Tag: Screen Printing

UNDP, 500 Startups held ImpatAim Indonesia’s Demo Day, presenting 9 selected startups [Press Release]

The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in partnership with 500 Startups, held ImpactAim Indonesia: Demo Day at Google Developers Space in Singapore as part of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) initiative. In the Demo Day, the inaugural cohort pitched to high profile investors and regional corporations, financial institutions, family offices, angel investors, and leading venture capital firms.

Nine Indonesian startups participating including KitaBisa, iGrow, Tech Prom Lab, Qlue, Sehati, Sampingan, Mycotech, Indexa Law, and InfraDigital Nusantara. These companies represented Indonesia’s education, legal, government planning, and healthcare systems sector.

They were chosen to join the ImpactAim Indonesia program in September 2019, where they were assisted in scaling-up their companies and impact measurement. In addition, over the past 10 weeks, ImpactAim Indonesia has held workshops and mentoring sessions covering lean data management and growth strategies

The UNDP Innovative Financing Lab exists to overcome institutional and market challenges, develop a pipeline of venture-addressing impact ventures, and provide them global access to impact funds.

Tookitaki appoints ex-Director of LinkedIn as VP of Research & Engineering [Connected to India]

Singapore-based financial regulator startup Tookitaki has welcomed Subhas Samanta, who is the ex-Director of LinkedIn, as its new Vice-President of Research & Engineering.

Upon joining the company, Samanta will focus on Tookitaki’s management as the company looks to change the face of regulatory compliance as well as ensure sustainable compliance programs for financial institutions across the globe.

Also Read: AI-powered regtech startup Tookitaki secures US$19.2M in Series A funding, pledging to address global money laundering issue

Tookitaki was founded by Abhishek Chatterjee and Jeeta Bandopadhyay in November 2014 with offices in Singapore, India, and the US. It provides enterprise software solutions allowing firms to follow compliance programmes in the financial services industry.

The company recently raised US$19.2 million in a Series A funding round.

Korea to set up fintech support center in Singapore [Korea Times]

Korea’s Financial Services Commission announces that it will scale up the nation’s fintech industry by setting up a fintech support center in Singapore, as reported by Korea Times. Kwon Dae-young, who is the director-general of the innovation bureau of the firm, announced the plan at the Government Complex in Seoul today.

The centre would have a role as a help desk in Singapore early next year to support Korean fintech startups’ expansion into Southeast Asia, tentatively named Korea Startup Desk. It will open at the Korea Development Bank’s branch in the city-state.

The desk will help Korean fintech startups understand industry trends and build networks with local financial firms, investors, accelerators and other startups.

On December 16, the Korea-ASEAN Fintech Conference will take place in Seoul to discuss the outcome of fintech cooperation in the ASEAN region and ways to bolster this. The annual Korea Fintech Week event is due next on May 28, 2020.
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Coming up with a fantastic idea for a business is vital to getting your venture off the ground. The rest of the work comes with planning, organization, and making things happen. If you and your team are capable of doing all this, then you have a recipe for success.

Before you put in a lot of time and effort, there are some questions you need to ask. They will help you to sanity-check your idea and test it to see if it really is as fantastic as you first thought. While trying and failing is all part of being an entrepreneur, you can get yourself off to the best start by logically thinking things through.

We can understand that you wouldn’t want to put a damper on things. It can be challenging to be objective when enthusiasm for your idea takes over. Here are some things you can include in your checklist to see if your idea really holds water.

Check the market  

We don’t want to encourage a defeatist attitude, but we do want you to be realistic when you start your new venture. Your fantastic idea needs to be unique or at least offer something unique. The first point on your checklist then is to do some research.

Find out what the market already has and what services are provided. If your idea can’t offer something new or better, they may struggle to find customers,  and as a result, your business won’t be successful.

Ideally, your idea will fit into a niche, which means you can deliver a specific product or service to customers that are searching for a business just like yours. This could be helping customers find your product, for example, clothes for particular occasions. Alternatively, you could be designing a service that solves problems for certain lifestyles.  

Can it be done?

Once you have the answers to your questions about who will use your service or product, and if there is a demand for it, you can move to the next stage and start doing some feasibility testing. That means putting some figures into your plan to work out if your idea is viable financially. The initial purpose of this exercise is to determine whether you can make a profit from your idea.

Making a plan will encourage you to think about where you will get your capital from, and be the first chance for you to start estimating your overheads.

Don’t worry about getting too caught up in the details. The figures you use will be theoretical, and they do need to be based on exact costs. Although your idea will lead the way, financial considerations will play a part in what your business will look like, including staff, premises, and image.

Communicate your idea 

Being able to communicate what you are intending and what it might offer to customers is crucial to your success. 

Investors and future customers will need to know about your idea. It is a competitive business environment, so your explanation, or pitch, will need to be concise yet effective.

Once you can to sum up your ideas in a few sentences, you’ll need to move on to the benefits. View your product or service as something that is solving a problem for your customers. You’ll need to find a way to express how it solves that problem for them.

As you explore what your venture will mean to your customers, you will get an understanding of the values of your new company. This information will serve as the first building block for creating the brand for your business.  When these ideas start coming together, you’ll know that it is time to proceed with your startup. 

Passed the test

One of the skills you will need to learn as an entrepreneur is how to walk away from unsuccessful ventures. Your idea might pass all the tests, or it might need some work, but there will also be times when you’ll need to go back to the drawing board, starting entirely from scratch. 

