GDP Venture invests in the Indonesian startup to support its plan on data labeling NLP-based apps

Datasaur, a data labeling platform powered by artificial intelligence (AI) based in Indonesia, has received a seed round of funding from GDP Venture as reported by DailySocial.

Datasaur was founded by Ivan Lee, who’s a Computer Science graduate from Stanford University living in Silicon Valley. Behind AI trend that keeps evolving, there’s a human-labeled training machine that’s time-consuming and expensive, which inspired the establishment of Datasaur.

Datasaur developed an intelligent tool to support data labelers with efficient and automated ways of data labeling while simultaneously increasing data privacy and security.

The system, according to Lee, uses an AI-based and Natural Language Processing (NLP)-supported that proactively suggest labels. Any labeled data that’s not coherent with the previous tag labeling or contextually out-of-place will be subjected to verification.

Project manager then can manage how many times every data will be labeled to guarantee accuracy.

At this early stage, Datasaur’s service is still focussed on text-based data input. Datasaur said it plans to expand its services into audio-based data input as well.

Also Read: Indonesian “1000 Startups” initiative being renewed by the government

“We are still open for any additional participation from potential strategic partners in this seed round,” said Datasaur team.

Prior to Datasaur, founder Ivan Lee co-founded Loki Studio with three of his Stanford friends, before it was acquired by Yahoo in 2013. Yahoo then appointed Lee as its first Associate Product Manager, responsible for developing the company’s mobile search platform with AI.

Lee, whose stints then included VP of Product di GoButler and AI Product team in Apple, based Datasaur’s business in both California and Indonesia.
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The winner will receive S$50,000 in grants from Enterprise SG, in addition to a Unicorn chalice made by SIEGE

As the two day-long Echelon Asia Summit 2019 draws to a close, the 10 finalists selected from the Top 100 startups in Southeast Asia will pitch for the championship title before an expert panel of judges at 04:00 pm in Singapore today.

The top two winners will receive S$50,000 each in grants from Enterprise SG. The title winner —  TOP100 Champion –will also be awarded with a “Unicorn” chalice made by SIEGE.

Other TOP100 finalists will also receive mini chalices made by SIEGE.

Below is a brief of the 10 startups:

BeamAndGo (Philippines): BeamAndGo caters to needs and solves the remittance pain of overseas Filipino workers. A payment and digital marketplace, the startup empowers migrant workers by giving them control over how their remittances are spent by their families.

DRVR (Thailand): Headquartered in Bangkok, DRVR provides a fleet intelligence platform for the logistics industry. Its fleet intelligence platform helps businesses reduce the cost of operating vehicles. The firm uses telematics that allows devices to send and receive information across large distances to track vehicle performance, driver behaviour, unscheduled stops, etc.

Also Read: Busting the myths around AI, IoT, Big Data and Cloud at Echelon 2019

Ecomobi (Singapore): It is a social selling platform, powered by Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Ecomobi seeks help e-commerce companies direct sales towards social networks. Its algorithm allows social influencers to monetise their traffic via access to e-commerce inventories and connect with brands instantaneously, optimising both cost-per-acquisition and revenue.

GLife Tech (Singapore): A farm-to-fork platform, GLife connects farmers with restaurants, ensuring that their produces move through the supply chain efficiently.

JupViec (Vietnam): The startup aims to change the traditional domestic workers industry in the country by connecting domestic workers with customers online. It aims to create social impacts by improving the life of Vietnamese women.

Lizuna (Japan): It serves to help e-commerce businesses detect and prevent fraudulent orders via its product Beacon, which combines elements of Big Data and SMS to deliver false information detection, curation of mobile data points and fine-tuning.

H3 Dynamics (Singapore): A digital platform that fully automates and simplifies the use of security and industrial asset inspection drone operations, enabled by cutting-edge AI, robotics and energy storage technologies.

Ravenry (Indonesia): An on-demand desk research platform, Ravenry generates actionable insights for your business within 48 hours by combining human, technology, and data. It works with companies by supporting them in commercial due diligence, market analysis, competitor and technology scanning, and leads generation.

