Tag: Screen Printing

Ivan Linn, a music director of Assassin’s Creed Worldwide concert, developed an online platform to bring together classical musicians and create a forum for discussions and exchanging of information.

He, however, soon realised that the industry of classical music isn’t large enough to support its own global community.

“I have always wanted to do something that will be influential to the industry,” he recounts the story for e27. “While I believed that music is a way to express and impact the society and community, I knew that Folkspaper could do something more. That’s how I began my startup journey.”

Folkspaper was launched in late 2019 by a team of three co-founders — Linn (CEO), Musasi Hung (Product Designer), and Alex Wu (CTO). Headquartered in Boston, the startup has one of its co-founders based in Singapore.

Also Read: I tried TikTok out and now I get why it is the future of digital marketing

In its current form, Folkspaper is a community space, which offers its members creative content protection through blockchain technology. Any content created and shared on the platform will be protected and cannot be stolen.

“When it comes to content creation and protection, a question arises: who is the original creator of that piece of artwork, information, music, or video?” Linn says. “In other words, you can upload a piece of original content onto social media, but it doesn’t necessarily mean you are its owner.”

Sharing more details, Linn adds that with the data-anchoring tech, a creator’s work uploaded onto the Folkspaper platform will be able to be anchored to the blockchain network. This would generate a record in an immutable ledger serving as a hard proof that you are the original creator of that work at that time.

“We all understand when there is a transaction uploaded onto the blockchain, you cannot delete, revise, or modify it. Everything is transparent, and every one of us in this world will be able to check those transactions.

With this technology and data-anchoring, we would be able to serve our users, and benefit them when there is such a case where they would have to provide hard proof as to whether or not they are the original content creator,” Linn shares.

The Power of reward

The platform has a feature to reward content creators when they contribute to the community. If one finds another user’s content interesting and likes it, he/she will be able to tip the user directly.

“The platform has a built-in tipping mechanism where users can reward and support the creators that they love with ‘Power’, our internal currency. ‘Power’ can be purchased using your local currency with a credit card, Google Pay, or Apple Pay and spent within the app. The power that you earn can be cashed out into Bitcoin through the PowerStation,” he explains.

Professionals working in different sectors can be Folkspaper’s users, including journalists, freelancers, college students, or academic researchers.

As for monetisation, Folkspaper has a few revenue channels in place. In addition to running ad campaigns on the platform, it also runs a subscription-based content protection programme. The startup also takes a small percentage when users tip each other.

Talking about the challenges Folkspaper is facing, Linn says that it has always been hard to engage the community and foster user adoption when introducing a new product. “A lot of people initially hadn’t even heard about Folkspaper, and especially with its connection to blockchain or cryptocurrency, it can be quite mysterious to our an average user. It took us some time to start getting traction with the community.”

“Another major challenge is with regard to expansion. Even though we have achieved several million impressions and thousands of users on Folkspaper, expanding further is a bit tricky,” he shares.

Angel coming in the form of a cat

Despite being an early-stage venture, Folkspaper has managed to secure an angel round of US$450,000 so far. Curiously enough, the investment came from an unlikely source.

Also Read: Singapore’s new payments law is a boon for the crypto community

“A friend of mine who asked me to take care of his cat ended up being our first angel investor. What happened was that our conversation about the cat turned into business talks. It later turned out that this cat owner was an investor in several other technology products,” Linn laughs.

For the co-founders, the main mission is to create an impact on the industry of content generation and journalism. “When it comes to copyright issues and concerns, there are problems yet to be solved. We believe that by providing easy access to a product, users would be able to register their original work and earn rewards for their content contributions to the community.

We believe that we are entering a new era where people would be able to browse or to absorb information in a new way where content contributed to this community would be compensated and protected,” he signs off.

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The world is mourning the death of 41-year-old retired NBA sensation Kobe Bryant as one of the nine victims of a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California, Sunday, January 26. What makes the whole thing even more tragic is that Bryant was riding alongside his 13-year-old daughter Gianna to a basketball game he was supposed to coach. The father and daughter pair lost their lives in this accident.

After his retirement from professional basketball in 2016, leaving a legacy of five NBA titles, two Finals MVPs, an 81-point game, and 60 points at the final time he took the floor, Bryant made a smooth move to the business and entertainment world. He had even written and produced short animation movie Dear Basketball through his sports-focussed production company Granity Studios. The movie went on to win an Oscar.

In 2013, Bryant co-founded a US$2 billion-investment firm Bryant Stibel with Jeff Stibel, the Web.com CEO and serial entrepreneur, who is known as one of the youngest public company CEOs in America.

This article by The Street stated that the establishment is looking to “provide strategy, capital, and operational support to businesses with a focus across technology, media, and data”.

A remarkable story about the company is that most people would not connect the name “Bryant” in Bryant Stibel to the basketball legend, who managed to keep it that way for five years. The firm is said to focus on three core strategies, which are growth equity, ventures, and value.

