//

Photo credit: celebrityabc.

Young Malaysia-based venture capital firm RHL Ventures is looking westward with its second investment. The VC announced today it led a strategic funding round in Sidestep, a US-based startup that allows fans to pre-purchase live event merchandise and pick up their orders at the show without having to wait in line. The amount of the funding is undisclosed.

The startup was founded by Eric Jones and Matt Gardner in 2014. Eric, a former musician and music manager, wanted to give fans an easier way of buying goodies from their favorite artists and provide artists with some much-needed additional income.

RHL hopes to replicate the live event merchandise model’s success in Asia.

Raja Hamzah, partner at RHL, says the potential of the live event merchandise business was what attracted the VC. Since the industry is still in its nascent stages in Asia, the VC hopes to replicate the model’s success here and even extend it to areas like sports.

RHL’s main focus remains Southeast Asia, where the VC looks to build on the contacts and relationships its partners have in sectors like property, construction, and healthcare. It wants to focus on building sustainable businesses rather than rapid-growth startups. It prefers to adopt a hands-on approach with its portfolio startups, which is why the VC also joined Sidestep’s board of directors.

The startup has worked with stars like Beyonce, Adele, Guns ‘n’ Roses, and Sia. Beyonce is also an investor in the startup, having poured in US$150,000 through her company, Parkwood Entertainment, last September.

Suicide Squad actor Jared Leto has also backed the startup. Other investors include Beyonce’s music manager Troy Carter, former Los Angeles Dodgers CEO Jamie McCourt, and Chris Cornell of Manhead Merchandise.

RHL’s first investment was in Singapore-based customer engagement and loyalty startup Perx last November, fueling the company’s expansion to Malaysia.

This post Southeast Asia VC leads investment into Beyonce-backed merchandise startup appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2jFC5qX

//

Remote working is no longer just a novelty, but now a necessity

Remote work is gaining popularity globally as more skilled employees and contractors look for autonomous positions. Despite this, some companies continue to avoid engaging remote workers for their business activities. These organisations may still be hesitant and are not always receptive towards the idea of having team members that are located in multiple geographical locations.

Using remote team members for technical, sales or creative work may seem to entail greater risk, and runs counter to the traditional office based environment that is seemingly easier to manage and control.

Nonetheless, the advantages of hiring remote employees or contractors are hard to ignore, and more companies are gravitating toward forming remote teams in order to fill certain types of work roles. This article explores a few common myths and misconceptions about remote workers that need to be dispelled before a company can embrace this growing business strategy:

1. Remote workers are not as productive as on-site workers

One of the leading concerns for a business owner who is contemplating hiring remote workers is the idea that team members cannot possibly be as productive without supervision and on-site management.  However, in the modern age of time tracking tools, message boards and websites such as Slack, there are many ways to manage remote workers and monitor productivity.  The key is to hold employees accountable by establishing a process that is flexible, and using tools to follow the process.

Also Read: Working with freelancers and remote teams: Why accountability matters

In truth, the businesses that use this strategy find that remote team members are actually more productive than office staff. The larger problem is actually that of over-work and burnout, due to the temptation to work longer hours without the daily support of co-workers and managers.

2. Remote workers are not as skilled

Another misconception is that most skilled workers prefer to be in a formal office, while remote workers are those that simply could not qualify for the leading positions.  This myth is especially prevalent when a worker is an independent contractor or freelancer, where they are perceived to be less capable in developing their skills. In fact, many contractors prefer the independence and autonomy of self-employment, and often have a high level of skill and motivation developed during their career.

Hiring remote workers allows access to some of the most highly skilled talent in any given industry. Companies are no longer bound by geographical restrictions and may expand the hiring pool to extend across state and regional lines, or even international borders. This broadens the scope of truly finding the best in the field.

Recruiting talent without geographical boundaries is the only way to get the very best people. If the person who is the very best in her field lives by choice on a sustainable ranch in Montana, do you opt for second best? Or do you take the talent where you can find it?

3. It is difficult to find remote workers

A key question that arises for a company contemplating the use of remote teams is how to locate and recruit workers.  In some cases, they might be former employees or contractors, but more often a concerted networking approach will be required to locate top talent. Websites such as LinkedIn offer a possibility to begin growing a pool of potential recruits from the over 200 million users.  There are also sites that list a wide range of project-based contractors and freelancers who may be open to a broader commitment.

Also Read: Silicon Valley, what? This world-class product was built by a few engineers in a remote Indian village

A company can also access international freelancer networking sites for specific industries such as software development and engineering. Actively participating in these sites can result in contact with established contractors in a given region or country.

