I just finished reading Burn the business plan, Everything we believe that works for startups, does not work. Business planning, enterprise support, ecosystems, mentoring, etc.

Wikipedia

Mentoring has been on my mind. Decided to look up what mentoring means. According to Wikipedia, mentorship refers to a personal developmental relationship in which a more experienced or more knowledgeable person helps a less experienced or less knowledgeable person. Apparently, it stemmed from ancient Greek and was inspired by the character of Mentor in Homer’s Odyssey.

Issues

I have some issues with mentoring. It might have to do with my own experiences with mentors, mentor schemes and business using mentors. Most mentors I know of are unemployed consultants or retired managers of big organisations. Most wouldn’t know much about entrepreneurship or small business and as a result, cannot add much value.

Smallbusinesscan

Which was one of the reasons we created www.smallbusinesscan.com, (now www.business-achievers.com) so businesses can interact with other companies and get help from people who have been there and bought the T-shirt?

Also read: 5 lessons “Shark Tank” viewers can apply to business

KPMG

It is what KPMG is now doing with the CEO and SME roundtables. Good old eyeball-to-eyeball conversations amongst owner-managers, CEOs and entrepreneurs, sharing lessons, insight and learning. No social media allowed.

Mismatch

There appears to be a massive mismatch between the business that really need resolved and the capabilities of an assigned mentor. As a result, a huge amount of time is wasted. What can an ex-banker tell you about social media? How can a retired CFO help you with your sales?

Lucky

The truth is also that many entrepreneurs got lucky and would not be able to repeat their success. Luck is not transferable. Always look for the serial entrepreneur who got lucky a few times.

Hands-on

Would you prefer a sales mentor that talks about it or somebody that actually sells for you? Do you want somebody to talk about finance or do you want somebody that can pitch to banks and investors with you? Do you prefer a mentor or a team member?

Non-commital

Which brings me to my biggest issue with mentoring is the non-committal nature. It is too soft, too fluffy and with no accountability for the results. My preference is for an advisory board to which a CEO, founder or entrepreneurs reports on a regular basis. A board filled people that create the creative tension and grit (blood on the boardroom wall) necessary to move a business forward. Swimming with the sharks.

Create a mentor job spec

If you decide to go for a mentor make sure you know who and what you are looking for. Have a problem definition and be clear on the expectations. Write a job spec. Be prepared to say “no” to the mentors that are on offer. Be also prepared to fire the mentor once they have outlasted their usefulness.

Also Read: SEA tech founders playbook: A to Z of becoming a fundraising legend (Part 1)

Get a shark

What I am saying is that mentors could be useful if they are the right ones, can add real value. The wrong mentor will waste your time. Get a shark, not a bunny. Even better, get a shark tank full of piranhas or what the author of Burn the business plan calls a cold circle.

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Recently, Indonesia-based BINAR secured an undisclosed funding round from international strategic investors, including Blue7, JN Capital & Growth Advisory, Scala Group, DGS, MD Capital, and NBA star Jeremy Lin.

The participation of these international investors from Singapore, Japan, and the US will push the company’s network, expertise, technology, and business prowess to a higher level as it expands further in the highly promising Indonesian market.

“We plan to use the funding to reorganise the company to reach profitability by innovating new services and products,” says BINAR Co-Founder and CEO Alamanda Shantika in an email interview with e27, stressing that this year, the company plans to focus on innovating in new services and products.

Founded in 2017, BINAR is an edutech company that provides digital skills training through experiential, flipped, project/problem-based and collaborative learning methods. It also teaches students relevant soft skills such as social awareness, critical thinking, creative thinking, leveraging diversity, and collaboration which are increasingly sought after in the tech industry today.

It also included other programmes and services such as bootcamp, digital talent accelerators, digital transformation accelerators for businesses, and talent placement.

Also Read: Singapore Budget 2024: For startups, talents and funding remain key challenges this year

By 2022, BINAR says it has trained more than 130,000 students and involved more than 850 facilitators. Through its BINAR Job Connect service, by 2023, the company says that it has worked with more than 120 employer partners.

In considering the impact that BINAR has made in the lives of tech talents in Indonesia, Shantika points out that despite the high demand, Indonesian tech talents tend to have lower salaries than their Southeast Asian counterparts.

