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Not many businesses prioritise cybersecurity, even as cyber attacks cost companies around US$200,000 (each) on average. One study by Accenture found that only 14 per cent of small businesses are ready to address cyber threats.

Despite the low rate of cybersecurity preparedness among businesses at present, it’s worth noting that things have changed significantly compared to the situation in the past decade.

In today’s highly connected environment, it’s virtually impossible to separate cybersecurity from business strategy. Securing computers, networks, and cyber resources is already an inevitable part of crafting a sensible strategy for doing business.

The World Economic Forum considers cybersecurity as the top concern for CEOs around the world as data breaches don’t only lead to reputation damage. They have a direct effect on the finances of a business.

The 14 per cent that prepares for cyber threats have a good grasp of what needs to be done. They adopt not only basic protection but also implement more advanced and targeted solutions in order to anticipate more aggressive attacks.

Automated security systems enable startups and small businesses to continue focusing on their businesses without needing to implement complicated methods and learn all of the technicalities of cybersecurity. Knowing and doing the following essential strategies is already a significant stride in fending off cyber threats.

Also Read: Meet the 10 cybersecurity startups graduating from ICE71 Accelerate programme

Intelligent solutions

At the workplace, having antivirus or malware defence tools installed is not as simple as it sounds. First, you need to make sure that you are getting the best option available, something that perfectly suits your needs. Generally, it’s not enough to rely on freeware security tools, let alone free software from dubious sources.

Free solutions may be great for baseline protection, but they don’t do anything beyond it. They can effectively detect, quarantine, and remove malware, but that’s all they are designed to do.

Cyber threats are not limited to malware transmitted through downloads, file transfers, or email attachments. They can also take other forms such as SQL injection, cross-site scripting, DoS and DDoS, eavesdropping, man-in-the-middle attacks, phishing, and social engineering.

There’s a reason why third-party security software and services still sell in the presence of free tools. For one, they offer functions and features that address threats other than traditional malware. They also offer services that address specific critical needs of businesses.

For startups, for example, targeted solutions such as automated penetration testing can significantly increase security especially for those that process a lot of data. Other security solutions that can be included in your arsenal are ransomware detection and prevention, password management, weblink scanning and tagging (for safer web browsing), and a more advanced firewall.

Also Read: Goldman Sachs invests US$147M in cybersecurity startup Acronis, gearing up for acquisitions

Educating users about cybersecurity

People are arguably the weakest link in the cybersecurity chain. Antiviruses or malware scanners can work ceaselessly to monitor attacks and prevent them in real-time. They do everything wirelessly and automatically. They may have instances of false negatives or failures in detection, but overall they get the job done efficiently.

People, on the other hand, are prone to deception, especially those who are new to the concept of cybersecurity. It’s not extremely difficult to make phishing schemes work. Some may even be convinced to temporarily shut down their malware defences to allow the installation of a supposedly harmless application.

The solution to this problem is to educate everyone in the business organisation about cyber threats and prevention strategies. It’s important to teach managers and employees about various forms of cyberattacks, especially those that involve social engineering. It is advisable to develop the ability to perceive possible phishing attacks, for example.

There should be clear cybersecurity guidelines, protocols, and procedures in the office or workplace, and these should be clearly conveyed to everyone. It may also be necessary to compel everyone to use stronger and different passwords for different accounts and devices.

Also Read: Imbalance between work and personal life is a cybersecurity issue

Data encryption

Stolen data may only be considered harmful if it becomes useful to the party stealing it.

Encryption as a cybersecurity strategy is done not only on files stored in the hard drive. It’s something that also needs to be implemented on data exchanged between a client device and a server, saved passwords, and inputs to online forms, as well as files stored on the cloud.

There are many tools that can be used for encryption. On Windows, there’s the popular BitLocker. On Mac, there’s a built-in solution that involves the conversion of files or folders into a disk image, or you can use FileVault. To encrypt data exchanged between a client device/app and server, the solution is to use https or SSL encryption.

Meanwhile, to help employees avoid data sniffing or other similar attacks, it is recommended that they use VPNs. When it comes to data stored in the cloud, most cloud service providers have integrated encryption tools. If you use a cloud service that does not provide this function, it’s better to switch to a different provider.

Encryption takes time and computing resources. Hence, it’s impractical to do it for all files. It makes sense to choose specific types of files such as business plans, project files, financial records, and confidential documents. This is something for the management to decide upon.

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

Multi-factor authentication

Another simple but highly effective cybersecurity strategy for startups and even for established businesses is the use of multi-factor authentication or at least two-factor authentication. For the uninitiated, this means the addition of another requirement besides the username and password when logging in to an account.

