e27 and CleverTap, trusted by 10,000+ mobile brands and a pioneer in helping brands engage and retain their users, have joined forces to bring you The Big Leap.

Over the next six months, we will bring exclusive interviews, content, roadshows, networking events, and informal meet-ups with Southeast Asia’s leading tech leaders in multiple countries – Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and the Philippines.

Our first stop will be Indonesia, where we will host the first edition of SEA’s The Big Leap Roadshow at The Raffles Hotel Jakarta on Wednesday, November 9, 2022, at 5.30 PM Jakarta time.

In this event, we will touch on the Retention Playbook – GEN Z and Unexpected Segments in the New Normal with our distinguished speakers:

– Timothius Martin – CMO of Pintu
– Felicia Kawilarang – CMO of Halodoc
– Mediko Azwar, ACC – CMO of Blue Bird Group
– Marc-Antoine Hager – SEA Regional Vice President, Sales of Clevertap
– Mohan Belani – CEO of e27 (moderator)

The following list includes the names of growth leaders and their companies ready to take the leap and gather in the Jakarta roadshow.

Also Read: 5 video marketing trends that marketers can leverage in 2022

Are you ready to follow in their footsteps?

99 Group
– Firman Pamungkas Putra (AVP Marketing)
– Bharat Buxani (Senior VP Marketing)

99 Group is a leading real estate technology company that operates real estate portals across South East Asia, specialising in digital property advertising. Headquartered in Singapore, it is currently operational in Singapore and Indonesia and employs over 350 employees.

Agate
– Vincentius Ismawan (VP Marketing & Sales)

Agate is an Indonesian video game development company based in Bandung, West Java. It was founded on April 1, 2009. It has worked with publishers such as Square Enix and Electronic Arts.

Akseleran
– Andri Madian (Chief Marketing Officer)

Akeseleran is an Indonesia-based P2P lending crowdfunding platform that connects MSMEs to potential lenders to expand their businesses.

Bank Jago
– Elissa Vananda (Growth Manager)

Indonesia-based Bank Jago primarily offers digital banking services. It is also one of Indonesia’s most valuable publicly traded companies, with a market cap at the moment of around US$10 billion, according to The Diplomat.

Bibit
– Olivia Budiono (Product Marketing Lead)

Bibit is an Indonesia-based app that allows automated mutual funds investment, allowing users to allocate their funds easily and smartly.

Also Read: We can no longer adopt a cookie-cutter approach to marketing: Gunalan Ram of CINNOX

Binance
– Ferry Setiawan (Growth Marketing Manager)

Binance operates the world’s biggest Bitcoin exchange and altcoin crypto exchange in the world by volume.

fivejack
– Maresa Sumardi (VP Business & Marketing)

fivejack is the company behind the itemku platform. The company provides the biggest marketplace for virtual goods for gaming, entertainment and hobbyist in Indonesia.

Glints
– Ghea Religia (Growth Marketing Manager)
– Candraditia Daryanto (Sr. Growth Analyst)

Headquartered in Singapore, Glints was founded in August 2013 by Oswald Yeo, Looi Qin En and Seah Ying Cong. It allows users to apply for internships, full-time, part-time or project-based positions with partnered companies in its platform.

Gojek
– Ardhika Setyo (Product Marketing Manager)

A leading Indonesia-based on-demand multi-service platform and digital payment technology group. Gojek was first established in Indonesia in 2009 as a call centre to connect consumers to courier delivery and two-wheeled ride-hailing services.

Gudang Ada
– Satrio Legowo (VP Campaign & Trade Marketing)
– Benaya Adiguna (Digital Marketing Manager)

An Indonesia-based online groceries platform that allows MSMEs to expand their businesses more easily.

Also Read: 3 stages of marketing for your startup that can drive effective results

Hukumonline.com
– Ramos Pandia (COO)

An integrated and trusted online platform for legal products and services in Indonesia.

IDN Media
– Audi Eka Prasetyo (Senior Marketing Manager – GGWP.ID)

An Indonesia-based leading media platform for Millennials and Gen-Z that aims to democratise information and positively impact society.

Investree
– Kevin Lovis (Marketing Manager)
– Feby Inas (Digital Marketing Manager)

Investree is an Indonesia-based online marketplace of financial products and services, particularly lending.

JD.ID
– Maneesha Bhusal (Director CX)

JD.ID is the Indonesian operations of Chinese tech giant JD. The company started operations in Indonesia in 2015.

Lemonilo
– Johannes Ardiant (Co-Founder, CTO/COO)
– Andita Rasyid (VP Marketing and Innovation)

An Indonesian e-commerce platform that focuses on healthy and natural food products.

PasarPolis
– Nadya Chandradewi (VP of Marketing Communications)
– Jauza Stamboel (Senior Corporate Communications Associate)

Founded in 2015, PasarPolis is now one of the leading insurtech platforms in Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Pre-launch marketing is a tease that works, how to get it right?

Travelio
– Hendry Rusli (President Director)

The Indonesia-based startup works with individual apartment owners and property dealers to enable potential tenants to find and rent apartments.

