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The 2023 Echelon Asia Summit is happening at the Singapore EXPO on 14-15 June 2023. Are you a startup founder, investor, corporate, or tech enthusiast? Don’t miss out on one of the most anticipated tech conferences in the region! For more information, visit the official Echelon page.

The TOP100 program is an annual project spearheaded by e27 with the goal of recognising the most promising and innovative startups in the Southeast Asian region and beyond. The program is a highly anticipated event that provides a platform for exciting new startups to showcase their ideas, gain exposure to investors and potential partners, and receive valuable feedback from industry experts.

Through the TOP100 program, startups have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to a panel of judges comprised of investors, corporates, and industry giants. The judges evaluate each startup based on various criteria, including innovation, market potential, team strength, and overall execution.

Winning the TOP100 program can have a significant impact on a startup’s growth trajectory. The program has helped many startups secure funding, gain media attention, and expand their customer base in the regional market.

With its rigorous selection process, 100 startups get to pitch their products and services at the Echelon Asia Summit slated on June 14-15 at the Singapore EXPO. Top contenders will proceed to the finals where winners will be selected.

Without further ado, here are the first 15 startups that will be competing at this year’s TOP100!

The first 15 semifinalists for the 2023 TOP100 

myFirst

myFirst is the world’s first KidsTech ecosystem that has safely and securely connected over 1 million kids, families, and friends globally. The company is responsible for enabling kids to access devices, safe apps, connected services, and kids’ social networks through smartwatches, cameras, headphones, smart sketch boards, 3D pens, and more — all in a safe and secure environment.

Connected services enable kids to message, voice note, and make video and voice call to stay connected. Kids can also take and share photos, set reminders, listen to music, track their steps, and monitor their heart rates. Parents can keep track of their kids’ location and geofence with advanced GPS, WiFi, and GSM for accurate positioning, and connect with them anytime. In case of an emergency, an SOS button will also alert parents.

Howuku

Howuku is a full-package suite that is intuitive and easy to use so users can make informed UX improvements, and in turn, increase their business revenue and create lasting relationships with customers for life.

Howuku helps product and marketing teams to improve user experience and increase conversion rates with the most comprehensive list of optimisation features such as dynamic heatmap, session recordings, a/b testing, web personalisation, feedback, and many more.

Whether you are a marketer, product manager, or UX designer, Howuku has all the tools you need to make a better product and convert more sales!

Boost Capital

Boost is an award-winning B2B2C SAAS platform that allows Financial Institutions to onboard loan and savings account applicants digitally in 5-10 minutes without any app download.

Boost transforms Financial Institutions, expanding their client reach through chat-based financial services.

While banks in Southeast Asia traditionally operate in-person via brick-and-mortar branch locations, Boost allows these banks to enable their clients to apply digitally for loans in 5-10 minutes without an app download. This means massive new reach in new customers. Boost built their tech platform to have simple integrations so they can launch a new Financial Institution in 2-3 weeks.

GuruInovatif.id

GuruInovatif.id is a Learning Management System that operates as a source of information in the world of education. They provide information on teaching and learning; a source of data sharing for schools; local government, and central government for continuous development.

GuruInovatif.id is also connected to various schools throughout Indonesia to provide the best experience in teaching and learning. The team behind GuruInovatif.id is always working to improve literacy and numeracy scores as learning outcomes, provide motivation and encouragement in teaching, and build structured relationships and communication with all education stakeholders.

Through competency development, skill-supporting training, and socialisation of educational content through technology, GuruInovatif.id has become an agent of change for the transformation of Indonesia’s education landscape.

HeyHi Pte Ltd

HeyHi is a unique AI-enabled assessment and personalised learning system that empowers educators to teach and personalise education efficiently and seamlessly in a highly collaborative learning environment.

With teaching versatility for both live and self-paced instructions in a flexible learning environment — online, on-site, and hybrid, HeyHi magnifies learners’ opportunities and enhances their borderless learning journey.

At its core, HeyHi is an AI-enabled assessment and personalised learning system to Teach, Collaborate, and Personalise learning, in a highly collaborative learning space.

CAWIL AI

CAWIL AI is an industry-agnostic artificial intelligence solution with custom machine learning models that can be deployed locally and through cloud integration. CAWIL AI’s value proposition is its experience in utilising data-driven information for digital transformation, providing a seamless and easy-to-integrate cloud-based platform for an on-demand transaction. They provide digital transformation through AI.

Their solutions address Sustainable Development Goals #9 on Innovation and Infrastructure through their digital platform for environmental and corporate management, utilising AI & IoT, and SDG #12 on Responsible Consumption and Production from Agriculture, and Supply Chain Management.

CEREBRO

CEREBRO helps teachers jumpstart online teaching with the least preparation possible, allowing them to save up to 400 hours per year through ready-made digital content on a managed cloud platform as a solution for reducing faculty workload and improving the quality of online teaching.

It completed the Ideaspace Acceleration Program in 2020 and was recognised among the Top 20 RESQUE Startups vs. COVID-19 of QBO Innovation Hub.

As a solution, CEREBRO® employs its pool of instructional designers to develop digital teaching materials that are aligned with the Department of Education’s Most Essential Learning Competencies (MELC) and the Commission on Higher Education’s New General Education Curriculum (NGEC). In addition, CEREBRO® also manages its clients’ learning management systems (LMS) so schools can worry less about maintaining their own IT teams or tech infrastructures and focus more on pedagogy.

Xctuality

Xctuality is an immersive technology startup that is connecting people everywhere by developing the next evolution of social networking that connects people with immersive experiences.

Xctuality’s solutions (Xctuality Interactive – VRAR 360/3D platform with innovative choose-your-own narrative interactive experiences, and Xctualyfe – Metaverse/Web3 platform providing Metaverse as a Service to businesses and ecosystems with functionalities that empower monetisation) help address issues concerning creators, brands, and businesses spending too much money in social media advertising while seeing organic traffic decline in the face of mysterious and often-changing algorithms. Furthermore, data is aggregated and controlled by a handful of large platforms that monetise from individual users’ data without benefiting the user.

Xctuality’s hypothesis is that by providing creators, brands, and businesses the ability to create and curate their very own branded experiences and bring in their base of customers, and having such worlds interconnected, these users could organically discover the various experiences and result in stronger customer loyalty and greater customer lifetime value, while at the same time democratising individual user data and enabling businesses to have better targeting and greater conversion.

ALPHACIRCLE Inc.

ALPHACIRCLE is a renowned startup that has created cutting-edge visual enhancement software called ‘ALPHAView’, which enables content creators to produce high-quality, original VR videos. Their proprietary algorithm is utilised during both the encoding and decoding process, enabling the distribution of four times more pixels to create the most immersive experience possible. This advanced technology allows for the viewing of videos in 8K 3D through smartphones and VR headsets, providing viewers with unparalleled visual clarity.