It could be a code sent to a mobile number or email address, a biometric scan, or a physical device inserted into the USB or some other port in a device.

Multi-factor authentication ensures that even if cybercriminals successfully steal sets of usernames and passwords, they will still be denied access when they use the stolen login credentials. Just make sure that you don’t end up locking yourself out of your accounts because you lost the phone number (SIM card) or email address you use in setting up your 2FA or multi-factor authentication.

Update all software

Lastly, it’s a must to keep all of your applications and operating systems updated. Updates exist not only to add new features to software or OS. Often, they carry security patches to address vulnerabilities that may be exploited by emerging threats.

They are also released to address stability issues. Updates may raise bandwidth consumption, but it’s a small price to pay in exchange for a more secure and stable device or software.

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

Takeaway

The threats startups face are not different from what larger and more established companies. After all, cyberattacks generally don’t discriminate. They focus on vulnerable entities—those that don’t have adequate protection installed and people who happen to be clueless about the different forms of attacks and strategies to counter them.

Except for cybercriminals specifically paid to attack specific entities, hackers and cyber attackers target companies not because they expect to get something highly valuable, but mainly because their initial random attacks were able to penetrate.

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As a business owner, we often look to other business owners for inspiration.

Every year, Forbes comes out with the list of top 10 most powerful people in the world. While not all of them are in business, there are some aspects that startup founders can learn from them –and be inspired

Xi Jinping

Xi Jinping is the leader of China, the most populated country in the world and the second-largest economy.  He is the leader of the Communist Party that rules the country and has seen his powers extended in recent times, including scrapping the limit of his term.

For me, stepping away from politics, Xi Jinping is an excellent example of leadership that can apply to business.  Unlike many Chinese officials, he has an active public profile, allowing the state media to publish a day-in-the-life piece of his workday.

He has also stepped beyond traditional Chinese views, including grasping the benefits of privatisation and bringing in reform to encourage this.

Also Read: On embracing digital transformation: key takeaways from today’s startup founders and experts

Vladimir Putin

Vladimir Putin has been voted the most powerful person in the world four times between 2013-16. Since then, his influence has not waned.  Putin served as Prime Minister in the government of Boris Yeltsin before becoming President in 2000.  Before politics, he worked as a KGB agent, notably in East Germany in the mid-1980s.

From a business viewpoint, Vladimir Putin is an excellent example of a leader and someone who makes the most of all resources at his disposal.

Personally, Putin is a ‘lead from the front’ style of leader who presents a macho image of himself hunting, fishing and practising martial arts to the world.

Donald Trump

Love him or hate him; there is no denying the power and influence of Donald Trump. Currently, the President of America and the first billionaire to hold the role.  Initially working for his father, who was developing low-cost housing in parts of New York. He now has much of his fortune in property in the Manhattan area.

From a business standpoint, Donald Trump is worth following for several reasons.  His wealth of over US$4billion does not come from having only one interest.

Trump has diversified his income, wineries, golf courses, and hotels to his name.  Not only that, but he has gone through rough patches in his career and bounced back. How he has handled uncertainty is an excellent example for business owners experiencing difficult times.

Also Read: Indonesia names 2 startup founders as presidential special staffs, following gojek CEO’s appointment as minister

Angela Merkel

Angela Merkel became the first woman to be elected as Chancellor of Germany in 2005. She is currently in her fourth term, although she has stepped down as leader of her party and does not intend to serve another.  She has been voted top on the Power Women 2018 list.

Angela Merkel is a lesson in how to manage the many roles of a business owner.  She leads a coalition government that has become unpopular with voters but continues to get things done.  She has a strong personality and will stand up to anyone (including Donald Trump!) and has seen the German economy through the financial crisis and into growth.

Jeff Bezos

Jeff Bezos started Amazon in a Seattle garage back in 1994 and is now the CEO of the mega-company. With a net worth of over US$111 billion, he routinely tops the lists of the wealthiest people in the world.  He is also the owner of The Washington Post newspaper and an aerospace company, Blue Origin.

Business always has an element of chance to it, and there is no doubt that for people in business, the idea of being Jeff Bezos is the dream. Bezos started something fundamentally different from what anyone else was doing, with no clue if it would work.

In his words: “I didn’t think I’d regret trying and failing. And I suspected I would always be haunted by a decision to not try at all.”

Also Read: Why startup founders should care about behavioural science

Pope Francis

Pope Francis is the leader of the Catholic Church and there is a great deal in terms of leadership to be learned from him.  Pope Francis is the first pope to come from South America and is the spiritual leader for 1.3 billion people around the world. Quite an achievement!

