Tokocrypto Sembrani Blockchain Accelerator, a programme run by Indonesian cryptocurrency exchange Tokocrypto in partnership with BRI Ventures, has announced US$40 million investments in its participating startups.

The investees are VC Gamers, nanobyte, Avarik Saga, Creo Engine, Eizper Chain, Duckie Land, Play Fix, Play it Forward DAO, Mythic Protocol, getKupon, Avarta and Survey.

The startups were also provided with the necessary tools for fundraising, team culture, blockchain development, listing advisory and tokenomics to develop the skills required to make a mark within the blockchain industry.

“The startups selected reflect the flourishing blockchain ecosystem in Indonesia, and this is just the beginning. Two years ago, the term blockchain seemed foreign, but today it is a digital powerhouse in NFTs, decentralised finance, and even GameFi,” said Tokocrypto CEO Pang Xue Kai.

Also Read: Tokocrypto, BRI Ventures launch blockchain accelerator programme

Tokocrypto Sembrani Blockchain Accelerator is part of the multi-dimensional TokoVerse by Tokocrypto created to bolster blockchain technology adoption in Indonesia and beyond. It focuses on four primary pillars: branding and marketing, investment strategies, investment landscape tactics and access to fundraising opportunities.

The programme’s mentors include Nicko Widjaja (CEO of BRI Ventures), Pang Xue Kai (CEO of Tokocrypto), Teguh Kurniawan Harmanda (COO of Tokocrypto), Lai Chung Ying (CSO of Tokocrypto) and Nanda Ivens (CMO of Tokocrypto).

As per a statement, the programme has initiated the support of over 50 investors, including Tokocrypto, Binance Labs, Cydonia, Solana Labs, Signum Capital, YGGSEA, Alameda Research, Huobi Ventures, Crypto.com, QCP, Avocado DAO, and Intudo Ventures.

Since the programme’s launch, Tokocrypto has connected the participants with global mentors such as Tamar Menteshashvili from Solana Labs and Nicole Zhang from Binance Labs. Investors listed previously were invited to the programme’s Demo Day, which took place on April 11 2022, where participants demonstrated the progress and achievements that have been made to date.

Together with TokoLabs, Tokoverse has developed Asia’s first crypto hub, T-hub, Indonesia’s first and largest NFT marketplace, TokoMall, and an educational mobile app, Kriptoversity, to name a few.

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The fast spread of COVID-19 in India highlights the critical significance of public health. There has been an ardent need to strengthen public health services to serve India’s population beyond the pandemic by offering them instant access to healthcare solutions.

With India being one of the second-fastest adopters of digital services, constituting about half a billion internet users, there is an immense scope to unlock an additional economic value of US$1 trillion through inclusive growth.

Additionally, with the right application of digital to the Indian healthcare sector, the issues of access and affordability are getting tackled. The accelerating need for medical care is steering the country in the right direction amid a Medtech revolution.

The digital healthcare market in India stood at US$116.61 billion in 2018 and is expected to increase at a CAGR of 27.41 per cent to US$485.43 billion by 2024, according to The ‘Digital Healthcare Market in India 2019’ report.

The underlying challenges

However, despite the positives, the country still faces the acute problem of an unequal healthcare system where the wealthy have access to the best care while the impoverished are restricted to limited options.

It can be addressed by improving hospital and clinic infrastructure, bringing in telehealth facilities, channelling resources in the most disadvantaged areas, building awareness around chronic diseases, and prioritising early diagnosis.

Also Read: Modern solutions to modern problems: How Plusman LLC innovates healthcare

The other challenge is the lack of uniformity in record keeping. In most instances, local healthcare facilities or hospitals cannot uniformly document all records for services, especially in rural areas.

This results in repeated diagnostic tests and consultations, delayed treatments, concealment or ignorance of medical history etc. This can lead to a wrong diagnosis and further increase treatment costs.

Even in hospitals where digital records are maintained, there is no provision for the electronic transfer of patient records from one service provider to another. The lack of access leads to either the patient physically carrying the medical records or having no access to them.

Digitisation for bridging the healthcare gap

Through the National Digital Health Mission (NDHM) announced in 2020, the government endeavours to create a digital health ecosystem by leveraging the existing digital infrastructure (including frameworks related to Aadhar and UPI) and the pan India coverage of internet-enabled smartphones. The other objective is to ensure equitable real-time healthcare service delivery in India.

Healthtech has a crucial role in tackling the problem of an unequal healthcare system, thereby bridging gaps in India’s healthcare ecosystem, especially preventive healthcare and disease management.

This is evident with the vertical recently witnessing exponential growth, prompting trends like online patient consultation, e-pharmacies, telemedicine, integrated digital insurance memberships, etc. Investors are accelerating their funding in this sector due to the pandemic.

