Singapore – SPH Media has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire technology media company Tech in Asia (TIA). Through the proposed acquisition, TIA will strengthen the technology media offering of SPH Media, more specifically for its long-time business publication The Business Times (BT).
Moreover, the proposed acquisition will deepen the value BT brings to businesses and readers in the region, and accelerate its goal of becoming a regional player for business and tech news, and events. In the longer term, it will also support SPH Media’s broader transformation efforts.
For SPH, TIA’s commitment to high-quality content and events, is well aligned with BT’s vision of becoming the leading business title in APAC, and this acquisition will help both TIA and BT bring more value to their audiences.
Wong Wei Kong, editor-in-chief, English/Malay/Tamil Media Group at SPH Media, said, “By coming together with their strengths and capabilities, BT and TIA present an exciting business proposition in Asia, centred on good journalism. For SPH Media, this acquisition is a strategic move that will enable us to provide our readers with a more comprehensive suite of products and services.”
Meanwhile, Willis Wee, CEO and founder of Tech in Asia, commented, “We are committed to delivering top-notch content and events, and with SPH Media by our side, we are poised to achieve even greater heights. We are enthusiastic about the opportunities this acquisition will bring. Rest assured, our startup spirit and data-driven approach will remain at the core of our competencies post-M&A.”
In a public letter posted by Wee, he assured its readers that they will still retain its editorial independence following the proposed merger, adding that they will continue to build and serve the tech and startup community in Asia.
Jakarta, Indonesia – Local digital staffing solution startup Sampingan has announced its rebranding effort as Staffinc, marking a milestone in the company’s business development since first established in 2018.
Staffinc derives from the word staffing, which defines the process of assigning workers according to their specialties. It also represents the digitalized workforce solution that has become Sampingan’s field of expertise.
Wisnu Nugrahadi, CEO and co-founder of Staffinc, said, “Staffinc is expected to show our business identity in the first reading. The new naming retains the previous branding elements, such as logos and colours, to ensure the values embedded in the establishment of Sampingan are still present in Staffinc.”
The name change also applied to the company’s several owned application names. Sampingan’s job-seeking mobile application becomes Staffinc Jobs. Kerjaan, an all-in-one application for workers to report, fulfill assignments, and manage salary, becomes Staffinc Work.
Staffinc has also strengthened its business line in the digital HR platform specifically for field workers under the name Staffinc Suite. As the HR needs of office workers and field workers differ, Staffinc Suite is designed to provide transparency and flexibility in recruiting a high-volume workforce rapidly, ensure the accuracy of the attendance process, and speed up the payroll process through an automated system.
Dimas Pramudya, chief product officer and co-founder at Staffinc, said, “Over time, we saw a need in the market to provide a separate management platform for field workers. We realize that not many HR platforms are designed to manage the overall operational activities of a large-scale workforce. We seize the opportunity to help companies requiring automated workforce management by strengthening the HR system business line with Staffinc Suite.”
Meanwhile, Margana Mohamad, chief commercial officer and co-founder at Staffinc, commented, “So far, Sampingan has partnered with more than 1 million workers and helped 150 companies with their workforce activities. And with Staffinc, we will open the next chapter by providing innovative products and services to overcome employment challenges faced by various industries. On the other hand, have a positive impact on job seekers in Indonesia by providing them equal access to jobs, following our initial vision and mission.”
Singapore – Consumer data and analytics startup Milieu has recently raised US$5m in funding, which will be used in bolstering product innovation and accelerate the development of new SaaS-oriented consumer insight offerings.
The funding was led by MassMutual Ventures (MMV) Southeast Asia, with participation from OSK Ventures International Berhad, Genesis Alternative Ventures, as well as several private investors.
The company had previously raised funding in 2019, and has since then expanded their commercial operations to cover six markets, including Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Funds raised from this current round will be allocated to expand Milieu’s reach beyond Southeast Asia.
Milieu has recently launched several new products, including an automated brand tracking solution, as well as a programmatic activation offering known as ‘Milieu Activate’, which enables advertisers to target mobile ads more effectively.
Gerald Ang, founder and CEO at Milieu, said, “As consumer preferences and behaviours evolve rapidly, we see a tremendous opportunity to revolutionize market research to better meet the needs of business leaders today. These funds will help us develop more exciting, innovative products and fuel our expansion. We have demonstrated sustained growth and this is a testament to the resilience in our business model.”
Statistics-wise, Milieu has been growing their mobile app user base from 500,000 users to more than two million in 2020, as well as increasing their customer base by 300% from 45 enterprise customers at the start of 2020 to 180 in October 2021.
“COVID-19 has accelerated the rise of the digital economy and we will continue on with our mission to use technology to empower organizations to connect with consumers at a deeper level. In time, we hope to inspire change globally by sparking meaningful conversations between brands and their customers around the world everyday,” Ang concluded.
What a great way to start the ‘Ber’ months this year with a list of high-flying stories which gave the industry a peek of the latest developments in the startup, e-commerce, and digital payments scene.
