Innovation Cybersecurity Ecosystem at BLOCK71 or ICE71 has revealed the region’s cybersecurity startups joining its second ICE71 Accelerate Demo Day in Singapore

ICE71 or Innovation Cybersecurity Ecosystem at BLOCK71 that was born out of the partnership between Singtel Innov8, Singtel Group’s VC arm, and NUS Enterprise of the National University of Singapore (NUS), has shared the latest participants of its second batch, three-month long ICE71 Accelerate program. The participants are said to come from Singapore, India, Turkey, Vietnam, the UK, and the US.

ICE71 event peaked in Demo Day, where the participants pitched to an audience of over 150 investors and cybersecurity leaders, seeking investment, and business development opportunities.

“We believe that enterprises and governments need to work more closely with startups to address the frequency, scale, and sophistication of cyber threats globally. By bringing together these promising start-ups and connecting them with leading investors, enterprises and government agencies, we aim to accelerate their growth to the next stage as well as strengthens Singapore’s cybersecurity ecosystem to power Singapore’s Smart Nation goals,” said Edgar Hardless, CEO of Singtel Innov8, highlighting cybersecurity as one of the key pillars in the country’s Smart Nation goals.

ICE71 Accelerate’s first cohort was unveiled in October 2018, and from it, two startups have already raised additional funding and expanded their operations internationally.

“It is crucial for our people, businesses, and enterprises to be well protected in today’s digital environment. The key to supporting the nation’s ambitions lies in driving cybersecurity innovation and encouraging more enterprising cybersecurity entrepreneurs and startups to make Singapore their home,” said Professor Freddy Boey, Deputy President (Innovation and Enterprise) of NUS.

Also Read: MYPINPAD and Clik aim to unify the digital point-of-sale industry

Here are the ten cybersecurity startups in the second cohort:

• 689Cloud, which uses rights management technology to protect, track, and control access rights on externally shared digital documents, preventing data leaks and unauthorised redistribution of confidential data.
• Aversafe, provides a first-line-of-defense against credential fraud.
• Blue Phish, provides an online platform to drive cybersecurity awareness and play a part in reducing the number of cyber-attacks that are created due to human error.
• GuardRails. makes open-source security tools easily available in GitHub Pull Requests. The solution has been tuned to keep noise low and only report high-impact and relevant security issues.
• INFRA, builds automated solutions for assessment and intelligence without the need for security analysts, eliminating human error and maximising reliability.
• KEYLESS, provides a privacy-first platform for authentication and identity management driven by user-friendly, secure biometrics that makes data privacy and security the rule, not the exception.
• LOKI, provides cloud-based, single point management cybersecurity, and network management services for SMEs using SD-WAN technology in SaaS model.
• oneKIY, addresses data privacy and security, runs on a decentralised, user-controlled security system.
• PhishBase is a mail transfer agent, sitting between the organisation and the internet, analysing emails flowing in and out of the system; preventing data loss, quarantining messages and using fuzzy logic to detect bad emails.
• SECONIZE is an enterprise IT risk assessment product that identifies cyber risks and translates to continuous business impact.

ICE71, whom main mission is to foster cybersecurity innovation in Asia, is supported by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA), the Info-communications Media Development Authority (IMDA) and corporate partners such as Cisco. ICE71 partners with CyLon, which delivers the ICE71 Accelerate programme and brings to the table its experience as the global cybersecurity accelerator and early stage investor in cybersecurity startups.

After Demo Day, ICE71 will continue to guide and support these startups through further fundraising, product development, and commercial expansion. It will also provide access to community events with ecosystem partners, thought leadership programmes, engagements with enterprises and government entities, and opportunities to present at regional cybersecurity conferences.

ICE71 Accelerate is now officially open to applications for their third cohort.
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Medical facilities in Indonesia are not evenly distributed. HaloDoc wants to help tackle this challenge

Get insights from Jon Richards and more at Echelon Asia Summit 2019. Happening on May 23-24 at the Singapore Expo. Tickets are now available at US$10 each!

