uHoo, a Singapore-based indoor air quality sensor company, said today it has secured an undisclosed amount in a funding round “oversubscribed by 50 per cent”, led by Wavemaker Partners.

Enterprise Singapore, along with existing and new investors from the tech and real estate sectors, including PropertyGuru Group Co-founder Steve Melhuish (who is also a Venture Partner at Wavemaker), also joined the round.

The funds will be used by uHoo to meet the “large increase in demand” for healthy building solutions, accelerate growth through increased hiring, and development of innovative new products and services.

Also Read: This IoT device monitors air quality using laser tech that counts each individual air particle

Founded in 2014 by Dustin Jefferson S. Onghanseng and Brian Lin, uHoo has designed an air quality sensor device. It can monitor nine air quality parameters and also provides data, alerts, insights and recommendations via the uHoo mobile app.

The firm claimed in a press release that it has seen “an almost 5x increase” in units deployed in the last 12 months driven by “strong healthy building demand” by governments, schools, hospitals, hotels, malls, kitchens, offices and families in North America, Europe and Asia.

The company also said its revenue is exceeding original 2020 plans due to COVID-19 and the increased focus on health and wellbeing.

In June 2020, uHoo launched a Virus Index to provide a real-time view on COVID-19 survivability and airborne transmission risk.

“Air quality, health, and wellbeing have become key concerns for many, especially as we spend more time indoors and gradually return to our workplaces and schools. This is evidenced by the many blue-chip brands and government clients globally that uHoo has secured in 2020,” said Melhuish, who joins uHoo’s Board of Directors.

The company is tackling a large US$180 billion air quality market, which is expected to grow rapidly due to increased health and safety concerns globally.

Also Read: Getting smarter with tech: How will smart cities look like 10 years from now?

“Health and safety have been neglected by majority of employers, landlords and building owners for the longest time. The COVID-19 pandemic has put this in the spotlight and accelerated the movement towards healthy workplaces and healthy buildings. Healthy workplaces and healthy buildings are no longer just empty buzzwords, it is the bare minimum required of employers and landlords,” said Onghanseng.

Over the last few months uHoo has grown its customer base across different vertical industries worldwide to provide solutions such as data insights, dashboards, apps, alerts, and integrations with building management systems.

Clients include Capitaland, CDL, GIC, Gammon Construction, Schiphol Airport, HK Baptist University, and the governments of Holland, the USA, and Australia.

In 2018, uHoo had raised a 7-figure in a bridge round led by Wavemaker Partners with co-investment from Seeds Capital.

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Image Credit: uHoo

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In order to help empower the APAC tech startup ecosystem, we recently launched Perks: a curated selection designed to give e27 Pro members an access to top-class products and services with over US$10,000 worth in savings. In order to do that, we have partnered with some of the most amazing solution providers in the region.

We spoke to Sanjay Jha, Co-founder and CTO of LetsVenture, India’s most active startup fundraising platform and the Chief Product Officer (CPO) of MyStartupEquity, to get a closer look at their products and services and to help the community understand better how MyStartupEquity can help them yield desirable results.

Can you describe what your company does? What industry you are in, who your target market is?

For the last 7 years, Letsventure has been the most trusted and active platform for startup fundraising in India. We have a strong track record in building out a tech-enabled platform that has enabled over 250 startups to raise more than $200 M from thousands of angel investors, micro-VC funds and family offices. Having raised this equity, we have also noticed the gap in the market to manage this equity and that was the genesis of MyStartupEquity in late 2019.

MyStartupEquity is a SaaS fintech play that is digitising, automating and securing the most valuable asset that any startup has — its own equity! This is a product to help founders, employees, investors and VCs better manage their equity in startups. What do we mean by this?

Also read: A closer look at Zendesk: fostering better customer relationships for startups everywhere

Well, the product is designed to become the single source of truth for all matters related to a startup’s cap table and ESOPs (including Phantom Stocks, Stock Appreciation Rights). By using the product, startups, right from the earliest stages to those with 10s of investors and 100s of employees with ESOPs can avoid errors that might creep into an Excel sheet and the lack of security when this Excel sheet floats into the market. Moreover, the product has a lot of tools packed in to make the life for the founder, finance and HR teams simple.

Presently, MyStartupEquity has 60 startups (seed to Series D) from India, USA and Singapore using the cap table and ESOP management product.

How does your product/service help companies? What gaps in the market do your products bridge?

Today, the biggest problem is the information asymmetry and lack of security in the way cap tables and ESOPs are managed. Founders have a lot on their plate, finance and HR team members may change, an outsourced firm might not prioritise tasks; and all this leads to delays and errors — both forced and unforced.

Let’s take an example: Mark is the founder of a startup that has raised a seed round of $500,000 from friends and family and two angel investors (his ex-bosses at the big tech company he was working at before). With this, he brought on board his co-founder and CTO, Eileen and the early product team, marketing and sales team — all of whom he promised generous ESOPs since he couldn’t meet market salaries. For his product and marketing team, Mark chose to have standard quarterly vesting after the one-year cliff period but for the sales team, he chose performance-based vesting. He’s managing all this on an Excel sheet.

