Going by the tremendous amount of activities in — and the capital flowing into — the sector, it is clear that Web3 is no longer a fad. It is, in fact, the present and the future!

From multinationals to young startups, everyone is jumping on the Web3 and metaverse bandwagon. Facebook (Meta) has already announced its arrival. Spotify, Twitter, Alphabet, Amazon, Tesla, and Shopify have either started or are planning to adopt it shortly. 

The popularity of metaverse games has added to this excitement. Vietnamese unicorn Sky Mavis is killing it in Southeast Asia with its popular play-to-earn game Axie Infinity. The company grew to a billion-dollar company in the blink of an eye. 

New Web3 companies and games sprout almost every day. Across Greater Southeast Asia, there are over a hundred startups operating in various verticals — asset management, NFT, DAO, infrastructure, DeFi, mining, exchange, gaming, and wallet. The names include YGG, Sipher, and GuildFi, which have earned their respective places in the Web3 world. We have also seen various initiatives by organisations that aim to promote the use of this technology to the wider public, especially those who have never been exposed to it, such as the community of local artists.

Taking a leaf out of the success of these ventures and projects, startups operating in other non-related areas have also started joining the Web3 race.

For instance, Singapore’s ride-hailing company Ryde recently announced its entry into the NFTs space. We have also started seeing more innovative use cases for NFTs as organisations have begun to utilise them to fundraise for various causes –including a war fund.

As traditional investors start giving more attention to the space, we also see the rise of Web3-focussed investors, such as Binance Labs, Cake DeFi and Luno Expeditions.

Also Read: ‘I have seen the future, and it works.’ But is it Web3?

All this points to a growing euphoria around the web3 world.

As Web3 started proliferating sometime last year, we at e27 determined to make the most of it — not by introducing our own NFTs/collectibles/digital merchandise (although we don’t dismiss the possibilities) but by extensively covering the space.

The foundation stone was laid in Q1 2022; we gave coverage to many great startups and entrepreneurs and spoke to some of the brightest minds in the vertical, such as Animoca Brands’s Yat Siu.

It is now time for us to build on this foundation. We will continue to cover new Web3 companies and projects throughout this quarter. We have interviews lined up with security experts in the cryptocurrency space and plan to introduce and profile some of the most active investors in the space. 

We want our readers to be part of this journey; you can suggest what you think are the best companies in the domain. We will consider them for publication.

Watch this space, and stay tuned.

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The year 2021 was a truly transformative one for the mobile app industry. In light of multiple lockdowns, as well as wholesale privacy changes affecting user acquisition on iOS, consumer habits and user behaviour patterns have undergone immense change and impressive growth. But how have these challenges affected the app marketing ecosystem?

Mobile app trends 2022 report from Adjust provides expert industry analysis of the global and regional developments of the mobile marketing economy over the past year. Using data from the top 2,500 apps, the report sheds light on top trends and benchmarks across fintech, e-commerce, and gaming verticals, equipping advertisers with actionable insights to drive app growth in 2022.

Also read: Massive gains for global startups in China’s robust market

The report analyses trends in installs, sessions, ATT opt-in rates, retention, re-attribution, and more to help you better understand your audience and the current state of the app economy. Adjust’s report reveals impressive growth across key metrics, showing that highly engaged users are coming in droves.

Along with massive improvements, the analysis also shines a spotlight on a somewhat lagging retention performance, emphasising the importance of ensuring that the same attention is paid to retention and LTV as it is to UA. 

Key findings from the report

Also read: 6 fintech startups you should keep an eye out for

Some of the important findings revealed based on the report are:

• Installs grew year-on-year in 2021 in all verticals and regions tracked, with fintech up by 35%, e-commerce by 12%, and gaming by 32%. 
• Stock trading and crypto apps grew significantly and have highly engaged user bases. While they make up 7% and 2% of all fintech app installs, respectively, they account for 17% and 6% of sessions. 
• Hyper casual games make up the highest share of installs within the gaming vertical (27%), but it’s an action that accounts for the largest proportion of sessions (30%). 
• Marketplace apps have significantly better retention rates than the averages for the rest of the e-commerce vertical (day 1 27% vs. 19% and day 30 10% vs. 7).
• Fintech, e-commerce, and gaming all had their highest in-app revenue months on record in 2021, according to Adjust data. 

For a complete analysis into the app marketing industry, download Mobile app trends 2022: A global benchmark of app performance.

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

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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Celebrities, from Hollywood actors to top musicians are embracing NFTs right now as the next big thing to connect with fans and take back control from industry moguls.

Grabbing the attention of social media recently on US TV ‘Tonight Show’ clip of Paris Hilton and Jimmy Fallon discussing their Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs, joining other celebs including Reese Witherspoon to musician Eminem who’ve taken a shine to NFTs.

Certainly, NFTs seem to be gaining traction and possibly altering the music industry. After famous rapper Snoop Dogg recently bought Death Row Records to turn it into an NFT label, the musician underlined this point about their disruptive power, “If anything is constant, it’s that the music industry will always be changing. Blockchain tech has the power to change everything again and tip the table in favour of the artists and the fans.”

But there’s also controversy about how aspects of the current boom in NFT sales from leading figures within the crypto community. Last week in Time magazine Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin focused his wrath on the Bored Ape Yacht Club NFTs. Rather than his vision of Ethereum as the launchpad for everything from a fairer voting system to urban planning, he’s worried it’s become a plaything of the celeb obsessed world.

“The peril is you have these US$3 million monkeys, and it becomes a different kind of gambling,” he told Time. “One silver lining of the situation in the last three weeks is that it has reminded a lot of people in the crypto space that ultimately the goal of crypto is not to play games with million-dollar pictures of monkeys, it’s to do things that accomplish meaningful effects in the real world,” Buterin added.

From a creative perspective, what do NFTs bring to the world of artists and fans, that’s about establishing a real connection, that does deliver those “meaningful effects”?

