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Photo credit: Klozest.

The cash crunch in India – because of low caps on withdrawals from ATMs and banks – keeps tripping me up. The other day at a kebab joint, my digital wallet payment failed because of either a network or server problem. The restaurant had no card swipe machine either, and I had too little cash.

Others have had more serious problems than going without kebabs. But it turns out there’s a tech solution for all these situations. Wallets could use radio signals from smartphones to transmit payments even when mobile and internet networks are unavailable.

A new startup, Klozest, based in the Bay Area and Bangalore, is in talks with leading wallets in India to integrate its SDK (software development kit) into their apps to enable such payments. It requires no internet, or bluetooth, or the NFC (near-field communication) chips used by Apple Pay.

These transactions require no cellular data connection, and can be reconciled with the wallet’s backend server once the user enters a wifi zone. As such, it can bring digital payments to hundreds of millions in India who can’t afford internet connectivity and mobile data charges even if they have budget smartphones.

See: India’s PM launches a stripped-down app for mobile payments

Even food stalls can go cashless. Photo credit: Wikimedia.

The technology is similar to that of a local wireless mesh network using radio nodes to connect phones in their vicinity. Social networking app FireChat, for example, works even without an internet connection or cellular phone coverage. It can be used in an aircraft or even a disaster zone where networks are down.

Whereas a mesh network relays signals from node to node, the Klozest Pay system turns a phone into an access point, like a wifi hotspot. A merchant can toggle a button in his wallet app to broadcast himself as a recipient of payments. A wallet user within a radius of 40-50 feet can open her app to choose from a list of those accepting payments in the vicinity. The transaction is one-to-one.

The user doesn’t need a phone number or QR code or the virtual address used for apps based on India’s new unified payments interface. Inputting phone numbers or clicking pictures of QR codes or relying on internet connectivity are challenges in many scenarios in India. Klozest offers a one-click option that does away with the need for all that.

See: Paytm founder prepares for his next pivot, which could be the biggest yet

Bridging two generations

The two co-founders of Klozest are both from one of India’s top engineering colleges, BITS Pilani. But they have a generation gap.

Ashish Mukherji graduated from college 35 years ago and rose to senior positions in global companies like AT&T, Infosys, and HCL in India and abroad. He’s now a Bay Area entrepreneur.

The Klozest in-app widget displays the names of wallets users nearby to whom payments can be made.

His co-founder, Arjun Venkatachalam, graduated from BITS Pilani five years ago, worked as a software engineer for a couple years, and launched a startup called Komma for intelligent and contextual mobile notifications. This morphed into Klozest after he ran into Ashish, 30 years his senior.

Sitting opposite me in a Chinese restaurant in Bangalore, eagerly showing me how Klozest works, the generation gap evaporated. Only a shared enthusiasm for their days at BITS Pilani and all the possibilities of Klozest remained.

See: BITS students scout for startups to compete in annual student-run pitch-fest

What wallets want

They had been working on the product for more than a year. Now, Ashish had come down from the US to meet potential clients of Klozest Pay.

Photo credit: Klozest.

There were misgivings about how robust it would be in the typically crowded environments of Indian bazaars. What if 20-30 merchants are broadcasting themselves at the same time on the payments app? How cumbersome would it be to find the right one? Conversely, what if multiple users were trying to pay one merchant at the same time?

Klozest also has potential uses in mobile utility and gaming apps.

Klozest Pay has some hacks for these. It limits transactions in parallel to around five to eliminate any clogging. And it prioritizes merchants signaling their availability by their distance from the user.

The other big preoccupation with digital payments apps, especially now with the exponential rise in their usage in India, is security. But Arjun points out to me that Klozest Pay is probably more secure than using a QR code or phone number which could send the money to a wrong account.

Firstly, it’s a dynamic network being created between phones in a small area. And the network can only be accessed by those using the same Klozest-embedded app. The transaction is encrypted, so no phone numbers or any other user details are exchanged. Arjun has filed for a patent on this “smart contract” between a customer and a merchant.