Real Estate Doc (Singapore): It is a next-generation software that aims to revolutionise the managing of commercial real estate leasing businesses. Powered by blockchain, its platform claims to facilitate secure, immutable and legally binding transactions between parties using smart contracts.

Toku World (Singapore): It builds a communication platform that enables businesses to interact with their (potential) customers via audio, text and video messaging APIs across all the available channels, regardless of the technologies or systems that they use.

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Despite challenges, there are plenty of opportunities for insurtech startups in the region, according to Sunday Ins CEO Cindy Kua

Insurtech is one of the most promising branches of fintech, yet in the Southeast Asian region there is an impression that there are not that many companies operating in the sector. This case is especially true when compared to other segments such as e-commerce.

This is why, for those who work on the sector, there are plenty of opportunities to succeed at various level.

Responding to this hypothesis on the first day of Echelon Asia Summit 2019 at Singapore Expo on Thursday, May 23, Cindy Kua, CEO of Thailand-based insurtech startup Sunday Ins stressed that insurance is basically a “very complex” industry.

“The challenge with Southeast Asia is that it is still in very early stage for insurtech,” Kua told e27 Editor Kevin MsSpadden in a fireside chat.

“For founders and startups … the challenge is in how you play in this market. Because the entire value chain can be disrupted,” she continued.

Kua explained that when the co-founders decided to build Sunday, they had to figure out on which aspect of the insurance business they are going to focus on: From implementing artificial intelligence to solve a specific pain point to delving in insurance brokering.

Also Read: 8 tech and startup events happening next week, and even one on Sunday

The ability to differentiate is crucial as even companies such as Grab and Google at some time were looking to become an insurance aggregator.

“When we started in 2017, we decided that we want to be insurer ourselves. Our main differentiation factor is that we are risk experts. We adsorb and manage the risks, and we deploy that in a highly localised market like Southeast Asia,” Kua said.

She further explained that in the region, insurance marketing is still predominantly run by agents and intermediaries.

In the case of Thailand, Kua pointed out that motor insurance remains the most popular type of insurance as it is compulsory for vehicle owners to have one. Its popularity is followed by comprehensive car insurance, which is also required when vehicle owners are applying for financing.

As for competition, in the kingdom there are 16 life insurance companies operating, and Kua did not hesitate to admit that her company is competing with them.

“But there are a lot of rooms for startups and new companies. Because even the incumbents are looking for something new to stay ahead and they are struggling,” Kua said.

Also Read: This is how Indonesians read news online: On their smartphones on Sundays

As an end-to-end insurtech platform, Sunday Ins looks after the sales and after-sales services for various insurance products, from motor to healthcare.

Their products are customisable, and each customer is provided with an app that includes features such as panic button for emergencies. For example, if a car insurance policy holder experiences an accident, by using the panic button, the customer can have a surveyor being dispatched to his location immediately.

In the future, Sunday Ins is looking forward to introduce self-service feature.

In February, the company made headline with a US$10 million funding round led by Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India.

According to Kua, the factor that enabled Sunday to seal the deal was the licence play.

“When you bring a licence into the deal, it started to become more complex. It is the go-to-market strategy that, I believe, has bought them,” Kua stressed.

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In a bid to expand its presence in Southeast Asia, WeWork opens the first two locations in Bangkok, Thailand

WeWork, the co-working space network, has landed in Bangkok, Thailand. The first two locations are located at the Asia Centre Building and the T-One Building, as reported by The Bangkok Post.

The Asia Centre location also becomes the home of WeWork Labs, WeWork’s innovation platform, as a part of its Southeast Asia expansion, that also becomes a milestone for WeWork in its mission of supporting the startup ecosystem.

“WeWork is committed to being a partner to help the country achieve its Thailand 4.0 vision by acting as a launch pad. As our footprint grows in Thailand, we see huge potential for serving demand, from MSMEs [micro, small and medium) to Fortune 500 companies looking for an efficient solution for flexible spaces, along with accelerating their business in the local ecosystem empowered by a global network,” said Turochas Fuad, managing director of WeWork Southeast Asia.

Krithpaka Boonfueng, deputy executive director for innovation systems at the National Innovation Agency (NIA), also emphasised on how startups in Thailand need the global and Southeast Asian perspectives to attract investment. “NIA will work with WeWork Labs to stimulate the growth of local startups and is confident that closer partnerships with the private sector will pave the way for strengthening Thailand’s local ecosystem”, she said.