The growth of NFTs

The news in late 2021 that Coinbase is entering the NFT market added further momentum, coupled with FTX launching a Solana-based NFT marketplace.

While the current dominant NFT marketplace OpenSea has seen up to 80,000 transactions a day its browser-based wallet is not super easy to use at times, and there have been security issues that have put people off.

Also Read: How are NFTs contributing in creating a social impact?

That said in August 2021, OpenSea exceeded US$1 billion in gross market volume year-to-date for the first time. By late 2021, it had grown so much that it processed US$3.2 billion in volume in the month of December alone.

In 2022 competition for the NFT market hotted up when LooksRare launched, offering their minted platform tokens, $LOOKS, as airdrops to OpenSea users based on their spending on the platform.

Certainly, the Coinbase emphasis on usability, from initial minting to the discovery of new and exciting NFTs, is a sign of the growing accessibility of the NFT market.

And following Twitter’s rollout of profile NFTs, TikTok launched its first creator-led NFT collection, TikTok Top Moments, further underlining the power of the NFT market and the role of celebs including the likes of Lil Nas X through to Gary Vaynerchuk.

In another sign of the demand world’s most famous sports brand, Nike applied for a series of NFT trademark applications in November and followed it up with a collaboration with Roblox to create Nikeland, an online world, and the acquisition of virtual sneaker company RTFKT.

How are NFTs transforming the music industry in 2022?

Due to the growing popularity of NFTs, the emergence of decentralised streaming services such as Audius is gaining traction. Several musicians, including Deadmau5, Weezer, Linkin Park’s Mike Shinoda, and 3LAU have chosen to collaborate and contribute to the Audius music platform.

The growing number of musical artists who have joined the platforms shows the potential of NFTs in the music industry. 3LAU, an electronic music producer, issued the world’s first tokenized record album, raking in more than US$3.6 million, which was a collection of NFTs representing his best-selling album, with just 33 made.

In addition, Shakira recently collaborated with BossLogic to release her own NFT. This shows that NFTs in the music industry go way beyond music, which signifies where the music industry is headed.

Shortly after acquiring the Death Row record label, famous rapper Snoop Dogg released his latest album Bacc on Death Row (BODR) as a stash box of NFTs. Each of the 25,000 stash boxes costs US$5000. Each stash box includes 17 NFTs, one for each track on the album; collecting all 17 NFTs would entitle fans to benefits from the Rapper, like the opportunity to party at Snoop’s LA mansion.

In a recent interview, the rapper said, “Death Row will be an NFT label, we will be putting out artists through the metaverse […] Just like when we broke the industry when we were the first independent [record label] to be major, I want to be the first major in the metaverse.”

As more celebrities and artists resort to NFTs, digital collectibles are becoming a significant money source for musicians, particularly as the world recovers from a global pandemic.

To tackle the subject in more depth BigONE talked with Australia-based Dalton Grant, head of staff at Animal Concerts, which specializes in metaverse-based concerts, designing and minting NFTs, and working with artists recently including Busta Rhymes, Alicia Keys and Snoop Dogg.

Grant said that previously artists ended up with a small slice of the sales revenue, with the majority going to their record label.

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

With NFTs the biggest difference is that artists can not only create their own music but also release it directly to fans, bypassing major record labels, he said, “For the fans, this allows them direct contact with actual artists, which gives them a unique piece of their favourite artists, which creates a unique connection with the actual artist. For artists using a metaverse platform they can have an audience of two or three million, with artists from both Japan and New York.”

The last concert for Alicia Keys in Miami was also recorded in 3D to allow streaming in the metaverse, Grant added.

What are the risks for artists and fans?

The ever threat of scams and market manipulation has been with crypto from the start so it’s worth considering how this may impact the relationship between artists and fans, as NFTs are increasingly part of the relationship, the emotional bonding process if you like!

The subject got a pretty got going over on The Atlantic article from Amanda Mull ‘Celebrities and NFTs Are a Match Made in Hell’ which looked at the downside to celebrity endorsement. “Whether the technology itself will have more useful applications in the future is presently unclear. This is all speculative for now, in several senses of the word.”

While CoinDesk described the recent flutter of celebrity NFT activity and its questionable motivations as “perverse deal-making.”

Grant agreed it is important for celebrities, from Hollywood celebrities to sports stars, to take care to honour their fans, not merely pocket the money from NFT projects, “I heard about a story the other day of a footballer who ran off with fan’s money without delivering anything, and to be frank I think that’s really disgusting. If everyone is to benefit, and you do the right thing, and that community is supported by supporting you, then having integrity is very important and it is important to create something that lasts.”

Certainly, the recent headline that porn star Lana Rhoades has made off with US$1.5 million in an apparent NFT scam, after complaining about her “negative and rude” community is the mirror opposite of the kind of integrity required to sustain a viable NFT marketplace.

Another worry has been the recent US$320 monster hack of Wormhole, the bridge between Ethereum and Solana, which allows for cheaper minting of NFTs than using Ethereum directly. There’s also been controversy over the legal battle involving CryptoPunks, sparked by an issue with the original version of the code.

Clearly, with such innovative technology, there are going to be some mistakes made along the way so it’s good to hear of solutions helping creatives make good use of NFTs. One neat solution to the threat posed by bridging hacks to NFT transactions was unveiled last month by Ethereum-based platform Harmony, with a Bored Ape Yacht Club Passport.

The advantage of their bridge solution is that it does not move assets, instead, it confirms the asset ownership, and it enables artists and creators, put off from participating due to high gas fees to mint and collect NFTs as a result.

An exciting future for NFTs

When you think about it, it makes sense that NFTs will disrupt the existing trajectory of the music industry through personalisation and deeper connections. Joining the expert discussion Ben Appleby, founder of The Cake, said he looked back to the musician Prince, who changed his name to get closer to his fans and to distance himself from the record company.

