The startup aims to open more than 30 franchises in the Asian country by the end of 2019
Mr Jeff Founders
Mr Jeff, an on-demand laundry startup headquartered in Valencia, Spain, has announced its expansion into Singapore.
The startup aims to open more than 30 franchises in the Asian country by the end of 2019.
According to the company, the laundry services market in Singapore is primarily made up of small, local shop owners, with a limited customer reach and, consequently, limited opportunity for business growth.
“With our digital approach and our subscriptions plans, we intend to change the traditional function of the dry cleaning sector. Singapore is one of the countries in which maximum revenue is expected,” said Julio Suero, Mr Jeff’s Head of Expansion Asia.
The venture was founded in 2015 by three Spanish entrepreneurs Eloi Gómez, Adrián Lorenzo and Rubén Muñoz. It provides laundry and dry cleaning services to its customers, who can choose the exact location, time and day of pickup. A driver visits the user’s house and collects the garments and later on delivers them back, cleaned and ironed.
The app is available on Android and iOS platforms and works through a monthly subscription system and one-off orders in stores, called Mr Jeff Hubs, that are distributed across different cities, forming a network of franchises that completely change the traditional laundry model.
Mr Jeff is currently operating in more than 10 countries, including Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, Costa Rica and Panama. It is also undertaking an international expansion process with more than 370 Mr Jeff Hubs, including franchise opportunities in Singapore.
5G will ramp up digitisation efforts in many areas of society
Across the Asia Pacific region, the economy is undergoing unprecedented change as a result of digitisation, hyper-connectivity, 5G and big data convergence. The cost of rolling out and implementing 5G across all sectors of the economy globally is expected to reach at least US$2.7 trillion by the end of 2020, according to research from finance house Greensill. The telecommunication sector alone is investing an estimated US$1 trillion by 2020 to implement infrastructure upgrades.
In this new operating environment, where the speed and low latency of 5G will trigger a wave of innovative applications and services, organisations need to rethink their business and operating models to drive revenue.
Digitisation and the rise of Industry 4.0
The enabler for the new wave of globalisation is digitisation and, to a greater extent, the emerging phenomenon known as Industry 4.0. We’re now in an era where mass connectivity will give rise to intelligence and capability never before experienced, and to survive in Industry 4.0 companies need to fundamentally transform their mindset and culture as well as their existing operator models along with the underpinning strategy and structure.
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) used to take decades to grow in new markets. With digitisation, new entrants can launch in multiple markets within months. Digitisation also enables closer links with consumers, eliminating many parts of the traditional supply chain at a stroke, while data analysis gives organisations instant insights into consumers’ preferences and desires.
Operators recognise that 5G is not a new network; it is another layer on top of a secure 4G network. The challenges of legacy and the introduction of new technologies to compete more effectively are focus areas for all operators.
Telstra is investing more than US$300 million in building Australia’s first 5G network and a further US$1 billion in digitisation capability to connect more people through a greater number of services available on a variety of devices. The rise of 5G has given the opportunity to diverge traditional business models.
However, operators face the constant challenge of significant capital investment to build on top of 4G as well as prepare their networks for the arrival of 5G. The ROI in capital invested in most telecommunications companies is in the 4-5 per cent range across the APAC region. Telcos need to consider opportunities to become differentiated rather than continuing to invest in a deflationary economic model. The line between free and paid services are becoming a greater area of concern for MNOs.
Big data
Big data will power every decision organisations make and the way they interact with consumers. Today, consumers are wanting control of their data. Data portability should and will continue to add value to the daily lives of consumers.
5G will open the gates to enable richer and immersive entertainment, breakthroughs in health, and improvements in education. IOT will make our cities smarter by allowing driverless cars to connect to smart streets, smart shops, and more. Outside smart cities, in more remote areas, 5G will enable the 1.7 billion people without a mobile phone who are significantly underserved to finally have access to services that 3G and 4G could not provide, including access to education.