WeWork has 19 locations in Southeast Asia, including in Singapore, Ho Chi Minh City, Manila, Jakarta, and Kuala Lumpur.

Also Read: Indonesian “1000 Startups” initiative being renewed by the government

Adrian Tan, head of WeWork Labs Southeast Asia, said Bangkok’s WeWork Labs is the second location in Southeast Asia, demonstrating Thailand’s position as an innovation hub for local and global players. The WeWork Labs space provides early-stage startups with resources to help their business grow.
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The Singapore remittance startup strikes partnership with the Thai Banking Group Kasikornbank

Digital remittance company based in Singapore InstaRem has partnered with Thailand’s Kasikornbank, joined in on the initiative to strengthen the company’s influence in the institutional payments space.

The agreement would see the Singapore startup facilitates cross-border payments for the bank’s clients in select markets, as reported by FiNews Asia.

“With InstaRem, KBank clients will be able to have faster turnarounds, while providing certainty on delivery times and payout amounts,” said Prajit Nanu, co-founder, and CEO of InstaRem.

Kasikornbank is Thailand’s second-largest bank in the country in terms of total assets, which currently is at US$96.9 billion.

InstaRem announced the close of its US$41-million Series C funding round back in March. The company claimed that it has since been using the funding to support growth and expansion to new markets, including opening a regional headquarters in Latin America and expanding its teams in London and Seattle.

Also Read: WeWork lands in Bangkok, Thailand marking Southeast Asia expansion

InstaRem already has a presence in 40+ countries in Asia-Pacific, North America, and Europe with its service that allows low-cost cross-border payments to 55+ countries.
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Asia is a promising market for major tech companies, but there are factors that they often forget to count in

In May, chat and messaging API and SDK developer SendBird announced that they have raised an additional US$50 million to their US$52 million Series B funding round –bringing the total number to US$102 million.

The number was mind-blowing as it was bigger than what giants such as Uber, Zoom, and Lyft raised in their respective Series B funding round.

However, the average joes and janes might not be familiar with the company’s identity. But once their leading clients such as Go-Jek and Carousell were mentioned, it would be easy to recognise the works that they have done.

“We want to empower our businesses and customers by not getting them distracted by chat building and maintenance … We take care of the entire back to front technology,” SendBird APAC Sales Manager Yeji Yoon explained to e27 Editor Kevin McSpadden on the second day of Echelon Asia Summit 2019 at Singapore Expo, Friday, May 24.

Messaging services itself tend to scale really fast, especially when it is included in a platform that handles millions of users on a regular basis. How does SendBird maintain consistency as it scales rapidly?

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

“We invest in chat technology. We have invested hundreds of million in chat technology, and now we have another millions to invest in it. Today, for example, we process over a billion messages a month in 12,000 apps,” the manager explained.

“Scalability is actually what we specialise in,” she stressed.

SendBird has its root in both America and Asia. While their headquarter is located in San Mateo, California, their APAC headquarter is located in Seoul.

With a total of five offices in the continent, SendBird sees Asia as a promising market.

“Asia is part of our DNA and it is a huge market. Especially since we have empowered so many innovative unicorns out there,” Yeji Yoon said.

Also Read: 2019: A hell of a year for marketers with chat and voice bots

“If you look at GDP growth, population growth, and mobile penetration adoption, it is natural to say that all these huge apps are going to come out of Asia, and that it makes sense to have a SaaS company that targets the Asian market,” she continued.

However, entering Asia is not without its own challenges. Major tech companies such as Uber had tried to tackle the market before, yet somehow unable to navigate the cultural differences between the regions.

This is why SendBird puts a strong emphasis on diversity.

“One of our core values is global citizenship. We were born out of Asia and we are optimised in Asia as much as we optimised globally,” Yeji Yoon explained.

“We embrace diversity and we try to be as local as possible by providing local support. We also build up a culture and investing in it to continuously serve all of our customers,” she added.