Also Read: NFTs for fundraising: What you need to know before jumping on the bandwagon

“Now with financial freedom and blockchain and Bitcoin that removes those middlemen allowed financial freedom to do things with money that they hadn’t been able to do before because of these third-party counterparties. The artists are free to connect with audiences. They can sell and auction their own art in their own way. They don’t have to compromise on what they’re doing and the messages that are out there.”

BigONE Chairman, Anndy Lian said, “It’s important to honour the relationship between fans and celebrities if NFTs are going to make a real contribution to both. What I think we’ll increasingly see is the use of NFTs to build closer relationships between top fans and celebrities.”

Lian added, “Celebrities must choose the right channels to distribute their NFT IPs. For example, I think Mike Tyson’s NFT launch on Binance NFT Marketplace is a good choice. Redbull’s F1 Team signed with Bybit NFT Marketplace is also a good choice. This technology allows this kind of engagement to happen both at scale, across global communities, and at a very individual granular level, which I believe is exciting. We are just getting warmed up.”

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The Singapore Budget is prepared by the Singapore government for each financial year commencing on the first of April and ending on 31 March the following year. It includes the revised government revenue and expenditure projections for the current financial year, as well as the planned government revenue and expenditure for the upcoming financial year.

The latest Singapore Budget (Budget 2022) was released on 18 February 2022. It is relevant to businesses looking for financial support from the Singapore government, particularly in a post-pandemic world, and affects other aspects of doing business in Singapore including employment and tax regimes.

This article summarises the key takeaways from Budget 2022 applicable to businesses in Singapore. The information in this article is provided as of the date of publication for general information only and does not constitute legal advice.

Enhanced financial support

• Jobs and Business Support Package (JBSP)

JBSP supports businesses in slow-recovering sectors most affected by the COVID-19 safe management measures in 2021, namely food and beverage, hawker centres, markets, coffee shops, food courts and canteens, retail, performing arts and arts education, sports, cinema operators, museums, art galleries and historical sites, indoor playgrounds and other family entertainment centres, and tourism, hospitality, conventions and exhibitions (eligible sectors).

JBSP comprises the following:

• Small Business Recovery Grant (SBRG)

• SG$1,000 one-off payout to eligible firms for each Singapore citizen or permanent resident (“local”) employee with mandatory Central Provident Fund (“CPF”) contributions from 1 November 2021 to 31 December 2021, up to a cap of S$10,000 per firm.
• SG$1,000 one-off payout to sole proprietorships and partnerships that do not hire local employees and are run by at least one local registered business owner who earns a net trade income of no more than S$100,000 filed with the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (“IRAS”) in the year of assessment 2021 by 31 December 2021.

To qualify for SBRG, the firm must be a live business entity in one of the Eligible Sectors physically present in Singapore and registered with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority of Singapore (ACRA) by 31 December 2021 as at the point of payout, and either have an annual operating revenue less than SG$100 million filed with IRAS in the year of assessment 2021 by 31 December 2021, or employ fewer than 200 employees as of 31 December 2021. The firm must also meet any additional criteria applicable to each Eligible Sector, such as having valid licences to operate.

• Jobs Growth Incentive (JGI)

JGI was introduced in August 2020 to encourage local hiring by providing salary support to employers for new local hires during qualifying phases, the latest phase being new local hires from October 2021 to March 2022 (Phase three) which currently provides the following payouts:

• For local workers aged below 40: up to 15 per cent of the first SG$5,000 of gross monthly wages for six months.
• For local workers aged 40 and above (mature workers) or local workers who have disabilities or are ex-offenders (vulnerable workers): up to 50 per cent of the first SG$6,000 of gross monthly wages for 12 months.

Budget 2022 extends JGI by six months to September 2022, but only for new local hires from April 2022 to September 2022 (Phase four) who are mature workers that have been unemployed for at least six months or vulnerable workers.

For such new local hires, JGI will provide payouts of up to 40 per cent of the first SG$6,000 of gross monthly wages for the first six months and up to 20 per cent of the first SG$6,000 of gross monthly wages for the next six months.

Also Read: Why Singapore’s traditional sectors need a digital makeover

To qualify for JGI, there must be an increase in overall local workforce size, as well as an increase in local workforce size earning at least S$1,400 per month, compared to September 2021 local workforce (for Phase three) and March 2022 local workforce (for Phase four), i.e. the baseline headcount.

The employer should also be established by 23 September 2021 (for Phase three) and 17 February 2022 (for Phase four), and should remain eligible throughout the relevant payout period in order to receive support for the full duration.

The JGI payout will be adjusted downwards if any existing local workers (in the employer’s employ as at the baseline headcount) leave the employer thereafter. No application is required as IRAS will notify eligible firms of the amount of JGI payout payable to them.

• Progressive Wage Credit Scheme (PWCS)

PWCS has been introduced in Budget 2022 to provide transitional wage support for employers to adjust to upcoming mandatory wage increases for lower-wage local workers and voluntarily raise wages of lower-wage local workers.

Under the PWCS, the Singapore government will co-fund the wage increases of eligible lower-wage local workers between 2022 and 2026 as follows:

• For workers with gross monthly wages up to SG$2,500: 50 per cent in 2022 and 2023, 30 per cent in 2024 and 2025, and 15 per cent in 2026.
• For workers with gross monthly wages above SG$2,500 and up to SG$3,000: 30 per cent in 2022 and 2023, and 15 per cent in 2024.

To qualify for PWCS, the firm must be registered in Singapore and must give wage increases to local employees who received CPF contributions from a single employer for at least three calendar months in the preceding year, have been on the firm’s payroll (i.e. the firm must have paid employee CPF contributions) for at least three calendar months in the qualifying year, and have an average gross monthly wage increase of at least SG$100 in the qualifying year.

The increase in wages in each qualifying year will be co-funded for two years, provided that such wage increase is sustained. No application is required as IRAS will notify eligible firms of the amount of PWCS payout payable to them for each qualifying year.

