//

Billionaire Rocket Internet founder Oliver Samwer at a conference in 2013. Photo credit: Wikipedia.

German startup leviathan Rocket Internet announced today that it’s secured investor commitments of US$1 billion for its “Rocket Internet Capital Partners Fund.” The fund will be global in its outlook – targeting internet companies at all stages of their lifecycles.

Rocket Internet itself has pledged US$140 million to the pool.

A short press statement from the company didn’t identify the limited partners by name, simply saying that they’re a “diverse group of global investors, including financial institutions, pension funds, asset managers, foundations, and high net-worth individuals.”

It added that the fund will invest in startups focused on marketplaces, ecommerce, fintech, software, and travel.

It seems like the cash is in addition to the US$420 million investors pledged to Rocket last year. There’s no word from the Berlin-headquartered startup builder on how much of that capital has already been deployed or whether the fund has been augmented to hold a billion dollars in cash from today onwards.

Last year, at least, the investment ethos of the fund was to co-invest alongside Rocket, pledging to put in US$4 for every US$1 that the Samwers signed off on.

Rocket Internet, which went public in 2014, has seen the value of its shares slide considerably from their start of US$39.35. Yesterday the stock closed at US$20.50 – meaning they’ve lost almost half their market value.

It also had a mixed 2016, losing nearly US$700 million throughout the year but managing to score a meaty exit with the sale of Lazada to Alibaba.

“RICP having reached the hard cap of US$1 billion shows the strong interest of leading investors, who share the enthusiasm for the attractive investment opportunity RICP presents,” said Oliver Samwer, Rocket Internet’s CEO.

We’ve reached out to Rocket Internet for further details and will update the article when we hear back.

This post Rocket Internet’s global venture fund is now worth a billion dollars appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2jAv8rL

//

Don’t be afraid to sail toward the wind

While sailing in the lake, Ko Soe Thiha (in orange jacket) suggested me to write this article, drawing lessons from sailing to my startup journey.

As I have lived in Yangon long enough, I longed for access to large bodies of water. The only possible way in Yangon for me at this moment is to sail in Inya Lake, in the middle of Yangon.

I started learning how to sail in the local club since 2016 March as a beginner sailor and started joining races as I progress in my learning ladder. Here are some lessons I have learned while sailing in Inya waters which can also be applied for startups in Myanmar.

1. If you are in a niche enough market, you will be the top of of the game

Races in Inya Lake can be held for same boat classes, combined race, or a fleet race. I once joined a combined race where various classes of boats will start off together but will be ranked according to their own class. A wide eyed beginner me joined the race having little or no clue about the rules except for safety.

The race ended and what a surprise to learn I came in first in my class since mine was in the only boat in my class anyway. While I could claim bragging rights as the winner of the race, I know myself that I am nowhere near being the best sailor in the race.

Also Read: How to be a great boss: Lessons for startup founders

As a startup, define their market niche enough, they could very well claim to be the best, top of the game or any other bragging rights, but in the end it’s the profits which they should use as a measure of their success.

2. Changing conditions can be a good thing

In Inya, unlike the open sea, I have observed that wind in the lake isn’t always constant, the various boats of even the same class could respond differently to the changing wind conditions. During races, when a wind shift occurs or when the wind conditions change, the boats which are slow in medium winds could be overtaking others during a light wind condition. If you look around enough, you can probably spot a good gust of wind that you can take advantage of that nobody have noticed either.

Myanmar’s economic and political development can be analogous to Inya’s winds, they do keep changing unlike more developed countries. Startups can use it to their advantage against bigger firms. Spot the opportunities of a gust of wind, take advantage of shifting winds, do what big companies cannot do.

3. Learning can be subconsciously done with enough motivation

The first sailing class I took was ‘Junior Sailor’, which was based on the sailing syllabus for Singapore Children. How to tack, gybe, and how to tie knots are learnt consciously, but the most learning come from just floating around the lake in a boat with my wife or in the heat of a race. That is where the formal lessons get drilled into my skin and bones.

Business and management trainings and books I took gave me knowledge on operating a startup but it’s during the execution, growing the company and competing in the market that gives me confidence and skills.

