Essential tips for B2B entrepreneurs who would like to modernise and take their traditional businesses online.

B2B E-commerce can be defined as the online sale of products and services from one business entity to another.

This is different from B2C e-commerce, wherein products and services are sold to personal consumers. B2C e-commerce sales are relatively easier because of fixed pricing and the simplistic nature of the transaction.

In contrast, B2B e-commerce is more complicated with differential pricing, customised workflows, multiple touchpoints and flexible payment terms.

However, since most B2B users of products and services have become accustomed to the streamlined process of B2C, they are increasingly expecting a similar experience from B2B companies.

The B2B e-commerce industry is snowballing, with some estimates projecting the size of the market at US$1.2 trillion by 2021.

Furthermore, according to Forrester, 74 per cent of customers prefer to buy online as compared to buying from a sales representative. This number rises to 93 per cent when they’ve already decided what to buy and need to make the purchase.

With this in mind, B2B companies and other wholesalers cannot afford to stick to their traditional offline approach of dealing with clients and customers. They need to quickly adapt and chalk up a digital strategy that will help them capitalise on the growing trend of online buying.

Also Read: Best B2B marketing KPIs that directly impact sales growth

Here is a round-up of the different steps B2B companies can take to grow their e-commerce business:

Acquiring customers

The first step is to create an online storefront which serves as the digital equivalent of a brick and mortar set up. This can be done through a custom-built site or using a suitable technology platform like Magento, CS-Cart, Woo-commerce etc.

While selecting the right e-commerce platform, it’s essential to consider the specific requirements of the business such as size and complexity of the product catalogue, variations offered, MOQs, tiered pricing, etc.

Once the platform is set up, B2B e-commerce companies need to be able to draw customers to their sites. A robust search engine strategy can help attract the correct target audience to the e-store.

Firms should invest in both technical search engine optimisation and a content-rich strategy that will help drive highly relevant organic traffic to the site.

They can also leverage advertising tools like search engine ads, product listing and display network ads to capture the eyes of potential users of their products. Social media can be another essential channel for acquiring customers.

It helps in brand building exercises and informing customers of seasonal offers and exclusive discounts.

Customer evaluation and decision making

Once a customer is on the site, they should be provided with a shopping experience that is at par with a brick and mortar store.

B2B Firms can leverage case studies and testimonials from satisfied customers on the home page to instil immediate trust in their products and services.

The site should have a powerful search engine that enables users to find the products they are looking for quickly. The product catalogue needs to be categorized in a logical manner, which makes it easy for users to browse through the offerings.

The B2B site needs to be closely integrated with the backend ERP system to sync up product availability and inventory levels, minimum order quantities and tiered pricing. Sites can further improve the customer experience by introducing features like smart product filters, product recommendations and comparison of product alternatives.

It is also important for B2B e-commerce sites to have distinct client-side interfaces to deal with the more complicated requirements of purchase teams. In addition to the straightforward add-to-cart feature, the store should have a way of capturing an indent, spreadsheet or a long list of product requirements from the client.

Also Read: Is customer centric approach applicable in B2B structure?

Sales support

B2B e-commerce sites need to bring in automation to the entire sales workflow. While users can quickly checkout with their fundamental orders, they will need assistance from a sales rep for their more complex orders.

Onsite chat, call and email support can all play an essential role in guiding a user’s purchase journey.

Sales reps should be trained in encouraging customers to place their simpler orders and reorders online so that they can have more time to address the bigger deals.

Configure Price Quote (CPQ) tools can help firms provide a highly accurate and configured quote to the client.

CPQ puts upper and lower limits in place so that your sales team is always quoting with the latest approved pricing and discounting rules.

Order status information and previous order history of a client should be easily accessible to a sales rep so that they can always provide the right information to a client.

 

Customer Retention

 

B2B customers tend to be more loyal as compared to their B2C counterparts. This provides a great opportunity to tailor solutions to clients.

B2B e-commerce sites can create user profiles for their customers based on their past order data and browsing behaviour on the site. These profiles can then be used to cross-sell and up-sell highly relevant user-specific product recommendations.

They can also implement customer-specific pricing and product bundles. Recurring requirements can be dealt with by offering automated reordering and subscription services to clients.

By offering flexible payment terms and lines of credit to customers, B2B e-commerce sites can smoothen the ordering and checkout process. Providing automated tax-compliant invoices is another essential platform feature that can reduce costs and streamline accounting for the company.