“This is why BINAR aims to improve the standard of Indonesian tech talents by continuously developing world-class curriculum and learning methods. We also perform link-and-match services to companies in Indonesia, Singapore, and the US looking for tech talents. This allows talents to work remotely with sufficient capabilities. This aligns with our goals to turn Indonesia into a global tech talent hub,” she says.

From Jeremy Lin to Indonesian tech talents

One of the highlights of this funding round is the involvement of NBA star Jeremy Lin, known for his performance at leading basketball teams such as the New York Knicks, Houston Rockets, LA Lakers, and Toronto Raptors.

He invested in BINAR through JLIN Capital Studio, an investment entity focusing on impact investing in Asia and the US. The firm invests in Southeast Asia’s education, financial services, housing, and agricultural sectors.

Also Read: Future-proofing businesses and talent through technology

Commenting on his involvement in the funding round, Lin shares his vision about equal opportunities. “I believe that empowerment can be achieved through collaborative efforts,” he says. “Everybody deserves the same opportunity to succeed, and I wish to provide more opportunities for Indonesians to build a career in the digital sector.”

BINAR’s connection with Lin began when JLIN Capital Studio Managing Director Robert Kim contacted co-founder Dita Aisyah. The firm recognises the shared vision that the two organisations have.

“Apart from investing in the company, Lin also plays the role of an inspiration for tech talents in Indonesia due to his success in international sports. His story is evidence that one’s background should not prevent one from achieving success; this aligns with BINAR students’ journey in establishing success by working in global tech companies and improving their livelihood. We are making this effort to work with Indonesia’s demographic bonus, improving our employability level, strengthening our identity and positions in the global community,” Shantika says.

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Image Credit: Binar

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Silence Laboratories, a Singapore-based cybersecurity startup focusing on Web3 technologies, has secured an additional US$4.1 million in funding.

The round was led by Pi Ventures and Kira Studio, along with contributions from several prominent angel investors.

The fresh funds will be used to scale the company’s tech and business teams and enrich the company’s R&D pipeline.

Founded in 2021 by Dr Jay Prakash, Dr Andrei Bytes, and Dr Tony Quek, Silence Laboratories focuses on privacy-enhancing technologies through a fusion of cryptography and security engineering for enterprises. It aims to create a global infrastructure that enables privacy-compliant collaboration and exchange, eliminating single points of failure.

Also Read: Protégé Ventures backs food order, delivery automation startup ZOLO

The company’s product offerings, leveraging multi-party computation (MPC) as their core cryptographic primitives, consist of:

• Silent Shard: Empowers enterprises and users to safeguard sensitive private keys and establish advanced authorisation rules.
• Silent Compute: Facilitates collaborative information processing among organisations without exposing their secrets to third parties, enhancing insights while maintaining compliance and trust.

The growing global demand for privacy-enhancing technologies (PETs), with a compound annual growth rate of 26.6 per cent, highlights the increasing need for Silence Laboratories’ offerings. These solutions provide mathematical assurances for techno-legal expectations, enabling secure data collaboration across sectors with minimised risk.

“With this new injection of funds, Silence Laboratories is poised to redefine privacy by enabling businesses to fully embrace the power of AI while rigorously protecting their most vital asset — customer trust,” said Prakash, CEO and Founder.

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Image credit: Silence Laboratories

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S&S Lab, a shared research lab and the operator of IRIS Lab in South Korea, has announced a strategic partnership with Singapore’s Farquhar VC (FVC) to foster and deepen relations among Korean and global novel food and biotech startups.

Under this partnership, S&S Lab and Farquhar will collaborate on exchanging innovation ecosystem insights and mutually supporting each other’s biopharma/foodtech portfolio companies.

Also Read: Infobank, Farquhar to help Korean startups seeking global expansion

In particular, Farquhar will recommend S&S Lab as the preferred destination for global biotech startups to establish their R&D operations in North Asia. At the same time, S&S Lab will refer South Korean biotech and complementary-protein startups to the Singaporean VC firm for their growth and expansion needs.

S&S Lab and FVC will work together on future joint initiatives to enable Korean biotech startups to scale globally.

FVC Managing Partner and Chief Investment Officer Jason Su commented: “In recent years, we have witnessed many high-quality global biopharma and foodtech ventures head to South Korea in search of new commercial opportunities, while South Korean biotech and novel food scaleups are seeking to expand globally via Singapore. We hope that this collaboration will enable these deeptech companies to accelerate their go-to-market timelines and bring forth their impact to society.”