ALPHACIRCLE’s affordable and optimised VR software also addresses common issues related to image quality and playback synchronisation. This ensures that consumers can enjoy crisp image quality without the need for expensive, high-end VR headsets. Furthermore, their software helps eliminate playback problems and glitches, allowing for a seamless and uninterrupted viewing experience.

Red Dot Analytics

Maximising sustainability by minimising energy consumption for mission-critical infrastructures with Red Dot Analytics (RDA).

Their DCVerse platform harnesses the power of cutting-edge digital twin and AI technology.

With a decade of research from Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Singapore backing them, RDA leads the industry in “cognitive digital twin” technology, offering a virtual replica of real-world systems to simulate change before implementation, delivering optimal operating settings, and up to 40% lower energy consumption.

PriyoShop

When we talk about small businesses, we primarily focus on neighbourhood mom-and-pop shops, also known as retailers. These are the small shops we see around us on our streets. If we talk about the former, 97% of our country’s retail sales take place through them; e-commerce and modern retail play a smaller role. So, the majority of the retail transaction is actually taking place through neighbourhood shop retailers.

PriyoShop is a B2B e-commerce marketplace that is digitalising B2B trade for the unorganised retail sector in Bangladesh. The company’s platform connects small-scale retailers directly with manufacturers and suppliers. PriyoShop’s app allows small retailers to procure inventory from wholesalers, distributors, and manufacturers at competitive rates.

BOOQED

BOOQED is a digital platform that empowers teams to truly work from anywhere and to help organisations become more agile in their approach to the office.

BOOQED simplifies how businesses deal with this process, making it an effortless outsourced tech solution for businesses. Its cutting-edge modular hardware and software platform provides an easy and cost-effective way for companies to create and manage private, flexible work and meeting spaces within their existing offices or buildings. Users can easily make bookings for spaces and gain access to meeting rooms via the mobile and web app. Modular furniture, smart booths, movable walls and a proprietary access control solution — along with the ability to deliver integrated amenities such as printing and automated coffee dispensers via the web app — provide a turnkey solution that can be deployed in any existing office or lobby space. Full automation reduces human resource requirements. Data analytics tools provide snapshots of how the space is being used.

Tictag.io

Tictag is a startup born in Singapore focusing on crowdsourcing data annotation. By simplifying data annotation tasks and putting them on a groundbreaking, gamified mobile application, Tictag aims to become the best way for people and companies to work with data. Whether it is for powering computer vision AI models or enhancing data analytics systems, Tictag offers high-quality, labelled datasets regardless of industry.

Tictag was designed to be extremely accessible and inclusive, allowing seniors and people with disabilities to perform micro-jobs on their phones. Through this, they aim to bring more opportunities to the community, especially to the disadvantaged and vulnerable parts of our population.

Ailytics

Ailytics is a Singapore-based company with the goal of enhancing safety and maximising productivity by leveraging existing cameras to receive real-time actionable insights and make better-informed decisions.

Ailyssa, their flagship product, is a video analytics solution that can connect to any current CCTV infrastructure to offer real-time warnings, trends, and reports.

Ailyssa is used by site staff and managers to evaluate subcontractor performance, track construction progress, educate workers on risky practices, and reinforce company safety standards. End-users such as project managers and safety officers can leverage this technology to have better visibility of their site’s overall safety and progress to make better-informed decisions for their operations.

Finext

Finext automates your personal financial management. Users simply have to snap receipts and Finext will automate your expenses tracking and personal tax calculations.

Messy receipts? Tedious and time-consuming to track your personal expenses? Have to keep physical receipts for 7 years for claiming tax relief? Finext helps you to automate all these work within one app. Just snap your receipt, and Finext will do the rest with the help of Artificial Intelligence. Users can submit their personal income tax with just one click, and Finext will calculate payables and rebates and submit them easily. 

Their vision is to become users’ everyday personal finance app.

To be battled out at the 2023 Echelon Asia Summit

Watch out for these exciting startups as they battle it out on the TOP100 pitching stage at the 2023 Echelon Asia Summit happening on June 14-15 at Singapore EXPO.

The Echelon Asia Summit is a leading technology conference that brings together experts from around the world to discuss the latest trends and innovations in the industry, share expert knowledge, and provide opportunities to network with peers. The event is a must-attend for anyone in the tech industry looking to stay ahead of the curve.

Catch these startups and more at this year’s TOP100 stage! To learn more about Echelon Asia Summit 2023 and to sign up for the event, visit the official page here.

The post The first 15 startups that made it to this year’s TOP100 appeared first on e27.

We have become familiar with negative generational stereotypes, however seemingly accurate, or perhaps even more likely, exaggerated they might be. With several distinct age groups currently working together, namely the Gen Z, Millennial, Gen X, and Baby Boomer generations, perceptions of generational differences in the workplace are undeniably prevalent. But are they important?

Life as we know it continues to undergo seismic changes, including a large ageing workforce, rapid technological advancements in an increasingly digital world, shifting perceptions about diversity, equity, and inclusion, and a global pandemic that accelerated trends toward flexible work.

More than ever before, it is critical for organisations to understand their employees — not as broad generational demographics with uncompromising differences, but rather as people with unique work styles, needs, and preferences, which influence job satisfaction, performance, and longevity.

The Future of Time, a global study fielded by Adobe Document Cloud on the nature of modern work, shows how significant these preferences are, and points to important organizational adaptations that employers can make to attract and keep top talent.

Enable flexibility for better productivity and outcomes

According to The Future of Time, younger generations feel pressured to work during office hours, but that’s not always when they’re the most productive. The past few years have shown that they can be just as productive managing their own time, starting work as early or finishing as late as they please – even breaking up their work day for personal errands.

Also Read: Effective marketing strategies to win over Gen Z for your startup

In fact, housework emerged as a popular non-work activity among Southeast Asian employees working remotely. Even with designated work hours, about one-fifth of Singaporean employees surveyed say they carry out household chores when not working during office hours.

By understanding the generational differences — and, more importantly, treating employees as unique individuals — employers who exercise flexibility can set their workers up for success.

While managers and employees alike crave flexibility in their schedules, this is especially true for Millennial and Gen Z workers. What’s more, the cost of falling short is even higher for their employers. A study by the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) in 2022 showed that more employees have indicated that they would consider changing jobs if working from the office becomes the default.

Between December 2021 and February 2022, 37 per cent of employees surveyed in Singapore said that they would consider looking for another job if their employer requires them to return to the office on most days.

However, among those surveyed from March to April 2022, when there was a further relaxation of COVID-19 measures, this figure grew to 42 per cent. In addition, 78 per cent of Millennial employees would switch jobs for a better work-life balance, compared to 50 per cent of Boomers.

For employees, burnout and attrition from rigid work requirements are real. And for employers that respond inadequately to the needs of their workers, so are the consequences. It’s a potentially urgent problem.

IPS reported that younger employees were more likely to plan on leaving their jobs in the next 12 months as compared to those who were older. Around 40 to 44 per cent of employees aged below 50 were planning to leave their job in the next 12 months, while 17 to 23 per cent of employees aged 50 and above are planning to do so in the same duration.

