Edmicro creates a smart self-learning ecosystem that allows Vietnamese students to learn, practice and master the subjects being taught in classrooms

Edmicro, a Hanoi-based edtech startup that is building a smart self-learning ecosystem for Vietnamese students, has been selected for the March 2019 cohort of GMC Calibrator, a programme run by US-based impact investment firm Gray Matters Capital (GMC).

The selection of Edmicro also marks GMC’s foray into Southeast Asia. It will look at funding high-growth high-impact for-profit enterprises from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries such as Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia for its gender lens portfolio – coLABS.

Edmicro will join eight other startups, including Dcoder, InnerHour, Lal10, Matrubharti, Quest Alliance and Skipy (all from India), along with two African startups — Sierra Leone based Mosabi and Kenya’s MumsVillage — for the programme.

Also Read: How edtech is changing the landscape of education in Asia

Founded by Que Nguyen, Dang Bao Linh and Linh Pham, Edmicro aims to create a smart self-learning ecosystem, called Onluyen.vn, for Vietnamese students that adapts to the needs of every learner and allows them to learn, practice and master the subjects being taught in their classrooms.

A cloud-computing platform, it was designed by learning scientists to measure and predict performance and progress in any digital learning product, and uses advanced machine-learning algorithms to analyse learner data and illuminate underlying patterns and relationships.

“75 per cent of Vietnamese students attend extra classes to understand lessons. They lack a good learning tool for complementing classroom learning through self-study. Teachers lack the teaching tools which enable them to record capabilities of each student, and support them in customising the teaching materials to personal student capabilities. Edmicro is filling in this gap,” said Nguyen, CEO and CTO, Edmicro.

“Our participation in the GMC Calibrator will help us in fine-tuning our personalised learning solutions and make our micro learning offerings more effective in improving learning outcomes by analysing learner data better,” he added.

Also Read: Vietnam stars in January as e27 data tracks US$1.5B in deals

“We wish to replicate the success of optimising the performance of India’s leading test-prep solutions such as MadGuy Labs and SarkariPariksha with Edmicro to make it the self-learning platform of choice for students through the GMC Calibrator intervention,” said Omkar Kulkarni, Programme Head, GMC Calibrator.

GMC Calibrator is a digital programme launched in April 2018 with an aim to make the mobile phone a device to promote ‘self learning to earning’ by improving user engagement, monetisation and optimisation of mobile learning platforms. This is done by understanding and implementing the principles of behavioural science and data-driven decision making.

Also Read: This startup could spoil the holiday you obtained by submitting fake medical certificate

“From an engagement point of view, we saw impact on the lines of 30 per cent increase in monthly retention and 20 per cent average increase in revenue across the first cohort we ran from June to December 2018. Three companies of the cohort raised funding during the six-month engagement while two made it to Google Launchpad and Reliance’s Jio GenNext Accelerator. We are confident of calibrating more such success stories with our March 2019 cohort,” Kulkarni noted.

Gray Matters Capital (GMC) is an Atlanta-based impact investor with a gender lens that is on a mission to support “an education leading to a more purposeful life for 100 million women by 2036.” In India, it is focused on making investments in for-profit enterprises providing access to affordable quality education and employability leading to a future job ready workforce with 21st century skills.

Globally, GMC makes sector agnostic investments in for-profit enterprises whose products or services benefit women and girls at scale through its gender lens portfolio coLABS.

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WeWork lets you find your Southeast Asia innovation partner

It’s all about proximity.

Humans are social creatures; we tend to trust people we have close proximity with or those who move in the same social landscape as we do. It’s not being snobbish (though sometimes it is perceived to be) but merely logical — if we know what they’re up to on a daily basis, it’s easier for us to understand them and see how they fit in our lives.

The same can be said for businesses.

Companies tend to collaborate with other companies who move around the same community. How many times have you asked a startup how they ended up collaborating with another company and their answer was somehow related to being aware of the other’s existence because they are part of the same community?

But in today’s world of great connectivity, communities go beyond visual and geographical proximity. So, a more accurate phrase would be: it’s all about community.

Take WeWork, for example.

WeWork prides itself as a builder of community. Not just hundreds of communities in their spaces, but a single global community that acts as a platform for borderless collaboration.

