Category: Uncategorized

Finance

NFC-based event management startup PouchNATION raises Series B funding from Indonesian online cinema tickets platform TIX ID

TIX ID, the online cinema tickets platform in Indonesia, has invested in PouchNATION, to extend its on-ground handling capabilities in anticipation of launching the events ticket sales business.

PouchNATION digitises mass participation events and venues through the use of NFC technology to manage crowds process payments, collect data, as well as offer events and recreational venues space in Asia with offices in Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

It will be complementing TIX ID product offering by providing its technology for on-ground capabilities at events and venues.

Sean Kim, Managing Director of TIX ID, said: “Jointly we will be able to guarantee a seamless experience starting from online ticket sales, on TIX ID platform, to offline crowd management, access control and brand activation on PouchNATION’s platform.”

For more than 10 million registered users on TIX ID platform this collaboration means that soon they will have a broader choice than just accessing movie tickets; events tickets will be available as soon as March 2020.

GrabWheels snags US$30M investment from KYMCO to bring two-wheeler electric vehicle to Southeast Asia

GranWheels, the mobility arm of Grab, announces that it has secured US$30 million investment from Taiwan’s electric vehicle (EV) KYMCO.

Grab’s mobility arm GrabWheels said that the funding will enable both firms to jointly explore developing and deploying two-wheel electric vehicles, specifically KYMCO’s Ionex electric bikes and Ionex EV charging platforms.

Also Read: Grab launches green e-scooter GrabWheels in Indonesia’s top university

The partnership will also include a research study in which GrabWheels and Kymco will look into how best to develop a shared two-wheel EV service, build an electric charging infrastructure, and ensure KYMCO’s EVs meet the licensing requirements across Southeast Asia.

“The transition toward electric vehicles is one of the most significant transformations of personal transportation for the next 10 years,” said Allen Ko, Chairman of KYMCO Group, who added: “Accelerating this transition, KYMCO Ionex is the EV turnkey solution that empowers all businesses and governments to go electric.”

Grab has been steadily expanding its EV ecosystem by collaborating with governments and partners like automakers and electricity providers, to drive up EV adoption.

Business

Toyota Mobility Foundation, MDEC collaborates to launch US$1.5M-prized city architecture competition

Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) announces that it has partnered with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to launch the City Architecture for Tomorrow Challenge (CATCH).

The challenge marks the region’s first global challenge that will attract innovative, data-driven entries from global participants. It aims to raise efficiency in urban planning, and drive forward the future of mobility.

CATCH will seek to address mobility challenges in Kuala Lumpur with a global call for solutions, for a period of 8 months, where participants — from startups, academic, and research institutions to corporates, or even the general public — can conceptualise and develop solutions that are data-driven to design future city infrastructures and city mobility management for the region.

Also Read: MDEC partners 9 Digital Transformation Lab for tech enabling support

Surina Shukri, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, said, “CATCH is in-line with MDEC’s efforts to drive forward the country’s digital economy, catalyse next-gen innovation through Malaysia’s Global Testbed Initiative, and reinforce the country’s position as the Heart of Digital ASEAN.”

TMF will be providing grants at every stage of the challenge — up to US$1.5 million in total — to support teams towards the development and trial-testing of the solutions in Kuala Lumpur. Participants will also have access to expert mentors, both public and private sector data of commuters’ journey point in the city to empower them to develop solutions that will be selected in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act, and an incubation program.

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Image Credit: PouchNATION

The post Afternoon News Roundup: Event management startup PouchNATION raises Series B from cinema tickets platform TIX ID appeared first on e27.

Jin Xi Cheong grew up in Kuala Lumpur and moved to Melbourne for higher studies when he was 14. He then went on to pursue a Bachelor Degree in Aerospace Engineering at Monash University.

In Late 2015, he returned to Kuala Lumpur to join Intel as a Finance Analyst.

