This article is published as a part of a partnership with Future Food Asia. ProAgni is one of the 11 finalists of the US$100,000 Future Food Asia (FFA) 2020 Award to be hosted from September 21-25.

While global protein demands continue to rise, the animal protein industry is often entangled with issues of sustainability, biosecurity, and ethics. As an increasing number of consumers are taking matters into their own hands by seeking safer, more sustainable, and ethical food choices, there is a clear gap that livestock producers are failing to address.

It’s no surprise that antimicrobial resistance is on the rise when taking into account the growing prevalence of antibiotic consumption in livestock farming. In regions such as Southeast Asia, for example, the lack of policy implementation and infrastructure perpetuate this issue.

Antibiotic use in farm animals has become a structural problem in the industry, as it is directly harmful to human health, and the consequent antimicrobial resistance poses a threat to the economic sustainability of the farmers.

Anti antibiotics

ProAgni, an Australian bioscience startup, is addressing this problem head-on. With a mission to eliminate the use of non-therapeutic antibiotics in intensive livestock production, ProAgni has successfully developed its patented antibiotic-free nutrition range ProTect that optimises digestion.

Their feed additive technology has been developed to influence microbial fermentation and optimise animal performance, such as weight gain and health, by delivering the key types of energy that the animal can utilise. This has led to significant improvements in productivity, while maintaining animal health safety, thus providing an alternative to antibiotic use for growth promotion.

High steaks

The co-founders of ProAgni asked themselves: how do kangaroos thrive and survive on so little food and water? And produce little or no methane? What if farm animals could do the same?

They were inspired by the possibility of reducing methane emissions from ruminants whilst using less grass, water, and time and remove the use of unnecessary antibiotics to contribute to improving the economics and sustainability of farming.

Also Read: Hunger for no hunger: How Agrisea grows rice in the ocean to address food scarcity

Co-founder Fiona believes their combined efforts at ProAgni could change the status quo of the industry where there’s waste, wasted time, money, and resources. She believes that adopting their technology means more efficient meat production with fewer emissions and antibiotics and that the technology can be adapted to have applications in agriculture in Western and emerging markets.

The biggest achievement moment for ProAgni was witnessing that the product performance exceeded their initial expectations and was supported by positive feedback from producers and strong sales growth. Another milestone was proof that they could shelf-stabilise obligate anaerobic bacteria.

Fiona believes that as a finalist at Future Food Asia, ProAgni will be able to meet like-minded people who are passionate about change in the food supply, toward triple bottom line solutions.

Mooving on …

ProAgni’s ProTect product lines have been commercially available in Australia for the past two years, where the products have been scientifically and commercially validated. What keeps Fiona up at night is the fact that the industry is not adopting change rapidly enough and is doubling down on solutions that are not sustainable.

But this only fuels ProAgni’s visions as they continue to collaborate, create collective value, and accelerate the adoption of innovation for sustainable food production.

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Listen, to be an entrepreneur, you truly have to be crazy on some level. Anything else in life that has a 95 per cent chance of failure. You probably wouldn’t do. Generally spending years of your life. And millions of dollars of someone else’s money when you fully comprehend that most startups fail? Sure, that sounds like a good idea to you.

The reason for this is that if you are truly an entrepreneur in your blood. You have no choice but to create, even if that means you will most likely fail. For example, there are some instincts you have as a person. That you are going to need to put aside if you want to succeed at the entrepreneurship game.

1. Don’t jump right in without sufficient research

The one thing most entrepreneurs have in common is passion. You have an idea; You are excited by the idea and its potential to change the world. And all you want to do is take that idea and turn it into a product.

Want to know what sounds a whole lot less appealing to you right now? Taking a deep breath, not building the product, and spending a month doing in-depth market research and competitive analysis. Guess what? If you skip this part; boring as it may be; you’ll regret it later. So then fight that instinct to run with the idea. And instead see who else had the same idea, who has tried it, who failed; who succeeded, and why.

2. Embrace competition

Once you have embraced the need for competitive analysis, now ask yourself; what is your goal here? Your instinct, as a human being, is to feel unique, to convince yourself that no one else is like you, no one has tried this, no one has already built what you have been dreaming of building.

You basically need to do the opposite of that. Build yourself a comprehensive landscape of companies in your space. Make that landscape as full as possible. Your goal here is not to convince yourself there is no competition. It is to understand that there is, which means there is a demand for your idea. If others have tried it, then you can either do it better than they, or alternatively, you can go back to the drawing board, which means you have essentially dodged a bullet by not simply building something that already exists.