Traveloka
– Andri Muljadi (Vice President)

An Indonesian technology company focused on travel and ticketing. It is active in six countries and, in 2022, remained the largest online travel app in Southeast Asia.

Yuna & Co.
– Winzendy Tedja (CEO)

Yuna & Co is an Indonesian fashion platform that helps women with personal styling.

LINE Bank
– Bryan Karunachandra (Data Scientist)

LINE Bank is a digital banking application in Indonesia that was born from the collaboration between Hana Indonesia (Hana Bank) with LINE Corporation and LINE Financial Asia.

Also Read: How can influencer marketing help the travel industry in a post pandemic world

GoTo
– Muhammad Izzul Haq (Content Operations Merchant Development Associate)

GoTo is the result of a merger between two Indonesian unicorns –Gojek and Tokopedia– in 2021.

Smartfren
– Satyadev Sarvaiya (Head of Customer Life Cycle Management)

A wireless network operator headquartered in Central Jakarta that is owned by Indonesian conglomerate Sinar Mas, under the company PT Sinar Mas Komunikasi Teknologi.

Tokopedia
– Chaisar Ahmad (Senior Operations Partnership)

One of the leading e-commerce companies in Indonesia. It merged with Gojek, a fellow Indonesian unicorn, in 2021.

ruparupa.com (Kawan Lama Group)
– Jessica Natania (Customer Engagement Lead)
– Khalifardi Utama (Channel Performance Lead)

ruparupa.com is the e-commerce platform of Kawan Lama Group, an Indonesian family office that works in the Commercial & Industrial, Consumer Retail, Food & Beverage, Property & Hospitality, Commercial Technology, and Manufacturing & Engineering sectors.

Shipper
– Jessica Hendrawidjaja (Chief Marketing Officer)

Shipper is an Indonesia-based logistics aggregator that provides shipping services for businesses and individuals.

Tanamduit
– Benedick Karuna (Digital Marketing Manager)
– Alwine Chitra Japardi (Data Analyst tanamduit)

Indonesian wealth tech platform that helps customers comprehensively in financial planning.

UpBanx / VCGamers
– Wafa Taftazani (Founder & CEO / Co-Founder & Chairman)

An Indonesian social commerce platform for gamers to trade, connect, interact, share gaming experiences, and discover new games with millions of gamers.

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Want to be part of this amazing opportunity? There is time for you to sign up for The Big Leap in Jakarta! See you on November 9 at The Raffles Hotel.

Image Credit: saksit054

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I’m sure that almost everyone has, at some point, experienced issues with fintech payment processors – frozen accounts, high hidden fees, and fraud. According to the Federal Trade Commission, 16.6 per cent of the fraud reports involved a payment app or service like Paypal in 2020.

More recently, Paypal updated its terms of service agreement that allows a US$2,500 deduction from a user’s account simply by posting anything the company deems as ‘misinformation’.

This received massive backlash on Twitter, which Paypal claimed to be an error, but only to add it back to its terms of service after the criticisms died down.

Imagine having your savings deducted for what the company deems as ‘offensive’. Or worse, to the extent of losing access to your entire savings without any reason, like the case with Monzo – where 1,392 complaints were made against Monzo for freezing accounts without warning in 2020.

These incidents remind us that fintech payment processors have the authority to deny you access to your money and may reflect a growing shift in attitudes against fintech payment processors/neobanks.

Financial censorship threatens the free and open society that we are progressing towards. We need a better alternative which can ensure that we are in control of our own money.

A new breed of fintech payment

As many businesses reconsider or even close their accounts with fintech payment processors like PayPal, many are turning instead to a new breed of payment fintech: crypto payment apps.

Crypto payments can be used to make cross-border payments without going through costly and time-consuming bank transfers. Unlike traditional payment processors like PayPal or credit card companies, cryptocurrency offers a direct P2P payment system without any intermediary to process transactions – making it cheaper and faster. This has revolutionised online payments, which makes crypto payments
attractive to businesses, especially those operating internationally.

Also Read: Crypto adoption steadies in South Asia, soars in the Southeast

On top of that, crypto payments are becoming increasingly popular with the rise of stablecoins. According to Request Finance, USD-denominated stablecoins account for 60 per cent of the crypto payments made in September 2022.

Their stable prices are ideal as opposed to volatile cryptocurrencies, especially in the current macroeconomic situation with rising interest rates and inflation. Stablecoins also open up access to DeFi platforms like AAVE, which delivers higher returns to corporate treasuries as compared
to traditional bank deposits.

More importantly, businesses have full control over their own private keys and cryptocurrencies. This alone makes crypto payment apps superior.

Making crypto safe for enterprises

Despite the advantages of crypto payments, there is a lack of consumer protection against invoice fraud or transferring money to the wrong wallet. Barclays recently reported that invoice fraud accounts for 55 per cent of money small businesses lose to scammers.

“Another savvy move may be asking for a payment request before transferring money. By confirming where to send the funds, users may avoid payments going to the wrong accounts,” said Ed Mierzwinski, consumer advocate in the U.S. PIRG.

