The Vietnamese blockchain-based startup receives the funding from the MoU signed by SBI Holdings and fellow Vietnamese tech firm FPT Corporation

Blockchain-based startup Utop has received backing from Vietnamese tech firm FPT Corporation and Japanese financial services company SBI Holdings, as reported by TokenPost. Just last week, both companies signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to invest US$3 million into Utop.

Not only an investor, FPT also provided its enterprise blockchain platform akaChain to be implemented in Utop’s platform.

Utop aims to bridge the loyalty point program among merchants by making it easy for users to collect and redeem loyalty points at retailers within the same network.

Utop believes this approach will help small businesses to grow faster because they are enabled to link their reward programs with each other to reduce costs and ensure data security, as well as enhances customer experiences

“This platform has been tested in FPT’s minimum viable ecosystem as well as sectors such as retail, insurance, and finance since last December,” explained Pham Nguyen Vu, co-founder, and director of Utop.

Also Read: Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte to approve incentives for startups

FPT claims that its akaChain has been implemented in many countries and across various sectors from finance, insurance, retail, to supply chain.
–

The post Vietnam blockchain startup Utop raises US$3M from two large corporates appeared first on e27.

The tumultuous bike-sharing startup reportedly had lost its operating licence in Singapore

Due to failure in providing justification on why its licence shouldn’t be revoked, Chinese bike-sharing service ofo has been confirmed to lose its licence to operate in Singapore.

According to The Strait Times, the company’s licence had been terminated for review since February with failures such as failing to implement a QR code-based parking system that would allow its bicycles to be parked only within specific areas.

Since ofo responded to LTA that it was in the “advanced stages of negotiation” to partner another party to resume operations and fulfill the conditions, LTA extended the time for the company until March 28 to meet these requirements.

It received a notice of intention to cancel its licence from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) on April 3.

In the notice, ofo was given up to 14 days to make written representations regarding the decision.
But despite the deadline extension, ofo still failed to comply with regulations.

Also Read: DOOgether secures seed funding to expand fitness merchant partnership

The authority released an official statement on Monday, saying: “As ofo has not provided LTA with sufficient justifications on why its licence should not be canceled, LTA canceled ofo’s bicycle-sharing operating licence on 22 April.

“ofo will not be able to offer dockless bicycle-sharing services in public places in Singapore without this licence.”

Operators without licence can be subjected to jail term of up to six months and/or a fine of up to US$10,000 with a further fine of US$500 for each day violated after conviction.

ofo first came to Singapore in early 2017 and grew to have more than 90,000 fleet. In March 2018, Alibaba invested US$866 million (S$1.17 billion) in the company.

However, towards the end of last year, ofo reportedly experienced cashflow problems to the point that it considered disbanding.

Also Read: Vietnam blockchain startup Utop raises US$3M from two large corporates

Mobike, Anywheel, SG Bike, and industry newcomer Moov Technology are now the remaining bike-sharing operators in Singapore, with Meituan Dianping-owned Mobike soon to pull out of Singapore market to “rationalise” operations in Southeast Asia.
–

The post ofo is officially banned from Singapore operation appeared first on e27.

At Echelon, earn how to build a UX that will significantly help your company’s success

Already excited for Echelon? Buy your tickets here! Enter promo code ECHELONFUTURE for free tickets!

Shopback, the Singaporean cashback company, has found enough success over the past couple of years that it is now one of the darling startups in the city-state.

The company incentivises people to shop at certain businesses by providing them with a percentage of cashback on their purchases. For example, when people are travelling, they can usually get a few bucks in cash by using Expedia.

Samantha Soh is a Co-founder of the company and is the woman behind the startup’s UX. She has a long history working in design, having previously worked at Orient Design and Zalora as a graphic designer.

At Echelon Asia Summit 2019, Soh will participate in a fireside chat and break down why UX has been core to the company’s success and how other startups can learn from the experience.

Also Read: This Echelon Asia Summit 2019 ticket giveaway might bring you closer to your next funding round

In an article for e27, Soh provided some excellent advice for designers. Here are some of the basics:

Start in low-fidelity: This helps the team focus on usability and customer experience. Designers love, well, design, so sometimes teams can get hung up in the aesthetics of a project without realising it is confusing to use. Eliminate the design portion first, make sure the user experience is awesome, then add the glam.