He is an expert in balancing the traditions of the Catholic Church with the need to reform and evolve in other areas.  He has continued with many traditional aspects while pushing for new relevant changes, such as climate change reform and the better treatment of refugees around the world.

He is a perfect example of someone who understands the need for change but also for keeping some core elements the same.

Bill Gates

Bill Gates is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft, although he only owns around one per cent of the company.  His focus now is the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the largest private charitable foundation in the world.

His work with Microsoft is an inspiration for anyone wanting to build a business.  He is also an inspiration for what can be done with wealth to help others and to give back to society, including his work to improve global health and to save lives.

Also Read: Commentary: Shame is still prevalent among failed Singaporean startup founders

Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud

Mohammad bin Salman Al Saud is the crown prince of Saudi Arabia. While his father remains king, few doubt that he has the most power in the country.  He is also the future of politics in the area and is known for his strong stance against corruption.

I admire the work he has done to change his country with his anti-corruption campaign.  This saw many prominent Saudis arrested and ten billionaires vanished from the Forbes list of world billionaires due to the nature of how they gained their fortunes. In business, making money the right way is always top of the list.

Narendra Modi

Prime Minister of India, Narendra Modi is the leader of the second-most populous country in the world with over 1.3 billion people. He is also the second most followed leader on Twitter, with over 43 million followers, showing how to use modern technology to reach people.

For me, he is another strong leader who has worked to eliminate corruption in his country, including taking the unexpected step to remove two of the largest banknotes in circulation.  He has also become one of the world leaders working most on climate change, aware of the impact on his people, especially in rural areas.

Also Read: Why mentorship is critical for startup founders to succeed

Larry Page

Larry Page is the CEO of Alphabet, best known as the parent company of Google. He co-founded Google in 1998 with Sergey Brin, and the pair created PageRank, the algorithm behind the top search engine.

With a net worth of over US$53 billion, Page is an inspiration for business owners.  The way that Alphabet and Google continue to diversify their business is most inspiring, including the development of smart home appliances, a healthcare division and more.

Inspiring individuals

Whether you agree with these people in areas such as politics or faith is not so relevant for me versus the inspiration they offer as a business owner.  From leadership qualities, adapting to change and rooting out corruption, they can all help us be better business owners.

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Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the buzzword on everyone’s lips and the technology is expected to almost double the rate of innovation and employee productivity by 2021, according to a Microsoft and IDC study.

AI has widespread business benefits, not only in automating time-consuming and resource-heavy tasks but also in using predictive wisdom to inform smart decisions and increase efficiency. It is particularly beneficial to digital advertising, where it is becoming an essential differentiator.

AI can be used in a variety of ways to enhance an ad campaign, from detecting fraud and powering the programmatic bidding process to delivering precisely targeted, highly personalised data-driven messaging that resonates with brand audiences.

Using AI to personalise and localise ad messaging is particularly beneficial in a region characterised by diversity, allowing brands and advertisers to dynamically tailor their strategy to individual markets rather than adopting a one-size-fits-all approach. The use of AI in digital advertising is essentially joining multiple data points and interpreting the resulting patterns to identify and act on opportunities.

With AI for digital advertising still in its infancy in Asia, now is the ideal time for the industry to establish best practices and ensure its approach to implementing AI-powered ad campaigns allows it to make the best use of the technology as adoption inevitably accelerates.

Also Read: How to optimise adtech for the next decade

Implementing robust algorithmic architecture

The first step in implementing AI in advertising is to ensure robust algorithmic architecture. Traditional algorithms use step-by-step processes to achieve a particular result or solve a specific problem.

In theory, algorithms should be able to make better decisions than humans because they can factor in more variables and analyse them all in milliseconds to reach the right conclusion.

AI algorithms take this ability one step further because they have the capacity to learn from previous outcomes and therefore make smarter decisions, continually improving their performance through machine learning. Powerful AI can learn in real-time, refining processes, improving organically, training, learning and then adapting with minimal human intervention, enabling intelligent and accurate forecasting as well as data-enriched decisions.

For instance, a programmatic advertising AI– such as Adform’s Odin– can oversee the trading process, analysing when to bid as well as how much to bid, and learning from failed bids to continuously improve towards the perfect strategy.

Naturally, this ability to make increasingly intelligent decisions depends on the underlying structure or architecture of the algorithm. With AI, programmers do not need to code for every possible action and reaction as the system will identify all potential patterns for itself, but they do need to create sophisticated machine-learning algorithms that are fit for purpose, as well as impartial and free from unintended bias, which requires a high level of experience and expertise.

Also Read: AI-powered adtech platform ADBRO closes financing round with 500 Startups, eyeing APAC expansion

AI algorithms must be continually monitored, and their output verified, to ensure their function and subsequent learning does not become distorted.