4. Aiming too high can sometimes slow you down

Most races in Inya involve sailing towards the wind (upwind) and following the wind (downwind). Since sailboats can’t possibly sail against the wind, the best possible angle is achieved by posting the boat at 45-degrees towards the wind. While this is in theory, the slight changes in wind condition and the geography means pointing at absolute 45-degrees will only slow you down. You are better off aiming at ever slightly less than 45-degrees, try to achieve speed instead and win the race as a longer term strategy.

Same goes for startups in trying to optimise their resources. Sometimes, the best strategy is to aim and optimise for longer term market win instead of trying to optimise every resources or trying to win every deal.

Also Read: 10 invaluable lessons every start up failure teaches us

5. Reduce as much drag as you can

Drag is the force which is applied to your boat from opposite direction you are trying to move. Sailors try to reduce drag as much as possible by making the boat’s hull smooth, making it sail on one of it’s edge, pulling up the centre board half way or even totally at certain sailing conditions. If you have some debris caught in your rudder, remove it immediately since they introduce more drag.

As we are trying to lift off our own startup off the ground, reduce as much unnecessary drag as possible. Keep the team lean so you won’t spend trying to entertain human resource issues instead of going out to meet customers. Keep your feature set small, bring your partners fully onboard or leave them behind for another trip, help them make that decision as fast as they can.

6. The position you took can make or brake your race (being at the place where the wind is)

It could be due to the pure luck that you started the race at just the right spot, or you entered a wind shadow with no wind at all. It could possibly be also because you planned that start of the race all along and you just had no choice to go through a zone with no wind to get to your destination.

Either you are cruising through your customer acquisition journey or stuck trying to overcome a tight technical spot, it could have been pure luck, pre-planning or something unavoidable. Whatever that is, your goal is still there and you may as well have to paddle using your bare hand through that wind shadow. If you did run your boat aground, you may have to jump off the boat for a bit and launch it again like you might have to reboot your company or start another one.

Also Read: 4 lessons I learnt from interning at 2 startups

7. Competition gives you a reference and makes you learn faster (changing wind conditions wouldn’t let you compete against yourself)

Unlike other sports where you can race against your own time, sailing is tricky when it comes to that, since even a lap of practice would give you better or worse results based on wind conditions. This requires you to have a competitor to give you a reference on how you are doing but not so accurately. You may be improving on your own term, but if your competitor is improving much faster than you, you are still going to loose your races.

No startup is going to go through the same journey again. Even with the same team, same amount of funding, the market conditions would have been changed and you can never measure your improvement. Competitors give you a good reference on how much progress you have made and if you could possibly be doing it better.

8. Enjoy the experience even if you aren’t winning the race

The best part of joining the race is the excitement and energy of the environment. Wind, sun, moon, and the sound of water make it all worth it in addition to the learning you get during the race regardless of your finishing position. Enjoy the race of startup and life in general. Winning would be good but even if you don’t come on top, there are things that are worth valuing along the way.

Sure, I will have more updated lessons as I progress in sailing and entrepreneurship, and will even have corrections to these lessons that I wrote of. I will keep the audience posted on them.

—-

This post has originally appeared on English.Startup95.com.

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.

The post 8  startup lessons I learnt from sailing in Yangon’s Inya Lake appeared first on e27.

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

//

Everything is becoming smart, and Asia Pacific is right in the middle of things

The global internet-of-things (IoT) market could swell by another US$200 billion over the next seven years. According to a report published by Research Nester, the Internet of Things market is expected to reach $724.2 billion by 2023, up 21 percent from U$598.2 billion that the market clocked in 2015.

That’s a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.2 per cent. A major chunk of growth is expected from the Asia Pacific region. The report predicts this region acquired a market share of 36 per cent in 2015 and is expected to grow at a CAGR of 10.2% per cent between 2016 and 2023. North America is expected to retain its revenue share of 24.2 per cent during this period.

A focus area in emerging economies

IoT has been a focus area in emerging economies like India and China. The Indian government, for instance, has been pursuing its ‘Digital India’ initiative over the past two years with a massive push towards IoT. This includes the establishment of smart cities, IoT-specific ‘Centres of Excellence’, the creation of IoT innovation hubs in places like Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, and partnerships with companies like Juniper Networks and Cisco. These initiatives will allow India to set up the necessary digital infrastructure. As a result, India is expected to capture 20 percent of the global market share of IoT by 2020.

