Putting a back-end company front and center

Sign up for the Daily Newsletter, sent exclusively to our premium subscribers. We break down the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community. Get the newsletter in your inbox everyday with a premium subscription.

Hello readers,

I’ve written several times before about how if I were to ever found a company, I’d do it in an indispensable industry like healthcare or food. Another type of company that piques my interest is one that provides essential back-end services and support. For example, WordPress is the foundation that powers many companies’ websites.

Today’s premium article is about Request Finance, which has a suite of financial apps that help businesses manage their crypto invoices, payroll, expenses, and other payment requests. Amid the crypto winter, the company saw the total number of transactions on its platform grow 5x. Read on to find out how.

Today we look at:

• Request Finance’s growth amid a crypto downturn
• Layoffs at Shopee Indonesia
• Other newsy highlights such as LinkAja’s successful 2022 and the reigning champ of messaging apps in Vietnam

Premium summary

Providing infrastructural support is always a good idea

Image credit: Timmy Loen

If your company provides foundational services that are essential to the success – or even just continued existence – of a given industry, I think that’s a pretty sweet place to be. You might not make many headlines ‘cos you’re not doing the “cool” stuff, but hey, money talks louder than swag, right?

You’d also be way less likely to be significantly affected by macro headwinds. Heck, you might even see an uptick in business despite the challenging environment – like what happened with Request Finance.

• Good business: Besides the uptick in transactions, Request Finance also saw its monthly active users more than double during the crypto winter.
• Here’s why: The positive results were due in part to crypto companies moving their funds out of centralized exchanges after the collapse of FTX. These assets were then put into multisignature and multiparty computation wallets, which use services provided by firms likeRequest Finance to manage transactions.
• Not only Request: The company is part of a growing ecosystem of Singapore-based startups that provide back-end services to crypto firms around the world. Another player in the space, Web3 bookkeeping firm Headquarters, recently raised US$5 million in a pre-seed round.

Read more: Request Finance grew 5x amid crypto winter, says CEO

News spotlight

Profitability =/= no layoffs

How personalization can keep your customers engaged

Quick bytes