4. It is difficult to communicate with and manage remote workers

A natural issue with a remote team is that of communication and management across distances and time zones, without losing a sense of connection and inclusion. The primary question that arises for an employer is this: “How do I know what my team member is doing, and what progress is being made?”

Not every remote worker is skilled at self-management, but fortunately there are apps and tools available that can overcome this potential problem.

One way to establish and monitor milestones is through online checklist boards such as Trello or Basecamp, which allow team members to communicate, post work product and signal project progress. Slack, is another messaging app for remote teams with real time message boards similar to Skype, but with the ability to integrate multiple teams and give a sense of a virtual workplace.”

For a thorough discussion of communication and management tools for remote workers, you can browse through this article.

Using these tools can ease the challenges of communication and management for remote teams, shifting the focus onto actual performance and project progress.  Measurable timelines and job accomplishment are a lot more telling than out-of-date proxies like, “is my employee in his seat?”

5. Remote work is limited to IT and data entry

There is a historical acceptance of using remote workers for certain types of technical work, customer service, and data entry positions.  Given that these roles do not depend on physical location or close supervision, businesses recognise that projects could be outsourced or contracted hourly on an individual basis.

Also Read: A few thoughts on millennial flakiness and freelancing

However, remote work teams do not have to be limited to certain categories and the online collaboration and communication tools allow the creation of a ‘virtual office’ for a wide range of business functions.  While IT development roles remain a popular remote work niche, teams can also be recruited for sales and marketing, product development, creative work and customer interface.

Remote teams are growing in every industry and may become the norm in the future for global companies who master the recruitment, management, and communication tools available. While younger workers who have grown up with new media tools might likely be comfortable filling remote work roles, mid to late-career professionals may also find that they have the ability to self-manage and find fulfilment as a remote team member.

—-

The views expressed here are of the author’s, and e27 may not necessarily subscribe to them. e27 invites members from Asia’s tech industry and startup community to share their honest opinions and expert knowledge with our readers. If you are interested in sharing your point of view, submit your post here.

Featured Image Copyright: grinvalds / 123RF Stock Photo

The post 5 myths about working with remote teams appeared first on e27.

from e27 http://ift.tt/2iZCu78

//

Photo credit: StockSnap.

Women looking to boost their digital skills have a particularly difficult time of it in Pakistan. There’s a critical lack of bootcamps that teach things like coding, digital marketing, and product design. To aggravate the situation, conservative attitudes mean some women aren’t allowed to attend mixed classes or venture too far from home.

Of course, there’s the option of learning online but many prefer a classroom environment, which gives the necessary impetus to stay on course.

SheSkills is launching the first of what it hopes to be many digital skills bootcamps aimed at women. The driving force behind the project is Saad Hamid, a self-described digital evangelist and an influencer in Pakistan’s tech community.

“The concept of SheSkills came during a recent storytelling workshop which we conducted exclusively for women,” he says. “At the end of it we were overwhelmed with requests from girls who wanted to learn skills like coding, digital marketing, and design.”

Saad says one of the reasons they’re embarking on this initiative is an overall drive to get more women into tech. Not only is that better for diversity and output, it will also help participants pursue freelance work and entrepreneurial endeavors.

A study conducted by the Pakistan Software Houses Association estimated that in 2012, women made up only 14 percent of the tech industry in the country. There are even fewer in senior management positions.

“Other than the stats, it’s also something I’m extremely passionate about,” he exclaims.

The program has been developed with assistance from Ladies Learning Code and Women Techmakers. It’s open to women across ages and backgrounds looking to boost digital skills. It’s a six-week long bootcamp, with a blend of online and offline learning paradigms. There will be physical classes once a week, in the capital city of Islamabad, but also daily activities and assignments as homework.

It’s a six-week long bootcamp, with a blend of online and offline learning paradigms. There will be physical classes once a week, in the capital city of Islamabad, but also daily activities and assignments as homework.

Advisors to the program.

Onwards and upwards

“What we’re trying to do is teach them basic digital skills first and upskill later. The aim is to help them build businesses, either by developing their own products, or working on behalf of clients,” outlines Saad.

A new module is taught each week, starting from helping them understand the program and moving on to things like HTML & CSS, digital marketing through Google and Facebook, as well as storytelling.

“One of the things we wanted to do is help teach women how to put together a decent website within a couple of days without extensive coding experience. That’ll help them get freelancing contracts or start their own products,” says Saad.

The latter half of the course will teach participants how to use software like Canva and Photoshop, as well as the nuances of writing great content.

Saad says the cost of attending the bootcamp will be US$20 per week or US$120 overall. Each week will be taught by a different mentor – who will be paid so that standards are maintained. Future editions of the program might also incorporate networking with sponsor companies and corporates.