Democratising healthcare solutions

But the need of the hour is affordable real-time healthcare solutions encompassing OPD, IPD and wellness, facilitating instant access for different classes of the population.

We have been trying to democratise the affordable healthcare experience for SMEs, MSMEs, startups and growing businesses and their workforce across India by providing them monthly, comprehensive employee healthcare, including group health insurance, discounted telemedicine, teleconsultation etc.

More organisations should provide inclusive insurance to reach the unserved, underserved and low-income households. This will ensure deeper penetration of health insurance to families at grassroots levels.

What also works are innovative healthcare solutions in the form of sachets offering preventive care like doctor teleconsultations, affordable health checkups, discounted medicine, group mediclaim and accidental covers and hospitalisation support related to claim processing and reimbursements. Similarly, more startups should work on innovative, inclusive initiatives to improve India’s health equity.

Also Read: Bolstering healthtech: Thailand’s bid to become Asia’s medical hub

The insurance industry, which has always been under the dark cloud of mistrust due to rampant mis-selling, is now seeing disruption and innovation with Insurtech startups driving the transformation by leveraging technology.

Hence, there is an ardent need for them to deliver quality service that they have promised to rebuild trust with their customers. However, a lot of work needs to be done to change long-held consumer perceptions. But it’s not impossible.

Thus digitisation has the potential to bridge the mighty healthcare gap and improve the quality, access and affordability of health services by penetrating at grassroots.  This can lead to public-private partnerships, the birth of indigenous start-ups, path-breaking ideas, and thereby more skewed investment in India’s healthcare and healthtech sector.  

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In a typical Silicon Valley startup, you look to start with an innovative product or service and then match that to customer demand, testing out your hypothesis with an MVP (minimal viable product) before seeking to scale up the business backed by VC funds.

The VC model seemed in decline during the crypto ICO boom years in 2017/18, when an ambitious whitepaper and an impressive founding team and advisors were enough to gain token investment.

But nowadays, as the world of DeFi, the metaverse and NFTs all usher in the Web3 world, that’s certainly not enough. Projects need to have purpose and be community-led, in a real sense, in terms of both governance and tokenomics.

As Maggie Hsu, partner at top crypto VC Andreessen Horowitz pointed out regarding the nature of Web3 projects earlier this year, “It means having a strong community, not just being “community-led” or “community-first,” but also being community-owned, blurring the distinction between owner, shareholder, and user. What allows for long-term success in Web3 is a clear purpose, having an engaged and high-quality community, and matching the right organisational governance to that purpose and community.”

That being said, how does the current practice of whitelisting, allowing early pre-sale access to NFT and DAOs, square with this Web3 vision? When there is an opportunity from being lucky enough to be whitelisted to make a significant short-term profit, is that right from the longer-term view of the project.

What is whitelisting?

Before we get into the expert discussion, let’s briefly consider the focus of this article. Whitelisting was introduced in the NFT space near the end of 2021 after NFT enthusiasts identified a critical issue during the launch of new projects.

Also Read: NFTs: The good, the bad, and the future

Before the concept of whitelisting became popular, NFT projects with a lot of hype were usually ‘botted’ on the mint day by NFT whales (people who hold large amounts of crypto), leaving little to nothing for retail investors. Using trading bots allows the whales to buy the NFTs before community members have a chance to buy.

As explained in the NFT Examiner, whitelisting is when a specific crypto wallet has been approved for minting a specific NFT.

“As an example, Neo Tokyo is a project where participants have to pass a test to become eligible to mint a Neo Tokyo Identity NFT. If they solve the challenge, they are added to the whitelist, allowing the participant to mint the highly sought after NFT. Without being on the whitelist, buyers could attempt to mint the NFT, but the transaction would fail.”

In the NFT world, whitelisting typically means that a crypto wallet address has been pre-approved for the minting of NFTs on specific dates and times.

Furthermore, due to the high demand for these projects, particularly on the Ethereum blockchain, there were usually ‘gas wars’, with transaction fees reaching thousands of dollars, which was a bad look for the NFT sector and hampered user adoption.

In addition, pre-approved users on the whitelist can spread out their minting so that they are not all transacting simultaneously, avoiding a sudden spike in transaction prices caused by demand. Most new NFT projects layout their whitelisting requirements on their respective

Discord servers, with different tasks and assignments ranging from chatting to a certain level, posting fan art, promoting the project on social media platforms, etc.

In some ways, it’s an evolution of the practice of ‘bounty campaigns’ used in the days of ICOs in 2017/18 to market token offerings by offering giveaways in return for tweets and Facebook likes to help promote the coin offering.