S&S Lab is a subsidiary of S&S Tech Corp, a semiconductor company listed on the Korea Exchange. As a biotech-focused accelerator, S&S Lab offers physical infrastructure (shared laboratory equipment and facilities) and other services (such as POC verification, R&D tech support, and investment attraction) to grow bio-based ventures.

Also Read: Farquhar VC to help Korean university-affiliated startups to go global

To date, IRIS Lab has onboarded 11 startups, and the company is on track to establish more domestic facilities later this year.

Established in 2020, Farquhar has invested in nearly 40 startups. It has recently undertaken accelerator programmes with government departments such as KISED and the Seoul Business Agency to enable cross-border traction for Korean startups.

In 2024, FVC will invest in high-growth Korean startups via its Green Future Fund.

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X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

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When they meet, Zoe Ocampo, Jules Jurado, and Frederic Levy, who are avid collectors, used to share their stories of acquiring rare items (collectibles) and often getting scammed with fake items.

The trio, who had earlier worked at Filipino payment giant GCash in different roles, wanted to do something about this.

Also Read: Ex-GCash execs’ social commerce platform for collectibles Toki raises US$1.8M

“The process of collecting rare finds and making transactions are highly fragmented, requiring navigation across four to five platforms to purchase a single item. This process needs more transparency regarding the seller’s identity. In addition, collectors often get no assurance of receiving the exact item purchased, presenting significant trust and security concerns. We saw an opportunity to structure and grow the massive collectible market by addressing these critical pain points,” says Levy.

This landed them on the concept of Toki.

A highly curated marketplace

Launched in November 2023, Toki is a social commerce platform in the Philippines dedicated to collectibles, encompassing the features of a marketplace and a livestream auction.

It is a meticulously curated platform, not an open marketplace. This means each potential seller is thoroughly vetted before being onboarded to ensure legitimacy.

To date, Toki has onboarded 100 curated sellers who rank among the top 30 sellers/resellers in their respective categories. “Key criteria in the evaluation process of the sellers include the history of their operations, sales track record, inventory depth, reputation within the community, and supply chain integrity. In some instances, our team visits their warehouses for ocular,” Levy shares.

Also Read: Stanible lets celebrities, superfans embrace Web3 via digital collectibles

In some cases, Toki has retrieved sellers’ existing sales volumes and online/offline segregation. Moreover, since most transactions occur through Facebook groups or FB Market, the startup can recover some of the sales volumes for the most active sellers and then extrapolate the total volume. “Cross-referenced with other information, we have been able to establish a ranking of the main sellers for each of our categories,” he says.

Currently, Toki offers over 70,000 authentic items across its initial four categories: LEGO, Sports Cards, Sneakers, and Funko. Starting Q1 2024, it plans to expand into new categories, such as Trading Cards (e.g., Pokemon, One Piece, Magic: The Gathering, Flesh & Blood, Lorcana, Marvel, etc.) and Art Toys & Figures (e.g., Blind Boxes, Figures, Action Figures, etc.). “The goal is to launch ten categories in 2024, catering to a broader spectrum of collectors and enhancing our service offering,” reveals Levy, the CEO.

According to a joint study by Toki and GMO Research, the collectible market in Southeast Asia is currently valued at US$34 billion. It is projected to grow 7.2 per cent through 2026, reaching an expected market size of US$54 billion by 2030.

Nearly half of the population (46 per cent) identifies as collectors in Southeast Asia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Among these, 91 per cent have engaged in recommerce, averaging an annual spend of US$200.

Toki pins its hope on this growing market. Indeed, the company has already attracted “thousands of daily visits” to its site. Over half of the buyers have made multiple purchases, with the average unique buyer acquiring about five items monthly.

The livestream auctions are also getting notices. Since launching over 100+ auctions in November 2023, the marketplace claims to have received positive feedback from sellers and buyers. “Our sellers have experienced increased sales velocity through our auction platform, while buyers enjoy the thrill of engaging and bidding. We are developing new engagement-centric features to enhance the fun and interactivity of our auctions for all users,” says Levy.

Trust still remains a key challenge

As for the challenges, trust still tops the list, particularly in developing countries, where buyers and sellers navigate a predominantly unregulated marketplace—ensuring the authenticity of purchases, identifying the sellers, and having avenues for dispute resolution still present significant hurdles. “As the collectibles market emerges as an increasingly significant industry in the region, establishing a foundation of trust is imperative; that’s our main goal,” Levy adds.