Fortunately, Request Finance offers tools to fight invoice fraud in crypto. For instance, their “Invoice Me” feature allows enterprises to send their contractors a QR code or link to automatically create an invoice already pre-filled with their business information. Teammates can also be cc-ed on invoices sent to clients, allowing finance teams to check with relevant parties whether the invoice is legitimate.

As businesses embark on their journey into the new crypto payment space, applications like Request Finance help to make this journey a safe and easy one.

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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

Image credit: Canva Pro

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WriterZen, a Singapore-based AI-powered SEO content creation startup, has announced a US$1.35 million seed funding round led by Wavemaker Partners.

With this new round, the SaaS company will focus on expanding its product features and penetrating strategic markets such as the US, the UK, and Australia in 2023.

WriterZen will also continue investing in cutting-edge technologies, including the next generation of search engine intelligence platforms, to help businesses gain data-driven insights and make more well-informed marketing decisions to optimise conversions.

The company will also double down on the courses offered by its newly launched WriterZen Academy, a free e-learning platform designed specifically for digital content marketers.

Also Read: Understanding SEO and website hacks with Kevin Geary

Founded in May 2021, WriterZen offers tools for digital content creators to streamline their search engine optimisation (SEO) workflow and produce content efficiently and competitively.

WriterZen currently serves more than 12,000 customers globally, including major industry players, such as MediaCom from GroupM.

“Google searches are one of the most important datasets ever collected in human history, yet they are severely underutilised by brands and businesses across all industries worldwide. Our mission is to help businesses capture these untapped demands with better efficiency and higher precision,” Daniel Nguyen, CEO of WriterZen, stated.

Phuong Tran, VP of Investments and Head of Vietnam at Wavemaker, said, “The global SEO market stands at US$52 billion today and is projected to grow to US$122 billion by 2028. WriterZen is best placed to capture a sizable portion of this market as it urgently addresses global clients’ need for a holistic and well-designed SEO toolset that can fuel their growth.”

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Fundraising or preparing your startup for fundraising? Build your investor network, search from 400+ SEA investors on e27, and get connected or get insights regarding fundraising. Try e27 Pro for free today.

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The Singapore Week of Innovation & Technology (SWITCH) last 25-28 October was back this year to bring together entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, innovators, and industry players to elevate the global-Asia innovation ecosystem. 

Focusing on deep tech applications, it provides opportunities for closer collaboration and knowledge-sharing among startups, small and medium-sized enterprises, investors, corporate and innovation departments, research and development organisations, and local and international government bodies. 

Last year, more than 15,000 participants from 42 countries gathered at SWITCH. This year, SWITCH is back bigger as an entirely in-person conference, comprising innovation programmes including a Sectoral Thought Leadership Stage, Market Access Sessions, and Industry Exhibition Showcases and Roundtable sessions. 

One of its much-anticipated events is the SLINGSHOT 2022 Startup Pitching Sector Finals and Grand Finals, organised by Enterprise SG in collaboration with AWS to provide extra support to participating startups. Returning for its sixth edition this year, SLINGSHOT 2022 gave global startups a chance to immerse in Singapore’s innovative business landscape and explore opportunities to grow and expand within the region’s vibrant market. 

SLINGSHOT2022 was open to global startups currently working on either one of the five emerging challenge domains: Transformative Digital Technologies; Environment, Energy, and Green Technology; Consumer Media, Goods, and Services; Health and Biomedical; Manufacturing, Trade, and Connectivity. The Top 50 startups will receive a sponsored trip to Singapore for the grand finals during SWITCH, to showcase and pitch their startups for a chance to win SGD 1.2 million worth of prizes. 

Opening doors for startups in ASEAN

SLINGSHOT, organised by Enterprise SG, has made it possible for the top startups to experience an eye-opening immersion in Singapore’s business and innovation industry. Enterprise SG sought to encourage startups to realise their potential and design solutions to accelerate their growth in the region and beyond through this initiative. 

Enterprise SG has collaborated with Amazon Web Services (AWS) to enable the SLINGSHOT 2022 participating startups to access important tools and services that can help them realise plans for their products.

Also read: Meet the 100 nominees for Alibaba’s AsiaStar 10×10 campaign

AWS has supported the SLINGSHOT finalists by lending its cloud computing expertise and providing mentorship. Through the AWS Public Sector Startup Ramp, a programme meant to guide early-stage startups in building and launching solutions in different sectors including health, digital government, agriculture, smart cities, and space technology, the finalists gained access to AWS’s global community of startup members and partners, relevant training, and AWS credits.  

AWS also supported startups through AWS Activate, which provided tools, resources, content, and expert support to help startups build, accelerate, and scale at every stage.

Samuel Harris, Public Sector Startup Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan at AWS, said, “AWS is committed to supporting all startups with the tools, guidance, and mentorship they need to transform industries. We are happy to collaborate with Enterprise SG on SLINGSHOT 2022 to inspire startups to build and innovate on AWS Cloud, and help to accelerate and scale businesses that drive societal benefits and economic development.”

Building global networks with the AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes

The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes were held globally in three Amazon offices: San Francisco (September 16), London (September 20), and Hyderabad (September 23). The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes are intended for startups to learn more about that programmes and resources which can be leveraged to build and scale innovative solutions on AWS, as well as how they could accelerate growth via Enterprise Singapore to expand their businesses to Singapore and the region.

