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According to the freshly released East Ventures Digital Competitiveness Index (EV-DCI) 2020 Report, the rapid development of digital economy in Indonesia only occurs in urban areas and several provinces with high technology early-adopters.

This condition has led to a digital divide between Indonesia’s numerous islands as the largest archipelago in the world.

Data from the report shows that Indonesia’s overall digital competitiveness records a high competitiveness score for the communication and information tech utilisation aspect. This means that the country has a high level of tech adoption on smartphone ownership and internet access.

Indonesia also scores high for the infrastructure aspect, indicating that cellular data networks have been more evenly distributed across the country today.

Meanwhile, human resources and entrepreneurship receive the lowest score, which says a lot about tech talent scarcity issue in Indonesia. The limitations of educational institutions to produce a skilled IT workforce plays parts in the condition.

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

The low entrepreneurial score itself shows that despite high penetration and distribution of network and internet, only a small number of Indonesians are opening businesses or utilising technology in their workplace.

The report also notes that provinces on the island of Java records the highest EV-DCI score in comparison to other provinces.

It highlights developmental inequality with a huge gap between the city that ranked first (Jakarta) and the city that ranked second (Bandung).

Willson Cuaca, Co-Founder and Managing Partner at East Ventures, explained that the cities with the highest EV-DCI score are the best places to start a new digital business as the likelihood of early adoption is high.

“The digital economy promises inclusivity and equal economic opportunities for all Indonesians. However, Indonesia is oftentimes only assessed from the development of certain big cities such as Jakarta, while there are still many cities untouched by the promise of the digital economy. By allowing everyone to participate in the digital economy, Indonesia could convert demographic bonuses into demographic dividends; turning potential into reality,” Cuaca said.

Also Read: East Ventures invests in Indonesian rental marketplace CUMI, eyeing growth and expansion

Despite its disparity with Jakarta and the DKI Jakarta province, West Java sits as the province with the best source of the skilled digital workforce, students, and lecturers, as well as the availability of school programmes related to digital skills.

Mapping the market

EV-DCI was released to give a full picture of Indonesia’s digital economy, so that stakeholders can take strategic steps to equalise digital access and technological capabilities throughout the country.

Cuaca stated that digital companies founded by local and young entrepreneurs have “successfully” increased economic access and productivity in the major cities of Indonesia, especially in Jakarta.

Furthermore, issues of inequality revealed in the report might turn into a “supporting material” for companies such as gojek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka to continue expanding their wings to other parts of the country.

Some tech companies that managed to have a better distribution serving other regions in Indonesia are education platform Ruangguru, which has been used by students in all 34 provinces, and the writer community of online media IDN Media, that already has a presence in each part of Indonesia.

Also Read: A look into one of the most active early stage VC firms this year

Another example is Moka POS, the POS platform that has made a presence in Papua. E-commerce solution provider Sirclo has supported online sellers located in East Nusa Tenggara, while budget hotel booking platform Airy has partnered with property owners in Bitung and Samosir.

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Image Credit: East Ventures

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Government and organisations in Asia Pacific are realising the benefits of new technologies as digital spend is expected to have reached US$375.8 billion in 2019. Spending on technologies that enable the digitisation of business practices, products and organisations is also forecasted to steadily increase all the way through to 2022, as we enter an era of digital native enterprises.

While our workflows continue to evolve in a digital-led world, the role of the developer will become more instrumental in driving business growth and enabling organisations to compete in a global economy. 

Software and coding have become so pervasive. They are now a necessity in the modern workplace in Singapore and Asia Pacific. While business leaders and non-tech teams do not need to be software development experts, it is important they gain an element of fluency so they remain relevant, and understand how to best run business operations.

Code and open source are a part of our lives

Code is powering and underpinning every facet of our lives, from how we connect as citizens to our governments, how we shop or access medical records, to how we communicate with our families, live, and work. 

