The Singaporean private equity firm also acquires a minority stake in TAG Sensors

Singapore-based private equity firm Elite Partners Capital (EPC) has invested S$3 million (US$2.2 million) in Norwegian cold chain management specialist TAG Sensors.

In addition to the funding, EPC’s Elite InNorvate Growth LP, a Singapore-based fund dedicated to investments in Norwegian growth companies, has signed the agreement for a significant minority stake in TAG Sensors.

TAG Sensors will set up its Asian headquarters in Singapore to recruit local talent, set up IT infrastructure, and IP protection.

With the deal, EPC will leverage on its network and resources to help TAG Sensors expand in Asia.

TAG Sensors provides solutions to track and log the temperature of perishable and sensitive products, both in storage and during transportation.

Its main product is Temperature Logging Label, which is a low-cost, printable temperature sensor that can be attached to a product or package, facilitating continuous tracking of an item’s temperature from production to consumption. It seeks to identify and ultimately reduce product waste in the food and pharmaceutical industries.

The investment is said to represent one of the first Singaporean fund’s investments in a Norwegian tech company. The country said that it is seeking to diversify from its traditional reliance on the oil and gas sector.

Also Read: Go-Jek’s VC arm invests US$5M in India’s cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods

TAG Sensors was established in 2012, and is a recipient of a EUR1.4 million (US$1.5 million) grant from Horizon 2020, the EU Research and Innovation programme.

It offers solutions that include Big Data analysis, digitalisation, blockchain, sensor technology, and RFID and NFC wireless technologies.

EPC Executive Chairman Micheal Tan said, “TAG Sensors has a suite of technologies which can transform the entire cold chain logistics industry. Our investment decision is anchored by the firm belief that this is a game-changer which has great potential for expansion in Asia and beyond.”

“We intend to tap on EPC’s network to expand across Asia and add value to the cold chain sector across the region. EPC is a welcome addition to our existing investors that include London- based Breed Reply and Platform Ventures USA,” said TAG Sensors CEO Knut Nygård.

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Image Credit: EPC

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In addition to updates from Australian startups, we also have three exciting news from Go-Jek

HR management platform Employment Hero raises US$15.3M in Series C funding – Press Release

Australian cloud-based human resource management platform Employment Hero today announced an AU$22 million (US$15.3 million) Series C funding round led by leading employment marketplace SEEK.

The funding round also included the participation of OneVentures and AirTree Ventures.

It has brought the company’s valuation to over AU$100 million (US$69 million).

In a press statement, Employment Hero said that it will “develop strategic integrations into SEEK’s expansive marketplace, working closely with the team to create a more holistic employment management experience for small businesses.”

It also plans to use the funding to support product development (particularly its WorkLife Passport service) and international expansion to New Zealand, Southeast Asia, the UK, and Ireland.

Investment tech platform Jacobi raises US$7.6M – Press Release

Australian investment tech platform Jacobi announced that it has raised an AU$11 million (US$7.6 million) funding round led by Illuminate Venture Partners, 8VC, and Credit Ease Venture Fund.

The company plans to use the funding to support product development and international expansion.

In a press statement, Jacobi said that it will focus on the European market after signing a number of large institutional investment managers.

The funding also coincides with the launch of its office in London, building on locations in Brisbane and San Francisco.

Also Read: Navigating the Southeast Asia Ecosystem: An Essential Guide for International Startups

Three Mitsubishi entities join Go-Jek’s Series F round – e27

Go-Jek has added another investment into its ongoing Series F round from multiple Mitsubishi entities: Mitsubishi Motors Corporation, Mitsubishi Corporation, and Mitsubishi UFJ Lease & Finance.

The three entities of Mitsubishi also plan to tap into Go-Jek’s expertise and presence in the mobility and consumer services market in the region.

In an official statement Go-Jek said the fresh fund will “enable Go-Jek to scale its strategy and benefit more people in the region, leveraging Southeast Asia’s growing mobile-first population and rapidly expanding digital economy.”