Also Read: The changes B2B marketing has felt over the past 5 years

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The investment into StakeWith.Us will be a second lead investment that LuneX Ventures has concluded since its appointment to SGInnovate’s panel of co-investors

Singapore-based blockchain infrastructure startup StakeWith.Us today announced a S$825,000 (US$595,000) seed funding round led by SGInnovate and LuneX Ventures, Golden Gate Ventures’ dedicated fund for blockchain investments.

The investment will be a second lead investment that LuneX Ventures has concluded since its appointment to SGInnovate’s panel of co-investors, under the Startup SG Equity to identify and co-invest with SGInnovate in early-stage deep tech startups founded in Singapore.

StakeWith.Us wants to use the funding to scale its team across Asia and expand its offering.

In an email to e27, StakeWith.Us Co-Founder Michael Ng explained further details of this plan.

“We started off as a three-man team and have scaled up to seven people (with five in Singapore and two in Vietnam) to date. The main focus of our new hires is to maintain our core infrastructure … and build institutional facing products,” he wrote.

Also Read: (Exclusive) Merkle Science raises US$804K in seed funding round led by LuneX, SGInnovate

“As of now, we are providing staking services for three protocols, and with our current pipeline, we aim to provide up to nine protocols by the end of this year. We are also pro-actively approaching potential institutional clients to provide bespoke staking services for them,” he continued.

StakeWith.Us offers digital asset owners a secure, performant and reliable service to secure new decentralised Proof of Stake networks.

“Even though StakeWith.Us is formally incorporated only early this year, we have been hard at work since Q3 last year. Providing staking infrastructure is complex; you are required to have a deep understanding of each protocol and technical know-how to properly configure, secure and maintain your nodes,” Ng explained.

Prior to starting StakeWith.Us, the company’s founders have also worked together to invest in blockchain startups. The team has expertise across financial markets, software development, and cybersecurity.

In a press statement, Kenrick Drijkoningen, Founding Partner of LuneX Ventures, named staking services as the core infrastructure needed for decentralised, permissionless networks and that they are the “asset managers of tomorrow.”

Also Read: College admission platform Cialfo raises US$3M Series A funding

Pang Heng Soon, Head, Venture Building, SGInnovate also predicted Proof-of-Stake protocols to become a “dominant trend” in the blockchain industry.

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Image Credit: StakeWith.Us

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Also, SAP launches an accelerator in Singapore, SG Bike buys Mobike’s licence in Singapore for US$1.85M

ELECTRIFY to raise US$5M Series A, seeking to develop its P2P Energy Trading Technology [Press Release]

ELECTRIFY, the purveyor of Singapore’s first retail electricity marketplace, announces that it seeks to raise US$5 million in Series A funding by the end of this year.

These funds will be used to accelerate ELECTRIFY’s business growth focussing on technology development, as well as for strategic hires to hone its Artificial Intelligence and blockchain capabilities. It also will use the funding for regional expansion plans into key markets outside of Singapore.

ELECTRIFY’s Synergy forms a component of ELECTRIFY’s electricity contracting ecosystem, facilitates peer-to-peer energy trading across an existing city-wide energy grid. It enables individual producers of energy, including private producers of renewable energy such as owners of solar panels, to sell excess energy to other consumers across a city.

ELECTRIFY said it is currently in talks with potential investors based in the region. Previous notable milestones of the company include a strategic investment secured from Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO), the completion of the first series of city-wide P2P energy trades in Singapore, and a recently announced collaboration with the power-monitoring startup, Ampotech to enable real-time energy monitoring.

SG Bike signs deal to buy Mobike’s Singapore licence for US$1.85M [DealStreetAsia]

Singapore-grown bike-sharing startup SG Bike reportedly has signed on a US$1.85-million deal to acquire Chinese startup Mobike’s licence, DealStreetAsia shared.

The deal will see that SG Bike operates 25,000 shared bikes in the city-state, as announced by Singapore-based urban planning and civil engineering company ISOTeam, the 51 per cent shareholder of SG Bike. The transaction includes the purchase of Mobike’s licence to operate its bicycles in Singapore, a security deposit of US$550,000, and 25,000 bicycles, as well as related bicycle service fees for storage costs.

Also Read: Mobike to test trial bike-sharing app in Singapore this year

Right now, the deal is still subject to regulatory approval. If successful, it will make SG Bike the largest shared bike operator in the city. Per September 13, Mobike bicycles unlocking is expected to be done via SG Bike’s app by September 13.