Fast forward two years, the startup is doing well — over 10 employees now have ESOPs and Mark has raised a small round of convertible debt too. Now, he is in the market to raise a Series A of $1.5 M. VCs and some large individual angels want to see the cap table and also get a sense of what the fully diluted cap table will look like if they were to invest. Mark also has to be cognisant of the part conversion of the debt round and topping up of the ESOP pool as part of the Series A. He also has to allocate a higher share to Eileen as he had promised her when she came on board two years ago.

Also read: 5 actions to consider for your startup as the economy reopens

Now, all of these calculations and managing expectations of current and prospective investors are daunting for Mark, he’s running multiple Excel sheets and having to cross-check every new round modelling scenario with his chartered accountant. This is taking up time and bandwidth. Meanwhile, new team members are being on-boarded and as the founder, Mark has to run and manage the ESOP conversations with them too.

Sounds difficult and strenuous? Well, it is, but it is also the reality of startup and founder life!

This is where MyStartupEquity comes in with its easy to use interface and click of button calculators, report generators and in-product communication tools.

For instance, the Cap Table Tool helps founders maintain a single source of truth and safe keep share certificates and various other documents online. Information from multiple rounds including bridge rounds are maintained online and tools and notifiers for convertible debt instruments like SAFE, Convertible Notes, ensures that no investor and round information is missed out due to unforced errors. Moreover, MyStartupEquity’s scenario modelling tool can help Mark run various calculations on what his new cap table would look like and he can securely share the same with his investors on a need to know basis — all of this from within the product itself. No need to worry about conflict of interests and unsolicited entities becoming privy to sensitive information.

Also read: Pivoting beyond product: You need to look at your company/work culture, too

On the ESOP front, at the earliest stages, the MyStartupEquity product would have allowed Mark to create and customise his ESOP policy online and get a simple dashboard view of the ESOP pool. He would have been able to manage the granting, vesting and exercising of options digitally for all team members too. Additionally, the product generates all the accounting and book-keeping required for ESOPs and Mark or his CA can use these reports to make all the regulatory filings required; literally at a click of a button.

Lastly, and perhaps most importantly, the products’ employee interface allows everyone on Mark’s team to actually see the value of their ESOPs and continue to be energised about the road ahead for the startup.

To summarise, these are the top features of the product that makes life easier for founders, employees and investors:

• Digital cap table with features for round & exit modelling
• Calculator & notifier to manage convertible instruments
• Secure document vault
• Customised ESOP scheme generator
• Manage grants, vesting, exercise, & employee exits online
• Automated accounting, reporting, & annual filings
• Role based permissions for users
• Multi Factor Authentication

Can you give an example of how your product is being used by your customers? Any customer success stories you’d like to share?

Presently MyStartupEquity has 60 startups from India, USA and Singapore using the cap table and ESOP management product. Some of these startups include Zetwerk (funded by Sequoia, Lightspeed), Jupiter Money (funded by Sequoia, Matrix), Cyware (Emerald Development Managers), Darwinbox (Sequoia funded), Epifi (Sequoia, Ribbit Capital), Kyt.academy.

Also read: How Pomelo tackles the problem of high product return with its O2O retail experience

“Zetwerk is a 2-year old startup and we just closed our Series C. Right from the time we closed our Series B, I had been thinking about moving into a product that would help us manage the cap table and the administration of the ESOPs because there were times when our data did not match — when something like that happens to a process like ESOPs which has financial liability both for the employee and the employer, it is of great concern. We scanned various products and then decided to go ahead with MyStartupEquity because of the capability and competence of the team. Secondly, I wanted the product to have a simple and easy user interface while getting things done smoothly & accurately. Lastly, the price point was very compelling and that helped us make a faster decision,” Barat Vinayakan, CHRO, Zetwerk (a manufacturing services startup with 300+ employees, 100+ customers across 30+ countries)

Are there any recent accomplishments of your company that you want to share with the e27 Community?

Sequoia Surge, Freshworks for Startups, and of course, e27 are some of the partners that have endorsed MyStartupEquity and extended the product to their startups across India and APAC. In India, MyStartupEquity is also a partner of choice for the Mumbai Fintech Hub.

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If you want to enjoy these exclusive perks available only with Pro, be a part of the Pro community and sign up for an e27 Pro membership today! You may visit here for more details.

Stay tuned to find out what other Perks we have in store!

The post A closer look at MyStartupEquity: digitising, automating, and securing company assets appeared first on e27.

“Your usual?” the barista asks, as the two customers who have just entered whip out their smartphones to scan the cafe’s QR code using New Zealand’s Ministry of Health contact tracing app.

“Yes, and a to-go order for those back in the office. We’re celebrating! We just completed the launch of Comet’s new Disk Image backup software,” shares Joshua Flores.

