If you are attuned to the engineering world or the evolution of Tesla, you might have heard of this story — how Elon Musk personally hired two interns who impressed him by solving a problem with Telsa’s Model 3 in the summer of 2018. It was a story destined for the movie theatres and a beacon of inspiration for students hoping to carve out a career in innovation.

Gone are the days when interns would be satisfied with merely serving as an extra pair of hands or being in charge of coffee runs. Today, they expect employers to give them the opportunity to problem-solve real work issues, take part in high-growth projects, and contribute actively to the growth of the company.

Zachary Zou, a second-year business student at Singapore Management University (SMU) who had recently completed his summer internship through the University’s Global Immersion Innovation (GII) programme at Mask Network shared: “I advised my juniors who are embarking on their internships to think like a founder and not as an employee. By voicing out your opinions or thought-process at the right moments, not only displays your critical thinking ability but also shows that you’re truly part of the company, thinking in its best interest.”

Zachary’s motivation and sentiments to contribute meaningfully are not uncommon amongst his peers.

While it may be a challenge for startups to hire interns, the benefits certainly outweigh any stumbling block. It could even create more value than you can imagine.

Fresh perspectives and innovative solutions to old problems

The effort needed to create a learning module, guide, and train interns on the various aspects of the business can be time-consuming. On the flip side, this may be an opportunity for startup founders and even established companies to gain unbiased feedback, fresh ideas, and discover new alternatives to internal processes that can help improve efficiencies.

Mr Tan Yuan Pin, co-founder of MyKaki, a new age freight forwarding startup, shared how impressed he was with both Ms Clarisa Lim, a third-year student, and Ms Danawa Roslee, a final year student at SMU.

Also read: Explore cutting-edge cybersecurity tech at SINCON 2021

“After explaining our sales cycle to attain new leads, Clarisa took the initiative to improve our leads generation and sales call process by using digital tools to automate and optimise the number of leads or sales calls I can attain within a day,” said Yuan Pin.

“Danawa helped to create our online brand persona and simplify our communication materials to new customers in a more relatable manner that eluded us.”

Yuan Pin commented, “their initiative and willingness to contribute not only helped us improve our efficiency as a team but also helped the company to better analyse the quality of the sales leads gathered. We would still be doing some of these things manually or traditionally if not for their creative ideas and know-how in technological tools.”

Promoting your company to a young community of talents and potential customers

The truth is a three-month summer internship is not a long time. But here is a long-term perspective — an internship is a life experience that is going to stick with that person forever. By providing rewarding and positive work experiences for interns, you are potentially making them your company’s ambassadors when they share their memories and learnings with their community.

Being young digital natives, interns can be your best sales or advertising channel. The impact of word-of-mouth is immense. That is why some of the world’s most valuable brands like Facebook, Google, Coca-Cola, and L’Oreal invest in elaborate internship and onboarding programmes. If they are not going to be your employees, make them your customers or advocates of your brand.

Union Bank, a digital bank based in the Philippines and corporate partner of GII, inducts more than 100 local and international interns annually as one example. They gamified parts of their internship programme by incorporating an ideation bootcamp for interns to work together on FinTech challenges and providing an experiential learning journey that connects with the company’s product team and senior management directly.

Also read: How startups can foster resilience and break barriers

Ms Abeegail Caberte, Talent Acquisition Head of Union Bank said: “Through an interactive programme that allows interns to work on specific projects autonomously, we are able to talent-spot future leaders and simultaneously deepen our engagement level with the younger, highly mobile, and tech-savvy generation.”

The benefits are win-win. Union Bank said that they inculcate their brand values as part of the interns’ learning journey while interns gained a stimulating and fulfilling real work experience that they can be proud of.

Abeegail added: “We relied a lot on digital marketing for recruitment when we first started out. But after the first few years of this programme, job applications and referrals to our company increased tremendously.”

Developing your own capability as a leader or grooming your senior management

The demands of being a business mentor are much like parenting. A good mentor is able to demonstrate effective communication skills, has the confidence to provide guidance as well as being encouraging, supportive, and honest.

There is no better opportunity for startup founders to hone their leadership skills or companies to groom potential employees in management roles than through an internship programme. The learning experience can be both ways if the intention is set out in the right way from the beginning.

“You never know how good you are until you teach and try to nurture someone else,” Yuan Pin reflected candidly.

Also read: PETRONAS FutureTech 2.0 to catalyse tech startup innovation in the energy sector

“Even as an employer or mentor, I learned from the interns too — like how to condense crucial information and communicate constructive feedback to help them achieve their goals. I’ve also gained a better perspective of how to guide people to improve their work. In fact, through this exercise, I’ve started the company culture of encouraging our team including us founders to give feedback constantly in a positive manner.”

Yuan Pin concluded, “as employers, we have a responsibility to bring the best out of these young talents and it stems from us maintaining an open mindset, understanding from their perspective, and being willing to accept new ideas.”

To sum up, you will not be investing in just an internship programme but the future of your company and the interns’. Make it a meaningful relationship that is beneficial for both parties.

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In case you are on the lookout for proficient interns, the Global Innovation Immersion (GII) internship programme organised by Singapore Management University Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (IIE) offers pre-screened young talents who possess an entrepreneurial mindset and are highly driven with inclination towards innovation and digital transformation.

