In the fast-paced world of startups, founders are trained to think lean, move fast, and scale big. But what if we told you that embedding Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) principles early on could actually accelerate your growth rather than slow you down?

The outdated notion that ESG is only for large corporations with sprawling teams and big budgets is fading fast. Today’s startups operate in a world shaped by climate risk, social inequity, shifting investor expectations, and increasingly conscious consumers. ESG isn’t a distraction—it’s a strategic lever for relevance, resilience, and revenue.

Why ESG matters more than ever

Startups are uniquely positioned to lead on ESG. Free from legacy systems and rigid hierarchies, early-stage ventures have the agility to bake ESG into their core from day one. The benefits are tangible:

• Climate risk and reputational damage don’t discriminate by company size. Startups, like giants, face mounting scrutiny over their supply chains, data privacy practices, and carbon footprints.
• Investors are watching. Even at the seed stage, venture capitalists and angel investors are increasingly screening for ESG alignment. Funds are flowing toward businesses that build for long-term impact.
• Consumers are choosing values over price. Gen Z and millennial buyers want to support brands that reflect their ethics — from how a product is made to who’s behind it.
• Efficiency is ESG’s best-kept secret. Strong ESG practices often lead to leaner operations, smarter resource use, and better risk management.

Put simply, ESG isn’t a cost centre — it’s a foundation for sustainable growth.

ESG governance: Building stronger companies from the inside out

Done right, ESG governance doesn’t just protect your business — it strengthens it from within. It prompts leadership to take the long view: to weigh impact and accountability alongside profitability.

Startups that embed ESG principles early find it easier to attract capital. Many VCs now include ESG criteria in their due diligence processes. Institutional investors are already demanding ESG metrics and so are limited partners funding those VCs.

Internally, ESG fosters culture. Younger talent wants to work at companies that walk the talk. By integrating ESG into your hiring, operations, and leadership development, you build a workplace that attracts and retains top talent.

Also Read: Are Southeast Asia’s emerging economies resilient enough to resist trade uncertainty?

And ESG inspires innovation. Some of today’s most promising startups are designing new business models altogether — from circular platforms to carbon-tracking technologies and ethical AI systems.

Research backs this up. According to the World Economic Forum, companies that prioritise ESG can increase brand value by up to 30 per cent and grow revenues by up to 20 per cent. In short: ESG is a growth strategy, not a side quest.

Materiality: Focus where it matters most

One of the biggest misconceptions about ESG is that you have to tackle everything at once. The smarter move? Focus on materiality — what’s most relevant to your business model, your stakeholders, and your long-term viability.

Materiality assessments help you zoom in on the environmental and social issues that truly matter to your context. For a fintech startup, that might mean data privacy and financial inclusion. For a food delivery app, it could be emissions, food waste, or rider well-being.

Think about your stakeholders — team, customers, investors, suppliers — and how your operations affect them. What risks might arise from ignoring environmental, social, or ethical concerns? And what opportunities exist if you lean into them?

Materiality is not a one-time exercise — it’s a strategic lens. The insights you gather should shape real decisions, from product design to supply chain partnerships and branding. A focused ESG strategy is a powerful competitive advantage.

Making ESG practical for startups

Yes, you can start ESG with limited resources — and no, it doesn’t need to be complicated.

The key is to act with intention and scale your ESG practices alongside your business. Begin with a simplified framework. Resources like the Simplified ESG Disclosure Guide for SMEs (Capital Markets Malaysia) offer step-by-step pathways for early-stage companies.

Set a few measurable goals. These could include reducing packaging waste, adopting inclusive hiring practices, or introducing a supplier code of conduct. Don’t chase perfection—aim for progress.

Use simple tracking tools. A quarterly ESG dashboard can help align your team and signal to investors that you’re taking sustainability seriously. You don’t need a full-time ESG officer — just clear ownership, consistent updates, and accountability.

Build ESG into your culture. This means embedding values like equity, transparency, and impact into everything from onboarding to marketing. When everyone in your team understands the “why” behind ESG, it becomes a shared responsibility — not a siloed function.

Also Read: Cultivating an honest culture: Why leaders should be transparent

Incentivise alignment. Consider tying ESG milestones to employee rewards or OKRs. This reinforces the idea that sustainability is how you do business, not just what you say you believe in.

Technology can amplify your ESG performance. AI can optimise logistics for emissions reductions. Blockchain can ensure traceability in supply chains. Climate data APIs and energy-monitoring tools are now accessible to even micro-startups.

The role of innovation ecosystems

Startups don’t operate in a vacuum. Accelerators, incubators, VC firms, and innovation hubs play a critical role in ESG readiness. These ecosystem actors have a unique opportunity to make sustainability mainstream.

They can integrate ESG into training, mentorship, and funding criteria. They can provide founders with access to ESG experts, reporting templates, and peer learning opportunities. And they can guide startups toward purpose-aligned capital.

Globally, networks like the UN Global Compact are offering platforms where early-stage founders can build capabilities, gain visibility, and share lessons. Being part of these communities helps demystify ESG and turn it into an asset, not an obstacle.

Overcoming common challenges

Yes, startups face constraints. Budget, bandwidth, and burn rate are constant concerns. But ESG isn’t about doing everything — it’s about doing the right things, consistently.

Pick 2–3 priorities that fit your sector, market, and maturity stage. Build ESG into your growth roadmap the same way you’d build in product iteration or customer acquisition. Make use of partnerships — with universities, NGOs, accelerators, or ESG consultants — to fill expertise gaps.

And perhaps most importantly: start now. ESG maturity is a journey. The earlier you begin, the easier it becomes to scale impact alongside profit.