Healthtech is one of the most exciting sectors in Southeast Asian tech industry today. Hailing from Indonesia, HaloDoc is one of the companies in the region that is working to ensure better access to healthcare for all patients.

The Jakarta-based company had made several exciting milestones, having just announced a US$65 million funding round led by UOB Venture in March.

In addition to the funding round, the company had also seen a 25 times growth in patients helped to get treatment in 2018.

It has also secured over six million monthly active users using the HaloDoc platform to talk to doctors, search for healthcare information, book appointments, and purchase medications.

In an interview with e27, HaloDoc CFO Jon Richards explains that as a telemedicine platform, helping more people in Indonesia getting greater access to healthcare is one of the company’s greatest milestones.

Also Read: Go-Jek integrates Go-Med into HaloDoc app as the two companies strengthen collaboration

“Access to healthcare in Indonesia is, and has always been a challenge. When you live in a big city, the challenge is congestion: The problem of [how to] get there. [Big cities are] congested, hard to get around. If you live outside of the big cities there are just not enough doctors – that in itself is a different set of challenges. But now with HaloDoc, distance is less of a factor,” he says.

“We’re a tech company, we write codes, that’s what we are investing in, and that’s what we apply to healthcare sector,” he adds.

Richards also stressed that the problem in Indonesia’s healthcare sector is not that there are no good doctors. In fact, many healthcare facilities in the country are able to lure in patients from neighbouring countries such as Malaysia and Singapore.

The problem that Indonesia is facing is that the facilities are not evenly distributed.

Before the existence of telemedicine services, the ratio between general practitioners and specialists in islands outside of Java are 90:10. But telemedicine is able to improve the ratio to 60:40, enabling greater access to specialised medical care in the islands.

“We need to use our existing doctors more efficiently, and we can do that through technology,” Richards says.

Also Read: HaloDoc completes US$13M Series A to bolster Indonesia’s healthcare sector

At the moment, 20 per cent of HaloDoc users are based in Jakarta, 50 per cent in Java, and the rest in islands outside of Java.

What are the strategy that the company used to acquire these users? Apart from implementing traditional marketing practices, there is also an emphasis on patients and patients’ journey.

“What telemedicine represents is a new way for doctors to engage with patients, and vice versa. It requires some education, some awareness. People have to learn that this is a thing that they can do now, and that it is reliable,” Richards says.

The history of HaloDoc itself began when founder Jonathan Sudharta was working as a medical representative of a pharmaceutical company.

Through his work, Sudharta was able to know a great number of doctors, that people began to ask him to forward their medical questions to the doctors that he knew.

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Get insights from Jon Richards and more at Echelon Asia Summit 2019. Happening on May 23-24 at the Singapore Expo. Tickets are now available at US$10 each!

Images Credit: HaloDoc

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Navigate your way through the cool benefits you can get from your Premier Tickets

Echelon Asia Summit is all about bringing Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem together for two whole days of learning, discovery, sharing, and connecting. We all have our different goals in coming to Echelon. Some startups might be looking for talent to hire, investors to pitch to, or partners to do business with. Whoever you may be in this spectrum, Echelon has something for you.

But while we welcome everyone in the community to join, a select few will be getting deeper access to more content, more people, more places, and more stuff. If you registered for an Echelon Premier ticket, then this means you. If not, you might be missing out on access reserved for Premier ticket holders.

What might you be missing? Read on. Here’s what Premier Tickets will get you:

1. Conference R&R Zone, care of WeWork

Echelon is not all work but no play. Your Premier ticket gets you access to the Conference R&R Zone, in which WeWork provides wellness facilities, productivity-related fireside chats, and a whole 96 sqm space dedicated to R&R. This includes free coffee, beer, head and shoulder massages, smart vending machines, and gaming consoles. The fireside chats will focus on growth and scale, and the shift from corporate to startup life.

2. Access to Echelon Connect

We understand that a lot of you will be going to Echelon to rub elbows with fellow founders and possibly get the chance to connect and pitch to investors. Echelon Connect lets you waste no time, by facilitating business matching among the community. The goal is to cut down on leaving meetings to chance. With Echelon Connect, you can reach out to people you intend to meet for meaningful one-on-one meetings. More than just “speed dating” for startups, it is meant hopefully to build lasting relationships.