Ensuring the quality and diversity of data  

In addition to establishing robust algorithmic architecture, the advertising industry also needs to ensure data quality and diversity as the output from AI is only ever as good as the information that trains and feeds its algorithms.

AI algorithms become increasingly effective as they are exposed to more data, so the advertising industry needs access to large volumes of information that are typically held in siloes.

It needs the technological capacity and infrastructure to handle these vast volumes of data, ensuring information can be accessed, unified, aggregated and analysed quickly and accurately enough to provide actionable insight.

But volume alone is not enough; the information must be sourced from across the entire digital advertising and marketing ecosystem and should incorporate multiple data streams to make it as diverse and representative as possible, enabling powerful, broad-based decision making.

And of course, the data used to feed AI algorithms in advertising needs to be of the highest quality. In a world where misinformation, inaccurate reporting, fraud and obscured signals are all too common, it is essential data is accurate, ethically collected, sourced from reliable providers and free from the bias of all kinds.

Also Read: An industry insider’s analysis of Indonesia’s adtech industry in 2019

Data must be current and refreshed regularly to ensure recommendations are based on the latest intelligence, not information that is hours or days old, allowing effective, real-time optimisation.

The use of AI for digital advertising in the APAC region is still relatively nascent, but it is about to escalate. AI is key to advertising’s data-driven future, but to make the most of its many benefits, marketers need to implement best practices now, leveraging knowledge, expertise and technological infrastructure to ensure the algorithmic architecture is robust and the data that feeds it is plentiful, diverse and of exceptionally high quality

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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 by submitting a post.

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Switzerland-based World Tourism Forum Lucerne (WTFL) has announced the four winners of its Indian Start-Up Innovation Camp 2019, which was held in Bangalore on Wednesday.

The camp focused on talent, innovation, diversity and sustainable development within and beyond travel, tourism and hospitality industry

The winners were announced in the categories of ‘community’, ‘conservation’, ‘culture’ and ‘commerce’, in the field of travel, tourism and hospitality from the Indian subcontinent.

The four startups also received US$10,000 each along with a personalised two-year mentoring by industry experts.

Martin Barth, President and CEO, WTFL said: “Out of all the game-changing ideas by 200 startups that applied for Indian Start-Up Innovation Camp 2019, we are happy to announce the names of four most unique startups that stood out with flying colours.”

Also Read: ScaleUp Malaysia kickstarts the three-month programme with 20 Companies in its first cohort

“India has a niche product portfolio in the travel, tourism and hospitality sector and is expected to grow at a rate of 100 per cent by 2028. We are sure to make a mark and create awareness around the on-going environmental issues and look forward to holding more such engaging events in India in the coming years,” he added.

Below is the description of each winner:

F5 Escapes (Community): A Bangalore-based experiential travel company, with a focus on redefining the way women travel in India. F5 intends to put India on the global travel map as a preferred destination for women from across the globe. F5 Escapes offers fixed departure all-women group tours, customised itineraries for families, groups and solo travellers. It also does in-city engagements which include #JustGo travel meetups, workshops to educate women on travel safety, sustainable menstruation, and motorbiking.

Quick Ride (Conservation): It is a real-time ride sharing application for the convenience of consumers. It helps to connect daily commuters at one common platform and makes it economical, eco-friendly, social, safe and convenient to use for all.

NotOnMap (Culture): It is a platform that connects travellers to culturally rich remote villages after restoring houses, training, community members thereby creating an alternative livelihood for villagers and minimising unskilled migration.

Me Tripping (Commerce): MeTripping is an Intelligent travel search platform that helps in making the best travel decisions by making sense of the world’s data. MeTripping claims to solve this problem by launching a revolutionary travel search engine that can help users go “from desire to decision” in minutes. Users can figure out everything – destination, flight, hotel, and activities – within budget and on their travel dates.

WTFL is a platform for tourism, travel and hospitality companies meet to shape a more sustainable future for tourism. It provides decision-makers with insights into the core themes of the tourism industry and a global network. The platform also integrates startups, young executives and students into one programme.

Over the past ten years, it has evolved into a year-round network of leaders and innovators who are driving positive change in the travel, tourism and hospitality industries. This includes an influential network of leaders from the business, education, politics, finance and community sectors.

The camp was organised in association with IHCL and Tata Trusts.

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Look up, out of the weeds, and open yourself up to external help. You never know what simple advice can alter the way you run your company.

I am proud to say that Reach52 (formerly Allied World Healthcare) has now helped 50 communities access healthcare in the Philippines and Cambodia.