Also Read: IoT and e-commerce: How platforms and marketers can benefit from increased connectivity

In China, the ‘Internet Plus’ policy aims to create a new economic model that will drive economic and social innovation over the next decade. As part of this policy, the Chinese government aims to push forward with the integration of internet with traditional manufacturing industries. China also aims to replicate its success with Zhongguancun (the country’s own Silicon Valley) in the creation of similar pilot zones centred on IoT.

IoT and the manufacturing sector

So where exactly is the IoT innovation happening? In terms of components, IoT , is extensively deployed in electronic and wearable devices, sensors, actuators and connectivity devices. A lot of IoT projects are likely in the areas of real-time streaming analytics, security, data management, remote monitoring and network bandwidth management. According to Research Nester, IoT applications are primarily used in consumer electronics, manufacturing, transportation, healthcare and retail.

For emerging economies like India and China, some of the major areas of IoT innovation are expected in manufacturing. With rising cost of living in the manufacturing centres of China, the country is no longer the most attractive option for new manufacturing plants. With IoT, it is possible to set up predictive maintenance schedules (real-time analysis of energy use pattern to provide proactive information to decision makers), supply chain connectivity, asset monitoring, workplace safety management, and energy management.

IoT in these areas are likely to make production a lot more optimised than it presently is and will help to achieve lower manufacturing costs.

Also Read: Hong Kong’s K2 Capital backs IoT transportation solution startup TempoGO

Another area where countries like India are investing in is with smart cities. Under the first phase of ‘Digital India,’ the government plans to connect a hundred cities with smart management of infrastructure, including transportation, water and energy management. This includes digitising the infrastructure and monitoring resource consumption in real-time. This project is expected to bring in a lot of IoT investments as is already seen from the likes of Cisco and Juniper.

IoT will go mainstream, and Asia Pacific will play a big role

While it will be a long time before futuristic internet-connected electronics devices will become mainstream in the developing world, government-driven policy initiatives are sure to bring about smart IoT-enabled infrastructure development over the next decade. And this is where a majority of IoT growth in Asia Pacific is going to come from.

—-

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: weedezign / 123RF Stock Photo

The post Asia Pacific will be a driver of global IoT growth in the next 5 years appeared first on e27.

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

//

The first batch of VIISAfeatures startups like an e-commerce data analytics company and a nightclub bottle subscription service

Vietnam has a startup ecosystem that is bubbling with optimism and potential, but the next step is for the community to begin to build a vibrant ecosystem.

Typically, during the building process, accelerators begin to emerge as a place for startups to iterate their business plans, make connections and usually get a bit of cash.

Today, the Vietnam Innovation Startup Accelerator (VIISA) kicked off its first batch today. The programme had over 150 applications and will offer the eight selected companies US$15,000 and technical resources. The programme is run by a partnership of Dragon Capital, FPT Corporation and Hanwha Investment.

“I believe it is the first time in this region that three corporations come together to fund and operate an accelerator program of this scale. I am grateful and excited for this opportunity to work with talented founders and to show the world that great startups exist here in Vietnam,” said Adrian Tan, the VIISA programme director.

Let’s meet the companies!

Butterfly Hub

Butterfly Hub is trying to apply big data and artifiicial intelligence to the beauty industry. The goal is to be able to personalise looks — with help from the AI. So, if someone is looking for advice about the latest trendy haircut, the system will help find something that is fashion forward, but will not be regrettable to the individual.

Fastsell

Fastsell is a mobile P2P solution similar to that of Carousell or Shopee. Like their Southeast Asian cousins the app allows users to sell, buy and discover items from people around them through their phone.

Fixir

One of the worst things about having a car problem is wondering if the mechanic is offering a fair deal — or jacking up the price because they know you have no other choice. Fixir wants to solve this problem by building a mobile app that aggregates price quotes from companies in the general vicinity.