3. Food and Beverages

Cryowerx is providing two smart fridges, which will give Premier Ticket holders access to sandwiches and drinks. You won’t have to worry about getting hungry and dehydrated whilst listening to all the interesting talks and meeting interesting people at Echelon. You also get one free beverage at the Echelon Afterparty.

Also read: 4 exciting reasons why you should get the Echelon Asia Summit 2019 Premium ticket

4. Virtual Swag Bag

You get S$50 worth of General Assembly vouchers, video interviews with Asia Tech Podcast, a 6-month Mindfi premium membership, 6-month Delegate premium membership, WeWork stickers, Delegate stickers, and Coinhako webcam covers. In total, the virtual swag bag gets you at least $500 worth.

5. Access to Workshops

Your Premier Ticket gets you access to Corporate Venture Capital workshops run by Startupbootcamp and Rainmaking Innovation.

6. Express Access to Registration

Premier Ticket holders get exclusive access to your own registration lane at Echelon Asia Summit 2019. You won’t have to stand in line competing with the thousands of other attendees coming with Starter tickets.

We’re working on getting more benefits for attendees with Premier Tickets, so stand by. Being at Echelon is great in itself, but we think you’ll be getting more bang for your buck when you get Premier Tickets.

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Get your tickets to Echelon Asia Summit 2019 today. Use E27-ANGELO as promo code to get free Starter Tickets.

Photo: Unsplash

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Singapore-based Butler called this round of funding a “customer round” as the majority of the money came from Butler’s own customers

Butler, a Singapore-based hospitality and real estate management service startup, has closed a US$540,000 seed funding.  Investors included businessman Massimo Mantero, Emanuele Novi, and Vincenzo De Falco, who invested in their own capacity.

The names mentioned are also the company’s own customers, as noted by Poon Da Qian, CEO and founder of Butler.

The company said that the funding will be used to scale up, providing professional services to Singapore’s apartment residents, office managers, and property managers. Butler will also use the new capital to recruit talents in Singapore.

Butler was founded in 2016 and has built an all-in-one platform for hospitality, real estate management, and services for homes, offices and commercial buildings.

The company currently helps apartment residents, office managers, and property managers by providing an all-in-one professional management service for their properties (Aka a “butler” as per the namesake). Services include housekeeping, concierge, property management, property maintenance services, and more.

Butler’s service allows customers to have a single professional vendor and point of contact for managing all their properties’ needs for what normally ranges between five to ten different service vendors.

Also Read: Grab Ventures launches Singapore subscription plan for its scooters

Butler prides itself in providing training as its top priority for the company with the establishment of Butler Academy, the in-house training program for housekeepers. Upon completion of the four month training programme, graduates receive market leading salary and welfare benefits.

The program, the company said, has played a role in improving the working standards and allowing workers to have confidence in the people they hire.

Butler said it’s currently servicing more than 200 apartment residents, office managers, and property managers.
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GoBear CEO Adrian Chng explained why they only decided to publicly announce their funding now

Despite operating in major Southeast Asian markets and Hong Kong, financial supermarket platform GoBear has never publicly announced their funding rounds.

But today the company announced that it has raised US$80 million in total funding from investors such as Dutch venture capital fund Walvis Participaties and financial services organisation Aegon N.V.

In a phone interview with e27, GoBear CEO Adrian Chng explained why they only decided to publicly announce their funding now.

Founded in 2015, the company aimed to improve financial health in Asia by creating a platform to help customers find finance products, particularly lending and insurance.

In addition to supporting this mission, the funding will also be used to foster new partnerships with banks and other financial institutions.

“We want to convince our potential partners that we do have strong financial backing,” Chng said. “… That we are indeed the ‘big bear’.”

Also Read: How Singapore helped a GoBear software developer become MacGyver

The startup is also looking to invest in Asia-based companies that offer technologies in personal financial management, alternative credit scoring, financial education, and investment platforms.

