Running a startup successfully inherently comes with a lot of risks. Several aspects can significantly impact the business but are beyond the control of even the smartest entrepreneurs.  

Further, these risks may occur at any stage of the project, leading to delays or even the failure of the project. 

To navigate such challenges, young startup professionals can use various proven risk management techniques or strategies to ensure the timely completion of projects without much hassle, thus lowering the costs as well as efforts for the company.

The ability to mitigate risk as a startup founder allows you to acknowledge as well as accommodate such risks proactively. To this end, we will talk about different strategies you can use to mitigate risks in today’s ever-dynamic startup world.

Strategies for mitigating risk as a startup professional

Here are some of the strategies young entrepreneurs can use to manage as well as mitigate risk in the startup world.

Prioritise financial discipline

Young professionals in the startup ecosystem often get so engrossed with the operational aspects of the business that they overlook the financial details.

However, a lack of financial discipline can prove quite harmful in the long run, as you can soon run out of money before you even raise subsequent rounds of funding. 

As a young startup founder, it is very important to prioritise financial planning to run the business smoothly. A startup and the founder that understands the basics of finance, such as budgets, financial planning, and cash flows (where its money is coming from and where it is going) enjoy higher chances of meeting its business goals. 

Also Read: Brand new days: How startups can approach growth in a post-pandemic world

The best way to navigate this is by using a monthly financial analysis approach and doing a thorough financial evaluation during the early stages.

Assess your business risk in measurable terms 

Similar to other aspects that you are going to encounter in the startup business world, the risk your startup is exposed to must be observed in measurable terms too. Failing to do this will give you numbers and observations that are very limited. 

It is, therefore, important to assess the potentially risky situations of your business and measure them against three of the most important KPIs.

• Time: Does the task or project you are going to take fit within the estimated timeline of your company?
• Quality: Is the associated business risk capable of hurting the overall quality of your brand?
• Resources: Is your company capable of implementing the project within the available monetary resources?

Cut down on fixed overhead costs 

One of the areas that almost every startup professional struggles with are justifying investment in the infrastructure needed for fulfilling large orders from the start. This is primarily because founders have no way of projecting accurate levels of demand with high certainty, even after a lot of detailed planning.

Minimising initial overhead costs are, therefore, very important for startups as there is a high degree of uncertainty about recovering these costs through operating revenue. 

One of the best ways for startups to eliminate a majority of these initial overhead costs is by developing several creative fulfilment strategies during the planning stage.

Further, you can also build a robust network of suppliers to minimise the commitment associated with fixed overhead costs when fulfilling customer orders during the initial stages.

Have a well-planned marketing approach

Having a well-thought-of marketing plan in place can make a great difference in defining the success of a startup. This is especially true for young startup owners or millennials who do not devote enough time to marketing from the beginning.

The right marketing strategy allows you to not only outdo the competition but also mitigate risk. In fact, any success you achieve with your startup business relies heavily on having a strong marketing plan that helps you build a trustworthy reputation among your customers.

Further, promoting your product or service through strong marketing will allow your business to boost its sales and reach your target audience much faster. With the ability to visually showcase your product or service, tell your brand story, and connect with your audience on a more personal level, video marketing can be a powerful tool for building brand awareness and driving conversions. Whether you’re creating product demos, customer testimonials, or engaging social media videos using any online video editor, a strong video marketing strategy can help your business stand out in a crowded market and achieve its growth goals.

Material risks 

Material risks in the context of startups include:

• Any kind of damage to inventory, either in storage or transit
• Damages to real property by the business (owned or rented)
• Damage to other assets, such as company vehicles or any other forms of material losses 

To be able to mitigate the risk of material losses, it is important to ensure that the appropriate business insurance policies are taken covering different things such as accidents, natural disasters,  product losses, and other similar material risks. 

Also Read: Startup funding rounds: A handbook from seed to exit

When it comes to policies, there are multiple types of specialised policies available to startups. These include business interruption insurance, coverage for equipment breakdown, and other policies such as healthcare providers, electricians, and others.

Most of these specialised insurance policies cover a range of risks to keep you safe from known and unknown contingencies.

Safeguard yourself against security risks 

Recent years have seen a significant increase in cyber crimes and other security-related risks. Regardless of the size and nature of the business, there is a tremendous risk of data hacks where hackers are largely targeting cloud-based systems because that’s where organisations store their important data. That’s why It is also important to use a secure social intranet tool so that data leaks can be restricted and the team can work flawlessly without any worries. 

As a startup entrepreneur, devising a robust risk management strategy to mitigate such security risks should be among your top priority. The best way to tackle this is by having a proper policy against cybercrime that should entail informing employees about the importance of protecting confidential data, creating safe passwords, and how to use the web safely. It is also essential to include internet safety rules in the policy to ensure that employees know the potential risks of browsing unsecured websites or clicking on suspicious links.

To wrap up

Today an increasing number of startups struggle for success or wind up operations too early because young entrepreneurs fail to assess and adequately address the risks and uncertainties associated with running a startup. 

A strong risk management plan helps you minimise the impact of various kinds of risks and also allows you to tailor specific risks to your business’s unique challenges and requirements.

Further, a well-planned risk management strategy also helps you anticipate as well as resolve the challenges that are yet to arise. This, in turn, makes it easier to achieve the company’s long-term goals and achieve the desired success. 

