AI-powered voice customer service Observe.AI secures US$26M funding [Press Release]

Observe.AI, the AI-powered agent enablement for voice customer service, announces that it has raised US$26 million Series A funding led by Scale Venture Partners, with participation from Nexus Venture Partners, Steadview Capital, 01 Advisors, and Emergent Ventures. This funding allows Observe.AI to expand its US-India team globally and accelerate product development.

In conjunction with the funding, Andy Vitus, partner at Scale, will be joining Observe.AI’s board. This brings the company’s total funding to US$34 million.

“Legacy speech analytics systems are simply not meeting the needs of the world’s top brands,” said Swapnil Jain, CEO, and co-founder of Observe.AI. “Today’s customer service agents have a unique ability to emotionally connect with customers and are often a brand’s only frontline representatives. This investment will fuel our mission to elevate agent performance through AI-based coaching and insights.“

Observe.AI uses the latest speech, natural language processing, and deep learning technologies to analyse 100 per cent of customer conversations and provide adaptive coaching, including completely automating some parts of the quality assurance and compliance tracking processes. The platform becomes smarter with each call analysis.

Observe.AI also announced that it has been accepted into the Microsoft for Startups program. With this relationship, Microsoft customers can leverage Observe.AI’s platform through its Azure marketplace.

Bio startup Aprogen just became South Korea’s 11th unicorn [Korea Herald]

South Korean bio venture firm Aprogen Pharmaceuticals Inc. has just been listed as the country’s 11th unicorn, according to an industry tracker on Tuesday.

Also Read: Meet the 8 Southeast Asian startups who will receive US$1-2M each from Sequoia’s Surge programme

With a valuation of more than US$1 billion as recorded by tech market intelligence platform CB Insights, the latest investment it secured was back in May. Aprogen received US$16.7 million in investment from venture capital firm Lindeman Asia Investment.

Aprogen is a venture enterprise founded with proprietary technologies in antibody engineering and recombinant protein engineering. It was founded by a professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology and has since established several cell lines for blockbuster biosimilars, including Remicade and Herceptin.

It also started the clinical development of multiple biosimilar products in Japan through an alliance with Nichi-Iko Pharmaceuticals Co.

South Korea ranks fifth in a global unicorn tally, with a combined 11 unicorns, including online retailer Coupang and Viva Republica, the operator of easy mobile remittance service Toss.

Techstars appoints Eunse Lee as Managing Director of Techstars Korea [Press Release]

The accelerator program Techstars announces the appointment of Eunsee Lee as its Techstar Korea’s managing director.

Lee had a three years stint in Los Angeles serving as a Founding Managing Partner at ELEVEN:ZULU Capital before returning to Korea in 2018 and taking a role as Managing Director of BEYOND STARTUP, a startup incubator in Seoul under the Seoul Business Agency.

Lee was also the founder of EICG, a boutique strategy, and consultancy agency.

In Techstars’ first-ever accelerator program in Korea, Lee will oversee the supporting and nourishing of the local startup ecosystem in Pangyo, Korea.

Lee stated that he will focus on three categories that startups may fall into during the application process, which are Enterprise Tech, Human-Device Interaction, and Lifestyle Tech.

The accelerator program itself will be hosted at the Pangyo Techno Valley campus (PTV), a business and innovation hub, known locally as the Silicon Valley of Korea. Techstars Korea is accepting applications through March 1st, and the program will run June 2020 through September 2020.

Good Doctor, Grab launch GrabHealth Powered by Good Doctor to open access to quality healthcare [Press Release]

Good Doctor Technology Indonesia, a health technology-based company, and Grab, announced the launch of a one-stop online health care solution within the Grab platform called GrabHealth, powered by Good Doctor.

GrabHealth powered by Good Doctor will be a one-stop medical health solution providing online health chat with a professional medical doctor, e-commerce for Health & Wellness products, and health, wellness, and lifestyle articles curated by medical doctors. Indonesia is the first market that Grab is launching digital healthcare services on its app.