Singtel is doubling down its efforts to take advantage of hyperconnectivity and big data. Speaking at this year’s Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, the company shared its plans to focus its business on three key areas: creating intelligent connectivity through analytics and automation; building stand-alone, cloud-native digital business applications that enable richer engagement opportunities with customers; and building regional digital ecosystems across payments, IOT and analytics to create additional sources of revenue and engagement opportunities for operators and their partner ecosystem.
Mobility
Mobile revenue growth is stagnating. The average revenue per user is declining across most operators. Mobile data traffic will be 4x higher than it is today as the world now works with data. Telecommunications companies across the globe are at the core of this and are sitting on a gold mine of data about consumer behaviours. However, traditional mobile revenue growth is expected to shrink from 5 per cent to 1 per cent. The commoditisation of connecting is becoming a huge issue as we move from transactional connectivity to intelligent connectivity.
The value creation which needs to be provided is taking place through significant investment in cloud-native applications, platforms and services. In the era of data, intelligent connectivity will be key to stopping commoditisation. It will be a new way of differentiating.
The ability to monetise the platform at speed and scale will be key. Providers will need to build new applications using cloud-native principles, so that these use cases can be taken to the customers, leveraging a common framework.
The network should be virtualised and be in containers. The purpose behind cloud-native is scale, reuse and the ability to run in any environment. To accommodate these, MNOs are dealing with flexible business models to stay ahead of the competition.
MNOs need to build software using cloud-native principles and agile methodologies. This together with an open source PaaS platform, such as Pivotal Cloud Foundry (PCF), will enable MNOs to build rich cloud-native services as well as help deal with legacy software through industry-leading containerisation capabilities.
This will ultimately bring services closer to the edge, all enabled by 5G.
—
Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.
The startup battle by Unilever’s global corporate innovation pillar was held at the recent Innovfest Unbound
Unilever Foundry, the FMCG giant’s global corporate innovation pillar that focusses on partnering and accelerating innovations across the company’s 400+ brands and functions, has announced the startups Kora and Rytle as the joint winners of Unilever Foundry Startups Battle 2019.
The startup battle was held at Innovfest Unbound from June 27 – 28, 2019.
“The variety of startups that competed in this year’s battle under the banner of Smart Retail demonstrated that we need to look at innovation through the lens of an ecosystem of technologies that goes beyond buying and selling,” said Barbara Guerpillon, Director, Unilever Foundry Asia.
Guerpillon further added that Unilever Foundry is looking at the integration of the latest technologies in the retail industry, as well as how they are transforming the rules of consumer engagement and opening up new opportunities.
Kora is an Indonesia-based startup that distributes over 500 different consumer products through a network of 2,800 individuals called Poskora.
Rytle is a Singapore-based startup that combines technology and environmental protection for maximum flexibility in city logistics.
The other finalists in the competition that went head-to-head with the joint winners included Fairbanc, Perx Technologies, and Fabulyst.
Unilever Foundry Startup Battle was launched in 2015 and has been joined by 500 startups from across the region, piloting more than 159 startups with Unilever brands and functions. Unilever Foundry focusses on areas such as marketing tech and adtech, enterprise tech, products and ingredients, new business model innovation, and social impact.
This year, the battle focussed on smart retail with startups covering categories such as smart vending, supply chain, retail experience, product loyalty, and shopper analysis.
The Vietnam-based company said it has received an undisclosed amount for its fifth funding round
Base.vn, a Vietnamese Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform, announced that it has raised an undisclosed amount of Series A funding from Nextrans, a Korean venture capitalist.
Previously, Base had raised US$1.7 million in a pre-Series A round by four other VCs: Beenext, Alpha JWC Ventures, VIISA, and 500Startups.
Nextrans has more than US$400 million in fund, investing in around 60 companies that are mostly based in the US and Korea. In Vietnam, Nextrans was the investor in Luxstay, Jamja or EcoTruck.
