Laying the foundation

• Small and medium businesses (SMB) in Southeast Asia just got a leg up. Grab Financial Group (GFG), the fintech arm of 500-backed super app Grab, announced the expansion of its ‘Grow with Grab’ suite of products and features. This move is in line with its mission to support SMB growth in the region.
• GFG launched GrabMerchant Commerce, a tool that boosts sales and reduces operational work and payment risks. According to the startup, over 500 merchants have signed up since the pilot began in Singapore in May. They have seen an average of 6x increase in sales.
• To accelerate the acceptance of GrabPay, GFG has established partnerships with regional and local payment gateways. This also enables wider acceptance of its buy now, pay later product, PayLater.
• “Digital payments are a key enabler to unlock e-commerce growth, and BNPL is fast rising in popularity as an e-commerce payment method. 9 in 10 Southeast Asians do not have credit cards and the flexibility of making interest-free payments is an attractive proposition which enables better financial management for them,” said Chris Yeo, Managing Director and Head of GrabPay, Grab Financial Group.
• Get the full details here.

Virtually safe

• Cyber threats in Singapore are on the rise, and 500-backed cybersecurity startup Horangi is on the case. It has been selected as a partner of the SG Cyber Safe Partnership Programme, an initiative by the Cyber Security Agency of Singapore (CSA).
• The program facilitates collaboration between the government and industry partners to increase cybersecurity awareness and adoption of good cybersecurity practices.
• Under this partnership, Horangi will co-organize cybersecurity workshops for enterprises, develop outreach programs such as newsletters and webinars with the CSA, and provide products and solutions that complement CSA’s initiatives.
• “The launch of this program is timely,” Horangi’s Chairman Kevin Lee said. “The COVID-19 pandemic fast-tracked many organizations’ adoption of the cloud. If they lack the proper levels of cybersecurity hygiene, they are exposing themselves to data breaches and, worse, ransomware. Organizations need to ensure that they are compliant with local and international standards and close off all vulnerabilities to stay safe.
• Read the full statement here.

Dishing insights

• Want to know more about the plant-based movement in Singapore? Harnessing insights from 46,000 reviews across 4,000 F&B outlets, 500-backed abillion has released a report detailing just that.
• The startup revealed that the number of restaurants joining the movement has surged by 5x from 2017 to 2021. Yet, there is still a market opportunity. Relative to other markets, poorly-rated dishes made up a larger proportion of plant-based dishes in the country.
• In an interview, founder and CEO Vikas Garg said, “We think that 20% or more of Singapore’s population will be vegan by 2030. As for the rest of the world, our goal for abillion is to inspire a billion people to go vegan by 2030.”
• To date, abillion has more than 300,000 users across over 140 countries. It has raised a total of US$7M so far and is currently in its Series A funding round with the target set at US$10M.
• Read the full report here.