Born and raised from a humble background, I witnessed the importance of working hard. Coming from the blue-collar sector, my parents worked extremely hard to support my upbringing. As the only child, my parents gave me all they could, to provide for my education.

For 26 years, my dad worked as a driver so that he could support our family. My mum also contributed by taking up a blue-collar job.

Times were difficult, but I understand that at a very young age. I grow up recognising the fact that is only through hard work and perseverance, that one can overcome the hard times.

What my education taught me  

Both of my parents have never been to school, but they understood the importance of hard work, discipline, and grit. I grew up watching their hard work in hourly roles and that inspired and motivated me to strive forward.

I was blessed to get the chance to receive a college degree in a local university, and I learned that I had to treasure all the opportunities I could get. I did and I made use of every single opportunity in school.

During my education at the National University of Singapore, I was offered a chance to attend the NUS Overseas College programme. This chance did not come easy. My first application was rejected, and my second appeal only got through one day before the closing date.

Also Read: From a troublemaker in school to drone maker, this Malaysian entrepreneur is now living his dream

I came to know that such chances do not come easy, so I made sure to make the best out of it. This programme got me deep-dived into the startup ecosystem and fostered my entrepreneurial mind.

My internship at a digital marketing and tech company in China provided a good headstart for navigating the Chinese landscape. Subsequently, Farfetch proposed a unique acquisition. In July 2018, they were acquired and Farfetch filed an IPO later that year.

Looking back, I certainly did not know that I would have ever gotten the chance to intern at a startup that witnesses the transformation from acquisition to IPO. I learned that with hard work and education, all is possible. Upon my graduation this May, I will be the first generation degree holder in my family.

How do I support my entrepreneurial ventures financially

Coming from a blue-collar background, meant that we could not afford a lot of luxuries. I do not have the capacity to attend extracurricular activities such as learning music.

When I was in my teens, I took up part-time jobs, working in fast food chains and restaurants. My experience from waiting tables in the F&B industry taught me about the importance of understanding the customer.

This includes a complete journey from having empathy for their needs to delivery of the service itself. Being in a front-facing role, I learned how to be authentic and approachable, so that customer satisfaction can be enhanced.

Also Read: 6 fashion startups that actually deliver value

The hourly rates I earned taught me the importance of practising financial prudence.

I understand the importance of saving for rainy days and this had taught me how to be more financially prudent, especially as I am embarking on my first startup. We have to make the best use of all our resources, without imposing an additional financial burden. This also meant prototyping at the lowest possible costs and learning how to negotiate for throw-ins.

When we first started out, my team collaborated remotely using Taskade. I first heard about them through Y-Combinator and I was sold by the simplicity of their design. I signed up for a free account and onboarded the rest of my team.

After collaborating remotely for two months, I arranged for a feedback and review session with the CEO of Taskade, John Xie. I told the team how much I love their product and even highlighted some of my key findings from using the platform in an article here.

For me, the main reason that stood out from other collaboration tools was their interface and content support. John placed utmost importance in providing articles and guidelines in their blog, to help their customers.

Later, they upgraded my subscription to a PRO account. I think having an honest and authentic conversation helps, not even in just being transactional. And of course, I learn how to engage and produce meaningful conversations, that ultimately might bring benefits for my startup.

Also Read: E-commerce startup Get acquires Daung Capital to provide one-stop fintech solutions to Myanmar’s micro-entrepreneurs

Conclusion

For everyone out there coming from humble backgrounds, I sincerely hope that this piece inspires you and let’s keep on keeping on! Our beginnings do not determine our outcome, and only in tough times, perseverance, and hope can be conceptualised.

It is only during times that we preserve, that we can reap the fruits and process of our journey. Make the best of all the chance you can get, and have faith that it would lead to something more majestic.

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Image credit: Samuel Toh on Unsplash

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Formerly known as the coronavirus, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has declared the COVID-19 outbreak as a global public health emergency, with China being the most affected followed by Japan (174), Singapore (58), South Korea (28), Thailand (25), Malaysia (16) and Vietnam (15), at the time this article was written.

Beyond affecting daily life, this outbreak has also affected a large chunk of businesses. A multitude of short and long term effects have been anticipated, from the postponement of events to missed launch target due to office closures.