See: Here’s the multiplier effect of going cashless

Payments is only the first use case for this product, driven by the huge digital wave sweeping India after demonetization. Klozest also has potential uses in mobile utility and gaming apps. For example, you could look up who is available to play a game with you inside an aircraft with no internet. Or you could establish connections with people closest to you at a crowded networking event.

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Housing CEO Jason Kothari will go down as the man who navigated choppy waters for Housing on the way to inking this mega-merger

Two of the biggest names in India’s startup industry — PropTiger.com and Housing.com — announced today they have merged to form the country’s largest online retail services company.

As part of the deal, the new company will receive a new US$55 million investment. US$50 million will come from REA Group Limited, an ASX-listed company specialising in property, and an affiliate of SoftBank Group Corp. will invest US$5 million.

One of the major players involved in the transaction is Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. It owns 61.6 per cent of REA Group and will remain the largest shareholder in PropTiger after the deal.

The new company will over O2O services like personalized search, virtual viewing, site visits, legal and financial diligence, negotiations, property registration, home loans and post-sales customer support.

This deal will define the legacy CEO Jason Kothari’s time as head of Housing. He took the reigns of the company after the ousting of Founding CEO Rahul Yadav led to a tumultuous 2015.

Kothari, who will be moving on from Housing after this deal, navigated the choppy waters and, at the time of the merger, the startup was still India’s most popular portal for buying and selling houses. Kothari will stay on as an advisor until the end of February 2017.

“I am proud of the exceptional progress the Housing team and investors have achieved together in the past 18 months. Housing.com’s partnership with PropTiger is the next transformational step to realize our vision of becoming a full-service online-to-offline real estate services company,” Kothari said in a statement.

“As I move on to my next opportunity, I am glad to leave behind a strong foundation.”

Dhruv Agarwala, the PropTiger CEO and Co-founder, will be CEO of the new entity — which has yet to be named and was referred to as the PropTiger-Housing.com combination in the announcement.

“The deal is a continuation of our efforts to bring best in class services to consumers and create a unified technology driven platform that is capable of serving all needs of consumers, developers and brokers with respect to buying selling and renting of homes,” said Agarwala.

PropTiger has completed US$1.5 billion worth of transactions since its launch in 2011 and Housing receives 4 million visits per month.

Of note: REA Group acquired Malaysia’s iProperty in February 2016.

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Legalese’s funding round is led by Walden International, with participation of several angel investors

Left to right: Yong Soo Ping (Walden), Kris Leong (Walden), Ong Chiahli (Legalese), Alexis
Natalie Chun (Legalese), Wong Meng Weng (Legalese). Image credit: Walden International

Singapore-based legaltech/fintech startup Legalese announced on Monday that it has raised SG$600,000 (US$418,000) of funding led by venture capital firm Walden International. Several angel investors have also participated the round.

The startup plans to use the funding to develop its first web app and for further research and development in computational law, a computer science-based approach to the generation, management, and execution of legal paperwork.

“After we close this round of investment, the clock is ticking, and we’re on the hook: in the next 12 months our job is to turn capital into revenue, launch the product commercially, and strengthen the source of our competitive advantage, our core IP which supports the rest of our tech stack,” explained Legalese Co-Founder Wong Meng Weng in a press statement.

He also stated that if the startup’s “revenue experiments” were successful, Legalese will be in “good position” to raise a seed round in late 2017.

Also Read: Indonesia’s Startup Legal Clinic, a helping hand for startups’ legal woes

Previously, Legalese had received a US$8,888 grant from cryptostudio String Labs and an AU$30,000 (US$22,000) Innovation Grant from ISIF.asia.

The startup claimed that the software has helped over 30 startups produce paperwork for more than US$1.5 million in funding.

The Legalese software was developed at Southeast Asia’s first startup accelerator JFDI in 2013 and 2014, and spun out of JFDI in 2015. Wong was the co-founder of JFDI, which closed down its bootcamp programme last year. Legalese co-founder Ong Chiah Li had also worked at JFDI, while co-founder Alexis Natalie Chun was a litigator.

“The need for something like Legalese became obvious during my time at JFDI; during peak periods we’d be making a dozen investments in a single month. Law firms would have charged an arm and a leg! We looked for software that could handle the volume, but we couldn’t find any. So we wrote some software ourselves. It was so popular we incorporated Legalese as a standalone startup,” said Ong.