Also Read: Singaporean biotech startup Curiox receives US$15M investment, planning Korean IPO

Dr. Adhiatma Gunawan, Head of Medical Management of Good Doctor Technology Indonesia, said, “Good Doctor Technology Indonesia has a vision of One Doctor for Every Family in Indonesia. This partnership with Grab is a breakthrough collaboration that will allow us to provide access to quality healthcare services provided by reliable healthcare professionals and facilities to Indonesian families across the nation.”

The move is a part of Softbank US$2 billion investment to Indonesia that was announced during a visit to President Joko Widodo last July.

Currently, GrabHealth powered by Good Doctor service is only available for all Grab users within the Greater Jakarta area (Jabodetabek). However, this service will also be widely released to other regions in Indonesia will soon follow.

TikTok’s creator tests out new music app in Indonesia, India [Tech In Asia]

Bytedance, the Chinese internet titan, reportedly has begun testing a new music app in India and Indonesia, with hopes to replicate the success of its short-video app TikTok.

The new app, called Resso, has been launched since six months ago and in its beta-testing phase, Bloomberg reported, citing numbers from Sensor Tower. The data also showed that the app began gaining traction during the end of November.

Earlier, it was reported that Bytedance was set to take on the likes of Spotify and Apple Music with its own music-streaming service, with planned initial launches in Indonesia, India, and Brazil.

What differentiates Resso is that it displays real-time lyrics and allows users to post comments on individual songs. Borrowing features from TikTok, users are able to generate music-accompanied GIFs and videos.

Resso offers a monthly subscription service, which costs the same as Spotify’s US$1.70 offer in India. With a subscription, Resso users can download songs for offline consumption and listen to music ad-free.
–

Picture credit: Observe.AI

The post Today’s top tech news: TikTok’s creator tests out Spotify-like apps, Bio startup Aprogen has become Korea’s newest unicorn appeared first on e27.

I was in India recently at a fintech conference in Mumbai, where I was blown away by the passion of feeling towards new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). There is a palpable appetite among Indian entrepreneurs and corporate leaders to rise to the challenge of a new smarter, faster, and technologically driven world.

Even though it was a fintech conference, one of the central topics up for discussion was AI. Specifically, we were discussing the substance behind the hype of this technology for the Indian market. I came away believing more than ever that India is ready to adopt AI en masse, and that there is conviction among business leaders that the technology is maturing now beyond mere “hype”.

The areas I see the biggest opportunity for immediate disruption lie in banking, fintech, and financial services. A recent report by PwC India found that nearly half (44 per cent) of business leaders in this sector believe AI-enabled automation will have the highest impact on their businesses. Use cases identified by the report range from process streamlining, customer support, regulatory compliance, and other back-office operations.

Banking on AI

But I also see tremendous opportunity for India’s banking infrastructure to upgrade itself through AI to bring the country more in line with digital banks evolving elsewhere around the world, especially in parts of Asia like China and Singapore. Specifically, AI has the capability to bolster anti-fraud, eKYC, and credit scoring efforts of India’s banks and financial services – making them not just more automated but safer and more effective.

As banking infrastructure lies at the heart of today’s largest economies (just look at the power of Wall Street in the U.S. and its recent tie-ups with Silicon Valley in new offerings such as the Goldman Sachs issued Apple Card), it makes sense that to transform an economy you need to tackle its financial system first.

I see two very clear opportunities for how AI can help drive India’s banking and fintech ecosystem, slowly but surely putting India on the map as a world leader in the field of AI. First, AI-powered credit scoring will allow the “credit invisible” to quality for loans and support banks’ efforts to reach a new segment of underbanked consumers.

Sensible starting points

Second, there is a big opportunity around anti-fraud and eKYC. These two areas are key because they help financial institutions operate with more confidence in what can be risky environments. By automating the blacklisting of fraudsters and those applying for loans or financial products and services with fake IDs, business confidence is restored to financial markets and both the companies and consumers benefit. The only ones not benefitting are the bad actors.

Combined, these areas within India’s financial system are rife for disruption and, if transformed successfully through pervasive AI integration, should also help to raise the standards and profile of India’s financial markets with the international community. While we’re still some way away from an endpoint in terms of how AI plays out as a technology, these are some very clear and sensible places to start.