Even Elon Musk’s Tesla was not immune to the consequence, as its stock crashed to 19 per cent after news of delay in Model 3 deliveries in China.

e27 has compiled a list of comments from startup founders from Southeast Asia on how they plan to cope with the impact of the outbreak.

The offline side of the business

The impact of the outbreak is more significant for tech startups with a strong offline element in their business.

Take the example of People Matters, who had had postpone its People Matters TechHR Singapore event. In a statement to e27, CEO Ester Martinez explains how the company has been monitoring the issue closely and had to make the difficult decision.

“I hope the situation comes to normalcy soon,” she says, expressing gratitude to the event’s partners and sponsors.

A different story happens to CoderSchool, a Vietnam-based coding school who had recently launched an online-only programme. While the launch seemed to coincide the outbreak, CoderSchool co-founder Charles Lee said that the school had not seen anyone signing up “just because of the virus fear.”

“We are prepared to do more online, study-from-home type of stuff, but so far it has not seemed necessary. One big test for us will be next week when we have a large event, a demo day for one of our classes. The hope is that attendance won’t suffer,” Lee says.

However, the approach startups are taking vary from market to market. In Indonesia, where there is zero number of confirmed case by the time this article was written, startups are taking a more relaxed approach.

While ride-hailing giant such as gojek is taking precaution by encouraging drivers to monitor body temperature and disinfect their vehicles, other companies such as DailySocial are not doing beyond what is commonly implemented.

“Of course there are precautions when meeting someone who recently travelled abroad, but that just means more people wearing masks,” Rama Mamuaya said.

Part of the company’s offerings include the running of startup events such as #SelasaStartup (“Startup Tuesdays”), and CEO Mamuaya noted how customers in the market behaved as usual.

“There has not been much impact in Jakarta aside from cancelled conferences abroad. Everyone still works, goes to meetings, etcetera,” he writes in a message to e27.

Business (un)usual

For companies with a heavier online presence, adjustments are made in their internal operations.

As a cybersecurity firm, Singapore-based Group IB has always put emphasis on its employees’ health and wellbeing early on, and this attitude benefits the company during the crisis.

“Funnily enough, I had brought masks for my employees from Moscow, but no one has touched it until now. We may be a little laid back about it, but we feel like the virus only affects if one is not cautious about everyday personal health and hygiene,” says Group IB founder Ilya Sachkov.

Also Read: Coronavirus is driving the world into an economic slump. How to cope up?

Circles.Life –which had operations in Singapore, Taiwan, and Australia– are taking precautions by limiting gatherings and encouraging unwell employees and those who had recently travelled to China to work from home, as prescribed by the authority.

“I think it is important to keep things in perspective and not overreact,” says Circles.Life co-founder Abhishek Gupta.

“We were lucky that we often had to make such plans, given the heavily regulated nature of our business, but I can imagine many others not being as lucky,” he says.

Also Read: What healthcare transformation in Asia will look like in 2020

“As with most things, just acknowledge everything openly and be ready to listen,” says CoderSchool’s Lee.

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Anisa Menur Maulani contributed to the writing of this article.

Image Credit: All founders in the article, edited by e27

The post Keep calm and remain communicative: Startup founders share how they cope with coronavirus crisis appeared first on e27.

(Left to right) Forrest Li, Chairman of Lion City Sailors FC; Lim Kia Tong, President of the FAS; Winston Wong, Chairman of Home United

Business

Indonesia to have a bill that makes foreign talent hiring in startups easier

Lack of local viable engineers reportedly prompts the Indonesian government to give access to more foreign talents hired by startups through a new bill proposal, as shared by Nikkei Asian Review.

Being home to five unicorns doesn’t make Indonesia’s startup scene a strong one when it comes to local talents. Indonesia reportedly produces only 278 engineers per million people a year, which is still far behind compared to peers such as Malaysia or Thailand, which produce over 1,000, according to consultancy A.T. Kearney.

The change is a part of sweeping reforms that President Joko Widodo has put forward in a draft omnibus law on job creation, which packages a number of legal revisions into a single vote.

The copy of the job creation bill says that an employer categorized as a “startup” need not “have its plans to hire foreign workers approved by the central government”, which is quite a change from the previous labor law that only allowed “representatives of foreign countries that use foreign workers as diplomatic and consular employees”.