Go-Jek, LinkAja team up to add the digital payments service on the unicorn’s main app – Kumparan

LinkAja, the Indonesian government’s answer to Go-Jek’s e-wallet service Go-Pay, announced that it has collaborated with Go-Jek.

The partnership will make LinkAja payment option to be available on the Go-Jek platform, Kumparan reported.

According to the companies, the feature will be available “soon” within this year.

Also Read: Austrade names latest cohort of Landing Pad startups in Singapore

Go-Jek’s VC arm invests US$5M in India’s cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods – TechCircle

Indonesian ride-hailing giant Go-Jek has invested US$5 million in Indian cloud kitchen startup Rebel Foods, which is better known for its Faasos brand, according to a TechCircle report.

Citing the company’s filings with the government, the report said that the investment was done through Go-Jek’s investment arm Go-Ventures.

It is part of the startup’s ongoing Series D funding round.

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Image Credit: Ondrej Machart on Unsplash

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Ritase provides digital logistics services for trucks connecting shippers and transporters via mobile and desktop apps

Ritase, an Indonesia-based trucking services platform, has raised US$8.5 million in Series A funding led by Golden Gate Ventures, as per a report by DealStreetAsia.

Jafco Asia and ZWC Ventures, along with existing investors including Insignia Ventures, Beenext, and Skystar Capital also joined the round.

Ritase plans to use the funding to focus on growth and new market expansion.

The startup was founded in 2017 by Iman Kusnadi and David Samuel. It provides digital logistics services for trucks connecting shippers and transporters via mobile and desktop application. Using Ritase, users can access a real-time monitoring and reporting for the shipment process.

Also Read: Thai virtual queuing startup QueQ raises US$2.8M; launches in Malaysia

Currently, the company said it covers shipments in all parts of Indonesia and facilitates tens of thousands of shipments per month, with more than 7,500 trucks, 500 transporters, and 7,000 partner drivers connected to its app.

Its portfolios include brands such as Nestle, Unilever, Universal Ribena Corporation (URC), Japfa, Signify/Phillips Lighting, Lotte, and Perfetti Van Melle.

In the ear future, Ritase plans to provide supply chain financing to local transporters and affordable spare parts and trucks through a group buying platform.

Previously, the startup has raised two rounds of funding, totalling US$4.4 million, from Insignia Ventures Partners, Mitsubishi Corporation, Beenext, Skystar Capital, Agung venture capital, and several angel investors.
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Waresix connects shippers and business with available warehouses and trucks across Indonesia

Waresix​, an Indonesian logistics tech startup, announced today that it has closed US$14.5 million in Series A round of funding led by EV Growth, a Southeast Asia growth fund set up by regional VC firm East Ventures (investor in Tokopedia and Traveloka).

Local VC firm SMDV and Singapore-based Jungle Ventures also joined the round, which comes less than eight months after raising its pre-Series A of US$1.6 million. Previously, the startup raised a seed round in February 2018.

The fresh financing will be used to expand Waresix’s land transportation service and further strengthen its warehousing network to second-tier cities.

“Our mission ​is to simplify logistics and make it accessible for everyone. With this new capital, we want to scale and expand our coverage to support the digital ​transformation of Indonesia’s US$240 billion domestic freight sector,” Andree Susanto, Co-founder and CEO of Waresix.

Also Read: Golden Gate invests US$8.5M in Indonesia’s logistics startup Ritase

“We will continue developing our land transportation and warehousing network to more second-tier cities across the country and make further improvements to the supply chain process. Indonesia is experiencing an infrastructure growth spurt at the moment thanks to the government’s policies, and this spurt will fuel Waresix’s widening coverage as well,” he added.

