Fairbanc, an Indonesia-based mobile loan and payments platform, announced today that it has secured a “seven figures USD” in a pre-Series A round of investment.

Investors include ADB Ventures, Accion Venture Lab, East Ventures, and Sampoerna Strategic Group.

This new financial backing comes on the heels of its recent investments from 500 Startups and Indonesian billionaire Michael Sampoerna.

With the fresh money, Fairbanc intends to scale up its credit access for Indonesia’s small retailers and expanding its distributor partners. It is also developing a product recommendation system that can help merchants plan inventory in advance of climate events.

Fairbanc was founded in 2019 with the goal of helping retail shop owners get easy access to credit. It does this by providing them with working capital credit without any loan applications or smartphones and allowing merchants to “pay later” for inventory.

The company’s AI-powered platform can read digital footprints, such as transaction history with large suppliers, and data to grant instant digital credit.

Also Read: Digital payments firm TranServ bags US$15M Series C to launch micro-credit products

Fairbanc also utilises advanced data science and Machine Learning technology to underwrite credit and grow merchant sales while keeping loan defaults and operating costs very low.

According to its founder Mir Haque, “What makes Fairbanc so unique compared to other fintech platforms is that it plugs into large consumer brands like Unilever’s vast merchant networks to offer ‘Buy Now Pay Later’ credit to tens of thousands of retailers without requiring any loan applications or smartphones.”

Since its inception, the startup has partnered with major FMCG firms, including Unilever, L’Oréal, and Danone, and claims to have a network of 60,000 merchants.

“The pandemic is far from over in Indonesia, and micro-merchants are uniquely vulnerable to its economic impact. Fairbanc is filling a critical gap in access to credit for these entrepreneurs, helping them keep their shops open and sustain their livelihoods,” said Michael Schlein, President of Accion.

“The company’s inventory financing and experienced leadership sets it apart in a crowded fintech market and makes Fairbanc an important ally on our mission to accelerate financial inclusion and support climate resilience in the Asia Pacific region,” added Daniel Hersson, Senior Fund Manager at ADB Ventures.

According to the World Bank Indonesia’s micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have a US$166 billion unmet need for credit, making getting easy access to finance a key issue in the region.

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KLAR, an aesthetic dentistry technology startup in Indonesia, has closed a seed round of investment led by early-stage local investor AC Ventures.

Kenangan Fund, an early-stage VC firm formed by Kopi Kenangan founders, also participated.

The startup plans to use the funding for R&D development, expand its team, and to venture into complementary product offerings to offer a holistic aesthetic and functional dental treatment for patients.

The 20-strong team aims to grow its talent pool to at least 80 people this year.

“This funding is the first step to grow KLAR further and achieve all of our goals when we decided to establish this startup. We see more and more patients who want to have a healthy teeth and an attractive smile to increase their confidence. However, they prefer a comfortable process without compromising on the aesthetics factor,” said Ellen Pranata, CEO and co-founder of KLAR.

Launched in September 2020, KLAR combines cutting-edge technology with orthodontic expertise to create a modern ultra-clear aligner. The company claims these aligners are comfortable to wear and can improve teeth aesthetics and alignment without the use of braces.

Currently, KLAR has partnered with 600+ dentists and orthodontists throughout the archipelago. The firm is now present in more than 100 dental clinics across 32 cities. Jakarta, Bali, and Surabaya are its key cities.

Also Read: Zenyum raises US$40M Series B to accelerate expansion in Asia, deepen product offerings

The startup follows a B2B2C business model: it provides high-tech aligner technology to partnering dentists, which they can use to complement their dental services to patients. Both dentists and patients can also interact and monitor treatment progress remotely with KLAR’s mobile app, KLAR Smile. This reduces the number of visits and time spent on periodic check-ups.

KLAR manages everything in-house, including owning the manufacturing facility for KLAR aligner production. With this approach, KLAR says it can maintain control over quality and push down production costs.

The aligners were developed by experienced orthodontists, and each set is tailor-made to suit each patient’s needs.

“KLAR is trying to solve the existing problems with better, more affordable, and more convenient solutions. Backed by a solid founding team and strong industry network, we believe KLAR has the ingredients required to come out as a winner in a large and growing market of dental aesthetics in Indonesia. Moreover, the good market for aligners is north of US$3 billion. With growing GDP per capita and increasing interest in self-care and aesthetics, we are confident that the demand for aligners will continue to grow,” said Michael Soerijadji, founding and general partner of AC Ventures.

KLAR’s founders are heavyweights in the dental space. Ellen Pranata (COO) is a former director of Cobra Dental, one of Indonesia’s largest importers and retailers of dental equipment and materials. Adelia Susanto (chief orthodontist) is a practising orthodontist with years of experience in clear aligners treatment technology. David Sugihartana (COO) is highly skilled in prosthetics, aesthetics, and full mouth rehabilitations.

Dental aesthetics is a fast-growing industry in Southeast Asia. Recently, Singapore-based direct-to-consumer dental products startup Zenyum secured a US$40 million Series B funding round led by L Catterton.

Structo is another startup, which offers dental 3D printing solutions startup. In 2019, the startup closed a round of funding from EDBI, GGV Capital, Wavemaker Partners, and Pavilion Capital.