The 1,000-plus-page draft includes a simpler process for business permits and relaxed labor rules. In a separate bill about taxes, Indonesia vows to lower corporate taxes, as well as make internet companies that offer service in Indonesia without having a local presence pay taxes in the country.

Also Read: This Indonesian startup believes they have the solution to hiring Millennials

Indonesia’s President Joko Widodo hopes that by having this bill, the country can welcome more foreign investment and boost economic growth.

The bill, once submitted to the legislature, is likely to pass within six months, as Widodo’s ruling coalition controls about three-quarters of the 575 seats in the People’s Representative Council. The bill has already created a backlash as more than 4,000 people protested outside the legislature on Wednesday when the job creation bill was submitted.

Sea Group buys Singapore Premier League club Lion City Sailors, unveils new squad for 2020

Sea Group, the Singapore internet unicorn and owner of e-commerce platform Shopee and mobile gaming company Garena, has announced that it has officially backed Lion City Sailors, which was formerly known as Home United.

Sea becomes the club’s new owner right before its debut in the upcoming Singapore Premier League (SPL) season with a new name, kit, and squad.

Forrest Li, Founder, Chairman and Group CEO, of Sea, will serve as Chairman of Lion City Sailors FC.

“By uniting with a club with a rich heritage, exceptional fans, and a great organisation, we intend for Lion City Sailors to set a new benchmark for footballing excellence in Singapore and the region. As a passionate fan myself, I know that Singapore has a huge community of people who love football, and our hope is that Lion City Sailors will strengthen that passion and ignite a new era for the development of the game locally,” said Li.

Accomplished coach team led by the former Socceroos captain Aurelio Vidmar and more star signings to ignite the 2020 SPL season Lion City Sailors are said to be targeting domestic silverware and a place in the AFC Champions League. Some off-season signings including Lions stalwarts Hassan Sunny, Gabriel Quak, and Shahdan Sulaiman; Japanese defender Kaishu Yamazaki; as well as prolific Australian forward, Andy Pengelly.

Also Read: StoreHub set for SEA expansion after securing US$8.9M in Series A+ round

The launch of Lion City Sailors is set to inject fresh momentum for the SPL, with the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) welcoming more corporate involvement that can invigorate the league, identifying this pilot project as an opportunity to build a sustainable model for local football that will encourage other corporate partners to follow suit.

The new SPL season kicks off on February 29, 2020, where Lion City Sailors will take on defending champions Brunei DPMM at the Bishan Stadium.

Karbon, SBM Bank India to launch India’s first startup-friendly credit card

Powered by SBM Bank India, Indian fintech operating in the corporate cards solutions space Karbon announces the launch of Karbon Card, India’s startup-friendly corporate credit card. The corporate credit card features an expense management solution bundled with a reward program that comprises relevant offers from AWS, Freshworks, MakeMyTrip, and more.

Karbon Card will also help its customers network with venture capital players as well as empowering them to manage funds raised from their investors.

Sidharth Rath, MD, and CEO, SBM Bank India, said, “We firmly believe in Collaborative Banking – as the future lies in coming together of like-minded institutions to expand the market by creating more value per interaction for the target customers. Our focus is on enriching the ecosystem through collaborations, and this collaboration with Karbon in launching the initiative is a step in that direction.”

SBM Bank India becomes the first bank to receive a universal banking license from the Reserve Bank of India to set up and operate as a Scheduled Commercial Bank offering banking services through the Wholly Owned Subsidiary (WOS) mode. SBM Bank India has a network of 6 branches located in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Ramachandrapuram.
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The post Morning News Roundup: Indonesia proposes law that makes foreign talent hiring in startups easier appeared first on e27.

Finance

Cybersecurity analytics startup CYFIRMA gets Series A funding to support expansion

CYFIRMA, a cybersecurity analytics platform that seeks to address the need for advanced threat intelligence and predictive capabilities to help businesses strengthen their risk and security posture, has raised a Series A funding from India-based early-growth private equity fund Z3Partners.

With the new funding, CYFIRMA plans to expand into markets across Asia, including India, and the US. The funds will also be used to support the development roadmap of CYFIRMA’s cyber- intelligence analytics platform.