Adobe’s Future of Time study also revealed that employees who opted to stay with their current employers cited schedule and location flexibility as top reasons. These adaptations are straightforward but don’t come overnight — they require fresh perspectives, updated trust in employee competence and reliability, restructuring of outdated processes, and implementation of the right tools.

As Singapore’s workforce increasingly transitions towards hybrid work models, employers must redesign their processes and infrastructure. Technology such as cloud storage and collaboration applications can be a great enabler, allowing employees to access critical resources and continue co-creating solutions while working remotely.

This is corroborated by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS)’s study, which showed that organisations with the right technology and infrastructure were able to quickly adapt and address new challenges triggered by hybrid work models.

But modern workers don’t just want flexibility, they want to be more productive and efficient too.  Younger generations of employees are issuing an unspoken mandate of sorts to companies that workplace and schedule flexibility, and the digital tools and processes which facilitate that flexibility, are essential,  not only to attract and retain them but also to ensure they can work effectively.

Also Read: Gen Z is redefining global consumption. Can companies keep up?

Companies now have an opportunity to seamlessly reshape the modern office to become digital, flexible, and more successful – and avoid the potential perils of ‘The Great Resignation’.

Talent attraction hinges on flexible working arrangements

Many organisations today are departmentally siloed, increasingly remote, and busier than ever. It is essential that an organisation’s technology infrastructure must enable staff to work in a hybrid way, in the office, from the home or a third location such as a shared workplace, according to MAS. Tools that empower collaboration and security will help to save time and accelerate business operations.

Building a flexible system of remote-ready tools and processes creates an efficient, productive document workflow for every team in an organisation. Employees in every line of business can see their productivity soar when implementing an integrated document management solution.

Understanding the needs of a modern, intergenerational workforce is imperative to creating an environment that both attracts talented employees and persuades them to stay. Automated, digital solutions can help employees and business leaders work smarter, simpler, faster, and more flexibly, wherever, and whenever, they choose, without compromising productivity.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

Join our e27 Telegram group, FB community, or like the e27 Facebook page

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The global market for artificial intelligence (AI) has experienced a dramatic spike in interest, with projections indicating a twenty-fold increase by 2030.  Despite AI’s rapid growth, becoming a significant part of the global technology mix, its limitations make it clear that AI cannot develop without human intervention.

The growth and integration of AI

AI’s rapid growth and learning have been evident in recent years.  Since 2010, AI research has increased two-fold, and newly funded AI startups have increased three times between 2013 and 2022.  In 2022 alone, private AI investments were eighteen times greater than in 2013.  Furthermore, global adoption of artificial intelligence is on the rise, with businesses across various countries exploring and using AI.

As AI becomes increasingly integrated into our lives, 60 per cent of people expect significant changes in sectors like education, transportation, shopping, entertainment, and safety within the next three to five years.  ChatGPT, with its one hundred million monthly active users as of January 2023, has been a game-changer in the recent excitement around AI.

Also Read: Is ChatGPT a great invention or is it being ‘hyped’

The human element in AI development

However, artificial intelligence is not perfect and is not self-sustaining.  Current AI systems lack the ability to narrow research focus, set exploration prompts, exert judgment, determine essential data, manifest their design, explain conclusions, and have the desire or will to accomplish tasks.  Additionally, artificial intelligence cannot tap into human soft skills like creativity, empathy, and teamwork.  While some AI applications, like ChatGPT, can pass the Turing Test, no platform has passed the Lovelace Test.

Because of these limitations, major world leaders and technology experts have signed a petition to halt artificial intelligence development.  AI needs human intervention to reach new heights, and searches for AI services have increased by 1,400 per cent on platforms like Fiverr.

Sam Altman, CEO of OpenAI, envisions AI as a co-pilot, while Fei-Fei Li, Sequoia Capital Professor of Computer Science at Stanford University, emphasizes that humans make AI, for humans.  Marvin Minsky, the Father of AI, and Eric Schmidt, former Google CEO, also highlight the indispensable nature of AI as a research assistant for researchers.

To unlock AI’s potential, the human element must be incorporated.  Combining AI with human intelligence enables the accomplishment of significant tasks in a short time, adding a human touch to boost AI capabilities. This could lead to advancements in AI in numerous ways, such as multitasking, discernment, moral decision-making, empathy, and creativity.

Understanding one’s role in artificial intelligence curation is essential for making the best use of artificial intelligence.  Creativity and adaptability are the most crucial aspects that AI needs to learn from humans. As AI is inherently motiveless and requires human guidance, directing it through curation is essential. Humans need to make judgments about what they see on screen and take decisive action regarding how the information should be used.

Also Read: How Transparently.AI uses Artificial Intelligence to detect accounting manipulation, fraud

Ultimately, unlocking AI’s potential starts with human interaction.  Those who can create human-centric commands hold the key to the future of artificial intelligence.  As AI continues to grow and integrate into various aspects of our lives, it is our responsibility to guide its development and ensure that it complements human capabilities.

In an age where artificial intelligence is increasingly prevalent, the human touch remains indispensable for achieving artificial general intelligence.  By fostering a synergistic relationship between humans and machines, we can ensure that AI serves as an invaluable tool, enhancing our lives and contributing to the betterment of society.

As artificial intelligence technology advances, it is crucial to remember that it is our collective power, creativity, and will which determine the course of AI’s development.  The future of AI is in our hands, and it is up to us to shape it into a valuable and beneficial asset for humanity.

With careful planning, management, and collaboration, we can overcome the challenges that artificial intelligence currently faces and unlock its potential to revolutionise various sectors, from education and transportation to shopping and entertainment.  By embracing our role as AI curators and guides, we can ensure that AI develops in a manner that aligns with our values and serves our best interests.

Artificial intelligence and humans have the potential to become invaluable partners in our pursuit of knowledge, growth, and innovation.  By recognising and embracing the unique qualities that humans bring to the table, we can work together with artificial intelligence to create a brighter, more prosperous future for all.

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This is a new series for late-stage (post-Series B) startups. If you are a late-stage company that wants to share your growth story with the world, please reach out to us at writers@e27.co. 

For many years, agents ruled the roost in the Indonesian insurance sector. And still, the insurance penetration didn’t cross 4 per cent.

“In Indonesia, many people tend to be reluctant to purchase insurance protection because they have to spend their money monthly or annually for a safety net purpose. When purchasing insurance, this forfeited spending is considered a “loss”, Cleosent Randing tells e27.

This is due to several factors, including the lack of education and the stigma of the challenges often linked with insurance, such as high premium costs, lack of accessibility, and complicated processes. Because of this, a major chunk of Indonesia’s population is left out of insurance protection; as of 2021, the insurance penetration is a meagre 3.18 per cent in the country, according to the financial services authority OJK.

Cleosant Randing wanted to become an agent of change here. So in 2015, he joined Michael Saputra to launch the insurance aggregation platform PasarPolis.