—

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

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

Image credit:Pixabay

The post Why it’s not too late for India to become a world leader in AI appeared first on e27.

Intrepid Group, a startup that seeks to help brands access all Southeast Asia e-commerce easily, has secured an undisclosed amount of Series A funding led by Kairous Capital, a regional venture capital specialised in cross-border investments between China and South East Asia.

Other investors include Sun SEA Capital, a Malaysia’s Sunway Group-backed venture capital firm, as well as the 500 Startups Vietnam.

Founded by ex-Lazada’s co-founders, Intrepid Group offers brands one-stop-shop access to Southeast Asia’s e-commerce.

Also Read: 500 Startups Vietnam closes its first fund oversubscribed at US$14M

It helps global brands optimise their e-commerce presence on e-commerce and social platforms such as Lazada, Shopee, Tokopedia, Facebook, Instagram that also includes running their stores and leveraging latest technologies in AI and automation, running their digital marketing to maximise returns on investment, as well as offering a wide array of data services to help brands in refining their e-commerce strategy.

“We are blessed to be at the heart of a booming industry, and our mission is to help brands surf on this tsunami,” said Charles Debonneuil, CEO of Intrepid Group who was the former CMO and co-founder of Lazada Group.

Intrepid said it already has offices across Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, and Vietnam, with on-going office openings in Thailand and Malaysia.

“Consumer behaviour in Southeast Asia is rapidly evolving, many traditionally siloed activities on the brand side now need to converge, and we look forward to assisting in that new approach,” said Jasper Knoben, Chief Commercial Officer of Intrepid Group, who was formerly the Asia-Pacific E-commerce Director of Philips.

Debonneuil further explained that Intrepid has been focusing on building their core differentiators, their own technology stack with their technology hub in Vietnam; and their growing team of multi-cultural experts across various domains: e-commerce (with a large number of ex-Lazada/ex-Shopee employees), data, technology, marketing, fashion, fast-moving consumer goods, and home appliances.

Also Read: 8 e-commerce trends to look out for in Southeast Asia 2019

Intrepid said that it targets to become one-stop-solution with localised access to the six main Southeast Asia markets for global brands that are already present in the region, as well as brands from across the globe which are eyeing at Southeast Asia as their next growth driver.

–

Image Credit: Intrepid Group

The post Lazada’s ex-CMO’s startup raises Series A round, aims to help brands’ maximise e-commerce presence appeared first on e27.

Sunday, a full-stack insurtech based in Thailand, announces that it has received a US$11 million extension to its Series A financing led by Quona Capital, a fintech venture firm whose funds are anchored by Accion, with participation from existing investor Vertex.

The company said that it will use the new funding to enable Sunday to expand its business and build enhancements to its proprietary core technology, which utilises machine learning to price premiums for health, motor, and travel insurance in real-time.

Launched in 2017, Sunday offers end-to-end insurance products and services powered by its machine-learning risk prediction engines.

“Over the last two years, Sunday has been focussed on redesigning the entire insurance journey using data and technology,” said Sunday co-founder and CEO Cindy Kua. “Today we’re able to deliver personalised coverage and superior customer experiences from initial insurance purchase all the way through to any claims, whether on the Sunday system or through its partner channels.”

“Insurance is such a vital part of how people all over the world achieve financial resilience,” says Ganesh Rengaswamy, co-founder and Managing Partner at Quona Capital. “Quona Capital is proud to back Sunday to not only make insurance more readily available to Thailand and other parts of Southeast Asia but to do so in a way that is consumer-friendly, fairly priced and transparent for users.”

Also Read: Insurtech startup Sunday Ins reveals the secret to win the Southeast Asian insurance market

Currently, Sunday provides solutions include real-time health, motor, and travel insurance premium pricing, employee health benefits platforms for corporate entities and their employees, mobile-first claims platforms for motor and health insurance, and a travel insurance pricing platform for travel agencies, among others.
–

Image Credit: Sunday

The post Insurtech startup Sunday raises US$11M Series A funding led by Quona Capital, aims to enable expansion appeared first on e27.