Headquartered in Singapore and Tokyo, CYFIRMA has just separated its operation from Antuit Group in October 2019.

“CYFIRMA was born out of the urgent need to help business leaders decipher relevant and critical threats in a sea of noise, so that decisive actions can be taken to prevent massive brand and financial damages. We rely on our way of looking at cyber threat analytics, gathering intelligence across deep and dark web as well as surface web to unravel motivations of threat actors and stop cyber-attack,” said Ritesh Kumar, Founder and CEO of CYFIRMA.

Also Read: Cybersecurity in the age of information warfare and IoT

Z3Partners officially joins Goldman Sachs and Zodius Capital as a shareholder of CYFIRMA with this investment. To date, the company has raised US$8 million including the current round.

Business

Facebook joins Sequoia India’s Surge in launching the fourth edition of VC Brand Incubator

Facebook reportedly has joined forces with Surge, Sequoia Capital India’s accelerator programme, to launch the fourth instalment of the VC Brand Incubator in India, DealStreetAsia has learned.

The VC Brand Incubator is aimed to help brands gain more insights into leveraging the Facebook family of apps for growth.

VC Brand Incubator was first established in June 2019 by Facebook to support India’s small and medium businesses and provide access for collaboration with venture capital funds. For its first, second, and third editions, the social media behemoth worked with Sauce.VC, Fireside Ventures, and SAIF Partners – claiming to have mentored more than 70 brands.

Also Read: Meet the 8 Southeast Asian startups who will receive US$1-2M each from Sequoia’s Surge programme

Besides VC Brand Incubator, Facebook also launched two other support programmes in the country: Facebook Digital Training that offers social and content marketing training for free, and Facebook Startup Training Hub to help businesses go digital.

Started in 2019, Surge said it has invested between US$1-2 million in selected startups from its two cohorts of 37 startups consisting of six countries in South and Southeast Asia.

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Image Credit: Kaur Kristjan on Unsplash

The post Afternoon News Roundup: Cyber-threat analytics platform CYFIRMA secures Series A funding from Z3Partners appeared first on e27.

Is it time to ditch the office? Remote working is here to stay, and here’s what you need to know.

The year is 2016. I had just moved to Metro Manila, one of the densest metropolitans in the world with a population of just under 13 million in a land area of 619 square kilometers. With this many people, a typical daily commute from Quezon City to the bustling business district of Ortigas meant spending forty minutes in traffic from my house to the closest train station, thirty minutes to fall in line and squeeze myself inside a packed train, twenty minutes to get to the station closest to my work, and another twenty minutes to walk to the office.

By the time I arrived, I would already be exhausted from the mere act of getting there on time, and often drenched in sweat after spending two hours inside packed vehicles under the blinding tropical heat.

This means, a typical workday for me consisted of nine hours at the office and four more hours on the road. This is just a conservative estimate as the 12-hour workday I illustrated operates under three important assumptions: that I don’t spend more of my hours doing extra work, that the weather is being cooperative, and that our often unreliable third world transport system isn’t clunking out.

I was not alone in this predicament. People all over Metro Manila have to deal with the exact same problems, while those in other similarly dense cities around the world like Mumbai and Dhaka have to contend with their own versions of the same harrowing story.

To be able to work remotely cuts back four full hours from my workday and relieves me from the violence and terror that a tedious commute system entails.

With remote working, not only am I able to perform better, but conversely, the companies I work for get to maximise my time and energy better, rendering a mutually beneficial partnership between employer and employee.

Environmental impact of remote work

Of all the things modern society has to contend with, the one thing we cannot deny is the impact of carbon emissions to our climate. With climate justice taking on an increasingly important role in how we shape society, it is important to recalibrate how we operate in our daily lives to better mitigate the effects of climate change.

A recent report from the Carbon Trust found that greater adoption of home working could save around 3 million tons of carbon emissions in the UK alone. Because of our growing knowledge on the impact we have towards the natural environment, it is likely that organisations big and small will continue to push for remote working as a means to reduce our carbon footprint.

In the US, the city of San Antonio, Texas is encouraging businesses to authorise more flexible working arrangements for employees such as getting them to work a four-day week (instead of five) to decrease their time on the road and improve the city’s air quality. On the other hand, the Philippines has passed a recent law that allows employers in the private sector to offer remote working and promote people’s capacity to earn without the need to exhaust their valuable resources and energy in commuting.

