The Southeast Asia region is positioning itself as a go-to destination for blockchain startups. To date, there are more than 600 blockchain startups headquartered in the region, owing to the population’s relatively open-minded outlook towards Web3.

Why Web3 is becoming a magnet for builders

Blockchain technology, a core pillar of Web3, has been embraced by ambitious startups due to its fast-paced innovation and disruptive opportunities.

“In light of recent efforts to shut down and/or block certain applications and websites, developers are opting for a true Web3 decentralised digital infrastructure, as opposed to centralised providers. This provides the resilience that dApps or protocols need, which is impossible with the Web2 infrastructure riddled with centralised choke points. This trend will only continue to gain strength as entrepreneurs and developers realise the importance of building on decentralised technology,” says Kyle Rojas, Global Business Development and Partnerships at Edge & Node, the founding team behind The Graph.

Business-wise, digital solutions using blockchain smart contracts streamlines day-to-day processes, ensures greater transparency and saves cost. Smart contracts guarantee higher data immutability, allowing business partners to execute agreements while minimising human errors.

The not-so-smart side of smart contracts

Although smart contracts have undoubtedly brought innovation to Web3, their rigidity poses serious limitations. For instance, deployed smart contracts are difficult, if not nigh impossible to change in case of code errors. If an open-source smart contract is copied by others, it can be an arduous task to quickly notify everyone who copied the code.

Also Read: 3 steps to starting a business in Web3

The consequences are not cheap. In fact, over US$2 billion worth of assets has been hacked from decentralised finance (DeFi) alone this year, due to exploits found in publicly exposed source codes. The immutable aspect of smart contracts makes it a double-edged sword, if developers cannot easily patch known vulnerabilities.

Despite the setback, the Web3 industry is estimated to reach US$42 billion in market size by 2028. Advances in protocol layers, as well as NFTs, can be key drivers for industry growth. “Recent blockchain development trends in Asia include Zero-Knowledge (ZK) and infrastructure projects built on Move based programming languages, NFT infrastructure related to anti-fraud and dynamic NFTs, and gaming​​,” says Harrison Goldsmith, Investor Relations at Kernel Ventures.

Ushering Web2 talent into Web3

The launch of new blockchain-native programming languages are not unheard of. As the scaling limitation of smart contracts becomes more evident, developers around the world continue to seek alternative solutions. Take for instance the layer-1 blockchain protocol Aptos, which aims to utilize the Move language in a bid to “​​design a network that is more reliable and predictable for large clients interested in embracing the blockchain.”

Another approach is to get rid of smart contracts altogether. “Many real world applications require large throughput, which is a core limitation arising from serialised smart contracts. Unlike smart contracts, Smart Assets can be utilised alongside a high volume of concurrent requests to make blockchains useful in enterprise apps,” says Michael Holdmann, CEO and Founder of PraSaga.

PraSaga features a dynamically programmed distributed ledger solution that includes a global ID for every single object on the blockchain. The platform allows existing Web2 developers to build using a Python-based programming language and blockchain operating system.

Python is one of the most widely adopted coding languages in the world with 8.2 million developers and counting. “The best of Web2 industry practices can be brought into Web3 development platforms by tapping into millions of existing Python coders. This will encourage faster adoption of blockchain technology, while surpassing the complex demands of forward-looking businesses and coders,” comments Holdmann.

Also Read: Understanding the difference between Web3 and metaverse

Widening Web3 exploration for countless industries

Dynamic blockchain solutions can be useful to drastically reduce automotive recall times from weeks to days. Being able to quickly prove that a specific screw in a car engine has the incorrect metallurgical composition, may effectively translate to substantial cost reduction for all stakeholders. Similar concepts can be utilised by global supply chain manufacturers, or pharmaceutical distributors.

Although Web3 is still nascent, a stream of new blockchain tools are penetrating into the hands of developers, enhancing new opportunities for experimentation. To break past what was once speculation, the gold standards of Web2 and Web3 will likely converge to drive tangible innovation.

