The urgency of needs in some of the Asian markets drives an effervescence of innovation, which has been slower in the West where incentives to change were initially less acute

The global banking industry is at an inflection point. The emergence of new-age financial technologies is prompting banks to rethink their strategies, in order to stay relevant and quell any potential threat to their very existence.

Standard Chartered, with a presence in 60 countries, has been driving innovation in the banking space, co-creating solutions to improve client experience and establishing new partnerships and solutions to change how it approaches and think about banking.

Recently, the bank set up SC Ventures, a business unit to promote innovation, invest in disruptive fintech, and explore new business models. The VC arm’s new Fintech Bridge programme aims to tap the best solutions from fintech ecosystem, combining with bank’s innovation.

In this e-mail interview, Alex Manson, Head of SC Ventures, talks about the core objectives of the initiative, how technology is going to the global banking industry, and the fintech industry.

Below are the edited excerpts:

Can you walk me though the SC Ventures Fintech Bridge initiative? How is it different from existing fintech programmes in the world? 

SC Ventures Fintech Bridge is the first portal to bring together internal and external partners in innovation, blurring the boundaries of the conventional corporation. Standard Chartered business units can post challenges on the portal, which can be seen by both internal ‘intrapreneurs’ and outside fintech partners. The latter spans all community builders within this ecosystem, from startups and investors to accelerators looking for opportunities to collaborate with the bank.

Also Read: Blockchain will force banks to change their feudal mindset

Fintechs can apply to a challenge or simply make themselves known and potentially get matched with a particular challenge, use case or just the right people within the bank. We like to think of it as an “open borders” innovation programme.

Is it a global programme? How do you select startups for this? Can you explain the process?

It is more than just a global programme — the startups we work with call it a ‘connected network’, where startups bring their capabilities to solve a bank problem, and the bank brings its network of expertise, clients and locations. Successful Proof of Concepts (POC) are potentially deployed across all relevant parts of our business and network of over 60 countries.

We do not select fintech partners like a jury selection process. Rather, people find their ‘match’ in the context of challenges or specific objectives — assisted with a matching engine to pair the right fintech capabilities with their respective use cases.

What are the key objectives of Fintech Bridge? How is it going to benefit the bank and also the fintech industry?

This initiative that we have launched goes beyond benefitting Standard Chartered — we are looking to develop the respective ecosystems we operate within, including both our internal team members and external extended partners.

There are three objectives for the SC Ventures Fintech Bridge:

1. We CONNECT an external community of community builders with our internal community of innovators.
2. We SHARE our challenges based on the belief banks can build better, more relevant solutions more quickly with fintech partners.
3. We CHALLENGE ourselves by blurring the boundaries of the conventional corporation. One of our commitments is to make collaborations simpler and faster, as we know time is precious for not just the startups but also our colleagues in the bank.

We want to achieve all these on one platform.

In a recent interview you said said that “banking has a great future, but we have to re-invent it, we have to re-wire the DNA”. How can banks re-wire DNA? Can you elaborate?

‘One intrapreneur at a time and one partnership at a time’ is the short answer.

In just a few months, almost 20,000 colleagues signed up to the intrapreneur platform and submitted over 1,500 ideas. These are the bankers of the future, whose mindset is to make things happen for clients in partnership with others in and outside the bank. This is about the DNA element in banking.

Doing this also requires us to ‘unlearn’ a number of habits, which are common in most large organisations: wait to be told (or tell people what to do), solve for efficiency, solve for risk mitigation by slowing down information down to the top and making few well-considered decisions. When reinventing an industry, creativity triumphs over efficiency and acceptance of failure trumps risk aversion, hence mindsets in all corners and at all levels of the organisation need to evolve.

Last but not least, rewiring the DNA in banking is about supporting communities: communities of customers, merchants or families — all of who have aspirations and needs which banking can facilitate with them and for them. Between banking and society, this is about reinventing the mode of engagement.

You also feel that the biggest risk that banks are facing is one of irrelevance — not capital, liquidity, or market risk. Isn’t contradictory to your earlier statement (that banks have great future)? Do you think banks can address this challenge using cutting-edge tech?

It’s just two sides of the same coin! On one hand, banks have a great future because they have an opportunity to reinvent themselves using technology, but more importantly revamping their business models to support their communities. The future is bright because I know that some banks will do exactly that.

The risk, however, is to not get on with it and again, some banks may fall into the trap of ignoring client relevance and instead exclusively focus on their more conventional risks. Not that these are not important, but that would be missing the point of the bigger existential risk of irrelevance. Basically, it’s our call!

Is blockchain an essential technology that could bring in transparency? What are your views on integrating blockchain tech with bank’s existing system?

Yes. Blockchain is essential in the sense that it is “foundational” — a ledger is not a product or an app per se; it constitutes a foundation for a lot of things that can be done with it. And yes, one if its characteristics is transparency as the distributed ledger is for all to see.

Banks’ systems architecture will evolve to become modular and connected via APIs, making any new technology integration a lot more feasible and quicker than with conventional core banking systems.