“From a young age, I knew I would not be able to work in a corporate,” says Cheong, recounting his story to e27. “I was often the chief troublemaker at school and had a problem dealing with the authorities, especially when they went against my personal beliefs. I couldn’t change this behaviour. On the very first day at Intel, I told my manager that I would stay here only to learn things and that I would leave the firm if I found a better opportunity elsewhere.”

And this opportunity presented itself in the form of Poladrone.

Giving wings to his dream

While working at Intel, Cheong pursued aerial photography as a hobby. The initial idea was to make aerial photography easy for anyone.

He, however, quickly realised that while the hobbyist industry was famous in Malaysia, there were hardly any companies which utilised drones for solving industrial problems.

Also Read: Drones will revolutionise these 3 industries, so watch out

Cheong smelt an opportunity there and began working on it. He soon left Intel and started working full time in Poladrone.

His familiarity with agriculture came in handy when designing the products. The continuous improvements over the years shaped Poladrone into an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) company for agriculture solutions.

Data matters

Cheong created Poladrone in 2016 and was later joined by Co-founder Yong Guan, who also holds a Degree in Aerospace Engineering.

The company was started with an idea to make drones easily accessible to everyone. As time passed, the founders realised the real value of drones lies in the data that they can collect at scale. “Currently, Poladrone’s vision is to bring aerial insights (analytics) and automation to industries, with a focus on agriculture,” he explains.

The drones provided by the company can be used for data analytics and automation. Drones used to collect data are already available in the market, and Poladrone uses the best hardware for the job, he claims. On the other hand, drones used for automation would need to be customised for local use.

“We have recently developed a solution called ‘Airamap’, which helps simplify the entire data acquisition and analytics process for our customers. Our aim is to enable anyone with a drone to be able to unlock the potential of data, which can be captured using their existing equipment in a cost-efficient manner. We are launching the product at the end of this week,” he reveals.

The target segment

Anyone who manages assets/land over a large area or inaccessible areas is Poladrone’s customer. A bulk of its customers are in the agriculture, infrastructure and survey industries, in which it has mapped and analysed over 500,000 hectares of data so far. Five of the top 10 oil palm plantations in Malaysia, besides many large enterprises and government agencies in different industries, are its clients.

Also Read: 16-year-old Indian prodigy has developed a drone that can detect and destroy landmines

The company also rents out drones but with on strict conditions. “These are industrial-grade equipment that can cost over RM100,000 per set. Thus it requires the companies who rents the drones to have qualified pilots and an excellent safety record of flight operations,” he emphasises.

The market for drones is still nascent in Southeast Asia but is growing at a rapid rate. In his opinion, the drone tech is unique in a way that it is an enabler which can be applied across multiple industries. However, the applications of drones are not fully explored yet.

Gearing up for Indonesia launch

Poladrone is currently headquartered in Cyberjaya with branch offices in Bintulu, Sarawak and Bangkok, Thailand. The startup is now gearing up for expansion into Indonesia in 2020.

Like any other startup, Poladrone also had its fair share of setbacks, but they are insignificant when compared to a critical mistake that the founders made during the product launch.

“We were planning for the launch of a product, and I got carried away by putting too much importance in making the launch look good, instead of targeting the right audience. A lot of things went wrong, but in summary, we realised that we trusted the wrong partner and ended up burning quite a lot of resources without achieving our targets,” he shares.

The Echelon experience

Poladrone was the winner of Echelon 2017. Cheong reveals that a lot has definitely changed since winning the title at Echelon 2017.

“When we won Echelon, we were an extremely early-stage startup, with only two of us in the company and barely any customers. Right now, we have over 35 full-timers in Poladrone with many stakeholders across multiple countries to manage. The responsibility and pressure of leading Poladrone have increased significantly but the impact that we make keeps the lights on at night,” he says.