• Advanced Digital Solutions (ADS)

ADS was introduced in March 2020 to help businesses adopt advanced technologies (such as robotics and the Internet of Things) and advanced integrated solutions (such as B2B solutions that integrate inventory management, e-invoicing and e-payments).

ADS provides up to 80 per cent funding support for qualifying costs of these digital solutions, including hardware, software, infrastructure, connectivity, cybersecurity, integration, development, enhancement and project management, as well as the cost of deploying these solutions.

Budget 2022 expands ADS from 1 April 2022 to include digital solutions that leverage artificial intelligence and cloud technologies, providing up to 70 per cent funding support for qualifying costs of these solutions.

To qualify for ADS, a business entity must be registered and operating in Singapore and have a minimum of 30 per cent local shareholding, with either a group sales turnover of less than SG$100 million per annum or group employment of fewer than 200 employees.

• Grow Digital (GD)

GD was launched in June 2020 to help SMEs access overseas markets digitally without the need for physical presence by participating in pre-approved B2B and B2C e-commerce platforms with global or regional reach. GD provides up to 70 per cent funding support for SMEs to adopt such platforms.

Budget 2022 expands GD from 1 April 2022 to include more pre-approved digital platforms so that more SMEs can internationalise.

To qualify for GD, a business entity must be registered and operating in Singapore and have a minimum of 30 per cent local shareholding, with either a group sales turnover of less than SG$100 million per annum or group employment of fewer than 200 employees.

• Skills Future Enterprise Credit (SFEC)

SFEC was introduced in April 2020 to encourage employers to invest in enhancing the skills of their employees by providing additional subsidies alongside other grants in the form of up to a one-off SG$10,000 credit until 30 June 2023 to cover up to 90 per cent of out-of-pocket expenses on qualifying costs for SFEC-supportable programmes.

Budget 2022 expands the coverage of SFEC for the qualifying period from 1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021 by waiving the eligibility criterion for employers to have contributed at least SG$750 Skills Development Levy over the qualifying period. However, employers with inactive ACRA status during the qualification process and that have defaulted on their Skills Development Levy payment during the qualifying period will be excluded.

To qualify for SFEC, employers now need only satisfy the remaining eligibility criteria of having employed at least three local employees every month over the same period, and not having been qualified at any earlier qualifying period.

• Temporary Bridging Loan Programme (TBLP)

TBLP was introduced in March 2020 to provide businesses with access to working capital during the COVID-19 pandemic. TBLP offers loans of up to SG$3 million per borrower for up to five years at an interest rate of up to five per cent per annum, subject to an overall borrower group limit of SG$20 million and an overall loan exposure limit of SG$50 million per borrower group across all facilities. The Singapore government participates in a 70 per cent risk-sharing of the TBLP loans.

Also Read: Can Singapore truly become a cashless society with payment 3.0?

Budget 2022 extends TBLP by six months from 1 April 2022 to 30 September 2022 but lowers the maximum loan quantum to SG$1 million per borrower while increasing the maximum interest rate to 5.5 per cent per annum for such an extended period.

To qualify for TBLP, the borrower must be a business entity physically present in Singapore and registered with ACRA, with at least 30 per cent of its equity held directly or indirectly by local(s), determined by the ultimate individual ownership.

• Enterprise Financing Scheme (EFS)

In October 2019, Enterprise Singapore, the Singapore government agency championing enterprise development, streamlined its existing financing schemes into one umbrella scheme called EFS, offering seven types of loans ranging from SG$300,000 to SG$50 million as follows:

• Green (to finance green growth projects).
• SME Working Capital Loan (to finance daily operational cashflow needs).
• SME Fixed Assets Loan (to finance the investment of domestic and overseas fixed assets).
• Venture Debt Loan (to finance the growth of innovative enterprises using venture debt and warrants).
• Trade Loan (to finance trade needs), which was enhanced in April 2020 to provide enterprises with better access to trade financing amidst slower business activities and longer payment cycles due to COVID-19 (“EFS-TL”).
• Project Loan (to finance the fulfilment of secured overseas projects), which was enhanced in January 2021 to support domestic construction projects amidst the challenges of COVID-19 (“EFS-PL”).
• Mergers and Acquisitions Loan (to finance the acquisition of target enterprises with the intent of internationalisation) (“EFS-M&A”).

Budget 2022 extends the enhancements to EFS-TL for six months to 30 September 2022 and EFS-PL for another year to 31 March 2023. Budget 2022 also expands EFS-M&A for four years from 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2026 to include domestic merger and acquisition activities, including venturing into complementary businesses and emerging sectors.

To qualify for EFS, the borrower must be a business entity physically present in Singapore and registered with ACRA, with at least 30 per cent of its equity held directly or indirectly by local(s), determined by the ultimate individual ownership, and have a group annual sales turnover of not more than SG$500 million. The borrower must also meet any additional criteria applicable to each type of EFS loan.

Changes to Foreign Workforce Policies

• Employment Pass (EP)

The minimum qualifying salary for EP holders will be raised from SG$4,500 to SG$5,000 (and from SG$5,000 to SG$5,500 for the financial services sector) for new applications from 1 September 2022 and renewal applications from 1 September 2023.

• S Pass

The minimum qualifying salary for S Pass holders will be raised from SG$2,500 to SG$3,000 (and SG$2,500 to SG$3,500 for the financial services sector) for new applications from 1 September 2022 and renewal applications from 1 September 2023.

Thereafter, such salary will be progressively raised from 1 September 2023 and from 1 September 2025 by at least S$150 each time, with the finalised values to be announced closer to the implementation date.

The tier one S Pass Foreign Worker Levy rate (i.e. for a dependency ratio ceiling (“DRC”) of ten per cent or less, being the maximum permitted ratio of foreign workers to the total workforce that a company in a stipulated sector is allowed to hire) will be progressively raised from SG$330 to SG$650 by 2025 as follows: SG$450 from 1 September 2022, SG$550 from 1 September 2023, and SG$650 from 1 September 2025.