According to Co-founder and CFO Edwin Wibowo, Waresix will further invest in R&D to enhance its data analytics capabilities. “Our technology will seamlessly merge data analytics with the logistics infrastructure to give businesses complete control of their goods and maximise our suppliers’ space utilisation. This way, Waresix ensures fast and reliable transportation, while keeping supply chain costs low and predictable.”

“In order to achieve our mission to simplify logistics for all. Waresix will also double down on our people investment, particularly those with data science, operations, logistics, finance, design, marketing, and sales expertise,” Wibowo added.

Founded by Susanto and Wibowo, both alumni of the University of California Berkeley, Waresix basically connects shippers and business with available warehouses and trucks across Indonesia. The  aims to improve supply chain efficiency by improving utilisation and removing middlemen. It provides multi-modal services including land and marine transportation, general cargo handling, and cold storage to cater inter-island freight movement across Indonesia.

The company claims it has over 20,000 trucks and 200 warehouses on its platform.

“We’re leveraging our extensive warehouse network to generate demand and create network effect for our trucking ecosystem. By expanding into the trucking business, we can maximise space utilisation and also avoid trucks with empty miles,” according to Susanto.

Also Read: Retrenched and dejected, this entrepreneur proved that a lot can happen over coffee

The archipelagic makeup of Indonesia has resulted in one of the highest logistics costs in Asia, accounting for nearly a quarter of the country’s US$1 trillion gross domestic product (GDP). In its 2018 Logistics Performance Index, the World Bank found that while the country’ logistics sector has improved in recent years, its logistics cost-to-GDP ratio of 24 per cent still lags behind that of regional peers Thailand and Malaysia. This high logistics costs not only hamper Indonesia’s industrial competitiveness, but also add to its SMEs’ cost of doing business in the domestic economy.

The government is currently working to close Indonesia’s infrastructure deficit gap via the ​National Medium-Term Development Plan 2015-2019, which aims to build 2,650 km of roads, 15 airports, 24 seaports, and 3,258 km of rail lines.

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Delivering a great customer experience is crucial for the success of your brand

It is a classic case of “can’t see the wood for the trees”: employees at startups and small businesses are often drowning in a never-ending list of isolated tasks, with a range of responsibilities falling on the shoulders of a very lean team. It can become difficult for them to step back and attend to the intricate details of getting customer experience just right.

However, there are plenty of reasons why this is something growing businesses can’t afford to overlook. According to Nielsen’s Global Survey of Trust in Advertising report, most consumers in Southeast Asia (88 per cent) found word-of-mouth recommendations to be the most credible source of information. It has never been more important for businesses to have end-to-end insight into the customer experience, but many aren’t spending enough time focusing on this – and it is a massive loss.

A study by HubSpot Research also found that one customer’s bad experience with a brand could make it harder to acquire new business in future. In particular, the majority of social media users in Singapore are made up of millennials, who make up a large part of the Asia-Pacific workforce. Aged 25 to 34, millennials are more wary of online ads, and tend to trust customer reviews and user-generated content more than other types of advertising techniques.

The customer journey is not linear – there is little point in businesses spending time, money, and resources to “fill the funnel” with traffic and leads via organic search, email marketing, advertising, and so on, without focusing on the end result of that activity: the customer.

Also Read: The essentials of mapping a customer journey across digital assets

Your existing customers can be your biggest source of growth, and if you want your startup to succeed, you need to focus time on turning more of them into brand advocates. But how? The answer lies in improving the customer experience and building customer advocacy programs.

Digital transformation isn’t enough

Every marketer – no matter the size of their budget – should have the ability to see how their efforts are impacting the customer journey and, ultimately, the business’s bottom line.

Of course, technology helps to solve this, but more often than not, businesses are not thinking critically about the technology they are using and its impact on the business. Recent research from HubSpot found that 71 per cent of Singaporean marketers felt their company underinvests in the technology needed to help them do their job to a better standard.

Businesses often don’t have access to a single view of the customer journey because data is siloed in different systems and tools, making it near impossible to identify things that are negatively impacting the customer experience.