The three locations were chosen as they were startup hotspots and had an influx of registrations for SLINGSHOT. AWS and ESG jointly organised these sessions – inviting startups within their networks to join the sessions and tapping on their ecosystem partners to share their experiences on innovating and expanding.

The AWS-SWITCH Networking Nodes hosted SLINGSHOT fellows in a series of technical and networking sessions that allowed them to meet and connect with local startup founders and industry leaders.

Also read: Reimagining customer experience with Sendbird

The sessions were designed to educate participants about the different AWS programmes and resources they can leverage to help them experiment with their ideas, develop existing products, and scale their innovative solutions according to their desired markets. The sessions also enabled participants to tap Enterprise SG for support to help them accelerate and grow their foothold across Singapore and the region.

The panel discussion was held on the topic, “Innovation as a Driver for International Expansion.” Guest panelists included Vinayak Ganapuram (Vice President, Head of Engineering, Crayon Data) who helped provide the startup perspective on the processes and challenges in growth and expansion; Zaran Bhagwagar (Principal, Anthill Ventures) who expounded on their successful ventures and the investor’s perspective in enabling the startup ecosystem; and Enterprise Singapore Regional Directors who shared about programmes and initiatives that Enterprise Singapore is running to spur innovation in the respective geographical locations.

Immersion Day in Singapore

In the lead-up to the Grand Finals of SWITCH 2022, AWS hosted SLINGSHOT’s Top 50 Global Startups on October 21 at the AWS office in Singapore as part of the immersion programme. During this session, the participating startups learned more about how organisations leverage AWS to innovate, and participated in a workshop on AWS Amplify — a complete solution which allows developers to accelerate full-stack web and mobile app development.

Also read: We need to accelerate progress at the frontier of innovation

The startups also learned first-hand through a sharing session by Samuel Harris (Public Sector Startup Lead, Asia Pacific and Japan, AWS), Tuan Nguyen (Public Sector Startup Business Development Manager, AWS), Andre Low (Public Sector Technical Program Manager, AWS), and Richard Goh (Public Sector Business Development and CIC Leader, Singapore, AWS) on how they work with AWS to build and scale innovative solutions.

Innovation through partnerships

The collaboration among AWS, SWITCH, SLINGSHOT, and Enterprise SG aims to redefine the startup industry. It shows the power that collaboration brings to every area of a startup business in today’s digital world. Asia is driving growth globally, and Singapore lies at the heart of the action. While competition is tough, collaboration makes businesses more robust and resilient.

To learn more about AWS Start Up Ramp, visit https://aws.amazon.com/government-education/startups/public-sector-startup-ramp/

About ESG: Enterprise SG is a government agency working with companies to innovate, internationalise, build capabilities, and promote enterprise development. It strives to accelerate Singapore’s growth as a hub for global trading and startups.

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

We can share your story at e27, too. Engage the Southeast Asian tech ecosystem by bringing your story to the world. Visit us at e27.co/advertise to get started.

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“90 per cent of my comments are bots,” Musk tweeted on September 5th.

Even as Twitter insists on claiming that only five per cent of its users are automated accounts, or bots, the issue is increasingly incendiary, as Musk has been trying to back out of the US$44 billion deal for months, only to revive his bid at the beginning of October, just before the beginning of the Delaware trial aiming to solve the issue once and for all.

Where do we currently stand on bots?

Corroborating Musk’s theory that spam and fake accounts prevalence on Twitter is higher than on other social platforms of its size is a study by Cyabra, a data analysis firm using publicly available data to claim with 80 per cent confidence that bots represent 11 per cent of Twitter’s total user base, significantly higher than the five per cent reported by the company itself. 

The same issue, relating to audience exaggeration and the pervasiveness of social media bots, is true for Facebook, now Meta. In 2017, Facebook claimed it could reach more people than exist within certain age groups, at least according to data from the US Census.

Musk’s wish to eliminate bots and false profiles from Twitter, as well as his insistence on user verification, is very honourable. His call for greater transparency is a message that Silicon Valley badly needs to hear, as much as it needs to know how positive an effect eradicating spam accounts could have. 

Also Read: Is Twitter playing whack-a-mole with its problems?

The first social media platform to actually be able to do so will have a major competitive advantage over its competitors because once you have a fully credible environment, you can begin to develop many commercial applications around it, and you set an example for your peers.

Facebook vs regulators

What went wrong for Meta’s Libra project, the permissioned blockchain-based stablecoin formerly known as Diem, was the regulators’ –justified– concern that the company would come to completely control the world’s biggest marketplace without any real system of checks and balances in place.

And back when it was Facebook, Meta didn’t have the greatest reputation among legislators due to a series of controversies over issues like “data privacy, misinformation and alleged censorship”. 

As of yet, Meta hasn’t proved its ability to manage the many pitfalls they have faced in recent years around security, fake profiles, scams and the like, nor has any real desire to do so.

After an initial planned launch set for 2002, Project Diem ultimately shut down in early 2022 after Meta and its Diem Association “said it became clear from dialogue with federal regulators that the project could not move ahead.”

