From collaboration to immersive education, AR is set to be more integrated in our daily life

From enhancing the quality of life-saving healthcare to providing a level of inclusive entertainment that’s never been seen before, the potential for remote augmented reality is seemingly limitless.

AR’s seemingly limitless possibilities might well make it the most exciting emerging technology on the planet today. The industry surrounding augmented reality along with virtual reality is forecast to attain a value of over $25 billion by 2025.

The chances are that you’ve already encountered augmented reality while shopping online or playing gaming apps such as Pokemon Go!

Where virtual reality fully submerges users into a world that bears no resemblance to the real-life scenery surrounding them (typically via the use of headsets), AR is far more adaptable and commonly embeds a virtual layer on top of reality through the use of camera phones/tablets or eyewear.

This digital augmentation makes for an excellent visual aid, and retail outlets like IKEA have been swift in adopting the technology to enable customers to render their catalogue items and actually see what they would look like in their homes before making a purchase.

One exciting new area that enables AR to really excel is through ‘remote’ augmented reality. The beauty of manipulating your settings with other users remotely is that you can effectively offer your literal point of view to tutors, colleagues or peers and interact gain their informed insights.

To help shed some more light on the value that remote AR can bring to a host of industries, here are five game-changing developments in the technology that we can’t wait to see enter the fray.

Synergized entertainment

According toInfoholic Research, the augmented reality gaming market is set hit around $284.92 billion by 2023, and remote AR gaming will be responsible for driving profits across the industry.

One such company looking to take remote AR gaming to the next level is WATTY.

The company’s dedicated app, WATTY REMOTE, actively brings users from around the world together through embedding digital layers on real-life canvases. Users can play games via mobile devices and share their experiences and information through WATTY’s remote AR framework.

Through ‘Boo’, WATTY’s anthropomorphic racoon mascot, users can communicate with each other or even engage in battles remotely, with their digital avatars interacting with their respective real-world canvases.

Gleb Braverman, founder of WATTY highlights the potential that remote AR and its uses hold for enabling users to engage across the world:

“Imagine if you could share AR with your friend on the other side of the world with just a mobile phone. We’ll actually be able to deliver it with WATTY REMOTE. Our vision is that AR multiplayer will be as easy as online shopping.”

Effective collaboration

As traditionally office-based workforces become increasingly mobile, effective remote collaboration tools have become much sought after.

Utilising the power of remote AR, Spacial has developed a technology that’s been dubbed by Engadget as ‘the Slack of the future.”

Utilising the market’s many augmented reality headsets, Spacial operates like apparatus straight out of a science fiction film. Users can not only visualise each other but also manipulate 3D rendered objects as visual aids.

If you’re working with colleagues that need to pass judgement on structural blueprints or visualise landscapes, Spacial could be just what the doctor ordered.

Healthcare benefits

Speaking of doctors, remote AR’s influence in the healthcare industry will be felt in the coming years.

Imagine an environment where doctors can get swift second opinions before diagnosing an ailment, or where surgeons have a digital helping hand that can create visual prompts on how to approach the operation they’re undertaking.

With the use of remote AR, industry professionals from around the world can offer guidance for colleagues by sharing their viewpoint through augmented reality glasses and providing digital directions and notes that appear embedded in front of the subject’s real-life environment.

Remote AR could also improve the level of service that patients receive remotely from doctors. Patients will be capable of getting in touch with a practitioner and display their symptoms through a dedicated camera-enabled AR app before the doctor provides digital feedback within the tool.

Immersive education

Whether it’s higher education or staff training, remote AR has the ability to herald a new era of tutoring and study support – especially in practical fields.

Through educational engagement, tutors can utilise AR to actively peer in on their students’ progress during in-classroom or remote practical tasks, ensuring that nobody is experiencing difficulty or cheating in completing their work.

Likewise, when it comes to staff training throughout national and multinational organisations, staff can be appropriately tested and assessed through remote AR solutions – ensuring that all offices and warehouses are as well trained as can be.