It will also invest in talent acquisitions as well as product and technology developments.

Based in Singapore, GoBear operates in six Southeast Asian countries –Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Indonesia– and Hong Kong.

The startup claims to serve 40 million users with 1,800 consumer financial products across the market.

It names leading financial institutions such as Allianz Worldwide Partners, Citibank, FWD and Standard Chartered Bank as its partners.

Chng explains that unlike more mature markets such as Europe, Asian countries such as Indonesia are facing a unique challenge that require a different kind of solution.

For Europe, fintech services such as financial product comparison site thrive as there is already a strong demand for that.

Also Read: Financial products comparison platform GoBear names Adrian Chng new CEO; to expand to Indonesia

Meanwhile, in Indonesia, the level of financial literacy is not even that high yet, as reflected in its fewer than three per cent credit card penetration rate.

“We can even say there is no enough [available financial products] to compare,” he says.

Despite the different starting point, nowadays consumers in the emerging and mature markets have the same high level of expectations of fintech companies.

For the year 2019, in addition to work with existing partners and acquiring new ones, GoBear aims further develop its current services: digital lending and insurance brokering.

While the company is currently focussing on these two services, in the long run, it aims to become a “trusted” financial advisor platform.

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Podcasts are starting to blow up in startup world. Here are 8 good ones to check out

Entrepreneurs are always on the hunt to learn something new and interesting. Be it about entrepreneurship, finding life inspirations or motivations. The idea is to surround oneself with content that helps you stay focused and positive towards your approach.

And being an entrepreneur myself, I find it quite hard to follow online reading materials on a regular basis. That is why podcasts are the best when it comes to instant updates and motivation.

Here’s a list of 8 podcasts that I’d highly recommend following on a regular basis.

The Growth Show by HubSpot

This is a weekly podcast where Hubspot’s CMO, Kipp Bodner, interviews leading personnel from growing companies, movement idea and sometimes even a team.

What makes this to my list is how remarkable growth stories are dissected into bite-sized pieces of inspirational hearing. It offers a plethora of advice that startup founders may find very useful. The episodes are tight and focussed interviews.

This one is highly recommended to someone who is inclined towards digital marketing. What works for me is that the interviewees come from a rather diverse group of companies – large and small, including tech and non-tech.

eChai Ventures

This highly interactive podcast resonates with vibrancy – a group of entrepreneurs discuss the burning issues in the startup industry and offers a solution to it. It thrives on the startup scenario across India with even offline events taking place at different locations. It offers a rich source of first-hand information, sourced from entrepreneurs for startup enthusiasts.

You will find discussions ranging from how to register a company online to successfully running it and achieving business goals. More than just the podcast, it is a great startup network that can help you link to potential investors as well within the local community.

Lewis Howes

Though this has been around since 2013, I have been an ardent fan of the School of Greatness for the past couple of years. This is also one of the fast-growing business and self-development podcasts on iTunes. It also consistently appears in the Top 50 iTunes podcasts with downloads of over 2 million per month.

The Episodes will have interviews from famous personalities from various fields. Be it entrepreneurship, sports, and health and lifestyle. They have a solo round with the host Lewis Howes along with the once a week listener’s favourite – 5 Minute Friday format.

The guests have to be brutally honest and this includes people like Alanis Morissette, Tony Robbins, Julianne Hough, Scooter Braun, Jack Canfield, and even Arianna Huffington.

The Minimalists

The podcast that is most different! This one goes beyond the usual clichés of success, failure and business jargon.

Minimalists are all about downsizing your life – from unnecessary stuff, including relations that do not add value to your life. The philosophy of ‘less is more’ is discussed broadly by Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus.

For entrepreneurs, this is a very useful podcast that has various guests, including includes famous bloggers and authors. Their recent podcast ‘Millionaires’ has one amazing statement coming from Joshua –

“Don’t try to make money — try instead to make something that adds so much value that people want to pay for it.”

This says it all!

This Week in Startups

Invest in listening to this podcast even before you start a new business or even if you are running one. The host Jason understands Startups pretty well because there is no sugar coating involved when he speaks about them.

