This VC firm is sticking with Web3 through tough times

More: AnyMind Group takes the public market plunge and India’s BetterPlace acquires a Malaysian recruitment startup. [Read from your browser]( Daily Newsletter --------------------------------------------------------------- Welcome to Tech in Asia's free Daily Newsletter! Get full access to our subscribers-only Daily Newsletter and other insightful analysis on the big and messy topics of Asia’s tech and startup community by [registering here](. --------------------------------------------------------------- IN FOCUS In today's newsletter, we look at: - [Why Insignia Ventures believes in the value of Web3]( - Alibaba’s biggest restructuring effort in its 24-year history - Other newsy highlights such as AnyMind Group’s Tokyo listing and the acquisition of a Malaysian recruitment startup by India’s BetterPlace --------------------------------------------------------------- Hello {NAME} The Web3 space is in something of a fix at the moment. It was only a few years ago when terms like non-fungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs), and virtual worlds began to spread. But the sector was thrown into the mainstream spotlight when social media giant Facebook placed the metaverse at the heart of its future. That triggered a modern-day gold rush: Funding for VC-backed startups in the Web3 space hit a record high of US$29.2 billion in 2021, according to Crunchbase. In fact, 2022 also started brightly, with US$17.5 billion of VC funds flowing into the sector during the first two quarters of that year. However, when the crypto winter threatened to turn into a blizzard following the collapse of companies such as FTX, it sparked a significant VC spending pullback. Funding for Web3 startups dropped an astonishing 74% year on year in Q4 2022, plunging from US$9.3 billion to US$2.4 billion. With Web3 at a crossroads, the question now is where does it go from here? Yinglan Tan, founding managing partner of Insignia Ventures Partners, offers some answers in today’s featured piece. The veteran investor, who was Sequoia Capital’s first hire in Southeast Asia and sourced deals for Tokopedia, Carousell, and Gojek, sat down with Tech in Asia to discuss how his VC firm is navigating the bear market and why he believes Web3 tech is still valuable. -- Shravanth  ---------------------------------------------------------------  THE BIG STORY [Web3 tech still valuable, says Insignia Ventures]( Insignia Ventures Partners’ Yinglan Tan says it is crucial to distance speculative crypto trading from Web3. --------------------------------------------------------------- TRENDING NEWS [Alibaba Group to cleave operations into six divisions]( The group will seek distinct IPOs and external funding for the new divisions in the most extensive overhaul in decades. [Bukalapak still in the red despite seeing $130.8m in FY22 profit]( The ecommerce major’s full-year profit is down from the US$1 billion it logged in just Q1 2022, when it acquired 12.05% of Allo Bank. [Exclusive: India’s BetterPlace acquires Malaysian recruitment startup]( Troopers is the second startup from Southeast Asia that the India-based workforce management firm has acquired. [43% of Singaporeans own cryptocurrency despite declining confidence]( Data from the Independent Reserve Cryptocurrency Index 2023 also found that 46% of Singaporeans invest up to US$750 monthly in crypto. [AnyMind Group debuts on Tokyo Stock Exchange]( The company originally planned to list in December 2022, but it was delayed due to market risks. [Advance scales with $16m raise, acquisition to target VN]( The Filipino firm recently acquired Vietnamese firm BravoHr, which works with companies such as McDonald’s, L’Oreal, and AstraZeneca. --------------------------------------------------------------- TECH IN ASIA'S PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT CONFERENCE 2023 Handling data the right way for great product development The relationship between data and product development is clear: Your product can generate tons of data, and [using that data accurately]( is one of the most important - if not the most important - ways to make your product great. However, data teams and product managers can trip on a bunch of potential hurdles. Sometimes, it’s human nature at fault, while other times, a company just isn’t ready to harness data yet. If this sounds familiar, don’t worry because there’s always help out there. 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