Regarding its decision to invest in Base.vn, Nextrans said that it has reviewed 600 companies in different sectors for two years and found 10 more “enterprise-based solutions.”
Base was founded in 2016 by Stanford University alumni Pham Kim Hung.
It claims to be the first SaaS platform in the region that helps enterprise streamline activities with features such as Base E-hiring (an applicant tracking system), Base Wework (a task and project management platform), and Base Request (internal request management).
“Our ultimate goal is to bring quality products that have great impact and values in enterprises’ growth. With the funding, the more important things are the values that we can generate towards our customers,” said Base Co-founder and CEO Hung Pham.
Base said it aims for international investment funds with extensive experience in SaaS to work with the company to become the leading SaaS platform in the region.
Its applications have been used daily by more than 1,000 customers in Vietnam in different industries including banking-finance, e-commerce, F&B, and education.
The company plans to raise its next round of funding in late 2019.
Strategic capital is essential for startups to achieve sustainable long-term growth
Smart capital, simply put, refers to the investment that brings along additional value such as knowledge, relationships, potential partnerships in addition to cash. In an economy where connectivity is becoming increasingly important and prevalent, smart capital is becoming more and more crucial for businesses to flourish.
Specifically in Southeast Asia, relationships are the backbone of business partnerships and dealings. Connections that investors may have can be equally or even more important than the cash they can deliver. For the growing number of startups, getting plugged into the ecosystem is imperative for their growth – to connect with suppliers, customers as well as forming strategic partnerships with other companies.
On the other hand, investors are also seeking investment opportunities where they can provide more than just cash. Ultimately, they want to be confident of getting the highest return possible.
Many funds such as VCs focus in certain spaces, allowing them to gain expertise and build connections among their investments. The rise of Corporate VCs (CVC) also points to the importance of providing smart capital, where large corporates buy smaller companies to improve their businesses.
PE firms buy companies that fit into their investment portfolio intending to restructure them to prepare them for more significant exits such as IPO and M&A.
Understanding the Southeast Asia investment market
While the global investment community has been eyeing the Southeast market for some time, the business landscape is still generally considered risky with political instability and underdeveloped infrastructure to support startups, except for countries like Singapore. As such, the majority of investments still come from PE firms that deal with companies that have already established some market success.
The number of VC and CVC investments have also increased in recent years with the booming technology industry providing an array of diverse solutions. However, in 2018, most of the funding in Southeast Asia is to later stage companies such as Grab, Lazada, Go-Jek, Tokopedia and Sea Group.
Smaller VC firms still face strong headwinds in finding capital for riskier start-ups. Investors are in high demand in Southeast Asia. Companies and funds face difficulty in raising capital due to the risky nature of investments in Southeast Asia despite the high growth potential.
Investors in developed countries such as the United States and China tend to behave differently from those in Southeast Asia.
Due to the significantly larger pool of investors and the size of the domestic markets, it is common for startups, especially those with proven track records, to be selective when it comes to receiving investments. As the investment landscape in Southeast Asia is still considered relatively new, it will be the startups who are chasing for funds rather than the other way round.
Understanding investors
As shown in the above image, investors of different types of funds do have different goals for their investments. Even angel investors have different goals such as retirement, partnerships with the existing portfolio and personal financial goals. Having aligned expectations as investors is important to avoid being pressed by the investors for quick financial returns when the business is premature for its intended exit.
Smart capital can also be disruptive when investors have different strategies from the management. This could result in conflict, wrong decisions and could even lead to failure. Discussing strategy must be on the agenda when seeking smart capital to align the vision so that stakeholders can support one another to execute the business plan effectively.
Another way to understand investors is through the way they conduct their due diligence. It reflects the attitude and culture of the investors. For example, if you are raising your first round of investment and was hammered with questions on detailed five-year financial projections, you will know that the investor may not be comfortable with the early-stage investment.