The lure of big profits

Of course, the popularity of getting yourself invited onto an NFT or DAO whitelist isn’t just about being part of an exclusive community, to be part of a long term Web3 project; for too many people simply a chance to make a quick buck.

In his video explainer on the power of whitelisting, YouTuber ‘_DB’ points out that if you get access to a pre-sale token, it usually sells between US$10 to US$20 or even US$30, though how much can vary according to the amount of hype behind a project; with a limit in the amount of pre-sale tokens typically set between US$1,500 to US$2,000.

The new NFT drop from the High Sloth Society (HSS) of 10,000 Elite Sloths recently organised a public sale that was sold out in 29 minutes for US$1.2 Million.

Also Read: 3moji aims to transform the way NFTs are used in metaverse with its composable avatars

The High Sloth Society NFTs started their public sale at noon UTC on the 28th of April. Then on the next day, they sold another 1,000 pieces at 0.08 ETH each at their whitelisting event.

“The High Sloth Society is a group of people that are no longer interested in money but want to focus on what money cannot buy. By owning a high sloth, the users are granted the opportunity to have a direct interest in the ancient artefacts. The Korean National Treasure is just the first one,” Leon Kim, Core Contributor of HSS, said.

What’s the benefit for the community?

The purpose of whitelisting serves two core purposes. The first relates to the fact that if you are going to have any degree of success, you need to build a community around a project. Achieving this involves driving online engagement through social media.

And using a whitelist is an excellent way to do this. For the user, it’s a way of getting preferential access to a project, providing an incentive for a community to rally around a project.

“It can be a really good way to start getting people again, like talking about things on social media, retweeting, commenting, sharing pictures, all that sort of thing, because if you if you make things obvious, then you’ll get like, you’ll get some pretty good organic traction,” confirmed Ben Baldieri, Director of a Web3 tech consultancy Disintermediate Ltd.

The future for whitelisting

The whitelisting method currently dominating the NFT space is relatively new. Therefore, while it’s successfully prevented botted NFT project launches and conserving gas fees, they need to be used with the community in mind.

BigONE Chairman Anndy Lian said, “While the whitelisting practice was founded on good intentions, it has been tainted by some bad actors in the NFT space; this ranges from over-stringent requirements for being considered for a whitelist to some Discord server moderators giving out multiple whitelist spots to their family and friends.”

“I believe that commonly agreed best practices for the NFT space are the logical next step forward to ensure all participants’ safety and security in this exciting marketplace. NFTs have a lot of potential as their utility develops from collectibles to allowing fans to connect directly with artists and creators and their role to prove ownership in the metaverse and GameFi projects. But as things move quickly, we need to ensure we get the balance right in such a fast-changing technology,” Lian added.

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Lazada receives US$378M from parent Alibaba
This is the largest capital injection since June 2020, when the company had received US$1.3B from Alibaba; Alibaba, which has a huge presence in SEA, is looking to expand into Europe; Alibaba already has AliExpress in Europe.

Indonesian used-car platform Moladin raises US$95M
Investors include DST Global, East Ventures, Northstar Group, and Sequoia India; Moladin helps agents and smaller dealers use tech to simplify transactions for selling used cars; It said it has over 40K agents and dealers across Indonesia.

Indonesian digital identity network VIDA raises US$47.7M Series A
London-based Hedosophia is likely the lead investor; Other backers are Alpha JWC, SEA Frontier Fund, YTL Corp., Endeavor Catalyst, and Breyer Capital; VIDA offers ID verification, legally binding and verifiable digital signatures, and verifiable credentials.

Animoca Brands leads US$24.3M Series A of gaming metaverse firm Untamed Planet
Untamed Planet plans to create metaverse games that immerse players in virtual worlds featuring wild natural landscapes wherein NFTs can be collected; The studio also secured a partnership with nWay, Animoca’s video game arm.

SG CRM startup Privyr raises US$6M
Investors include MassMutual Ventures SEA, Vulcan Capital, and Wavemaker Partners; Privyr’s CRM mobile app helps sales staff and businesses contact and convert leads into clients; It claims to have 45K+ sales professionals across 75+ countries.

Indonesia’s community-powered social job platform Atma nets US$5M pre-seed funding
Investors include AC Ventures, GFC, and individuals from GoTo Group, Ula, Lummo, Kopi Kenangan, MMS Group and Xiaomi;
Atma intends to build an end-to-end ecosystem that includes a job marketplace, an upskilling institute and a community-based support system.

New Zealand VC firm Global From Day One launches US$5M Web3 fund
GD1 Crypto Fund 1 will invest in pre-seed series A firms across verticals, including DeFi, DAOs, and NFTs; The fund has also sealed two deals that will see GD1 invest in companies backed by global VCs like Andreessen Horowitz, True Ventures, and Kleiner Perkins.