This September, an Indian-born PR agency leading the way for communications in the startup sector has expanded its presence to Singapore. A Buy Now Pay Later platform is also ramping up its market in Southeast Asia with the announcement of its country manager for Thailand.
Meanwhile, e-commerce makes another round getting into readers’ radar with a data-driven marketing firm in Asia unveiling its new leader for its e-commerce offering.
Stories from the Philippines are also in this month’s top spots with one career coaching firm in the country sharing its business story, and also, a report that saw the convergence of consumer products and social media snared readership for the period.
Value 360 Communications, the startup-focused PR agency in India, has announced that it will be expanding its market to Singapore to unlock growth opportunities in the country’s burgeoning start-up space.
Speaking to MARKETECH APAC, Kunal Sinha, the founder and director of Value 360 Communications, shared that the company has been part of the journey of 15 unicorns in the market of India, where they have built communications from the ground up. Learning from the process, the agency eventually grounded its name and reputation in the sector.
Working with a complex market such as India, Sinha believes, gives the agency a strong value proposition to bring to the start-up space.
“We are going to focus on providing start-up PR in the SEA region, and Singapore will be the core for us in extending our services to start-ups. We are also in a discussion with other global brands who have both India and Singapore presence, and we are looking to hire talents with specific experiences in start-ups,” said Sinha.
We have an internal training module where we will be able to help them learn and understand about the start-up space.
Entering this month’s top stories is one of the latest episodes of MARKETECH Spotlight featuring career coaching firm in the Philippines, Metamorphosis Group (MG).
In an exclusive conversation with the firm’s Founder, President, and CEO, Danica Octa, she shared MG’s start-up journey which began in the pandemic year in 2020. Gaining more expertise and leadership into the current job and recruitment industry in the country, the coaching firm has now firmed up its mission of becoming an end-to-end employability solution for those seeking guidance on their career development.
Speaking MARKETECH APAC, Octa shared how the firm sees its role in the Filipino workforce.
Our role [in the workforce] is to be some kind of a learning partner [and] an accountability buddy.
Octa believes that above all, it’s able to help shape people’s career journey through its future-oriented thinking.
“We are very forward-thinking, we understand the future of work, we as a company is very, very in touch with what’s going to happen 10 years later,” she said.
Octa adds, “We have the intuition, we can give our market the information they need to succeed moving forward, of course, so that they can upskill and reskill to the appropriate job that they need to have, moving forward. So I think that’s the role that we take here.”
Twitter Philippines has recently released a report on the products Filipinos love to talk about on the platform. The data shows that there are five key trends in how Filipinos converse around food, beverages, and personal, as well as home care.
Chandan Deep, Twitter’s head of emerging business for SEA, shared that people on the app and the conversations that they create are what makes Twitter unique, and that 71% have rated it as a great platform for brand interaction, making it the number one among its peers.
MARKETECH APAC conversed with Deep, and she noted that when you looked at the top mentioned brands, which were listed on their CPG dispatch, you will see some good samples on how brands can engage with their customers on Twitter, to be able to drive more meaningful conversations.
Twitter has a diverse community so they can connect with people who like entertainment, gaming, or health, making the first move as a brand by initiating conversation and making your audience enjoy it.
ADA, the data- and AI-driven marketing firm in Asia, has appointed former Chief Business Officer of Lazada Malaysia, Sherry Tan to be its regional head of e-commerce.
ADA has just unveiled its end-to-end e-commerce solution for brands in APAC, and for the new role, Tan will be leading a team of leaders who will support the growing demand for e-commerce in the region.
In the interview with MARKETECH APAC, Tan shared the challenges that brands in e-commerce are faced with in this pandemic.,
“In the last 18 months right, the pandemic catapulted e-commerce retail significantly, and there are more users in the digital space whether it is the buyers or the sellers. Now, it has become harder for brands to attract customers because there are wider options available,” said Tan.
According to Tan, besides having more choices, customers are gaining smarter as well and therefore, have higher expectations toward their shopper journey.
Brands need to stay on top of their game to predict industry trends…and then they need to enhance engagement and attraction to their brand to build loyalty and retention.
On ADA’s e-commerce solution, Tan said, “Leveraging on our data and digital shelf, we are able to craft [an] e-commerce and digital strategy based on sentiment analysis, customer insights as well as [competitive] landscape. This data allows us to understand what consumers are interested in, where they have visited over a period of time, and ADA is able to target these audiences for the brand.”
For our top story for the month, we have Buy Now Pay later platform in Asia Atome’s appointment of its country manager for Thailand, Poompong Tancharoenphol Tancharoenphol was formerly Zilingo’s country head for the country.
Speaking to MARKETECH APAC, Tancharoenphol said, “I think I have been fortunate to look at e-commerce both from AddVentures and Zilingo before. There [are] a few key factors in making an e-commerce company successful, namely the business model itself, whether it is B2C e-commerce, B2B e-commerce, and marketplaces, and there is [a] supply chain, marketing, and payment.”
He adds that with BNPL being quite new to the Thai market, it could mean either two things: it may be potentially good or something which the market may not adapt to.