Lexis

Lexis is a prepaid platform for legal services. It allows people to pay a fee up front that they can later ‘cash in’ for legal advice should they need the help. It also has a toll free number to help its customers.

Honeynet

Honeynet is a wireless solution for the IoT and video surveillance products. The company is built on the cloud and also has a product for smart agriculture.

Usedata

Usedata wants to help online merchants increase their conversion rate. It helps companies understand where users are coming from, how much they buy, and segments interactions based on brands and categories.

It then will recommend to merchants the best product to feature in order to convert the most sales.

Wefit

Much like Kfit or GuavaPass, Wefit is a monthly subscription company that gives users access to multiple gyms to enjoy the classes they want. Localised for Vietnam, the company is currently doing most of its business in Hanoi.

WisePass

And you thought you were ballin’. For VND6 million (US$265) per month, users can get a free bottle of alcohol at select locations across Ho Chi Minh City. The company has struck deals with 26 venues and offer 11 selected spirits and wines. It is a month to month subscription and users can cancel at anytime.

VIISA will have its Demo Day in March 2017.

—

The post Meet the inaugural batch of Vietnam’s latest accelerator programme VIISA appeared first on e27.

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

//

Photo credit: Olabi Makerspace.

The burgeoning startup scene of India has received another leg-up from one of the most well-known names in the data storage space – NetApp.

In a startup accelerator program launched today – named ‘Escape Velocity’ – NetApp plans to nurture and support early-stage technology startups in data storage, the cloud, big data, and Internet of Things.

The company did not share the corpus of funds set aside for the startup program, but sources said it could be in the range of US$100-150 million. The first batch of Escape Velocity will begin by June this year and will incubate about six startups.

“The idea is to look at startups with unique innovations in the data storage space. We may integrate some with NetApp, but we primarily want to build an ecosystem of new ideas,” NetApp CEO George Kurian said. NetApp also wants to explore startups in areas that it has not addressed as yet. “We want to complete the whole stack of data storage,” George added.

See: Microsoft Accelerator ties up with Indian IT titan to help startups grow

The accelerator program will be run from NetApp’s newly launched 15-acre research and development center in Bangalore, which will cater to NetApp’s global customers. The incubated startups of the accelerator program will be able to address a global market working out of the facility, the company said.

The company has spent close to US$150 million to set up the Bangalore center, which is NetApp’s largest worldwide.

The incubated startups will get access to a 12,000-square-foot data center, research and development facility, as well as NetApp’s go-to market team, which will help these startups place their products correctly in the market.

Other technology corporates such as Microsoft, Cisco, and SAP labs have set up startup incubators in India. Cisco’s first batch under its Launchpad accelerator graduated 8 new startups last month.

Bengaluru is host to the largest share of technology driven startups, followed by the Delhi-NCR and Mumbai, according to a study conducted by industry body Assocham.

Globally, India has moved up to third position with over 4,000 tech startups. The US remains the leading market for startups with over 47,000 such entities, the study states.

Bangalore hosts close to 26 percent of the 4,000 odd startups in India. That is followed by the New Delhi region, which hosts 23 percent, and Mumbai, which houses 17 percent of startups.

See: Google Launchpad program begins with 16 startups from India and Indonesia

This post NetApp doubles down on Bangalore with R&D center and accelerator appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2k3Yob6

//

Photo credit: bswei / 123RF.

Ecommerce company Flipkart is going to launch a new private label under founder Sachin Bansal’s stewardship, three people directly aware of the company’s plans told Tech in Asia.

India’s Flipkart launched its first self-branded products, dubbed Flipkart Smart Buy, in December, focusing on phone chargers and data cables.

The aim is to gain higher margins for the Amazon arch-rival, which in turn could help with profitability.

Internally codenamed Project Ice, Sachin is planning to make self-branded items in more than 40 categories, including electronics and home furnishings. A rollout is expected by April.

Flipkart did not respond to an email seeking comments.

With the new label launch, Sachin and team are going after a higher-end market, with presumably only one end in mind for now – to source raw materials and manufacture in India, avoiding the usual made-in-China products.

It aligns Flipkart with the Indian government’s pet “Make in India” project, where the Prime Minister has been encouraging companies to tap the country as a manufacturing hub. A vast array of global tech players, including Apple, Foxconn, and Xiaomi have already bought into the idea.