How to solve the bot issue with Web3 technology

The solution to this is methodically separating the social media activity side of the company from its commercial activity infrastructure. 

In this case, an independent third party could develop a project like Libra, entirely autonomously and without running the risk of interference between different projects from one side of the company or the other.

This independent third party would need to be a Web3 key player with a scalable infrastructure supporting an independent token, and it would benefit from the specific integration of an ID layer and zero-knowledge proofs. 

The same is true for any social media company with a prevalent bot problem. Applying this same concept to a platform like Twitter, an ID layer at the protocol level, would enable a system of trust and credibility in which to continue fostering strong partnerships and seeing positive commercial results. 

Within a controlled and regulated environment, facilitating the right kind of business projects would become infinitely easier, and so would assisting them by developing the needed tools and services.

Balancing privacy with accountability

Balancing privacy with accountability is our motto at Concordium, and it’s served us well. As a science-backed blockchain designed with business applications in mind, we are helping to build the technology needed for the world to migrate from Web2 to Web3 and beyond. 

In the case of social media platforms, they badly need to revisit their Web2 strategies for Web3 purposes and intents, and I believe that blockchain-based innovations and companies like Concordium can help them do just that. 

As social media platforms currently allow anyone to create an account with just an email address on file, we have very little accountability and absolutely no way to verify anyone’s identity unless they want us to know who they are. 

Also Read: Elon Musk doesn’t look at credentials when recruiting. Is that silly or disruptive?

Casinos and online betting platforms have strict and efficient KYC (Know Your Customer) systems in place, so why shouldn’t spaces like Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter? After all, we’ve all seen how automated accounts, or bots, contribute to the spread of fake news and propaganda.

A hopeful vision for the future

In a statement from Diem’s CEO Stuart Levey announcing the sale of the Diem group’s assets to Silvergate, he addressed the need for a payment network with controls against misuse, such as “a prohibition on anonymous transactions, which pose both sanctions and money-laundering risk.”

And that need still stands; for a while, its execution was botched, but the vision of Diem and the ideals it was designed on were worthy and worth exploring. I believe Meta’s idea was spot on. 

Online businesses –which, these days, means any business- greatly benefit from access to online customers and widespread reach of their messaging on social media platforms, but once Meta tried to control every aspect of such a large “database,” it became a monopoly in all but name. It was obvious that regulators would not let that fly. 

A well-designed and efficiently targeted partnership between a social media platform the size of Meta or Twitter, and an external and completely independent ID provider, would be less controversial to those in Washington looking to either green light or end social media companies’ expansion. 

So far, we have witnessed strained relationships between Silicon Valley minds and lawmakers in Washington, but it doesn’t have to be that way. 

Giving the power back to the users while balancing privacy with accountability and transparently doing it all could usher in a new era of collaboration between the two parties with one common goal: making the internet of the future safer, more inclusive, and less bot-friendly.

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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

Image credit: Google Images

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Busan Blockchain Week (BWB) 2022, hosted by Busan Metropolitan City held at BEXCO for three days from October 27 to October 29th. With the theme of “Blockchain, City and Life”, as an extension of last year’s NFT Busan 2021, BWB 2022 will feature conferences for the advancement of the blockchain industry and provide a space to obtain insight as well as to share information.

Anndy Lian’s speech is on “Trends Shaping the Future of NFT”.

Lian is an all-rounded business strategist in Asia. He has provided advisory across a variety of industries for local, international, public listed companies and governments. He is an early blockchain adopter and experienced serial entrepreneur, book author, investor, board member and keynote speaker.

NFT: From Zero to Hero is his latest book. The book is a call to anyone and everyone excited about the prospect of the world of NFT. Bound by imagination only, the NFT space is still in its early days, and early adopters can be a “hero” in their search for new possibilities. The book is available on Amazon and Bybit. More than 8,000 copies were sold.

NFTs took 2021 by storm. With billions traded over NFTs and a strong community behind the technology, we’re seeing NFTs being adopted by industries as diverse as gaming, finance, art, and medicine.

NFT gaming and game-fi

This trend is obvious. At present, many successful game manufacturers in the traditional game industry want to get involved in NFTs.

NFT ticketing

NFT ticketing goes beyond this. The future of NFTs in ticketing offers opportunities for lifetime value, exclusive access, and extra incentives for buyers.

NFT fragments

Fractionalisation essentially breaks up an NFT into smaller pieces so people can purchase small parts of an expensive NFT.

Digital twin NFTs

Imagine this same type of record existing for physical items. It would completely change resale markets.

AI NFTs

Alongside blockchain, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the next major disruptor in tech. So it should be no surprise the two are being combined.

NFTs and health

With issues surrounding counterfeit vaccination passports and concerns about the vulnerabilities of centralised data storage of sensitive medical information, NFTs and the blockchain may well be integrated more and more into medicine and health in the years to come.

Growth amidst doubt

Although the popularity of NFTs is indeed declining, all walks of life are still accelerating their integration with NFTs.

Starting in the second half of 2021, many well-known brands have also begun to try NFTs, matching them with real objects and even designing their own metaverse. Obviously, the utility has become the first test for big brands in the metaverse field through NFTs.