“The whole point was to start somewhere. We’ll experiment and see what works and what doesn’t,” he adds. “At the end of the day, we want to give women options so they can understand what they’d like to do on their own accord. The goal is for them to be financially empowered.”

This post New program in Pakistan aims to empower women through digital skills bootcamps appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2jFvb5k

//

Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

It’s been a rough couple of months for mobile tech company Xurpas, the first-ever Filipino tech company to IPO, whose stock fell 49 percent last year.

Xurpas started 2016 really strong. It went from PHP 15.62 to an all-time high of PHP 19.80 on April 14, but then the stock plummeted to close the year at PHP 7.99 on December 29, losing over US$400 million in value. It’s now worth roughly US$320 million.

The buzz around the company’s remarkable growth story made it one of the most highly sought-after stocks in the Philippines since its 2014 IPO.

But concerns about its acquisitions took a toll on investor sentiment, two market analysts we talked to said.

“While Xurpas’ revenue has gone up, its cost and expenses also bloated. That’s one obvious cause of concern,” noted Jun Calaycay, head of research at brokerage firm A&A Securities.

“Its net income was further dragged down by higher equity losses on its acquisitions. The companies Xurpas invested in are either in the beta-testing stage or in the process of ramping up operations – probably one of the reasons investors started selling towards the end of the year,” said Jay Laurel of COL Financial.

Overvalued?

“Investors are realizing that the numbers they see don’t justify their expectations before. The acquisitions will take time to pay off. The stock was overvalued, so investors are trimming the fat,” Jun added.

Xurpas’ listing in December 2014 was closely watched as it marked a milestone for the Philippines tech industry. Its growth also resonated well. Xurpas develops an array of products such as games for mobile users in the country and creates proprietary platforms for the largest Philippine mobile operators. It was one of those rare gems that went straight to IPO without tapping external funding.

With much hype, the company sizzled in its market debut, hitting the 50 percent daily surge cap, which made it one of the nation’s most successful IPOs to date.

Everyone was bullish on the company’s prospects and the caliber of its management, led by Nix Nolledo, a key figure in the local tech scene.

Right after its listing, Xurpas embarked on a buying spree, acquiring assets across Southeast Asia. While many of those acquisitions increased its topline, they came at a price.

The cost and expenses were attributed mainly to the operating expenses of acquired units, increases in salaries and wages, and investment and acquisition-related costs and legal fees – the latter being non-recurring. Also part of expenses, the equity losses simply refer to Xurpas’ share in the losses of its investees, which are in their early stages.

Zooming in on the stock, the price started its downtrend sometime in August after the firm released its first-half financial results. It dropped sharply in October when the company announced its latest acquisition, Singapore-based mobile advertising and marketing startup Art of Click. Art of Click’s impact on financials is yet to be seen.

“The market is just correcting Xurpas’ value and removing the excesses,” Jun emphasized.

Compared to the overall market, Xurpas was way more volatile. Crunching some numbers, Jun dubbed it an “ultra high beta” stock. Beta measures how much individual stocks’ movements deviate from the market, which has a beta of 1. A stock that swings more than the market over time has a higher beta, while those that move less have lower. High-beta stocks are deemed riskier. That explains why Xurpas was down by high double digits whereas the Philippine Stock Exchange index managed to end the year flat – despite taking a beating due to Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte’s outbursts.

It’s crucial to note that since Xurpas is relatively new to the market, it has insufficient price history to establish a reliable beta. Plus, while having a high beta means volatility in the near term, it doesn’t rule out long-term opportunities.

Or undervalued?

To stem the decline in its market price, Xurpas launched a US$34 million share buy-back program in November that’s still in effect now.

“The buy-back program aims to improve shareholder value and is deemed appropriate given the substantial undervaluation of the company’s shares,” it said in a market disclosure then.

Nix Nolledo tells Tech in Asia he believes Xurpas is “undervalued compared to its long-term true potential.”

“Analysts are more accustomed to traditional businesses that, on day one, already show immediate returns. You see a lot of our investments are key strategic assets that will drive our long-term growth,” he says. “A lot of these companies allow us to enter areas of opportunities that, if we try to organically build on our own, will take us too long to execute. Had we stayed in one market and only one business category, the opportunity would have been smaller.”

While the company is profitable, “there’s really a decision to expand the growth and reach the full potential of the business,” Nix adds.

Art of Click, for example, was a huge investment, on the surface seeming like a new business line, which made investors wary. But the synergies that the startup will create with Xurpas’ mobile consumer businesses will be vital. “We will now make money from advertising, which is an integral part of any mobile platform,” explains the boss.

Nix says the bottomline may not be growing as fast as the topline as a lot of their acquisitions are still in the early stages – but when these companies mature, he expects the margins to catch up.

The challenge for Xurpas as a listed company is managing market perception.