Troubleshooting tools

The appropriately named ‘Remote AR’ app promises to be the best solution for remote business supports, and its developers have set their sights firmly on providing practical solutions to the handling of machinery.

The service is designed to provide a remote video connection between field workers and ‘remote experts’ that are capable of providing superior troubleshooting solutions that wouldn’t otherwise be possible by any other means.

The beauty of Remote AR is that it’s set to save an innumerable amount of time for workers who will be capable of providing a live visual display of the problems they are having while experts in the field can respond by utilising a digital layer of augmented reality to provide visual instructions and information.

Also Read: In Photos: Pomelo opens first international store in Singapore

The adoption of Remote AR and its ilk will not only work wonders in helping organisations hit their deadlines by seamlessly navigating around potential issues, but also improve worker safety thanks to the level of expertise than the insight that AR can provide them with.

—

Photo by David Grandmougin on Unsplash

The post How remote augmented reality is set to change our daily life appeared first on e27.

The Singapore and American startup raised the funding from Standard Chartered and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, among other strategic investors

Team collaboration platform Symphony Communication Services announced today that it has raised US$165 million in new capital from Standard Chartered and MUFG Innovation Partners Co., Ltd., along with a group of existing and other investors.

With the new funding, the Palo Alto-based company that also has its headquarter office in Singapore will bring the total capital raised to over US$460 million.

Starting off with a messaging platform, Symphony claims that it has expanded into a collaboration platform that facilitates the digital transformation of financial markets.

“We are pleased to welcome Standard Chartered and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group to our strategic investor community. Symphony’s community is coming together to build stronger connections, automation, and expanded customer reach as part of their digital transformation initiatives,” said David Gurlé, founder and CEO of Symphony.

The company was founded four and a half years ago and said that the investment is timely given that it’s been gaining momentum. A total of 430,000 users with license comes from over 60 countries.

Also Read: Vietnam payment startups Vimo and mPOS merge, rebranded as NextPay

In addition to the funding, Symphony also launches of Symphony Market Solutions. It is a new business that seeks to help customers speed up their digital transformation initiatives via workflow automation along with a suite of standardised, licensable software solutions.

Symphony will use the new capital to evolve its new Market Solutions business, to accelerate growth in both its current and new markets and further build out its feature stack to deliver new innovation to enterprises as they replace traditional collaboration tools.
–

The post Team collaboration platform Symphony secures US$165M appeared first on e27.

The two Vietnamese startups plan to raise US$30 Million and expand to Myanmar and Indonesia next year

Two payment startups based in Vietnam, Vimo and mPOS, have agreed to merge in an effort to scale. The company will rebranded as NextPay, as reported by Bloomberg.

Vimo Technology is a mobile wallet provider, while Vietnam mPOS Technology develops portable point-of-sale technology. Together the two will be combined and rebranded as NextPay Holdings.

NextPay Holdings will have Nguyen Huu Tuat, who is the CEO of mPOS, as its CEO. Nguyen Hoa Binh, who founded the two Hanoi-based startups, will be NextPay’s chairman.

In addition to the rebranding, NextPay is said to be in talks with investors to raise about US$30 million and anticipates closing the round soon. The capital will be a boost for the company as it plans an expansion into Myanmar and Indonesia in 2020.

“MPOS’s business model is quite similar to Square in the U.S., in that any merchant can accept payments easily, and Vimo is a mobile wallet similar to Alipay,’’ Tuat said as quoted by Bloomberg.

“By merging these two businesses, we provide a one-stop payment solution for merchants.’’

Also Read: Dropee partners Grab financial for SME business financing product

The combined company is going to have a presence in 11 cities across Vietnam, with more than 35,000 acceptance points that are comprised of 70 per cent tech-savvy, smartphone users population.

The post Vietnam payment startups Vimo and mPOS merge, rebranded as NextPay appeared first on e27.

Over the next three years, venture capitals like 500 Startups and Golden Gate Ventures among others have pledged to invest into Vietnamese startups

Golden Gate Ventures, Access Ventures, Burda Principal Investments, 500 Startups, Jungle Ventures, and Cyberagent Ventures, among others, have signed an agreement with Vietnamese government to commit VND10 trillion (US$425 million) investment in Vietnamese startups for the next three years, as reported by DealStreetAsia.