Carsome acquires WapCar, AutoFun to strengthen automotive content strategy
This follows its acquisitions of CarTimes Automobile in Singapore and iCar Asia; WapCar provides a full range of content which covers car exploration, transaction, and ownership experiences that aim to assist customers and car enthusiasts in their journey.

Carousell to buy Singapore fashion recommerce firm Refash
Carousell will leverage Refash’s network of 10 physical thrift stores across Singapore to help users sell their secondhand products in a shorter span of time; Refash has processed 5M+ pieces of clothing.

Play-to-earn gaming model bound to evolve, experts say
The primary objective of the emerging model will be to build games that are fun to play, where players will be incentivized for their skills and the number of hours they spend on the game.

Lazada faces backlash from Thailand for ‘insulting’ monarchy
The e-commerce firm released a promotional video, now-deleted, which portrayed a woman in a wheelchair wearing a traditional Thai costume, being accused of stealing her daughter’s clothes; Lazada has since issued an apology.

SG crypto firm Coinhako gets MAS nod for digital token services
The license allows the firm to operate as a regulated provider of digital payment token services; The company has more than 400,000 registered users in the city-state; Coinhako reported a total trading volume of about US$5.1B in 2021.

Chinese Tesla rival Nio eyes secondary listing in Singapore
Nio’s class A ordinary shares will be listed at US$0.00025 per share by way of introduction; The company is among a number of Chinese firms that have been found not to meet the US SEC’s regulatory requirements related to auditors.

YGG SEA to kick off US$37.5M token sale
The subDAO will initially offer 75 million SEA tokens worth US$0.50 each; SEA token ownership will give its community members voting rights on proposals, ecosystem reward allocations, features, and rewards systems.

UOB to inject over US$100K to greentech startups with new accelerator
The Greentech Accelerator will focus on energy efficiency, zero-waste supply chains, and carbon management and reporting; For its first cohort, it will take on 10 startups and SMEs for a three-month-long programme.

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Starting a business is hard. And scary too.

If we fail, we have to go through the rigours again. However, if we succeed, the fruits of our labour may well be worth it. Having mentored and trained thousands of entrepreneurs since 2016, I have realised that new business owners typically face this problem they create for themselves, and that is seeking perfection.

Please don’t get me wrong. Perfection is good. But it is often the pursuit of “it must be perfect the first time!” that made many new business owners stuck in their little bubble. Yet many do not understand that perfection is the end goal, not the starting line.

Before the pandemic, many business owners were afraid to go online because they did not understand the potential of having a digital presence and showcasing their business. It was ubiquitous to hear them say, “Digital marketing is for the big brands. They have the budget, and I don’t.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

Contrary to popular belief, digital marketing has allowed new and small business owners a much more levelled playing field with the big brands, allowing exposure on massive platforms.

Imagine this. A business used to need to pay at least five figures or more to advertise on traditional media like newspapers or television, but now, your business can be on anyone’s mobile phone screen for as little as US$2 a day. This is a game-changer.

Untapped potential in the digital space

Many businesses focus only on one aspect of their business, and it is usually one of these two. Their offering and marketing.

Those who focus on the former usually believe that they have the best thing ever and that everyone will buy from them, and they do not engage much in marketing. They don’t realise that if no one knows about them, no one will buy from them.

Also Read: What you need to know about digital marketing for the new normal

Those who focus on the latter will spend on marketing and sometimes neglect the value of their offer. But what they don’t realise is that if you do not provide the correct value to your customers, they won’t buy. In the rare instance they did, they will not come back again.

The sum of all parts makes a business tick, and there is a better alternative to address this issue for any business entrepreneur.

It is a well-known fact that 95 per cent of businesses fail within the first five years. While many contributing factors exist, offer and marketing are usually the prime culprits. I learned this as I experienced what it is like pivoting into a new business and career venture first-hand. 

My first-hand experience

I had a relatively stable life growing up. I attended good schools, had the freedom to pursue my interests academically, and I primarily did not need to worry about finances. As I found a stable career path in the military as a Naval Officer, I started to have fear, which is the fear of regrets.

That is why I left my stable career on my 30th birthday, which is a symbolic date to give me a second shot to give myself a chance to live life without regret.

After volunteering to help out a contact for an event pro bono, I realised that I had a knack for offer creation and marketing. The second round of this event was done to prove the process’s success, which paved the start of other opportunities coming my way.

Through this experience, I started to share how they can achieve such success with others. 

That is when Inbox Income Academy started and birthed my passion for helping others achieve success in their business. And very soon, I realised two things:

• Some people want to learn and do it themselves, and others want me to do it for them.
• I did not want to be a “trainer” with no real life and everyday experience.