Remember, you’ve had one good idea, so you’ll likely have another one, but it does need to be one that can lead to success. Carrying out this checklist will save you time and energy while building your knowledge about your business. Always keep your customers in mind, and you’ll soon be making progress.

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 Image Credit:  Daria Nepriakhina

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Woon, Director of Killiney Kopitiam, standing in front of a Killiney cafe.

It was like walking into the past of Singapore as I entered into Lorong Telok, a group of restored shophouses nestled within the financial district, next to iconic Boat Quay attraction. Yet this area is filled with modern eateries, cafes and entertainment spots that seeks to attract the business crowd for their daily meals and enjoyment.

One iconic signboard stood out among the others. It provided reminisce of the good old days of the 80s and 90s era. In the interior of the shophouse stood the familiar setting of a Kopi-tiam, a traditional coffee shop found in South-East Asia. It was a dichotomy of sorts having a traditional setting vying against the upbeat modern setting of its neighbors.

In a timely fashion, my interviewee came walking down from the upper floors of the shophouse to greet me as I arrived. He was dressed very casually, unexpected of a man whom I would have assumed should dress up for the important role that he represent in his business. But that casual dressing belie the depth of thought and vision he has.

Tien Yuan Woon, 32, is Director of Killiney Kopitiam, and the second generation of Woons who owns the brand of the same name. The first generation consists of his father and his three uncles whom painstakingly built this business to where it is today.

I spoke to him about his career, the evolution of his family business and his vision for sustainable future cities.

Started career by giving back first

Woon is a graduate from the School of Business at the National University of Singapore. Instead of diving into the family’s main businesses in property, construction and food and beverage, he first started work at his family’s foundation, the Woon Brothers foundation.

Spearheaded by one of his uncles, the family’s foundation focuses on giving back to the arts and education. The family felt the art scene in Singapore was ‘very empty’. Woon further adds the point, “Singaporeans are trained to go through STEM courses (as these are practical skills). But art becomes neglected. Art has no barriers. It is our universal language.” He further explains the importance of understanding art which is the key to bridge cultural differences and bring different geographies together. Aside from his family’s art collection, Tien Yuan is also an avid art collector himself.

Part of Woon’s art collection

The Woon Brothers foundation currently supports a few programs. This includes cash prizes for Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) students for final year projects to encourage their artistic works, and a financial assistance bursary to full-time students in Singapore Management University.

While working at the foundation, Woon also honed his investment skills in art collections. He bought a piece of art and sold it for a good two-and-a-half times return within a six month period. But looking back, if he choose to keep it longer, it would have been worth five times the original price he paid for it. He shares, “Just like investing in art, one needs to be patient and have a long-term view in business. It is not just about making quick money.”

 

Changing consumer tastes demands innovation in food

While still working for the foundation, Woon has now also embarked on a new journey to help with the main food business. There are 35 Killiney Kopitiam outlets across Singapore and another 54 internationally. The business is mainly a franchise business, except for five outlets which the family owns. Woon’s main job is to develop a new division of new products using food technologies.

The coffee chain still draws and serve young consumers. “Customers want consistency, expects the same standards and quality of food and cooking in any outlet they go to.”

While business is consistent for now, he had noticed subtle changes in the tastes of his customers. He found younger consumers wanting healthier choices. Woon felt that Killiney will likely struggle if it does not keep up with the changing consumer preferences. Alternative business models were needed to grow internationally. This led him to consider working with foodtech startups, the first was Hoow Foods.

 

Engaging a startup to kickstart innovation

Hoow Foods founder and CEO is Yau Png Ow, who happens to be his primary school classmate and former neighbour. It was easy to reconnect and rebuild trust in the working relationship.

It was a timely meetup as Woon was seeking an improved version of their 3-in-1 instant coffee, but did not have an ideal solution to produce the required product outcome. It was also a significant point for him to prove to his elders and gain respect.

Left to Right: Woon, together with Hoow Foods co-founders Sherman Ho and Yau Png Ow

Together with Hoow Foods and using their proprietary food reformulation methodologies, a new recipe was created after a few rounds of iteration. This method was faster and his elders agreed the product was an improvement. They were so convinced they agreed to fund and build a new factory to produce this new product line.

Using this small win, Woon took it further and convinced his elders to invest into Hoow Foods, citing strategic synergies in the development of new food products for the business. It was also a first for Killiney to invest into a startup.

 

Taking on the family mantle and managing family dynamics

We talked next about family dynamics. Woon’s father and uncles wanted a semi-retired life. No one in the family wanted to manage the operations in the next business. Today, a non-family member is appointed General Manager to handle day-to-day operations.

Woon saw his father and uncles as key influencers of his life. “They were typical Chinese who do not talk much. I watched them by their actions. How they do things everyday and subconsciously learning. I saw their giving back via the family foundation, contributing back to society.”

Founders of Killiney Kopitiam (clockwise from top row left): Woon Wee Hao, Woon Wee Teng, Woon Tek Seng and Woon Wee Phong

I prodded him about why he chose to remain when the others have left. To him, in retrospect, he never asked to join in the first place. His father as well never wanted him to join. Even with a good brand name, there was this sensing the brand was difficult to grow bigger.

However, through his engagement with Hoow Foods, he realised the opportunity of combining foodtech and a heritage brand as the future of business.