NFT essentially provides brands with a new way to launch limited-edition products, and the resulting community and word-of-mouth communication will raise their share of voice compared to rival brands.

The future of NFTs

A number of countries are now actively working on regulatory frameworks for NFT assets, strengthening anti-fraud and anti-manipulation audits of projects, determining the business core of each platform, and solving financial security issues such as illegal fundraising and false fraud.

At the same time, major public chains are actively upgrading, expanding, and building their own ecological frameworks to provide underlying support for the production, confirmation, pricing, circulation, and traceability of NFT assets.

Nowadays, NFT financial tools are becoming more and more abundant, and the scale of financial derivatives is steadily increasing. The NFT industry is gradually exploring a development path suitable for blockchain assets.

“The future these NFT trends depict is an interesting one. While many people are concerned about the implications of the metaverse and the rise of AI, it’s a future full of possibilities. We are still early. Let’s build the ecosystem together.” Lian added.

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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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Elwin Tan, Jason Chua, and Ben Chua were undecided about their next move as they finished their PhD studies in stem cell biology at the National University of Singapore and the Agency of Science Technology and Research (A*STAR).

As the trio started thinking deeply about the future, they saw the value of their academic research in stem cell differentiation.

After consulting various people, the threesome, with deep and relevant expertise in muscle and fat cell research, decided to apply their knowledge to develop a protein alternative. They were joined by Prof Teh Bin Tean, who holds multiple roles within Singapore’s research community.

“Food is a topic close to our hearts, and we felt our knowledge could help solve some pressing issues plaguing the world, such as food security, environmental degradation, and animal welfare,” Tan tells e27.

Also Read: Alt.Flex.Eat: Flexitarianism is the flavour of the SEAson

After further deliberations, they decided to build a venture in the cultivated meat domain. They were further encouraged by Singapore being the first country to approve cultivated meat sales in December 2020 and the emergence of a growing number of successful alternative protein companies globally and locally.

That was the beginning of Meatiply.

Incorporated in April 2021 in Singapore, Meatiply develops and produces cultivated meat cuts with a focus on Asian cuisines. An A*STAR spin-off, the startup obtains cells from livestock animals like chicken and uses regenerative biology to grow these cells into meat.

Meatiply (derived from the words ‘meat’ and ‘multiply’) unveiled three structured prototypes as its first proof of concept in September 2022 — kampong chicken yakitori, chicken katsu bites, and Asia’s first smoked duck breast.

These were made from a specific blend of plant-based components and a high percentage of meat cells.”The plant-based ingredient is a blend of components developed by our in-house food technologists. It works best with our cells to give the aroma, texture and taste to the products we are trying to mimic,” Tan explains.

The company plans to pursue a B2C strategy for cultivated meat products and a B2B strategy for meat-derived products. It envisions selling directly to customers and will likely tap into e-commerce platforms and distribution networks for conventional meat, such as supermarkets.

The company aims to launch the products in 2024.

Tan admits that the pricing of its products is currently astronomical compared to conventional meat. “We have R&D strategies to drive down costs and get closer to price parity in the next few years. We also envision adding value to our offerings to make them more enticing to consumers, and they would be prepared to pay a premium for it.”

Consumer perception is also another issue to overcome. “In Singapore and SEA, consumers are highly price-sensitive. In markets like the US and Europe, consumers are willing to pay a premium for foods better suited to their lifestyle and needs, such as sustainable and organic food.”

The meat market in SEA

Meat is a US$2 trillion industry in the region and is ripe for disruption, given the issues of animal welfare and the environmental impact of agriculture.

The founders see enormous opportunities in the region, given that Southeast Asia is at the epicentre of the most populous nations, such as China, India and Indonesia. In addition, SEA has a burgeoning middle-class growth, with chicken being the fastest-growing consumed meat in Asia.

“We want to establish our footprints in Singapore first. As we obtain regulatory approval, we plan to target other markets in Asia, such as China, India, Korea and Japan. We are also aware of the widespread Asian food influence in other parts of the world like the US and Europe and will target these markets in our second phase,” Tan reveals.

Also Read: No animals were harmed in the making of this ‘meat’ burger

Although small, Singapore has witnessed a spike in the birth of alt-protein companies in the last few years. Many companies are already operating in Singapore, including Shiok Meats, Next Gen Foods, TurtleTree, Growthwell Foods, Shiok Meats, Karana, Phuture Foods, Life3 Biotech, MAD Foods, and Float Foods. Players such as Shiok Meats and Net Gen are heavily funded and have already expanded their footprints into other categories or markets.

Tan says that Meatiply develops high-quality and highly complex products with a superior taste, texture, and aroma to its competitors. “We believe that the eventual market leaders in cultivated meat would be the ones that can deliver products with superior taste, texture, and aroma.”

The business is raising a seed round of funding to develop the critical areas of scaling production, cost optimisation, and exploring regulatory approval. Together, these will lay the foundation for its commercialisation plans. It also seeks partners to leverage new technologies in food safety and bioprocess development and further develop cultivated meat and cultivated meat-derived products.

Why bother when there are many plant-based alternatives?