Software has become a key driver of innovation, making coding an absolute necessity to survive and thrive in the modern world. As a result, more organisations in Asia Pacific are tapping into the open-source community to access the wide range of skills available globally, and re-use existing public code. 

Also Read: 9 essential tech skills anyone interested in startups should learn

Open source also enhances collaboration among teams and departments, fostering a smarter way of working and driving innovation, through the implementation of open source best practices within the organisation’s firewall. Called inner sourcing, this practice leads businesses to become more efficient by breaking down barriers and silos, so teams can share skills and better collaborate across the entire organisation. 

This creates a company culture where big ideas thrive, and where everyone contributes to innovation.  

Coding is becoming a life skill

Coding and the adoption of open source practices have much more to offer than just access to technical skills. It can benefit professionals from various backgrounds. 

Coding encourages critical, logical and creative thinking, problem-solving skills, and helps unlock cognitive functions. When fostered, all of those can add incredible value to an organisation, helping businesses create new opportunities and allowing professionals to broaden their career development paths. 

Using the power of open source also enables people to share ideas, experiences, contribute to each other’s projects, which ultimately creates a culture of collaboration and an open business mindset. 

Making an essential skill accessible to anyone, anywhere 

As the demand for tech and coding literate employees continues to rise, it has become obvious that coding should be introduced through education programmes and school curriculum. The Singapore government is taking a step in the right direction by introducing coding to classrooms, with the implementation of a 10-hour programme for upper primary students in 2020.

While we’re starting to see great progress in the education space, it will still be a decade before today’s students are introduced to the workforce. A report shows that 1.7 million students have learned to code on GitHub, 55 per cent more than last year. This is encouraging but we’re only scratching the surface – taking into consideration that there are approximately 200 million college students across the world.

Therefore, it is every organisation’s responsibility to implement coding and open-source literacy trainings as part of its corporate professional development programs. 

The good news is that coding is much more accessible than most business leaders might think. There is a rapid increase in the open-source communities across Asia Pacific.

Also Read: 6 tips for building a successful software development team

Singapore is ranked second for the highest percentage growth of open source contributors and overall contributors across the globe with a 77 per cent increase in 2019 as compared to the previous year.

This is a healthy sign that more members of the workforce are equipping themselves with new skillsets to create impactful software.

Open source platforms provide a fantastic avenue to make coding accessible to anyone, whether you are experienced or have no understanding of software development. The open-source community offers access to a unique pool of public global resources, and millions of qualified developers who are happy to help upskill more individuals.

Coding has become a core part of organisations’ DNA. It is the powerhouse behind every digital project, continuously evolving as every part of the business deepens its digital journey.

Coding literacy needs to become top of mind across the board, from the marketing, sales and operations teams, up to the C-Suite. By gaining coding skills, each individual will become an active contributor to delivering successful innovations, and be empowered to break down silos, create efficiencies, as well as foster a more collaborative and open business mindset. 

It is now up to businesses and government leaders in Asia Pacific to work together to ensure coding literacy be weaved into education and professional training programs, so we can prepare the workforce of tomorrow and equip organisations to succeed in a fast-paced, digital world. This is how our region can become an exporter of innovation.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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A friend working in a marketing agency recently asked me if there is any simple and non-technical way to optimise native advertising campaigns, given that major native advertising platforms are still quite new to marketers.

As a performance marketer transitioning from managing accounts on Google and Facebook to now working in a native advertising company, I can empathise with the pain of helplessness on campaign optimisation.

After all, native advertising just emerged and seems mysterious even nowadays. Here is what I shared with him. 

Put context words in the sentence

Instead of writing down headlines plainly, crafting your message by putting more context words, such as time and space, can be of great help to earn the reader’s attention.

If you can’t think of any context word, you are not alone. There is a more straightforward way to understand and implement this idea.

Also Read: YouAdMe: Flipping the advertising industry on its head with the power of connection and creativity

In my case, I would self-brainstorm from the angle of making up a story, a.k.a. storytelling. This allows me to have a specific scene in my brain and all I need to do is describe the scene pertinently, which further helps me come up with a catchy headline.