Tax incentives

The launch of the Make in India campaign. Photo Credit: Wikimedia.

There are tax benefits and subsidies that sweeten the deal. As per the Make in India site, “in order to boost manufacturing of electronics, the government of India provides a capital subsidy of up to 25 percent for 10 years.”

“As of now, the new label does not have a mandate to make profits, it just has a mandate to set up a Make in India base,” two people aware of the developments told Tech in Asia.

“This has been in the works for months now,” another source said. “It sort of got put on hold when Kalyan came in, but it’s back now.” Kalyan Krishnamurthy is Flipkart’s new CEO, who took charge earlier this month.

See: Amazon India losses double, but so do revenues

While private labels are a great way to build a business, the bigger strategy here is in how Flipkart is trying to hit all the right notes with this one move.

2016 was a trying year for the startup, including markdowns, employees leaving, CEO changes, and some very avoidable faux pas.

Binny Bansal (left) and Sachin Bansal are the two co-founders of India’s top homegrown ecommerce startup. Photo credit: Flipkart.

Sachin Bansal himself ruffled quite a few industry feathers when he joined Ola CEO Bhavish Aggarwal in asking PM Narendra Modi’s government to make policies which favor homegrown companies, similar to China’s protectionist policies.

Building a homegrown brand that sources locally is set to earn Flipkart some easy brownie points with the government, with which India’s ecommerce sector has had a tenuous relationship in the past.

See: Amazon and Flipkart may be in trouble after India’s policy change. Snapdeal is happy

If Flipkart’s self-branded products take off, they could be a key differentiator from Amazon, which last year launched a “Make in India” store.

“‘Make in India’ connects with our mission to transform how India buys and sells and we are thrilled that it will provide further impetus to Indian manufacturing, allowing customers globally to access Indian innovations and creations,” said Amazon India head Amit Agarwal.

Flipkart’s moves to lobby the government for support comes as it’s reportedly in the market to raise more funds.

Durba Ghosh contributed to this article.

This post Flipkart has a bold new plan – and it’s one that’ll keep the government happy appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2iP0Mka

//

Dragonera’s team. Photo credit: Publicity.

If you’re a founder desperate to get your idea to market, you can relate to how soporific the development process can be. Assembling a technical team, putting together plans for a mobile site or app, comparing mockups and wireframes, and finally beta testing before a public launch – the process takes several months.

In that time, the opportunity could very well have been lost or usurped by someone else.

Similarly, larger companies focused on improving their existing products usually have little bandwidth for their tech teams to experiment with new ideas. That could stymie innovation – a death knell for companies built to last.

At the end of the day, building new software is a challenging and time-consuming endeavor.

The secret sauce is extensive automation.

Dragonera recognizes this pain. It wants to help founders bring their product to life faster and more efficiently. At the same time, it also aims at boosting innovation in existing firms by trialing new products and services.

It’s an AI-driven platform that’s automating the entire software development process.

“Demand for experienced developers largely surpasses the offering […] Dragonera offers a service where customers can deliver an abstract idea and we will deliver a fully functional, go-to-market ready software product,” says co-founder Ido Sadeh Man.

Building blocks

It does so by leveraging machine learning for the product definition and microservices for implementation, he explains. About 70 percent of the product can be automated in this way – at a fraction of the time and cost it would take human developers to achieve the same task.

Microservices are standalone pieces of software that are designed to incorporate specific features. Several of these can be programmed to work together – with the end result that they deliver the full functionality of a product or website.

It’s like building blocks coming together through code and morphing into a larger, powerful entity.

“Our customers don’t need to have a technical team involved – whatever is not handled by our microservices is implemented by our technical network,” explains Ido.

The Tel Aviv-headquartered startup recently locked in US$3 million to scale operations. The cash came from Singulariteam – the same guys behind Solarin, a US$14,000 smartphone. Ido doesn’t disclose valuation figures, but says they want to grow fast – and foresees that the existing team of 11 will triple by the end of the year.

Dragonera’s SaaS dashboard. Photo credit: Publicity.