The DRC will be reduced from 87.5 per cent to 83.3 per cent for the construction and process sectors from 1 January 2024

• Work Permit

The Foreign Worker Levy rates for Work Permit holders in the construction and process sectors will be adjusted as follows:

• For higher-skilled workers in the construction sector: SG$500 for non-traditional sources (i.e. Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Thailand), SG$300 for Malaysia, North Asian sources (i.e. Hong Kong, Macau, South Korea, and Taiwan) and PRC, and SG$250 for off-site.
• For basic-skilled workers in the construction sector: SG$900 for non-traditional sources, SG$700 for Malaysia, North Asian sources and PRC, and SG$350 for off-site.
• For higher-skilled workers in the process sector: SG$300 for non-traditional sources, and SG$200 for Malaysia, North Asian sources and PRC.
• For basic-skilled workers in the process sector: SG$650 for non-traditional sources, and SG$450 for Malaysia, North Asian sources and PRC.

Wage and CPF Increases

• Progressive Wage Model (PWM)

PWM was introduced in 2012 to uplift local lower-wage workers in sectors vulnerable to cheap-sourcing through a skills-based ladder of pay by setting out sector-specific salary floors and clear progression pathways for such workers to earn higher wages as they become more skilled, more productive and take on higher job responsibilities. PWM currently covers the cleaning, security and landscape sectors.

Budget 2022 extends PWM to more sectors and occupations, namely the retail, food services, and waste management sectors from 1 September 2022, 1 March 2023 and 1 July 2023 respectively, in-house cleaners, security officers and landscape maintenance workers from 1 September 2022, and administrators and drivers from 1 March 2023.

In addition, from 1 September 2022, firms hiring foreigners (i.e. EP, S Pass and Work Permit holders) will need to pay their local workers progressive wages under the PWM (if applicable) and at least the local qualifying salary of SG$1,400 per month (pro-rated for part-time work and increased for every hour of overtime work).

Also Read: These two Singapore startups lending a helping hand to Ukrainians displaced by Russian invasion

Budget 2022 also introduces the Progressive Wage Mark (“PW Mark”) accreditation in the later part of 2022 to recognise firms that pay progressive wages and the local qualifying salary to local lower-wage workers. This will enable consumers and corporate buyers to easily identify and support such firms. Contracted suppliers of the Singapore government must be accredited with the PW Mark from March 2023.

• CPF for senior workers

From 1 January 2022, CPF contribution rates have been increased for local senior workers aged above 55 to 70 as follows:

• For employees aged above 55 to 60 and above 60 to 65: Two per cent increase of the contribution rate, comprising a one per cent increase on both the employer’s and employee’s sides.
• For employees aged above 65 to 70: One and a half per cent increase of the contribution rate, comprising a 0.5 per cent increase on the employer’s side and a one per cent increase on the employee’s side.

From 1 January 2023, CPF contribution rates will be further increased for local senior workers aged above 55 to 70 as follows:

• For employees aged above 55 to 60 and above 65 to 70: 1.5 per cent increase of the contribution rate, comprising a 0.5 per cent increase on the employer’s side and a one per cent increase on the employee’s side.
• For employees aged above 60 to 65: Two per cent increase of the contribution rate, comprising a one per cent increase on both the employer’s and employee’s sides.

For each of the above 2022 and 2023 increases, employers will automatically receive a one-year CPF Transition Offset equivalent to half of the increase in employer CPF contribution rates for every local senior worker aged above 55 to 70.

Tax Increases

• Corporate Income Tax

To align the Singapore tax system with global tax developments relating to the Base Erosion and Profit Shifting 2.0 initiative, IRAS will explore a top-up tax called the Minimum Effective Tax Rate (METR) to top up the effective corporate income tax rate for multinational enterprise groups in Singapore to 15 per cent.

IRAS will study this further and consult the industry on the design of METR before making any decisions on the METR.

• Goods and Services Tax (GST)

In 2018, the Singapore government announced its plan to increase GST from seven per cent to nine per cent.

Budget 2022 delays and staggers the GST increase such that GST will be increased from seven per cent to eight per cent on 1 January 2023, and from eight per cent to nine per cent on 1 January 2024.

To cushion the impact of the GST increase, there will be no increase in government fees and charges for one year from 1 January 2023, including fees charged on all government-provided public services such as school fees, parking charges for carparks maintained by the Housing & Development Board and the Urban Redevelopment Authority, and licence fees such as driving licences. The Singapore government will also continue to absorb GST for publicly-subsidised healthcare and education.

• Carbon Tax

The carbon tax was introduced in 2019 at a low tax rate of SG$5 per tonne of emissions to give businesses time to adjust.

Budget 2022 increases carbon tax to SG$25 per tonne of emissions in 2024 and 2025, and SG$45 per tonne of emissions in 2026 and 2027, with a view to reaching SG$50 to SG$80 per tonne of emissions by 2030.

From 2024, businesses will be allowed to use high-quality, international carbon credits to offset up to five per cent of their taxable emissions, in lieu of paying the carbon tax.

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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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As the world is grappling to face the threat of climate change, investment in the climate tech and sustainability space has become more urgent. Despite its slow and steady pace, especially when compared to investments in other popular spaces such as fintech and Web3, the Southeast Asian region has begun to see more money flowing into the space.

But how does an investor in the climate tech and sustainability space assess a potential investment? What does their decision-making process look like? More importantly, considering the significance of impact for startups in the space, is there any difference in the way investors are assessing them?

For investors in the space, profitability is not the only factor that they consider when investing in a climate tech and sustainability startup. They look into how these startups are creating an impact; more precisely, how their solutions can make a change in the society by helping it face the threat of climate change. Beyond that, these investors also consider how significant the impact of the solutions is.

In March, Third Derivative, the venture capital and accelerator programme that aims to accelerate climate innovations, published an article that explains how the organisation assesses the impact of a potential investment in the climate tech and sustainability space. The article details the thought process behind the key criteria that they use; it gives us an insider look into their decision-making process.

