Tag: Partnership

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Velotrade, the trade finance digital platform based in Hong Kong, has announced that it has secured funding from Vynn Capital, the SEA-focused venture capital firm that works with companies in the industries of travel, property, food and FMCG, and female economics, as well as business enablers.

Through the new financing by Vynn Capital, Velotrade will be scaling its technological infrastructure and expansion in Malaysia and other markets in SEA. Vynn Capital will also actively contribute company-building expertise and provide access to an extensive network of resources in the region. 

Velotrade grants short-term financing of outstanding invoices to thousands of corporates, including both Fortune 500 companies and SMEs, demonstrating the urgent need for supplier financing. It operates a digital platform that matches corporates in need of working capital with institutional investors willing to advance funds.

In addition, Velotrade is driven by the objective to provide long-term sustainable results, as it follows prudent risk management and complies with additional risk management rules as the only trade finance platform licensed by the Securities and Futures Commission of Hong Kong.

Vittorio De Angelis, the executive chairman and co-founder at Velotrade, commented that the partnership will help them broaden their geographical reach and further establish their presence in the region. 

“When selecting partners, it is of paramount importance to have synergies to exploit, and our two firms have many to share,” said De Angelis.

Meanwhile, Vynn Capital’s Founding and Managing Partner Victor Chua believes that the financial sector and capital markets are due for greater enhancement in efficiency, and large financial institutions are looking at how technology and digitization can help grease their wheels and propel themselves forward.

“Velotrade sits right in the middle of all the action: the pandemic is encouraging demand for their services as there has been a very strong surge in cross-border transactions. We are ready to integrate Velotrade into our portfolio ecosystem, and we have a very optimistic outlook for the company to expand deeper into countries like Malaysia and Indonesia,” said Chua.

Vynn Capital has also just recently announced a partnership with Tunku Ali Redhauddin ibni Tuanku Muhriz, a senior advisor at private equity firm TPG Capital, to support portfolio companies like Velotrade.

Australia – Australian leading media company Southern Cross Austereo (SCA) is tapping the powers of AI in order to boost the user experience of its digital audio app ‘LiSTNR’. It will be adopting SourseAI, an AI and machine learning platform, to particularly provide content recommendations on LiSTNR. 

SCA has been reaching Aussie viewers with its broad line of radio, television, and digital assets. LiSTNR, in particular, is its free audio destination for consumers housing radio, podcasts, music, and news. 

SourseAI has combined applied AI, management consulting, and SaaS into its decision augmentation platform. Through this, SCA will be assisted in discovering audience behavioral insights, listener mood states, and how to power dynamic cohorts of LiSTNR users, ultimately enabling a hyper-personalized experience across the app.

SCA’s in-house analytical capability will be enhanced by SourseAI, which ingests data from SCA’s systems and applies a machine learning algorithm designed to power content recommendations to users. SCA will also leverage other SourseAI capabilities, such as forecasting and anomaly detection, to understand growth across content genres, predict seasonal content scheduling peaks and troughs, and explore changing content tastes.

SCA’s Head of Digital and Innovation Chris Johnson, said, “The AI and Machine Learning space is scaling rapidly, and we believe that investing in the Australian entrepreneurial ecosystem to support our digital audio ambitions is the best strategy. SourseAI is the right partner to deliver on our vision and our investment will provide significant long-term value to both parties.”

Meanwhile, Matt Jones, the CEO of SourseAI, said their mission is to apply the patented machine learning algorithms to enhance the experience for LiSTNR audiences using a whole range of data.

“Machine learning models make it possible to drive the key media metrics of frequency of engagement and time spent. By personalizing the experience with Sourse, SCA will progress these metrics, resulting in a more engaged audience, and delivering improvement across both advertising targeting and yield,” said Jones.

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia – Restaurant company Pizza Hut in Malaysia has appointed Ensemble Worldwide, the creative agency within media marketing solutions IPG Mediabrands, to be its new creative agency of record.

Pizza Hut by Yum! Brands is established and operated by QSR Brands, which deems to be Malaysia’s largest restaurant chain operator.