In his opinion, Echelon is a perfect platform for early-stage startups to validate what you’re building with the public. Understanding the market and customers are fundamental to success in any company, and there is no better place than in front of hundreds of people on stage at the Top 100 pitch. Announcing your ideas and goals in public is the best form of commitment and inspiration to push for your best,” he concludes.

The post From a troublemaker in school to drone maker, this Malaysian entrepreneur is now living his dream appeared first on e27.

Standard Chartered Bank and Australian firm Assembly Payments have set up a new joint venture to bring payment solutions for the global e-commerce industry.

Headquartered in Singapore, the new venture will cover online, mobile, point-of-sale, digital wallets, debit and credit cards, and real-time payments under one digital platform.

As per a press release, the JV will roll out its payment services to global merchants and will seek to support their ambitions to scale and solve key challenges they face in managing risk, fraud, integration, reporting, and reconciliation.

Michael Gorriz, Group Chief Information Officer of Standard Chartered, commented: “Payments is a critical pillar of banking services. Enabling real-time faster payments and high volume transactions have been a core area of investment for Standard Chartered in line with the evolving needs of clients, particularly with the growth of e-commerce platforms and wallet apps. Our venture with Assembly Payments complements these capabilities, giving our corporate clients a complete offering for high throughput inward and outward payments.”

Alex Manson, Head of SC Ventures, the innovation, fintech investment and venture arm of Standard Chartered, said: “As the world moves towards platform-based e-commerce, the need for the next generation of tools to empower merchants and enable financial inclusion continues to grow. We identified payments as an area where we wanted to make a strategic investment.”

Also Read: AccessPay and Assembly Payments win SWIFT global fintech competition in Singapore

Assembly Payments is a fintech firm, which has been working to capitalise on the demand for new payment solutions — brought on by the introduction of the country’s fast payment network, the New Payments Platform — in Australia and abroad.

Standard Chartered has actively been experimenting with new business models to meet the evolving needs of banking clients. In Hong Kong, it has established a strategic joint venture with PCCW, HKT, and Ctrip Finance to deliver a new standalone digital retail bank in Hong Kong and has set up virtual banking partnerships in Taiwan and Korea.

It has also set up a digital open platform, Solv, to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India and other markets grow by providing a range of financial and business services.
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Photo by Sergio Sala on Unsplash

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Yangon-based logistics startup Kargo today announced its rebrand to Karzo, according to a press statement.

Having been focussing on both B2C and B2B segments, the startup also announced that it will be developing a new B2B-focussed strategy as it moves towards securing a Series A funding round this month.

Karzo connects independent truck drivers, fleet owners, and third-party logistics (3PLs) with businesses. The company claims that the platform “offers a more reliable and trackable distribution and delivery solution for businesses faced with outdated logistics in the region.”

Its refocus to the B2B sector came after noticing the high demand for transportation logistics services amongst businesses in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: E-commerce startup Get acquires Daung Capital to provide one-stop fintech solutions to Myanmar’s micro-entrepreneurs

Other than that, Karzo founder and CEO Alex Wicks expressed strong optimism for tapping into Myanmar’s “freight market” which is expected to grow by 300 per cent in the coming years.

“The focus on B2B also allows us to channel our resources in strengthening our presence along with key freight and border corridors of Myanmar to prepare for cross-border expansion across Southeast Asia. With such a fragmented logistics market, our platform simplifies tracking through one simple dashboard that manages shipments both across Myanmar to other markets in the region,” he added.

The logistics startup has already managed to raise US$800,000 in pre-Series A funding from Singapore-based Cocoon Capital and two angel investors.

The Burmese company had also been named ‘Best Logistics & Supply Chain Startup’ at the Echelon Top100 competition in Singapore in 2018.

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Image Credit:  MICHAEL WILSON

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Greenly, a Surabaya-based F&B fast-casual retail chain startup that serves healthy food and beverages, has secured an undisclosed sum in a seed funding round, led by East Ventures.

Several unnamed angel investors also participated.