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Image Credit: KLAR

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It’s January 2022. Countries around the world are teeming with life again. Roads and trains are packed with employees commuting to work. High street retailers are seeing foot traffic, and restaurants are gearing up for flocks of hungry patrons.

After a continued global effort to flatten the curve and months of social distancing, COVID-19 is finally in the rear-view. People around the world are relieved to be back to life as it was, but will things ever truly be the same?

COVID-19 shook the global economy as the largest pandemic since the Spanish flu in the early 20th century. Social distancing drastically shifted consumer behaviour and introduced a new set of challenges to stores and shoppers alike. But, as humanity has always done, we came together, adapted, and innovated.

We’ve entered a more stable 2021, adjusted to a new normal, and now we’re pausing to reflect on what we’ve just overcome. Let’s take a closer look at how payments and global commerce have changed in the last 18 months.

Monumental (and permanent) changes in shopping habits

COVID-19 was a major accelerator in the shift to digital for most of us; how we take classes, do our jobs, connect with friends, and definitely how we shop. Online shopping had already been the norm with Gen Z and Millennials, but COVID-19 served as the inflexion point for older demographics and slow adopters.

Gen X and Baby Boomers are often reluctant to change their habits, but 2020 disrupted the status quo for nearly all aspects of life. Throughout 2020, discretionary spending dropped due to a surge in unemployment rates, but e-commerce is now enjoying an all-time high thanks to its inherent convenience.

COVID-19 revealed a structural problem in our reliance on big-box retailers. At first, consumers suffered shortages of goods and frustrating checkout experiences, but big businesses responded with unprecedented agility. They quickly made improvements to overcome the new challenges of the market.

Because of social distancing, many brick-and-mortar retailers were forced to go online for the first time. This was enabled by various e-commerce plug-and-play platforms that allowed small retailers or sole traders to sell online in a matter of days.

Also Read: These e27 Luminaries secure notable fundings, acquire companies at the height of the pandemic

The market became a cornucopia of choice for the consumer. Millions of people who had previously resisted e-commerce – particularly for fast-moving consumer goods such as groceries – signed up with e-commerce sites. Post-pandemic, few of us have gone back to old shopping habits.

A flood of fierce competition

The rapid, sustained increase in online shopping created an interesting challenge for merchants. More consumers meant higher earning potential, but it also meant more competition in the marketplace. To stand out, merchants are applying new rigour and attention to customer and user experience.

Brick-and-mortar stores have largely become showrooms or click-and-collect points. Retailers have invested in connecting digital experiences to the physical using robust augmented or virtual reality and immersive experiences.

As a result of the increased quality in the market, consumers (who were already insisting on intuitive user journeys pre-pandemic) now have zero tolerance for sites that are not at least easy to use.

When it comes to that all-important payment experience – the make or break moment of conversion – it’s critical to have checkout flows that feel invisible for digital natives, yet inspire trust for those late-adopters.

Local payment methods continue to drive ‘glocalisation’

In 2020, COVID-19 drove consumers to look outside their immediate geography for goods and services. Major drivers of this included price point, quality of products, and availability due to global supply chain challenges.

The opportunity for merchants to sell across their borders became even greater, and acted as a solution to bridge revenue gaps and increase reach to an entirely new, global audience. Now, in 2022, most large and medium-sized retailers are selling across borders.

While it’s become easy to navigate logistics around the world, collecting funds in other markets is still an entirely different story. Like all aspects of culture, payment preferences vary from country to country. Surprising to Americans and Brits is that not all e-commerce is paid for with big brand credit cards.

In fact, over 70 per cent of global e-commerce is powered by over 450 local payment methods (which is why the misnomer ‘alternative’ has swapped for ‘local’ in recent years). Indeed, e-wallets like Alipay, WeChat Pay, and GrabPay dominate payments in Asia – now more than ever.

Offering local payment methods (LPMs) has always been a critical part of boosting conversion across borders. During the pandemic, as consumers clung more tightly to their money, the demand for payment methods that were familiar and trusted only increased.

How the local payments landscape changed during COVID-19

The payment needs and preferences of global consumers still vary from country to country. In fact, they are more diverse than ever. Still, a global trend has been the accelerated shift from traditional cash and card payments toward digital payment methods at the point of sale.

Also Read: Telling the fortune of digital payments in 2021, CNY style

Out of social distancing necessity, the pandemic led to increased use of contactless, digital payment methods like mobile e-wallets, bank transfers, and QR codes. Many retailers who have long resisted installing contactless technology due to processing fees have now been compelled to offer it.

When it comes to shopping online, instalment payment methods like Klarna and Afterpay have surged in use, as they enabled shoppers suffering from the economic impacts of COVID-19 to defer payments and still buy what they wanted.

Before the pandemic, apps like these were primarily used by younger demographics to break up payments on big-ticket items, luxury goods, and travel. Many consumers now prefer a ‘buy now, pay later’ option.

During the pandemic, cash obviously circulated less as brick-and-mortar retailers closed or implemented digital payment methods to avoid contact. In 2022, the markets that have remained predominantly digital are markets that had low cash use before the pandemic: the US, UK, Western Europe, and large parts of Asia.

Cash-based payment methods remain popular for some economies around the world (especially places in Latin America, where there are high percentages of unbanked consumers). But make no mistake: We are closer to a completely cashless society in 2022 than we have ever been.