Many experts feel that new-age tech like blockchain will make banks redundant and irrelevant. What is your opinion? Do you think banks will stay here forever?

It is clear that any industry not paying attention to new technology could quickly become irrelevant. But first, banks are paying attention. Second, relevance is always less about the technology itself than the value a business delivers to its communities. Remember the focus of our purpose, the ‘DNA’. Technology must deliver a better experience, offer more accessibility to financial services, and better connect and increase community viability.

Also Read: How is fintech shaping financial services? Here are some thoughts from an industry veteran

My prediction is that banks will evolve in their technology, capabilities and business models. The industry has every opportunity to not only stay but become even more relevant — it will just have to rewire itself.

Do you think the current technologies in the market will still be relevant in future for banks?

Some will and some will not, but all will be evolving in any event. The way banks use technology will also evolve, from a ‘do it yourself’ to a much more open architecture model — because there would otherwise be no way to keep up with the pace of such evolution.

What will be a bank’s functions and shape, say, 50 years from now?

Fifty years is a long time for a ‘crystal ball question’, but one certainty is: its functions and shape will not be the same!

Long before that deadline, we can see that the conventional client segmentation may no longer be relevant (persons become businesses, businesses expect the convenience of consumer platforms for example): the distinction between front and back-office, the distinction between products and channels — the very existence of conventional channels.

My not-so-long-term prediction is that what we call banking today will become ubiquitous, meaning it will be everywhere, embedded in our lives, irrespective of whether we are a corporation or an individual. It will be instantaneous and, just like we do not need to ask ourselves about the technology involved in sending an e-mail or hearing a voice over the phone, it will become very natural and seamless.

What are the current trends in the fintech industry? Where is it heading for? Is it getting enough attention from the corporate, VC and startup communities?

The fintech market is not a homogenous one: from bank attackers looking to disrupt incumbents and software vendors looking for partnerships, to core Artificial Intelligence specialists. This is a wide range of players that can no longer be characterised in the same industry bucket.

The overall trend is partnerships, as all players are finding out that it is near impossible to do it all by themselves. At times, the distinction between partner, vendor, client and competitor will get blurred: we could end up doing all four with the same organisation!

Can you share more details about SC Ventures? Is it a separate fund? What is its corpus? What is the investment philosophy?

SC Ventures is a separate unit of the bank which includes our eXellerator innovation lab (within the bank), the Innovation Investment Find (a separate fund), and individual ventures that are separate and distinct from the bank.We invest in partners we work with.

The philosophy is one of partnership and alignment of incentives: as we help our fintech partners grow to scale, they can help us transform the bank at scale. We are essentially messaging to the founders and the rest of the market that we are in this together.

What is the average ticket size? How may deals have you already done? Any new deals in the pipeline?

We invest in a sweet spot which we would define as neither too early for enterprise readiness, nor too late for partnership and co-creation. This would typically correspond to late Series B or C, but there are exceptions.

We keep our options open to investing in promising companies that we have done POCs with.

How is the fintech industry in the West different from that of Asia? Is Asian fintech is catching up with the West?

There are both differences and similarities, but I would say that in any event, Asia is and will be giving the West a run for its money. First, the scale of Asia, especially China, but also India and Indonesia, implies loads of data, which has become recently available and can now be processed at scale.

Second, the urgency of needs in some of the Asian markets drives an effervescence of innovation, which has been slower in the West where incentives to change were initially less acute.

Third, Asian populations tend to be young and digitally savvy, facilitating early adoption of digital business models.

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Image Credit: SC Ventures

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Kargo co-founding team included the former Country General Manager of Uber Indonesia and Western China

Indonesia-based logistics startup Kargo today announced that they have raised a US$7.6 million seed funding round led by Sequoia Capital India.

Travis Kalanick’s 10100 fund; Pandu Sjahrir’s Agaeti Ventures; Patrick Walujo, co-founder of Northstar Group; Intudo Ventures; Zhenfund; ATM Capital; and Innoven Capital also participated in the funding round.

The company plans to use the new funding round to invest further in its infrastructure and technology. It also plans to speed up talent acquisitions in the Indonesian market.

Kargo was founded in 2018 by CEO Tiger Fang, who launched Uber’s operations in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and scaled operations in Indonesia and Western China, serving as General Manager.

He was also part of the founding management team at Lazada Thailand and Vietnam.

Also Read: Online trucking logistics company Kargo receives over US$130K from Yoma Bank

The company’s co-founder also included CTO Yodi Aditya, who had experiences in building platform solutions across the logistics, airline and finance industries in both Indonesia and Singapore.

Kargo’s team also included alumni from Uber global team and Indonesia’s leading tech startups.

According to Kargo, trucks delivering goods from urban production centres often make the return trip empty with drivers for day-to-day trucking gigs being typically sourced through multiple phone calls and Whatsapp groups.

Contracts for the drivers are often handwritten and payments sometimes made months after the driver finishes delivery.