To fill that gap, I started Inbox Consults. Now, I share up-to-date practices with my students in Inbox Income Academy, which I execute for my clients and myself through Inbox Consults.

Embracing failure and executing your business plans

These are the two lessons that have shaped my business today.

The first is to embrace “failures”, or as I prefer to call them, lessons learnt. More often than not, things do not always work in your favour in the first instance, and that is ok. What is important is that we learn from these episodes, improve upon what we need to do, and go for it again.

The second lesson is that while planning is important, execution is even more so.

In my years of military training, planning was drilled into me. We have the primary plan, the contingency plan, the back-up to the contingency plan, the what-if-the-back-up-also-fails plan.

Also Read: Diversity and inclusion marketing campaigns: Everyone, every day, forever

In business, if we only plan without executing it, nothing will happen. The execution brings results, and striving for progression and work towards perfection is part of the process.

A “soft love” approach

My SSG-approved program, “Soft Love” Launch Formula, is an acronym for sales, offers, funnels, traffic, leverage, offers, visibility, and execution. My framework and system are to help anyone start their business online and achieve more revenue online in 30 days or less.

Many people want to be able to start a business online, but they lack the system and knowledge to do so. I condensed my years of experience and proven track record into an easy to understand and implementable framework to help entrepreneurs and businesses head into the digital world and start making more.

It is clear that the future is in the digital space, and businesses that refuse to pivot will be left behind. But for the uninitiated, moving online could prove daunting. They need a proven framework that they can use to begin this journey, and SOFT LOVE Launch Formula provides that.

Final thoughts

For those who are looking for a change, ask yourself this question. “What is the best, probable, and worst-case scenario?” If the “worst-case” consequences are something you can live with, do it.

If you are content and happy with life, it is ok to stay where you are. There is no need to follow the trend, be an entrepreneur, or have a career change. However, if you are unhappy with yourself, do something about it. Your life won’t change unless you take action to change it.

If you are looking to do business online, I highly recommend that you learn from someone actively doing an online business. Online is a rapidly changing and unforgiving space. The pace of change is too fast. Something that worked just two days ago may not work today.

Have the courage to test out some campaigns, and do not be afraid to invest in advertising. Only when you do you will get data that will help you become better, and your business will grow the next time you do it. Once you are familiar with the basics, you can choose to work on your business and outsource the work to others and maintain oversight.

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Technology and artificial intelligence have transformed the educational landscape in recent years, creating a paradigm shift in education as we know it. Now ubiquitous in many of our lives, these technologies have become an integral part of the way we learn.

As AI solutions show increasing promise in supporting educational markets, online and tech-driven solutions have come under the spotlight in the fallout of the pandemic. Education institutions and classrooms worldwide are implementing edutech and artificial intelligence into their curricula, and the global edutech market is poised to reach US$181 billion by 2025 with increasing investments in AI to spur the development of technologies to support future educational needs.

With an increased need for dynamic learning strategies, educators have had to update themselves with new technologies and evolving pedagogies to cope with the learning needs of digital natives: their students.

But, the multitude of implications, applications and possibilities for AI in education remains vast. Still, one thing is for sure, the use of AI and edutech is now becoming synonymous with the future of education.

Unlocking the power of data

With the transition to virtual classes in the wake of the pandemic and the ever-growing use of technologies within the classroom, educational organisations now have access to a plethora of data and information on their students.

Also Read: How edutech is solving the global teacher’s crisis

Unlike the physical classroom, where data points on student behaviour and progress are limited to the observations of the teacher, AI can collect, organise and analyse learning behaviour and user interaction to determine current learning levels as well as uncover learning gaps and potential issues to be then raised to the educator. 

The data collected can then be used to create an adaptive learning curriculum that adapts to each student’s current learning progress. All learning materials and assessments can be customised and tailored to each student’s specific needs and levels to ensure efficient learning takes place.

Powering automation and simplifying administrative tasks

An educator’s workload never seems to end, and with the challenge of delivering high-quality learning materials digitally, AI has stepped up. By helping to automate time-consuming and tedious tasks such as attendance, grading, developing course content and tracking student performances, AI can help to ease the burden on educators. 

AI can be integrated with existing software platforms to provide automatic feedback and assessment results, automating repetitive processes such as marking homework and providing instant feedback on submitted work. This means less time spent manually entering grades or checking for plagiarism, which can free up valuable teaching hours.

Leveraging tutoring chatbots and use of NLP

In addition to automated systems, AI can also be utilised to develop intelligent tutors that can assist teachers in delivering effective lessons. These tutors can be programmed to respond to questions posed by students and offer guidance on topics they may not understand, all while keeping track of the student’s progress through the lesson. 