Simply contact IIE at iie-gii@smu.edu.sg to find out how you can leverage on GII to build your talent recruitment programme!

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by SMU IIE

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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Singapore-based Coda Payments, a provider of cross-border payments and distribution solutions for digital content, has acquired mobile e-sports tournament platform BAASH.

The transaction details remain undisclosed.

Upon the acquisition, Coda will extend its existing gaming goods and solutions range. They include Codashop, a marketplace for digital game content, and Codashop Global Series (CGS), a free-for-all community e-sports tournament.

With the BAASH deal, Coda aims to grow and better serve players who want to compete in CGS e-sports tournaments. CGS is present in 17 global markets and has gained over 100,000 participants in the past 12 months.

Coda also intends to optimise the BAASH platform and incorporate the service into Coda’s product line, with details to be announced later.

“This acquisition is an expression of our commitment to offering the best value, experience, and entertainment to our customers, every day, without fail,” Philippe Limes, CEO, Coda Payments.

Also read: Mobile, e-sports, live streaming shaping SEA’s gaming startup landscape in 2021

Launched in 2011, Coda has assisted gaming and entertainment digital content producers in monetising their goods and services in more than 45 markets. It is backed by London-based private equity asset manager Apis Partners and Southeast Asia and payment-focused investment fund GMO Global Payment Fund.

Codapay (a cross-border payments engine) and xShop (a gaming content distribution network) are also among the company’s offerings.

According to a press statement, publishers of games like Moonton (Mobile Legends: Bang Bang), Garena (Free Fire), and Tencent (PUBG Mobile), streaming platforms such as beIN and Bigo Live, apps like Tinder, and video-on-demand platforms, have integrated with Coda to attract customers and accept payments.

Coda claims Codashop is trusted as a source of games and in-game currencies, providing customers over 250 safe payment options and having clocked more than 90 million visits per month. 

The platform also boasts of enabling a “seamless purchase experience” with no required registration or log-in and instantly adding game credits or in-game currencies to gamers’ accounts.

Founded in 2016 and owned by Hong Kong-based CAPSL Entertainment, BAASH allows users to create e-sports events, compete in contests, and discover a community of like-minded gaming fans.

According to the “Asia Esports Market Report 2021” research, despite the COVID-19 crisis, e-sports in Asia generated US$543.8 million in revenue in 2020, a 4.9 per cent increase compared to that of 2019, and is slated to grow more robust this year.

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Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

Image credit: Coda Payments

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Starting out in 2018 as a coworking space operator, Singapore-based Greenhouse has gone through changes in the different stages of its journey as a startup.

A year after its debut as a coworking space in Jakarta, after winning several awards and becoming home to high-growth companies in the region, the company noticed a new opportunity that led to its pivot. Its clients who were entering the Indonesian market from abroad often struggled to source service providers to help them launch, operate, and commercialise their business in the country.

This led the company to become a business matchmaker for entrepreneurs, startups, and SMBs with service providers to help them scale. They started to qualify and contract service providers into their network, and launched the first version of the Greenhouse Marketplace in December 2019.

This year, the company introduced the latest addition to its business line: Revenew.

Revenew is a curated marketplace that offers startups a platform to source and hire outbound sales agencies to grow leads and revenues in new markets. The platform operates on a margin-based business where Greenhouse gains a commission for each deal that the suppliers close from the network.

As COVID-19 forced businesses to digitise operations, yet expanding into new markets as quickly as possible, Greenhouse builds the platform to help businesses to achieve that goal.

“We launched with 40 suppliers across 31 countries [by early September], now have more than 65 suppliers across more than 40 countries. We have helped at least 200 startups expand internationally, since starting this venture. Our ambition is to service 300 by EoY, and close with more than 100 suppliers across 50 countries,” explains Drew Calin, CEO at Greenhouse.

Also Read: ‘There’s no one-size-fits-all for corporate innovation, experimentation is key’: Sunway Group’s innovation chief

Connecting to the future

Throughout its short journey, Greenhouse has gone through changes from a pivot, layoff, restructuring, and two fundraises. The company, which was named in the e27 Luminaries list earlier this year for surviving the challenges of the time, is currently at a stage where they aim to become a platform that helps businesses scale through a curated marketplace of go-to-market (GTM) services).

“Our plan is to become the Business Services version of UpWork, through the marketplace and SaaS solutions,” Calin writes in an email interview with e27.

“With the limitations of COVID-19, travel is harder than ever but scaling businesses still require access to new markets. Revenew is our solution to help founders grow leads and revenue in new markets, remotely. In all likelihood, Greenhouse services (corporate services) will roll into Revenew.ai in time, and the entire platform will become a GTM marketplace, offering startups access to business development, corporate, operational, and growth services – covering every stage of growth for every startup,” he further explains.

After undergoing this process, there are several lessons that Calin can share as a founder.

The first part is related to building a team that is resilient enough to go through challenges. Apart from living the philosophy of running the company as a team –instead of a family– Calin also believes in the philosophy of hire slow and fire fast, a principle that is commonly implemented in the business world.

“Over hiring may feel great at the time, but it will kill your business,” he says. “Better to pay well for one great hire, than three or four mediocre ones.”

