The Hong Kong-based financial service startup Oriente joins Sinar Mas to launch lending platform Finmas, that would be the third fintech product from the conglomerate

Sinar Mas, a conglomerate from Indonesia, banded together with Oriente, a Hong Kong-based financial service startup to launch Finmas. Finmas would be the third financial product by the conglomerate and will serve as an on-demand lending platform aimed at millions of underserved consumers and MSMEs across Indonesia, which currently accounts for 66 per cent of 260 millions Indonesians.

Also Read: Go-Jek funding round aims for US$3 billion

Finmas is a mobile app that seeks to support financial literacy and inclusion in the country, simultaneously support Otoritas Jasa Keuangan (OJK), the Financial Services Authority in Indonesia. It is specifically designed to give access to people with no traditional banking and formal financial services (including bank accounts, credit rating, or credit) history using mobile technology.

It allows the underserved people to have:

• multiple purpose-based financing options
• paperless, collateral-free and available 24×7 service via their own mobile device
• low-interest rates with no hidden fees
• real-time credit-scoring
• choice of the repayment schedule
• funding in as little as 24 hours

“Finmas aims to help millions of Indonesians unlock their financial potential through #SahabatFinansial practices that are founded on core principles of responsibility, security, convenience, and affordability,” said Peter Lydian, President Director of Finmas said, Mr. Hendrikus Passagi, Director Regulation, Licensing and Supervision Fintech of the Financial Services Authority (OJK).

Finmas’ features enable consumers to apply for a cash loan whenever they need access to credit for tuition fees, household expenses, specific consumer goods, emergencies, or to start and grow their small businesses via the app. Consumers are given full control to keep track of their loan application status and repayment schedule.

Also Read: Ofo operating license suspended in Singapore

Gandi Sulistiyanto, Managing Director of Sinar Mas also stated that Finmas will bridge to not only support financial services but also to equip the users with understanding so they can have comfort and privacy protection.
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Image Credit: Finmas

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The frowned upon policy includes a minimum of IDR 1 trillion (US$71.17 million) as a paid-up capital for a new trader offering future contracts for crypto assets

Cryptocurrency has been traded in Indonesia for a while now, but just recently got regulated by Indonesia’s Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency, known locally as Bappebti. It just authorised digital currencies as a trading commodity, setting an IDR 1 trillion (US$71.17 million) as the minimum paid-up capital for a new trader offering future contracts for crypto assets.

The authorisation is under regulation No.5/2019, as told by KrAsia. Since October last year, the capital of Indonesia Jakarta has gone ahead and allowed the trading to protect customers from crypto fluctuations.

Also Read: 5 Indonesian state-owned enterprises merge mobile payment services

The regulation focusses on technical provisions for the implementation of cryptocurrency exchanges, which effectively treats currencies like bitcoin as commodities to be traded legally.

“We want to give protection to people who want to invest in crypto assets so that they aren’t cheated by fraudulent sellers,” said Head of Bappepti, Indrasari Wisnu Wardhana.

Cryptocurrency exchanges have been around since 2014 amid the legality uncertainty, inflamed further by Indonesia’s Central Bank banning it as a payment option.

One of the requirements for trading cryptocurrency in the country is that the trader must pass a risk assessment that rules out that they’re being misused in money laundering schemes or the funding of terrorism. Other requirements include the client support division that the traders must possess, the employment of at least one certified security practitioner, five-years-old of transaction data, and have a server inside the country.

Despite addressing the issues in the country, this regulation has been frowned upon, especially in the country’s crypto community. Institute for Development of Economics and Finance (INDEF), for example, has an opinion that this regulation came “a bit too late”, as told by INDEF economist Bhima Yudhistira Adhinegara.

“Bitcoin prices in the last two years have fallen by 81% from US$ 18,269 at the end of 2017 to US$ 3,464 per coin in February 2019. The legal uncertainty surrounding bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in Indonesia has caused many to miss out on opportunities during the trading heydays,” said Adhinegara regarding the late policy.

More complaints from the traders also highlight the new rules that requires a high minimum capital for traders. Trading is indeed allowed, but the payment option ban from the central bank is yet to be lifted.

