Thai tech blog Thumbsup wrapped up its third ever Start it Up, Power it Up earlier this month. Over 200 participants listened to points of view and advice from guest speakers from all over the continent. After all that, there was a pitching contest that saw one winner and two runners up emerge.

The guest speakers came from Thailand in the form of the Venture Catalyst group and Gravity Innovation; while from Japan, Indonesia, and Singapore came GREE Ventures, Weglo, Silicon Straits, and Nulab.

The event emphasized product development for startups, starting from creative thinking and how to build an innovative startup company, right up to the importance of UX/UI. Also on the agenda was how to do marketing on a regional scale, and using cloud-powered back-ends like Microsoft Azure. There were discussions about the Southeast Asia startup ecosystem, some insights about raising funds, and also contributions on the subject of IT trends by a representative of Dell.

Winners and runners-up

The final session of the day was of course the startup pitching competition:

The minimalist Privepass homepage. Click to enlarge.

Privepass -

The members-only travel booking site emerged as the winner at this event. It offers exciting getaways around the world and focuses on tailor-made trips for the experience of a lifetime. The Start it Up, Power it Up judges were also impressed with Privepass’ engaging, socially-connected editorial content.

NoonSwoon -

NoonSwoon was one of two runners up. The startup introduces singles to a quality match every day at noon (hence the name), usually to someone with whom they have a mutual Facebook friend. Users have 24 hours to determine whether or not they like the person they’re matched with. If both matches like each other, they are able to chat directly through the NoonSwoon app without needing to reveal private contact information. This is one in a wave of Facebook-connected dating services this year, such as Bang With Friends and PairBuddy.

Symbols Of Style -

Also known as ‘SOS’, this is an online magazine and shop specializing in all kinds of trendy things. All the products it features are specially selected by SOS’s team of stylists and cater to people with an eye for quality, design, and style. Categories that SOS covers include: men’s and women’s clothing, gadgets, design, home furnishings, travel, and dining. The site uses regularly updated editorial content to help users decide what are the coolest items to buy.

That’s a wrap for this Bangkok-based event ¹ – look out for Start it Up, Power it Up #4 in the near future.

Thai startup The VCgroup – which stands for Venture Catalyst – has launched an interesting new cloud client platform called Penta. Aiming to make a new cloud platform for Smart TVs, VoiP, healthcare solutions, and lots more, the young company partnered up with Hong Kong’s Power-All Networks and Foxconn (the well known gadget OEM) to launch a joint-venture last year called Power-All Venture. And this is where the new Penta comes in.

Clients can take up the SaaS and its Pentabox hardware (pictured) as part of their own branded solutions. Aside from the above examples, startups or major corporations could make use of it to power advert screens, home automation for lights or electronics, web TV, video-on-demand, and video conferencing. Penta’s framework is based on Android and Linux, allowing clients to run existing Android apps or develop their own on a familiar platform.

VCgroup founder Dr. Jay Jootar (in the suit) and team visit Foxconn.

The Penta service is open and can be used with any third-party app engine or cloud provider like Amazon Web Services or Microsoft’s Azure, or deployed via a business’ own servers. It’s good to see a Thailand-based startup thinking globally with this kind of well-connected, high potential web platform.

You can connect with chairman and founder Dr. Jay Jootar (pictured) and the crew on the VCgroup’s Facebook page.

Thailand’s new M8VC fund has 300 million baht (nearly US$10 million) to invest in local startups next year, so it’ll be a new VC player to watch. Myself and the Thumbsup team had the chance to talk to M8VC’s Pornthep “Vincent” Sethiwan, who’s also the co-founder of Launch Pad, one of Thailand’s top co-working spaces.

Started just last week, M8VC is an incubator, accelerator, and technology investment firm with its headquarters and its incubation center in Bangkok.

Vincent started by saying, “Venture capital and angel investing are powerful forces for change. It allows individuals to pursue their dreams that improve society and makes the world a better place.” And so M8VC would like to contribute to the Thai startup community and be an agent of change. Vincent adds:

It is not easy for passionate entrepreneurs to thrive in the Southeast Asia [SEA] market. The way things are done in SEA is vastly different than in the West. Many talented young entrepreneurs do not have the needed experience or networks to take their venture to success. This is exactly where we come in to help.

M8VC HQ. Click to enlarge

Each founder of M8VC has previously started up ventures, and each has experienced successes and failures first-hand. We are confident in our ability to help lead our incubated portfolio companies to success.