Also Read: How Warung Pintar builds tech solutions to help warung owners embrace the future

This careful and value-oriented approach is also implemented in the company’s fundraising process, where Calin puts emphasis on raising capital only from “investors who can offer value beyond the monetary sense.”

Another lesson that the company has learned is related to the process of product development itself.

“Test and iterate weekly,” Calin stresses. “User testing is the most valuable part of your product development process.”

The company also believes in being efficient in its product development process. For example, by knowing when to invest more in this process.

“Don’t build tech when you can stitch the solution together through low or no-code tools,” Calin says. “Spend as if you’re bootstrapping until you reach product-market fit.”

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Image Credit: Greenhouse

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e27 is thrilled to announce that we are working with IES-INCA to provide startups with access to e27 Pro.

IES-Incubator and Accelerator (IES-INCA) is a strategic initiative by The Institution of Engineers, Singapore (IES) to support engineers in technopreneurship and new technology business ventures.

IES-INCA is a platform “by engineers for engineers” that supports entrepreneurial engineers with deep tech innovations, enabling them to be successful in commercialising products and services through the scale-up incubation programme or via mentorship of first-time entrepreneurs through the Enterprise Singapore SgFounder programme.

From their board of directors to their operations team, IES-INCA speaks the same language and understands the needs of engineers and technopreneurs, with mentors advising on necessary technical, financial, and business development. Technopreneurs can tap on the rich experience of industry and finance experts to build a comprehensive and sustainable business with incubation or mentorship that emphasises quality engineering rather than just business aspects.

Also read: Facebook Community Accelerator Program introduces the 19 communities of the 2021 APAC cohort

In this new partnership, IES-INCA in its role as a community-builder will be working with e27 to grow and boost the connections between the technopreneurs, investors, mentors, and corporates in the deep tech space. With e27 in its role as the media partner, its extensive reach in the market and media, activities in the deep tech venture ecosystem will be able to receive greater market interest and awareness.

To launch this new partnership, IES-INCA will host a webinar together with e27, entitled In Conversation with a Deep Tech Investor. The webinar will talk about what founders need to know when engaging with a Deep Tech Hardware investor. Openspace Ventures has been invited to share its insights on key considerations for investing as well as its experiences working with founders.

For this webinar, we’re excited to have Mr Hian Goh of Openspace Ventures discuss key perspectives in how Openspace Ventures evaluates potential investments in companies.

Join this session happening on Wednesday, Oct 13, 4:30-5:45 PM SGT as we build a closer Deep Tech community engaging an investor and fellow Technopreneurs. You can register for free here.

Opportunities to build your investor network

Over the past couple of months, we have served over 3,000 connections between startups and investors through e27 Pro’s Connect feature.

In this new normal, there is a distinctive lack of ability for different parts of the Southeast Asia tech ecosystem to reach out to each other.

We used to have thousands of offline activities happening monthly, connecting various local and regional ecosystems, connecting startups, corporates, governments, and investors. Even our very own Echelon used to bring in more than 10,000 people over two days to achieve these meaningful, often serendipitous, connections.

This is a real pain, especially if you are new to the ecosystem and do not have existing networks that can introduce you to new ones. Online webinars and conferences seem to alleviate this issue temporarily, but we find that the startup ecosystem requires more.

Also read: Blue skies for Malaysia’s drone industry with Aerodyne

e27’s mission has always been to empower entrepreneurs with the tools to build and grow their companies. With e27 Pro, we’re going back to our roots and helping startups with their fundraising by providing a platform that allows not only discovery but a tool to begin conversations with investors and update them on their progress.

With over 300 verified active investors on the platform, e27 Pro members have in their reach the ability to find, connect, and engage with investors that are right for them. Not a Pro member yet? Start here.

Get the chance to connect with IES-INCA

IES-INCA is onboard e27 Pro, and members can reach out directly to them via e27 Pro’s Connect feature to be connected to the deep tech and engineering tech venture ecosystem or explore incubation with them.

Any e27 Pro member can simply visit IES INCA’s profile and click the Connect button to get the ball rolling.

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ESB, a fully integrated restaurant operating platform in Indonesia, has bagged US$7.6 million in extended Series A funding round, led by Alpha JWC Ventures.

Existing investors, including Beenext, Vulcan Capital, AC Ventures, and Skystar Capital, also co-invested.

With this funding, ESB plans to extend its footprint in the market. The fresh capital will also help the startup develop new Artificial Intelligence-based features, enhance its business intelligence (BI), delivery, payment, funding solutions, and HR information system.

ESB was established in 2014 by Gunawan Woen, Eka Prasetya, Setiadi Prawiryo Moeljadi, and Dwi Prawira. It is an all-in-one provider of culinary business operations software, connecting restaurants’ front-end, back-end, consumers, and supply chain partners. Its mission is to help F&B businesses increase their profits by incorporating technology to improve sales and operational efficiency.

Also Read: ESB, Indonesia’s answer to Toast, bags US$3M in Beenext-led Series A round

The firm’s initial offering was a customised enterprise resource planning (ERP) cloud solution to replace traditional hardware-based systems. It later expanded its objectives and started working on an all-in-one restaurant operating system covering a point-of-sale system and mobile ordering technology called ESB Order.

ESB aspires to follow the success of Toast in the US, which recently launched a successful IPO.