These initiatives are mere examples of how institutional change are being enforced across multiple parts of the world to better accommodate the increasingly precarious state that our natural environment finds itself in. Not only is it important for governments to implement these solutions in the labor force framework, but it is becoming increasingly necessary.

As such, we can realistically project that remote working as a solution to this problem will only take on a more prominent role as the decade unfolds. Not just as a trend, but as a norm, remote working coupled with tools and technologies is a viable and impactful solution to the pressing problems that come with climate change.

Business continuity planning in times of crisis

Business continuity planning (BCP) is the process of creating a system of prevention and recovery efforts from potential threats to a company. The plan ensures that personnel and assets are protected and are able to function quickly in the event of a disaster.

These disasters can span from anything between situations of environmental calamity like typhoons, to less common predicaments like concerns surrounding health and other related issues.

With global threats and health risks becoming more and more prominent, there is an acute awareness among big and small companies that preemptive measures and proactive systems must be in place in order to err on the side of caution.

Such is the case in Singapore where, due to certain public health risks, many multinational companies are encouraging remote and flexible working arrangements in order to better protect their employees while still managing the daily grind that comes with operating a business.

Given these developments, business continuity planning is more important than ever as it helps strike a balance between securing the health and safety of employees while at the same time, making sure that the company gets to continue rendering products and services for its consumers.

Remote working is a great way to circumvent these problems and equip companies with a formidable business continuity planning system. Given the right set of tools, a lot of businesses especially in the tech ecosystem will be able to function normally with the help of remote working despite certain public threats.

The right set of tools

There are many technologies out there that can help a company promote business continuity planning and provide ample tools for remote working. One of the greatest markers of a powerful tool when it comes to effective remote working is an integrated system that combines all conversations, documents, and meetings in one seamless platform.

Because remote working means one’s workforce is somewhat scattered and fragmented and often across multiple time zones, the best way for it to work is by streamlining and simplifying operations that can only be achieved in an effective integrated model.

One of the best examples of these technologies is Lark, the new unified communications and collaborations solution for teams of all sizes. With tools such as messaging, calendar, video conferencing, and docs all synced in real-time and under one platform, Lark is a great example of a technology that can help one’s business ease into a remote working environment.

Not only that, but you can also install third-party tools into the platform that you may need in order to function as you would in an office-setting.

Kick-start your remote working journey with a free business subscription valid until 1 May 2020 when you sign up at www.larksuite.com.

The post The beginning of the decentralised office — are you ready for a remote working future? appeared first on e27.

In its latest The China AI Report 2020, South China Morning Post (SCMP) addresses the growing concerns of US-China tensions which included the recent import bans of Chinese tech –and how it will impact the country’s AI ambitions.

The report further explores the impacts of these developments. In principle, while tech tensions hammer the financial market, the battle for AI supremacy is predicted to continue between the two nations.

The report also interviews many top-level individuals who continually stress upon privacy as an increasingly crucial aspect of the AI industry. As more privacy concerns begin to develop, China plans to build more trust with consumers and users.

The region is also working towards developing technology which will fight against the negative impacts of machine learning such as bias, discrimination, algorithmic transparency, and explainability.

Healthcare, manufacturing remains key

Authored by the SCMP Research team, the report includes deep dives, case studies, and first-hand insights of the AI industry in China. It also included projections for the long term future, with manufacturing being one of the aspects covered in it.

China maintains the top position in terms of manufacturing output; the report further elaborates China’s plans of moving manufacturing into a more personalised direction due to AI advancements.

In the near term, there will also be wider use of automated checkouts, which will reduce labour costs and enhance data gathering. But the use of “unmanned stores” has been disregarded for the foreseeable future.

Also Read: Report: SEA digital investment climate to become more diverse, “strong” growth in most deal sizes

Healthcare is another major focal point of the 2020 report. It reveals that more attention will be given to preventive maintenance. Beyond fully automated diagnosis and treatment, including surgery by domestically produced robots, AI will involve highly customised lifestyle recommendations based on individual genotypes.

What’s next for AI in China?