The need here is to identify the top uncertainties and assess them thoroughly, followed by proactively managing the risk through the ways and strategies listed above to increase your probability of success manifolds.

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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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Amidst the challenges of a tough funding climate, e27 is launching an exciting new article series called Angel’s Advocate to provide fresh perspectives on angel funding. In this exclusive series, we sit down with prominent angels to hear their stories and strategies and gain unique insights about the early-stage financing space.

Shao-Ning Huang is the Chief Angel and Co-Founder of AngelCentral. AngelCentral started as a community in 2017 to facilitate angel investments in Singapore. The community grew rapidly to almost 280 strong within ten months and has helped raise over SG$16 million (US$12 million) since 2016.

Seeing the enthusiasm and support from the community, Shao-Ning together with Teck Moh and Der Shing decided to incorporate and provide deeper angel training and investment support, with the key mandate to bridge good angels with good startups in Southeast Asia.

Previously, Huang was the Managing Director/Group Deputy CEO of JobsCentral Group (now CareerBuilder Singapore). Her life focus is to be relevant and pay it forward, helping wherever possible.

In this edition, Huang shares her take on angel funding.

Edited excerpts:

How do you typically approach investing during a funding winter?

I don’t think there is anything “typical” here as it is really a new paradigm we are dealing with here. But I am more fundamental in my approach towards venture funding, and I feel a lot more “justified” now being a sales/execution-result-seeking investor.

I managed but it really was quite hard for me with the “let’s try to fly before we can walk well” mindset previously. But now I am glad many founders are going back to the fundamentals and becoming more realistic and patient with growth and pace.

What are your typical investment criteria, such as industry, stage, and geographic location?

Ideally post MVP, with early patterns of sales already, ASEAN market-focused, technology-based business, and with a “do-good, helpful to mankind” angle.

Also Read: ‘Bootstrapping allows Inmagine flexibility to respond to changing market conditions, client needs’

I learned the hard way: I had two direct investments outside of Asia. In addition to not knowing the tax treatment in those jurisdictions, I was at best remotely useful to the founders in managing their businesses. I could only empathise but was not really relevant in trying to solve the problems due to unfamiliarity with their markets/environments.

Can you describe your investment process from initial contact to closing a deal?

Pre-AngelCentral: A lot of word-of-mouth referrals and kind of haphazard. When Der Shing (my husband, we invest jointly) or I get a referral, we look at the deck, arrange coffee/meet up (almost 100 per cent of the referred), we like it, ask for a spreadsheet and further data, meet up again, we have our internal IC, yes/no go.

The rough estimate we probably saw 80-100 startups then, and we invest between four to six per year. As everything was via email, it was hard to keep track.

Now with AngelCentral: We are a lot more structured now, as we have a process set up now to do outreach, vet and deep dive. In a sense, AngelCentral is the platform along with CRM to allow us to better track our own processes.

And with AngelCentral, I now wear two hats. I vet as a screening service for our members, but I also vet wearing my own hat as a potential investor. Via the AngelCentral platform, I have a fixed questionnaire to cover foundational information that founders need to complete. We receive about 800 applications yearly. We send out questions via email.

We assess the businesses based on completed questionnaires and responses to our clarifying questions. If all is good, we will arrange a Zoom call/meet-up to understand better and to have a sense of the founder. So the decision here is to invite for a pitch or to keep it in view and re-connect in 6-12 months.

For those invited to pitch with us/our members at our monthly pitch sessions, the next step is to:

• Direct invest
• Syndicate investment
• Pass/keep in view for better metrics

How do you evaluate a startup’s potential for growth and success?

I look at the founder, execution to date, market, and deal term asking. We teach this as a class for our members, too much to talk about!

How important is the founder’s experience and background when making investment decisions?

Personally, I feel there are no hard and fast rules here. It’s through the interactions with the founders and at the end of those sessions, I could have the conviction that they are the right team to support this space at this juncture in time.

Can you share your successful investment and what made that investment successful?

In our family portfolio, we have done 48 angel investments to date. Last tally (December 2022), 80 per cent of them were “alive”, with 60 per cent of them in the “green zone” meaning good sales numbers, focusing on sales, narrowing their losses etc.

Also Read: Validate the problem before building a solution: Surasit Sachdev of Hungry Hub

Using the conventional definition of “success” (ie. gotten up rounds, gotten B/C/D round investments, scaling in second/third markets) we have about 15 to 18 such companies now.

Of the “exited” cases, one was a good return for us, one acqui-hire exit, three “small exits”, while the rest were “write-off” exits.

What are some common mistakes that startups make when pitching to angels? What are some myths about angel investment?

I will start with myths. Some founders “question” why we ask so many questions before investing. It’s getting less common, but please understand angels definitely invest for financial returns. Angel investing is not charity work, and our money doesn’t grow on trees.

Onto the common mistakes. Founders who do not understand the capital raising process, do not understand fundraising norms and practices, or even think angels invest in “ideas”. I guess with angels, there are also “casual angels” and “professional angels”.

For the second group, we expect certain savviness. Because without this, professional VCs are not likely to be keen down the road.

How important is the alignment of values between the investor and the startup founder?

I can’t speak for other angels, but for us, we prefer to invest in founders whom we “like” and who are definitely ethical. The latter could be harder to gauge; but “like or not like”, after a breakfast and some coffee sessions together, through small chats, you get an idea of what they are like.