Also Read: Great Deals raises US$12M from Navegar to be the Alibaba of Philippines

Describing the investment journey for almost seven years, Bryant Stibel’s team often takes “proverbial long shots” at a variety of businesses with familiar consumer brands.

The businesses in the discussion are a lost-item tracker-maker Tile; Epic Games, the company behind the online game Fortnite, desktop sharing and online collaboration company TeamViewer; Chinese online retail giant Alibaba, Dell Technologies, restaurant-booking company Reserve, and actress Jessica Alba’s wellness brand The Honest Company.

In last year alone, Bryant Stibel had invested in 28 companies, including the now-publicly traded Dell Technologies, Alibaba, and National Vision. The Street further noted that it recently partnered with investment firm Permira on a US$1.7-billion fund called Permira Growth Opportunities.

In 2015, an article by CNN revealed that Bryant was working with Alibaba Group to release the basketball star’s documentary Kobe Bryant’s Muse through its Tmall Magic Box TV in China. The deal also involved working with Bryant to create a new social media platform that brought new avenues of connecting China’s young people directly to Kobe and his philosophies.

Bryant’s most notable investment, however, was his 10 per cent stake in healthy sports drink maker BodyArmor, in which he managed to snag more than US$200 million for his initial US$6 million investment.

Bryant admitted in USA TODAY’s interview that of all his post-basketball ventures, it was the investment firm that became the most satisfying and exciting career win.

Also Read: Executing your mission the Alibaba way

“It’s finding that winning company as an investor,” Bryant told USA TODAY personal technology columnist Edward Baig last September. “Because I always expected to hit a game-winning shot growing up.”

Kobe Bryant’s legacy in the investment world hasn’t been too far-off from his years of experience in the sport. Further noted in the USA TODAY’s piece, Bryant said that patience and teamwork are important in business and investing.

“A lot of time through the course of a game, you may notice a gap in defence or something you can take advantage of offensively. If you attack all at once, you show your hand too early,” he said. “Team sports does a great job in teaching that and how to trust others.”

Finally, Bryant’s advice for anyone looking to grow their money is to “invest in businesses you understand and can get your hands around, and to invest with the right people. You’ve got to have strong entrepreneurs,” he said in an interview with CNBC in September.

“Yes, it’s important to see those returns, right? But it’s also important to have great opportunities, great relationships with our investors, great opportunities with our entrepreneurs to help them grow and put them in situations where they can be successful.”

Rest in Peace, Black Mamba.

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Image Credit: Tokkoro.com/Chisholm Waite

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Recently, there was a controversy sparked by Trade and Industry Minister Chan Chun Sing when he made a parliament speech on how Singapore’s economic growth and job creation has benefitted citizens more than foreigners.

Unsurprisingly, this resulted in a robust online discussion which developed along the lines of “Us” versus “Them”, “Foreigners” versus “Locals” and “Singaporeans” versus “Permanent Residents”. 

I currently work as the Marketing Manager of TeamSpirit Singapore, a SaaS solution company headquartered in Japan, which serves more than 235,000 users and 1,300 companies.

At TeamSpirit Singapore, our workforce is pretty diverse—we have seven nationalities in our Singapore office of 19 people. And I love the diversity, not just in thought and competence. In particular, I appreciated how kindness, humanity, and culture are expressed when I am working with a bunch of good-hearted people.

This provides the context as to why I am writing this post today, on the three ways diversity in the workforce can improve your startup culture.

Also Read: Malaysia’s boardrooms lack diversity in gender and age representation, finds study

Benefit #1: Diverse teams help generate greater innovation

In 2018, research from Boston Consulting Group strongly suggested that companies with more diverse leadership teams reported higher levels of innovation and innovation revenues, up to 19 percentage points. This was extensive research that involved a sample size of 1,700 different companies across eight different countries, involving a range of industries and company sizes.  

This is hardly surprising because whenever we bring together talented and competent individuals from all walks of life, backgrounds, experiences, and cultures, they will each have their special way to improve the company’s products and services. This leads to possible blind spots being addressed, and also introduces new ideas and perspectives to different ways of doing things. 

Benefit #2: Diverse teams work symbiotically

It is clear that a diverse team feeds on good work culture, and contributes to it. Coupled with good management, there are significant results to this symbiosis: Higher employee engagement, more efficient talent recruitment and lower turnover rates. 

When we have a diverse workforce in terms of culture and ethnicity, employees are naturally engaged with each other when they have opportunities to interact with each other. 

Also Read: Diversity is just the start: Startups need to encourage inclusion

For example, at TeamSpirit, we have a snack corner which is filled with food from all over the world whenever someone returns from holiday from their home countries, or from work trips.

And because we have seven nationalities in our office, that is at least seven distinctive types of snacks to be enjoyed periodically– and what better way to bond than to enjoy food together on our sunny island!

