Looking for Vietnam’s next big gaming hit

More: Tencent’s latest investment, and FreshToHome’s fresh round of funding. [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Hello {NAME} I was still a student when Flappy Bird became a worldwide phenomenon in 2014, and I remember playing the game with friends during recess breaks and getting extremely frustrated every time we collided with a pipe or hit the ground and had to start over. For me, Flappy Bird is a nostalgic memory of my school days. But for Vietnamese game developers, the title is an inspiration, spurring them on in their pursuit to produce global hits. Today we look at, - [How Vietnam’s game developers could create the next Flappy Bird]( - GGV Capital’s role in leading Grab down the payments path - Other newsy highlights such as the plans of PUBG’s creator to go public and Tencent’s latest investment into a parking startup  ---------------------------------------------------------------  PREMIUM SUMMARY  Get your game face on Flappy Bird was developed by Vietnamese indie game developer Nguyen Ha Dong, and it took the world by storm in 2014. Since then, developers in Vietnam have been trying hard to replicate this past glory, but in a more sustainable way. - Fertile ground? Vietnam’s mobile-first market has gained an edge in the region. Four publishers from Vietnam (VNG, Amanotes, OneSoft, and BACHA Soft) were listed in App Annie’s latest ranking of the top mobile publishers from Southeast Asia. However, Vietnamese gamers tend to prefer hardcore, foreign titles often published by VNG or Sea, which means indie studios need to look for their audience outside of the country. - Going beyond the game: It’s not enough for a game to become a massive hit - companies need to find ways to monetize and sustain that growth. According to an industry expert, some Vietnamese mobile game studios lack clear marketing and publishing strategies, forgetting that if revenues can’t cover operations and marketing, it’s technically “game over.” - Getting the experts in: Gaming startups often struggle to get funding because the region already has two unicorns with roots in the industry: VNG and Sea. However, a solution to this could be seeking funding from major game companies or publishers that can provide not just money but also the expertise in operations that could keep a game in the air once it gets off the ground. Read more: [The hunt is still on for Vietnam’s next Flappy Bird](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  STARTUP SPOTLIGHT Grab’s path to payments GGV Capital was one of Grab’s earliest investors, leading its US$15 million series B round in 2014. The venture capital firm was also [the catalyst]( behind the company’s foray into the payments arena and its subsequent evolution into one of the region’s largest super apps. - A payments revolution: Speaking at this year’s Tech in Asia Conference, Grab president Ming Maa shared that it was GGV Capital managing partner Jixun Foo - among its other investors - that led Grab to foray into payments. The exec urged the startup to capitalize on the rapid growth in the payments market, after seeing the transformations that had happened to the payment ecosystem in China. - Getting in early: In 2016, Grab launched GrabPay, which it has since expanded to a much broader set of financial services. Fintech plays a huge part in Grab’s ecosystem, as it ties into almost all of the features available on its app and is a critical part in Grab’s efforts to become Southeast Asia’s everyday super app - Growing bigger: According to Foo, Grab was one of the few early players riding the wave of digitalization and disruption in Southeast Asia, which was what led to GGV Capital’s investment in the company. In his view, Grab has to grow into new services and become a lifestyle gateway beyond ride-sharing in order for it to continue to enhance its service offering and gain value.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  IN PARTNERSHIP WITH VCs, real talk. Listen up. Wanna get a VC’s attention? You will need a strong team, a large addressable market, and a unique product idea. But wait, there’s more. VCs are also interested in who has invested in your startup before. You see, there are [hidden alliances and friendships between Southeast Asia’s VCs]( and your past backers (or lack thereof) could be a make or break for investment deals. For instance, East Ventures often avoids co-investing with other “top” firms, but it is real buddies with Skystar Capital. If you’re thinking, “Hey, didn’t you talk about this article before?” you’d be right. But Celine, our product lead, really, really loves this article. And she’s not the only one. Judging by the number of page views we received, around 10,000 other readers love it too. So if you want to go behind the scenes of [who a VC firm is avoiding or who they’re buddying up with]( join our [Premium subscription]( today. With it, you will be able to read all the awesome content that will help you one-up the others in the tech ecosystem.