Managing expectations
Discussing what parties want out of the investment is important to lay out duties and timelines to obligations. This ensures that investors do deliver on what they promise to provide for the business, providing clarity for the investors to carry out specific action plans. It also assures investors on when and how the company intends to fulfill its financial obligations (e.g. expected to start distributing dividends in Year 3.. Do not just ask for investors’ help without telling them what you can provide them.
Providing alternatives
Risk is a huge concern in Southeat Asia for any investor. Creating alternatives and other options may pose a higher level of risk for the business, but it increases the chances of securing investments in this underdeveloped economy.
Structured finance can be used to compensate investors when certain key objectives are not met by the stipulated timeline. Royalties can also be used as sweeteners to pay investors based on business performance rather than fixed amounts like dividends.
As the bond market in Southeast Asia develops, companies can also consider convertible notes. This allows investors to invest through debt, which is less risky, with the option to switch to equity to capitalise on higher returns – should the business succeed.
There are many different ways that investment deals can be structured to reduce the risk of investors. The business should consider how they can meet the interests of investors by reducing risk to gain funding. While this may not be optimal for businesses, it is necessary for the near future as investors continue to remain wary in the region.
Conclusion
The Southeast Asia economy remains a difficult but a blooming space for businesses to grow as competition is stiff while capital is sparse. Yet capital remains a crucial aspect for businesses to operate and grow, with strategic partners being necessary for acceleration into complex markets. To compete for smart capital, businesses must do better than simply boasting large returns, but learn how to manage risk for investors.
—
Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.
The National University of Singapore’s entrepreneurial arm, NUS Enterprise, and Singapore Airlines (SIA)’s joint initiative is called the SIA Accelerator Programme
SIA Accelerator Programme, the accelerator programme initiated by NUS Enterprise and Singapore Airlines (SIA), has announced five startups graduates from its inaugural batch.
The accelerator is a joint effort to boost the travel sector and its customer experience as well as open up new business opportunities for aspiring startups.
The 10-week initiative took place in an incubation space at NUS Enterprise’s The Hangar and SIA’s KrisLab in January this year.
Participants were tasked with presenting solutions for tech and airlines problems identified by SIA. These problems include onboard food wastage, offline and online integration in-flight shopping, revenue maximisation, to seat capacity optimisation.
NUS Enterprise coached the participants to identify their target customers, the right tech solutions, and product-market fit, as well as business model viability.
Some of the programme’s participants include the winners of Singapore Airlines’ annual AppChallenge. AppChallenge is a digital hackathon for aviation innovation run by SIA in conjunction with NUS Enterprise which was launched in June this year.
All solutions will be presented during the Innovfest Unbound 2019 that kicks off on June 27. Innovfest Unbound is an innovation festival organised by NUS Enterprise and Unbound, held in Singapore.
The five startups graduates from the accelerator programme are:
airfree, an in-flight shopping marketplace that allows online shopping mid-flight and items collection upon landing with 50 times less bandwidth than regular e-commerce websites allowing faster browsing. Last month, the startup raised US$2.9 million in funding from Shiseido, Starbucks accelerator, and angel investors.
F5Shift, a digitised data-tracking on in-flight food wastage by capturing images of F&B wastage via cameras processed by its cloud-based, machine learning models that can detect the food item and the source of meal that results in the wastage, presented in web dashboard to help airlines optimise meal plans and reduces waste.
Migacore, a data science startup that uses contextual data to improve demand forecasting for travel by capturing online signals from news portals and social media to gauge travel intents. This will help airlines to respond with better flight schedules and overall revenue management.
Travelsel, a smart destination platform that facilitates the distribution of in-market products through airlines, hotel, and other retail channels, providing retailers with a platform to publish, build, sell ticket product and product bundles, all in media-rich content.
Volantio, a startup that seeks to optimise seat capacity to help airlines increase revenue and avoid overbooking flights, using a cloud-based capacity optimisation platform called Yana. Yana automatically makes these passengers offers to switch to other flights in an overbooking situation with offers include vouchers for future travel, loyalty points, or upgrades.
