According to a climate market map of India and Southeast Asia (SEA) authored by Hemant Mohapatra, Partner at Lightspeed, while urgency and adherence vary across the SEA region, Singapore seems to be “well ahead” when it comes to the role of businesses in curbing the impact of climate change.

There are several examples, including SGX’s carbon accounting mandate for listed companies which threatened a delisting for those who do not adhere to it by 2024.

But Mohapatra wrote that the “most exciting development” in the role of businesses in tackling the impact of climate change is the shifting of talent from “not green” to “green” job options.

“Employees are increasingly acquiring green skills and transitioning into green and greening jobs, resulting in positive net transitions into these jobs. Younger generations are the largest sources of incoming talent into green careers across the world, with millennials leading the charge,” he detailed.

“Companies such as terra.do are helping accelerate this shift. While this volume of talent entering climate-related
roles are still too low to have a transformative impact by itself; we are encouraged by these shifts.”

Also Read: Beyond buzzwords: How climate tech startups can create an impact in green recovery

In addition to the trends related to talents and jobs, Lightspeed also noted down the spectrum of companies in SEA and India that are solving the challenges of climate change. The firm noted that these companies can be divided into four major categories:

– Companies that measure and report individual or institutional carbon or GHG footprint
– Companies that reduce other businesses’ footprint through operational or efficiency-related changes
– Companies that replace businesses’ current footprint with greener options
– Companies that offsett whatever remains via directly sequestering carbon or buying credits for it
via a marketplace that does sequestration on the clients’ behalf.

“Given how early the entire climate change category is, there are still a lot of misconceptions around what is needed, what is urgent, and what is sold as a product vs as a service. We attempt to simplify some of this,” Mohapatra wrote.

He also added how, having been evaluating climate investments in India since 2019, Lightspeed saw the exercise as “both sobering and alarming”.

Capitalism is part of our job profile, so it hasn’t been easy to come to terms with the role we, as venture capitalists, might have played in damaging our world. Large amounts of venture and entrepreneurial resources have gone to help serve more targeted advertisements to drive overconsumption of things — clothes, gadgets, household items — that are themselves built to last only a few years by design,” he concluded.

The full report is available here.

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Binance, the world’s leading blockchain ecosystem and cryptocurrency company, has acquired 100 per cent of Sakura Exchange BitCoin (SEBC), the Japanese-registered crypto exchange service provider.

The details of the deal haven’t been disclosed.

Through this acquisition, Binance is set to re-enter the Japanese crypto market as a Japan Financial Services Agency (JFSA) regulated entity four years after it had exited the country.

Binance aims to support a responsible global environment for cryptocurrencies by offering Japanese-regulated services through SEBC.

The acquisition of SEBC marks Binance’s first license in East Asia.

Also Read: In photos: SCB 10X’s 10,000 sqft web3 collaborative space DISTRICTX in Bangkok

Binance has secured regulatory approvals or authorisations in France, Italy, Spain, Bahrain, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, New Zealand, Kazakhstan, Poland, Lithuania, and Cyprus. 

“The Japanese market will play a key role in the future of cryptocurrency adoption. We will actively work with regulators to develop our combined exchange in a compliant way for local users. We are eager to help Japan take a leading role in crypto,” said Takeshi Chino, General Manager of Binance Japan

Sakura Exchange currently supports 11 trading pairs, including BTC/JPY, ETH/JPY, BCH/JPY, XRP/JPY, LTC/JPY, ETC/JPY.

Hitomi Yamamoto, CEO of SEBC, said: “On top of our effort to prioritise user protection, Binance’s strong compliance system will build a more compliant atmosphere for users in Japan and help them access key crypto services needed for mass adoption in the future.”

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Singapore’s leading mobile classifieds unicorn has laid off 110 employees (10 per cent of the group’s total headcount), citing a worsening macroeconomic environment.

Only workers of some business units are affected. The outgoing employees will be offered a month’s salary for every year of service, rounded up to the nearest half year. Everyone will have at least three months of compensation.

Announcing the job cuts in a blog post, Carousell Co-Founder and CEO Quek Siu Rui said: “As we emerged from the COVID-19 lockdowns of 2021 across key markets of our group, we were optimistic about the recovery to come and eager to reignite growth in our core classifieds business. Additionally, we doubled down on a number of new initiatives to make selling and buying more convenient and trusted, to make secondhand the first choice for even more people across the region. That meant creating more teams to work on these initiatives, which included new teammates that we had to hire.”