Shared workspaces are a bed of collaboration opportunities

In a typical WeWork location, an enterprise will have over 160 potential companies to collaborate with. That means over 160 companies across different industries that could help an enterprise innovate its product or improve its service, or even create more efficient internal processes.

Hiring platform Wantedly is one such example. With the goal of helping corporates and startups with their hiring needs, Wantedly has had several collaborations simply by being a part of the WeWork community.

“Through the network of WeWork, we were connected with Zilingo,” said Gerald Koh Zong Wei, Business Development at Wantedly. “We were able to form a partnership that resulted in them being part of our recent successful Halloween Hiring Fest that saw over 400 attendees.”

The partnerships that Wantedly formed were not limited just to the companies they share workspace with. They were also invited to join events and work with companies in other WeWork locations.

That is the idea behind shared work spaces that WeWork is cultivating in to a culture; that collaboration is the key to better, quicker innovation, and that your next partner just might be sitting across from you in that communal space.

Communities beyond borders mean more collaboration opportunities

WeWork’s global network of over 400,000 members found in more than 425 locations globally is a massive community. What does this mean? Massive opportunities for collaboration.

Imagine that you’re a large enterprise in Singapore that wants to expand in an emerging market like the Philippines. Who best to help you possibly develop your business or product than someone in the Philippines, who understands the market and business landscape?

And it goes beyond that.

You don’t need to limit it to expansion opportunities. Corporates can develop new products, improve their services, and make their internal processes efficient by collaborating on innovation projects with startups from across the region.

Community is central to innovation. Corporates who want to confront the threat of becoming obsolete can open their innovation strategy to increased exchanges with the ecosystem, beginning with the WeWork network.

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WeWork offers more than just shared workspaces – they create environments that increase productivity, innovation, and collaboration. For enquiries on WeWork membership, visit their website or schedule a visit at a WeWork location near you.

Image credit: 123rf.com / 83598913 / Katarzyna Bialasiewicz

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The Singapore-based company has just launched its hostels in Bali and Yangon

Tribe Theory, a hostel startup from Singapore, announced today that it has raised a total of S$1 million (US$739,165) seed funding from Superangel, Aurum Investments, and REAPRA. The company has just launched its physical hostels in Bali and Yangon.

Also Read: This Singapore healthtech company just raised US$25 million for APAC expansion

The company said that the fresh funding will be used to expand their footprints physically, especially in targeted places like Tallinn Estonia, Kuala Lumpur, and the Philippines, launch new business offerings and hires new senior-level team member.

As for the new business offerings, Tribe Theory said that it recently launched Tribe Theory Academy. The academy offers a learning and upskilling concept, which will run its Digital Marketing and Web Development programs at Tribe Theory’s Startup Village in Bali in upcoming May.

The 80 hours-programs will be run by experts within in-person classes alongside creative assignments. People who register will get accommodation in the Startup Village and three healthy meals a day.

“We believe that our concept appeals to the next generation of entrepreneurs and startups. Not just a place to stay, people also want a place where they can meet likeminded people from around the world who are on the same entrepreneurial journey. We provide a place where people can get that, and leave the place feeling empowered as part of our global community,” said Vikram Bharati, Founder of Tribe Theory.

Tribe Theory was founded last year with the focus to bring together the startup community by providing an affordable place to stay with the specific needs of traveling entrepreneurs in mind.

With the approach, Tribe Theory’s spaces combine the communal atmosphere of a hostel with the environment of a co-working space.

The company said that in its first year, it has welcomed over 4,000 entrepreneurs from all parts of the world to its locations in Singapore, Bali, Bangalore, Hong Kong, and Yangon.

Tribe Theory Academy, the mentioned offering of the company, will be rolled out at locations around the world, with the plans to offer these courses on the most sought-after new skills, tailored for entrepreneurs, as a means of networking while upskilling.

Also Read: Silicon Valley customer service company acquires Singaporean startup Collabspot

Tribe Theory aims to be in 25 countries across the globe within the next four year. The next move, it said, would be launching initiatives for talent management and exchange, content creation, professional services, and investments and funding.
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Image Credit: Tribe Theory

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Much like Uber in the US, Didi and Ola suddenly find themselves losing market share to other companies in their market

Since Lyft publicly released its much anticipated IPO filings on March 1, many pundits have weighed in on its growth rates, heavy losses and future prospects.