The information is highly original and when the guest speaks – coming straight out of horse’s mouth, so to say! This one is about real problems of real entrepreneurs and the way they overcome it.

The best is the way how he touches upon the problems faced by entrepreneurs with such clarity.

Entrepreneurs on Fire

The key value that this podcast holds for me is that things are transparent and honest over here.

This includes inspiring entrepreneurs speaking of their monthly income and how they handle their finances as well. The core idea that runs through the show is to emulate successes and avoid failures. It’s a must-listen podcast for those seeking to learn the art of making the right choices in business during its early days and have a knack of learning from others’ mistakes.

The Entrepreneurs on Fire dwells on the idea of giving budding entrepreneurs the inspiration and strategies required to boost their entrepreneurial journey.

The MFCEO

The MFCEO Project was started by Andy Frisella- an entrepreneur and an innovator, for motivating the listeners to succeed not only in business but also life in general.

This one always features on the top-10 lists of iTunes Podcast in the niche of marketing and management category. Honesty is central to this podcast as he calls it a “no BS” podcast that has guest entrepreneurs coming over to share their business insights.

They share their success and failure stories alike and talk about putting passion to work. Plus, they don’t use sponsors, allowing a smooth flow of the podcast with literally no hiccups.

Impact Theories

Again, a podcast with some interviews involved. The Impact Theory offers deep insights on doing business and cultivating a mindset that helps you transform your overall habits as well.

This inspiring podcast is hosted by Tom Bilyeu who himself is a serial entrepreneur a co-founder at one of the Inc. 500 company – Quest Nutrition.

He also hosted a successful Youtube –Inside Quest having above 100 million views. He himself is quite eager to learn a thing or two from the guests and shares instant insights for the listeners. The inputs are something that you can put to work immediately.

If you too share the love for podcasts, do mention which ones do you follow and why? I’ll be glad to add a few more to my lists of favourites.

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Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

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We’re featuring a diverse array of startups at Echelon Asia Summit 2019 and they’re here to WOW you!

There are lots of great reasons for you to come to Echelon Asia Summit 2019! With more than 12,000 people attending from over 30 countries, the Echelon Asia Summit brings together a full-range of personalities across the field of tech: from tech enthusiasts, to up-and-coming startup founders, and even to leaders and experts! This makes Echelon Asia Summit 2019 the perfect opportunity for you to brush elbows with potential future partners, investors, colleagues, or other like-minded people who might appreciate your ideas!

More than 120 speakers will also be sharing key insights on emerging trends and disruptive technologies across four key stages, namely: Founder stage, Future stage, Capital stage, and the top 100 stage—where 100 of the most promising startups will be pitching live!

Also read: 15 more companies will join us as exhibitors for Echelon Asia Summit 2019

And finally, one of the key features of Echelon Asia Summit 2019 is how it will showcase some of the most brilliant startup products in the region. With 300 exhibitors that will sprawl all over Singapore Expo, participants can witness firsthand how these companies are changing the world.

So without further ado, here is the fifth set of Echelon Asia Summit 2019 exhibitors!

 

ADB Ventures

 

ADB is a development finance institution committed to achieving a prosperous, inclusive, resilient, and sustainable region while eradicating extreme poverty.

 

BARP

 

BARP is a photo print online service that offers easy photo printing with less effort, where customers do not have to go out to print best quality photos.

 

Prime Respi

 

Prime Respi delivers value-based patient-centric innovations to address unmet clinical needs in respiratory care.

 

Nodis Corp

 

Nodis’ TruTint smart glass technology transforms windows, giving people the ability to change the tint, color and temperature characteristics of windows instantly.

 

Glee Trees

 

Glee Trees Pte. Ltd. is a technology vendor and innovator specialising in cognitive automation (Robotic Process Automation with Artificial Intelligence).

 

Neurobit Technologies

 

Neurobit is a sleep data analytics service. They provide clinical grade sleep data analytics as a service to the full spectrum of sleep measurement devices, from in-lab sleep studies to consumer wearables.