Being listed gives the firm access to a tremendous amount of capital, Nix states, but the flip side is it doesn’t have the luxury of investing in new growth opportunities without public scrutiny. Whereas privately held tech companies – like ride-hailing apps Uber and arch-rival Grab – can lose money for many, many years but still enjoy investor confidence.

Converted from Philippines pesos. Rate: US$1 = PHP 49.89.

This post The first-ever Filipino tech company to go public had a rough 2016 appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2iZyXWv

//

From agritech to smart devices, here are some hot startups from Vietnam

CLAS – Expara Vietnam Accelerator (CEVA) Batch 2 is the first venture-funded accelerator in Vietnam that ran simultaneously in Ho Chi Minh City and Danang. CEVA is a catalyst that enables firststage entrepreneurs to catapult their businesses to the next level. The programme was initiated by two orgnanisations:

• Microsoft Vietnam, Expara – Singapore’s pioneer and leader in incubation, earlystage venture capital, entrepreneurship, VC and innovation training, mentorship, and advisory work; and
• CLAS – a high tech software service company of SHTP Microsoft Innovation Centre which empower entrepreneurs with state-ofthe-art Internet, Mobile technology and software to aggressively grow and master their businesses.

The Demo day was held at Saigon Innovation Hub on December 10, 2016, and here are 8 startups that graduated after the selection from 120 applicants:

ArgHub

AgrHub is a farm-to-table agricultural supply chain management platform that aims to improve the farmers’ life and bring high-quality and safe food to consumers. By combining the traditional agricultural practices, new technologies, and a strong desire for providing a better life for farmers, ArgHub wants to re-shape the agriculture industry by building a sustainable agriculture ecosystem in Vietnam.

Bayleaf

Bayleaf connects renters so that they can live together based on their personality and lifestyle. Unlike the existing options, Bayleaf focuses less on property listings and much more on people. Joining Bayleaf and answering questions, users can find the right co-living partner, avoid conflicts, make friends, and spend their energy focusing on what’s important.

Minecraftly

Minecraftly is a Platform-as-a-Service for Minecraft gamers. Using state of the art orchestration system that combines infinite virtual worlds into one under an unified namespace, it provides a good user experience for gamers while solving the massive scalability issues that has existed in online gaming for the past 15 years.

Think of Minecraftly as a spin off from the popular game Minecraft, similar to how Pokemon GO is a spin off from Pokemon.

Tob

Tob is a company that specialises in enabling smart hardware manufacturers sell their products through its e-commerce platform.

Also Read: Meet the inaugural batch of Vietnam’s latest accelerator programme VIISA

Komorebi

Komorebi is a data-driven business intelligence platform that helps both businesses and consumers make smarter decisions. It aims to provide an unparalleled retail shopping experience by bringing SME manufacturers’ products to life, and enhancing branding through BI and insights.

WiAds

WiAds is a Wi-Fi marketing solution for Local SMEs. The idea for the platform started from the question, “Why can’t local SMEs bring their products and services to local people instead of spending money on advertising to sell in another market?” It took the team 10 days to establish company and 20 days to build the firmware to deploy its network in Da Nang and Hue cities. After six months, it has 450 access points in Da Nang, 100 APs in Hue, and nearly 100 APs in Ha Noi.

Checkit

Checkit provides 20-minute summaries and insights from the world’s top non-fiction titles in several Southeast Asian languages. Targeted at busy professionals, the platform provides a way to consume content without reading the entire thing.

Also Read: Building your startup dream team: Finding a good UX designer, and how e27 did it in Vietnam

Azstack

AZstack is a cloud platform with white label SDK and API that provides abilities to build live chat, voice/video call, call-out, conference, and live streaming features within any application.

—-

Featured Image Copyright: ismagilov / 123RF Stock Photo

The post 8 interesting startups that graduated at CLAS Expara Vietnam Batch 2 Demo Day appeared first on e27.

from e27 http://ift.tt/2k8v7fw

//

Bukalapak is in dire straits, Tech in Asia has learned. It may be looking for a buyer, or
facing a restructuring.

A source familiar with the talks said that Indonesia’s ecommerce marketplace Tokopedia considered acquiring smaller rival Bukalapak, but decided to pass because it didn’t see enough value-add in the deal.

Tokopedia is backed by SoftBank and Sequoia Capital. Its current valuation is unknown but likely near, or above, US$1 billion. Bukalapak’s valuation sits at about US$200 million.

It’s unclear whether it ever came to concrete talks between the two companies to discuss deal value.

Bukalapak CEO Achmad Zaky.

Tokopedia’s CEO William Tanuwijaya said “no comment,” when asked if he decided against acquiring Bukalapak.