How do you manage risk when investing in startups? Are there any specific metrics or indicators you look for?

At the startup level, I think it’s hard. Even for those that I am on their boards, I am not on a daily operational basis to know what’s really going on. It’s really important to have convictions via the pre-commitment homework.

We manage startup investing risk via our investment breadth, portfolio thinking, bite-size control and discipline. Our budget per deal is not more than US$200,000 overall, starting with a first check at US$30,000 to US$70,000, following on when there are good growth metrics; we have a diversified portfolio (48 companies and counting) and we do not invest in more than five companies a year.

Can you share any advice for startups looking to raise funds from angel investors?

Understand the investment norms, understand the market situations and be realistic in your asking, pure ideas with no executions to prove do not attract savvy investors.

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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 Pure ideas with no executions to prove do not attract savvy investors: Shao-Ning Huang of AngelCentral appeared first on e27.

Thai startups raise US$529M in funding in Q1, outpaces Indonesia
Thailand accounts for 25.5% of equity funding while Indonesia claimed a 20.8% share; Singapore dominated the chart in Q1 with a combined US$960M funding.

BasisAI co-founder Liu Feng-Yuan investigated following Temasek acquisition
Temasek subsidiary Aicadium started the investigation after receiving a whistleblower complaint against Feng-Yuan relating to staff departures at the firm; Aicadium is understood to have taken management action.

Hong Kong’s CMCC Global launches US$100M Asia-focused blockchain fund
The fund has three main areas of interest: infrastructure, fintech, and consumer; It will primarily target seed and Series A investments; The firm has a strong investor base in Hong Kong.

SG’s early-stage VC firm Integra Partners closes US$90M Fund II
It will focus on fintech and digital health; Integra invests in pre-Series A to Series B stages and has backed 27 companies across two funds so far, including wagely, GIMO, and Brankas.

Bukalapak, 500 SEA partner for early-stage investments
Bukalapak is investing US$7.5M to join the fund as an LP; The partnership aims to back pre-seed, seed, and early-stage startups in SEA; The investment will focus on IT, communications, internet, medical tech, and deeptech.

Advance Intelligence raises US$80M to further develop AI innovations
Warburg Pincus and Northstar Group are the lead investors; Advance Intelligence provides an ecosystem of AI-powered, credit-enabled financial products and services.

Bhutan to raise US$500M for green crypto mining
The government has partnered with the Nasdaq-listed Bitdeer for this; Through its investment arm, the government will target institutional investors to fund crypto mining projects fuelled by the nation’s vast hydroelectric power capacity.

East Ventures leads Indonesian supply chain firm Praktis’s US$20m round
Praktis is an end-to-end supply chain enabler that provides services to help D2C brands in various areas such as raw material purchasing, production, fulfilment, and logistics.

Salim Group’s Otto Digital invests in Indonesian chat commerce enabler Mimin
Through the Mimin app, sellers can input orders that came in through chat platforms easily, and the app will automatically generate invoices and payment confirmations.

Ex-RedDoorz COO’s cloud kitchen firm DishServe closes down
The startup says it exhausted much of its runway on growth efforts despite having low margins; It had built a network of over 200 kitchen partners, servicing over 100K customers; Insignia Ventures is an investor in the firm.

Indonesian integrated cold chain solutions provider Coldspace raises US$3.8M
The investors include Intudo Ventures, Adi Sarana Armada, and Triputra Group; Coldspace offers cold storage facilities and reefer trucks through its own inventory as well as the third-party aggregated marketplace of partners.

Ion Mobility secures temporary injunction against ex-COO Joel Chang
The interim injunction order is part of an ongoing case related to a no-compete agreement between Singapore-based Ion Mobility and Chang; Ion founder James Chan and Chang parted ways in April 2021.

Mercu raises US$1.6M, aims to transform the ‘deskless’ workforce
The investors are 500 Global, Sequoia India, and XA Network; The startup enables employers to onboard, upskill, and engage with their deskless teams through chat apps.

Aeon to proceed with Malaysia digibank despite MoneyLion exit
MoneyLion decided to pull out of the consortium to focus on its US operations; This means Aeon, which runs a chain of supermarkets and shopping malls in Malaysia, will launch the digital bank with its two subsidiaries.

‘Don’t be the noise, be the value’: Kavita Gupta of Delta Blockchain Fund to aspiring female VCs
Most women who have made it to the top have learned to stand up and push and ask for what they deserve, says the Delta Blockchain Fund founder.

How HKSTP can help international startups in their expansion journey
For over 20 years, HKSTP has been building Hong Kong as a global innovation and technology hub to propel success for local and global startups.

‘Bootstrapping allows flexibility to respond to changing market conditions, client needs’
Inmagine has financed its growth through a combination of revenue reinvestment, strategic partnerships, and operational efficiency, says Co-Founder Stephanie Sitt.

Brand new days: How startups can approach growth in a post-pandemic world
Growth begins with finding that product-market fit; But does the old way remain relevant in our world today?

Fundraising? Here are 3 reasons why should join the 2023 TOP100
Joining TOP100 is an exciting opportunity for you to meet leading investors in the Southeast Asian startup ecosystem.

We know fundraising sucks, so e27 Connect is here to help you
Fundraising is a long, tedious process that needs a lot of work. But with e27 Connect, you don’t have to do it alone.