Build a pattern library: This will save the team a lot of pain. It is inevitable that certain assets will be used over and over again. Put these designs in a database that can be drag/dropped when needed.

McDonald’s testing: Wildly effective, this requires a bit of bravery. Essentially, it just means heading to the local McDonald’s and getting random people to test the product. The best thing about a place like McDonald’s is that it attracts basically everyone. Companies can test their product on tech-savvy teenagers and then two minutes later give it to an auntie who only uses her phone to make calls.

Usability interview: Call you user (or, if you are lucky, have a face-to-face chat) and really get into the pros and cons of a product. This usually results in qualitative feedback that can lead to direct action from the team.

Building the actual product is like step 25: It is impossible to overstate the amount of preparation that goes into the final product. Whether it is wireframes, user journey flows and engineer specs, the building part is often the last (and easiest) step. Don’t just jump into building, it’s a guaranteed disaster.

Already excited for Echelon? Buy your tickets here! Enter promo code ECHELONFUTURE for free tickets!

—

Photo by UX Store on Unsplash

The post As Shopback continues to rise, hear from their UX expert at Echelon Asia Summit 2019 appeared first on e27.

Also, Tesla made robotaxis and Google’s sexual harassment scandals grow ever more scandalous by the day

AT&T’s 5G marketing madness is confusing the hell out of customers — [The Verge]

Fresh out of the courtroom with Sprint over a false advertising lawsuit, AT&T’s current marketing strategy is proving to be a huge disaster despite attaining real 5G faster than its US competitors. And the worse part is, the company refuses to ditch its meaningless, confusing, 5G logo.

According to The Verge, although AT&T has stated plainly that 5G Evolution isn’t actually 5G, many of its customers are still misled into believing they’re accessing a next-generation network through pure obfuscation.

However, all the ‘hype’ really amounts to is an underachieving rebranded of its LTE network technology.

Tesla claims a plan to launch a fleet of robotaxis next year — [TechCrunch]

In 2020, Tesla, adopting a similar business model to Uber or Airbnb, plans to launch its first robotaxi as part of a broader vision for an autonomous ride-sharing network.

This new move is specially engineered for places where there aren’t enough people to share their cars. All new Tesla vehicles are now produced with custom self-driving computer chips that Elon Musk claims to be the “best in the world”.

Techcrunch foresees recharging the Tesla robotaxis to be one of the few challenges that the company will face as it prepares to deploy.

Riots and retrenchment: Google’s sexual harassment protesters claim that their positions were threatened — [Cnet]

Sources from Cnet revealed today that the two Google employees who were in charge of starting a worldwide walkout from the company last November now claim that the search giant company has changed their positions ‘dramatically’.

Wired reports that Meredith Whittaker, the head of Google’s Open Research, and Claire Stapleton, a marketing manager at YouTube, were told that their roles would change several months after the walkout. More than 20,000 full-time workers and contractors have been affected while participating in the walkout.

Grab introduces 4 new services to its core app in Singapore — [e27]

Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab today announced the introduction of four new services to its core app in Singapore.

The services include:

1. Hotels for bookings — where users to book hotels and other accommodation from Agoda directly on Grab’s app.
2. Videos for on-demand video streaming — users to access online video content through its app, as the result of its partnership with HOOQ.
3. Tickets for ticket purchases, starting with movie tickets — Grab’s partnership with BookmyShow will offer movie tickets search, book, and comparison tools.
4. Trip Planner for integrated public transport service — for users to plan their transit journey with real-time public transportation information and end-to-end directions.

—

Photo by AbsolutVision on Unsplash

The post Today’s top tech news, April 23: AT&T’s 5G marketing madness is confusing the hell out of customers appeared first on e27.

By making it possible to digitally represent properties on the platform, trading real estate properties will happen seamlessly without geographical restrictions

The global real estate market is still expected to make tremendous growth in the course of 2019 despite the volatility and uncertainty surrounding the economic outlook at the start of this year, according to a report by CBRE.

The global market has been estimated to reach a revenue of over US$4 trillion by the year 2025.