Also, when colleagues find it safe to share their interpretations of life with each other over lunch, trust is built within the organisation. People become more open as they start to see and appreciate the beauty of being human. 

Various research has also suggested that job seekers are often attracted to and wish to stay in companies with progressive work values that celebrate diversity because it is indicative that such companies do not engage in employment discrimination.

One other technology company that does diverse team retention very well is Muvee– The average employees typically stay for at least four to five years, a significant length of time in the fast-moving IT industry.

Benefit #3: Diverse startups have higher investments and profits

Evidence is overwhelming that diverse startups enjoy higher investments and profits. A 2015 report by McKinsey involving 366 public companies posits that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 per cent more likely to have financial returns above their respective national industry medians.

Also Read: South Korea’s thriving startup ecosystem: How “aggressive” VC investment, gender diversity play a role in it

In addition, according to the World Economic Forum, diverse startups have yields better ROI for investors. In 2018, BCG did another five-year study which indicated that for every dollar of venture capital invested, female-led or female co-founded startups generated 78 cents of revenue, while male-led startups only generated 31 cents. 

It is clear that there is a strong positive correlation between diverse startups and profits/ ROIs. There are many possible reasons for this phenomenon: For one, a diverse workforce can reach out to their respective diverse subgroups of customers, bringing in more new streams of revenue for the company. Another reason could be that diverse startups showcase more resilience and stronger problem-solving skills as compared to non-diverse startups.  

All about leadership and safe spaces 

Ultimately perhaps, the discourse on diversity is built on the premise of good leadership and safe spaces. How can a leadership team create a safe space where good and competent people of any and all backgrounds can thrive? Truly, a company’s values, culture, and its safe space have to be guarded as first priority no matter what happens, because these decide the essence and spirit of all other activities.

And perhaps, nationality is not entirely correlated to how engaged or identified an employee feels with the values of a company. 

It is my ardent wish as a Singaporean to shift the current discourse from “foreigners” vs “locals” to “how a company can implement healthy boundaries, of who to let in and who to keep out”.

Also Read: Malaysia’s boardrooms lack diversity in gender and age representation, finds study

The polarity and fear-mongering narrative of “us” vs “them” reduces foreigners to one-dimensional caricatures who are necessarily feared, a notion that does not serve our nation’s interests at all, for xenophobia is the last thing we want to encourage in Singapore.

At the end of the day, it is shared values that bind us all– not the colours of our flag or skin.

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Messaging app LINE has announced a partnership with Indonesia-based online grocery platform HappyFresh, called LINEMAN to provide users with a grocery delivery service on its messaging platform in Thailand today, according to a press statement. 

Being one of the most popular apps for communication in Thailand, this integration will allow users to have their grocery needs fulfilled within an app which is already installed and frequently used in the region. 

Guillem Segarra, CEO of HappyFresh, stated that the partnership is strategic and a win-win situation for both companies. He believes that HappyFresh can widen its user base via the app and LINEMAN mart; in turn, can provide a solution to assist users with their daily needs.

“This is a strategic partnership between LINE and HappyFresh where we leverage the marketing giant LINE to expand our user base in Thailand while they can launch a complex, operational heavy vertical by integrating our solution into their LINE MAN app,” he said. 

Also Read: Mobile marketing analytics startup AppsFlyer secures US$210M from General Atlantic, opens office in Indonesia

In order to use this feature in the app, users can simply pick out what the products that they want in the app and the HappyFresh will handle both the item-picking and delivery. 

“Our conviction for this partnership is that in bringing LINE MAN’s user-base and hyperlocal marketing approach together with our passion for user experience, we are able to further accelerate grocery penetration and get one step closer to achieving HappyFresh’s long-term vision – to serve every household in Southeast Asia,” Segarra continues.

Happy Fresh itself had recently raised US$20 million in a Series C round led by Mirae Asset Management and Naver, with participation from Line Ventures, Singha Ventures and Grab Ventures. The service is one of the surviving e-grocery services in Indonesia, after the recent crisis faced by Honestbee in its various operations in the region. 

Indonesian ride-hailing giant gojek also provides a similar service in its app.

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Image Credit: nrd

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Technology has disrupted every industry and advertising is still adapting each day to the digital transitions. From Adwords to demographic targetting on social media, adtech is growing in 2020. Here are five predictions on where the industry is headed.

Number of players in adtech will be at its highest level ever

This can be a good thing for the industry.

In recent years, programmatic advertising has reached an unprecedented level of adoption as the industry responds to changing marketplace dynamics.

This has resulted in the formation of multiple third-party platforms and tools that enable advertisers to expand the efficiency and effectiveness of advertising campaigns. These platforms and tools have also continued to evolve as the programmatic value chain becomes more complex – resulting in the birth of even more features that provide advertisers with the ability to keep up with the ever-changing landscape.

The increasing number of vendors in the industry means an increase in the level of competition between the different players. Brands can therefore afford to be more picky when choosing partners to work with.

Also read: Is AI the key to adtech’s data-driven future?