—

The content was first published by The Human & Machine.

Image Credit: The Human & Machine

The post For Web3 to take off, we need to fix the rigidity problem of smart contracts appeared first on e27.

Vietnam-based fintech company Fundiin today announced that it had raised US$5 million in Series A funding round co-led by Trihill Capital and ThinkZone Ventures.

Other investors participating in the funding round included 1982 Ventures, Genesia Ventures, JAFCO Asia, Zone Startups Ventures and Do Thu Ngan, Deputy CEO of Sacombank and former CFO and COO of JP Morgan Chase Vietnam.

The funding will be used to expand at a faster pace, invest in the development of new products, as well as attract top talents before expanding to Indonesia in the upcoming Series B round.

Fundiin CEO and Co-Founder Nguyen Anh Cuong said, “While credit card penetration rates in developed countries range from 50 per cent to more than 70 per cent, in Vietnam this rate is only five per cent. This shows that Vietnam is a high potential market for BNPL to develop, and BNPL is also an important solution to promote financial inclusion and prevent loan sharks, one of the most important missions in the national financial inclusion strategy.”

Also Read: Top 3 factors for recruiting offshore developers in Vietnam

“As this is a big problem to solve, Fundiin is very proud to receive the partnership and support from strong investors, especially from ThinkZone Ventures which counts many of Vietnam’s leading conglomerates as LPs, and from Trihill Capital for future expansion into Indonesia,” he continued.

Fundiin is a buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) platform in Vietnam that aims to help retail partners and e-commerce sites increase sales by up to 30 per cent by offering consumers BNPL options as a payment method.

The platform currently has three zero-cost BNPL sub-products: Pay in three-monthly instalments, Pay in 30 days, and Recurring payments.

Fundiin has cooperated with more than 300 partners with more than 4,000 physical stores.

—

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.

Image Credit: Fundiin

The post Fundiin raises US$5M in Series A funding round to prepare Indonesia expansion appeared first on e27.

Hong Kong-headquartered chat management platform imBee has raised US$5 million in Series A funding led by global VC firm DCM.

The startup, incubated by the Hong Kong Science & Technology Park Corporation (HKSTPC), will use the capital to go deeper into existing markets and expand its footprint in the Asia-Pacific region.

Ken Chu, CEO of imBee, said: “We look forward to using this capital to expand product features, such as digital know-your-customer (KYC) and identity verification, and bring the imBee experience to companies across Asia Pacific.”

Through imBee multi-chat management platform, financial and professional services firms (banks, securities companies, insurers and property developers) can collaborate and communicate internally and externally on a single interface.

Also Read: ‘SEA needs to grow together and produce more quality unicorns’: Vertex Ventures’s Carmen Yuen

With easy drag-and-drop flows, the self-service platform eliminates unnecessary barriers within internal team operations, boosts productivity and generates revenue.

External communication channels, such as WhatsApp Business API, WeChat, Facebook Messenger, and Instagram, can now be integrated into an all-in-one platform linked to a company’s internal communication system.

imBee’s capabilities also include integrations with Microsoft Teams and its existing native workflow engine with over 360 applications, i.e. Salesforce, Hubspot, to streamline communications between internal and external customers.

imBee’s platform is built on the AWS cloud infrastructure to provide high-level data security. Hence, companies can meet security requirements and fulfil their data governance and compliance needs.

On Monday, Fano Labs, a partner company of HKSTPC and provider of an AI voice analytics system, announced a funding round from AEF Greater Bay Area Fund managed by Gobi Partners GBA.

—

Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon. 

Here’s the full list of the speakers for the 2022 edition, which will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

The post HK’s chat management platform imBee snags US$5M Series A for APAC expansion appeared first on e27.

You’ve got a plan to expand your business and take it to a new level. You’ve set clear goals and a timeframe, and you’ve got the drive to achieve growth. But for any of it to happen, your business has to have a solid foundation.