PointStar, in collaboration with e27, spearheaded the event to help contribute to the conversation on the importance of going digital

On 5 November 2019, startup founders, SME owners, and business leaders in Malaysia gathered at WeWork Equatorial Plaza in Kuala Lumpur for a panel briefing co-organised by ecosystem builders: e27 and PointStar.

The discussion dwelt on the underlying issues and challenges faced by an organization in its day-to-day operations and processes in terms of data flow, and how digitalisation can help improve efficiency across these business functions.

Among the esteemed panelists of this event were Wing Lee (CEO of YTL Communications), Aaron Sarma (General Partner of ScaleUp Malaysia), and Sara Lua (Regional Sales Director – Malaysia and Philippines, Oracle NetSuite). The issues tackled were relevant and salient: from an outlook on Malaysia’s entrepreneurship scene, to the rapidly shifting tech ecosystem, to eventually on digitalisation. It is also interesting to note that despite casting their different perspectives on transformation, all agree that implementing one or all of the 3As – automation, analytics, and AI – in their businesses has played a big role in thriving, growing, and taking their businesses to the next level.

ERP, an indispensable solution to haphazard data and workflow

A cross-functional information system undeniably provides organisation-wide coordination and integration of the critical business processes holds an integral part of a business to thrive and grow. This naturally points to ERP Systems (Enterprise Resource Planning), a software that helps manage business processes and organisational data and workflow. 

The advantage of organised business units through ERP system is having different functions within an organisation maintain smooth and conducive communication that helps get the job done more swiftly and efficiently.

These software modules aid the primary business processes within various functional areas, and all the data collected is stored in a data form that feeds the information to the other applications aiding that particular process.

Also read: Solving common business problems through the power of digitalisation

Embracing digitalisation and its challenges

As businesses and organizations try to cope with the clamour of embracing digitalisation, artificial intelligence, and automation, ERP makes this a lot easier by making real-time information sharing more smoothly and thus, helping the employees and the business itself process information quicker and make more accurate decisions, eliminating repetitive jobs and so employees can focus more tasks that are of value and will require more attention, time, and critical thinking.

To such degree, small and medium businesses that are scaling should look for opportunities to digitalise and automate to increase company’s productivity that results to business owners to focus on scaling the company. 

Some of the challenges faced by business owners to automate their business can be overcome by having the right guidance on tools to use, grants to help with the cost of digitalisation, and education to the younger generation for the future.

—

Established in 2008, PointStar is a leading cloud technology consultant in the Asia Pacific with a strong track record in moving thousands of organisations and institutions to the Cloud by transforming businesses with automation, analytics, and artificial intelligence to help create a smart workplace.

PointStar, Oracle NetSuite’s partner in Singapore has partnered with e27 for this event, in line with the official launch of their 4th regional office located in Kuala Lumpur. This move is a response to the increasing number of Malaysian tech companies collaborating with PointStar to help businesses understand the benefits of embracing digitalisation for their organisation.

The post On embracing digital transformation: key takeaways from today’s startup founders and experts appeared first on e27.

 

Mobile devices have become an integral part of our lives. Not only do we use them for social interactions and leisure, but we’ve also begun taking advantage of them in the workplace. Companies are leveraging the power they bring to optimize processes and to streamline efficiency.

The shift from desktop to mobile is now a fact. Companies steadily realize the necessity of developing an experience that functions just as well on mobile platforms. We saw that the first step in this direction was the creation of optimized websites. However, given the restrictions they imposed on mobile users, they were quickly proven to be less efficient. 

This is where enterprise apps stepped into the picture. With complex structures and numerous capabilities, apps of this kind quickly turned out to be the standard that companies of all sizes were aiming for. Naturally, with the growth of the impact of mobile devices, a mobile-first approach has become paramount for enhancing mobile app user experience. 

Mobile is the new normal

Think about it this way: when desktop browsing was normal, it made perfect sense to design for desktop first. It was the primary source of traffic, and most sales were generated there. 