Economic development in developing countries, the rising increase in demand for real estate housing, and several other factors have steadily been contributing to the increase in the market revenue.

One major driver of the market is the rapid increase in rural-urban migration which has led to urbanisation. This increase has spiked the demand for urban home spaces thus increasing real estate housing investment.

Also, investments in the global commercial retail market run into billions of dollars with real estate investors still actively exploring different countries and locations to invest.

Barriers to investing

However, despite the growth and the estimated forecast revenue, the real estate market is still plagued with a number of limitations that hinder more growth.

There are still barriers to investments in the sector especially for foreign investors, one of which is the complex process involved in buying real estate properties in foreign territories.

Also Read: Logistics tech startup Waresix shares their achievements and target

Foreign investors have to go through rigorous processes depending on what country or region they choose to invest in. Most have these investors go through agencies to purchases these properties which comes at huge costs as the agencies will also have prices fixed for their services.

Also, the huge capital requirements involved in purchasing these properties abroad which then have to be held down for a number of months depending on country laws before realising returns from the investment, discourage a substantial number of small investors who have access to no such funds.

The liquidity in the market is posing a major barrier to investors and as such should be effectively addressed for adequate growth to occur in the market.

How blockchain changes the ecosystem

Blockchain for years now, has been disrupting several sectors and industries by totally revamping traditional business models and processes. Distributed ledger technology is designed to facilitate transparency, authenticity, security, and decentralisation.

Having been leveraged in sectors like the financial, luxury, gaming and health sectors, it’s time the real estate sector took advantage of the technology and explore ways it can facilitate the market.

A number of blockchain companies have already begun such explorations. LABS Property, for instance, creates a digital representation of real estate properties on the blockchain which will allow easy access and trading. Foreigners will no longer need to go through the complex processes of purchasing assets as foreigners abroad because LABS Property will act as title deed custodian locally and investors can then purchase directly from their platform. This eliminates the tedious paperwork process and middlemen challenges.

With the LABS Property framework, investors will be able to purchase real estate properties in fractions, i.e., fractional ownership. This will be similar to owning a square foot of a property. Investors will not need to acquire a huge amount of capital for single ownership rather, with the current funds at hand, they can purchase via the LABS. Its property platform is a somewhat property swap market and, properties can be bought and traded as the investor wills.

For instance, an investor is willing to invest in real estate property in Vancouver but has no access to huge capital funding and does not desire to go through the documentation, requirements, and agencies to secure the property. All they need to do is simply purchase via LABS Property.

Since the property is digitally represented on the blockchain, the investor can choose to purchase a fraction of the property they can afford and it automatically becomes theirs. The same fraction purchased can further be traded with other interested buyers on the blockchain and earnings will be received almost instantly.

Fractional ownership of properties is a major boost to the real estate market, as small investors will now have access to real estate investments without restrictions of huge capital. Fractional ownership also means investors don’t have to wait for months or years to earn returns, trading and transfer of rights can be done on the blockchain platform.

Blockchain technology proves the capacity to facilitate effective growth in the real estate sector. By making it possible to digitally represent properties on the platform, trading real estate properties will happen seamlessly without geographical restrictions.

The room created for small investors to participate in the market will certainly impact the overall revenue in the market.

The future of real estate investments disruption

Blockchain is creating a new future for business operations whilst giving equity and fairness to all players. With the new developments the technology brings to the market, smaller-scale investors will have unrestricted access to real estate investments.

The exciting factor here is investors can purchase real estate properties in foreign countries as if they were local — no complex documentation processes, no middlemen or agency hassles, all direct investments, thanks to blockchain technology.

Also Read: What Southeast Asia’s gaming companies can do to stay ahead of foreign competitors

In addition, the thrilling idea that properties will be bought in fractions without having to purchase the whole is one that will boost growth and revenue in the market. Real estate ownership just got redefined.

The disruption of the market by blockchain is one that stands to boost investments and open more doors of opportunities to potential investors. Blockchain is redefining and democratising the real estate sector for the better.

—

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

The post Blockchain is revolutionising the real-estate market through fractional ownership appeared first on e27.