The appointment, which is a period of one year with the option to extend for another year, will see Ensemble Worldwide continuing Pizza Hut’s brand transformation journey to repivot into a modern pizza experience.

Pizza Hut Malaysia’s Chief Marketing Officer Emily Chong shared that they were looking for a partner who understands the varied nuances of their new normal. 

“One who is able to bring a distinctive flair to drive our brand communications to the next frontier. Ensemble’s passionate and bold spirit of innovation, coupled with a data-centric approach to understanding youth culture certainly fits the bill. We look forward to more ground-breaking work with the newly appointed Team Ensemble/ Pizza Hut,” said Chong.

Meanwhile, Mei Jeng Phang, managing director of Ensemble Worldwide, said that the pandemic brought about numerous shifts across the board yet these changes have given them an ability to dive even deeper into data-driven creativity to build brands, drive business, and grow for the future. 

“We have a great opportunity with Pizza Hut to build on the e-commerce repositioning and broaden brand appeal. The team shares the right chemistry and is raring to sink our teeth into some cool innovative comms, so watch this space as we have some exciting plans in store together,” said Phang.

India – Online language learning platform instrucko in India has partnered with public relations agency Alphabet Media to be its new communications partner.

Instrucko specializes in teaching various languages including English, French, Spanish, and Hindi. It also offers public speaking and creative writing to children from the age of three to fifteen years. 

As part of the partnership, Team Alphabet will be responsible for handling the strategic communications and media relations for the platform.

Devvaki Aggarwal, the co-founder and CEO of instrucko, commented, “We are looking forward to working with Alphabet Media and are looking forward to a strong partnership. Our common love for storytelling is what makes this partnership exciting.”

Meanwhile, Alphabet Media’s Founder Tejal Daftary, commented that ed-tech is definitely an upcoming domain and to be the PR partner for Instrucko, which is a unique education platform, feels amazing. 

“Our main objective would remain to continue to help the brand grow as we communicate their story to the media and further strengthen their popularity as a go-to platform for kids and young adults,” said Daftary.

Just recently, Alphabet Media has also announced a partnership with global luxury vehicles company Maserati in India and was tasked to handle its strategic planning, media relations, and digital campaigns, as well as providing integrated communication solutions.

Hong Kong – Big data company Vpon has partnered with Miaozhen Systems, the third-party data service provider in China, to advance data-driven marketing strategies across APAC.

The strategic partnership seeks to accelerate healthy data development and seize new third-party tracking business opportunities in key Asia markets, including Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Singapore, as well as Thailand. Through this, Vpon will be enhancing data dimensions and user profiles, to deliver a more precise and effective digital strategy.

Vpon’s Chief Operating Officer Arthur Chan shared that Asia has always been a key area for their data research and business development. 

“Miaozhen Systems being a China leading third-party technology provider, our partnership not only optimizes market targeting strategies but also provides customers in Southeast Asia with highly efficient marketing solutions, growing more confidence to tap into the booming Asia market,” said Chan.

In addition, Vpon and Miaozhen Systems announced that they are looking to deepen and strengthen their partnership to provide customers with highly effective data solutions for diverse market needs. They will be organizing joint data seminars and events to help professions achieve successful data-driven marketing strategies.

Miaozhen Systems’ Vice President Haojie Xuan, noted that data will always be crucial as it determines companies’ future marketing strategies and direction. 

“This partnership gathers two Asia leading data experts to facilitate a more sophisticated data development, and opens up regional market opportunities to attract potential customers, fostering overseas business for both Vpon and Miaozhen Systems,” said Xuan.

Just recently, Vpon has also announced a partnership with global adtech company Hivestack, with the aim to amplify data-driven digital out-of-home (DOOH) advertising across the markets of Hong Kong and Taiwan.

Hanoi, Vietnam – In response to the pandemic and its economic effects, International Finance Corporation (IFC), the sister organization of the World Bank focused on the private sector in emerging markets, has partnered with Vietnam’s international trade financing company, Southeast Asia Commercial Joint Stock Bank (SeABank), extending a US$40m loan to support businesses in Vietnam make a resilient recovery.