A case study from Sharethrough is a great example to explain. 

Original headline: A note of the efficiency and safety of our planes

Revised headline: How man’s age-old dream to fly like a bird may hold the solution to aircraft efficiency

The revised headline includes the element of context words and provides a clear picture (or story) for readers to imagine. Consequently, the revised one is more likely to win clicks. 

Use metaphors to spark the reader’s curiosity 

Metaphors, if used correctly in headline writing, can make your native advertising more engaging than ones with context words only and further result in a higher click-through rate.

Also Read: How AI is changing mobile advertising in 2019

This tactic, however, may require a certain level of talent to carry out as not all metaphors are idiomatically applicable and can be correctly related. Any explanation nuance should be carefully examined.  

In my experience, storytelling, the strategy shared in the first passage, can also help cultivate the ability to craft a powerful metaphorical headline.

Here is another example from Sharethrough to demonstrate headlines that utilize metaphors.

Original headline: 5 ways to improve your morning routine

Revised headline: 5 ways to bring a little sunshine into your morning

With just a few words changed, the revised headline quickly sparks readers’ curiosity and drive people to click on the headline to know what the magic is to make their day.

Use pictures that resonate readers

Native advertising is well-known for its relatively strict policies on creatives standard. For instance, overly promotional creatives that could pass the scrutiny on Google or Facebook are very likely to be rejected on native advertising platforms.

Also Read: An end of Google-Facebook advertising duopoly could be a boon for adtech

Despite that, creatives remain a paramount factor to persuade readers on natives ads as our brains are wired to imitate everything we see, according to a study, and cherry-picked pictures that create resonance can significantly drive click impulse.

Considering the visual impact of human behaviour, rather than picking up pictures featuring your products or services solely, you should select the one with the action element you’d like readers to take.

Take skincare products for example. A picture featuring someone applying the facial cream can create stronger resonance and emotional engagement and further encourage readers to imitate.  

Once they subconsciously start to imitate, they would recall your brands and buy your products or services at some point in the future.

Catch up with the latest trends 

Including topics about holiday seasons and viral trends in creatives designing and headlines, writing can as well bring you a surprising result as the above tactics do.

This tactic is extremely helpful with improving the campaign performance as typical native advertising platforms are essentially built on partnering with news portals and blogs to form native networks.

Also Read: 8 tips for a successful Instagram advertising campaign

Internet users on those publishers can easily identify whether the content they are consuming is up-to-date or not. They are likely to skip your native ads once they find out the headlines or pictures are outdated.

With that said, any wittiness of the current trend represented on creatives can greatly appeal to internet users and further earn extra points for your native advertising campaigns.

Based on the A/B test I conducted a while ago, I did see a huge increase in conversion rate when headlines included specific holidays or special events, such as the presidential election, as compared to those that didn’t include. 

Repeat the above four periodically

As the internet becomes our everyday life, internet users are exposed to tons of various information and increasingly get tired of repetitive or same content easily.

Worse still, the circumstance of advertising fatigue will only become more common and there is no sign of slowing down.

Any way to fix this urgent issue? Yes, there is and it’s probably the only way — be diligent to change your campaign creatives and headlines often.

Also Read: How startups can get the most out of their advertising dollars

While it sounds daunting to proceed, because content production oftentimes requires resource and time to complete, what you should do is slightly adjust headlines and creatives.

For example, changing a few words in headlines and adding some new elements to creatives are sophisticated enough to make your native advertising as fresh as it used to be.

Don’t be lazy. You should mark on your calendar to remind yourself of refreshing your creatives from time to time and eventually you will realise how powerful and critical this step is on improving your native ad performance.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

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In terms of number, the later stage funding round coverage that we got to write in January may not be impressive. But we still managed to uncovered something unique about these funding rounds.