Also, GO-VIET names new Manager and HappyFresh raises US$20 million

honestbee puts pause on Philippines operation — [yugatech]

honestbee, the regional online grocery delivery startup, temporarily suspended its operations in the Philippines, according to yugatech.

The company sent out materials over the easter holiday that said it would be “bee right back”. The closure coincides with the layoff of around 70 people, as reported by TechInAsia.

The company also released a statement that it was “working with its headquarters” to get the company on more sustainable footing. The Philippines Country Manager said the layoffs did not impact the local business and the 200 employees will continue to report to work.

HappyFresh raises US$20 million Series C — [e27]

HappyFresh, an online grocery startup headquartered in Jakarta, has closed US$20 million in a Series C round of funding, led by South Korean VC firm Mirae Asset-Naver Growth Fund, which is also an investor in e-commerce and fin tech startup Bukalapak.

Other investors of this round include strategic partners such as LINE Ventures, Singha Ventures and Grab Ventures, which reportedly also made an investment in the startup in July 2018, following a partnership.

The fresh investment will be used for both city and country expansion, as well as to invest in technology and further support the team in a number of specialist functions such as data science and omnichannel technology.

Go-Jek names new country manager for GO-VIET brand — [Go-Jek]

Indonesian ride-hailing giant Go-Jek announced today they have named Christy Le as the new general manager for its Vietnam operations under the brand GO-VIET. She was previously the country director for Facebook in the nation.

“I’ve seen how the success of GOJEK’s multi-service platform has transformed the lives of so many people in Indonesia and want to see the same happen in Vietnam,” she said.

Glife raiseus US$1.18 million for more sustainable restaurants — [e27]

Singapore agritech firm Glife announced today that it has raised S$1.6 million (US$1.18 million) in seed funding from Global Founders Capital and 500 Startups. A few groups of angel investors took part in this round, including F&B and tech veterans such as Royston Tay, the co-founder of Zopim.

The digital business-to-business (B2B) agritech firm said that it will use the funding to enhance the user experience for restaurants. This includes building a consolidated invoicing system to deal with perishable goods and greater traceability of produce from farmers. It is also pilot-testing an on-demand logistics technology for last mile delivery fulfillment, as well as to scale and strengthen the technology team in Singapore.

Glife’s farm-to-table platform seeks to redefine end-to-end agricultural food supply chain. It claimed that it has got more than 150 local F&B businesses connected directly with farmers within their ecosystem for fresh produce needs.

Huawei sees 39 per cent increase in Q1 revenue — [Huawei]

Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei announced today its revenue rose nearly 40 per cent in Q1 to US$26.78 billion while it shipped 59 million smartphones.

It also claims to have signed 40 5G contracts and shipped more than 70,000 basestations, a number that is surely to be politically sensitive amidst tensions with the United States.

The company was also profitable, reporting a net profit margin of 8 per cent.

—

The post Today’s top tech news, April 22: honestbee suspends Philippines operations indefinitely appeared first on e27.

The company sent out email notices last April 19 to customers

In an official notice sent out last Friday, the grocery delivery service honestbee Philippines announced that it will temporarily stop its operation locally, as reported by Yugatech.

The company said that it experiences a funding issue with the headquarters, with the email stated below:
“At honestbee Philippines, we value the relationship we have built with you.

As we work with our HeadQuarters towards bringing the total business to a healthy and sustainable level, we, unfortunately, need to temporarily pause our local operations until further notice.

Thank you for understanding, and we apologise for the inconvenience this may have caused…”

The email was also followed by a message shown on its app showing: No other details of the closure are available as of the moment.

In January, the Singapore-originated delivery and concierge company announced that it will “temporarily pause” the partnership it has with FairPrice with no specifications on the period of time.

However, according to Vulcan Post, the ‘shopper bee,’ honestbee’s concierge shopper said that it will be a permanent arrangement.

Also Read: Agritech startup Glife secures US$1.18M seed funding for farm-to-table logistics service

A report by Dongshen News said that honestbee allegedly owes money to its partner vendors in Taiwan and that it has been delaying payments, while another said that it has not received any payment from the firm since January.

honestbee Taiwan responded and emphasised that it doesn’t face any cashflow problems.

