A digital breakthrough

• 500-backed InvestaX, a licensed digital securities issuance, investments, and trading platform has launched the world’s first Digital SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies) using smart contracts and blockchain technologies.

• A SPAC is essentially a shell company set up by investors with the sole purpose of raising money through an “IPO” to eventually acquire another company. It does not have operations or assets — it just holds the investment in escrow until an acquisition occurs. The “digital” represents the shares of the SPAC, which are issued in tokens.
• Compared to traditional SPACs, the startup will offer a flexible alternative that is faster and lower in cost. More importantly, it will bring much needed capital to earlier stage start-ups in new industries, as well as greater transparency and better terms for investors.
• InvestaX will also open source the smart contract code for the Digital SPAC to bring greater openness, velocity, interoperability, and global distribution.
• Get more details in the full announcement here.

Value in diversity

• “Research has shown that companies with a diverse executive suite are up to 15% more likely to generate above-average profitability,” said 500-backed Grab’s Head of People Chin Yin Ong to Tech in Asia. “Companies that are more diverse, starting with the leadership team, typically have stronger strategies with longer-term views.”
• But the impact on society as a whole goes much deeper than that. She explained that using incompleted or skewed datasets causes biases to occur. So, a diverse perspective is essential to draw insights that are representative of the real world.

• Chin Yin brings up the example of Kaia Lai, the startup’s head of product, strategy, and marketing, who drove the implementation of the “share my ride” and “safety button” features. Both matter greatly to female passengers and drivers alike, as safety and security are among their key concerns.
• To encourage an inclusive mindset, Grab has several initiatives. Among them are providing diversity and inclusivity metrics to managers, learning programs, and mentorship for women.
• Read the full article on Tech in Asia here.

The secret of success

• On International Women’s Day this year, Grab launched ‘How She Made It’, a podcast produced in partnership with Tech in Asia. Its latest episode (10 March), titled ‘As a working mom in a high-growth startup’ featured Adelene Foo.

• Adelene is one of the startup’s founding employees who has worn several hats — country head for Malaysia and Indonesia and regional head for two-wheels business. She is currently the regional head of merchant and GrabExpress.
• She recounted how she grew with Grab as a new parent, finding that there was no private space in the office. She told the Head of People that the office needs parent rooms, who agreed with her. “You shouldn’t suffer in silence…You need to be more proactive in voicing out what you need to be successful, or working out with your supervisor or manager to find an operating model that suits you at the workplace.”
• Listen to the full podcast on Spotify here.

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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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