Also Read: Pro Bono: Practical fintech startup legal advice from lawyer WanHsi Yeong and Startupbootcamp fintech director Sam Hall

The startup also claimed that it is using its own product to help close this funding round.

“That’s what Silicon Valley calls eating your own dog food!” said Ong.

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Grab riders will be charged if they cancel more than 10 rides in a given week

Citing the inconvenience created by riders or drivers cancelling their bookings, Grab announced today it is introducing a fee of S$2 (US$1.40) for people that cancel excessively.

To start, riders will be charged only after cancelling more than 10 rides in a week and the money will be taken from the person’s GrabPay account.

If the user is not on GrabPay and is fined the S$2, they will need to activate GrabPay and pay the fee before being able to use Grab again.

Grab says it will review and adjust the cancellation threshold over time.

“Cancellations made by drivers or passengers cause huge inconveniences to one another — loss of earnings or drivers already en-route to pick up a passenger and loss of trust for passengers waiting for their ride to arrive,” read the statement issued by Grab.

Also Read: Grab rides together with Honda to tackle SEA’s urban transportation challenges

The goal is to lower cancellation rates and improve the matching of drivers with riders who actually need a ride — and are not simply ‘racing’ all the various ride-hailing platforms, a fairly common practice.

Part of the initiative is designed to help drivers because one metric they are judged on is cancellation rate. So, if a driver is dinged by someone who constantly cancels rides, it would hurt the performance perks they receive.

Uber’s policy

For comparison, Uber’s cancellation policy levies a US$10 cancellation fee if a user cancels their ride over 5 minutes after a driver has been assigned. For the uberTAXI service, the cancellation fee is US$5.

Uber cancellation fees are waved if the driver is taking a long time to arrive at the pickup point.

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DBS sees personal data protection as integral to its business and encourages a wider acceptance and discussion of the issue

The banking industry is driven by human interactions, which in turn are the focal point of DBS’ personal data protection policies.

DBS has over four million customers in Singapore alone. With over 280 branches across 18 markets worldwide, DBS considers personal data protection an intrinsic priority of the bank.

“We deal with personal data all the time,” says Mr Lam Chee Kin, DBS’ Managing Director and Head of Group Legal, Compliance and Secretariat. “Handling it responsibly with confidentiality, privacy and security is an inherent part of providing trusted service to customers. We consider quality privacy and data governance practices a requisite to doing business.”

Mr Lam is also a member of the Data Protection Advisory Committee, which comprises individuals from various sectors that advises the Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) on matters relating to the review and administration of Singapore’s personal data protection framework.

Pre-Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA), DBS already understood what a data protection regime would look like because several of the territories it operates in – Hong Kong, for example – had introduced similar laws much earlier than Singapore. In compliance with these jurisdictions, DBS had integrated the processes into its framework for handling individuals’ personal data, including that of customers and staff.

With customer relationships being key to the banking business, Mr Lam emphasises that the way they deal with their customers is something they take very seriously. “People want to be treated with respect. Therefore we design our data protection practices to be sensitive to this.”

Also read: Inside DBS’s plan to raise future generations of financially literate Singaporeans

“Often people want their financial product or service without fuss, and they can get irritated by poorly-designed consent forms or lengthy explanation of how personal data will be used. That’s a potential issue arising from being pedantic and ignoring practical approaches while implementing data protection procedures. If you don’t give the customer a good experience, you lose the customer.”

CHALLENGES

Personal data protection requirements under the PDPA were not new ideas to DBS, but the PDPA gave rise to broader implications that had to be managed.

Under one roof

Like all banks in Singapore, DBS comes under the regulation of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) by virtue of the nature of its business. It is guided by established banking principles including client confidentiality, and now, the PDPA.

For DBS, adopting a single data governance approach that encompasses all elements of related compliance applicable to all of its business units across the globe is preferred, as opposed to having separate frameworks for individual elements.