The company plans to use the fresh funds for product innovation, technology development, and expand its network both locally and into other cities.

Edrick Joe Soetanto and Liana Gonta Widjaja founded Greenly after the duo struggled to find a healthy diet option in Surabaya, Indonesia second-biggest city. They realised there are a gap and scarcity of affordable healthy food that is fast, easily accessible and has a wide range of product menu.

“We seek to address the gap between healthy but expensive food offered by existing players, and affordable but unhealthy food provided by the fast-food chain network. We founded Greenly as a fast-casual chain serving various salads, grain bowls, cold-pressed juices, smoothies, nut milk, and other healthy products that are created using natural and fresh ingredients,” said Gonta.

The business idea at that time was also timely with the rise of the middle-class economy in Indonesia that is health-conscious, creating an opportunity for the founders to tap in.

Also Read: A decade of innovation: How East Ventures is building Indonesian tech ecosystem from the ground up

The data from the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) shows that the average Indonesians consume only 122 grams of vegetables and 92 grams of fruit every day. These numbers are lower than the recommended daily intake level of 300-400 grams of vegetables and 100-150 grams of fruit.

In 2019, Greenly opened its first outlet in Surabaya with the mission of democratising healthy diet in Indonesia.

Gonta is a Nutritionist from UC Berkeley with experience in the health and F&B industry. She is also the figure behind hundreds of Greenly’s recipes.

Edrick is a serial entrepreneur and a former Consultant at PwC. He took the role of the chief commander in developing and executing Greenly’s business strategy.

“We aim to provide healthy food and beverages that are affordable, convenient, and easily accessible. Our mission is to bring a healthy diet to all levels of society and make it happen in Indonesia as something democratic, not just for a niche market. We are confident with the support of East Ventures and all partners, we can realise this mission,” Soetanto added.

Also Read: Alibaba, Facebook co-founders back East Ventures’s new US$75M fund focused on Indonesia

One of the main components of Greenly’s strategy is integrating the new retail concept with an O2O approach, distinguishing them from other traditional big players. Greenly adopted a multichannel-sales style by combining both physical outlets and online delivery.

As of today, Greenly operates five outlets in Surabaya — one in a mall with a cafe/restaurant concept, while four others are cloud kitchen dedicated to delivery service.

The digital readiness of Surabaya is the main component that contributes to Greenly’s achievement in developing its business through online platforms, which accounts for 50 per cent of its sales. Research from East Ventures — Digital Competitiveness Index 2020 report has placed Surabaya in the third position among 24 biggest cities in Indonesia for its digital competitiveness.

Willson Cuaca, Managing Partner of East Ventures, explained, “Based on EV-DCI, Jakarta is the best city to support the development of digital-based businesses. Successful founders from outside Jakarta must be able to adapt quickly and expand to the capital.”

“Our trust in the founders outside Jakarta has been proven previously by the success of IDN Media, where they expanded from Surabaya to all of Indonesia. We believe that Gonta and Soetanto can bring Greenly from Surabaya to Jakarta, as well to other cities, and provide healthy food and drinks for all Indonesian people,” he added.
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Picture Credit: East Ventures

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China’s economic appeal is far from over, at least according to a 2019 member survey of the US-China Business Council (USCBC), which suggests that the Chinese market is still prioritised by investors over other markets. The survey found that 97 per cent of USCBC members experienced profitability growth in China over the past year.

Despite the less-than-stellar outlook, which is particularly compounded by the 2019 novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) scare, China continues to attract investments.

With the recently released figures on the country’s software and IT sector, investment movement, especially in the IT industry, is set to grow further.

The positive investor sentiment re-echoes the positive outlook presented in a Standard Chartered report that describes the world’s second-largest economy as a top-three priority for five out of 10 investors.

The report reveals that 49 per cent of global institutional investors list China as one of their top three investment destinations even with the uncertainties on the country’s market conditions. Additionally, 67 per cent of the investors surveyed affirmed the high demand for exposure to China as they expressed intentions to raise their Chinese investments in the year ahead.