Bukalapak is backed by KMK, a subsidiary of Indonesian media conglomerate Emtek. KMK CEO Adi Sariaatmadja said there was no discussion with Tokopedia about a possible acquisition.

“It’s not true,” Adi told Tech in Asia. He also insists Bukalapak is doing fine. It’s growing in team size and “revenue is climbing.” Toward the end of last year, a new COO was brought in to help Bukalapak gain efficiency.

But funds are running low. A separate source familiar with the company told Tech in Asia that Bukalapak has tried, but failed, to raise additional venture capital from sources outside of its main investor Emtek.

The media company last injected roughly US$20 million into Bukalapak in November 2015, according to its financial statements. According to our sources, it’s reluctant to pour in more at this point.

We’ve contacted Bukalapak CEO Achmad Zaky to get his view but are still waiting for a response.

Not the only one struggling

This year is going to be tough – not just for Bukalapak – but for most mid-sized ecommerce players in Indonesia.

This view is backed by multiple sources in the industry, and it’s easy to see why pressure on these startups is mounting.

With mighty Alibaba now backing Lazada, Sequoia and Softbank behind Tokopedia, and Amazon’s plans for Southeast Asia becoming more concrete, whoever wants to stay relevant must be prepared to continue spending millions of dollars on winning market share.

Companies like Matahari Mall, Blibli, or BerryBenka won’t have access to capital at the scale of what Alibaba or Amazon can afford to spend.

It’s possible we’ll see mergers of some of the mid-size ecommerce players still in the field as investors get antsy and look for exits.

Or, companies could slim down significantly, and pivot their way into new business models where they no longer fight on the same front as the general ecommerce players.

This post Indonesia’s Tokopedia passed on acquiring rival Bukalapak appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2jsdS5q

//

The case is related to bribery allegations during his time at Garuda

MatahariMall Chairman Emirsyah Satar is on the left

MatahariMall Chairman Emirsyah Satar has been named a suspect in multinational bribery case, according to a statement from Indonesia’s Corruption Eradication Commission.

The bribery is reported to have happened during his tenure as CEO of Garuda.

Satar was named as one of the two suspects in a bribery case involving British automaker Rolls Royce. The other suspect was Soetikno Soedarjo, the Founder and CEO of the holding company Mugi Rekso Abadi. 

The statement read:

“In the development of the investigation of alleged corruption giving / receiving gifts or pledges together and continues related to the procurement of aircraft and aircraft engines from Airbus SAS and Rolls-Royce PLC on PT. Garuda Indonesia (Persero) Tbk, the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) found preliminary evidence sufficient to raise the status of the case to the prosecution and set two (2) persons as suspects.”

Rolls Royce has been embroiled by a global bribery scandal and paid a US$830 million fine to British, US and Brazilian authorities. 

The announcement was made after KPK conducted raids at several locations in Jakarta, including the head office of Garuda Indonesia.

According to KPK spokesperson, Febri Dian, the institution noted “indication of cross-border bribery”  at the value of “‘million US Dollars.’”

The case came to light after Rolls Royce admitted the allegation made by the UK’s Serious Fraud Office. The allegation detailed that Rolls Royce gave US$2.5 million and a Rolls-Royce Silver Spirit to “an individual” to amend Rolls-Royce’s Trent 700 jet procurement contract with Garuda Indonesia.

In a statement issued to CNN Indonesia, Benny S Butarbutar described the bribery case as the actions of an individual and is not reflective of the company.

“As a public company, we already have a mechanism in all business activities, ranging from systems implementation GCG is applied strictly to transparency of information,” he said.

e27 has reached out to MatahariMall for a statement.

—

The post MatahariMall Chairman named suspect in Rolls Royce bribery investigation appeared first on e27.

from e27 http://ift.tt/2jClyUM

//

Photo credit:Pixabay.

Looks like Flipkart’s tantrums over demanding preferential treatment for homegrown startups against global players like Amazon are ill-founded.

According to the quarterly Indian E-tailing Leadership Index, Amazon still plays second fiddle to Flipkart, which has been ranked number one for the fourth straight quarter in 2016.

Flipkart retained its top spot with the same score – 97 – as last quarter. Brand recall for Flipkart saw a slight uptick, backed by better product diversity and competitive pricing. But its post-delivery experience – such as refunds and returns – declined, the survey found.

Amazon remains a very close second, with a marginal decline in brand recall. For the quarter ending December, Amazon India conceded some ground to Flipkart, with the retailer losing some points on brand recall and post-delivery experience. Its score came down by two points from the quarter ending September.

See: Amazon is closing in on Flipkart. Jeff Bezos describes how he got there

Other gainers

In the three months ending December, however, the biggest gainer in popularity was not Flipkart or Amazon.