PasarPolis aims to provide a solution for a more embedded and frictionless insurance system. It aggregates insurance products from over 50 insurance companies in Southeast Asia through its partnerships with over 40 digital ecosystem distribution partners and its Tap Insure mobile app.

Also Read: It is costly to develop and sell insurance products in Indonesia: PasarPolis CEO

Thus far, the company claims to have issued over one billion policies; in 2022 alone, it issued 500 million policies.

Nine in ten of PasarPolis’s 80 million customers had never purchased insurance policies before, while 40 per cent are workers in the informal sector, including taxi drivers, couriers, and online MSMEs.

Standing out

Unlike its competitors, PasarPolis is a full-stack digital insurer, meaning it can underwrite its own products. For this, it has strategically collaborated with Tap Insurance, which holds a full license from the Financial Services Authority of Indonesia (OJK) to operate as an insurance underwriter.

The company also provides microinsurance or low-priced coverage solutions for any type of risk (from broken gadgets to accidents).

“We have identified that the greatest opportunities lie in new insurable risks or utilising technology to insure previously uninsurable risks where incumbents do not have a strong foothold. For example, we offer affordable but highly profitable gadget insurance for crack screens and accidental damage, which saw exponential uptake of over 20x last year, with 175,000 device protections sold in December 2021 alone,” he says.

The startup has created an embedded system that allows it to distribute insurance through its partners, including e-commerce firms (Shopee, Blibli, Lazada, and Bukalapak), ride-hailing apps (Gojek), consumer electronic firms (Xiaomi), fintech companies (Home Credit and Dana), OTAs (Traveloka), and furniture firms (IKEA). It creates a win-win situation.

“We allow consumers to easily purchase micro-insurance products with a tap as they can add insurance to their purchases from the ecosystem partners like Shopee, Tokopedia, Gojek, and Xiaomi. The cost of these micro-insurance products is often less than a cup of coffee (at around 5,000 to 20,000 Indonesian rupiah). Filing claims is also easy, as consumers can fill out a simple form via SMS/Whatsapp to process their claims,” he said.

According to the firm, it allows people to purchase micro-insurance products with a tap. They can add insurance to their purchases from the ecosystem partners like Shopee, Tokopedia, Gojek, and Xiaomi. 

Going forward, PasarPolis will embrace future insurtech opportunities by developing a holistic insurance ecosystem through an embedded insurance system. This can cater to people’s daily needs — every day from the time people wake up until they drive/ride back home from work.

“We focus on delivering products that can help solve people’s daily problems based on their everyday needs as well. This is in line with our mission to democratise insurance for all by providing better accessibility, a more affordable and delightful consumer experience,” he elaborates.

Challenges

Indonesia’s insurance market is facing several challenges. One, it is costly to develop and sell insurance products. Underwriters often take high margins when creating insurance products, and there are layers of brokers and agents who also take a cut when distributing the products. This makes insurance products expensive for consumers.

Additionally, it is hard for consumers to access insurance products, as they often have to communicate with agents to purchase them. There was previously no way to buy micro-insurance products online 24/7 in Indonesia. Another issue is that the insurance industry has a negative reputation when it comes to processing claims, as it can be a bureaucratic and lengthy process with a lot of paperwork involved.

PasarPolis attempts to address all these problems with its micro-insurance platform.

SEA is poised for a significant growth

Southeast Asia’s insurance market is poised for significant growth, with key regions like Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia representing about 60 per cent of the total premiums underwritten, according to Randing.

“We will now focus on increasing insurance penetration and literacy in Indonesia and other ASEAN countries like Vietnam and Thailand. This will be our key priority in the coming year, given the huge potential, especially amid the increasing awareness of day-to-day protection due to the pandemic’s new way of life,” he shares.

Country-wise penetration rate

Indonesia: The gross written premium for the general insurance industry was IDR71.36 trillion (US$4.9 billion) in 2021. The market is expected to grow at a CAGR of more than 7 per cent during 2020-25 (GlobalData). The insurance penetration rate is 3.18 per cent as of 2022.

Vietnam: The general insurance industry is projected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.5 per cent from VND60.15 trillion (US$2.6 billion) in 2021 to VND90.24 trillion (US$3.5 billion) in 2026 (GlobalData). The penetration rate is less than 3 per cent.

Thailand: The insurance industry is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.7 per cent from THB890.4 billion (US$27.8 billion) in 2021 to THB1,1129.3 billion (US$36.1 billion) in 2026. The insurance penetration rate is 5.5 per cent (GlobalData).

In comparison, markets like Hong Kong (20.8 per cent), Taiwan (17.4 per cent), and South Korea (11.6 per cent) have a 3-6x higher penetration (Swiss Re). 

Funding & Competiton

Since its launch, PasarPolis has secured over US$71 million across four funding rounds, according to Crunchbase. The latest round of US$12 million came in December 2022 in the form of convertible notes. Previously, PasarPolis raised US$5 million in a Private Equity round from IFC in February 2021.

Before the PE round, the insurtech firm bagged US$54 million in September 2020. The investors in this round were LeapFrog Investments, SBI Investment, AlphaJWC, Intudo Ventures, Xiaomi, and Go-Ventures. In the past, it also raised undisclosed amounts in seed and Series A rounds.

In Southeast Asia, PasarPolis is mainly competing with the home-grown Qoala, an omnichannel insurtech platform. Qoala works with insurers to develop products that have high relevancy for customers and make them financially accessible to their customers. It distributes retail insurance products to consumers for cars, bikes, homes, and health through its platform.

Also Read: PasarPolis secures US$54M in oversubscribed Series B to scale its online insurance biz in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam

Qoala claims to have processed over US$30 million in claims by partnering with insurers across Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.

In March this year, Qoala closed its Series B extension funding round, raising US$7.5 million led by responsAbility Investments and Appworks.

Other leading insurtech companies in the region are igloo (Singapore), PolicyStreet (Malaysia), and Sunday (Thailand).

The future

According to Randing, the future of insurance will be embedded in every daily activity. “We were the first to bring contextual microinsurance at the point of digital sales, and today our insurance products are well integrated and built in over 40 ecosystem partners across verticals. This allows us to be in a good position to win across all distribution channels, growing together with aligned interest with our partners and swiftly building a large customer base.”

“We believe buying insurance should be as simple and as frictionless as today’s online shopping experience that is very much accustomed by today’s consumers, especially during this pandemic time. Our frictionless distributions redefine insurance as relatable and easy to buy. The insurance is contextual across ecosystems with policies issued instantly,” he says.

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The evolution of artificial intelligence augurs well for the drone industry as it will bring in more automation and intelligence, according to Kamarul A Muhammed, Founder and CEO of Malaysia’s global drone services company Aerodyne Group.

“If you look at the evolution of the industry, drones were manually operated and piloted from the ground at the beginning. Now, the advent of AI has brought more autonomy to the sector,” he said speaking in a panel discussion on the second day of Beyond Expo in Macao.

Drones have now become better physically and they can now fly by themselves. But they need to have the intelligence of how they will do their own operations. If we can develop an AI model that can understand the environment and the assets, drones can do far more effective work. At the end of the day, the real value lies in how we make a meaningful impact on society, he said.