“Regulation is needed to support a sector, help the economy and protect people “but it should not kill an industry,” Oscar Darmawan, Chief Executive of digital asset trader Indodax, or used to be known as bitcoin.co.id, said to Channel Asia Singapore.

Darmawan felt that the amount of minimum capital level is much higher than the IDR 2.5 billion minimum paid-up capital for a futures broker of other commodities.

Also Read: Walking the walk: Three Asian crypto companies gaining real-world traction

Currently, it’s believed that there is no recorded data on the size of Indonesia’s crypto-currency market. However, people in the industry are positive that the number of investors has nearly matched that of the country’s main stock market.
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Industry experts are doubtful the new cartel can compete with Go-Jek or Ovo

In a sign of just how important Go-Jek and Ovo have become in Indonesia, five of the largest Indonesian state owned enterprises are merging their mobile payment services to compete with the two tech companies, according to Nikkei Asian Review.

The companies are in the banking and communications sector and the new mobile payments service will be called LinkAja. It is expected to launch in March.

The SOEs involved are as follows:

• Telekomunikasi Indonesia (Telekom)
• Bank Mandiri
• Bank Rakyat Indonesia
• Bank Negara Indonesia
• Bank Tabungan Negara

The state-owned oil company Pertamina is expected to join the group. The future of LinkAja will probably include a move beyond just payments and into other financial services.

LinkAja will be run by Fintek Karya Nusantara, a subsidiary company of Telekom. Telekom has a 25 per cent stake in the new venture while three banks (Bank Mandir, Bank Rakyat Indonesia, Bank Negara Indonesia) will hold 20 per cent. Bank Tabungan Negara will have 7 per cent of LinkAja.

There is also talks to onboard Alipay and WeChat Pay onto the service.

As e27 reported in our ecosystem report, 2018 was the year Indonesians began to adopt digital payments (driven by Go-Jek/Ovo and the government’s move to integrate digital options into highway toll payment infrastructure).

These state-owned enterprises seem to recognise the importance of having a digital solution while recognising they have a long way to go to catch up with Go-Jek and Ovo. They seem to have decided that the only way to compete was to work together.

Because Go-Jek is so widely used as a do-everything app, its payment infrastructure was able to leverage the network affect and grow into one of the most popular mobile payment options in the country.

Ovo started as a mobile payments company and partnerships with the likes of Tokopedia have helped it grow into the next potential Indonesian unicorn. It received major investment from the Indonesian conglomerate Lippo Group and is the main payment service for Grab.

Industry experts cited by Nikkei Asian Review were skeptical that LinkAja could compete with GoJek or Ovo.

Digital wallets are seen as important by the Indonesian government, with Nikkei Asian Review citing a statistic that 50 per cent of people over the age of 15 do not have a bank account.

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Photo by Bernard Hermant on Unsplash

 

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You can also get predictions related to marriage, love life, career, or health over phone calls and chats via AstroTalk.in

He never believed in astrology, and made fun of people who followed what he termed a “pseudo science”. To him, astrology was not something a learnt and educated person would follow.

However, his destiny was already written when he was born. And this destiny brought this entrepreneur to the very pseudo science that he once rejected with derision.

Puneet Gupta’s story is a perfect example of how destiny plays a big role in one’s life, and how human beings, at times, end up doing things they never wanted or expected to do.

“I was working for investment bank BNP Paribas in India back in 2015. I was not satisfied with the corporate life and always wanted to start a company on my own. But my earlier experiences as a founder deterred me from launching another one,” he tells me.

Willy-nilly, Gupta once again decided to take the plunge.

The colleague’s prediction

“When I was typing my resignation letter, a colleague of mine came over to my desk. She told me ‘You look lost. Are you okay. Do you need any help’. I showed the resignation letter and also shared with her my past struggles as a startup founder. After listening to my story, she asked me to share my birth details and that she would tell me what I should do next. She had a fair knowledge of astrology,” Gupta says.

“But I categorically told her I did not believe in astrology. But when she started sharing some of the experiences that I had had in the past, I had no option but to believe her. It was as if she knew my past life well enough. I was still unconvinced. But she persuaded me to go ahead with the decision to quit BNP Paribas and pursue my entrepreneurial dreams,” he reveals.