Also Read: Moovaz acquires GetVan to bolster its tech-powered relocation business

3. No one likes to be wrong, but you might be

As you do your research and become more of an expert on your domain, speak to people, get feedback, look at data, and be prepared to accept that your assumptions were actually wrong. That doesn’t mean you need to call it quits, but a pivot might be in order. That’s never easy because, after all, this was your baby, but as an entrepreneur, knowing how to be wrong and move on is an absolutely mandatory skill.

4. Not everything you do has to be scale-able

Paul Graham wrote a famous essay entitled Do Things That Don’t Scale. You want to build a sustainable business, one that grows consistently, and the thought of going door to door to interview people or pick up the phone and call your customers doesn’t exactly scream scalability.

Fight that thought in the early days of your venture and do things that don’t scale, because the only way to reach millions of people is by first getting tens or hundreds of people to care.

5. Understand that you might have to close up shop

This is the toughest instinct you need to fight as an entrepreneur. You are most likely not a quitter and so reaching a conclusion that it’s time to call it a day is the last thing you are used to doing.

A good entrepreneur knows when it’s time to take an objective look at the numbers, the market, and the competition, and realize that the time has come to move on.

Also Read: NTUitive’s new programme VB18 will help Singaporeans get paid while building a business

As many have said before me, failure is that only if you don’t extract lessons from it. Looking from a failed startup can become your biggest asset in your next venture, but sometimes you just need to know how to quit.

Like I said, you have to be crazy to be an entrepreneur, but let’s not forget the famous Apple ad.

“Here’s to the crazy ones … because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world are the ones who do.”

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The article was first published on nfinitiv.

Image Credit: Brooke Cagle on Unsplash

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Despite booming sales accelerated by COVID-19, e-commerce players have taken growth for granted at the expense of consumer experience, according to new research.

Within Singapore, over a third of consumers (39 per cent) said they are less than satisfied with their digital commerce experience, citing delivery costs, product prices, and delivery time as their top three concerns.

Titled Into the Light: Understanding What has Changed for the ASEAN Consumer During COVID-19, the study was conducted by data content and social research agency Blackbox Research and consumer intelligence platform Toluna.

Also Read: Why brands fail on e-commerce and what they can do about it

The report analysed current sentiments, expectations and behaviours of 4,780 consumers across Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Singaporeans using more but feeling worse

Yashan Cama, International Commercial Director of Blackbox Research, said the study confirmed a significant change in consumer behaviour in recent months driven by an increasing necessity to shop online.

The report found that Singaporean consumers reported a spike in online spending in response to COVID-19, with 63 per cent of those surveyed now spending more online, and the total online spend for the average Singaporean consumer increasing by 31 per cent.

However, the findings also suggest that that while major e-commerce brands are enjoying higher usage rates, this growth has come at the cost of greater scrutiny from consumers.

For example, while brands including Shopee (52 per cent), Qoo10 (41 per cent) and Lazada (39 per cent) are widely used by Singaporeans, consumer satisfaction with Qoo10 and Lazada falls on the lower end, while Shopee only performed average on the spectrum.

Cama said that consumer frustrations about service quality could make or break major brands.

Also Read: How shopping sites performed during COVID-19 in Singapore

“We expect some of these cornerstone brands to experience a shake-up in the coming months if these existing problems are not quickly addressed. Consumers will only become more discerning in future. With 5G technology on the verge of transforming platform capabilities, current market leaders may wake to find themselves no longer at the front of that queue if they don’t address concerns and work to deliver a more frictionless experience.”

However, Cama added that this presents Singapore with a unique opportunity to act as the innovation incubator for brands to develop best-in-class e-commerce platforms and services to address these newfound challenges.

“Singapore has always been an important market for both global and regional brands due to its strategic location, as well as its developed financial and legal system. We foresee Singapore becoming increasingly attractive as a tech and innovation hub, as trade tensions and hostility between markets like the US and China continue. Singapore has every potential to become the testbed for new e-commerce players as they look to achieve a greater understanding of consumer sentiments — within Singapore and the region,” Cama noted.

Local businesses emerge as pandemic heroes

The report also identified key trends as a result of the pandemic, notably a shift in consumer sentiment towards local brands. 78 per cent of Singaporean consumers said they were more likely to support local brands in the future, driven by a desire to strengthen their local communities and economy.

Also Read: How Shopee uses AI, data to build a marketing strategy that suits changes in user behaviour

When asked to identify brands that they are pleased or impressed with during the COVID-19 crisis, Singaporeans named homegrown players such as Sheng Siong and Fairprice as their top local brands, and overall the respondents listed at least three local businesses in their top five.