Also Read: Enterprise drones startup Aerodyne raises US$30M; claims to have inspected over 250K assets in 25 countries

AI can also automate the process of extracting intelligence from data that drones gather. It will make a significant impact on the industry. Aerodyne has developed an AI model that has helped reduce the amount of time taken by a drone to carry out the inspection of a telecom tower from 136 hours to just under 15 minutes, Muhammed added further.

“We carry out inspections of thousands of telecom towers the world over. We used to spend manually or automatically applying and capturing the data. It would require a long time for engineers to process the data and gain insights from it. Over the past year and a half, we spent a lot of effort automating this process and developing an AI model and intelligence system. As a result, we have been able to reduce the number of hours taken to process the inspection of a single tower from 136 hours to less than 15 minutes,” he claimed.

AI can also lead to swarm intelligence. In the past, a single drone would go out and fly piloted by an individual and then another team would fly another drone doing another work. If we can use AI to swarm all these tools together, they can communicate and collaborate with each other to make it far more efficient, the Aerodyne CEO shared.

Ingredients for success in modern SEA

Muhammed also talked about the key ingredients for startups to be successful in modern Southeast Asia. In his opinion, startups need to look at what key problem they solve and then find the key gaps in society that they can make a significant impact on, find and develop the right technology, and build the right team to deliver the solution.

According to Techsauce Co-Founder and CEO Oranuch Lerdsuwankij, to be successful in a fragmented region of 650 million people, it is crucial to understand the local culture and the behaviour of each market.

Also Read: A snapshot of the six cool products we found at Beyond Expo in Macao

In her opinion, there are massive opportunities for SMEs to be converted into tech startups. Southeast Asia’s second and third generations of SME owners are looking to transform their family-run businesses into tech startups. Most of them have domain expertise.

“If we take the construction or food & agriculture industry, the second or the third generation of people who study abroad come back and see that digitalisation can help them transform their family businesses and leverage technology to transform them. This presents great opportunities for startups in Southeast Asia,” Lerdsuwankij said.

The session was moderated by Jumpstart Executive Chairman James Kwan. Ling Xiangliang, Deputy CEO, ESCO Lifesciences Group also participated in the session.

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 is bringing together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here.

Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups get the chance to pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like a chance to connect with investors, visibility through the e27 platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

The post AI can bring more intelligence and automation into drone industry: Aerodyne CEO appeared first on e27.

As an entrepreneur or startup operator, navigating product-market fit (PMF) is crucial for any business’s success. PMF is the sweet spot where your product features, target customers, and business model come together seamlessly.

Rather than any specific performing metric, PMF is a composite signal for a company that, based on market response and conditions, the time is ripe to sell and scale operations around a specific product. Many startups fail due to a lack of PMF, which may stem from issues such as narrow market focus, insufficient R&D, or inexperience.

And while PMF is not the sole factor investors consider, it significantly influences their decisions during Series A and B funding rounds. Demonstrating PMF can improve a startup’s chances of securing investments.

To better understand this vital aspect of company building, we debunk some common misconceptions about PMF, explore its importance for long-term growth, and examine real-world examples from Southeast Asia.

Misconception: PMF solely depends on the product and market

Reality: Product-market fit isn’t the only fit that matters. Achieving PMF is a challenging journey that involves factors beyond the product and market, such as language, distribution channels, and operations. Understanding these factors can help refine your product and achieve better PMF.

Real-world example: Especially for fintechs, it’s important to know existing regulations and consumer sentiments around the status quo. The founding team behind the pioneering digital bank Tonik had to spend time working with local regulators to secure a license to launch in 2021. They also made it a point to find a language-market fit that would appeal to their target market.

Misconception: PMF is a one-time achievement

Reality: PMF is not a final destination but a continuous process that requires constant adaptation based on customer feedback and data. Embracing this dynamic journey can lead to long-term growth and success.

Real-world example: Instead of optimising for topline, GTV growth on their financing and ERRP SaaS business, Indonesian fintech for FMCG SMEs AwanTunai optimised their ability to manage risk and build up their data ops to unlock successive PMFs after their initial financing product, leading to the launch of their app-less ERP software and financing products for other stakeholders in the FMCG supply chain. This especially enabled the company to weather the impact of the pandemic on financing businesses and more recently, become a Top 50 APAC high-growth company.

Misconception: Sustaining growth is all about product features

Reality: Every product eventually reaches a plateau in user growth. To break through this ceiling, startups must revisit customer assumptions, optimise performance, and unlock new market segments.

At the heart of breaking through what is often called the “S-curve” of growth is the company having the ability to unlock value from the data it has. Already we are seeing today that the biggest companies today aren’t just great at selling, they are great at leveraging data to make what they’re selling matter.

Also Read: Achieving product-market fit: The ultimate guide to growth, strategy and positioning

Real-world example: From day one, auto retail platform Carro has been leveraging its ability to ingest data on customer transactions to improve the auto retail experience, from offering personalised financing and insurance to optimising pricing and ensuring the quality of their supply of used cars.

Misconception: Achieving PMF guarantees long-term growth

Reality: Long-term growth requires continuous product improvements, experimentation, and the ability to build viral products. PMF is a critical aspect of achieving this durability and sustainable growth, but not a guarantee.

Real-world example: Vietnam retail wealth management platform Finhay found PMF with their initial mutual fund investment product, but realised in order to unlock further growth, they needed to expand into other asset classes. This led to them launching several other products in the next few years, including savings accounts, stock trading, and gold investing.

Misconception: Scaling is independent of PMF

Reality: Scaling a business without a solid PMF can lead to wasted resources and customer churn. Establishing a paying customer base, ensuring your product can be sold by your sales team, and maintaining customer retention rates are essential steps in the scaling journey.

Real-world example: Indonesian startup Gojek, in its early years, successfully scaled by focusing on its paying customer base, expanding its services beyond ride-hailing, and maintaining low churn rates.

While there’s no single formula to find PMF, it is clear that having clarity on what this means for your startup is crucial for long-term, sustainable growth.

Instead of a single formula, what we have are many frameworks, mental models, and approaches born out of the experiences of entrepreneurs over the years. We distilled 20 of these frameworks and more insights into a Product-Market Fit playbook which is free to access here.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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UENA, a hyperlocal online F&B startup based in Indonesia, has raised an undisclosed amount in funding co-led by existing investor East Ventures and new investor Trihill Capital.

This new round, closed in Q1 2023, strengthens Uena’s balance sheet following the seed funding raised in September 2022.

The new capital will be used to continue expanding the locations and services to reach more users and customers.

“The majority of our orders come from repeat customers and their orders continue to increase from month to month. Even though we have only been operating for less than one year, the mature stores are already break-even and getting a healthy payback period. The new fund adds our confidence to continue capturing the great opportunity ahead,” said Alvin Arief, Co-Founder and CEO.