But while our goal to deliver low-cost digital healthcare to underserved communities was always clear, our pathway to this point wasn’t always as straightforward. Four years on, reach52 today is barely recognisable from the platform we first launched.

Our story started in 2015. I had worked with the UK Government’s National Healthcare Service (NHS) on various programmes to support the design and delivery of low-cost primary care digital services, so I understood the power of digital technology to deliver healthcare support to those underserved by the traditional healthcare system.

I believed that the same principles could support communities across Southeast Asia that lack access to care, so I left for Singapore with the idea to deliver essential primary care support in rural communities through digital apps, and new financing through private sector engagement.

Also Read: Why China should be the next market for your startup or scaleup

I gave myself six months to get the venture off the ground and invested the majority of my savings. The aim was to fill the gaps in existing government health support by providing access to a marketplace of affordable products and services (working with health businesses that wanted to create a new kind of impact, in heavily out-of-pocket paid markets).

At the end of six months, we had launched in the Philippines and had started to deliver this vision to address the need for affordable, accessible healthcare.

Version 1.0: A project out of control

Three years later, the simple idea that inspired the creation of reach52 evolved into a thriving social enterprise partnering with some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world. But while the team had grown to fifteen people, we were still bootstrapping and growing with no proper investment capital.

As the company founder, I was very much involved in all the day-to-day activities because we did not yet have the systems or team in place for me to be able to step back and release control of the detailed operations and look at the bigger picture. It felt like a project that – albeit a successful one – was out of control and with an uncharted future. It needed better governance, and I knew this need could impact our ability to scale if not fixed.

I recognised reach52 had a lot of responsibility to those we had been helping and that, should we cease to exist, they wouldn’t have the tools to plug the gap we would leave. This sense of responsibility drove me to do everything I could to ensure the sustainability of our business.

Also Read: How can multinational startups administer employee benefits on a global scale?

We had an almost existential need for better, lightweight processes and structure, regulatory compliance, accounting, and onboarding programmes. It was clear for the future success of the business that I needed to look for external support and guidance. This was key if we were going to reach new markets and fully realise our ambition. It was clear we needed help to ‘level-up’.

External support

Recognising the need to focus my energy on learning how to scale reach52 sustainably, I began reaching out to other startups and looking into mentorship programmes in the region that could improve our internal operations, as well as give opportunities for new partnerships and scale-up channels.

In early 2019, we joined Facebook and IMDA’s accelerator programme. The six-month accelerator programme based in Singapore, offered direct feedback to startups and access to methods and structures to help companies like us level-up.

The programme included business and product training, mentorship, and opportunities to meet potential partners and customers. Alongside ten other startups, we went through three intensive weeks of training aimed at helping us build the necessary foundation for a sustainable business, including building human resources processes, creating effective branding, capturing consent and enacting compliance standards.

Out of the weeds

While being part of the accelerator programme on a whole was valuable, I could not have foreseen that one three-hour course, in particular, would fundamentally alter how I run the company.

Also Read: Social entrepreneurship is key to sustainable and inclusive growth in Asia

The course was about product management road-mapping and showed me a really simple and effective way to sort through the seemingly thousands of tasks and responsibilities and prioritise steps to reach the core objectives for our product. I learned methods to map out clear steps for setting targets, templates for reviewing our business, and steps to iterate our product. And importantly, the course showed me the importance of linking business value to results.

I could see clearly how to get out of the weeds to reach my target goals. It had all clicked into place for me. Armed with a few simple techniques learned in the span of just a few hours, I had refreshed calmness and confidence in how to execute my ambitions.

The lesson

While the business model of reach52 is unique, I am sure that I’m not the only business founder who has found themselves so bogged down in day-to-day tasks that they are unable to clearly visualise their business’ future; sucked into low-value tasks instead of strategic priorities.

I imagine there are hundreds of people across the region who are in a similar position – as it’s a phase many businesses go through, and while some work through it, others are unable to ever progress.

My recommendation to startup founders who find themselves overwhelmed is to be realistic about what your company needs to grow and don’t sit idle waiting for clarity. Seek out external guidance or learning opportunities and apply for programmes that will help you achieve your ‘aha’ moment. Couple this with working insane hours, being visionary but ruthless when needed, relentless enthusiasm, and a good sense of humour — startups aren’t so hard.

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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 by submitting a post.

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

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Ant Financial acquires a sizeable minority stake in Vietnam’s e-wallet eMonkey- e27

Ant Financial, an affiliate of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, has acquired a sizable minority stake in Vietnamese e-wallet eMonkey, says a Reuters report, citing three unnamed people aware of the deal.

With this deal, Ant Financial is attempting to gain entry into Vietnam with a population of nearly 100 million people, a quarter of who are under 25. Vietnam has one of the fastest-growing e-commerce markets in the region.