Now that Woon has committed to managing the business, what weighs heavily on his mind is how to fully transit in the succession. He explains that while his elders are semi-retired, it is understandably difficult for them to cede complete control to the younger generation who has less business experience.

During this transition, any decision made has to be unanimous with his elders. It is a sign to him that a family is united. And through these little milestones will he see a full transition.

Creating a future of sustainability

Being a second generation business owner, I asked Woon on Killiney’s sustainable goals. He seeks to reduce food wastage and better quality food at a lower price point using food technologies.

He saw that the outlet chefs could waste up to 50% of the ingredients. If food ingredients were not used in a correct proportion, the quality of the product will reduce. Food wastage also drives up food costs. He envisions creating prepared food paste sauces/products which are processed centrally and used by the chefs. This in turn cuts down on food wastage and yet producing a consistent outcome.

Through the strategic arrangement with Hoow Foods, he also seeks to formulate new recipes that are not only affordable, but delectable with less negative impact to health. He sees this as a form of sustainable living, where consumers enjoy great food at affordable prices.

As we end off, Woon gave for his vision for Killiney, “I want to keep the brand as a family business. There were offers in the past for the brand but we have decided to work hard on it to further grow this brand name. It is harder nowadays to find a Singaporean heritage brand and I want to build Killiney into an international brand through the creation of new FMCG products.”

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This article is part of the Sustainable Future Cities Series, where the author interview the next generation of family-owned businesses and thought leaders about their visions and goals for a sustainable Southeast Asia by using innovative technologies.

Disclaimer: TRIVE is a co-investor of Hoow Foods.

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Global media company MIT Technology Review has announced its annual list of Innovators Under 35′ for the Asia Pacific Region.

Among the 2020 Innovators Under 35 are researchers, inventors, and entrepreneurs whose work includes applications in agriculture, Artificial Intelligence, biomedicine, construction, energy, new materials, robotics, and water.

Selected from a pool of 200 exceptional candidates, the 2020 list is double the usual number for the APAC region.

“The 20 ‘Innovators Under 35’ are a group of exceptional young scientists pursuing research that — in many cases — relates to substantial challenges facing humanity. The potential impact of their research is further increased when it becomes the foundation of one or more products that form the core of a deep tech startup,” said Steve Leonard, Founding CEO, SGInnovate. “Building a company from scratch is always hard, and even more so in the Deep Tech space.”

Below is a brief description of the innovators:

Anastasia Volkova (Australia): The CEO and Founder of FluroSat built a crop monitoring and management tool to help agribusinesses globally grow better yields with fewer resources.

Bolei Zhou (Hong Kong): An Assistant Professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Zhou developed a technique that makes AI models more understandable and trustworthy to humans.

Carine Lim (Singapore): A PhD candidate of the National University of Singapore, Lim spearheaded the development of a tool to unmask Alzheimer’s disease with a simple, accurate and cost-effective blood test.

Also Read: Breaking the hiring chicken and egg for early stage founders

Chunfeng Wan (Singapore): The Technical Director of Meinhardt (Singapore), Wan developed membrane technologies to convert osmotic pressure to renewable osmotic energy.

Connor Talbot (New Zealand): The Co-founder of ProstheteX, Talbot is developing data-centric solutions to eliminate prosthetics pain and discomfort.

Dongliang (Donny) Chao (Australia): A Researcher at The University of Adelaide, Chao pioneered the development of new safe and low-cost battery technologies for next-generation reliable and scalable energy storage.

Gibran Huzaifah Asmi El Farizy (Indonesia): The CEO and Co-founder of eFishery, Asmi created an IoT smart-feeding solution that leverages on data and its network to increase fisheries’ efficiency and profitability.

Hao Guo (Hong Kong): A Postdoc Fellow at the University of Hong Kong, Guo invented an electricity- and chemical-free filter for rapid water purification for disaster relief.

Ka Yi Ling (Singapore): The Co-founder and Chief Science Officer of Shiok Meats, Ling works on bringing crustacean meat to consumers by harvesting cells instead of animals.

Katherine A. Kim (Taiwan): An Associate Professor at the National Taiwan University, Kim developed power electronics and control to maximise solar photovoltaic power for emerging applications.

Lukasz Orlowski (Singapore): The Co-founder and CTO of Archanan, Orlowski developed a cloud-based supercomputing system emulation engine for supercomputing software development, testing and validation.

Mohammad Hossein Davood Abadi Farahani (Singapore): The Co-founder and CEO of SEPPURE, he has invented and commercialised a nanofiltration membrane that separates industrial chemical mixtures at a molecular level with minimal energy.

Nazanin Saeidi (Singapore): A Postdoc Researcher (Future Cities Laboratory), Singapore ETH Centre, she transforms, upcycles and repurposes organic waste to create a 100 per cent mycelium-bound composite material for the construction industry.

Ping Luo (Hong Kong): An Assistant Professor at The University of Hong Kong, Luo has developed computer vision and AI technologies to understand human behaviours such as facial expressions, emotions and social relationships.

Po-Yen Chen (Singapore): An Assistant Professor at NTU, Chen is developing mechanically patterned 2D materials towards the fabrication of stretchable electronics and smart soft robotics.

Sadaf Monajemi (Singapore): The Co-founder and CTO of See-Mode Technologies, Monajemi developed software that combines deep learning, signal processing, and text recognition to predict and prevent a stroke.