She predicted then that the coming two years looked very promising for Gupta’s startup. But the business would  still face some challenges in the initial months. She also prophesied that his co-founder might leave him after two years and then the business would be pivoted. Once pivoted, it would flourish. The colleague also asked him to stay in the IT domain and explained to him how ‘Saturn’ and ‘Rahu’ in his birth chart would support IT.

As she advised, Gupta started an IT services startup, called CodeYeti, in April 2015. The business grew fast and bagged around 15-20 clients, including big ones like Yamaha. The startup also clocked a revenue of US$500,000 in the first year.

Also Read: Will US President Donald Trump get impeached anytime soon? This startup could help you predict it

“After one and half years, my co-founder (who was my school mate) came to me and said he was not happy with the services business and that he wanted to launch products. I agreed with him, and we together started investing a lot of our time researching, and then launched a few new products. But none of these products saw the light of the day. The products were shut down, and I decided to focus on the the services business again,” Gupta reveals.

“True to the prediction of my former colleague, my co-founder resigned exactly after two years of starting our business. This is when I realised that there is something about astrology that is addictive. It doesn’t matter whether you have faith in it or not, but once someone starts telling you about your future, it is very fascinating and you want to know a lot more,” he goes on.

After his co-founder’s departure, Gupta dialled his the former astrologer colleague to apprise her of the events occurred in his life, and told her that all her predictions came true. She smiled at him and asked if he wanted to check his birth chart once again to know what future holds for him.

“I paused for a moment. And then I proposed an idea: how about I start a product in the field of astrology and I become your first customer?’,” Gupta adds as he narrates the story. “This was the beginning of AstroTalk.in.”

The beginning

Launched in October 2017, Noida (near Delhi)-based AstroTalk is an online astrology predictions destination. One can talk to an astrologer over phone, or over chats, and get answers to all his/her worries by seeing the future life through ‘Astrology Kundli Predictions’ from the best astrologers in India. One can get predictions related to marriage, love life, career or health over phone calls, chats, queries or reports.

AtroTalk targets people in the age bracket of 23 to 25 as of now. According to Gupta, the company receives enquiries not just from different parts of India, but the US, Canada, the UK, Singapore and Dubai as well.

“We offer an e-wallet for customers. They can recharge it and then speak to an astrologer. We have more than 125 astrologers on our panel,” Gupta adds. “We charge on the basis of the duration of the session. Customers have an option to end the session at any time or else it ends automatically when they run out of balance.”

The company banks on multiple monetisation models. In addition to charging a customer for every session, AstroTalk also allows users to get a detailed report from the astrologer for a charge. Additionally, users can get online puja (offering) performed, or buy gemstone, Rudraksha, Yantra etc.

Gupta reveals that since inception, AstroTalk has had many interesting customer stories. “We had a customer in India, who asked us when can he change his job. Our astrologer told him that he will be working on a foreign land after three months and will be earning quite well. But he was unconvinced, since he had no contacts outside India and has not applied in a foreign company,” Gupta reveals.

Also Read: This Bangalore-based startup has built an on-demand marketplace for spiritual gurus

“So, he left a very bad review of the astrologer and even complained to our support team. We then gave him a complimentary second opinion from another astrologer, who also predicted on the same lines. He got frustrated and left a ‘one star’ review on the app and said we are fake. We were disappointed to lose a customer. But after four months, he updated his review and told us that he was messaging from the UAE. He also sent a personal gift to the astrologer. Since then he is our regular customer,” Gupta smiles.

Well, Can AstroTalk also predict whether an entrepreneur/startup would be successful or not? And what do astrologers say about the success chances of AstroTalk?

“That’s an interesting question. When we started AstroTalk, we were told that the period till October 2018 would be tough. As he predicted, we went through a lot of ups and downs till July 2018 and our numbers were stagnant. However, in August 2018 (instead of Oct 2018), we achieved the product market fit and started scaling up. We have been growing 25 per cent month-on-month since then. As per Astrologer, AstroTalk would see an exponential growth when Ketu Antardasha starts in Rahu Dasha after April 2019. Rahu supports online business and Ketu supports spirituality,” he concluded.

(Disclaimer: Neither e27 nor this writer doesn’t believe in/promote astrology).