Also Read: Bootstrapped: How dating app Sirf Coffee takes on the likes of Tinders without raising VC money

Since launching in August 2022, Uena has opened seven kitchen locations in Jakarta and has served more than 300,000 portions. Customers can order Uena directly through its app or by contacting WhatsApp number. It does not rely on food delivery aggregators too much since more than 80 per cent of its orders come through direct channels.

Each of the kitchens only serves a hyperlocal radius of 1-1.5 km radius and handles delivery internally to minimise delivery cost and delivery time. A typical order will arrive in 15 minutes after a customer placed the order.

Uena sees the problem where the daily food segment in Indonesia is a US$90 billion market annually but almost entirely served by unorganized street-side vendors. This causes customer pain related to high fragmentation, especially in quality, reliability, and price. Uena aims to solve this problem by serving quality food at affordable prices through online delivery. It uses a very light cloud kitchen format and leverages the power of technology and economy of scale to increase quality while decreasing the price at the same time.

Uena is now gearing up for expansion and duplication in Jakarta. Each kitchen requires low capital, fast set-up, and flexibility to use a wide range of available spaces.

It will also continue to add more menus to increase customer repeat orders at multiple meal times each day and multiple days throughout the week.

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 brings together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here. Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups can pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like connecting with investors, visibility through the platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

The post East Ventures, Trihill Capital invest in hyperlocal online F&B startup Uena appeared first on e27.

Southeast Asia and India’s first wave of fintechs was characterised by B2C products that provide consumers with easy access to financial services. While demographic and macro factors favoured fintech adoption, a large part of this was also driven by venture funding. Rewards and incentives, rather than the products alone, spurred end-user adoption.

Last year’s market correction became a forcing mechanism for fintechs to prove their long-term value. With tighter capital, fintechs and embedded finance companies are now forced to rely on a differentiated product or service to attract demand.

The necessity to differentiate has in turn created a new opportunity: Finance-as-a-service startups that abstract complexity at the infrastructure layer, enabling end-customer-facing companies to build better products and solutions faster than ever.

(Re)Building infrastructure

Instead of building for the last mile, finance-as-a-service startups provide the infrastructure needed for emerging companies to build an end-customer solution on top. By building the baseline tech stack, solving for regulatory compliance, and forming partnerships with banks, they help accelerate the pace of development of other fintechs and embedded finance startups.

For traditional banks, working with infrastructure companies can help them grow their digital distribution channels. As an example, M2P Fintech is partnering with traditional banks to offer an integrated tech stack for lending.

Finance-as-a-service does not just help new startups starting from scratch. Existing companies can leverage this to improve the quality of the tech stack or reduce the time for expanding into new product lines or geographies.

Also Read: Revolutionising fintech in Southeast Asia: AI and ML empower businesses with data

An embedded finance player expanding from Singapore to Indonesia will have to rebuild its own integrations and bank partnerships, a process which would take at least half a year without an infrastructure partner.

Finance-as-a-service

Banking-as-a-service

An end-to-end model that allows third parties to connect with the banks’ systems directly through APIs to build banking offerings on top of the providers’ regulated infrastructure. BaaS is different from Open Banking, which is the framework that makes BaaS possible by providing rules around how third parties can access financial data (i.e., BaaS is a subset of Open Banking).

Bank-connections-as-a-service 

Their APIs provide third-party access to financial data from banks. Use cases include enabling users to have a consolidated view of their finances across platforms or enabling bank transfers as a payment method on checkout forms.

Point solutions in as-a-service

Models that focus specifically on enabling one type of financial service, instead of the full banking proposition with bank accounts, cards, loans etc. Examples here include Marqeta, Card91, and FinBox for cards issuing-as-a-service, and Calyx and Finastra for lending-as-a-service. Point Solutions provide a focused product set for companies who do not necessarily want to become banks and can also help traditional banks extend their services digitally.

How they generate revenue

• Interchange: BaaS companies primarily make revenue on the interchange split based on card usage, adopting a rev share model with partner banks.
• Subscription/SaaS fees: Startups may also charge a subscription fee for platform usage. Some place a higher importance on this as a revenue stream.
• Monthly per account/per customer fees: This is usually charged in addition to subscription fees to account for variable costs as a startup scale.
• Credit/lending offerings: Interest rates, account fees etc., which will typically be a revenue share with banking partners.

The opportunity in APAC

In APAC, embedded finance is projected to grow at a CAGR of 24.4 per cent from 2022 to 2029, reaching a total revenue size of US$358 billion. The large and fast-growing market aside, a few underlying characteristics make finance-as-a-service a unique opportunity in the region

Real-Time Payment Systems (RTPS) at the forefront

RTPS is already prominent in countries such as India (UPI), Singapore (PayNow), and Thailand (PromptPay), with others like Indonesia (BIFast) catching up fast. While governments and bank consortiums have focused on the infrastructure, there is much more to do to wrap products around these rails.

Also Read: How voice AI is revolutionising the fintech scene

Emerging companies in the region can differentiate themselves from global brands by delivering products that capitalise on or help to enhance, RTPS. For example, by leveraging RTPS to facilitate instant pay-outs from platforms to freelancers, startups can help platforms circumvent the high costs of instant pay-outs in an automated manner.

Supporting, and not replacing, traditional banks

Many banks in the region operate on legacy core banking platforms with data siloes and APIs that are not suitable for the next generation. Instead of only partnering with banks, finance-as-a-service startups can make banks a lucrative revenue stream by providing them with modern infrastructure for digital offerings.

M2P Fintech recognised this and is expecting their lending infrastructure product to traditional companies to account for 25 per cent of revenue. Hyperface.io, a cards-issuing-focused fintech in India, is primarily helping banks improve their card programs.

In addition to being a revenue stream, this approach can help startups de-risk regulatory restrictions that protect traditional banks.

Constantly evolving local regulatory landscapes

In multiple countries (e.g., the introduction of the Account Aggregator framework in India, and consumer protection rules by OJK in Indonesia) means that companies need to put in substantial effort to stay up to date with compliance and regulatory changes.

For those that plan to scale regionally or globally, this becomes even harder to manage. Instead of managing regulatory complexities on their own, having the right partners will free up their capacity to focus on building products.

Looking for the next best thing rather than having brand loyalty

Case in point: the average number of cards per user in Singapore is close to 5, and a user in Malaysia owns an average of two e-wallets. Startups facing end customers want to spend most of their time on product and service differentiation, and thus have less time to focus on building out a reliable and secure infrastructure layer.

Regional plays over domestic-only play

The fact that many fintechs and embedded finance startups aspire to win in the APAC region, and not just in domestic markets, gives finance-as-a-service a unique opportunity. Aside from providing the required technology and partnerships, emerging companies that can support cross-border money movement or multi-currency accounts will stand out.