Also Read: Inspired by the lack of reproductive health awareness in Myanmar, Myhealthcare allows patients to chat with doctors

In choosing a potential partner or client, SendBird considers how its services can add value for the company’s works itself.

“We do not want to be just another call centre,” she concluded.

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The Chinese venture capital firm claimed that they manage a total of US$ 1 billion in assets

Chinese venture capital firm ZWC Ventures announced that it has closed its first fund for Southeast Asia and China at US$ 150 million, as reported by KrAsia.

Jason Jiang, who’s among ZWC’s largest limited partners (LPs), is the founder and chairman of Focus Media, which is one of China’s largest private media and advertising companies. ZWC’s other LPs include corporates, fund of funds, family offices, and high net worth individuals in mainland China and Hong Kong.

ZWC Ventures plans to invest in early to late-stage startups in the e-commerce, social commerce, fintech, and AI sectors. The amount of investment to be made will have an average size of US$500,000 to US$10 million for early-stage investments and US$10 million to US$60 million for growth-stage investments.

It plans to add another US$300 million into the region in the next three years, which will be a part of the US$500 million second fund ZWC wants to start putting together in Q3 this year.

So far, ZWC Ventures said it has directed a total of US$100 million to five investments in the region so far, including Singapore-based online tuition startup Tenopy and Indonesian media company Target Media Indonesia. The firm also confirmed that it invested in an unnamed Indonesian e-commerce platform and is currently examining potential investments in an Indonesian logistics first-mile provider and Singapore-based AI startup.

Also Read: InstaRem joins Thai bank to launch multi-currency payment feature

In an official statement, co-founder and partner of ZWC Ventures Terrance Lok said that the firm is also interested in sub-sectors, including those that enable e-commerce, like first-mile fulfillment logistics and supply chain fintech.

The firm has a partnership with a venture builder arm, Zynergy, who allocates US$500,000 to US$1 million initial seed funding for each selected startup which will have access to Zynergy’s network of entrepreneurs and investors in China. The firm plans to work with at least five Southeast Asian startups through Zynergy program this year.
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The localised initiative will have the dated public transportation bajaj to be boosted with the latest technology as a support to the government’s Langit Biru program

Grab has announced the launch of GrabBajay in Jakarta, teaming up with the Jakarta Transportation Agency. GrabBajay will offer the iconic transport as a new safe and comfortable option for travelling through roads that are difficult to reach with four-wheeled vehicles.

Tri Sukma Anreianno, Head of Public Affairs Grab Indonesia said, “As a technology company whose vision is to answer local transportation challenges, we’re thankful for the opportunity given by the Jakarta Transportation Agency to support their program in offering different options of transportation with GrabBajay.”

GrabBajay presence also seeks to support the government’s initiative to resolve the environmental pollution problem that is caused by motor vehicles through Langit Biru program. It aims to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles, which is why the registered bajay for GrabBajay is an eco-friendly gas-fueled vehicle.

All GrabBajay driver partners have passed the KIR (roadworthiness test) with a valid operating license, and passengers can access the bajay’s license plate number on the app.

GrabBajay’s benefits for driver partners and customers include the two-persons accommodation and with spare rooms to carry things.

Also Read: ZWC Ventures to pour US$150M fund to Southeast Asia and China

GrabBajay fleets are integrated into the Grab app and will allow customers to find GrabBajay on the road. Now users can access GrabBajay by tapping the “GrabBike” icon on the Grab app main screen.

GrabBajay service is currently available at five main points spread across Central Jakarta, including Jakarta Kota Station, ITC Mangga Dua, Mangga Besar Station, Sawah Besar Station, and Pasar Baru with a rate of IDR3000 (US$0.21) per kilometer.

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Image Credit: Grab

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Both Singapore-based CutQ and Malaysia-based FoodTime’s leadership team and product solution have been integrated into Fave’s platform

Mobile payments and rewards platform Fave announced that it has acquired two table and takeaway ordering solutions. The startups are CutQ in Singapore and FoodTime in Malaysia for an undisclosed fee.

With the acquisition, both companies will see its leadership team and product fully integrated into Fave’s regional platform.

The company announced the acquisition at Echelon Asia Summit 2019.

