Singapore introduces special visa Tech.Pass to woo top global tech talents such as founders, mentors, lecturers, consultants; Applications will open in January 2021, with 500 places available upon launch; To qualify, individuals must possess experience in leading large tech companies, or in developing tech products with mass adoption. e27
Google invests in Indonesian unicorn Tokopedia, joining Temasek; The confirmation of the investment comes hot on the heels of Microsoft’s capital injection into Bukalapak; Google now holds 1.6% of Tokopedia while Temasek-affiliated Anderson Investments has a 3.3% stake; Bloomberg reported last month that Tokopedia was looking to raise around US$350M from both parties. Nikkei Asia Review
Indonesia’s Alodokter raises Series C+ from MDI Ventures; In Oct 2019, the healthcare super app raised US$33M Series C; The platform connects more than 30K doctors and 1,500 hospitals and clinics with patients; The company currently boasts over 27M MAUs or more than 10% of all Indonesian population using Alodokter services at least once a month. Mobi Health News
KOL speak
Busting the 5 popular myths surrounding startup exits; Your team may be brilliant and diverse, your business idea solid, revenues promising and the market is growing; But during the due diligence, if your balance sheet turns out to be a mess, financial experts on the buyer’s side will raise the alarm and your valuation will go down or the deal you had hoped for might never happen. e27
SME lending platform Investree receives US$15M credit facility from US-based Accial Capital; Investree offers a diversified loan portfolio, including invoice financing, buyer financing, working capital term loan, and online seller financing; As of Sept, Investree has transacted US$493K in loans to over 1,400 borrowers. e27
Vietnamese unicorn VNG sees room for gaming growth in SEA; So far, gaming contributes 80%+ of its revenues; While Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines are on its radar for immediate expansion, VNG is also betting big on Singapore, HK and Taiwan. DealStreetAsia
Singapore’s GIC leads US$200M round in Chinese edutech firm Aixuexi Education; Aixuexi provides online courses covering mathematics, Chinese, English, physics, chemistry, biology, science, and programming for students from primary to high school; It operates under the online-merge-offline model and combines education with AI, Big Data, cloud computing. TechInAsia
Indonesia’s early-stage VC Grupara Ventures rebrands as Absolute Confidence; The firm has also launched a US$30M new fund and received investments and commitments from LPs; Grupara has backed over a dozen startups, including BukuKas, Dropezy, Ayoconnect, Kopi Kenangan, Fabelio, and Andalin. e27
Singapore fintech startup Durianpay raises US$1.4M in Sequoia-led seed round; The round gives the payments and checkout solutions provider a post-money valuation of over US$6.7M; A Statista report estimated that the total transaction value in SEA’s digital payment segment will reach US$95.1B in 2020 and US$156.4B in just 4 years. TechInAsia
Malaysia’s innovation sandbox NTIS helps startups power through COVID-19 with collaboration, innovation; The NTIS has US$24.1M in funding to fast track the commercialisation of projects – an important boost, considering the lack of investors and the challenges that lie ahead post-pandemic. Digital News Asia
How to turn product returns into returning customers this holiday season; According to a survey, 42% of all shoppers in APAC will check an online store’s return policy before making a purchase; Given the dissatisfaction with the existing returns experience in Asia, a retailer could build customer loyalty through offering returns that are truly seamless, thus generating long-term revenues. e27
Why fintechs and banks have a bright future together; Whereas banks are more regulatory and rigid, fintech companies are able to provide flexible assistance to their customers; In a world where customers demand speed, simplicity, and customer-centric products, fintech ranks quite high for personalised products. e27
Shoppertainment the name of the game for e-commerce platforms; As per an iPrice report, SEA entered the era of ‘shoppertainment’ last year; Due to COVID-19, iPrice said Vietnam’s e-commerce firms were increasing livestream and gaming activities on mobile apps to increase consumer engagement during social distancing. Vietnam News
After COVID-19, where are the Singapore economy, workforce headed?; Sustainability will be a long-term theme that impacts the city-state’s economic structure; This ranges from infrastructure to guard against rising sea levels, as well as technologies for electric vehicles, harnessing clean energy and ramping up food security. Channel News Asia
Ninja Van partners Myanmar’s NearMe to drive e-payments; NearMe says its platform is used by over 50K retailers, and that transaction volumes “increased exponentially” during the COVID-19 lockdown; NearMe was launched by global payments firm 2C2P in 2015, in partnership with the Myanma Awba Group and Pahtama Group. SGSME
AmBank, Maxis collaborate to introduce contactless payment solution ‘mTAP’ for SMEs in Malaysia; mTAP uses a mobile device as a payment acceptance terminal to process debit and credit card transactions via PayNet; It is aimed at the consumer market dominated by millennials and Gen-Y, which expects smarter, faster and more accessible financial services. Malaysian Reserve
Enterprise open source and the future of banking; The appeal of open source software is that these solutions allow for fast innovation at a much lower cost than proprietary solutions; These benefits are particularly relevant at a time when customers are demanding constant innovation, and companies are looking to cut costs. Fintech Singapore
Chinese insurtech CareVoice enters SEA; Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand are the entry markets; Its tech platform CareVoiceOS offers a large variety of health services integrated into different customer journeys and also allows insurers to do fast and flexible health insurance product customisation with its plug & play implementation service. Asia Insurance Review
Leverage tech to effectively manage and respond to IT disruptions and outages; Right technology needs to be at the centre of any strategy, with people working determinedly to incorporate tech into an organisation’s incident management plan; Don’t try and do everything on your own; rather partner with those who are experts and leave space for errors. Open Gov
Big Data for small retailers: What does the data economy have to do with SMEs; The sheer amount of data collected from consumers across the world is making it easier for companies to connect with existing and potential customers and clients, all while increasing their ability to personalise the user experience. Tech Collective
Digital transformation is a marathon, not a sprint — here’s why SMEs should keep the pace; A study says 73% of mid- and large-sized companies in Singapore have sped up digitalisation in a variety of ways to adapt to the new reality; But COVID-19 is also widening the digital divide, between those who were able to muster resources to pivot their businesses and those that did not. SGSME
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