If you can’t retain your existing customer base, it doesn’t matter how quickly you’re gaining new customers. You’ll always be on shaky grounds, a few bad months away from disaster.

You can stop leaking customers today, you just need to prioritise it.

What is customer retention?

Churn is when customers stop doing business with you. For example, when they cancel their subscriptions. You need to do all you can to avoid high churn rates.

Customer retention is the opposite side of the coin: it means avoiding churn. If you can keep your customers from taking their business elsewhere, your customer retention rate will remain high.

If you want to improve your customer retention (and you definitely do), you need to reduce churn. Easy as pie! 

Calculating customer retention rate

Your Customer Retention Rate (CRR) is a good measure of the health of your business. It shows the percentage of customers who remain loyal within a given time period.

Also Read: Keep your customers around with stellar retention strategies

There are a few different ways to calculate it. We like to keep it simple, using Zendesk’s formula: 

 [(E-N)/S] x 100 = CRR

S – The number of existing customers at the start of the time period (S)

E – The number of total customers at the end of the time period (E)

N – The number of new customers added within the time period (N)

Example:

You start the month with 100 customers, and you end it with 130 customers. During the month, you acquired 40 new customers.

((130-40)/100) x 100 = 90 per cent Customer Retention Rate

Your churn rate is the inverse of that: Churn Rate = 100-CRR.

So, if your CRR is 90 per cent, your churn rate is 10 per cent. Now you have to figure out if that’s good enough.

Customer retention rate benchmarks

Calculating retention rates don’t mean much unless you know what’s expected in your field. 

For a rough estimate, you can use Profitwell’s research on retention rates per industry:

• Retail: 63 per cent
• Banking: 75 per cent
• Telecom: 78 per cent
• IT Services: 81 per cent
• Insurance: 83 per cent
• Professional services: 84 per cent
• Media: 84 per cent

There are some niche-specific reasons why customers might find it extra easy (or unusually difficult) to switch to a new product or service. That’s why it’s helpful to benchmark yourself against your industry to see where you stand.

Strategies for customer retention

If you’re unsatisfied with your CRR, here’s what you need to change:

Implement a customer feedback loop

It’s difficult to know where to start if you don’t know how your customers feel.

To keep up with your user base, you need to use different metrics and surveys for different situations. Some ideas: 

• Add CSAT surveys to solved tickets in your help desk. This lets you stay on top of issues and resolve them in real-time. The surveys also give you insight into tactical improvements you can make later.
• Send quarterly NPS email surveys to all customers. Recurring Net Promoter Score surveys capture your customer base’s general sentiment. The focus here isn’t on problems but on getting a complete picture of the customer experience.

Combined, CSAT and NPS will give you a lot of the information you need to make improvements to improve retention.

Find and track the red flag metrics

You can’t prevent churn entirely. But when a customer does cancel, you need to use it as a learning opportunity.

Use surveys to find out why the customer decided to leave. Then try to connect some of those reasons with KPIs that you can track.

Also Read: CX is crucial for your business. Here’s how Zoom can enhance it 

I’ll use an example from my own company, Simplesat. Our product is a customer feedback management tool, and a common reason why our users cancel is that they aren’t getting enough feedback to justify the value of their subscription.

We want to make sure that doesn’t happen. So one of the NPS survey questions we send to our customers is “Are you happy with the amount of feedback you’re receiving?” This lets us identify red flags early on.

Consistently communicate the value you deliver

Another common reason behind cancellations is neglected communication from your side.

Some customers stop seeing the point of paying for your service simply because you’re staying out of sight and out of mind. They start to forget why they chose you in the first place. They may assume you’re stagnating or get tempted away by a more aggressive competitor.

Make sure customers are aware of new features and enhancements you’ve made.