Also Read: Carousell enters unicorn club after a new US$100M round led by Korea’s STIC Investments

“Looking back, I’d made the following critical mistakes: First, I was too optimistic about the pace of our impact versus our increase in investments. The reality is that we were quick to grow our expenses and hire, but the returns took longer than expected. Second, while it is easy to blame market conditions, I also underestimated the impact of growing our team size too quickly — larger teams lead to a lack of clarity in decision-making and the additional coordination required to get things done,” he continued.

Siu Rui admitted that the company saw the signs of a perfect long storm: high inflation, geopolitical risks and supply chain disruption as early as March this year.

In recent weeks, things have taken a turn for the worse. The global economy continues to face steep challenges, with economists expecting a broad-based slowdown in 2023. The worsening macroeconomic environment presents more headwinds to the expected growth.

“We cannot change the wind, but we can adjust our sails,” he said. “As we do not know when market conditions will improve, it is only prudent that we get to profitability as a group as quickly as possible, to be masters of our destiny and build an enduring company.”

He further said it is important to act swiftly, course correct, and right-size the investment levels to better align with this new reality. The company is moving to an office with significantly lower rent, and the co-founders and group leadership will take voluntary pay cuts.

Also Read: Carousell acquires Ox Street to double down on its re-commerce efforts in Greater SEA

Carousell needs to reorganise to focus on critical priorities and operate more efficiently to accelerate the path to profitability.

“We will learn from our mistakes, adjust and course correct quickly to make the biggest impact for our community. Moving forward, we will sharpen our priorities as a company, keep a watchful eye on costs and only invest in high-conviction initiatives that are correctly set up for success,” the Carousell CEO said.

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Siam Commercial Bank (SCBX) group’s venture unit SCB 10X has announced the launch of SCB 10X DISTRICTX, a 10,000-square-foot web3 collaborative space in Bangkok, Thailand.

DISTRICTX will enable world-class community building and business co-working in blockchain and Web3.

The space is equipped with meeting rooms, a town hall, an operational war room, a podcast room and a dining space offering free refreshments.

The space consists of two main areas — Hacker House and Exponential Hub.

The Hacker House is an open-seating space where global innovators in blockchain and Web3 can engage.

The Hacker House will also house a six-month incubation programme in which SCB 10X will recruit developers and entrepreneurs to build Web3 startups and create potential unicorns.

The programme will offer end-to-end support from SCB 10X’s building team, product and design testing, mentoring from the brightest minds in the ecosystems, and external fundraising and scaling.

The Exponential Hub is a co-working space for SCB 10X’s partners, which include Fireblocks, Nansen, The Sandbox and RakkaR Digital.

DistrictX will also host “moonshot meetup,” a bi-monthly workshop to engage the community by sharing knowledge and building projects.

It will be the home of future events like the Hacker House Program and Hackathons. 

Besides its role in investing and building, SCB 10X will educate and create awareness with the general public about Blockchain and Web3.

SCB 10X was established in 2020 with a “moonshot mission” to achieve growth through technology innovation and investment.

“Collaboration is key during this bear market, and we are excited to bring high potential startups, passionate entrepreneurs, prospective partners, and enthusiastic developers into Bangkok to strengthen the global communities of blockchain and Web3,” said Mukaya (Tai) Panich, CEO at SCB 10X.

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Months ago, a story in my country went viral over a small business owner cancelling an interview with a young intern who had requested for it to be held online instead of in person. There is more back story to this, but it sparked off conversations with the business owner labelled “boomer”, “out of touch”, and “toxic”. The opposing internet-pitchfork crowd expressed support for the older business owner’s assertions that the new generation of workers was “entitled” and “lacked drive”.

I entered the workforce at 14 years old, working for an internationally renowned organisation that experienced staggering global success. If you’re reading this, chances are high that you are/have been a consumer of the firm that took a chance on me when I was just a kid.