The Chinese fintech giant will have significant influence and provide technical expertise to the e-wallet.

Ant Financial has already obtained operating licences from the State Bank of Vietnam (SBV).

Animoca appoints Raymond Shuai as finance director- Press release

Animoca Brands Corporation Limited has appointed Raymond Shuai as the finance director.

Shuai has over 17 years of experience in finance and industry. His professional career began in 2002 at Deloitte & Touche, followed by JP Morgan in 2004, then Ambrian Partners from 2006 to 2008, where he gained substantial experience in audit, operations, fundraising, M&A, and IPOs, and advised corporates listed on the London Stock Exchange.

He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, and was a CFA Charterholder from 2006 to 2014.

OYO appoints Ankit Gupta as COO to lead Frontier businesses for India and South Asia- Press release

OYO Hotels & Homes, announced the appointment of Ankit Gupta as Chief Operating Officer & SVP – Frontier Businesses, OYO India & South Asia.

This appointment comes as a part of the company’s efforts to continue to invest in and attract world-class leadership, to drive innovation and growth in the company. Frontier businesses will comprise OYO’s self-operated hotels (OYO Townhouse, Collection O, SilverKey), student housing and co-living and OYO Home businesses.

Ankit has over 14 years of experience and is entrusted with the responsibility to strengthen and consolidate existing opportunities in the co-living, student housing, self-operated hotels, and rental homes businesses of the company.

He has moved on from a 14-year long tenure at McKinsey & Co where, as a tenured Partner, he was the global leader of their real estate transformation practice with a mandate to drive P&L impact improvement (scale & profitability) for real estate clients.

Facebook acquired a startup to build a live shopping feature- Bloomberg

Facebook Inc. acquired a small video-shopping startup earlier this year to help build a live shopping feature inside the company’s Marketplace product, according to a person familiar with the plans, said a Bloomberg report.

The social media company bought Packagd, a five-person company founded by Eric Feng, a former partner with Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, and most of the startup’s team joined Facebook in September.

Packagd was building a shopping product for YouTube videos. “Think of it as a re-imagination of QVC or a home shopping network,” Feng said in a 2017 interview with Bloomberg Television’s Emily Chang.

The acquisition by Facebook wasn’t announced, but the small team is now working on a project for Marketplace, which would let users make purchases while watching live video broadcasts.

Facebook tested a similar product a year ago in Thailand, though that effort didn’t include a way to buy merchandise directly from the video and has been shut down, a person familiar with the matter said.

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Image credit: Glen Carrie on Unsplash

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Cross-border e-commerce sales poised for explosive growth: Visa Study [press release]

Online businesses see a world of opportunity for cross-border sales.

According to a Visa Global Merchant eCommerce Study (GME Study), e-commerce leaders globally view international expansion and finding new cross-border customers critical to driving growth, particularly heading into the prime holiday shopping period.

While a vast majority of leaders (87 per cent) surveyed believe expanding cross-border e-commerce is one of their company’s biggest growth opportunities, almost all Singapore business owners (96 per cent) agree that having an international presence is key to their company’s success in the years ahead.

Today, two in three businesses (66 per cent) that sell online have international customers. These sales account for nearly a third (31 per cent) of those business’ revenues. Even with the significant revenue from cross-border sales, more than half (51 per cent) of companies who are selling to international customers need help to optimise their international online sales processes.

Oikocredit leads US$5M Series A funding of Kaleidofin [press release]

Kaleidofin, a neobank for the informal sector customer in India, has closed an INR 360 million (US$5 million) in Series A round led by impact investor Oikocredit.

Existing investors Flourish, a Silicon Valley-based VC firm, and Omidyar Network India, also invested. Blume Ventures, angel investor Prof. Shlomo Ben-Haim, and Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund, also joined.

Founded in 2017 by Sucharita Mukherjee and Puneet Gupta, Kaleidofin provides curated, goal-based financial solutions to customers in the underbanked segments using proven financial planning and wealth management principles. For each customer, Kaleidofin begins with understanding the financial goals of the household, its main sources of financial vulnerability, preferences, and tolerance toward financial risk.

It creates individual ‘personas’ of households through multiple sources of information, such as the demographic profile, income sources, asset ownership, among others, to tailor specific financial solutions for its customers.

Seekify raises US$1.5M seed funding from Sequoia India [press release]

Customer experience SaaS platform Seekify has raised US$1.5 million in seed funding as part of Sequoia India’s rapid scale-up programme Surge.

Nishant Rao (Founding Partner at Avatar Venture Partners), Gaurav Agarwal (1mg) and Sameer Maheshwari (HealthKart) also participated.