“While plant-based meat greatly reduces conventional meat consumption, not everyone will be convinced to replace meat with plants. We believe that if we make a more realistic product, we’ll convert more people away from the many ills of conventional meat, thus saving more animals and the planet,” Tan concludes.

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Image Credit: Meatiply

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Delysium, an AI-powered AAA Web3 game focusing on Southeast Asia, has secured a US$10 million strategic funding round led by US-based Anthos Capital.

Immutable, GSR, Blockchain Coinvestors, Leonis Capital, Antalpha Ventures (Bitmain’s venture arm), Perion, and Formless Capital also participated.

The funding will be used mainly to develop the content, enable unique AI-powered experiences, and build Delysium Multiverse, an open-source operating and publishing network on the blockchain.

“We will focus on making three things happen to build a strong community: a great game, a unique AI-powered experience, and an unprecedented, innovative business model based on the blockchain,” said Xiankun Wu, Co-Founder of rct AI, the parent of Delysium.

Also Read: Web3 games should aim to have sustainable tokenomics, ecosystems: Froyo Games’s Douglas Gan

rct AI is a company backed by Y Combinator, Makers Fund, and Galaxy Interactive. Its game Delysium is powered by Deterrence, an AI layer for powering intelligent NFTs. The startup has integrated technologies (AI yield farming, conversational AI, battle AI, and AI motion generation) to create cognitively aware virtual beings distributed to every corner of Delysium. Players can enjoy a more dynamic and personalised gaming experience by interacting with AI MetaBeings.

Born in the virtual world, these AI MetaBeings are native digital species capable of earning and holding their private assets by joining game modes with players, creating dynamically generated narratives for players, and learning and iterating from continuous interactions with players.

In Delysium Multiverse, each universe is operated by a separate Delysium Multiverse Operator (DMO). Not only can DMOs issue their own NFTs based on Delysium’s IP free of charge, but they can also create their own customised tokenomics or incentive system with their own tokens embedded into the game. Based on this innovative model, players can enjoy more diverse and rich content through community-based DMOs’ creation and operations.

Unix Gaming, one of the world’s largest gaming guilds with more than 200,000 players, has become the first DMO officially announced.

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One of the biggest challenges many online stores face is their inability to strike a chord with their customers.

The reason behind this is not far-fetched.

Most businesses do not have an effective customer strategy when marketing their products on the internet. This can be frustrating for both buyers and sellers. You need an excellent digital experience if you want your business to thrive in today’s world of e-commerce.

Websites are not well designed

A well-designed website is a crucial part of the online shopping experience. It should be simple, clean, and easy to navigate. Responsive across all platforms – desktop, laptop, and mobile device

This will make it easier for customers to find what they need on your site.

Product content is not good enough

Content is the heart of your online store. It’s what will make you stand out in the sea of competitors. To convince customers to buy from you and helps you rank better in search engines.

According to Shopify’s State of Ecommerce Report,

• 86 per cent of consumers take action after reading a company blog post or article
• 69 per cent of consumers report that they visit an online store because they were referred by another website or article

This means that if you want your store to be found on any search engine, you need good product content!

No focus on the customer buying experience

It’s not enough to create a good website. You need to build a great customer experience. Focus on making it easy for your customers to find what they want and feel like they are being listened to.

If you don’t take the time and effort right now, you will lose out in the long run.

Also Read: How e-commerce merchants can capture growth in international markets

Here are some key areas where you can improve:

Make your site mobile friendly

According to Statista, mobile internet usage stood at 4.32 billion in 2021!

So, if your site isn’t already optimised for this trend (i.e. doesn’t look good on mobile devices), then it’s falling behind the competition already.

Be open with your customers

Win over consumers’ hearts by being open about their products before and during purchase. Share details about shipping times or return policies. Do not let customers wonder what will happen next after placing their orders. Build trust levels.

Online stores do not use social media marketing strategically

You might be wondering how the heck social media marketing can help your online store. Well, it’s a relatively simple concept: Social media is an opportunity to reach a wider audience and build your brand.

Social media marketing can also help you share your company’s story with people who have already bought from you, in addition to introducing new customers to what makes you unique.

To start making the most out of social media for your business, consider these five tips:

• Know your audience
• Determine what you want out of your social media marketing
• Set goals for each platform
• Strategise a content plan (and stick to it!)
• Don’t forget about customer support

Email marketing is under-utilised

Build your list and grow your audience through email marketing. Use it to bring customers back to your store, which will increase traffic, resulting in having them buy more from you.

Email marketing is one of the most effective ways for people to receive information about products and services they may be interested in purchasing.

Yet, many online retailers do not take advantage of this powerful tool because they do not know how or where to start their campaigns.

Online stores do not have a unified communication strategy

A unified communication strategy is crucial for any business that wants to communicate internally and externally. This involves the integration of all forms of communication channels.

Emails, social media, live chats, voice & video calls, screen sharing, smart and instant messaging, and video conferencing.

When these pieces are properly orchestrated, you can create a seamless experience for your customers and employees.

Provide a truly omnichannel experience enabling customers to interact with your store using their favourite channels.

Do you know your customer?

This is a crucial first step in any online marketing campaign. It gives you the ability to understand what they’re interested in and what would appeal to most of them.