“Good on ya mate!” Except for the cautionary yellow and black government-designed signage reminding people to wash hands, stand two meters apart and stay home if they feel sick, the scene is reminiscent of pre-pandemic normality.

Police officers and tech entrepreneurs alike grab a quick morning coffee and a scone before heading back to the office.

New Zealand, and countries like it who have taken decisive action on COVID-19, have seen business resume and a reversal in workforce trends as talent repatriates from other countries, flocking to the desirability of a lower risk place to live.

Before 2020, many highly skilled Kiwis sought employment abroad to earn a higher income. Since March 14, more than 77,000 New Zealanders have returned home.  “We’ve seen an increase in the number of experienced Kiwis returning from overseas recently, plus skilled migrants of other nationalities who see New Zealand as a safe haven,” confirms Neil Hamilton, General Manager at Canterbury Tech, an alliance which represents some of New Zealand’s most innovative companies and successful entrepreneurs.

“Some of these people are choosing to run their own tech companies. We have great infrastructure, a thriving local tech community, and a fantastic lifestyle — why wouldn’t they want to live and work here?!” says Hamilton.

While tech hubs, and business at large, in other countries confront the challenges that come with working remotely, New Zealand’s tech sector, by contrast, is poised for growth. “New Zealand is definitely experiencing a marked degree of increased interest from international investors who are noticing that the New Zealand startup ecosystem is at the start of its trajectory upwards, that our government is committed to driving innovation-led growth, and that our startup valuations are more robust than in many other countries.

Given that many of those startups are tech-based, this new money for growth means that our tech sector is humming in our COVID-19 recovery period while many others are not,” notes Marian Johnson, head of the Ministry of Awesome, an accelerator for entrepreneurs and startups.

“Many companies have been shifting gears, pivoting directions, even developing entirely new products or commercial models. Many of the ideas will help in the current crisis situation as well as when we all make it through to the other side,” writes Mitchell Pham, who leads the government’s Digital Council for Aotearoa New Zealand.

Also Read: Need of the hour: How can startups be crisis-proof?

An example of this is Christchurch-headquartered Comet Backup who recently held a major product launch. “With many businesses transitioning to flexible working environments, there is increasing demand for total system protection to ensure business continuity and minimal downtime.”

“Rather than slowing down, we accelerated our development roadmap to deliver the capabilities needed given the current climate,” says Joshua Flores, General Manager at Comet Backup.

The software development company debuted its new Disk Image functionality during its launch webinar to an audience spread across more than 30 countries. “We’re confident this new capability will allow our clients to easily protect their customers from disaster while providing the full recovery options needed for everyday business operation,” says Mason Giles, Chief Technology Officer at Comet Backup.

“This equips IT professionals with a modern, robust backup platform to ensure the protection of their customers. It also gives our managed service provider (MSP) clients a new tool to sell to their customers, helping their businesses to increase revenues during this period of economic instability.”

In June, when other industries were facing layoffs and hiring freezes, Comet Backup grew its team. Tech hiring is an important segment of the economy to watch because “each new tech sector job creates five new jobs in other sectors,” according to NZTech’s Digital National Report.

Also Read: Adapt to survive: Why Singapore and the world need to reinvent the old order

“The accelerated drift towards doing business digitally is real — and New Zealand tech companies are well placed to take advantage of this,” observes Hamilton. “COVID-19 has further reduced the tyranny of distance. It doesn’t matter whether customers are in New York, Shanghai, Sydney, or London — they are looking for solutions to real problems. We have many smart and skilled companies focused on providing solutions to these challenges and expect our tech sector to grow significantly in the coming years.”

As the world continues to respond to the international health crisis, New Zealand can take advantage of being one of the most digital countries in the world. According to NZTech’s COVID-19 study, despite the devastating global pandemic, the tech sector is continuing to create growth in employment and exports for New Zealand.

The country’s resilient technology, creative and digital sectors are not only weathering the global economic turmoil well, but they are also shining a light on a future for New Zealand.

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Indonesian ride-hailing giant gojek has acquired a majority stake in Vietnamese payments startup WePay, as per a DealStreetAsia report.

The size of the deal remain undisclosed.

Also Read: Going big? Then Go e27 Pro.

According to the report, the acquisition will help gojek in securing an e-wallet license to operate in the region.

When contacted by e27, a gojek spokesperson said: “We are always looking for opportunities to partner with innovative Vietnamese businesses as a means to enhance experience for users,”

As per the DealStreetAsia report, following the deal, WePay has switched its headquarters from Thanh Xuan district to Cau Giay district, where the gojek office is located.

Subsequently, gojek Vietnam’s Manager Phung Tuan Duc has been appointed as CEO of WePay.

WePay is an online payments services provider, which claims to have a partnership with 24 local banks, 1,000 merchants and four international card issuers.