It was Paytm. The digital wallet smartly promoted its product riding on the government’s demonetization move.

The Vijay Shekhar Sharma-led company’s score went up significantly to 82, from 75 in the last quarter.

Amazon may have to try harder to place itself in the coveted ace position.

While Paytm gained from the phasing out of high-value notes, ecommerce players suffered a setback as a cash crunch crippled cash-on-delivery payment, which accounts for a significant chunk of their business.

Snapdeal also improved its scores on the index, benefiting from its partnership with Paytm’s smaller rival Freecharge.

But the real tug of war is between Flipkart and Amazon.

Flipkart cofounders Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal. Photo credit: LetsIntern.

Amazon inching closer?

In early 2016, Amazon was having a dream run.

Flipkart was simultaneously plagued by frequent management changes, investors pressuring them to reduce cash burn, and a sales slowdown. Amazon managed to take the second position in January, toppling Snapdeal, and has remained there since.

Flipkart’s problems have only multiplied thereafter, with a series of valuation markdowns and an industry-wide funding crunch that prevented the company from raising fresh funds.

Amazon grabbed the opportunity and declared a US$3 billion investment just for the India market, pushing its competitors to the brink of panic. The US giant has already invested over US$2 billion in India.

See: Indian unicorn Flipkart’s top-level exodus snowballs, CFO Sanjay Baweja quits

Amazon’s mild performance in China against Alibaba means it’s crucial for the ecommerce giant to make it big in India. Amazon was a late entrant in the country, coming in years after homegrown rivals Flipkart and Snapdeal. Amazon India has been trying to topple Flipkart by investing loads of money into the venture.

The E-tailing report, released by RedSeer Consulting in July, had estimated that the top five ecommerce companies in India hold about 80 percent of the market. Of that, Flipkart has about 50 percent market share. But that number is shrinking, and Amazon may not be far behind, the firm told Tech in Asia.

In September, a Bank of America – Merrill Lynch report said that Amazon’s market share based on the total value of goods sold will improve to 37 percent by 2019 from 21 percent in 2015, but still be a close second to Flipkart. Flipkart’s market share in 2019 is expected to be at 44 percent, as per the brokerage firm.

Now that Flipkart investor Tiger Global has brought in Kalyan Krishnamurthy to clean house, the ecommerce player may be in a better position to retain its top spot. Amazon may have to try harder to place itself in the coveted ace position.

But Flipkart’s problems are far from over. Recently, its ewallet PhonePe was blocked by ICICI Bank and Airtel over security concerns and allegations of violating fair play. Flipkart, however, has denied receiving any communication from these two companies on the matter, and has asked them to explain the block in detail.

See: Overcoming the China nightmare: why Amazon needs to win in India, ASAP

This post Amazon trying hard, but still a second fiddle to Flipkart appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2iW3AMb

//

Photo credit: ParkingRhino.

You’re in Bangalore, and you’ve just spent an hour navigating your vehicle through traffic. Not only did you have to travel during rush hour, but you also watched an accident happen right in front of you. Then, you participated in the chorus of horn-honking that ensued as the two drivers argued with each other. You tried in vain to get around the traffic jam, and now, you’ve arrived at your destination 40 minutes late. You still have to look for parking, which is nowhere to be found.

You still have to look for parking, which is nowhere to be found.

Lucky for you, you have a friend – a flying rhinoceros, wings outstretched, that’s hovered over the traffic ahead of you and found your parking spot. It lands in a flourish of winged glory and reserves the spot for you until you secure your vehicle.

That’s the vision that fuels ParkingRhino, a Bangalore-based startup that helps people book parking spots through an app. Meanwhile, parking lot owners using pen and paper to keep track of their parking spots can use the app instead, as well as process payments without cash.

ParkingRhino, selected by Nasscom 10,000 Startups and Google Launchpad, is available on Google Play and can help drivers in Bangalore, Delhi NCR, Mumbai, and Pune book their spots.

See: How Google Launchpad is helping a car rental app rev its engines

King of the lots

Tridib Konwar and Mriganka Deka, co-founders of ParkingRhino. Photo credit: ParkingRhino.

Co-founders Tridib Konwar and Mriganka Deka are from the northeast Indian state of Assam, which has the one-horned rhinoceros as its state animal. The two struck up the idea for ParkingRhino after Tridib went to visit Mriganka in Bangalore.

“I really found a horrible infrastructure in Bangalore,” he explains. The combination of traffic plus the extra 20 minutes it took to park was frustrating. “Somehow, we need to solve this problem.” He ended up moving to Bangalore in 2014 and began working on ParkingRhino the following year.

I really found a horrible infrastructure in Bangalore.