To help us get a deeper understanding of their method, e27 speaks to Chetan Krishna, Transportation Investments and Research at Third Derivative and the lead author of the article.

Also Read: COVID-19, the environment, and the tech ecosystem: what opportunity is available out there for us?

Behind the method

Krishna begins by explaining the thought process behind the development of this method, which Third Derivative uses to assess a potential investment’s impact on mitigating the risks of climate change. Every year, the organisation receives hundreds of applications for its programme from startups across different sectors and geographies. This is why they need a standardised process to help compare the potential climate impact of these different startups.

“When we were looking for a way to do this, we realised that there are not too many methodologies out there, but we are not the first entity to try and create such a methodology. What we did was that we leveraged a lot of great prior work by our peers in the ecosystem … when we surveyed their works, we decided to take a first-principles approach to categorise climate impact, identify the parameters of interest and outcomes that we wanted to achieve from an assessment. Then, we took what was already there, added our own thinking to it, and modified it to get a method that helps us quantify and do the apple-to-apple comparison across geographies and sectors,” he elaborates.

First and foremost, as an investor, Third Derivative will certainly look at the commercial strengths of the startup’s solution. According to Krishna, it needs to be compelling for customers and able to capture market share.

But this leads to another question: does having a high impact always equal having high profitability? The short answer will be yes, says Krishna, as it typically means a large revenue opportunity.

“We try to prioritise climate impact. So, every company needs to meet a minimum impact threshold. After a company has met that threshold, we still do an independent assessment of its commercial strength. We try to find companies that are scalable, profitable, and sustainable; that is where our resources will go to.”

The three steps

We finally get to the part where we are going to take a look at the method that Third Derivative uses to assess the impact of a climate tech startup. It consists of three steps:

Step 1: Defining the type of climate impact

There are two types of startups that the firm is looking for: Direct Mitigation Measures and Enablers.

Direct Mitigation Measures (DMMs) are solutions that help replace legacy, GHG-intensive anthropogenic forcers with more benign alternatives, the firm explains. They give the example of electric vehicles that replace internal combustion engine vehicles, or solutions that aim to “heal” some of the damage done by removing carbon from the atmosphere. An example of this solution will be direct air capture technologies.

Also Read: How consumers are prioritising sustainability beyond the single lens of eco-friendly products

On the other hand, Enablers are startups that create indirect impact through key complementary technologies and solutions, such as charging infrastructure for EVs or project financing platform technology that speeds the adoption of rooftop solar.

For Third Derivative, companies in both categories play a critical role in achieving decarbonisation “at the speed and scale the world needs.”

Step 2: Setting thresholds for climate impact potential

According to the firm, given the scale of the annual global GHG emissions today, what the community needs are a “gigaton-scale drawdown effects from new innovations that are typically global in origin and scope.” These innovations also need to span sectors such as industry, transportation, power, the built environment, and agriculture and land use.

In determining climate impact threshold values for DMMs and Enabler companies, Third Derivative tested and calibrated against its current portfolio, which was selected after reviewing more than 1,000 startup applications to the programme.

“We also took a top-down approach assuming a portfolio of 100 startups, with the knowledge that some will fail but others may be wildly successful. Altogether, we wanted the potential impact of our portfolio to be commensurate (at least the same order of magnitude) with the climate problem. For example, 25 successful startups, each with the potential to mitigate 0.25–1 Gt CO2e/year, would yield a total reduction of 6–25 Gt CO2e/year. We can then add the GHG reduction potential of startups focused on carbon removal through our First Gigaton Captured initiative launching in summer 2022,” the firm elaborates.

Step 3: Conduct a quantitative assessment of climate impact potential

Once Third Derivative identified the type of impact and set thresholds for high-potential solutions, it can quantitatively assess a startup’s impact against those thresholds.

“We deliberately avoid making assumptions about a solution’s scaling trajectory or the possible impacts of changing policy incentives or barriers on scaling (i.e. fulfilled potential in the future). The emergence of future CSEs and DEEs can help speed that adoption as well. We also avoid choosing winners between multiple low-carbon technologies attacking the same problem (e.g. between direct air capture and nature-based solutions that both remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere),” the firm writes.

“This approach is analogous to comparing the total addressable market (TAM) between startups as opposed to projecting their revenues and cash flows. It means that our method does not project the yearly carbon abatement attributable to a solution as it scales.”

What lies in the future for Third Derivative

In developing this method, Third Derivative is not ashamed to admit that there are certain limitations –and they are looking forward to continuously improving this method to its finest form.

Also Read: How Gunung Capital CEO puts sustainability agenda at the forefront of an age-old industry

What kind of improvements do they have in mind, and how can this method be better?

“Even when we were developing this methodology, we wanted to be inclusive of startups who are operating in countries where the countries themselves have lower responsibility towards global emissions than, say, a region such as the US or the EU, who have historically produced large polluters … This could include companies in countries such as Singapore or Southeast Asia in general, where the overall emissions are low. But these countries will develop and their emissions will increase. Solutions in these places also need to create a climate-resilient future for these geographies,” Krishna explains.

“In order to be inclusive of such companies, we modified our climate impact criteria, and we did this even while it was being developed. So it was active learning on our part, as we were developing.”

The firm already has some ideas on how they want to further develop the method in the future. For example, they would like to be able to accommodate companies that can provide spillover effects. One example of such companies will be Tesla. In addition to helping decarbonisation attempt, it has helped to increase consumer acceptability for electric vehicles.

They would also like to develop their method beyond screenings.

“In the future, we also want to track the climate impact that our companies are creating over the course of the programme and beyond,” Krishna closes.

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Image Credit: oneinchpunch

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Singapore-headquartered Believe, a direct-to-consumer products company serving the global Muslim audience, has raised US$55 million in Series C funding led by Venturi Partners.

Jungle Ventures, Accel, Alteria Capital and Genesis Alternative Ventures returned to invest in the round. IIFL AMC is also participating in the round, bringing 3-year-old Believe’s total raise to over US$80 million.