The agreement took place at the Vietnam Venture Summit, a collaboration initiated by Vietnam’s ministries of investment and technology and science, with Golden Gate Ventures on Monday, June 10, 2019.

Vietnam Venture Summit seeks to connect investors to work together. During the event, it’s reported that there were several other partnerships being signed off, including an MoU between the Ministry of Investment and Planning and Golden Gate Ventures to support the growth of Vietnamese startups, followed by another tie-up between the ministry and SGInnovate to develop deep tech companies in the country.

At the summit, Vina Capital also has entered into an agreement with US$1 billion-worth Mirae-Naver Asia Growth Fund, in which Mirae Asset invests an undisclosed amount in VinaCapital Ventures and Naver to provide access to its portfolio companies to facilitate their expansion plans.

The summit also witnessed a US$1.4 million investment made by South Korean venture firm DTNI into Insignia Ventures-backed real estate platform Propzy.

Also Read: Dropee partners Grab financial for SME business financing product

“Vietnam is getting more attention from international investors and we believe there will be enough opportunities for them to deploy the committed capital,” said Pham Hong Quat, director of the Ministry of Science and Technology’s market development division.

In 2012, Vietnam had about 400 startups, and last year, it’s recorded that the number had reached around 3,000 with US$890 million funding happened in 2018.

Vinnie Lauria, the founding partner of Golden Gate Ventures, highlighted that although the country still presents challenges in the investment procedures, the number of VCs willing to commit investments into the country is a testament that Vietnam has become one of the key strategic markets in the region.

–

The post Vietnam startups to receive US$425M investments from multiple VCs appeared first on e27.

Meal Temple is looking to address more than 100M people in frontier markets by the end of the year, and grow its tech to a super app model

Meal Temple Group, a Cambodia-based food delivery and logistics company with operations in Laos, has announced a strategic equity investment into Freshgora.com, an on-demand food and grocery delivery startup in Myanmar.

As per the deal, both companies will address the market in Myanmar and expand operations nationally.  In the long run, the companies will add more services and work together for an on-demand super app for frontier markets.

Meal Temple Group is looking to address more than 100 million people in frontier markets of Asia by the end of the year, and grow its technology to a super app model.

“Instead of going on our own in Myanmar, a slightly more mature market than Cambodia and Laos, and much bigger, we decided to invest for equity for an undisclosed amount (6 figures),” Meal Temple’s Founder Maxime Rosburger told e27. “We have also agreed to invest in technology, with our new version coming, as well as in operations, leveraging on our teams, knowledge and understanding on similar markets as well as with our regional network.”

Also Read: Cambodia’s Meal Temple raises 6-figure round to grow food and delivery platforms

Meal Temple’s operations in Cambodia and Laos are breakeven, he claims. The company is looking to emulate the same model in other frontier Asian markets. “We are looking to make those frontier Asian cities greener by changing fleets to electric vehicles only, and leading a trend to zero emission on-demand apps, as we are doing now in Cambodia.”

Started less than a year ago, Yangon-based Freshgora.com offers food and grocery deliveries from restaurants and local markets in less than one hour through its own fleet of drivers. It clocks more than 100 deliveries a day in the city.

With more than 55 million people, including more than 6 million in the Yangon metropolitan area, Myanmar is one of the fastest growing markets in Southeast Asia.

Daniel Htut, Founder of Freshgora, said: “We are really excited to partner with Meal Temple Group and offer our customers in Myanmar more services, support and perks, and be guided by Maxime Rosburger and his team on how to sustain our growth in the market. After only eight months, we are already tackling the largest local players, with a clean approach on technology, user experience and interface as well as customer service. We are also really inspired by Meal Temple Group’s vision on electric vehicles and social impact ambition.”

Founded in 2013, Meal Temple Group was launched in the early days of Cambodia’s tech ecosystem. Today, its delivery services collectively makes 10,000 monthly trips in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap and Sihanoukville. Last October, the company raised a six-digit sum from private investors in Australia and Europe.