The company aims to make freight logistics industry more efficient, transparent, and accountable by using a platform that enables shippers, transporters, and truckers to connect, transact, and track shipments.

Also Read: Delivered: B2B logistics startup Kargo gets seed funding from East Ventures, angel investor

“Kargo’s platform is designed to solve the problem of unreliable availability, opaque pricing and lack of trust with payment cycles with an easy-to-use mobile app,” said Fang.

“The idea is to drive efficiencies for both shippers and transporters in a way that creates greater utility of available trucks. Shippers and transporters can strike deals transparently with the comfort of knowing that they are dealing with verified, trusted, high-quality partners. This framework will go a long way in raising the earning potential of truck drivers, and making sure that not a single truck will ever hit the road empty again,” he added.

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Image Credit: Kargo

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Will 2019 finally heat up with the rise B2Bs or freeze off with the stinted growth of AI tech?

This article was originally written by Harry Wang on Weixin.

2018 was an exceptionally cold year for China. Guangzhou even experienced zero-degree temperatures despite being one of the southernmost provinces.

However, it wasn’t just the weather that was ‘cold’.

The venture capital industry also experienced ‘coldness’ when the startup ecosystems lay eerily silent for a long while. This was mostly due to the difficulties in fundraising capital for both startups and venture capitals (General Partners – Limited Partners) coupled with the disappearing job opportunities across markets.

Now, we can only wonder if 2019 will heat up, or become even icier than before.

Linear Ventures has come up with the overall Chinese market predictions and business suggestions for 2019. These will serve as guidelines for their own investment strategies so rest assured that it has been thoroughly deliberated.

Let’s begin.

2019’s economy will only be worse than before

If you are someone who tends to just go with the flow or has yet to find a personal method of investing, chances are that you’d be better off putting your cash in banks rather than investing in assets.

Think of it as the “cash-is-king” era making a comeback.

Some argue that the value of cash will continue to decrease in 2019 due to inflations and interest rates. But, the truth this year is that putting your money in banks will give you higher returns than startup investments.

You could still invest your money in capable agencies or credible funds, but the good ones are in the minority and their eyes will constantly be on bigger clientele. It’s not a reliable option.

The end of B2Cs and the beginning of B2Bs

Pinduoduo’s Initial Public Offering is the last billion-dollar investment for China’s mobile internet industry. Post Pinduoduo, most of the B2C capital has already gone away.

But, this also marks the exact starting point for a host of B2B opportunities.

Previously, efficiency was never really a top concern. The market had been growing so rapidly that you didn’t have to work that hard in order to claim a sustained profit.

But, things are different now.

The market’s growth has stagnated and things will never be as easy because limited resources beget fiercer competition.

You will need to sharpen your competitive edge and efficiency in order to run companies and sustain businesses. This calls for the utilisation of new tools, technologies and services that will help to manage operational costs and lead to better competitiveness.

The B2Bs who can then provide the best of such items will be on an upward trajectory to scale new entrepreneurial heights and meet colossal market demands — spearheading the success of the B2B market.

Mass production will make way for product customisation

The industrial era has been known for its efficient mass production of similar goods — but this is about to end with the rise of the B2B industry.

Over the millennia, consumer trends have evolved from being similar, to being hybrid, to having individualisation — showing how mainstream social trends have become increasingly personal and customised.

In this transitional process, cost has been identified as a key problem.

When we are able to equate the cost of customised production to mass production, personalised products and services will become the norm. And, thanks to the development of smart manufacturing technology, this has already become possible and a whole new world is approaching.

With the enabling of personal customisation, we are starting to see more businesses and services (eg. Costco) categorise their customers into different groups and provide membership services catered to their exact needs.

Slow and steady wins the race

Usually, most investors don’t invest in companies that cannot grow exponentially within its first two years. However, in the B2B sector, this waiting duration can be extended to three to five years.

The old ‘Dotcom Internet era’ has made way for the ‘IoT’ age and likewise, the concept of rapid growth has been replaced by the importance of slow and stable growth.

Back then, it was basically a business about amassing users for a product. People used to value products and tractions as a form of measuring success and the success formula was marketing a simple product to thousands of consumers.

Also Read: Undeterred by rejections and insults, this duo has built a cool edtech startup and got funding, too

However, in the present IoT era, it’s a business about value-adding on an individualistic clientele level. Commercialised services are more significant than products. It would be impossible to establish a good company reputation if the service was not optimised or delivered properly.

Here’s the thing. If you can establish PoC, increase efficiency, and expand your enterprise’s user base with speed and stability, that’s perfect! But, most of the time — it’ll never be the case.

Also, building up a B2B company is a continuous process of instilling customer values and gaining their trust, both of which take a lot of time. If the repeat purchase rate in the coming year is lower than 80 per cent, it means it’s time to review your service quality.

Don’t try to shoot for the stars in a beta-rocket!

The best strategy for new B2B companies is to focus on two to three small-medium sized projects or clients. Only after acquiring a solid group of 20 or 30 loyal clients, can you then build up your Customer Service Team to expand and secure a decent pool of 200 to 300 recurring clients.