21 per cent of the survey respondents regard China as a top (number one) priority while 28 per cent consider it a top three priority. Only 2 per cent say that the Asian economic powerhouse is not a priority, while 12 per cent think of it as a niche priority and 37% list it as one of their top 10 investment options.

It also bears pointing out that the 2019 World Investment Report ranks China as the world’s second-largest FDI recipient. It is also hailed as the second most attractive country for multinational companies for the 2017-2019 period.

Strong IT sector growth

Official data from the Chinese government reveal robust growth for China’s software and IT industry in 2019. This component of the Chinese economy generated RMB 7.18 trillion in revenues (approximately US$1 trillion), an impressive 15.4 per cent growth from the previous year.

Also read: How to start a business in China as a foreigner

In addition to the significant rise in revenue, the data presented by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show that profits reached 936.2 billion yuan (around USD$134 billion), a year-on-year increase of 9.9 per cent.

Moreover, the Chinese software and IT sector hired more employees in 2019. Data show that the country hired 6.73 million employees in the sector, a 4.7 per cent year-on-year increase. Even better, the IT labor force received a 6.8 per cent per capita salary increase.

Defying expectations

Multinational businesses can attest to this notable growth amidst forecasts of slowing growth for the economies of Asia. One company that demonstrated such projection-defying developments is European IT company TenderHut.

Posting a 50 per cent year-on-year growth for 2019 with a US$9.6 million revenue, the company is taking advantage of the many opportunities presented by the unpredictable but generally positive global economy. The firm undertook a number of strategic takeovers, developed foreign divisions, launched new startup projects, and raked a few prestigious awards along the way.

“After a period of intensive consolidation of the IT industry, we have entered a time of strategic investments, which, in the coming years, will lead us to maximization of profits and expansion to other markets,” said Robert Strzelecki, President of the TenderHut Capital Group.

The startup maintains an optimistic outlook for the Chinese market that it designated its Guangzhou office as the seat of the Chinese Solution4Labs operation.

The local office implements specialised laboratory software on the local market, in contrast to most other companies that only operate in China to take advantage of local labor. There is a clear intention to leverage Chinese demand in achieving market scale.

New investment access routes

New investment access routes have emerged as China continues to attract domestic and foreign investors.

For example, when it comes to equities, the scheme that connects the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock markets— referred to as the Shanghai-Hong Kong Stock Connect—is already used by 51 per cent of the investors surveyed.

An additional 18 per cent said that they plan on using the scheme in the succeeding year. For fixed-income investments, around 33 per cent of the respondents said that they are considering the China interbank bond market.

The presence of new access channels, however, does not mean that investors have already abandoned the older schemes. As the Standard Chartered study reveals, 62 per cent of investors said that they are still using the Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (QFII) scheme, while 31 per cent said they use the Renminbi Qualified Foreign Institutional Investor (RQFII) scheme.

Risks and threats

Unfortunately, China is facing a serious economic threat in the ongoing Wuhan novel coronavirus problem. To date, there are still no signs of the infection slowing down.

The severe health scare is causing factory shutdowns and a daunting impact on economic activity. People are advised to work from home, although those in the manufacturing industry will find this challenging. Inflation has sharply risen as food prices soared.

The tech industry has not escaped the adverse consequences. Numerous companies have temporarily closed their stores, offices, and factories. These have resulted in product shortages and delays in product launches. The Chinese economy is logically suffering a slowdown as the disease directly affects industries that comprise more than half of the country’s GDP.

Also read: Why China should be the next market for your startup or scaleup

Some analysts, however, are hopeful that the problem will not linger for long. Wang Huiyao, founder of the Centre for China and Globalisation, believes China’s economy has become more resilient compared to 2003 when it tackled the SARS outbreak.