Also Read: ESG empowerment: Fueling Malaysia’s SMEs for a sustainable future

ESG as a launchpad for innovation

Sustainability doesn’t limit creativity — it fuels it. ESG forces entrepreneurs to ask better questions: What if our product was zero waste? What if our platform helped underserved communities? What if we could scale impact without scaling harm?

Across industries, we’re seeing startups disrupt markets through ESG-driven models. Think plant-based alternatives in food tech, clean energy in logistics, or decentralised finance for inclusion. ESG is where global problems meet entrepreneurial imagination.

Investors are paying attention. Consumers are voting with their wallets. And the next wave of unicorns will be those that solve not only for demand, but for dignity, equity, and regeneration.

Conclusion: ESG is not a sideshow, it’s the strategy

For today’s startups, ESG isn’t a marketing gimmick or a compliance burden. It’s a mindset and model for building companies that last.

The businesses that will thrive tomorrow are those that align purpose with performance, embed responsibility into their growth DNA, and lead with values that match the world’s urgent needs.

You don’t need to have it all figured out. But you do need to start — early, intentionally, and strategically.

Because in the startup world, ESG isn’t a luxury — it’s your edge.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

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Last week’s Science editorial warned that “>80 per cent of voluntary carbon credits may be junk” — a claim that instantly reignited calls for tougher third-party audits.

Pinning the offset-integrity crisis on conflicted auditors, however, risks repeating an old mistake. The deeper problem is a maze of sprawling methodologies that even the sharpest audit cannot untangle—tightening the screws could simply price developing-country projects out of the market while leaving root-cause “baseline bloat” intact.

2008 déjà vu: When “clean” audits masked a crisis

Even the most reputable audit firms can miss systemic red flags. By April 2010, 73 per cent of the mortgage-backed securities Moody’s had stamped triple-A in 2006 had been downgraded to junk.

Lehman Brothers is the cautionary emblem. Ernst & Young issued an unqualified opinion on Lehman’s 2007 accounts, yet a court-appointed examiner later showed the bank used “Repo 105” manoeuvres to park roughly US$50 billion off its balance-sheet.

Polished audit reports can therefore coexist with colossal mis-measurement. Doubling down on checklist-heavy carbon audits—without fixing the rules that invite gamesmanship—risks replaying that movie in the climate market.

Also Read: How to scale voluntary carbon markets with DeFi and Web3

Methodology bloat: Too many rulebooks, too much wiggle room

Carbon markets don’t suffer from a shortage of auditors; they suffer from a proliferation of rulebooks.

• The Integrity Council has grouped 100 + methodologies into 29 categories for assessment under its Core Carbon Principles.
• Independent rater BeZero says its analysts have reviewed 70 + different methodologies across 300 projects.
• Verra’s digital-transition push added two more digitalised methodologies in June 2025, bringing the total to 20.

This sprawl invites baseline-shopping. A 2024 Nature Communications study found that uncertainty in common deforestation baselines routinely exceeds the 15 per cent margin allowed by registries, letting developers cherry-pick scenarios that maximise credits.

When every cook-stove or forestry project comes with its own bespoke spreadsheet, even an honest auditor can mis-size the carbon pie. The cure is not an army of pricier verifiers—it’s a lean, satellite-anchored set of baselines that leaves less room for creative accounting.

Tolerance bands and developing-country access

High integrity now carries a steep entry fee. Tier-1 credits sold at a 65 per cent premium to Tier-3 units in H1 2025.

Verra’s revised schedule front-loads US$5 000 in verification-review fees (US$2 500 non-refundable) and levies US$0.23 per credit on issuance, plus US$0.02 on every transfer.

Those costs bite hardest in developing countries, like Kenya’s cook-stove roll-outs, REDD+ corridors in Brazil, and peatland projects in Indonesia. An LSE Grantham report shows MRV alone can swallow 50–73 per cent of total project costs for some carbon-removal methods. Abatable’s latest field analysis finds high-quality cook-stove offsets need US$15–39 / tCO₂e just to break even—well above many spot bids for avoidance credits.

Insisting every issuer clear a “Tier-1-or-bust” bar could drain the pipeline that channels climate finance into rural cook-stoves, agro-forestry, and peatland restoration across the developing world. A calibrated tolerance band—allowing transparently disclosed, lower-rated credits within clear limits—keeps liquidity alive while the rulebook is slimmed.

Also Read: How a data-driven approach can optimise decarbonisation in the built environment

Re-Engineering oversight: Lean rules, tech MRV, smarter audits

• Slim the rulebook: When financial disclosure got unwieldy, the IASB issued IFRS 19 Subsidiaries without Public Accountability: Disclosures to cut the clutter. Carbon registries should likewise merge today’s 100-plus methodologies into a handful of satellite-anchored baselines.
• Swap clipboards for constellations: Norway’s NICFI programme now provides free 4-m monthly imagery of the entire tropical belt, making tamper-proof baselines possible at zero licensing cost. In Vietnam, an IRRI-led low-emission rice pilot couples that imagery with drone sampling to cut methane-MRV costs by roughly twenty-fold versus field surveys.
• Break the pay-to-play audit model: EU rules already force audit-firm rotation for public-interest entities after ten years. A registry-run, lottery-assigned auditor pool funded by a <1 per cent levy on issuances would sever fee ties even in the voluntary market—an approach inspired by a randomised audit experiment in India that cut mis-reporting by up to 80 per cent.

Conclusion

Carbon finance doesn’t need more paperwork; it needs simpler rules, cheaper truth-telling, and incentives that travel. The IASB’s IFRS 19 shows how lean disclosure can still satisfy investors; satellite MRV and open imagery have already slashed monitoring costs; and a lottery-funded auditor pool can end pay-to-play conflicts without waiting for a UN treaty.

