{"id":3352,"date":"2022-07-12T11:35:06","date_gmt":"2022-07-12T03:35:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352"},"modified":"2022-07-12T11:35:08","modified_gmt":"2022-07-12T03:35:08","slug":"daily-markup-543-first-circle-helps-smes-win-government-contracts-grab-touches-lives-with-fintech-vtf-turns-science-fiction-into-virtual-reality","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352","title":{"rendered":"Daily Markup #543: First Circle helps SMEs win government contracts; Grab touches lives with fintech; VTF turns science fiction into virtual reality"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/gTulhbiCkMmiGd2WQ4Kh8TIydtoUcJ2oSKM4JR4kGN8RBNq8bzXs9jOYAS4AU4QbjgkrCd_kbt6nji3TAFH7UH6hBvppN2JH46YdR0Y-t_GusHLG3vnIR5Py_bSN0bAaZ1EOaEsG-6o9F1ab_g\" alt=\"\" \/><figcaption>Credit: First Circle<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Click for opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Word-of-mouth marketing and personal connections can only take an SME\u2019s business so far. That\u2019s why 500-backed fintech startup <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstcircle.ph\/\">First Circle<\/a> launched a new platform <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manilatimes.net\/2022\/07\/08\/business\/top-business\/first-circle-launches-project-finder\/1850158\">to help <\/a>small-to-medium enterprises (<a href=\"https:\/\/www.manilatimes.net\/2022\/07\/08\/business\/top-business\/first-circle-launches-project-finder\/1850158\">SMEs) in the Philippines get access to government projects<\/a>, a lucrative source of opportunities!<\/li><li>Dubbed <a href=\"https:\/\/www.firstcircle.ph\/first-circle-project-finder\">Project Finder<\/a>, the platform not only lists government contracts that SMEs can bid on, but also includes an exclusive First Circle loan product for government suppliers. Applicants who qualify will receive a revolving credit line, which they can opt not to use unless needed.<\/li><li>What\u2019s the status quo? Information about government projects is not easily accessible, while most SMEs lack the proof of funding needed to win bids. With Project Finder, the company hopes to remove the barriers to business-to-government transactions.&nbsp;<\/li><li>More details <a href=\"https:\/\/www.manilatimes.net\/2022\/07\/08\/business\/top-business\/first-circle-launches-project-finder\/1850158\">here<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/LXxwEb6_yNLqkfCm3MNmTYTVxcXwONB-QJ6fS6JMq6VisQa1akf7TMNtMjPjutZc7Ibg5yi9J6f_vFO0jJqShkEMyTrd9L0rxSIs56iNr8JfMxvMAZo49vQIXMUJ2o-o7qm66-Z-80tSszNwnA\" alt=\"\" \/><figcaption>Credit: Grab<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Empowering the unbanked &amp; underbanked in SEA<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Grab&#8217;s fintech arm, Grab Financial Group (GFG), was set up to empower the region\u2019s unbanked and underbanked segments \u2013 what\u2019s estimated to be 6 in 10 Southeast Asians \u2013 by offering simple, transparent, and flexible financial products. GFG\u2019s key R&amp;D center for fintech is located in India.<\/li><li>\u201cTo fulfill <a href=\"https:\/\/www.grab.com\/\">Grab<\/a>\u2019s mission to drive Southeast Asia forward by creating economic empowerment for everyone, and at our pace of growth, we needed to expand into a center that would have a continuous pipeline of high-quality and passionate tech talent seeking to make an impact,\u201d said Grab India\u2019s site lead &amp; Head of Engineering Srinivas Chamarthy.<\/li><li>Some of you may recognize <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techinasia.com\/center-grabs-biggest-fintech-projects\">the projects spearheaded by the center<\/a>, such as the 500-backed superapp\u2019s involvement in the ePenjana initiative, a short-term recovery plan to disburse subsidies via digital payments, and the ePemula program to boost the adoption of cashless payments.<\/li><li>\u201c[The ePenjana] initiative saw four times more senior citizens claim their subsidies compared to a previous disbursement and helped millions of Malaysian nationals easily claim government aid during a very challenging period,\u201d shared Srivinas.<\/li><li>Another notable project is GrabModal, which provides same-day access to micro-loans for pre-selected drivers and delivery partners in Indonesia.<\/li><li>\u201cIn 2021, our driver and merchant partners earned US$8.9 billion,\u201d he added.<\/li><li>Read the full story <a href=\"https:\/\/www.techinasia.com\/center-grabs-biggest-fintech-projects\">here<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/dPOB3n6F7aGUpp3YAzrREmFEJKGdeYUy18grGFUQBCXaqq7BRPlWaGajKXW7h8lpoG52U_G35sgkPDf-X8qcEYFPBjSDyJ_HvC_zqCF666GKiy0p-C8h0R7fJXGzn-73Nf5bWDkZB6yqE3WFFA\" alt=\"\" \/><figcaption>Credit: Business Today<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>From science fiction to virtual reality<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>\u201cIf you can visualize it, we can virtualize it!\u201d This is the promise of 500-backed virtual development startup <a href=\"https:\/\/virtualtechfrontier.com\/\">Virtualtech Frontier (VTF)<\/a>.<\/li><li>Part of that promise is building a Metaverse that doesn\u2019t merely focus on gaming. VTF wants to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesstoday.com.my\/2022\/07\/05\/a-start-up-that-can-virtualise-anything-that-can-be-visualised\/\">virtualize brands, businesses, and worlds<\/a> by bringing these physical elements into the Web3 space, where people from all over the world can meet up and form real connections that are not bounded by geographical borders.