Sean Tay, Chief Operating Officer of SG Bike, said: “With the increased bicycle fleet size, SG Bike will now be able to serve more areas in Singapore. Bicycles will also be strategically deployed to ensure bicycle availability.”

Mobike, which was acquired by Meituan Dianping for US$3.4 billion, first launched its bike-sharing service in Singapore in March 2017 and has stated that it plans to roll back its international operations.

Global software company SAP.io launches accelerator, joined by 7 B2B startups [Marketing Interactive]

Software company SAP has officially launched SAP.iO Foundry Singapore, its first accelerator programme based in Singapore. According to Marketing Interactive, its first cohort will be joined by seven early-stage startups focussed on B2B technologies.

With SAP.iO Foundry, SAP said that it aims to accelerate Southeast Asian startups by providing them access to mentorship, exposure to SAP technology, the application of programmable interfaces, as well as opportunities to collaborate with SAP customers.

The companies that have joined the accelerator are:

• TADA, data-driven customer advocacy, and engagement platform that helps brands attract, engage and retain customers.
• Size n Fit, an eCommerce add-on to help online shoppers find apparel that fits and reduce returns.
• Flowcast, a platform that uses machine-learning algorithms to harness complex data to automate credit decision-making.
• LuxTag, a blockchain-based anti-counterfeiting and anti-theft solutions provider.

The other three are HR-related startups AI talent management platform Pulsifi, workflow tool Notarum, and first-round interview automation solution Adaface.

Indonesian Jet Commerce buys Brand Top for the Philippines, China expansion [DealStreetAsia]

Indonesia-based e-commerce enabler, Jet Commerce, announces that it has acquired Chinese firm Brand Top for an undisclosed amount as an expansion strategy into the Philippines and China, as reported by DealStreetAsia.

Established in 2017, Jet Commerce offers an end-to-end e-commerce solution for brands and small and medium businesses. The startup claims to have helped 100 official online stores on 13 popular Asia-based e-commerce platforms to date.

Also Read: Singapore’s energy marketplace Electrify raises investment from Japan’s utility firm

With its expansion into the Philippines, Jet Commerce will also open a new office in Taguig City, in Manila.

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Ever thought of being an entrepreneur but unsure where to start? Cohort-based accelerators are one such option, with each their strengths and specialisations

Previously I wrote an article in 2016, listing all the different accelerators which have arrived to Singapore’s shores. There are new entries and exits since then. So look below for the list as you consider applying for them.

AirMaker

• Speciality: Internet of Things (IoT) with Digital Health and Smart Cities focus
• Major partners/shareholders: Ascendas-Singbridge, SGInnovate, Runyang Group
• Duration of program: 3 months – 2 months in Singapore and 1 month in Shenzhen, China.
• Frequency of program per year: 1
• Next enrolment date: Applications closed May 18. Next date TBA.
• Investment amount/Equity stake: S$35,000 for 7%

From the website: AIRmaker is an IoT-focused cross-border accelerator programme that connects start-ups with two of Asia’s most vibrant innovation ecosystems, Singapore and Shenzhen. It leverages on the network and resources of their founding partners, namely Ascendas-Singbridge, SGInnovate and Runyang Group to support IoT start-ups from business validation, product sourcing, manufacturing, up to distribution and expansion.

Entrepreneur First

• Speciality: Deep technology companies (companies where the core focus is building new technology, e.g. machine learning, simulation and graphics/VR, aerospace, robotics)
• Major partners/shareholders: Greylock Partners, Mosaic Ventures, Founders Fund, Lakestar
• Duration of program: 6 months
• Frequency of program per year: 2
• Next enrolment date: Applications open now. Programme starts 29th January 2019.
• Investment/Equity stake: S$5k per month per founder for 3 months (S$15k total per founder), S$75,000 if your company is offered a place on EF Launch

From the website: Entrepreneur First (EF) isn’t a traditional ‘accelerator’. EF supports the best, most ambitious computer scientists and engineers to build deep-technology companies from scratch. You don’t need a team or fixed idea to apply. Over 3 months EF helps you find a co-founder, develop your idea, get customers, and raise funding from top investors. EF alumni companies are worth more than $1B and their investors include everyone from Y Combinator to Index Ventures.

Modern Aging Accelerator

• Speciality: Technology for Aging Market
• Major partners/shareholders: Access Health International, NUS Enterprise, Duke NUS Medical School, Active Global, Centre for Aging Research & Education, ACES, SingHealth
• Duration of program: 10 weeks
• Frequency of program per year: 1
• Next enrolment date: Applications closes 30th June 2018.
• Investment/Equity stake: Up to S$50,000, with an option of up to 5% equity taken. The equity is split evenly between ACCESS Health and NUS Enterprise.