(That paragraph above is a classic inflated LinkedIn way of saying I was flipping burgers for the ‘Golden Arches’)

Two weeks ago, a young entrepreneur left an acronym on one of my posts. I had to google it to find out what it meant (Thanks, Urban Dictionary). That lost lingo moment reminded me I’m no longer the “next generation”. For a large part of my career over the last 15 years, I was used to being the kid in the room.

Also Read: How companies can nurture the next generation of tech talent today

My career journey started with pitching a startup idea at the inaugural Young Social Entrepreneur programme held by Singapore International Foundation. Following that, we were presented with many opportunities to network and grow our little startup.

This meant we were often placed in the room with fellow Founders and CEOs. I was 17 years old, and these people were four times (!) my age. Looking back, it’s fascinating to observe how the older generation treated me.

Here’s my take on two common touch points between generations:

Mentorship

In the current days of antagonistic ties between generations, there is another end of the spectrum where the older generation is all ready to dispense words of wisdom, and the younger generation is calling for a mentor in their life.

I fully subscribe to the belief that it helps to be open and teachable towards people who have more experience than I do. And to every younger person who came wanting to learn from me, I yearn to give back in ways to emulate those before me. But I think giving it the title “mentor” distracts me and is unnecessary.

For those of us who believe in the importance of intergenerational support, we need to be careful about missing the point of mentorship.

So a word to the old and young: “Eat the flesh, discard the bones.”

In mentoring, the last thing we want is to replicate ourselves. What we want is to raise better people. To achieve that, we need to recognise that each generation grew up on different terms and are facing different challenges.

They’re going to do things differently, and at the end of the day, we’re all there to learn from each other. You’ll also find that the closer you work with anyone, you’ll start to see beyond the good that attracted you, and you’ll see their humanity and weaknesses. To that, I say, “Eat the flesh, discard the bones”.

Also Read: What I learn about starting a business from my Generation Z sister

In being mentored, do you call this person your mentor because you want to be associated with his/her success and stature, or are you really interested in gleaning from how they conduct their business (and life)?

If it’s the latter, there’s really no need for titles. All you gotta do is find opportunities to work with them. And in that process, observe and learn. That’s how the spillover happens.

Leadership — Which generation should be taking responsibility?

When a child is lost, they look to adults for direction. It is in such interactions that ingrained in me the belief that older people would always know what to do.

So imagine my panic as I became an adult when I realised I still didn’t know what to do. But I felt better once I looked around and realised no one actually really knows what is going to happen next.

Young or old.

Everyone is just trying to figure a way forward in life, and therein lies that common thread to hold on to and pull together towards collaboration. I’ve learned not to look to my seniors for certainty but for partnership. Everyone has something to offer, and everyone also has weaknesses to buffer.

There’s so much unnecessary resentment that can be avoided by just letting go of that expectation for another generation to be solving today’s problems. A leader can emerge from any generation, and the challenges we face are going to need all hands on deck to tackle. We think we need to find someone good enough, but the truth is closer to us walking together, trying to hit that mark together.

May the boomers and zoomers work in harmony and stop channelling awkward tension energy to the sandwiched generation.

Yours truly,

Gen Y (u fight so much)?

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As the world becomes increasingly digitalised, innovations like cryptocurrency have seen an unprecedented rise. Businesses and entrepreneurs dealing in cryptocurrency are sprouting left and right, meaning talented Web3 engineers will be relevant for a long time. This is best demonstrated by the fact that despite the challenges and volatility that have plagued the crypto industry resulting in high-profile layoffs in the tech sector, the overall demand for quality web3 engineers remains robust.

In fact, according to a report from the job search engine, Indeed, job postings for crypto and blockchain careers saw a massive 118% year-on-year jump. It isn’t enough to say that the demand for quality web3 engineers is growing; it’s that the demand is never going away.

RareSkills.io to bridge the gaps in the global talent pool

RareSkills.io, a web3 boot camp founded this year, seeks to meet that demand.

Unlike boot camps that seek to turn over as many students as possible, RareSkills orients itself around keeping classes small (5 students per cohort) and building long-term relationships with students.

Even after engineers in the programme successfully gain jobs at web3 engineering companies as smart contract engineers, they generally stay in the programme. Although the core Solidity for Ethereum Bootcamp lasts four months, RareSkills encourages students to remain in the programme, engage in open source contributions, and take more specialised boot camps in topics such as DeFi, Zero Knowledge Proofs, and alternative blockchains such as Solana. Engineers in the programme could study for over a year with RareSkills if they chose to.