This allows learners to ask questions without feeling embarrassed and ensures that they receive the most appropriate response from the tutor. It also helps reduce the amount of unstructured time required for teachers to spend answering questions, thereby freeing up more time for teachers to focus on other activities. 

When combined with the other applications of AI, such as automatic grading and the generation of assessment questions, AI-powered tutors can provide immediate and real-time feedback to students.

With natural language processing (NLP), these AI tutors and chatbots hold conversations with users to assess student learning better, leading to improved knowledge and critical thinking skills through the use of question-and-answer to better gauge comprehension of learning material and reinforce new knowledge learnt.

Also Read: In this age of digitalisation, is edutech a bane or boon for educators?

Simply put, having an AI tutor in the classroom is akin to having a patient, relentless teacher who never gets tired, frustrated or bored and will never judge a learner for their nagging questions. 

Additionally, NLP features can also help educators better understand what is happening cognitively with their students. By analysing language use in the classroom, NLP can help identify and predict students’ mental states during learning.

When analysed in conjunction with data gathered from other student behaviour and activity, both the AI and educators can identify struggling students early on, leading to improved and timely support.

Becoming a classroom of the future

As technology advances, so too does the way we learn. The future of education is no longer confined to the traditional classroom; it’s online and accessible 24/7. By using AI to make learning easier, faster and more personalised, we are paving the way towards a brighter future for our children and youth.

To best utilise edutech and AI to provide a superior digital learning experience,  institutions and organisations should put proper thought into selecting tools after discussions with both technical teams and the educators on the ground. After all, the implementation of such solutions should only be for the betterment of students, educators and faculty.

No longer a distant notion, AI has come a long way since the term was first coined by John McCarthy at the 1956 Dartmouth Conference. Intelligent systems have become commonplace, a thriving innovation that’s taking us one step closer to the world of tomorrow. 

With the right kind of AI, edutech enterprises can shape the future of curriculum and the very culture of education and learning. AI’s prevalence is all around, and the possibilities are varied and endless, but it is up to educators to embrace it and use intuitive technologies to fuel the learning experience. 

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Singapore-based Fundnel Group, an online marketplace for alternative assets in Southeast Asia, has partnered with BRI Ventures to launch the BVI-Fundnel Secondaries Fund targeting growth-stage startups in Indonesia.

The new aims to build a portfolio of high-growth companies through a non-traditional route of investment which will directly support founders, employees and early backers.

Under this collaboration, global investors will be able to invest in Indonesia’s growth-stage startups.

Fundnel and BVI will also work with startups to find structured and standardised processes for employees to find secondary liquidity for their stock options.

Also Read: Tokocrypto, BRI Ventures launch blockchain accelerator programme

The BVI-Fundnel Secondaries Fund expects to attract investments of at least US$50 million.

Indonesia’s digital economy is expected to grow 18.9 per cent from US$44 billion in 2020 to US$124 billion in 2025, bolstered by increasing smartphone adoption, mobile-first development and expansion of technology, media and telecommunications infrastructure in rural areas.

Over the past three years, Fundnel has received a total of US$22 billion in secondary (bid-ask) transactions across more than 1,000 orders. In line with creating access and liquidity in the market, Fundnel is looking to explore tokenisation of the Fund on Hg Exchange to provide further liquidity for investors.

With tokenisation, a valuable channel may be opened for investors to tap on liquidity on the HGX, and it is intended to allow new investors to access high growth companies in the region with a minimum ticket size of US$10,000, a small fraction of the customary US$200,000 ticket.

Nicko Widjaja, CEO of BRI Ventures, said, “Exit environment has been more challenging due to various unfavourable macro conditions that lead to a supply crunch. Through this exclusive partnership with Fundnel Group, BRI Ventures is thrilled to make growth capital investments in private late-stage Indonesian companies to help provide liquidity in the market. With BRI Ventures’ strong track record of investments and huge ecosystem and Fundnel’s extensive pipeline of secondary opportunities, this partnership will also serve as an attractive entry point for larger foreign funds to enter Indonesian growing tech startups.”

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Brainsparks has partnered with e27 to connect the startups in its incubation program with investors in the region and foster possible collaborations. The partnership now brings a tremendous opportunity for the startups of Brainsparks 20 to expand their network and gain valuable connections with startups and investors that are part of the e27 ecosystem. 

Members of the Brainsparks 20 are some of the top startup companies in the Philippines. These startups come from different fields and niches which include Software As A Service, Finance, Education, Energy, and more.

Each of the Brainsparks 20 is accomplished in a variety of ways such as receiving multiple awards, securing high-profile partnerships, and gaining momentum and traction in their respective fields. Aside from that, the group has managed to garner more than US$10 Million worth of funding both from local and foreign investors.