According to a press note, this raise will catalyse consolidating market share in Bangladesh and India (via strategic acquisitions) while deepening reach in GCC and Southeast Asia (through both organic and inorganic growth).

The startup’s Series A and Series B rounds were led by Accel Partners and Jungle Ventures, with participation from Middle East-based Wamda Capital.

Also Read: How blockchain can enhance sustainability in fashion

Launched in mid-2019, Believe offers a slew of in-house fashion products spanning skincare, fragrances, make-up and hair care under the in-house brands, including Lafz, ZM and Dr. Rhazes. (Lafz is the flagship premium brand crafted with traditional ingredients, whereas ZM is a vegan, cruelty-free, single-ingredient brand)

The products are sold in over eight countries and are manufactured across the globe, including countries like South Korea, Italy, Spain, France, Germany and the UAE. Most of its business comes from Bangladesh and India, with a growing base in GCC countries.

Ankit Mahajan, CEO of Believe, said, “We have received tremendous consumer love from launching our first product in 2019 to witnessing 2.5x growth in last year.”

Venturi Partners is a Singapore-based investment platform founded by veteran consumer investor Nicholas Cator. Believe is Venturi’s second investment.

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Venturi Partners leads SG beauty startup Believe’s US$55M Series C
Other investors in the round are Accel, Jungle Ventures, Alteria Capital, and Genesis Alternative; Believe is a D2C beauty and personal care products startup, catering to the Muslim communities in Asia and the Middle East.

Indonesian proptech Pinhome secures US$50M Series B
Investors include Goodwater Capital, Intudo Ventures, Ribbit Capital, Eurazeo, and Insginia Ventures; Pinhome connects potential buyers and renters with property owners and agents; It also offers local services such as home cleaning and AC repair.

Singapore fintech firm Recur Club nets US$30M in seed funding
Lead investors are InfoEdge Ventures and Village Global; Recur offers a marketplace that helps companies raise growth capital without needing debt or diluting their equity; Financing ranges from US$10K to several million dollars.

Northstar leads US$22M Series A of Indonesia’s multi-vertical audio platform NOICE
Alpha JWC, Go-Ventures and Kinesys also joined the round; NOICE claims it hosts more than 40K pieces of content, serves 2M+ users, and its listeners spend ~80 minutes per day on the platform.

Thunes picks majority stake in Tookitaki for over US$20M
The deal allows Tookitaki to deepen its presence in core APAC markets the Middle East, Europe, and the Americas; Tookitaki delivers anti-money laundering and compliance solutions to banks and financial institutions.

Gobi, Ozora launch US$10M fund for women-centric startups in Indonesia
Ratu Nusa Fund will target firms in healthtech, e-commerce, social commerce, education, proptech, and fintech; It will also invest in companies that improve the livelihoods of women and girls across Indonesia.

Blockchain-based lender MetaLend bags US$5M in seed money
Investors are Pantera Capital, Collab Currency, and Ancient8; MetaLend allows users to apply for loans and put in their NFTs as collateral; It is also developing a BNPL service to allow users to purchase NFTs through instalments.

Temasek unit backs US$3.7M round of robot barista firm Crown Digita
The startup operates robot barista Ella, which can brew 200 cups of coffee per hour; The startup provides a contactless and cashless artisanal coffee experience to grab-and-go commuters.

Monk’s Hill leads US$5M pre-Series A round of  Ordinary Folk
The healthtech startup plans to expand into Asian markets, incuding Hong Kong; Ordinary Folk integrates its two consumer platforms — Noah and Zoey — distributed compliant medical network, EMR, digital prescriptions, cloud pharmacy, and last-mile fulfilment.

OFF FOODS raises US$1.7M in seed to promote alternative protein in Indonesia
Investors are Alpha JWC, GFC, Creative Gorilla Capital, Lemonilo, and United Family Capital; The company’s flagship product is OFF MEAT, a chicken-like alternative protein, starting with other chicken-like options such as nuggets.

EQUO raises US$1.3M in seed funding
Investors include NextGen Ventures, Techstars, East Ventures, and golfer Michelle Wie-West; EQUO builds the compostable alternatives to consumer products; Starting out with a line of drinking straws, EQUO has expanded its product line to include utensils and tote bags.

Green Li-ion closes US$11.6M Series A for European expansion, R&D
Investors include Energy Revolution Ventures, EDP Ventures, TRIREC, SOSV, and Entrepreneur First; Green has developed a range of plug and play modular battery recycling technologies targetting recycling and manufacturing plants.

How Sipher won high-profile VCs’ hearts even before its blockchain games hit the market
Unlike most blockchain games, Sipher not only aims to onboard the crypto- and NFT-savvy crowd but to introduce it to the traditional gaming community.

E-commerce major Tiki launches digital token Astra
Astra can be traded on Tiki Exchange; The value of Astra fluctuates and is currently pegged to Tiki Coin – one Tiki Coin is equivalent to one Vietnamese dong; Astra tokens can be used to purchase discount vouchers but cannot be exchanged for cash.

How Gojek built an intentional work culture for a thriving workforce
2022 will be the year of workplace reinvention. Here’s how to rethink and redesign workplace policies for the future of work.

NFTs for fundraising: What you need to know before jumping on the bandwagon
When it comes to using NFTs for fundraising, there are success stories, but there are also lessons for the rest of us; An interview with David Tng, Head of Growth, TZ APAC.

Hong Kong’s Times Square mall launches metaverse shopping
The mall has teamed up with Bunny Warriors and AiR Metaverse, which has produced HK’s replica in the online world; The crossover to the metaverse may help attract foot traffic during a challenging period for the local retail industry.

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Venture capital (VC) firms Gobi Partners and Ozora Yatrapaktaja announced the launch of Ratu Nusa Fund, a US$10 million seed fund for women-led startups in Indonesia.