You should also ensure customers understand what you’re doing for them day in and day out. As IT Business Growth expert Richard Tubb likes to say, “Let your client see the pain, but not feel the pain.” 

If your business involves behind-the-scenes work such as IT security monitoring, show customers the potential crises you’ve averted for them.

Take customer support seriously

Aim to solve customer questions or issues in the first interaction.

Basically, you want to avoid the ‘please stay on the line, I have to ask my manager’ effect.

Escalating issues to a higher support tier may seem efficient for you internally, but it prolongs your customer’s waiting time. It makes them feel unappreciated, all while their issue remains unresolved.

We live in the era of Zendesk, Intercom, and other online support tools. There’s no excuse to keep people waiting. You can and should deliver near-instantaneous support around the clock.

If you don’t think this is important, don’t worry… your competitor does. By getting around to your customer, they might have already found a solution elsewhere.

Focus on a truly remarkable product or service

You can do plenty to keep your customers engaged by paying attention to them:

• Use CSAT and NPS surveys to gain a full picture of how your customers are feeling about your service.
• When a customer decides to leave, make it easy for them to tell you why they cancelled.
• Make sure every customer understands what you’re doing for them. In case of any problems, provide instant help.

But none of that’s enough if your product or service doesn’t measure up.

Customers are rational decision-makers (well, mostly). You must have an attribute that differentiates you from the competition – cost, quality, reliability, or whatever else. If you can’t keep providing that consistently, they’ll find someone who can.

Start with understanding what’s going wrong

As your company grows or changes direction, it’s not easy to keep your finger on the pulse of your user base. 

But with enough information and prompt customer support, you can head off any issues before people even think of leaving. Simplesat was created to help with that.

With straightforward, customisable surveys, you can learn what disappointed customers think. Only then can you decide how best to change their mind and keep them loyal.

–

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 How to reduce churn: 5 essential customer retention strategies appeared first on e27.

Hong Kong-headquartered global venture accelerator Brinc has announced a partnership with Fusang Corp, which owns and operates a digital exchange for security tokens and assets.

The collaboration is aimed at making startup investments more inclusive by leveraging blockchain technology and unlocking the use of Fusang Digital Asset Exchange.

Manav Gupta, Founder and CEO of Brinc, said, “Brinc’s partnership with Fusang will enhance tokenisation and fractionalisation, markedly improving inclusivity in asset investment by lowering the bar for ownership while improving transparency and reducing administrative costs and the chance of human error.”

Fusang will join as a new programme partner under ZK Advancer. Erstwhile Launchpad Luna, ZK Advancer is a virtual accelerator established in mid-2021 as a partnership between Brinc and Animoca Brands. 

As part of this partnership, Brinc will become a shareholder in Fusang Corp. Fusang, in turn, will provide advisory services to ZK Advancer startups. Additional private sessions will also be available for startups seeking to tokenise their equity and list on the exchange.

Also Read: Endowus acquires Hong Kong multi-family office Carret Private Investments

Fusang’s affiliated company, Portcullis, a company management and secretarial services firm, may also act as a key facilitator in assisting startups by offering access to corporate management counsel and strategic advisory services if needed.

Startups interested in the ZK Advancer accelerator program can sign up with Brinc here, and will be notified when the next call-out opens.

—

Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon.

The 2022 Echelon edition will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

The post Venture accelerator Brinc joins hands with Fusang to make startup investments more inclusive appeared first on e27.

There’s nothing quite like being able to connect with a startup in real life: being able to immerse at the intangible qualities and energy they exude and inspire — The Harvard Review calls this “the soul of a startup”. As founders, investors, entrepreneurs, and enthusiasts, there is nothing we find more thrilling than getting a peek at new innovations being brewed by startups out there. On top of great networking opportunities, connections, collaborations, and potential business partnerships, the best part about Echelon 2022 is finding out all the new things that startup founders are coming up with!