Mobile used to be an option or an extra step for pioneer companies. It was assumed that people wouldn’t like to perform complex tasks on their mobile devices. However, with the latest technological advancements, these devices can now be used for just about anything. 

Now consumers use mobiles for all kinds of things, from booking a flight to purchasing luxury items. 63 per cent of all Google searches were made via mobile in 2019, accounting for 48.7 per cent of the overall website traffic.

The numbers speak to the fact that mobile is the new routine and enterprise needs to consider the mobile-first approach when planning a mobile app development.

Ensuring scalability

When it comes to designing for mobile, you need to work with minimal space. Scaling a desktop page down to function on a smaller device is not always the best idea. 

If you can’t scale down something to work on mobile, you can make it mobile-first. Adjusting it upwards, later on, would be way more comfortable and wouldn’t affect functionality. You can always add more features and make it work for desktop, but scaling down would most likely affect the core of the website and its purpose.

Don’t forget the back-end systems

When you consider the mobile-first approach, there’s more than just apps you need to take care of. Just like they have unique development requirements, the back-end systems to which mobile apps connect also do. Their usage patterns are entirely different for websites and web-based applications.

The mobile apps functionality should also be added to the back-end system to enable background syncing. This means, every time the app wants to sync data, connected back-end systems have to be ready to receive it.

Here comes the mobile-first approach again. The traffic patterns of mobile apps are much tenser. People like them because they can be used whenever and wherever they wish. Sometimes, mobile apps may experience vast waves of traffic when users share a content piece on social media.

All this means that specialized back-end systems are required. Usually, mobile app developers break up these large systems into multiple pieces, which operate independently. It allows good user response times even under a heavy load. The practice is called microservices and is now widely preferred. 

These separate back-end systems could be beneficial for enterprise as well, for securing employee work and avoiding significant data leaks in case of an emergency. It’s one of the reasons why the enterprise mobility management market is expected to generate revenues of USD$2,9 billion (more than a 150% increase from 2014).

Mobile-first requires focus

Enterprise mobile app development is challenging itself. Designing with a mobile-first approach could be even harder. Many development companies are now used to taking a desktop experience and finding the best ways to make it suitable for mobile. Beginning with the smaller screen is an entirely different process.

The main thing needed for taking the mobile-first approach is focusing on the needs of the user. The company needs to figure out the essence of its message and product so that it’s effectively presented in a mobile app. No additional flashy widgets should be used to grab user attention. 

If you look at it the other way around, a mobile-first approach allows businesses to focus on what matters and get rid of any distractions that aren’t that connected with their primary purpose.

A whole new mentality

Today, businesses start to consider the importance of investing in a mobile app for their website. As mobile affects all aspects of our lives, the enterprise can’t ignore all the advantages this comes with. For instance, companies gain 240 hours of work per year from the employees using mobile enterprise apps.

Also Read: How to raise funds for your mobile app startup?

Such are mainly used for higher engagement of people with their jobs, as we’re engaged in our mobile devices daily. This has made businesses invest not only in making their websites mobile-friendly but in a whole new mobile-first approach. It’s a solution that meets the increasing user demands, making it preferred by the enterprise.

–

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

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

Image Credit:  Adrien

The post The importance of a mobile-first approach to enterprise app development appeared first on e27.

Carsome, a used-car trading platform in Malaysia with a presence in several other markets in Southeast Asia, has completed its US$50 million Series C round in a combination of equity and debt investments.

Investors include MUFG Innovation Partners, the corporate VC arm of Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, and Daiwa PI Partners, the PE arm of Japan’s Daiwa Securities, besides Endeavor Catalyst and Ondine Capital.

The round also saw participation from existing investors, including Gobi Partners and Convergence Ventures.

The capital will help “consolidate Carsome’s market leadership in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand, with expansion into more cities in Southeast Asia”, and to accelerate financing product offerings for dealers and consumers with multi-country roll-outs over the next 12 months.

As part of the strategic investment, Carsome will collaborate with MUFG and its subsidiaries in Southeast Asia to provide integrated financing access for dealers and consumers via its platform. MUFG owns both Danamon (a bank and automotive financing company in Indonesia), and Krungsri (Thailand’s fifth-largest bank in terms of loans and deposits).