The Jakarta-headquartered firm has served more than 500 F&B brands, including MAP Boga Adiperkasa, Ismaya Group, Sour Sally Group, and Marugame Udon. It claims to be processing more than 40 million orders annually.

ESB managed to grow by 3x YoY during the pandemic mainly due to the demand for touchless ordering, which ESB caters to via its ESB orders. It now processes over US$500 million in gross transaction value and is expected to grow 10x in the next two years.

Before this round, ESB had received a total of US$3 million from Beenext, AC Ventures, Skystar Capital, and Selera Kapital earlier this year.

“Restaurant business is a combination of manufacturing, trading, and retail. We strive to alleviate the headache of dealing with separate platforms to meet the needs of these different aspects. At the same time, we help businesses generate better customer engagement, optimise their operations, and eventually increase their net profit,” said co-founder and CEO Woen.

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Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

Image Credit: ESB

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Draper Startup House Ventures (DSHV), a unit of the Draper Venture Network, has launched a new global micro-fund, targeting founders at the earliest stages of building tech startups.

It has also announced its maiden investment in Ferne Health, a startup addressing sexual health.

While DSHV is anchored in the US and its management is headquartered between San Mateo and Singapore, it aims to invest worldwide. The total amount of the fund will be announced at a later date.

The fund will have an APAC predominance due to Draper Startup House International having Singapore as its headquarters. Its reach potential includes 60 countries and 30 industries already represented on the company’s platform.

Its general partners are Giulianna Crivello and Vikram Bharati, founder of Draper Startup House International, who will co-manage the fund and long-time advisor Nick Martin.

The launch comes after the fund launched a software-based syndicate matching global investment platform in 2020.

Also Read: ‘We want to have a Draper Startup House in every major country by 2030’: Vikram Bharati

“Since inception in 2020, Draper Startup House Ventures has made 215 investor introductions to startups,” Bharati said. “With the launch of this fund, Draper Startup House itself expands beyond our 16 physical locations of entrepreneurial hospitality and tourism to better connect, inspire, and empower a global community through direct venture capital backing.”

“Thanks to the internet, and things like Bitcoin, entrepreneurs can build startups and create stored value from anywhere,” lead investor Tim Draper stated. “Whether they are in Myanmar, Estonia, or Indonesia, Draper Startup House Ventures brings them the opportunity to get funding without having to find their way to Silicon Valley.”

The fund provides access to its own venture capital fund, and the ability to submit pitch decks for circulation to the Draper Venture Network, which has 24 global funds.

Its lead investor Tim Draper is known for investing in Hotmail, Skype, and Baidu. Draper’s network companies manage over US$2 billion across 24 global funds.

In April, Draper Startup House acquired Hatch Ventures Vietnam (HATCH!), a Singapore-based startup ecosystem builder.

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Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

Image Credit: Draper Startup House Ventures

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Lead generation has been at the top of every e-commerce marketing leader’s agenda for many years. For marketing functions specifically, the focus has always been on driving consumers to your website, optimising their journey through the site, and presenting them with the information and offers that make them want to stay there.

Of course, all of this is futile if it doesn’t lead the window shopper to buy.

To achieve this sought-after result, the marketing manager underpins the customer journey with data such as heat maps of where consumers are clicking, their dwell time on critical web pages, and split testing to see what works best for getting a consumer’s attention.

For any marketing campaign, be it sales-focused or awareness-raising, getting a grip on this data is key to success.

However, whilst these metrics are critical, there is another key metric that has long been overlooked. To optimise it, marketers must look beyond the surface of glossy websites and marketing materials to truly optimise the customer experience.

That metric is authorisation rates or the percentage of transactions that successfully pass through the full authorisation process to complete payment.

Put, improving authorisation rates increases revenue, leads to better customer satisfaction, and ultimately improves customer retention and loyalty.

In fact, PayPal research shows that a two per cent increase in approvals could translate into more than a million dollars of previously unrealised revenue.

Also Read: How HackerNoon uses customer-centric approach to build meaningful new features on their platform

Steering clear of cart abandonment

Those in the e-commerce industry know all-too-well that cart abandonment is a huge issue, and it won’t go away or improve without action. Customers who have had a poor experience on your website may go online to share their reviews and to warn other potential customers about their negative experiences.

This can lead to long-term knock-on effects and severely impact the customer base that your team have worked so hard to build. However, all too often, the issue is not solved because its cause is not adequately addressed.

To truly optimise customer conversion rates, marketing managers need to understand the customer’s pain points when making a transaction on their website or app.

To aid this, there are experts and resources out there to help, including insight from PayPal’s specialists that shows why, when a customer journey isn’t smooth from start to finish, with a simple checkout process, consumers almost certainly abandon their cart, head to a competitor, and never come back. After all, today’s consumers are short on time, and their loyalty is hard to keep.

With the PayPal commerce platform, partners and customers can better understand and improve conversion rates on their websites by enabling merchants to optimise every critical stage of processing using PayPal’s unique mix of tools, technology and data to make informed data-driven decisions.

By having access to this actionable data, there is a much greater chance of approval of customer transactions. For many, the impact of poor authorisation rates might not have been a consideration in the past for improving marketing metrics.

However, in today’s competitive e-commerce environment, marketers who take the time to look beyond the surface-level metrics that are so commonplace and fully analyse why those with full carts didn’t complete their transactions can make huge gains and realise success.