Email engagement data lives in your email tool, online ads are managed somewhere else, and customer data lives in a CRM, or more commonly in smaller businesses, a spreadsheet. These systems often don’t ‘speak’ to each other, meaning insights that could drastically improve the customer experience are lost.

This is a missed opportunity for identifying friction in the customer journey that could be negatively impacting the experience your customers have with your brand, and therefore the likelihood that they will become brand advocates.

A scalable ‘tech stack’ is a competitive advantage

Startups and SMEs are in an advantageous position if they get their tech stack right during the infancy of their companies, as their systems will enable scale, instead of hindering it.

There are two options here: hack your systems together as best you can, or use an ‘all-in-one’ system where your tools either come as part of the product or can be seamlessly integrated.

Either way, the end goal is that customer data across all departments lives in one place to provide a single view of the entire customer experience. At the very least, a business’ CRM should be connected to its email marketing tool, so that marketers are able to trigger different emails based on customer behaviour logged in the CRM.

Beyond improving the customer experience, businesses can start to understand what initiatives are driving the most revenue, as they are empowered with the right tools to cross analyse data from marketing channels with the closed deals that have been recorded in their CRM.

Also Read: How startups can defeat challenges in customer satisfaction

When you pair this with post-sale data in the form of customer service calls, support tickets, or repeat purchases, marketers have the data they need to understand which customers might be their strongest brand advocates, and can build effective customer marketing initiatives to facilitate that.

Ultimately, businesses that are empowered with a comprehensive view of the customer experience, and have their tools connected to their CRM, will be much more successful in their pursuit to grow the business.

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Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Image Credit : dolgachov

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PayU has acquired a majority stake in Red Dot Payment in a transaction valuing the company at US$65M

PayU, the payments arm of South African internet conglomerate Naspers, has announced its foray into Southeast Asia by acquiring Singapore-based online payments solutions company Red Dot Payment (RDP).

Under the terms of the agreement, PayU has acquired a majority stake in RDP in a transaction valuing the company at US$65 million. The founder of RDP will continue to retain a stake in the company, while the majority of other shareholders will exit.

Also Read: Indonesian logistics tech startup Waresix seals US$14.5M Series A led by EV Growth

“We will now provide our existing global merchants access to Southeast Asia with single API integration, thus strengthening our global PayU Hub platform. PayU will continue to look for prospects to reinforce our footprints in this market,” said Laurent le Moal, CEO of PayU.

Randy Tan, CEO, and Founder of Red Dot Payment, added: “It has never been easy for global merchants to enter Southeast Asia as they benefit from RDP’s strong local connectivity combined with PayU’s global footprints and experience. We are pleased that RDP will be part of the Naspers’ fintech portfolio.”

RDP was founded in 2011 to provide payment solutions to enterprises of all sizes, such as online retail, hospitality, charity, and food delivery across Asia and beyond.

As per a Google-Temasek study, Southeast Asia is hailed as one of the fastest growing digital payments markets in the world, home to 350 million internet users across its six largest countries, exceeding that of the population of the US. PayU’s integration with RDP gives it a head-start to offer a cross-border product by offering more local alternative payment methods and connectivity.

 

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Seeing many budding DIY entrepreneurs and popularity mongers on the social platform, one might have the illusion of being capable of starting something from scratch

How many years has it been since Instagram became everyone’s favorite social media platform?

I remember that it used to be a lousy filtered app that people were still figuring out. Look at it now, it has become all shiny and integrated, surpassing even its parent Facebook.

It didn’t take too long before everyone on this app found a way to monetise the heck out of it, so much so that Instagram Business became a natural addition to the platform.

As a consequence, what used to be a platform meant for a photo wall of moments in our lives now sees accounts after accounts being created targeting us by learning about what we just opened and stayed for. So clever that it creeps me out at times.