I know that being slow is never really considered an advantage, but in this case, it will ascertain a steady growth and a higher ROI in the long run.

You don’t need to be the best to thrive

With B2Bs, the winner no longer takes all.

This is because it’s very unusual for a monopoly to take place in any B2B sector due to the complex high-tech services and systems. Also, it’s the scale of your enterprise client which will decide the needed marketing strategies to implement — not the ‘winner’ of the number of enterprise clients.

Hardware and software integration

If you take a look across all sectors nowadays — smart manufacturing, health & medicine, smart transportation or smart retail — we can’t rely solely on software.

There are still many important physical infrastructures and equipment that need renovating. Only after finding a breakthrough and improving these components can we then apply new software tools as a vessel to reshape and disrupt the current industries.

Also Read: The 10 most read blockchain e27 Contributor articles

But for many, this kind of breakthrough requires years of research and understanding from both the hardware and software industry. As a startup, it is easy to either find a software or hardware engineer but tremendously hard to source for talents who can integrate both software and hardware systems together.

No more all-talk-no-action for AI

The AI industry is doomed to fade away unless it can evolve from a sci-fi buzzword to real product and business. You might no longer see many superstar AI companies raising multiple funds and recruiting for high paying jobs.

That’s because there is still a lot of critical groundwork to be established. Things like where’s the data, how clean and structuralized it is, and when to implement the software have to be considered first.

There are also a bunch of hurdles that follow after procuring such data like which algorithm to use, how to optimise it, and which GPU/TPU to buy?

In most AI companies, the business model either builds up a holistic up-and-down streamed vendor ecosystem or projects to become the second tier service provider for the industry leader.

Fundraising opportunities have been slowing down since the start of 2019, but this doesn’t mean that the demand for AI engineers has been growing. Due to the commercialisation and easy access to data analytics (and algorithms), the market’s interests in getting more AI engineers could go down as well.

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That concludes part one of the predictions for China’s 2019 economy. Look out for the next set of predictions which will cover economic misconceptions and some relevant startup advice.

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This article was originally written by Harry Wang on Weixin.

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

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At least for me. Not sex. Not couple’s therapy. Netflix

Netflix has always been a popular choice for entertainment since it began operations in 1997, but unfortunately not in my country, Indonesia. Back then, I still had to go to a movie store to rent the movies that I missed in cinema, three months or more after it’s no longer playing.

In 2016, Indonesia welcomed Netflix. So it was really surprising for me to find out it has been out there forever and it took years for it to be present here (let’s not forget the silly ban by a telco conglomerate who had its own agenda of having the exact same streaming platform everywhere).

But even then, Netflix was a foreign concept for me. I guess I’m just a late bloomer when it comes to technology, I prefer something familiar, like renting movies.

Netflix and introversion

People say not to put a label on what you are, but discovering that I don’t really like being in a sea of people, and that I dread conversation, gives me a hunch that if I’m labeled, I would be more of an introvert than an extrovert.

I guess that’s where Netflix comes in handy. It’s the perfect introverts’ entertainment that doesn’t involve thinking other than deciding on what to watch.

Sometimes you don’t even get to decide because it keeps on rolling to the next available movies or reality shows unless you stop it.

Also Read: Video publisher platform iVideoSmart raises Series A+ funding

In Indonesia introversion has become a cultural totem of what an ideally cool person is. I think Netflix is part of an introvert’s starter kit — staying-in and streaming now has hype (Netflix and chill is successful branding).

You’re cool if you spend on a Netflix account.

Netflix and parenthood, and marriage

My family recently moved to the ultimate stage of building a life together: having a kid. Two months after giving birth, my partner said it is time…we need a TV and Netflix subscription.

I think at that time it’s more of a need to have a good dose of life outside the endless diaper changes and sleep deprivation. Netflix, as sad as it might sound, helped us cope with brand new parenthood.

Every night, past the three-months mark, we committed ourselves to Dark, a German series produced by Netflix that’s depressing but addictive.

Dark became our escape, or dare I say, a portal to go back and reminisce about a simpler time. It’s when we get our adult time, although with lots of crying and breastfeeding interruption that would end up with us both not finishing a whole episode.

For my partner, who’s having it tad easier since he doesn’t have functioning breasts, it was an eye opening experience since he got to watch series at nights I was too tired to join him. He’s forever converted.

For our companionship, we could bicker all we like about parenting and issues like the lack of involvement in household chores, but come night time, we would make-up over another new episode we’ve committed to watch together.

This is not a surprise, because it’s actually backed by a new survey conducted by HighSpeedInternet.com. Interesting data on couples and their Netflix habits shows that their viewing habits are integral to many romances.

The survey shows that 30 per cent of married couples chose to give up sex rather than Netflix streaming, while 60 per cent of unmarried couples chose Netflix over sex.

Netflix and chill for sanity

The meme “Netflix and chill” is certainly justified with our condition as a couple and new parents.