What buyers and registries can do next:

• Demand lean baselines. Make satellite-anchored defaults the norm and retire duplicative methodologies. This might not work for every project, but should be used as a standard.
• Fund the auditor pool. Earmark ≤ 1 per cent of every issuance to pay independent, randomly assigned auditors.
• Keep a tolerance band. Cap mid-grade credits of any portfolio to keep liquidity flowing to developing-country projects while rules are streamlined.
• Publish open MRV data. Require registries to release geospatial layers and audit outcomes for crowd-sourced oversight.

Do this, and hopefully the voluntary carbon market can deliver both integrity and inclusion—funding cook-stoves in Kenya, peatlands in Indonesia, and mangroves in Brazil—without repeating the blind-spot audit culture that helped sink Wall Street in 2008.

You can also find me on my podcast and newsletter, where I share regular insights on geopolitics and leadership.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

Join us on Instagram, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and our WA community to stay connected.

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During a recent visit to Singapore from February 2-4, Endeavour CEO and Co-Founder Linda Rottenberg engaged with local entrepreneurs and leaders at a pivotal moment for the organisation. Her trip coincided with Endeavor’s first International Selection Panel (ISP) of the year, gathering founders from across Asia and beyond for the final stage of Endeavor’s global selection process.

This visit also marked the soft launch of Endeavor’s global hub in Singapore, ahead of an official launch later this year.

In an email interview with e27, Rottenberg shared her insights on the evolving landscape of entrepreneurship in the region.

“Being back in Singapore for our first ISP of the year feels like a shot of adrenaline,” she remarked. “The shift in founder mindset across Asia is unmistakable and a lot more optimistic than when I was here last year.”

She highlighted Singapore’s emergence as a global hub, attracting businesses such as GoTyme Bank and fostering a new generation of founders eager to scale their ventures internationally. According to Rottenberg, Southeast Asian (SEA) entrepreneurs have developed a remarkable discipline, thriving in challenging capital environments and honing their focus on unit economics and operational resilience.

Also Read: Echelon Philippines 2025 – Zero to 1M users and a bank in 18 months

The following is an edited excerpt of our conversation with her.

After nearly three decades of building Endeavor, you have seen multiple waves of entrepreneurship worldwide. In your view, what distinguishes the small percentage of founders who go on to achieve the true 10x scale?

After almost thirty years of working with founders, one thing still holds true: “Crazy is a compliment.” The ones who scale 10x are willing to dream big and be misunderstood.

But dreaming big is not enough: It is also critical to build operating systems early, focusing on governance, culture, and a repeatable go-to-market strategy. While startup founders are understandably focused on product-market fit and unit economics, we have seen that the softer skills, such as culture and team building, are often what trip people up at scale. You cannot grow your company by 10x if you haven’t tackled these people-and-culture issues early on. The entrepreneurs who succeed also treat constraints as advantages and combine humility with the ability to attract top talent and capital.

Endeavor’s Global VC Trends for 2026 highlights shifting investor priorities globally. What signals are you seeing in Asia’s venture landscape right now that founders should be paying closest attention to?

We are entering what I would call a “Funding Spring”, but it is a cooler, more disciplined one. Seed deals are down sharply, while late-stage rounds are getting bigger. Capital is concentrating behind proven, resilient winners.

The biggest shift is what we call the profitability reset. Investors are no longer impressed by topline growth alone. They want to see EBITDA, strong margins, and defensible technology, especially in AI. In sectors such as fintech, consolidation is accelerating. A handful of deals now account for the majority of funding.

The message is clear: be the consolidator, or get consolidated.

In terms of AI, nearly all conversations in 2025 focused on foundational models, which are being built in Silicon Valley and China. The next wave of AI value creation, Endeavor believes, will be built in the application layer. Much of that innovation will come from elsewhere, including Asia.

Also Read: Why most tokenised real estate startups in SEA fail

In relation to the previous question, Endeavor Catalyst has become a key part of your model for backing high-growth entrepreneurs. How has the role of long-term, founder-first capital evolved as markets become more selective?

In an environment where trust is scarce, founder-first capital matters more than ever. Endeavor Catalyst’s high-conviction, high-trust model backs founders as a co-investor, seeking to “crowd in” smart, connected capital. Our role is to look past the cycle’s noise and back the founder’s long-term vision.

We show up at pivotal moments, whether that means facilitating introductions, offering a sounding board for ideas, or helping provide “reverse due diligence” to help founders really get to know their potential investors. We aim to always do the right thing for the long-term interests of the founders and the company, even if that means pricing a new round of capital as a flat or down-round. There is too much “short-term thinking” in venture today; we aim to play for the very long-term.

In 2025 alone, we made over 320 investor introductions and invested in companies such as Astro and Staffinc in Indonesia. We remain focused on long-term outcomes, not market cycles.

Endeavor’s mission has always been about building multiplier effects—founders helping founders. How do you foster that kind of pay-it-forward ecosystem across very different markets in Asia?

At Endeavor, success is not just measured by valuation. It is measured by what we call the Multiplier Effect: how many others you lift as you rise.

We curate trust-based communities of the top one per cent of entrepreneurs and intentionally break down hierarchy. It is founder-to-founder mentorship, not top-down advice. From day one, there is an expectation to give back.

What is so meaningful is how it compounds. Role models such as Carro, GoTyme Bank, and Thunes do not just scale their own companies; they mentor, invest in, and inspire the next generation.

Also Read: Everyone wants AI agents, but few have the plumbing

When liquidity happens, that capital, experience, and confidence stay local.

Looking ahead, Endeavor is clearly doubling down on Asia at a pivotal time. What is your long-term vision for the region’s role in the global entrepreneurship movement over the next decade?

