More: Ant Group’s valuation could get cut and India gains a new unicorn

From zero to VC: A peek into SEA’s VC scout programs [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter Hello {NAME} We all know the primary step to becoming a founder: Just launch your idea. But what are the steps to become an investor at the venture capital level? You can’t just throw all your savings into a startup and call yourself a VC, can you? And if, like me, you don’t even have any savings to throw into any startup, entering a scout program run by a VC could be your ticket to becoming one. Such scout programs are common in the US, but not so much in Southeast Asia. One famous name in the tech world who had started as a scout is Jason Calacanis. His first investment? Uber. Can Southeast Asia produce its own tech investors through a VC scout program? Today’s big story explores this and the program’s origin. Today we look at: - How [VC bootcamps]( have come to Southeast Asia - [The startup that can vet]( your potential business partners - Other newsy highlights such as Ant Group’s valuation possibly getting cut and India gaining a new unicorn  ---------------------------------------------------------------  PREMIUM SUMMARY  Pssst… Ever heard of VC bootcamps? As more investors enter the tech scene looking to become venture capitalists, programs from VCs such as Saison Capital Scout Program and Insignia Ventures Academy are developing talents that can become the next generation of VC investors in Southeast Asia. - What is a VC scout? Ideally, scouts are the super resourceful connectors who can help VC firms find great, hidden founders and companies to invest in before everyone else. Some scouts operate in an incentives-based model as a full-time job while others do so to gain the tools and the knowledge to become VCs themselves in the long run. - Introducing the VC bootcamps: Originating in Silicon Valley, Sequoia Capital was among the first to run scout programs 12 years ago. Today, similar programs in the SEA region run between three months to a year, and they consist of activities from mentorships to online lessons. The goal is to help participants generate deal flow. - Yay or nay: According to Swarandeep Singh Kambo, a participant of Saison’s pilot scout program, he believes that such programs make it easier for individuals to become startup investors, and that they will likely go mainstream in Southeast Asia this year. Read more: [Hunting for deals: the rise of VC scouts in SEA](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  STARTUP SPOTLIGHT What happens when three great minds behind three great brands join hands? Building business relationships is difficult. It becomes even more challenging during a pandemic when you can’t physically meet potential partners to assess their trustworthiness. So a former executive at Stripe, a former vice president of engineering at Grab, and the ex-regional head for Southeast Asia at Standard Chartered have banded together to launch a startup to tackle this issue. - Trust me, trust you: India-based Tazapay was launched in April 2020 to help small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) conduct background checks on potential business partners and set up a digital escrow to protect their payments. - The US$8 trillion market: The SME B2B cross-border trade has a total addressable market size of US$8 trillion globally and US$500 billion in Southeast Asia. Tazapay is expecting this to grow even further at a compound annual growth rate of 25% in the next five years. - Its winning strategy: The startup is currently targeting SMEs in Southeast Asia through digital channels and sales teams. From each successful deal, Tazapay will take a transaction fee of 1.8% capped at US$500. Read more: [Why these ex-Grab, Stripe, StanChart execs banded together to start a company](  ---------------------------------------------------------------  TECH IN ASIA EXPLAINS What the heck is a secondary market? The startup world has a huge concern: More companies are staying private for a much longer time. You see, as long as companies stay private, investors, employees, and other stakeholders in startups can’t cash out their gains. But the secondary market - a mechanism for buying and selling shares in the private market - can change that, allowing these stakeholders to cash out even without the startup going public or getting acquired. An example of a secondary market taking place is when Singapore-based Carousell received a US$500 million capital injection from South Korea’s Naver Corporation last year and saw its investors and employees cashing out with sizable returns in a secondary sale. Secondary markets are a pretty new phenomenon in the Southeast Asian startup world. That’s why in [this episode of Tech in Asia Explains]( we’re diving deep into them, navigating the mechanisms of how secondaries work and laying out what founders need to know about them with the help of Michael Lints, partner at Golden Gate Ventures, and Khai Lin Sng, chief financial officer of Fundnel.