After the launch of its subsidiary GoViet’s in 2018, gojek has established a substantial presence in the region across a range of verticals, including motorbike-hailing (GoBike), food delivery (GoFood), and general delivery (GoSend).

After its recent funding from Facebook and PayPal, gojek has been focusing on supporting the growth of the digital economy in Southeast Asia, particularly in payments and financial services.

Its recent acquisitions include Coins.ph, Moka, Kartuku, Pluang, Midtrans and PonselPay.

Also Read: Bloomberg: gojek raises US$1.2B to support competition against Grab

In Vietnam, although cash on delivery has been the most popular mode of purchase, the trend is shifting thanks to COVID-19. Since the onset of the pandemic, digital payments have been evolving rapidly and a culture of contactless payments is evolving.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

The post gojek acquires WePay to expand its e-wallet business into Vietnam: Report appeared first on e27.

Evo, a 5-month-old social commerce startup based in Singapore, announced today the closing of a “seven-digit” seed funding from Hong Kong-based investment holding company Bonjour Holdings, Taiwanese startup accelerator SparkLabs, and Singapore-based VC firm Farquhar Venture Capital.

Clement Chen (Chairman of Bonjour), David Lee (Board Member at Maybank Singapore and former President for Visa Asia Pacific), and Chew Kok Seng (Director at Visa Asia Pacific) also participated in the round.

Also Read: A look at the future of social commerce

The money will be primarily used to double down on product development and engineering, it said in a press release.

Evo was founded in April 2020 by three former employees of Grab — Roy Ang (CEO), Minghao Teoh (COO), and Amos Goh (Product Lead). The trio has extensive experience in building and launching merchant and payment solutions.

The startup has launched a beta version of its social commerce solution that will help influencers and live-streamers to optimise their back-office operations, allowing them to sell more products and scale more quickly.

For merchant and brands looking to engage influencers, the solution will act as a marketing and sales channel.

Currently, Evo is testing its product with marquee live-streamers such as artiste Marcus Chin, as well as Mdada.live, a community run by celebrity hairstylist Addy Lee with artistes Michelle Chia and Pornsak Prajakwit.

Also Read: E-commerce trends: What to expect in 2020

Evo has also onboarded Bonjour and Suki Group as its initial customers.

“We believe that social commerce is the natural evolution of e-commerce in Southeast Asia, where savvy customers are seeking social validation before purchasing,” said CEO Ang.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has also fundamentally changed how consumers make purchases. We saw how the social commerce boom rapidly gave rise to a multi-billion dollar market in China and we think we are headed in that direction. We have received good validation from our beta tests,” he added.

Ang further disclosed that Evo is raising its Series A round within the next six months to scale product development and operations, and expand to two other markets in the region.

“The (Evo) team has immense experience in building and launching merchant and payments solutions at scale within Southeast Asia. This strategic investment fits into our plans as Bonjour Holdings looks to expand into the region,” Chen of Bonjour said.

About the founding team

Prior to starting Evo, Ang worked as Head of Commercial and Operations at Grab Financial Group. As one of the first business development hires for GrabPay, he helped build Grab’s payment infrastructure for the transportation business and launched GrabPay operations in six Southeast Asian markets. He had also worked as General Manager at e27 from 2015-2016.

Also Read: The reality of influencer marketing in the age of digital content

Teoh was previously the Regional Business Development Lead at Grab Financial Group. Prior to that, he was the Head of Business Development for several teams in his seven-year stint at TechInAsia.

Goh helped launch several products at GrabPay, including online acceptance, merchant funded promotions, QR code adoption, among others. Previously, he had stints at several technology companies such as Seedly, Uber, and e27.

The VP of Technology, Leong Kui Lim, has built products and led engineering teams at prominent companies like SP Group, Grab, PayPal, and Yahoo over the past two decades.
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Image Credit: Evo

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Economies and markets across the world were struck fast and hard by the COVID pandemic, and its effects continue to ripple out. According to McKinsey, the GDPs of developed economies are estimated to decline by between 8 and 13 per cent by mid-2020. With the onset of various lockdown policies by governments scrambling to contain the virus’ spread, job losses continue to soar as businesses cut their workforces down in a bid to stay afloat. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) reported in April this year that more than 436 million enterprises were at “high risk” of serious disruption.

But what comes after, once the pandemic fades, and societies adjust to a new normal?

The pandemic is fast-tracking what has long been a trend for companies that are going digital. Out of necessity, companies are turning to digital solutions in order to continue conducting businesses in a safe, often segregated manner. Restaurants are adopting online ordering models, while e-commerce players are using social media to reach their customers beyond the brick-and-mortar space.

The pandemic has kicked off a worldwide work-from-home experiment: businesses are leaning on internal communications and collaboration software in order to protect workforces from the spread of the virus as well as bottom lines from erosion. It’s safe to say that over the next year or so, businesses will be put through the wringer as we navigate a world impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, if you’re running a company, you also have a unique opportunity to reexamine how you conduct your business, strengthen any exposed weak spots, and position yourself for the recovery. Here are several strategies you can take to build resilience into your business.