I’ve had so many moments where Instagram threw an ad about purified water after I chatted with someone on WhatsApp about it and when I didn’t even search for it on it. That happened to me multiple times that I’ve become convinced that the app really got a mind on its own, but that’s a whole lot of another story.

The new normal

I’ve just had a realisation that the app has become an integral part of everyday life that some big decisions can be made entirely out of it, on it, and with it. It’s like democracy.

For me, the most lit– borrowing the term used by the biggest crowd flocking on Instagram, Millennials — chat group I have now is on it. With two other moms whose kids are the same age as mine, we talked about things like our husbands, cute shirts, toddler tantrum, baby recipes, and it never stops.

Also Read: Business scaling 101: What is scaling and how to scale

Why Instagram? Because I parent a lot based on it. I may stay on it for long to share, learn, and get useful tips from the fellow moms who’ve been there, done that, and are still doing it.

It’s my new normal. I woke up and checked on it before opening my emails or WhatsApp, and it gets me going.

The “insta” is for instant

It’s part of my life now, this habit of checking out Instagram to keep up with things. It’s basically my entire down time, so much that I kind of get why people need to detox from it.

It can turn pretty bleak quickly as the scroll never really stops. It just continuously feeds you with stuff that you think you need, from things to updates about other people’s lives.

The most attractive thing about it, I’ve noticed, is how easy it is. We often forget that it’s all presented instantaneously.

Instant meal on how-to-cook videos, instant holiday, instant success, you name it, it is all there flaunted, and we are all there to consume like a bunch of gluttons.

Instagram has become contents that are disguised as a list of important tasks to kill. Addictive.

There’s something for everybody

It’s the dream, isn’t it? That there is something out there for everyone, Instagram delivers it nonchalantly. The things you’ve thought about, if you manage to guess the keywords, you’ll find on Instagram.

I think that’s a large part of why FOMO is a word now. Fear of Missing Out. Instagram eats up on the FOMO phenomenon and makes bucks doing so.

There’s something for everybody just an Instagram away. I’ve lost count of how many times a lightbulb went off in my head about possible products I can offer as an entrepreneur, but the first thing I did was to check if the brand name I thought about was taken already on Instagram, instead of doing proper research like a good entrepreneur.

I’ll hold on to the startup idea, and then found myself getting bombarded on Instagram with businesses already doing what I thought of and putting ads out for it.

Well, did that make me stop? No, it made me jump to another “idea for business inspired by what’s on my Insta feed”.

It was like when Pinterest was the thing that gets ladies thinking that they can start a clothing brand. For me, Instagram convinced me that I should start my own thing already, because of the fact that how easy it should be and how lame I am if I don’t already.

It’s that toxic comparison thing that all moms of Instagram only understand. It’s also that delusional self of mine that gets me spinning for Instagram recognition.

Silly how one app can rule us all if we let it, like a super app those ride-hailing unicorns are trying to become but with more powerful tool: comparison. Silly how Instagram can both empowers you to do something just because and then leaves you feeling like you haven’t done enough.

Turn down the noise

Being mindful of how Instagram should be a thing, but it’s not. Why would you get rid of things that inspire you to do something?

Even so, I found that the more I scroll, the lonelier I get and the more my mind wanders far off. Mostly it laments about how I haven’t done enough because it should be so easy, Instagram should make it easy.

If you suffer from the same condition, my advice won’t be to put down your phone or disconnect for a while, although all of those are still useful if you try to recover from the “Instagrim” effect. My advice would be turning down the noise.

Also Read: 6 reasons why early-stage startups are so vulnerable to time-loss

Instagram is a noisy and crowded place with one and only mission: to make you stay longer and spend.

Don’t stay too long that you give a chance to your mind to wander far off. Don’t spend if you know that it’s just a fleeting trend on Instagram.

I know it’s simple to say, but remember the JOMO, the antithesis of FOMO — Joy of Missing Out. Do you know where I first found out about JOMO? Yes, from Instagram.