“‘International’ might be on the verge of becoming a dirty word,” said Cama. “Local brands have truly stepped up to the plate during the pandemic, as demonstrated by the key roles these two grocery heavyweights have played during key milestones such as Singapore’s circuit breaker period, and their ability to manage customers and meet their needs in the best possible way.”

“The resurgence in national pride can also be attributed to consumers looking to support their own economy. They are increasingly choosing to shop local over international. International companies will need to reassess their brand portfolios and seriously consider how they can localise their brands to reflect the values that matter most to Singaporean consumers,” he explained.

Home becomes the new headquarters

According to Cama, COVID-19 is not only changing how and where consumers are spending their money, but it is also shifting how people are going about their day-to-day lives, which will have a tangible impact on future consumer behaviour.

“Since the onset of the pandemic, homes in ASEAN have emerged as the headquarters for learning, working and socialising. An overwhelming 95 per cent of Singaporeans are happy working from home, and the majority aren’t missing going to the movies or shopping at retail outlets,” he said.

“Consumers are not rushing back to their old habits, so this new sense of life revolving around the home hub means companies need to rethink how they build this into the consumer experience in future. These changes go right to the heart of consumer behaviour and require innovative approaches across the board from property developers, landlords, employers, through to retailers,” he shared.

Also Read: How Pomelo tackles the problem of high product return with its O2O retail experience

Commenting on the significance of the findings, Cama said that the study has shown that the pandemic has unequivocally shifted how we identify as consumers. If businesses fail to adapt, the stakes are high. Any negative interaction with a brand, particularly in times of crisis, can have longstanding effects on his or her sense of trust and loyalty.

“In order to build resilience, brands need to keep a real-time pulse on customer preferences, and at the same time reimagine customer experience for a post-COVID-19 world, with care and connection at the forefront. Organisations today have an obsession with data. This is not a bad thing. But only by choosing to value customers as more than digital units or data points, will brands emerge successful,” he concluded.

Blackbox Research and Toluna carried out an online nationally representative survey of n=4,780 across six countries, aged between 18 to 60. Stratified random sampling was applied across key demographic and geographic variables to ensure representative coverage. The survey was conducted in June 2020.

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Photo by Erik Mcleanon Unsplash

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Corporate Venture Capital (CVC) has often been regarded as one of the most lucrative industries and for good reason. In 2018, over US$60 billion was invested in CVC deals.

That number returned a 100 per cent increase from the previous year and represents 23 per cent of the total calculated capital invested in represented VC firms. It is no surprise that CVC puts up these impressive numbers: it is an easy and symbiotic way to develop business interests, expand your network, and see tangible results in a short time.

These results can be seen through new integrated solutions, foreign business opportunities, and growth in general assets.

Many CVC ventures end up largely profitable for the larger corporation as well as the smaller startup. This is because working together allows both organisations to develop themselves in a way that is positioned around each other.

As the relationship develops, this results in financial return and expanded partnerships. In some instances, the larger firm can even acquire the startup if it is well integrated into the larger business environment.

Corporate venture capital, at its core, solves a problem. The scope and intensity of the problem can vary but the bottom line is that CVCs address and mitigate some internal business challenges while finding solutions to other problems that exist through various business areas.

The why behind corporate venture capital

According to Bloomberg, it is estimated that over 70 per cent of capital invested in CVC is directed through the San Francisco Bay Area. This is because the Bay Area still holds the innovation hub of the world. However, for those outside the Bay, it can be difficult to have executive partnership conversations without a local anchor.

With venture capital being such a “people industry,” building and maintaining relationships is one of the most, if not the most important, aspect to be successful.

As a CVC, it is important to go into the venture with the mindset of building synergetic relationships. This is because CVC is always a two-way street. As a part of a larger corporation, it can be easy for the startup to be overtaken with the corporation’s larger disposable resources and facilities.

Also Read: These Kazakh startups are gearing up to dive into corporate innovation waters and beyond

However, this often causes the startup to fail. The CVC Partner needs to play umpire and protect both the needs of the startup and the company they represent.

It is important to maintain authenticity behind both companies while looking for ways to grow together. Avoiding these pitfalls allows for a symbiotic relationship between the startup and corporate partners so that those pre-established internal relationships will let you hit the ground running, and is why successful ventures within a CVC can quickly scale in market and industry respectively.