Today’s report released by Tech in Asia stated that “multiple sources within the startup” revealed that honestbee has laid off at least 50 to 70 people out of its 1,000-strong staff across several markets last week.

In Thailand, 30 staff were let go, while more than five people were axed in Indonesia following the resignation of several key executives, including co-founder Isaac Tay, Malaysia country managing director Pulkit Manchanda, and Singapore managing director Chris Urban.

honestbee expanded in the Philippines around the first quarter of last year.

Also Read: Myanmar fintech secures additional capital for its Series A round

Customers in the Philippines reportedly reached out to honestbee’s social media pages questioning their pending orders with the firm. honestbee has since responded that all credit and debit card payments will be refunded.

–

The post honestbee halts local operation in the Philippines appeared first on e27.

RWDC develops cost-effective biopolymer material solutions, which are naturally produced by bacterial fermentation of plant-based oils or sugar

Singapore-based biotech startup RWDC Industries has raised US$22 million in the third tranche of its ongoing Series A round of funding, led by early-stage investment firm Vickers Venture Partners and US-based Eversource Retirement Plan Master Trust — its first institutional investor.

Others who participated in the round include cross-border VC firm and existing backer WI Harper Group.

This is a follow-up to the US$13 million that RWDC raised in the second tranche of its Series A round in October last year.

Founded in 2015 by Wee and Daniel Carraway (CEO), RWDC develops cost-effective biopolymer material solutions. In particular, RWDC produces medium-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoate (mcl-PHA) biopolymers that are designed for use across a broad range of applications.

Also Read: This Indian startup makes cutlery using sugarcane waste

PHAs are linear polyesters naturally produced by bacterial fermentation of plant-based oils or sugar and are widely recognised as the only commercially viable biodegradable bioplastic. RWDC claims its PHA is fully biodegradable in soil, water and marine conditions (i.e. all potential end-of-life scenarios), fully biodegrading within weeks with no toxic residue.

The fresh investment will primarily be used to increase PHA production capacity in Georgia, USA, as well as to support its R&D efforts into prioritised applications. The company expects its first commercial batch of PHA straws to be available in the market in 2019.

The PHA resin formulated by RWDC for these straws is designed as a drop-in replacement of Polypropylene that can be used on existing extrusion machines.

“The world finally recognises the urgent need to build a green and sustainable future. Plastic waste pollution in our oceans is a real threat to societies and global growth. RWDC’s biopolymer materials are fully biodegradable, durable and functional. Our goal is to replace single-use plastic and create meaningful impact. We are very proud to partner with RWDC’s team, creating awareness to replace plastic use, while also raising the standard for the smart cities of future generations,” Peter Liu, Chairman of WI Harper Group, said.

Governments around the world are beginning to legislate more aggressively on plastic waste, with the EU leading the way with a new directive on single-use plastic articles. However, current responses focused on ‘Reduce, Reuse and Recycle’ are inadequate to alter the growth trajectory of plastic waste, risking serious consequences.

RWDC believes a better solution is to replace single-use plastics with PHA.

—

Photo by John Cameron on Unsplash

The post Biodegradable plastic startup RWDC Industries raises US$22M in fresh funding appeared first on e27.

On the Future Stage of Echelon Asia Summit 2019, we will dig deeper about the prospects for e-sports athletes in the region

Already excited for Echelon? Buy your tickets here! Enter promo code ECHELONFUTURE for free tickets!

When it comes to e-sports, Asia is that one opponent that the global e-sports community need to beware about.

While the industry has gone through a long history in Southeast Asian countries, it has recently touched a new milestone when China was crowned gold medal winner in the first of six e-sports demonstration events taking place at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia.

Various governments in Southeast Asia have begun running state-sponsored competitions in preparation of the upcoming Southeast Asian (SEA) Games 2019 in the Philippines. Major tech companies such as Go-Jek have also begun investing in e-sports through its investment arm; more and more e-sports startups in the region were also raising significant funding, as their ability to compete with similar platforms from US and China were finally proven.

With all this exciting development, it is no wonder that Asia is considered as the next red hot arena for e-sports athletes. But what are the available opportunities for e-sports athletes in the region? How can they tap into it? What are the remaining challenges that they are facing?