Seekify is now available in Beta for enterprises – and the company has started multiple pilots with customers across the world. With the funding, Seekify will invest in building technology and hiring new talent across functions.

Seekify can be easily integrated with different software of businesses, allowing them to aggregate all the data that drives their customer experience. The platform helps teams to set clear goals and KPIs, providing data-driven insights using AI and ML.

Finally, it automates the workflows needed to improve the customer experience – hence closing the loop. Overall, the goal is to simplify the complexities of CX and deliver great customer experience through innovative technology.

Hong Kong gets its first virtual lender ZA Bank [Finews.Asia]

ZA Bank, co-owned by ZhongAn Online P&C Insurance and Sinolink Group, has launched to become the first virtual bank to kickstart services in Hong Kong.

According to its CEO Rockson Hsu, the name ZA represents a reversal of alphabetical order which is a reminder to ‘think out of the box and view things from a different perspective’.

ZA Bank said it would offer interest rates of 1.4 per cent for one-month Hong Kong dollar deposits and up to 2 per cent for three-, six- and 12-month deposits.

Dable Partners with Malaysia’s Malaysiakini to provide personalises content recommendation [press release]

Dable, a content discovery platform, has entered into a partnership with Malaysia’s independent news platform Malaysiakini.

With this partnership, Dable will provide a personalised content recommendation solution on the
Malaysiakini (Chinese) website, via a widget. The service will help increase the site’s traffic and boost article consumption by feeding readers with content they are interested in.

Dable is a startup based in South Korea that uses Big Data and personalisation technologies to analyse the media content consumed by visitors in real-time and provide quality, personalised recommendations.

 

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Luxury lifestyle brand Oxwhite has raised RM5.02 million (US$1.2 million) via pitchIN to become the largest ever equity crowdfunding campaign in Malaysia.

The company raised the funds from 485 investors and also attracted the largest individual crowdfunding investment of RM1.09 million (US$260,000). Well-known digital marketer and entrepreneur Vince Tan also contributed.

With this, Oxwhite smashed the record of Commerce.Asia’s MR5 million raised via the same ECF platform in 2017.

CK Changr, CEO of Oxwhite, said: “The 485 investors who have come on board will help us push out our brand further into the market. We will be using the money raised to launch new products and I am certain that our new ECF investors will serve as our brand evangelists.”

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

As per a press release, the campaign that ran for just two weeks garnered over RM11 million in investment interest. It subsequently went live for seven days, during which it achieved its RM5 million funding target from RM3 million in ECF investments and RM2 million in private placements.

CK Changr, CEO of Oxwhite, said: “In just over a year, Oxwhite grew to nearly RM5 million in sales. We are growing very fast and capital was needed to fuel our expansion plans. Our first choice was equity crowdfunding with pitchIN because we wanted to give our loyal customers the chance to be part of our growth story.”

“Together with my fellow Co-founders ZiKang Tai and Jave Ho, we take this opportunity to thank the investors for the overwhelming support. We will build the next chapter of the Oxwhite story with them. Oxwhite will be launching new product lines that will strengthen our position in the industry,” he added.

Sam Shafie, CEO of pitchIN said that Oxwhite has set new standards in the running of successful ECF campaigns. “The Oxwhite campaign was well planned and skillfully executed. The response from interested investors was overwhelming. Oxwhite surpassed the previous most backed campaign by more than 120 investors; setting a very high bar for the next big ECF deal. Coming at the end of the year, the Oxwhite deal fittingly closes what has been a very explosive growth year for pitchIN. We have surpassed the targets we set ourselves for 2019 and credit goes to great companies such as Oxwhite.”

Also Read: This startup took only 38 minutes to achieve its US$720K crowdfunding target

The Oxwhite campaign is the 18th successful deal on pitchIN in 2019. Five deals are currently live on pitchIN, Malaysia’s leading equity crowdfunding platform.

In October last year, online marketplace for P2P financing Fundaztic raised RM3 million (approximately US$720,000) within 38 minutes of the launch of the crowdfunding campaign on pitchIN.

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It is common knowledge that 90 per cent of startups fail due to a range of reasons: misreading market demand, weak founding team, poor communication, wrong product, wrong time; and or running out of funding or personal money are a few of these.

What do the 10 per cent of startups that succeed have in common, though?

Success factors of startups are timing, team/execution, idea, strength of business model, and funding, respectively. One of the common characteristics of startups that succeed is joining accelerator programs.

Last week, after spending over two months at AppWorks, I experienced Demo Day as batch #19 graduated. I observed 18 startup founders pitch their ideas in front of 1000 people from around Taiwan and SEA, from corporate leaders to investors, and the media industry.