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As a member of the society, tech companies have the right — and obligation— to fight for justice

There are many reasons to be disappointed at the world these days. The latest was when, on Wednesday February 13, Instagram deleted a comic strip about daily struggle of being an Indonesian gay Muslim man.

The ban was confirmed by Indonesian minister of communications and informatics Rudiantara, following pressure from society to ban the comic strip’s account. The account, which boasts 6,000 followers, had been condemned by internet users as blasphemous and immoral for its depiction on the internal conflicts that a Muslim gay man faces on daily basis.

If you recall, this is not exactly the first time a tech giant succumbing to the pressure of homophobic groups in Indonesia. As recently as 2018, Google succumbed to the ministry’s request to remove several LGBT apps — mostly social networking or dating apps — from Play Store.

Also, do not forget that time when Go-Jek had to sanction its executive for posting a compliment on the company’s inclusive policies on his personal Facebook. While the executive was sanctioned for “violating the company’s employee social media guideline”, it is hard to separate the sanction from the public pressure that had called upon Go-Jek users to uninstall the app for supporting LGBT rights.

These incidents happened at least three times in the Indonesian market and I have reasons to believe that more is going to come as the country becomes more religiously conservative.

It is about time for us to beg the question: How long can tech companies succumb to the homophobic, human rights-violating demand of its public?

Also Read: Riding the irony: Can Indonesian GO-JEK afford supporting LGBTQ rights in a country that condemns it?

The first response to this question would be: Well, when running their operations in a country, businesses are obliged to abide to the positive law of said country. If Indonesia said you should pay tax, then you pay tax. If Indonesia said you should not have pornographic content on your platform, then you should not, unless you are willing to risk being banned.

But guess what? Despite some group’s effort to have them banned, being a homosexual is not illegal in Indonesia.

So if a tech company decided to follow through demands from groups or a ministry to ban LGBT content on its platform, they are not abiding the law, they are succumbing to pressure from hardline groups.

Also Read: World’s largest dating app for gays sets up shop in Taiwan

Here is the thing: On the other hand, we also have to understand that businesses can not afford to lose their customers. They need to maintain a certain a public image and a good reputation equals money.

However, innovation is meant to be for the betterment of society.

And we believe that in the case of tech companies, their innovation should not be limited to to their scope of work, or the services and products that they provide. It also lies in the value that they are propagating.

This is why, when tech giants such as Google make a mistake in the way they are handling sexual harassment cases, its employees did not just sit down and accept. They walked out; they called for changes.

As long as you are a member of the society, you are entitled — no, obliged — to fight for justice.

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Image Credit: Mercedes Mehling on Unsplash

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SendFriend attracted Ripple, Barclays, and some other investors with its US-Philippines remittance service

Blockchain-based remittance startup that helps people in US to send money to the Philippines SendFriend has announced funding from Ripple, Barclays, MIT Media Lab, the Mastercard Foundation, Techstars, Mahindra Finance, 2020 Ventures, and 8 Decimal Capital. All investors banded together in raising a total capital of US$1.7 million for the company, as reported by The News Asia.

Also Read: Cambodia catches up with launching of startup professional service alliance

The company will use the fund to finance its mission, which is to enable Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) to securely transfer USD to PHP at the lowest rate available. SendFriend also seeks to become the only option to do so, from US to the Philippines and vice versa with 65 per cent lower fees.

The news came just after the integration with Ripple’s xRapid solution for SendFriend’s users to have a more efficient cross-border payment in November 2018.

“With the integration, XRP is used as a liquidity vehicle for cross-border payments, enabling SendFriend’s users to circumvent the corresponding banking system and convert USD to XRP to PHP in a matter of seconds,” said representative from SendFriend to David Lighton, SendFriend co-founder and Chief Executive Officer further added the plan with the funding.

Also Read: GOJEK names Lien Choong Luen as GM for Singapore operations

“This investment will allow us to build out our team, focus on community engagement, and marketing efforts. Next, we’re planning to launch in New Jersey and becoming available in other states in US,” said Lighton.
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Image Credit: SendFriend

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This brings to a close OYO’s US$1B financing round led by SoftBank Vision Fund, which has pumped US$800M into the company

OYO gets US$100M from China’s Didi Chuxing [The Economic Times]

Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing has invested US$100 million in Southeast Asia’s budget hotel aggregator chain OYO. The investment, which continues to value Oyo at about US$5 billion, has been made from Didi-controlled entity Star Virtue Investment, people aware of developments told ET.