Knowing where to look

When looking at the backend of a website and payment platforms and pathways, marketeers should ask some questions: what journey is a customer going on to find themselves at the checkout? Are there too many clicks? Is it too complex?

By working out the answers to these questions and determining what elements of the process need improving, optimised payment authorisation rates will positively ripple through the business, which could be the difference in millions of dollars of profit.

With this information at hand, marketers will no longer be so quick to ignore what has been written off as a seemingly insignificant back-end metric. There has never been a more crucial time to optimise conversion rates. It is no secret that many industries have been shaken up due to the pandemic, but few so much as the e-commerce industry.

Also Read: How Warung Pintar builds tech solutions to help warung owners embrace the future

The last 12-months has seen new demographics of consumers shopping online for the first time, and others convert to completing the majority of their shopping online as a more hygienic way to get the goods and services they need.

To gain their slice of this market, merchants need to be nimble and adapt to consumers wants and needs – those that don’t will get left behind.

The solution is simple, and payment platforms such as PayPal offer merchants all the tools they need to optimise conversion rates and capture and grow their slice of the e-commerce pie by ensuring valued customers don’t go to the competition.

This end-to-end payment know-how is all marketeers need to realise success when optimising authorisation rates at the checkout.

To future-proof their careers and strive toward truly optimised metrics, marketing departments must get behind the surface of the data they have at their disposal and start looking at the full customer journey.

There is no doubt that it might seem like a daunting task, but expert support is on hand.

PayPal can support marketing managers by helping them optimise authorisation rates to capture more revenue, increase customer volumes and avoid losing customers to their competition.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

Image credit: photonphoto

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The past two years has played host to a retail investing revolution across investment markets. Following the development of payment-for-order flow online brokerages and the release of government stimulus packages in the wake of the pandemic, we’ve seen a remarkable rise in the volume of retail investors trading their money on stocks and shares. But is this new wave of adoption as inclusive as it seems? 

The stats don’t lie. Retail investors are arriving on the market in record numbers, and the trend’s impact has been felt across Wall Street.

We’ve seen investors congregate on online forums like r/WallStreetBets to generate a short squeeze on GameStop and AMC stocks to send their shares rocketing into the stratosphere, and we’ve seen daily equity share volumes surpass their previous peak, set in the midst of the financial crisis of 2008. 

As the table above shows, the average daily volume of US equity options traded climbed to more than 40 million contracts in early 2021 – indicating an accelerating trend of growing trading activity from retail investors. 

One of the most significant developments that paved the way for this rise in retail adoption was the introduction of zero-commission operating models for online brokerages.

As the chart above shows, from their introduction in late 2019, we’ve seen daily average trades accelerate by as much as 200 per cent in the case of some brokerages, whilst Robinhood’s monthly active users climbed from less than 5 million to more than 20 million between Q4 of 2019 and Q1 of 2021. 

However, the introduction of zero-commission brokerages has been a controversial topic across the investing landscape, as well as the tactics used by platforms to keep their users engaged.

With this in mind, let’s take a deeper look at whether the recent surge in retail adoption really points to the democratization of retail investing: 

The implications of zero-commission

As with many things in life, it generally is if something sounds too good to be true. This is certainly the case to some degree with the zero-commission switch that brokerages made in late 2019.

Made popular by Robinhood in recent times, the platform relies on a payment-for-order flow (PFOF) model to make money rather than commissions. 

The approach relies on rebates paid by market makers to execute a buy or sell order on their terms. As brokerages opt to use a specific market maker over a more competitively priced alternative, the middlemen pay for the vast volumes of business it receives.

As Robinhood took off with its PFOF setup, other more traditional retail brokers like Schwab and TD Ameritrade adapted to stay competitive. 

Although companies that have adopted the PFOF model claim it provides better prices for retail investors, consumer advocates contest this assessment.

The argument against payment-for-order flow is that it presents a significant conflict of interest for brokers to find the best prices for their users. 

In fact, in February, a Congressional hearing in the wake of the GameStop short squeeze event aimed at PFOF, claiming that it was fundamentally to blame for some of the current problems across the investment landscape. 

In the wake of the mounting criticism, Robinhood rival, Public.com opted to drop its payment-for-order flow setup in favour of welcoming ‘tips’ from their users instead, as a means of making their trading environment fairer.

Retail brokerages have also been accused of profiting from the gamification of their investing platforms as a means of encouraging greater levels of order flow. 

In March 2021, Robinhood opted to remove a feature where confetti would rain down from the screen when investors made their first trade amid concerns that it offered instant gratification for buying stocks through the app. 

The path to true inclusivity

Retail brokerages may need to adapt their platforms if they’re committed to truly level the playing field between retail investors and their institutional counterparts. 

“Companies can provide protocols for determining which investments are appropriate for new account holders to avoid costly mistakes at the outset,” claims Maxim Manturov, head of investment research at Freedom Finance Europe.

“Firms should also consider additional staff training to educate clients about the risks of investing in high-volatility securities and adopting better methods of dealing with clients during market volatility.”

“Financial institutions could also consider offering information that might be useful during times of turbulence, such as warning labels on equities with high volatility so that customers are aware of the dangers.

“Also, it would be a good idea to add education to reduce the flow of disinformation faced by retail investors online and support investment education, including building VR virtual learning modules with built-in lessons in essential financial concepts,” Manturov adds. 