Huiyao is confident that China’s deeper resources, more effective policy levers, and improved production capacity and technology make it more capable to weather the crisis. On the other hand, Zhang Jun, dean of Fudan University School of Economics, believes that the coronavirus is unlikely to cripple China’s economy.

China’s new foreign investment law takes effect this year, which is expected to help boost capital inflows as it trims the negative list for foreign investment.

The challenges from the novel Coronavirus will need to be overcome, however, in order to achieve the expected benefits of this significant piece of legislation.

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Image: Pixabay

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Cross-channel engagement platform MoEngage raises US$25 Million Series C funding led by Eight Roads Ventures

Having recently achieved Amazon Web Services (AWS) Retail Competency, MoEngage, intelligent customer analytics, and cross-channel engagement platform have raised US$25 Million in Series C funding. Eight Roads Ventures led the round with participation from its US-based sister fund, F-Prime Capital, along with Matrix Partners India and Ventureast.

“The latest round of funding will help us reach more brands and empower them with the next-generation customer engagement platform built for the mobile-first world that is easier to use, fully integrated and intelligent,” said Raviteja Dodda, Founder & CEO, MoEngage Inc.

More and more digital platforms are going for a one-dashboard approach in mobile apps, especially in the field of customer engagement. The end-to-end and one-for-all model has been proven effective as it centralises the process and the analytics, insights reports, and automation.

In MoEngage’s case, brands can engage with their customers across channels and personalise touchpoints in one dashboard. MoEngage’s AI and automation platform map customer journeys and develops personalised offers, updates, recommendations, and other communications across mobile, web, email and SMS- thus delivering an omnichannel experience.

Also Read: The changing focus of mobile commerce in Southeast Asia

“The rapid rise of mobile has increased the complexity of how digital-first and consumer-focussed enterprises interact with customers. Marketers now need to seamlessly engage with customers in a personalized and real-time manner across different channels,” Shweta Bhatia, Partner at Eight Roads Ventures concluded the trend.

JPMorgan reportedly plans to merge its blockchain entity Quorum with ConsenSys [Channel News Asia]

JPMorgan Chase & Co reportedly is in discussion to possibly merge its blockchain unit Quorum with Brooklyn-based startup ConsenSys, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The merger signals how cryptocurrency is still relevant and continues to become an option despite its often volatile values. With the largest bank by asset in the US enters into the next step of blockchain capability with the planned merger, it shows that blockchain still got a bright future to consider moving forward.

JPMorgan’s Quorum blockchain uses the ethereum network, the software that underpins ether, one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies. JPMorgan uses its blockchain unit to run the Interbank Information Network, a payments network that involves more than 300 banks.
JPMorgan also said it would use Quorum to issue a digital currency called JPMorgan Coin that is designed to make instantaneous payments using blockchain.

ConsenSys is a blockchain startup that grew rapidly during the 2017 crypto bubble. It was founded by Joe Lubin, one of the co-founders of ethereum.

As for ConsenSys, a merger with Quorum would align with its shift toward growing its software division. The plan after the merger is to maintain the Quorum brand and keep it open source, one of the sources said.

Seqoia Surge’s graduate Classplus nabs US$2.5M in Pre-Series A funding [Inc42]

Delhi-NCR-based edutech startup Classplus announces that it has raised US2.5 million in Pre-Series A round of funding from Blume Ventures. Classplus was a part of the Sequoia Capital India’s Surge programme, and the venture capital company has also invested in this funding round.

Angel investors such as Cred’s founder Kunal Shah, general manager of Xiaomi Indonesia Alvin Tse, partner at Locus Ventures Eric Kwan also participated in the funding round.

The interest in backing edutech around the Asia Pacific continues to rise, with Gredu from Indonesia that offers a similar platform to teachers, parents, and students who also raised Pre-Series A funding in January.

Edutech continues to become a frontrunner in the tech-enabled field, with the next unicorn from Southeast Asia is expected to be edutech, showing how it becomes more relevant for consumers.