This brings to a close OYO’s US$1 billion financing round led by existing backer SoftBank Vision Fund, which has pumped US$800 million into the company.

The Didi investment comes a little over two months after Singapore-headquartered transportation major Grab infused the same amount in the Gurgaon-based startup.

Circles.Life to expand to Taiwan, Australia this year after securing Sequoia investment [Channel News Asia]

Mobile virtual network operator, Circles.Life, on Thursday announced it will be expanding its presence from beyond Singapore’s shores, with plans to enter Taiwan and Australia this year.

Its regional expansion plans come after it closed a Series C funding round led by Sequoia India, the company said in a press release. No details on the size of investment that was raised were disclosed.

CEO Rameez Ansar told Channel NewsAsia in an interview before the announcement that this is one of the few times Sequoia is investing in a telco, which is testament to what the company is trying to achieve – creating a telco experience on top of the infrastructure akin to what Uber and Grab did to disrupt the taxi industry.

Google, Apple face calls to pull Saudi app allowing men to monitor wives [Reuters]

A Saudi Arabian government app that allows men in the country to monitor and control their female relatives’ travel at the click of a button should be removed from Google and Apple’s online stores, a US politician and activists said on Wednesday.

Human rights campaigners argued the tech giants are enabling abuses against women and girls in the ultra-conservative kingdom by hosting the app.

The free Absher app, created by the Saudi interior ministry, allows men to update or withdraw permissions for their wives and female relatives to travel internationally and get SMS updates if their passports are used, said human rights researchers.

Indonesia’s trader platform Stockbit acquires mutual fund app Bibit [DealStreetAsia]

Indonesia-based Stockbit, a social network for stock traders, has acquired local investment startup Bibit for an undisclosed fee to simplify investment process for first-time traders. Prior to the acquisition, which took place late last year, Bibit was an OJK-licensed tech-based mutual fund seller.

Following the deal, Stockbit has relaunched Bibit as a robo-advisory platform to simplify conventional time-tested investment products to the Indonesian public.

“(Bibit will be) a one-click solution to invest in an optimal portfolio that is personalized towards your age and risk profile,” Stockbit CEO Wellson Lo told DealStreetAsia.

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These startups are building the next-generation of applications that leverage the advantages of 5G tech, including faster and better connectivity

The latest-generation cellular mobile communications, 5G, is just around the corner. The first phase of 5G spec is set to be completed in April this year, and the second phase will launch in April 2020. Telecommunications companies and technology providers stand to gain from the much-anticipated upgrade, which highlights faster data rates, reduced latency, better energy saving, cost reduction, higher system capacity, and better interconnectivity.

Taiwan’s Asia Pacific Telecom 5G Accelerator Programme — jointly developed by Asia Pacific Telecom and the Small and Medium Enterprise Administration of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan — recently collaborated with e27 in recruiting startups at NUS Enterprise. APTG Accelerator selected the 15 most promising teams from more than 300 startups at home and abroad.

These teams passed several rounds of review to enter the final selection — all have demonstrated outstanding capabilities and exceptional potential. The selected teams will collaborate with Asia Pacific Telecom to co-develop the 5G market and find business opportunities worth tens of billions.

A fierce selection process whittled this down to 15 companies, aspiring to leverage 5G technology, as well as Big Data, Cloud, internet-of-things, and sensors, in disrupting and innovating in their respective spaces.

These teams were chosen for their potential in creating 5G applications in building systems, services, applications, and hardware integration.

Also read: e27 teams up with APTG to provide startup founders scholarships to attend e27 Academy

The APTG 5G Accelerator Programme cohort 2019 had its programme opening ceremony on February 14, 2019 , at the first floor at the Asia Pacific Telecom HQ, where the selected teams successfully showcased their winning applications and content for 5G innovation. Teams also had the opportunity to interact and inspire more ideas with media, partners, and investors from all over the world.