While we’re seeing vast new users arriving across the retail investing landscape, institutions still face many hurdles that institutions don’t have to worry about. The path to true inclusivity can be laid in the future. Still, it may require a new operating model for online brokerages and a greater level of support and education for new investors.

The democratisation of finance is already underway, and with a series of improvements, the future certainly looks bright for the retail investing ecosystem.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic.

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

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Singapore-headquartered global early-stage VC firm Antler has closed over US$300 million to date from Schroders, Vækstfonden, and Phoenix Group.

While its primary focus remains pre-seed stage investments, the VC firm will now start offering its portfolio companies follow-on capital as they grow and scale up to Series C.

Founded in Singapore in 2017, Antler invests in companies, helps them in building complementary co-founder teams, supports them with deep business model validation, and provides a global platform for scaling.

To date, it has invested in over 350 companies globally across 30 different industries. Of these, 40 per cent have at least one female co-founder, and the founders represent 70 nationalities.

Also Read: Antler to deploy US$100M in “priority market” India in the next 4 years

The firm has a global network of over 600 expert advisors and an online platform of resources, tools and supports its portfolio companies with introductions to international investors, hands-on assistance with new market entry, and access to a global network of expert advisors.

Antler’s current portfolio of startups includes HomeBase, Reebelo, Qashier, Volopay, Pathzero, Marco Financial, Xanpool, PowerX, and Xailient.

The firm has offices globally across most major entrepreneurial hubs, including London, Berlin, Stockholm, New York, and Sydney, besides Singapore.

It also announced that it has recruited new partners Naman Budhdeo, Erik Jonsson, Jiho Kang, and Subir Lohani to lead its new Canada, Vietnam, Korea, and Indonesia teams, respectively. It has put together a team to oversee ongoing investments led by Lazada co-founder Martell Hardenberg; Teddy Himler, formerly of SoftBank; Stefan Jung, previously managing partner at Venturra Capital; and Navi Singh, a researcher at MIT’s Department of Mechanical Engineering.

Antler also intends to invest in companies outside of its portfolio at seed and Series A stages.

In January this year, Antler announced it would invest US$100 million in Indian startups over the next four years. The fund will support exceptional founders from the idea stage all the way to Series A and B.

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This October, investment app Ajaiab became the seventh unicorn of Indonesia within just two and half years after its launch. It is not surprising that Southeast Asia has risen to become a hub of personal finance startups riding on the young, internet-savvy middle-class in the region and supercharging the welfare for all. 

Here is a list of 27 startups that could help you save, invest, bank, budget, mortgage, get insurance, plan retirement and tax amid the pandemic. 

Also read: 21 Southeast Asian startups that help banks gain ground in fintech competition

Hugo Save

Co-developed in 2019 by David Fergusson, Ben Davies, and Braham Djidjelli, Hugo Save is a digital saving app helping users manage their personal finance. 

Hugo’s accounts are secured with DBS Bank. A member of the Singapore FinTech Association, Hugo allows customers to make purchases with a company-issued Visa debit card and save money according to their financial goals. They may also use the Hugo app to purchase and sell gold assets for under US$0.0074 (S$0.01) and convert their money into actual gold.

In June this year, the Singapore-based startup raised a US$2 million seed investment from 1982 Ventures.

Endowus

Endowus provides a platform for cash, central provident fund (CPF), and supplementary retirement scheme (SRS) funds to be invested by individual, accredited, and institutional investors.

The Singapore-headquartered startup offers professional tailored advice and “best-in-class” funds at a cheaper cost with no sales expense and a full trailer fee rebate.

Established in 2019, Endowus claims it has experienced a 20x rise in clients investing on the platform and 8x increase in funds under management.

Earlier this year, the company landed US$17 million in a Series A funding round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners.

Kristal.AI

Asheesh Chanda and Vineeth Narasimhan created Kristal.AI in 2016. The firm employs artificial intelligence and provides customers with tailored portfolios that comprise exchange-traded assets such as equities, bonds, options, futures, and currencies. 

Founded in 2016, Kristal has an in-house investment committee comprising specialists with years of expertise in sectors, including banking and trade, according to reports. 

Kristal.AI now has over 10,000 active users on its platform, and the company manages assets worth more than US$100 million.

Early last year, the Singapore-headquartered startup secured a US$6 million Series A round from Chiratae Ventures and Desai Family Office.

ADDX

Launched in 2017, Singapore-based ADDX offers access to private equity, unicorns, hedge funds, private debt, and other alternative investments for accredited investors. The firm is regulated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and is available to all non-US accredited and institutional investors.

ADDX was rebranded from private capital platform iSTOX following a US$50 million Series A funding round from Japanese state-backed investors.

Call Levels

Call Levels provides a cloud-based downloadable free app for users in Singapore. It assists clients to have rapid access to all of their financial investing data.

The app also offers a user-friendly dashboard for managing customer relationships and portfolios. Besides, it has created a platform for the administration of donations to give back to charity.

In 2015, after one year of its inception, the company closed a US$500,000 pre-Series A financing led by 500 Startups.

Dr Wealth

Launched in 2013 by Alvin Chow, Dr Wealth is a Singapore-based financial education firm that helps retail investors make better financial decisions.