From job seeking to building a job portal: Turning my beliefs into reality
The more I spoke with job seekers and employers, the more I realised there is a very serious problem to solve: a lack of salary range transparency.

Unlocking angel investing: 6 key steps for making your first investment
In this article, I hope to share several steps that you should consider before cutting that first cheque as an angel.

Thrive amid business uncertainties with a reliable payment partner
How digital payment technologies increase sales, customer loyalty, and business resilience during economic headwinds.

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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 Ecosystem Roundup: Bukalapak, 500 join hands for early-stage investments; Thailand beats Indonesia in Q1 VC funding appeared first on e27.

Angel investors play a crucial role in the startup ecosystem. Angels fill the big gap in the pre-seed and seed funding stages usually referred to as the ‘Valley of Death” due to VCs becoming more risk-averse and shifting to later-stage funding.

Whether you are a professional or a self-made entrepreneur, an angel can open doors, and offer wisdom, and mentorship beyond capital. You can offer “smart capital”, and have the patience to wait for a company to mature successfully.

In this article, I hope to share several steps that you should consider before cutting that first cheque as an angel.

Understand the risks involved in startup investing

Startup investing is inherently risky. The truth is most startups fail to achieve their goals and go kaput. In my work as a startup lawyer, high net-worth people I met no doubt have the risk appetite to stomach the capital loss as an angel, but they underestimated the inherent risk of startup investing.

As an angel, there are common challenges that you need to address:

• Failure to understand startup investing as an asset class i.e. liquidity risk
• Limited access to quality deal flow thus lacking in diversification
• No experience to read on current trends and emerging markets
• What to do to invest such as what to look out for in a due diligence
• How to negotiate funding terms
• Failure to familiarise with the local startup ecosystem and regulations

Be sure to consult your advisers including legal counsel, accountant, and financial planner to assess all these challenges.

Find a company to invest

Finding a great startup to invest in is hard. You may need to compete with other prominent investors to get on the startup’s cap table unless you can show how you can add more value than the rest. VCs even hire scouts (eg, usually seasoned founders that they have venture-backed previously) to help them source for hidden or potential deals ahead of the competitor.

You may want to look into and tap on your own network. The common funding sources of seed funding will be ‘Friends and Family’. You may already be related to a founder through blood or friendship. You should leverage that unique connection.

Also Read: Understanding angel investors with Mysty Rusk

Put up your personal email for companies to send their pitch deck. Have an investor profile on e27.

You will need to screen through the pitch decks. Another great way is to join an angel network in your area and co-invest with other angels like AngelCentral to help you screen the deals.

VCs can also be your friend. If you are already invested in a VC fund, you may check if you can co-invest in deals. At times, VCs may pass on a deal as it does not fulfil their ‘investment thesis’.

Agreeing on the valuation

Dealing with valuation can be stressful. If the company is raising funds for the first time, it may get tricky as there is a chance that you need to decide how much the company is actually worth investing and how much stake you should get in exchange for the capital invested.

There is no hard and fast rule on startup valuation. Generally, a startup may be giving up 10 per cent to 20 per cent of the equity in the company for every round. So a pre-money valuation (i.e. the valuation of the company before the new fundraising) is usually based on how much money the founders think they need.

You will get to hear all sorts of valuation methods and tools. As an angel, you will need to decide if the valuation makes sense. To reduce headaches in dealing with valuation, it may be common for angels to co-invest with a lead investor (usually a VC) that may have done the groundwork in negotiating a price.

Another option is to agree for the round to be an unpriced round.  An unpriced round is when investors contribute capital in exchange for a discount on the company’s shares in the succeeding priced round. A priced round is a financing round based on mutually agreed upon company valuation.

Have the correct funding agreements in place

We won’t cover in detail the specifics of the funding documents needed as they will be based on whether you are investing in a priced round or an unpriced round.

Generally, a priced round will include a subscription agreement and a shareholders agreement together with the present shareholders (usually the Co-Founders). An angel usually subscribes to new ordinary shares as opposed to preference shares.

In an unpriced round, you may choose either to use a ‘Simple Agreement for Future Equity’ (SAFE) commonly used by Y Combinator, or a ‘Keep It Simple Security’ (KISS) created by 500 Startups. Like Y Combinator with their SAFE notes, KISS also aims to simplify and standardise seed funding.

Understand the terms “discount rate”, “valuation cap”, “pre-money” or “post-money”, “pro rata rights” and other terminologies and their effect on your investment.

Note that these documents have gone through multiple changes over the years since they were first made available to the public. Be sure to engage a startup lawyer to help you review the funding documents especially if you plan to use a template.

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

All founders have signed a shareholders’ agreement

You do not want to inherit a startup’s legal problems and get stuck in a company with a shareholder dispute without any way to exit as a shareholder.

A shareholders agreement (also known as a founders agreement) should contain all the necessary provisions covering topics like shares vesting, assignment of intellectual property ownership, management of the company i.e. board of directors and voting, transfer of shares, non-disclosure clause, and exit and deadlock mechanism provisions.

If a cofounder fails to perform his assigned role, the remaining cofounders can trigger a ‘bad leaver’ scenario. The remaining cofounders will be entitled to re-purchase the shares from the defaulting cofounder (usually at a nominal value). The unvested shares may be offered to a new substitute cofounder in the future or even redistributed among the present shareholders.