Stephanie Hui Kit Yap (Singapore): A PhD Candidate of NTU, Yap invented an advanced hand-held microfiber-based sensor for water quality monitoring.

Wei Ru Wong (Malaysia): A researcher, University of Malaya, Wong has developed a novel technique using light to detect dengue virus and its antibodies in clinical blood samples.

Yvonne Gao (Singapore): A research scientist at the Institute for Materials Research and Engineering, Gao built modular hardware for quantum computers and successfully constructed the critical building blocks to demonstrate its viability.

Ziyan Guo (Hong Kong): A PhD researcher at the University of Hong Kong, Guo has developed the world’s first intraoperative Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)-guided robot for bilateral stereotactic neurosurgery.

The 20 ‘Innovators Under 35’ will be recognised at the EmTech Asia conference, to be held on 25-26 February 2020 at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre in Singapore.

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Singapore-headquartered fintech company FinAccel, which enables Indonesian consumers to buy online and pay later under the brand Kredivo, has closed its US$90 million Series C equity funding.

The round was jointly led by Asia Growth Fund (a joint venture between Mirae Asset Venture and Naver) and Square Peg Capital. Investors including Singtel Innov8, TMI (Telkomsel Indonesia), Cathay Innovation, Kejora Intervest, Mirae Asset Securities, Reinventure, DST Partners also joined.

This funding round brings the total capital raised by the company in 2019 alone to more than US$200 million, across both debt and equity, with the debt being provided by a consortium of lenders including banks and credit funds.

The startup plans to use the funds to double down on growth in the region, hire talent, and expand its range of financial services.

Also Read: Indonesian digital payment startup Kredivo secures financing from Telkomsel’s VC arm, MDI Ventures

Kredivo is a leading digital credit platform in Indonesia that gives customers instant credit financing for e-commerce purchases and personal loans at competitive interest rates. Kredivo’s merchant partners benefit from instant point-of-sale financing and high settlement rates, powered by Kredivo’s proprietary checkout that takes as little as zero clicks to settle a transaction.

Since inception just over three years ago, Kredivo has evaluated more than three million applications, disbursed nearly 30 million loans and created a large credit-based payment platform for e-commerce in Indonesia.

Kredivo aims to serve 10 million users in the next few years through Kredivo and other financial services. Near-term plans include the rollout of low-interest education, healthcare and Shariah loans and partnerships with banks for joint product development.

In July 2018, Kredivo raised a US$30 million Series B funding round led by Square Peg Capital, with participation from MDI Ventures and Atami Capital.

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Indonesia-based consumer insights platform, Populix, just announced the closing of a US$1 million seed round of financing led by Intudo Ventures, with participation from Gobi Agung and Pegasus Tech Ventures.

With this round of financing, Populix aims to develop new product features to provide more dynamic and in-depth insights to clients, ramp up marketing efforts to build awareness and attract more respondents to use the platform, and bring on new employees to help the company scale.

Additionally, the company plans to expand its footprint beyond Indonesia to cover more country markets in the dynamic Southeast Asia region.

Founded in January 2018, Populix is an Indonesian consumer insights platform that helps businesses connect with readily available highly qualified respondents, providing an intimate window into the preferences of Indonesian consumers.

Through qualitative and quantitative studies, Populix is able to provide valuable insights that seek to help clients better understand Indonesian consumers and improve business decisions to understand consumer feedback in real-time. The company applies academic research methodology to market research methods, with the aim to ensure more robust and trustworthy results.

Also Read: 5 extra ways to visualise your content for better conversion

Populix’s mission is driven by how market research should be accessible. It’s done so by democratising research, simplifying the process, and making it more affordable for everyone.

Populix’s products range from intensive research studies to simple surveys and can be arranged either on a project or subscription basis. Populix works directly with clients to support research design, respondent recruitment, data analysis and targeted recommendations to ensure the effectiveness of custom-tailored consumer research to help clients make better business decisions.

In addition to research projects, Populix also generates revenue through selling in-house research and datasets to clients.

Populix offers respondents monetised incentives for contributing their time and insights to Populix’s clients.

The company plans to release a mobile version for respondents, which will allow them to use Populix on the go and during commutes.

Populix is led by co-founder and CEO Dr. Timothy Astandu, a research methodology expert, dedicated to implementing cutting-edge methodologies and technologies from academia into the commercial data industry. He is joined by co-founder and COO, Eileen Kamtawijoyo, an experienced marketing executive that has led new product launches for some of Indonesia’s biggest brands; and CTO Jonathan Benhi, an engineer with extensive experience in tech-driven market research in the US and Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Intudo Ventures closes US$50M “Indonesia-only” second fund

In addition to this round of financing, Populix was recently inducted into Gojek’s Xcelerate program, recognising COO Eileen Kamtawijoyo’s role as a female leader in Indonesia’s tech industry.
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Photo by Georgia de Lotz on Unsplash

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Sino Hua-an to acquire tech company Touchpoint Group- Press release

Hua An Group acquired a technology company TouchPoint Group at a signing ceremony today. With the acquisition, Hua An will own 100% equity of TP Group, comprising of TouchPoint International Sdn Bhd and Wavetree PLT. The acquisition is valued at a total investment of MYR72.0 million.