Innovation in a time of crisis

Even before 2020, the proliferation of local payment methods was only set to increase. Now, in a world that faced a pandemic that made e-commerce a necessity, we’ve seen an explosion of new fintech, local payment methods, and product functionalities.

Legacy providers struggle to keep up as new players create integrated, easier-to-use, and more secure options for consumers. But while there’s more competition than ever, there’s also a new spirit of cooperation and collaboration.

Rivals have joined forces to innovate for global consumers. COVID-19 incentivised businesses to provide simple solutions for people stressed by a pandemic. ‘Coopetition’ fuelled complex advancements in payments tech.

Despite the havoc wreaked on the global economy, it’s come out stronger than before. In 2022, e-commerce continues to be a powerful force for good. Many consumers have new ways to shop, and retailers now have access to larger, global audiences. Small merchants have a bigger share of the local market and are now able to compete on the same level as big-box retailers.

Also Read: Why Indonesia is the hottest payments apps battleground in Southeast Asia

Before COVID-19 upturned life as we knew it, 2020 sounded so futuristic; there were endless thought pieces in January 2020 on how the internet and AI were taking over. But, as it turned out, technology has become one of humanity’s greatest gifts, enabling us to connect, keep working, and get access to the goods and services we need.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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Agriculture is an industry that has been at the mercy of the elements since time immemorial. Before the Industrial Revolution, agrarian societies could be wiped out by bad harvests and livestock disease. Advances in science and technology since have given farmers more control over their crops and herds.

Farmers can now harness new technologies to monitor what is happening on their farms in real time, optimise production through remote sensing and automate operations with precision farming practices and even robots.

Moreover, this greater visibility of production, together with online marketplaces, can reduce waste and make pricing more aligned with supply and demand dynamics. At the seed level, agricultural biotechnology gives scientists the tools to alter food at the DNA level to become resistant to pests and environmental factors.

COVID-19 has stressed global food systems and poses a threat, particularly to vulnerable populations. Technology will be the key enabler to help us meet this common challenge. By embracing innovative technologies to meet the growing global demand for food, we can and will make a difference.

Let’s take a look at some of the up-and-coming technologies:

Drone technology and precision farming

Aerial imagery can help farmers manage their farms more efficiently based on weather patterns in their area. Once dependent on satellite imagery, this field has been transformed with the entry of drones, which provide a lower-cost way for farmers to survey their crops remotely and adjust accordingly. With hardware and engineering breakthroughs, drone technology is now something that the average farmer can consider.

Also Read: TaniHub lands US$65.5M Series B to empower Indonesia’s 40M small farmers through tech, financing

Drones can also be used to create high-quality maps of the landscape, which can serve conservation purposes. Farmers can look at aerial imagery over time and better plan crop rotations and determine which parts of a given field should not be tilled for future plantings due to soil nutrient depletion.

Precision farming encompasses drone technology as well as other types of sensing technology to make more tailored decisions about input application, helping to greatly reduce the environmental hazards stemming from fertiliser or pesticide over-use.

“Until recently, growers have had to wait on time-consuming manual scouting to assess threats, formulate an action plan and react,” said Ofir Schlam, president and co-founder of Taranis, an Israeli agritech startup that uses aerial surveillance and machine learning to help prevent crop-yield loss.

Their technology will also leverage a database of more than a million threat species to create accurate prescription plans to customise treatments and application rates, according to the company.

Agricultural biotechnology

Agricultural biotechnology is the science of improving crops and other living organisms by using a range of technologies including traditional breeding techniques as well as genetic engineering.

In recent years, agricultural biotechnology has completely transformed farming globally and has become a major industry. By applying the same principles of genetics and molecular biology that have been applied in the field of medicine, scientists have sought to increase the quality, quantity, or variety of crops grown.

CRISPR, the gene-editing technology for which Dr Emannuelle Charpentier and Dr Jennifer Doudna won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry last year, is an important technology in this field.

It enables more precise gene editing to be done in a much shorter time, speeding up breeding cycles, improving crop yields and reducing land-use intensity.

Inari’s SEEDesign platform, for instance, claims to increase soybean and corn yield by 20 per cent while lowering water usage by 40 per cent and reducing corn’s nitrogen needs by 40 per cent.

Online agricultural marketplaces

Apart from transforming what to grow and how to grow, we also need online agricultural marketplaces to help sell produce more efficiently. By matching buyers with sellers at scale, these marketplace platforms help to streamline the process of buying and selling agricultural goods.

As China’s largest e-commerce platform, Pinduoduo allows farmers to diversify their income source as they can reach customers outside their usual wholesale channels. Over 16 million farmers are now able to reach Pinduoduo’s userbase of 824 million customers.

Also Read: How Crowde aims to empower smallholder farmers in Indonesia

By tapping into new markets and interacting more directly with consumers, farmers can now potentially sell more of their crops at higher prices, with the greater income generated facilitating more investment back into their farms.

Through its team purchase model, Pinduoduo aggregates information about pricing and demand, which can then be used by players across the value chain, including growers, retailers, distributors and suppliers.

Such information is powerful and paves the way for other services that can benefit farmers. Other marketplaces in Asia such as DeHaat in India, and TaniHub in Indonesia have expanded their marketplace offerings to include farm advisory as well as fintech services for farmers.