To answer your burning questions, e27 has prepared a panel discussion called E-sports: Why Asia’s newest cool kid on the block has become an arena for professional athletes on the second day of Echelon Asia Summit, held at Singapore Expo on May 23-24.

Also Read: Singtel to back Singapore’s SEA Games e-sports team

The session will feature the following speakers:

Alan Chou, CEO, meta.us

As CEO of social marketplace platform for competitive video game and e-sports community meta.us, Chou has more than 10 years experience in the gaming business with over a dozen AAA game titles launched and credited.

Prior to meta.us, he was Director of Publishing for Southeast Asia at Blizzard where he led the team to 5x growth in revenue four years

With a strong background in building businesses and leading teams, Alan enjoys the challenge of pushing boundaries and in his own words “creating something from nothing”.

Benjamin Rynjah Goh, Regional Brand Manager, AirAsia

Goh started off his career in the finance industry before moving into advertising from Bloomberg TV Malaysia to BBDO. After two years at BBDO, he moved to AirAsia where he began by working on the branding operations in Singapore but has now shifted to managing the sport portfolio for the group.

Handling key sponsorships with organisations such as the UFC (professional e-sports team), Team Mineski, The KL2017 SEA Games as well as the recently concluded AFF Suzuki Cup, Ben also works closely with individual athletes that the brand use as ambassadors –from Roberto Carlos, Azizul Awang, to Tai Tuivasa– activating them in Malaysia, the region and beyond.

Also Read: DailySocial moves forward with launch of Hybrid, an Indonesian e-sports news platform

Rai Cockfield, CEO & Co-founder, BITREP.me

Prior to BITREP.me, Cockfield served as Director – Asia Pacific at global live streaming giant Twitch. For more than two years, he was responsible for expanding Twitch’s APAC Community of Broadcasters and Viewers. Combining previous community building and international operating experience, he developed an initial growth strategy for Twitch through content expansion, international product development, sales, corporate expansion, and infrastructure development.

The role had enabled him to develop his passion for supporting the rapidly growing community of digital content creators and “fall back in love” with popular game titles in his youth such as Street Fighter.

Prior to joining Twitch, Cockfield had lived in several countries in Asia and North America and has worked in various sectors from wine e-commerce, C2C marketplace, and even real estate developer.

Jason Ng, Vice President Strategic Partnership, Garena

Ng has worked in Garena for almost a decade, starting off Senior Project Manager in 2010. He has been holding the Vice President, Strategic Partnerships title for two years.

Prior to joining Garena, he had experienced working at several government institutions, starting as Senior Manager at Ministry of Manpower, Singapore. He was also a Consultant at Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore.

—

Already excited for Echelon? Buy your tickets here! Enter promo code ECHELONFUTURE for free tickets!

Image Credit: Andre Hunter on Unsplash

The post Asia is a red hot arena for e-sports athlete. Find out why in this Echelon Asia Summit panel appeared first on e27.

Adyen will support the airlines in providing payment experience for customers across the globe

Singapore Airlines announced today that it has partnered with Adyen, the global fintech platform that assists companies for digital payment. With the partnership, Adyen and the airlines will seek to provide enhanced payment experience every time customers book flights online or in-app.

Furthermore, the partnership will include the use of Adyen’s direct credit card acquiring capabilities which eliminates the need to run payments across multiple third-party platforms. The airlines will leverage on Adyen’s RevenueAccelerate.

The solution taps on Adyen’s global, cross-industry data network to block fraudulent transactions, leaving the genuine travelers unobstructed. With this approach, Singapore Airlines can identify legitimate customers.

“At Adyen, we have seen that payments data can be the jet fuel that powers global expansion for airlines. Payments data remains a valuable resource for companies who seek to understand their customers better and improve revenue. We aim to provide just that for Singapore Airlines, to give their customers a great booking experience from the get-go,” said Warren Hayashi, President of Adyen, Asia-Pacific.

Also Read: Japan plans to increase internal security in crypto exchanges

Singapore Airlines said that since working with Adyen, it has enjoyed “an increase in authorization rates, flexibility on fraud risk management, and richer data insights”. ,
–

The post Fintech Adyen partners Singapore Airlines to facilitate digital payment appeared first on e27.