Fave said that the acquisitions will provide the company with a localised foothold to increase its market share in Singapore and Malaysia. The company also hopes it will help its position as a loyalty food and beverage system provider for merchants and their customers in Southeast Asia.

“As the cost to operate restaurants increases and business owners face challenges to hire staff and increase productivity, we wanted to provide Table Ordering and Take Away pre-ordering solutions which will reduce these hurdles,” said Joel Neoh, Founder of Fave Group.

Neoh highlighted that the technology the two companies have developed will be introduced as its next value-added service for the company’s merchants and users.

Founded in 2013 by entrepreneurs, Kevin Tan and Laura Chong-Tan, CutQ is a Singaporean food takeaway app that enables its users to skip queues and have their food ready for pickup. FoodTime is a mobile food ordering and delivery app founded by Ahmad Daleen in 2017.

Also Read: Indonesian “1000 Startups” initiative being renewed by the government

Merchants that have signed up on Fave’s table ordering solution include brands such as Gelare, Paulaner Brauhaus, Saboten, and Tingkat Peranakan in Singapore and Naughty Nuri’s, LOCO TTDI, and Murni in Malaysia.

This quarter, Fave noted that Favepay transactions crossed the six million mark with the app downloaded over four million times. More than US$6 million worth of cashback has been issued to Singaporeans and Malaysians.

In 2018, Fave raised US$20 million in Series B funding led by investors Sequoia Capital, Venturra Capital, and SIG Asia investment. Fave’s focus will be to increase its market share through continued partnerships, expansion of new services, and broader and deeper efforts in merchant acquisition.
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Image Credit: Fave

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The country also has a culture around corporate venture capital that is particularly active compared regional neighbors

Thailand is the second largest economy in Southeast Asia. It boasts 70 million people, a gigantic tourism industry and a world famous cuisine.

Unfortunately, it cannot claim to have produced a tech unicorn.

According to the e27 2018 Southeast Asia Startup Ecosystem Report, the most notable Thai investment from 2018 was an investment into Eatigo by TripAdvisor. The deal is rumoured to be about US$10 million.

So what can the country do to boost these numbers?

Also Read: How to approach startups from a radically different perspective

For Tarit Nimmanwudipong the Head of Commercial at True Digital Park, he wanted to focus on building an offline community. True Digital Park is a gigantic tech university set to open in the heart of Bangkok in the coming months.

At Echelon Asia Summit 2019, Nimmanwudipong elaborated to Thaddeus Koh, a co-founder of e27.

“People like you (Koh) and me usually meet at this kind of event (Echelon), which is great, but it’s only once or twice a year, which is not quite healthy. We build TDP, to put people under one roof. I can meet you every day and still have time to go back and work on my stuff. I think that is very important,” he said.

Portions of the park will be free to the public and True Digital Park wants to integrate events that will bring in people who don’t work there to try and build and ecosystem connected to the park.

This also includes residential buildings in the general area and Nimmanwudipong said True Digital Park is flirting with a plan that allows people to live and work in the campus.

Besides bringing together the tech community, Thailand has a couple of fairly specific traits that may help produce the next unicorn.

One of them is an active corporate engagement with the startup ecosystem. For years, some of the most notable accelerators and investments have come from telcos, banks and real estate conglomerates. While this happens across Southeast Asia, it is particularly prevalent in Thailand.

Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) is a very real part of the country’s startup ecosystem.

Another sign that corporates play an important role is the status of fintech as the most successful sector in Thailand. Banks have spearheaded the CVC culture in Thailand, which naturally means the put money into fintechs.

This creates a feedback loop whereby Thai people see fintech companies breaking into the market and associate the growth with the startup scene as a whole.

“Fintech startups are the first that the mass people of Thailand realize that startups are coming. Then other kinds of startups come a bit later,” said Nimmanwudipong.

Also Read: Singapore startup H3 Dynamics wins Echelon Asia Summit 2019

When asked by Koh which startup he thinks has growth potential to help lead the ecosystem.

He pointed to Eko, a mobile chatting app for companies.

“The reason I like it, is thinking about the potential of expansion. It can be in any industry. We are trying to connect people. Different industries have unique characteristics but they all want to communicate.” 

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Photo by Zach Inglis on Unsplash

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