In early 2020, the firm created a stock screener, research, and portfolio management platform. This platform provides stock data available to investors from a variety of Asian stock exchanges, including the Singapore Stock Exchange (SGX), the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX), and the Hong Kong Exchanges (HKSE).

In 2014, the company bagged US$640,000 in seed funding led by Puffer Ventures.

AutoWealth

Founded in 2015, AutoWealth is a National University of Singapore (NUS) Enterprise portfolio company. 

Regulated by the MAS, AutoWealth provides online financial counselling and investment management using a proprietary algorithm. It has developed an automated method that reduces processing time and intermediary expenses. 

Meanwhile, it still provides consumers with tailored personal finance advice on the asset composition, initial investment amount, and recurring investment instalments.

In 2019, the startup raised US$3 million in a funding round to expand into Malaysia’s market.

StashAway

StashAway is a Singapore-based online investment management firm founded in 2016. It offers a data-driven investing framework and a digital asset management platform. 

Individuals may open portfolios with a zero-dollar minimum deposit, unrestricted withdrawals, and yearly fees ranging from 0.2 per cent to 0.8 per cent. 

The platform uses a systematic asset allocation method to customise portfolios based on an individual’s financial assets, investing time horizon, and risk preferences.

Earlier this year, the startup bagged a US$25 million Series D funding round, led by Sequoia Capital India.

Infina

In January 2021, Infina launched its app in Singapore and has now extended to Vietnam. Most of its customers are in the 25-40 age group, seeking alternatives to long-term asset classes such as real estate. The app needs a US$25 minimum investment and allows investors to choose from various assets such as savings accounts, term deposits, fractionalised real estate, and mutual funds.

It counts among its investors the companies such as Dragon Capital, ACB Capital, Mirae Asset Fund Management and Viet Capital Asset Management.

Last June, the firm snagged a US$2 million seed round from Saison Capital, Venturra Discovery, 1982 Ventures, 500 Startups, Nextrans, and angels.

Finhay

Founded in 2017, Finhay is a platform that assists users in saving wisely and optimising idle cash by automatically transferring funds to reputed financial funds in Vietnam. 

A one-stop shop for financial services in Vietnam, Finhay focuses on assisting millennials in prudently building money. The firm strives to cater to the market’s underserved demographic.

Last year, the company secured seven-digit funding from Jeffrey Cruttenden, co-founder of the popular US savings app Acorns, local company Thien Viet Securities, and other investors.

Finsify

Built by Ngo Xuan Huy in 2013, Finsify is an online startup that focuses on offering personal finance solutions through mobile apps and web platforms. 

Finisfy, previously ZooStudio, has developed Money Lover, a personal money management software. Money Lover consolidates all of a user’s bank accounts to help them better track their finances.

Money Lover claims that it recently topped the chart as the number one app in personal finance. With plans to offer software aimed at accountants.

HelloGold

Created in 2015, HelloGold is a Malaysian personal finance firm that assists individuals in securing their money through gold investments.

Its Shariah-compliant technology helps users follow gold prices in real-time. The firm also offers investors to buy, save, and sell this precious metal.

In 2018, the startup raised undisclosed Series A financing from 500 Startups.

Akulaku

An Indonesian platform for consumer financing, AKulaku focuses on virtual credit cards, digital communication, and consumer products. 

Akulaku is also available in the Philippines, Vietnam, and Malaysia. In Indonesia, the firm stated that its money management platform has over 100,000 monthly active users.

Launched in 2014, the company claims to have served over 6 million users and generating over US$1.5 billion in yearly transactions.

In 2019, the startup bagged US$100 million in Series D funding round from Ant Financial, Alibaba’s business line in the financial services sector.

Pluang

Pluang, established by Claudia Kolonas and Richard Chua, caters to Indonesia’s expanding middle class by allowing individual investors to spend as little as US$0.50 in gold, equities indexes, mutual funds, and cryptocurrencies.

It assists first-time users in reducing risk. It also emphasises financial education on investment and long-term wealth development.

Last month, the startup secured an additional US$53 million led by Square Peg, following a US$20 million funding round earlier in March. 

Ajaib

Stanford MBA classmates Anderson Sumarli and Yada Piyajomkwan launched Ajaib in 2019. It is a mobile-first stock trading platform leveraging Indonesia’s high smartphone penetration rate.

In Indonesia, the business claims to have attracted more than one million stock investors out of a total of 2.69 million retail equity investors.

Earlier this month, the startup added US$153 million led by DST Global to its kitty to become a unicorn.

Friz

Co-founded by Friz Ash Rhazaly and Nirali Zaveri, Friz is a Singapore-based fintech startup providing financial services for freelancers. 

The firm uses data insights to provide freelancers financial goods such as credit cards, personal loans, insurance, savings, and investment options. Friz allows freelancers to keep track of and manage their revenues, spending, savings, and borrowings all in one place, resulting in increased productivity and the closing of borrowing gaps.

Last April, the startup secured an undisclosed amount in pre-seed funding with participation from Y Combinator, 500 Durians, 500 TukTuks, Iterative VC and other angel investors

MFast

Phan Thanh Vinh and Phan Thanh Long co-founded fintech platform MFast in 2018. It allows Vietnamese to utilise, introduce, and access financial and insurance services.