1. Bolster your talent pool

Well before the pandemic hit, companies across all industries were facing labour shortages especially with regards to high-skilled workers who are in high demand. The pandemic added fuel to the fire, highlighting the stark disparities between the goals of companies and the reality of their workforces’ abilities. The shift into mostly digital platforms has created a need for workers who are digitally-fluent, adaptable, and equipped with a keen sense of the potential and limitations of the technology available to them.

As government regulations continue to change at a rapid pace, the workers of a post-pandemic world need to be able to quickly and effectively shift not just where they work but also how they work. There is no longer any certainty as to what framework will survive in the future, so it is paramount that you ensure that your teams can withstand any unexpected upheavals if you want to achieve sustainability and longevity for your company.

Also read: A closer look at Zendesk: fostering better customer relationships for startups everywhere

Businesses can support the development of a stronger, more resilient team through structured programmes that build employees’ communications and collaboration skills in increasingly digital environments. Upskilling will be absolutely key to ensuring workers can keep pace with the evolution of workplace frameworks, so companies should also explore new and innovative ways to support the continuous learning of employees.

However, businesses should ensure these programmes are built specifically with the employees’ needs in mind, with an active feedback loop, in order to ensure organisation-wide buy-in and long-term sustainability.

2. Changing needs, changing ideas

Adaptability will be key in the coming years, and nowhere is it more necessary to instil adaptability than in a company’s resources.

It’s important to remember that the shifting economic landscape spells changes not just for companies; customers are also experiencing dramatic shifts in their needs, resources, and goals. The pandemic has essentially changed the game for the in-store experience, but that doesn’t mean that brick-and-mortar businesses have no other way through.

Instead, the situation offers companies a great opportunity to experiment with models for replicating the in-store experience for consumers through a digital medium. You can adapt your existing models to fit what consumers want in a digital interface, and by extension, without compromising anyone’s health and safety.

Whether we’re looking at an app-mediated food delivery service, an online e-commerce platform, or even a blending of the two, many businesses are now putting premium in digital infrastructures. Two Bird Brewery, an Australian business, recognised that their B2B keg production model was no longer necessary in a world where eating out has plateaued. Rather than trying to struggle through the pandemic with their old model, the owners shifted their sights onto the consumer market. Leveraging off Oracle’s NetSuite software, Two Bird Brewery built a robust e-commerce business on the backs of interesting new initiatives such as “drive-thru” style bottle-shop and newly packaged offerings for the everyday consumer.

This is just one of the many ways you can restructure your business model that fits today’s unique demands.

3. Digital everything

The global health crisis has exposed the fault lines in our working environments, particularly all the ways in which we have taken in-person experiences for granted.

Physical distancing became a flashpoint solution for curtailing the spread of the virus, though the policy has created particular problems for office-bound businesses everywhere. We saw huge numbers of workers beginning a worldwide work-from-home experiment which has highlighted not only our lack of preparedness to the sudden change, but also the need for robust software solutions necessary for conducting online collaboration. Teams working across various localities will need a reliable system that will enable them to communicate and work seamlessly while also supporting functions that used to take place in face-to-face settings.

Also read: Superfanz: Growing visibility for creators in the wake of COVID-19

This will be key for companies even after the virus subsides; when economies fully reopen, large swathes of workforces will trickle back into their offices, but a significant number also will not. Some companies, such as the Bank of Montreal, are already suggesting that flexible work-from-home policies may persist in the future. Businesses are exploring the potential of digital solutions that can bolster these new “office” frameworks, and in some cases, are pushing the boundaries of existing software.

Take for instance Oracle’s NetSuite ERP framework, a business management software that was already supporting large and small enterprises across multiple industries long before the pandemic hit. Many companies, such as the Filipino chain restaurant, Jollibee, implemented the NetSuite framework when it began the difficult shift from its legacy system onto a digital platform. The solution allowed them to consolidate information and communication across fragmented systems, while simultaneously supporting their aspirations for international growth.

With COVID-19 accelerating the need for businesses to adopt segregated working arrangements as work-from-home setups are encouraged across the globe, there is also an increased need for solutions such as NetSuite’s Cloud ERP to help organisations become agile.

4. Castles in the cloud

Cloud-based software has more or less become the standard in the business world of today, and not just for its convenience but also its relevance to the unique business demands today.

Teams working remotely need to be able to access the same information they would otherwise be able to easily obtain when in an office setting. Cloud platforms can offer huge benefits in this scenario by bringing together information and data from all across the organisation into a single platform, thus enabling more effective remote working capabilities.

Cloud software has many benefits, but also financial ones. By relying on cloud and digital information formats, businesses can dramatically cut down on IT costs, as well as speed up employees’ productivity by making information readily and easily accessible.

NetSuite’s cloud-based ERP supports fast and effective information sharing from just about any device you can imagine. The system makes data readily accessible and highly visible for teams of all sizes working remotely.