In terms of differing jurisdictions, Mr Lam acknowledges that negotiating these differences is difficult and his advice to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with overseas operations is to consider applying the “80-20 rule”. Broadly speaking, the 80-20 rule calls for an estimation of the countries that can be brought under a single framework. These would typically be countries that have reasonably harmonised or similar laws and regulations. One can expect there to be countries that cannot be integrated under an umbrella framework, and these are usually jurisdictions with very strict or localised definitions of concepts such as privacy.

Also read: Travel agency goes the extra mile to protect personal data

Mr Lam adds, “The biggest challenge for us continues to be bringing everything together – including data protection rules – in a way that the whole organisation, complete with differing laws from other jurisdictions, can operate smoothly and without confusion.”

STEPS TAKEN

– Integrated personal data protection into an overall data governance approach that applies across all of the bank’s operations

– Appointment of a DPO to provide guidance on best practices and to engage in regular discussions with authorities

– Used aggregated data to analyse customer service issues

One concern that relates to this is information sharing, particularly when it is at odds with cross-border or cross-entity banking regulations. Customers tend to expect the same service whether the branch is in Singapore or overseas, without being aware that it is not necessarily a straightforward process.

For instance, if a customer sends an enquiry to a branch overseas, he would expect the branch to be able to pull out all his records with the bank, regardless of where the information resides originally. DBS has to navigate both data protection and financial regulations, which govern cross-border exchange of customer data, to ensure that customer experience is as seamless as possible.

Another development which impacted overall customer experience was the introduction of the Do Not Call (DNC) Registry under the PDPA.

According to Mr Lam, operationalising this element in their processes was “a bit of a task” because DBS had to integrate its processes with that of the registry and build appropriate interception points for its marketing teams.

“However, the DNC provisions have helped us to better understand which of our customers want to be contacted for marketing purposes, which allows for dedicated use and focus of resources and thereby, a better customer experience,” he adds.

The PDPA also requires the appointment of a data protection officer (DPO), and one has been duly appointed in Singapore.

Rather than appointing a DPO in every department, DBS finds that channeling data protection issues through a single contact point in the bank ensures that data protection rules are integrated into the way DBS works. Furthermore, having a single DPO streamlines engagement with regulatory bodies.

BENEFITS

– More effective implementation of personal data protection policies that are integrated in existing work flows

– The DNC Registry has allowed for dedicated use and focus of resources, leading to better customer experiences

– Use of data analytics to enhance customer services

Personal data protection and beyond

While DBS takes its data protection and accompanying privacy responsibilities seriously, a broader interest is how to turn responsible treatment of customers’ personal data into a competitive advantage.

“We want to provide seamless banking services to customers,” says Mr Lam. “And that requires the use of data analytics.”

An example of how DBS has been using data analytics to serve customers better would be the roll-out of pop-up automated teller machines (ATMs) during the Lunar New Year festive season. This is the time of the year where there are more people visiting ATMs to withdraw new notes for distribution of red packets.

Through the use of aggregated data, DBS was able to discern where the highest traffic spots were and introduced “pop-up” ATMs at those locations in 2015. The 29 pop-up ATMs, specially designed to meet customers’ need for greater ease and convenience, were set up at 10 community clubs island-wide.

Also read: As 2017 walks in, get yourself ready to face these cyber security threats

The obstacle to the use of data analytics, however, may be the public’s lack of awareness and understanding of how their personal data can be used for the greater good. Mr Lam highlights Singapore’s aspirations to become a Smart Nation and points out that the success of this is largely dependent on a much more open sharing and utilisation of data, including personal data.

Mr Lam says, “Responsible use of data will give businesses a competitive advantage. If a company shows that it protects data well and uses data responsibly, chances are that it will be perceived favourably by customers.”

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Disclosure: This article is sponsored by PDPC and first appeared in PDPC website Press Room

Feature image credit: PDPC

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Based in Jakarta, H-Cube is also looking for startups in the field of life science and lifestyle

H-Cube, a new coworking space in Indonesia was launched on Monday with a focus for healthcare, lifestyle, and life science startups.

Located in Menteng, Central Jakarta, the coworking space is owned by local hospital and healthcare chain Bunda Medik Healthcare System (BMHS).

Apart from offering the usual office amenities such as meeting rooms, speedy internet, and startup-related events, H Cube members will also have access to BHMS’ network of healthcare facilities (from laboratories to pharmacies) and industry experts.