Despite the potential, the thesis will take time to play out in APAC

• Building close to the metal is a long game that takes years.
• The buy vs build question will continue to be top of mind for many startups. The largest traditional banks and embedded finance companies today have been around since the startup boom and have existing resources (e.g., finances, existing partnerships, and a talent brand) to tap on. In some markets, they can even buy their own bank (e.g., FinAccel’s acquisition of Bank Bisnis, BharatPe with Unity SFB). Given the nascency of financial infrastructure startups in the market today, it may just become a race on who can build faster.
• Regulations and partnerships in the region are highly local. And with the region lacking an intragovernmental regulatory framework, this makes regional expansion for infrastructure startups themselves difficult to scale.
• Finance-as-a-service startups work with a wide spectrum of partners and suppliers including card networks, sponsor banks, and other core APIs that they white label. This makes supply-side integrations extremely critical to longer-term profitability, and part of the unit economics of these businesses is the delicate balancing act across third parties. In addition, risks of regulations that limit the upside, such as interchange caps, could mean even tighter margins.

Parting thoughts

While challenging, the heterogeneity of the region and active regulatory landscape means that there will always be lots of complexity and complexity means opportunity. Those who survive need to be highly focused on what matters most to the companies they are selling to and maintain a moat from being commoditised.

Are they selling a stellar tech stack? A solid network of bank partnerships? How sticky is their offering? The startups that can navigate these questions and articulate their value will be worthy of investment.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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What do Coca-Cola and Web3 have in common?

Not much at first glance. 

Yet could there be timely lessons that Web3 can glean from the world’s most popular beverage?

To find out, we begin with the origins story of Coca-Cola. The American Civil War was not kind to recipe creator John Stith Pemberton. After sustaining a sabre wound, the soldier became addicted to morphine. Desperate for a cure, this doctor brewed a potent concoction of coca wine, kola nut extract and damiana. A brown liquid advertised as an “intellectual beverage”, the first version of Coca-Cola was anything but successful, selling just US$50 in its first year. Pemberton sold the rights to the Coca-Cola formula and brand in 1888 for US$1,750, just over US$50,000 today.

Fast forward 135 years and 94 per cent of the world recognises the iconic white cursive on a red background of the Coca-Cola brand. 

 

What led to the ‘mass adoption’ of Coca-Cola?

There are many factors, but advertising has played a major role in making this medicinal concoction the world’s most popular drink. Between 2014 to 2020, Coca-Cola averaged an annual ad spend of US$4B. The brown liquid that came out of Georgia laid the foundations of a global conglomerate generating more than US$30B in annual revenue. 

Can ads do the same for Web3? More interestingly, could Web3 also improve the ad experience?

Why do ads feel unwanted?

The common reaction to ads, especially amongst Web3 natives, is “eeck”! Just as few early adopters appreciated Pemberton’s beverage, ads in Web3 seem equally unwelcome. From a builder’s perspective, using ads can often be considered a sellout. For users, ads carry memories of misused data, annoying interruptions and being taken advantage of.

Most of these negative perceptions stem from the power imbalances in contemporary advertising. A whopping 86 per cent of digital ad revenue is concentrated in three companies: Google, Meta and Amazon.

Also Read: Web3 startups: The next big thing investors are flocking to

This has established unfair advantages in accruing first-party data,  the kind users generate through online actions and creates impenetrable ‘walled gardens’ with little space for competitors to offer a better ads experience for audiences. It is little wonder that the ads experience is as unpleasant as interacting with the mob for advertisers or consumers; it’s pitched as a necessary evil with no room for improvement. 

What does Web3 bring to ads?

As written previously,  Web3 heralds a paradigm shift in advertising. The first-party data that Google and Meta used to create unfair moats is now public and accessible if recorded on a blockchain.

With social protocols such as Lens emerging, every user interaction, be it a like or comment, is now on-chain and visible to anyone with a block explorer. Advertisers are no longer walled in by closed ecosystems, nor is their customer targeting reliant on centralised giants.

For example, a fitness application can utilise Web3-native ad networks such as Slise to discover and target the holders of “move-to-earn” tokens. The possibilities to innovate and improve the consumer ads experience are no longer far-fetched. 

If data is no longer the moat, and control is seized from the hands of “too big to fail” tripoly actors, what are the differentiators in advertising?

One factor would be ad network quality and algorithms to more efficiently process data and understand user intent better, as outlined previously. Another would be the thoughtfully designed incentives to reward users; the focus of this piece. While incentives were once one-dimensional, Web3 has created new, fascinating avenues for incentive design.

The case for rewarding users

While the open nature of on-chain data is exciting, it is only half of the equation. On-chain data needs to be complemented with off-chain data to deliver personalised, relevant ads to users. Whereas interactions with smart contracts and dapps create an accessible on-chain history, most transactions and actions still occur off-chain, where accessibility is limited.

Advertisers and ad networks have two choices: permission access to off-chain data, where users approve the sharing of their first-party data, or permissionless access, where user approval is not needed and an understanding of the user is built on a combination of guesswork and algorithms. Both approaches carry distinctive benefits and trade-offs; we believe the permissioned approach will prevail for two key reasons:

Completeness of data

With data and privacy regulations tightening worldwide, a growing amount of personal data will only be accessible to advertisers and ad networks through the explicit permission of the user. These privileged data tend to be most pertinent in ad targeting, so a permissionless approach will face increasing challenges to achieving completeness of data.

Lack of interoperability across on-chain and off-chain sourcesWhile there are emerging ‘bridges’ like oracles to connect on-chain and off-chain data, or to consolidate on-chain data across multiple chains, interoperability remains tricky. As more blockchains emerge, aggregating and analysing data across permissionless chains becomes more technically complex than permissioned methods

If we believe permissioned access to off-chain data is key, then we need incentives to reward users for giving their permission.

Where are the opportunities for incentive design?

One of the most immediate opportunities to incentivise users is the “pay-per-consumption” approach: view an ad, and be compensated.  The benefit to users is clear: they are directly rewarded for completing the desired action instead of centralised entities like Google or Meta.  

Also Read: Meet the 22 Web3 investors that are ready to rock the future with your startup

This model can be over-simplistic: few users would intentionally consume ads to earn compensation. Ads are often a by-product of a user’s job-to-be-done, whether it is checking a token price on a coin tracking site, or searching a transaction on a blockchain explorer. Incentivising a user to divert attention from their job-to-be-done to view an ad can be costly, the few dollars from an impression or click might not be sufficient. 

What if incentives are designed to enable users to complete their jobs to be done faster, cheaper, and simpler?

While users might not intentionally divert attention to consume an ad, there are proven models around cashback, the emphasis being supporting the user’s intended job-to-be-done, instead of hindering. Cashback and other forms of affiliate marketing are turbocharged as a result of on-chain data, as the correlation between a user’s identity and their transactions is accessible instantaneously, and can be rewarded with tools such as Chainvine and Fuul. 

Another opportunity area for incentives is gas fees: the pesky but necessary costs to transact on blockchains like Ethereum. Currently, end users pay the gas fee.  While the few dollars per transaction might seem trivial to sophisticated crypto traders, gas fees disincentivise new-to-crypto users, adding extra costs and friction toward adoption.