Elevator Pitch: Modern Aging Singapore is a business accelerator for aging. It is the first of its kind in Singapore, designed specifically to cater to the specific challenges and opportunities of the senior market. The program combines an online aging curriculum and industry events with a comprehensive business development program. Startups will benefit from NUS Enterprise incubator support and the international networks of ACCESS Health.

Teams are matched with industry mentors from multinational corporations who offer a regional perspective on business opportunities in aging. At the final event, teams pitch their business models to a panel of industry and aging experts.

The most commercially viable business models will receive seed funding from ACCESS Health International and NUS Enterprise. Modern Aging Singapore is supported by SingHealth and was created by ACCESS Health International and NUS Enterprise.

Startupbootcamp Fintech Singapore

• Speciality: Fintech
• Major partners / shareholders: SGInnovate, DBS, CIMB, RHB, Mastercard, Banco Intesa San Paolo, PwC, Jungle Ventures, PixVine Capital
• Duration of program: 3 months
• Frequency of program per year: 1
• Next enrolment date: Next date TBA.
• Investment/Equity stake: S$25K for 6%

From their website: Startupbootcamp FinTech is the leading global accelerator focused on financial innovation. Each year they provide funding, collaboration, coaching, mentorship, office space in Singapore and access to a global network of corporate partners, mentors, investors and VCs, for up to 12 selected FinTech and InsurTech startups selected across the globe.

Over the course of an intense three month program, selected startups collaborate with corporate partners drawn from the financial industry, angel & VC investors, and more than 400 expert mentors to build world class FinTech and InsurTech products, with the ultimate goal of becoming industry leading companies.

The FinLab

• Speciality: Fintech
• Major partners / shareholders: SGInnovate, UOB
• Duration of program: 3 months
• Frequency of program per year: 1
• Next enrolment date: Programme started on April 2018. Next application TBA.
• Investment/Equity stake: Discretionary equity funding.

Elevator pitch: The FinLab is Singapore’s first accelerator to run a business transformation programme for SMEs to innovate and digitalise for growth. We aim to equip owners of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with tools to increase revenues, raise productivity and reach new markets, while leveraging on curated technology solutions to do so.

The Open Vault

• Speciality: Fintech
  
• Major partners / shareholders: OCBC Bank
  
• Duration of program: 3 months
  
• Frequency of program per year: 1
  
• Next enrolment date: Applications closed April 2018. Next date TBA.
• Investment amount / Equity stake: nil

From their website: Spanning 12 weeks, the 2018 The Open Vault Innovation Challenge invites fintechs to develop practical solutions to address the challenges put forth by eight different business units in OCBC. This is a collaborative programme where selected fintechs and their respective business units will have to work closely together to co-develop and test the solutions. Applicants get to develop their solutions and proofs-of-concept in OCBC’s Data Sandbox.

Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator

• Speciality: Any tech startups that have been working together for at least 6 months and targets a large addresable market
  
• Major partners / shareholders: Oracle
  
• Duration of program: 6 months
  
• Frequency of program per year: 1
  
• Next enrolment date: Applications closed June 2018. Next date TBA.
  
• Investment/Equity stake: nil
  

From their website: Oracle Startup Cloud Accelerator provides startups with free Oracle Cloud credits, hands-on interaction with R&D, co-working space, enterprise-grade scaling, business development, revenue building, world-class mentoring, migration assistance and access to product and partner ecosystems, as well as over 430,000 enterprise customers.

STARTUPAUTOBAHN Singapore

• Speciality: Various tech verticals including Predictive Analysis, AI, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality
  
• Major partners / shareholders: Daimler, Plug and Play, Jardines Innovate, NUS Enterprise
  
• Duration of program: 5 months
  
• Frequency of program per year: 2
  
• Next enrolment date: Applications open now. Next batch beginning soon.
  
• Investment/Equity stake: nil

From their website: STARTUPAUTOBAHN Singapore is a corporate co-innovation platform powered by Mercedes-Benz focusing on several domains including Customers, Automotive Retail, Aftersales, Corporation and Infrastructure Management.

Also read: Women-led ventures make up only 22 per cent of accelerator participants in Indonesia: Report

PayPal Innovation Lab Incubator (Fintech)

• Speciality: Fintech
  
• Major partners / shareholders: PayPal
  
• Duration of program: 9 months
  
• Frequency of program per year: 1
  
• Next enrolment date: Programme begins July 2018.
  