For myself, the time dedicated to not think about lunch, or about that article that I need to upload ASAP (while making sure my crawling baby doesn’t go straight to the edge of the bed while I looked away to adjust a cover image size) is what helps me function for now.

Also Read: Undeterred by rejections and insults, this duo has built a cool edtech startup and got funding, too

Waking up to purpose might be good enough, but mine life got better with the promise of chill at the end of the day.

My partner’s face still lights up about the possibility of us two creeping on the bedside floor watching Netflix and snacking so that we can still keep an eye on the baby. That makes me think that we’re gonna be okay.

Exhaustion and resentment are parts of marriage and parenthood that not many people want to admit, but thanks to our Netflix time, we’re on the same page again.

We’re good, as long as we can geek over the same thing, and in a way, we’re happier parents.
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Photo by Caspar Camille Rubin on Unsplash

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The country’s Transportation Ministry announces the base fare for app-based ojek (motorcycle ride-hailing) for less than 5 kilometers

Amidst the different demands made by drivers and app providers, Indonesia’s Transportation Ministry has settled on the base fare for the motorcycle ride-hailing in the country for US$0.71 (IDR 10,000).

“The fare for less than 5 kilometers is Rp 10,000,” said the ministry’s land and road transportation director general, Budi Setiyadi, as told by The Jakarta Post.

According to Setiyadi, the base fare number had been agreed to by the drivers and app providers, but not the per kilometer it charges at.

The drivers and app providers initially demanded IDR 3,000 (US$0.21) per km, while providers IDR 2,400 (US$0.17) per km. The two parties previously proposed for the mentioned prices.

Also Read: Video publisher platform iVideoSmart raises Series A+ funding

The ride-hailing industry has been regulated by Indonesia’s government under Transportation Ministerial Regulation No. 12/2019. It was signed on March 11 by Minister Budi Karya Sumadi to prevent misconduct by motorcycles that are used as a means of public transportation.
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Educredit.ph is focussed on helping people pay for school and SocialLight wants to bring the internet to the masses

Top100 landed in the Philippines this week to find the best startups the island-nation has to offer. The competition was fierce. A whopping 10 startups met the necessary scores to qualify for the finals at Echelon Asia 2019. The country will be well represented during the event.

A cool part about the two winners (Educredit.ph and SocialLight) is they both are making the world a better place.

Also Read: How Echelon plans to FORGE corporate-startup relationships

The two winners will enjoy:

• Free exhibition booth space in the TOP100 Zone at Echelon Asia Summit 2019
• A pitching slot on the TOP100 stage on day one of Echelon (and chance to win S$50,000 Startup SG grant)
• Intimate investor meetings and inclusion to Corporate business matching (get customers!)
• Five Starter Tickets to Echelon Asia Summit to bring your team, family and friends
• Access to the TOP100 Tour in Singapore

Educredit.PH

Educredit.ph is a platform that wants to help people finance their education. It essentially offers access to loans to get the person through school and an easy repayment plan for after graduation.

The theory is that education is the key to success and that if someone can pay their way through school they will be in a financial position to repay the debt after graduation. It also has options to help students pay for housing and school supplies.

After graduation, Educredit.ph will take the debt payments out of the person’s salary until it is repaid. The company also works with customers to help them perfect their resume and get that job after graduation.

SocialLight

SocialLight has built a business model that it hopes can bring the internet to low income groups in the Philippines. It does this by creating avenues for partner-companies to monetise that is translated into free or subsidised internet for people who cannot normally get online.

A typical user journey sees them log-in to the online platform, watch two-to-three ads and then be granted access to the internet.

The company has been around since 2013 and has grown into a Philippines leader in WiFi advertising, analytics and monetisation.

The Qualifiers

As highlighted above, a whopping 10 startups met the qualification scores for TOP100.

Also Read: Enterprise Singapore partners with e27 for Echelon TOP100 and Roadshow

For these startups, they can take advantage of the following deal:

Discounted rates for Exhibition booth space in the TOP100 Zone at Echelon Asia Summit 2019 (Offer ends by end of the event day).

Once a qualified startup has purchased the TOP100 booth, they are then also entitled to:

• A Pitching slot on the TOP100 stage on day 1 of Echelon
• Intimate investor meetings and inclusion to Corporate business matching
• Five Starter Tickets to Echelon Asia Summit
• Access to the TOP100 Tour in Singapore

The startups that qualified for TOP100 at Echelon are:

• Pepper Meals
• Agrabah Marketplace
• Tagani.PH
• Sakay.ph
• Edukasyon.ph
• Mosaic Solutions
• Go Race Sports Marketing
• Pearl Pay
• Synerbyte
• Omnirio Pte Ltd

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The funding includes investors like returning Monk’s Hill Ventures and EE Capital joining the round

Singapore-based iVideoSmart Pte Ltd (“IVS”), a video publishing platform, has announced a US$4.5 million Series A+ funding from a host of investors led by Kickstart Ventures. The VC is the venture capital arm of the Philippine telco Globe Telecom.