The fund will focus on seed stage and Pre-Series A stage companies in the health tech, e-commerce/social commerce, future-of-work/education, property tech, enterprise/SME tech and fintech verticals.

In a press statement, the firms also stated that the fund will also focus on companies that aim to improve the livelihoods of women and girls across Indonesia; underserved companies that reside in emerging secondary and tertiary cities such as Surabaya, Bali, Denpasar, Nusantara and Medan; as well as companies that leverage technology to broaden access and have the potential to create enhanced efficiencies and scalability.

“Women entrepreneurs have long gotten a small slice of the VC funding pie mainly due to entrenched gender biases, leaving untapped potential from half of the world’s population. The Ratu Nusa Fund was designed to address this gap,” said Gobi Partners Co-Founder Thomas Tsao.

Also Read: How Perfect Fit aims to promote greener, more inclusive period products to Indonesia

“There’s nowhere better to debut our first women-centric fund than in Indonesia where there are an estimated 30 million active women entrepreneurs who stand to benefit from a thriving startup ecosystem. We are also excited to partner with Ozora with its strong women-led management team and their deep-rooted networks here,” he continued.

Founded in 2002, Gobi Partners said that it has US$1.5 billion in assets under management, where it supports entrepreneurs from the early to growth stages. Gobi Partners has raised 15 funds across 13 locations and invested in over 310 startups with over 60 based in Southeast Asia.

As for Ozora Yatrapaktaja, the firm said that it has deep local expertise in Indonesia and a strong network with businesses, governments, organisations, and communities globally.

Its founding partner Margaret Srijaya is also the founder of Womenpreneurs.id, an online community that aims to empower women through self-improvement and entrepreneurship with over 300,000 followers since 2018.

Srijaya also served as the Head of VC at BPP HIPMI Indonesia, Local President Junior Chamber International (JCI) East Java in 2017, Women Lead Compartment in Chamber of Commerce Surabaya.

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Image Credit: Gobi Partners, Ozora Yatrapaktaja

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Reading the news on Amazon taking on Teladoc, CVS and Walgreens with Amazon Care, I can’t help but recall one of Amazon’s most successful failures: Haven. Less than ten months ago, this healthcare venture that Amazon was involved in was disbanded. It was surprising because this was such a high profile partnership between JP Morgan Chase, Berkshire Hathaway and Amazon.

The disbanding of Haven seemed to demonstrate how complex and difficult it was to disrupt the US healthcare system.

Amazon is now making a comeback with Amazon Care, which provides users a hassle-free way to see a licensed doctor or nurse. Users can connect with care providers via chat or video and schedule an in-person visit or medication delivery when necessary.

As I read the article, two thoughts came to mind:

• Nothing is wasted on Amazon; no experiments or investments are “bad”, as it is common for seemingly “bad or failed” projects to have a second wind.
• The Amazon Care project could indicate that home-based care will gain momentum globally.

Nothing is wasted on Amazon

The Inc pointed to the FirePhone as Amazon’s most significant failure as sales failed to pick up even when it was sold for 99-cents when bundled with a contract. Yet, this “failed” project led to an even bigger breakthrough, that of Alexa, which has become a convenient voice assistant that many homes worldwide can’t do without. The FirePhone was just one example of a failure turned successful (re)deployment at Amazon.

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EQUO, a Vietnam-based startup that produces eco-friendly alternatives to consumer products, today announced that it has raised a US$1.3 million seed funding round led by NextGen Ventures with participation from Techstars, East Ventures, and professional golfer Michelle Wie-West.

Angel investors such as Luke Vigeant of Shed Capital; Jeff Hohner of Tecumseh Capital; Jack Tai, CEO & Co-Founder of OneClass; Mark Groves, Founder of Create The Love and Co-Founder of Mine’d; and Dimple Mukherjee also took part in the funding round.

EQUO said that it plans to use the funding to expand its product line, develop technical capabilities to quickly scale the business, and increase the brand’s awareness and exposure in the US, Canada, Vietnam and Singapore, while expanding to recently entered markets such as Europe, Japan and Australia.

Founded in 2020 by Marina Tran-Vu, the company aims to eliminate plastic waste by providing compostable alternatives for everyday goods such as utensils and straws. Its products are made of materials such as coffee, coconut and sugarcane to replace single-use plastics.

It aims to differentiate itself through “bright, exciting and distinct branding that captures the consumer’s attention in traditionally overlooked categories; and focuses on the education of new sustainable materials.”

Starting out with its line of drinking straws, it has expanded to include utensils and tote bags. Its upcoming product lines will include utensils made of coffee and wood, sugarcane food containers and cups, and compostable bags for grocery, retail and home use.

Also Read: COVID-19, the environment, and the tech ecosystem: what opportunity is available out there for us?

“Our vision is to replace all single-use plastic on the planet – plastic was never intended to be used for anything and everything, and using it for an average of 20 minutes or less, but taking hundreds of years to decompose – it just doesn’t make any sense. This isn’t just about the visible plastic we see in our environment, but also about the downstream effects of microplastics – which are now being found in unborn foetuses, in human blood and deep in our lungs,” said Tran-Vu.

“We are excited about the new products we are going to be delivering this year to show the world all the things we can do WITHOUT single-use plastic and (in some cases) paper.”

EQUO was named one of nine winners of the UNOPS (United Nations Office for Project Services) S3i Innovation Center Sweden Global Challenge for startups and a Top 18 Finalist in the EPPIC (Ending Plastic Pollution Innovation Challenge) by the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme).

Its products are available on Amazon in the US, Canada and Australia; on their website; wholesaler site Faire; and select F&B establishments and retailers in Vietnam, Singapore and Europe.

Prior to founding EQUO, Tran-Vu has more than 13 years of brand management experience at global FMCG companies including Unilever, Bacardi, LG Electronics and Spin Master.

The startup has also appeared in various reality TV shows such as Shark Tank Vietnam and Front Office by PlayersTV. It was the first Vietnamese startup admitted into Techstars.

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Image Credit: EQUO

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