Also read: Is “teleporting” between workspaces truly possible?

“One reason experience in Silicon Valley is so valuable is that it has a built-in apprenticeship model. It is part of the culture that senior engineers do regular one-on-one code reviews with junior engineers, and this highly personalised and tailored experience results in highly efficient upskilling,” said Jeffrey Scholz, founder of RareSkills.

“I believe we can take this model and dial it up to 11. In a regular company, junior engineers have to work on what is valuable to the company. In RareSkills, they can work on what will grow their knowledge and skills the fastest.”

Focusing on each student to maximise their potential

RareSkills places a heavy emphasis on small class sizes, limiting them to five per cohort.

“The reason for the heavy emphasis on small class sizes is that most studies indicate that leaders managing more than eight reports lose the ability to really guide people. A class of 3 seems too small; if eight is the limit, then five seems like a good number. The teacher can track the students on the one hand,” explained Scholz.

“If you really peel behind the veneer of statistics about the success rates of coding boot camps, it’s actually quite low,” added Scholz. “I used to interview boot camp students regularly when I was an Engineering Manager at Yahoo, and I’d say 90% of them were extremely underprepared. The ones who did well spent several more months practising coding. I don’t think it’s realistic for someone to gain useful expertise in specialised engineering topics over the course of a few months. That’s why our programme is so long.”

Also read: The Big Leap roadshow kickstarts in Jakarta with a panel on the Gen Z market

Unlike most boot camps, RareSkills is quite selective about the students they onboard, as it impacts the overall quality of the boot camp and the success of the rest of the students in the cohort. They expect students to have at least two years of software engineering experience and are willing to allocate 20-30 hours per week.

To enter the programme, students must demonstrate a passion for web3 and pass a coding test and an interview comparable to what major tech companies interview potential talents. About 20% of RareSkills students already have jobs as Web3 engineers, most of whom are sponsored by their company. One student was even a blockchain instructor at another boot camp.

“There is a world of difference between a web3 engineer and a qualified web3 engineer. Anyone can make a blockchain token by following a YouTube tutorial. But when money is involved, you want to be sure that the person making the application really knows what they are doing. Having 5 or 10 weeks of experience or an online certification does very little to prove you know what you are doing in this high-stakes industry. Smart contract hacks are, unfortunately, far too common. It shows many web3 engineers are undertrained,” elaborated Scholz.

Building a reputable brand

RareSkills has grown chiefly through word of mouth and an unusual marketing campaign on Twitter. Their Twitter account regularly posts extremely challenging web3 programming challenges and places a cryptocurrency bounty for developers and hackers who can solve it first or produce the most efficient solution. “We’ve received a lot of positive feedback for this. These puzzles are quite time-consuming to solve, but when someone figures it out and publishes a writeup, a lot of up-and-coming web3 engineers learn from the solutions,” Scholz explained.

Also read: Five startups leverage on partnerships to build and scale solutions with real impact

“The prize money we give out is quite small. I’m pretty sure people are engaging with the puzzles for the intellectual thrill and the notoriety they get for solving them. Nothing demonstrates your expertise like solving a challenge most people get stuck on,” he added.

They are currently accepting applications for the upcoming boot camp, and if you’re an engineer, you can apply now by clicking here. RareSkills is also seeking talent recruitment and engineering training partnerships.

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by RareSkills

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South Korea’s early-stage accelerator-cum-VC fund Bigbang Angels has formed a global investment fund in Singapore in partnership with early-stage investor Farquhar VC.

Bigbang Angels and Farquhar VC will collaborate on investments into deeptech startups and accelerate the internationalisation efforts of early-stage ventures in South Korea and Singapore.

Farquhar will work towards enabling Bigbang Angels to establish a Singapore-based VC fund for global investments.

Bigbang Angels and Farquhar have been informally supporting each other with venture acceleration efforts in both countries. As Korean and Singapore startups are seeking to access other global markets (e.g. the MENA and the greater ASEAN regions), Dr Michael Hwang, CEO of Bigbang felt that this is a timely opportunity to synergise the capabilities of both organisations.