• Investment/Equity stake: Possible S$100,000 equity funding from partnering VC or PayPal
  

From their website: Located within PayPal’s Singapore Technology Center, PayPal Incubator endeavours to nurture and support the creation of a new generation of technology companies. It provides an initial infrastructure, structured curriculum with access to FinTech domain experts, mentoring and guidance by business leaders, and access to a network of investors.

PayPal Innovation Lab Incubator

• Speciality: Social Messaging Tech (Viber-focused)
  
• Major partners / shareholders: Rakuten, Techstars
  
• Duration of program: 3 months
  
• Frequency of program per year: 1
  
• Next enrolment date: Programme begins July 2018.
  
• Investment/Equity stake: $20,000 for 6% equity stake and the option of a $100,000 convertible note
  

From their website: Together with Rakuten, a global leader in internet services, Techstars will work with early-stage entrepreneurs who are advancing social messaging technologies, with a focus on the Viber application. This mentorship-driven accelerator will focus on disrupting and revolutionizing how businesses and consumers use messaging to conduct business and stay connected

UNFRAMED

• Speciality: Social Impact x Tech
• Major partners / shareholders: Croeni Foundation, Singtel, SCAPE
• Duration of program: 4 months
• Frequency of program per year: 2
• Next enrolment date: Next date TBA.
• Investment/Equity stake: S$10k – revenue sharing

Elevator Pitch: UNFRAMED is the first social impact startup incubator, by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs, in Asia. Uniquely positioned at the intersection of Community, Technology & Entrepreneurship, UNFRAMED leverages the most comprehensive cross-sector ecosystem to nurture the next generation of entrepreneurs, and help them build great startups with clear social impact.

ImpacTech

• Speciality: Various tech startups use technology innovatively to generate impact. Also, provide Corporate Accelerator for large scale companies.
• Major partners/shareholders: Singtel, AVPN. Privately owned.
• Duration of program: 3-4 months
• Frequency of program per year: 3
• Next enrolment date: Applications is now open.
• Investment amount/Equity stake: S$30,000 (via SG Founder grant)

From the website: ImpacTech is global accelerator programme that empowers startups that uses technology innovatively to tackle meaningful challenges and generate positive impact. ImpacTech HQ is in Singapore with activities in Thailand, Japan and Hong Kong. ImpacTech runs in-house accelerator as well as bespoke corporate accelerator programmes and tailored activities for international startup delegations.

ICE71

• Speciality: Cybersecurity
• Major partners/shareholders: Singtel Innov8, NUS Enterprise, CSA, IMDA, CISCO
• Duration of program: 3 months
• Frequency of program per year: 2 per year for both the accelerator and the bootcamp
• Next Enrolment date: mid-Feb 2019 (accelerator)
• Investment amount/Equity Stake: $30k

From the website: ICE71 ‘Innovation Cybersecurity Ecosystem at Block71’ is the region’s first cybersecurity startup hub. Founded by Singtel Innov8, the corporate venture capital unit of Singtel, and the National University of Singapore (NUS), through its entrepreneurial arm NUS Enterprise, we aim to strengthen Singapore’s growing cybersecurity ecosystem by attracting and developing competencies and deep technologies to help mitigate the rapidly increasing cybersecurity risks in the region.

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This article was first published on e27, June 26, 2018.

Disclaimer: Information gathered here were drawn from the respective accelerator websites and verifying with the accelerators directly. The information may be subjected to change and we encourage startups to visit the accelerators directly for more information.

e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Photo by Jacob Peters-Lehm on Unsplash

The post Need help building and growing your startup? Here is a list of accelerators in Singapore appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based PE fund Emerging Markets Investment Advisers led this Series B round in Myanmar-based reality-tech startup ShweProperty

ShweProperty.com, one of Myanmar’s leading property portals, has secured US$3 million in its Series B round of funding. led by Singapore-based private equity fund Emerging Markets Investment Advisers (EMIA).

Other participants in the round include 500 Startups; Simon Baker, former Chairman of iProperty and Mitula Group; family office of Dinh Thi Hoa, Chairwoman of Galaxy Media & Entertainment Vietnam; and existing investor Stockholm-based Vostok New Ventures and a UK-based investment fund.

This is US-based 500 Startups’s maiden investment in Myanmar.

“The latest round of funding will be used to accelerate all areas of our business operations, sales and marketing, product development, and includes our advanced transaction model that streamlines the home buying process for consumers,” said Kevin Goos, MD of Shwe Property.