Establishing CVC governance

When starting to think about running a CVC practice, keep in mind who you will be reporting to. We at 10X Innovation Lab had the chance to interview HP Tech Ventures’ Partner Mitchell Weinstock who has a background in the hardware industry and has three successful startup exits.

Mitchell notes that where your group operates changes the behaviour of the CVC. Sometimes the CVC organisation will report directly to the CEO, CFO, or CTO, and each will have a different governance style. When bringing a startup forward, the CVC team should know the answers to questions such as:

“Who is this project benefiting? And who is providing the funding?”

At different stages and levels of CVC engagement, the people who are supporting the startup project will be different.

This will also affect the other times you will closely work with a specific part of the organisation at large and how they will respond to the CVC group. Ensuring a regular cadence of communication in your chain of command is critical. You need to constantly be aligned with the current thinking and be ready to adjust your investment thesis if the leadership team changes direction.

Part of that is deciding upfront if you are purely investing for strategic intent and financial gain takes a back seat to gain insights for the organisation, if they are equal, or you are acting more like an institutional VC and focusing on financial gain.

A governance structure is also important for a variety of financial reasons. If you are reporting to the CEO, you tend to have greater flexibility in your decision making and funding. CVC funding can be done from a variety of sources.

Depending on the size and purpose behind the venture, the funding may come directly from the company, such as when a single LP fund where the company is the sole limited partner, or it may come from an off-balance sheet account where the funding is not affecting the business units.

Before even starting a CVC practice, Mitchell recommends that you go to the people that will be overseeing the potential venture and align with the strategic visions they have for the company.

Being able to tailor CVC initiatives that revolve around these objectives will allow you to layout a road map for what kinds of potential partnerships you are looking for and create an investment thesis that both startups and other venture entities will understand.

Creating a focus

You might be wondering how to scale down your initial list of CVC opportunities. An investment thesis will keep the team aligned and focused on what is strategic to the company.

When looking at startups Mitchell recommends that you look past the product idea and look hard at the team behind the solution. He added, “The teams that most often win are not those with the best product but those with the best execution.”

Also Read: 5 things startups should know about Corporate Venture Capital

Invest in teams first. Think about the characteristics of a good business partner and know that it may take years for the product to develop and mature to the point where the company can engage in a partnership.

Many CVC opportunities for HP Tech Ventures developed over a long time. Take your time and consistently reevaluate the maturity of the product and team. Don’t give up on them because startups pivot and change over the various stages.

It helps to start with a big funnel of deal flow contacts and then narrow down your potential opportunities to match your investment thesis. Don’t eliminate opportunities just because they don’t match one of your criteria.

Take the time to thoroughly evaluate each business venture and determine whether you see a potential of collaboration in the future. Mitchell points out that some of his most successful opportunities have been from people or places that he did not initially consider as a likely source of good startups.

Landscaping CVC through COVID-19

Amidst the coronavirus, those that operate through international markets are easily able to connect with anyone around the globe. One advantage of being able to meet online is that it is easier to find a common time to sit down and chat. Another one is that those small cultural disparities, which are often overlooked, allow for smoother communication.

By creating a good network right now during COVID-19, you will set up a strong infrastructure for creating syndicates of investors who will support corporate venture capital investors in the coming years. This infrastructure will allow you to assert yourself into the venture capital world and you will be able to carry these networks into real-life collaboration.

You will need to be more creative as an investor or an entrepreneur because of the global working phenomenon caused by the pandemic. Many events where investors and investees regularly come together have been forced to be postponed or cancelled to protect people’s health and safety. Despite this, Mitchell suggests that there are still so many opportunities.

Investor conventions have moved to an online platform so now you have access to thousands of presentations and pitches that you would not normally be able to see because of time and travel restrictions. Go online and find conferences that pertain to your industry or horizontal.

Finally, as you build a pipeline of prospective startups and VCs, have regular readouts of the funnel status with your management team. They need to know when you are getting close to closing so they can prepare all the funding stakeholders for funding requests and to ensure that your internal sponsors are committed to the investment.
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QBO Innovation Hub (QBO) has announced a partnership with the US Embassy in the Philippines to launch an initiative to support early-stage startups, amid uncertainty caused by COVID-19.

Titled INQBATION: The Take-Off, the programme will provide selected startups with financial support in the form of grants, loans and fundraising opportunities. Besides this, they will get workshops, free consultations, tax filing, marketing and access to customers.

To participate, startups will need to have a working prototype and should not have raised more than Php 5 million (~US$100,000) in external funding.

Currently, the programme is open only for Filipino startups. Last date to send the application is October 4.