Also Read: Leading Southeast Asian tech companies share insights on user engagement, brand loyalty at MoEngage #GROWTH19

Founded in 2018 by Rustagi and Bhaswat Agarwal, Classplus lets coaching institutes, tuition centres, and private tutors to manage its class online with a mobile app. The startup takes a subscription fee from coaching institutes for its software suite, which handles class communication, payments, assessments, online learning programmes, and attendances.

London-based AI startup accelerator Skymind to expand to Indonesia, Malaysia

Skymind Global Ventures (SGV), an Artificial Intelligence-focussed startup fund-cum-accelerator based in London, is planning to expand to Malaysia and Indonesia in Southeast Asia.

In January, Skymind launched a US$800 million fund to back promising new AI companies and academic research across the UK and globally. Skymind plans to train up to 200 AI professionals for its operations in London and Europe and eventually expand the programme into Southeast Asia.

According to an e27’s article, the use of AI and industry acceptance has been growing steadily internationally, particularly in Southeast Asia. The region has been identified as one of the target markets for the investment fund, with a significant portion of the US$800 million to be made available to growing the region’s ecosystem.

SGV is a dedicated AI ecosystem builder, enabling companies and organisations to launch their AI applications and bring their business cases to life. It provides clients with supported access to Eclipse Deeplearning4j and other open-source tools as well as global capital funding and talent development.
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Picture Credit: MoEngage

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Carousell, a leading B2C and C2C consumer marketplace in Singapore, announced today the appointment of Jennifer Lim as Head of People.

In the new role, Lin will be responsible for operational excellence and talent strategy for the rapidly scaling organisation.

Lim’s appointment follows Carousell’s recent merger with 701Search. The company plans to continue its focus on accelerating growth with Lim leading efforts in scaling the organisation.

In doing so, Lim will leverage her experience with M&A integrations to harmonise operations and company culture across Carousell Group.

Lim was previously Chief People Officer at video-on-demand service HOOQ, and Human Resources Director (APAC) at Nike.

Also Read: [Updated] Reaching Singapore’s unicorn status, Carousell expands its presences to eight markets through 701Search’s mergers

Her 20-plus years of expertise in organisational development, talent acquisition and change management was instrumental in building the HOOQ’s leadership team in the region and optimising its talent strength to set up its creative centre in Manila and engineering hub in Bandung.

During her stint with Nike, she led numerous organisational transformation efforts to support its growth objectives for their APAC Apparel office based out of Hong Kong.

“Today, we’re privileged with the opportunity to serve tens of millions of users across eight markets. We’re at a stage where we can really redefine e-commerce in a meaningful way, address overconsumption and make second-hand the first choice,” said Siu Rui Quek, Co-founder and CEO of Carousell.

“One of our greatest strengths now is having a passionate and talented team of over 750 who are deeply committed to our mission. With Lim’s experience in scaling talent, engagement, and synergy across complex global organisations, we can focus on realising the full potential of our people, and reimagining classifieds for our users,” Quek added.

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Picture Credit: Carousell

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Updates: Tourkrub representative has issued a correction to clarify that King Power Click does not lead Tourkrub’s ongoing Series B fundraising.

Thailand-based travel tech startup Tourkrub, which acts as an online travel agent for tour packages, is raising a US$5 million Series B funding round.

The funding round followed a US$3 million round that the company has raised previously from King Power Click, the digital arm of Thailand’s leading travel retail group King Power Group.

Other participants in the previous round were SMEs Private Equity Trust Fund by the Government Savings Bank (GSB) of Thailand, the third lot which managed by Premier Advisory Group, Tao Kae Noi by Itthipat Preeradechapan, and 500 TukTuks.

According to the company statement, Tourkrub will use the funding to support its regional expansion plan and improve the travel experience. It plans to strategically take advantage of the fact that Bangkok is one of the top choices of transit for outbound travellers.