Not all cloud-based software are made the same though. Before you jump into the deep end of the pool, take stock of what the needs and capabilities of your company are and strategise. What options are available to you? Asking yourself what you do not need is just as important as asking what you do need. Does your business need a small- or large-scale cloud-based software? What parts of your business rely heavily on the cloud versus the parts that do not?

Asking yourself these questions will become crucial as you assess the needs of your organisation and plan for the future.

5. Cash is still king

Businesses that intend to survive the pandemic need a firm foundation of cash. In most respects, cash is still very much king.

Planning is key at this moment: take stock of what resources you have available to you, then determine what options are open, as well as any “what-if” scenarios that may occur. Managing your financial risk and vulnerability could help you identify what your most immediate priorities are. NetSuite’s ERP has in-built financial planning and management software that makes obtaining visibility of your current position as simple as a click of a button.

Also read: gojek acquires WePay to expand its e-wallet business into Vietnam: Report

And it’s not just about being careful about where your money is going; it’s about leveraging off valuable information about your finances in order to chart your next move. Systems built around traditional accounting solutions can result in manual reporting and increased risk of errors, bottlenecks and erroneous business decisions. The right information could spell the difference between the critical and non-critical decisions you need to make in order to secure your business, especially at a time when businesses are focused on cost-cutting rather than growth opportunities.

There’s no doubt that the future holds many challenges and uncertainty, but there are also upsides that you can explore. Businesses can use this time to take a hard look at their systems and processes, learn how to effectively adapt to change and embrace strategies & innovative solutions that enable them to not only survive but thrive. Digital solutions can be the key to ensuring that companies can continue to operate during this turbulent time, and when used correctly, can also usher in a new era of productivity and innovation, long after we have found a new normal.

Need to know more about software solutions?

To learn more on how your business can navigate through the changes brought by this uncertain time and position for recovery, sign up here and we’ll get back to you on the next steps.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by 
Oracle NetSuite.

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The post 5 actions to consider for your startup as the economy reopens appeared first on e27.

Singapore-headquartered Beacon Fund has announced the launch of a new fund with an initial target of US$50 million, which aims to invest in female entrepreneurs based in Southeast Asia’s emerging markets, such as Vietnam.

The firm, founded recently by Shuyin Tang and Lee Fitzgerald (both Partners at Patamar Capital) has already raised approximately 25 per cent of the target.

Beacon’s initial focus will be on debt products, which, it says, tend to be a better fit for the moderate-growth, cash-flow positive businesses that the fund targets.

Also Read: Singapore becomes the base of female corporate executives angel network she1K

The investment sizes range from US$500,000 to US$2 million with the potential to go smaller if the businesses contribute to COVID-19 recovery efforts.

Beacon has developed a thesis around certain sectors which have a high concentration of businesses fitting its target profile — – for example agri-businesses, education, healthcare and services (marketing, design or HR).

The fund anticipates making its first investments before the end of the year.

Beacon will use an evergreen structure — rather than the ‘typical’ 10-year closed-ended fund — to better align with Beacon’s long-term vision and commitment to supporting female entrepreneurs.

Beacon has received support from many like-minded partners, including ‘Investing in Women’, an initiative of the Australian Government; and USAID INVEST, an initiative that mobilises private sector capital for better development results.

The firm identifies a significant opportunity among the “missing middle” of firms, which do not fit the traditional venture capital/private equity models.

“There is a vast underserved segment of businesses whose growth profile does not match with the expectations of VC/PE, but are creating considerable value for their customers and stakeholders. In fact, these SMEs are the backbone of the economy in Southeast Asia,” said Beacon Co-founder and CEO Shuyin Tang.

“Many of these businesses have grown organically and demonstrated solid cash flows over time. We saw this was a common growth trajectory for female entrepreneurs in particular. The Beacon Fund is focused on meeting the financing needs of these types of businesses, and beyond that, creating a community celebrating alternative models of entrepreneurial and investing success,” Tang added.

Also Read: Our female founders matter, says the economy

Much like the companies it invests in, Beacon aims to generate steady cash-flows and long-term capital appreciation.

As part of the launch, Beacon started a ‘Request for SMEs’ campaign, with the goal of sharing more transparently with entrepreneurs the type of companies the fund is looking for.

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Image Credit: Beacon Fund

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Accelerating Asia, an accelerator and venture fund which focuses on early-stage startups, has announced its third cohort of companies.

“We have expanded our geographical footprint into India and reaffirmed our presence in Indonesia via our recruitment efforts for the cohort, the talent of our startups are well placed to deliver returns for investors,” said Craig Dixon, co-founder of Accelerating Asia.

Based in Singapore, the programme boasts an acceptance rate of less than two per cent with only eight selected from 450 applications, where participating startups range from B2B, B2C and B2G verticals, including energy, transportation, healthcare and cleantech.

Each company in the programme will receive S$50,000 (US$36,556) while top performers will get S$150,000 (US$109,669).