Here are 7 of the 15 companies that had the opportunity to showcase their technologies:

1. Hyper Immersion Technology Taiwan Co. Ltd.

Hyper Immersion Technology Taiwan Co. Ltd. was founded in 2014 by a group of entrepreneurs with great enthusiasm for stereoscopic 3D imaging and virtual reality images. Formerly known as the Industrial Technology Research Institute (ITRI), Electronics and Optoelectronics Research Labs. The team consistently develops 3D related techniques, and it is targeting to make virtual reality (VR) and interactive technology widely available for individual and family use.

Hyper Immersion Technology focuses on VR 360 panoramic video production technology and provides exclusive VR Live streaming services. Highlights include:

• Real-time stitching: Proprietary VR360 real-time stitching software stitches multiple cameras to make VR360 video streaming.
• High performance algorithm: Optimises stitching resolution up to 8K 30 fps to meet the needs of real-time VR live streaming.
• Extremely high quality: A VR 360 capturing system consists of multiple digital mirrorless camera with higher resolution, sensitivity and sharpness is suitable for various applications.

2. Cheng Jie Technology Co., Ltd.

This smart education company was founded by parents with preschool children, and it has invented the “Witspal Smart Pen” and “Witspal Smart Case”, which are devices that link up via IoT in helping address nearsightedness among children, by combining computer vision with speech.

The company’s project has won three prizes, including a second-place finish in the Seventh Information Service and Innovation Competition across the Taiwan Straits.

3. InnovArt Design

This LA- and Taiwan-based design startup that integrates design, technology, business, and user experience, with focus on creating innovative products that greatly compliment the user’s lifestyle. The company believes that technology is an extension of a user’s personality, and this can be enhanced through better mobility.

Its product, CarWink is a highly interactive internet-on-vehicle (IoV) consumer electronic gadget, which InnovArt Design expects to reduce road rage, improve communication between vehicles, reduce cable mess and personalise vehicle styles.

The aim is to help improving traffic conditions and enhance business behavior prediction through back-end data analytics, with the aim of leveraging AI toward a mature automotive industry.

4. OSENSE

This startup leverages image processing, computer vision, artificial intelligence, indoor positioning and navigation, and augmented reality, in producing vision-based smart solutions and services. The technology-driven team has its core strength in computer vision and artificial intelligence. The latest product gives a computer “eyes” to understand physical space in order to solve tasks with smart solutions in various industries.

OSENSE’s world leading indoor positioning technology, VBIP, is a fusion of spatial recognition and magnetic filtering to create an easy-to-use, compact and reasonably priced indoor positioning and navigation solution.

With the support of AI and cloud computing, VBIP can quickly identify and recognise space, providing indoor positioning and navigation for the environment with no GPS signals. Furthermore, VBIP does not require Bluetooth beaconing or Wi-Fi devices to provide a plethora of innovative applications and smart services via the AR user interface.

VBIP has been awarded with multiple international patents. The fusion of technologies can effectively enhance the strength and reduce the limits of indoor positioning, dramatically increasing the accuracy and effectiveness of positioning and navigation. VBIP can be quickly deployed with minimum hardware requirements (in terms of installation costs and operating requirements).

Also read: 5G Technology: how Taiwan’s APTG Accelerator Programme is approaching the future of tech

5. GranDen Corp.

GranDen devotes to integrate VR, AR, and MR technologies into entertaining interactive services. A global team from Taiwan, Hong Kong, Japan, New Zealand, and with averagely more than seven-year experience in game development, GranDen focuses on the O2O space in pioneering “XR” or “Extended Reality” which refers to all real-and-virtual combined environments and human-machine interactions generated by computer technology and wearables.

Currently, GranDen’s services includes the VR music game I’m ready to Fly, and AR and location-based-services social mobile game AliGala, a go-and-play casual game that lets players interact with augmented reality, location, and O2O marketing.

AliGala’s first cooperation with the Bravo Bear Mascot from Taipei City Government enables users to collect items via mobile phone’s AR camera and exchange for practical Bravo Bear dolls. In only one month, the event generated an expected US$650,000 in Taipei 101 and other 14 department stores and 4 shopping districts.

In the future, AliGala will cooperate with the largest video marketing company to offer precision marketing and big data as B2B solutions.

The company is in cooperation with Shin Kong Bank, Taipei 101, and the Museum of Archaeology in delivering content, and also plans to expand into Japan and Hong Kong markets.