Asia is at a true inflexion point. We see Singapore serving as the regional nerve centre for capital, talent, and diaspora founders. With upcoming exits, secondaries, and IPOs, we anticipate liquidity that will fuel more multipliers.

But what excites me most is the shift beyond commerce and manufacturing. Deep tech is emerging at scale – robotics and physical AI in Japan, hardware innovation in Vietnam, superapps and integrated platforms serving hundreds of millions, and financial infrastructure that is being exported globally. We are watching R&D leave the lab and turn into real businesses.

Last year alone, we selected new Endeavor companies from Japan, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. Founders such as Yoshi Yokokawa of Alpaca represent this next generation: global from day one, technically ambitious, and committed to paying their success forward.

Ultimately, Asia is emerging as the global home of platform-scale companies, and Endeavor’s role is to convert today’s “Funding Spring” into a decade of durable growth.

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Image Credit: Endeavor

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In a compelling fireside chat at Echelon Philippines 2025, Raffy Montemayor, Co-Founder of Salmon, shared insights into the startup’s remarkable journey from zero to one million users and the launch of a bank within just 18 months.

Moderated by Thaddeus Koh, Co-Founder and Programs Director of e27, the discussion highlighted Salmon’s ambition to become the leading credit-led modern bank in Southeast Asia, starting in the Philippines.

Montemayor emphasised the importance of a strong founding team, stating that they offer the most attractive Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) in the region. He noted that the decision to establish a bank stemmed from a need to provide comprehensive financial services to underserved populations. “I can now understand why some companies have co-CEOs because it is not something that I want to do on our own,” he remarked, illustrating the collaborative spirit that drives Salmon’s growth in the local startup ecosystem.

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Does your team use GenAI tools to review contracts or other sensitive documents?

If you answered yes, you’re not the minority. It seems harmless enough — you paste company text into ChatGPT, type “Help me review this,” and within seconds, you have an analysis of a confidential document.

It feels fast, easy, and harmless. Yet, many do not realise that they have just uploaded confidential corporate data into a public AI model, now beyond your organisation’s control.

This scenario is anything but theoretical. A 2025  report notes that nearly 1 in 20 enterprise users regularly use GenAI tools, and internal data sent to these platforms has surged 30 times year‑on‑year. The same report found that 72 per cent of this shadow AI use, or employee use on personal accounts, occurs outside IT’s purview.

Crucially, this isn’t about bad actors; it’s about convenience. Employees are simply trying to work smarter. But in the process, they’re unwittingly pivoting into insider threats, leaking data outside detection, under the watch of traditional security systems.

The GenAI-driven insider threat landscape

GenAI tools introduce new risks beyond data copy-paste. Prompt injection attacks, where hidden commands are embedded in documents or queries, can co-opt these systems into revealing confidential info or ignoring security protocols. There are real-world exploits like University of California, San Diego’s (UCSD) Imprompter, which had nearly an 80 per cent success rate in extracting personal data via obfuscated prompts.

The risks are compounded when employees unknowingly expose sensitive information like API keys, login credentials, or confidential files in GenAI platforms. Once that data is retained or intercepted, attackers can exploit it to impersonate trusted users and access corporate systems undetected. In such cases, traditional security tools often fail to flag the activity because the access appears legitimate and the data flows may traverse encrypted channels.

Also Read: Bridging the gender gap in GenAI learning: Strategies to get more women involved

Why traditional security alone isn’t enough

Network-level defences like Data Loss Prevention (DLP) and behavioural analytics (such as User and Entity Behaviour Analytics, or UEBA) are vital parts of a layered security strategy. These software tools monitor activity across the network and applications, scanning for risky behaviour like large data exports or unusual file access patterns. They can flag when an employee uploads sensitive files to unsanctioned cloud platforms or external GenAI tools.

But there are limitations. Many rely on visibility into network traffic or sanctioned applications. But when employees upload sensitive documents into public GenAI platforms, these actions can easily bypass logging and monitoring — especially if traffic is encrypted or routed through personal accounts. And in cases where credentials are compromised, attackers can operate from within, circumventing network protections entirely.

A critical missing puzzle piece lies with elevated security, where data lives in the memory of the endpoint.

Layering hardware-based zero trust into GenAI risk management

This is where hardware-level zero-trust comes in, and I’m not talking about passive security like encryption or key management. Encryption is essential for protecting data at rest, and effective key management ensures only authorised parties can decrypt that data. But neither prevents a legitimate user or a GenAI tool with granted access from reading and exfiltrating sensitive information.

Dynamic hardware-level zero trust moves beyond passive safeguards, enabling organisations with:

• Continuous validation of access attempts at the chipset or SSD level
• Anomaly detection for abnormal data reads/writes, including large transfers or mass deletions
• Autonomous lockdowns that block suspicious activity before data leaves the device

Imagine an employee, unaware of the risks, pastes sensitive login credentials or confidential documents into a public GenAI platform to “streamline” a task. Those details are now retained in the AI model or intercepted by threat actors exploiting vulnerabilities in the platform. Later, hackers use the leaked credentials to access corporate systems and attempt to siphon large volumes of sensitive data.

Also Read: GenAI in lending: Faster approvals, smarter risks, and personalised credit

Traditional security tools might miss this, especially if the attackers use the compromised credentials to operate under the guise of a trusted insider. Network monitoring could also be bypassed if the data exfiltration happens over encrypted channels or through sanctioned apps.

Dynamic hardware-level security, however, can detect unusual access patterns — like mass file transfers or abnormal read/write activity– at the physical layer. It does not rely on user credentials or network visibility. Instead, it autonomously blocks the suspicious transfer before any data leaves the device, effectively neutralising the threat even after the breach of access credentials.