There are a number of insights hidden between the lines that we can find from Lyft’s filings.

Here, we dive more deeply beyond Lyft’s financials to delve into the true motivation behind Lyft’s IPO that potential investors should heed, and subsequently lessons for other ride-sharing companies like Uber, Didi Chuxing in China and Ola in India.

IPO to cash out, not to raise capital to compete

Typically, companies list their stocks publicly in order to raise more capital to finance growth.

This in turn creates opportunities for investors, as public companies can use their newly raised funds to execute on projects that can take them to the next level and accelerate their growth.

However, this does not seem to be the true motivation behind Lyft’s IPO. First, Lyft is losing almost a billion dollars every year. In comparison, their financing goal is a mere US$100 million, barely enough to make a difference in their growth plan.

Even by a more conservative measure of operating cash flow (which was about US$280 million in 2018), that extra $100mn of cash won’t be able to make that big of a difference.

What this implies is that the end-goal of this IPO is actually to open a venue for its investors to cash out on their investments.

Although most of Lyft’s significant investors will be “locked-up” and won’t be allowed to sell their shares for 180 days after Lyft’s listing, this is a rather standard practice for most IPOs. It also creates more impetus to pull forward their listing date before their rival Uber raises even more money to compete.

Signal to reach profitability by lowering subsidies?

If our reading of Lyft’s IPO is correct, another important implication is that Lyft might be willing to start lowering its driver and rider subsidies to reach profitability, especially if Uber does the same.

The competitive dynamic in the ride-sharing industry has been that of a typical prisoner’s dilemma. Ride-sharing companies’ primary mode of competition has been subsidizing drivers and riders.

Although they could make profit more easily if they both stopped this strategy, the prospect of losing market share if only one of them stops forces them into a bitter knife fight where both are constantly burning money to compete.

Check out this Decision Matrix for Uber vs Lyft Prisoner’s Dilemma:

In such a scenario, usually the bigger player with more money ends up winning as it is able to outlast its competition.

However, Lyft was able to grow rapidly on the back of Uber’s PR disasters in 2017, evidenced clearly by a massive acceleration in its growth rate in Q1-Q2 of 2017. By leveraging this opportunity, Lyft raised $600 million and grew its market share massively while Uber has been busy with its reorganization for the past year.

However, now that Lyft’s growth rate is slowing and Uber also has had more than a year of restructuring, Lyft’s small financing goal could be a signal to Uber that Lyft is willing to play ball.

Ahead of Uber’s imminent IPO, Lyft is raising a relatively small sum of capital, which means it is willing to be a consistent number two player in North America with substantially less resources. In such a situation, Lyft has an outsized incentive to follow Uber if Uber decides to decrease rider and driver subsidies to make a profit.

Cautionary tale for Didi Chuxing

While a path to profit could a be positive news for both Uber and Lyft, that Uber lost so much market share in the US since 2017 serves as a cautionary tale, especially for Didi Chuxing in China, which is currently going through a similar problem.

After all, just how much value did 15 per cent of market share in the US cost Uber?

After a series of murders of its passengers in 2018, Didi Chuxing has been facing an uphill battle in China in trying to recover consumer’s trust. At the same time, a competitor called DiDa Chuxing has been exploiting this opportunity to grow massively, and has been even outranking Didi in Apple App Store’s download rankings for the past several months.

Also Read: This Singapore healthtech company just raised US$25 million for APAC expansion

If Dida is able to continue this growth and even raise a massive amount of capital to continue doing so, Didi could face a similar consequence as Uber did in the US.

Ola in India: Still not out of the water

The ripple effect of Lyft’s IPO could reach India as well. Unlike China or Southeast Asia, India is the only market that Uber hasn’t yet exited despite having a very strong local rival.

As we’ve written previously, Uber is now the undisputed leader in most of its markets except India. If the competition in the US calms down and Uber finds itself in a much healthier financial situation after its IPO, it could be well positioned to grow more aggressively in India.

Also Read: Singapore-based fintech company Sygnum to build tokenised, smart financial infrastructure

Not only that, the latest news that Uber may sell its India UberEats business in exchange for a stake in Swiggy, a local food delivery company, rather than to Ola (or its investee Foodpanda) may suggest that Uber isn’t ready to quit on India just yet, though the possibility still exists.