Tax incentive

As an angel, you may qualify for tax incentives if you invest in startups depending on where you are domiciled.

To qualify, you usually need to hold your investment for a fixed number of years. Also, not all investee companies may be specified as “qualifying investments” by the tax authority. Consult your tax adviser to check if you can apply for any tax incentive as an angel.

Conclusion

In reality, no one really knows how a startup is going to perform. It is often a mix of luck, preparation, market, and fate. These steps can appear overwhelming if you are planning to go on solo as an angel. I suggest joining an angel network and co-investing with other angels in smaller ticket sizes may best the best way to get started.

–

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

Image credit: Canva Pro

The post Unlocking angel investing: 6 key steps for making your first investment appeared first on e27.

Use our special promo code: GO for 75% off your Echelon tickets!

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.

Registration for TOP100 is now open and we are looking forward to seeing your startup on the list!

TOP100 Program gives you the one golden chance to connect with hundreds of investors, showcase your startup at Echelon, pitch on the TOP100 stage, and access special programs. Find out what’s new in TOP100 and join here: https://bit.ly/TOP100_2023
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Securing adequate funding is an indispensable aspect for founders to turn their innovative ideas into profitable ventures. Nevertheless, there are persistent debates on whether fundraising should be a core competency of any startup founder. Unfortunately, despite being extremely important for many founders, many lack the expertise and connections to be efficient in their fundraising journey.

It is not just that fundraising is arduous, but it is also a veritable time sink that deflects founders from focusing on their core competencies such as product development or business growth. Founders spend months trying to establish connections with investors, or worse, resorting to prospecting potential investors on platforms like LinkedIn, Google, or Conference Agendas.

Let e27 help you in your fundraising journey

At e27, our mission is to empower founders with the necessary tools and resources to grow their companies. For the past several years, our TOP100 program has been our flagship program, and it has been immensely popular since its inception in 2014. The program is run annually at Echelon Asia Summit and aims to democratise fundraising for startup founders, giving them the opportunity to succeed based on their innovative products, exciting services, and kickass ideas.

We understand that fundraising is a continuous and long-term effort that cannot be condensed into just two days. As such, while our program does enable founders to condense months of investor outreach into 2 days, we have come to acknowledge that they need more than just a couple of days. This realisation led us on a six-month-long journey of customer development, where we aimed to discover the best way to connect startups with relevant investors and corporates year-round.

Also read: Go big or go home: Why young startups need to exhibit on a global platform like 2023 TOP100 APAC

Our efforts have resulted in the creation of e27 Pro, a membership program that provides people with access to an Echelon experience on a year-round basis. This program provides valuable insights, networking platforms, and necessary tools for business growth through one of our most prominent features, e27 Connect, which connects startups with relevant investors and corporates throughout the year.

With e27 Pro, you can rest assured that you’ll have access to the tools and resources you need to succeed in today’s competitive business landscape. Curious about e27 Pro? Find out more here.

Connecting the tech ecosystem

Echelon Asia Summit is coming back this year to help spark impactful conversations and create meaningful connections among startup founders, corporates, investors, and other members of the community. Guided by its theme, “Building towards a sustainable and impactful tech ecosystem”, Echelon Asia Summit 2023 is bringing back its top-notch features to enable a truly connected global startup ecosystem.

Also read: 6 different ways to explore growth at Echelon Asia Summit 2023

With network and connection being at the heart of fundraising, let e27 do the dirty work for you as we bring together active startup investors this 14-15 June 2023. At the Echelon Asia Summit, you can access information on each investor for you to examine, navigate through, and connect with based on relevance to your business.

We ensure that investors actively opt into each session of e27 Connect to guarantee that they are actively looking to source for startups to deploy capital. At Echelon Asia Summit, you have the chance not only to connect and engage with potential investors online; you have the unique opportunity of sharing to them the story of your startup journey — live!

Join us at Echelon Asia Summit 2023 in Singapore this June. Sign up here.

The post We know fundraising sucks, so e27 Connect is here to help you appeared first on e27.

Salary range transparency has become a hot topic in recent months, but it has always held a personal meaning for me.

My first encounter with salary range transparency was back in 2011 when I was looking for a software engineer job in Singapore. I found it odd that no software engineer role on the largest job platform then had a salary bracket. When I did my first HR interview, I asked for the salary range. The recruiter was taken aback by my question, and I too was surprised by her reaction.

Separating the facts from the myth

Since then, I’ve been asking recruiters the reasons they don’t share their salary ranges. The responses I got are the likes of “employees are going to ask for a pay raise and quit”, “competitors will poach our employees with a higher pay”, “candidates will reject the offer if it’s not at the top of the range”, and “candidates will join for the salary and quit as soon as they find a better-paying job”.

Also Read: Who is doing what: Understanding the different job titles in a VC firm

But every time they mention the risk of competitors increasing salaries to hire employees from a company that practises salary range transparency, I can’t get a single real-life example. It seems to be a fear-mongering myth passed down from recruiter to recruiter. 

At this point, I’m convinced the only valid explanation is when a public salary range could upset employees who would realise they were underpaid, similar to findings from a study last year. 

This, however, is not a good excuse to hide the salary range. All the more, because of existing pay discrepancies, companies have a stronger reason to scrutinise their salary review process before publishing salary ranges.