In the first phase of an up to US$150m financing package, the partnership aims to expand lending to local SMEs, especially women-owned businesses (WSMEs), increase access to climate finance, and boost international trade opportunities. 

The funding package will comprise up to US$80m from IFC’s own account and $50m to be mobilized from international lenders, in addition to a US$20m trade finance line. While the investment aims to increase SeABank’s SME lending portfolio, at least US$20m will be earmarked for WSMEs, with support from the Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi). 

With a strategy to expand its reach to WSMEs, IFC’s funding will help the bank triple its current WSME lending, accounting for about 25% of its total SME portfolio by 2024. IFC will also be advising the bank to develop a banking on women strategy to help bridge the US$4.9b financing gap of WSMEs, accounting for more than one-fifth of the SME financing gap in the country. The bank will further support green building and energy efficiency projects, which can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

SeABank’s General Director Le Thu Thuy noted that IFC’s long-term financing and technical advice will enable SeABank to focus on two strategic segments—WSMEs and climate financing—and position itself as a bank of choice for women-owned businesses and climate-friendly projects over the next five years.

“Given the pandemic, IFC’s timely investment also allows us to extend support to more businesses at a critical time while contributing to the stability of Vietnam’s overall financial market,” said Thuy.

Meanwhile, Kyle Kelhofer, the country manager of IFC Vietnam, Cambodia, and Lao PDR, shared that IFC’s new partnership with SeABank reaffirms IFC’s commitment to supporting the continued development of a strong financial sector in Vietnam.

“Our investment in SeABank reiterates our confidence in the bank and its strategic direction to increase financing for SMEs and climate investments, furthering green and inclusive growth, and helping Vietnam build back better from the COVID pandemic,” said Kelhofer.

Furthermore, IFC will be helping SeABank to support the country’s climate finance needs with US$30m to be allocated for climate-friendly projects. IFC’s support will also be expected to help SeABank build a US$60m climate-finance portfolio by 2024.

IFC’s US$20m trade guarantee line under its Global Trade Finance Program (GTFP) will boost SeABank’s capacity to provide financing for importers and exporters to minimize trade disruption given the ongoing pandemic. Participation in GTFP will enable SeABank to join a network of more than 500 bank partners in nearly 100 emerging-market countries.

Singapore – E-commerce fashion brand ZALORA has signed an inaugural content-commerce partnership deal with media company Mediacorp, to offer consumers an enhanced shopping experience for its annual Big Fashion Sale event, which will run from 24 to 30 June 2021.

The partnership will see Mediacorp creating engaging content that caters to the evolving purchasing preferences of ZALORA’s online consumers, enabling both companies to diversify and reach new customer bases.

Mediacorp will be offering three specially created Work from Home-themed episodes of Hush, a podcast series that features the familiar voices from Mediacorp DJs Hazelle Teo from YES 933 radio station, Germaine Tan from 987 radio station, and Azura Goh from Ria 897 radio station. The series will be available on meLISTEN, YouTube, and Spotify, as well as Apple Podcast.

In addition, ZALORA shoppers can join guessing games in the lead-up to the Big Fashion Sale on Mediacorp radio stations, with DJs doling out ZALORA gift cards to winning participants. 

ZALORA’s Chief Marketing Officer Jo Bjordal shared that they are pleased to celebrate another year of the ZALORA Big Fashion Sale by bringing the best brands to their customers, across different categories spanning fashion, beauty, and lifestyle.

“We supersized this year’s Big Fashion Sale with a wider assortment and bigger brand deals to give everyone a great shopping experience,” said Bjordal.

Meanwhile, Parminder Singh, the chief commercial and digital officer of Mediacorp, commented that they are glad to partner with ZALORA to provide greater value for consumers using the strength of their engaging content and expansive network. 

“This collaboration builds on Mediacorp’s proven track record in driving commerce using innovative content solutions. We hope to leverage our partnership-based business model to deliver results for more like-minded clients, as we work together to strengthen the economic engine of the country,” said Singh.

Last month, ZALORA entered the Top 5 stories of MARKETECH APAC where Chris Daguimol, Zalora’s group director and head of corporate communications, shared that Zalora has always been big in content production.