Building a GenAI-aware insider threat strategy

To circumvent this threat, a multilayered strategy beyond traditional network security is critical:

• Governance and AI-ready policy: Define which AI tools are approved, specify allowed data types, and require employee attestation.
• Education and culture: Many employees may not be aware of the dangers associated with feeding GenAI tools sensitive data. It’s important to empower them with the right literacy and clear guidelines so AI can be an ally, not an adversary.
• Hardware-level endpoint security: Equipping drives with embedded zero-trust capabilities provides the final defence, autonomously detecting and preventing unauthorised data movement at the most fundamental layer.

Fix the problem, don’t ban the tool

The goal is not to choke out innovation by banning GenAI; it is to make it as safe as possible. A sample playbook could look like:

• Approve a selected set of GenAI services
• Configure DLP and behavioural tools to watch for large data exports
• Enforce intelligent hardware-secured storage on all endpoints
• Train staff on what data should not be shared and why

In the GenAI era, employees are usually well-intentioned, not malicious. Yet, without proper safeguards, they can unintentionally act as insider threats. Bridging governance, training, network monitoring, and hardware-based zero-trust turns GenAI into a secure asset rather than a hidden vulnerability.

Security needs to follow the data to the drive, because that’s where the invisible line between productivity and exposure is drawn.

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Most startup and growth-company boards talk about “good governance.”

Very few talk honestly about power.

In Venture Capital and Private Equity backed companies, boards are often presented as a collection of equals: executives, nominee directors, and independent directors all sitting around the same table, bound by the same fiduciary duties.

That’s the theory. The reality is far more asymmetric.

The most important difference between nominee directors and independent directors isn’t experience, intelligence, or intent. It’s who they represent and what incentives they carry into the room.

Nominee directors: Speed, capital, and outcomes

VC and PE nominee directors are appointed for a reason: They represent capital with expectations.

They often bring:

• Pattern recognition from dozens of portfolio companies
• Access to funding, talent, and acquirers
• A bias for speed, decisiveness, and accountability

They ask hard questions early:

• Are we growing fast enough?
• Is the CEO still the right person?
• What’s the path to liquidity?

And in many cases, they create enormous value, especially in early and scaling stages where momentum matters more than elegance.

But nominee directors don’t operate in a vacuum.

Their incentives are shaped by:

• Fund return targets
• Exit timelines
• Portfolio-level risk management

This doesn’t make them “bad governors.” It makes them focused owners.

The problem arises when boards pretend those incentives don’t exist.

Independent directors: Stewardship without a sponsor

Independent directors are meant to represent something very different: The institutional integrity of the company itself.

At their best, they:

• Pause board momentum when risk exposure is uneven
• Protect minority shareholders and management credibility
• Ask uncomfortable second-order questions
• Focus on sustainability, culture, and leadership depth

They are often the only people in the room without a liquidity clock ticking.

But independence alone doesn’t create impact.

Many independent directors are:

• Appointed too late
• Poorly briefed on power dynamics
• Treated as ceremonial rather than influential
• Outnumbered in moments that matter most

When that happens, independence becomes ornamental, not functional.

Also Read: Cybersecurity and data governance in the boardroom: A strategic imperative for Asian boards

The real tension isn’t strategy — it’s incentives

Most board conflicts aren’t about market opportunity or product vision.

They’re about:

• Exit timing vs enterprise readiness
• Speed vs resilience
• Control vs stewardship
• Replacement vs development of leadership

Nominee directors tend to optimise for velocity and outcomes. Independent directors tend to optimise for coherence and longevity.

Neither is wrong.

But pretending they are the same role is how boards drift into dysfunction.

Where each role creates the most value

Early and Growth Stages

Nominee directors often create disproportionate value:

• Faster decisions
• Clear accountability
• Capital discipline

Independent directors can struggle to gain traction if the company isn’t ready to listen.

Scaling, pre-IPO, and complexity

Independent directors become essential:

• Risk management
• Governance maturity
• CEO succession
• Reputation and regulatory readiness

This is often where tensions with nominee directors intensify, especially when fund timelines and company readiness diverge.

Also Read: From labs to boardrooms: QAI Ventures bets on Singapore’s quantum future

What great boards do differently

High-performing boards don’t choose between nominee and independent directors. They design the balance deliberately.

They:

• Acknowledge incentives openly
• Empower independent directors early, not late
• Ensure committees aren’t dominated by a single shareholder voice
• Expect nominee directors to govern, not just push outcomes
• Expect independent directors to challenge, not just observe

The most effective boards understand one thing: Speed without guardrails is reckless. Guardrails without speed are irrelevant.

A final provocation

If your board discussions feel “civil” but unresolved, ask yourself:

• Are independents truly independent, or just polite?
• Are nominee directors acting as stewards, or as enforcers?
• And when incentives diverge, who actually decides?

Because governance isn’t about how many seats are independent. It’s about whether power, incentives, and accountability are aligned, especially when it’s uncomfortable.

That’s where real boards earn their keep.

This article was first published on The Boardroom Edge.

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A global wave of AI-driven layoffs is reshaping the tech industry in 2026, with companies citing efficiency gains from artificial intelligence as they trim headcounts amid macroeconomic pressures and massive investments in AI infrastructure. Over 245,000 tech jobs were cut globally in 2025 alone, and early 2026 data shows continued momentum, including significant reductions at major players like Amazon, Meta, and others redirecting resources toward AI. AI luminaries like Geoffrey Hinton have warned that 2026 could mark the onset of more permanent job displacements as the technology gains capabilities to replace roles across sectors.