This is ShweProperty’s third round of funding. In 2017, it secured an undisclosed investment from Gilles Blanchard, Co-founder of French property site Seloger.com. This was preceded by a Series A round in February the same year.

Also Read: How the son of a humble watch repairer became the owner of a multi-million dollar realty tech startup

ShweProperty was started by Justin Sway (CEO), who was born in Myanmar before his family migrated to Australia when he was four years old. With over 20 years of business experience under his belt, he started the portal in 2011. It was a bold move back then because internet was still unavailable in the country since the market was not opened up. A mobile SIM card cost over US$500 in those years, making it unaffordable for the common man.

Currently led by Goos, Sway, and Kaung Thu Win (Founder and Director), ShweProperty connects property buyers, renters, and sellers. The company claims it has over 100,000 active listings and 750,000 monthly visits. It claims ShweProperty is working with all top property developers and real estate agents across the nation. At the moment, it has 1,200 registered agents and 500 developers, Sway told e27.

ShweProperty is pitted against iMyanmarHouse.com, which was started by Nay Min Thu in late 2013. In an interview with e27 last October, Thu said that it had over 550 developer partners, 2,200 agents, and 300,000 property listings from across the country. During its journey, iMyanmarHouse has also raised multi-million dollars in funding from Frontier Digital Ventures, an ASX-listed VC firm.

Commenting on the new funding, Trent Eddy, Chief Investment Officer for EMIA, said: “We were impressed by one of the strongest management teams in IT technology we’ve seen, and their great strength in online real estate portals is reflected in their market leadership and high-quality shareholder base.”

Besides ShweProperty, Sway is also co-founder of Myanmar-based jobs portal JobNet, which raised an undisclosed 7-figure funding in a Series A round in 2017.

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Image Credit: ShweProperty

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Yangon Capital Partners (YCP), Seed Myanmar, and Nest Tech come back as investors for Flexible Pass’s second funding round

Flexible Pass, Myanmar-based health and fitness app, announces that it has raised a six-digit Pre-Series A funding.

Without revealing the total funding raised, the second funding round was raised from three existing investors from the company’s first funding round: Yangon Capital Partners (YCP), Seed Myanmar, and Nest Tech.

The company said that it will use the funding to expand into the wellness industry by offering services such as spa and beauty services.

It will also develop a new subscription-based B2B product for businesses in the beauty and wellness industry that will be launched by the end of this year.

Flexible Pass currently operates in Yangon, Mandalay, and Pyin Oo Lwin after expanding in March 2019. It claimed to have over 1,000 monthly active users making over 2,500 bookings per month.

Also Read: How recovery training managed to become tech’s latest fitness craze

Through its mobile app, users can create an account, buy Flexible Pass points using a variety of payment options, and start making bookings.

Founded in March 2017 by its Founder and CEO Sully Bholat, Flexible Pass is a pay-as-you-go fitness pass that users can use to make bookings for 20 different fitness activities at over 150 locations across three cities of Myanmar.

Bholat admitted that he “derived” inspiration for the business from US-based fitness class subscription platform ClassPass in the US. When he saw a similar platform, GuavaPass, emerge in Asia, he started work on bringing his own version of it to Myanmar.

Also Read: Burmese fitness platform Flexible Pass has secured funding from Nest Tech

Flexible Pass is a graduate from Founder Institute, the idea-stage accelerator and startup launch programme run through Phandeeyar in Myanmar.

Flexible Pass is also a winner of 2017 Startup of the Year for Myanmar and Best HealthTech Startup of the Year for two years in a row in 2017 and 2018 for Myanmar, all in the ASEAN Rice Bowl Startup Awards.

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Image Credit: unsplash.com/@victorfreitas

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Hungry Hub offers a fixed-price dining service through its app, focussing on a la carte eateries

Thailand-based buffet app Hungry Hub announces that it has raised US$450,000 in funding from Expara and 500 Startups.

With a fixed-price dining app concept, the app’s offering includes exclusive buffet deals and sharing set-menus at restaurants with average per-booking spends of US$80.

This is the first funding that Hungry Hub has received after a period of bootstrapping, claiming to be profitable for the last eight months.

The company said that the seed funding will be used to speed up on the restaurant acquisition process to 1,000 restaurants in an 18 months goal.

In the next 12 months, Hungry Hub is planning to raise a Series A round and to reach international cities as part of the expansion plan.