The smartphone app connects disadvantaged communities with financial and insurance institutions to guarantee that everyone has access to basic financial services, allowing individuals to better their livelihoods, manage risks, and enhance their quality of life over time.

MFast claims to have helped almost 600,000 Vietnamese access financial and insurance services from reputable organisations after three years of operations in Vietnam.

Earlier this year, the startup raised US$1.5 million in pre-Series A funding round led by Do Ventures, a local early-stage VC firm.

Finory

Finory is a fintech business headquartered in Malaysia that analyses credit card statements and provides customers with crucial information such as the total amount due, the minimum amount required, and the due dates.

Founded in 2020, Finory utilises retrieved data to offer timely notifications reminding users about upcoming due dates and amounts payable. Users need to provide their monthly bank statement to Finory. It will then scan it and extract essential information for display on the app using machine learning techniques.

Seedly

Seedly was founded in 2016 in Singapore to assist people in making better financial decisions. In the last two years, the millennial-focused community features, such as crowdsourced Q&A and the Reviews platform, have experienced over 250 per cent year-on-year growth in users.

The firm also has a budgeting tool and app that helps over 130,000 customers to connect their financial accounts and better manage their cash flow.

In 2020, CompareAsiaGroup acquired Seedly to extend its personal finance community beyond Singapore. The acquisition comes two years after ShopBack purchased Seedly in an equity-cumulative cash deal in May 2018.

Makmur

Sander Parawira, a former Virtu Financial executive and Facebook programmer, created the personal finance company Makmur in 2019. It allows Indonesians to plan their financial objectives (emergency fund, retirement money, and children’s education fund) all in one place.

Makmur generates optimum plans suited to customers’ risk tolerance, investment horizon, and current economic conditions using a patented dynamic asset allocation technique used to its goal-based investing and Robo Advisory capabilities.

Last month, the firm scored “seven-digit” seed funding led by Beenext.

Halofina

Adjie Wicaksana and Eko Pratomo, both veterans in the financial industry, launched Halofina in 2017. It’s AI-powered personal financial planning software that helps users manage their finances and develop investment ideas.

The Indonesia-based startup said that most of its users are millennials and those in the middle-upper income bracket.

In 2019, the platform secured an undisclosed amount of pre-Series A funding round led by Mandiri Capital Indonesia.

PinjamWinWin

PinjamWinWin is an Indonesia-based fintech peer-to-peer loan firm created in 2015 by James Susanto, an alumnus of the University of New South Wales in Australia who worked in banking, mining, and trade.

Its mobile app connects lenders and borrowers with a processing period of less than a day, no collateral, and competitive interest rates. 

The startup landed funding from SOSV to help finance unbanked Indonesian in 2019. PinjamWinWin said it would provide around 185 million unbanked Indonesians with insurance-backed loans. 

Jojonomic

Indrasto Budisantoso, the former CEO of Groupon, established Jojonomic in 2015. It began as personal financial management software. Then in October 2015, it released Jojonomic Pro, a platform to assist businesses with employee reimbursement administration.

The app amplifies gamification to make the tedious process of tracking one’s spending more engaging and exciting.

In 2016, the Indonesian fintech startup bagged US$1.5 million in a financing round led by Maloekoe Ventures, with participation from Golden Gate Ventures, Fenox VC, and East Ventures.

Syfe

Syfe is a digital wealth platform located in Singapore developing the next generation of financial products for Asian consumers.

Dhruv Arora started Syfe in 2019 to change the way people manage their money and make high-quality wealth management services inexpensive and accessible to everyone.

Within two years of its inception in Singapore, Syfe raised more than US$52 million.

Last July, Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures led Syfe’s most recent Series B financing round.

Holdnaut

Hodlnaut is a Singapore-based company that offers financial services to individual investors looking to earn income on their cryptocurrency holdings.

In 2019, Juntao and Simon co-launched Holdnaut. The startup claims that it allows users to earn interest of up to 12.73 per cent APY on their crypto.

Last month, Hodlnaut partnered with Okcoin, the US-based crypto exchange, to improve users’ investment options and earnings potential.

Autumn

Autumn, based in Singapore, is a bank-agnostic and open platform created and funded by SC Enterprises, Standard Chartered’s innovation and ventures business. 

Founded by Mike in 2020, Autumn helps its consumers to plan and manage their financial and physical well-being by providing best-in-class goods and solutions. 

The firm takes a comprehensive approach to retirement planning, assisting people in understanding how their lifestyle choices affect their money and health, ensuring that they are well-prepared for retirement.

BetterTradeOff

BetterTradeOff was established in 2015 by Laurent Bertrand and Robert Lonsdorfer. It aims to democratise financial planning by providing consumers with accessible and comprehensible advice. 

Through its bespoke dashboards for banks and financial advisors and a free virtual platform for consumers, users can simulate life situations such as purchasing a new home or planning for retirement, making it easy for users to see and understand the impact of their decisions. 

BetterTradeOff has recently partnered with Zurich Malaysia and Standard Chartered Bank to simplify financial planning for their customers with its solution.

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Ready to meet new startups to invest in? We have more than hundreds of startups ready to connect with potential investors on our platform. Create or claim your Investor profile today and turn on e27 Connect to receive requests and fundraising information from them.

Image Credit: Ajaib, Infina, Pluang, Finory

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