In true Echelon fashion, this year’s edition of the Echelon Asia Summit will feature some of the most exciting and innovative startups from the region and beyond. As with previous editions, e27 is fully committed to bringing together today’s leading entrepreneurs and investors from the region to showcase what’s in store for Southeast Asia’s vibrant startup ecosystem.

Also read: Echelon 2022: A peek at the future of marketing measurement

With the fast-paced digitalisation happening around the world, new products and services are sprouting left and right. As such, we want to give Echelon participants the opportunity to take a closer look at these exciting new developments. Meet and connect with select Pro Connect members at Echelon 2022. This year we are partnering with 5 of our Pro members to exhibit their products and services.

Without further ado, here are 5 e27 Pro startups showcasing at Echelon 2022!

5 startups to showcase at Echelon Asia Summit

• ArmourZero

ArmourZero is All-in-One Cybersecurity for Business. They help you to protect, monitor, report, detect, and stop breaches faster through their all in one service platform.

Cybersecurity protection is a necessity today and rather good to have, and the protection should cover everyone, anytime and anywhere.

Most companies have 4 or more disconnected and silo cybersecurity solutions. With ArmourZero’s integration and services, you can better manage risk and increase security operations productivity by reducing gaps and vulnerabilities between legacy silos.

• Alphaswift Technologies

Alphaswift is a company that provides customised drones (UAV) and robotics design and development for industrial clients. Based on clients’ requirements, Alphaswift can provide the best combination of drones, robots, ground control stations, and specialised payloads to maximise efficiency.

• Tokenizer Banx

Tokenizer Banx is a centralised crypto wallet for Crypto and Fiat that consolidates all your crypto assets under one account for all your financial needs.

The money and digital assets superapp lets your buy digital assets with one click or swipe, transfer money globally with a click, and transact with crypto at any shop that accepts VISA cards. Through Tokenizer Banx, users can grow their wealth over time, in tokenised assets, NFTs, tokens, stocks, ETFs, commodities, and FX, among others. The apps also lets you get high crypto rewards whenever they use Tokenizer for shopping or payments.

• Empauwer

Combining technology, AI, & machine learning to enable seamless communication between neurotypicals and neurodiverse, Empauwer is an AI-driven platform that helps companies engage and employ neurodiverse talents to cultivate a more inclusive workplace.

• MindNation

MindNation is one of Asia, Middle East, and Latin America’s pioneer mental healthcare systems for teams and organisations. With the aim of happier, healthier employees, MindNation provides mental healthcare services such as teletherapy consultations with psychologists and WellBeing Coaches, Company Culture Drives (talks and workshops), and access to valuable resources, analytics and insights that companies need to improve their organisations’ overall mental well-being.

Also read: Echelon 2022: Ninja Van’s steady path to profitability

Engage with these Pro Connect startups

These are only 5 of the exciting Pro Connect startups that will be joining us at Echelon Asia Summit 2022. Pro Connect is a Pro membership plan that lets its members access relevant tools, insights, and connections to boost their visibility and growth at various stages of their company.

A Pro Connect membership includes access to:

1. Investor network.  Members can connect with 400+ investors who are actively looking for investment opportunities.
2. Ecosystem Insights. Curated from 150+ sources, incl. general tech media and hyperlocal channels delivered bi-weekly.
3. Company Visibility. Members get to highlight their fundraising efforts in front of ecosystem stakeholders through priority listing on e27’s Companies Fundraising widget.

Want to get to know, connect with, and strike business partnerships with these 5 startups and more?

Register for Echelon Asia Summit 2022 now!

The post 5 innovative startups to showcase at Echelon 2022 appeared first on e27.

Indonesia-based beauty ecosystem platform Social Bella today announced that it had received a new investment led by existing investors Temasek and L Catterton. East Ventures, Jungle Ventures and other existing investors also contributed to the investment, totalling over US$60 million.

The funding round followed a US$56 million funding round that the company announced in May 2021 which it used to support its regional expansion plan.