From collectors’ point of view, logistics poses a significant challenge; any minor damage to the collectable or its packaging can directly affect the item’s value. To address this, Toki has partnered with NinjaVan to develop a bespoke logistics solution tailored for Toki.

Also Read: Rise of digital collectibles: The long-awaited “NFT” rebrand

For payments, the company has partnered with top payment providers, such as GCash, Maya, and Xendit to make payments easy. Through these partners, Toki can hold all payments in escrow for the buyer until item verification is completed and they receive their purchase. This ensures that the end-to-end transaction is both seamless and secure.

The startup recently raised US$1.8 million in pre-seed funding from Kaya Founders, Foxmont Capital Partners, and other strategic angels. The capital will be used to improve buyer and seller user experience, expand its operations nationwide, and initiate a series of online activations, particularly events that engage our community.

“We also plan to escalate our marketing endeavours to amplify our reach and impact. A key focus will be forging more collaborations with artists to develop unique, exclusive products,” he says.

Exploring international growth is on Toki’s agenda, particularly in Thailand and Indonesia, two markets whose buyer and seller dynamics closely mirror those in the Philippines. “However, the priority at the moment is to keep improving our product, streamline our operations, and gain awareness within the Philippines before we consider regional expansion,” shares Levy.

In an era where the thrill of collecting rare items meets the challenges of online transactions, Toki has emerged as a frontrunner in the collectibles market. By establishing a meticulously curated platform focused on transparency and trust, Toki has addressed critical pain points for collectors and tapped into a burgeoning industry. “Our goal is to set a new standard for authenticity and reliability in the global collectibles market,” concludes Levy.

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X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

Want more from your Echelon experience? Be an Echelon X sponsor or exhibitor. Send enquiry here.

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K-LINK, a Singapore-headquartered company providing a unified contact centre platform, has secured undisclosed investment led by Indelible Ventures and A2D Ventures.

Accelerating Asia and several unnamed angels in the B2B SaaS industry also joined the round.

Also Read: The next communications frontier: Uniting 5G and VoIP in Southeast Asia

The money will fuel K-LINK’s expansion in Southeast Asia.

“This funding marks a significant milestone for K-LINK, enabling us to accelerate our expansion plans into Thailand, Singapore, Vietnam, and Indonesia and continue innovating our product offerings,” said Zin Ko Oo, founder and CEO of K-LINK.

K-LINK aims to simplify enterprises’ customer service operations with its single, omnichannel contact centre platform, eliminating the need for complex telecom infrastructure and costly hardware. Organisations can manage their telephony, social media channels, SMS, email, video calls, tickets, and CRM in one dashboard.

Also Read: Cloud communication platforms: How to choose one for your business

The startup claims its solution can deliver cost savings of over 200 per cent compared to traditional call centre solutions.

The company has over 100-plus enterprise clients, including Ninja Van, Toyota, and the World Health Organisation.

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X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

Want more from your Echelon experience? Be an Echelon X sponsor or exhibitor. Send enquiry here.

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Komerce, an e-commerce enabler for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in Indonesia, has received an undisclosed investment from Bukalapak co-founder Achmad Zaky and 500 Global.

The funding will allow Komerce to accelerate product development and customer acquisition. “This investment will help us develop our products and expand into new markets. We believe that e-commerce has great potential to help SMEs in Indonesia thrive,” said CEO Nofi Bayu Darmawan.

Also Read: Looking abroad: Capturing the e-commerce opportunity in SEA

Founded in 2020 by Darmawan, Syaefullah Syeif (COO), and Satriyo Budi Utomo (CTO), Komerce offers remote team development, shipping aggregators, e-fulfilment, omnichannel SaaS, and customer relationship management. Headquartered in Purbalingga, Central Java, the startup serves SMEs looking to start and expand their e-commerce business, especially those facing operational efficiency challenges.

SMEs can use its solution, Komtim, to hire and onboard remote talent, offering competitive salaries for roles such as live streamers, customer support, marketplace administrators, performance marketers, and social media managers. Through the Komclass service, Komerce upskill and trains SMEs to foster growth.

Komerce also drives cost efficiency and complex operational management for shipping (Komship), warehousing (Kompack), and omnichannel and marketplace operations (Komplace).

As many as 25,000 SMEs are registered and transacting on its platform, with over 2 million transactions recorded in 2023.