<\/li><li>To date, VTF has built hundreds of thousands of user sessions and virtual solutions. Its focus now is building next-generation engagements within the Metaverse, a fairly raw concept in the tech industry. The Metaverse is a one-to-one replica of the real world with a touch of fantasy.\u00a0<\/li><li>Co-founder &amp; CEO Jason Low believes that his startup will pave the path toward a better humanity. VTF\u2019s Metaverse will create more engaging online experiences that take user experience to the next level.<\/li><li>Read the full article <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businesstoday.com.my\/2022\/07\/05\/a-start-up-that-can-virtualise-anything-that-can-be-visualised\/\">here<\/a>.<\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Click for opportunities Word-of-mouth marketing and personal connections can only take an SME\u2019s business so far. That\u2019s why 500-backed fintech startup First Circle launched a new platform to help small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines get access to government projects, a lucrative source of opportunities! Dubbed Project Finder, the platform not only lists government contracts [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[322],"tags":[398,143,523],"class_list":["post-3352","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily","tag-first-circle","tag-grab","tag-virtualtech-frontier"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v19.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Daily Markup #543: First Circle helps SMEs win government contracts; Grab touches lives with fintech; VTF turns science fiction into virtual reality - 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=3352\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Daily Markup #543: First Circle helps SMEs win government contracts; Grab touches lives with fintech; VTF turns science fiction into virtual reality - Markup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Click for opportunities Word-of-mouth marketing and personal connections can only take an SME\u2019s business so far. That\u2019s why 500-backed fintech startup First Circle launched a new platform to help small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) in the Philippines get access to government projects, a lucrative source of opportunities! Dubbed Project Finder, the platform not only lists government contracts [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Markup\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"http:\/\/facebook.com\/500southeastasia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-12T03:35:06+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-07-12T03:35:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/gTulhbiCkMmiGd2WQ4Kh8TIydtoUcJ2oSKM4JR4kGN8RBNq8bzXs9jOYAS4AU4QbjgkrCd_kbt6nji3TAFH7UH6hBvppN2JH46YdR0Y-t_GusHLG3vnIR5Py_bSN0bAaZ1EOaEsG-6o9F1ab_g\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Ching Yee Ho\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/\",\"name\":\"Markup\",\"description\":\"Serving bite-sized news on 500 Southeast Asia&#039;s portfolio companies and insights to fuel your momentum in life and business.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/gTulhbiCkMmiGd2WQ4Kh8TIydtoUcJ2oSKM4JR4kGN8RBNq8bzXs9jOYAS4AU4QbjgkrCd_kbt6nji3TAFH7UH6hBvppN2JH46YdR0Y-t_GusHLG3vnIR5Py_bSN0bAaZ1EOaEsG-6o9F1ab_g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/gTulhbiCkMmiGd2WQ4Kh8TIydtoUcJ2oSKM4JR4kGN8RBNq8bzXs9jOYAS4AU4QbjgkrCd_kbt6nji3TAFH7UH6hBvppN2JH46YdR0Y-t_GusHLG3vnIR5Py_bSN0bAaZ1EOaEsG-6o9F1ab_g\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352\",\"name\":\"Daily Markup #543: First Circle helps SMEs win government contracts; Grab touches lives with fintech; VTF turns science fiction into virtual reality - Markup\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-12T03:35:06+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-07-12T03:35:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/519b865263ce8210988e9676b536923f\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Daily Markup #543: First Circle helps SMEs win government contracts; Grab touches lives with fintech; VTF turns science fiction into virtual reality\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/519b865263ce8210988e9676b536923f\",\"name\":\"Ching Yee Ho\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a65dd4b61125a19ff989c4d621a9a0a8f9e7d34b0118d60e00ecec7fd41e330?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2a65dd4b61125a19ff989c4d621a9a0a8f9e7d34b0118d60e00ecec7fd41e330?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Ching Yee Ho\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?author=5\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Daily Markup #543: First Circle helps SMEs win government contracts; Grab touches lives with fintech; VTF turns science fiction into virtual reality - Markup","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/dailymarkup.com\/?p=3352","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Daily Markup #543: First Circle helps SMEs win government contracts; Grab touches lives with fintech; VTF turns science fiction into virtual reality - Markup","og_description":"Click for opportunities Word-of-mouth marketing and personal connections can only take an SME\u2019s business so far. 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