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  QUICK BITES  1️⃣ Singtel’s (potential) big investment into digital banking Singtel may pour [more than US$441 million]( into its joint venture with Grab Holdings to set up a digital full bank in Singapore, according to estimates by DBS Group Research and Citigroup. You can check out all of Singapore’s digital bank contenders [here]( - Who are they and what do they bring to the table?  2️⃣ PUBG’s creator plans on going public Krafton Inc., the company behind hit mobile game PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds (PUBG), [has hired]( Mirae Asset Daewoo for its initial public offering planned for 2021. It could be South Korea’s largest ever stock market debut. Tech giant Tencent is Krafton’s second-largest shareholder.  3️⃣ Some Joyy for Baidu Chinese search giant Baidu is reportedly on the verge of [closing a deal]( to acquire the Chinese operations of Joyy, a Chinese video-streaming social platform listed in the US. The deal, which sources say could be worth US$3 billion to US$4 billion, is part of Baidu’s plans to diversify its revenue streams and enter the livestreaming sector.  4️⃣ Tencent funds this parking startup Tencent has made a [US$29.8 million strategic investment]( into PP Parking, a smart parking platform operated by ChinaRoad. PP Parking, which was launched in 2013, operates a software-as-a-service platform that provides features such as smart car-parking management, real-time data sharing, and digital payments, among others.  5️⃣ Jack Ma’s YF Capital backs ecommerce platform Chinese ecommerce platform ZKH, announced that it has [raised US$315 million]( in a series E funding round led by YF Capital, a private equity firm co-founded by Jack Ma. ZKH is a business-to-business platform for Chinese companies to procure industrial products like hardware equipment and lubricants, as well as to get maintenance, repair, and operations services.  6️⃣ Fresh funding for FreshToHome India-based ecommerce platform FreshToHome [has raised US$121 million]( in a series C round led by the sovereign wealth fund Investment Corporation of Dubai. FreshToHome uses its AI-powered supply chain technology and its cold chain to enable sellers to directly source meat and fish from fisherfolk and farmers.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING - The Best Practices in Fintech Security and Compliance That You Can’t Ignore on Thursday, November 5 Are you on top of current fintech regulations and compliance rules? To learn how to navigate this challenging landscape, join experts from Amazon Web Services and leading fintech company 2C2P in a guided panel discussion on November 5. [RSVP today]( - ** Live Event ** Pitching to VCs in a virtual world on Friday, November 6 In today’s landscape, we will see more meetings, events and VC pitches going online. How do you nail that pitch when you’re actually talking to a screen? [Join us]( to learn about the Art of Pitching in this digital world, by Gavin Teo, General Partner of Altara Ventures.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  WHO'S HIRING - [Project Manager]( at AiChat (Singapore, Singapore) - [Lead Generation Specialist]( at HReasily (Jakarta, Indonesia) - [Brand Acquisition]( at AVANA (Jakarta, Indonesia)  ---------------------------------------------------------------  SHARE WITH YOUR FRIEND Thursday brings us one day closer to the weekend - but perhaps not close enough. Share this newsletter with somebody to brighten up their day or to help them keep up with what’s going on in the region’s tech scene. [ADVERTISE]( | [PREMIUM]( | [JOBS]( P.S. Don't miss out on the biggest tech news and analysis. Add newsletter@techinasia.com to your address book, contacts, or safe sender list. Or simply move us into your inbox. Was this forwarded to you? You can read this everyday when you sign up [here](. Love us or hate us? [Drop us a feedback]( and let us know. Don't want to receive these emails anymore? [Unsubscribe](.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Tech in Asia’s newsletters are handcrafted daily with love - and sometimes powered by good kopi. Today’s edition is written by Stefanie Yeo, with contributions from Thu Huong Le and Miguel Cordon. It’s edited by Jaclyn Teng. Copyright © 2020 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 51 Bras Basah Rd, #05-5061, Singapore 189554