In February this year, Meal Temple acquired Laos-based food delivery platform MyDelivery.

The post Cambodia’s Meal Temple Group invests in Myanmar’s food delivery startup Freshgora appeared first on e27.

A satisfied customer can come up with roses for your startup; therefore come across situations that challenge his satisfaction

“There’s only one thing that matters, customer satisfaction”

Entrepreneurs who make a debut often turn blindfold to the fact underlying this statement. They often skip attending the voice of the customers. Being left unheard, the inflicted customers often make up their mind not to return to you again.

It’s a massive loss. Your business journey may come to a bad end even before branding. Drill into your head that the first impression is the last impression. Underestimating customer satisfaction for a startup can lead you up a blind alley. So, it’s always recommended to follow the footprints of an experienced player.

So you should research the ways to determine how an outsourcing back office delivers better user experience. A satisfied customer can come up with roses for your startup. Therefore, come across situations that challenge his/her satisfaction.

Here are five scenarios that can assist you to come up trumps in the business innings:

1. When your customer is angry

Scenario: The customer is very annoyed from being delivered a wrong product. However, this situation specifically deals with a faulty delivery by an inexperienced merchant.

But there are some diverse situations, which are critical. It can be annoyance due to confusion. And there are some weird cases, wherein customers are angry simply because of having a bad day.

Customer support tips: 

• Rather than being matched the customer’s emotions, stick around ideas to calm him down.
• Follow H (Hear) E (Empathise) A (Apologise) R (Resolve) D (Diagnose) technique by Disney:

1. Patiently and uninterruptedly, hear the story of your customer,
2. By saying “I understand your frustration”, underscore that you completely understand his/her problem,
3. Genuinely apologise even if you’re not responsible for the inconvenience,
4. Resolve the grievances as soon as possible,
5. Determine the deep-rooted cause of the customer’s dissatisfaction to ensure no repetition of the same mistake.

2. When communication crisis shoots

Nothing could be scarier than that of falling from the grace. You should be aware that your client has already gambled while investing in a startup. A communication crisis can cost you losing his trust.

Scenario: The customer rings the helpdesk and he/she even attempted to shoot an email. But his/her call was left unattended, and the email showed ‘failed delivery’.

Customer support tips:

• Be ready with a ‘crisis communications plan’ — an excellent plan to respond promptly, accurately and confidently during an emergency,
• Console the customer with the magic word ‘sorry’,
• Update him/her about every step of corrections,
• Constantly shoot emails stating to what extent is the problem fixed,

Assure him that the fixing is being done.

3. When the customer presses for discount you can’t give

Rewarding a discount is a promotional technique, as Flipkart does by initiating Re 1 sale in grocery every weekend. It’s an out-of-the-box upselling trick to invite new customers. Being a startup, you cannot offer discounts.

Scenario: The prospective customers ask for discount to invest in your products/services.

Customer support tips:

• Do not straightly reject their request,
• Try to convey why offering a discount is not possible,
• Put the best features up front while reinforcing the value of your products and services,

Send an email, describing your products’/services’ value to your customers.

4. When you do not have answers to client’s request

Being a newbie, you might have limited resources. Possibly, you do not have all such features that your competitors provide with. However, they are a part of your projections to be integrated in the future. But for now, it’s not possible.

Scenario: Your prospective client is asking for an Android phone with a pop up 20 MP front camera, as one of your competitors offer. But you cannot embed that technology due to limited resources.

Customer support tips:

• Avoid saying ‘no’
• Appreciate his/her attempt to call for the support,
• Convey the prospective plan confidently,
• If there is a workaround to launch the bespoke solution, provide it. Otherwise, apologise,

If your product has some extra-ordinary features, spotlight them to convert him.

5. When you have a backlog of complaints

It’s a common situation. The communication crisis can worsen this situation. Perhaps your mailing package is full and your all emails remain unsent. The request to extend your mailing plan can be made, but only the next day. In the meantime, the customers will go impulsive. A briefing about your system error could fix the emotional oddity.