Social Bella President and Co-founder Christopher Madiam commented, “Sustainability has been our core principle since day one, and all of our bold moves are always well calculated. This is why we have been able to generate stellar growth despite the pandemic and raise new funds from marquee investors, validating our business model and robust fundamentals.”

Also Read: How Indonesian beauty e-commerce startup Social Bella finds a balance between commerce, content, community

“While we have never been afraid to be an industry game changer, our relentless pursuit of sustainable growth over the long run defines us and will continue guiding our path forward,” he continued.

e27 is reaching out to Social Bella to find out their plans with the new funding

Also known as the omnichannel speciality platform Sociolla, Social Bella claimed to have margins increasing and its footprint expanding 20x since 2020.

Targeting Southeast Asia’s US$60 billion SHEconomy categories, it aims to start with the region’s over US$10 billion beauty market.

Following its 48 stores across 15 cities in Indonesia, the platform has also started expanding into Vietnam with 13 locations at the moment.

In addition, it has also launched Lilla, a business unit focusing on the mother and baby market. The store has recently opened its first physical store in Indonesia.

—

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.

Image Credit: Social Bella

The post Social Bella raises US$60M funding round led by Temasek, L Catterton appeared first on e27.

The world today runs on data, and it is a double-edged sword. Marketers have plenty of information to gather to understand consumer behaviour, but at the same time, delving deep into the massive volumes of data to make sense of them is a daunting task. So what future lies in marketing measurement? 

The end of third-party cookies

One of the challenges in marketing measurement is the decline in trackability, with big players such as Google and Apple cracking down on third-party cookies. As a result, marketers will have significant hurdles in monitoring online behaviour to reach the right audiences.

Data explosion and tougher competition

About 10,000 marketing platforms and tools are out there, making it excruciatingly difficult to find the best way to handle all the data companies generate. Many companies gather more data than they can deal with, resulting in mountains of siloed data left ignored. 

Adding to the explosion of data is the rising competition in online marketing. The more ads running down feeds, the harder to stand out. The crowded market filled with too much noise also pushes up the cost of ads.

Preparing for the future

With the evolving marketing trends, it is necessary to brace for what is coming. At Echelon Asia Summit 2022, Victor Audienne, Sales Team Leads at AppsFlyer, will moderate a fireside chat with Zalora Group Chief Revenue & Marketing Officer Achint Setia. They will discuss “The future of marketing measurement” and tackle relevant topics such as:

•   Impact on measurement in the new privacy-centric world
•   Mobile ad fraud
•   Customer retention with re-targeting and how to measure its true impact

— 

Echelon Asia Summit 2022 (October 27-28) returns after a three-year hiatus. It aims to gather the most influential decision-makers and industry leaders from the Southeast Asia tech and startup ecosystem.

Register for Echelon Asia Summit 2022 now!

– –

Photo by Pixabay via Pexels

The post Echelon 2022: A peek at the future of marketing measurement appeared first on e27.

Singapore-based insurtech startup bolttech announced today that it has secured an undisclosed sum in Series B financing led by Japanese insurance holding company Tokio Marine.

The names of co-investors in this round were not disclosed.

The round values bolttech at approximately US$1.5 billion.

Tokio Marine’s partnership as a strategic investor will complement bolttech’s capabilities and reach, enhancing its distribution strength, product innovation, and balance-sheet capacity. The startup will use the money for its continued global growth.

Also Read: iPhone co-inventor-backed insurtech unicorn bolttech adds US$30M to Series A

Launched in 2020, bolttech aims to make connections between insurers, distributors and customers easier and more efficient to buy and sell insurance and protection products. It works with insurers, telcos, retailers, banks, e-commerce and digital destinations to embed insurance into their customer journeys at the point of need.

The firm claims it serves customers in 30 markets across North America, Asia, and Europe. Its network has more than 800 distribution partners and 200 insurers and is licensed in 36 international jurisdictions.