Understanding your customer base can help improve customer experience, increase sales conversions, and create content that resonates with the target audience.

Also Read: Big wins for small businesses: Supercharging growth with online content

To gather information about your customers, look at their interests and preferences based on their shopping history.

You could use third-party data sources like Google Analytics or Facebook Insights, which provide valuable information on demographics such as age range and gender. It could also tell more about how best to reach them using digital channels such as social media.

There is no conversation with the customer

Customer service is the single most important aspect of running an online store. Simply put, if you don’t have good customer service, no one will buy from you.

But there are many ways to define good customer service. For example:

• It’s not just about answering questions. It’s also about listening to the customer and solving problems promptly.
• Customer support should be proactive. Reach out to start helping them with their issues.

The digital experience is not personalised

Personalisation is a customer service that is very important to customers. Customers want to feel like they are being listened to and cared for.

It’s no surprise that personalisation has become an important part of the online customer experience.

Customers want personalised experiences – from being greeted on every visit or receiving relevant offers based on what they have bought in the past to having access to live chat or 24/7 availability if they have any questions about your order.

Improve your online marketing strategy by following these methods

• Focus on the customer buying experience.
• Provide a live chat feature (web widget).
• Keep building your email list. Do this by using pop-ups, exit intent pages, or other forms of digital marketing methods to sign up.
• Unify communication channels. It’s important to understand where your customers are and what device they use to ensure that you send them relevant information — on desktop, mobile, or tablet.

Key to a successful online store

Find your niche. The more specific you can be, the more focused you will be on your audience, and the easier it will be for them to find what they’re looking for.

The best thing about online stores is that they are there 24/7, so people can shop whenever they want! As much as it’s important to have a brilliant website store, it’s highly recommended to provide them with an outstanding personalised service.

Today’s customers have high expectations for digital experiences online. Bridge them with communication tools that create amazing customer experiences, not only for the customer but for your team.

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The post Why do most online stores fall flat and how you can improve it? appeared first on e27.

Pascale Wautelet, Avery Dennison’s VP for Global Research & Development and Sustainability, discusses the need to nurture startup companies and communities to expedite progress and see frontier innovations thrive.

In 1949, the patent for the barcode was filed by Joe Woodland. It wasn’t until 1974 in Troy, Ohio, that the first item at Marsh Supermarket was passed through the scanner and that now-familiar beep was heard. It eventually came to pass because IBM had invested in the innovation and the prototype process. Sadly, despite working for IBM at the time, Woodland wasn’t credited with the final UPC concept.

While the original intention was to speed up the checkout process in America’s grocery stores, the outcome was to revolutionise the supply chain. IBM’s support of innovation illustrates how groundbreaking ideas can languish for decades if they don’t have the necessary financial support or infrastructure required to bring innovation to life. In the case of the barcode, they also needed a succession of inventions — from infrared to improved printing practices — in order to support the outcome.

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

More recently — 30 years ago actually — we saw the advent of Bluetooth technology as a result of collaboration between Dutch engineer Jaap Haartsen and Swedish telecommunications giant Ericsson. Again, the concept of spread-spectrum radio technology had existed since the late 1930s when Austrian-born actress Hedy Lamarr found time between Hollywood movie shoots to develop the technology that would fail to evolve until a corporate enterprise saw its potential some 50 years later. 

Fast-forward to present day: in such a fast-paced evolution of new technology and highly dynamic market needs, the power of collaborating with external organisations is invaluable for businesses. Open Innovation has become a necessity today, and I see many advantages to making it part of your company’s Innovation Engine.

Supporting groundbreaking innovation

At Avery Dennison, we have established multiple paths within our innovation framework, and our AD Stretch accelerator programme, running alongside our Open Innovation Studio, is one of those. When we think about exploring new opportunities that are further from our core, we need to accept that we cannot be the master of everything. Partnering outside your company gives you access to a much broader pool of insights, ideas, and solutions from different sources that enables you to transform your business faster as you nurture and support innovative talents and ideas.

Also read: Going the extra mile in digital innovation for Singapore’s commuter experience

Another key aspect of open innovation and external collaboration is the ability to boost employee engagement. When organisations are collectively involved in solving the most challenging problems and implementing the best ideas, it fosters strong engagement and ownership and a stake in the company’s goals. Employees feel more connected to the strategy and invested in contributing to company success. Ultimately it is a win-win.

Helping innovators flourish alongside their ideas

As we saw with the barcode, a larger organisation investing in innovation is nothing new — it’s how we’ve progressed through successive industrial evolutions and into the Digital Age. Whereby innovations of old progressed yet the innovators themselves were left behind, today, we want to ensure that not only do the ideas flourish, but so do the ideators.

Also read: 25 years in Singapore: This industry veteran discusses innovation

And now more than ever, we need to come together to solve problems collectively. As history has demonstrated, inviting talented people to the table and supporting their concepts is one of the quickest ways to delivering solutions at scale and solving some of our industry’s most urgent challenges.

To know more about Avery Dennison’s accelerator program, visit ADStretch.com

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This article is produced by the e27 team, sponsored by Avery Dennison.

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