Fellow founder Krisd Aksornwong tells us:

M8VC will assist from the start, analyzing each team’s idea and business plan continuously until the prototype is produced, and real products come to market. We share our vision in pitching or selling an idea, and create a financial structure to help mobilize big funds for expanding to markets abroad. We have experts from each field to look after every stage. Since your idea is the most essential aspect of your business, we at M8VC are doing our best to protect the owner of the idea without considering whether it will turn to mutual cooperation later, or not.

M8VC will focus on fairly small amounts of seed money, and startups under its wing can utilize M8VC’s networks both within Thailand and abroad – that includes entrepreneurs, financiers, and investors who all have, we’re told, a great track record of success.

The core M8VC team consists of Vincent and Krisd, plus Shakrit Chanrungsakul, Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, Kit Arunanondchai, Sua Kanjanasakchai, Varut Bulakul, and Permsiri Tiyavutiroj.

This is yet is another movement in the startup ecosystem in Thailand to keep your eyes on.

The top 3 teams at the recent Startup Weekend Bangkok.

Startup Weekend Bangkok went off smoothly earlier this month at the Hubba Thailand co-working space. As is the regular format, entrepreneurs have 54 hours to convert ideas into conceptual products. The final session saw 10 teams pitching and ultimately there were three winners. First place went to Infinit Closet, whom we talked to after the event.

Here are the top three at the event:

3rd place: Toilet Now helps you find the best toilet nearby.

2nd: Fluffi is a social network for pet lovers.

1st: Infinit Closet is a fashion-oriented social service for borrowing and lending clothes.

Maprang (2nd from left) and the Infinit Closet team. Click to enlarge.

We like the sound of the winning concept, and so our Thumbsup crew went to talk to one of the founders, Wichaya Sirasupparoekchai (Maprang), a woman who’s clearly got a feel for fashion. She explains that the rest of the team is made up of men: Chayanin Sripob (Poon), Pongpeera Chawalathawat (Art), and Songphon Buasathit (Tul).

First up, how do you feel as the prize winner?

Maprang: Everybody is very glad and proud of it. We utilized and adapted all the knowledge we learned, and all the experience we’ve ever faced. The most important thing we’ve learned from this event is teamwork, especially working within such a limited time like this. It needs a good working plan, and responsibilities being assigned with mutual trust by team members; because each one has his/her own different strengths and weaknesses.

Tell us about Infinit Closet.

Maprang: Infinit Closet is an online service, as a website and a mobile app, for users – particularly the ladies – to share their closets (clothing) with friends. This idea came from the very common problem for ladies who never feel satisfied with their own apparel, and prefer wearing something new all the time. But, at the same time, they do not wish to pay more to buy more. Therefore, they turn to borrow some clothes from their close friends instead. Infinit Closet jumps in to assist such borrowings among extended groups of women, and to make it easier.

What do you think convinced the Startup Weekend Bangkok judges?

Maprang: I think there might be three factors: The concept is clear with solutions to the targets; the business model is feasible; and our pitch was easily understood.

What’s next for your project?

Maprang: During this Startup Weekend event we had also tested this idea with several female friends, most of whom have shown interest – and now we are even more confident after winning the prize. For our next steps we will continue our marketing plan and refine the app technology because we feel there are still several things that need to be crystallized before taking any further action. There might be some additional features to fill the gaps that were kindly pointed out by the [judging] committee. We’re making progress right away, so please keep following!

The Infinit Closet team continues to participate in the Global Startup Battle too, so they’re going to be busy in the months ahead.

[Top photo from Hubba Thailand]

Note: This article is a translation of one by the same author on Thumbsup.

We are back with a new issue of our Thai tech round-up, courtesy of Thumbsup. This one focuses on startup fundraising, and a fresh, new look for a Thai community website.

Intouch backs Ookbee

At the end of last month, the Shin Corporation’s Intouch announced it has taken a 25 percent stake in Ookbee, a digital publisher and major e-bookstore, with its $2 million investment in it.

The massive Shin Corp did not invest so much in any outside business for a decade, so it’s a major vote of confidence in the popular e-bookstore. The funding comes via Shin Corp’s Invent investment arm.

Ookbee has grown itself with partnerships with major telcos and retailers, creating apps and services such as the AIS bookstore, and the B2S app. This fund raising will enable Ookbee to grow faster and expand in the region.

Launching today, the new-look Pantip 3G

We reported recently that the popular Thai forums Pantip 3G will see a major website revamp coming soon – and it launches today. Invited guests are gathering right now at Central World to hear of more new features that will come with this relaunch. Take a look at it here.