The company now quotes approximately US$50 billion worth of annualised premiums through its technology-enabled insurance exchange, the largest in the world.

Early this month, bolttech announced the completion of the acquisition of a majority shareholding in Indonesian insurance broker Axle Asia. This followed bolltech’s strategic investment in UK-based digital insurance advisory Sherpa.

Last year, bolttech secured US$247 million in its Series A round via multiple rounds.

bolttech’s other backers are BRV Capital Management, EDBI, Spanish firm Alma Mundi, Tony Fadell (Principal at Future Shape, inventor of iPod, and co-inventor of iPhone), Alpha Leonis Partners, Dowling Capital Partners, B. Riley Venture Capital, and Tarsadia Investments.

Tokio Marine was founded in 1879 as Japan’s first insurance company. It has established digital laboratories in seven locations worldwide.

—

Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon. 

Here’s the full list of the speakers for the 2022 edition, which will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

The post Japan’s Tokio Marine leads insurtech unicorn bolttech’s Series B round appeared first on e27.

Fano Labs, a partner company of Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and provider of an AI voice analytics system, has raised an undisclosed sum in funding from AEF Greater Bay Area Fund managed by Gobi Partners GBA.

The round also saw participation from New Vision Capital.

The funds will accelerate Fano Labs’s business expansion across the Greater Bay Area and Southeast Asia.

In today’s growing and complex financial legislations, financial service institutions such as banks are looking into ensuring that their relationship managers (RM) interact with customers in compliance with regulatory requirements.

Also Read:  To Voice AI or not – The changing face of customer experience

When RMs take an order to execute a transaction, they must take their customer through an extensive product suitability assessment, risk assessment, and risk disclosure before the transaction can occur. The bank records all these conversations so that its risk and compliance departments can later run a sample check and ensure that the sales processes are appropriate, the service quality is good, and the customers’ interests are protected.

However, it is very labour-intensive and costly for banks to arrange a sufficient workforce to manually listen to these tapes and catch the rare bad apples.

Fano Labs’s AI voice analytics system, Callinter, uses language AI technologies to analyse all the banks’ audio records and automatically flag recordings that might contain mistakes, misconducts, or misselling practices. The bank’s risk and compliance professionals can dive deeply into the flagged recordings for closer inspection.

Callinter can operate 24×7 and process audio 100x faster than humans (it can process 100+ hours of audio within one hour of real-world time). This enables banks to monitor sales compliance internally and take remedial actions before things go sour.

With the conversations between RMs and customers fully processed and analysed, banks also use the analysis results to understand better customers’ investment interests and satisfaction levels with the banks’ services. Banks have devised better ways to serve customers and make better investment advice based on such insights.

Also Read: Aiello banks US$5.8M to take its voice AI assistant for hotels beyond Taiwan

“As of today, our technologies have been adopted by 10 of the top 15 banks operating in Hong Kong, five of which are among the world’s top 10 banks by asset values. Our technologies are also used by 12 different public bodies exercising regulatory powers in different sectors to help them conduct supervision tasks more effectively,” said Dr Miles Wen, Co-founder and CEO of Fano Labs.

Fano Labs was started in 2015 by Dr Wen and Professor Victor OK Li. Previously, it received funding from HKSTP, the University of Hong Kong, Horizons Ventures, Alibaba Hong Kong Entrepreneurs Fund, and Saltagen Ventures.

—

Echelon 2022 aims to provide intimate and focused discussions on key topics and business matching services to facilitate business-driven connections during the two-day event. e27 will curate and invite key stakeholders of startups, investors, corporates, and ecosystem enablers to drive towards fruitful business outcomes at Echelon. 

Here’s the full list of the speakers for the 2022 edition, which will be co-located with SWITCH at Resorts World Sentosa from 27 to 28 October 2022. Learn more here. 

The post HK’s voice AI company Fano Labs nets funding from Gobi Partners-led fund appeared first on e27.