You’re in control

Dragonera functions as an interactive SaaS dashboard – founders and execs control the design and user interface of the product. They’ll be allowed to monitor progress continually and talk to an account manager online whenever they’d like.

Essentially, you still have a tech team and are in the driving seat of the iterative process, but are saved the associated cost and overheads.

“We’re trying to provide a near in-house experience,” says Ido.

The team’s already worked with industry players in real estate who engaged them to build a new app. Ido says he can’t give details due to confidentiality clauses – but describes the founders as leading industry professionals without any product, user experience, or technical backgrounds.

Dragonera’s AI coders delivered a fully functional product within 40 days and for less than US$40,000. Ido claims that the alternative solution for the businessmen – either through hiring technical talent or engaging an outsourcing company – would have cost them 80 percent more in terms of both time and money.

The secret sauce, he adds, is all extensive automation.

The team behind Dragonera has tons of experience in machine learning and service-oriented architecture. Ido believes there’s a huge opportunity – he points to the US$280 billion software outsourcing industry and hints that it’s time for it to be disrupted.

“This market is dominated by traditional giants, mostly focusing on reselling time and material (i.e. engaging a developer for X and reselling his work for 2X). We believe this market is one of those where the combination of machine learning automation along with sharing economy solutions will change the nature and scale,” says Ido.

This post Developers could lose their jobs if this automation startup has its way appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2iOZIg4

//

Forbes 30 under 30 Michelle Yuan gives advice on building companies, leaning in, and taking control of your #girlboss life

Being an entrepreneur is a lot harder than I thought — and things are even harder in Asia where there’s more stereotyping of women in society. I thought being an entrepreneur was all about building a product or service you believe in, filling that gap in the market, and marketing and selling it as hard as you can. But as an Asian female entrepreneur, you have to work twice — maybe five times — as hard to make people take you seriously, or let alone, believe in what you are capable of.

Not until I entered the startup world did I think women empowerment and female support was more important than ever before. With that said, here are some things I’ve learned about being a female entrepreneur in this part of the world:

1. You’ll have to surround yourself with the right people

People are what make the company — but people are also what makes your life a lot easier. Surrounding yourself with people who don’t believe in what you’re doing, whether in business or in your personal life, is a real time-waster. And I can tell you that from experience. You don’t have to convince these people why you’re building this company — that’s what you have to do for customers and investors.

Also Read: The importance of working with great co-founders

You’re life shouldn’t be one giant pitching session. This is obvious for employees, but sometimes women don’t understand how important this is for people who are involved in your personal life. as well. As a female entrepreneur, you’re already trying to beat the odds, there’s no point in adding more odds to the equation. On the other hand, surrounding yourself with people who support and believe in what you’re doing can really help your business multiply.

2. You’ll want to build a product you can talk about for hours

It doesn’t matter whether you want to build a compression algorithm or a wedding platform, you’ll need to be seriously passionate about it. My first startup idea was in finance — I really believed in it (and I still do), but it’s not something I can talk about for hours. Weddings, on the other hand, are something I’ve always loved and dreamt about as a little girl.

Just because we’re ambitious women doesn’t mean we have to prove something extreme to make a statement. If you like baking cakes or handcrafting jewellery, you can still be a fierce female entrepreneur.

3. You’ll need to use your strengths to outdo competitors

Use your femininity as your advantage. I’m not talking about sex appeal, but the ability to relate. When I first started Asia Wedding Network, I understood that there were tons of older male founders in the wedding technology space. I tapped into my femininity and really looked at the product and the world from a female perspective — after all, we are building a platform for brides.

The ability to understand your strengths and what only you could bring to the table is what will make your company better than others’.

4. You’ll need to trust your intuition

Coming off of the last point, you’re going to be intimidated by your competitors. I know, I was — they were twice my age and armed with a handful of experience. But once you learn to trust your intuition and once you see customers switching over to your product, you’ll learn to take control and trust your instincts.

5. You’ll need to learn to brag

Nobody likes people who brag, but as a woman, you’ll need to brag when the time is right. I feel that women, especially in Asia, are too humble — and that’s okay in normal circumstances. But when you’re talking to an investor or selling you product, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t be bragging about how great your company is.