Accelerating Asia is also approaching the final close of the fund and is continuing to sign partnerships with limited partners (LPs) for early and exclusive access to their startups, providing qualified deal-flow, pro-rata rights and a first-option for investment. According to the company statement, the startups have already started receiving more than S$1.2 million (US$800,000) in initial commitments from existing investors and angels who are Accelerating Asia’s limited partners.

With the pandemic, the programme has pivoted into a virtual programme.

Also Read: News Roundup: Accelerating Asia to invest up to US$141K each in third cohort startups

Here are the eight startups selected in the programme:

AskDr

The startup connects consumers to verified doctors via its health information platform.

Energy Lite

A platform which enables investors to finance small to medium solar projects.

KaryaKarsa

The startup that allows creatives to showcase their works and services through its direct-to-fans monetisation platform.

Kinexcs

A health and fitness platform that connects clinicians to patients.

MyBrand

An app-based platform for home-based culinary businesses and cloud kitchen brands to reach out to a larger mass.

Shuttle

The startup provides safe and affordable transportation for locals in Bangladesh

WeavAir

The startup helps operators save up to 30 per cent of operation and maintenance costs and 60 per cent of energy through its sensors and predictive analytics.

ProjectPro

A work automation platform that helps data scientists get their projects done faster

Since its launch in 2018, Accelerating Asia said that it has grown into a community of more than 48 founders from 28 startups, spread across Asia with 40 per cent female-led or co-founded ventures. They work alongside regional angel networks such as Angel Hub, ANGIN and Angel Central as well as leading institutional investors, including Cocoon Capital, Monks Hill Ventures, and Golden Gate Ventures.

Nineteen companies from their past two cohorts have raised a collective investment of over S$5 million (US$3.6 million) during the 100-day accelerator program.

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Image Credit:  Startaê Team

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Singapore-based venture capital firm Quest Ventures officially announced a partnership with ScaleUp Malaysia to invest in and scale the growth of Malaysian startups. The deal brought in MYR4.1 million (US$1 million) in Foreign Direct Investment to develop Malaysian startups.

The programme welcomes startups that are operating on business models that “have the propensity to disrupt existing markets or have solutions that are able to navigate future challenges and take advantage of opportunities brought about by the current economic climate.”

In total, 24 companies shortlisted from the second cohort’s applications will start the programme in October, which is culminating in the presentation of their solutions in front of the Investment Committee.

As part of the partnership, the programme will invest at least US$60,250 in up to 12 of these companies.

ScaleUp Malaysia first launched its cohort in December 2019 with 20 companies. Ten of them received an investment of USD$48,283. ​

Also Read: ScaleUp Malaysia kickstarts 3-month programme with 20 companies in first cohort

Through their “Pegasus” model, the accelerator grooms startups in the growth and post-product-market fit stage, ready-to-scale up businesses with high revenue growth and increased profitability rates that attract follow-on investments.

“In this second cohort, we want to empower solutions that tap into the buy-in of the digital economy and prime them through our syllabus designed to take local companies to the global stage,” said D​r V. Sivapalan, Senior Partner of ScaleUp Malaysia.

Earlier this year, ​Quest Ventures announced the first close of its venture capital fund named Asia Fund II after getting support from Singapore’s Pavilion Capital, ​which is a subsidiary of Singapore state investment firm Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd. QazTech Ventures, which is a subsidiary of Kazakhstan state investment institution Baiterek National Managing Holding JSC, also pitched in.

The fund will be used to further expand and strengthen its presence within Southeast and Emerging Asia.

Applications for cohort 2 officially opens on September 8. Participants must be registered as a Malaysian company and will be shortlisted based on four key criteria: Revenue generation, ability to demonstrate product-market fit, having the ​potential of highly scalable products or service, and the possibility of global expansion.

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Image Credit: ScaleUp Malaysia

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When American investors think startups, they think Stanford and Silicon Valley. Google, Apple and Facebook share one area code with direct access to some of the brightest entrepreneurial minds right here in Mountain View.

It’s true that Silicon Valley has long been on the bleeding edge of tech startup innovation, but some investors erroneously see proximity to the valley as a shortcut to success, thinking they will outperform the market by mere virtue of setting up shop in the 650 area code.

On more than one occasion, a fellow VC has said to me point-blank: “If I can’t drive to where the company is based, then I won’t invest.”

This statement goes beyond laziness or hubris and becomes willful ignorance. Never mind the fact that other cities in the US (many on the East Coast) now have vibrant, up-and-coming tech ecosystems of their own.

Based on my research and findings over the last six years, as I seek to map the global startup and venture capital ecosystem, I’ve found that in many verticals, the best deals are not coming out of the US. This shouldn’t be a controversial thing to say, but many investors in the valley need to hear it.

Limiting oneself geographically, when nearly all tech investments are made on a global scalability basis, is foolish and bizarre. If US VCs want to stay at the top of their game and maximise returns amidst tougher competition, they need to broaden their competence and take a global view.