This Demo Day gave me a chance to observe the change in founders and their teams from the early days of the accelerator program.

Here are my key takeaways

• Be passionate about what you do and show that you care, as founders are the most important factor in whether a startup grows or stops growing. Business models, markets, customers change; only founder qualities are the constant. Founders that can execute tend to be: Motivated, passionate, decisive and exhibit humility.
• Be proactive. Help is always there, you just have to reach out for it. People are willing to give feedback and share their own experiences. Alumni network connection, mentorship from industry experts, coworking space, recruitment, and many more resources provided for free can take your startup to the next level.
• Get a mentor as early as possible. They don’t require any monetary benefits and they are willing to guide you through your entrepreneurship journey. One-on-one mentorship provided by partners helps you focus on things that matter, find the right connections and urge you to think bigger and motivate you to do more. I saw teams improve dramatically as a result of the right mindset.
• Build long-lasting relationships. Being a founder is a challenging path with lots of ups and downs. The environment of like-minded startup founders helps you overcome obstacles of entrepreneurship. Not only local founders but also founders from other countries felt home in Taiwan because of building meaningful connections with people in this ecosystem.
• Work and have fun in an environment where people are valued. Whether you are a successful startup founder or a first-time entrepreneur, local or a foreigner, you are treated with the utmost respect and great hospitality when you work in an accelerator. Every Friday night founders come together as one big family over dinner and fun activities. This results in building strong bonds, connecting with new people, and feeling respected. People don’t naturally do this if there is no focus on values. It’s instrumental to socialize in this way where your core values are being addressed.

Based on what I have personally witnessed, I agree that startups have higher chances of succeeding after joining accelerators.

Also read: Why dyslexia makes me a better entrepreneur

The teams I met with every day learned from other entrepreneurs, were guided by experienced mentors, and leveraged resources provided to grow their businesses. They were exposed to media, potential partners and investors on Demo Day, but they were also nurtured with access to all of these tools even before the big moment. This constant exposure and the constant ability to calibrate and focus their aims is instrumental to their success, in my opinion.

Most importantly, they learned about the entrepreneurial mindset and made long-lasting friendships with like-minded people. Just like the minerals that take stressful compression of billions of pounds of pressure and develop it into a valuable resource, these founders emerged from their accelerator period ready to shine like diamonds, too.

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Terra, blockchain payment network that offers a price-stable cryptocurrency, has marked its expansion to Singapore with the appointment of Rahul Abrol –Uber’s former APAC Head of Strategy– as Head of International and Strategy.

The new venture in Singapore will be its Southeast Asia hub; it will also hire locals to drive localisation. It plans to have a strong root in the country before branching out to countries such as Taiwan and Thailand in 2020.

Terra said that its expansion is its way to grow its on-the-ground network through strategic partnerships with local businesses. This builds on Terra’s existing e-commerce alliance, which includes 25 partners across Asia, such as with Carousell, Qoo10, and Rakuten-owned EBATES.

Terra will also launch its stablecoin-powered mobile payments app in Singapore in early 2020. Terra uses stablecoins, a type of cryptocurrency which is price-stable and pegged to real-world assets such as the Singapore dollar, that can fund ongoing discounts without burning investor dollars like the usual investment models in most e-commerces.

Also Read: Blockchain startup Terra gets funding from HashKey Capital, to expand alliance in Asia

The global blockchain race

It is estimated that by 2027, 10 per cent of global GDP could be stored on blockchain technology, according to the World Economic Forum.

Responding to that, Abrol said in a press statement, “There is a global race among nations to embrace blockchain payments and Singapore has all the right elements to lead the charge. It is not only welcoming of the technology but created clear regulatory frameworks so emerging companies can thrive.”

He added, “My focus in 2020 will be to replicate our success in Korea internationally and Singapore is the perfect springboard to help us realise this. Beyond attracting key local talent, we also plan to acquire the applicable license from the Monetary Authority of Singapore under the Payments Service Act. We have already launched in Mongolia and aim to have operations launched in five or more countries within the calendar year for 2020.”

Recent moves from Terra

Terra co-founder Do Kwon explained to Bloomberg that its partnership with South Korean mobile payment app CHAI has resulted in transaction volumes of US$54 million within four months of its launch.

CHAI enables consumers to pay for items online by adding their bank account. It is available on TMON, one of the largest e-commerce platforms in the country, to all of Terra’s e-commerce partners.

Also Read: How Terra aims to get people to use its price-stable cryptocurrency

According to a separate statement by Terra, CHAI’s approach is similar to the user experience of PayPal. It already partnered up with 15 major local banks to facilitate convenient fiat on- and off-ramp.

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Image Credit: Terra

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