5 Singapore startups are on track to be a unicorn in 2021; They are PropertyGuru, Ninja Van, Carousel, Zilingo, Biofourmis; As of September 2020, there are more than 400 unicorns around the world; The most valuable startup in the world is TikTok’s parent Bytedance. Vulcan Post
How customers help drive Shopback’s product development journey; The e-commerce firm measures customer value and used customer feedback metrics to shape its product development journey amidst the pandemic; During the ongoing crisis, ShopBack Singapore saw a 4x surge in orders for product categories such as fitness and electronics, while the internet services category increased by around 70X from Q1-Q2. e27
Despite Limited 4G Penetration, emerging markets on par with rest of the world in 5G rollout; The pace of the rollout will be expedited by a combination of regulatory enablement, enabling technologies and the broader use cases that 5G brings forward, says an an industry analyst. ABI Research
ASEAN consumers ‘less than satisfied’ with their e-commerce experience; As per a research buyers expressed most frustration with the cost of delivery and services, reliability of product, fake online reviews; E-commerce players are likely to see mounting difficulties if they fail to focus on consumer satisfaction and raise their standards going forward. Inside Retail Asia
Fvndit raises US$30M debt financing for its Vietnamese P2P lending firm eLoan; Investors include Accial Capital, Variant Investments; eLoan allows investors to lend money directly to SMEs driven by a data-driven crediting rating and decision-making system. KrAsia
Sunday raises US$9M from Thai bank SCB’s VC arm, Vertex, others; The insurtech startup plans to grow its domestic business in Thailand and Indonesia; Sunday has developed risk prediction algorithms that power its premium pricing and recommendation engines for health and motor coverages. e27
Kim An raises Series A to connect Vietnam’s FIs with MSMEs via its fintech platform; Investors are Patamar Capital, Viet Capital Ventures, East Ventures; So far, 25K+ loans have been disbursed through Kim An; As per a recent study, Vietnam is one of the most attractive fintech hubs in SEA. e27
Singapore’s Aerospring raises US$730K pre-Series A led by Sirius Venture; The startup’s patented vertical-gardening system uses aeroponics; The automated system grows up to 27 edible plants at a time using 10 sqft feet of space; The plants grow twice as fast and use 90% less water than traditional methods of gardening using soil. Business Times
Filipino fintech JazzyPay raises US$500K from Cocoon Capital; The startup provides payments and invoicing solutions to consumers across SEA; The virus outbreak has prompted people to adopt cashless payment methods as a form of payment and, in turn, contributed to the rise of a new cashless society. e27
Fiat or crypto? Why the payment giants are warming up to digital assets; Deutsche Bank predicts digital assets would replace fiat by 2030; With cryptocurrencies gradually taking the spotlight, this phenomenon has become an opportunity for traditional payment service providers to look into the blockchain and explore how they can integrate such tech into their systems. e27
5-step strategy for agri e-commerce startups to engage customers; For the startups who are planning to venture into the agri e-commerce space, managing the food value chain to build customer’s confidence around the quality of produce, food safety, and best value is essential for customer engagement. e27
Resiliency, innovation are mirror-twins in the digital world; Innovation happens when workers or organisations stretch the boundaries of what they are doing and come up with ideas and systems that often involve a new way of doing things; Both innovation and resiliency require the ability to evolve with time and situation and come up with a new paradigm. GovInsider
How proptech impacts real estate; Building great tech products and systems will create a better experience and outcome for consumers in the long term; The future is where there is greater transparency between owners, tenants, trades, and property managers, along with a stronger reliance on apps and portals. e27
Banks should turn to using AI in eKYC in the digital arms race; AI represents significant cost reduction opportunities particularly within the KYC space where it is time-consuming and previously required humans to manually read through the documents, and verify pictures against identification documents like the NRIC. Fintech News
Valyou launches blockchain-based remittance services in Bangladesh; Through this service, the Bangladeshi diaspora in Malaysia can send wage remittance via Valyou to a beneficiary in Bangladesh who is a bKash wallet user; The service is powered by blockchain technology from Ant Group. Fintech News
US property management Onerent enters Singapore; It is now planning to work in Hong Kong, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam; Onerent offers a technology that promotes a contactless way of buying and selling properties. e27
500 Bruneians to participate first ‘Teens in AI’ hackathon SEA; It’s a developmental programme by UK’s Acorn Aspirations; The pilot hackathon, titled ‘AI For Good’, has begun with 53 school students aged 14-16 years; Participants will act as a pool of leaders/ambassadors for the next phase – a cross-school hackathon targeting 500 students to develop 100 solutions in Q1 2021. Biz Brunei
In Jakarta suburb, Mitsubishi and Temasek plan US$2B smart city; It will include homes, shopping centres and medical facilities, with the goal of housing 40K-60K permanent residents; Development is expected to take about 20 years. Nikkei Asian Review
hoolah Launches ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ solution for physical stores in Singapore; It is a fully digital, so installation is not required; According to Singapore’s Department of Statistics, retail sales in the country fell a record 52% in May, and analysts continue to foresee a slow recovery for the industry for the rest of 2020. Fintech New
Is Malaysia finally taking mental health in the workplace seriously?; The attitude towards mental health has changed quite tremendously; The stigma barriers are coming down; Corporate employers are now ready to launch employee mental health support programmes, and once launched, the employees are ready to participate. Tech Collective
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