To succeed, players in the ad tech industry need to ensure that their capabilities are driven by a customer-centric approach that is grounded in brand experience, privacy, and powerful analytics. The high level of competition will correspondingly ensure higher levels of quality in the services offered by most players in the market, in turn bolstering the growth of the ad tech landscape for the coming year.

Out with the CMO, and in with the CGO (Chief Growth Officer)

Today, producing content is a must for every brand. But that also means that brands are not only going against other brands but other content creators; which essentially means other social media content users – comprising of both individual consumers and other brands alike.

As brands now have to fight harder to vie for consumers’ attention, they also have to be smarter about where budgets are allocated. Return on Investment (ROI) is becoming more important, and brands are naturally becoming more cautious about their ad spend.

To make things more complicated, the current vast availability of data means that the metrics used to quantify and qualify success are becoming more complicated, and will need the expertise of someone who understands not only marketing, but also the other aspects of the company’s offerings that drive growth – such as sales, product, tech, and consumer advocates.

Enter the Chief Growth Officer (CGO) – an individual whose role is fundamentally cross-functional, overseeing multiple divisions. Because of their visibility of various other functions, and the centrality of their role in the company’s performance, CGOs find themselves having influence and accountability across various departments when it comes to board meetings. In the coming year, we foresee the emergence of CGOs becoming more prevalent.

Short videos will reign supreme

The surge of digital growth has necessitated the need for brands to deliver high-quality digital customer experiences (CX). CX is now a fundamental component of digital strategies, and advertisers are constantly having to explore new ways to capture customers’ attention.

2020 will see a greater shift towards more creative-focused solutions that enhance consumer engagement. Video has been the king of content for many years now; however, TikTok’s 15-second video format has revolutionised the way in which stories can be told, the limited time necessitating users to think creatively in sharing their story.

Couple this with today’s mobile-first consumer – bombarded with content competing for their attention – brands and advertisers will need to reinvent the way they engage with their target market. As a result, we expect to see more brands and social platforms embracing short video formats in the year to come.

Rise of influencer partnerships in SE Asia, as platforms become increasingly automated

Influencer marketing has really erupted in the last five years. While there currently exist conflicting views on whether influencer marketing is a fad or the future, there is no doubt that influencers have since disrupted traditional marketing strategies.

As networks like Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok continue to rise in popularity, especially among younger audiences, it is not surprising to project that influencer marketing will be here to stay – at least in the near future.

Like any marketing strategies, conceptualising an influencer program requires careful planning and deliberate targeting. Influencer marketing is also very different across different networks, so an understanding of each network, as well as the user behaviours of each network, is imperative.

Additionally, given that influencer marketing is relatively nascent in the region, collaborating with influencers on campaigns can be very time-consuming.

With many different categories of influencers, brands have to approach these influencers and negotiate on terms and rates individually – a potentially frustrating process that can take up a much longer time than it needs to be.

Also read: The reality of influencer marketing in the age of digital content

Taking a leaf out of our Western counterparts’ book, it will only be a matter of time before the establishment of an automated platform for influencer management. This will not only help to simplify the process of managing influencers for campaigns, but also allow for a more standardised method of reporting and analysing results – enabling a more accurate snapshot of the performance of the collaboration.

These automated platforms may take a while to be established, but I believe that we will see a movement towards that eventuality in the coming year – perhaps starting with the rise of consolidated platforms that will help ease the process of influencer marketing.

Southeast Asia will be the global leader of online gaming and ecommerce

Ecommerce has played an important role in driving the internet economy in 2019. In 2020, ecommerce will play an even more central role in driving the internet economy.

The surge in e-commerce in the region is actually part of a broader transformation – beyond enabling consumers to transact online, e-commerce has also helped to increase the efficiency of cross-border logistics network, enabled offline retailers to reach new consumers, and create a secure medium for digital payments. These have all contributed to building trust in the region’s internet economy.

As it continues to build in momentum, we expect e-commerce to be the main driving force of this growth – creating more opportunities for even more exciting innovations in the upcoming year.

The global spotlight is also on another industry that has grown significantly as a direct result of the growing digital economy: online gaming. Recent research has predicted that the number of PC and mobile gamers in Southeast Asia will rise to a staggering 400 million, accumulating a combined revenue of US$4.4 billion USD by 2021.

A group of nations known as the ‘Big 6’ – namely Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam – are taking the lead as the biggest growth markets. Given the mobile-first nature of the Big 6 nations, we expect to see the growth of mobile-centric gaming and startups in 2020.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

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The Philippines-based Great Deals E-commerce Corp. has raised US$12M (P 600 million) from Navegar, the largest private equity firm in the country.

The e-commerce enabler plans to use the capital to enhance its IT, infrastructure, warehouse capabilities and technology solutions, as it aggressively expands its presence in the country.

Great Deals aims to be the Philippines’s own Alibaba and Baozun, China’s leading e-commerce enabler.