First, we continued to see investment pouring into the e-commerce sector, particularly in startups that work to help other e-commerce businesses such as aCommerce. This indicated investors’ growing interest in the B2B sector, which had been predicted since late last year.

Healthtech sector also continued to gain popularity with an investment in Homage.

Lastly, also from the B2B sector, AppsFlyer announced its latest funding round and plan to further expand in the Asia Pacific region.

aCommerce
Funding: US$15M
Investor(s): Indies Capital Partners

This round comes almost six months after aCommerce secured a US$10 million round from existing shareholders including KKR & Co. in July 2019.

Also Read: These later stage funding rounds of December are the perfect closure to the year 2019

Homage
Funding: Undisclosed Series B
Investor(s): EV Growth, Alternate Ventures, KDV Capital, HealthXCapital

Homage said it will use the funding to focus on three key areas to scale the delivery of its care services.

AppsFlyer
Funding: US$210M in Series B
Investor(s): General Atlantic

With this announcement, AppsFlyer also announced the opening of its seventh Asia Pacific office in Jakarta, Indonesia.

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We started off 2020 with a whopping number of 21 early stage funding round announcements.

The most unique thing about this month’s announcements is that many investors are embracing new territories with their investments. For example, we published a story about Vynn Capital, which expanded to the Borneo region with a funding round for e-commerce and logistics platform Epost.

We also saw a case of funding round that is followed by a rebranding –which happened to be done by leading investor Tim Draper.

Without further ado, check the early stage funding round announcements that e27 got to cover in January.

Hacktiv8
Funding: US$3M in Pre-Series A
Investor(s): East Ventures, Sovereign’s Capital, SMDV, Skystar Capital, Convergence Ventures, RMKB Ventures, Prasetia, and Everhaus.

Hacktiv8 plans to use this newly acquired funds to build more schools and offer what they dubbed as the first Income Share Agreement (ISA) programme in Indonesia, an alternative to traditional student loans.

Also Read: MassMutual Ventures launches US$100M second fund for Southeast Asia’s early stage startups

StoreHub
Funding: US$8.9M in Series A+
Investor(s): Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India, Accord Ventures, and a private family office.

Malaysia’s StoreHUb had previously raised US$5.1 million in its Series A round, bringing its total raised funding to US$14 million.

Klub
Funding: US$2 million in Pre-Seed
Investor(s): Sequoia Capital India (Surge programme), EMVC Fintech Fund, Better Capital, Tracxn Labs, 9Unicorns, angel investors

Singapore-headquartered fintech startup Klub is in stealth mode and is doing limited pilots with select brands, including some international ones entering India.

iSTOX
Funding: US$5 million
Investor(s): Hanwha Asset Management

In early 2020, iSTOX plans to transition into full operational status.

Lumitics
Funding: US$557,000 in Seed
Investor(s): Franck Courmont, ReadyVentures, Startup-O and Louise Daley

Lumitics has previously received grants from Temasek Foundation Ecosperity and Enterprise Singapore.

Waresix
Funding: US$11M in Series A
Investor(s): EV Growth, Jungle Ventures

This brings Waresix’s total capital raised to date to more than US$27.1 million.

allrites
Funding: US$1.1M in Pre-Series A
Investor(s): Artesian Venture Capital, SOSV, Chinaccelerator, and Clarion Venture Partners

allrites enables sellers of professionally produced film, TV and short-form content to list their content for free.

Also Read: That time of the year: A look back into the early stage funding rounds of December

Eko.ai
Funding: US$4M in Seed
Investor(s): Sequoia India, EDBI, Partech Ventures, SGInnovate and Startup Health

Eko.ai is a healthcare company which integrates Machine Learning into its software to predict and treat early-stage heart diseases.

Arkademi
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): SOSV

Arkademi will use the fresh funds to enhance its product, hire new talents, and establish its footing in the Indonesian market.

Great Deals
Funding: US$12M
Investor(s): Navegar

The e-commerce enabler plans to use the capital to enhance its IT, infrastructure, warehouse capabilities and technology solutions, as it aggressively expands its presence in the country.