We are now ushering in an era of more diverse tech solutions for farmers. The global agtech sector saw over US$26 billion of investments last year, per Agfunder, an increase of more than 15 per cent year on year. At the same time however, in most parts of the world, the average farmer age is increasing, so awareness or ability to access and understand these innovations may be limited.

What we have seen however in a few of our pilot farms is that this is not an insurmountable problem, and I am optimistic that as long as we can also strengthen farmer outreach and education in tandem with the development of new solutions, we can help drive greater tech adoption and accelerate the digital transformation of the agricultural sector.

Find out more about how farming technologies can transform our food system at Pinduoduo’s Food Systems Forum taking place on July 14-15.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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WeMaintain enters Singapore with a US$36M funding

The story: WeMaintain, a proptech company based in Paris and London, has announced the launch of its Asia-Pacific headquarters in Singapore. It has also won a public tender with the Singapore Housing & Development Board.

Funding: The launch follows a US$36 million Series B fundraise from Red River West, Eurazeo, BPIFrance Digital Venture (part of France’s sovereign wealth fund), and Swiss Immo Lab.

“This raise is a step towards our global expansion, with Singapore being a foundational component of our business development plans in Asia Pacific,” said Benoît Dupont, co-founder and CEO of WeMaintain.

“Through the IoT and our end-to-end approach, we will deliver smart solutions to buildings across the country, shaping the way people live and work. Many critical insights highlighting the market needs and disruptive potential for WeMaintain come from our prior experience managing lift and escalator businesses in APAC,” added Benoît.

Also Read: PropertyGuru acquires REA Group’s Malaysian, Thai proptech units

About WeMaintain: Founded in late 2017, WeMaintain offers building managers and owners a solution that combines the technical skills of engineers with the agility and predictability of its proprietary technology. It takes care of the invisible yet indispensable operations that are essential to a building.

The firm has recently expanded into fire safety following the acquisition of Shokly. WeMaintain supports a wide range of clients in both the residential and office markets and has won major contracts with clients such as Allianz Real Estate, WeWork, in the Paris region, and the DLR in London. Since its launch, the company has raised €38.8M from Eurazeo, Red River West and BPIFrance Digital Venture.

More expansion on paper: After Singapore, WeMaintain will aim to expand into other markets such as Hong Kong, Seoul, Sydney, Tokyo, and North America.

Korean AI-based learning app QANDA secures US$50M Series C

Investors: GGV Capital, Yellowdog, Goodwater Capital, KDB, SoftBank Ventures Asia, Legend Capital, Mirae Asset Venture Investment, and Smilegate Investment.

Plans: With its Series C investment, QANDA plans to strengthen its AI-based techniques of recommendation algorithms and develop localised business models for its regional offices in Indonesia and Thailand.

About QANDA: QANDA, operated by Seoul-based Mathresso, is a K-12 mobile learning app. In 2017, QANDA adopted an AI-based optical character recognition (OCR) scan that searches for answers in five seconds.

QANDA, which stands for ‘Q and A,’ is a mobile app that allows students of all levels to receive instant answers and customised learning content. QANDA recognises text and mathematical formulas in a photo with optical character recognition (OCR) technology.

Also Read: Edutech in SEA is ripe for acceleration. This is why they can help build a more inclusive society

Supported by over 2.4 billion solution data and a self-developed search engine, QANDA provides solutions to a student’s question with high accuracy. QANDA provides quality education for anyone at any time and anywhere, giving access to qualified tutors from the world’s top universities.

QANDA has over 9.8 million monthly active users in over 50 countries. The app currently offers 7 languages – Korean, English, Spanish, Japanese, Vietnamese, Indonesian, and Thai.

Adrian Cheng’s C Ventures invests in CASETiFY

The story: CASETiFY, a global direct-to-consumer technology accessories brand, has raised an eight-figure USD Series A investment from C Ventures, a VC firm founded by cultural entrepreneur Adrian Cheng.

This is the first external investment since CASETiFY was founded in 2011.

Plans: The capital will be used to accelerate sales growth, open more retail stores globally, and for potential acquisitions.

About CASETiFY: It is a global lifestyle brand and online platform for customised tech accessories. CASETiFY’s products turn your personal electronics into stylishly slim accessories. Every case is a rigorously inspected and drop-proof accessory. Known for tapping top artists and creatives for its Co-Lab programme, CASETiFY gives brands and individuals the opportunity to share their unique visions with the world.

CASETiFY opened its first CASETiFY Museum in Adrian Cheng’s K11 MUSEA in 2020, the start of this successful collaboration between the two groups.

About C Ventures: It was founded by Cheng bridging West and East, curating a global ecosystem targeting millennials and Generation Z, with a focus on disruptive businesses in technology and consumer.

Other recent investments by C Ventures include RTFKT Studios, well known for its NFT sneakers; FITURE, a leading household fitness equipment which offers customised fitness programmes based on real-time data; and Lalamove, China’s leading on-demand and same-day delivery platform.

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Image Credit: WeMaintain

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As companies navigate the post-COVID-19 business landscape, innovation will be pivotal to recovery and growth.

When management consulting firm McKinsey and Company surveyed over 200 organisations last year, more than 90 per cent said that they expect the pandemic to fundamentally change the way they do business, and almost as many believed that it will have a lasting impact on customers’ wants and needs.

By studying past crises, the firm also found that companies that invest in innovation during a crisis are likely to reap benefits in the difficult period and for years thereafter.