Kickstart Ventures was joined by Darwin Ventures, and SGInnovate and returning investors Monk Hill’s Ventures and EE Capital.

The company said it plans to use the funding for commercial and technical expansion as well as business development.

As an independent video publisher in the country, the company said it has delivered over 150 million video views on 500 million pages and has reached over 80 million unique users across its network of media publishers in five countries.

iVideoSmart provides Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence-based widgets to recommend relevant videos for better user engagement and more monetisation opportunities.

The company also has a “HotSpot” video solution that provides programmatic marketing for e-commerce affiliate conversions. It aims to empower publishers to deliver call-to-action and performance-based offerings to advertisers.

“We believe that we have made sufficient inroads in disrupting the market as shown by our explosive growth, especially in the last 6 months. We differentiate ourselves by profiling against content which leads to better engagement and we are pushing the boundaries of video with our affiliation and monetization suite of solutions,” said IVS’ CEO, Sze Chin (SQ) Lee.

Also Read: Solar energy startup SolarHome secures additional US$1M from Trirec

Minette Navarrete, Vice-Chairman, and President of Kickstart Ventures thinks that video is the format that drives user engagement, and will continue to do so in the coming years.

“We believe in investing in innovations that support the entire video ecosystem — the content creators and owners, the publishers and media companies, the agencies and brands. Our next plan is to increase diversity in the digital advertising ecosystem, and supporting the iVideoSmart team is one of our means,” said Navarrete.

Also Read: Indonesian student loan startup Dana Cita enters the Philippines

iVideoSmart was launched in 2016 in is headquartered in Singapore.
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The partnership aims to provide entrepreneurs with a global launchpad for success

Our mission at e27 is all about empowering entrepreneurs on their way to success. Thus, we work closely with other teams and organisations that share this goal. We are proud to announce our partnership with Enterprise Singapore for the Echelon Roadshow and TOP100.

The TOP100 programme was created by e27 to empower insights, connections, talent, and funding opportunities for early-stage tech in Asia Pacific.

Enterprise Singapore aims to highlight Singapore’s vibrant startup ecosystem and anchor promising tech startups in Singapore to access the Asia-Pacific region.

One of its flagship events is the annual SLINGSHOT international startup pitching competition, which provides opportunities for both local and international startups to gain early exposure to investors, corporates, industry leaders, mentors, media and tech-savvy early adopters.

Participants can receive valuable feedback from industry specialists and find partners through the competition. This is in line with e27‘s own goal to bring together different stakeholders in Southeast Asia’s startup ecosystem.

Beyond providing exposure and opportunities to startups, SLINGSHOT’s value proposition extends to other players in the startup ecosystem.

• Investors are provided with an aggregation of high potential startups for investment;
• Corporate partners’ innovation efforts are supported; and,
• Potential customers are provided an opportunity to obtain products at the forefront of technology.

A continuing partnership

e27 had a successful partnership with Enterprise Singapore during SLINGSHOT 2018, which strengthened Singapore’s reputation as a leading global startup hub and springboard to the Asian market. Our roadshows around the region helped to amplify international and local awareness of the Startup SG brand as well as the SLINGSHOT 2018 competition through publicity and marketing efforts.

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

Two finalists of e27‘s TOP100 2018 were also awarded Startup SG grants and fast-tracked to the SLINGSHOT 2018 qualifying round.

Startup SG provides entrepreneurs with access to local support initiatives and a launchpad to the global stage. This includes funding and financing opportunities, a wide and diverse talent and mentor pool, and access to customised infrastructure such as co-working spaces in Singapore.

This year, e27 and Enterprise Singapore will once again work together to provide a platform for startups to grow, scale, and springboard into Asia. The Echelon Roadshow is part of a series of international stops leading up to the annual Echelon Asia Summit happening in May.

The Echelon Roadshow hit Singapore earlier this week, and our next stops will be in Phnom Penh (March 14), Bangkok (March 19), and Manila (March 21). RSVP to the Roadshow is free, so if you want to score insights on Southeast Asian tech and more, grab your tickets now!

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Photo by Bill Jelen on Unsplash

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Whether it is highlighting quality companies or discussing macro-trends, these 10 articles will catch you up on Southeast Asia’s blockchain ecosystem

The e27 contributor programme has become a source of fantastic articles about the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem.

In this article, we wanted to highlight the stories focussed on blockchain. Some articles get into specific companies, others talk about policies and a few discuss problems (and solutions) within the community. This is a great resource for catching up with the blockchain industry!

If you would like to be a contributor, do not hesitate to submit an article here.

7 Singapore-based blockchain projects that are having global impact

As the headline suggests, this article breaks down seven blockchain companies that are making an impact in the real world. Written by Christopher Quek, this article features MVL, Indorse, Whatshalal, Enjin, Digix, Rate3 and Bluzelle.

Without explicitly stating it, this article points out that blockchain startups are tackling a diverse set of problems.

What is an ICO, STO and TSO?