Also Read: What is next for Indonesian e-commerce scene after GoTo, TikTok Indonesia merger?

The startup claims to have achieved profitability in early 2023 and hit 300 per cent year-over-year (YoY) revenue growth throughout 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.

The number of online sellers in Indonesia reached 3 million individuals, or approximately 38 per cent of total business operators, in 2022. This is expected to increase in 2024. The mapping of online sellers is still dominated by major cities in Indonesia, providing an opportunity for Tier 3 and Tier 4 SMEs to leverage the online sales trend and potential.

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According to estimates, if left unaddressed, climate change will reduce 50 per cent of arable and suitable farmlands currently used for coffee production, threatening the existence of our morning dose of espresso. This problem is made more urgent with the increasing demand for coffee in global markets, causing the price of coffee beans, particularly Arabica, to skyrocket.

To solve this problem, Singapore-based Prefer produces beanless coffee for coffee shops and other food services.

“We went out into the market and asked coffee shops around here: If we could make a product that tastes just like coffee at the same price point, if not more affordable, would you buy it? And the answer was yes. That was when we committed to this idea of making coffee without using coffee beans, making sure that these cafes will always have an affordable and sustainable option,” says Prefer CEO Jake Berber at a launch event on Thursday, February 22.

“Every coffee company we spoke to knows that coffee is endangered by climate change; we don’t have to explain the problem to them.”

Berber further explains that there are three reasons why customers want to have this alternative to the existing product: They want to have a more affordable option for coffee beans, they want to be able to adjust the caffeine levels to their liking, and lastly, they are looking for a more sustainable option. So Prefer went through a research process that led to a breakthrough discovery where the founders learned that bread, soy, and barley possess molecules similar in flavour to those present in coffee.

Also Read: Coffeefrom: Brewing sustainability from bean to product

To create the beanless coffee, Prefer sources materials in the form of upcycled food manufacturing by-products from local companies, including day-old bread from Gardenia, okara or soybean pulp from Mr Bean, and spent barley grains from local breweries such as The 1925 Brewing Co. and Brewerkz.

Once gathered, these ingredients are blended in a secret ratio before fermentation. It is then roasted in an oven to bring aroma and flavour and grounded to the preferred fineness. This process takes about 48 hours to complete instead of the usual annual harvests, which involves an average of five years for newly planted trees to bear their first crops.

Prefer’s grounds are also caffeine-free, but they can add caffeine derived from tea and adjust the caffeine levels. The company also says that the fermentation process can potentially recreate the flavours of popular beans from Ethiopia and Columbia, enabling consumers to taste coffee similar to beans originating from these countries but without the need for import.

The future of the bean

Prefer was founded in late 2022 by CTO Tan Ding Jie and Berber, who met at the Entrepreneur First programme.

The company received support from Entrepreneur First, A*STAR, and Enterprise Singapore in developing their beanless coffee. It has also recently announced a US$2 million funding round.

Also Read: Turn Capital acquires Flash Coffee’s Thai business

Prefer is currently working with 14 businesses in Singapore. The company primarily works with coffee shops and other food services such as hotels and corporate pantries. While it operates as a B2B company, they are open to the idea of expanding into the B2C model.

After Singapore, Prefer looks forward to expanding to the Philippines and other Asian coffee markets, including Indonesia, Korea, and Japan. It is also looking forward to exploring other products, including cacao.

In recent years, lab-grown food has become one of the more popular segments in the foodtech verticals, with companies producing lab-grown meat and milk being launched and raising funding.

There is an impression that the products are still consumed by a niche market, but when asked about the prospects of lab-grown food and beverages in the global market, Berber was optimistic.

“As climate change continues to wreak havoc on coffee’s ability to grow … a massive part of the population will begin to get priced out of coffee. A small segment of people will continue to buy coffee as it is at whatever price it will be. But for the mass market, for the everyday person, we believe that Prefer will be what we know as the commodity of coffee today, just in the future.”

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Image Credit: Prefer

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ZOLO, an AI-powered B2B software company founded by two alums from two Singapore universities, has secured an undisclosed pre-seed investment from student-led VC fund Protégé Ventures.

Founded in 2023, ZOLO is designed to simplify orders, payments and deliveries for food suppliers.