Those that did so in the 2007-2009 Great Recession outperformed peers in normalised market capitalisation by 10 per cent during the recession, and up to 30 per cent for several years afterwards.

To maximise their innovation capability, firms must look externally, to keep abreast of trends, identify useful emerging technologies and pinpoint opportunities for partnerships.

Taking the initiative in technology scouting

Many forward-looking companies have formed technology scouting teams to carry out these tasks. Some of the consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble’s most successful products have been based on external technologies, including its Olay Regenerist line of anti-ageing cream.

By keeping an eye on nascent technologies and assessing how these could be used to enhance existing products or create new ones, companies can ensure that they continue to innovate and rise above their competitors.

Technology scouts can attend trade conferences to track trends, technology shifts and start-ups that could revolutionise their industry. Technology pitching sessions organised by the public sector and firms are another avenue.

Many universities and research institutes have technology transfer offices to raise awareness of their research and inventions that could be useful for industry. For instance, Nanyang Technological University’s innovation and enterprise company called NTUitive manages the university’s intellectual property and facilitates the commercialisation of research.

Also Read: How automation and innovation will boost SME success in Singapore

IPI, an innovation catalyst that links Singapore-based firms to technology solution providers, also assists in technology searches and introductions to companies.

It has a global network of solution providers, a panel of vetted technical experts who can advise firms, an Innovation Advisors Programme that offers access to industry veterans, and technology and innovation managers who are well-versed in technology commercialisation.

Some businesses, especially larger corporations, may tap on technology scouting software that is available on the market to automate some of the work. Such software aggregates and sifts through data from online sources to highlight studies, patents and technologies that could be useful to the firm, thereby offering some level of efficiency.

However, the eventual assessment of the relevance of the technology and matching of the solver to the seeker of technology still requires a human to draw insights from the data collated as well as to facilitate and navigate the nuances and intricacies of technology commercialisation.

The importance of internal connections

It is not enough, however, to devote resources to search for useful ideas, technologies and partnerships outside of the firm. Companies must also ensure that technology scouts’ findings are disseminated within the firm, to both management and operation-level staff, so that all can participate in the innovation process.

Researchers have found that it takes significant time to develop fruitful external partnerships, so those doing the outreach may not have the capacity to analyse how new technologies and ideas could be used in unexpected and productive ways in the firm.

Pairing technology scouts with more internally-focused colleagues would enable the latter to widen the possibilities for application and drive their exploration.

Internal connections can also help to focus on external searches. At Kellogg’s, the packaged foods conglomerate, the marketing department prepares “opportunity briefs” for scouts who work in research and development.

These briefs outline problems that, if solved, could lead to lucrative commercial opportunities for the company.

Also Read: ‘Post-pandemic, SEA will see a sustainable leapfrog into the digital age’: Cathay Innovation report

The power of partnerships

On the other side of the equation, companies with innovative technologies can also rely on trade conferences, pitching sessions, technology intermediaries and other forums to identify potential adoptees.

TechInnovation, IPI’s annual flagship technology brokerage event, gathers Singapore and international technology seekers and providers to encourage business and technology collaborations.

Companies can also post write-ups of their technologies on IPI’s Innovation Marketplace to leverage its global network to find prospective partners. Tech Alert, IPI’s weekly e-newsletter which has over 24,000 subscribers, also features new technologies.

Many enterprises have found success through partnerships, in different ways.

After IPI matched health and wellness firm OSIM International with NeuroSky, an American biometric business, the two organisations co-developed a stress-sensing feature that is now part of the uDream, OSIM’s pioneering massage chair that measures users’ stress and fatigue levels to deliver customised massages.

When IPI connected ERS Industries, which manufactures electronic equipment racks for use in data centres, with a thermal management expert from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University, on the other hand, the latter not only upgraded the racks’ design to boost cooling but also improved the firm’s in-house engineering capabilities and put in place processes to guide it in managing and protecting its intellectual property.

For LeanCost International, a startup that had developed a manufacturing data analytics algorithm to empower firms to accurately report product costs and pinpoint inefficiencies in processes, allying with another firm was essential.

For the algorithm to be commercially viable, it needed to be combined with an enterprise resource planning system, which integrates corporate operations such as sales and processes on a single platform, or a manufacturing execution system (MES), which provides information on how to optimise production output.

With IPI’s assistance, LeanCost International found SMT Technology, a precision engineering solutions provider. By integrating LeanCost International’s algorithm into SMT Technology’s Smartline software, which has MES functions, the two firms created SmartCost, a first-of-its-kind system for real-time monitoring of costs in manufacturing processes.

These examples are just a fraction of the range of possibilities for firms. By looking externally and finding opportunities for innovative collaboration and co-creation efforts with an open mindset, companies can grow beyond their boundaries, and stand themselves in better stead for the future.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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The business models of restaurants in Taiwan have changed drastically over the years. In the past, restaurants could narrow their focus to just dine-in or take-away customers.

However, it all changed when Foodpanda entered the market in 2012, followed by Uber Eats in 2016, which brought a gradual but steady growth in food delivery. Then COVID-19 hit, and hugely accelerated this development in the F&B industry.

According to the latest stats by the Department of Statistics, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA), as of February 2020, 54 per cent of all F&B outlets in Taiwan started offering delivery (compared to 40 per cent in 2018 and 47 per cent in 2019).