Also Read: [Exclusive] Online invoice exchange platform Incomlend close to securing Series A funding from global investors

Through this collaboration, MUFG and its subsidiaries will have the ability to provide B2B and B2C financing on Carsome’s platform.

Carsome is a one-stop-shop for car sellers, providing a full-stack selling solution from inspection to ownership transfer. Currently, the platform claims to be transacting more than 40,000 cars annually, totalling more than US$300 million in transacted value.

To date, Carsome has a coverage of more than 6,000 dealers across over 50 cities in Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Singapore on its platform.

The firm is operationally profitable in Malaysia and targets profitability in the remaining markets by end-2020.

Carsome has over 700 employees across its Southeast Asia offices.

Eric Cheng, Co-founder and CEO of Carsome, said: “With over 4 million used car transactions annually in Southeast Asia, Carsome transacts 1 per cent of annual second-hand car sales in the region. We have helped over 6,000 dealers in growing their businesses and have become their closest working partners. We have also served over a million customers with a whole new experience in car trading – transparent, convenient and the fastest of its kind.”

“We aspire to be the Visa/Master network of auto transactions, and build a collaborative ecosystem of partners to provide the best experience to consumers in Southeast Asia,” he added.

In March 2018, Carsome raised US$19 million in Series B funding led by Burda Principal Investments, alongside Gobi Partners, Convergence Ventures, Indogen Capital, InnoVen Capital and Lumia Capital. It then followed with a US$8 million extension round in August 2018, led by the family office of Joe Hirao, Founder of Tokyo-headquartered ZIGExN.

Carsome also recently announced key strategic senior hires with Danny Chin, former CMO of redONE, coming on board as CMO, and Chet Sin, FWD Insurance’s former Head of IT and Digital Commerce, joining as CTO.

The post Carsome closes US$50M Series C; aims to be operationally profitable by end-2020 appeared first on e27.

Singapore-headquartered shared e-scooter startup Neuron Mobility has raised US$18.5 million in a new funding round led by California-based cross-border fund GSR Ventures and Australian VC firm Square Peg Capital.

Existing investors SeedPlus and SEEDS Capital (by Enterprise Singapore) also participated in the round.

The investment followed a US$3.8 million seed round in December 2018.

The company will use the fresh capital to accelerate its Australian and New Zealand roadmap, its foray into other Asia Pacific markets, and further development of its technology.

Founded in 2016 by Zachary Wang and Harry Yu, Neuron operates e-scooter sharing services across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and Australia. Neuron also develops proprietary hardware which it claims improves rider safety and provides oversight and control to the cities in terms of speed, parking, and geofencing technologies.

In June, the startup ventured into the Australian market after winning the permit to operate 60 per cent of the scooter fleet allocation in Brisbane City, the capital of Queensland.

Also Read: E-scooter startup Neuron Mobility introduces its new e-scooter design focusing on rider’s safety

It has also secured a license to operate the shared e-scooter programme in Darwin City in the Northern Territory of Australia, as well as a trade license to operate in Auckland, New Zealand.

Both are slated to launch early in 2020.

The company employs a team of data scientists, urban planners, and engineers who translate raw data into actionable insights for both its operations and the city’s transport planning. This includes working on real-time data integration, asset location reports, incident management, and the co-creation of preferred riding zones with cities.

CEO Wang said, “The world is on an irreversible trend to adopt micro-mobility services into cities of all kinds and sizes in the coming years. But it is not a standalone solution to transportation gaps. Successful implementation of scooter-sharing programs can only happen when there is a strong partnership between local governments and technology providers.”

“It’s exciting to see the product iteration cycle becoming shorter in the micro-mobility space. We are committed to continuing our effort in developing new technologies that make this service a seamless integration with cities around APAC,” said CTO Yu.

The post Neuron Mobility raises US$18.5M to accelerate its e-scooter sharing service in Australia, New Zealand appeared first on e27.

Southeast Asia is brimming with action. And I am not the only one saying it. The recently launched Asia Partners Report 2019 has made some positive comments on how and why this region looks promising. Their first publication on the development of the technology sector in Southeast Asia the analysis benchmarks Southeast Asia against other markets.

