Why SEA is great for your angel investments; The region has 600M population, 360M+ internet users; In 2018, the average per capita income of SEA countries reached US$4.6K, similar to that of China in 2007 when the country started its tech boom; Internal issues in Europe, US-China tensions are prompting investors to look to SEA. More here
How COVID-19 impacted startup funding compared to the 2008 financial crisis; Global deal activity plummeted 16% QoQ in Q1 2020 as the virus spread. In comparison, the start of the 2008 crisis caused an only 8% decline in global deal activity in Q4 2008; Global VC funding rose 11% in Q1’20 despite the pandemic. More here
Cradle allocates US$6.2M for 2 new startup schemes in Malaysia; It targets ~38 startups to be granted with both programmes in the next 5-6 months; They were designed to create more opportunities for early-stage companies to commercialise their innovations and create value in the market. More here
Can you invest over Zoom? VCs are split; Four months into the pandemic shutdowns, venture firms including Sequoia, Accel, NEA are realising they can close deals without meeting founders face-to-face; Some VCs argue Zoom can’t replace in-person pitch; More virtual deals could increase investments to overlooked founders outside Silicon Valley. More here
Internet startups, VCs in India raises concerns over Facebook-Jio deal; Naspers perceives the deal may competitively impact some of its portfolio firms; It has asked the govt. to look into the data-sharing agreement between the two tech giants; In April, Jio raised US$5.7B from FB for 9.99% stake. More here
Why transparency is so essential for startups; Divulging the weaknesses might seem like it could hinder success but the opposite is true; If you give investors incomplete info, you’re shooting yourself in the foot when it comes to the chances of success; Buffer’s is a good example; The firm has listed default to transparency right at the top of its core values. More here
Singapore shortlists 14 applicants for digital bank licences; 5 are full bank applicants, 9 wholesale bank applicants; MAS aims to issue up to 2 retail licences, 3 wholesale licences in total; Applicants have been asked to review biz plans in the light of COVID-19. More here
Indonesian logistics-tech platform Shipper raises Series A led by Prosus Ventures; The startup works with 100-plus express couriers in the country; Prosus is a Y Combinator startup; Last year, it raised US$5M from Convergence, Insignia, etc. More here
Traveloka close to securing US$100M investment deal, says report; GIS is leading the round, which could be upsized by US$150M; The Indonesian travel aggregator was initially seeking US$500M; The firm is also in talks with Qatar Investment Authority for additional funding; Traveloka has raised US$920M and made 3 acquisitions so far. More here
Bukalapak co-founder Fajrin Rasyid appointed as Telkom’s Director of digital biz; With this, the Indonesian telco aims to become more profitable and reduce its dependence on mobile service; Rasyid has now stepped down as President of the e-commerce giant; All of its 3 Bukalapak co-founders have now exited. More here
The future of digital banking in Indonesia; State-owned bank BRI saw a 10% m-o-m rise on its mobile banking channels alone; 2K payment transactions are now being processed every second in the country; Banks need to reinvent themselves, at a pace quicker than the big techs and neobanks, lest they lose out in the digital banking rat race. More here
How Aquaculture Centre of Excellence (ACE) aims to support Singapore’s food security goal through sustainable fish farming; It has developed a floating containment fish farm and e-commerce platform to distribute the fishes from the farm; ACE has projected the total harvest for 2020 to come to 166 tonnes, 20x more than the avg. minimum production level of coastal farms. More here
Genesis Alternative Ventures on debunking venture debt myths and finding winners in SEA; Co-founders Ben J. Benjamin and Martin Tang share tips on how to identify “impact washers”. More here
How to boost employee experience during a crisis; Your employees are looking to you to feel supported to do their best work, while also protecting their health and safety; Predictability, planning and consistency are all well-documented stress relievers. More here
AMTD, Xiaomi Finance, SMU, NUS-ISS launch fintech leadership programme AXSI in Singapore; The programme will focus on new financial ecosystem, financial innovation, sustainability and green finance, cybersecurity. AMTD and Xiaomi will contribute US$3.6M to support AXSI; Regulators, corporate leaders and fintech entrepreneurs from Asia and US will attend. More here
Robots: Allies during virus crisis, enemies later?; While owners like robots as they can keep ops running, workers can see them as a risk to their jobs; China, which rapidly installs industrial robots, lost 12.5M manufacturing jobs between 2013 and 2017; The country saw an explosion in “robophobia” during COVID-19; But Singapore and S Korea have a different experience. More here
Bitcoin accepted as payment by Singapore’s carpooling app Ryde; Customers can convert US$700 in bitcoin per transaction without transaction cost; It also plans to include Ethereum soon; With its 25 operating platforms, Singapore has the third-largest number of Bitcoin exchanges. More here
Issues with digitalisation and jobs are main concerns of people at Reach dialogue; A digital society has several advantages but the level of data security is not up to par; About 200 people from all walks of life were at the dialogue with Singapore’s senior ministers. More here
Big Data analytics in healthcare: opportunities and obstacles; Rob McDonald, Executive VP at Virtru says Big Data analytics is growing in healthcare more than any other vertical; It is used across direct caregiving, cost-management-reduction research, population health management, global epidemiological trends. More here
COVID-19 has shown Singapore digital arts, humanities are quite the essential service; The nature of the digital arts and humanities, their role in society need to be widely acknowledged and discussed; While digitisation may increase accessibility and inclusivity, attention must be paid to the potential risks and problems of digital platforms. More here
Angkas offers use of plastic dividers to prompt revival of motorcycle taxi ops; The firm also proposes to make motorcycle taxis much like a shuttle service with pre-registered passengers for select companies; The firm claims it has 4M users; Angkas recently shifted to delivery services amid the pandemic criss. More here
How student entrepreneurs can tap into the fintech ecosystem in Cambodia; Education startups promoting financial literacy have big opportunities in the country; Cambodia has 5% banking penetration, the lowest in SEA. More here
Philippines Department of Science and Tech (DOST) launches mobile app for e-commerce shop OneSTore.ph; It seeks to provide a wider reach for locally produced products of MSMEs that were assisted by the DOST in the regions through the Small Enterprise Technology Upgrading Program. More here
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