Also Read: Bootstrapped and proud: Companies that don’t need VC money

Talk about the awards that you’ve received or which big company is using your product (if it’s not confidential). As Asian women, we were taught to not brag and be loud- but when you enter the male-dominated startup world, rules do not apply.

6. You’ll need role models

This sounds cliche but I feel that role models are extremely important, even if you don’t know personally know them. For me, I look up to role models, because they show that they have defied the odds, and the things I want to achieve are actually achievable. I’m not defying the odds — they’ve already done that.

Role models show you that the things you want to achieve are actually possible, and that if you put your mind to it, you too can do what they’ve done — and maybe even more.

7. You’ll need to use your emotional intelligence

I’m about to stereotype us but here it goes: Women are sensitive. Now this isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Use this emotional instinct to your advantage. If you trust your gut instinct, you can read people, customers, and investors. This will help your forecast their next steps.

Also Read: 5 lessons in leadership from top female executives

8. You’ll need be learn ‘tough love’ leadership

Women in leadership roles tend to either be pushovers or strict and unyielding to the extreme. I find that women need to show more love to their employees — tough love, that is. Yes, you need to make sure people are meeting deadlines and working hard on their projects, but you’ll also need to show some compassion when it is most needed. I’m not talking about befriending your employees or letting them walk over you, but I’m talking about showing leniency when it matters. Nobody wants Cruella de Vil as their boss but you’re still building a company here.

Females in the Western world are founding companies, leaning in, and taking control of their #girlboss lives. It’s time for women in this part of the world to also start building great businesses, fulfilling their dreams, and start chipping away at the invisible glass ceiling.

—-

Michelle Yuan currently runs the Asia Wedding Network, Asia’s ultimate online wedding planning resource for newly engaged couples. The site provides wedding planning tools, wedding vendor reviews, tailored wedding content, thousands of wedding ideas, among other wedding planning necessities. Michelle was listed on the Forbes 30 Under 30 list in Asia for her work on Asia Wedding Network.

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.

The post Female entrepreneurs in Asia: Here are 8 things you need to know now appeared first on e27.

from e27 http://ift.tt/2jv9p4i

//

Soundbrenner Pulse worn by a guitarist. Photo credit: Soundbrenner.

Soundbrenner, maker of one of the most unusual but useful smart gadgets out there, has secured US$1.5 million in funding.

The cash, from anonymous angel investors, will help the fledgling Hong Kong-based hardware startup build the next gadget to come after its debut Soundbrenner Pulse, a wearable metronome for musicians. Co-founder Florian Simmendinger says it’s available in “over 30 countries, including all 270 Guitar Center stores across the United States,” which is quick progress from its Indiegogo campaign in early 2015, followed by its retail launch early 2016. There’s no word on total sales so far.

The Pulse, worn on the wrist, forearm, or ankle, noiselessly vibrates a set, metronomic rhythm in conjunction with its companion mobile app.

The startup’s team. Photo credit: Soundbrenner.

Whatever form the new product takes, it’ll move the startup deeper into the music education market, which Florian describes as a US$4.5 billion global opportunity.

Plus, the team will take the Pulse into new, sizeable markets, such as Canada, Australia, and Russia.

Florian Simmendinger. Photo credit: Soundbrenner.

Shenzhen soul

Florian, born in Germany, is one of a growing number of overseas entrepreneurs setting up shop in Hong Kong. The last time Alibaba’s Hong Kong fund backed a bunch of local startups, two of the three were run by international crews.

His business started out in Berlin, but Florian found it difficult to build prototypes there. When he ran into Manav Gupta, CEO of Brinc, a startup accelerator focused on hardware in Hong Kong, Florian realized that the “fragrant harbor” was the place to be.

“We just moved into a bigger office space in the same building late last year to accommodate our growing team, so we’re staying put for a while,” Florian tells Tech in Asia. The crew of 12 now has a space in bustling Central, near the iconic Victoria Peak tram.

He likes being “close to the manufacturing base in Shenzhen,” which suits a firm building hardware. “It’s easy to do business in Hong Kong given its rule of law, English speaking, and blend of East and West,” the CEO adds. “Hong Kong is also a global logistics hub, making it easy for us to expand distribution to additional markets from our home base.”