Author Anson Zeall is a startup veteran and the co-founder and CEO of CoinPip, a blockchain-based payments company. When it comes to an in-depth understanding of blockchain, it is difficult to beat the knowledge of Zeall.

In the article, he explains the difference between an ICO, STO and TSO. Here is a quick definition of each.

ICO: Initial Coin Offering. The process of selling tokens that can be used for a service (or sold) as a form of financing the company.

STO: Securitised Token Offering. It’s essentially an ICO with an underwriting mechanism. Companies can sell tangible assets (including revenue) that is attached to these tokens.

TSO: Tokenised Security Offering. This is process of tokenising “things” and it is still a cutting edge fundraising model.

Why the fall of bitcoin will accelerate the development of distributed ledger technology

2018 was the year the cryptocurrency market collapsed and Edgar Seah argues that for distributed ledger technologies to grow, it will by crucial to move beyond cryptocurrencies.

Seah says, “We, as a community, cannot allow the ‘crypto winter’ to distract from the task of rebuilding confidence in the technology and that begins by changing the narrative to one of continuous development and enabling mass adoption.”

Walking the walk: Three Asian crypto companies gaining real-world traction

One of the core criticisms of the blockchain industry is that a significant amount of the companies don’t have a viable product. This is why Mike Gelacio wanted to highlight three companies that can be used right this instance.

The startups are QTUM (a smart-contracts company), Pundi X (a POS system) and Bitmain (a mining company).

A quick guide to digital marketing a blockchain project

Blockchain startups have to market their companies just like any other startup, but they also have a unique community that requires different strategies. Norm Bond walks readers through the strategies that stand out in the blockchain community.

Some of them include manufacturing cool, courting controversy and pursuing airdrops for tokens.

How stable are stablecoins?

Stablecoins are often promoted as a safe alternative in the highly volatile cryptocurrency market. Essentially, they are pegged to real-world assets (typically a fiat currency) and their price fluctuates according to the peg, rather than, say, the price of Bitcoin.

However, stablecoins are far from perfect and Luke Fitzpatrick breaks down some of the very legitimate faced by the technology.

Want to make blockchain mainstream? Then speak the mainstream language

One of the problems with the blockchain industry is that it feels unapproachable to regular people. The technology actually isn’t overly complicated, but the discussions get so wrapped up in jargon they can often feel like it requires a phd just to participate.

Natalia Tokar points out that, “Help people understand why you care. Explain what exactly your solution will change, but in their language.”

10 ways blockchain can help overcome the biggest challenges in commercial leasing

To understand how blockchain can change the world, sometimes it is wise to get into specific industries and how it impacts their sector. Entrepreneur Ivan Lim breaks down how the technology is impacting his world — the commercial leasing process.

Blockchain largely helps eliminate the painful documentation process, with knock-on benefits like privacy improvements, decreasing the environmental impact, lowering intermediary costs and decreasing the turnaround time.

Blockchain is paving the way for something new: Smart Companies

Companies often take up blockchain as a means to reward their customers, but in doing so have helped improve their own internal structures. Whether it is trying to understand what customers want, navigating the necessary KYC processes or complying with government regulations, the blockchain has resulted in a lot of companies becoming smarter companies.

James Nguyen writes, “Simply put, Smart Companies are globally-connected and blockchain-compatible companies with their own legal identity.”

Singapore a honeypot for cryptocurrency and blockchain projects, data shows

At the time of publishing, Singapore was home to 634 companies that were tangentially related to the blockchain industry. This article by Spencer Yang dove into the public records and found that Singapore saw a huge boom in incorporations towards the end of 2017 that levelled-off (but did not dip) in 2018.

Singapore (along with Thailand and the Philippines) are positioning themselves as supportive governments for the blockchain, and this article suggests companies are noticing.

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Photo by Hitesh Choudhary on Unsplash

The post The 10 most read blockchain e27 Contributor articles appeared first on e27.

The startup Kalpha enables individuals to discover, connect and meet up to learn and share skills, experiences, and knowledge on a 1-to-1 basis

After finishing his schooling, Singapore-born Jack Soh enrolled in the University of Melbourne for a Bachelor’s Degree in Commerce. During his stay in the Australian city, he opened a Chinese restaurant where he got an opportunity to meet numerous mentors by chance, and they shared valuable knowledge with him to manage his business better and became friends with him.

Unfortunately, he had to sell the restaurant two years later and return to Singapore as his visa expired.

Back home, he was thinking about his meetings with different mentors at his Melbourne restaurant, and this sparked a business idea in him.

“There are many people in the world who are in need of knowledge and information but don’t know how to or whom to reach out to,” Soh tells me. “They are in search for mentors and coaches, preferably friends, who can share knowledge in a systematic and efficient manner. I realised an online platform that connects learners to sharers will be effective, and that is the most organic way to learn.”

And that was the beginning of Kalpha.

Founded in 2018 by Soh and his college mate Jaden Teo (a graduate in Business Management from Singapore Management University), Kalpha is a mobile app that enables individuals to discover, connect and meet up to learn and share skills, experiences, and knowledge on a 1-to-1 basis. The app was launched in January 2019.