In this environment, Singapore and broader Asian tech workers are feeling the chill, with social media amplifying stories of restructuring, senior engineers losing positions, and debates over mid-career crises. Two compelling cases highlight a common vulnerability: over-reliance on legacy Windows Server ecosystems in an era dominated by Linux-optimized AI workflows.

Consider Tommy, a veteran Taiwan-based IT leader with over 25 years mastering Windows environments from Active Directory to Azure migrations. Despite strong credentials and high past earnings, he struggled in 2025 interviews at AI-forward companies. Feedback was consistent: solid Windows experience, but a pressing need for Linux talent to handle modern AI deployments.

Similarly, Joycelyn, a Gen X IT manager in London, built her career on Windows Server dependencies, outsourcing complex tasks and advancing through vendor relationships and presentations. When her firm underwent private equity acquisition, scrutiny exposed gaps—she couldn’t manage basic Linux commands or deploy local AI models with tools like Ollama. Insisting on Windows Server in a critical bid backfired when younger engineers flagged it as costly and regressive, leading to lost contracts and her eventual exit.

Also read: Costing comparison of top 7 popular ERP software for food manufacturing in Singapore

These stories share stark parallels in the AI era:

• Windows as a liability: AI frameworks like PyTorch, TensorFlow, and LLM fine-tuning tools are optimized for Linux, where GPU management, multi-card parallelism, and CUDA perform efficiently. Windows’ complex drivers and opaque kernel create bottlenecks for AI workloads.
• Cost scrutiny rules: Enterprises apply rigorous FinOps in 2026, viewing Windows Server licensing and maintenance as expensive compared to Linux plus Kubernetes, which slashes costs and integrates seamlessly with AI pipelines.
• Depth over delegation: Outsourcing core technical work leaves professionals vulnerable. Basic AI tools now enable even novices to run local models on Linux, while managers unfamiliar with command lines risk obsolescence. Companies seek leaders who build and optimize AI systems hands-on.
• Generational shifts: Gen Z engineers prioritize technical integrity and efficiency over traditional hierarchies, viewing legacy commitments as debt. Senior roles once protected by tenure now appear burdensome in agile, AI-centric firms.

The result? Comfort zones become layoff traps amid open-source AI explosions, talent influx, and economic tightening. For Singapore IT workers—operating in a competitive hub with heavy finance-tech overlap and rapid AI adoption—these dynamics hit close to home. Local firms mirror global trends, prioritizing cost control and agility as they integrate AI agents and cloud-native setups.

To avoid becoming the next casualty, Singapore-based IT professionals, especially managers, must act decisively in 2026:

• Prioritize Linux and open-source AI mastery: Treat Linux (Ubuntu, CentOS) as core, not secondary. Daily practice with commands, Docker/Kubernetes deployments, CUDA setups, and tools like Ollama or Hugging Face enables hands-on pilot projects. Singapore enterprises increasingly demand cloud cost efficiency and AI speed—Linux is now mandatory.
• Reclaim technical ownership: End over-reliance on vendors. Lead teams in dissecting systems, enhancing AI workflows, and applying FinOps to compare Windows vs. Linux TCO. Managers who personally construct AI agents demonstrate irreplaceable value.
• Adopt Gen Z perspectives and lead with AI: Embrace technical honesty and efficiency. Shift from being replaced by AI to commanding it—master prompting, agentic workflows, and internal pilots to position yourself as an accelerator, not a bottleneck. Monitor mental health amid widespread upskilling anxiety.

Also read: AI agents and ERP: Why Singapore businesses must act now

AI isn’t the enemy—it’s a transformative tool. Staying entrenched in Windows-centric comfort zones risks mirroring Tommy and Joycelyn’s fates. For Singapore IT workers, survival boils down to outpacing machines and outrunning the layoff wave: upskill faster, transform sooner.

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At the recent Echelon Philippines 2025, we got to witness this keynote speech by Franco Varona of Foxmont Capital Partners on why foreign startup stakeholders are finally all in on the Philippines. The speech was meant to uncover the dynamic forces behind this major shift.

It revealed how starting in 2024, investments into the startup ecosystem in the Philippines rose with climate tech and logistics leading the charge.

At the end of his speech, Varona stressed on the importance for local ecosystem players to keep on believing despite challenges and naysayers.

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Eezee has secured US$5 million in an oversubscribed pre-Series B round, as the Southeast Asia (SEA)-based procurement platform accelerates regional expansion and deepens investment in AI-driven software.

The funding round was led by Korea Investment Partners Southeast Asia, with existing backers including Kickstart Ventures and Wavemaker Ventures doubling down on their support.

Several strategic investors also participated. The fresh capital will enable Eezee to strengthen its presence across the region and further develop its AI-powered procurement tools, RFQBot and ProcureFlow.

Founded to address inefficiencies in enterprise tail-end spend, Eezee focuses on digitising and automating long-tail, low-value purchases that are often handled manually and remain highly fragmented. The company said its platform reduces procurement cycles from days to minutes, helping customers achieve cost savings of 20 per cent or more.

As part of its growth strategy, Eezee has officially launched operations in Thailand, adding to its footprint in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. The regional push comes amid a more cautious funding climate for SEA’s startups, marked by declining investment volumes and heightened scrutiny around governance and fraud. Against this backdrop, Eezee said the round was oversubscribed, reflecting sustained investor confidence.

Also Read: Why Bitcoin dropped to US$64,100: Trump tariffs, US$2.6B ETF outflows, and extreme fear grip crypto

Since the first quarter of 2025, Eezee said its growth has accelerated quarter by quarter. Its operations in Indonesia and Malaysia have reached operational profitability, while RFQBot and ProcureFlow AI are undergoing a multi-market rollout in the first half of 2026.