There are 50-60 seats available for 20-30 startups, and the coworking space caters for both B2B and B2C-leaning services. Though the coworking space does not provide funding to startups at the moment, it is planning to host monthly meet-up with venture capital firms and demo day events.

The coworking space also opens itself to startups in other field from healthcare, lifestyle, and life science, in order to maximise diversity in its community.

Also Read: Would you like an investment fund with your coworking space? Singapore’s Impact Hub is where to go

Indonesia has been seeing several healthcare-related startups appearing in 2016, with HaloDoc raising one of the biggest funding round of the year with a US$13 million Series A. Even ride-hailing giant starting to branch out to the field with an investment in HaloDoc, launching medicine delivery service Go-Med, and acquiring Indian home healthcare marketplace Pianta.

BMHS Commissionaire Dr. Ivan Sini revealed the existing opportunity in the Indonesian healthcare sector. Since its launch in 2014, Indonesia’s universal healthcare system (BPJS Kesehatan) had acquired up to 170 million users, increasing Indonesians’ spending ability in the sector and eventually its accessibility.

“Innovation in healthcare enables us to reach a market that is supported by the increased accessibility towards healthcare … The healthcare sector is also closely related to lifestyle. When it comes to lifestyle, there is a tendency for us to spend more,” he explained.

One of the challenges faced by healthcare startups is how to keep in line with regulation, as healthcare is directly affecting consumers’ safety and well-being. H-Cube aims to facilitate healthcare startups in deepening their knowledge about the issue.

Also Read: Faye Alund: Running a coworking space in Indonesia is like promoting a gym membership

“The legality matter is something that needs to be covered early on. We are fortunate to have connections with several legal firms who are experienced in risk prevention … and two of the directors in BMHS are experts in health law, and they can [come here to speak on] the legal aspects of building a startup in the healthcare field,” Dr. Sini said.

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The Hub hopes its status as a co-working space can help foster relationships that lead to follow-on investment

Co-working spaces have long been attractive for their open environment that proponents believe fosters creativity, collaboration and communication.

Announced today, Singapore’s Impact Hub will be bringing a new benefit to its tenants — an opportunity for early-stage startups to nab a seed investments from an initial fund worth S$1 million (US$700,000). The news was first reported by The Straits Times.

Participants in the fund include family offices, high-net worth individuals and members of the co-working space’s community, according to the article.

While the fund is not large, it is a unique business model for the co-working industry and certainly creates a value-add incentive for potential startups.

Also Read: Stars in the making: Techstars made its APAC debut in Adelaide, Australia

The fund includes some fairly well-known individuals in the Southeast Asian startup scene as advisors. They are as follows:

• Cocoon Capital Managing Partner Michael Blakely
• KK Fund General Partner Kuan Hsu
• Monk’s Hill Ventures Managing Director Ong Pen Tsin
• NSI Ventures Founding Partner Hian Goh

Impact Hub Co-founder and CEO Grace Sai brought up an interesting point to The Straits Times during her interview with the paper.

Because the investees will be operating in the co-working space, it should help foster a close relationship between the startup and the Impact Hub network. Sai said this would help the startups leverage the affiliation with Impact Hub partners to achieve follow-on investments.

Also Read: Meet the second batch of MOX, run by the man behind one of China’s most successful accelerators

She said companies that have worked out of Impact Hub have raised about US$250 million over the past four years.

e27 has reached out to Impact Hub for more details and will update accordingly.

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Photo credit: David Russo.

A new investment firm called InseadAlum Ventures launched in Singapore today, announcing a capital of nearly US$700,000 to invest in startups founded by alumni of international business school INSEAD.

Although based in the city-state, the seed firm will target global companies co-founded by at least one INSEAD alum, it said in a statement. It will provide mentorship, sign checks worth US$35,000 to US$140,000, and develop startups to a point where they can easily raise further funding.

The firm was founded by prominent investors Deepak Shahdadpuri and Will Klippgen, who are INSEAD alumni themselves. Deepak is managing director of Singapore-based VC DSG Consumer Partners, and Will co-founded another Singaporean VC firm focusing on seed and series A stages, Cocoon Capital.