Founder and CEO Jakapan Leeathiwat commented that outbound tourism has been booming over the past six years with 8.8 per cent annual growth on average thanks to the growing middle class, the emergence of an ageing society and baht appreciation. Group tour alone shared around 25 per cent of Thai outbound travellers with 10.2 per cent growth on average. The figures showed that outbound tourism outpaced the growth of Thai GDP of 3.5 per cent growth YoY.

This raises high optimism for the travel company who aims to build a strong footing through this data.

Also Read: Understanding China’s market as a first time traveller

“It can be seen that travelling abroad has become a norm and culture of Thai people, whether the first jobber, working parent and senior. Tourkrub saw the important role of technology to address complexity in tour business and that’s why we jumped onto this bandwagon,” he continued.

Since its establishment in 2016, the company claimed to have experienced 700 per cent growth.

Leeathiwat further detailed that there were around 40,000 users booking a tour service via Tourkrub last year, up 53 per cent compared to the previous year. The transactional billing valued more than THB1 billion (US$32 million) last year, up 33 per cent compared to the previous year.

Tourkrub expects its customers to reach 100,000 (up 250 per cent) and worth more than THB2.5 billion (US$80 million) this year.

For King Power Group, the investment marks its first in the travel tech startup scene.

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Image Credit :  Tourkrub

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GAIN, a programme launched in 2015 by the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC), aims to provide end-to-end expansion support to local companies.

The programme was launched to render business-growth interventions to local tech scaleups, spanning the sectors of cloud, big data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT), e-commerce, blockchain, cybersecurity, drone technology, robotics, finance, fintech, etc. It is spearheaded Global Growth Acceleration (CGA), a newly-minted division of MDEC.

As per a press statement, more than a hundred local and regional tech entrepreneurs and digital ecosystem partners gathered at the recently-held GGA Kick-off 2020 to learn how CGA division to assist in fuelling high-potential Malaysian headquartered tech companies to skyrocket on the global stage.

“In a short time span, the GAIN Programme has achieved exceptional results, yielding a cumulative export revenue of over RM4 billion. We have also witnessed an upward trend of Malaysian tech companies expanding exponentially into the region. These success stories must be amplified without reservations,” said Surina Shukri, CEO of MDEC.

Also Read: Malaysian edutech startup Forward School raises US$500K pre-seed funding for expansion

Shukri also emphasised that Malaysia is increasingly recognised as the destination of choice for digital initiatives in ASEAN, and the country has been actively rolling out business-friendly initiatives and policies to encourage higher foreign direct investment.

“The Malaysian government has laid a strong foundation for stable and sustainable economic growth. The time is ripe for tech entrepreneurs around the world to capitalise on Malaysia’s potential as the Heart of Digital ASEAN,” she added.

Gopi Ganesalingam, MDEC Vice President of GGA, said: “Starting 2020, the GAIN Programme will be embracing prolific tech startups to leverage on the tried and tested growth-intervention strategies that we have been deploying for tech scaleups. This will allow MDEC to provide clear end-to-end expansion support for Malaysian tech companies at all growth stages.”

ASEAN is on track to becoming the world’s fourth-largest economy by 2030 and the Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia (ERIA) projects that ASEAN’s digital economy is expected to expand 6.4 times from US$31 billion in 2015 to US$197 billion by 2025.

“As ASEAN’s digital economy is increasingly driven by younger tech-savvy entrepreneurs, we welcome companies to leverage on our eight tech ecosystems in Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, Australia and the UAE. With over 200 strategic partners consisting government and trade agencies, investors, business associations, resellers, end customers and regional media, the GAIN Programme has positioned itself as a credible business growth enabler that has united the digital ASEAN landscape,” added Gopi.

Also present at the GGA Kick-off 2020 were founders of three prominent Malaysian tech companies — Forest Interactive, Innovate2U, and Softspace.

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