With this acquisition, Hua An now includes digital business transformation solutions as part of its portfolio. This is in line with Hua An’s vision to be a digital transformation enabler in Malaysia. “With the advancement in digital technology and the development of more sophisticated Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) that disrupt conventional businesses worldwide, this space is going to be one of the fastest-growing industries. With this in mind, I am proud to announce that Hua An will now have a technology arm, and is ready to expand our business into a new growth area. Aside from being a potentially profitable venture, this acquisition will bring a whole new set of expertise and knowledge that we are excited to expand into,” says Y.A.M. Tunku
Naquiyuddin Ibni Tuanku Ja’afar, the Executive Chairman of Huan An.

TP Group is a leader in the digital business transformation solution space in Malaysia, that offers a unique mobile community platform solution based on a digital ecosystem that allows users to do multiple things online and for local businesses to connect with their customers.

Emerging Payments Association Asia Signs MOU with ASEAN Financial Innovation Network- Press release

The Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA), the only payments association in Asia, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the ASEAN Financial Innovation Network (AFIN) to promote the benefits of the APIX Platform to the payments community, with an aim to further develop the industry.

Signing the MOU with AFIN is part of EPAA’s effort to advocate open banking. EPAA’s Project Open Banking Asia initiative is a 51-country initiative investigating API adoption, regulatory guidelines, the Fintech ecosystem, and innovation. EPAA’s research will help formulate policies and standards for the Asian payments sector.

APIX, the flagship product of AFIN, is a global cloud-based platform that enables financial institutions and fintech’s to discover one another on a curated global marketplace, design experiments collaboratively in the sandbox and deploy innovative solutions rapidly at a lower cost. The collaboration with AFIN represents significant value for current and future EPAA members.

John Ryan, Director General of Policy and Projects at EPAA, said “With AFIN onboard, participants—banks, fintechs, paytechs—get access to a safe, cost-effective environment that fosters learning, innovation, and collaboration.”

“AFIN is pleased to welcome the EPAA into our ever-growing community of FinTechs and service providers. Our objective is to promote effective policies and standards in the financial services industry. The EPAA will help accelerate our value creation for the industry,” said Manish Diwaan, Managing Director of AFIN.

Founded in 2018, the Emerging Payments Association Asia (EPAA) is the only payments association in Asia and has in a short time since its inception made significant waves in the payments industry. It has hosted more than 30 successful events, connecting nearly 1,000 payments leaders, driving payments’ advocacy and policy development.

Ucommune unveils three new co-working spaces using innovative asset-light management model- Press release

Ucommune’s latest spaces provide a hub for entrepreneurs and thought leaders to innovate and collaborate.

“The ‘Asset light’ style of management is an innovative approach that allows us to rapidly expand our footprint in China,” said Dr. Daqing Mao, founder, and chairman of Ucommune. “With smart technology and standardized business operations, we can rapidly connect more members in communities across China, unleashing their potential and creating maximum value for society.”

Also read: gojek Xcelerate introduces 10 women-founded startups to its second batch

Using this model, owners can revitalize real estate assets by leveraging Ucommune’s brand and resources to build communities and stimulate local business development. To ensure product and operational quality, Ucommune has released a ‘Standardized Operations Process Manual’, an extensive guidebook covering design, construction, financial management and more.

Since introducing the model, Ucommune has completed over 30 projects in Beijing, Shijiazhuang, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xi’an, Urumqi, Hulunbuir and other cities. Members include SMEs and international enterprises, and span a range of industries from technology and AI to design and culture. Looking ahead, Ucommune will continue harnessing the asset-light system to expand to China’s major cities, overseas markets, and establish itself as a global pathfinder and partner to businesses in the coworking space.

Softbank to face valuation cut in OneConnect IPO- Bloomberg

Masayoshi Son, head of Japanese conglomerate Softbank, is facing another valuation cut in one of his investments, said a Bloomberg report.

Ping An Insurance’s OneConnect Financial Technology Co. launched its US$500 million US initial public offering on Tuesday at a much-reduced valuation compared with its last funding round in which SoftBank participated in 2018. This latest sale comes just a couple of months after the investment powerhouse saw the value of one of its most high-profile investments, WeWork, tumble from US$47 billion to less than $8 billion.

OneConnect, which provides cloud computing and other technology services to small- and medium-sized financial institutions, is marketing shares at a valuation of about $4.4 billion to $5.2 billion based on the deal size before an over-allotment option of up to 15%, according to Bloomberg calculations based on an overnight filing. That’s a steep drop from the $7.5 billion OneConnect was valued at when it raised $650 million from investors including Softbank and SBI Group.

Investors had pushed back against the company’s proposed valuation, Bloomberg News reported last week. OneConnect had been gauging whether fund managers would accept an enterprise value equivalent to ~8-10x estimated sales, people familiar with the matter said.

Indonesian consumer insights platform Populix bags US$1m seed funding- DealStreetAsia

Indonesian consumer insights platform Populix has closed a US$1-million seed funding round led by Intudo Ventures and followed by Gobi Agung and Pegasus Tech Ventures, according to a DealStreetAsia article.

Founded in January 2018, Populix, through qualitative and quantitative studies, provides insights that help clients better understand Indonesian consumers and improve business decisions. It leverages technology to accurately understand consumer feedback in real-time.

In addition to research projects, Populix also generates revenue through selling in-house research and datasets to clients. Populix, which was recently inducted into Gojek’s Xcelerate program, says it will use the proceeds from the seed round to develop new products, enhance marketing efforts and hire new staff.