Recent reports pointed towards unfavourable economic predictions for China, as it is being weighed down by violent anti-government protests in Hong Kong, US-China trade war, and the outbreak of Coronavirus. These developments leave the future of China highly uncertain.

Interestingly, while it is hard to conceal the fact that China has seen a drop in private investments, the Chinese government and local tech giants are not facing a shortage of capital or solutions. They are even striving towards widening the lead in AI deployment as of 2020.

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Image Credit: Unsplash

The post Report: Preventive healthcare, manufacturing will be the key to China’s AI development appeared first on e27.

GrabWheels, the mobility arm of Southeast Asian ride-hailing giant Grab, announced that it has secured US$30 million investment into its ongoing Series A round from Taiwanese electric vehicle (EV) company KYMCO. The funding is said to be the part of a strategic partnership to develop two-wheeler electric vehicle (EV) solutions to accelerate the adoption of EVs in Southeast Asia.

The partnership will enable both firms to jointly explore developing and deploying two-wheel electric vehicles, specifically KYMCO’s Ionex electric bikes, as well as the Ionex EV charging platforms in Southeast Asian cities where Grab operates.

The partnership will also include a research study in which GrabWheels and Kymco will look into how best to develop a shared two-wheel EV service, build electric charging infrastructure, and ensure KYMCO’s EVs meet the licensing requirements across Southeast Asia.

Also Read: Grab launches green e-scooter GrabWheels in Indonesia’s top university

Chris Yeo, Head of Grab Ventures and New Platform Business, said, “This joint effort underscores our commitment to work with strategic partners and local governments to bring about a safer and more environmentally sustainable transport network.”

“The transition toward electric vehicles is one of the most significant transformations of personal transportation for the next 10 years,” said Allen Ko, Chairman of KYMCO Group, who added, “Accelerating this transition, KYMCO Ionex is the EV turnkey solution that empowers all businesses and governments to go electric.”

Grab has been steadily expanding its EV ecosystem by collaborating with governments and partners such as automakers and electricity providers, to drive up EV adoption. Grab said it plans to gain insights on how to better operate and expand EV fleets by co-developing policies with governments with the aim of making EVs more affordable, thus encouraging driver-partners and fleet owners to adopt EVs.

In July 2019, Grab and Universitas Indonesia (UI) launched GrabWheels as a green mobility solution at the university campus in Depok, Indonesia, just a month after it first offered a new subscription plan for its food delivery-partners across the city-state to be able to enjoy unlimited rides on GrabWheels’ e-scooters available at close to 30 pick-ups or drop off points across the island.

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Image Credit: GrabWheels

The post GrabWheels raises US$30M from Taiwan’s KYMCO to accelerate EV adoption in SEA appeared first on e27.

Finance

NFC-based event management startup PouchNATION raises Series B funding from Indonesian online cinema tickets platform TIX ID

TIX ID, the online cinema tickets platform in Indonesia, has invested in PouchNATION, to extend its on-ground handling capabilities in anticipation of launching the events ticket sales business.

PouchNATION digitises mass participation events and venues through the use of NFC technology to manage crowds process payments, collect data, as well as offer events and recreational venues space in Asia with offices in Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Thailand.

It will be complementing TIX ID product offering by providing its technology for on-ground capabilities at events and venues.

Sean Kim, Managing Director of TIX ID, said: “Jointly we will be able to guarantee a seamless experience starting from online ticket sales, on TIX ID platform, to offline crowd management, access control and brand activation on PouchNATION’s platform.”

For more than 10 million registered users on TIX ID platform this collaboration means that soon they will have a broader choice than just accessing movie tickets; events tickets will be available as soon as March 2020.

GrabWheels snags US$30M investment from KYMCO to bring two-wheeler electric vehicle to Southeast Asia

GranWheels, the mobility arm of Grab, announces that it has secured US$30 million investment from Taiwan’s electric vehicle (EV) KYMCO.

Grab’s mobility arm GrabWheels said that the funding will enable both firms to jointly explore developing and deploying two-wheel electric vehicles, specifically KYMCO’s Ionex electric bikes and Ionex EV charging platforms.

