes when I review a new project’s roadmap or whitepaper,  I catch myself  saying, “I’ve seen this before.” 

Sadly, after some time, the space can become monotonous. And then, of course, there’s also the speculation, rug pulls and scams. Sometimes you need to step away from it all. 

After all the shilling is said and done, could there be an NFT project that’s downright good for the soul?

I say yes. As a more diverse crowd enters the space, I’ve witnessed exciting projects that tell me that we’ve only seen the beginning of what NFTs can do.

Shifting away from art to phygital impact

Rather than artists being the centre of a project, I’ve seen founders use the most basic artwork as a key to unlock valuable utility.

OddFutur3, for example, attaches the following benefits to their 200 wordart-esque access token GIFs: exclusive community, minter and collector tools, VIP whitelists, membership to a DAO, IRL meetups and experiences, early content, and much more.

This opens up the possibilities for creators to focus on developing sustainable business models similar to that of Web2 social enterprises. 

On February 27, 2022, CryptoKittens, Sussy Sharks, Chillin Chameleons, Honey Bee Club, Ocean Bandits, and Cyclo Turtles organised #NFTCLEANUPDAY. Their respective communities banded together to do a beach cleanup at the Santa Monica Pier.

While assets, the NFT, may be digital, the reach may be more tangible and lasting, straddling both Metaverse and the physical world as we know it. 

In their mechanics, even those who couldn’t join physically had a way to enter the contest, blurring the physical and digital lines.

To me, that’s exactly what the Metaverse is, not just the platforms we know of. It’s an inclusive community coming together in a virtual space interacting in increasingly immersive ways.

Creators combine lessons and concepts learnt from previous PFP (profile picture ) projects like gamification, community involvement, and merchandise giveaways and apply them to sustainable development goal problems.

Also Read: Making sound NFT bets: Think before you mint; ruminate before you ape

In effect, they’re hacking the theory of cultural change with NFTs by making it possible, easy, normative, and rewarding to do good.

Cool collective capital

In the Web2 space, the common route startups and social enterprises would follow pursuing venture capital or incubation programmes. They would have to perfect their pitches to secure make-or-break funding. NFTs have changed the game by democratising how capital is secured. 

If you think about it, minting is essentially a fundraising exercise, where the stakes aren’t as high for both founders and investors. To quote the tagline of one project, Not Essential, “Individuals cannot do much, but individuals together can do a lot.”

For illustration purposes, let’s consider the Luckies project by OddFutur3. A successful mint will raise 789.25 Eth or US$21,167,471.75 as of writing, less marketing costs, of course. This gives a pretty lengthy runway to execute on their roadmap, aiming to promote Asian culture from the perspective of second-generation immigrants in North America. 

Imagine what it would take to do that using Web2 methodologies. 

In Web3, fundraising in this manner empowers the community in two very specific ways.

It gives individuals the ability to earn like an angel investor with the minimal resources they may have.

Secondly, unlike pitching to a VC, the business model is not fully fleshed out. The community is highly involved in deciding the direction of a project. Decisions are made together, which tells me that more nuanced solutions can be created.

In light of recent events, we’ve seen how certain projects are using their clout to raise funds yet again for social good.

Jungle Freaks is raffling off 1 Genesis Jungle Freak, 5 “Allow List” spots each for JFMC and Fallout Freak to those who donate to the United Help Ukraine charity. Andrew Wang and other NFT influencers aren’t sitting this one out either.

They launched RELI3F, where 100 per cent of the funds from the primary sale will go towards relief efforts, and royalties from secondary sales will go back to the 27 Ukrainian artists in the collective. 

Business savvy for creating value

However, what is common between Web2 and Web3 funding is the importance of the founding team and their ability to deliver on their promises.

Call it really good marketing, but time and time again, I’ve seen projects that are super hyped up until mint.

Also Read: How indigenous artists could preserve their own culture with NFT

After which, the project fizzles out. I’m of the opinion that great projects that deliver value to their community will always be a success. Floor prices should be indicative of the confidence in that value. Concretely, Zoofrenz, for example, currently averages at about 0.55E, holding steady one month after minting.

I don’t think the jump from its initial price of 0.15E would be the case if it weren’t for Zombot Studios, a game art agency behind the project.

When they say they will deliver a game as part of the roadmap, we can rest easy that they can make it happen.

For OddFutur3, which helps offline businesses go online, their deep expertise in knowing their client’s customers enables them to build meaningful Web3 solutions.

OddFutur3’s founders have been behind generating billions of dollars in value for their businesses and that of their clientele. I’d be wary of projects that don’t have a strong founding team, especially when they’re entrusted with that much funding, decentralised or not.

Final thoughts

It may be only a matter of time for the bubble to burst on PFP projects or even collectibles.

For me, however, I’m still extremely bullish. We’ve yet to explore what NFTs can do, and the positive impact Web3 projects can have on the world.

If you’re a creator wanting to enter the Web3 space, my advice is to make social good your jumping point. Ask yourself the question,s “What would you do to make the world a better place?”

And then find a community that shares your why.