When COVID-19 hit, the F&B industry was forced to find creative ways to increase sales. Restaurants began seeking delivery arrangements that did not involve delivery providers or third party platforms.

Hence, the need for restaurants to streamline their in-house ordering website and manage multiple platforms more efficiently emerged.

According to statistics from MOEA and iChef’s internal data, overall revenue of Taiwan’s F&B industry stabilised from its previous decline in Q3 2020, but only saw minimal YoY growth in Q4. Furthermore, based on figures from the National Credit Card Center of R.O.C., the number of F&B e-commerce transactions dropped from 367 per cent YoY in Q4 2019 to 44 per cent YoY in Q4 2020.

iChef’s internal data also revealed that the percentage of delivery in overall orders has been fairly stable. Both sets of data suggest that delivery has entered a phase of maturity and is less likely to grow at the same exponential rate.

With delivery becoming more mainstream, restaurants can no longer assume orders will come flying in just by onboarding to a new platform. To differentiate themselves in the “post-delivery era”, restaurant owners need to invest more in advertising on delivery platforms and managing their own channel.

Also Read: Can the first unicorn of Thailand be a food-tech startup? These 11 food tech startups are making their cases

So the idea of a “platform of platforms” should emerge in the near future, a platform that partners with different providers and streamlines the holistic delivery process, from order placement, delivery to finance.

As a result of such “platform of platforms”, restaurants can minimise clutter, economise manpower and enhance efficiency. In addition, restaurants should expand their in-house ordering capabilities so customers can order on any preferred platform.

When customers search for restaurants, Google My Business (GMB) has become one of the go-tos, be it checking out the menu or placing an order. Now, restaurant details are just one Google search away.

Integration with delivery services allows restaurants to modify their menu directly in the system without having to manually do it on every platform. More so, even with more ordering platforms, restaurants are not burdened with more devices as the entire ordering process can be consolidated into one POS.

With one device, one screen and one menu, restaurants can offer a seamless omnichannel experience to the customers as well as enjoy a truly end-to-end omnichannel experience themselves, from taking orders to CRM.

Besides saving time and cost and increasing revenue, they can also adopt new technologies more quickly and in turn expand services in the region rapidly.

With such enterprise-class technology, restaurants can scale quickly and grow beyond just 10 to 20 stores. Also, with transactional data, they can devise actionable insights and undergo data-driven marketing.

In the post-pandemic world, restaurants must transform their business to keep up with the changing consumer needs and demands.

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IPO markets are experiencing a global IPO boom at a scale that hasn’t been seen since the days of the dotcom boom at the turn of the 21st Century.

Naturally, Asian initial public offerings have followed these wider trends around the world, with the market accelerating at a rapid pace following on from an economic recovery in late 2020. 

As a result, Asian companies have recorded their best quarter for listings of all time, owing to greater levels of liquidity during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as lower interest rates and rallying stock markets.

Firms raised US$49.3 billion through IPO share sales both domestically and overseas. 

As the data shows, the amount Asian companies have raised through new listings in Q1 of 2021 has been consistently double the level of revenue generated for at least a decade. 

Such a significant acceleration has inevitably led to questions as to how long such an unprecedented boom can last across Asian markets and beyond. Can IPOs sustain the public listing gold rush throughout 2021? Or will we see the market run out of steam sooner rather than later? 

Also Read: From our community: About EVs, hemp burgers, IPO hacks, Agile manifesto and more

One day pops shows hype is still in full swing

Although COVID-19 has severely affected much of Southeast Asia’s businesses and their respective governments, the adverse impact of the pandemic is less clear within the region’s IPO landscape. 

Speaking to CNBC in June, Dealogic’s Ken Fong said: “From our data, I do not really see that Southeast Asia is too weak. We look at the aftermarket performance and actually, most of the countries have a very high one-day pop.”

Fong offered examples behind this thesis in the form of PTT Oil and Retail Business achieving a 62.5 per cent pop on its first day of trading in February 2021 and Ngern Tid Lor, which climbed around 25 per cent from its initial IPO price upon its debut. 

Both companies were among three listed in Southeast Asia that have been valued at over US$1 billion each. At a time when unicorns are achieving levels of prosperity across the continent, it’s clearly led to other companies hoping to follow in the footsteps of their predecessors in achieving unicorn status. 

Asian companies driving interest overseas

Many Asian companies have also spent much of 2021 spreading their wings and generating more interest in IPOs on the continent through listing elsewhere. 

As we can see in the table above, for Chinese companies, we can see a significant level of listings and deal volume emerging from US-based exchanges like the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. 

Thanks to an influx of post-pandemic global stimulus packages, it’s become more popular than ever for retail investors to invest their spare income in growing companies around the world. 

Also Read: A tale of two IPOs: How DoorDash’s IPO makes Uber and Airbnb’s look better

For Chinese companies listing in the US, investors have clear exposure to one of the world’s fastest-growing markets. International backers of tech companies also prefer offshore listings in order to realise gains on their pre-IPO investments. 

According to Ivy Wong, head of Baker McKenzie’s Asia-Pacific capital markets practice, Chinese companies in particular “see having a global focus as one of the best options to achieve stability and consistent revenue. Listing in the US market can provide them with that access to new markets and customers, not to mention the usual benefits such as the broad investor base.”