ZALORA entered the top stories for its launch on its first-ever fashion and lifestyle podcast in Southeast Asia, ‘Zalora Talks’.

Australia – Automotive brand MINI in Australia and New Zealand has extended its retail advertising technology partnership with local-based adtech Cartelux.

Through the renewed partnership, Cartelux will be responsible for allowing MINI dealers in the region to create and launch digital advertising campaigns in less than 60 seconds, making Australia and New Zealand the first markets in a global pilot for the BMW Group.

Additionally, Cartelux will be simplifying and automating ad creation, streamlining approvals needed, and expediting the media buying process, to save time and cost for the regional office, which is based in Melbourne, and the entire Dealer Network.

MINI ANZ’s Retail and Network Marketing Manager Victoria Abbass shared that Cartelux is enabling MINI to deliver cohesive, integrated digital campaigns in a way that was previously much more laborious.

“Working with Cartelux, all our dealers can now run vibrant digital advertising campaigns for local area marketing with minimal input and effort. This means the dealer marketing managers are free to focus on other priorities, delivering cost, and time efficiencies,” said Abbass.

Meanwhile, Patrick Doble, global general manager at Cartelux, said, “It’s exciting working with MINI on this platform and seeing how Victoria is extending capabilities to dealers that really innovate and benefit the company.”

Singapore – Singapore’s statutory board Sentosa Development Corporation (SDC) has extended its media remit with UM, the full-service media and marketing solutions agency within Mediabrands.

SDC is responsible for overseeing the development, management, and promotion of the country’s island resort getaway, Sentosa Island.

The extension comes after a competitive pitch review in April this year, where UM showcased its strategic and creative media activation ideas and in-depth understanding of Sentosa’s business.

During UM’s first term as Sentosa’s media agency of record, they have launched the ‘Make Time’ campaign in 2019, which continues to evolve to this day, and SEA’s first-ever ‘Pokémon GO Safari Zone’ in April 2019, which won an award for Best Use of Digital at the Singapore Media Awards.

As part of its second term as SDC’s media partner, UM will continue developing and managing Sentosa’s overall media business.

UM Singapore’s Client Partner Lishan Lim commented that they are extremely excited and also feel very privileged that Sentosa has made the decision to reappoint UM.

“Winning new business in such a competitive landscape is always challenging, and retaining such a desirable and nationally significant client in Singapore even more so. It bears testament to the strong partnership we have in place, one which we treasure and will continue to grow,” said Lim.

Melbourne, Australia – General Motors Specialty Vehicles (GMSV), the newly launched General Motors venture operating within Australia and New Zealand, has appointed media agency Carat Melbourne, to be its media partner.

GMSV is a vehicle business unit that hand-picks the most iconic General Motors cars and brings them to customers.

The appointment comes after a competitive pitch, where Carat won the business based on the depth and experience of its digital and performance media capabilities. The agency showcased a proven track record of creating personalized and seamless customer journeys from media through CX, driving leading-edge business performance.

As part of the partnership, Carat will be supporting GMSV with end-to-end media strategy, planning, implementation, and optimization for its ANZ business. This includes all paid media across its product portfolio such as the Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ Premium, the new-entry Chevrolet Silverado LT Trail Boss, and all-new Chevrolet Silverado 2500, among many others.

GMSV’s General Manager of Marketing, CX, and Communications Jodie Lennon shared that the pitch was competitive but Carat brought media expertise and diversified business platforms. 

“GMSV is a challenger brand and it’s essential to have partners who will work in harmony to gather customer insights and use them to guide our in-market activities, with a laser focus on efficiency. We are excited to have Carat in our fold as we continue to build awareness of the GMSV brand,” said Lennon.

Meanwhile, Chris Ernst, the managing director at Carat Melbourne, commented that they are thrilled to have the opportunity to assist the GMSV team launch their incredible products here in Australia and New Zealand. 

“I also couldn’t be prouder of the team at Carat. To have been chosen based on our credentials in digital and performance marketing, through to offline strategy, planning and buying is a great reward for the awesome team who were involved in the process,” said Ernst.