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Ecomobi and Jupviec are set to boost Vietnam’s app economy and pitch at Echelon Asia 2019!

2019 is shaping up to be the year the Vietnamese dragon wakes from its slumber. It has been a leader in Southeast Asian investment to begin the year and at the end of 2018 enjoyed a US$50 million round from Topica.

This is why TOP100 was so excited to host a qualifying round hosted in Ho Chi Minh City this week.

After an acute afternoon of pitching and on-the-spot questions, Ecomobi Pte Ltd and Jupviec were crowned as the two Judges’ Choice winners! They have been awarded a fully subsidised booth at e27’s Echelon Asia Summit.

On May 23-24, they will stand a chance to compete for over S$100,000 worth of prizes.

Ecomobi Pte Ltd

Empowered by artificial intelligence and machine learning, the platform promises to revolutionise the way everyone sells online.

Ecomobi seeks help e-commerce companies direct sales towards social networks — a golden goose for many e-commerce brands, marketplaces and traditional companies.

Its unique algorithm allows social influencers to monetize their traffic via limitless access to e-commerce inventories and connect with brands instantaneously, optimising both cost-per-acquisition and revenue.

The transparency in performance tracking also enables both parties to monitor transactions and receive personalised suggestions for performance optimisation.

Its pledge to help businesses increase their sales by at least 30 per cent has attracted big-league partners like Shopee, Lazada and Grab.

Currently, Ecomobi’s market is still spreading across the Southeast Asian market, supporting its patrons to garner a diversity of customers from the enormous cross-border community.

While already in cahoots with more than 100 brands and 30,000 social channels, Ecomobi has its sights set on becoming the leading social selling platform in Southeast Asia, setting themselves apart with their big integrated social channels and technology.

Jupviec

Describing themselves as the ‘uber’ for home services, Jupivec aims to become Vietnam’s top home services platform via a ‘for-women-by-women’ approach.

The app offers quality-controlled services like sofa cleaning and hourly cleaning which can be easily tapped on by its many customers seeking to ‘Marie-Kondo’ their space.

Led by CEO Phan Hong Minh, the team of four works hard to ensure a consistent 67 per cent MoM growth rate.

Presently, their services are used in a slew of offices, restaurants and even Airbnbs across eight different cities.

Besides helping out with hygiene, Jupviec also helps impoverished women retain stable jobs to finance their families. They believe that trust, innovation and professionalism are pivotal in establishing a better (not just in terms of hygiene) place for all.

Also Read: Enterprise Singapore sponsors S$100,000 worth of prizes for TOP100!

The qualifiers

Besides the two Judges’ Choices winners, another 10 startups managed to qualify for a partially discounted booth at the same venue. Although they might not have received the regional victory, they still stand a chance at winning the grand prize!

Here they are:

1. Papaya Insurtech
2. KAMEREO
3. 689Cloud, Inc.
4. Buymed Pte. Ltd
5. Compliy
6. GODY.VN
7. AquaGrowGreens
8. Phleek
9. Ferosh
10. Dench Labs

A hearty congratulations to the two Judge’s Choices awardees and the 10 qualifiers! Look out for e27’s next TOP100 event at Hanoi.

Also Read: Singapore TOP100 winners show why Southeast Asian startup scene is the world’s best

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The post Our Ho Chi Minh City TOP100 winners prove that the Vietnamese dragon is awake appeared first on e27.

Whatfix helps companies deliver modern on-boarding, training and self-service support to users through contextual content displayed at the time of need

Whatfix, a digital adoption platform that helps companies deliver modern on-boarding, training and self-service support to users through contextual content displayed at the time of need, has raised US$12.5 million in Series B funding led by Eight Roads Ventures India.

US-based F-Prime Capital and Cisco Investments, besides existing investors Stellaris Venture Partners and Helion Venture Partners also participated in this round.

Bangalore-based Whatfix plans to use the capital to continue its expansion into the global markets. It will also grow the R&D, marketing, and sales teams in the US and India.

Launched in 2013 by Khadim Batti and Vara Kumar, Whatfix aims to disrupt the way application support and training is delivered to end-users of enterprise applications by providing contextual and real-time guidance. It also allows businesses and individuals to create support for frequently-asked questions (FAQs), training material and interactive tutorials, which can be integrated across all user touch-points inside web applications.