Scenario: The customer is waiting for the refund. But the support team is unable to respond due to downtime caused by server maintenance.

Customer support tips:

• Not every customer does not take your response as a solution.
• A small notice about being fixed can soothe their pain,Update shortly after the fixing of internal or system errors,
• Try to respond with 24 hours,Laser focus on responding rather than providing solutions,
• Personalise support to let them feel that you care for them.

—

Photo by: Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

The post How startups can defeat challenges in customer satisfaction appeared first on e27.

June is filled with exciting startup events covering all sort of topics –from blockchain to drones

Looking for an opportunity to network with like-minded individuals, or to sharpen your skills? Head over to the e27 Events page to discover the latest events in Asian tech community.

Here are some of the most exciting ones that we can compile for you:

Featured Event: ORIGIN by TechNode @ Malaysia Tech Week 2019

When: June 21, 2019
Where: BLACK BOX @ Publika,Jalan Dutamas 1 Kuala Lumpur, Federal Territory of Kuala Lumpur 50480 Malaysia

Held in conjunction with Malaysia Tech Week 2019, ORIGIN is a premier international content track about the latest developments in ASEAN-China’s tech and startup scene, hosted by China-based tech media TechNode. It was held under the belief that as China globalises, education about Chinese companies, their philosophies, insights and contributions should be kept up to par with the attention that China is receiving.

The event brought together international industry leaders and global tech-changers to different cities in Southeast Asia, as part of its goal to facilitate more interaction and cross-pollination between China and Southeast Asia’s sharing economy. It will uncover insights on the latest trends and developments in China’s vibrant tech scene and SEA’s rapid growth landscape.

Admission is free. For more information about the event click here.

Get your tickets here

Other events you can join this month:

FastFwd Festival: Creating a Sustainable Future
June 15, 2019
6 Raffles Boulevard, #03-308, JustCo, Marina Square, Singapore
Register Here

MyDroneX
June 17, 2019
Futurise, Cyberjaya, Malaysia
Register Here

Information & Communication Technologies Business Mission
June 18, 2019 – June 20, 2019
Level 5 Grand Ballroom, Sands Expo & Convention Centre, Singapore
Register Here

World Blockchain Forum · Singapore & World Blockchain Award · Asia
June 22, 2019 – June 23, 2019
Marina Bay Sands, Singapore
Register Here

WomenChangemakers #9
June 26, 2019
81 Des Voeux Rd Central, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
Register Here

Seamless Asia 2019
June 26, 2019 – June 27, 2019
Level 4 Suntec Convention Centre, Singapore
Register Here

—

Have an event happening soon? Get it on the e27 platform.

The post 7 startup events in June that you would hate to miss appeared first on e27.

PolicyStreet is joining the list of only 32 other Approved Financial Advisors in Malaysia

Malaysian insurtech startup PolicyStreet today announced that it has secured an approval from the country’s central bank Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) to conduct general and Islamic financial advisory (FA) business.

With the approval, the company can now source, aggregate, compare, customise and finally advise individual consumers and businesses of the best insurance products for their needs.

It is also able to work directly with all 47 life and general insurance and takaful providers in Malaysia.

In a press statement, PolicyStreet CEO Lee Yen Ming explained that the company initially wanted to apply for a sandbox programme, to trial the aggregation of insurance products. But it later discovered that it has fulfilled all the requirements for a full FA approval.

“With this approval, we are not bound by restrictions to advise customers on which insurance products to obtain based on their circumstances. We often find that insurance providers tend to have many competing products that cater to different segments of customers. For example, Insurer A might offer a life product suited for customers above 40 years old and insurer B on the other hand offers a more compelling life product for the younger customers aged below 30 years old,” Lee wrote.

Also Read: Malaysian insurtech startup PolicyStreet wins Seedstars Kuala Lumpur

“Aggregation will not enable us to advise the right products to different target customers but FA will. We want to advise customers without prejudice and we will marry technology and innovation to remove ‘fats’ in the ecosystem by driving transparency and simplicity in insurance,” the CEO stressed.