If you’re an investor, consider projects that go beyond the collectible use case. Find projects that have utility impacting real lives phygitally.

In this fast-paced world of NFTs,  it may be in projects that promote social good that you find what you’re looking for beyond the next 10x return.

I’ve always believed that there is a demand for good, and there will never be an oversupply. That is something you cannot hype.

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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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Lack of climate change education, governmental support and entrepreneurial culture contribute to the shortage of climate tech companies in Southeast Asia, said Tien Nguyen, General Partner of Earth Venture Capital.

However, with the growing awareness and initiatives in the region, it is just a matter of time before highly qualified climate tech startups emerged in various sub-sectors of climate tech.

“Entrepreneurship and venture investment develop through the history of economy, education and culture. Southeast Asia needs more time to improve startup quality and attract more relevant capital,” he said. “The region, however, has possessed the potential of a large and young population, a growing source of tech talents and a supportive government in terms of climate change.

Founded by Tien Nguyen and Linh Nguyen (not related), Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam-based Earth Venture is a VC fund investing in early-stage digital solutions tackling climate change. The debut fund — closed a few days ago — seeks to support pre-seed to Series A-stage companies with a potential to expand globally.

The VC firm invests in startups in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Big Data, computer vision, and the Internet of Things that serve the goals of switching to renewable energy, abandoning fuel and diesel and planting more trees.

Also Read: There’s a mismatch of investment and entrepreneur focus in SEA’s climate tech: Steve Melhuish

Fund I aims to back 10-12 startups, with ticket sizes ranging from US$500,000 to US$3 million. Earth Venture Capital’s LPs include unnamed global institutional investors with a strong focus on climate change.

According to Tien Nguyen, the Vietnamese ecosystem has excellent potential, but it is still nascent and investing in the country is risky. It, therefore, applies a venture studio model in the market.

Earth Venture Studio is an institutional co-founder that invests and works closely with local startups — from ideation to the product-market-fit — in a scientifically systematic entrepreneurial sequence. After a year in the studio, the best startup will receive investment from the VC firm.

As founding investors, we co-build Earth startups, and we stick around for the entire mission, including the pre-and post-launch phases. We help turn an idea into a product, see it in action, and launch it for the world to experience it,” he said, sharing the details.

The VC firm also runs Earth Venture Foundation. This not-for-profit unit provides grants and sponsorship to academic and scientific initiatives/research/inventions that add value to the climate change preventing battle.

Tien Nguyen stressed that climate change is a global issue that needs to be addressed on a global scale. “There should be more education about climate change and entrepreneurship to develop more feasible initiatives in the cleantech industries. More capital commitment and involvement are needed from governments, think tanks and institutions to empower innovative entrepreneurship. Besides, the partnership with global organisations for climate change initiatives and ideas sharing is also an essential factor for Southeast Asia to keep up with the world trends.

“Our region is severely affected by climate change. Our startups, therefore, have an opportunity to test their products right on the battlefield with real issues. The complex consequence of climate change pushes our communities to react faster and more critically. The advantages that may differentiate Southeast Asia from the rest of the world are the outstanding talent in the region and the lessons we can learn from the mistakes of other regions in terms of climate tech,” he concluded.

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On Friday, February 18^th, Singapore announced that it was raising its carbon tax rate from SG$5 per tonne of emissions to SG$25 per tonne by 2024 and eventually between SG$50 and SG$80 by 2030.

This represents a significant step forward, giving climate impact a tangible cost and forcing companies and consumers to reflect upon and fiscally compensate for their carbon footprint.

A recent report by PwC and World Economic Forum (WEF) shows that an internationally agreed minimum carbon price could cut emissions by 12 per cent with little cost to economies.

But despite this, if we are to have a chance of reaching net-zero by 2030, companies cannot simply wait for the government to impose penalties from above, but rather must make proactive choices themselves, not simply reducing but also working to offset their carbon emissions.

The logic behind this is simple. Recent research suggests that humans have already emitted around 2500 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide since 1850, burning through over 86 per cent of the allotted carbon budget needed to stay under the 1.5C of warming pledged under the Paris Agreement.

While a carbon tax might encourage companies to make greener choices, adopting new technologies or swapping fuels, simply reducing emissions without offsetting them is unlikely to do enough to salvage the carbon budget.

Not only this but lauding a carbon tax as the pinnacle point in the effort to redress climate change brings with it the concomitant risk that businesses will simply pay their carbon tax and be done, investing no further money in green initiatives or actions.

Creating a carbon trading centre

The fact that Singapore is reported to be considering buying carbon credits and allowing businesses to buy international carbon credits to offset up to 5 per cent of their taxable emissions from 2024, is further evidence of the increasing recognition that reaching net-zero will require a dependency on alternatives other than a carbon tax.

Singapore is moving in the right direction with such initiatives, priming itself to become a centre for carbon trading.

Also Read: 13 cleantech startups to watch in Asia

Under the “Green Economy” pillar of the Green Plan, the creation of a carbon trading and services hub will encompass “green finance, sustainability, verification, credits trading and risk management.”

Singapore has established itself as a global leader in efforts to create a “carbon economy” and the introduction of a carbon tax in 2019 is evidence of this.