Also Read: This startup could spoil the holiday you obtained by submitting fake medical certificate

The startup aims to solve three critical needs of a business — onboard users to increase conversions and engagement, provide better support to reduce churn, and effective training for employees and customers.

Southeast Asia’s leading e-commerce company Lazada is one of its customers.

“Whatfix is one of the leading vendors of choice for enterprises that are looking at driving digital adoption across all their enterprise software applications (EASs) seamlessly. Soon, there will be widespread automation with AI and machine learning changing the way we work. However, employees will need digital expertise to leverage these technologies to effectively elevate productivity,” Co-founder and CEO Khadim Batti said.​ “​Whatfix is already the simplest and the most effective platform for delivering an engaging and superior employee experience.”

“Accelerating user adoption is a key element of customer experience management, a focus area for Cisco. Whatfix is helping lead a market shift to a new, data-driven approach to user adoption. The Whatfix team is an example of the significant enterprise-tech talent in India, and we are excited to support them in their global journey,” said Sameer Garde, President India and SAARC at Cisco.

In April 2017, Whatfix raised US$3.7 million in Series A, led by Stellaris, with participation from Helion and Powerhouse Ventures. Prior to this, the startup had raised under US$900,000 in seed funding from Helion, preceded by a US$300,000 from Hanwha Group. 

As per Whatfix’s estimates, the digital adoption for enterprise application software is a US$8 billion market and is growing rapidly.

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The city is predicted to see a compound annual growth rate of 7.4 per cent from 2019-2023 for the e-commerce industry

Hong Kong is a city known for its fast-paced lifestyle, upscale fashion and shop-til-you-drop lifestyle. The e-commerce industry is no different.

E-commerce plays a very important role in the economy of Hong Kong (HK). Statista expects local e-commerce revenue of around US$4.8 billion in 2019.

The same report states that the revenue is expected to show an annual growth rate (CAGR 2019-2023) of 7.4 per cent, resulting in a market volume of US$6.4 billion by 2023. This indicates an incredible potential in the e-commerce sector in Hong Kong for the next four years.

To find out who are the top e-commerce players in Hong Kong, iPrice recently conducted a market analysis utilising data such as the average total visits (desktop and mobile web) and mobile application rankings (both iOS App Store and Google Play Store).

Top 10 e-commerce platforms in Hong Kong as of Q4 2018

 

 

Total average visits (desktop and mobile web) as of Q4 2018.

To ensure a fair analysis and comparison, our report focuses on e-commerce companies based in Hong Kong, international companies with an official Hong Kong specific domain and selected international platforms that are most popularly used among consumers in Hong Kong.

In Q4 2018, Tmall takes the lead with an average of 7.9 million total monthly visits (desktop and mobile web) compared to DC Fever (5.6 million) and HKTV Mall (4.4 million).

Tmall.hk’s parent company, Alibaba invested heavily in marketing the Singles’ Day sales, this would explain the flare in November 2018 with a whopping 10.1 million total visits (desktop and mobile web) in that month alone.

However, in December 2018 Tmall experienced a drop of total visits by 3.9 million which could indicate that Christmas Sales is not as big compared to the Singles’ Day sales.

Both DC Fever and HKTV Mall displayed the same pattern as Tmall in November compared to December. However, e-commerce platforms are expected to rebound in January 2019 in conjunction with the pre-Chinese New Year festivities. DC Fever and HKTV Mall experienced a 10 per cent increase in total visits in January 2019.

Popular Foreign E-commerce Platforms in Hong Kong

 

 

Estimated total visits (desktop and mobile web) from Hong Kong in January 2019.

Hong Kong consumers are avid shoppers at international e-commerce platforms as well.

Among the most visited international e-commerce platforms are China-based websites Taobao and JD. As of January 2019, Taobao has over 601 million in total worldwide visits (desktop and mobile web) and 3.98 per cent of visitors were from Hong Kong.

This equivalent to 23.95 million visits from Hong Kong in January 2019, which has a population of 7.5 million as of 2019. In that same month, the top five e-commerce platforms in Hong Kong, notably JD.com (5.2 million), Tmall (7.9 million), DC Fever (4.2 million) and HKTV Mall (4.5 million), garnered lesser total visits as compared to the e-commerce platform by Alibaba.