In two years of its operations, PolicyStreet said that it has underwritten over MYR400 million (US$100 million) in sum assured and sold more than 10,000 policies.

It has raised US$500,000 in seed funding from KK Fund and was a recipient of a government grant from Cradle Fund.

With this approval, the company is joining the list of only 32 other Approved Financial Advisers in Malaysia.

—

Image Credit: PolicyStreet

The post Malaysia’s PolicyStreet gets central bank approval for financial advisory appeared first on e27.

As Bangladesh’s economy opens up, the talent that has left to work overseas are returning. And they are bringing in training, education and different business models that they are exposed to

Investors looking for the next rising star in Asia can look to Bangladesh, a market that isn’t quite on the venture capital radar as of yet, often overshadowed by its more established peers such as India.

On closer inspection, Bangladesh holds great potential to become the next tech frontier, with a small but vibrant startup community working hard to make life easier for the everyday Bangladeshi.

Why Bangladesh?

Bangladesh has had incredible economic growth, with gross domestic product reaching 8 percent last year. Its wealth to-date has been built on two main industries – garment production and overseas remittance.

It is the 8th largest country in the world by population – with a total population of 170 million, living in a country which is only the size of the state of New York. It is not just one of the densest countries in the world, but Dhaka, with 20 million people, is one of the densest cities in the world.

The mobile penetration continues to rise, and mobile internet penetration with it – slating to reach 41 per cent of the population by 2025.

Urbanisation is happening rapidly, and Dhaka’s infrastructure is bursting at the seams. With traffic moving at 7 kilometres an hour and only 3,000 buses plying the roads, the city is in dire need of transportation that is efficient, safe and cheap.

While commuters in Southeast Asia are already familiar with Grab and Gojek, the concept of ride-sharing was completely foreign to Bangladeshis back in 2016.

The idea that someone will pick you up at your doorstep and drop you off at your destination was completely unheard of. The cultural issue of sitting on a stranger’s bike, in a moderate Muslim country, was also pronounced – especially for women.

2015 saw the emergence of ride-hailing solutions in Bangladesh. What this also led to was a cultural and mindset change on how people were ready to commute. It also led to more jobs and hunger to tech talent in the country. Other industries like ecommerce, food delivery, fintech were soon to follow.

Bangladesh has around 90.501 million internet users, as of August 2018. So, ecommerce has huge opportunity to grow here.

With the improvement of living standard and fast-pace of bust urban life shopping behaviour of the consumers have shifted greatly.

One of the growing opportunities is secured payment technologies. It is most crucial for creating a positive mindset amongst the people towards e-commerce.

The most popular mode of payment for customers is still cash on delivery (COD) for ecommerce transactions, as customers are usually uncomfortable completing their transactions by using Digital Payment methods.

Currently in Bangladesh, the volume of e-commerce transactions is about Taka 1700 Crore per year (US$260 million). Still, around 90 per cent of e-commerce transactions are done on COD basis. To get the most out of e-commerce, the amount of online payment needs to be increased.

The startup environment in Bangladesh is nascent but very active, with 200 startups slated to launch every year, most of which are in e-commerce and software development, in a country of 170 million people.

With government-led initiatives like Startup Bangladesh which was launched in 2018, it is encouraging to see more support for entrepreneurship as a viable career choice and in promoting Bangladesh as a global hub for tech entrepreneurship.

Also Read: Manny Pacquiao endorses celebrity-curated licensing marketplace

Bangladesh is on its journey to become a Digital Nation. The “Vision 2021” of the present government aims to develop Bangladesh into a resourceful and modern economy through efficient use of information and communication technology.

Along with rapid internet adoption, tech savvy young generation, the commitment from the leaders is the most positive sign to build up a successful startup economy.

Key opportunity areas

Some startups have already made significant strides within Bangladesh. ShopUp, for instance, assists Facebook shop owners by providing services such as deliveries, shop management and loans. It secured an additional US$1.5 million^[5] in funding this year from Sequoia.