Embracing transparent salary conversations

When I was given the opportunity to build an engineering team at Wise in 2018, I knew this was the point where I could make a difference. 

One of the first things I did was to ask the recruiter to include salary ranges in the roles I was hiring for. She agreed and we never looked back. Today, all tech roles for Singapore and most positions worldwide at Wise have this information.

Publishing the salary ranges was not only a way to attract more candidates, but it was also to prove that, contrary to what most recruiters fear, nothing bad happens when you share the salary ranges if your employees are being paid fairly. 

I’m proud to say that out of the 15 engineers I’ve hired at the organisation in the past five years, no one left. There are companies that pay more than Wise, and it’s simply not true that salary range transparency increases flight risk. Studies like The Josh Bersin Company’s pay equity research show it helps in retention and I believe that’s because it enables honest and transparent conversations around salary.

Career maps were also another initiative we had in Wise to help with salary conversations. In 2019, we shared detailed career maps with our teams and published them externally a year later. Last year, I pushed to add salary ranges to the engineering career map for clarity into pay and career progression. I see these career maps as an example that every midsize and large company should follow to retain and grow their employees.

Also Read: How to combat burnout and boost your productivity

Pushing for salary range transparency in a bigger world

In 2018 when I started JobWiz as a fun job portal project because my wife was looking for a job, I made salary ranges and perks compulsory on our platform. 

The more I spoke with job seekers and employers, the more I realised there is a very serious problem to solve: a lack of salary range transparency.

I heard stories of people leaving their jobs when they learnt their pay was half of their teammates’ for the same role, just because they asked for a lower expected salary at the beginning. Something needs to be done.

In 2023, I decided to quit my job at Wise to focus full-time on JobWiz, with the mission of making salary ranges transparent and public. 

A lot of recruiters are telling me that it’s not going to happen. But I disagree. They might have dozens of years of experience but I have five years of experience in salary range transparency while they don’t have any. They just never tried.

–

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Singapore-based early-stage venture fintech investor Integra Partners has announced the final close of its second fund at US$90 million. This brings the total committed capital managed by the firm to over US$140 million.

Integra Partners Fund II is anchored by global institutional investors, including Germany’s development finance institution DEG, the US International Development Finance Corporation, the Norwegian Investment Fund for Developing Countries Norfund, European alternative asset management group Tikehau Capital, and includes participation from strategic corporates and family offices globally.

The new fund targets fintech, insurtech and digital health opportunities that leverage synergies across sectors to drive financial and healthcare inclusion in Southeast and South Asia. It invests in pre-Series A to Series B stages.

“We included digital health in the mandate for Fund II as we see it as a test case to prove our thesis that fintech is becoming a horizontal layer across all sectors and is embedded in all industries,” said Chris Kaptein, Managing Partner at Integra. “For example, in emerging markets across Southeast Asia, access to healthcare is often a financial problem as medical inflation becomes a pressing concern. Similarly, we see applications of fintech in almost every sector – e-commerce, AI, climate, logistics, education and beyond.”

Also Read: We know fundraising sucks, so e27 Connect is here to help you

Across Integra’s two funds, the firm has invested in 27 companies, comprising mostly B2B and B2B2C businesses. Integra’s portfolio companies include regional e-commerce aggregator, graas (Southeast Asia and India), earned wage access providers wagely (Indonesia and Bangladesh) and GIMO (Vietnam), open finance provider Brankas (Southeast Asia regional), institutional FX platform, Spark Systems (Asia regional), cybersecurity reinsurer, Envelop Risk (Global), and cybersecurity platform ReaQta (Global), which fully exited to IBM in 2021.

With a team of 17, Integra Partners has a footprint in the Philippines, India, and Pakistan. It recently announced the launch of the Win With Women Venture Partner Program, which will add boots on the ground in Vietnam and Indonesia.

Integra intends to continue expanding regionally, building out its venture partner network and in-country teams.

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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.

The post Integra Partners closes US$90M Fund II to invest in fintech, insurtech, digital health in Asia appeared first on e27.

Recently, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) announced proptech startup Skyland Innovation as the overall champion of the 7th Elevator Pitch Competition (EPiC), beating over 610 startups from 55 economies around the world.

This competition is just one of the initiatives that HKSTP is doing to support the local–and global–startup ecosystem, in a way. For over 20 years, the organisation is committed to building up Hong Kong as a global innovation and technology hub to propel success for local and global startups through facilities such as Hong Kong Science Park in Shatin, InnoCentre in Kowloon Tong and three modern INNOPARKs in Tai Po, Tseung Kwan O and Yuen Long.

It has established a thriving I&T ecosystem that is home to two unicorns and Hong Kong’s leading R&D hub with over 13,000 research professionals and over 1,300 technology companies focused on healthtech, AI and robotics, fintech and smart city technologies.

In the midst of EPiC 2023, e27 speaks to HKSTP Head of Partnerships Eric Or about the challenges faced by local and global startups in growing in the region–and what opportunities are available to seize.

Beyond innovation, there is commercialisation

Hong Kong is a hub for startups in Asia, with a thriving ecosystem that is constantly evolving. However, like any startup ecosystem, there are a number of challenges that entrepreneurs face when trying to build and grow their businesses in Hong Kong.

