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Hi there,
I always try my best to keep my Twitter timeline free of any unnecessary controversy – especially related to politics – by only following close friends and acquaintances in the tech space. However, recent layoffs in many startups suddenly led to a mob swamping my timeline with tirades against tech culture.
“Can you see how tech gave birth to pinjol (an abbreviation of “online lending” in Bahasa, which currently has derogatory implications), cyberbullying, anxiety, and political polarization?” one user said.
“VCs are evil,” another person said.
In my opinion, tech (and VC investment to some extent), like everything in life, has positive and negative aspects. It’s not pure black or crystal white. We just need to view it in the right perspective.
That’s what my colleague, Nikita, showed in this week’s first Big Story, which revolves around a Hong Kong-based startup called Aigens. Among other things, it builds QR code-based ordering solutions for restaurants and counts large fast-food chains such as Burger King in Singapore, Genki Sushi in Hong Kong, and Jollibee in the Philippines as its customers.
The company had been bootstrapped since 2012 and has been profitable. However, after a smaller round last year, it has now raised US$14 million from Alibaba’s Ant Group and other VC firms in an external funding round as it eyes an opportunity to grow its business to other countries.
On the flip side, in the second Big Story, my colleague, Collin, shines a light on a Singapore-based artificial intelligence firm, BasisAI, that was acquired by Temasek’s subsidiary last year and saw a majority of its tech team exit the firm only a year later.
In a nutshell, tech will always be here. We can’t turn back time and just pretend beneficial solutions such as online food ordering, ecommerce, and digital payments do not exist.
That’s especially true for tech solutions that can help people’s lives, such as healthtech in Vietnam – a sector that has seen more funding “injections” from investors recently. More on this on Making Waves.
— Aditya
THE BIG STORIES
1️⃣ The profitable F&B SaaS firm that got Ant’s attention
Image credit: Timmy Loen
MAKING WAVES
FYI
NEWS YOU SHOULD KNOW
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