Also Read: F&B spending in SEA is back to pre-pandemic levels: Report

In response to the growing trend of restaurants utilising messaging apps like WhatsApp for B2B orders with food suppliers, ZOLO first starts with addressing the challenges posed by text-based orders for food suppliers, which are time-consuming and error-prone (e.g., spelling mistakes, language variations, incorrect interpretation of acronyms). The solution integrates WhatsApp order details, transforming unstructured text messages into structured purchase orders and incorporating them into back-office enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems. The three-layer AI technology helps suppliers reduce errors, save time, and minimise cost and wastage associated with inefficiencies of manual order processing.

With the solution, suppliers can easily automate and streamline their orders from WhatsApp to ERP in seconds.

ZOLO’s other investors include Antler, GHARAGE and NTUitive.

Protégé Ventures was established in 2017 by the Singapore Management University’s (SMU) Institute of Innovation & Entrepreneurship (IIE) with an earlier partnership with Kairos ASEAN, Wavemakers Partners, and Dr Jeffrey Chi of Vickers Venture Partners.

In the seven years since its inception, Protégé Ventures has trained 320 students as VC professionals, evaluated over 1,300 deals and invested US$221,000 in 11 student startups. These startups have collectively raised over USS$26 million from notable institutional investors to date.

Also Read: Fixing food waste problem means less hungry people and a great economy

The ZOLO investment is the 11th student-founded startup Protégé Ventures has funded since 2017. This marks the conclusion of Protégé Ventures (PV) Fund I, which has made a total of 11 strategic investments since its inception in 2017. Its other portfolio firms include Lumitics, an IoT food waste management solution; Hypotenuse AI, an AI-content writer startup; Intellect, a mental health care app; and Angie’s Tempeh, a plant-based protein products manufacturer.

Protégé launched PV Fund II valued at S$500,000 in September 2023, which was contributed by founding managing partner David Su of Matrix Partners China. This empowers more investments in early-stage technology startups founded by students or recent graduates of Singapore’s polytechnics and universities seeking pre-seed-to-seed funding.

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X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

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Dear reader,

The recent upheaval within Byju’s, marked by the removal of founder and CEO Byju Raveendran, underscores a significant rift between the leadership and key investors in the once-celebrated Indian edtech giant. The decision, fuelled by concerns over governance, financial mismanagement, and accountability, has culminated in a legal battle and strategic moves to block a rights issue.

This development signals a critical juncture in Byju’s trajectory, once hailed as India’s most valuable startup. Despite ambitious plans for expansion and public listing, the company faces mounting challenges, including investor dissatisfaction and failed attempts to secure substantial funding.

The dispute highlights broader issues plaguing the startup ecosystem, particularly regarding corporate governance and investor relations. Byju’s, with its ambitious acquisitions and rapid growth, now confronts a pivotal moment in its evolution, where leadership transitions and legal battles may shape its future trajectory.

As Byju’s navigates this turbulent period, restoring investor confidence and addressing governance concerns will be paramount for its sustainability and long-term success. The outcome of this power struggle will not only impact Byju’s but also serve as a cautionary tale for other startups navigating similar challenges in the competitive edtech landscape.

Sainul,
Editor.

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NEWS

Byju’s investors vote to remove founder
At an emergency general meeting, a group of investors including Prosus Ventures and Peak XV Partners voted to change the leadership at the startup; Byju’s, which has raised over US$5B to date, was valued at US$22B in early 2022.

Byju’s founder, ousted by shareholders, insists he is still the CEO
Byju Rveendran said that rumors of his firing have been “greatly exaggerated,” a day after a shareholder group voted to remove him at an emergency general meeting; He claimed that the shareholders violated several “essential” local rules.

Govt expedites inspection of crisis-hit Byju’S
The corporate affairs ministry has asked its field officers to expedite the inspection of the books of Byju’s and submit the report; The ministry will decide the further course of action after receiving the report from its regional office.

Singapore launches project to promote fintech firm expansion into Malaysia
The collaboration between the Singapore Fintech Association, Artem Ventures and OSK Ventures aims to promote the expansion of Singaporean fintech firms into Malaysia; The project will target startups in payments, insurtech, AI, and emerging tech.

QIA to invest US$1B in international and regional VC funds
The programme seeks to attract international VC funds and startups to Qatar and the wider GCC region, with a particular focus on fintech, edtech, and healthcare; QIA will invest indirectly through other VC funds but also make targeted co-investments.