Also Read: Foodtech in Singapore through the eyes of startups

Hungry Hubs offers mostly deals and set-menus such as All You Can Eat exclusive buffet promotions for restaurants that usually only offer a la carte menus; Party Pack, an exclusive set menus for groups of two to four diners with a minimum of 20 per cent discounts on eateries that do not usually offer discounts; and Buffet Plus, a menu option for Hungry Hub-customers-only that are offered on top of existing buffet promotions. It just added Hungry Lunch, a weekday all-inclusive set lunch options.

“Hungry Hub wants to allow diners to be able to know upfront before entering any restaurant as to how much their food bill is going to come to and for restaurants to drive more revenue through sustainable promotions,” said Hungry Hub Founder & CEO Surasit Sachdev.

According to Sachdev, there has been an untapped potential of group bookings, whether for celebrations or corporate dinners, with budgets that can be controlled whilst ensuring the location, cuisine, and atmosphere are right.

“Customer engagement in food service needs to go beyond the marketing function. Customers are more and more demanding as they have more choices,” Sachdev added.

Also Read: Meet the 100+ startups proving that Asia has the best startup ecosystem in the world

Established in 2014, Hungry Hub first served as an online restaurant reservation app. However, in 2016, the startup pivoted and redefined itself into a fixed-price dining offer app.

“Whereas competitors are focused on discounts, Hungry Hub helps the restaurant to up-sell and increase revenues while also giving them exposure to a large pool of customers, who directly fits their target market with the ability and willingness to pay,” said Anix Lynch from Expara in regards to the decision to invest in the company.

Currently operating in Bangkok and Chiang Mai, Hungry Hub is looking to expand to major cities in Thailand and planning a regional rollout in 2020. The company claimed to have seated more than 430,000 diners to date.

Hungry Hub is the first winner in the Pitch Corner event of The Seedstars World Summit 2018 in Switzerland.

It was also named the top startup in The Pitch competition for the e-commerce category at the Echelon Asia Summit 2018 in Singapore.

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Image Credit: unsplash.com/@susieho

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Key things learnt in wework that makes it work

There is a rising trend of coworking space in Singapore- you could easily find a coworking space in less than 200m apart in Singapore Central Business District, almost like how you would find bubble tea shops in shopping malls. 

Having been working in a coworking space, these are key things I learnt about the phenomenon of WeWork: 

People like flexibility or shorter-term commitment

Office lease term for coworking space is typically a month onwards, as compared to the convention office space whose office lease term is at least 2-3 years. The flexibility in office lease term provides an advantage for companies who need time to stabilise their headcount or to gain a market foothold before getting their own permanent office space. 

Also Read: How coworking is reshaping the workforce

This radical change in office leasing terms is the game-changer for coworking space to strive, at least for startups and growing companies who appreciate the flexibility and prioritise on cashflow.

People like clarity in cost

Nobody likes unpleasant surprises in their bill. There is cost pertaining to office fit-out, office utility and maintenance, should you get your own office space.

Coworking will continue its appeal because of its monthly subscription model. Simple and predictable unless you exceed the allocated credits for meeting room booking or printing.

People like transparency in the process

There is a relative lack of transparency in commercial real estate as compared to coworking space, where pricing is published based on headcount.

Based on my experience, all listed prices, be it on conventional office space or coworking space, are subject to negotiation.

If your requirement is large, you certainly have more negotiation power to bring the terms closer to your favour.

In any case, you need someone professional with local market knowledge to do proper market benchmarking based on your unique set of requirements.

Also Read: The benefits of coworking based on business size

People like instant gratification

The process to move into an office space is faster and more straightforward for the well-furnished and equipped coworking space, as compared to conventional office space, which could likely be in bare or partially fitted condition.

In a coworking shared space, there is a limited way for you to establish your unique corporate identity or showcase your values.

But for convenience sake, coworking space is still preferred and one may simply choose a coworking operator which could resonate closest to their corporate identity.

Also Read: 5 ways coworking can give your business a much-needed boost

Are you in the midst of finding office space? With the various options on a coworking and conventional office space, do you know which ones cost less and works out better for you? Do share your experience in setting your office space below.

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Image Credit: Eloise Ambursley

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In addition to Flat Monthly and Tumblr, we also have updates from Zhihu and Faircent

Singapore’s Flat Monthly raises US$320,000 – Tech In Asia

Singapore-based online property rental platform Flat Monthly has raised US$320,000 in seed funding from Hong Kong’s Terra Capital, Tech In Asia reported.