This indicates that Taobao is the most visited e-commerce platform in Hong Kong from the estimation based on SimilarWeb’s data.

According to the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong is now a battlefield for China’s Singles’ Day sales. Alibaba, the parent company of Taobao and Tmall, was the first to popularise the Singles’ Day sales, enjoyed record-breaking US$ 18.26 billion within just 24 hours. Just last year, JD.com had followed the move made by Alibaba Group and had launched their first Singles’ Day sales in 2018.

Jake Yu, head of supply chain from JD.com, said

“Hong Kong consumers are very picky and have an international mindset. If we can win them over, we can win the rest of the world over.”

Within the Singles’ Day sales period which takes place in November, JD.com customers were rewarded with free shipping for shopping on their website and coupons for those new to the online platform. This could explain the rising popularity of JD.com in Hong Kong in recent times and they are most likely to remain as one of the most visited e-commerce platforms in the country.

Top Mobile Shopping Apps in Hong Kong

On the other hand, consumers purchasing behaviour on desktops and mobile phones are very different. This is evident as studies such as the one conducted by KPMG in 2017 shows that mobile strategies had doubled payment transactions compared to 2016.

Therefore, it is vital to analyse the highest-ranking mobile shopping applications to ascertain the top e-commerce players in Hong Kong. This analysis was done by averaging the rankings of the top mobile shopping applications on both Google Play Store and iOS App Store. We ranked the applications according to the highest average rank recorded between 19 November 2018 and 11 February 2019.

 

All applications were ranked according to the highest average rank recorded between 19 November 2018 and 11 February 2019. Data were obtained via AppAnnie.

From our analysis, Taobao is strong in the lead for both their website and applications on both app stores (Google Play Store and iOS App Store). This reaffirms Taobao’s market-leading position in Hong Kong as they are also the most visited (on desktop and mobile web) e-commerce platform according to our estimates.

Supporting this claim is KPMG, who confirms that Taobao has been leading the market since 2017 and 45 per cent of online consumers tend to make purchases on the platform owned by Alibaba.

Our analysis also indicates that Hong Kong consumers have an affinity towards fashion specific applications such as Zalora, ASOS, and Farfetch. This aligns with the survey by KPMG in 2017, where 62 per cent more likely to purchase fashion products online. Amazon remains as one of the top shopping apps in HK as of Q4 2018 in both app stores. In our analysis, the American-based mobile app is more popular on Android as compared to Apple mobile devices.

Predictions for 2019 and Beyond

Given that Taobao is currently leading the e-commerce platform according to our estimates in January 2019, it is likely to see as a continuing trend in the remaining months (February and March) of Q1 2019.

Solidifying Alibaba’s leading position in HK would be Tmall as well. This is evident as Tmall garnered more than 10 million in total visits (desktop and mobile web) in January 2019 while DC Fever obtained 4.2 million total visits (desktop and mobile web) in the same month.

In the long run, it is very possible to see the prominence of either new or mid-field e-commerce players taking over the leading spots.

There is great untapped potential in the Hong Kong e-commerce sector. As stated by Statista, e-commerce revenues are expected to push up to US$6.4 billion by 2023. Moreover, given that the 11.11 sales are still relatively new and increasing rapidly in popularity and demand, this would encourage further participation from new and emerging e-commerce players to gain a big piece of the action.

Methodology

• Data was collected as of February 2019.
• All data on the total visits on desktop and mobile web in this study were taken from global traffic figures from the respective websites except for Taobao and JD.com. Estimates on total visits from desktop and mobile web on Taobao and JD.com from Hong Kong were based on data by SimilarWeb. Insights based on SimilarWeb data.
• App Ranking – Average ranking of mobile app 19th November 2018 – 11th February 2019. Source: AppAnnie.
• The following industries were not included in our analysis: e-ticketing, financial services, rental services, insurance, delivery service, food & beverage, meta-search, couponing, cashback websites and e-commerce platforms who solely provides classified ads/P2P services. E-commerce companies who initiated their business as a physical store were not included in our analysis.

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iPrice Group is a meta-search website operating in Hong Kong and in six countries across South East Asia namely in Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam. Currently, iPrice compares and catalogues more than 500 million products and receives more than 15 million monthly visits across the region. iPrice operates three business lines: price comparison for electronics and health & beauty; product discovery for fashion and home & living; and coupons across all verticals.