Neuron will operate its patented commercial N3 scooters, which have 12-inch tyres and a 21 centimetre-wide floorboard to provide more stability and comfort
Singapore startup Neuron Mobility has announced that it has been selected by Brisbane City Council to operate a majority of its 600 e-scooters in the capital city of Queensland.
The company said in a press release that it beat nine other global and local operators, including California-based Lime Scooters (which will operate the remaining 400 devices in the city) to win this partnership.
The e-scooter addition is a part of the Brisbane Clean, Green, Sustainable 2017-2031 initiative, the city’s efforts to improve its sustainability.
Neuron Mobility said that it will operate its patented commercial N3 scooters, making Brisbane the first city to experience the commercial-grade version of the vehicle — along with Darwin City which has partnered with Neuron for a 12-month trial programme.
The N3 scooter is developed with 12-inch tyres and a 21 centimetre-wide floorboard to provide more stability and comfort to riders, claims the company. It also features a GPS-enabled parking indicator on the handlebar display to help guide riders to designated parking zones.
Neuron has a dedicated operations team on-ground that handles daily maintenance, hourly demand rebalancing, and battery swapping of the scooters so they will have a consistent supply and to allow responsible parking.
“We believe that there’s an ongoing paradigm shift in urban transportation that will shape the future of mobility. This partnership with Brisbane City Council is in line with our goal to bring the best micromobility services to the Asia Pacific region,” said Zachary Wang, CEO of Neuron Mobility.
Recently, the company also tied up with Payap University in Chiang Mai, Thailand to promote the use of clean energy mobility solutions.
Brands need to think differently if they want to successfully shape their narrative in the age of social media
In this era of hyper-connectivity and intense social scrutiny, many brands are turning to storytelling as a way to gain more eyeballs.
But gone are the days where people naively believe anything companies tell them.
So what does storytelling really mean, and why does the traditional story arc not work for brands?
Endings don’t feel real
Our first counter with a traditional story arc is when we were young, when grandparents told us life stories, or when we read Enid Blyton books.
As we grew up, we consumed novels and movies — most of which used the same story arc.
Here’s how a traditional story arc goes: there’s a beginning (exposition), middle (rising action, climax) and ending (falling action, resolution).
But does the story really end there?
If you think back carefully, you’ll realise that these stories always take on a fairytale-like quality.
Why?
Because endings don’t feel real. I believe that as humans, we are hardwired to seek patterns and answers, but not necessarily endings.
We intuitively seek continuity.
Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl but there’s an obstacle. Problem is overcome and they live happily ever after, galloping off on a shiny white horse into the beautiful sunset. Cue credits.
What does this mean for brands?
In Marty Neumier’s book The Brand Flip, he writes about how the rise of social media has placed customers in a position of power to shape brands and ‘draw meaning from it’.
In other words: ‘Your brand isn’t what you say it is. It’s what they say it is.’
Stories are ways to frame our perspective of the world and how others see us.
So how can companies create a narrative framework that continuously engages people?
The new story arc model
Often, companies approach brand stories as a linear, closed narrative — with a beginning, middle, and ending — about how the company was founded, its journey to success, blah blah blah.
But the irony is, the traditional story arc doesn’t create conversations with people.
And in this new world where customers take charge, such company-centric narratives are a big fail for engagement.
The best brand stories are open-ended, tributaries of ideas and aspirations that continue from the source.
Here’s how a brand story arc could potentially look like:
Pardon the terrible sketch
How the new story arc translates into a brand story (Case study: Patagonia)
It’s no longer about your company, but your customers.
Here are a couple of ways to kick start the brand story ideation:
1. What is your company’s Big Idea?
Is there a purpose that your company exists for, beyond making money?
In this new world of gluten-free food, environmental consciousness, hipster-ness, and ethical values, people buy into big ideas and aspirations.