Also Read: Grab launches green e-scooter GrabWheels in Indonesia’s top university

The partnership will also include a research study in which GrabWheels and Kymco will look into how best to develop a shared two-wheel EV service, build an electric charging infrastructure, and ensure KYMCO’s EVs meet the licensing requirements across Southeast Asia.

“The transition toward electric vehicles is one of the most significant transformations of personal transportation for the next 10 years,” said Allen Ko, Chairman of KYMCO Group, who added: “Accelerating this transition, KYMCO Ionex is the EV turnkey solution that empowers all businesses and governments to go electric.”

Grab has been steadily expanding its EV ecosystem by collaborating with governments and partners like automakers and electricity providers, to drive up EV adoption.

Business

Toyota Mobility Foundation, MDEC collaborates to launch US$1.5M-prized city architecture competition

Toyota Mobility Foundation (TMF) announces that it has partnered with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to launch the City Architecture for Tomorrow Challenge (CATCH).

The challenge marks the region’s first global challenge that will attract innovative, data-driven entries from global participants. It aims to raise efficiency in urban planning, and drive forward the future of mobility.

CATCH will seek to address mobility challenges in Kuala Lumpur with a global call for solutions, for a period of 8 months, where participants — from startups, academic, and research institutions to corporates, or even the general public — can conceptualise and develop solutions that are data-driven to design future city infrastructures and city mobility management for the region.

Also Read: MDEC partners 9 Digital Transformation Lab for tech enabling support

Surina Shukri, CEO, Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation, said, “CATCH is in-line with MDEC’s efforts to drive forward the country’s digital economy, catalyse next-gen innovation through Malaysia’s Global Testbed Initiative, and reinforce the country’s position as the Heart of Digital ASEAN.”

TMF will be providing grants at every stage of the challenge — up to US$1.5 million in total — to support teams towards the development and trial-testing of the solutions in Kuala Lumpur. Participants will also have access to expert mentors, both public and private sector data of commuters’ journey point in the city to empower them to develop solutions that will be selected in accordance with the Personal Data Protection Act, and an incubation program.

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Image Credit: PouchNATION

The post Afternoon News Roundup: Event management startup PouchNATION raises Series B from cinema tickets platform TIX ID appeared first on e27.

Jin Xi Cheong grew up in Kuala Lumpur and moved to Melbourne for higher studies when he was 14. He then went on to pursue a Bachelor Degree in Aerospace Engineering at Monash University.

In Late 2015, he returned to Kuala Lumpur to join Intel as a Finance Analyst.

“From a young age, I knew I would not be able to work in a corporate,” says Cheong, recounting his story to e27. “I was often the chief troublemaker at school and had a problem dealing with the authorities, especially when they went against my personal beliefs. I couldn’t change this behaviour. On the very first day at Intel, I told my manager that I would stay here only to learn things and that I would leave the firm if I found a better opportunity elsewhere.”

And this opportunity presented itself in the form of Poladrone.

Giving wings to his dream

While working at Intel, Cheong pursued aerial photography as a hobby. The initial idea was to make aerial photography easy for anyone.

He, however, quickly realised that while the hobbyist industry was famous in Malaysia, there were hardly any companies which utilised drones for solving industrial problems.

Also Read: Drones will revolutionise these 3 industries, so watch out

Cheong smelt an opportunity there and began working on it. He soon left Intel and started working full time in Poladrone.

His familiarity with agriculture came in handy when designing the products. The continuous improvements over the years shaped Poladrone into an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) company for agriculture solutions.

Data matters

Cheong created Poladrone in 2016 and was later joined by Co-founder Yong Guan, who also holds a Degree in Aerospace Engineering.

The company was started with an idea to make drones easily accessible to everyone. As time passed, the founders realised the real value of drones lies in the data that they can collect at scale. “Currently, Poladrone’s vision is to bring aerial insights (analytics) and automation to industries, with a focus on agriculture,” he explains.

The drones provided by the company can be used for data analytics and automation. Drones used to collect data are already available in the market, and Poladrone uses the best hardware for the job, he claims. On the other hand, drones used for automation would need to be customised for local use.

“We have recently developed a solution called ‘Airamap’, which helps simplify the entire data acquisition and analytics process for our customers. Our aim is to enable anyone with a drone to be able to unlock the potential of data, which can be captured using their existing equipment in a cost-efficient manner. We are launching the product at the end of this week,” he reveals.