Enabling partners to help startups build networks

Recently, TA, a startup ecosystem connector based in Taiwan has partnered with e27 to tap into e27’s network for their X-Pitch Investor Matching Program. The partnership provided the TOP150 startups with e27 Pro membership allowing them to connect with 400+ active and verified investors in the region.

As we continue to build partnerships in the region, we are excited to provide the same opportunity to startups in the Philippines through Brainsparks 20. This partnership with Brainsparks aims to help the 20 Filipino startups build networks in Southeast Asia’s startup community.

Meet the Brainsparks 20 startups from the Philippines

1. 1Export – 1Export is a tech-enabled exporting company that provides a one-stop end-to-end exporting platform that provides services to any and all trading businesses around the world.
2. BizKit Technologies Inc. – BizKit Technologies Inc. is an IT services and solutions company, specializing in ERP, RPA, web applications and consulting. We enable our clients to navigate through their digital transformation and transform their businesses for tomorrow.
3. Burket – Burket empowers local companies by providing accessible, affordable, and scalable digital solutions for business-to-business (B2B) sales and procurement transactions.
4. Cropital – Cropital is a crowdfunding platform that connects anyone to help finance our farmers.
5. Digiteer – Digiteer is a proven and trusted technology solutions provider that specializes in Custom Software Development focusing on commerce, automation, transparency, and blockchain technology.
6. Dorxata – Dorxata is a digital transformation agency that aims to help companies transition away from traditional processes by digitizing and optimizing every aspect of the business.
7. Edukasyon.PH – Edukasyon.PH is the leading education technology platform in the Philippines. We aim to empower more than 20 million Filipino Gen Z youth to make self-aware education decisions that lead to a fulfilling careers and life.
8. Exora – Exora is an end-to-end energy solutions platform that aims to lower energy costs through the use of technology and digitalization.
9. Lyon Software Technologies – We turn creators into businesses and businesses into creators. Lyon is an all-in-one community platform where people can monetize their audiences and create loyal customers.
10. MedHyve – MedHyve is a digital platform for any healthcare institution to find the right companies for their medical product needs, leveraging on synergies within the network of merchant and medical institutions to introduce innovative healthcare products to developing countries in the region at the right price.
11. Nextpay – A better alternative to bank accounts for small businesses and entrepreneurs in the Philippines. Collect customer payments, manage company finances, and pay for their expenses to any bank or E-Wallet, all on one digital platform.
12. Nexplay – Blockchain-powered online arcade that bridges the next billion gamers and big brands into the metaverse through hyper-casual games and dynamic rewards.
13. Onewatt – OneWatt literally listens to your machine’s problems. Using AI and Machine Audition, it can non-invasively understand your machinery performance and detects faults in industrial plants to prevent unplanned downtime, revenue losses, and unproductive maintenance.
14. Proper Digital Agency – We’re made of people who strategize and create – focusing on producing insightful work and performing to deliver notable results. Proper maximizes the rise and ripple of the digital landscape and integrates it into our practices.
15. Wiremo – Wiremo is a cross-border payments platform for businesses in the Philippines. We empower Filipino companies to transact with the world.

Connect with Brainsparks

Brainsparks is the first and only founder-focused startup incubator in the Philippines founded in 2014. The organisation’s flagship programs include: the Brainsparks 20 Incubation Program, IGNITE Innovation Conference, and Shell LiveWIRE Accelerator Program for Startups and Community Enterprises. 

e27 members can directly connect with Brainsparks or their investment arm First Asia Venture Capital. e27 Pro membership is required when connecting with their investment arm. You may try e27 Pro for free here.

The post Brainsparks 20 accelerating network-building with e27 Pro appeared first on e27.

It has been just over a year since the iconic sale of Beeple’s NFT piece, Everydays: the First 5000 Days, was bought for US$69.3 million by Singapore-based entrepreneur, MetaKovan on 11 March 2021. That momentous sale became the catalyst for the NFT space and has paved the way for NFT trading to enjoy a 21,000 per cent jump from US$82 million in 2020 to US$17.6 billion in 2021. 

The staggering transaction amounts have been a key driving factor that has made NFTs a regular part of news cycles for the last few months. But with so many developments happening in a short time, will NFTs be a cornerstone for Web3, or a trend that is waiting to pull the rug on everyone involved?

Let us take a closer look at the condensed timeline, and check out the good, the bad, and the possible future of NFTs.

The good: Honeymoon period and earlier days

Riding the wave of the Beeple sale, we had savvy local artists who saw the potential for the NFT space to garner a wider audience for their style, and a space to push their artistic expressions beyond image-based NFTs. This push led me to be part of Singapore’s first-ever cross-border NFT arts exhibition “Broken Capitalism”, along with Bulgarian artist, Mihov.