Like what Marty Neumier wrote: “They [people] no longer buy brands. They join brands.”
People want to tell great stories about themselves. They want to be heard, seen, and understood.
Patagonia has created a strong brand which resonates with not just with hardcore nature lovers looking for ways to reduce their carbon footprint, but also people who aspire and look up to these ideas.
Kopi Kenangan wants to fill in the gap between high-priced coffee served at international coffee chains and the instant coffee sold at street stalls
Startup of the Month returned this month with Kopi Kenangan as its winner!
Kopi Kenangan is a tech-enabled coffee chain founded to “fill the gap between the high-priced coffee served at international coffee chains and the instant coffee sold at many street stalls.”
The company has recently made headline with its US$20 million funding round from Sequoia India, following a US$8 million funding round it announced in October last year.
It has also grown from just 16 stores in October 2018 to 80 stores in eight cities today.
Claiming itself to be a profitable business, Kopi Kenangan has plans to open 150 outlets by the end of this year and expand to 1,000 stores throughout Indonesia by 2021. It even mentioned a plan to expand to other Southeast Asian markets.
As a runner up, e27 readers have voted for BrideStory, an Indonesian wedding marketplace platform.
Together with sister company ParentStory, a children activity marketplace, the company has recently been acquired by Indonesian e-commerce and fintech giant Tokopedia.
Congratulations to both companies, and thank you for your participation in the poll!
Warburg Pincus China-SEA II will focus on investing across consumer and services, healthcare, real estate, financial services, and TMT
Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth investing, has made the final close of its second fund targeting Southeast Asia and China.
A US$4.25 billion companion fund,Warburg Pincus China-SEA II will invest in its portfolio companies in these regions alongside Warburg Pincus Global Growth — a US$14.8 billion global, growth-focused private equity fund that closed in late 2018.
Warburg Pincus China-SEA II is also the successor to Warburg Pincus China, a US$2.2 billion companion fund that closed in December 2016. Within China, Warburg Pincus is known as Hua Ping.
The Warburg Pincus China-SEA II fund was launched in January 2019, targeting a fund size of US$3.5 billion, and received commitments in excess of the US$4.25 billion.
Warburg Pincus China-Southeast Asia’s Limited Partners include existing investors in Warburg Pincus’s current funds as well as new investors to the firm. The investors represent a diversified mix of leading public and private pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, endowments, foundations, fund of funds, family offices and high-net-worth individuals.
This new fund will continue Warburg Pincus’ thesis-driven, sector-focused approach to growth investing in China and Southeast Asia, partnering with entrepreneurs and management teams to build companies of scale and sustainable value. It will focus on investing across five sectors — consumer and services, healthcare, real estate, financial services, and technology, media and telecommunications (TMT).
Charles R. Kaye and Joseph P. Landy, Co-CEOs of Warburg Pincus, said in a joint statement: “We have now invested more than US$11 billion into more than 120 companies in China and Southeast Asia, generating significant returns and distributions for our investors. The strong demand for Warburg Pincus China-Southeast Asia II reflects our established track record, our talented investment team, and the opportunities our Limited Partners see for growth investing in China and Southeast Asia.”
Warburg Pincus’s select current investments in China and Southeast Asia include Amcare, ANE Logistics, Ant Financial, ARA, China Kidswant, D&J China, ESR Group, Go-Jek, Hygeia, Jinxin Fertility, Liepin, Mofang, NIO, Vincom Retail, Yuanfudao, and ZTO Express.
Jeff Perlman, Managing Director and Head of Southeast Asia, added: “In recent years, from our Singapore base, Warburg Pincus has become one of the largest and most active investors in Southeast Asia, with a particular emphasis on Vietnam, Indonesia and Singapore. Southeast Asia is a large and growing market for us, exhibiting many of the strong investment themes and trends which have driven our China business over the last 25 years. This new fund, along with our growing team in Singapore and our recent successes in the region, will allow us to build our franchise further in Southeast Asia.”