“With INQBATION: The Take-Off, we want to enable early-stage startups who only need a leg up to succeed,” said ReneMeily, President of QBO.

Also Read: Going big? Then Go e27 Pro.

The partnership comes at a critical time as the pandemic has stirred up unpredictability making it difficult for many startups to directly seek investment from direct sources like VCs.

According to the Philippine Startup Survey 2020, 64 per cent of local startups will need at least Php 5 million to stabilise their operations in the next 12 months, and less than 20 per cent have enough cash and capacity to stay operational.

Also Read:  LongHash to launch incubation program targeting early stagers blockchain projects

“We are hopeful that by giving a platform to early-stage startups, they will gain knowledge and resources to develop some truly innovative ideas and solutions. We are dedicated to supporting a robust startup ecosystem, building deeper commercial ties between the US and the Philippines, and are enthusiastic about contributing to the vibrant startup scene of the Philippines,” said Matt Keener, US Embassy Cultural Attaché.

QBO is an innovation hub or a platform for the startup community to collaborate, develop talent and grow. It claims to be Philippines’s first public-private initiative for startups.

Some of its partners are IdeaSpace, JP Morgan, Department of Science and
Technology, and Department of Trade and Industry.

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As the world pushes for digitalisation, the amount of data being collected or exchanged digitally has increased over the years. With each app download or website signup and for every harmless checkout at that e-commerce platform, we leave traces of our data up for collection in the digital space.

The socio-economic implications of such staggering data can no longer be put on the backburner. In Southeast Asia, governments understand that principles and guidelines have to be established in order to promote and strengthen personal data protection in the region.

In Singapore, the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA) of 2012 set in motion the call for businesses to align themselves with various rules governing the collection, use, and disclosure and care of personal data. As a subset of this law, appointing a Data Protection Officer (DPO) is mandatory for organisations (including businesses) to ensure their compliance with the PDPA.

A DPO can be either an employee with a dedicated responsibility or as an additional function within an existing role in the organisation, or a third-party, outsourced to a service provider. The important question is, what do DPOs do exactly?

Roles and responsibilities

• Ensure compliance of PDPA when developing and implementing policies and processes for handling personal data;
• Foster a data protection culture among employees and communicate personal data protection policies to stakeholders;
• Manage personal data protection related queries and complaints;
• Alert management to any risks that might arise with regard to personal data; and
• Liaise with the PDPC on data protection matters, if necessary.

Dexter Ng, Chief Technology Officer at AntiHack.me (a cybersecurity company) adds that, “It is the DPO’s responsibility to ensure organisations with websites and mobile apps that collect data have reasonable security measures in place, such as conducting yearly penetration tests.”

Also Read: 4 perks of continuous data protection for businesses

However, just appointing a Data Protection Officer does not mean that your organisation has fulfilled its data protection obligations and is just the very first step in your PDPA compliance.

Training for DPOs are a must

Without training, the employee is tasked to lead the data protection efforts in the organisation would not know where to even begin.

Furthermore, if the responsibility of a DPO is a secondary function on top of his primary job, they will not have sufficient time to perform all the required research and seek clarity for knowledge.

By attending a data protection course, your DPO will gain a better understanding of the scope of his responsibilities and the steps he can take to ensure your business complies with the PDPA, in the shortest amount of time.

For instance, Singapore startup Privacy Ninja conducts regular training for appointed DPOs in order to give them an overview and understanding of the nine core PDPA obligations and more.

I believe that education is key to being a proficient and competent DPO for any organisation. Understanding the fundamental requirements of the PDPA is essential to formulating your organisation’s Data Protection Management Programme.

One of those who underwent such training is Alvin Decruz, Head of Engineering of tech startup and digital publishing house Tickled Media. “Privacy Ninja is knowledgeable and professional in what they do,” Alvin shared. “We engaged them to conduct PDPA training for my staff and everyone greatly benefitted. I am safe to say we are much more aware and aligned to the PDPA’s regulations.”

Every organisation is encouraged to register their DPO with the PDPC. Additionally, the appointed DPO can subscribe to the PDPC’s e-newsletter, DPO Connect.

Subscribing to the DPO Connect will keep your DPO informed of the latest matters concerning data protection, upcoming events conducted by the PDPC, and information on where to seek help for data protection matters.

Also Read: Ignorance is never bliss: What a whitehat taught me about data privacy

Transparency is sexy

Appointing a Data Protection Officer is just the very first step, you will also need to make his/her contact information available to the public, and this is typically displayed on the privacy policy page on an organisation’s corporate website.