These strategic listings can help to drive more global confidence in Asian IPO markets, which may pave the way for greater levels of external investment in fresh listings. However, not all market commentators are buoyant about the sustainability of the initial public offering boom. 

Running out of steam

In April, Bloomberg predicted that the demand for IPOs across Asia is likely to fall away as demand comes back down to earth over the course of the coming months.

The financial news giants underlined its expectation that a global rotation out of tech and healthcare-oriented stocks that had previously dominated market activity, along with falling enthusiasm for SPACs in the US, will cloud the outlook for new deals as the year progresses. 

The IPO landscape across Asia also faces the challenge of crackdowns on the dominance of Chinese tech firms that have dominated fundraising across the continent. Tensions between the US and China have been ramping up of late, too. Earlier in 2021, the US pushed through a law that has the power to potentially kick non-compliant Chinese firms off of American exchanges. 

It appears that warning signs are already making their way onto the market, with Chinese fintech firms like Bairong Inc. experiencing a disastrous debut, falling 16 per cent despite raising US$507 million prior to its debut. 

Chinese listings in the US like Baidu Inc. and Bilibili Inc. raised US$5.7 billion collectively through secondary listings in Hong Kong towards the end of Q1 in 2021 but ultimately experienced weak debuts. 

However, there’s still cause for some optimism in Kuaishou’s US$6.2 billion Hong Kong IPO, the biggest global listing at the time of its arrival, and Korean company Coupang’s US$4.6 billion flotation. 

The coming months will be the most important for the Asian IPO market since the beginning of the initial public offering boom in late 2020.

Although there are certainly some warning signs that the market is starting to run out of steam, some notable success stories may have the ability to keep optimism among investors alive.

The longevity of the ongoing IPO frenzy may ultimately come down to the global recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. If investor optimism can be retained, we may well see IPOs continue to thrive for some months yet.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. This season we are seeking op-eds, analysis and articles on food tech and sustainability. Share your opinion and earn a byline by submitting a post.

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Mintable, a Singapore-based next-generation non-fungible token (NFT) minting platform and marketplace, announced today the closing of its oversubscribed Series A funding round at US$13 million.

The round saw participation from notable names, including Ripple (provides XRP Ledger developer tools, programmes and services, and enterprise blockchain solutions); Animoca Brands (mobile and blockchain gaming developer); Metapurse (NFT investment fund backed by Metakovan); Doug Band (American businessman and former advisor to Bill Clinton), and Jon Oringer (founder and executive chairman of Shutterstock).

Other co-investors are John Kim (Expedia Group), Double Peak, 7 O’Clock Capital, 640 Oxford Ventures, Digital Finance Group, Spark Digital Capital, Reimagined Ventures, and 840 Venture Partners.

Also Read: Tokens 101: How they work and where they provide value

The proceeds of the investment will be used to spearhead user acquisition and growth initiatives for Mintable’s individual users and brand clients.

Mintable will continue to develop and launch new products to deliver on its mission of making the buying and trading experience of NFTs as easy and accessible as possible for the mass market.

Mintable founder and CEO Zach Burks said: “Throughout 2021, NFTs have reached mass appeal and have touched almost every sector spanning entertainment, fine arts, sports, and many more. As the technology continues to mature and the space rapidly evolves, this is a critical company milestone for Mintable.”

Started in 2018, Mintable is a minting platform built on the blockchain. Its “gas-free minting feature” allows users to create their NFTs, enabling content creators to fully benefit from what NFTs have to offer without being burdened by prohibitive transaction fees.

Since its inception, Mintable said it has established a growing catalogue of unique items, spanning digital art, music, collectibles, game items, and domains for sale on its platform.

To date, Mintable has worked with brands, celebrities, and artists looking to kickstart their NFT journey. Most recently, the startup worked with NFL Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Trevor Lawrence, whose NFT collection sold on the platform for over US$400,000; leading streetwear fashion brand BAPE; and American business broadcaster CNBC, which recently raised US$100,000 for charity via a Mintable NFT auction.

Also Read: HashMix raises US$3M funding to roll out its mining power NFT in June

To date, approximately 700,000 items have been minted on its platform.

The company’s existing investors include renowned American venture capitalist and television personality Mark Cuban; Guy Oseary and Ashton Kutcher’s Sound Ventures; Marc Benioff’s TIME Ventures; Crypto.com; and LongHash Ventures.

HashMix is another Singaporean startup that aims to further democratise and activate the mining economy by introducing a decentralised universal marketplace for various mining capacities using the NFT technology. In May this year, it raised US$3 million from HashKey Capital, Kenetic Capital, GBV Capital, FBG Capital, LongHash Ventures, Continue Capital, SevenX Ventures, and Fenbushi Capital.

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Image Credit: Mintable

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To view the full webinar click here. Want to learn more? Join the second episode of Scaling your startup across borders on Tuesday, 6 July. Sign up for free here.

Over the past three years, I have spoken to hundreds of startup founders and entrepreneurs in the capacity of a journalist. One common point of discussion has been about scaling startups across borders- why it is important and what are some of the common challenges faced by startups. The answer to the first question is simple: scaling equals more opportunities, more avenues to do business, more reach and thus, more growth. The answer to the second one can be many things- lack of support, lack of funds, lack of a proper network, weak team and most important of all, the lack of knowledge.