Food giant CP launches free stickers in Line app

The Thai foodstuffs and retail giant CP Foods is getting more social by jumping on the bandwagon of brands using the Line messaging app for social marketing. Special CP stickers (pictured above) launched in Line’s sticker store on October 9th and are free to download and use in the app.

We are back with another issue of the Thai tech round-up, courtesy of Thumbsup, this week focusing on a startup pitching event and an unusual new social network.

Khun Seuk VS Samurai

Click to enlarge

On August 27, the startup pitching competition called “Khun Seuk VS Samurai” (Khun Seuk means “warrior” in Thai) took place, jointly organized by Software Park Thailand and Samurai Incubator from Japan.

There were more than 120 participants in this event. Ultimately it came down to six teams from Thailand (Got it app, Freelance Hub, Eidos, Digio mPOS, Wongnai, and Fineseat) being pitted against five from Japan (Freenow, Conyac, CocoPPa, Unimon, and Everevo) as they made it into the final round.

The judging criteria were based on these five factors: the qualities of the founder, market opportunity, business model, presentation skills, and innovation. Finally the winner was announced as Wongnai, a local Yelp-like restaurant review site that TiA featured recently.

The startup ecosystem in Thailand is gradually growing and we do believe we’ll see more and more events like this one coming up in the final quarter of this year.

Swapping Gets Social

The major Thai real estate company Sansiri (BAK:SIRI) has often been quick to jump on new trends, such as with its usage of Augmented Reality (AR) two years ago, and its own digital magazine on the iPad. And now it’s jumping on the so-called “recommerce” trend for swapping stuff rather than buying, launching SaySwop.com.

TrendWatching.com identified “recommerce” as a trend last year, and SaySwop is making it social, sort of like a social network for those living in Sansiri’s neighborhoods. There is a system for searching items classified into groups like household utensils, collectables, books, gadgets, etc. People can use this new social network for chatting and making appointments too.

It’s a bit like Sansiri’s existing CRM tools for customer rapport, and also combines some clever social marketing. We’ll have to wait and see if this social swapping idea takes off in Thailand.

We are back for the second issue of our Thailand tech round-up that comes courtesy of Thumbsup:

Pantip rolls out 7 new features

Pantip.com, the popular Thai community web-board, has revealed seven features for its site as it celebrates its 15th anniversary online. Plus there’s a promo movie for the site made by the famous GTH studio who make lots of viral content. The vid has already had one million viewers.
Pantip 3G product manager, Apisilp Trunganont, says the seven Pantip features and a UI refresh are concealed in the scenes. You can watch the video on the Pantip 3G website. Here’s the site’s fresher look:

All those are not yet online. Pantip’s fans have been waiting for this much needed new look for 15 years. Apart from a cleaner and more modern UI, the site will have better social media integration too.

(Click to enlarge)

Thailand gets more startup events

We mentioned some startup events in our last round-up post, and now we have two more to speak of.

On July 29 there was a Thai startup event organized under the theme of “1st Start it Up, Power it Up” in cooperation with Thumbsup, Hubba, and Spring News TV. The main topic was Thai startups going global. The event was way more packed than expected (pictured right) and consisted of both Thai and foreign guest speakers representing investors and the startup community. They were sharing their experiences of how Thai startups can adapt ideas and the skills needed to develop products in order to successfully enter other regional markets. There were also conversations on which business models those Thai startups can run with.

(Click to enlarge the flyer for the event)

One upcoming event is on August 27, dubbed the “First Thai-Japanese Cross-Culture Startup Pitching” contest. It’s being co-organized between Software Park Thailand and Samurai International with the theme “Khun Seuk vs. Samurai” (Khun Seuk in Thai means “warrior”). The event provides opportunities for Thai and Japanese startups to submit their ideas and products for competition, as well as to have a chance to meet other startups, investors, and explore business opportunities.

[UPDATED: Here’s one more story…]

Quan opens Bangkok office

Quan Inc, the startup from Tokyo, Japan, has opened an office in Bangkok so as to strengthen its operations in Southeast Asia. As readers who saw our story about its fundraising round yesterday will know, Quan has two main apps, namely Lounge and Sticker Maker.

Nowadays there are several major chat and group messaging apps competing against Lounge; especially the big players like LINE, KakaoTalk, and WeChat. But Quan is also a partner with some of its rivals, making emoticon-like sticker collections for them. It’ll be interesting to see Quan and its apps expand in this region.