InseadAlum Ventures’ first investment is a UK-based smart thermostat startup called Switchee, where it participated in a US$580,000 seed round.

Switchee and future portfolio companies will get access to INSEAD’s network of senior alumni, faculty, industry experts, and other investors. PropertyGuru co-founder Jani Rautiainen and Aloke Bajpai, founder of India’s largest online travel search portal Ixigo, are among those investors.

Converted from Singapore dollars and British pounds. Rates: US$1 = SGD 1.44 and GBP 0.82.

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Funding slowdown? No problem — entrepreneurs are now thinking deeper on the kind of business problem they are trying to solve

There were a lot of reports in 2016 that funding has slowed down, with many hyper-funded startups like PepperTap, TinyOwl, AskMe, Dazo, etc., shutting their doors.

Funding has indeed slowed down in 2016, because there were a lot of unviable businesses that took a lot of money from the market. Startups which were operating in foodtech, hyperlocal, cloud-based kitchen, e-commerce, etc.m with poor business viability, sucked out a lot of money, which slowed down real businesses.

The good thing is that, since those guys are wiped out of the market, that same money is available now for startups with robust business models. This slowdown has made entrepreneurs think deeper on the kind of business problem they are trying to solve.

The focus will shift from market share-led thesis to product-based thesis. For example, if you can grab x per cent from a billion-dollar market then, you can get good valuation. Jabong, Urban Ladder, etc., got funding because they had a potential to become the largest player in their own domain. But today we focus on whether the concept can create a disruptive business in the market, as this is the right thing.

In terms of investment, it may take one to two quarters for the market to adapt to changes and pick up, but it is going to be a great year for startups. Domains like e-commerce, payment gateways, healthcare, hyperlocal, digital wallet, and the like, are already crowded, so 2017 is definitely going to see new trends in the market.

Here are top 5 startups trends to look forward in 2017:

Artificial intelligence, machine learning and internet-of-things

A recent study said that, “India is the third largest cluster of AI startups in the world next to US and UK, and we are not very far from UK.” Ten years back, we were asking startups whether they are present in cloud. Today we don’t because we take it for granted. Five years back we were asking about mobile presence and today we don’t. Likewise, AI and ML will surely reflect a similar trend in next one to two years.

Applied AI and advanced machine learning will give rise to a spectrum of intelligent implementations, including physical devices, apps, and services. These will be delivered as a new class of smart apps and things and they will also provide embedded intelligence for a broad range of mesh devices, existing software and service solutions. This would lead to transformation of smart machines to ‘smarter’ ones.

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

The sheer volume of data across the world which currently accumulates today is another driving force behind AI’s rise. IBM estimates that “every day, the world generates 2.5 quintillion bytes of data, with 90 percent of data in the world created in the last two years.” Businesses need AI/ML to learn their customers’ trends and patterns, build automation for greater efficiency, and help employees to become more intelligent in their work, by usage of this data. With the help of AI, they can even capture “Dark Data,” which cannot be captured and analysed otherwise.

Cyber security

Cyber security is another hot space to look for in 2017, thanks to Apple’s iOS encryption skirmish with the FBI and other tales of ransomware attacks against varied businesses.

With every new attack or vulnerability exposed in 2016, a new cyber security company emerged to fill the gap and those companies to beef up their security defences have started invested in these startups.

Security is complicated and hard to manage, while enterprises have invested heavily in security products, many are not getting enough desired value from these technologies. In 2017 and beyond, we will see the role of managed security service providers in helping organisations for reducing the risk of a security breach.

Also Read: As 2017 walks in, get yourself ready to face these cyber security threats

Chatbots

Chatbots are automated services that interact with, and offer information to, humans, through a chat interface. Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are among the technologies that are helping to make chatbots mainstream. Businesses will increasingly look to chatbots as an aid for reducing time and money spent on customer service.

Gartner and TechEmergence reported that “More than 85 percent of customer interactions will not include a human being by 2020, and chatbots will be the No. 1 consumer application of AI in the coming next five years.”