Kalpha is the abbreviation of ‘knowledge’ and  ‘Alpha’. Alpha is a term used for a superior strategy or performance in the finance parlance. Also, it is the first letter of the Greek alphabet that signifies the beginning of a journey. “Hence, the name Kalpha — where sharers often incorporate personal experiences and life stories into their sharing sessions which often are invaluable to learners,” says Soh, describing the story behind the brand name.

Here is how the Kalpha app works: Sharers (of skills, knowledge and experiences) can register themselves on the Kalpha app to share what they are willing to impart, their availability, as well as their preferred location. Interested learners can then contact the sharers in-app to arrange for a convenient time and date to meet up. Both sharers and learners can view each other’s profile before commencing further. When the sharing session concludes, both parties can acknowledge their attendance through the app to enable reviews and testimonials.

“Kalpha encourages users to share what they know at no cost to willing learners. However, sharers are free to charge up to a maximum of S$80 (US$59) for their session. The idea behind the price cap is to ensure that sessions always stay affordable,” says his business partner Teo.

Also Read: Knowledge sharing platform Tigerhall secures US$1.8M seed funding

A free-to-use platform, Kalpha can be used by anyone in any part of the world as learning is an evergreen industry. However, it primarily targets people in the age group of 16 to 45 years. “You can tap on the connectivity of Kalpha as a social platform to share your stories of success or woes to inspire others, while at the same time increasing her self-confidence. Sharing could also hone your ability to teach and educate others,” adds Teo.

“You could also potentially earn a stream of income by interacting with others. In addition, you can also utilise the app to understand an industry before switching jobs. There are many practical applications you can use on Kalpha,” Teo continues.

By converging social elements with learning, Kalpha aspires to become the next social media giant — a go-to platform to enable one to learn and share any skills, knowledge and experience in a personalised manner.

Rejections from everywhere

The beginning of the company was agonisingly painful for the pair. Their friends and even family members outrightly rejected their idea, made fun of them, and questioned its viability. Many even persuaded the duo to discontinue the idea.

“Our pitching sessions for funding with government agencies and private investors were the most difficult part. We were even insulted by funding agencies, when we were actively seeking funding, who said our idea would never work. However, our understanding of the market and the ability to manage risks pushed us to making Kalpha into a reality,” Soh says, narrating his bitter experience.

“But to tell you, our foundation is built on pure grit, brute toiling, indomitable spirit and endless hours of hustling. Perhaps, with massive leaps of faith as well for the founding team,” Soh says.

Other challenges

Kalpha started without a technical founder, and it was extremely challenging. “Starting Kalpha without a technical founder was an enormous hurdle to overcome. Exploring for technical expertise and talent was a tedious and excruciating process, as many joined us and left immediately. I believe incompetence and the tough nature in a startup environment are the reasons for their departure,” reveals Teo.

As for competition, home-grown Tigerhall is another app in the knowledge-sharing segment but it is slightly different from Kalpha’s business model. This app enables people to achieve their career, business and lifestyle goals by learning actionable skills from Asia’s most successful people, through original Power Reads, Podcasts and Events from experts with real-world experience.

A few days ago, the Tigerhall raised US$1.8 million in seed funding from investors like US-based strategic learning firm WDHB Inc, Singapore-based asset management firm Paladigm Capital, and a private individual.

Geographical expansion on the anvil

With a 11-member team currently, Kalpha is looking to proliferate throughout Southeast Asia by 2023 — staring with Vietnam and Myanmar during the second half of 2019.

A few days ago, Kalpha secured an undisclosed sum in investment from Nest Tech, a Vietnamese VC fund focusing on seed-stage technology startups.

How did this Nest Tech deal come about?

“Our marketing strategy to onboard users is to participate in as many events and conferences as possible. And whilst exhibiting in Marina Bay Sands, we met numerous VCs who were keen to invest in Kalpha. However, Nest Tech was one of the many VCs that we found to have better synergy with us, as their goal for us is to venture out to other bigger markets where learning is generally considered a privilege. After multiple rounds of meetings and email correspondences, we signed a deal with them in February,” says Soh.

Lessons learnt

Kalpha also taught the co-founders a few basic startup lessons. Both learnt the value of being prudent, as very often cash flow is a common issue faced by most startups. They also learnt that leadership and people management skills are essential to the success of any organisation.

“Lastly, the ability to negotiate and persuade relevant parties to collaborate and form a synergy with a young startup is the most crucial skill a founding team should embody to materialise an idea to reality,” Soh shares.

For the duo, the startup journey has been exceptionally fruitful intrinsically. Despite experiencing multiple emotional setbacks and living minimally due the lack of financial resources, the team is zealous and driven to take Kalpha to the next level.

“The biggest takeaway from our journey so far is to always stay resilient. Whatever happens, stay logical and continue to press towards your ambitions,” Soh signs off.

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Image Credit: Kalpha

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