Hi-So
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): Undisclosed

Hi-So said in a press release that the money will be used to further accelerate the pace of expansion of transaction volume in the delivery and online shopping market in the country, where the competitive environment is intensifying day by day.

Muuve
Funding: Undisclosed
Investor(s): Ooctane

The Phnom Penh-headquartered Muuve said it plans to use the funding for expansion into new cities in the country and strengthen its current operations.

Gredu
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Series A
Investor(s): Vertex Ventures

The funding will be used to develop the Gredu application further so that its features are “fully completed and functional” in accordance with the existing education system in Indonesia.

Also Read: Kinesys Group names Steven Vanada as managing partner, targets US$20M for early stage startups

Epost
Funding: US$700,000 in Seed
Investor(s): Vynn Capital

The newly raised capital will be used by the company to expand business operations in Southeast Asia, acquire talents, and enhance marketing efforts.

Draper Startup House
Funding: US$3.5M in Series A
Investor(s): Tim Draper

With the strategic investment, Singapore-headquartered hostel chain Tribe Theory rebrands to Draper Startup House and form the international division of the business, said a press note.

Pand.ai
Funding: “seven digit” in Pre-Series A
Investor(s):Bualuang Ventures Bangkok

The company said that it will use the newly raised fund to expand its NLP Lab’s resources in Singapore, focussing on developing conversational AI engines for Southeast Asian languages.

RecyGlo
Funding: US$900,000
Investor(s): Undisclosed

The startup is currently raising a US$350,000 bridge funding and expects to make the final close of the ongoing round by the end of Q2.

Joosk Studio
Funding: “six figure”
Investor(s): Nest Tech VN

Joosk Studio is a creative digital animation agency founded and run by artists Thet Paing Kha and Zeyar Htet. The company has worked with companies, including Facebook, CB Bank and Telenor, as well as NGOs, UN agencies and the World Bank Group.

TurtleTree
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Seed
Investor(s): KBW Ventures, Lever VC, K2 Global

TurtleTree uses technology to create real milk from animal cells, with no animal required.

Also Read: Kinesys Group names Steven Vanada as managing partner, targets US$20M for early stage startups

Moladin
Funding: Undisclosed Pre-Series A
Investor(s): East Ventures

Moladin said it will use the fresh fund to accelerate its existing products scaleup, build new features such as new car sales category and auto mortgage loans, as well as expansion to new cities.

Akseleran
Funding: US$8.6M in Series A
Investor(s): Beenext, Access Ventures, Agaeti Venture Capital, Ahabe Group, and Central Capital Ventura

Akseleran states that it will use the new funds to focus on scaling up the team, technology, and penetrating the underserved Indonesian market.

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Indonesian conglomerate MNC Group, through its subsidiary PT Indonesia Transport & Infrastructure Tbk (IATA) announced that it has signed a term sheet to acquire a majority stake in local motorcycle ride-sharing firm Anterin, according to a report by KrAsia. 

Though the amount of the investment was undisclosed, it is meant to drive the shift of Anterin‘s current services towards newer avenues such as food delivery, taxi collaboration with fleet operators, as well as car and helicopter rentals.

“IATA chose Anterin due to its vision. Anterin was created to change the operation concept of ride-hailing firms that exist at the moment,” said Wishnu Handoyono, IATA vice president director, in a press release statement.

According to Jakarta Globe, IATA expects to complete the acquisition by “the end of next month.”

Also Read: Thai startup ecosystem is 3 years behind Indonesia: Krafting Ponpool

This is in line with the company’s strategy to enter the transportation business, particularly ride-hailing services, where Grab and gojek remain the leaders in Southeast Asia.

Currently, Anterin has more than 300,000 drivers and 500,000 customers and operates in 100 cities in Indonesia. The company differentiates itself from Grab and gojek by offering a monthly subscription to drivers, instead of slashing fees from each ride they make, without having to give the company commission fees.