While Facebook is the dominant platform in chatbots, we can also see Google, Apple, Microsoft, WhatsApp, Kik, WeChat, and other globally relevant messaging platforms betting on chatbots. We will also begin to see chatbots integrated with companies’ backend systems, changing the way businesses communicate with it’s customer.

Augment reality and virtual reality

The launch of Pokémon Go in 2016, gave an enormous wave to Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) space.

ICD predicts that “30 percent of consumer-oriented Global 2000 companies are expected to experiment with AR and VR in their marketing initiatives. AR/VR will reach mass adoption levels by 2021 when more than a billion people worldwide will regularly access apps, content, and data through an AR/VR platform.”

Also Read: VR in property platforms: Why is image quality not as good as still renders?

But AR/VR won’t simply be just a technology for entertainment; we also will see startups adopting AR/VR in domains like healthcare, e-commerce, etc.

Wearables

2016 saw the mass adoption of wearables devices, and there are a lot of companies like Apple, Fitbit, Samsung, MI, etc., betting on wearables. According to CCS, “The global appetite for wearable devices is expected to grow around $34 billion by 2020, with roughly 411 million of the smart devices being sold.”

We can expect the smartwatches of the future to incorporate more sensors, increase in their functionality, and become more autonomous. Going forward, your smartwatch may act as a hub for other sensors in your body. Devices of the future will go beyond fitness tracking to more health care-related functionality, from disease management to mindfulness, stress management, etc.

With the Make in India campaign becoming popular there are couple of wearable startups like Blink, which can compete against global brands.

2017 is indeed going to be a great year for startups.

Have a great journey ahead.

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Adhish Verma is CEO & Founder at The Co-Founder, a India-based magazine focused on startups and entrepreneurship.

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.

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Uber, Timehop, and Sphero are just some of the most notable alumni the accelerator programme had produced

David Cohen, Co-Founder and Co-CEO, Techstars

Global accelerator programme Techstars today announced the launch its Techstars Adelaide accelerator programme, marking its first entry to the Asia Pacific region through Australia.

The programme will support early stage startups with focus on Internet-of-Things (IoT), big data, sensors, and robotics, with the potential to develop and commercialise technologies connected to the defence and security sectors.

“Defence research has driven some of the most transformative consumer innovation the world has seen, from the internet and GPS to superglue and digital photography. We are excited to invite entrepreneurs to join a programme that will help them develop and commercialise cutting-edge products in collaboration with the defence industry,” Techstars co-founder and co-CEO David Cohen explained in a press statement.

Participating startups will have access to “most advanced” technologies and research from Techstars’ partners in the industry, such as BAE, Thales, Austal, SAAB, ASC, Rheinmetall and DCNS, and the opportunity to collaborate with industry leaders.

Also Read: DailySocial joins forces with the Indonesian army to host military-themed hackathon

Application for the programme, which is due to start in July 2017, is now open. Techstars is looking for 10 startups from all over the world, and it is also opening recruitment for an Australia-based Managing Director.

There are several reasons why Techstars chose to make its Asia-Pacific base in the South Australia capital city.

The first being the Australian Federal Government recent investment in a AU$230 million (US$168 million) worth of Centre for Defence Industry Capability in the city.

Techstars also stated Adelaide is “poised to become a global centre of excellence for the defence sector with over AU$100 billion (US$73 billion) worth of major industry projects in the pipeline.”

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Adelaide also has “the hallmarks of a successful Techstars host city,” according to Cohen.

“Adelaide fits the bill perfectly. Not only is it ranked by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the fifth most liveable city in the world, it has been recognised by the G20 for its coordinated support for entrepreneurship. It is a tech-forward city that is building sophisticated infrastructure for startups. Last year it became the first international ‘GigCity’, and Cisco’s only ‘Lighthouse City’ for innovation in Australia,” he said.

Prior to this, Techstars have had presence in the US, UK, Germany, Israel, and South Africa. The programme was co-founded in by Cohen, David Brown, and Brad Feld, and it was first launched in Boulder, Colorado, US.

Some of Techstars’ notable alumni includes Uber, Timehop, Sphero, Digital Ocean, Localistic, ClassPass, Twilio, and Ginger.io.

The post Stars in the making: Techstars made its APAC debut in Adelaide, Australia appeared first on e27.

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