Deligram provides ecommerce service to rural consumers have recently secured 3 million in funding.

PraavaHealth, a telemedicine startup aiming to raise healthcare standards in Bangladesh, opened its first family health centre in Dhaka in 2017.

E-commerce is another pillar that is growing steadily in Bangladesh. Players like ajkerdeal.com or deligram.com, have in their own played a key role in growing the online experience, which again was nascent in this part of the world till a few years ago.

But as a fairly new entrant in Asia’s startup scene, some challenges remain. Bangladesh is an undercapitalised market – while there is abundant funding for seed stage and early-stage startups, later stage funding is hard to come from local investors.

Like for any growing industry, talent always remains an issue. Tech professionals always prefer their stable, high-paying jobs over joining startups, so good talent is hard to come by. Convincing them to make the switch is an uphill task.

Our startups are also very new to the nature of their work, figuring things out as they go along. That said, the startup community is closely-knit and are constantly sharing ideas. There isn’t a lot of competition as each startup is solving problem sets that are not only unique but are extensive.

And as Bangladesh’s economy opens up, the talent that has left to work overseas are returning. And they are bringing in training, education and different business models that they are exposed to.

Also Read: 36 crucial lessons I learned as a first-time manager

There isn’t a formal startup body that supports local founders as yet. But Bangladesh’s startup community frequently engages the local government in conversations about funding and investing in a local ecosystem.

A few local accelerators have also sprung up training first-time founders. The government is adamant in providing an environment for startups to thrive: it has built two high-tech parks, with three more coming on by 2020.

South Asia is increasingly becoming a hotspot for high growth, with growing interest from Chinese, Hong Kong, and Southeast Asian investors like Alibaba, Tencent, Openspace Ventures and more, who have been actively looking at South Asian startups, especially Bangladesh in recent years.

It only goes to show that it is a matter of time before Bangladesh achieves the success Southeast Asia is experiencing right now.

—

The author of the above is Hussain Elius, CEO & Co-Founder, Pathao.

Photo by rabby ahmed on Unsplash

The post Why Bangladesh is the next frontier for tech investment appeared first on e27.

There was a significant drop off in visits between the first two platforms and Zalora

Three companies have consistently dominated the Philippine e-commerce market for the last two years since iPrice Group tracked e-commerce platforms’ monthly web visits and social media following in 2017: Lazada, Shopee, and Zalora.

Lazada scored a total average visit (desktop and mobile web) of 25,652,100 during the first quarter of the year, followed by Shopee with 15,373,900 and Zalora with 1,669,400. Argomall and eBay rounded up the top five list with 1,290,500 and 896,900 desktop and mobile web visits, respectively.

Lazada, Shopee and Zalora also emerged on top in a research done by iPrice Group in partnership with app analytics firm App Annie Intelligence on the most visited mobile applications in Q1 2019.

The question is why? And, perhaps, more importantly, how?

Lazada reigns supreme

While it is no surprise that Lazada’s hefty backing from giant Chinese company, Alibaba, has put it at an advantage in terms of having a solid war chest to support business strategies, the key to the company’s success lies in its ability to innovate and quickly adapt to its clients’ needs.

Lazada’s performance and its recent initiatives suggest that it understands its consumers: a fun, youthful generation adept in technology, constantly connected via social media, and always on the go.

To reach this market in the Philippines, the e-commerce company launched LazMall, in a bid to draw more attention to its mobile app with attractive shopping and entertaining content.

Launched in August 2018, we believe this additional feature played a pivotal role in helping it achieve the top spot in the country both in terms of total visits on desktop (and mobile web) and with the highest monthly active users on its app.

Harnessing the power of digital technology and pop culture appeal, Lazada created in-app games, i.e. Fruit Slash, Birthday Blast and Popping Balloons to keep users entertained for its week-long 7th birthday celebrations last March.

Winners were given redeemable vouchers as rewards. Also, the company staged a Super Party in Jakarta, Indonesia last March 27 featuring international popstar Dua Lipa and Ms. Universe 2015 Pia Wurtzbach.