Populix’s products range from intensive research studies to simple surveys and can be arranged either on a project or subscription basis. During the company’s first year of operations, Populix claims to have completed research on more than 70 brands across 27 industries including multinationals, SMEs, institutions, and individuals based in Europe and Asia-Pacific looking to gain insights on Indonesia’s dynamic consumer-driven economy and consumer preferences.

The post Today’s top tech news: Sino Hua An acquires Touchpoint, Softbank troubles don’t seem to be receding appeared first on e27.

 

 

When startup founders are working hard in the early stages, they often spend most of their time in building their product, launching the brand and raising capital.

In this situation, recruiting is mostly an afterthought. However, in the bigger picture, when you’re building a startup which will go to win in the long-run, finding talent is just as important as business development or acquiring customers, if not more. 

Like the classic chicken-and-egg situation, savvy startup founders delay their hiring until they can afford it, yet, their business can’t afford to grow until their team has grown.

Business growth can be extremely difficult unless you have the right team. Being stuck in this dilemma can be very frustrating.

At some point, founders need to get good at hiring themselves. But for beginners, here are a few pieces of advice I can give to help the recruiting hurdle easier.

Just like dating, hiring is about searching for quality versus quantity. Whether you are looking for the ideal hire or the perfect match, the ability to attract people is key. Here is what you can do for your startup. 

Company introduction and job description = dating profile

Let’s start by comparing the creation of a job description to how you might create your own dating profile. When you first register on a dating app, you tend to put the most appealing photos on your profile, along with a personal description, interests, and what you look for in a match.

Your hiring profile should look much the same. You want to share quality information that will trigger people’s interests.

1. Seduce your audience

“I am Asian, 5’3, love drinking wine.” 

If this is my dating profile description, it is unlikely that anyone would swipe right. Unless I have a really hot profile photos.

The common mistake with many startups is that they use the lazy cookie-cutter three-line introductions.

For example: 

VIVACIOUS is an AI-based dating app for iOS and Android. It was founded by a group of National Taiwan University Engineering graduates in 2019.

VIVACIOUS is a top 30 dating app on Google Play and Apple App store, and now has over 30,000 downloads.

So the question is, how do you expect to stand out if your description looks like a “copy and paste”?

It needs to be unique. A good profile should take potential hires on a journey, sharing values, mission and vision (VMV), and also helping them understand who you are as a founder.

Instead of a three-line description, I may write a profile description (like the one below), showing how the company is unique: 

We are a group of National Taiwan University graduate engineers who saw a problem shared among our peers. Many people struggle to find a date due to the lack of opportunities in their busy schedules. Using AI, we have created a unique dating platform experience called VIVACIOUS to help bring people together on an intimate level and bridge that missing happiness. Just a few clicks away, you can begin an adventure to find your significant other.

As a Master of Human Resources, you will be leading our engineering and marketing team on a journey that will help many lonely hearts find the love they deserve.

For big corporations like Apple, Google, or Microsoft, their reputation needs no introduction. However, startups are much different, as most are relatively unknown. Your profile is an opportunity for you to attract potential hires, just like you would when using a dating app. 

Knowing your position, market value and how to write a job description (JD)

If Keanu Reeves is my type, my dating profile should not just say, “looking for Keanu Reeves look-alike”. This is because looks are not everything, as a matching personality is just as important.

Let’s say Keanu’s looks is equivalent to a candidate’s skill qualification, personality is the determinant if one can work well within the company culture. If the potential hire has the looks “skill” but not the personality, be aware that they may not be an ideal candidate.

Be sure to elaborate when listing out a Keanu Reeves description, by combining both looks and personality. This way candidates can better understand if they will potentially be a fit for the position on your team.

When writing the job description, I would suggest listing bullet points, from most important (must have) to least important (nice to have/ prefer). Remember to keep it short and concise, without cluttering the page. Listing out too many points can work negatively by limiting your funnel. Always be aware of who your audience is and the market value of a position.

If the description is for a senior position, but the title and salary appear as a junior position, you are unlikely to attract the candidates you are after.  

For example, the Human Resource position for “Vivacious” may appear as: 

Vivacious is looking for an experienced HR Manager to join our growing team. The HR Manager will be heavily involved in operations execution and strategic planning.

This role will be responsible for the development of compensation & benefits, performance management, employee relations, talent development program, leave processing, training, and onboarding.

Requirements:

1.Ability in executing HR tasks with extreme efficiency and limited resources

2.Have experience designing, building and leading the implementation of strategic scalable HR initiatives

3.Adapts and thrives in a demanding, start-up, fast-paced environment

Good to have:

1. Minimum 5 years’ of HR experience

2.Experience with start-up companies is a plus

3.Payroll experience 

Know where your target audience (TA) spends time

If my interest is drinking wine and I am looking for someone who would enjoy drinking wine with me, then attending a wine tasting event to look for a potential match would probably be an ideal place to start. 

This is the same in hiring. When you are finding talent, you have to think about where your talent would spend their time.

Do they show up at certain events, work for certain companies, or have their own Facebook group… etc?

Start by looking in the right direction, and focus on those online and offline locations.  

Know the competitor

Know your competition. Gather as much information about your competitors, such as their job posting content, company performance, company culture, strengths and weaknesses.