A beginner hoping to transfer their first token may not have the native token to pay for gas. The need to on-ramp a small amount to pay for gas is simply unappealing. Yet, the recent advancement of ERC-4337 reveals a potential opportunity for advertisers and ad networks to silently cover transaction fees for users, thus creating a seamless experience for all. 

Incentives also need not be financial. Often, users may be seeking quid pro quo exchanges. Emerging incentive mechanisms such as the DataDAO model enables users to pool together data, creating meaningful and valuable datasets whose value is greater than the sum of parts. The incentive for users is clear; contribute data in exchange for “credits” to access other forms of data.

Often data that are otherwise hard to access or aggregate. For example, a user can offer her browsing history data in exchange for tokens, and subsequently, she is able to utilise the said tokens to request data around the Web3 data economy. In short, non-financial reciprocity may prove to be a viable alternative alongside financial incentives.

The Coca-Cola moment for Web3

Incentives expand the possibilities of rewarding users and removing friction. Unhindered by barriers like gas fees and empowered by new use cases through quid pro quo exchanges, we can expect to see more users onboard to Web3, generating more demand for Web3 applications, which creates a positive flywheel effect for web3 advertising and general adoption.  

Just as traditional ads brought Coca-Cola from a non-descript beverage to a cultural icon, Web3 ads can potentially catalyse the inflection point across multiple categories. We can expect to see a reshaping of the tripoly advertising landscape where centralised entities have their power undermined, users will be incentivised to share data so they can better accomplish their jobs to be done, and ultimately, mass Web3 adoption will accelerate.

This article is co-written with Oleksii Sidorov, Co-Founder and CEO at Slise. 

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing views from the community. Share your opinion by submitting an article, video, podcast, or infographic

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So, how does a livestreaming app such as Kumu make its revenue?

In this email interview with e27, Kumu Co-Founder and President Rexy Josh Dorado explains how the company’s revenue is currently driven by virtual gifts available on its platform. It allows users to send one-time animations to support their favorite streamers, who earn commissions from those virtual gifts.

“In doing so, users can also support streamers in winning campaigns, which are contests that allow streamers to win prizes, get themselves on a billboard or TV broadcast, etc. But more broadly, our economy is driven by people around the world supporting Filipino content creators–and retained on the platform by a sense of authentic connection that they can’t find elsewhere. Through the years, one thing still rings true – users are willing to support their favorite creators financially, and this has been a key driver of revenue growth for Kumu,” he stresses.

While virtual gifting remains the main source of revenue for Kumu, according to Chief Operating Officer Arianne Kader-Cu in the same interview, there are also a couple of other contributing streams from advertising and social games.

“Advertising involves partnering with brands to create highly targeted and engaging ads or executions that run during live streams and shows. Meanwhile, social games provide a platform for our community to interact with each other making the platform more fun and engaging. One of our games, color raid, allows the community to work together to achieve a common goal to win,” she explains.

To get a better understanding of how this Philippine-based startup do it, Dorado and Kader-Cu answer some of the biggest questions about making revenue in this Q&A session. The following is an edited excerpt of the conversation.

Also Read: Kumu nets Series C to become the ‘Disneyland of social media’; total funding exceeds US$100M

What process did you have to go through to come up with this revenue model?

Dorado: We took pointers from the success of live streaming apps in China, which pioneered livestream virtual gifting. The trial-and-error has been more around how to execute this in a way that promotes a safe, family-friendly content environment that has the potential to break into the mainstream.

We’ve done this by working with some of the leading local influencers, TV shows, and films in the Philippines–which have helped launch live streaming into the public consciousness. The challenge now is how to execute that playbook with talents and IP for whom we are true partners and help them grow their careers while enriching the Kumu ecosystem in the process.

Kader-Cu: There were definitely a lot of experimentations before we got things right. One of the biggest lessons we learned while scaling up the business was the importance of building a strong community of users. It was a balancing game to establish an online culture based on positivity and new possibilities.

Who are your users and how do you acquire them?

Dorado: Our users are Filipinos both within the Philippines and around the world. Specifically, Filipinos who are looking for entertainment and connection at a deeper level. The average user spends 60 minutes a day on the platform on just a few pieces of content. We have found user growth primarily effective via word of mouth, but it is also accelerated through partnerships with talents and IP with established fanbases.

Also Read: Kumu nets Series C to become the ‘Disneyland of social media’; total funding exceeds US$100M

There has been greater pressure for startups today to become more sustainable businesses financially. What are your thoughts on this? How do you approach building a profitable and sustainable business model?

Dorado: It’s the right move–especially if you are in a business that’s less winner-takes-all, and more about creating enduring and differentiated value for a specific but highly engaged group of people. This is the case for Kumu; just 20,000 paying users generate millions of dollars a month for our economy.

And in the past, we’ve been profitable for a full quarter before we started investing heavily in growth–which means we are well-positioned to be sustainable again as we go through the rocky macroeconomic movements of the next few years.

Kader-Cu: Having a sustainable business model is crucial for the long-term success of any startup. At Kumu, we have found that diversification of revenue streams and being able to pivot in response to market changes is key to achieving this goal. Relying too heavily on any one source of income can leave a startup vulnerable to changes in the market or unexpected disruptions. That is why we built a model that provides us with multi-faceted revenue streams as a safety net to mitigate any risks and ensure that there are multiple sources of income to draw from.

However, we also recognise that diversification alone may not be enough to guarantee long-term success. Through the pandemic, we’ve had to enact swift strategic changes in our business, which we can admit have been difficult calls to make, but that’s growth; that’s the journey.

Also Read: Kumu raises Series B funding round co-led by SIG, Openspace Ventures

How do the back-to-back global crises affect your business? And how do you deal with it?

Dorado: We grew from COVID-19 as people got stuck indoors–and so growth became harder when the economy opened up. Moreso when inflation started to hit our users’ wallets. For us, this means a shift in focus from aggressive growth to indefinite survival to ensure we are positioned to win in the long term when the tide rises back up.

What other opportunities do you aim to seize this year? What will be your big plan?

Dorado: Growing our base of homegrown talents and IP. Engaging around them more holistically–not just through virtual gifts but through other revenue streams, such as merch, gaming, etc. We are laying the foundations for what we believe will be the most vibrant network of Filipino creativity that we can proudly showcase to the world.

Kader-Cu: Our long-term vision at Kumu is to become a formidable digital entertainment company.

We have begun planting seeds throughout 2022 among a number of local businesses – acquiring Penlab, a leading local comics and webtoons platform with over one million monthly reads, and beginning to take major steps into gaming.

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Echelon Asia Summit 2023 is bringing together APAC’s leading startups, corporates, policymakers, industry leaders, and investors to Singapore this June 14-15. Learn more and get tickets here.

Echelon also features the TOP100 stage, where startups get the chance to pitch to 5000+ delegates, among other benefits like a chance to connect with investors, visibility through e27 platform, and other prizes. Join TOP100 here.

Image Credit: Kumu

The post How Kumu uses virtual gifting to make revenue as a livestreaming app appeared first on e27.