Also Read: 5 Filipino startups are giving Lazada, Shopee a run for their money, defying expectation

“We are ecstatic to continue building and implementing successful online retail, distribution and marketing strategies for our 250+ brand clients in partnership with Navegar,” said Founder and CEO Steve Sy, who is also an Alibaba eFounder fellow. “To dominate the market here in the Philippines, we will work closely with Navegar, whose vast experience in building high-growth companies will ensure the continued expansion of our business.”

Sy founded Great Deals in 2014 after spending many years as an entrepreneur in the retail and e-commerce sectors. He identified a glaring need to enable entrepreneurs like himself to succeed in the internet economy.

Great Deals offers end-to-end e-commerce services, handling everything from digital content, web design, analytics and chat support to warehousing and fulfilment.

The clientele includes multi-national companies Reckitt Benckiser, Nestle, Samsonite, Reebok, Crocs, L’Oreal, Abbott and Unilever, among others.

“E-commerce is a sunrise industry in the Philippines, and there are so many opportunities looming on the horizon. Our mission, in Great Deals, is to uplift Filipino lives through the digital economy, harnessing local technology, human resources and boundless creativity to bring the best we can offer to the Philippines,” Sy added.

Navegar is a Manila-based firm that invests exclusively in companies with exposure to the Philippines. It was founded in 2012 by its Managing Partners Nori Poblador and Javier Infante. Navegar manages two pools of money, Navegar Fund I and Navegar Fund II, with total assets under management of close to US$300 million.

Also Read: How top e-commerce platforms are fuelling Philippines’ online economy

“The Philippines has a very low e-commerce penetration, at less than 2 per cent of gross domestic product, compared to China’s nearly 40 per cent and 25 per cent in the U.S (according to Forbes). There is no way to go but up for smart Philippines e-commerce,” said Navegar’s Infante.

“It is just the beginning. The best way for an investor to participate in this upswing is to partner with a successful business that has already established strong relationships with top brands in the market,” he added.

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In a tradition dating back centuries, Chinese elders make gifts of money to children and unmarried relatives during the Lunar New Year, wishing wealth and prosperity for them in the coming year.

This gift-giving began during the days of Imperial China, where children would wake up on the first day of the new year to find gold coins threaded with red string under their pillows.

Later on, with the advent of paper money, the practice morphed into the current convention of giving gold coins or notes slipped into red packets, known colloquially throughout Asia as hong bao, lai see, or ang bao.

Now, traditions rooted in the past are adapting to the times, and the practice of giving and receiving red packets is changing to fit the highly digitised lifestyles of modern society.

Electronic red packets have been rising steadily in popularity over the last few years in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Macau after being introduced by the Chinese internet company, Tencent, a few years back in 2014.

In 2019 alone, more than half of China’s population—around 823 million people—used Tencent’s messaging platform WeChat to send virtual hong bao to relatives and friends during Chinese New Year, and those same numbers or more are expected during the upcoming celebrations for the Year of the Rat. 

The leap from physical to virtual gifting seems a logical step for consumers in Asia, as they hold some of the highest digital payment adoption rates in the world.

Combined with advanced infrastructure and encouraging support from governments and businesses, people in the Asia-Pacific region are leading the way in the cashless revolution, and as familiarity with mobile wallets and digital payments have increased over time, so too has the practice of sending digital gifts to become more common among its users.

Other popular gifts in Asian cultures, such as gold, now have the option of being given through virtual means. Digital gold makes it easier for mainstream consumers to purchase and give gold online without having to worry about the custodianship and safety of their gold. 

Many digital gifters cite the overall ease and convenience of sending virtual packets as the motivations for their choice—no more tedious lining up at banks or burning of perfectly usable notes to supply the demand for fresh, crisp money for the new year—or paying gold vaults to store and insure the gold received from family members.

Sending gifts of red packets and gold to friends and family members scattered around the world also becomes a matter of a few taps on a mobile screen now that virtual gifting across borders is possible.

For traditionalists though, the physical act of giving is more personal and important than the gift itself, and the majority of virtual gift users tend to be the generations born between the 1970s to the 1990s. Nevertheless, there are still ways to bridge the gap between old and new, such as the QR code e-hongbao created by DBS Bank in Singapore which preserves the mechanism of giving red packets without the hassle of handling physical cash.

The approach was well-received during its pilot phase with an estimated US$1.5 million loaded onto QR code red packets throughout the Chinese New Year period in 2019.

While conventional gift-giving may never truly be replaced by digital gifts, the practice is becoming solidified into everyday behaviour for many consumers in a region where technological disruption usually receives a warm welcome.

Throughout the last decade, Asian nations have taken great strides towards becoming truly cashless—compared to the 4.7 per cent growth in cashless payments estimated for the US in 2020, emerging Asian markets are expected to see a 30 per cent rise and around US$208.7 billion spent via mobile wallets and digital payment systems this year.