The target segment

Anyone who manages assets/land over a large area or inaccessible areas is Poladrone’s customer. A bulk of its customers are in the agriculture, infrastructure and survey industries, in which it has mapped and analysed over 500,000 hectares of data so far. Five of the top 10 oil palm plantations in Malaysia, besides many large enterprises and government agencies in different industries, are its clients.

Also Read: 16-year-old Indian prodigy has developed a drone that can detect and destroy landmines

The company also rents out drones but with on strict conditions. “These are industrial-grade equipment that can cost over RM100,000 per set. Thus it requires the companies who rents the drones to have qualified pilots and an excellent safety record of flight operations,” he emphasises.

The market for drones is still nascent in Southeast Asia but is growing at a rapid rate. In his opinion, the drone tech is unique in a way that it is an enabler which can be applied across multiple industries. However, the applications of drones are not fully explored yet.

Gearing up for Indonesia launch

Poladrone is currently headquartered in Cyberjaya with branch offices in Bintulu, Sarawak and Bangkok, Thailand. The startup is now gearing up for expansion into Indonesia in 2020.

Like any other startup, Poladrone also had its fair share of setbacks, but they are insignificant when compared to a critical mistake that the founders made during the product launch.

“We were planning for the launch of a product, and I got carried away by putting too much importance in making the launch look good, instead of targeting the right audience. A lot of things went wrong, but in summary, we realised that we trusted the wrong partner and ended up burning quite a lot of resources without achieving our targets,” he shares.

The Echelon experience

Poladrone Founder and CEO Jin Xi Cheong

Poladrone was the winner of Echelon 2017. Cheong reveals that a lot has definitely changed since winning the title at Echelon 2017.

“When we won Echelon, we were an extremely early-stage startup, with only two of us in the company and barely any customers. Right now, we have over 35 full-timers in Poladrone with many stakeholders across multiple countries to manage. The responsibility and pressure of leading Poladrone have increased significantly but the impact that we make keeps the lights on at night,” he says.

In his opinion, Echelon is a perfect platform for early-stage startups to validate what you’re building with the public. Understanding the market and customers are fundamental to success in any company, and there is no better place than in front of hundreds of people on stage at the Top 100 pitch. Announcing your ideas and goals in public is the best form of commitment and inspiration to push for your best,” he concludes.

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Standard Chartered Bank and Australian firm Assembly Payments have set up a new joint venture to bring payment solutions for the global e-commerce industry.

Headquartered in Singapore, the new venture will cover online, mobile, point-of-sale, digital wallets, debit and credit cards, and real-time payments under one digital platform.

As per a press release, the JV will roll out its payment services to global merchants and will seek to support their ambitions to scale and solve key challenges they face in managing risk, fraud, integration, reporting, and reconciliation.

Michael Gorriz, Group Chief Information Officer of Standard Chartered, commented: “Payments is a critical pillar of banking services. Enabling real-time faster payments and high volume transactions have been a core area of investment for Standard Chartered in line with the evolving needs of clients, particularly with the growth of e-commerce platforms and wallet apps. Our venture with Assembly Payments complements these capabilities, giving our corporate clients a complete offering for high throughput inward and outward payments.”

Alex Manson, Head of SC Ventures, the innovation, fintech investment and venture arm of Standard Chartered, said: “As the world moves towards platform-based e-commerce, the need for the next generation of tools to empower merchants and enable financial inclusion continues to grow. We identified payments as an area where we wanted to make a strategic investment.”

Also Read: AccessPay and Assembly Payments win SWIFT global fintech competition in Singapore

Assembly Payments is a fintech firm, which has been working to capitalise on the demand for new payment solutions — brought on by the introduction of the country’s fast payment network, the New Payments Platform — in Australia and abroad.

Standard Chartered has actively been experimenting with new business models to meet the evolving needs of banking clients. In Hong Kong, it has established a strategic joint venture with PCCW, HKT, and Ctrip Finance to deliver a new standalone digital retail bank in Hong Kong and has set up virtual banking partnerships in Taiwan and Korea.

It has also set up a digital open platform, Solv, to help small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India and other markets grow by providing a range of financial and business services.
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Photo by Sergio Sala on Unsplash

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