However, it is crucial that corporations do not see a carbon tax as a reason to deny taking proactive action. A carbon tax is not the final solution, but a positive first step.

This is why solutions like our Carbon Neutrality Token (CNT) are key in addressing the urgent climate crisis.

Not only do we currently provide the only platform that facilitates international carbon credits trading, but our CNT also allows access to authenticated carbon credits, which enables companies to actively go above and beyond balancing out their carbon emissions and thus solidify their commitment to salvaging the environment.

We know that as carbon offsetting becomes increasingly key in the fight against climate change, and as regulation tightens around such schemes, it is important for institutional investors to have absolute confidence in the quality of the exchange they choose.

MetaVerse Green Exchange’s CNT token solves the problem of ‘double-counting’ in the voluntary carbon markets by preventing the carbon emission reduction from being counted as part of the Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC) in both the host country as well as the carbon credit investor’s country.

Investors can thus be sure that their efforts are legitimate, protected against charges of ‘green-washing’, and that the carbon credits they purchase are of high-quality, therefore ensuring carbon reduction integrity.

While a carbon tax represents a positive first step in the fight against climate change, reaching our net-zero target as soon as possible will require us to not simply reduce but also offset our emissions. We encourage companies to affirm the MVGX mission and start making a proactive effort today.

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Indonesia’s long-stay rental provider Rukita has announced the official acquisition of Infokost.id, a local search site for boarding houses.

The deal size has not been disclosed.

Infokost.id was owned by GDP Venture, a Djarum Group financing company. In December 2020, GDP Venture announced the closure and termination of Infokost’s operations. Rukita then took it over and revitalised the business with a series of innovations. Currently, Infokost.id offers one million rooms on its property listing platform and serves 50,000 property owners.

Consumers who want to find a boarding house can go to the Infokost site and register using their mobile phone number. Then, consumers can search and instantly make reservations at properties on its verified list by filling out the form and directly connecting with the Infokost.id team, which will forward the request to the property owner.

Also Read: How Rukita turned the pandemic into an opportunity to grow its co-living business

At the same time, boarding house owners who want to partner with Infokost.id can register their properties at Infokost.id.

“With this acquisition, we can serve more consumers and property owners across Indonesia through Infokost.id. This is one of several Rukita business expansions planned for 2022,” said Xu-Zonne Ho, Co-Founder and CTO of Rukita.

A Sequoia Surge startup, Rukita seeks to provide a hassle-free living experience for residents and property owners. The firm said in a press release that it won a total of 13 million website users since its first launch in mid-2019.

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In 2021, startups in the Philippines raised a total of US$1.03 billion in funding which is a significant increase from the 2020 number of US$369 million, according to a report released by Foxmont Capital Partners and Boston Consulting Group.

Related to funding in the startup ecosystem, the report further detailed that from 2019 to 2021, the Philippine startup ecosystem has grown in both deal value and volume. Within the first half of the year, startups in the country raised US$437.5 million. It dubbed 2021 as a “watershed year” with total deals hitting a record of 92 and numerous startups getting into Series A, B, and C.

The report also stated that fintech, as well as media and entertainment, exhibited the largest funding growth in 2021. The number for the fintech vertical was primarily driven by the funding rounds raised by Mynt (which emerged as the country’s first double unicorn with their latest raise) while the media and entertainment vertical were driven by Kumu.

Also Read: Meet the 22 notable startups that have brightened up the Filipino tech ecosystem

The following is a list of the top five verticals that have secured funding in the Philippines in 2021:

For the e-commerce vertical, there is a 77 per cent increase in online shopping growth from 2020 to 2021 –the COVID-19 pandemic and related safety measures certainly contributed to this number. The Department of Trade and Industry even expects the e-commerce vertical to contribute US$17 billion to the domestic economy in 2021 and US$24 billion in the succeeding year.

Food and beverage (F&B) tech are also another vertical that was accelerated by the prolonged stay-at-home; the total value of the online food delivery market reached US$247.2 million.

What is next for startups in the Philippines

In this report, Foxmont Capital Partners also noted the progress that startups in the Philippines have made in 2022. Within the first two months of 2022, funds raised by local startups reached US$310 million, outpacing the same period in the last two years.

This indicated a “clear sign of continuous growth” in the ecosystem, according to the VC firm.

It is also seen as a sign that the ecosystem has begun to show signs of maturity with six out of eight deals in 2022 being Series B and C deals.

Also Read: A horse of another: Here’s the complete list of Southeast Asia’s 28 unicorns

The country has also become increasingly popular as a startup hub.

According to Foxmont Capital Partners in a press statement, the 2022 Philippine Venture Capital report was created as an avenue to foster the ethos of collaboration between key players in the local startup landscape.

Established in 2018, Foxmont Capital Partners described itself as the Philippines’ only independent, country-focused venture capital fund that invests in scalable startups in rapidly digitizing areas. The firm has announced over 26 investments thus far, with recent additions to its portfolio being social commerce platform SariSuki, export enabler 1Export, digital ledger and point-of-sales app Peddlr.

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