I studied the report in detail to draw out some of the highlights as a credible roadmap for advancement in the technology sector in Southeast Asia.

• Southeast Asia is entering a “golden age of rising affluence” fueled by large tech company formations in China, Korea, and Japan in the past
• Its’ opportunities and complexity creates “a true home-court advantage” for local platforms
• The report predicted 20+ more billion-dollar value tech companies from Southeast Asia by 2029 and 20 companies will pursue IPOs over the next decade
• 70% win for regional tech startups
• In addition to the rise in Series A/B ecosystem has strengthened, there is an acute Series C/D gap in the market for $20-100 million checks making Southeast Asia is ready for growth equity

Why SEA and why now?

The report quotes various World Bank statistics and said that Southeast Asia has relatively fared better than others during the recession and the growing population and youth will lend a major boom to consumerism and economic growth on the whole.

Also read: A better me – the future of tech startups

As the region is hungry and able to grow governments are also tuning in with favorable policies and governance to stimulate the environment. Especially with large nations like Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines that are mirroring China in governance.

Multi-country market

Second to Europe and booming faster than the latter in this decade, SEA is a unique mix of highly populated countries. And the report suggests the success of the region lies in their diverse population but united business and tech.

 

With a higher number of smartphone and technology users, there is a strong growth opportunity in the region. With a better Series C/D in the ecosystem, some of the single players can be accelerated for growth as a multiregional organisation ushering a new era of unicorns and IPOs suggested the report.

—

Image credit: Pixabay

The post Why 2020 and the next decade looks good for business in Southeast Asia appeared first on e27.

In his presentation about the factors that help the South Korean startup ecosystem to thrive, Startup Alliance Managing Director Jung Wook Lim mentioned “the growing number of aggressive venture investors” as one of them.

In fact, Big Hit Entertainment, the entertainment company behind K-pop giant BTS, is one of those venture-backed companies, despite not being in the tech industry.

“In the last five years, VC investment in South Korea has doubled over US$3 billion. By 2014, there are only 901 VC-backed companies in the country. But by 2018, the number has grown to 1,400,” Jung Wook Lim explained in the presentation.

The managing director also explained that today there are more than 200 local VC firms operating in the country. Even foreign investors are making considerable success in the market; for example, Altos Ventures have four unicorns under their belt.

He pointed out that prominent entrepreneurs in South Korean tech ecosystem are transforming to become angel investors or partners at venture capital (VC) firms, leading to a transfer of knowledge and a continuity in the ecosystem.

Also Read: Singapore-based fintech startup M-DAQ raises funding from Samsung, bringing cross-border payments to South Korea

In addition to aggressive VC investment, the success of the ecosystem was also attributed to other factors such as strong governmental support, the emergence of startup communities, an influx of capable talents, and warm receptions from local Millennial customers.

In addition to having talents with overseas experience in major corporations or research firms, South Korea also recorded the highest increase in the number of women entrepreneurs over the past year. Notable women founders in the South Korean startup ecosystem included Kyungmi Suh of LinkShops, Mikyun Kim of cizion as well as Mihee Kim and Kyunghee Choi of tutoring.

This notable achievement was reported in the Mastercard Index of Women Entrepreneurs 2019.

The presentation was given at the opening of K-Startup Week ComeUp 2019, held in Seoul on November 27-29, 2019.

The event was hosted by the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Korea Institute of Start-up and Entrepreneurship Development, and the country’s private startup ecosystem.

Also Read: South Korea’s Shinhan GIB invests in Bukalapak, pushing its valuation past US$2.5B

It was meant to gather startups, investors, entrepreneurs, media, and the general public in one place to provide an effective occasion for industry networking.

The event stated that it was attended by 15,000 startups and 60 speakers from 30 countries.

—

Christine Ayroso also contributed to the writing of this article.

Image Credit: K-Startup Week 2019 ComeUp

The post South Korea’s thriving startup ecosystem: How “aggressive” VC investment, gender diversity play a role in it appeared first on e27.