“We avoid the cash burn system. We use the auction concept. The drivers can decide their own prices. Customers also can have their own preferences, according to the price, vehicles, or drivers,” Anterin CTO Rachmat Efendi told KrAsia. 

For MNC Group, the acquisition marks its latest move in the regional startup ecosystem, and its first investment in the ride-hailing sector. The conglomerate has previously invested in several startups, including Singapore-based dating platform Paktor.

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Image Credit:  Adrian Pranata

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Indonesia-based Arkademi, an online platform focussing on the learning and teaching of vocational skills, has announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from US-based VC firm SOSV.

Arkademi will use the fresh funds to enhance its product, hire new talents, and establish its footing in the Indonesian market.

The firm plans to facilitate around 200 more courses and partner with 150 institutions this year, adding to its current numbers of 50 classes by 20 institutions.

Arkademi Founder and CEO Hilman Fajrian also noted that with the funding, SOSV also pledges to support the edutech startup’s growth to serve the country’s 185 million working-age population.

Established in 2018, Arkademi provides various learning topics in an online course format that ranges from digital marketing to entrepreneurship. The platform allows users to upload and share their courses.

President Joko Widodo has set a goal to add 57 million skilled workers by 2030. In order to meet this goal and keep up with industrial growth, Indonesia’s Ministry of Manpower estimated 3.8 million skilled workers are needed to be groomed and empowered annually.

Also Read: Meet 10 new startups graduated from SOSV’s MOX programme in Taiwan

This goal alone is yet to solve the unemployment rate in Indonesia that currently is at around 5 per cent.

“One of the main sources of this problem is limited community access to vocational education, which stems from inefficient implementations and high costs. This problem is what Arkademi seeks to tackle,” said Fajrin.

In addition to the funding, Arkademi will join SOSV accelerator programme MOX, which focusses on the cross-border mobile internet sector. MOX or Mobile Only Accelerator is a programme focussed on localisation, optimisation, monetisation, and partnerships. MOX is operated by the VC firm SOSV with US$650 million assets under management.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, SOSV operates six vertically-focussed accelerator programmes: MOX for mobile internet (Taipei), IndieBio, and RebelBio for biotech (San Francisco, London), HAX for hardware (Shenzhen, San Francisco), Chinaccelerator for internet and software (Shanghai), and Food-X for foodtech and agritech (NYC).

Arkademi was previously part of AWS Edstart incubation programme facilitated by Amazon Web Services Asia Pacific.

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Struggling grocery delivery company honestbee has proposed to pay back its about 800 creditors in part cash and part equity, says a Business Times report, citing sources.

For this, US-based FLK Holdings, which is owned by honestbee’s former Chairman Brian Koo (its early investor) and his venture firm Formation Group, plans to inject fresh funds of US$7 million into the Singapore firm for settlement,

As per this report, Koo and Formation Group plan to use a cash payment to settle 3 per cent of what honestbee owes to 800 creditors. The remaining 97 per cent will be repaid via the issuance of shares in a new Singapore-incorporated entity that will own honestbee’s assets. This entity will take over the grocery delivery startup’s assets.

Also Read: Indonesia’s digital economy development occurs only in urban areas as disparity continues

Creditors will receive shares in this new firm.

Separately, honestbee owes S$500 or less each to more than 1,000 trade creditors (which amounted to over S$150,000). They will be repaid in full and so won’t be included in the scheme.

If the plans get through, creditors will own between 70 per cent and 75 per cent of the new Singapore firm.

honestbee, a heavily-funded company, was struggling to survive after several of its operations in Southeast Asia were shut down. This led the resignation of its co-founder and CEO Joel Sng in May last year.

In October, honestbee announced management changes with Varian Lim being appointed as Chief Operating Officer.

As per some other report in September, honestbee owes 217 employees a total of almost US$1 million in unpaid salary.

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e27 has groomed a thriving community of two million like-minded readers in the tech and startup industry. And you can engage with this community via the Contributor Programme.