So yeah, it’s still integral and my mind would still buzz with ideas that are ready to be sacked the minute I submerge myself in Instagram-level deep research. But until then, I would keep reminding myself to take it somewhere else other than this fad-filled space, somewhere else that’s legit, if I want to take the business idea seriously.
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Photo by Luke van Zyl on Unsplash

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As Thailand positions itself to becoming a tech hub of the future, Startup Nation brings together the country’s hottest startups and more!

The National Innovation Agency (NIA), a government agency of Thailand with the mission of supporting and developing Thailand’s innovation system, reintroduces Startup Nation this year as Southeast Asia’s biggest tech conference — gathering the nation’s hottest startups, along with entrepreneurs, speakers, and investors from all around the globe. Placing Thailand well and truly on the startup map, NIA unveils Bangkok as a tech hub of the future.

NIA seeks to support and develop Thailand’s innovation system by virtue of improvements and initiations — all to promote economic restructuring and competitive enhancement. NIA functions as the vehicle for Thailand’s national innovation through co-creation, networking, fostering, and partnering with different organizations from various spaces including academic, technology, industry, finance, and investment.

With this, NIA’s launching of Startup Nation comes as no surprise as the 5-day event happening on 23 – 27 July 2019 works congruently with the agency’s vision for a future Thailand.

Also read: Thailand’s innovation agency launches cyber tech district for local, international startups

At the Startup Nation, around 500 startups hailing from 25 countries will be showcasing their latest innovations, meanwhile the programme will exhibit key insights to be discussed by 300 tech gurus and speakers sharing the space alongside those startups—making Startup Nation one of the biggest tech events in Southeast Asia.

The event also features pitching opportunities for participating startups, market insights from Asia and Europe, 2019 highlights that will identify global trends in deep tech, as well as MAR (music, art, recreation) tech with a special AR/VR music festival—essentially a hodgepodge of all the things that startup founders love and the things startup founders need.

A total of 9 government agencies, private sectors, and universities will also be hosting these respective events in 9 different venues, namely: NIA, Siam Innovation, The Knowledge Exchange (KX), AIS Design Center, Hanger by DTAC Accelerate, Glowfish, Naplab, Thailand Creative & Design Center (TCDC), and True Digital Park.

All nine venues are located on the BTS and MRT lines, making it very convenient for participants to go to each venue during the 5-day Startup Thailand event.

Southeast Asia Startup Assembly: an initiative co-created by NIA

With Southeast Asia being comprised of ten countries, collectively encompassing a total population size of about 650 million people, Southeast Asia has become one of the fastest growing region when it comes to technology adoption globally.

The main problem faced by the region is how fragmented it is despite the strong regional and cultural ties that tethers Southeast Asian countries together. Members of the region are separated by differing currencies, languages, and business environments.

Because of this recent boom in the tech and startup scene, however, certain key players and institutions recognize the need to accelerate the formation of new and improved government policies and programmes within the region.

Thus, the Southeast Asia Startup Assembly (SEASA) was forged and is to be inaugurated through the SEASA forum that aims to start the first discussion on market access programmes available to the growth of startups in building their various businesses across the region.

SEASA was formed primarily when the idea was mooted by Dr. Pun-Arj Chairatana of NIA and Thaddeus Koh of e27. The goal is to form a semi-government bloc that aims to create a continual discussion of e27 hosted grassroots issues accompanied by proposed solutions.

As such, the inaugural SEASA will be hosted by Thailand on 24 July 2019 at the Avani Sukhumvit Bangkok, from 8:00 to 8:30, under the theme “Advancing Partnership for Sustainability.”

This inaugural theme is consistent to NIA’s mission to bridge further the different countries of Southeast Asia to achieve common goals, reestablishing concerted efforts from the government agency to push for Thailand as a global startup hub of the future—efforts such as Startup Thailand’s 5-day event, and many others.