A variety of foreign markets are primed and ready

Post-World War II, large American multinationals expanded to Asia and South America to take advantage of cheaper manufacturing bases in developing economies. These giants weathered a hodge-podge of government regulations, cultural and language barriers, as well as basic infrastructure obstacles.

As pioneers of the industry, they paved the way for the second wave of investors in the ’80s and ’90s, as the manufacturing boom swelled. Regulations were in place, local workforces and SMEs were familiar with foreign investors, and key infrastructure had been set up.

Also Read: Why we are far from being the Silicon Valley of Asia

Today, we’re seeing this pattern play out again with American tech investors. Just 10 years ago, countries such as Indonesia barely saw venture investments beyond government-supported grant programmes. Since then, big guns such as KKR, 500 Startups, Tencent, SoftBank, and PayPal have set up local offices and participated in fundraising rounds passing the billion-dollar mark.

Indonesia now has six unicorns, and one ‘decacorn’ in ridesharing-turned-super app GoJek. With valuations at home skyrocketing and competition among an array of corporate VC firms, independent VCs, PE and accelerator models saturating the local startup investment scheme, markets such as Indonesia are primed and ready for the second wave of American money to come in.

In 2019, Indonesia-based VCs raised US$582 million, a whopping 79 per cent up from US$325 million the year prior. These numbers show that there is much more room for growth compared to Singapore’s US$2 billion hauls.

In 2018, the Indonesian government announced income tax incentives for VCs that put money into local tech startups. The aim was to further boost the archipelago nation’s digital economy and e-commerce aspirations.

For a country that is home to 267 million people, of which at least 50 million are in the growing middle-class with rising discretionary incomes, the hunt for the next Indonesian unicorn is on. American VCs can bring their expertise and best practices to play. In Europe, Africa, South Asia, South America and Asia Pacific, Indonesia’s story is repeated, with slight variations.

Paving a specialist path

Of course, not every VC has the heft of Sequoia or Accel to carve out a major footprint in the Asia Pacific or South America. So rather than throwing a dart at a map, smart VCs are playing to their strengths and conserving their gunpowder for investments in certain sectors only.

The first wave of American VCs has affected how governments and markets respond to fundraising, and as a result, we are seeing certain regions and economies acting as sectoral hubs.

Take Europe, for example. Even prior to Brexit, economies such as Luxembourg and Germany were already viewed as bona fide financial hubs. Post-Brexit, countries such as Belgium and Lithuania are taking on monikers as fintech hubs in their own right, and choosing collaborative approaches to draw investors in.

While the European Union is virtually borderless for talent and travel, financial regulations are still very much the privy of individual countries’ central banks. Fintech firms thus have space to disrupt traditional banking while gaining access to highly-educated tech talent.

Also Read: Mulling over the future of investing with Paul Meyers and Jussi Salovaara

Even when entering countries where language or cultural barriers still exist, American VCs can lend their firepower to local VCs in fundraising rounds without reinventing the wheel of market research and KYC. With more US investments in European startups, Americans are increasingly willing to participate in earlier rounds.

Broadly, VCs taking the sectoral approach can take note of regional trends such as:

Sector	Hub	Why?
Fintech	Europe	Disrupt traditional banking, strong finance, and tech talent base.
Healthtech	China, North Asia	The aging population as a result of the one-child policy (China), cultural focus on health and elderly wellbeing.
Agritech	South Asia, South America	Building on agriculture backbone to improve farm efficiency and aid farmer financing. Rising middle-class with more conscientious food spending.
Cybersecurity	Israel	Many startup founders come from intelligence services or defense force backgrounds.
Logistics	South Asia, Southeast Asia	Archipelago nations and those with disparate geographic features have unique connectivity challenges that need to be solved.
Gaming	Asia Pacific	Diversity in offerings including mobile games, e-sports, game development studios, and gaming infrastructure.

Finding footing in a pandemic

Prior to the pandemic, a 2019 report projected that Asia would overtake North America as the global centre for VC funding by this year. Although COVID-19’s impact on Asia’s much younger population has been less devastating than it has been in the US, VCs are keeping their powder dry and staying risk-averse in the hopes that the virus will see its end soon.

However, smart VCs will take this opportunity to forge partnerships with overseas funds, start exploring foreign due diligence, and invest in startups that will either: thrive in this new normal (gaming, edutech, e-payments, etc) or come out of the other side stronger (moving startups toward profitability instead of growth at all costs).

The good news? Those who do invest globally will be facing less competition, as many VCs are now focusing on their existing portfolio of startups. Valuations (namely in Asia) that have been skyrocketing over the last four or five years are now starting to normalise — offering American VCs a very attractive entry point into companies that can scale regionally or even globally.

If there was ever a time for savvy American VCs to deploy their financial firepower abroad, it is now. Those who refuse to look beyond the valley in 2020 will soon be in serious trouble.

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