If that’s any indication for the decade to come, then the trend of digital payments and virtual gifting likely won’t end with e-ang bao and digital gold. They will be just one of many new traditions to evolve from digital disruption in 2020 and beyond.

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Editor’s note: e27 aims to foster thought leadership by publishing contributions from the community. Become a thought leader in the community and share your opinions or ideas and earn a byline by submitting a post.

Join our e27 Telegram group, or like the e27 Facebook page.

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In 2018, the Indonesian economy was said to record a growth rate of 5.2 per cent, making it the highest in five years, all in spite of a slump in the rupiah and a trade imbalance. According to Oxford Business Group’s The Report: Indonesia 2019, the country’s emphasis on industrialisation and infrastructure development helped lay the foundations for continued economic growth.

According to the former Minister of Communications and Informatics Rudiantara, Indonesia still has a huge untapped market by any new business processes and that the country can take account in the fact that it has around 80 million Millennials with 65 per cent of them having access to the internet just in 2018.

“It’s more than any market in Southeast Asia and the government is ready to maintain the purchasing power of its people,” Rudiantara said during his keynote speech in Nexticorn International Summit 2019 in November last year.

So with the positive outlook on financial and overall economic power of the country and its people, online P2P lending platforms are one of the multiple types of fintech that will thrive, especially when it addresses the immediate need for financial inclusion by providing access to an underserved market, such as SMEs.

KoinWorks, an Indonesia-based P2P lending fintech startup, claims to be the P2P lending company that owned the majority of the retail lending market in the country. In 2016, the company received its operational permit from the Financial Services Authority (Otoritas Jasa Keuangan, OJK).

Also Read: Fintech startup KoinWorks acquihires Yogyakarta-based software engineering firm, adding more talents to its hundreds headcounts

In 2018, it announced a total of US$15.7 million funding led by Mandiri Capital Indonesia (MCI), with Gunung Sewu and Convergence Venture taking part.

At that time, as reported by e27, the company used the funding to focus on developing a “safe, innovative, and relevant finance platform and financial products for digital SMEs in Indonesia”, something that they have been working on for the past two years.

“Seeing that almost every SMEs have adopted the digital market, this is a market potential that KoinWorks has been focusing on. We aim to have financial inclusion in the country,” said Benedicto Haryono, Co-Founder and CEO of KoinWorks.

Combining the rapid growth of smartphone usage in Indonesia and its affordable and risk-transparent investment offer (as little as US$6.80), the company believes that it can change the public’s behaviour towards investment. KoinWorks aims to bring its existing products one step further by introducing what it called a “Super Financial App” in the near future.

Below is the edited excerpt of e27‘s conversation with Haryono:

What was the idea and consideration behind turning into Super Financial App?

With the rapid growth of technology, we’re willing to continue innovating and evolve into more than just a P2P platform, to serve the market even better and compete with other players.

The initial idea of the new evolution was to design a multifunction app that serves purposes of lending, borrowing and investment alternatives. We’re adding and developing more products gradually and present them in 2020.

How does this differ you from your competitors?

We no longer differentiate the access for borrowers and lenders; they can access diverse financial needs in one platform.

Lenders can start investing from IDR100,000 (US$7.32). The objective is to engage more millennials, who are our target market and to make sure we can provide easy access for users.

Furthermore, we also provide multiple investment alternatives with various grades to cater to lenders’ risk preferences.

What about on the lending side?

On the lending side, we focus to support digital SME both running in e-commerce or social commerce. With the latest feature, we can group the loan according to each lenders’ social interest for funding purposes, such as Woman Led, Made in Indonesia, and more.

Aside from that, we provide student loans for formal and non-formal education purposes.

We’re still the financial platform with the largest numbers of retail lenders and borrowers with almost 270,000 lenders and over 200,000 borrowers.

Due to the nature of our users and what they want, we provide the app that combines the functionalities and added products to answer the needs of our users to help them find more solutions.

How does the “Super Financial App” work?

In the current app, we don’t differentiate borrowers and lenders like we used to. They all merged into users and they can access various financial solutions in just one platform.

We have several running products, which is more than what we offered on a previous app. There are loan marketplace KoinP2P, an automation lending activity with social touch KoinRobo, and business loans up to IDR2 billion (US$146,000) KoinBisnis.

Also Read: P2P lending fintech startup KoinWorks just capped a total of US$15.7M funding

We plan to offer various range of financial products and we will present more products which make us going ‘super’ with various options.

With our current portfolio management, the new app enables users to monitor their assets and loan in the same app. We also ensure transparency with clear and detailed reporting for all activity in the apps.

What would be next for KoinWorks in terms of innovation?

Currently, we are combining retail and financial institutions on our platform. We’re evolving from P2P lending to a marketplace lending platform.

We want to present more for the users so we are working on more advanced technology, preparing more products, and designing the most in terms of appearance. We want to make sure that all of the users are satisfied and have a convenient experience.