This information will be helpful when determining the strategic positioning of your startup to potential hires.  

Have your pitch ready 

Hiring moments can sometimes appear at the most unexpected times. You should always be ready to pitch your startup, otherwise, an opportunity with a talented candidate could be missed.

Be confident when giving your pitch, keep it short, concise, and most importantly, be persuasive.

Referrals are key

We focused on the points above first because they need to be fully understood prior to the most important step of them all — asking for referrals. Referrals are critical relationship keys that unlock doors and allow you access to more potential new hires. 

Searching your existing circle of resources for suitable candidates should always be your first step. You can usually find what you are looking for when working through people you trust.

Often times, it is usually a faster and more cost-effective way to hire. Instead of relying only on job postings, career sites or recruiting services, focus on building a stronger network.

Conclusion

The hiring chicken-and-egg problem is frustrating but not impossible. It can take months to find the right candidate. So it is crucial that you have a plan and a strategy ready.

Start crafting your startup profile today, practice your pitch, and when the opportunity presents itself, you will be prepared to win the perfect candidates that will change the game for you.

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The latest Map of Greater Southeast Asia’s digital economies, released by AppWorks, a leading accelerator and venture capital firm in the region, is indicating to founders that the rise of mobile broadband in economies where GDP growth is accelerating past 6 per cent is setting the stage for amazing improvisation in tech use and commercial problem-solving. It may come as a surprise to some, but Taiwan can play a pivotal role in that innovation surge. 

As the supporter of the largest accelerator-born community in the region focused on tech founders, our team watches closely these developments. Our portfolio companies and the 1113 founders and 376 active startups of our Accelerator alumni network are living examples of the magnet that Taiwan has become for founders in this region. 

Starting small, in a huge region called GSEA

We refer to this region as Greater Southeast Asia (GSEA), positioning it as ASEAN + Taiwan, inclusive of such territories as Hong Kong and Macau, and East Timor. The nomenclature is driven by our observation of consumption habits and statistical data, as you can see in the map below, which hangs in our accelerator space. 

We include Taiwan in this grouping because its economic evolution has become something of a beacon for SEA founders who want to build beachheads around the region. Let’s start with a single statistic to understand why. 

The total e-commerce economy market size in Taiwan is USD$42 billion. This is almost 66 per cent of the size of the entire GSEA combined.

Founders who emerge in GSEA and come to Taiwan to grow stronger 

This unique attribute of Taiwan is a magnet. There is also a push factor in ASEAN nations. That mechanism is prompting SEA founders to seek out a tested, developed market for their ideas.

This movement is observable through growth statistics that suggest a plethora of pent up consumption demand driven by tech adoption and through example companies that have done it. Let’s start with the country data. 

Five countries in GSEA show growth in GDP per capita of over 6 per cent, as of last year. They are Cambodia at 6.83 per cent; Laos at 6.72 per cent; Vietnam at 6.5 per cent; the Philippines at 6.47 per cent; Myanmar at 6.45 per cent. Indonesia and East Timor show growth of 5.2 per cent and 5 per cent, respectively. 

In Vietnam, a country of 95 million people, many early-stage startups are rapidly developing — Sky Mavis; Axie Infinity; Triip.me (AW#18). Engineering talent that moved overseas and went to tough schools like Harvard have now come back and are starting new companies by the dozens. 

In Indonesia, we have seen the growth of five unicorns, including Gojek and Bukalapak. In other areas, it’s not so straightforward. 

Google recently released yearly results from a long-term study that looked at the potential for SEA’s growth. 

Today, seven urban centres drive over 50 per cent of the internet economy in the countries depicted in GSEA. The “beyond metros,” or rural areas of a few SEA countries, account for 85 per cent of the population, but only 48 per cent of the Internet economy, as you can see from the picture below. 

While use cases may exist for tech, and while consumer demand may be growing, it’s harder to really scale in some emerging markets without solid strategies and consistent talent.

Even though the creativity and innovation ideas are off the charts, many things like stagnant offline players, unavailability of engineering talent, government red tape and just pure infrastructure fragmentation stand in the way of “moving fast and breaking things,” so to speak. 

SEA founders are coming to Taiwan is because they see a microcosm of development opportunities in Taiwan that they can take back to the rest of Asia, after getting focused here.

“Taiwan was a great gateway to Chinese-speaking countries [in SEA],” says Triip.me founder Hai Ho (AW#18). “There are [also] 200,000 and growing Vietnamese living in Taiwan. There are more daily direct flights between Taiwan and Vietnam, too. It is a good market.” 

AppWorks startups are gaining momentum in Taiwan

Over 376 AppWorks startups have continued to scale and expand by staging in Taiwan through our Accelerator or by becoming one of the AppWorks portfolio companies. Over 1,113 founders in our network have helped the country become a focal point for this region’s growth. 

These companies demonstrate just how nimbly a company locating in Taiwan can grow, figure out e-commerce strategies, and even acquire other companies and engineering teams while nurturing a huge market inside and outside of Taiwan. 

Shopback (AW#13), the e-rebates payment platform founded by Henry Chan and Joel Leong in Singapore, came to Taiwan to scale up their e-commerce knowledge and market deployment. 

Shopback has reported annualized sales figures of USD$500 million a year. It has operations in Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines. 

Some other investments include 91APP (Taiwan’s Shopify); Carousell, which has localised to Taiwan by building an office here (it’s also localised in several other ASEAN markets). 

