As 2021 rolls to an end, we are taking a look at what made it a great year for e27 and our community. We wanted the year to be all about making connections, creating opportunities, and being heard in a world that is still gaining its footing. Here are the highlights of our year:

Close to 9,000 connections made through e27 Pro

Without events – large and small – that allow us to gather together, we wanted to give startups and investors an avenue to discover, meet, and connect with each other. This year we focussed on creating improvements to e27 Pro’s Connect feature that would allow for that.

We have made investor discovery easier on our platform – this includes not just highlighting over 400 verified investors who are open for connection requests, but recommending investors relevant to startups based on vertical and funding stage. Apart from that, we are in regular communications with both investors and startups, highlighting potential connections they could initiate.

Also Read: A horse of another: Here’s the complete list of Southeast Asia’s 26 unicorns

Startups and investors are able to manage their connection requests with the Connect Dashboard. Startups get an overall view of their Connect activities, while Investors can use the additional feature of the Connection Manager to respond to connection requests. Both startups and investors can also schedule and track their meeting progress with the Appointment Manager.

Since we launched Connect, we’re excited to say that close to 9,000 startup-investor connections were made.

Highlighting 56 heroes of the SEA startup ecosystem

Amidst the numerous adversities that the COVID-19 pandemic brought about, Southeast Asian (SEA) startup ecosystem has proven its resilience. At the beginning of 2021, we wanted to put the spotlight on the heroes of the SEA startup ecosystem – individuals who played instrumental roles in the resilience and success of their respective organisations.

The e27 Luminaries features non-founders who have led groundbreaking projects, implemented life-saving ideas, or made improbable achievements despite the unfavourable situation, and who are directly nominated by their respective organisations.

From HR managers, business development executive, administrative staff, and more, we put the spotlight on 56 individuals from 56 companies selected based on their remarkable achievements in any one of the five categories: Pivots, Fundings and Acquisitions, Partnerships, Expansions, and Breakthroughs.

Making the voices of over 370 rising thought leaders heard across 1000+ community articles

In e27, we not only keep you updated on the region’s latest startup ecosystem news. More than just a running commentary and announcements on launches, fundings, and whatnot, what we really aim to do is to tell your story.

But it’s not just us telling the stories. You, the e27 Community, trusted us to share your own stories, offer your insights and best practices, dole out advice, and more. In fact, some of the most read stories in 2021 are articles contributed by our growing community. 

This year, we published over a thousand articles contributed by over 370 contributors; 303 of whom shared an article with us for the first time.

We know that putting your stories and insights out there takes more than just time and we wanted to thank you. A few weeks ago, we announced e27 Voices: The top 50 emerging thought leaders of the tech startup ecosystem to show how much we appreciate the trust you placed in us sharing your stories. 

And in honour of that, on behalf of our contributors, we donated to Aidha, a charity that is supporting entrepreneurship and financial literacy education for marginalised women, because in a world such as we are in now, having the chance to help offer opportunities is both a privilege and a responsibility.

Learning and sharing together – from across the miles

Life goes on, even if we are all stuck at home. One of the things that make this a great community is the willingness of each one to share their knowledge and experiences. We wanted to create this shared learning experience this year despite not being able to in person.

In 2021, we held 37 online events to help you build and grow your companies and upskill your team. 

From the Fundraising Fundamentals series that featured the region’s top VCs as they shared what they are looking for in startups; the Startup Playbook Series that covered various topics from the basics of setting up you sales process to the fundamentals of B2B Sales; the Scaling Your Startup Across Borders series that discussed best practices in setting up and managing your remote teams; and many more webinars with topics ranging from building healthy company spending habits to adapting to changing customer behaviour, we’re glad that you shared this learning experience with us.

Building partnerships to create opportunities

This year, we are glad to have worked on over 70 projects with over 50 partners to create opportunities for the SEA startup ecosystem.

From nurturing communities with Facebook Accelerator; sharing opportunities for growth and development in various co-creation projects with ICMG; facilitating mentorship and creating opportunities for growth via the Vision Program with STPI; and opening up expansion to Japan with JETRO; we are proud to have worked together with so many companies and organisations who shared our mission of empowering entrepreneurs with the tools to build and grow their companies.

Not just limited to programs and events, we also worked with partners to give you access to tools and resources that can help you in various stages of your company’s growth.

Improvements to make your experience better

One of the key things we focussed on in 2021 is making it easier for you to move around our platform. We added some features that allowed you to manage your connections, view your articles, and find things easier on the e27 site.

The Connect feature of e27 Pro has a slew of new features this year – from a dashboard that allows startups and investors to view connection requests, to a connection manager that lets investors respond to the connection requests they received, and the appointment manager where both startups and investors can schedule and track their meetings.

We improved the investor page to make it easier to view and connect with verified investors, as well as launched improved recommendations for active investors that may be relevant to our members. 

Also read: Pocket power: 27 personal finance startups in SEA to help you manage money

The startup pages had some cool new features added, allowing companies to share not just basic information but their story and personality with videos, images, and the capability to connect their blog.

It’s now easier for you to learn more about the companies you are reading about as well. We have launched company profile widgets on the sidebar of the article pages so you can easily head to their profile, learn more about them, and connect with them. 

And because we  want to make it easier for you to find the things you are looking for, we have created a dedicated page for news where you can find articles categorised based on specific interests/topics.

We had a lot going on in 2021. We are thrilled and grateful that you have been along for the ride. Onward to 2022!

 

The post e27 in 2021: Hitting 9K connections, creating opportunities, and amplifying voices appeared first on e27.