Since the month of May 2020, PDPC has collaborated with the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA) of Singapore to develop an e-service to enable business entities to register their DPO Business Contact Information (BCI) on ACRA Bizfile+, making it publicly available, which is another mandatory requirement.

For organisations that have previously registered their DPO with PDPC, PDPC encourages such organisations to register their DPO again in ACRA BizFile⁺ to ensure that the DPO’s details will be accurate and updated.

This is usually in the form of an email address, and in the case of telephone numbers, be Singapore telephone numbers.

While appointed DPOs are not required to be physically present in Singapore, they should still be readily accessible from Singapore and operational during Singapore business hours.

To be fully prepared for any personal data protection query or complaint from the public or PDPC, have team members who are competent to answer personal data related queries and complaints on behalf of the organisation, or at least be able to provide an interim reply while the respective matter is brought to the appointed DPO’s attention.

The startups’ dilemma

For startups in Singapore, appointing a DPO from among the existing team members might pose a dilemma. Every member may already have their plates full of business-related tasks, and adding a DPO role on top of it may prove to be too much. On the flip side, hiring a full-time DPO can mean straining the company budget further.

Privacy Ninja understands it too well, being a startup themselves. Hence, seeing a need and lapse in this area, they formed a well-rounded DPO team to provide their expertise to businesses in Singapore, targeting SMEs that face resource constraints in developing their in-house DPO capabilities.

Privacy Ninja’s outsourced Data Protection Officer function, DPO-As-A-Service, allows your business to fully adhere to PDPA compliance without straining your budget or manpower. This includes performing “surprise” audits on the company, developing the necessary policies and data protection documentation, and round-the-clock data protection support and assistance.

Also Read: 10 data security predictions by Gartner for the year 2020

In a nutshell, if your business operates in Singapore and you haven’t appointed a DPO for your company yet, don’t wait until the government slaps you with hefty penalties, which from past enforcement cases typically ranges from SG$5,000 (US$3,600) to SG$20,000 (US$14,600).

Now is the best time to begin your journey toward full compliance of the PDPA law.

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The COVID-19 crisis has disrupted workforces all around the globe. Companies have had to flip to work-from-home models overnight or worse, downsize their staff. With the world’s economy in flux, only businesses that stay ahead of their competition will make it to the other side of this pandemic.

Some companies have seen the potential in investing in their employees. They are using this uncertain and ambiguous time to upskill their staff and fill any knowledge gaps.

The Singaporean government has worked closely with its job skills programme SkillsFuture for several years, but it is now offering training geared toward remote working and COVID-19 management. To deliver training to their now remote employees, many companies will have to rely on sophisticated Learning Management Systems (LMS).

Training a diverse and dispersed workforce

In 2017, the McKinsey Global Institute estimated that 14 per cent of the global workforce would need to acquire new skills or switch occupations by 2030 due to the continuing use of automation and the further development of artificial intelligence.

COVID-19 has shed a light on these skills shortages, only making them more urgent and providing an increased impetus in many sectors to implement training. Despite the previous success of government-sponsored job skill schemes, human resource leaders have identified a greater need for talent development in the context of the pandemic. Companies are developing coronavirus-specific training programmes by leveraging the potential found in e-learning platforms.

PwC’s Academy in Singapore has adapted their upskilling content for the pandemic. They’ve made their Digital Fitness for the World app free to individuals and organisations for the next year.

Talent assessment companies such as Talview have released modules and resources aimed directly at remote working and the handling of HR coronavirus procedures. Initiatives like these recognise the value of remote skills training during the pandemic.

Also Read: Why cross-cultural training programme is a must-have for the modern workplace

Moving face-to-face instruction online

A survey released by EngageRocket in May found that nine out of 10 Singaporean employees would prefer to keep working from home after the pandemic. Companies are also seeing the benefits of remote operations, and, as a result, many plan to keep a reduced in-office workforce.

By having smaller offices, firms can reduce their costs on insurance, building maintenance, utilities, and rent, which is especially beneficial during times of economic uncertainty. Businesses wishing to upskill, therefore, need to turn to distance learning platforms to carry out training.

Course content is the foundation of any training — in-person or remote. Shorter content, broken into multiple videos or sections, is better for retention, particularly when learning at a distance. To ensure the course delivers useful training content, trainers should also carry out a needs assessment before diving in, allowing them to target the requirements of the participants adequately.

Trainers who are busy supporting the organisation can find relevant content that’s ready to deliver and meets their learners’ needs while encouraging collaboration amongst staff and allowing subject matter experts within their firms to contribute to the training. A robust LMS allows training programme managers to evaluate the firm’s needs, build, deliver and monitor engagement with course content, all on the same platform.