Taiwan is also the kind of place where you can build a company, or two, and IPO them, in a relatively quick time. For example, Jerry Kuo, one of the two siblings that started Kuobrothers, IPO’d in 2016. Jerry then IPO’d a second company that grew out of the original Kuobrothers Group, called MobiX, earlier this year. 

There’s also M17, started by Singaporean Joseph Phua. M17 started as a dating app company called Paktor and was based in Singapore. Joseph merged that company with a Taiwanese company called 17 Media to form what is fast becoming a massive social entertainment company that focuses on live-streaming. A recent acquisition of competitor MeMe Live has brought M17’s live stream market share to over 60 per cent in SEA’s developed markets. That wasn’t the only M17 procurement, though. 

M17 bought AppWorks Accelerator alum FBbuy, a company that developed an innovative way for people to buy items on Facebook. If someone simply typed in “+1,” in a comment, the scanning app would move the coveted item being discussed into a shopping cart. Joseph acquired that company and integrated it into a live-streaming commerce app called HandsUp. 

Early-stage is also heading to Taiwan

There are also a number of early-stage companies with inherent exposure to SEA who have heeded the call to come to Taiwan. 

At our upcoming Demo Day #19, over 65 per cent of the cohort will have originated or started their startup ideas in GSEA. Two female founders offer some examples.

Annie Zhang, from Hong Kong, will pitch Matters Lab as a decentralised platform for media and content sharing, which enables content providers to generate their own immutable content and get paid for it. They’ve generated about 25,000 customers in seven months. 

Telepod founder Jin-Ni Gan, a Malaysian living in Singapore, will also pitch. At a recent mentor day, she showed off her miniEV startup already operating in seven markets in the region. 

Her last slide was a photo of kids without shoes walking down a dirt road that cut through what looked like smoke from a jungle fire at a rubber plantation.

“My childhood was similar to this one,” she said, and then ended her pitch with the message that tech and creativity have a strong potential to make this life better for billions of people. 

That’s a story that is familiar to many founders here in Taiwan, and it’s one that will only scale rapidly in time. As the region grows, the probability that mission-driven founders who are intent on building fast-moving scalable startups will see that Taiwan is a launchpad for the regional market. 

Jin-Ni Gan, Founder of Telepod, at the AppWorks Accelerator Mentor Day, September 2019.

Another quick look at the GSEA market landscape should give founders, and investors, something to think about. 

Out of the five countries mentioned earlier that have GDP growth north of 6 per cent, three of them — Cambodia, Laos, and East Timor — have mobile internet penetration rates under 40 per cent. 

Myanmar, which has 21 million Internet users, only provides Internet to 36 per cent of its population. Nearly all of those users — 99.8 per cent — get their Internet through mobile phones.

In emerging market economies, a glut of software and tech availability is enabling founders to test use cases for new technology and consumer products.  Often, these use cases employ leapfrog innovations that are further ahead than the traditional infrastructure or tech use cases in developed markets. 

After spending six months in Taiwan, XFers (#18) teamed up with Zilliqa in Singapore to launch a stablecoin. The lack of avenues for remittances makes the mobile form factor an attractive device for gaining access to capital and tapping into new virtual banks and blockchain technologies. Going forward , data seems to indicate that this innovation in SE Asia driven by a connection to Taiwan will be more prevalent. And it will continue to shape fintech and more.

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Xiaomi co-founder Lei Jun steps down amidst sales decline – TechNode

Xiaomi co-founder and chairman Lei Jun has stepped down as the company president for China, according to an internal company letter.

According to a report by TechNode, his resignation followed a drop in the company’s smartphone market share since he took the position in May.

In addition to Lei Jun, Xiaomi also reshuffled seven other high-ranking executives.

Market research firm Canalys reported that Xiaomi’s smartphone shipments in China declined 20 per cent year-on-year in the second quarter and 33 per cent in Q3 with market share shrinking to nine per cent from 12 per cent during the six-month timeframe.

OYO elevates Aditya Ghosh to board, aims to focus on profitability and quality control – Bloomberg

Indian hospitality tech giant OYO has elevated key executive to board as part of its effort to push for profitability and quality control, Bloomberg wrote.

Aditya Ghosh, who had served as OYO’s chief executive officer for India and South Asia, is stepping up to a board position. He will be succeeded by Rohit Kapoor, the company’s current new real estate businesses chief.

Prior to joining OYO, Ghosh led Indian budget airline company Indigo.

Also Read: Today’s top tech news, July 9: Xiaomi even on first day of listing, 11 Street Thailand nabs investor

500 Tuk Tuks names 10 startups from its second fund – e27

500 TukTuks, the Thailand unit of early-stage VC fund 500 Startups, today announced the 10 new startups it has invested from its second fund.

This second batch of investment follows the first batch of six it had announced earlier this year.

The companies in the list range from property tech to nanotech.

Tribe Accelerator facilitates additional US$15.7M fundraising to boost blockchain innovations – e27

Tribe Accelerator, Singapore government-supported blockchain accelerator, has facilitated the fundraising of S$21.5 million (US$15.7 million) for its participating companies through its ecosystem of corporate and investor partners.

Enterprise Singapore also supports the fundraising.

The fund itself was announced on the first Demo Day of the Tribe Global Demo Tour for its second batch of participating companies in Singapore today

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