Also Read: Singapore’s Farquhar VC joins StockViva’s US$5M Series A investment round

According to Farquhar Chief Investment Officer Jason Su, Singapore startups such as Fairphonic and MyFirst achieved sharper product-market fit in North Asia, thanks to the nurturing efforts from the K-Startup Grand Challenge.

Farquhar looks forward to enabling the BBA Global Venture Fund to allow deeptech startups in both countries to scale to greater heights.

Established in 2012, BigBang Angels (BBA) is a Korean early-stage cross-border VC and accelerator which has invested in more than 100 startups in Artificial Intelligence, agtech, and other verticals.

Established in 2020, Farquhar is a Singapore-based VC fund that has invested in over 20 startups and achieved two exits. It is in the midst of making the first close of its second fund FVC Green Future Fund.

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Singapore-based impact investor Silverstrand Capital has announced an additional €15 (US$15.7) million investment in Netherlands-based aquaculture investment fund Aqua-Spark.

Silverstrand first invested in Aqua-Spark in 2020.

As part of the deal, Silverstrand’s Principal Kelvin Chiu will take a seat on Aqua-Spark’s advisory board, while its Head of Impact will join the investment committee.

Aqua-Spark is a global sustainable aquaculture fund with over 300 investors in over 25 countries. It has grown the amount under management (AUM) to over €450 (US$470) million since its inception in 2013.

Also Read: Silverstrand launches startup accelerator with a mission to protect, restore biodiversity in SEA

The fund’s portfolio comprises companies such as eFishery and Calysta. With the help of these companies, Aqua-Spark claims to have reduced the use of wild resources in feed by the equivalent of 58.6 million fish, upcycled 49.3 million kg of industrial waste, and improved the traceability for 40.4 million kg of food.

“With the global population having passed 8 billion people, smarter and more efficient methods for growing nutrient-rich food are needed,” said Amy Novogratz and Mike Velings, Co-founders of Aqua-Spark.

“Fish supply 17 per cent of the world’s protein, and by 2030 the planet is expected to eat nearly 20 per cent more fish. With our ocean approaching the brink of species collapse, this increase must come from sustainable sources: aquaculture,” they added.

Also Read: Silverstrand, The Meloy Fund back Indonesian agri supply chain startup Koltiva

As a single-family office with an impact investing mandate focused on combating the biodiversity crisis, Silverstrand is focused on advancing regenerative food systems and natural climate solutions.

In October, Silverstrand Capital invested US$10 million in Australian VC firm Carbon Growth Partners.

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Singapore-based VC firm Iterative has announced the close of its US$55 million second fund.

The LPs include Cendana, K5 Global, Village Global, and Goodwater Capital.

Silicon Valley founders and executives, such as Dropbox’s Arash Ferdowsi, Bukalapak’s Achmad Zaky, Andreessen Horowitz’s Andrew Chen, former YC COO Qasar Younis, Foursquare’s David Shim, and Airbnb Asia’s Kum Hong Siew, also invested in the second fund.

Iterative’s Fund II seeks to invest in seed-stage startups, write larger cheques, and make follow-on investments. Fund II will invest up to US$500,000 each in over 100 companies across pre-seed to Series A. 

Also Read: Iterative Capital, Eduspaze fund Indonesian language learning platform LingoTalk

Iterative positions itself as Southeast Asia’s answer to Y Combinator, enrolling the region’s founders into its accelerator programme, where it helps startup founders refine ideas and launch their products in the market.

Since launching its first fund in 2021, the VC firm has backed over 65 companies in five cohorts. Its portfolio companies include Singaporean fintech startup Spenmo, Pakistani travel startup GoZayaan, Singaporean proptech startup Propseller, and home services startup Sendhelper (acquired by PropertyGuru in October 2022).

Iterative’s portfolio firms have raised US$163 million in follow-on funding from investors such as Insight Partners, Tiger Global, Monk’s Hill, Wavemaker, Hustle Fund and others. 

Iterative’s total portfolio is currently worth US$1.2 billion.

Iterative is now accepting applications for its winter 2023 batch.

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It’s no secret that Asia is home to some of the world’s most advanced fintech markets, and they’re looking to make an ambitious move with the help of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC).

Fintechs from Singapore and wider Asian markets are looking to establish themselves in DIFC and make sizeable investments in our ecosystem.