 

Pitchspot

 

Pitchspot is an open-sourced, community driven innovation platform for innovators to validate ideas using the Business Model Canvas.

 

Thesocialdataco

 

Thesocialdataco uses the ability to provide connectivity to create better travel experience for business and social travelers.

 

Beam and Go

 

Beam and Go is a payment and digital marketplace that empowers migrant workers by giving them control over how their remittances are spent by their families.

 

Unscrambl

 

Unscrambl provides 
AI-powered digital employees for the enterprise through next-gen real-time continuous intelligence & conversational analytics.

 

Innovo42 Pte Ltd

 

Innovo42 is a Singapore-based technology company which designs and builds process automation solutions for businesses.

 

Axinan Pte Ltd

 

Axinan is a leading Insurtech company based out of Singapore.

 

Dealxpert Pte Ltd

 

Dealxpert offers innovative and effective B2B sales enablement and performance solutions to sell smarter and win faster.

 

SimpleJobs Pte Ltd

 

SimpleJobs is a platform that helps hirers engage part timers for short term ad hoc jobs quickly and reliably.

 

Snaphunt Pte Ltd

 

Snaphunt is an intelligent hiring platform that finds and proposes targeted talent to employers for their open roles.

 

Hire Robin

 

Hire Robin provides the most dependable and fastest reference checks on candidates.

 

Where to get tickets for Echelon Asia Summit 2019?

Catch this stunning set of companies showcase their brilliant work and more at the Echelon Asia Summit 2019! The event is happening from 23 – 24 May, at Hall 3A, Singapore Expo, 1 Expo Drive, Singapore. We don’t want you and your team to miss out on the important insights that will be shared by our speakers there, so get your Echelon Tickets today!

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 appeared first on e27.

Currently GoHive manages more than 1,100 seats with further plans to reach 2500-plus in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Bangalore by the end of 2019

GoHive is a co-working space based in Delhi National Capital Region that provides a collaborative work environment to startups, young enterprises and innovation labs.

The company was incepted in 2016 with its first centre at Sohna Road in Delhi, and it soon established three more centres in the city.

The company strives to provide spaces to startups with functional design and support to enrich the experience of their members.

Currently, GoHive manages more than 1,100 seats with further plans to reach 2500-plus in Delhi, Gurgaon, and Bangalore by the end of 2019.

It has a strong digital presence and works on organic growth within Google Search Engine to spread awareness about the brand and community development initiatives.

Mishu Ahluwalia is Founder and CEO of GoHive. He heads the strategy and operations for the company.

He has more than 12 years of experience in real estate. He has founded/co-founded three ventures in the past.

A few ventures he has to his name, aside from GoHive, include Chattels & Manor, and Winspire Consulting (a boutique real estate brokerage firm).

Pic courtesy: GoHive

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The company’s official statement notes that the funding will be primarily used to drive growth in its key markets

The global venture firm GGV Capital has led a US$10 million Series A funding of Thunes, global payment network aimed at emerging economies.

The company said that the funding will be used to expand and improve its service offering as well as its platform, and accelerate growth across Africa, Asia, and Latin America. It plans to build more strategic partnerships to help bring improved payment solutions to businesses and consumers in emerging economies.

Thunes states its mission as seeking to “make financial services global and accessible to everyone, including the 1.7 billion adults in emerging markets that are excluded from the global economy because they lack access to any financial services”.

Thunes’ network operates on interconnecting financial institutions and digital financial service providers, enabling the movement of funds to and from emerging economies.

Thunes offers four key payment solutions – P2P remittance processing, corporate mass payouts, B2B payments, and digital payment services.

Also Read: Indonesian trucking platform Ritase secures Series A funding

The team will also open up new offices in San Francisco, USA, Dubai, UAE, and Paris to enable closer interaction with the customer and partner base.

In addition to the funding, Thunes Executive Chairman, Peter De Caluwe said that they have appointed a CEO. “We’ve hired Steve Vickers, to lead Thunes’ global expansion and take the business to the next level. This funding allows us to accelerate our company mission,” said De Caluwe.