Vijay Shekhar Sharma steps down from Paytm Payments Bank board
The development follows the Indian central bank penalising Paytm Payments Bank, in which Sharma owns a 51% stake, with severe business restrictions; Most of the restrictions are set to go into effect on March 15.

Tech-enabled Filipino SME lender ProCredit secures US$4.1M pre-seed funding
Investors include Integra Partners, M Venture Partners, Cento Ventures, and Gobi; ProCredit employs credit-first client engagements, a rules-based underwriting and portfolio management architecture, and flexible product offerings incorporating risk-based pricing.

Monk’s Hill, Iterative back Vietnamese wealth management startup 1Long
1Long offers two principal savings products, 1Safe and 1Term, designed for flexible savings with annual returns of up to 6.6 per cent and the possibility of earning rewards up to 9 per cent for long-term deposits.

Web3 development tools startup BuildBear Labs nets US$1.9M funding
Investors include Superscrypt, Tribe Capital, 1kx, Iterative, and Plug-N-Play; BuildBear Labs offers developers the ability to craft customised Private Testnet sandboxes across multiple EVM and EVM-compatible blockchain networks.

Indonesian e-commerce enabler Komerce gets seed funding
Investors include Achmad Zaky and 500 Global; Komerce offers solutions, including remote teams for e-commerce development, e-fulfillment, and CRM; The startup has 25K SMEs in its ecosystem, which recorded over 2M transactions in 2023.

Wavemaker Impact backs AI-powered green asset fintech financier Refy
Refy aims to de-risk these smaller green assets for investors by offering asset-based financing solutions; By prioritising decarbonisation, Refy aims to eliminate barriers to project deployment stemming from issues related to bankability.

Peak XV’s female-focused programme picks 14 startups for new cohort
The 14 companies will receive a US$100K equity-free grant, mentorship from industry experts, access to a strong founder community, and over US$1M in invaluable resources.

‘Embarrassing and wrong’: Google admits it lost control of image-generating AI
The AI system in question is Gemini, the company’s flagship conversational AI platform, which when asked calls out to a version of the Imagen 2 model to create images on demand.

Alipay ramps up efforts to monetise huge user base amid fierce competition with WeChat
Despite having over 700M monthly active users, the payment app lacks the features to entice its huge user base to stay on the platform beyond making transactions.

FEATURES & INTERVIEWS

‘We will establish a sustainable biofuels pilot plant with a capacity of 1 ton per day’: Green COP
‘Our sustainable fuel solutions reduce carbon emissions and promote resource efficiency and circularity, contributing to a more sustainable and resilient economy’, says co-founder Hanson Lee.

SEA’s top investors that drove innovation and growth last week
With a diverse array of accelerators, VC firms, and commercialisation arms in the spotlight, the landscape reflects a robust commitment to nurturing budding enterprises.

CONTRIBUTORY ARTICLES

Social trading: Friend or foe in your Lunar New Year quest for fortune?
Social trading is not new only in recent years, with explosive growth worldwide. According to research, social trading in Singapore is on the rise, with every other trader either engaging in social trading or planning to do so within the next 12 months.

The banking revolution: Balancing convenience and security in the digital era
Digital banking, the heart of the fintech world, has completely transformed the way we manage our finances; No longer confined by physical limitations, digital banks offer a plethora of financial services right at our fingertips.

Fostering sustainability through education
With the push of the Singapore Green Plan 2030 and various industry regulations, such as the increasing carbon tax, there is a greater demand for knowledge and skill sets in environmental sustainability within the workforce.

FROM THE ARCHIVES

The essentials of mapping a customer journey across digital assets
Typically, the customer journey starts when he or she first interacts with your company and brand; It’s a wholesome picture that documents every bit and piece of a transaction or experience as well as the full experience of being a customer.

Filling the leadership gap: Why you cannot delegate responsibility
The leader privately addresses the issue at hand but takes full responsibility in public; If the problem arises because one of the team members slipped, the leader’s role is to pick them up.

Is a career in biotech right for you?
You might imagine your life in biotech in a lab, working by yourself all day; But the truth is that many projects in biotech require teamwork, including operations, production, marketing, and R&D.

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X marks Echelon. Join us at Singapore EXPO on May 15-16 for the 10th edition of Asia’s leading tech and startup conference. Enjoy 2 days of building connections with potential investors, partners, and customers, exploring innovation, and sharing insights with 8,000+ key decision-makers of Asia’s tech ecosystem. Get your tickets here.

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