Photo credit: Soundbrenner.

At 27, Florian is new to startups.

“I started my company right after graduating from university, with a degree in business and no formal training or work experience. Neither did I have a deep understanding of electronics, mobile apps, manufacturing, the music industry or anything else that was important for what we were planning to do,” he conceded last year in a post on Tech in Asia. “As someone who plays music and loves technology, I just knew there was an existing market for metronomes, and an unmet need for a more modern solution that technology could solve. Somehow it all turned out quite nicely, but it was certainly a difficult journey.”

Now, looking back on the early days, he seems to have found his modus operandi. “I can’t stress enough on how important it is to focus rather than getting distracted by pursuing too many paths,” he says.

See: What I learned as a hardware founder after shipping our first 10,000 units

This post Soundbrenner gets funding to build more wearables for musicians appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2jx9X9u

//

Photo credit: Keoni Cabral.

India’s leading ecommerce marketplaces Flipkart and Snapdeal had a rough time in 2016, with valuations dropping and losses mounting. This is unlikely to change in a hurry. Attention has shifted in the meantime to other plays in ecommerce.

One of these is the wholesale marketplace. It’s not as sexy as consumer-facing ecommerce. And it has to negotiate a tough road to adoption and scale.

The wholesale market in India is unorganized and fragmented.

But it’s a model that’s easier to monetize and there’s huge untapped potential for it in India. Industry reports peg the Indian retail market at US$490 billion currently and project it to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 6 percent to reach US$865 billion by 2023. Tens of millions of small retailers are part of that, and they face issues in sourcing and pricing, just as consumers do.

Investors see opportunity in this space amidst the hiatus in the broader ecommerce scene. Evidence of this comes in today’s announcement of follow-on funding in B2B (business-to-business) mobile commerce startup Wydr from its initial investors, Bessemer Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners, and Jungle Venture Partners. Singapore-based Axis Capital also participated in this round. The amount was not disclosed.

See: 25 failed startups in India this year and what you can learn from them

Tons of action

Photo credit: Pixabay.

The Gurgaon-based startup was launched in March last year. Its founder and CEO Devesh Rai was earlier a founding member and VP of ShopClues, an ecommerce company with tier-2 focus.

Wydr is an app-based marketplace connecting retailers with manufacturers and wholesalers across categories like fashion, home, automotive, and electronics. It claims to have 1,000 merchants selling their products on the app, and that 200,000 retailers have downloaded the app. The fresh round of funding aims to expand its seller base, introduction of new categories, and technology upgradation to deliver more value to users.

“The wholesale market in India is unorganized and fragmented. We believe that there is headroom for technology innovation and business growth in this segment,” says Amit Anand, founding and managing partner of Jungle Ventures.

Another B2B marketplace Bizongo got series A funding from Accel Partners and IDG Ventures a couple of months ago.

India is home to eight significant players in this space:

• Noida-based IndiaMart, which raised funding of US$35.7 million
• Gurgaon-based Power2SME, which raised funding of US$34.8 million
• Mumbai-based JustBuyLive, which raised funding of US$20million
• Kolkata-based B2B portal for metals & coal trade Mjunction (with undisclosed funding)
• Gurgaon-based OfBusiness, which raised US$5 million
• Home construction and improvement marketplace Buildzar, which raised US$4 million
• Bangalore-based Shotang, which raised US$5 million
• Bangalore-based B2B groceries marketplace Ninjacart, which raised US$3 million

According to venture intelligence firm Tracxn, India also has more than 400 smaller B2B ecommerce startups.

In 2016, around US$85 million investment went into the sector in 2016 which drew just over US$21 million in 2015 – that is a 300 percent year-on-year growth.

Meanwhile, B2B ecommerce companies in China raised a total funding of over US$$950 million and those in the US raised over US$140 million last year. Alibaba’s moves in India are much anticipated, and India’s wholesale market will beckon the Chinese giant.

This post As Flipkart rides in choppy waters, investor attention shifts to other plays in ecommerce appeared first on Tech in Asia.

from Startups – Tech in Asia http://ift.tt/2j7KeS4