Deep Tech in Startup Thailand

What can participants expect in Startup Thailand, exactly? Well, for starters, Startup Thailand will be putting the spotlight on certain key topics, namely: agritech, foodtech, healthtech, MARtech, hackathons, and whatnot. The event will have ample time for participants to meander through the different venues on the different dates to be able to explore the diverse topics and trends featured in the 5-day event.

One of its key issues this year that’s already making a lot of noise in the startup ecosystem is the topic of deep tech. On July 24^th at the KX Knowledge Exchange, Startup Nation will be highlighting trends surrounding AI & robotics, energy, the restaurant of the future, medtech, as well as technology commercialization.

When we talk about deep tech, we talk about technology that’s based on tangible engineering innovation or scientific advances and discoveries. Deep tech is often set apart by its profound enabling power, the differentiation it can create, and its potential to be a catalyst for change—all important factors being looked at by today’s tech spectrum, especially ones that seek to impact the world in truly life-changing ways.

Some of the key players who will be taking the stage to talk about deep tech are Philipp Kristian Diekhöner, a global keynote speaker on innovation, Thomas Chrometzka of Enapter, and Thanyathat Angsuphisit, Managing Director of Technimal, among many others.

Want to be part of Startup Thailand?

The real value of Startup Nation in Thailand is to help you shift your mindset, mode of business, and future, all by joining the event that can revolutionise the nation. New graduates, budding entrepreneurs, and potential investors are all welcome to join and help shake up the nation.

If you’re interested in being part of history and immersing yourself not only in a sea of some of the hottest innovations spicing up the global tech spectrum today, but also to learn from the hotbed of ideas and insights being exchanged by some of the best and the brightest in the world of tech, then Startup Nation 2019 is for you.

You can register as either an attendee or a startup booth by clicking here. Check out the link for more information on Startup Nation 2019.

 

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image credit: 123rf.com / ID 24528780

 

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Businesses that don’t disrupt themselves risk getting left in the dust by their competitors

Business transformation can vary from companies to companies. Some may view it as a major disruption to the business while others think that this is a passing phase that the business needs to go through. Whatever it takes, business transformation is often complex and requires a lot effort for it to succeed.

It is my privilege to share some of my insights on business transformation. I am a business and technical strategist armed with more than 15 years of experience in helping businesses to propel to a greater height. Being a serial entrepreneur and investor myself, I usually dissect a challenge into pieces and formulate solutions in various perspectives in order to help my clients to achieve desired results.

Below are my views on business transformation.

Transforming business to stay competitive

Businesses will have to evolve as the world is continually changing with various needs and requirements.

I view business transformation as changing the business to be more efficient and effective than ever to fulfill the increasing demands in a competitive environment.

By doing so, it should help companies to bring on board better systems, people, products, processes and technologies to enable fulfillment.

It’s all about digital, solution, and data

Business transformation should revolve around digital, solutions and data. These three core elements can be often adopted independently, but many companies deploy all three elements to increase value.

Applying new technologies can improve the customer experience. There must have deep understandings on what the modern customers want, and what technology to adopt to modernise the business models.

Also Read: Customer experience: The opportunity that growing businesses are failing to see

As for the solution, companies will need to focus on solving the customers’ challenges holistically and realign the parts around what the customers really desire. Companies can increase revenue by providing a comprehensive solution that serves the long-term needs of the customer.

Lastly, data can change the way companies make decisions. This allows companies to gain better information on customer experience and areas of improvement. Companies should create a data culture that relies on business intelligence rather than internal or anecdotal opinions to test what the customers want.

Personal challenges in transforming my business

The common challenges I faced when transforming my own businesses are often categorised into people and processes.

Many people that I have known are accustomed to the traditional ways of how things run. Their resistance to changes is high and they are not willing to unlearn processes that they are used to. This can be detrimental as it closes the door to many opportunities and new ways to improve the overall business.

Also, by taking risks to undo the processes or introduce new methods, this may disrupt the flow of delivering consistent results. This can be worrisome as the results may not be guaranteed and many stakeholders can be affected along the way.