Also Read: Opportunities abound for Hong Kong’s largest I&T Career Expo

According to Or, one of the biggest challenges that startups face in Hong Kong is commercialisation.

“Many startups have great ideas and innovative solutions but struggle to find customers who are willing to buy their products or services. This is partly due to the fact that Hong Kong is a very competitive market, with many established companies and startups vying for the same customers,” he says.

Like many other regions, the startup ecosystem in Hong Kong is also struggling to find the right talent. While there are many talented individuals in Hong Kong, there is also a lot of competition for the best talent. Many startups struggle to attract and retain top talent, which can make it difficult to build a strong team that can help the company grow and succeed.

There is also another challenge of COVID-19 pandemic recovery. Despite opening itself up to international and regional visitors, the pandemic has made it more difficult to network and build relationships with potential customers and partners.

This is why HKSTP offers a range of programs and services to help startups grow and succeed, including incubation and acceleration programmes, funding opportunities, and access to a network of mentors and advisors.

There are also a number of events in Hong Kong that bring together startups, investors, and corporate partners. For example, the StartmeupHK Festival is an annual event that showcases the latest trends and innovations in the startup ecosystem. The event features keynote speakers, panel discussions, and networking opportunities, and is an excellent way for startups to connect with potential partners and investors.

Also Read: Hong Kong introduces regulatory measures for crypto trading platforms to enhance security

What it takes to build a global tech hub

One of the key strengths of Hong Kong’s startup ecosystem is its global outlook and rock-solid regulations. Hong Kong is a gateway to China and the wider Asia Pacific region, and startups in Hong Kong are well-positioned to expand into these markets. In addition, Hong Kong has a strong legal and regulatory framework, which provides startups with a stable and predictable environment in which to operate.

“Many startups in Hong Kong are also looking to take advantage of the opportunities presented by China’s rapidly growing economy,” Or explains.

“While China can be a challenging market to navigate, Hong Kong provides a safer approach for startups looking to expand into China. Hong Kong’s proximity to China, its cultural and linguistic similarities, and its well-established business networks make it an attractive option for startups looking to tap into the Chinese market.”

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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.

The post How HKSTP can help international startups in the next stage of their expansion journey appeared first on e27.

Coldspace, an Indonesian integrated cold chain solutions provider, today announced the completion of a US$3.8 million seed funding round led by Intudo Ventures, PT Adi Sarana Armada Tbk (ASSA) via its subsidiary PT Adi Sarana Investindo (ASI), and Triputra Group with participation from MKA dan ITS.

This marks the company’s first external funding round.

With this funding, Coldspace plans to expand its service capacity, including greater capacity for cold storage, reefer trucks, fulfilment, and geographic expansions; launch a suite of management solutions for customers to help manage and track products, including its Warehouse Management System (WMS) and Transportation Management System (TMS) and provided to customers as a free value-add service to perform analytics, offer training and improve service quality.

“We appreciate our investors’ trust in Coldspace, as we are building the first end-to-end cold chain service provider in Indonesia catering for both B2B and B2C customers, allowing businesses to expand quickly and achieve agility in their distribution coverage,” said Arnold Giovanni, co-founder and CEO of Coldspace.

“Building more than 15 distribution points within three months of launch has demonstrated our ability to scale quickly, and we will accelerate this process by leveraging our strategic investors’ logistics ecosystem to provide best-in-class operational excellence and competitive pricing.”

Also Read: 5 smart ways to decarbonise supply chains and logistics with AI

The company offers businesses and consumers cold storage facilities and reefer trucks through its own inventory as well as a third-party aggregated marketplace of cold chain partners empowered through the company’s tech stack. Through its marketplace, Coldspace aims to provide a superior pricing scheme for customers, while improving utilisation for partners through supply and demand matching.

Coldspace also provides cold fulfilment solutions designed to enable quick commerce services, through a hub-and-spoke model that ensures rapid delivery of temperature-sensitive products. Coldspace works with importers, exporters, distributors, food & beverage producers, logistics companies, and other businesses to provide transparent and efficient storage and transportation of temperature-sensitive products.

Within the food & beverage category, Coldspace offers services for fisheries, meat & poultry producers, pre-packaged meals and beverages, dairy, fruit and vegetable vendors, as well as pharmaceutical products with prudent SLA and product management.

Coldspace is led by Arnold Giovanni (CEO), Ivan Liadi (Head of Business Development & Product), David Loei (Head of Sales), and Jan Sunaryanto (Head of Finance).

It is currently operating in the Greater Jakarta Region (Jabodetabek), Surabaya, Malang, Bali, and Medan, with plans to expand throughout the country.

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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: Coldspace

Anisa Menur Maulani also contributed to this story.

 

The post Coldspace raises US$3.8M in seed round led by Intudo Ventures appeared first on e27.

Insights are the lifeblood of many businesses today, and large companies have bolstered their operations with so-called ‘insights engines’: dedicated analyst teams leaving no data point unseen. Conversely, startups and SMEs lack the time and resources to organise and extract learnings from their data.

The question is: Do smaller businesses need to care about insights? How can overstretched founding teams balance resources to produce a healthy amount of data-driven decision-making?

Before 2020 became a swear word, a global study called insights2020 surveyed over 10,000 business professionals and established a tight correlation between customer-centric insights activities and product adoption. It might seem obvious, but knowing your customers as intimately as possible is once and for all proven a surefire way to win over hearts and wallets. 