It is a great place to establish thought leadership and reflect the interests of the start-up economy in Asia.  In 2020, we decided to dedicate each month to an umbrella theme to get your thinking caps on and stimulate discussion.

January was all about reflecting over the year gone by and looking for trends of the future. Here’s a curated list of the most read contributor posts in January.

How to choose a coworking space for your startup

Coworking spaces are the face of the working zones in the modern world. These places are an attempt to change the trends of how employees react to work and office spaces. Traditional office spaces are slowly getting wiped off. Find out why!

Using social media to grow your startup: What companies can do to avoid disappointment

Social networks are one of the most effective tools to promote and attract clients. It is not only big brands that achieve success in social media space.

Even small companies and startups unlock their potential, forming a target audience in their niche. But managing social media is not so easy. Make your way through this maze.

9 digital marketing trends you can no longer ignore in 2020

Digital marketing trends are very much similar to the world of fashion where newer trends rule the runway every new season. But every once in a while there comes a trend that just stays around longer than expected.

Same is the digital world.

It’s already 2020 and if you are not tightening your belts to take this year seriously, then you will definitely fall back in the race of competition. While a lot of new things are expected to welcome us in the new year, there are a few marketing trends of 2019 that are expected to rule the landscape in the following year as well.

Why working at a startup is a better way to launch your career

Millennials of today wish to find their dream jobs once they graduate from college. And they are extremely sensitive about the roles and responsibilities that are put on their shoulders once they are hired.

Lending a job in market-leading companies is an achievement in itself.

Still, startups hold their fort that lets their interns learn many things and gives benefits that no leading business can. But is this a good decision? Let’s find out.

CNY Special: How the e-ang bao and digital gold are fuelling the rise of virtual gifting in Asia

In a tradition dating back centuries, Chinese elders make gifts of money to children and unmarried relatives during the Lunar New Year, wishing wealth and prosperity for them in the coming year.

Now, traditions rooted in the past are adapting to the times, and the practice of giving and receiving red packets is changing to fit the highly digitised lifestyles of modern society.

Electronic red packets have been rising steadily in popularity over the last few years in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau after being introduced by the Chinese internet company, Tencent, a few years back in 2014.

I have a startup idea. But how do I know if it is worth it?

Ideas take birth every moment, but not each one succeeds.

There are many reasons why this could happen. Sometimes it is due to lack of resources; sometimes it is due to inadequate research. Planning and implementation are also factors that play an important role. Five things to ask yourself before getting your tech startup idea out in the market.

Lessons from a tattoo artist: What startups can do to be more creative

As creatives, we tend to be overly idealistic about what we want to create. Be ambitious but realistic— especially in the beginning. Start small by finding the simplest thing you can do now to get the idea out there for validation.

A tattoo artist and entrepreneur draws invaluable lessons from his journey.

Diversity in the workforce: Where do we go from here?

TeamSpirit Singapore has a pretty diverse workforce with seven nationalities in their Singapore office of 19 people. Diversity does not just reflect in thought and competence but also brings out kindness, humanity, and culture within a team.

This post talks about the three ways diversity in the workforce can improve your startup culture.

7 ways to build a better brand that defines you in 2020

The word brand or logo is often cast-off in the technological world and though it is one of the most important factors to work on digitally. Branding has been stated to companies for a long time, but nowadays almost every next person has its own brand.

In this digital world, your own branding ties you with the world and your online presence is the essence if you want to grow your brand. Besides, every company is based on branding like a brand is an identity for their business.

11 tips for managing the digital workforce of your startup

This world is getting digital-faster than we could imagine. Technology is taking new shapes every day, moulding according to people’s needs, bringing us new ideas in the form of innovation.