NFTs were also a means to bolster the income of artists during the pandemic. A CNA report shared how local artist Hafiiz Karim, known as The Next Most Famous Artist went from averaging SG$1,000 a month from physical prints of his digital work to selling 100 NFTs in a day for US$100,000.

MetaKovan pressed his momentum to launch his B2.0 flagship project. The project involves 20 of Beeple’s single-edition pieces designed and turned into displays in a virtual museum accompanied by an original soundscape. The digital assets were fractionalised and sold as B.20 tokens, giving greater accessibility for individuals to have a stake in the project. 

NFTs had sparked collaborations beyond artists and their audiences, towards associations and the government. The Blockchain Association Singapore (BAS) signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the NTUC-U Care Fund to use blockchain technology for fundraising purposes and jointly held the Blockchain for Good Event Night 2021, Singapore’s first NFT Charity Auction that raised SG$401,211. The result exceeded the original target of SG$250,000 and featured photos contributed by Speaker of the Parliament of Singapore, Minister Tan Chuan-Jin.

Also Read: The power of paid communities and NFTs

The honeymoon period saw many highs for NFTs, and it was a period of profit and experimentation.

The bad: Red flags and present day

Putting together the infancy of the NFT space and the large amounts of money transacted in such a short span of time have made it a prime target for scams and malicious attacks.

The Bored Ape Yacht Club (BAYC), known as one of the most prominent NFT collections fell victim to an Instagram phishing attack that happened on the one-year anniversary of BAYC’s launch on 25 April. Singaporean rapper, Yung Raja lost close to SG$100k worth of NFTs through a fraudulent Twitter link.

Axie Infinity, one of the top NFT games, suffered a hack that resulted in the loss of over US$600 million. The attack was revealed by Axie/Ronin, the company behind the network on 29 March, which happened to be a banner day for the company, and a full six days after the hacker ran away with the money.

The value of NFTs has been put to question with Jack Dorsey’s first Tweet as an NFT that transacted for US$2.9 million in 2021 being offered under US$30k as of date. Crypto entrepreneur Sina Estavi who owns the NFT mentioned that he may never sell following the low bids.

Presently, we see security issues, and the inherent values of NFTs forming the main challenges of the NFT space.

The future: Confidence, utility, connection

Security concerns have to be addressed above all else. In the case of the Axie Infinity, the team developed the Ronin sidechain and introduced their own digital token to avoid high transaction fees on Ethereum, the most popular blockchain used by play-to-earn games.

Experts have commented that the risk of a hack “grows exponentially” with such a move. Criticisms have been levelled at the company for prioritizing speed and usability over security and announcing the hack six days after it occurred.

The lapses in security, volatility of the NFT and cryptocurrency space, and the gaps in knowledge have made the Singapore government take active steps to regulate the space. 

The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) issued a statement discouraging cryptocurrency trading for the general public and implemented an NFT tax. Additional measures to the Travel Rule were implemented for cryptocurrency transactions for greater transparency.

Moving forward, there needs to be a balance where institutions have to keep their security measures up to speed, and users have to take responsibility on their end as well. The level of education of the space has to be picked up for everyone; for the individuals in the space to navigate safely with confidence, and for the public to have a base understanding to not be left completely in the dark.

Closing the knowledge gap will enable the NFT space to grow healthier, and for any future regulations to be well thought out, nuanced, and less reactive.

Despite the current setbacks, I feel they were necessary to bring the conversation about NFTs away from hypes and price bubbles. For NFTs to stay relevant creators have to provide utility and tie-ins for their projects.

Roadmaps with clear, achievable goals are starting to become a standard for reputable NFT projects. Knowing what the community wants for the project, offering something unique, and future developments for holders are parts of a good roadmap.

Also Read: Second generation NFT mints: It’s not all about the money

Singaporean NFT collection TTTreasures shared a roadmap with in-person events, and educational resources made available to holders. The roadmap reveals a strong emphasis on voting rights for holders to have a say regarding the partnerships with other businesses, and collaborations with other projects to steer the direction of their community.

In the context of a business and industry, the CryptoBaristas’ project elevates the coffee experience for NFT holders at their cafe, while giving avenues for sustainable production, and empowering those involved in the process. 

For charities, the success of the Blockchain for Good event in 2021 has opened the doors to a second NFT charity event in collaboration with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

Just as MetaKovan’s purchase of Beeple’s NFT for US$69.3 million was the initial catalyst for the space, each roadblock encountered has served as a catalyst that scrutinizes and matures the space, bringing a little more to the table each time. 

I believe that as NFT projects strive to offer more, we will see stronger communities with a drive towards utility and unique functions. NFTs can potentially become the hub that bridges Web3, Web2, and the real world.

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