Taking small steps

I usually recommend my clients try to make changes in different phases to get the buy-in from the management as well as the other levels of employees. Baby steps should be made and feedback must be gathered to allow the transition to be as seamless as possible.

It will also be viable for the company to employ the right people to inculcate the right mindset within the organisational culture. This promotes innovation which is essential for the transformation. More options can be explored to further modernise the whole business.

Also Read: 10 reasons why businesses need to get involved with their communities2019

Business transformation may look different for every company but it is inevitable. The company must understand the current situations and adopt appropriate transformation strategies. This involves improving the processes, changing mindsets of personnel, managing data and incorporating technology to align and deliver the real value to the customers. Furthermore, the company can identify and leverage the strength to overcome the challenges ahead.

At BlackStorm Consulting, we guide our clients through their business transformation journey to ease the transition and ensure success. They can be motivated by several factors such as:

1. Hindered by internal weaknesses, which can affect the company growth.
2. Shield against external threats that can endanger the company.
3. Personal interest such as building a family legacy.
4. Urge to build higher barriers of entry to sustain a leading position in the market.

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Paddy Tan is the co-founder of boutique growth consultancy firm BlackStorm Consulting.

Editor’s note: e27 publishes relevant guest contributions from the community. Share your honest opinions and expert knowledge by submitting your content here.

Join our e27 Telegram group here, or our e27 contributor Facebook page here.

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Saphron’s platform NANAI will enable CARD MRI’s microinsurance agents to enrol clients, monitor policies, and initiate claims in short time and lesser cost

Philippines’s insurtech startup Saphron has received an undisclosed sum in investment from local microfinance firm CARD MRI, which also partly owns microinsurance company CARD Pioneer Microinsurance (CPMI).

The strategic partnership will see Saphron marrying AI and neuro-linguistic programming (NLP) technologies with CPMI’s products, which is aimed at making microinsurance accessible to the bottom of the pyramid.

Saphron’s platform, NANAI, will enable CPMI’s microinsurance agents to enrol clients, monitor policies, and initiate claims in short time and lesser cost.

According to a press release, CPMI’s enrolments grew from 995,000 in 2014 to over 18 million by the end of 2018. One of the keys to this effort was the tapping and training of nanays (Filipino: mother) as the company’s microinsurance agents for their communities.

“The rapid growth in the volume of enrollments has brought about its own challenges, resulting in a few months worth of backlog as the insurer sought to encode thousands of hand-filled paper forms into the system. But this will soon be resolved through the insurtech platforms we are deploying,” said Lorenzo Chan, CEO of Saphron.

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According to Chan, the challenge has been to process business efficiently — be it enrolments or claims notification — so as to sustainably serve the mass market by delivering insurance inclusion in a timely and mission-critical manner. For Saphron, the answer lies in Artificial Intelligence, robotics, analytics, and chatbots — highly advanced deeptech that lies underneath a simple user interface.

“We’re able to leverage high-end technologies like NLP and AI to enable insurance inclusion for as many people as possible. Through this partnership with one of the largest microinsurers, we are confident of inching closer to our mission of making insurance radically accessible,” added Chan.

“What makes the Saphron tech even more valuable to the nanays is its ease of use. As high-tech as it is, NANAI is, in fact, easy to understand, with nanays reporting ease and comfort in familiarising themselves with the new technology,” said Winston Damarillo, Chief Strategy Officer of Saphron.

Saphron aims to make insurance accessible and close protection gaps in the Southeast Asian region via insurance platforms combining the latest technology with industry expertise. In March, Saphron secured SGD1.35 million (US$1 million) in seed funding from Sage, a VC fund that targets fintech startups, and Talino Labs, a venture lab that supports companies engaged in digital transformation.

Founded in 2013, CPMI is Philippines’s first microinsurance company. The firm is borne out of the partnership between CARD MRI and Pioneer.

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