We also will present a unified credit limit where the users are provided with a certain amount of credit limit, so the borrowers don’t have to re-apply their loans like they used to.

With more investment alternatives, we would like to be the platform that helps our users maximise their finances even better.

Any funding development or partnership that KoinWorks can disclose to us?

Aside from our past fundings that include Series A led by Mandiri Capital Indonesia, Gunung Sewu, and Convergence Ventures, Series A+ led by Quona Capital, Series B led by EV Growth & Quona Capital, and Series B2 led by Saison Capital, we have closed and in deeper talks with more local and international FI’s for collaborations.

We are also going deeper into our older partnerships and opening new industry partnerships.

Can you share with us what is your prediction of the future of the fintech industry in Indonesia and Southeast Asia?

The numbers of digital businesses are still growing rapidly. Over the past four years, the growth of e-commerce in Indonesia has increased by 500 per cent.

General Director of Informatics Applications at the Ministry of Communication and Information, Septriana Tangkary also stated that Indonesia is the 10th largest country of ‘e-commerce’ growth with a 78 per cent growth and is ranked first.

With the huge amount of Indonesian population (which is 268.2 million as per 2019), 49 per cent of the total numbers are still living in rural areas with the issue of financial access and lack of financial literacy.

Also Read: P2P lending platform KoinWorks raises US$16.5M in Series B funding round

That being said, fintech will grow to provide and could potentially be a part of the national economic infrastructure to tap those who have no access to financial services.

According to data, there is still 74 per cent of Indonesian SMEs that have yet to be served to financial access so the market is still wide open for the Indonesian fintech, especially fintech lending, to target potential SMEs. This, I believe, will affect the sustainability of the national economy where SMEs provide more than 90 per cent of the total national workforce.

With this many players running a similar fintech business, Indonesia will probably own a firm regulation for fintech. Various payment, funding, saving and investing options, basically multiple financial services will appear in more advanced technology.

As more Indonesians grow into the middle-income bracket and the population becomes more educated, they will be more financially savvy and would be willing to have a smarter way of managing their finances.

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Image Credit: KoinWorks

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When you’re planning to expand your startup abroad, the “where” will determine the “how”. Numerous factors will help you make the right decision.

Some will be related to your product. Others will be about the differences between your home and the target markets. 

For instance, if you sell physical products, you’ll need to have shipping costs in mind. But, regardless of whether that’s the case, it will be crucial for you to understand whether there’s an untapped need in your target market that you could fulfill.

And localisation is always key for a successful expansion, so you’ll always need a deep understanding of regulatory, linguistic and cultural differences.

The Caribbean might not be the first region to come to your mind, but that doesn’t mean that it has nothing to offer. In this post, we’ll take a look at five reasons why you should consider doing business in the Caribbean.

Plenty of room for innovation

In this region, governments, NGOs and private enterprises are joining forces to, for instance, guarantee better telecommunications. 

Technological progress is arriving at the Caribbean with a delay, which gives us an opportunity to accelerate this process while growing our business. For example, it’s worth mentioning that local players are mostly lagging behind in disciplines like digital marketing and web development.

Also Read: Why startups need to localise to expand overseas successfully

In the Caribbean, you’ll have an impressive competitive advantage just by guaranteeing the quality you normally deliver to clients in your home country. 

Social entrepreneurship

Understanding your target region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is key to make the strategic partnerships that drive good business.

In a 2016 paper about social entrepreneurship in Haiti, Oumar Diallo and Marie Evadie Daniel explain that “the main objective of social entrepreneurship is to solve social, economic and environmental problems for sustainable development goals.”

Effective social entrepreneurship is about understanding the business and popular cultures in the region, being aware of social and financial shortcomings, and creating growth that won’t only drive sustainable growth for your stakeholders, but also to local communities.

If you’re up for the challenge, the Caribbean not only has a solid tradition of social entrepreneurship but also solid institutional support.

Tax benefits

Expanding your company to the Caribbean might have amazing tax benefits. Some companies are even choosing to incorporate in the Cayman Islands.

The Cayman Islands is the world’s fifth finance and banking centre, and it offers companies an incredibly favourable tax climate, similar to Singapore in Southeast Asia.

Aside from lower taxes, Caribbean countries can offer you stability, fast incorporation processes and cost-effective legal counselling. 

But, incorporating offshore, while cost-effective, might dissuade some investors, who might want the transparency that they know that their local institutions guarantee. This can be fixed by having your funding agreements designed for transparency by an experienced law firm. 

The Blue Economy

“The blue economy” is defined as “[t]he economic activities that take place in the ocean, receive outputs from the ocean, and provide inputs to the ocean”.

For decades, experts have stated that the new frontier for the Caribbean’s economic growth is the ocean. And NGOs are working to help preserve the Caribbean sea, as a way of preserving the countries’ capital. More specifically, their ocean’s natural capital assets. 