With the world increasingly becoming more connected (pandemic aside), from the surface, it may seem like scaling across borders is an easy task but the truth is far from it. According to a research paper published by Deloitte, the chances of a new enterprise to ascend and scale up are merely 0.5%, which means that only 1 out of 200 surviving new enterprises are able to expand their business. Unicorns make up the even smaller subset of scale-ups; only 104 startups are valued at over $1 billion.

Also read: How Malaysia nurtured Slurp and why the company is ready to take on the region

The main reason why not many startups are able to successfully expand their business is the lack of proper know-how. The expansion of a business entails several things: understanding the product-market fit, building a team on the ground, being aware of the compliance requirements in the new market, and more.

Having in-depth knowledge and the right skills is a necessity for founders looking to scale their startups beyond borders.

Providing startup founders and entrepreneurs with the know-how to scale across borders

With the goal of empowering startup founders and entrepreneurs with the right knowledge to expand their business across borders successfully, payroll and compliance platform Deel recently conducted a one-hour webinar in partnership with AI and fintech startup Plentina.

The topic of the session was “Scaling your startup across borders: A closer look at building your local entity and remote team”. Held virtually on 18th May, the main highlights of the webinar were discussions on legal and regulatory challenges of setting up a remote local entity and ways to build a remote team culture among other related topics. The session was helmed by Abhinav Krishna, Head of Expansion APAC of Deel, and Earl Valencia, Co-Founder of Plentina, which is headquartered in the United States and is currently expanding in Southeast Asia. The webinar was moderated by Madhurima Bhattacharya, Senior Manager of Bain & Company.

Leveraging relevant industry experience to help entrepreneurs understand the nuances of business expansion

The panellists and the moderator of the webinar brought in decades of relevant industry experience and leveraged their knowledge to explain the nuances of business expansion and why it is more pertinent in today’s climate.

Deel’s Abhinav comes with extensive experience in entrepreneurship and handling business across different countries. After graduating from the National University of Singapore and before starting Deel, Abhinav founded an Enterprise Healthcare platform OurHealthMate where he went on to work with clients like Airbus, Colgate and Sony among others for eight years. His time at OurHealthMate gave him insights into the struggles of working with remote teams and that is what led to Deel- a newly-crowned unicorn startup that helps companies with international payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance. With their Series C of $156 million raised, Deel’s valuation has reached $1.25 billion in just under 24 months.

Also read: MaGIC kicks off Malaysia Startup Hub for regional expansion

Earl is the Co-founder of Plentina that helps retailers in emerging markets offer their customers the ability to pay with credit even without a credit card comes with rich industry experience in helping companies with digital transformation by leveraging technology and innovation. He has previously worked in the fields of digital transformation as well as tech and innovation at various tech. Earl spent 4 years in the Philippines and co-founded QBO, the National Innovation Center of the Philippines, IdeaSpace Foundation, the leading incubator and accelerator based in Manila and was the VP of Corporate Development and Innovation at Smart/PLDT, the largest telco in the Philippines. For his contributions, he was awarded the title of One of the Ten Outstanding Young Men and Women of the country by the President of the Philippines.

Madhurima Bhattacharya specializes in advising companies in technology and private equity sectors with questions on strategy, due diligence, growth and operations. An alumnus of the National University of Singapore and Chicago Booth School of Business, Madhurima has enjoyed the flexibility of being able to work across four continents and “future of work” remains a topic close to heart.

Opportunities and challenges faced by remote teams in Southeast Asia

Southeast Asia has always been the land of opportunities and there is no dearth of talent here. Many foreign companies are hiring remote staff from the region. However, the main barrier has always been a lack of compliance systems.

“I read in an article that around 55 per cent of the people hired remotely don’t get paid on time. The relationship between clients and contractors is increasingly becoming alienating. They don’t feel like a part of the team. The idea of “outsourcing to reduce costs” is archaic and it needs to go away for remote team members to feel like a part of the bigger picture,” shared Abhinav.

Earl added, “the key to a better and more resilient future is having a unified approach- looking at Southeast Asia as one big ecosystem with massive opportunities and scope for growth and development. That way we can produce unicorns that can have a presence across multiple countries. This is where standardised payment compliance systems can make hiring remote teams and scaling across international borders easier.”

Setting up a local entity: When to do it and how to go about it

Abhinav shares from experience that for most companies, once their home team grows to 20 to 30 people, they start incorporating in a new country. “However, I have seen companies with 100 employees in their home country and still not incorporating. That might work in rare cases but on average the golden number is between 20 and 30 based on what I have seen on the client-side so far.”

On the other hand, Earl believes that the perfect time to start looking across borders is once your team has five members in the home country. This contrast in itself goes to show that there is no right or wrong time to scale your business- it depends on the type of business, readiness and the kind of talent you are tapping into.

Also read: The future of mobile: how did mobile apps fare in 2020?

It is crucial to remember that when setting up a local entity and incorporating it in a new country, factors like admin costs, HR, accounting and other logistics, such as payroll, taxes, and withholding must be taken into account.

This is where Deel is stepping up and helping startups with international payroll, benefits, taxes, and compliance in some 150 countries.

Interested to take the jump and scale beyond borders? Learn more about Deel and get special discounts as an e27 member. Visit https://www.letsdeel.com/partners/e27

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