On a regular basis, iPrice Group releases industry insights on topics pertaining to e-commerce, the tech industry, and startups. Stay tuned to iPrice’s insights here: https://iprice.hk/trends/insights/

Photo by SHUJA ZED on Unsplash

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The acquisition is a nice win for a Singapore company that launched back in 2012

SugarCRM, a company that specialises in Customer Relationship Managment (CRM) software, has acquired Collabspot, a Singaporean startup for email integration.

Collabspot was founded in June, 2012 and built a product that targetted the sales industry and integrated a CRM platform with Gmail and other email providers.

With the acquisition, SugarCRM hopes to use it to provide real-time alerts and insights based on real-time analysis of communications.

On a similar note, SugarCRM launched a product called Hint Insights last month, which gathers data from “multiple channels” to give salespeople signals they can use for decision making.

SugarCRM is driving towards building a CRM system that does not require any data entry.

Collabspot is an alumni of the now-closed JFDI Accelerator programme and in 2013 it raised a US$64,000 seed funding. The company did not raise any further financing, according to Crunchbase.

While the business was incorporated in Singapore, Collabspot was built in the Philippines and had a close connection to the archipelago.

In 2012, Collabspot pitched at an Echelon satellite event in Manila — a predecessor to e27‘s current TOP100 programme.

The acquisition will be considered the first move for new SugarCRM CEO Craig Charlton, who was appointed to the position in early March.

“The acquisition makes great sense for the business and for our users, who told us that they wanted a product like this to be part of our core offering. By maintaining our focus on innovation and listening to our customers’ needs we’ll continue to provide a market-leading CRM experience and grow by adding real value to the many businesses we support around the world,” said Charlton.

In August, 2018 SugarCRM raised funding from Accel-KKR, a technology-focussed private equity firm.

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Also, Enterprise Singapore chooses Penbrothers as Philippine partner, Hong Kong’s CoinFLEX launches loyalty coin to build trading community

Healthtech startup CXA Group secures US$25M funding [e27]

Singapore-based healthtech company CXA Group announced the US$25 million funding it has raised from HSBC, Singtel Innov8, Telkom Indonesia MDI Ventures, Sumitomo Corporation Equity Asia, Muang Thai Fuchsia Ventures, Humanica, and Heritas Venture Fund.

The company said it will use the funding for expansion to Asia Pacific.

Also Read: Singapore-based fintech company Sygnum to build tokenised, smart financial infrastructure

CXA uses predictive data to help corporates improve their health and wellness offerings for employees.It claims to have over 600 enterprise clients that allows them to serve over 400,000 employees in 20 countries.

In the past, the company has raised US$25 million from B Capital and EDBI back in February 2017. The current round brings CXA’s total fundraising to US$58 million.

Enterprise Singapore’s Plug and Play Network makes Penbrothers its Philippine partner [Press Release]

Penbrothers, the office lease and augmented staff company seeking to facilitate international startups and SMEs in building their team in the Philippines, has entered into a strategic partnership with Enterprise Singapore’s Plug & Play network.

The partnership will see that Singapore-based startups & SMEs expanding in the Philippines can access the quality services, talent, and vibrant office spaces that Penbrothers offers.

“Penbrothers continues to look for various ways to support Singapore companies enter new markets through The Philippines’ pool of talent,”said Josef Werker, Managing Director of Penbrothers International Inc. “We believe that we’re reinventing how Singapore companies scale & build their teams along with Enterprise Singapore’s role in supporting their network.”

Hong Kong’s CoinFLEX launches FLEX Coin to build trading community [Press Release]

CoinFLEX, the physically delivered crypto futures exchange, has launched FLEX Coin in a bid to encourage liquidity and reward for early traders members who trade on the platform.

The mechanism would be a set amount of FLEX Coin to be paid out to traders based on the proportion of the volume they trade as a taker, relative to the total daily volume on the platform. The coins can be exchanged for a discount on the cost of using the platform.

By spending coins, a user can receive back 50% off their total trading fees from the previous 24 hours.

Furthermore, aside from its physically-delivered bitcoin futures, CoinFLEX will also introduce the world’s first stablecoin-to-stablecoin futures contract, and will provide investors with the ability to hedge exposures with zero index or settlement manipulation risk.