Consistently train remote workers

Adapting to a full-time remote workforce means ensuring consistent and effective skills training long-term becomes an essential requirement. One major concern of distance working is the maintenance of high levels of productivity. By implementing a few of the following approaches to e-learning, trainers can keep staff members motivated to complete their course:

Gamification has proven to keep learners engaged as they complete an online course. Gamified courses reward learners with points or badges as they progress. Trainers should tailor rewards to their audience, making them relevant and noteworthy.

Personalisation is another way to deliver engaging educational content to employees. Meaningful feedback, accessibility across devices, and letting the participants incorporate their own video content are all ways to personalise remote instruction.

Evaluating what learners already know and designing courses to test their specific knowledge is the best way to cater content to individuals.

An LMS with a sophisticated course builder and gamification capabilities, like the Brightspace platform from global software company D2L, makes bespoke remote courses easy to deliver and more engaging for the end-users.

Also Read: Workbean: Empowering the workplace in the time of COVID-19

Holistic online solutions for remote training

Many corporations in Southeast Asia rely on learning management systems (LMS) to deliver training modules to their employees. Even before COVID-19, companies were using these platforms to train staff across the region with a wide range of customised courses.

These companies understood the need for a remote, decentralised instruction model, accessible to the entire workforce. An LMS allows clients with regional or global presence to cater their course content to the needs of each office, regardless of location or specific functions and specialties. The LMS has the potential to become a learning and resource hub for staff members, where employees can share updates and relevant information quickly and easily.

As onboarding, talent development, and education become dispersed processes, the need for remote learning grows. Transferring face-to-face training to an online model isn’t always intuitive, however. Companies need third-party learning platforms to develop courses that achieve their objectives and remove the burden of establishing an in-house structure that may lack the capabilities and resources required.

Remote working isn’t going away any time soon, and neither is the need to continue professional development, upskilling, and on the job training. As long as the workforce is remote, distance learning will also be essential. Distance learning is very much the future for the vast majority of people, and now is the optimum time to introduce it while employees are already learning to adapt to a new way of working.

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Currently, the Vietnam food delivery market is dominated by two giants, which are Now Delivery and GrabFood. Any other business is sharing a small market share that warmed the competition level across Vietnam.

However, in the past, there was an app, which had nearly won the competition for leading positions, named Foodpanda. But it suddenly failed due to financial difficulties.

In 2020, the old legend has begun to return with a strong ambition and well-preparation. Unfortunately, it is not a piece of cake for Foodpanda in a location where all the rule has seemingly been settled.

Generally, Foodpanda was initially an online food ordering system owned by Delivery Hero, a German company. Foodpanda first entered Vietnam in 2012; its services rapidly expanded its presence to the five largest cities in the country.

In 2017, it suddenly shut down all activities and closed its brands in Vietnam. According to Foodpanda, at that time, the company had a focus on the market, which had been already profitable.

Although Vietnam was a remarkably potential market due to enormous purchasing power and massive population, it required a large investment that FoodPanda could not afford.

Also Read: Setting new rules for the food delivery industry in a post-pandemic world

After three years of absence, Delivery Hero decided to come back to the Asia market through an M&A transaction with Baemin, which is a leading delivery service in South Korea.

In 2019, it restarted business activities again in Vietnam by launching Baemin, serving citizens with food delivery services. Until now, one year after revising, Foodpanda or Baemin is still struggling with doing their business. So, what are the reasons?

Aggressive war in the food delivery market

Vietnam food delivery market is expected to worth roundly US$300 million at the end of 2020, with over 9.5 million users shared between five key players, which are GrabFood, Now, GoFood, Loship, and Baemin.

Many experts proposed that promotions and innovative menus tend to be the core competitive advantages, deciding the winner in the market.

Now had been leveraging the attractiveness of the Foody platform, which is one of the most popular food ordering platforms. In which, Now has rapidly attracted a large group of loyal customers to its delivery services.

Besides, GrabFood promoted a strategy called “unique food” that connect with local restaurants to provide exclusive dishes. With abundant resources of shippers and food providers, GrabFood tends to catch up Now’s position in the race of delivery.

On the other hand, Baemin introduced its promotion for new customers with 70 per cent off first orders. Also, it provided an attractive remuneration policy to shippers with the purpose of expanding the community of vendors.

With the massive investment, all players confessed that they are getting stuck with challenges coming from customer behaviour.