The fintech expansion

Sheer market size and high adoption of digital financial services have seen the Asia-Pacific landscape advance rapidly across both its younger and more mature economies. As they’ve progressed, however, global macroeconomic conditions are driving them to seek new opportunities to scale beyond their regional borders and into new economies with demand for ambitious fintech products and services.

Also Read: A new breed of fintech payment is here to slay the game

The fast-growing Middle East, Africa, and South Asia (MEASA) market consists of 72 countries, more than three billion people and a nominal GDP of US$7.7 trillion. These statistics sum up DIFC’s strategic importance as a preferred gateway for businesses with innovative financial services technologies continues to grow.

Just as Singapore serves as the hub for ASEAN nations, Dubai is their bridge to expand reach and capture opportunities in our emerging geographies, but with a familiarity that aligns with their sophisticated multi-national environments.

That’s why, in 2018, the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) signed a fintech agreement that allows referrals of innovative businesses between the two authorities.

This agreement reflects the commitment and collaborative spirit of both regulators to support the continuous development of fintech and innovation to deliver new and enhanced financial services to manage risks better, reduce costs and increase efficiency.

In fact, some of Singapore’s top financial institutions already have their regional head offices in Dubai, including DBS Bank Ltd., Bank of Singapore Limited, Taurus Wealth Advisors Limited, Lighthouse Canton Capital (DIFC) Pte Ltd, Uti International (Singapore) Private Limited, and Singalliance Pte Ltd). Singaporean fintech, such as WeInvest, has participated in DIFC’s fintech Accelerator programme.

The latest hotspot

Over the last two years or so, Dubai has been attracting exceptional interest from fintechs across the globe for a variety of reasons. In the first nine months of 2022, the number of fintech and Innovation firms joining DIFC exceeded the total that established operations during the whole of 2021.

Widely, the UAE’s globally recognised management of the pandemic, strategic investment and business-friendly structural reforms, long-term residency schemes, and innovation-enabling regulatory environment has drawn entrepreneurial talent from every corner of the world.

In particular, the UAE has introduced various new long-term visa options and incentives for tech entrepreneurs and professionals to develop the country’s technology sector such as the Golden Visa programme offering 10-year residencies and the five-year Green Visa for freelance professionals.

The UAE is a stable, thriving and globally ranked talent hub. The nation ranked number one in MENA and #22 globally in the 2020 INSEAD Global Talent Competitiveness index. The country holds the top spot for ease of doing business in MENA while filling the time-zone gap between East and West, according to the World Bank’s Doing Business 2020 Report. Dubai also ranks in the top three best cities for ex-pats to live in globally, along with Miami and Lisbon.

Also Read: How is fintech different in Asia

Within DIFC, our comprehensive fintech and innovation proposition has created unparalleled opportunities for success for startups, global players and unicorns.

Our continually growing support ecosystem includes access to education, entrepreneurship and accelerator programmes, mentoring and networking, operating and regulatory licenses, and funding and expertise through venture studios – all under one cost-effective roof – presenting the ultimate platform to innovate and scale.

As more rigid governments struggle to reconcile legacy systems with the new age, DIFC’s progressive business-friendly and innovation-enabling regulatory regime, along with Dubai’s general openness and encouragement for innovation, is most appreciated by disruptors.

This approach means that they can engage in meaningful dialogue with regulators directly to look at ways to collaboratively consult on new models that may define the future of finance.

As a global capital for financial services and a leading hub for financial technology and innovation, our centre is also a space with significant access to sources of capital that have a greater appetite for risk and innovative and inclusive business models.

Between January and September 2022, DIFC-based fintech firms secured over AED2 billion (US$559 million) of funding, according to DIFC fintech Hive’s 2022 fintech Report.

Funding activity for fintech nearly doubled in 2021, and startups in MENA raised $998 million in 2021, a 78 per cent increase from 2020.

Most importantly, even as client growth continues to be strong across all sectors, fintech is now DIFC’s fastest-growing sector, outpacing all other sectors.

As we remain firmly committed to developing initiatives to further differentiate our strong reputation for fintech, we are looking forward to welcoming the influx of innovation and talent from Asia’s fintechs into our region and sharing their entrepreneurial spirit to help shape the future of finance.

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