CoinFLEX has also announced the addition of investment firm Digital Currency Group and blockchain investment company Polychain as investors. The current existing investors are Trading Technologies, Roger Ver, Mike Komaransky, and Dragonfly Capital Partners, as well as a number of leading market making firms.

WeWork opens first location in Vietnam [Press Release]

Co-working space unicorn WeWork announced its first location opened in E. Town Central in District 4, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, right after the first location in the Philippines.

The new location has a Grade-A and Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Gold standard certified building. The WeWork E. Town Central adds to the company’s growing presence in Southeast Asia and it’s ready to welcome over 1,000 members to the community across four floors (22nd to 25th).

To date, WeWork has since grown to 18 locations with more than 13,000 members across Southeast Asia from December 2017.

“With Vietnam’s rapid economic growth in Southeast Asia, we see immense business potential for WeWork to contribute back to its vibrant economy. Our spaces in cities across the region have also greatly proven to be a springboard that enables creator communities to flourish,” said Turochas “T” Fuad, Managing Director, WeWork Southeast Asia.

The space and community are aimed to deliver local materials such as block bricks and rattan were also embodied in tandem with WeWork’s signature aesthetics.

Also Read: Hong Kong e-commerce analysis shows Alibaba is king of the hill

Grounded in WeWork’s mission of supporting its members, WeWork is also growing in tandem with them and is here to connect people through intelligent design by fostering community and opportunities.

WeWork welcomes members ranging from global enterprises to organizations with a presence in Vietnam such as Christina’s, a fully-integrated online-to-offline travel company; UrbanFox, an omnichannel logistics and channel management solutions brand as a subsidiary of Singapore’s conglomerate Keppel Corporation; Vingroup Ventures, a Vingroup company.
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Want to compete with these fantastic startups? Sign up today!

Do you want to compete with these excellent companies for a chance to pitch at Echelon 2019? Apply today! The success of the startup scene in Vietnam has been one of best stories of 2019 so far. TOP100 is stoked to visit the country and find the best young startup Vietnam has to offer.

If you want to get an idea of the competition, below is a list of some of the startups that will be competing for the top prize. We can’t wait to see you there!

9 Vietnam TOP100 competitors

Minet Asia

An influencer marketing network, Minet Asia targets Facebook and Instagram (the two most popular social media networks in Vietnam). Its goal is to use AI and machine learning to help brands pick the perfect person for their campaign. Minet Asia claims to have 3000 influencers on its network.

Aversafe

This startup wants to streamline online background checks by using the blockchain to help people build immutable credentials. The goal is to build a network whereby individuals have control over verifying their creditials. The hope is to avoid duplicating their online identity. The blockchain creates an individually unique page that cannot be duplicated.

Compily

A regulatory assistant, Compily wants to help companies quickly and efficiently adapt to regulatory changes. The company uses artificial intelligence to help companies identify a regulatory change, map it to existing policies and monitor its status in a workflow platform.

The platform is called ARIA.

KAMEREO

Kamereo is a B2B restaurant procurement platform for sourcing food and drinks. The platform helps people source for new customers, simplify the ordering process, analyse the orders and track cost control.

The goal is to make the restaurant procurement process more efficient in Vietnam.

Wicare

Wicare is an insurance customer relationship managment (CRM) platform. CRM systems typically help people track leads, nurture potential clients and analyse the results. Most CRMs are global companies so Wicare offers a more localised alternative in Vietnam.

Mosia

Mosia wants to become the go-to platform for professional emotional and mental support. The hope is to use the platform to detect cases and help people get help.

It is working on building a network of professionals to help create a network effect around mental health.

Ferosh

This e-commerce platform sells fashion for women. Based on the pricing, Ferosh sells outfits would fall in the mid-tier range of pricing. A typical dress costs between US$20 and US$50. A quick tour of the website seems to show a smart-casual style for women.

GODY.VN

GODY.VN wants to become the TripAdvisor for Vietnamese travellers. The platform has reviews on hotels, transportation, ticketing and even popular picture-taking spots. It also has a product for people to ask questions and a smart map of different regions in Vietnam.

Buymed

Buymed is a B2B platform for companies to buy medicine, first aide and dispensary items. It advertises itself to mom-and-pop pharmacies that make their living selling over-the-counter drugs to the average person. The platform takes care of every step from purchase to procurement to delivery.

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

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