Drivers using ParkingRhino can log in and search for verified parking spaces around their destination. To book a space, they pay around US$0.75 to US$0.90, plus the price of the parking spot – ParkingRhino takes 20 percent of the parking fee. Spaces are verified through a combination of the startup’s team, which goes out and examines parking spots for viability, user reviews, and trackers that show how often – or not – a spot is used on the app.

Owners of small parking lots can use the app in conjunction with a small invoice printer to print tickets via Bluetooth. Larger lots will pay more to use the startup’s software-as-a-service (SaaS) system, which gives the owner real-time analytics – the number of car entries and exits from the lot – and connects to existing cameras and parking management systems.

ParkingRhino also offers a separate app to manage valet parking.

The startup takes card payments, with cashless payment wallets like Paytm accepted at a few parking locations. Tridib tells Tech in Asia that the company is working on tying up with two specific payment startups, but doesn’t say which.

See: An Uber for parking spots steps in so soccer fans can enjoy their game

Flying toward the future

For underground parking garages and other dead zones, the startup is developing a system that uses sound to track cars entering and exiting the parking lot. Aiming for a feature launch next month, the startup will have smartphones issue a beep, which will be audible from around two to six meters away.

The app will also cover Chennai and Hyderabad in the following month. It currently has 500,000 monthly active users who make use of 1 million parking spaces. That’s a far cry from the beginning, when the founders fought an uphill battle with parking lot owners for four to five months.

Kochi-based PinPark launched last month and takes more of an “Uber for parking spaces” approach, crowdsourcing parking spots via an app. PParkE and on-demand valet startup Constapark also tackle the same issue.

Converted from Indian rupees. US$1 = INR 68.31

This post Running late? This startup wants to cut 20 minutes off your parking time appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2jbLiEF

//

China-speed: just a few decades ago, this part of Shanghai was farmland. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

2016 was a roller-coaster of a year for China’s tech industry. The ride-hailing war came to a US$35 million close, virtual reality and live streaming took off, and peer-to-peer lending came crashing down. With 2017 already in swing, the stage is set for another year of excitement.

In particular, as funding slows down in Silicon Valley – 83 percent of venture funding went elsewhere in 2016 – China’s influence continues to grow. Some of the world’s most active lead investors – such as Sequoia Capital and Lightspeed Venture Partners – are increasingly looking east while Chinese startups, such as Didi Chuxing and Ant Financial, raised some of the most notable funding rounds in 2016.

Here are nine startups that could make an impact in China – and the world – this year, and the trends they’re riding on.

The bike sharing war rages on: Mobike vs. Ofo

No such thing as too many bikes? Orange for Mobike, blue for Xiaoming Danche, Yellow for Ofo. Photo credit: Tech in Asia.

Transportation continues to be one of the hottest areas in China’s tech scene, with Mobike and Ofo racing head-to-head in the bike sharing industry. The two companies raked in a total of more than US$250 million in financing last year, according to the Tech in Asia database – and more capital is expected to flow in 2017.

In fact, four days into the new year, Mobike announced a US$215 million series D round led by Tencent that will help push its business beyond Chinese borders into Singapore.

Both Mobike and Ofo help users find and rent nearby bikes – bright orange and yellow, respectively – with dirt-cheap prices of less than US$1 per half hour of riding. As is common in China, so far the two archrivals are competing mainly on execution, not so much on product or service. Like ride-hailing and O2O food delivery, capital will probably still be one of the main factors behind who wins and who fails.

Mobike counts Sequoia Capital and Tencent among its investors, whereas Ofo is backed by Chinese unicorn Xiaomi and ride-hailing startup Didi Chuxing. Both sides have a lot of cash, which should come in handy as it’s not clear how profitable – if at all – the bike sharing business is. This year could decide the fate of both companies.

Precision health from China’s biotech unicorn: ICarbonX

Wang Jun, founder and CEO of ICarbonX. Photo credit: ICarbonX.

Shenzhen-based company ICarbonX rose into the spotlight last year when it became a unicorn less than a year after being founded. The ambitious biotech startup wants to build a one-stop platform that crunches all kinds of data, including genetic information and blood samples, to provide health-related insights and recommendations.

It’s a daunting vision, but ICarbonX has the money and talent to back it up. The company is led by Wang Jun, who previously cut his teeth as the co-founder and board member of Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI), a world-renowned genetics research center. Last April, the company pulled in US$145 million in a series A round led by Tencent.

So far, ICarbonX has spent its money – US$400 million of it – on its Digital Life Alliance, a cohort of biotech companies that will pool resources and talent for ICarbonX’s massive platform. Earlier this month, ICarbonX added seven companies to the alliance, including SomaLogic, a US company that measures and monitors proteins, and HealthTell, whose technology offers real-time monitoring of users’ immune systems.