I think the direct value we offer to the retailers and e-commerce players is the increase in the market size. We were able to increase the market size to 30% more than any other payment method, and this comes along with increasing sales and conversion [afterward]
Watch our exclusive interviews with the brands themselves on the latest episode of MARKETECH APAC Reports, now live on our YouTube channel.
This is in collaboration with Malaysia-based media company The Full Frontal.
Manila, Philippines – Metamorphosis Group (MG), the digital, remote, and tech-enabled career coaching firm in the Philippines, has been named the winner of a Bronze Stevie® Award in the Startup of the Year category in the 18th annual Stevie Awards for Women in Business.
The Stevie Awards for Women in Business honor women executives, entrepreneurs, employees, and the companies they run – worldwide. The Stevie Awards have been hailed as the world’s premier business awards.
Winners will be celebrated during a virtual awards ceremony on 13 January 2022, where registration for the ceremony is now on sale.
More than 1,500 entries were submitted this year for consideration in more than 100 categories, including Executive of the Year, Entrepreneur of the Year, Company of the Year, Startup of the Year, and Women Helping Women, among others.
“Kudos on developing a multiplatform business model to enable the career success of individuals across the globe – from events to social to empowerment through a coaching network, your growth efforts since 2019 are notable. Keep up the good work,” said one of the judges of the awarding body.
“Helping people cultivate their talents, create career opportunities, grow their talents, and much more are great attributes the Metamorphosis Group displays. Very helpful service,” said another judge.
MG was granted a guaranteed win after telling stories about its career coaching service and most especially about its flagship project – the Virtual Career Academy Summit.
Last March 2021, it held its biggest virtual event for the community, the Virtual Career Academy Summit on Digital Transformation which is a virtual career fair with employers showcasing their companies and talents benefiting from free career coaching services. The virtual summit gained over 600 participants and featured about 17 industry speakers.
The event was able to reach over 115,000 people and generated over 15,000 engagements. During the summit, MG gathered more than 17 companies and employers, mounting a platform to present over 100 job openings, and most especially over 20 career coaching opportunities.
The recognition was timely as the company was entering a new phase in the business.
“Metamorphosis Group is about to enter a growth phase that will require some uncomfy adjustments,” said the young female Founder and CEO, Danica Octa, to MG’s team and pool of coaches.
“You will be with us in this growth and we are happy that you are. Thank you for being part of the journey! Metamorphosis Group is what it is because of all of you. I know that the public associates MG to my name, but I am done being the only face of the company. As a startup, I was just simply pouring my reputation to the company at first to improve its credibility. But moving forward, I want you to know that the company’s success will also be yours. Because Metamorphosis Group will really stand for what it really means – a ‘group’. And I am excited to see you help us make that happen. MG is not Danica Octa. MG is all of us!” she added.
Details about the Stevie Awards for Women in Business and the list of Gold, Silver, and Bronze winners in all categories can be found on its official website. Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 160 business professionals around the world, working on eight juries.
Maggie Gallagher Miller, president of the Stevie Awards, said, “We thought the remarkable stories of achievement we saw in last year’s awards couldn’t be topped, but we were wrong. Women-owned and -run organizations have contributed significantly to the increase in innovation and entrepreneurial activity we’ve seen globally since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The nominations submitted to the 18th Stevie Awards for Women in Business that attest to this are inspiring, humbling, and motivating. We congratulate all of our Gold, Silver, and Bronze Stevie winners. We look forward to celebrating them during our January 13 virtual ceremony, and to hearing from some of them during our Women|Future Conference.”
For one of the latest episodes of MARKETECH Spotlight, MARKETECH APAC sat down with Octa to learn how MG sees its role in the Filipino workforce.
Octa shared in the exclusive interview, “Our role is to be some kind of learning partner [and to be] an accountability buddy. We help our clients learn new things, not just the technical skills, but also the life skills, and we help them become more accountable to whatever they learn, and to whatever goals they want to achieve.”
MARKETECH APAC is an official media partner of Metamorphosis Group’s Virtual Career Academy Summit.
Manila, Philippines – MoveUp.app, a local startup dedicated in creating an online platform for team training and onboarding, has won under the category ‘BEST New StartUp’ during the ASEAN StartUp Awards this month.
The startup, which has bested over 20 other startup finalists in Southeast Asia, aims to create a conducive work environment in a remote and virtual set-up, a direct response to the difficulty of welcoming new hires online, continuously training them, and connecting with internal teams.
Founded by Filipino entrepreneur Paul Espinas, MoveUp.app aims to make learning among online teams in the long run, accessible, fun, and effective.
“It is crucial for me that what we are doing is, first and foremost, accessible because I know first-hand how difficult access to education is,” Espinas stated.
Currently based in Vietnam, Espinas also added that the platform’s vision is rooted from “a way of giving back and enabling young professionals to continuously ‘move up’ through accessible and relevant training content.”
The award-giving body which is under the Global StartUp Awards, is an annual spotlight in technology, entrepreneurship, and startup industries, recognizing the industry’s greatest development over the last year based on growth, innovation, and impact.
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