Logan Tan, CEO and co-founder of Eezee, said procurement and supply chain workflows have changed little over the past four decades. “Recent advances in AI now make it possible to reimagine both the software layer and the physical movement of goods, combining automation with supply chain optimisation to drive meaningful efficiency and cost outcomes,” he said.

Tan added that the company is seeing a more mature market, increased inbound demand, and a reduced need to educate customers about Eezee’s offering. He described the backing from Korea Investment Partners and returning shareholders as a strong vote of confidence as Eezee works to transform procurement in what he called a pivotal AI era.

With the new funding, Eezee expects to achieve group-level profitability in the second half of the year. The company plans to continue scaling across SEA while expanding its suite of AI-driven procurement tools.

By combining technology with supply chain capabilities, Eezee aims to modernise one of the least transformed enterprise functions, positioning itself as a key player in the region’s evolving digital economy.

Also Read: Singapore’s Diaflow raises seed funding to challenge legacy workflow tools

“Procurement remains one of the largest yet least optimised enterprise functions globally,” said Shane Ang, vice president at Korea Investment Partners Southeast Asia. He added that Eezee has demonstrated strong execution and disciplined growth in a fragmented region, positioning the company to redefine how enterprises manage tail-end spend across SEA.

Established in 1986, Korea Investment Partners is South Korea’s largest venture capital firm by assets under management. Through offices in Seoul, Singapore, Silicon Valley, Beijing and Shanghai, the firm has backed companies including Kakao, YG Entertainment, ABL Bio and Moloco.

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Image Credit: Eezee

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DBS is moving decisively deeper into private markets — and this time, it’s not going alone. It’s bringing its wealth clients with it.

The bank’s three-year partnership with Granite Asia, launched with a US$110 million AI-focused IPO fund, is more than a product rollout. It’s a structural play. DBS is using its private banking distribution to channel capital into a curated slice of Asia’s AI pipeline — companies mature enough to contemplate public listings, yet still navigating the final stretch of growth.

AI is the hook. The ambition is larger.

With over 13,000 AI startups founded in Asia since 2015, the funnel is crowded. Few will reach IPO stage. Fewer still will do so smoothly. That’s where this partnership positions itself: combining Granite Asia’s sourcing and IPO track record with DBS’s financing, advisory, and capital markets muscle.

For founders, this could mean alternatives to dilutive equity rounds, access to structured financing, and IPO preparation support. For wealth clients, it’s institutional-style access packaged within a private banking channel.

The signal is clear. As venture funding tightens and listings cautiously reopen, DBS isn’t waiting for the cycle to turn generous again. It’s building a repeatable bridge between private wealth, growth capital, and Asia’s next wave of tech companies — starting with AI.

REGIONAL

DBS doubles down on private markets with US$110M AI IPO fund: DBS has partnered Granite Asia to channel wealth capital into AI-focused IPO funds and private financing, linking private banking clients with high-growth Asian companies seeking scale, liquidity, and market access.

US$11.5M at stake: Society Pass and ex-CMO clash ends in mixed court ruling: Nasdaq-listed Society Pass and former CMO Thomas O’Connor received a split New York verdict preserving pre-2019 warrant equity, voiding CVO contracts, forfeiting later pay, and leaving SPI facing multimillion-dollar liabilities.

SG procurement firm Eezee raises US$5M pre-Series B: Investors include Korea Investment Partners, Kickstart Ventures, and Wavemaker Ventures. The funding will support Eezee’s expansion across Southeast Asia and further development of its AI-powered procurement tools, RFQBot and ProcureFlow.

Singapore’s Diaflow raises seed funding to challenge legacy workflow tools: Insignia Ventures is the lead investor. Since launching in February 2025, Diaflow says it has grown to more than 10,000 users and organisations globally, with over 60% of adoption coming from the US.

TikTok Shop beats Shopee in Vietnam’s Lunar New Year: A report says TikTok Shop captured 52% market share as holiday spending hit US$2.6B and overall e-commerce revenue rose 9%. On the other hand, Shopee’s share declined to 48%. TikTok Shop’s growth rate was nearly twice that of Shopee during the peak period.

FEATURES & INTERVIEWS

Tech leaders applaud Singapore Budget 2026’s AI-first strategy but urge focus on context, capability: The budget places AI at the core of economic strategy, launching a National AI Council, sector missions, enterprise incentives, infrastructure, and workforce programmes to move decisively from experimentation to execution.

Jayce Tham: Rethinking creativity for Southeast Asia’s new AI economy: A seasoned creative industry leader, Tham bridges artistic talent, freelance ecosystems, and next-generation AI. Since launching CreativesAtWork in 2012, she has built a cross-border, on-demand talent network spanning branding, design, video, and production.

INTERNATIONAL

Hong Kong stablecoin unicorn RedotPay eyes US$1B US IPO: The listing could occur in New York as early as this year. The valuation may exceed US$4B, but details are still being finalised. RedotPay raised US$194M in 2025, including a Series B in December, reaching unicorn status.

Meta docs warn encryption could cut child abuse reports: The firm’s internal documents reveal that in 2019, company executives discussed potential risks associated with implementing end-to-end encryption on Facebook and Instagram messaging services, despite public claims of safety improvements.

India plans to raise US$19.7B from state IPOs by 2030: The government aims to monetise assets across sectors including railways, power, oil and gas, aviation, and coal. The IPOs include stakes in seven railway companies, which could potentially raise US$9.2B by 2030, with US$1.8B targeted in the upcoming fiscal year starting April 2026.

SK Telecom to back 15 AI, ESG startups to court Europe VCs: The Korean telco said the 15 participating startups come from diverse backgrounds, ranging from AI consulting and optimisation, cybersecurity and data security, data infrastructure, to renewable energy, and ecosystem restoration.