During the 2015 G20 Development Working Group, several Caribbean countries expressed their desire to make policy-related moves towards a Blue Economy. Since then, organisations such as the World Bank have collaborated with governments, research institutions and private entities to lay the groundwork for a solid, sustainable blue economy.

Since 2014, five National Ocean Policies have been created in the region, along with a series of institutions that make the scientific and governance-related leap to a blue economy possible.

For ocean-focused startups, the Caribbean is the place to be.

An educated, multilingual workforce

While English isn’t the official language of all Caribbean countries, you can make yourself understood while speaking English, practically anywhere you go.

With a complex, culturally diverse past, and tourism as one of their highest-grossing industries, Caribbean countries are mostly multilingual. And, with geographical proximity to Mexico and the US, comes a set of shared cultural codes. 

You’ll need to localise your message to your new audience and translate employee handbooks and other material, in order to minimise misunderstandings. But, the cultural gap you’ll have to close isn’t as wide as it would be in other countries.

Also Read: 3 ways to know if your startup is ready to go international

On the other hand, it’s worth noting that higher education is either very affordable or tuition-free in most Caribbean countries. So, by establishing a branch of your company here, you’re getting access to a culturally-aware and highly-educated workforce.

Strategically located

The region’s location is linked to one of the region’s greatest downsides: Its vulnerability to natural disasters. But it can serve as a bridge between the US and one of the most promising markets in the world: South America.

If you’re in the US, you’re nearer than you think to a whole new market with enormous innovation potential. You can go global with the help of a highly-educated and multilingual workforce, in a culture similar to your own, and your product is unlikely to get lost in a sea of competition. 

Of course, innovative startups need supportive and resourceful ecosystems to thrive. While the World Bank Group, as well as several NGOs, are starting and incentivising incubators in the region, the Caribbean ecosystem is still in its very early stages. International investors who don’t shy away from ventures in foreign economies might be your best possible partners. 

As Southeast Asian startups look to expand and grow beyond the region, the Caribbean could be a far-out but probable destination.

Instead of competing with giants in India and China which are the obvious gateways for rapid expansion, startups can use the learnings from overcoming regional diversity and slow regulatory growth here and excel in the multicultural islands of the Carribean.

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Image credit: ionAlexander Kunze on Unsplash

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Malaysia-based e-commerce and logistics service provider Epost has closed US$700,000 in seed funding according to a press statement. Vynn Capital, an early-stage venture capital from Kuala Lumpur, is leading the round.

The newly raised capital will be used by the company to expand business operations in Southeast Asia, acquire talents, and enhance marketing efforts.

Founded in Eastern Malaysia back in 2018, Epost has developed an online platform that serves the logistics services where businesses can connect with domestic and international customers. Its current customers include Airbnb operators, bubble tea shop businesses, pet shop businesses, supermarkets, gyms and fitness centres, traditional mom-and-pop storefronts, etcetera.

Epost also stated that it has also been rapidly growing with operations in seven Southeast Asian countries, including Malaysia, China, Singapore, Vietnam, the Philippines and Brunei. It serves five online marketplaces with 13 e-fulfilment warehouses located at key locations throughout.

“In Southeast Asia, the e-commerce logistics industry has plenty of room for growth, especially in services that enable connectivity across national borders. With Epost, we hope to transform the industry and create more value to all players throughout the e-commerce value chain with Epost’s solutions and technology,” said Tobin Ng, co-founder of Epost.

Also Read: Logistics is finally evolving and ecommerce is the culprit, a fireside chat at Echelon Asia Summit 2017

Ng also told e27 that the Indonesian logistics market will be getting more support from the government. Unlike Vietnam, where most transactions happen to be cross border, the Indonesian government is boosting the local market by limiting the number of imported goods that can come in the region.

“The opportunities in cross-border e-commerce are tremendous. In addition to creating greater activity between markets, it also enables smaller merchants and individual consumers to tap into new revenue streams and better service. This fits into our view that eventually there will be convergence—between markets, industries, and sectors—leading up to a better ecosystem for each economy in the region,” added Victor Chua, Managing Partner at Vynn Capital.

“With our investment in Epost, it represents one of the first venture capital investments in the Borneo region and we believe that there will be more quality startups and founders coming out of the Sabah, Sarawak and Kalimantan region as a new potential business market,” he said.

As an island with territories belonging to three countries, Borneo has plenty of potentials.

The startup ecosystem in Brunei is blossoming with players such as Memori and Agrome raising funding rounds. Singapore-based multi-family office and digital consulting group Golden Equator has announced its expansion into Brunei with the launch of Golden Equator Wealth (GEW), Golden Equator Consulting (GECo), and SPECTRUM in the country.

Also Read: Indonesian logistics tech startup Waresix adds US$11M more to its war chest

In Indonesia’s side of the island, the country is currently preparing to set up a new capital city in the province of East Kalimantan. Regional tech giants such as Grab and its investor SoftBank have expressed interest to invest in projects in the new capital.

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Image Credit: chuttersnap

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