Future-makers

• Digital News Asia, the independent news portal covering technology and the startup ecosystem in Southeast Asia, released a list of 50 Malaysian entrepreneurs who are at the forefront of shaping the country’s digital economy.
• The 500-backed founders on there are: Azran Osman-Rani of Naluri, Wai Hong Foong of StoreHub, Kamarul Muhammad of Aerodyne, Kendrick Wong of Omnilytics, and Ng Yi Ying of Allsome.

• Since the inaugural issue six years ago, the Digerati50’s theme has always been “The Ones Who Will Shape Malaysia’s Digital Economy.” The theme still rings true today, founder and editor Karamjit Singh notes in his opening remarks.
• “It’s a daunting task as we try to pick entrepreneurs whom we feel are building something meaningful, taking on hard challenges and bold enough to disrupt the status quo. And Covid-19. It has certainly made every entrepreneur’s life that much more challenging. Entrepreneurs will not face a more difficult time than now but there is always light at the end of the tunnel.”
• Congrats on making this edition’s list, founders!
• You can download the full list here.

Helping prawn farmers go online

• 500-backed GoGet, together with leading e-commerce platform Lazada, is helping the agriculture sector bounce back from the Covid-19 pandemic by setting up a prawn farmers initiative.
• In conjunction with the 7.7 Mid-Year Super Sale which started at midnight, Lazada has invited prawn farmers from Selangor, Malaysia to present their fresh crustaceans in a dedicated live streaming session.
• “We have had oversupply of prawns due to the Covid-19 global pandemic and this would have been a waste if we needed to dispose of the harvest. Thankfully with this new initiative, we are able to have greater reach to customers with export quality prawns delivered by GoGet.my” said Erik Ong, of EARWYNN Prawn, a distributor connecting local prawn farmers to Lazada.

• This latest partnership comes after GoGet announcing it has listed Ikano Centre’s entire portfolio of shopping centres in Malaysia on its app, as part of a broader campaign to bring awareness to the Shop With GoGet feature.

Scaling cross-border payments, together

• 500-backed and Hong-Kong-headquartered EMQ announced it is working with Cambodia’s AMK group to facilitate cross-border money transfer in Cambodia and Southeast Asia.
• “This partnership enables AMK to integrate with EMQ’s extensive global network for secure, compliant, and cost-effective cross-border solutions, making financial services more accessible and inclusive for their customers and families across the region,” the press release reads.
• Through EMQ’s global financial settlement network and AMK’s capabilities, customers in Cambodia can transfer money, in real-time and enjoy a full range of pay-out options including instant cash pickup, bank deposits to the partnered banks, deposit into a mobile wallet, or home delivery of cash to support their families back home from anywhere in Southeast Asia.
• EMQ recently ramped up its network expansion across Asia Pacific, Africa and North America, with access to over 80 key global markets. The company is currently licensed in Hong Kong, Singapore, Indonesia and registered as a Money Service Business in Canada. EMQ was also accepted into Taiwan’s Regulatory Sandbox by the Financial Supervisory Commission in Taiwan.

500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world’s most talented entrepreneurs, help them create successful companies at scale, and build thriving global ecosystems. In Southeast Asia, 500 Startups invests through the pioneering 500 Southeast Asia family of funds. The 500 Southeast Asia funds have backed over 240 companies across multiple sectors from internet to consumer to deep technology. It continues to connect founders with capital, expertise and powerful regional and global networks to help them succeed.

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