6. AccuPai

AccuPai enhances visual imagery with instant, high-quality photos and watermarks, which enables businesses to build strong brand images across online communities.

The service allows real-time cloud uploading and photo editing, which works best in events. Users can simply scan a QR code, and the startup’s editing and quality assurance platform uploads images to an event album within five minutes. AI aids in facial recognition to automatically tag users during events.

7. igloohome

igloohome smart locks and smart lockboxes allow home and property owners to grant access to visitors remotely, with time-sensitive PIN codes and Bluetooth keys. Headquartered in Singapore, the 60- strong team has its offices around Asia, USA, Europe and India.

igloohome’s products have been rolled out to over 90 countries with over 50 distributors globally, and these have been featured in numerous publications, which include The Wall Street Journal, Channel NewsAsia, The Business Times, The Huffington Post, and GQ.

igloohome products are designed to provide 24 hour access, even when the home or property owner is away. They work with the igloohome mobile app, which allows access for guests to be granted remotely via PIN codes or Bluetooth keys.

The ability to work offline makes igloohome products suitable for properties with weak or no Wi-Fi and negates the risk of Wi-Fi hacking. The technology behind it is similar to that of an Internet banking token, which involves cryptography and synchronisation.

APTG 5G Accelerator Programme’s opening ceremony hosted potential partners and investors, where they met with these promising startups, media, potential partners, and other investors.

You can find more information about the APTG 5G Accelerator Programme, as well as investment opportunities, roadshows, recruitment events, and partnerships.

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The company plans to launch in Taiwan, Australia and Indonesia plus two other unnamed countries

Circles.Life, the Singaporean mobile data plan operator, announced today it has raised US$50 million from Sequoia India to finance international expansion.

Circles.Life plans to open in five countries over the next 18 months, beginning with a launch in Taiwan in Q2.  The plan is to launch in Australia the next quarter, according to Channel News Asia, Indonesia is also one of the five countries included in the launch.

The company plans to spend quite a bit as it pursues its international goals, expecting to, “invest more than $50 million in each launch.”

Furthermore, Circles.Life has dedicated US$25 million to its engineering center in Bangalore. It plans to use this money to use data science to improve its personalised offerings to customers.

In Singapore, Circles.Life operates by purchasing bandwidth from the local telco M1 and then selling it to customers at discounted prices (or giving a huge amount of data).

For example, just this week, the company pulled a clever marketing stunt by announcing it was killing its 20GB for US$20 plan at the end of February. Then, a day later, it announced that it was offering unlimited data for US$20 a month.

The company claims it has 5 per cent of the Singaporean market and calls itself Singapore’s fastest growing telco (although, technically, it is not a telco).

“Circles.Life was built on a mission to give power back to the customers. Because of this mission and our innovative digital platform, we have raised the bar in Singapore and telco space. The significant investment from a blue-chip venture capital firm is a testament to the impact we bring to the industry,” said Rameez Ansar the Co-founder and CEO of Circles.Life.

Also Read: Bullied to succumb: Should tech companies bow to society’s homophobic demands?

Considering its position in Singapore, Circles.Life is still very young, having been launched to the public in May, 2016. In the 2+ years of existence, it has grown into a very well-known brand in the Lion City.

“Circles.Life has a fresh and disruptive approach in reimagining what the telco experience of the future can be for millions of people,” said Mohit Bhatnagar, Managing Director at Sequoia Capital India Advisors.

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Vanessa Keng and Chang Xi are running e-commerce store, The Golden Concepts, which curates eldercare products for Singaporeans

While pursuing a Business Management course at National University of Singapore (NUS), Vanessa Keng, a guitarist, and Chang Xi, her friend and neighbour at Kent Ridge Hall, spent more time playing sports and music than studying.

Although entrepreneurship was on their mind, they didn’t seriously pursue it until they went to Denmark as part of the student exchange programme in the third year of their course.

“Denmark is one of the most progressive countries in terms of elder care and quality of life,” Keng narrates her entrepreneurial story to e27. “During our stay there, we observed that Danish seniors embraced ageing and lived life to its fullest, while not being limited by mobility challenges. Upon returning to our own elderly grandparents, we wondered –- why not bring home this positive, independent culture surrounding the golden years?”