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  QUICK BYTES  1️⃣ Drop it like it’s hot Chinese fintech giant Ant Group could potentially see its [valuation dropping]( from US$320 billion to anywhere between US$29 billion and US$115 billion after it complies with regulators’ new rules and overhauls its business to allow itself to be managed more like a bank.  2️⃣ India welcomes another unicorn Urban Company, an Indian gig marketplace, has recently [raised US$190 million]( and achieved a post-money valuation of US$2 billion, making it the 12th startup to enter the unicorn club in the country this year.  3️⃣ Ohayo, Netflix-chan American streaming platform Netflix has [launched an animated character]( to promote its growing anime-streaming offering. Named N-ko, the character joins Japan's booming scene of virtual Youtubers - VTubers for short - who have gained a loyal following.  4️⃣ Biking and riding high Chinese startup Hello has become the first bike-sharing company to [launch an initial public offering]( in the US. Launched in 2014, Hello is backed by Ant Group and has recorded US$924 million in revenue in 2020, up 25.3% year on year.  5️⃣ Meituan’s up next Chinese regulators have [begun an investigation]( into internet giant Meituan because of its alleged abuses, including forcing exclusivity agreements. This development comes after a similar antitrust investigation was conducted on Alibaba, which was subsequently fined US$2.8 billion for abusing its market dominance.  6️⃣ More money to go “vroom vroom!” India-based mobility startup Rapido has [raised US$50 million]( which will be used to streamline its operations and help the company compete against rivals such as Ola Bike and Uber Moto.  ---------------------------------------------------------------  EVENTS HAPPENING - *Live event* Decoding ESOPs in Southeast Asia on April 29 Startups talk a lot about employee stock option plans (ESOPs). But what exactly are they, how should a founder structure one, and what are the implications on shareholder equity? Join us in this Live event where Ravi Ravulaparthi, CEO and co-founder of Qapita, will answer these questions as well as discuss other topics including the state of ESOP culture in Southeast Asia, the different types of ESOP models, and many more. [RSVP today]( for free as a Live or Core subscriber. - Fintech CXO Roundtable on May 4 Sit down with Noah Pepper, APAC business lead at Stripe, and other like-minded C-level executives to discuss the building and scaling of a fintech startup. Look forward to in-depth discussions on topics like finding product-market fit, balancing product needs with business outcomes, recruiting the right talent, and many more. [Register to get your seat today](. - The intersection of user experience with user security on May 6 As companies increasingly conduct their businesses online, more and more information becomes vulnerable to cyber threats. But how can a tech startup ensure that its data is safe without compromising on usability and business goals? We have invited the region’s leading tech companies to discover just how their companies manage cybersecurity attacks and align security measures with business outcomes. [RSVP for free today](. - AWS Summit Online ASEAN, May 18 and 19 Join us and learn how to accelerate your business and build for the future. Choose from the summit’s 91 sessions that cover business and technical content; visit Startup Central and learn about AWS programs for startups,; take a technical deep dive into architecture and coding at the DevOps and Developer Community tracks; and discover the best practices in designing, deploying, and operating your infrastructure and applications. [Register for free today]( - Tech in Asia Pitch Night on June 22 Are you a startup founder looking to get some feedback from experts and investors? Then join us this June as we invite six startups from across Southeast Asia to pitch to Charles Ferguson, Asia-Pacific general manager at Globalization Partners, as well as an audience of founders, investors, and professionals from the region’s top tech companies. [Sign up today]( to get your pitching slot!  ---------------------------------------------------------------  WHO'S HIRING - [QA Engineer (Automation)]( at Flip (Depok, Indonesia) - [Senior DevOps Engineer (Remote)]( at TreeDots (Klang, Malaysia) - [Graphic Designer]( at Rocketindo (Jakarta, Indonesia)  ---------------------------------------------------------------  SHARE WITH YOUR FRIEND If you're feeling generous today, help us share this newsletter with your friends and coworkers so that they can keep up with what’s going on in the region’s tech scene. Feel free to [drop us some feedback]( if our newsletter today got you feeling smarter (or if it didn’t).  ---------------------------------------------------------------  Thanks for reading! Tech in Asia’s newsletters are handcrafted daily with love - and sometimes powered by good kopi (or tea). [ADVERTISE]( | [SUBSCRIBE]( | [HIRE]( | [FIND 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](. Don't want to receive these emails anymore? [Unsubscribe](. ---------------------------------------------------------------  Today’s edition was written by Betty Chum, with contributions from Katrina Balmaceda and Deepti Sri. It’s edited by September Grace Mahino. Copyright © 2021 Tech in Asia, All rights reserved. 51 Bras Basah Rd, #05-5061, Singapore 189554