Struggling with infrastructure

Back to Baemin, its background was from the fried chicken delivery in Korea from 1950. For over 70 years, Korean customers have been educated to be acquainted with food delivery as the norm for consuming restaurants’ food.

Most food stores in this country have attached with online food ordering and at least one shipping service. In fact, roughly 70 per cent of Koreans have already used food delivery.

On the contrary, Vietnamese consumers have experienced this service for roughly eight years, which came up with a lack of online payment transactions. At present, e-banking, e-wallet, or other e-payment methods are seemingly at the initial stages that are only popular with people living in big cities.

Accordingly, cash-on-delivery (COD) refers to the most common payment method currently in Vietnam. In which the habit of using cash payment in the daily orders of most Vietnamese has deterred the growth of delivery apps, especially Baemin.

Also Read: Understanding the economics of food delivery platforms

Additionally, Vietnamese people tend to prefer eating in restaurants as a kind of relaxation and tasting hot foods that also challenge delivery services. This behaviour is due to several dishes commonly using with broth, which are believed to be less tasty when takeaway.

However, with the outbreak of COVID-19 and social distancing, there was a sign of switch in customer behavior in favour of food delivery.

Massive capital requirements

In the past, the main reason that forced Foodpanda to leave Vietnam was lack of financial capacity in the context of economic crisis. With returning plan, Baemin was backed by Delivery Hero so it decided to start burning money in exchange for new customers.

A recent investigation revealed that only 15 per cent of respondents use Baemin, while the number using Grab and Now were 79 per cent and 56 per cent, respectively. Accordingly, Beamin needs to invest more money to attract users.

In fact, the loyalty of Vietnam users to delivery services was estimated at the lowest group among several Asia and EU markets. It means, to retain users, food delivery apps need constantly to implement discounts and promotions. Whereby those activities do require massive investment.

Apart from Baemin, its competitors Grab and Now also pumped new capital to win the market share. Grab announced it will invest more than US$500 million in Vietnam until 2024.

Meanwhile, GoFood has fundraised US$1 billion to its business, which could invest in its delivery business. Although Delivery Hero paid US$4 billion to own Baemin, it still experienced difficulty in using capitals to defeat competitors.

Final words: the food delivery culture in Vietnam came after Korea several decades that Foodpanda is struggling with localising its services to fit with Vietnam users. Besides the expansions of competitors, it also gets stuck with challenges from the purchasing habit of Vietnamese. So, is there any space for Foodpanda or Baemin to grow?

The answer is yes. After all, the core values of food delivery mobile apps are technology and services. Once its leaders use the investment properly to deliver outstanding services and catch up with technology innovation, Baemin can conquest any of the obstinate markets.

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Moovaz acquires van-hailing platform GetVan; This allows it to bolster its end-to-end relocation ecosystem with GetVan’s technological offering and strong driver-partner network; Recently, Moovaz acquired The Finder from Singapore Press Holdings; In May, the relocation startup raised US$7M Series A led by Quest Ventures. e27

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Singapore-headquartered relocation services company Moovaz has signed an agreement to acquire local on-demand van rental services startup GetVan.

The transaction details of the deal haven’t been disclosed.

Moovaz said in a statement that the acquisition will allow it to bolster its end-to-end relocation ecosystem with GetVan’s technological offering and strong driver-partner network.

Also Read: WW-III may already be happening online. Here’s why you need better cybersecurity

As part of the agreement, GetVan Founder and CEO James Neo will join Moovaz as Head of Supply Chain Operations.

This latest development comes about four months after Moovaz signed a deal with Singapore Press Holdings to acquire its expat-focussed publication The Finder, with plans to add content for the purpose of community-building to its digital-first relocation service.

Founded in 2018, Moovaz is an all-in-one digital platform operating in the logistics and international relocation industry. It is a global network of over 2,000 certified partners.

In April, Moovaz raised a US$7 million in Series A financing round, led by Quest Ventures, YCH Group and SGInnovate.

Founded in 2016, GetVan is an on-demand van-hire service designed to help city dwellers with their moving and transportation needs. Its intra-city logistics solutions are available for businesses and individuals.

Also Read: Words that matter most when raising capital

GetVan founder James Neo is a military officer-turned-entrepreneur, with a background in ride-hailing through his former capacity as the Head of Driver Acquisitions and Market Insights at gojek.

“Moovaz and GetVan share a common belief that to win with customers, we have to first win with our partners. I am impressed by the strong commitment to protecting partner earnings and experience within the Moovaz platform,” said Neo.

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Image Credit: Moovaz

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