One such advancement seen in recent years is the digital workforce, estimated to become pretty popular among marketers in the coming time. Now, before we get started with any further discussion, let’s know some basics about a digital workforce.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

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SoftBank-backed Indian hospitality chain OYO cuts jobs in US – DealStreet Asia

Within weeks of slashing workforce in India and China, Indian hospitality chain Oyo Hotels and Homes (OYO) is retrenching hundreds of employees in the US in a bid to keep its bottom line intact, said a DealStreet Asia report.

Headquartered in Gurugram, the SoftBank-backed unicorn has laid off around 360 people in the US, about one-third of its total headcount in the country, Skift reported. Jobs have reportedly been slashed across numerous categories, including business development managers, talent acquisition leads, and area general managers.

OYO forayed into the US in February 2019 and currently claims to have grown to 19,000 rooms in over 250 hotels across 30 states. While OYO refrained from getting into specifics, a senior company executive requesting anonymity, said, “These are hard decisions, but critical for the company to make if it wants to build a strong and sustainable business.”

Unlike other companies that have been written off, OYO has a strong balance sheet but is still taking these measures, which is testament to the fact that the company is running a marathon, and not here for a sprint.

Facebook to remove coronavirus misinformation after WHO declares global emergency – Reuters

Facebook Inc said on Thursday it will take down misinformation about China’s fast-spreading coronavirus in a rare departure from its approach to health content, after the World Health Organisation (WHO) declared the outbreak a global health emergency, confirmed a Reuters report.

The world’s biggest social network said in a blog post that it would remove content about the virus “with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organisations and local health authorities,” saying such content would violate its ban on misinformation leading to “physical harm.”

The move is unusually aggressive for Facebook, which generally limits the distribution of content containing health misinformation through restrictions on search results and advertising, but allows the original posts to stay up.

That approach has angered critics who say the company has failed to curb the spread of inaccuracies that pose major global health threats.

In particular, misinformation about vaccination has spread far on social media in many countries in recent years, including during major vaccination campaigns to prevent polio in Pakistan and to immunise against yellow fever in South America.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news: OYO Founder Ritesh Agarwal has confirmed staff layoffs in India

honestbee to get US$7M to repay its creditors: Report – Business Times

Struggling grocery delivery company honestbee has proposed to pay back its about 800 creditors in part cash and part equity, said a Business Times report, citing sources.

For this, US-based FLK Holdings, which is owned by honestbee’s former Chairman Brian Koo and his venture firm Formation Group, plans to inject fresh funds of US$7 million into the Singapore firm for settlement.

As per this report, Koo and Formation Group plan to use a cash payment to settle three per cent of what honestbee owes to 800 creditors. The remaining 97 per cent will be repaid via the issuance of shares in a new Singapore-incorporated entity that will own honestbee’s assets. This entity will take over the grocery delivery startup’s assets.

Creditors will receive shares in this new firm.

Separately, honestbee owes S$500 (US$366) or less each to more than 1,000 trade creditors, which amounted to over S$150,000 (US$1,096). They will be repaid in full and will not be included in the scheme.

If the plans get through, creditors will own between 70 per cent and 75 per cent of the firm.

honestbee, a heavily-funded company, was struggling to survive after several of its operations in Southeast Asia were shut down. This led the resignation of its co-founder and CEO Joel Sng in May last year.

Indonesian ride-hailing startup Anterin to diversify services following acquisition by MNC Group – KrAsia

Indonesian conglomerate MNC Group, through its subsidiary PT Indonesia Transport & Infrastructure Tbk (IATA), announced that it has signed a term sheet to acquire a majority stake in local motorcycle ride-sharing firm Anterin, according to a report by KrAsia.

Though the amount of the investment was undisclosed, it is meant to drive the shift of Anterin‘s current services towards newer avenues such as food delivery, taxi collaboration with fleet operators, as well as car and helicopter rentals.

“IATA chose Anterin due to its vision. Anterin was created to change the operation concept of ride-hailing firms that exist at the moment,” said Wishnu Handoyono, IATA vice president director, in a press statement.

According to Jakarta Globe, IATA expects to complete the acquisition by “the end of next month.”

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