Coupang faces US hearing on regulations: The S Korean e-commerce firm’ interim CEO Harold Rogers testified before the US House Judiciary Committee on February 23 amid concerns over data leaks and regulatory issues. The hearing focused on allegations of discriminatory treatment by Korean authorities against US companies.

CYBERSECURITY

Underfunded and under fire: Indonesia’s cyber startups face 2025 reality: Indonesia’s cybersecurity sector faces rising AI-driven threats and regulatory pressure, but funding remains muted, creating opportunities in anti-fraud, identity, MDR, and locally hosted, outcome-driven security solutions.

Singapore’s cybersecurity paradox: Why we must act now: After UNC3886 exposed Singapore’s cyber vulnerabilities, regional cybersecurity funding collapsed 96%, threatening digital sovereignty and underscoring urgent need for stronger investment, talent pipelines, and public-private collaboration.

Cybersecurity stocks fall as new Anthropic tool sparks AI fears: The AI lab debuted a limited research preview of a service that scans software code for vulnerabilities and offers solutions on February 20. Shares of companies such as CrowdStrike and Zscaler fell about 10%, while Netskope and Tenable dropped around 12%.

SEMICONDUCTOR

Singtel’s InfraCo, Nvidia launch AI centre of excellence: The CoE will focus on developing data centre designs for next-generation Nvidia GPUs, building an AI ecosystem, enhancing edge AI capabilities, and cultivating AI talent. The initiative aligns with Singapore’s Budget 2026, which emphasises AI as a strategic national asset.

Indonesia’s Danantara, UK-based Arm sign semiconductor deal: The collaboration involves Indonesia sending 15,000 engineers to develop expertise in semiconductor design. It aims to advance Indonesia’s control over semiconductor tech, with Arm holding significant shares in global chip design for automotive, data centres, and AI sectors.

Chip demand lifts S Korea consumer confidence to 3-month high: The consumer confidence reached 112.1 in Feb, according to the Bank of Korea. The increase was driven by improved assessments of current economic conditions and optimistic expectations, supported by strong semiconductor shipments and a rising stock market.

AI

Big Tech said to invest US$650B on AI in 2026: The figure rose from US$410B invested in 2025, according to Bridgewater Associates. Bridgewater’s co-CIO Greg Jensen noted that the AI sector is entering a “more dangerous phase,” with increased spending on physical infrastructure and reliance on outside capital.

The real risk in ASEAN’s AI race is not falling behind. It is falling apart: ASEAN’s AI ambitions face a critical test in cybersecurity, as uneven governance, digital literacy gaps, and rising AI-enabled threats risk undermining trust, cross-border resilience, and long-term regional innovation.

Southeast Asia’s AI boom is built on steel, not startups: The AI boom is driven by hyperscaler data centres, undersea cables, and power infrastructure, but local startups lag as compute investment outpaces venture funding and policy coordination.

Momentum without maturity: Southeast Asia’s AI reality: If AI tools remain priced and packaged for enterprise procurement teams, the region gets an ugly outcome: big firms compound their productivity advantages while small firms fall further behind, even if the technology itself is “available”.

How AI is enhancing personalisation in open banking through data-driven insights: AI is reshaping fintech through hyper-personalisation, enabling tailored recommendations, real-time financial advice, dynamic credit scoring, intelligent chatbots, and fraud detection to deliver frictionless open banking experiences.

THOUGHT LEADERSHIP

Why venture capital must become venture architecture: When money is no longer the hard part: As AI lowers building barriers and exits slow, Southeast Asian venture capital must evolve from picking winners to designing pathways that enable adoption, cross-border scale, and durable growth.

The agentic era of marketing: Why real-time reasoning is replacing traditional automation: Marketing is entering the agentic AI era, where systems reason, adapt, and optimise in real time, shifting focus from automation to unified intelligence, dynamic context, and scalable, autonomous operations.

How policy shocks are rewriting cloud strategy in Southeast Asia: The region’s founders are rethinking hyperscaler dependence as pricing shifts, service retirements, and regulatory fragmentation expose cloud infrastructure as strategic risk rather than neutral utility.

Beyond the spreadsheet: Why your data is dead without a storyteller: Businesses collect vast data yet struggle to drive decisions because numbers lack narrative. Turning analytics into compelling visual stories transforms information into action, creating competitive advantage for startups and enterprises alike.

5 crypto events that will make or break 2026: What investors must know before April: Q2 2026 could redefine crypto as US legislation, ETF approvals, UK tax access, Fed leadership shifts, and EU MiCA rules converge to unlock capital, clarify regulation, and reshape global liquidity conditions.

The fragmentation trap: How too many platforms are killing startups: Today’s startup ecosystem is fragmented across platforms, wasting founders’ time and rewarding vanity metrics. What it needs isn’t more tools, but consolidated infrastructure built on verified performance and open access.

From cold code to warm smiles: How Singapore automates human connection: As global tourism automates, Singapore uses AI and immersive tech to free staff, preserve empathy, and scale personalised experiences without sacrificing human warmth.

The architecture of rejection: Why ventures fail funding audits across both investors and institutional allocators: In SEA’s funding landscape, investors forgive mess but not structural risk, demanding operational discipline, clean governance, and verifiable controls before deploying institutional capital into growing ventures.

Islamic fintech in Southeast Asia: Decline or revival?: The latest Global Islamic Fintech Report shows OIC dominance, but Southeast Asia remains resilient, driven by digital assets, AI innovation, and growing regulatory cooperation to sustain regional leadership.

The post Ecosystem Roundup: DBS launches US$110M AI IPO fund; SEA’s AI boom runs on steel; Indonesia’s cyber startups face 2025 crunch appeared first on e27.