When they came back, they got to meet young entrepreneurs during their technopreneurship classes at NUS, and this shaped their thinking better. “While brainstorming on ideas, we kept gravitating to our experiences in Denmark. We felt that we could do something to help elderly Singaporeans improve their independence and age better. Knowing that this would affect not just our grandparents but eventually our parents and ourselves too, it just seemed like the right reason to start our company,” says Keng.

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The Golden Concepts, their startup, was started immediately after their graduation in 2011. A B2C e-commerce store, The Golden Concepts curates eldercare products, such as adjustable and foldable wheel chairs, nursing beds and mattresses, walking canes, hiking and trekking pole, mobility scooters, and bath accessories.

“At The Golden Concepts, we believe that mobility is key to ageing well. A loss of mobility often has profound consequences on a person’s physical, social and psychological state. By maximising mobility, seniors will be able to continue to be fully engaged in their communities and enjoy a high quality of life,” Keng says.

“We understand that the role of caregivers is an extremely important one, and we strive to provide customised solutions that best suit your needs. With a curated selection from both international and local brands, our product specialists can advise you on the various options available to find the best solution,” she adds.

The beginning

Keng and Xi set up the company using the money they saved from their part-time jobs while studying. This money went into buying some inventory in the initial days. While running the company, the duo still continued their part-time jobs in the nights and on weekends to get things going.

“In the initial days, we barged into hospitals and pharmacies and spoke to whoever would be keen to chat with us. I realise that it was an asset to look like students as more people were willing to give us their time and share their experiences,” she smiles. “Before long, we landed our first (small) order from a hospital, and that made us rush to incorporate the company, so that we could have a business registration number and a company bank account for them to issue payment to us.”

As things got better, Keng and Zi wanted to more and stand out from the crowd. “We asked ourselves what unique value we could bring to this growing industry — something that most other established industry players were not focusing on. We realised that the focus on independence and mobility rather than rehabilitative and medical equipment would be our key differentiating factor. Our dream was to introduce more products to maximise mobility at any level because we felt that was the way to age with dignity and enjoy a good quality of life,” Keng shares.

With this in mind, The Golden Concepts started manufacturing its own brands in 2015 to have a better control over the quality, affordability and design of the products. The hefty investments in manufacturing was something that the duo pondered over, but they knew that it was an important step to grow the business.

“Over the years, we have curated a range of high quality products suited to our customers’ needs, including partnering with the finest manufacturers to create our own improved product lines. Product safety standards are our top priority and we go the extra mile to source for the best, durable parts,” she maintains.

Adapting to the local market

After receiving feedback from many of their customers that the standard walking canes were too tall and not suited for the elderly users in Singapore, Xi and Keng decided to manufacture their own brand of designer walking canes, The Cane Collective.

“We designed our walking canes to have a shorter height range suitable for the local market, and offered a variety of patterns for our customers to have more options to suit their style. We did face some challenges during the production process, but learnt many valuable lessons. Since then, we have launched several more brands of mobility, bath and home safety products,” shares Keng.

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While the company’s major focus is Singapore, it also has orders coming from other countries in Southeast Asia and even Canada and the US. In addition to manufacturing own line of products, it also distributes foreign brands in the region through its online platform and brick-and-mortar showroom, as well as through other e-commerce platforms, retailers, hospitals, and pharmacies in Singapore.

The company claims to have grown 30-40 per cent year-on-year in the past four years.

In the past seven years of its existence, the company faced several challenges, including hiring right people. But for Keng and Xi, it has always been an opportunity to take a step back and re-evaluate their business model.

“These problems gave us the uncertainty and discomfort to find new ways to stay ahead of the competition while staying true to our purpose of why we started the company in the first place. We also learnt that instead of viewing other companies in the industry as simply competitors, we could collaborate with them. It just required us to be more creative and proactive to suggest win-win scenarios for both parties,” she continues.

Started off with just four products, the company today has a warehouse, in addition to the online store with over 400 products.

In 2017, The Golden Concepts secured a round of funding from unnamed investors.

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“It has been a challenging but truly fulfilling journey and nothing makes us happier than hearing stories from our customers about how our products have helped improve the lives of their parents and loved ones,” Keng signs off.

 

The post These two entrepreneurs help elderly Singaporeans improve their independence and age better appeared first on e27.