Today’s commercial world looks different. Some business models thrived, and others forfeited. Timing, adaptability, and luck were core success factors during the worst of the pandemic. The most insightful firms that knew their internal processes, company values, customer needs, and markets sufficiently to make tactical cutbacks or investments fared the best. 

Identifying and explaining friction, advantages, or fluctuations in any area of the business is what I refer to as insights. 

Deconstructing the insights engine

I have managed the insights engine for a consumer goods company for several years. Similarly to other big manufacturers like Unilever and P&G, we relied heavily on data to reach customers.

Our insights department was a golden example of a well-oiled insights engine built to feed actionable learnings from consumer research and performance analysis into operational and marketing decision-making.

As Insights Manager, my role was to be the voice of our consumers within the business discourse, backed by research and sales figures. In this capacity, I was involved in all areas of decision-making, guiding pricing decisions, branding, marketing, and distribution.

Also Read: From crunching numbers to transforming data: How I made a career switch from accounting to tech

I had a front-row seat to our business, with access to leadership discussions and fixed attendance in operational and sales meetings. Not only did I represent the customer, but I was also a fly on the wall in every room – the company know-it-all.

I am here to tell you that contrary to the complex image of the insights engine as a turbo motor to be feared and revered, our insights practices were not outputs of complex machinery. Instead, our day-to-day work was an exercise in listening to consumers, taking an honest look at our performance, and compiling learnings into easily digestible soundbites for decision-makers in our organisation. 

From the vantage point of a fly on the wall and consumer connoisseur, voicing the needs of our customers and stakeholders became second nature to our team. Our team’s omnipresence gave us an aerial view of the business that helped us draw conclusions where others saw none. 

Only for big companies?

The Insights 2020 study discussed building insights engines to keep businesses running faster as a strategic and operational upgrade. Every year, Nerdwallet publishes the Small-Business Opportunity Index combining elements from different economic and business trends data. 

In December 2022, the Index had declined from its base of 100 in September 2021 to 78.1 in just a year, reflecting a weakening environment for starting small businesses. 2023 has seen an acceleration of this weakening, with high pressure on tech companies in particular. Their advice was for startups and SMEs to reevaluate certain business practices.

While most smaller companies will not be able to build insights turbo engines, I propose companies of all sizes can, and should, implement a business insights mindset. Instead of complex machinery with specialised parts and roles, a more suitable and equitable metaphor is the humble sail of a sailboat, where every person in the sailing crew plays a role in adapting to new conditions with all hands on deck. 

A new definition of data

Incorporating lessons from running a regional insights team, I set up a consulting business to help SME founders and owners augment performance and create new opportunities with simple insights practices. A key takeaway is that many SMEs lack overview and awareness of the data on hand.

The traditional view of data is often limited to quantifiable or measurable metrics like financials, volume, and market shares but the work involved in generating the learnings is often time-consuming and requires specialised analytical skills. 

I advocate for a broader definition of data as any information that can reveal friction, advantages, or changes in the business. This stance opens abundant opportunities for insights to sprout at every layer in the spirit of our all-hands-on-deck sailing analogy. In smaller teams, all staff become subject-matter experts with valuable information to harness. 

Pulling in data and viewpoints from all layers of the business can feed into a comprehensive picture of the company that can reveal critical takeaways.

A healthy insights-led mindset grounds on instilling company-wide curiosity that encourages teams to spot patterns and anomalies in structured and unstructured everyday business operations: Where is there misalignment? What are the knowledge gaps? Which parts of the company are exceptionally well-ordered? Where is there chaos? 

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

Giving every role a seat at the table, listening, and having conversations with all layers and players is a cornerstone insights practice that small companies can adopt. 

Transparency breeds insights

Another simple yet crucial step to achieve an insights-led approach is the transparency of financials and performance metrics across the organisation. Having a policy of transparency and openness about business financial health, high-level figures, values of customer segments, and accounts can have almost therapeutic value for firms and their teams. 

With one client, the sales team was unaware of their shared progress, company performance, and value of account growth. Sales staff were investing a disproportionate amount of time closing lower-value sales while missing opportunities with higher revenue segments and big brands. The realisation led to adjustments to their sales strategy, and we included financials on the agenda for weekly sales meetings. 

The sales staff knowing their numbers helped them generate insights within their team. Providing a high-level snapshot overview of company financials and performance can be a simple way to stimulate critical thought, self-assessment, and team evaluation of available data that can lead to insights-driven business wins. 

A practice I maintain with clients is to save all insights work in one document. A living, breathing, and evolving pulse of an organisation, such an insights document can offer an aerial view of the business to aid data-driven conversations, especially when made available to all teams and employees. With more eyes on the data, smaller businesses can stimulate curiosity and encourage better-informed firmwide interactions. 

Adopting an all-hands-on-deck insights attitude, SMEs can reach new horizons with sails as effective as insights engines. At the bare minimum, transparency of numbers, learnings, and results can foster more cohesive dialogue and understanding across teams and layers of the business.

With a broader view of data and an insights mindset embedded in the organisation, actionable learnings and insights are achievable for any size company straightaway.

–

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

Image credit: Canva Pro

The post A new insights attitude for SMEs in the era of the ‘insights engine’ appeared first on e27.