To date, the company claims to have a global network that reaches over 80 countries with more than 9,000 interconnected payout partners. On a daily basis, it says that it can complete more than 300,000 transactions, and processes in excess of US$3 billion USD principal per annum.

“We were attracted by Thunes because we are aligned with their mission and see a lot of growth potential in this business,” said Jenny Lee, Managing Partner at GGV Capital.

GGV Capital is a global venture capital firm that invests in local founders that focusses on seed-to-growth stage investments across Consumer/New Retail, Social/Digital & Internet, Enterprise/Cloud, and Frontier Tech sectors. The firm was founded in 2000 and manages US$6.2 billion in capital across 13 funds boasting portfolio companies include Airbnb, Alibaba, ByteDance (Toutiao), and Grab.

Also Read: Bruneian agritech startup secures pre-Series A funding from Cerana Capital

Just recently, Thunes announced that it has collaborated with Western Union to expand payout capabilities to mobile wallets. Thunes partnered with PayPal and M-PESA to deliver alternative payment solutions that allow its Kenyan consumers and businesses to take full advantage of global e-commerce.

Thunes has also collaborated with Grab to enable real-time mass salary payouts for their drivers.
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Launched in partnership with Enterprise Singapore, The BlueChili HealthTech Accelerator is looking for healthtech startups from the Southeast Asian region

Australia-based venture studio and innovation group BlueChili today announced its partnership with Enterprise Singapore to launch a Singapore-based healthtech accelerator.

The BlueChilli HealthTech Accelerator aims to build and develop startups that address health challenges and opportunities in Southeast Asia.

“All startups who enter BlueChilli’s boot camp will receive free training and support through our online academy, startupu.io – so we want as many participants as possible! From there, BlueChilli will be selecting up to 15 startups to receive tech development through our accelerator this year,” a BlueChili spokesperson wrote in an email to e27.

Selected founders will get access to tech development services at no cost, startup training, seed funding, and a global network of advisors and mentors.

“We’re looking for people who are passionate about solving problems in the health sector using technology. No startup or tech experience is required for those who are interested in the program. BlueChilli will provide a world class team of experts to selected founders to build their products, gain market traction, secure investment and establish their first team,” the spokesperson further explained.

Also Read: A comparison of the fintech climates in Australia and Singapore: same same but different

With the support from Enterprise Singapore, BlueChili has also included CSIRO and Galen Growth Asia as health and innovation partners for the programme.

They are also set to announce more partners that include local healthcare providers.

“Our mission is to help people anywhere solve society’s greatest challenges with technology, so we are excited to extend our reach further into Southeast Asia,” said BlueChili Founder and CEO Sebastien Eckersley-Maslin in a press statement.

“By removing the barriers of access to technology and capital, we can help a more diverse range of entrepreneurs in Southeast Asia bring their unique experiences and novel ideas to the global innovation ecosystem,” he continued.

Founded in 2011, BlueChili has launched 132 startups that have collectively raised over US$170 million.

Its portfolio companies are operating in the Americas, Europe, Australia, and Southeast Asia.

The company first expanded to Singapore in early 2018, through a partnership with Hatcher+ to co-invest in 240 global tech startups.

In Indonesia, BlueChili has also launched an innovation centre in partnership with Coca-Cola Amatil last month.

Also Read: IIX receives US$887K grant from Australian government for gender lens investing

BlueChili’s portfolio companies in the healthtech sector are hardware startups BindiMaps and Talkiplay, mammography AI diagnostics service Alixir.ai, telemedicine platform VetChat and out-of-home patient care platform CTARS.

The Asia Pacific healthtech sector itself is the second largest in the world for investment funds raised, according to a press statement by the company.

Last year, US$6.3 billion was deployed into healthtech startups in the region and this investment significantly exceeded the 2017 number and doubled the 2016 number.

The Southeast Asian healthtech ecosystem is still emerging within the region and is said to be poised for growth, with Singapore and Indonesia contributing to “most of its notable deals” in 2018.

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Image Credit: BlueChili

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