Flat Monthly operates an online marketplace for landlords, agents, and tenants for condominiums and apartments.

It offers virtual reality tours of its listings, digital signing, and online rental payment services.

Terra Capital stated that investment into the startup will be used to produce immersive content.

Verizon to sell Tumblr to WordPress’s parent company – The WSJ

Verizon Communications Inc. has secured an agreement to sell its blogging site Tumblr to Automattic, owner of popular publishing tool WordPress, The WSJ reported.

Once purchased by Verizon for US$1.1 billion, Automattic will buy Tumblr for an undisclosed sum and take on about 200 of its employees.

Another report by Axios stated that Tumblr was bought for only less than US$10 million.

Also Read: We aim to transform car ownership through our 360-degree approach: Carro Founder Aaron Tan

Chinese Q&A platform Zhihu raises US$434 million – TechCrunch

Chinese Q&A platform Zhihu has raised a US$434 million Series F funding round, TechCrunch wrote.

The funding round was led by video and live-streaming platform Beijing Kuaishou, with participation from Baidu.

Existing investors Tencent and CapitalToday also returned for the round.

Zhihu plans to use the funding to support tech and product development.

In addition to being the company’s biggest funding round since it launched in 2011, it is also one of the largest secured over the past two years by a Chinese internet culture and entertainment company, according to Zhihu’s financial advisor for the funding round, China Renaissance.

India’s Faircent raises funding led by Das Capital & Gunosy Capital – Press Release

Indian P2P lending company Faircent has raised an undisclosed funding round led by Singapore-based Das Capital and Gunosy Capital.

The funding round also saw the participation of existing investors Starharbor Asia Pte Ltd and M&S Partners Pte Ltd (Sin Growth Partner Pte Ltd).

Faircent will utilise the funding to strengthen the platform’s technology, expanding distribution, and adding unique loan offerings for its lenders.

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Image Credit: Andrea Ang on Unsplash

The post Today’s top tech news, Aug 13: Flat Monthly gets US$320K, Verizon to sell Tumblr to WordPress owner appeared first on e27.

In April, Koku raised US$2 million led by Decent Capital, an investment firm started by Jason Zeng, who had co-founded Tencent

Koku, a Singapore-based fintech startup which provides foreign exchange tech solutions to non-bank financial intermediaries (NBFIs), has announced its plans to expand into Indonesia.

The expansion follows Koku’s US$2 million pre-series A fund-raise earlier this year, which was led by Decent Capital, an investment firm started by Jason Zeng, who had co-founded Chinese tech giant Tencent Holdings.

The startup aims to partner with NBFIs including non-bank remittance companies and liquidity providers in Indonesia to provide cheaper, quicker and digital-first remittance services to their customers.

Koku views Indonesia as an increasingly promising market with a high migrant population and increasing inbound and outbound remittance. Through technology, there is immense potential for Indonesia to grow its remittance industry as well as contribute to the growth of the region’s e-payments and money transfer capabilities.

According to the World Bank, Indonesia’s economy has experienced tremendous improvements and growth, partly due to the contributions of its remittance industry. Examples of this growth include double-digit growth of 24.7 per cent in 2018, and a recorded transaction value of US$8.9 billion of foreign exchange by migrant workers in 2017. Indonesia is also considered as one of the top ten largest remittance recipients in Asia in 2018, per the Asian Development Bank’s estimates.

Also Read: QR code-based mobile payments startup QFPay raises US$20M for global expansion

“Indonesia is uniquely fragmented, and for us this presents great opportunity to contribute to the growth of the country’s financial capability as well as the region’s. We offer technology that doesn’t silo growth, but enables our partners to grow to their strengths, whilst at the same time leaving room to collaborate and tap on the strength of others. Koku envisions greater growth opportunities for the industry by leveraging technology to deliver financial inclusion and change the way of life for Indonesians,” said Calvin Goh, Founder and CEO of Koku.

As part of its strategic plans to expand into Indonesia, Koku will move to collaborate with partners, including e-wallet players, micro-lending and payment companies, remittance and money exchange businesses. These partnerships will be centred around the integration of its technology into existing operations.

In addition, Koku is potentially exploring opportunities to partner with local supermarkets and convenience stores, which will act as points of access to financial services, which will help the unbanked community move closers to financial inclusion.

“We’re extremely strategic in the way we approach our growth. Expansion into Indonesia will be very much dependent on engaging with the right partners. We want to ensure that our technology is localised to adhere to cultural needs and business needs,” Goh added.

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