{"id":1348,"date":"2021-06-17T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-17T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/markupbackup.wordpress.com\/2021\/07\/21\/durians-daily-275-una-brands-on-buying-and-scaling-businesses-abillion-aims-to-be-the-etsy-of\/"},"modified":"2021-08-02T07:37:26","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T07:37:26","slug":"durians-daily-275-una-brands-on-buying-and-scaling-businesses-abillion-aims-to-be-the-etsy-of","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=1348","title":{"rendered":"Daily Markup #275: Una Brands on buying and scaling businesses; abillion aims to be the Etsy of the vegan ecosystem; Curlec on the importance of a university degree in Malaysia"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"wp-caption\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-width=\"705\" data-height=\"471\" src=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/img_60f7db2f58831.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: Caixin\u00a0Global<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>The building blocks of brands<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Kiren Tanna, co-founder and CEO of 500-backed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.una-brands.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Una Brands<\/a> appeared on Biztech Asia to share why the startup decided to embark on the business model of acquiring brands and <a href=\"https:\/\/biztech.asia\/2021\/06\/10\/asias-hottest-startup-show-featuring-una-brands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">how it aims to scale the business quickly.<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>The former founder of Foodpanda and ZEN Rooms explained that many local sellers in the Asia Pacific region are running successful online businesses. However, unlike the US where it is common, these sellers lack the option of liquidity by selling their businesses.<\/li>\n<li>In comes Una Brands, offering to buy up such businesses with a 100% cash offer. According to the website, the startup also offers terms such as profit share, which allows sellers to benefit even after the sale.<\/li>\n<li>Kiren believes that the startup can scale faster by leveraging the market fit that these businesses already have, instead of building a new brand from scratch with a lot of uncertainty.<\/li>\n<li>Watch the full interview on Biztech Asia <a href=\"https:\/\/biztech.asia\/2021\/06\/10\/asias-hottest-startup-show-featuring-una-brands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-width=\"1200\" data-height=\"700\" src=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/img_60f7db2fcb215.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: The\u00a0Peak<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>The call for nature<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>From managing hedge funds to founding 500-backed food review platform <a href=\"https:\/\/www.abillion.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">abillion<\/a>, Vikas Garg has big ambitions for the sustainability scene.<\/li>\n<li>He recalled how he started from scratch by enrolling in a three-month coding boot camp in 2017. \u201cI was the oldest and worst student in class!\u201d he recalled. By 2019, the startup had secured US$2 million in seed funding, which, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg\/lifestyle\/vikas-garg-abillion-vegan-entrepreneur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">according to The Peak<\/a>, is the largest for a social impact startup in Singapore.<\/li>\n<li>Since then, abillion has branched into data research. The platform claims to have over 300,000 users from over 140 countries, from which 10,000 members review and discover plant-based items daily. Vikas added that it also helps businesses address consumer demands and trends.<\/li>\n<li>What\u2019s next for abillion? Vikas shared that it is exploring becoming an incubator for startups and investors of changemakers in the vegan ecosystem. \u201cWe want to do for the vegan marketplace what Etsy has done for the handicraft consumer space,\u201d he said.<\/li>\n<li>Read the full interview on The Peak <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thepeakmagazine.com.sg\/lifestyle\/vikas-garg-abillion-vegan-entrepreneur\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<figure class=\"wp-caption\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-width=\"1600\" data-height=\"1066\" src=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/img_60f7db307342a.jpg\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Credit: Curlec<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><strong>To a certain degree<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Co-founders of 500-backed fintech startup <a href=\"http:\/\/curlec.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Curlec<\/a>, Steve Kucia and Zac Liew, weighed in on a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theedgemarkets.com\/article\/techtalk-education-do-you-need-university-degree-get-tech-job-malaysia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">question posed by The Edge Markets<\/a>: do you need a university degree to get a tech job in Malaysia?<\/li>\n<li>Steve believes that going to university forms a foundation for anyone\u2019s career, tech or not. However, he noted that universities may need changes. \u201cI do see a lot more collaborations between the industry and universities today,\u201d he added.<\/li>\n<li>Over the past three years, the startup has been taking in interns to work on real-world projects. According to Steve, experiences like these complement what students learn in the classroom.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cA degree is not the be-all and end-all. Attitude is important, especially in small companies where everyone has an impact. But whether someone has gone to a top university and whether they have good grades is an indicator of success and attitude. While it\u2019s not everything, it\u2019s a way to assess the person,\u201d said Zac.<\/li>\n<li>Read the full interview on The Edge Markets <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theedgemarkets.com\/article\/techtalk-education-do-you-need-university-degree-get-tech-job-malaysia\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">here<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<hr>\n<p><strong>Missed out the last Daily Markup? Go <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>here<\/strong><\/a><strong> to check it out.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>You can also find us on <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/company\/500-durians\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>LinkedIn<\/strong><\/a><strong>, <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/500durians\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Facebook<\/strong><\/a><strong>, <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/500Startups_SEA\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Twitter<\/strong><\/a><strong>, and <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/500durians\/?hl=en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>Instagram<\/strong><\/a><strong>.<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" data-width=\"400\" data-height=\"400\" src=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/07\/img_60f7db30c58b7.jpg\"><\/figure>\n<p>500 Startups is a venture capital firm on a mission to discover and back the world\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n<p><em>This post is intended solely for general informational or educational purposes only. 500 Startups Management Company, L.L.C. and its affiliates (collectively \u201c500 Startups\u201d) makes no representation as to the accuracy or information in this post and while reasonable steps have been taken to ensure that the information herein is accurate and up-to-date, no liability can be accepted for any error or omissions. All third party links in this post have not been independently verified by 500 Startups and the inclusion of such links should not be interpreted as an endorsement or confirmation of the content within. Information about portfolio companies\u2019 markets, competitors, performance, and fundraising has been provided by those companies\u2019 founders and has not been independently verified. Under no circumstances should any content in this post be construed as investment, legal, tax or accounting advice by 500 Startups, or an offer to provide any investment advisory service with regard to securities by 500 Startups. No content or information in this post should be construed as an offer to sell or solicitation of interest to purchase any securities advised by 500 Startups. Prospective investors considering an investment into any 500 Startups fund should not consider or construe this content as fund marketing material. The views expressed herein are as at the date of this post and are subject to change without notice. One or more 500 Startups fund may have a financial interest in one or more of the companies discussed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Credit: Caixin\u00a0Global The building blocks of brands Kiren Tanna, co-founder and CEO of 500-backed Una Brands appeared on Biztech Asia to share why the startup decided to embark on the business model of acquiring brands and how it aims to scale the business quickly.. The former founder of Foodpanda and ZEN Rooms explained that many [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":1990,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[322],"tags":[372,382,361],"class_list":["post-1348","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily","tag-abillionveg","tag-curlec","tag-una-brands"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Daily Markup #275: Una Brands on buying and scaling businesses; abillion aims to be the Etsy of the vegan ecosystem; Curlec on the importance of a university degree in Malaysia - Markup<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=1348\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Daily Markup #275: Una Brands on buying and scaling businesses; abillion aims to be the Etsy of the vegan ecosystem; Curlec on the importance of a university degree in Malaysia - Markup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Credit: Caixin\u00a0Global The building blocks of brands Kiren Tanna, co-founder and CEO of 500-backed Una Brands appeared on Biztech Asia to share why the startup decided to embark on the business model of acquiring brands and how it aims to scale the business quickly.. 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