China is a world leader in genetics research. Last year, Chinese researchers were the first to inject genetically edited genes into an adult human using CRISPR technology (which lets geneticists edit parts of the genome). Now, Chinese companies are venturing into the space as well. ICarbonX, with its pedigree and powerful backing, will be a startup to watch in this space.

Live streaming grows up: Inke

A live streaming host on Inke wins virtual gifts for her singing.

Live streaming made headlines in China throughout 2016, with over 200 apps crowding the space and numerous crackdowns on salacious content by the Chinese government.

Though a lot of live shows are pretty superficial – think flirtatious banter and amateur karaoke – there’s no doubt about the industry’s monetization potential. Momo, a Chinese company known for its dating services, saw its second-quarter revenue jump 222 percent compared to the same period the year prior, due to its pivot to live streaming.

Inke, founded in 2015, rose to the top as one of the most popular live broadcasting apps. Unlike more established players, such as YY, Inke is mobile-first, which means users can casually live stream through their phones instead of their computers. This year, Inke, along with other top players, will have to prove whether or not the industry can sustain itself beyond the hype.

Ecommerce is one possibility. In an interview with Chinese news outlet Sina Tech, Inke founder Feng Yousheng noted that the app’s live streaming hosts funnel as many as 50 percent of their fans to Weibo, WeChat, and other channels in order to sell products and monetize. On ecommerce sites, such as Taobao and JD, live shopping has already taken off, with the former claiming conversion rates of 32 percent.

This year could see more concerted efforts by live streaming startups, such as Inke, to tap into ecommerce and monetization beyond virtual gifts.

Dive into computer vision: SenseTime, DeepGlint, and Face++

SenseTime’s face clustering algorithm. Photo credit: SenseTime.

News around artificial intelligence is typically dominated by large tech firms, such as Google and Facebook. In China, search giant Baidu leads various research initiatives dedicated to deep learning, big data, AI, and most recently, augmented reality.

But a number of Chinese AI startups are filling the niche left in the wake of big tech corporates. In particular, computer vision, a subset of artificial intelligence, is proving to be a place where startups can shine.

Face++, a Beijing-based startup, services a number of well-known clients with its facial recognition technology, including Lenovo and Didi Chuxing. For Ant Financial, Alibaba’s finance affiliate, Face++ powers the “Smile to Pay” feature in its mobile payment app, Alipay. Hong Kong-based computer vision startup SenseTime has also seen its facial and image recognition technology embraced by a number of big-name clients, such as Huawei, Xiaomi, and UnionPay.

That’s because applications of computer vision are diverse: biometric authentication for fintech, object detection for autonomous driving, OCR for extracting text from images. DeepGlint, a Beijing-based startup backed by Sequoia Capital and ZhenFund, uses computer vision to help monitor crowds.

As the need for computer vision continues to increase, these startups will have more clients – and more relevance than ever.

New solutions in virtual reality: Pico VR

Pico’s latest headset, the untethered Pico Neo CV. Photo credit: Pico.

When it comes to VR hardware, Chinese startups, such as Baofeng Mojing, tend to take the well-worn path of producing cheaper – and usually lower quality – equivalents of international companies such as Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.

But Pico VR is on to something different. Last year, the Beijing-based startup launched the Pico Neo, a unique solution that put the gadget’s smart hardware in the controller instead of weighing down the headset. Last week at CES, the Beijing-based startup debuted its latest headset, the Pico Neo CV, a fully untethered headset with complete positional tracking.

We look forward to seeing what other products Pico comes up with this year.

Ant Financial: IPO finally?

Photo credit: Alizila.

Alibaba’s finance arm, Ant Financial, is one of the most influential players in China’s fintech scene. Its mobile payment app, Alipay, boasts 450 million users and hit a record of 1 billion transactions in one day last year.

In addition to mobile payments, Ant Financial also offers other financial products, such as a personal savings fund and loan services. In 2016, the company raised a whopping US$4.5 billion series B, one of the largest funding rounds in China that year.

2017 could be the year that Ant Financial, valued at US$60 billion, goes public. Last October, Jack Ma, who controls both Alibaba and Ant Financial, said that the fintech company was planning to IPO, though where and when it would list was undecided. Around the same time, Ma also announced Ant Financial’s new CEO, Eric Jing, who would oversee the company’s IPO.

According to sources at Reuters, Alibaba’s financial arm wants to ensure its listing is followed by growth and may have to hit certain targets before then. Though investors may have to wait until late 2017 to cash in, it’s worth keeping an eye on Ant Financial as it marches towards the stock market.

Currency converted from Chinese yuan. US$1 = RMB 6.83.

This post These 9 Chinese startups are poised to grab 2017 by the horns appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2k5qUsX