It live streamed the concert to allow more customers from all over Southeast Asia, including the Philippines, to be part of the celebrations.

Lazada reported that by the time it wrapped up its week-long celebration, it had garnered over 318 million visits to its platform. The Super Party drew 12 million views both in-app and on television, while a total of 2.5 million people played the games.

Also Read: Why Bangladesh is the next frontier for tech investment

No wonder App Annie registered the highest monthly active users via mobile apps for Lazada in the Philippines in Q1 2019. Its e-commerce platform also ranked highest in terms of total average visits on desktop and mobile web during the first quarter.

Shopee catches up

Meanwhile, Shopee consistently plays second fiddle to its key competitor with roughly 15.4 million visits to its e-commerce platform in Q1 2019. App Annie also ranks it second in mobile app visits.

Despite being among the youngest platforms in the Philippines, Shopee has become one of the fastest growing e-commerce company in the country and in the Southeast Asian region.

It continues to expand its online catalogue of products from the current three million listings, according to Shopee’s regional marketing head, and does well in increasing its brand recall and maintaining its edge over other international and local players.

Shopee placed second in the most number of social media followers (14.4 million on Facebook, 294,400 on Instagram and 17,500 on Twitter) based on iPrice Group’s data.

This e-commerce player can be expected to catch up fast on innovations to increase its market share, as funder Sea is raising up to $1.5 billion to support its businesses.

Techcrunch reported last March that “Sea would use the capital for ‘business expansion and other general corporate purposes.”

Given that Sea’s main focus recently is Shopee, majority of the funds will likely be allocated to the e-commerce company.

Local faces for Zalora

Landing third place in the list is Zalora, as it tailors its marketing strategies to suit the Filipino fashion style and win more loyal followers.

More than just offering designs from global brands, it has partnered with Philippines’ fashion and social media icons Georgina Wilson-Burnand, Isabelle Daza-Semblat, Liz Uy, and Solenn Heussaff-Bolzico for an exclusive collection under the label, the__edit.

Interestingly, it grabbed second place in the most number of Twitter followers (29,000) and ranked third for Facebook (7,719,000) and Instagram (181,800).

Adopting a local face is a boost to the brand, allowing it to appeal to the novel Filipino aesthetics and fashion sense.

Popular US, Chinese apps 

Finally, securing the fourth and fifth spot as most visited mobile apps based on App Annie’s data are Amazon and AliExpress.

E-commerce empire, Amazon, has penetrated markets around the world. In the Philippines, customers turn to this company for products not available locally.

Similarly, Chinese e-commerce companies such as AliExpress are becoming prominent in the Asian region considering its proximity and its readiness to offer products not available in the Philippine market.

Its strong performance can also be attributed to the increasing popularity of Chinese sale events such as 11.11 or the Singles’ Day in November.

The Philippines has a total population of 107 million and 71% of which has access to the internet and social media based on Hootsuite and We Are Social’s 2019 digital report.

Also Read: Manny Pacquiao endorses celebrity-curated licensing marketplace

As the country further develops its technology infrastructure—increasing internet speed and connectivity—it promises exponential growth for e-commerce businesses to flourish in the coming years.

——

Please click on one of the links below to view the data in detail for each country. More findings in the overall Map of E-commerce Report for Q1 2019.  

We are always happy to share our insights with our clients, the press, academia and more. Should you decide to utilise our data or visuals, please attribute us by including this sentence “From the Map of E-commerce, iPrice Group, April 2019” with a hyperlink to one of these URLs: 

Indonesia: https://iprice.co.id/insights/mapofecommerce/en/  

Vietnam: https://iprice.vn/insights/mapofecommerce/en/ 

Thailand: https://ipricethailand.com/insights/mapofecommerce/en/ 

Philippines: https://iprice.ph/insights/mapofecommerce/en/ 

Malaysia: https://iprice.my/insights/mapofecommerce/ 

Singapore: https://iprice.sg/insights/mapofecommerce/ 

The post Lazada, Shopee and Zalora are most visited e-commerce sites in Philippines appeared first on e27.